Libya's leader threatens to use force against eastern federalists [Al-Alam, Iran]

Presenter, Female #1
The head of Libya's National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, threatened to use force to prevent Libya from being divided. This comes one day after the eastern area of Cyrenaica was declared a federal region. He considered the declaration to be the beginning of a conspiracy against Libya, accusing Arab countries of stirring strife in Libya. Libyan tribal leaders and politicians in Benghazi declared Ahmed al-Zubair al-Senussi the head of the regional council.

Reporter, Male #1
Cyrenaica's formation of a federal state in eastern Libya shocked the Libyan street. Nearly 3,000 tribal leaders and politicians from eastern Libya gathered in Benghazi, putting the country on the road to partition.

Reporter, Male #1
The conference announced that Ahmed al-Senussi, a former political prisoner and member of the family that ruled Libya before Gaddafi, will lead the region. In addition, it decided to adopt the independence constitution of the 1950s, which divides Libya into the three autonomous states of Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan. However, the danger of this declaration lies in indications that conference attendees reject the Constitutional Proclamation, the distribution of the seats in the Constituency Assembly, the electoral law, and all laws and resolutions that conflict with their authority. This means effectively rejecting the entire political process, despite the conventioneers' reaffirmation that they stand for national unity and their recognition of the National Transitional Council.

Guest, Male #2 (Ahmed Siti, Conference Organizer)
We are using the federal system to try and prevent Libya from being divided.

Reporter, Male #1
The head of the National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, pointed to a conspiracy by unnamed Arab countries, accusing them of what he referred to as fomenting, funding and sponsoring chaos in eastern Libya, out of fear that the waves of the revolution may reach them. He considered what is happening to be the beginning of a conspiracy against the country, and a threat to its national unity.

Guest, Male #3 (Mustafa Abdul Jalil, Chair of the NTC)
What happened in parts of the city of Benghazi today, the declaration of the so-called Cyrenaica Council, is extremely dangerous and threatens national unity, for which honorable Libyans fought. We are surprised by these voices calling for dividing Libya.
Reporter, Male #1
The popular reaction was just as strong.

Guest, Male #4
"No" to tribalism; "no" to dividing Libya. Libya is one; its capital is Tripoli.

Guest, Male #5
Libya is one; it cannot be divided.

Reporter, Male #1
Thousands of people participated in demonstrations, considering the declaration a betrayal of the martyrs' blood, and the revolution's ideas, marking the country's official entry into a new era called "the danger of division".

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Palestinian hunger strikers reignite prisoners' rights movement [Palestine TV, Ramallah]

Presenter, Male #1
Participants in a solidarity sit-in organized in front of the Red Cross in Tulkarm called for supporting the prisoners in the occupation's prisons, in particular prisoner and hunger striker Kifah al-Hattab, and female prisoner Hana al-Shalabi.

Reporter, Male #2
On the eve of March 8th, a large protest was organized in support of hunger strikers Hana al-Shalabi and Kifah al-Hattab. In attendance were representatives of the General Union of Palestinian Women, commissions, institutions, organizational bodies, and the families of the prisoners in the district of Tulkarm. The families expressed anger at the occupation's prison administration for stalling the prisoners' demand for a response, and delaying their release.

Guest, Female #1 (Nada Tobar, Women's Union Representative)
Palestinian women have always insisted on standing side-by-side with the men, in all fronts and struggles. A shining star of our people, sister Hana al-Shalabi, continues her strike and is now on her 20th consecutive day of hunger strike. Kifah is also still on strike. Through this act, she is raising her voice, demanding to shed light on the issue of prisoners who are harassed on a daily basis.

Reporter, Male #2
This is the ninth consecutive day that prisoner Kifah al-Hattab has been on a hunger strike to demand his legitimate and human rights as a prisoner of war, in accordance with the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions. He has refused to stand for the daily count, and wear the occupation's prisoner uniform.

Guest, Female #2 (Wife of Prisoner on Hunger Strike Kifah al-Hattab)
He insists he is a prisoner of war; at the end of the day, they are all prisoners of war. God willing, more actions will be taken. We care about the issue of all prisoners in general. But, in reality, we don't know what awaits him, and we're very scared for him.

Reporter, Male #2
Families of the prisoners and those liberated from imprisonment called for wide-scale participation in solidarity events with the prisoners' movements in the occupation's prisons, and especially during this upcoming phase, as the prisoners are getting ready to wage a series of struggles to put an end to their suffering.

