Morocco: Dozens of activists injured in protests Dozens of people were injured and more than 100 arrested in Morocco after demonstrations by protesters unconvinced by King Mohammed's concessions on political reform. Riot police used truncheons to break up a rally in Morocco's biggest city, Casablanca, on Sunday – the latest in a series of weekly protests in the country over the past month. Reports suggested dozens were injured when police tried to storm the Unified Socialist Party headquarters, where protesters had sought refuge during clashes. Algeria: Opposition leaves parliament In a major blow to the Algerian government, two opposition parties suspended their activities from the People's National Assembly. The Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) and the Algerian National Front (FNA) on Sunday boycotted a plenary session devoted to the ordinance repealing Algeria's state of emergency. The two parties, who announced their withdrawal last Wednesday, account for nearly forty MPs. With the assembly comprising 388 seats, their absence may seem irrelevant to some, but a number of Algerian political observers say that the symbolism of their walk-out could have serious repercussions across the country's political landscape. 35 Tunisian migrants missing after boat capsizes Up to 35 migrants sailing from Tunisia to Italy were missing after the boat they were travelling in capsized, Italian port authorities were quoted by ANSA news agency as saying. The report, which said the boat capsized on Monday shortly after departing from the port of Zarzis in southern Tunisia, came as hundreds of mostly Tunisian migrants landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa. ANSA said 12 boats carrying 816 migrants have arrived in the past few hours. In Tunisia, neither the police not the army were able to confirm the incident, but one member of the emergency services in the Tunisian port of Zarzis said a navy vessel had been sent to the suspected accident zone. Libyan rebels urge West to assassinate Gaddafi as troops head towards Benghazi Tripoli, Mar 15: Libya's revolutionary leadership is reportedly urging western powers to assassinate Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and launch military strikes against his forces to protect his loyalists from retaking rebel-held cities, and causing further bloodsheds there. Mustafa Gheriani, spokesman for the revolutionary national council in its stronghold of Benghazi, has said that the appeal was to be made by a delegation meeting French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, in Paris on Monday, when G8 foreign ministers gathered to discuss concerns about no-fly zone on Libya. “We are telling the west we want a no-fly zone, we want tactical strikes against those tanks and rockets that are being used against us and we want a strike against Gaddafi's compound. This is the message from our delegation in Europe,” he said. Southern Sudan Fighting Displaces 20,000 Clashes between Southern Sudan's army and rebels in Jonglei state over the past two months killed more than 200 people and displaced as many as 20,000, an expert of the United Nations' Human Rights Council said. Fighting in the region has intensified with “at least 16 incidents of violence” since almost 99 percent of Southern Sudanese voters chose in a Jan. 9 referendum to secede from the rest of Sudan, Mohamed Chande Othman said today in an e-mailed statement. “The government of Southern Sudan has a primary responsibility to ensure the protection of civilians even as it embarks on measures to address the insecurity in the region,” he said. BM
