COTE D'IVOIRE: Fighting with heavy weapons resume in the Abobo neighborhood in Abidjan

AFP - The heavy gunfire resumed Saturday in the Abobo neighborhood in Abidjan that families fled after a week of clashes between forces loyal to incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo and the armed insurgents who have left Cote d'Ivoire on the verge of explosion.

According to these witnesses, the shooting resumed in early afternoon outside the sector "PK-18" in the heart of the fighting that has turned into a battlefield this northern district supports Alassane Ouattara, recognized head of state by the international community after the disputed November 28 presidential election.

Residents said the firing had almost ceased since Friday but "Baghdad", is now known as Abobo, retained traces of those days of fire and blood.

"This morning I saw bodies, apparently civilians, which no one recovered," he told AFP driver, but did not say when they were killed.

An assessment of the fighting was still impossible to establish, but several witnesses reported clashes very deadly.

"The work goes on" in Abobo, told reporters the General Philippe Mangou, Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces and Security (FDS) loyal to Gbagbo.

Meanwhile, the exodus continued."The area is empty," said a resident after a night under curfew, a measure introduced for the weekend by the Gbagbo regime in the southern half of the country under its control.

"The mini-buses could enter and are attacked" by mothers and their children, told this young woman, herself part of the family join in the Yopougon (west).

Called by the local press "commando invisible" group, including armed with rocket launchers, which attacked the SDS since January in Abobo before intensify activity in recent days, continues to generate queries.

For SDS, it is composed of elements infiltrated the "rebellion" of the Forces Nouvelles (FN) holding the north since the failed coup of 2002 and joined forces with Alassane Ouattara in the beginning of the crisis resulting from November ballot.

But the camp is Ouattara denies any involvement, saying it is people who took up arms or SDS defectors.

In the political capital Yamoussoukro theater for the first time fighting with heavy weapons on the night of Thursday to Friday, calm had returned Saturday.

The city "timidly resumed its activities, many shops are closed and there is little busy the market," he told the morning a local journalist.

In the "Great West" unstable region near Liberia, the situation was uncertain following the decision by the FN from two localities on the borders of the southern zone.FDS assured Saturday having driven the enemy.

The past week has given an almost surreal to mediation efforts led by the African Union to resolve the crisis, which has already killed at least 315 deaths according to UN and driven tens of thousands of Ivorians to flee the country.

Four Heads of State - Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (Mauritania), Jacob Zuma (South Africa), Idriss Deby (Chad) and Jakaya Kikwete (Tanzania) - Ivorian rivals met earlier this week in Abidjan.

Charged initially to develop solutions "binding" on the parties by the end of February, they will consult again on March 4 in Nouakchott. "We're not out of the woods", agreed by the Mauritanian president.

LIBYA: In Paris, a hundred people denounce crimes Gaddafi

Abderahim, 32, is in France for several months. Tour guide in his country, he came to follow French courses in Montpellier, before initiating studies of Greco-Roman history. His father and sisters remained in Benghazi, a city in northern Libya, where dozens of people have died since the beginning of the protest movement, according to several organizations. "I'm very worried," said Abderrahim. It's four days as the Internet and telephones are cut off. I have not heard from my family. "

Beshah, an archaeologist of 44 years, he left the coastal city of Al-Bayda two years ago. He was only "occasionally" for news of loved ones. "The situation is catastrophic," he assures. It's war. Libyans were killed by mercenaries in Africa.Today, it is even more for the freedom that is manifest, but so that our people can stay alive. "

"Before yesterday with Tunisians, Egyptians yesterday, today with the Libyans"

Avenue de Suffren Paris, a few dozen meters from the Libyan embassy, a hundred people gathered Tuesday afternoon. Men, women, children ... "Gaddafi, murderer!" they shouted in chorus. Demonstrators waved pictures of victims of violent repression of demonstrations, circulating on the Internet.

The Libyans are only a few hundred in France, including many university students. Medicine, engineering, research ... Some came from Lyon or Strasbourg to warn about the situation of their country.Ahmed, sunglasses and hat on his head, follows last year and a half trained as a pilot line in Toulouse. "I have a scholarship from my government for my education, but I do not agree with this regime," he says. He prefers not to be photographed: not for himself but for his family and his younger brother stayed in Tripoli. He also discusses the "African mercenaries" who "enter houses, attack the girls, shooting at people."

