Georgian police: 1 officer killed in protest clash

Tbilisi, Georgia - Georgian police said a policeman was killed Thursday at the start in the energetic debacle of a protest outside the building, where protesters were to block a parade of the celebration of the independence push requires them that the President resign from Parliament.

Spokesman of the Ministry of the Interior Chota Utiashvili said that the police officer died after being beaten by a car containing organizers of the event travelling near the site of the confrontation between police and protestors about 1 500.

The demonstrators have been claiming the resignation of President Mikhail Saakashvili and had planned to spend later Thursday in a square close to try to block a military parade marking the country's independence day.

Utiashvili said that 19 other police officers were hospitalized in shock, in which police fired teargas the demonstrators with water cannon. The leaders of the protest said dozens of protesters were arrested, but there was no immediate official figure.

Demonstrations against Saakashvili began Saturday, but attracted a few thousand people at most. Leaders of protests, in the hope to assemble a protest mass and dramatic, had to jump from a building in a nearby square through which the military parade was to pass later Thursday of the Parliament.

But their demonstration permit expired at midnight Wednesday and a few minutes after that time have been exhausted, police moved in on the crowd, spraying water on them and leave off the coast of tear gas. Some witnesses have said police also fired rubber bullets.

Utiashvili said authorities had offered the protesters sites alternate Thursday demo which would not prevent the parade, but that protest leaders refused.

One of the opposition, failure of the former world champion Nona Gaprindashvili, said dozens of protesters were arrested.

Saakashvili were severe and criticism from abroad in 2007 after police repression of violent demonstrations, which damaged his image as a democratic reformer. Dissatisfaction with him rose again after brief war the Georgia with the Russia in 2008, in which the Russia advanced far in Georgian territory and the Georgia entirely lost control of two pro-Russian separatist regions.

But weeks of protests in the spring of 2009 is not his resignation from the force and the opposition, weakened by factional conflict, seems unable to galvanize people in numbers similar to tens of thousands who came to the streets in the revolution of the Rose who helped bring Saakashvili to power in 2003.

Eleven killed as funerals Syrian becomes protest

AMMAN - far 11 shot down Syrian security forces in the central city of Homs, Saturday at a funeral mass for the people killed in the latest exercised crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad, a rights activist said.

Counsel for the human rights that Razan Zitouna, stated that it had the names of at least 11 people were killed at funeral Nasr cemetery for 10 pro-democracy demonstrators killed by security forces in Homs were Friday in the shooting.

A witness who was at the funeral and spoke to Reuters by telephone said that the lament yelled "overthrow the regime" and they came by virtue of fire when leaving the cemetery (five miles) eight kilometres north of the Centre of Homs.

"The shooting was in cold blood." People were streaming peacefully outside the cemetery, "he says.

Dozens of people were injured in the attack which took place at about 1200 GMT, he said, adding that he saw five people with bullet wounds in their legs and arms be taken to the hospital.

Syria has banned most international media since the protests erupted two months ago, making it impossible to independently verify accounts of activists and officials.

Another resident of Homs said heavy machine-gun fire was heard in the night in a Bab Amro area, where the deployment this month tanks to crush the growing protests against autocratic Assad.

The killed security forces another demonstrator, named Ziad al-Qadi, when they fired live shells during a demonstration on the outskirts of Damascus, Saqba, a witness said by telephone on the outskirts of 40,000.

"A large demonstration calling for the overthrow of the regime is underway since the afternoon." He considered as the set of the Saqba took to the streets. Security forces came in the evening and began shooting, the witness said.

The latest violence came as Syrian National Organization for human rights has said, the security forces had killed at least 44 civilians Friday in attacks against the pro-democracy demonstrations of through the Syria.

Ammar Qurabi, leaders of the Organization, said important rights activist more than half was killed in the province of Northwest of Idlib, where tanks deployed Friday to crush the large demonstrations against the domination of Assad.

Demonstrations erupted in defiance of a military crackdown that killed more than 800 civilians in the nine weeks, said another group of rights.

Assad rejected largely as events using a foreign-backed plot to sow sectarian strife.

The Syrian authorities blame most of the violence on armed groups, backed by the Islamists and external powers, which they say have killed more than 120 soldiers and police. They have recently suggested that they believe that the demonstrations peaked.

The Syria said Saturday of the armed groups killed 17 people Friday in the provinces of Idlib and Homs to the South.

The news agency said the civilians, police and security forces were killed after armed groups operate the commitment of the police of instructions by the Ministry of the Interior "no step to take, to preserve the lives of civilians."

He said saboteurs set fire to public buildings and the positions of police in Idlib, wounding eight police officers.

CRITICISM OF THE UNITED STATES.

