Rebels clash with Gaddafi loyalists in rebel-held east (Reuters)

BENGHAZI (Reuters) – Rebel forces fought gunmen loyal to Muammar Gaddafi in eastern Libya on Sunday in the latest incident to undermine the insurgents' grip in territory they hold.

The clashes renewed opposition fears that Gaddafi's agents had infiltrated the area, days after the mysterious killing of the rebel military commander.

The assassination of General Abdel Fattah Younes, apparently by gunmen on his own side, has hurt the opposition just as it was winning broader international recognition and making gains against Gaddafi's forces in the Western Mountains and elsewhere.

Rebel spokesman Mahmoud Shammam said clashes had broken out when rebel forces attacked a militia that had helped some 300 Gaddafi loyalists break out of jail near Benghazi on Friday.

At least six rebels were killed in the fighting with the militia, whose members appeared to be experienced and armed with machineguns, rocket-propelled grenades and explosives.

Inside the barracks where they were holed up, rebels found more than 400 weapons, Libya's green flag and photos of Gaddafi.

"At 8 a.m., the barracks was brought under control. Thirty men surrendered and we took their weapons," Shammam told reporters. "We consider them members of the Fifth Column."

The clashes reflect growing fears within the opposition that Gaddafi loyalists are exploiting the lawlessness that prevails in the east, which is awash with weapons and armed gangs, some secular or Islamist rebels, some vigilantes and some criminals.

The fighting took place as speculation swirls over the murky circumstances of Younes' death. The 67-year-old general's record as Gaddafi's interior minister before his defection in February, made him the target of suspicion among many in the opposition.

Some Libyans suspect his execution was ordered by rebel leaders for treason, many say he was killed by Gaddafi spies, and others suggest a rebel splinter group had acted alone.

In an apparent effort to avert a feud, rebels named Suleiman al-Obeidi, a member of Younes' tribe, as acting military chief.

Whatever the truth, the infighting among militias in Libya's east deepens concerns among the rebels' Western backers, keen to see them prevail in a five-month-old civil war but frustrated by their lack of unity and worried over Islamist influence.

Keeping up diplomatic pressure on Gaddafi, Britain said on Sunday it would take part in the NATO air campaign for as long as it took and Germany expelled a Libyan diplomat.

REBELS TARGET GADDAFI STRONGHOLDS

The rebels, who rose up against Gaddafi in February, have seized swathes of the country but are poorly equipped and still far from ousting him, despite support from NATO airstrikes.

On Sunday, rebel tanks pounded Gaddafi troops in Tiji, some 200 km (125 miles) southwest of Tripoli, inching one km closer to the last government stronghold in the Western Mountains.

"We are going to take Tiji, I know it. And that will clear the way for us to head to Tripoli eventually," said fighter Naji Shayboukh, who was holding a home-made rocket-launcher.

About 14 rebels were killed and more than 20 wounded, hospital sources said, in a second day of heavy fighting on the front near Zlitan, some 160 km (100 miles) east of Tripoli and the largest town between rebel-held Misrata and the capital.

In the past 48 hours, rebels have advanced about 3 km toward Zlitan but have yet to solidify their gains.

Television footage obtained by Reuters showed what appeared to be buildings in Zlitan's eastern suburb of Zdou. The footage also showed heavy fighting, with rebels using machine guns against Gaddafi's troops.

"We have advanced well and God willing we will be in Zlitan soon," said Ibrahim Buwathi, 24, who had a shrapnel wound in his shoulder and was awaiting treatment at the hospital.

About 20 explosions rocked the nearby rebel-held city of Misrata overnight in an apparent attack by Gaddafi loyalists.

Libyan rebels also said they had moved closer to Brega, and were now positioned 5 to 7 km from the east of the oil town.

Fighting at Brega had slowed over the past two weeks as the rebels struggled to defuse hundreds of thousands of mines planted by Gaddafi's forces.