Tunisians, Egyptians, Syrians and Algerians also came to express their solidarity. "We were two days ago with the Tunisian people, the Egyptian people yesterday, today and tomorrow with the Libyans we will certainly be with other people in the Arab world, says Boushaki, Franco-Tunisian.Even if Libya is in total isolation, the limited information we receive allows us to follow live the bloody events taking place. Muammar Gaddafi government for nearly 42 years, is a world record. He must go! "

"Libya has oil and gas"

Moved, Dhekra, a Tunisian, it provides also want to alert public opinion. Very active since the beginning of the revolution in Tunisia, it has created on Facebook about twenty pages noting the departure of ousted President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, the resignation of the French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, the France's ambassador in Tunis Boillon Boris ... "The movement is different revolutions Libyan Tunisian or Egyptian," she said.There, Saif al-Islam [a son of Muammar Gaddafi, ed] clearly says that if the challenge does not stop, he would kill everyone until the last. "

All hope now that Muammar Gaddafi will quickly leave power. Beshah dream of elections and democracy. In a country where most people would not live in misery. "What we miss most in Libya? Justice! Abderahim said. In recent years, Muammar Gaddafi has changed its foreign policy, but never his domestic policy. We are a rich country but a third of the population lives below the poverty, I am 32 years old and I can not buy a house. "

Ahmed, himself, is less optimistic."I hope the international community will stop these crimes, this is not the first of which Gaddafi is responsible. But Libya has oil and gas, so I doubt it ..."

BAHRAIN: The army fired on demonstrators in Manama

The Bahraini army fired on Friday a thousand people who wanted to take a sit-in in Manama, leaving many wounded, while the crown prince promised a dialogue with opponents, once peace is restored in this tiny Gulf kingdom .

Dozens of people were injured when soldiers opened fire on demonstrators, according to an AFP photographer on the spot.

The protesters were trying to get to the Place de la Perle, where security forces forcibly dispersed at dawn Thursday a sit-in against the plan, sources said.

"Twenty-six wounded, some severely affected were admitted to hospital Salmaniya," he told AFP an elected official of the opposition Shiite, Ali al-Assouad, adding that the injured was "in a state of clinical death. "

"The army fired live ammunition against more than a thousand people who wanted to visit the Place de la Perle" he said.

The AFP photographer who visited the hospital, saw dozens of wounded, victims of this first event since the dispersion of the sit-in Thursday that killed four, according to the opposition and families victims.

The shooting occurred while the Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, speaking on state television to promise a dialogue with the opposition once calm was restored.

"I make no distinction between a Bahraini and another and what is happening now is unacceptable," said Prince Salman.

"Bahrain has never been a police state," he said, stressing: "I'm not lying.All these people are my countrymen and the phase we are going through is difficult and requires us to be all responsible, "he said.

"It is important that our dialogue is going on in a quiet overall," he said, assuring that "no subject can not be excluded from this dialogue."

"Bahrain is currently experiencing a state of division and that is unacceptable," he hammered the prince, noting that "many countries have experienced such a state but that their elders have come to talk of everything in a calm."

King Hamad Ben Issa Al-Khalifa, then decided to instruct the Crown Prince's "dialogue with all parties without exception," including the opposition, giving him why "the powers necessary", according to state television State.

Through cooperation "sincere", "Bahrain will come out stronger," he said.

Bahrain, a small kingdom populated predominantly Shia is ruled since the 18th century by a Sunni dynasty.

While the Shiites buried Friday killed four of their suppression of a sit-in demanding democratic reforms, suppressed by force Thursday before dawn, thousands of Sunnis marched in Manama to express their support to King Hamad bin Salman Al-Khalifa.

The opposition claimed the government's resignation after the dispersion by the force of a peaceful rally, said Thursday at the AFP chief of Shiite Al-Wefaq, Sheikh Ali Salman.

The Prime Minister, Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the king's uncle, is in the position since Bahrain's independence in 1971.

Because of continuing tensions, the opposition groups have decided to postpone until Tuesday a march originally scheduled Saturday. At the initiative of seven opposition groups, the march was to converge on the Place de la Perle.