Disorders have posed the most serious challenge to the rule of Assad. In response, he has lifted the State of emergency 48 years and granted citizenship to stateless Kurds, but also sent tanks to several cities to suppress demonstrations.

Violence Friday came a day after the United States, who had first put mute handling Assad of his criticism of the agitation, it say to drive the reform or resign.

"The President can still try to redeem by that a few leaders in Eastern Europe fact, who heads the immediate transformation to democracy and running itself in a fair election if he wants," said Walid al-Bunni opposition figure.

"With all blood that the regime is spilling the protests have been growing and expanding in geographic scope..." "The Syrians have been humiliated and they are going to be quiet no longer, he added."

The main weekly Muslim prayers on Friday are a point of rallying to the demonstrators because they offer the unique opportunity for large gatherings and have seen the worst death tolls.

Activists said protests erupted Friday in the suburb of Damascus, Banias and Latakia on the Mediterranean, the oil production of Deir al - Zor, Qamishli region in the Eastern and the southern Hauran plain.

Rights lawyer Zitouna said Friday at least 12 civilians were killed in Maaret al-Numan, Idlib province, after the tanks entered the city to disperse demonstrators. She said 11 were killed in the Central of Homs city, while seven died in Deraa, Latakia, the suburbs of Damascus and Hama.

Rights activists said that idlib, a relatively prosperous agricultural province, took the first victims of the crackdown on Friday, in which hundreds of Syrians were arrested.

They said that those killed included demonstrators in at least five shot by security forces while they were walking Ariha city, to join with other events in Idlib.

"They took their dead and are returned to the Ariha and fire security and Baath party headquarters and Syriatel Office," said rights activist in the region.

More great the Syria mobile operator, syriatel, belongs to cousin Assad Rami Makhlouf, which has extended its control over the various sectors of the economy since Assad succeeded his father, who died 11 years ago.

The Moroccan forces disperse protest by the opposition

RABAT - Moroccan forces used truncheons to disperse a demonstration was on the southern outskirts of the capital of the Kingdom Rabat on Sunday, several injured, said a Reuters journalist on the scene.

Dozens of demonstrators belonging to the anti-Government movement February 20 tried to organize a picnic of protest from what they claim is a secret government detention centre in the region of Temara, where are are Islamists.

The Government denies that it runs secret detention centres. She later obtained permission for the Attorney General and the national Council of human rights to inspect the headquarters of the domestic intelligence service, said of the MAP news agency.

Police hunted riot the demonstrators before the rally could begin, beating some with long rubber truncheons. Police said that no arrests were made.

At an event later in the outskirts of Rabat, security forces have beaten into a coma one of the founders of the movement on 20 February, Osama ElKhlifi, a doctor and militant said. No independent verification of the report was immediately available.

February 20 is related to the reform demonstrations and uprisings this year elsewhere in the Arab world.

"It is the latest in a series of violent interventions by the security forces, which shows that the authorities are no longer tolerate the Group peaceful demonstrations," said Nizar Benmate of the movement.

Spokesman for the head of Government, Khalid Naciri said by the radio station Atlantic soldier who protest Temara was interrupted because he had been prohibited.

He denied there was a secret detention centre, in the area saying that the building of the finger by the demonstrators was a local government administrative office.

DENIAL OF GOVERNMENT

Moroccan officials deny the allegations made by opposition groups and some human rights activists that they run secret detention centres and to say to all detainees are treated in strict accordance with the law.

Human rights activists say Islamic militant political and others have been held and tortured at the building of Temara.

The map did not say when the visit of inspection of Temara would take place. King Mohammed has created the Council of the rights of man in March in protests.

The Agency said about 100 "extremists" blocked a road in the city of the North of Tangier. He reported an incident similar to FEZ where he said that some protesters method knives and flags of al-Qaeda. No there was no independent confirmation of the reports.

Some 50,000 people gathered in the evening for a pro-reform rally in Casablanca, said organizers. Independent sources put the number at about 15,000.

The Union of the national press criticized the authorities for rough treatment of journalists to the protest of Temara. Security forces beat two journalists, two other manhandled and confiscated some equipment, a Reuters witness said.

Islamists in Pakistan to protest against the bin Laden raid (Reuters) United States

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - most influential Islamist party urged his followers to organise demonstrations of mass Friday to demand their Government withdraws its support of the war on activism after commandos killed U.S. Osama bin Laden, near Islamabad.

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), one of the greatest political parties religion of the country, said that in the United States had violated the sovereignty of key ally Pakistan by sending its own forces in the town of garrison of Abbottabad to kill the al-Qaeda Chief.

Pakistan's support is essential to U.S. efforts against Islamic militants and also in the fight against the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan to fight.

"Even if there was no sympathy for the Americans, which would be dissipated after the way they were crushed and violated our sovereignty and our independence,"JI leader Syed Munawar Hasan told Reuters on Thursday.""

