At least 250 injured as Yemen police disperse protest

SANAA - YEMEN police fired tear gas and live bullets at protesters holding an anti-regime demonstration in the city of Taez on Sunday, injuring at least 250, witnesses said.

'Between 250 and 300 protesters were injured, some with live bullets, as police opened fire to disperse a protest heading to the governorate headquarters,' in the city that lies 200km south of the capital Sanaa, a witness said.

Police continued to fire as security forces pushed back demonstrators to a square where they have been holding a sit-in as part of nationwide protests demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down, witnesses said.

A member of parliament who did not want to be named charged that police were 'attempting to storm the sit-in square.' -- AFP

Thai 'Yellow Shirts' to pay $21m for airport seizure

BANGKOK - A THAI court on Friday ordered 13 leaders of the influential 'Yellow Shirt' protest movement to pay US$17 million (S$21 million) in compensation over their involvement in crippling airport blockades in 2008.

The nation's Civil Court found that the group 'illegally interfered' in the operation of Bangkok's two main airports during the protest, which left more than 300,000 travellers stranded and caused major damage to Thailand's economy.

It instructed the key Yellow Shirts to pay a total of 522.1 million baht (S$21 million) to national operator Airports of Thailand, plus interest of 7.5 per cent a year since Dec 3, 2008, when the protest came to an end.

'The defendants incited protesters, through their speeches, to occupy the airports,' the verdict said.

The Yellows, who boast support from Bangkok elites and elements in the military, used to be linked to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, but the relationship has soured over his handling of a border dispute with Cambodia.

Among the defendants was Chamlong Srimuang, the controversial former Bangkok governor and leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the Yellows' official organisation. -- AFP

Thai PM says polls could end 'cycle of violence'

BANGKOK - THAILAND'S prime minister has said that upcoming elections in the politically divided country present a choice between his policies and a 'cycle of conflict and violence'.

Abhisit Vejjajiva said the poll, which comes as the capital is again the site of regular protests after deadly rallies last year, would be a chance for the 'silent majority to be heard' over the clamour of demonstrations.

Fresh from surviving a no-confidence motion in parliament last week, the Thai premier told reporters late on Monday that he hoped his tenure would be remembered for providing 'greater security and welfare for the Thai people'.

Thailand remains deeply divided following rallies by anti-government 'Red Shirts' in April and May 2010 in which more than 90 people died and 1,900 were injured in clashes between troops and protesters.

Mr Abhisit, whose government denied opposition accusations of corruption and human rights violations in the recent censure debate, said that the election would be held between June and late July.

'Maybe you'll be wondering if I'll be here next year. I'm wondering, too,' Mr Abhisit told the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand. -- AFP

Yemen president sacks cabinet, crowds bury 'martyrs'

SANAA - EMBATTLED Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh sacked his government on Sunday as mourners massed in Sanaa to bury many of the 52 people gunned down by his loyalists, and more regime figures quit over the killings.

Tens of thousands of people turned out for the funerals in what witnesses said was the largest gathering of Mr Saleh's opponents since protests against his autocratic regime erupted in late January.

About 30 bodies were laid out in rows, and the square near Sanaa University overflowed with mourners who gathered under tight security and despite the state of emergency.

On Friday pro-Saleh snipers on rooftops raked demonstrators in the square with bullets in an attack which more than doubled the death toll from several weeks of unrest to around 80.

The violence drew condemnation from the United Nations, the European Union and the United States, which sees Mr Saleh as a key partner in battling Al-Qaeda in the region.

Mr Saleh suffered a further blow with the resignation on Sunday of Yemen's ambassador to the United Nations, Abdullah Alsaidi, and human rights minister Huda al-Baan in protest at the deadly attacks on demonstrators. 'Abdullah Alsaidi has submitted his resignation to protest at the use of violence against demonstrators,' a foreign ministry official said. -- AFP

Hundreds shot in Bahrain as emergency declared

MANAMA - TWO people died and hundreds were wounded in clashes between anti-regime protesters and Bahrain's security forces on Tuesday, as the king imposed a state of emergency a day after calling in foreign troops.

