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Minister Says ex-Gadhafi Bastion under Govt. Control

Libyan Defense Minister Osama Juili said Wednesday that the oasis town of Bani Walid was under government control as he toured the former Moammar Gadhafi bastion days after deadly clashes.

"The town is in the control of the Libyan government," Juili told reporters. "The problem that started has been resolved," he added, referring to clashes on Monday in which at least five people died.

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'Tear Gas Canister' Grounds Egypt-Libya Flight

Egyptian authorities grounded a Libyan Airlines flight on Wednesday after an attendant found a suspected bomb in a toilet on the aircraft, airport officials told Agence France Presse.

Tripoli-bound flight 203 was due to leave Cairo International Airport when a member of the cabin crew found "a metal object" in one of the plane's toilets shortly before take-off.

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24 Dead as Syrian Forces Pound Protest Hub of Hama

Syrian security forces raked the central protest city of Hama with heavy machinegun fire and explosives on Wednesday for the second straight day, as troops killed 18 civilians and six army deserters across the country, activists said.

"The Syrian army is bombarding Hama with heavy weapons, using rocket-propelled grenades," said a statement from the Local Coordination Committees, which organizes anti-regime protests on the ground.

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Russia against Sanctions, Open to Dialogue on Syria

Russia said Wednesday it was "open to constructive proposals" on Syria but remained opposed to any U.N. resolution that tried to force all nations to respect sanctions previously imposed by the West.

"We are open to constructive proposals that go in line with the set task of ending violence," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said following talks with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu.

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Egypt Marks One Year since Anti-Mubarak Revolt

Egyptians poured into Tahrir Square on Wednesday to mark a year since the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, with the ruling military planning grandiose celebrations and activists vowing to reignite their unfinished revolution.

Thousands of Islamists, liberals, leftists and ordinary citizens entered the square, the epicenter of protests that ousted Mubarak, waving flags and bearing banners reflecting the day's different messages.

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Obama on Arab Spring: Tyranny 'No Match for Liberty'

President Barack Obama hailed the demise of Libya's Moammar Gadhafi and warned Syria's Bashar Assad his regime's days were numbered Tuesday as he vowed enduring U.S. support for the ideals of the Arab Spring.

"As the tide of war recedes, a wave of change has washed across the Middle East and North Africa, from Tunis to Cairo; from Sanaa to Tripoli," Obama said in his annual State of the Union address in Congress.

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HRW Slams Egypt's Incomplete Lifting of Emergency Law

The decision by Egypt's military to only partially scrap a decades-old emergency law is "an invitation to continued abuse" and the stifling of freedoms, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.

Military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi on Tuesday announced the lifting of the hated emergency law, except in cases of "thuggery", to coincide with the anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak last year.

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Arrests in Bahrain as Shiites Protest

Bahraini police dispersed anti-government protesters who blocked roads in several villages, an official statement said on Wednesday, as tensions in the Shiite-majority Gulf kingdom continue to rise.

Public Security Chief Major General Tariq al-Hassan said "vandals blocked roads" and threw petrol bombs during Tuesday night clashes, according to a statement published on the official BNA news agency website.

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Qaida Gunmen Pull out of Yemen Town

Al-Qaida gunmen have withdrawn completely from the central Yemen town of Rada, which they overran nine days ago, tribal sources and witnesses said on Wednesday.

"They have left the town," located 130 kilometers (85 miles) southeast of Sanaa, one tribal source said hours after a senior military official said there had been mediation to convince them to withdraw.

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Top Commander Says NATO Not Mulling Intervention in Iran, Syria

NATO is not considering any involvement in Syria or Iran, the alliance's top commander in Europe said on Tuesday, after Russian claims that such plans were afoot.

"In terms of Syria, I can tell you from a NATO perspective, we are not conducting any planning, we are not doing any detailed analysis, we are simply monitoring the situation," Admiral James Stavridis, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, told a panel discussion in Berlin.

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