"We called everyone to organize peaceful demonstrations Friday in very large scale," he said. "Our first demand is... Pakistan should withdraw from the war against terrorism."

Anti-Americanism runs high in Pakistan, despite the billions of dollars in aid for nuclear weapons, poor country. Religious parties of Pakistan did not traditionally well at the ballot box, but they exert considerable influence in a country where Islam is more radicalized.

The war of the United States against militancy is unpopular in Pakistan, because of the perception of the civil dead against the attacks of drone against the suspected militants along the Afghan border.

But many people also criticize radical interpretation of Islam al-Qaeda and suicide bombers that lead his disciples and analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi said that any protests are likely to be more anti-états-Unis than Laden favour.

"I do not think that they (religious parties) will draw big crowds in gatherings." These events will put unlikely any large pressure on the Government to change course, "he says.

For the moment there some public protests in Pakistan against bin Laden killing early Monday to Abbottabad, 50 km (31 miles) northeast of Islamabad. A more violent activist of Pakistan groups, Lashkar-e-Taiba, held special prayers for the Chief of al-Qaeda and called for his death "martyrdom."

The fact that bin Laden was killed in Pakistan, after seemed y lived for several years, has embarrassed as many people in the Government and powerful country's spy agency.

"In Pakistan and its security apparatus became something of a laughing stock, with the media around the world highlighting the discovery of the man most wanted in the world to a military Academy in leading walking distance."," The News wrote in an editorial Thursday.

Some Pakistani saying that they were too concerned about the difficulties of living in a country with a troubled economy and chronic shortages of power to join with any type of events.

"There is no electricity, no gas, with the rise in inflation, making ends meet is difficult every day.".

"If our country was not mired with economic difficulties at this stage, perhaps us would require more answers from the Government or the United States, but now I no longer have big problems," said Sara Ahmed, an employee of the Government in the port of Karachi.

(Other reports by Zeeshan Haider in ISLAMABAD and KARACHI, mounting by Miral Fahmy Ahmed Sahar)

200 Left in the power of the Syria protest

By DIAA HADID and ELIZABETH a. KENNEDY, Associated Press

Syrian army units were confronted with one another over the orders of Syrian President Bashar Assad to crack down on demonstrators in Dara, a city under siege in the heart of the insurgency, control groups and human rights, said Thursday.

More than 450 people have been killed - about 100 to only Dara - Syria and hundreds of inmates since the start of the popular revolt against Assad, in mid-March function of the human rights groups.

While the internecine struggles of the troops in Dara does not decisive splits in the army, it is important because army Assad has always been hard defender of the regime.

It is the latest sign that cracks - however small - develop base support Assad which would have been unimaginable only a few weeks ago. About 200 members mainly from low level of the Syria decision, the party Baath have resigned in the brutal repression of Assad.

Ausama Monajed, a spokesman for a group of opposition figures in Syria and abroad, said that clashes between the soldiers were password since Monday.

"There is some battalions which refused to open fire on people," Monajed told The Associated Press, quoting witnesses on the ground in Dara, a city of 75,000 near the Jordanian border. "Battalions of the 5th Division protected people and returned fire when they were subjected to attacks by the 4th Division.

The 4th Division is headed by the brother of the President, Maher.

The reports were corroborated by three witnesses Dara and activist contacted by the AP. The four requested that their names not be used for fear of reprisals.

One of the witnesses said soldiers fired on another Thursday around the Omari mosque in central Dara. He said that the soldiers of the 5th division, composed mainly of conscripts known to be sympathetic to the residents, have been battling soldiers of the 4th Division.

"They defend the people against the forces of Maher Al-Assad," said the resident, who said he lived next to the mosque and attended battles.

"Assad forces it in their heads that we are terrorists and Muslim extremists and they are off to us,", he said. "But the 5th Division is made up of people like us." We talk to them. ?

Another witness of Dara told the AP that he saw the different units of the army soldiers confronting Monday from the mosque of Bilal, when Syrian forces rolled into town. He said that the battle between the forces lasted for several hours.

"We saw soldiers from the fall," said the resident. "And then I heard people shouting ' God is great! They are the martyrs of freedom! ""

The army issued a statement Wednesday denying that there is no splits.

The Government has blamed rogue armed and a foreign conspiracy to disorders, rather than applicants for real reform. Syrian State TV worked persistent, gruesome plans matched dead soldiers to back up their claims that they were attacked.

On the diplomatic front, Turkey held out the prospect of economic rapprochement if Al-Assad meets the demands for reform, while the Western powers warned of sanctions if repression will not stop. Assad met with a delegation headed by the Chief of National Intelligence Agency, the Turkey and the head of the Agency which manages infrastructure projects, the reported Turkey Anatolia news agency.