Bahrain is of strategic importance for Washington, which has set up the headquarters of its Fifth Fleet, to monitor the maritime routes used by tankers to support operations in Afghanistan and to counter a potential Iranian threat.

ITALY: Judge orders an "immediate trial" against Berlusconi in Ruby

AFP - The Judge Cristina Di Censo decided Tuesday an "immediate trial" for the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi for use in prostitution of a minor and abuse of office in a sex scandal Rubygate, according to judicial sources quoted by Italian media.

The magistrate set the first hearing of this accelerated procedure under the Italian Penal Code in cases of "clear evidence" to 6 April at 0830 GMT.

"We do not expect anything," responded the lawyer of Berlusconi.

The billionaire is thought to have paid for sexual services of Ruby, a young Moroccan Karim El Mahroug when she was a minor between February and May 2010 and to be reached with the police in Milan to secure the release after his arrest the night of 27 May 28 robbery.

Both Mr Berlusconi has denied that Ruby had sex, the girl who turned 18 in November, admitting only to have participated in dinners "perfectly normal and wise."

In addition, the defense of Mr.Berlusconi says he intervened to free the girl because he believed it was "the niece of President Hosni Mubarak" and wanted to preserve good relations with his country.

The Rubygate is the third sex scandal involving Mr. Berlusconi, after business Noemi (May 2009), a minor whose attendance had reached a divorce from his wife, and D'Addario (June 2009), a prostitute who had told a torrid night with Berlusconi.

But this is the case the most serious because it is punishable by three years in prison for engaging in prostitution and twelve years in prison for abuse of office.

UNITED KINGDOM: The trial of Julian Assange ends this Friday

AFP - Julian Assange arrived Friday mid-morning at Belmarsh court in east London, who must complete the review of the request for extradition to Sweden by the founder of Wikileaks in a case of alleged rape, has a journalist from AFP.

The Australian of 39 years was accompanied by three of his lawyers.

The court must hear from 10.30am (local time and GMT) the conclusions of the defense and prosecution in this case.

The court in Belmarsh, which began to address this matter on Monday, the hearing was originally scheduled to close Tuesday, but the intervention of the witnesses called by the defense was longer than expected.

Justice will rule on the admissibility of extradition made by Sweden.The use is, however, that in such cases, the decision is taken under advisement.

Mr. Assange is claimed by the Swedish court in a case of alleged rapes and sexual assaults on two women during a stay in Sweden in August. He has always denied the charges against him.

His lawyers argue in particular that the fact that the Swedish court wants to question does not justify his extradition. They also argue that the warrant of arrest for their client was disproportionate, and that the charges against Mr.Assange are not crimes under British law.

Arrested in early December in London, founder of Wikileaks has lived for two months on parole in England.

His supporters say the charges against him were intended to discredit the work of its website Wikileaks, which was published last year many secret U.S. documents that have embarrassed Washington. Following the dissemination of American diplomatic telegrams, Wikileaks had been victim of several cyber-attacks last December.

RUSSIA: An Islamist group claims responsibility of the Caucasus in Moscow

The leader of the rebel Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus, Chechen, Doku Umarov, claimed Monday night's suicide bombing in Moscow-Domodedovo airport, which killed 36 people on January 24, in a video posted on the site Kavkazcenter. com.

"This special operation (at the airport on January 24) was done on my orders," he said in this video, where he threatened to carry out further attacks.

Saturday, Doku Umarov had already promised to make 2011 a year "blood and tears" to Russia in another video posted on the internet.

In the latest video, made, he said, the day of the attack at the airport, January 24, Doku Umarov said it had acted on behalf of Allah and in order to create a free Islamic state in the North Caucasus .

The operation is a response to crimes of Russia in the Caucasus, says it in this video where he appears alone wearing camouflage.

This is the second attack in the capital Moscow in less than a year. In March 2010, a double suicide bombing in Moscow metro has already killed 40 people.

And Doku Umarov, alias Abu Oussman, had also claimed responsibility for deadly attacks and said it was an act of "revenge" operations of Russian forces in the Caucasus, in another video posted on the site.

Regarding the attack at the airport Domodedovo, Russian investigative committee has so far indicated that the bomber responsible for the suicide bombing, was a 20 year old man originally from the North Caucasus region of southern Russia plagued by Islamist rebellion.

