Details of prisoner exchange with Israel emerge [Al Jazeera, Qatar]

Presenter, Female #1
Israel is planning to release over 470 Palestinian male and female prisoners from its prisons within days as part of the prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas. While the first phase includes hundreds of prisoners serving long-term sentences, it will not include several of Hamas' military commanders, most notably Ibrahim Hamed, Abdullah al-Barghuthi, Abbas al-Sayyed, and Hassan Salamah. More details in the following report by our correspondent in Ramallah, Shirin Abu Akela.

Reporter, Female #2
In a short period of time, Israeli reports shattered the joy of the family of captive Hamas leader Ibrahim Hamed. His mother had no choice but to be patient once again over their separation. The family was not allowed to visit him, not even once, since his detention.

Guest, Female #3 (Ibrahim Hamed's mother)
I am only patient to unite with Ibrahim. I asked my grandson if he knows his father. He told me he knows him only through his picture.

Reporter, Female #2
In 2006, Hamed was arrested in a military operation in the city of al-Beera. At the time, Israel described him as the most wanted man by its security agencies, holding him responsible for the murder of 78 Israelis. And until this day, Israel has not sentenced him.

Guest, Male #1 (Naim Hamed, Brother of Ibrahim Hamed)
Anyone who puts his trust in God will not be lost, even after a long time. If he is not released in this deal he will be released in another.

Reporter, Female #2
Hamas leader Hassan Salamah will also remain in prison. Salamah is serving 99 life sentences, holding Israel's longest prison term. With 67 life sentences, Hamas leader Abdullah al-Barghuthi holds the second longest sentence. In the city of Tulkarem, the children of captive leader Abbas al-Sayyed will not be among the children who will embrace their fathers after a long wait. Al-Sayyed was convicted in connection with the attack on the Park Hotel, which lead Israel to launch Operation Protective Wall in 2002, during which it stormed the West Bank. Four of the most prominent Hamas leaders in prison were an essential factor that derailed the swap many times, leading to surprise over the completion of a deal that excluded them.

Guest, Male # 3 (Hassan Youssef, Hamas leader)
In this regard, the movement gave up on these names. But in exchange, the Israeli occupation looked into many other cases it had rejected before. So there was an agreement that a deal must be completed at this time.

Reporter, Female #2
There is an Israel policy that seeks to keep any Palestinian joy incomplete. Or, maybe it is meant to absorb the resentment on the Israeli street over the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners who were serving long sentences. The doors of prison will open an era of freedom for hundreds of prisoners; some have waited for it for decades. While those doors will close in the face of thousands of others, whose hopes hinge on the upcoming days. And why not? The Palestinians remember past prisoner-exchange deals and in the future, more will come. Shirin Abu Akela, al-Jazeera, near Ofer prison, west of occupied Ramallah.

--

Palestinian prisoners' hunger strike continues [Palestine TV, Ramallah]

Presenter, Male #1
As the health of prisoners and detainees held in the occupation's prisons deteriorates on the 17th consecutive day of their hunger strike, the number of citizens in Gaza's protest tent grows as an expression of their solidarity to the just demands of the prisoners.

Reporter, Male # 2
Delegations expressing solidarity with the prisoners on a hunger strike continue to visit the protest tent set up at the entrance of the International Red Cross headquarters in the city of Gaza for the second consecutive week. Participants condemned the occupation's disdain and failure to respond to the legitimate demands of the protestors.

Guest, Male # 3
In this protest tent set up by the Prisoners' Commission of the National and Islamic Forces in the Gaza Strip, the families of the martyrs salute our brave prisoners, who have been waging the battle of the empty stomachs for 17 days. They are on a hunger strike to challenge the racist Israeli decisions and laws.

Reporter, Male # 2
The mother of martyr Muhammad Azmi Farwana appealed to the international community to work on recovering the bodies of her sons Muhammad and Hamed al-Rantisi. They were martyred during the Karm Abu Salem operation that resulted in the capture of Israeli soldier Shalit. The mother of martyr Farwana issued a statement to the media, congratulating the prisoners and their families, considering the deal a new dawn for the prisoners who have suffered and endured bitter times.

