Qaddafi pledged an imminent assault on rebel stronghold Benghazi that would show “no mercy,” while France promised air-strikes on Qaddafi’s forces “within hours” after the UN Security Council approved military action.
Libyan rebels battle Qaddafi-loyalist forces at Ajdabiya, as the provisional opposition government in Benghazi, just 150 miles up the coast, prepare for an assault on the city.
Some 200 Syrians defied a state emergency in place since 1963 to gather in Damascus to demand a political opening, chanting “God, Syria, liberty” and “Syrians, where are you?”
Hundreds of riot police backed up by tanks, bulldozers and helicopters killed at least two and wounded dozens more as they cleared a protest camp in Bahrain’s Pearl Square.
Dozens were injured as police cracked down on protesters in Casablanca and stormed the offices of the United Socialist Party. Leaders pledged to go ahead with a massive mobilization on March 20.
Saudi Arabia sent 1,000 troops into neighboring Bahrain to put down protesters that have occupied Manama’s financial center, as a White House spokesman said “This is not an invasion.”
Qaddafi-loyalist forces pushed deeper into rebel-held eastern Libya, overrunning the oil hub of Port Brega as opposition leaders in Benghazi issued an urgent call for a no-fly zone.
Two protesters were shot by police in Aden, as disturbing reports emerged from Sanaa of protesters passing out and going into convulsions after inhaling gas fired by police.
Following a day of clashes between police and protesters, Saudi Arabia is preparing to send troops to neighboring Bahrain in response to a request from crown prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa.
Some 60,000 Germans marched against nuclear power, forming a 45-kilometer human chain from Neckarwestheim power plant to the city of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg state.
Three were killed as security forces broke up a 100,000-strong sit-in to demand the ouster of Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh. A 14-year-old boy was also killed by police in the port of Mukalla.
Officials are denying that the reactor has exploded at Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, but admit that local hourly radiation levels are already at what is considered safe for a year.
