Citizens speak out. The call for basic human dignity continues to grow across the globe, with brave men and women often risking their own safety to uphold principles of freedom, democracy and human rights through peaceful protests. The countries where such marches and rallies are occurring include Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, China, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Croatia, Djibouti, Egypt, France, Greece, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Swaziland , Tunisia, Turkey, Turkish Cyprus, United Kingdom, Venezuela and Yemen.

In Iraq’s Kurdistan region, thousands of citizens marked the Festival of Nowruz by holding a protest rally to peacefully deliver the message that their previous demands for political reforms, including the delivery of basic services, have not yet been met. In the wake of the use of lethal force by security personnel to dispel protesters calling for Yemen’s president to step down, a group of influential clerics in the country have appealed to members of the army and security forces, asking that they disobey orders to kill or otherwise use force to repress demonstrators. In addition, they are demanding that members of President Abdullah Ali Saleh’s Republican Guard withdraw from the capital Sana’a, where citizens continue gathering in spite of a recent government imposition of martial law.

Meanwhile, President Abdullah Ali Saleh dispatched his foreign minister to Saudi Arabia to ask for King Abdullah’s mediation help with the protesters.

In Daraa, Syria, one person died and over 60 were injured on Sunday when police began using live ammunition to disperse some 10,000 protesters calling for an end to both government corruption and emergency law. State news agency SANA reported that in response, President Bashar al-Assad fired the Daraa governor who had been reported by residents to have mishandled the area’s protests, as well as releasing many of those detained during the demonstrations.

Thousands continued to march peacefully on Monday in the Daraa governorate capital, following the burial of fellow protester 23-year-old Raed al-Kerad who lost his life on Sunday, with local tribal leaders demanding that the city police chief and Daraa governor be held accountable for the five people who have died in the city since Friday.

Reporting from Libya, Agence France-Presse stated that journalist Dave Clark and photographer Roberto Schmidt, who were travelling with Getty Images’ photographer Joe Raedle, have been missing since Friday morning where they had been on duty near the eastern city of Tobruk.

Meanwhile, the New York Times announced on Monday that four journalists, including two-time Pulitzer prize winner Anthony Shadid, videographer and reporter Stephen Farrell, reporter Tyler Hicks and photographer Lynsey Addario, all captured by Libyan pro-government forces last week, have been released thanks to key negotiating assistance from the Turkish government, as well as diplomats in the US and UK. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon held a conference at the Arab League on Monday to help clarify the intentions of the coalition to protect innocent Libyan citizens through the enactment of the no-fly zone.

Following the meeting, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, who had expressed concern Sunday that the use of military force might actually be harming innocent civilians, renewed his support for the UN resolution and the coalition's commitment to protecting the people of Libya. European Union leaders meeting to discuss the situation in Libya also conveyed their support for the UN Security Council no-fly zone resolution as they committed to help protect the lives and human rights of Libyan citizens. In a mission being conducted on Sunday night by coalition forces, the British Ministry of Defense stated that an air strike was halted when they received a report that some civilians were at the site. A Libyan dentist, who identified himself as being among many supporters of the government who voluntarily acted as human shields outside the compound of leader Muammar Gaddafi, stated that while they were afraid, no one was injured during any of the coalition airstrikes.

Meanwhile, a panel of African leaders established to find solutions to the situation in Libya called for an end to the fighting, as His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI urged political leaders and the military to take great care with the safety of Libyan civilians, and ensure their access to humanitarian aid. Leaders in Libya’s pro-democracy movement commended the actions of UN-backed coalition forces that had begun on Saturday to disable the Libyan government’s air defense capabilities and armored vehicles responsible for launching assaults on innocent civilians.

They reported Sunday that all Libyan forces previously attacking the cities of Ajdabiya and Benghazi had disappeared. However on Monday, when the revolutionary citizens re-entered Ajdabiya, they were fired upon by the government military. Reuters news agency also reported that gunfire heard was in the western capital Tripoli, and that government forces remain in Misurata, the nation's third largest city, where they have been firing on unarmed civilians, resulting in nine deaths.

Libyan human rights lawyer Abdul Hafiz Ghoga stated that 8,000 people had died at the hands of the government since the unrest began, until the no-fly zone was imposed, as he hailed the UN-sanctioned coalition efforts as the best way to halt the military attack on civilians. Following Turkey's opposition to the possible transfer of leadership to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya, the organization approved plans to enforce a ban on all arms sales to the country.

We thank the coalition for their humane consideration of innocent civilians as well as the Turkish government, British and US diplomats for aiding in the journalists' release.

As we convey our deep sadness for the loss of precious lives, may Heaven bless citizens everywhere with an end to the conflicts so that all may live in freedom and dignity, with peace that prevails among all peoples and nations.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: That’s why war is never good because if they don’t hit you back today, they’ll hit you another day. And as Buddha said, requiting hatred for hatred, hatred will never dissolve. You just have to use compassion. So, of course, the leaders of the world will learn this by mistakes or in time, and I hope it’s not too late then. Maybe we’ll have true peace on Earth. Maybe we will have a vegan planet.

Everybody helps a little bit, then the whole planet will change because of the collective consciousness of the positive direction, you see? Positive energy: everybody wants the same thing; everybody wants to sustain the globe, to keep this way of life, or even better. Then the consciousness is huge. The energy is very benevolent. And if they just do it – everybody just puts down that piece of meat, changes the lifestyle – very simple, very simple.

The system of the world is not very favorable. But, at least, if we have compassion and we be vegan, that’s all there is. No killing animals, no killing of man.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170934.html
http://www.france24.com/en/20110320-yemen-army-urged-ignore-orders-minister-quits
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/372573,foreign-minister-released-jail.html
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http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170926.html 
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Hafiz_Ghoga
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