Bahrain police 'suppress protest'

     Anti-government protests took place around the country after emergency laws were lifted on Wednesday

Bahraini police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters marching
against the government near the capital Manama, witnesses say.


The crackdown on Friday came just two days after the tiny Gulf kingdom's
authorities lifted emergency rule.


The protesters in Manama were marching adjacent to the city's Pearl
Roundabout, which was the epicentre of weeks of protests against the kingdom's
Sunni rulers, with demonstrators in particular demanding more rights for the
island nation's majority Shia population.


There were no immediate reports of injuries during the protests, the
witnesses said. They spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals.


Witnesses said that police fired tear gas at a crowd of hundreds of people
who had gathered to mourn Zainab Altajer, who died on Thursday. Opposition
activists said she died as a result of exposure to tear gas, but the government
said her death was due to natural causes.

The protesters marched through the village of
Sanabis, adjacent to the Pearl roundabout.

Also on Friday, hundreds of mourners gathered at a
cemetery in Manama to bury Salman Abu Idris, a 63-year old protester who died in
hospital, earlier in the day, of injuries from a demonstration in March, a
witness told Al Jazeera.

Security forces had set up multiple checkpoints
around the cemetery in Gudaibya, where they were checking the identities of
those attempting to attend the funeral, and refused entry to "many", the witness
said.

He said that people at the funeral were "calm", and
while some in the crowd did raise slogans against the ruling al-Khalifa family
at one point, "not many people chanted with them".

He said some left after the funeral to protest at
the slums near Bab al-Bahrain, but were stopped by security forces armed with
tear gas and rubber bullets. It did not appear that security forces used these
weapons in that confrontation, however.

The witness was speaking to Al Jazeera on condition
of anonymity, for fear of reprisals from the authorities

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki has a master plan to expedite Palestinian statehood [Reuters]

With Mideast peace talks at an impasse, Palestinians have been looking for another route to statehood: the United Nations.

“We are taking our destiny in our hands,” the Palestinian’s top UN diplomat told a small group of reporters in New York on Tuesday.

Ambassador Riyad Mansour predicted millions of Palestinians would take to the streets come September, when the UN General Assembly meets, to support the cause. He drew parallels to the peaceful Arab uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

“The battle for our independence is not only the battle of the Palestinian leadership. This is the battle of millions of Palestinians,” Mansour said.

“I believe the Palestinian people are capable and I believe also that they want to engage in this last chapter of the struggle of ending occupation.”

He said work is already underway behind the scenes at the United Nations, as he lobbies countries to recognize a Palestinian state.

Palestine is already recognized by 112 countries. But 130 would give them a 2/3 majority in the UN’s General Assembly - the number necessary to become an official member.

There’s just one problem; according to the UN Charter, a country cannot become a member state without first getting the support of nine members of the Security Council. The United States has indicated it will veto a statehood request, saying the only way is through direct negotiations with Israel.

Mansour said the Palestinians have “other options” but refused to elaborate.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki has said that the Palestinians will seek an emergency session of the General Assembly known as "Uniting for Peace" to override any veto.

General Assembly President Joseph Deiss and Security Council diplomats have all said that membership is not possible without a referral by the Security Council. The legal question currently open to debate is whether or not a vote of support in the General Assembly would be anything more than symbolic.

For now, the Palestinians’ emphasis is on building international support for their statehood - and by extension putting pressure on the United States.

 “What would be the argument of President Barack Obama in trying really to disregard this wish,” Mansour said, pointing to the President's stated admiration for democratic movements in Tunisia and Egypt. “Not only of the Palestinian leadership but the entire Palestinian population?”

Fighting continues across Libya

NATO has extended its Libyan mission for a further 90 days, after Muammar Gaddafi made it clear he would not step down, dashing hopes of a negotiated end to the fighting.
Fifteen weeks since Libya's conflict began it is anyone's guess who is winning. NATO's raids are helping some rebels in their push west, but others feel they have been abandoned in the mountains.

The worry for thousands of Libyans right now is a lack of food, water and electricity. Some areas are fast running out of rations.
Al Jazeera's James Bays reports from the Zintan mountains

'Islamic Revolution model of uprisings'

                                                             Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar

Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar says the recent uprisings in the Arab world are a result of the Islamic Revolution of Iran.

“The uprising of the Muslim nations in the Middle East is indicative of Islamic awakening and it is undoubtedly one of the consequences of the Islamic Revolution,” ISNA quoted Najjar on Sunday. 

