Africa

Following Western air strikes against Libyan military targets, Muammar Gaddafi looks set to try and bring the fighting to the big cities. Radio Netherlands Worldwide correspondent Hans Jaap Melissen reports that the tanks destroyed by French Mirage jets just a few dozen miles outside Benghazi have become a tourist attraction for the city’s residents.

International forces have launched attacks in Libya to enforce the UN-authorised no-fly zone to protect civilians. US President Barack Obama says he has authorised “limited military action in Libya”.
French warplanes were the first to carry out air strikes in Libya, followed by US and British forces firing Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The United Nations Security Council has given the green light for a no-fly zone over Libya.
The measure includes an authorisation of air strikes against Libyan army facilities to stop Colonel Gaddafi’s regime from attacking opposition protesters. A UN spokesperson said that a majority of the 15-member council is agreeing to a no-fly zone in order to protect civilians in Libya.

In Libya, forces loyal to Col. Muammar Gaddafi have captured the city of Zwara, west of Tripoli, and are battling under-equipped rebel fighters for control of the oil town of Brega. In recent days, Gaddafi forces have won back control of several key cities. Debate continues at the international level over whether the U.N. Security Council should institute a no-fly zone.

In Libya, forces loyal to Col. Muammar Gaddafi are locked in intense fighting with the opposition forces for control of several cities and towns. The International Committee of the Red Cross says Libya has descended into civil war with increasing numbers of wounded civilians arriving in the hospitals in eastern cities.

Zimbabwe witnessed a fierce psychological battle at the beginning of March 2011. Inspired by their new models in the Arab world, political activists and civic society organizations tried to mobilize people for mass protests to demand change in government. But not a single demonstrator turned up on March 1 for the much-billed 1 million-man march against President Mugabe.

The United Nations warns that up to one million people are trapped in Libya and are in need of emergency aid as fighting intensifies between supporters of Col. Muammar Gaddafi and anti-government rebels. Earlier today, Gaddafi’s forces launched at least four air strikes against rebel-held areas in the oil town of Ras Lanuf.

Amidst rising concern about a seriously deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation in Cote d’Ivoire that a UN expert body perceives as a threat to international peace and security and an international think-tank says is dragging the strife-torn country to the verge of a civil war, a former Ghana president has faulted the international community’s behaviour.

The Libyan opposition fighting to overthrow Moamer Kadhafi announced its first formal meeting Saturday as it counted its dead from fighting for a key oil town and clashes raged in a city near the capital.
Kadhafi loyalists rained tank shells and machine gun fire on Zawiyah, 60 kilometres west of Tripoli, as they sought to wrest the city center back from opposition supporters.

In Libya, fighting between Gaddafi’s forces and rebels has broken out in the eastern oil export port of Ras Lanuf and the town of Zawiyah, west of Tripoli. Mass protests against Gaddafi’s rule were scheduled to begin after noon prayers across the country, but in Tripoli, Gaddafi supporters have set up checkpoints throughout the city to prevent protesters from moving about.