Rebels said they planned to advance soon on Brega, where some 3,000 heavily armed government troops remain positioned.

LIBYA'S WILD EAST

The longer the war drags on, the further eastern Libya appears to slip into lawlessness, raising questions about what kind of Libya could emerge if Gaddafi goes.

Many rebels had been uncomfortable working under Younes, a man who had been so close to Gaddafi for 41 years, and rebel sources said on Thursday he had been recalled over suspicions he or his family were secretly in contact with Gaddafi.

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said Younes had been killed by Fawzi Bu Kitf, head of the Union of Revolutionary Forces, a federation of armed rebel groups that works with the Benghazi-based Transitional National Council.

Moussa also accused Ismail al-Sallabi, head of the Feb 17 Brigade, an armed group that falls under the Union umbrella, of involvement in the assassination.

Both have said the had no knowledge of plans to assassinate Younes and that his killers had acted alone.

Rebel sources told Reuters that a field commander called Mustafa al-Rubh, from an armed group called the Okbah Ibn Nafih Brigade, had been sent to the front at Brega to arrest Younes and bring him back to Benghazi for questioning by three judges.

Rubh, who is not under arrest but is being questioned over Younes' death, said he had taken the military leader to a location outside of Benghazi, where he was due to hand him over.

From here, no one appears able to explain what happened.

Some rebel sources said another militia, called Obaida Ibn Jarrah, intervened, took Younes by force and killed him.

(Additional reporting by Michael Georgy in Hawamid; Mussab Al-Khairalla and Ayman al-Sahili in Misrata; Missy Ryan in Tripoli; Joseph Nasr in Berlin; Souhail Karam in Rabat; writing by Lin Noueihed; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

(This story has been corrected in paragraph 17 to show number of rebels killed and wounded is about 14 and 20, respectively)

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Administration, GOP clash anew over debt plan (AP)

WASHINGTON – With the clock ticking ever louder, Obama administration officials and congressional Republicans clashed anew Sunday over extending the nation's debt limit, with the White House threatening a veto if the government's borrowing authority is not extended through the next elections.

Even so, with an eye toward nervous financial markets, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the two sides seem to be making progress in their long-running debt battle and predicted they will avert a historic federal default.

"It's unthinkable that this country will not meet its obligations on time. It's just unthinkable. We never do that. It's not going to happen," Geithner said.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, flatly rejected President Barack Obama's insistence on a package that would extend the government's authority to borrow money beyond the November 2012 presidential and congressional elections. Democratic congressional leaders have also said the extension must last through next year.

"I know the president's worried about the next elections," Boehner said. "But my God, shouldn't we be worried about the country?"

The remarks came as congressional leaders and aides were beginning another day of meetings at the Capitol as they and the White House strain to craft a deal to avert a debt ceiling crisis by Aug. 2 — a week from Tuesday. That is the day the government runs out of cash to pay its bills — which administration officials and others say could cause catastrophic damage on not just the government's credit rating but the entire economy.

Congressional and Obama administration officials are hoping to announce a framework for an agreement by 4 p.m. EDT Sunday, and House Republicans planned a members-only conference call for shortly after that. That is before the Asian financial markets open, and lawmakers want to avoid producing bad news that could push those markets down and worry American investors as well.

After a long day of meetings Saturday, lawmakers were looking at a plan that would boost the debt limit immediately by roughly $1 trillion — about enough to last through this year — while locking in slightly more spending cuts. Another package combining trillions more in savings and another extension of the debt limit would be considered later.

"There is going to be a two-stage process," Boehner said. "It's not physically possible to do all of this in one step."

Boehner said he hoped to announce a plan on Sunday, but added that the details were still being worked out. He said he could not predict whether it would be supported by congressional Democrats.

Administration officials said a short-term extension of borrowing authority would be harmful.