Guest, Male #3 (Mohamed Sabah, Former Prisoner)
The popular movement and the prisoners' movement need broader participation. And the prisoners' movement deserves much more action. We hope all communities of our Palestinian people will take part in this movement.

Guest, Female #3 (Wife of Prisoner Abbas al-Said)
We need broader mobilization, expanding to the international level, involving organizations and UN commissions. Because the situation of the prisoners behind bars is deteriorating.

Reporter, Male #2
Organizations concerned with the prisoners' issues testified to the extent of Israel's suppression of the prisoners' movement, commending the prisoners' resistance, and reaffirmed the inevitability of their victory over prisons and wardens.

Guest, Male #4 (Mohamed Abbas, High Committee for Prisoners)
The open-ended, epic hunger strike that prisoner Khader Adnan waged displayed the status of the prisoners' movement and gained momentum, and this struggle continues. On that basis, we demand the Palestinian leadership sets the issue of prisoners as their priority, and calls for more popular and public support in solidarity with the prisoners' honorable battle.

Reporter, Male #2
Reports coming out of the occupation's prisons confirm that a prisoners' battle is scheduled for April. They aim to protest the occupation's repression and the Israeli prison administration's rejection of the prisoners' demands, and in opposition to the policy of administrative detention. This battle may escalate into a declaration of civil disobedience and a rejection of the wardens' orders, reaching an open-ended hunger strike. Despite the escalating Israeli crackdown on the prisoners' rights movements in the occupation's prisoners, a number of detainees continue to wage hunger strikes to protest these policies. Wide-scale popular and official campaigns continue in solidarity with the prisoners' movement in the occupation's prisoners. Mouin Shadid, Palestine TV, from in front of the Red Cross, Tulkarm.

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International Women's Day in Palestinian territories spotlights female prisoners [Dubai TV, UAE]

Presenter, Female #1
International Women's Day in the occupied Palestinian territories is placing the spotlight this year on Palestinian female prisoners, amid the deteriorating health of prisoner Hana al-Shalabi, who has entered her 21st day of hunger strike at the Israeli Hasharon prison. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Minister of Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Qaraqe, warned of the deteriorating situation inside Israeli prisons. He added that the prisoners threatened to burn down the prisons because they have nothing to lose in the face of Israeli brutality.

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Egypt's pipeline bombings force Jordan to seek other gas suppliers [Dubai TV, UAE]

Presenter, Female #1
The Jordanian government is looking for alternative sources to Egyptian gas supplies, which were again halted following the recent bombing of the pipeline that supplies Jordan with gas. The bombing is the 13th such attack this year. Jordan is making contact with the Egyptian side to assess the extent of the damage and anticipated date for the resumption of gas supplies, which the kingdom depends on to generate 80 percent of its electricity needs. Salwa al-Sawalika reports from Amman.

Reporter, Female #1
This Egyptian pipeline stopped supplying gas to Jordan following a series of bombings targeting its infrastructure inside Egyptian territories, casting a heavy shadow on the Jordanian economy. More than 80 percent of the kingdom's electricity needs are produced by facilities that operate on Egyptian gas. For this reason, its disruption means that these facilities must run on heavy fuel, which is very expensive. In order to offset the rising production cost, the government imposed an increase on the electric bill, which was widely rejected by the people because it adds an economic burden on them.

Guest, Male #1
My last electricity bill was 185 Jordan dinars. This is unreasonable. Where can we get the money to pay it? The market is not moving, and the economy is bad. Everything is going up.

Reporter, Female #2
During a parliamentary hearing to discuss the recent spike in the cost of electricity, the Jordanian government said that more than 90 percent of the citizens weren't affected by the increase, which it says will be reviewed after resolving the problem of gas supplies.

Guest, Male #2 (Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh, Jordanian Prime Minister)
During its previous session, the government made it clear that the recent price hike will not affect 92 percent of Jordanian households. The rate increase is proportional to the average household's consumption across all of the kingdom's provinces.

Reporter, Female #2
Last year, the Jordanian electricity company incurred more than USD 1.5 billion in losses due to the bombings of the Egyptian gas pipeline. This prompted the government to seek other gas alternatives that will not affect its overall budget, and cost less for the citizens.

Guest, Female #3 (Jumanah Ghenaimat, Editor-in-Chief of Al Ghad)
Jordan has some local sources, which it can focus on in the coming period. However, it will take time before we start seeing results.

