The US rebuffs Qadhafi's letter

Colonel Mu'ammar Qadhafi has sent a letter to US President Barak Obama, imploring the US to cease bombing Libya. Qadhafi reportedly asked Obama to stop the "unjust war against a small people of a developing country."

The Libyan leader said that Libya was severely affected by the NATO air campaign and reiterated that the rebels trying to depose him were members of the Al-Qa'ida. The White House has snubbed the overture, saying Qadhafi will be judged by his actions not his words.

Associated Press, who broke the story, said that Qadhafi addressed Obama as "our son" in the letter and expresses hopes that he will be re-elected.

Speaking about the missive, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "Mr Qadhafi knows what he must do…There needs to be a cease-fire, his forces need to withdraw from the cities that they have forcibly taken at great violence and human cost...There needs to be a decision made about his departure from power and... his departure from Libya."

Sources: San Francisco Chronicle , Reuters Africa, Voice of America, Aljazeera, AP

For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focus and Libya Politics & Security.

Yemen: Government and military officials begin defecting

Several of Yemen's senior military officials have defected, others have voiced support for the anti-government protests calling for Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. The head of the north western military zone Maj Gen Ali Mohsen Saleh said he had deployed army units to protect the protesters. Among the most senior of the officers to defect is Maj Gen Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, a long-time confidant of Saleh and commander of the army's 1st Armoured Division.

A number of other officials including, Brigadier Hameed Al Koshebi, Brigadier Nasser Eljahori, Gen Ali Abdullaha Aliewa, rallied behind Maj Gen Saleh and defected. The move came a day after President Saleh dismissed the cabinet following news that at least 45 people were killed on Friday [18th March] by government related groups. Other resignations include those of Yemen's Ambassador to Syria Abdel-Wahhab Tawaf and the Ambassador to Japan.

Yemen's formal political opposition Joint Meetings Parties (JMP) expressed support for the military officials, and took to the streets on Saturday [19th March] in a show of support for the protesters. A spokeman for the group Mohammed Qahtan said: “President Ali Abdullah Saleh will now see that change is a must”. Asked whether the group would participate in the formation of new government, that Saleh is trying to put in place, Qahtan added: “It is not possible that the JMP will participate in the new government if Saleh is president.”

The US has expressed strong criticism over the way Saleh has handled the protests. President Barak Obama's top counter-terrorism adviser, John O. Brennan, reportedly telephoned Saleh on Sunday [20th March] to say that “any Yemeni government, no matter what its composition, must refrain from violence against protesters and support the right of the people of Yemen to engage in peaceful assembly…Any government must also support political change that meets the aspirations of the Yemeni people”.

Brennan also commended Saleh for ordering an investigation into the bloody clashes on Friday, and urged him “to follow through on that effort, and to ensure that anyone who has committed acts of violence is held accountable.”

Sources: New York Times, The Guardian, BBC News, FT

For more news and expert analysis about Yemen, please see Yemen Focus.