A look at the latest developments in Mideast political unrest on Friday:
LIBYA
Moammar Gadhafi’s government accuses U.S.-led forces of ignoring civilian casualties, showing journalists a Tripoli neighborhood that has come under attack for at least two nights. U.S. and British officials insist civilians have been spared and say the Libyan leader has engineered his own atrocities for propaganda purposes.
A U.S. official says ships in the Mediterranean launched 15 more cruise missiles overnight, targeting garrisons near Tripoli. The international forces are targeting Gadhafi’s military as it fights a more than two-month rebellion.
SYRIA
Violence erupts around the country as troops open fire on protesters in several cities and pro- and anti-government crowds clash on the tense streets of the capital in the most widespread unrest in years, witnesses say.
Soldiers shoot at demonstrators in the restive southern city of Daraa after crowds set fire to a bronze statue of the country’s late president, Hafez Assad, a resident tells The Associated Press. Heavy gunfire is heard in the city center and witnesses report several casualties.
JORDAN
Scores of people are injured as protesters demanding reforms clash with government supporters, pelting each other with stones, as unrest intensifies in the key U.S. ally. Police fire water cannons to disperse the crowd, then hundreds of riot police, some wearing masks, storm the area, hitting anti-government demonstrators with clubs and dragging at least a dozen into a nearby government building.
The clashes are the most violent in more than two months of protests.
YEMEN
Facing growing calls for his resignation, Yemen’s longtime ruler tells tens of thousands of supporters that he’s ready to step down but only if he can leave the country in "safe hands," while anti-government protesters mass for a rival rally. The president’s remarks recall a similar statement by Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak days before he was ousted on Feb. 11.
BAHRAIN
Security forces fire tear gas at anti-government protesters after a prominent Shiite cleric vows that their demands for the Sunni monarchy to loosen its grip on power will not be silenced by "brutal force."
Bahrain’s government, meanwhile, brushes aside suggestions for an international investigation into the deaths of protesters during the month of unrest or allegations that police attacked wounded protesters at a hospital.