Asked if Obama would veto a plan that did not extend the government's borrowing authority into 2013, White House chief of staff William Daley said, "Yes. The president believes that we must get this uncertainty in order, to help the American economy and help the American people."

Geithner also said the administration opposes that proposal.

"We can't adopt an approach that leaves the threat of default hanging over the country for another six months," he said on ABC's "This Week." "That would be deeply irresponsible to do, and we do not think that's an acceptable burden to put on the American economy."

On CNN's "State of the Union," Geithner used a different timeframe, saying it was crucial to "remove this threat of default from the country through the next 18 months."

"You want to take this out of politics, you don't want politics messing around with America's credit," he said.

Another Republican scoffed at the administration's opposition to a debt-ceiling plan that doesn't last into 2013.

"I think that's a ridiculous position because that's what he's going to get presented with," said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

Geithner said two types of frameworks are under consideration: The comprehensive deal involving spending cuts and revenue increases discussed by Obama and Boehner for several weeks and the proposal by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., that would make upfront cuts and establish a special congressional committee to seek a long-term plan for deficit reduction.

"Both of those are on the table. Now, they could be combined in various forms," Geithner said.

Geithner also expressed optimism based on the tenor of talks between the two sides.

"I think that forces of reason are getting stronger now," he said. He added, "If you listen carefully, you see people coming together on the kind of tough choices this country is going to need."

Boehner met Saturday with Obama to try again to find a balance of major spending cuts and revenue increases that could win passage in the GOP-controlled House and Democratic-controlled Senate. Also at the meeting were Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and White House budget director Jack Lew.

The four lawmakers met later in the Capitol, without Obama or his aides. Boehner is seeking as much as $4 trillion in cuts over a decade as a condition for raising the nation's debt limit. Reid accuses GOP leaders of intransigence, suggesting the two sides still have sharp differences.

Despite the looming deadline, White House and congressional officials said several proposals were still being discussed. A "grand bargain" would cut spending by up to $4 trillion over a decade and raise up to $1.2 trillion in new revenues. Other plans envision smaller revenue increases and spending cuts of $1.2 trillion or so.

All the proposals face a basic obstacle. Many House Republicans refuse to vote for higher tax revenues; most congressional Democrats consider higher revenues essential if government spending is to be cut so deeply. Both sides tried to blame the other party for failing to reach a compromise so far.

The No. 2 Republican in the Senate, Arizona's Jon Kyl, criticized the White House for the veto threat. "Now who is saying my way or the highway?" Kyl asked on "Face the Nation" on CBS. "The problem I think is that the single most important thing to President Obama is extending this beyond his re-election campaign. He just doesn't want to have to deal with it again.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat, responded on the same program that Boehner is ignoring economists' warning that a short-term extension of the debt ceiling will jeopardize the economy.

"Speaker Boehner walked out of negotiations with the president not once but twice," Durbin said. "And now the reality is, if we fail to extend the debt ceiling of the United States, we will be imposing a new tax on working families and businesses across America. They'll see it in their credit cards. They'll see it in their home loans and their automobile loans. This is a tax which will be imposed because Speaker Boehner refuses to consider a tax on the wealthiest people in America."

Boehner appeared "Fox News Sunday," Geithner was on ABC's "This Week" and CNN's "State of the Union" and Daley and Coburn were on NBC's "Meet the Press."

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Police, protesters clash for 2nd day in Egypt (AP)

CAIRO – Egyptian security forces clashed for a second day in Cairo Wednesday with hundreds of youths demanding that the country's military rulers speed up prosecution of police officers accused of brutality during mass protests that forced Hosni Mubarak to step down. More than 1,000 people have been injured, a senior official said.

In scenes reminiscent of the 18-day uprising that ousted Mubarak on Feb. 11, riot police deployed around the Interior Ministry building and fired in the air or used tear gas as demonstrators threw rocks and firebombs. The fighting left streets littered with rocks and debris and a heavy, white cloud of tear gas hung over the area.

