Moammar Qaddafi pledged an imminent assault on rebel stronghold Benghazi March 18. "The decision has been taken. Prepare yourselves. We will arrive tonight," the strongman said on state television. "We will chase the traitors from Benghazi. Destroy their fortifications. Show them no mercy. The world needs to see Benghazi free." Invoking again his claims that al-Qaeda is behind the rebellion, Qaddafi said "we will hunt down the miscreants and bearded ones that have destroyed out country and we will punish them without mercy." (AFP, March 18)

Libyan rebels battled Qaddafi-loyalist forces at Ajdabiya on March 16, as the provisional opposition government in Benghazi, just 150 miles up the coast, prepared for an assault on the city. In response to international calls for a no-fly zone, Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, the dictator's son, boasted to reporters: "The military operations are finished. In 48 hours everything will be over. Our forces are close to Benghazi. Whatever decision is taken, it will be too late."

The February 20 movement, which is pushing for democratic reform in Morocco, on March 13 "strongly condemned" the crackdown on a protest in Casablanca in which dozens were injured. Police stormed the office of the United Socialist Party (PSU) after protesters took refuge there. The movement called for further demonstrations to go ahead as planned on March 20 in several cities to press for sweeping political changes. "The [king's] speech of March 9 was a first gain for the Moroccan people because he announced new constitutional reforms. But it was followed by a process of repression against our movement which we strongly condemn," protest leaders said in a statement. (Middle East Online, March 14; Press TV, March 13)

Qaddafi-loyalist forces pushed deeper into rebel-held eastern Libya on March 13, overrunning the oil hub of Port Brega and sending its defenders fleeing toward the opposition stronghold of Benghazi. Ajdabiya, just some 150 miles down the coast from Benghazi, is the next town where rebels are preparing to block the advance. Air-strikes have already hit the western outskirts of Ajdabiya. State-run TV claimed that Port Brega had been "cleansed of armed gangs." In Benghazi, opposition spokesman Mustafa Gheriani issued an urgent call for a no-fly zone. Meeting in Cairo, the Arab League also resolved to petition the UN Security Council for a no-fly zone. Syria and Algeria cast the only dissenting votes. (LAT, VOA, WP, Ya-Libnan, March 13)

Mauritanian police clashed with pro-democracy demonstrators March 8 in Bloc Square, central plaza of the capital, Nouakchott. Police used tear gas and clubs to disperse the protest, organized by the February 25 Youth Co-ordination group, leaving at least 18 hospitalized. The government had allowed young protesters to rally freely in the square since Feb. 25, but on March 4 announced that all public demonstrations must be authorized. Thousands continued to gather in the square daily, without an official permit, chanting "People want reforms, change or you will be changed!" (Magharebia, March 10; Middle East Online, March 9)

France became the first country to recognize Libya's opposition as its rightful government on March 10, and announced it will send an ambassador to rebel-held territory in the east. The move comes ahead of a European Union summit on the Libyan crisis called for the following day. The French decision was immediately praised by the rebels who urged the rest of the world to follow suit. "France has recognised the national transition council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people," one of the opposition body's envoys, Ali al-Issawi, told reporters after meeting with Sarkozy. (Middle East Online, March 10) Qaddafi's forces meanwhile succeeded in taking the oil hub of Ras Lanuf, forcing its rebel defenders to retreat east under a hail of rocket fire. (Middle East Online, March 10)

In an obvious move to head off the emergence of a powerful protest movement, Morocco's King Mohammed VI on March 9 announced a constitutional reform that gives more power to parliament and regional governments, strengthens human rights guarantees, and officially recognizes the importance of Amazigh (Berber) culture for the national identity. Tens of thousands of Moroccans demonstrated around the country for greater democracy on Feb. 20, and smaller rallies have been staged frequently since then. (DPA, Maghreb Blog, March 9)

We noted two days ago that Moammar Qaddafi is simultaneously playing the al-Qaeda card to rally US imperialism to his side and playing the US imperialism card to rally the Libyan people to his side. On March 9, he was so indiscreet as to do both in the same breath! "If al-Qaeda manages to seize Libya, then the entire region, up to Israel, will be at the prey of chaos," he told Turkey's TRT television. "The international community is now beginning to understand that we have to prevent Osama bin Laden from taking control of Libya and Africa." Instead of leaving it at that, he went on to say that he welcomes Western plans for a no-fly zone because it would allow "Libyans to see through the real intentions—to seize our oil—and then they would take up arms" to defend the country.