The Libyan UN Mission—breaking with the regime of Moammar Qaddafi—requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council about the situation in Libya Feb. 21, urging the world body to install a no-fly zone over the country to prevent the regime from using warplanes and helicopters to bomb its own population. Deputy Permanent Representative Ibrahim Dabbashi said Libyans had to be protected from "genocide." After meeting once the following day, the Council took no action but said it would meet again soon. (Afrol News, Radio Australia, Feb. 22)

Protesters, apparently joined by members of the security forces, seized control over several eastern Libyan cities and towns Feb. 21, including Benghazi, al-Bayda and Durna. The cities were the scene of fierce fighting over the weekend, with protesters forming militias, evidently with the aid of defecting members of the security forces. The regime is reportedly resorting to "mercenaries" from African countries to beat back the militias. Fighting has now spread to the capital, Tripoli, where helicopters and warplanes are reportedly firing from the air on protesters. State TV headquarters, the Interior Ministry building and the offices of the "People's Committees" that are the pillar of the regime were torched by the Tripoli protesters. The whereabouts of strongman Moammar Qaddafi are not known.

Hundreds of protesters clashed with police and government supporters the night of Feb. 15 in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, after human rights lawyer Fathi Tarbel was arrested. Police used water cannon and teargas against what began as a protest begun by relatives of prisoners killed in a 1996 massacre who were demanding the release of the lawyer. Opposition supporters have called for a nationwide "day of rage" on Feb. 17. Several journalists and longtime dissident Idris al-Mismari are reported detained. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were all briefly blocked, as were AlJazeera and al-Arabiya television. State TV showed crowds of pro-government supporters shouting slogans in Tripoli's Green Square. Reports of two killed in the street fighting could not be confirmed. (The Guardian, Feb. 16)

Tunisia's government harshly condemned a suggestion by Rome that Italian security forces could be sent to the North African country to stem the flow of undocumented migrants. An estimated 5,000 Tunisians have landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa in recent days, fleeing unrest and repression. Rome has requested emergency aid from the European Union to deal with influx. (RTE News, Feb. 15; AFP, Feb. 14)

A 26-year-old man died in central Morocco Feb. 13 after setting himself on fire in despair at his economic situation since being dismissed from the army. "He poured five litres of petrol over himself and set himself alight in the weekly market at Benguerir," said Mohammed Hanofi of the Moroccan Human Rights Association. It was the first reported death in the country from self-immolation, which has also occurred in neighboring Algeria and sparked the revolution in Tunisia. (Middle East Online, Feb. 13)

Up to 2,000 marched in Algiers despite a ban on demonstrations in the city Feb. 12, and briefly pushed back against police who tried to bar the march with a cordon. Police flooded the streets with troops and armored vehicles to block the march, called by the recently formed National Coordination for Change and Democracy (CNCD). "We want a second independence," leading government critics demanded in an online video. "We are the generation of rupture."

In recent days, Facebook groups numbering several hundred members have been calling for "day of rage" protests in Libya on Feb. 17. An initiator of the call, Jamal al-Hajji, who has joint Libyan and Danish citizenship and has spent time in prison in the past for his criticism of the Moamar Qadaffi regime, was detained on Feb. 1 for an alleged hit-and-run accident, which he denies. International human rights observers say he has been targeted for his activism.

At least two people were killed and 17 others were wounded in the northern Tunisian city of El Kif on Feb. 5 when police opened fire on protesters who reportedly threw fire bombs and stones at a police station. Some 1,000 people gathered in a protest to demand the dismissal of the city' police chief. (Reuters, Feb. 5)