News Brief: Qaddafi accepts African Union truce plan, rebels still mull it over

Qaddafi accepts African Union truce plan, rebels still mull it over 
The African Union (AU) has offered Libyan rebels a truce plan, which it says has already been accepted by leader Muammar Qaddafi. The rebels have said they will study the plan, but will not accept a truce unless Qaddafi steps down and his forces withdraw. The main points of the AU truce plan include: 

• An immediate ceasefire
• The unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid
• Protection of foreign nationals
• A dialogue between the government and rebels on a political settlement
• The suspension of NATO air strikes

Libyan opposition supporters protested against the truce plan on Monday as a delegation of African leaders arrived in Benghazi, saying Qaddafi must give up his power for real peace. An AU official outlines the conditions of the roadmap (video).  

Headlines 

• Egyptian protesters defy the military and return to Tahrir Square, demanding the removal of the military council ruling Egypt.
• Protests continue as Syria deploys army in Baniyas after deadly clashes killed four civilians and one soldier.
• Yemen President Saleh welcomes Gulf proposal on Yemen’s crisis, but refuses to step down.
• Bahrain rights activist will face military prosecutor as crackdown expands and two activists die in jail.
• Ex-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak says he and his family are victims of a campaign to tarnish their reputation in his first public speech since he was forced to resign. 

 

The helmet belonging to a killed fighter loyal to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi lies on the ground close to charred fighting vehicles (unseen) at the western gate of the town of Ajdabiya on April 11, 2011. According to the rebels some 35 pro Kadhafi fighters had been killed in yesterday’s NATO air strike in Ajdabiya (ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images).

Arguments & Analysis
‘Prisoner of Damascus’ (Yassin al-Haj Saleh, New York Times)
“Economic liberalization was in no way linked to political liberalization. After a half-century of “socialist” rule, a new aristocratic class has risen in Syria that does not accept the principles of equality, accountability or the rule of law. It was no accident that protesters in the cities of Dara’a and Latakia went after the property of this feared and hated aristocracy, most notably that of President Bashar al-Assad’s cousin Rami Makhlouf, a businessman who controls the country’s cellphone network and, more than anyone else, represents the intertwining of power and wealth in Syria. Today’s ruling class has undeservedly accumulated alarming material and political power. Its members are fundamentally disengaged from the everyday realities of the majority of Syrians and no longer hear their muffled voices. In recent years, a culture of contempt for the public has developed among them. Although some argue that the demonstrations are religiously motivated, there is no indication that Islamists have played a major role in the recent protests, though many began in mosques. Believers praying in mosques are the only “gatherings” the government cannot disperse, and religious texts are the only “opinions” the government cannot suppress. Rather than Islamist slogans, the most prominent chant raised in the Rifai Mosque in Damascus on April 1 was “One, one, one, the Syrian people are one!” Syrians want freedom, and they are fully aware that it cannot be sown in the soil of fear, which Montesquieu deemed the fount of all tyranny. We know this better than anyone else. A search for equality, justice, dignity and freedom – not religion – is what compels Syrians to engage in protests today. It has spurred many of them to overcome their fear of the government and is putting the regime on the defensive.”

‘It’s time for disengagement no. 2’ (Akiva Eldar, Haaretz) 
“No country in the world can relate seriously to the claim that the Gush Katif disengagement proves that the settlements in “Judea and Samaria” are not an obstacle to peace. The presence of settlers in the West Bank worsens Israel’s relationship with the Palestinians and disrupts the capabilities of the Palestinian Authority’s security mechanisms. The IDF, the Shin Bet security service and the Israel Police are required to allocate large forces to protect the settlers from their Palestinian neighbors, who consider them robbers, and to protect the Palestinians from the settlers, who relate to them as foreign elements. The lesson to be learned from the Gaza disengagement is that the time has come to start evacuating the West Bank settlements. Contrary to the unilateral disengagement from Gaza, the withdrawal from the West Bank should be carried out as an agreed-on down payment with the PA, in the framework of renewing the final-status talks. Such a move would increase Israel’s military and diplomatic maneuvering room to counter the firing of missiles from Gaza, while decreasing the popular support among Palestinians for Hamas.”

‘Our revolution’s doing what Saleh can’t–uniting Yemen’ (Tawakkol Karman, The Guardian)
“We cannot let the bogeyman of al-Qaida and extremism be used to stall historic change in our country; Saleh invokes this threat in an attempt to cling to power, as if he is the only one capable of bringing stability and tackling terrorism. It would be foolish to believe his lies. Let us be clear: the Yemeni revolution has already brought internal stability to a state riddled with war and conflict. I call on the global community to support the peaceful revolution as it did in Tunisia and Egypt. I call on the United States and the European Union to tell Saleh that he must leave now, in response to the demands of his people. They should end all support for his regime, especially that which is used to crush peaceful opposition – tear gas canisters have “Made in America” on them. They should freeze the Saleh family’s assets and those of Saleh’s henchmen and return them to the people. If the US and Europe genuinely support the people, as they say, they must not betray our peaceful revolution. It is the expression of the democratic will of the overwhelming majority of the people of Yemen.”