Cairo: Latest developments in the unrest sweeping the Middle East and North Africa.
LIBYA
- A fresh air strike targeted the rebel-held Libyan town of Brega, residents said, one day after clashes between rebels and pro-regime fighters killed at least 12 people. No new casualties were reported.
- Three Dutch marines helping to evacuate civilians from Sirte were captured by Libyan soldiers at the weekend, the Dutch defence ministry said as negotiations continued for their safe return.
- The International Criminal Court will probe up to 15 Libyan leaders for alleged crimes against humanity after the machine-gunning and bombing of civilians, chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in an interview with the Spanish daily El Pais.
- NATO has no intention of intervening in Libya but is planning for 'all eventualities', alliance chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.
- China said Libya's territorial integrity must be respected and that the UN Security Council must decide future international moves.
- State-run Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd. says it has halted multi-million-dollar projects in Libya, the latest of a number of Chinese firms to shut down in the strife-torn country.
- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Libya's embattled leader Moamer Kaddafi discussed plans for an international peacekeeping mission to mediate the crisis in Libya, officials in Caracas said. Chavez claims the United States is 'exaggerating things and twisting things to justify an invasion' of his close ally Libya.
- Spain will send a plane to Tunisia on Thursday to ferry aid and help airlift home thousands of Egyptians fleeing unrest in Libya, the foreign ministry said.
EGYPT
- Egypt's military rulers have accepted the surprise resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, seen by protesters as a symbol of ousted president Hosni Mubarak's regime, the army said. He will be replaced by Essam Sharaf, a former minister who took part in the mass demonstrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square which led to Mubarak's resignation on February 11 after three decades in power.
YEMEN
- Yemeni opposition groups and religious leaders have offered embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh plans for a smooth exit by the end of 2011, an opposition spokesman said. The proposed accord calls for a 'peaceful transition of power' from Saleh, insists anti-regime demonstrations that broke out two weeks ago will go on, and demands a probe be launched into a deadly crackdown on protesters.
TUNISIA
- Tunisia has freed all of its 800 political prisoners under amnesty granted after the fall of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in a popular uprising, a lawyer said.
IRAQ
- A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a bank in the northwestern Iraqi city of Haditha on Thursday, killing nine people including three policemen, the town's mayor said.
MOROCCO
- An adviser to Morocco's King Mohammed VI has told union leaders that the monarch plans a range of reforms following uprisings that have rocked the Arab world, a union activist said.
SAUDI ARABIA
- The kingdom will soon announce a major cabinet reshuffle as the four-year term for the current council of ministers has expired, an official said.
- More than 100 academics, activists and businessmen have called for major reforms including establishing a 'constitutional monarchy'.
OMAN
- Hundreds of Omanis demonstrated on Wednesday in support of Sultan Qaboos as more than 400 activists camped outside the Gulf state's consultative council, continuing a series of anti-corruption protests.
BAHRAIN
- Large crowds of pro-government Bahrainis rallied Wednesday in Manama, shortly after anti-regime protesters staged a big gathering, on the 17th day of protests rocking the Gulf kingdom.
KUWAIT
- Opposition groups have intensified their demands for the sacking of the prime minister, blamed for stalling development in the oil-rich Gulf state.
ALGERIA
- Two Algerian opposition parties boycotted the opening of the spring session of the Algerian parliament Wednesday and one of them announced three protest marches for Saturday.
JORDAN
- The United States said on Wednesday it supports calls by its ally Jordan's King Abdullah II for 'serious' reforms, ahead of an Islamist opposition demonstration on Friday to demand change.