Day after U.N. resolution, at least 9 killed in Yemen clashes
From Mohammed Jamjoom and Hakim Almasmari, CNN
Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- At least nine people were killed and 23 wounded during clashes between Yemen security forces and rival fighters on Saturday, medical officials said.
Fighting erupted in several districts of Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, and explosions could be heard across the city, said the medical officials, who declined to be named for safety reasons.
The conflict again pitted government forces against a group loyal to Hashid tribal leader Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar and another group loyal to military defector Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who is also from the Hashid tribe.
CNN cannot independently confirm the accounts and the Yemeni government was not immediately available for comment.
In a statement issued Saturday, Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar claimed that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh told his generals to
"start attacking and use all kinds of weapons" against civilians opposed to his remaining in power.
These and other remarks were allegedly made in a phone call that the former general's camp intercepted, Mohsen al-Ahmar said. CNN did not hear, and thus cannot authenticate the content of such a call.
Mohsen al-Ahmar -- who defected in March, after suspected government forces killed more than 50 protesters -- alleged in a statement that the president told his military leaders to "destroy everything," saying
"there is no difference between a military location and a civilian's house, men or women, a child or elderly person."
According to the ex-general's account, Saleh said the international community would not help the opposition and told his military leaders to "feast over their blood and dead bodies. ... I want to take revenge, even if the whole country is burned down."
A senior official in Saleh's administration blasted the allegations as false and described them as a feeble attempt by Mohsen al-Ahmar's camp to hurt the constitutional government's reputation.
"These are lies and untrue," said the senior official, who is not authorized to talk to the media. "President Saleh would not incite (forces to) kill his own people."
The official claimed, moreover, that "opposition forces are bombarding residential areas and are blaming the government, to cover up their crimes."
Residents in Sanaa, meanwhile, say Yemeni government forces on Saturday targeted the compounds of the family of Sadeq Al-Ahmar.His family's homes are scattered across three districts in the capital -- Hasabah, Sofan and Natha.
This is the second attack on his family in a week.Last week, witnesses and residents reported heavy clashes between forces and tribesmen. A spokesman for the family said six people were killed when government forces attacked homes of tribesmen in that attack.The Ahmar tribes first clashed with government forces in May when 12 days of fighting led to the death of more than 160 people.The tribes are supporting change in the country and have demanded the ouster of the president.
In a separate attack, clashes erupted between soldiers loyal to a defected military general and government forces in Hasaba and Sofan districts.One resident of Hasaba told CNN that Republican Guard troops knocked on her door Saturday and warned her, like her neighbors, that they have 24 hours to leave.
The fighting comes one day after the U.N. Security Council unanimously condemned the months of violence in Yemen. But the resolution stopped short of explicitly calling for the resignation of the country's president.The Gulf Cooperation Council, meanwhile, welcomed the U.N. resolution against the beleaguered Arab nation.
That regional alliance's Secretary-General Abdul Latif bin Rashid al-Zayani stressed "the need to sign and implement the Yemeni crisis settlement agreement...at the earliest possible time," he said in a written statement Saturday.The proposed Gulf council-brokered accord, which is backed by the United States and European Union, would allow Saleh to resign from power in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
The Security Council resolution, passed by a 15-0 vote, demands Yemen allow peaceful demonstrations and end crackdowns on civilians.
Day after U.N. resolution, at least 9 killed in Yemen clashes - CNN.com
Gadhafi's autopsy reveals he was shot in head
From Ingrid Formanek, CNN
Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Doctors completed an autopsy of Moammar Gadhafi on Sunday, with the chief pathologist confirming the former Libyan leader died of a gunshot wound to the head.
Dr. Othman el-Zentani would not disclose whether findings revealed if Gadhafi suffered the wound in crossfire or at close-range -- a key question that has prompted the United Nations and international human rights groups to call for an investigation into the final moments of the late Libyan strongman's life.
Doctors performed the autopsy at a Misrata hospital in the presence of officials from the prosecutor's office, Zentani said. Autopsies were also conducted on the bodies of Gadhafi's son, Mutassim, and his former defense minister, Abu Baker Yunis.
Purported Gadhafi killer on-camera Cooper: New details in Gadhafi's death Destruction where Gadhafi found, killed Arab Spring changes leadership picture
No foreign or independent officials were present, Zentani said.The autopsy report will go to the attorney general's office before it is released to the public, he said.