Top Bahraini Shi'ite clerics sought Muslim and international help as they warned that anti-regime protesters would be targeted with a 'massacre'.

And as the violence escalated Iran, Bahrain's Shi'ite neighbour across the Gulf, protested the 'unacceptable' intervention of foreign troops there. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meanwhile, called on Bahrainis to resolve the crisis politically.

'More than 200 people we received today had been shot with buckshot,' a hospital medic in the village of Sitra, south of the capital, told AFP by telephone.

More than 200 others had been admitted to hospital suffering from tear gas inhalation, and the hospital itself was under siege by armed gangs and security forces, he added.

They were targeting Shi'ites - the backbone of anti-regime protests that have raged for a month, he said. The medic said people had 'confronted the gangs when they arrived in the village', only to discover that they were carrying guns. -- AFP

Obama considering military action against Libya

(AP)  

President Barack Obama warned Libya's leaders that the U.S. and its NATO allies are still considering military options in response to what he called "unacceptable" violence perpetrated by supporters of Moammar Qaddafi.

"I want to send a very clear message to those who are around Colonel Qaddafi. It is their choice to make how they operate moving forward. And they will be held accountable for whatever violence continues to take place," Obama said during remarks in the Oval Office Monday.

Libyan warplanes launched multiple airstrikes Monday on opposition fighters in the second day of a harsh government crackdown to thwart rebels advancing on Qaddafi's stronghold in Tripoli.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said a military response was no more likely Monday than it was before the surge in violence. He said the U.S. and its partners are considering a wide variety of military actions, including a no-fly zone, but said deploying ground troops "is not top of the list at this point."

Carney said the U.S. also is considering providing weapons to rebel forces, although he cautioned that there remain many unanswered questions about what groups comprise those forces. He said the U.S. is using diplomatic channels, as well as contacts in the business community and nongovernmental organizations, to gather information about the opposition.

Obama said he has also authorized $15 million in humanitarian aid to help international and nongovernmental organizations help and evacuate people fleeing the violence in Libya. More than 200,000 people have fled the country, mostly foreign workers, creating a humanitarian crisis across the border with Tunisia, another North African country in turmoil after an uprising in January that ousted its longtime leader.

Hundreds if not thousands of people have died since Libya's uprising began, although tight restrictions on media make it nearly impossible to get an accurate tally.

The U.S. and United Nations have imposed sanctions on Qaddafi's regime, and U.S. military forces have also moved closer to Libya's shores to back up demands that Qaddafi step down.

Obama spoke alongside Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who is in Washington for meetings.

Police, pro-government activists block Algerian protest

Hundreds of demonstrators face police during a demonstration in Algiers. -- PHOTO: AFP

ALGIERS - ALGERIAN police and pro-government activists on Saturday foiled a sixth attempt by opposition protesters to march in the capital Algiers.

A faction of the National Coordination for Change and Democracy (CNCD) had called the protest in defiance of an official ban on demonstrating in Algiers.

But several dozen demonstrators found themselves quickly surrounded by police.

Counter-demonstrators carrying photos of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika chanted 'Bouteflika Is Not (Hosni) Mubarak' - the Egyptian president forced out by a popular uprising on February 18 - as they chased and roughed up the anti-government protestors.

The counter-demonstrators, mostly young people, then turned on Said Sadi, a member of the CNCD and the head of the small opposition Rally for Culture and Democracy, saying they would 'lynch' him, according to an eyewitness, adding that Sadi fled the scene after shouting: 'We will continue to march regardless of the steps the regime takes to prevent us.' Saturday's foiled protest was the sixth attempt since Jan 22.

It was planned to begin in three different locations to make it harder for police to shut it down. Previous bids at holding a substantial demonstration have also been foiled. -- AFP

Saudi Arabia bans all protest and marches

RIYADH - SAUDI Arabia has banned all protests and marches, state television on Saturday cited the Interior Ministry as saying after Saudi minority Shi'ites staged small protests in the oil-producing eastern province.

Security forces would use all measures to prevent any attempt to disrupt public order, state news channel al-Ekhbariya said in an alert without giving details. -- REUTERS