Guest, Female # 1
By God, my children, you are all Muhammad. I offered you Muhammad and you will bring back Muhammad with you. I am waiting for you impatiently on a Palestinian wedding day. I miss you very much my children. You are one thousand Muhammads and 27,000 heroic Palestinian mothers wait for a Palestinian wedding day when you will leave the prison and the trap you're in so we can take our children to their final resting place.

Presenter, Male #1
In Gaza, dozens of children participated in a march that was launched from the headquarters of the UN special coordinator. It headed to the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross, where the protest camp set up in solidarity with political prisoners is located. The children held candles and pictures of the prisoners, and chanted slogans demanding the international community and human rights organizations exert pressure on Israel to release all political prisoners in the occupation's prisons.

Reporter, Male #2
Even school students can no longer stand idly by and watch the repressive measures and practices endured by the prisoners in the occupation's prisons. These practices forced the prisoners to go on an open-ended hunger strike that has begun its 17th day. In order to express their solidarity with the prisoners in this battle of empty stomachs, elementary school students in Qalqilya marched through 7th Street to the protest camp. They carried banners demanding the occupation's government respond to their demands.

Guest, Female #2
To the prisoners: may peace be on you and may all of you be released. To the prisoners: we salute you, you are the foundation of the cause. To the prisoners and my Lord, your love lives in my heart.

Guest, Male #4
We, the students of the first grade, came here to free the prisoners and to call for their freedom. They are not alone because we're with them.

Reporter, Male # 2
As the prisons' administration continues to reject the demands of the prisoners by announcing the failure of negotiations, the prisoners' lives are now at risk due to the deteriorating health of many of them. The children said "we will not forget you," citizens said "we stand with you and we live through you," as for journalists they have said and continue to reiterate the message to the prisoners that they are not alone and that they will stay with them and stand behind them until their demands are attained.

--

Rabin memorial vandalized to protest Israel-Hamas prisoner swap [IBA, Israel]

Conditions of the Shalit deal served as the catalyst for the defacing of the memorial for slain Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv over night. A suspect was apprehended after security cameras captured him in the act. He was released to house arrest after undergoing questioning by police. Footage revealed the young man pouring white pain on the monument where he then spray painted the words "price tag" and "free Yigal Amir," who was convicted of assassinating Rabin.

--

Arab League calls on UN to probe legal status of Palestinian prisoners [IBA, Israel]

The Arab League has launched a formal request that the United Nations General Assembly push for an investigation on the legal status of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. The UN is expected to pass on that request to the International Criminal Court at the Hague. Speaking at a conference in Cairo, Palestinian Minister of Prisoner Affairs Issa Qaraqi said that he hopes the court issue an advisory opinion on the prisoners' legal status.

--

UN warns of civil war in Syria on the 'Friday of the Free Army' [BBC Arabic, UK]

Presenter, Male #1
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said ten were killed by the gunfire of Syrian forces in demonstrations titled the "Friday of the Free Army." The Observatory said seven people were killed in Dael in the countryside of Dara'a, while three others fell in al-Qadam and Saqba near Damascus and A'nadan near Aleppo. A number of regions in Syria witnessed broad protests with participants expressing their support for the Free Syrian Army, which is a group of soldiers and officers who defected from the Syrian army. Activists say they chose the name "the Free Army" to express their gratitude to the defecting soldiers and to urge more soldiers to defect. On the other hand, the UN Human Rights Commission called for an immediate and collective foreign intervention to protect Syrian civilians from the actions of the Damascus government. UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay said Syrian authorities are using what she described as brutal repression against the anti-government protests. She warned the country may be sliding towards civil war. The Syrian Ministry of Information organized a tour for journalists in al-Rastan, which the Syrian army entered to quell what it referred to as "a movement of armed insurgency" recently carried out by army members.

Reporter, Male #2
The journalists who toured al-Rastan by invitation from the Ministry of Information were only recently able to approach the city located 20 kilometers from Homs. The Syrian armed forces carried out a military operation in al-Rastan after besieging it. They managed to enter the city and eliminate the armed insurgency in which defecting soldiers took part in, including some who came from Homs as confirmed by dissidents. However, the Syrian government downplayed the news of fighting with army defectors.