Meanwhile, the three bodies would likely return to a cold storage unit at a Misrata meat market for public viewing, Zentani said.
Long lines of people turned up all weekend long to view the corpses.Gadhafi's family issued a statement Friday calling on the United Nations and Amnesty International to push Libya's new leadership
"to hand over the bodies of the martyrs of their tribe so they can be buried according to Islamic rites," a pro-Gadhafi TV station reported.
Gadhafi's death Thursday solidified the power of the National Transitional Council, which marked the country's liberation on Sunday in the eastern city of Benghazi, where the uprising started.But uncertainty was still swirling Sunday about the death of the Libyan leader, who Libyan and world powers wanted to capture and prosecute for war crimes.
Leaders of Libya's interim government have said Gadhafi was killed in crossfire after fighters captured him Thursday.But others have questioned that account.Peter Bouckaert, Human Rights Watch's emergencies director, told CNN that fighting had ended when Gadhafi was cornered in a drainage ditch. He said crowds beat Gadhafi in what was a "humiliating end" for the former dictator.
"When he left the area, he was very much alive," Bouckaert said. "There's no reason why he should have been subjected to this kind of mob justice."
An amateur video distributed by the Reuters news agency Sunday showed NTC fighters congratulating a man the fighters say killed Gadhafi. CNN could not independently verify that claim.The video, purportedly recorded near an ambulance carrying Gadhafi's body, shows a jubilant group of fighters pouring water on a man's head."He is the one who killed him," one man says, pointing."He killed him in front of me, I swear to God," another man chimes in.A lawyer for Gadhafi's son Saadi, who fled in September to Niger, issued a statement Sunday saying, "Saadi Gadhafi is shocked and outraged by the vicious brutality which accompanied the murders of his father and brother."
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The contradictory statements issued by the NTC excusing these barbaric executions and the grotesque abuse of the corpses make it clear that no person affiliated with the former regime will receive a fair trial in Libya nor will they receive justice for crimes committed against them," the statement said.
Mahmoud Jibril, chairman of the NTC's executive board, has said Gadhafi's right arm was wounded when a gunbattle erupted between the fighters and Gadhafi loyalists as his captors attempted to load him into a vehicle. More shooting erupted as the vehicle drove away, and Gadhafi was shot in the head, dying moments before arriving at a hospital in Misrata, Jibril said, citing the city's coroner.
The United Nations human rights office and activist groups like Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have called for a probe into Gadhafi's death.The United States supports those investigation requests, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday.
"As Libyans move into the future once again, they need to do so with a sense of unity and reconciliation. They need to hold each other accountable. Those who do not have blood on their hands must be made to feel safe and included, regardless of whether or not they supported Gadhafi in the past," she said.
"So we believe in the rule of law, and accountability, and such an investigation would contribute to that."
U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva on Friday that there were "at least two cell-phone videos, one showing (Gadhafi) alive and one showing him dead."
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Taken together, these videos are very disturbing," he said.
"We believe there is a need for an investigation and more details are needed to ascertain whether he was killed in the fighting or after his capture.
Gadhafi's autopsy reveals he was shot in head - CNN.com
U.N. Security Council unanimously condemns Yemen
By Mick B. Krever, CNN
United Nations (CNN) -- The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Friday in favor of a resolution to condemn violence in Yemen, where demonstrators, government forces and rival factions have been embroiled in months of unrest.The 15-0 vote demands that Yemen allow peaceful demonstrations to take place and to end government crackdowns on civilians.
U.S. Ambassador Susan E. Rice said the "Security Council sent a strong message to President (Ali Abdullah) Saleh that it is time to heed the legitimate calls of the Yemeni people for a peaceful and orderly transition toward a unified, stable, secure and democratic Yemen."
"President Saleh has repeatedly pledged to sign the (Gulf Cooperation Council) initiative," Rice said. "Today, the Security Council made clear to President Saleh that his continued equivocation is weakening his country and imperiling a peaceful and democratic future for the people of Yemen.
Friday's resolution does not, however, sanction the embattled leader.The proposed deal, which Rice noted, referenced a GCC-brokered accord, backed by the United States and European Union, whereby Saleh could resign from power in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Peter Wittig, German ambassador to the United Nations, said the resolution was "not ideal" but "can make a difference."
