Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Guardian: Middle East protests - live updates (2/16/11)

Middle East protests - live updates
Guardian (United Kingdom)

• Bahrain: Thousands of protesters have continued to demonstrate at Pearl roundabout in the capital Manama. Our reporter there says there are signs of growing anger at King Hadad, who is seen as responsible for propping up the Sunni-based establishment. Thousands of people took part in a funeral for Fadhel Al-Matrook, a protester shot dead at funeral of another protester yesterday. The US, Britain and the UN have expressed concern about the violence. A government minister reportedly acknowledged that the two killings were "catastrophic."

• Yemen: A sixth day of protests against Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president, was broken up by pro-government supporters bussed in to the capital Sana'a. Up to four protesters were injured, and 2,000 police deployed to break up the clashes. There have also been protests in other cities such as Aden and Taiz. Saleh responded by saying "chaos, wrong mobilisation and irresponsible utterance via media" was not the way to "reach the power."

• Iran: Students and academics have been arrested in a raid at a university in Tehran. A state news agency reported clashes between government supporters and protesters after the funeral of Saane (or Sanee) Zhaleh, who was killed in protests on Monday. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president, said the protests were doomed to fail.

• Egypt: Protesters are planning to gather in Tahrir Square on Friday to mark a week since Hosni Mubarak, the president, stood down. A coalition of activists have released a list of candidates they would like to see in the transitional government. Both moves are intended to put pressure on the army, which took control after Mubarak's fall.

• Libya: Up to 38 people have been injured in the city of Benghazi after protests about the arrest of a civil rights campaigner and critic of Muammar Gaddafi. There are reports that critics of Gaddafi have been arrested.

• Morocco: Protests are planned for Sunday

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