By late afternoon, army troops backed by armored vehicles took over from riot police who had been protecting the Interior Ministry, closing all roads leading to the complex, the official Middle East News Agency, MENA, reported.

The protests attest to the ongoing upheaval in Egypt nearly five months after Mubarak stepped down. The country is struggling with a worsening economic crisis and as a security vacuum that has led to a surge in crime.

The question of meting out justice to those responsible for the deaths of some 850 protesters during the uprising, as well as for regime stalwarts charged with corruption, is among the most divisive in post-Mubarak Egypt. Many of those who took part in the uprising accuse the ruling military of showing too much reverence to key figures of the old regime and lenience with senior police commanders accused of ordering the killing of protesters.

Gigi Ibrahim, one of the protesters, said security forces rained tear gas on them.

"It was like January 25," she said, referring to the first day of the uprising. "The protesters have enough anger, either because change has not come or because the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces hasn't done enough" to meet their demands.

MENA quoted Assistant Health Minister Abdul-Hameed Abazah as saying that of the injured, some 900 were treated on the spot and more than 120 went to hospitals.

Most of the injured suffered from gas inhalation or concussions, officials said. At least 18 cars and 11 stores were damaged.

Ambulances ferried the wounded to hospitals, and volunteer doctors and nurses treated others on sidewalks.

The military issued a statement on its Facebook page claiming the clashes were designed to "destabilize the country" and drive a wedge between the groups behind the uprising and the security forces. It called on Egyptians not to join the protests.

Some of the protesters used scarves to shield them from tear gas. They pelted police cars with rocks and advanced when the riot police lines retreated. The main chant back in January and February was "The people want to oust the regime." But that has been replaced by screams of "The people want to oust the field-marshal" — a reference to Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's longtime defense minister and chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that has taken over. Some of the youth groups behind the uprising see Tantawi as tainted because he was a key member of the Mubarak regime.

Critics also charge that Tantawi's policies are designed to keep the old order, and accuse him of deliberately stalling the process of purging Mubarak loyalists and failing to reform the hated Interior Ministry and its security agencies.

The clashes are likely to widen the rift between many Egyptians and the police, blamed for most of the human rights abuses during Mubarak's nearly three decades in power. They also are likely to delay efforts aimed at empowering the police to fully take back the streets. Police melted away following deadly clashes with protesters during the first few days of the uprising and army troops replaced them.

Mubarak's security chief, former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly, is on trial along with several of his top aides for ordering the use of deadly force against protesters. This week, his trial was adjourned until July 25, a decision that touched off clashes between relatives and police deployed outside the courthouse. Some of the victims' relatives want Mubarak to be included in the case against el-Adly.

Mubarak has been under arrest at a hospital in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh and has been separately charged with ordering the killing of the protesters. Both men face the death penalty if convicted.

The clashes began Tuesday evening when some 100 people, claiming to be relatives of the uprising's victims, tried to storm a ceremony held at a Nile side theater to honor the memory of 10 protesters killed in the uprising. Clashes between them and security guards at the theater began when they were denied entry. The men pelted the theater with rocks.

Police arrested seven of the attackers, but the rest headed to the road outside the state television building across the river. They persuaded relatives of the victims staging a sit-in outside the building to join them. Together, they marched to the Interior Ministry, where they clashed with police and later headed to the nearby Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising. They battled the police again until authorities ordered the police to pull back.

There were an estimated 6,000 protesters at the peak of the riots late Tuesday night.

Wednesday's clashes centered on streets leading to the Interior Ministry close to the downtown campus of the American University in Cairo.

Tahrir Square was closed to traffic on Wednesday, but about 1,500 protesters remained out on the streets.

A key youth group, April 6, described the police's handling of the latest protests as "brutal" and called in a statement for a sit-in in central Cairo to protest what it said was the failure to implement many of the demands from the uprising and to show solidarity with the families of the uprising's victims.

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