Guest, Male #3 (Ghassan Abdul Ali, Homs province)
First of all, the number of military members is very small. If they exist, it's only a small number, not even ten, less than ten. A number of them, including some officers, are not on active duty. Some of the troops are on active duty. Their number is insignificant.

Reporter, Male #2
Syrian authorities showed on camera the weapons confiscated by the army in Rastan.

Guest, Male #4
These weapons illegally entered the town of Rastan.

Reporter, Male #2
The governor of Homs said life is returning to normal in Rastan.

Guest, Female #1
There are no people here, in the fields. I tended to some olive trees in the field. I just came back from there.

Reporter, Male #2
People claiming to represent the defectors who assert they engaged in a fierce battle with the army forces tried to explain what the camera did not show. They presented a different story on what has become of the city that holds over 60,000 residents.

Guest, Male #4
The attackers must withdraw and the resistance must end in order to treat the injured civilians, whose number exceeds 300.

Reporter, Male #2
If an armed conflict with the army was the face of recent events in the city of Rastan, which is the birthplace of Lieutenant General Mustafa Tlass, the former defense minister and friend of the late Syrian President Hafiz al-Assad, then the same city was the platform for a wide-scale protest movement that Syria has been witnessing for seven months. In the last days of May, these people marched in Rastan on a Friday named by dissidents the "Friday of the Guardians of the Homeland," a title given to the officers and soldiers of the Syrian army. Three months were long enough to change the scene of a city stormed by the Syrian army to suppress an armed rebellion. Wael al-Hajjar, BBC.

--

Rights group calls on Saudi Arabia to halt arbitrary arrests [Press TV, Iran]

International human rights group Human Rights Watch, or HRW, has accused Saudi Arabia of arbitrary arrests of peaceful protestors in its oil-rich Eastern Province. HRW is calling on the regime in Riyadh to immediately stop the random arrests of rights activists, peaceful protestors, and their relatives. Last week, security forces attacked protestors, injured dozens of them, and arresting over two dozen more. The rights group said that last week's demonstrations began after security forces arrested two elderly men in a bid to force their sons to surrender.

--

Protestors urge UN to intervene in Yemen [Press TV, Iran]

Yemen has witnessed yet another day of nationwide anti-regime protests. The capital Sanaa and the cities of Taiz and Haja were scenes of massive demonstrations against embattled ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh. Demonstrators called for the United Nations to intervene to put Saleh on trial. At a huge gathering at Change Square in central Sanaa, people chanted, "We want the world to pass a resolution to defend the blood of revolutionaries." In the southern city of Taiz, meanwhile, pro-Saleh forces shelled several residential areas as part of their crackdown on anti-regime protests.

--

At least 116 Somali children die of cholera in less than 12 hours [Press TV, Iran]

The worsening cholera epidemic in Somalia has claimed the lives of 116 children in the south of the country, and that happened in less than 12 hours. Our correspondent in Mogadishu says nearly 1,000 others have been rushed to medical centers. Medics in the town of Balad say they are facing an acute shortage of medicine. Horn of Africa's worst drought in 60 years has claimed the lives of more than 30,000 children over the past months. The UN says some four million Somalis are living in dire conditions. The international body has warned that millions could die of starvation and disease if the international community fails to help the famine-stricken country.

--

Bahraini forces continue attacking protestors amid international silence [Al-Alam, Iran]

Presenter, Male #1
Al-Wefaq National Society in Bahrain denounced the authorities' handling of political prisoners and expressed concern over the reportedly declining health of opposition leader Hassan Mushaima who was arrested in March. The Society indicated there is information that Mushaima, who suffers from cancer, received suspicious treatment. Al-Wefaq held the Bahraini authorities fully responsible for his health as well as the health of all detainees including political, human rights activists, and religious figures. In addition, the Bahraini opposition held the United States responsible for the Bahraini people's suffering, as well as the killing and harassment they are enduring. The opposition demanded the US stop covering up the crimes of the Manama regime.

