Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Cease-Fire?

2115 GMT: The New York Times summarises the context of the three-year sentence handed down today to blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad by an Egyptian military court.

And this is the post in March that got Nabil Sanad into trouble, as he queried whether the Egyptian military --- which he accused of torturing protesters --- was really on the side of the people.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Grimness of Battle

2125 GMT: South African President Jacob Zuma says Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi has accepted the terms of an African Union "road map", whichcalls for a ceasefire, protection of African migrant workers, and consideration of "the demands of the Libyan people" through a transition of power.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera is reporting that regime forces were "completely obliterated" in their assault on Ajdabiya in the east, with coalition aircraft inflicting heavy losses.

2120 GMT: Associated Press photographer Altaf Qadri has been located after going missing on Saturday near Brega in Libya (see 1610 GMT).

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Egypt, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Turn in the Protests

1955 GMT: C.J. Chivers of The New York Times summarises the day's fighting near the opposition-held Ajdabiya in east Libya:

Colonel Qaddafi’s forces began the attack late on Saturday morning with barrages of rocket or artillery fire onto the city’s center. Then, as the smoke rose and confusion reigned, they sent a contingent of ground troops into the city , where a gun battle broke out.

The loyalists’ assault was more determined and organized than the ambushes and exchanges of rocket and artillery fire of recent days. Barrage after barrage of incoming fire thudded and exploded in the city, and loyalist troops advanced behind it. Thick smoke rose and drifted from central parts of Ajdabiya, and by noon, doctors were evacuating the city’s hospital as explosions shook the streets.

Many of the rebels fled once again, streaming north up the highway toward Benghazi, horns honking. One rebel shouted at vehicles as they passed: “Qaddafi’s forces are coming! Go! Go! Go!”

But at least a small cadre of lightly armed local residents remained to fight, stopping the advancing loyalists on the central Istanbul Street.

“We killed 10 of them,” said Said Halum, who stood in the morgue in the late afternoon over the body of his brother, Abdul Ghadir, who had been shot between the eyes. “Our group split into two groups on Istanbul Street and fought them. The firing was very heavy.”

As the gun battle within the city raged, the main rebel force rallied about 10 miles north and by evening was flowing back into the city, where they briefly re-established a degree of control of Ajdabiya’s eastern and central areas.

Gunfire started to ebb in these areas in the evening, but skirmishes could be heard at the city’s southern and western side, and then the barrages started again, prompting many rebels to flee again.

NATO airstrikes came into play in the battle --- at least one large mushroom cloud rose from the city’s western side at about 1:25 p.m. as pro-Qaddafi forces were barraging the city. But again the allied air campaign was unable to keep the colonel’s military from pressing the rebels, as has been the case throughout a week of fighting that saw the ragged opposition forces losing key footholds on the main coastal road, including the city of Brega.

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Libya Video: Eman Al-Obeidi Tells Her Story (with Help of Qaddafi's Son)

On Wednesday, Eman Al-Obeidi, the woman who attempted to tell foreign journalists of her abuse and rape by regime forces but was taken away by security, appeared on camera in a CNN interview.

The interview was arranged by Saadi Qaddafi, the son of the Libyan leader, but transmission was held up for 18 hours by Libyan officials who wanted to review the tape. The video --- unaltered, according to CNN --- was finally transmitted yesterday afternoon.

Saadi Qaddafi later told CNN, "The people responsible for raping her should face charges. She is a strong woman." No one has been arrested in the incident.

Libya, Yemen (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Just Another Day of Many Thousand Protesters

2020 GMT: Der Spiegel reports on a possible shift in the German position on Libya, with Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle saying military support of humanitarian action, such as relief operations, is possible.

Germany abstained on the UN Security Council resolution for a no-fly zone and measures to protect civilians.

1755 GMT: Four journalists --- James Foley of Global Post, Claire Morgana Gillis, an American freelance journalist; Manu Brabo, a Spanish photographer, and Anton Hammerl, a South African photographer -- have been seized by regime forces near Brega in east Libya.

1750 GMT: Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan has said Ankara is holding talks with both sides in Libya, seeking a "roadmap" to achieve a cease-fire.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Coalition Too Slow?

2025 GMT: Opposition forces say that there was fighting on three fronts in Misurata, Libya's third-largest city, with shelling by regime troops and at least one resident killed.

2020 GMT: Egypt's Health Ministry has raised the death toll in the uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak to more than 800, well over double the previous estimate of 384.

The ministry said another 6400 people had been injured.

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Libya Video: Eman Al-Obeidi Talks About Her Ordeal

On Monday, Eman Al Obeidi spoke with CNN. She talked about how she was abused and raped by regime forces, how she was taken away by security forces when she went into a Tripoli hotel to tell foreign journalists, and how she is still threatened.

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Settling Into Conflict

2020 GMT: Abdel Fatah Younis, the head of the pro-democracy opposition's army, addressed a press conference in Benghazi. He said there are no divisions in the rebel army. He continued:

NATO has disappointed us. My staff have been in contact with the NATO envoys to direct them to targets that should protect civilians, but until now, NATO has not given us what we need...

Civilians are dying daily in Misurata because of lack of food or milk, even children are dying. Even by bombing. If NATo waits for another week, it will be a crime that NATO will have to carry. What is NATO doing? It is shelling some defined areas only.

2010 GMT: Two civilians were killed and six others were wounded when two roadside bombs exploded outside a shiite mosque in western Baghdad. 

2000 GMT: Video showing Libyan rebels modifying rockets/missile launchers in an unknown place. 

1955 GMT: Qaddafi forces have razed a mosque in Az Zawiyah that had been used by rebels as a base.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: How Far with the Opposition?

1915 GMT: An update on the violence today in Taiz, south of the Yemeni capital Sanaa (see 1350 GMT)....

Officials at a field hospital say one person died and at least 830 people were injured by security forces who charged the square where people were demonstrating. Nine people suffered gunshot wounds, including the person who died. More than 60 were injured in the beatings, and the rest were injured from tear gas inhalation.

The Governor of Taiz, Hamoud al-Soufi denied any deaths and said that clashes did not occur in the square but on the main street> He claimed "infiltrators and some young hotheads" threw stones at soldiers, wounding eight, one seriously.

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Libya, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Getting Organised?

2110 GMT: Bahrain State TV is reporting that the Bahraini regime has shut down Al-Wasat, the only independent newspaper in the country.

In preparation for the move, State television has been broadcasting all night on the supposed plagiarism and distortions of Al-Wasat.

2005 GMT: In Libya, the opposition National Transitional Council has named a "crisis team" to political and military positions.

On the political side, Mahmoud Jebril will head the group taking its direction from the NTC. Omar Hariri is in charge of the military department, with General Abdel Fattah Younes al Abidi, Muammar Qaddafi's former ally and Minister of Interior, as Chief of Staff.

The economics and finance portfolio is held by Ali Tarhouni, a U.S.-based academic who returned to Libya to help the uprising. Appointments were also announced for a new National Oil company and a Central Bank.

Other positions filled included foreign affairs, infrastructure, information, and justice.

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