Government officials continue stepping down in support of Libyan citizens. Commander of the military’s special operations forces, General Abdul Salam Mahmood al-Hassi is the latest high profile official to resign his position, calling upon other soldiers to join the protesters and protect fellow citizens, while Libya’s ambassador to Somalia, Issa Ashur, similarly resigned in support of the Libyan people. Two chartered Greek ships have brought some 3,000 stranded Chinese nationals from Benghazi to Greece, while another two from Malta were chartered by the Chinese embassy to rescue another 3,000 in other locations, with 16,000 Chinese citizens evacuated from Libya as of Saturday afternoon.

To aid in updating news from the country, Al Jazeera has broadcast three phone numbers for Google’s recently-launched “Speak to Tweet” initiative. Libyans can call and leave a voice message, which is immediately translated into English, French and Spanish, and sent out via Twitter. The telephone numbers are +16504194196, +390662207294, and +442033184514. Three people were killed in Tunisian protests Saturday, and nine more injured. Further demonstrations were held in Bahrain, Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Croatia. Following the deaths of four more Yemeni demonstrators, leaders of Yemen’s Hashid tribe said they were leaving their government posts to support the protesters and were joined by tens of thousands of Hashid and Baquil tribal members.

As we sorrow for the lives lost, may Heaven bless the people of all nations as we pray that the conflicts cease and all citizens may live in freedom, security and peace. 

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