Reporter, Female #2
The halt of Egyptian gas supplies is a problem affecting the Jordanian economy, adding an additional burden on the government, especially at the public level. The rise in the prices of goods and services was cause for tension and protests. Salwa al-Sawalika, Dubai TV, Amman.

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Saudi security forces beat female students protesting inequality [Press TV, Iran]

The protests against injustice and inequality are spreading across Saudi Arabia. This time, female students of King Khalid University in the southwestern city of Abha have gathered to protest what they call the discrimination and the mistreatment by security officials of the university. They also denounced lack of facilities, some of them very basic, like chairs. Reports say security forces have attacked and beaten some of the protestors. Also, activists say that Saudi human rights campaigner Mohammad Albajady has refused to eat for the sixteenth day to protest his detention of nearly a year without trial.

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Bahraini activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja's hunger strike enters day 27 [Press TV, Iran]

Human rights campaigners warn that the health of jailed Bahraini activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is deteriorating, as he has refused to eat for 27 days now. Al-Khawaja, who is currently serving a life sentence, is on a hunger strike to protest deteriorating prison conditions. Activists have launched many campaigns to highlight his ordeal; in the latest attempt, protestors set up roadblocks across the kingdom to express solidarity with al-Khawaja. Activists have announced plans for a big rally on March 9 to revitalize the protests against the al-Khalifa regime.

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Six British soldiers feared killed in Afghanistan roadside bomb attack [Press TV, Iran]

Six British troops serving with US-led forces in Afghanistan have been killed in an explosion. The soldiers were on patrol when their vehicle was struck by a roadside mine in the southern province of Helmand. The incident marks the biggest loss of life for British troops in a single attack over the past few years. The Afghan army has blamed the Taliban for the attack.

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Sixteen killed in Baghdad car bombings aimed at housing minister, civilians [Press TV, Iran]

At least 16 people have been killed in a series of bomb explosions in Iraq. A car bomb went off in a commercial area in Baghdad's western Mansour district, killing three people. Police say the attack was targeted at the Minister of Housing as his convoy was driving in the area at the time of the explosion. The minister escaped unharmed. Two other car bombings north of Baghdad have killed at least thirteen people. Officials say the attacks in Tal Afar district was aimed at civilians.

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UN humanitarian envoy enters Syria's Homs [Future TV, Lebanon]

Presenter, Male #1
Local Coordination Committees in Syria announced the death of 40 people by the gunfire of al-Assad's brigades, most of them in Idlib. Demonstrations against the Assad regime were held last night in a number of the Syrian capital's regions. Most notable was the protest in al-Abaseyeen Square, the second most important public square in central Damascus. At the same time, the United Nations' humanitarian chief held talks in the Syrian capital before visiting Homs, while the International Committee of the Red Cross said a Syrian Red Crescent team entered the neighborhood of Baba Amr today, and revealed that most residents had left.

Reporter, Male #2
The Assad killing regime was not content by merely cracking down on peaceful protests, murdering, and displacing people, but is spreading a culture of destruction to every area it enters. In the latest development of the Assad brigades' oppressive mobilization, dozens of tanks, troop carriers, and military forces were moved from Latakia to the city of Saraqeb in Idlib, which will soon be subjected to all forms of violence.

Reporter, Male #2
And despite the destruction carried out by the Syrian security forces and the shabeha during their arrest campaigns and raids of residential areas, they also steal from stores and homes. They destroy personal proprieties and cars as revenge operations against those demanding freedom. According to testimonies by local residents, al-Assad's shabeha stormed the neighborhood of al-Qaboun in Damascus and arrested a number of activists. They also set up checkpoints and searched passers-by. Local Coordination Committees said al-Assad's forces detained 30 hostages in Ein Larouz in the Jabal al-Zawiya area, threatening to execute them unless three defectors returned to the forces. And in Aleppo, al-Assad's brigades launched a campaign of home raids and arrests, as heavy gunfire was reported and heard from the area of Furn al-Taqwa.

Reporter, Male #2
This, as the International Committee of the Red Cross said a Syrian Arab Red Crescent team entered the neighborhood of Baba Amr. The team said the neighborhood is destroyed, and most of its residents have indeed left to other regions. On the other hand, the Syrian Revolution's General Commission reported that al-Assad's brigades committed a new massacre in Homs. Seven young men from the same family were killed in the area of Bassatin Baba Amr.