"We would have liked to express those messages that are in that resolution even in a stronger and more unequivocal form, especially the strong call to President Saleh to step down," he said.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman also weighed in Friday, calling the resolution "not sufficient."
"They have to discuss about the ousting of Ali Saleh and that he has to be handed over to the authorities immediately," says the Yemeni activist who plans to stay in the United States "until I am able to submit Ali Saleh's case to the international tribunal."
"But in general," she said of the resolution, "I would say it is good."U.N. director at Human Rights Watch Philippe Bolopio said the group welcome's "the long overdue condemnation of Yemeni government abuses," but Bolopio believes "the Security Council should have more clearly distanced itself from the GCC impunity deal."
Earlier this week, several people were killed during clashes with Yemeni security forces after anti-government protests filled the streets of the country's capital.Crowds had marched through downtown Sanaa, where government forces allegedly gunned down protesters.Hundreds of security forces attempted to restrict the protesters' movements, and tear-gas canisters could be seen flying toward the crowd, said hospital director Mohammed Qubati.
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition on anonymity, said that Friday's resolution, introduced by Germany and the United Kingdom, would send a strong signal of urgency for political transition.The official said that unanimity is an indication of greater consensus on the council.Russia and China issued a rare double veto of a resolution condemning the violence in Syria this month.
Security Council members have said a political solution in Yemen should be based on a initiative put forward by the GCC, a political and economic union of Arab states.
U.N. Security Council unanimously condemns Yemen - CNN.com
Syrian, Yemen opposition buoyed by Gadhafi death
CNN) -- Inspired by the death of deposed Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi in Libya, demonstrators took to the streets of Syria and Yemen on Friday filled with a renewed sense of purpose to end the regimes there.In Syria, protesters flooded streets in Homs, Idlib and other areas, congratulating the Libyan people and warning their own ruler that he could soon meet the same fate. "Now Gadhafi is done, done! It is your turn Bashar!" they chanted.
Security forces raided areas in Jisr Al-Shoghour and fired on homes in the Bab Amr neighborhood in Homs with machine guns, vehicle-mounted weapons and anti-aircraft guns, the Local Coordinating Committees, a Syrian opposition group that organizes protests, reported. It said a total of 24 people died across the country in the fighting. CNN cannot independently verify events inside of Syria.
In Yemen, demonstrations broke out in 17 provinces and in the capital city of Sanaa, where thousands of demonstrators took to Change Square. They flew the Libyan revolutionary flag and chanted,
"Saleh the killer look at where Gadhafi is now; his forces could not save his life." Women in the crowd carried roses, a symbol of peaceful revolution in Yemen.
"Saleh will not sleep after seeing what happened to Gadhafi," Ahmed Bahri, head of the political circle in the opposition Haq party said. "He knows Gadhafi was more powerful than him but still fell."
The next chapter in the Arab Spring The death of a dictator Gadhafi was hiding in drainage pipe Libyans celebrate in front of White HouseMohammed al-Salami, a youth activist in Sanaa, called the ongoing demonstrations across the Middle East and Africa "the era of the people.""We will not accept being ruled by families who want to take our wealth," he said. "Saleh knows he will fall and he is panicking and killing innocent people."The Syrian movement to oust President Bashar al-Assad seized on Libya's tale of a populist uprising chasing a widely despised tyrant into a sewer drain."The Libyan people chased the Libyan colonel like he said he would chase them... chased him into a sewage drain... and now your turn has come doctor, from the people you described as germs," the Syrian Revolution Facebook page said.
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Wonder if youšll be able to buy time and get away with your own skin like Ben Ali did... or will you stand behind bars like the deposed Mubarak.... or will you run like Gadhafi ran and your people will chase you down?"
Hosni Mubarak is Egypt's toppled leader and Zine Abedine Ben Ali is Tunisia's former ruler. The phrase "doctor" is a reference to al-Assad's profession, ophthalmology.
Syrian demonstrators chanted in support of the Libyan people on Thursday night in demonstrations in the provinces of Homs and Idlib and other locations warning. The protesters kept up their chants on Friday after prayers, with outpourings in Hama, Damascus and other places.
The Local Coordinating Committees said 24 people died in protests Friday in Homs, Hama, Idlib and the Damascus suburb of Saqba, where defectors from the armed forces were fighting government security forces.Syrian security forces have launched a fierce crackdown against protesters who've taken to the streets since mid-March to protest the government and its policies. More than 3,000 people have died, according to activists and the United Nations.