Reporter, Male #2
The Bahraini authorities' repression and tyranny of their unarmed people continues amid questionable international silence. All opposition parties condemned this silence and denounced the United States for covering up the crimes of the Manama government and its repression of the people and their peaceful revolution. The February 14 Youth Coalition held Washington responsible for the Bahraini people's suffering and the killing and harassment they are subjected to. The coalition demanded the US remove the security and political cover-up of al-Khalifa's regime, calling on Washington to prove its goodwill towards the Bahraini people. Condemnation and denunciation did not prevent the ruling regime in Bahrain from continuing its approach of repressing and quelling protests even in prisons through the persecution and torture of detainees, who are denied the most basic rights. Bahraini opposition groups warned the authorities in Manama of the consequences of denying opposition figure Hassan Mushaima medical treatment after media reports indicated his health is deteriorating as he was transferred to a military hospital in a coma. The Bahraini Forum for Human Rights and opposition parties held Manama fully responsible for the safety of Mushaima and demanded he be immediately released in order to continue his treatment. In coordination with these events, night marches relentlessly continue in most Bahraini regions and villages to condemn the government's repressive policies and demand the implementation of reforms. During the marches, demonstrators stressed the peacefulness of their protest campaign and denounced the authorities' practices against detainee Hassan Mushaima. They expressed their solidarity with him and other detainees held in the regime's prisons and demanded their immediate release. In addition, the protestors vowed to continue their struggle and move forward with their movement until all their goals are achieved.

--

Sirte plunges deeper into chaos as fighting intensifies and death toll rises [Dubai TV, UAE]

Presenter, Male #1
Another day of raging battles between the revolutionaries and Gaddafi's brigades begins in the city of Sirte. The full control of Sirte is essential for the National Transitional Council forces as it marks the beginning of a new transitional phase under the NTC's leadership.The revolutionaries, who retreated yesterday a few kilometers in the city, regrouped today and launched a fierce attack on the strongholds of Gaddafi's brigades across Sirte's neighborhoods. More details in Zuhair Saqala's report.

Reporter, Male #2
The city of Sirte is vital for the revolutionaries who are seeking to expend their influence to the remaining Libyan cities. Unlike other cities, seizing control of Sirte turned out to be a difficult task. The resistance facing the revolutionaries in the city is preventing them from advancing and frequently forcing them to retreat in order to reorganize. The attempts by both sides to flex their power plunged the city into a chaotic scene of indiscriminate fire and artillery shelling. NTC forces were not able to achieve their objectives in Sirte despite the siege they are imposing on the city from all directions. Sometimes they issue announcements to Gaddafi's brigades urging them to surrender and other times they resume the shelling of the city, targeting snipers stationed on building rooftops. Undoubtedly, Gaddafi's brigades are fighting the battle knowing their end is near. This comes as the revolutionaries are vowing to continue to fight and advance with the support of NATO forces that resumed the shelling of Gaddafi's strongholds. Five hundred fighters loyal to Gaddafi are being deployed to central Sirte. The revolutionaries announced the capture of nearly 20 of them. All of the city's neighborhoods, except for two, are currently under the control of the revolutionary forces. The two neighborhoods, namely the Dollar and Number Two, are still housing some civilian residents, and that remains the only obstacle facing the revolutionaries. As far as the number of victims, the list is long. Every day a new number is added to the list of casualties. In the latest toll, four NTC fighters were killed and 40 others were wounded. The number of victims on the other side remains unknown. The blurry scene in Sirte renders Libya's upcoming phase unclear. Meanwhile, the country's caretakers say there will be no political mobilization before solving the problems in Sirte.

Presenter, Male #1
The battle for the control of the city of Sirte has exposed the lavish lifestyle of the family of Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi. The revolutionaries, who never imagined the day would come when they will be able to enter the home of Aisha Gaddafi, expressed rage at the scenes of wealth and lavish lifestyle. Similar scenes were witnessed by NTC fighters in other homes in Sirte, especially those of members of Gaddafi's tribe and those close to him, who benefited from Libyan wealth for over 40 years.