Speaking during a visit to the northern province of Gilan, the interior minister cautioned that enemies of the Islamic Revolution are making efforts to contain the recent movements in the region and “hijack” them through plots and human rights slogans. 

Najjar went on to say that enemies remain fearful that Iran's Islamic Revolution would serve as a model for other nations, since in the course of the last three decades the Revolution has made significant achievements. 

He emphasized that the Revolution in Iran was not a mere theoretical phenomenon but was a realistic event based on the foundations of Islam and the country's constitution which brought honor and triumph in areas such as space sciences, nuclear energy and stem cells. 

In the past two months, anti-government revolts have been spreading across the Arab world. 

Last month in Tunisia, nationwide outrage at the government's suppressive policies sparked a massive revolution that ousted the 23-year rule of despotic ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and forced him to flee to Saudi Arabia. 

On February 11, a millions-strong nationwide revolution in Egypt, which started on January 25, ended the three-decade rule of US-backed dictator Hosni Mubarak. 

Other anti-government uprisings have taken place in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Jordan and Oman, as more Arab countries are expected to stage similar popular revolts. 

'Deadliest day' in Syria uprising - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

At least 75 people are reported to have been killed in Syria in the bloodiest day since the uprising began, as security forces use live ammunition and tear gas to quell anti-government protests across the country, according to Amnesty International, the London-based rights group.

Syrian activists sent Al Jazeera a list naming 103 people from across the country who they said had been killed by security forces during the "Great Friday" protests.

SANA, the official news agency, said that 10 people had died in clashes between protesters and passers-by, and that security forces had only used tear gas and water cannons.

Rights groups and pro-democracy activists dispute this claim.

Fifteen of the protester's deaths took place in Izraa, near the flashpoint southern town of Daraa, according to the list released by activists, while another 21 were reported to have occured in Homs.

Deaths were also reported in Douma and Zamalka, near Damascus (see this video posted from an unknown source from Zamalka).

Other places where protesters were killed include Homs, Syria's third largest city, Moadamia and Daraa.

Demonstrators marching in peace were surprised by security forces' live ammunition, according to Hazem, a protester who spoke to Al Jazeera via phone from a Damascus suburb.

"Demonstrators were going with olive branches, it was peaceful" until they were "surprised by live ammunition from some security forces in one of the flats of the street", Hazem said.

The protesters took to the streets to mark what activists dubbed "Great Friday" - the biggest demonstrations against Bashar al-Assad's government to date.

Map of April 22 'Great Friday' protests across Syria

Al Jazeera's Rula Amin reported from Damascus, which until now had been relatively calm, that the level of tension in the city on Friday marked a new point in the uprising.

"This day is turning into a very bloody day, probably the bloodiest since the protests started," she said.

A heavy security presence prevented protests from taking off in Damascus.

"Obviously the government want[s] to make a point, the capital is a redline and they will not allow the protests to reach the capital," she said.

Several witnesses, including medical professionals, told Al Jazeera that many of the injured were either being refused access to hospitals or were too scared to seek treatment.

A spokesperson for the ministry of information told Al Jazeera on Friday that security forces would fire on protesters only if they were fired upon first.

State television, meanwhile, aired a talk show where speakers blamed foreign media, including Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya and BBC Arabic, for inciting the protests.

Violence in Homs

Speaking under condition of anonymity, a witness in Homs described how about 200 protesters, moving ahead of a 3,000-strong group, came under fire as they marched down Cairo Street, close to the Clock Square that has been the city's focus for protests.

"Suddenly the security opened fire on us randomly," the activist told Al Jazeera by phone.

One of those killed in the city by government officers was a 25-year-old protester named Mohammed Bassam al-Kahil, he said.

Meanwhile, another witness in Hasakah, in Syria's mainly Kurdish northeast, told Al Jazeera that demonstrators gathering at a mosque after prayers were attacked by pro-government protesters.

Syrian activists co-ordinating the protests against al-Assad's rule have demanded the abolition of his Baath Party's monopoly on power and the establishment of a democratic political system.

In the first joint statement since protests erupted five weeks ago, the Local Co-ordination Committees, representing provinces across Syria, said "freedom and dignity slogans cannot be achieved except through peaceful democratic change".

"All prisoners of conscience must be freed. The existing security apparatus has to be dismantled and replaced by one with specific jurisdiction and which operates according to law," the joint statement said.

Contest of wills