BBC news 2011-02-25 加文本

BBC news 2011-02-25

BBC News with Kathy Clugston

The Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has again broadcast to the Libyan people in the midst of the uprising that's seen him lose control of much of the country. Adam Mynott reports.

In a 20 minutes' address delivered by telephone to Libyan state television, Colonel Gaddafi repeatedly blamed young people for the week of protests and violence. He said al-Qaeda lay behind the unrest, and he directly blamed Osama bin Laden for orchestrating the demonstrations and violence. He appealed to the people of Libya to go onto the streets, as he described it, to bring their young people into their homes and to stop the violence. He said the youths had been influenced by hallucinogenic drugs and alcohol. The tone of Colonel Gaddafi's speech was much more submissive than the two recent public statements he has given. At one point, he admitted that the town of Zawiyah close to Tripoli was slipping away.

Colonel Gaddafi repeatedly referred to Zawiyah. A witness said an army unit attacked protesters at a mosque there with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. A doctor said he'd seen at least 10 dead. The BBC cannot independently confirm these reports. Libyan state television also announced that the air force had destroyed what was left of a weapons depot in desert and rural areas outside government control.

The Swiss government says it's ordered an immediate freeze on any assets belonging to Colonel Gaddafi and his associates. From Geneva, Imogen Foulkes reports.

First Tunisia, then Egypt, now Libya. This time Switzerland has not even waited for confirmation that an unpopular leader has been ousted. Assets belonging to Muammar Gaddafi and his associates are being frozen immediately. In a statement, the Swiss government said it condemned the violence against the Libyan people in the strongest possible terms, adding that it wanted to prevent the misuse of any funds which were rightfully theirs.

Meanwhile, a senior French diplomat, Francois Zimeray, has said he believes there's enough evidence to start an international inquiry into Colonel Gaddafi for crimes against humanity.

The government of Algeria has carried out its pledge to lift the state of emergency in place for the past 19 years. The emergency was imposed as part of efforts to suppress dissent by Islamists, and the ensuing war cost a quarter of a million lives. Chloe Arnold reports from Algiers.

Algeria's cabinet had approved a draft order to cancel the country's 19-year state of emergency this week. On Thursday, the official gazette published the order, allowing the decree to come into immediate effect. The move has been seen as a concession to opposition groups who've called for a change in Algeria's regime amid a wave of unrest that's sweeping the Arab world. But despite the lifting of the state of emergency, the President Abdelaziz Bouteflika says the weekly opposition rallies in the capital will still be banned.

World News from the BBC

The New Zealand government says the number of people confirmed dead in Tuesday's earthquake in the city of Christchurch has risen to 102. The Civil Defence Minister John Carter said 228 others remained unaccounted for.

The authorities in the United States say they've arrested a Saudi man in connection with an alleged bomb plot. The Justice Department said the arrested man, a 20-year-old student, was detained on Wednesday charged with the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. Steve Kingstone reports from Washington.

When FBI agents raided the Texas home of Khalid Aldawsari, they found supplies of sulphuric and nitric acid, together with flasks, a chemical protection suit and some Christmas lights, which it's alleged were to be used to make an improvised explosive device. In a diary entry, the suspect had written "It's time for jihad." He'd allegedly researched how to use a mobile phone as a detonator and emailed himself a list of potential targets, including dams, nuclear power plants and the Dallas residence of former President George W Bush. The email was titled "Tyrant's House".

American officials in Afghanistan have ordered an investigation into allegations that a US army unit was asked to influence visiting American politicians into supporting the Afghan campaign. The allegation was made in the US magazine Rolling Stone. The officer named in the article has denied the allegation.

Republican lawmakers in the American state of Wisconsin have sent out police to search for a group of Democratic Party politicians. The Democratic state senators left Wisconsin in order to block a crucial budget bill, which includes controversial plans by the Republican Governor Scott Walker to limit the power of trades unions. Without the Democratic lawmakers, the Senate cannot reach a quorum and the bill, which would have been passed easily by the Republican majority, cannot be voted on.

BBC News