The LCC issued a statement Friday congratulating Libya and warning al-Assad and other dictatorial regimes.
"This third great victory for the Arab Revolutions sends a critical message to the region, the people suffering under other tyrants, and the world at large." the LCC said. "Therefore, there is no turning back from the demands for freedom, or from the dear and generous blood and souls of those who perished in the fight."
Syrian, Yemen opposition buoyed by Gadhafi death - CNN.com
No oil bounty for France and UK as Libya rebuilds
By John Hamilton, Special to CNN
London (CNN) -- As the National Transitional Council (NTC) prepares to dissolve itself, and its replacement starts working towards Libya's new constitution and democratic institutions, it is worth reflecting why the United Kingdom and France supported the revolution back in late March. Contrary to what some believe, it was not all about oil; but oil and gas will be central to Libya's recovery.
John Hamilton
No oil bounty for France and UK as Libya rebuilds - CNN.com
There is no doubt that if the No Fly Zone had not been imposed and the decision to back regime change was not taken, then Colonel Moammar Gadhafi would have carried out his threat to punish Benghazi for its February 17 uprising, at enormous human cost. But even if Prime Minister David Cameron and President Nicolas Sarkozy were motivated by humanitarian concerns -- and encouraged by the feasibility of protecting an enclave that had bravely won freedom for itself -- could they nevertheless be expecting a bounty in return for their support?
There has been a lot of disinformation and muddled thinking on this question, starting with the letter purportedly written by the rebels in early April promising to assign France 35% of the country's oil in return for its support. The NTC has denied making such a commitment, but even if it had, would any new and legitimate government of Libya need to honor it? What, indeed, does Libya's oil wealth amount to and how should the new government manage it?The answers to these questions show just how impossible it will be for the rulers of the new Libyan state to hand out portions of its reserves and production to its friends, or for Britain, France and even Italy, which has huge political influence and vast interests in Libya's oil and gas sector, to expect many favors.Gadhafi's body in Misrata cooler Gadhafi's death inspires Arab protesters Inside Gadhafi's last moments
Libya's past oil production of about 1.6 million barrels per day was sold on contracts arranged by the National Oil Corporation (NOC)'s opaque oil marketing committee. There is a lot which the new management can do to make this process more transparent and open and also to account for revenues more fully. It is in the country's interests to ensure the process is competitive.
Any future scramble for new Libyan hydrocarbons reserves will also be competitive. Existing reserves are of course spoken for. All of Libya's production belongs either to subsidiaries of NOC or to approximately half a dozen joint ventures with European, U.S. and Canadian companies. Dozens of other companies including ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Gazprom have exploration rights to large areas of Libya's desert and sea, but so far not many of them have made discoveries. These rights are tied up in contracts most of which give a very good deal to the Libyan side.
Initially the NTC said it would honor all these contracts unless there was clear evidence of corruption. It has shifted this position somewhat in response to popular pressure. The interim oil and finance minister Ali Tarhouni recently announce the formation of a committee which will examine every contract. But changes at this level are unlikely. Many of the recent contracts were awarded in highly-competitive open licensing rounds in which the scope for corruption was very limited. The older contracts could be more doubtful, but these are the producing contracts -- the country's life blood. The government may make the bold move of publishing them, but cannot cancel them without huge cost.
If anything is up for grabs in the Libya of the future, it could be service contracts to help the state oil company improve production from its existing fields and further exploration rights for gas. In the two months since the Gadhafi regime fell, the NTC has brought oil production back up to 300-400,000 barrels per day. From now every extra 100,000 barrels will be more difficult, costly and time-consuming to bring back. Thousands of workers have to return, and a huge amount of investment is required to recapitalize the oil field camps, many of which have been looted over the past six months. Some wells will also need repair as will the main export terminals in the Gulf of Sirte, which suffered the most damage in the conflict.
The gas potential is huge and largely unrealized. Libya already sends gas to Italy by pipeline, but it is a much less significant producer than its neighbor Algeria. It would like to find more gas and take a larger slice of the European market. Shell and BP are amongst those already involved in expensive projects to make this happen. New exploration contracts could be issued: French and British companies could benefit. Italy's Eni is already a predominant player, and has returned to the country more quickly than its competitors.
