Syria warned the American and French ambassadors Wednesday not to travel outside the capital without permission, two weeks after they angered the regime by visiting a city that has become the center of the country”s four-month-old uprising.
If the U.S. and French envoys disobey the order, Syria will ban all diplomats from leaving Damascus, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said during a lecture at Damascus University.
“We did not evict the two ambassadors because we want the relations to develop in the future and in order for their governments to review their stances toward Syria,” al-Moallem said.
Egypt”s ruling generals say foreigners won”t be allowed to monitor upcoming elections but there will be Egyptian observers.
The decision was announced Wednesday as the military unveiled a law setting guidelines for Egypt”s first post-revolution parliamentary vote.
Maj. Gen. Mamdouh Shaheen, a member of the military council that assumed control of the country after Hosni Mubarak stepped down, says the army will announce a date for the elections by the end of next month.
He says there won”t be foreign monitors in order to protect the country”s sovereignty.
Police in Belarus detained some 40 protesters Wednesday for clapping their hands and stomping their feet during a demonstration against the authoritarian policies of the president on the 17th anniversary of his rule.
Public discontent is swelling as Belarus experiences its worst financial crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union. The country recently devalued the national currency, causing panic buying of goods and huge lines at currency exchange offices.
Much blame is directed at Alexander Lukashenko, whom the West dubbed “Europe”s last dictator,” for increasing public sector salaries in pre-election populism last year when the country could ill-afford it.
A military official says that at least 37 soldiers have been arrested in a wave of detentions following an attempt to assassinate the democratically elected leader of Guinea.
The official who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the press said many of the officers and rank-and-file soldiers that are being held have ties to the past two military rulers of Guinea.
The former French colony was only able to shake off the yoke of dictatorship and military rule last November won by former opposition leader Alpha Conde. Conde narrowly survived Tuesday”s attack which pierced the walls of his bedroom.
Police have asked a judge to order the arrest of three men suspected of involvement in the killings of two Amazon activists, authorities said Wednesday.
Jose Claudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife Maria were gunned down last May near a reserve in the jungle state of Para, where they taught farmers how to use land in a sustainable manner. Para is one of Brazil”s most violent and lawless states.