He also said that the attack, which took place in the international arrivals area of the airport, was intended primarily to kill foreigners.

A source within the Russian security forces said last week the Interfax news agency that the suicide bomber was Magomed Yevloyev, 20, son of a schoolteacher and a bus driver originating in the unstable republic of Ingushetia, bordering Chechnya.

In a survey published Friday, the Russian tabloid reported that Tvoya Dien Magomed Yevloyev had left for military service in November 2009 in Vladivostok (Far East), but he returned after three months of being reformed to health reasons.

Shortly after the explosion at the arrival terminal for international flights from Moscow Domodedovo, the family, which also has three daughters and one son, left the village after receiving a visit from members of the Federal Security Service ( FSB), the newspaper said.

Sunday, the Russian police launched a search against two men allegedly involved in the attack at the airport and come from Ingushetia, as the suspected suicide bomber, police said.

"A review of research has been launched against two young men who disappeared from the village of Ali-Yurt (Ingushetia) at about the same time as Magomed Yevloyev, who, according to preliminary data, triggered the explosive device at Domodedovo , "the source said the agency Interfax.

After the first Chechen war (1994-1996) between Russian forces and separatist rebellion has gradually Islamized and has increasingly spilled over the borders Chechnya to become the mid-2000s in an armed Islamist movement active in all the North Caucasus.

"The Emirate of Caucasus", in addition to attacks at Moscow airport Domodedovo in the Moscow metro and in March, claimed the attack in November 2009 against a passenger train from Moscow to Saint Petersburg (28 dead ) and another car bomb in September 2010 at a market in Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia (17 dead).

KAZAKHSTAN: President Nazarbayev to call an early presidential election on April 3

AFP - The president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has set Friday to advance a presidential election on April 3, after excluding a few days to extend his term by plebiscite, while promising to stay in power.

"In accordance with paragraph 3-1 of Article 41 of the Constitution of Kazakhstan, an early presidential election is scheduled for April 3, 2011," is it stated in the decree signed by Mr. Nazarbayev.

Kazakh President has been elected for seven years in December 2005, winning the election with over 91% of the vote. Subsequently, a constitutional reform has reduced the presidential term to five years while lifting the ban on Mr.Nazarbayev to run again.

The head of the Kazakh state, 70, said Monday the organization of early elections at an unspecified date, rejecting the holding of a referendum to extend his term until 2020 as desired by the Parliament.

Kazakh President, in office for over twenty years and the Soviet period, however, had promised in a speech to the nation late January that he would remain in power as his health permitted.

On Wednesday, the Parliament, where all seats are controlled by the Nur Otan party, headed by the Head of State, adopted a constitutional reform allowing the president to convene a Presidential Early in this former Soviet republic in Central Asia abounding of hydrocrabures.

This revision of the Basic Law following the rejection by Nazarbayev signed an initiative by five million citizens, validated by Parliament for a referendum abolishing the 2012 presidential and 2017 to maintain the head of State in power until 2020.

Power Kazakhstan said this week that the president would be overwhelming victory at the polls early.

"I'm sure Nursultan Nazarbayev won 95.9% of the votes of the electors of Kazakhstan," said a presidential advisor Ermoukhamet Ertysbaïev, in an interview with pro-government newspaper Liter."Like last time, there will be lots of applications from dwarf (policies) that have absolutely no chance," he said.

No election in Kazakhstan has been recognized as free by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) since independence in 1991.

Mr. Nazarbayev and his counterpart in Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, is the last two leaders of former Soviet republics to have been leading their countries of Soviet times.

In 2010, Kazakh President has been given the title of Elbassy (Leader of the Nation of Kazakhstan), a status it confers lifetime, the power to decide major policy directions of the country and a lifelong immunity .

The decision of Mr.Nazarbayev did not extend his term by referendum came after sharp criticism from Western allies, the United States and the European Union.

The West generally avoids criticizing Kazakhstan, to maintain good relations with this strategic oil power flanked by Russia and China.

According to NGO human rights, opposition and independent media are repressed, while the country is de facto headed by a single party since the 2007 legislative elections, in which Nur Otan won all the seats.