But they are not the only contenders. Some analysts expect that Qatar, holder of the world's third largest gas reserves and a vital supporter of the NTC, may work alongside Libya to market any future gas to Europe, perhaps cooperating on Liquid Natural Gas developments. In any case, the gas has to be found first.
U.S. pullout in Iraq raises concerns about Iran
(CNN) -- The announced withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq put new attention Friday on the influence of Iran, accused of supporting Iraqi militias that have killed American soldiers, but analysts were reluctant to declare the pullout a clear victory for Iran.
Still, President Obama's announcement that all servicemen in Iraq will be home for New Year's -- ending a war that began in 2003 -- could reveal weaknesses and vulnerabilities in Iraq, which could strengthen Iran's hand, analysts said.
"It will not have negative effects against Iran," James Gelvin, history professor at the University of California at Los Angeles and Middle East expert, said about the U.S. pullout.
But the relationship between Iran and Iraq's Shias isn't monolithic, especially if Iraq's firebrand Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr seeks to reassert his own power, he said. Iran and Iraq have a Shia majority.
"There are tensions" between Iran and Iraq, Gelvin said. "We don't know if this is going to be a replay of (the Iran-Iraq War of) 1980 to 1988 or if it's going to be different. I think anyone giving you information on this is whistling in the wind."
Mike Breen, vice president of the progressive Truman National Security Project in Washington, described the ties between Iran and Iraq as "complicated."
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I would say it's too soon to tell because the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government are only beginning to write the next chapter in their nation's history, and they have a complicated relationship with their neighbor Iran, and that's not always been a positive relationship," Breen said.On the one hand, Iran, one of the last theocracies and military regimes in the Middle East, is surrounded by the democratic uprisings of Arab Spring. But its immediate borders will no longer have to face the might of the U.S. military, analysts said.
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At the very least, what they get out of an American withdrawal of Iraq is an extraordinarily weak Iraq, and at most they get a manipulable Iraq," Gelvin said.
"The American position in the region is weakening, which means that regional powers are going to exert themselves more. And the two most important regional powers right now are Turkey and Iran. Without the United States really there, people are going to be looking around and perhaps cutting deals," Gelvin said.
But Denis McDonough, the president's deputy national security adviser, contended that Iran is becoming more isolated in the eyes of the international community -- as well as weaker economically. He cited the international criticism against Iran's human rights record and nuclear program.
"Am I afraid about the Iranians?" McDonough told CNN. "The answer is no."Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona differed and said he was concerned about the U.S. pullout -- and how it works to Iran's advantage.
"We're leaving Iraq completely -- which is the No. 1 priority of the Iranian(s)," McCain said. "We are taking unnecessary risks in Afghanistan by withdrawing troops there, and I can tell you from traveling the world, that in the world they believe the United States is withdrawing and is weakening. That's a fact."
A U.S. official who was not authorized to speak for attribution said the Iraqis "will not roll over" to Iran and added how the two nations have a long history of border disputes and fought the eight-year war from 1980 to 1988.
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The Iranians have been trying to gain influence in Iraq for some time and will continue to do so. It's in Iran's interest to have a relationship with a neighbor they've gone to war with in the past. At the end of the day, however, the Iraqi people will decide whether Iranian meddling is acceptable," the official said.
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Iranian influence in Iraq has limits," the official added.
"The Iraqi people have a strong sense of nationalism and won't take kindly to interference from a neighbor with whom it fought a bloody war."
U.S. commanders, including Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, have blamed Shia Muslim militias backed by Iran for increased deadly attacks on American troops.
Last month, Major Gen. David G. Perkins, the commander of U.S. Division-North and the 4th Infantry Division, said that Iranian-backed attacks or militias have been active throughout Iraq.
"The majority of them historically have occurred in the south, in Baghdad," Perkins said. "The areas where I see them up here in the north historically have been in Diyala province, because I kind of have a Sunni-Shia divide there. And at the beginning of the year, we were seeing Iranian-type munitions such as our explosively formed penetrators and things like that, which come across the border from Iran.
"Recently, there has been a reduction in the number of attacks that we attribute to Iranian-backed militias. But, again, we know that capacity is there, so we keep those pressures on those networks," Perkins said.
U.S. pullout in Iraq raises concerns about Iran - CNN.com