Reporter, Male #2
Meanwhile, United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos met with Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, then headed to Homs. Al-Muallem confirmed that Syria is committed to cooperating with the UN humanitarian agency, provided it respects Syrian sovereignty and independence. As for Amos, she stressed the need to respect Syria's sovereignty and reject using the humanitarian aspect for political gains.

Reporter, Male #2
Demonstrations were held in a number of Syrian cities and towns, most prominent of which was a night protest that reached, for the first time, al-Abaseyeen Square in central Damascus. The square witnessed an unprecedented security deployment after the protest. At the same time, defections from the Syrian army continue. Brigadier General Adnan Qassem Farzat announced his defection from the army, confirming he has joined opposition forces in rejection of the shelling of his town of al-Rastan.

Guest, Male #3
I announce my defection from the Syrian military, and that I am joining the Free Syrian Arab Army. I informed some commanders that Rastan is being hit by artillery fire, and in spite of this, the bombardment continued violently. Houses have been destroyed and women and children have been killed. These are not the values of the Syrian army, and for this reason I am defecting.

Reporter, Male #2
In Idlib, residents held funerals for yesterday's victims, killed by the gunfire of al-Assad's brigades. Mourners chanted that the revolution will continue until the departure of the Assad regime.

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Israeli PM ends Washington summit with Clinton talks [IBA, Israel]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has wrapped up his three-day trip to Washington, and has just landed back in Israel. Before leaving the US, Netanyahu followed up on his summit with President Obama by holding talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Netanyahu's top security aide gave a strong indication of the Israeli position coming out of the summit, telling Israel Radio that Jerusalem must be ready to act against Iran should talks between the international community and Tehran fail.

In his first public comments since his summit with Netanyahu, Barack Obama stood by his declaration that Iran will not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. However, Obama appears to be at odds with the prime minister over just how immediate the Iranian threat is.

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Jordan seeks to revive Palestinian-Israeli peace talks [BBC Arabic, UK]

Presenter, Female #1
Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh met with a number of Palestinian Authority officials. The Jordanian foreign minister conveyed a message to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from the Jordanian king, confirming Jordan's support of the Palestinian positions, and the importance of negotiations to achieve the sought-after regional peace. Our correspondent Iman Eriqat reports from Ramallah.

Reporter, Female #2
Looking for opportunities to revive the peace process, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh returned to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas following his visits to Brussels, Washington, and Moscow. Judeh came with a message from Jordanian King Abdullah II, confirming his country's full support of the Palestinian leadership. He stressed the importance of peaceful negotiations to resolve all outstanding issues between the Palestinians and Israelis, including final status issues.

Guest, Male #1 (Nasser Judeh, Jordanian Foreign Minister)
We looked into opportunities to revive the peace talks, and we're still searching. And we will make contact with all parties, both inside and outside the region, as well as influential countries and with decision makers to secure suitable conditions to resume the negotiations, God willing.

Reporter, Female #2
The meetings between the Jordanians and Palestinians held discussions on the latest political developments, especially after Israeli-Palestinian meetings in Amman went nowhere, as described by Palestinians. The Palestinian side also affirmed that President Abbas is working on a draft letter specifying the Palestinian stance on a number of issues. The letter will be addressed to the Israeli prime minister and the international community, and communicated through a Palestinian delegation.

Guest, Male #2 (Saeb Erekat, Palestine Liberation Organization Senior Negotiator)
The president is still working on finishing this letter. So, as soon as he is done, the Palestinians will send it, and we can discuss its content at that point.

Reporter, Female #2
This is the Jordanian foreign minister's second such visit since the end of last year. Some people on the Palestinian street consider it to be an attempt to push forward bilateral meetings between Palestinians and Israelis.

Guest, Male #3 (Khalil Shahin, Palestinian Political Analyst)
We may see other formats that could revive the idea of rapprochement negotiations held during the last phase of the Olmert government, meaning the Jordanian side will bring forward proposals to the Palestinians and Israelis but without convening direct meetings.

Reporter, Female #2
The Jordanian-Palestinian meetings concluded by confirming additional meetings will be held in the near future. Talks by the political leadership on the importance of quickly move forward the peace process, and the possibility of resuming Palestinian-Israeli bilateral meetings, have been met by confirmations from various Palestinian communities that resuming the meetings is useless, since they have long been a failure, adding that a Palestinian strategy must be agreed upon first before reaching decisions. From the Palestinian presidential headquarters in Ramallah, Iman Eriqat, BBC.

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