YEMEN: Ruler makes more demands to quit.
Yemen’s embattled president on Wednesday put forward yet another condition for leaving office, demanding the U.S., European Union and Persian Gulf nations offer guarantees before he signs a deal to transfer power and step down.
Ali Abdullah Saleh has managed to cling to power in the face of eight months of massive anti-regime demonstrations, the defection to the opposition of key tribal and military allies and mounting international pressure on him to step down. He has so far balked at a U.S.-backed plan proposed by Saudi Arabia and its five smaller allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council to hand over power to his deputy and step down in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
LIBYA: Gadhafi planning insurgency, official says.
Libya’s acting prime minister said Wednesday that ousted leader Moammar Gadhafi is believed to be recruiting fighters from other African countries and preparing for a possible insurgency, hoping to destabilize Libya’s new regime.
The comments by Mahmoud Jibril reflected fears that Gadhafi will be able to use friendly relations with neighboring countries cultivated during his more than four decades in power to help him launch a bid to return to power.
Also Wednesday, Libya’s transitional government said it has formally recognized the Syrian opposition’s umbrella group as the country’s legitimate representative, making it the first country to do so.
SYRIA: Dissident believed kidnapped in Lebanon.
A former Syrian vice president who became one of the country’s most prominent dissidents was kidnapped in Lebanon five months ago while visiting his daughter and is believed to be secretly imprisoned by the Syrian regime as it tries to crush a 7-month-old uprising, his daughter and Lebanese police said.
The abduction of Shibli al- Aisamy, an 88-year-old who holds permanent U.S. residency, has raised alarm among some in Lebanon that members of the country’s security forces are helping Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime in its crackdown on anti-government activists, effectively extending it into Lebanon to prevent it from becoming a safe haven for the Syrian opposition.
Al-Aisamy’s daughter, Rajaa Sharafeddine, said details of the case are only coming to light now because police briefed her and parliament’s Human Rights Committee on the investigation last week.
BAHRAIN: U.S. delays $53 million arms sale.
The Obama administration has agreed to delay a $53 million arms sale to Bahrain, a victory for lawmakers and human- rights groups opposing the transfer because of the kingdom’s continuing crackdown on the opposition.
The administration said it would postpone the deal while it weighed whether the monarchy was doing enough to investigate alleged human- rights abuses and carry out political reforms.
Denver Post wire services
