Greek police clash with anti-austerity protesters (Reuters)

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek police clashed with protesters on Wednesday as around 100,000 workers, pensioners and students marched to parliament in protest at austerity policies aimed at helping Greece cope with a huge debt crisis.

Riot police fired scores of rounds of teargas and flash bombs at protesters hurling petrol bombs, choking the main Syndagma square with smoke and sending crowds of striking protesters running for cover.

Public and private sector employees' 24-hour strike grounded flights, shut down schools and paralyzed public transport in this year's first nationwide walkout against cost cuts.

In the biggest march since December 2008 riots brought the country to a standstill for weeks, about 100,000 Greeks marched through the streets of Athens chanting "We are not paying" and "No sacrifice for plutocracy."

In several streets across the city, police fired teargas to disperse demonstrators hurling stones and plastic bottles. Shops barricaded their windows and hotels in central Athens locked up.

Police said two policemen and five civilians were injured, including one journalist slightly hurt by a petrol bomb. Four protesters were detained.

Protesters broke marble sidewalks for rocks to throw at police, set garbage cans on fire and damaged bus stops. Others unfolded a black banner reading "We are dying" in front of parliament.

"We've reached our limits! We can't make ends meet," said 60-year old Yannis Tsourounakis, who has three children and is unemployed. "Our future is a nightmare if we don't overturn these policies."

The Socialist government cut salaries and pensions and raised taxes last year despite repeated strikes, in return for a 110 billion euro ($150 billion) bailout by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund that saved Greece from bankruptcy.

Greece's international lenders approved this month a fresh, 15-billion-euro tranche of the aid, but set a tougher target for privatization proceeds and called for more structural reforms.

"This strike kicks off a wave of protests this year with the participation of workers, pensioners and the unemployed. We are against these policies which are certainly leading to poverty and pushing the economy into a deep recession," Ilias Iliopoulos, general secretary of public sector union ADEDY, told Reuters.

Markets are watching for any derailment of Greece's fiscal efforts. Analysts say strikes are unlikely to make the government, which has a comfortable majority in parliament, change course but turnout in protests is a way to gauge its popularity.

"The government has no room to change policies," said Costas Panagopoulos, head of ALCO pollsters. "But most Greeks believe the burden is not equally shared and this is a problem."

Private sector union GSEE and its public sector sister ADEDY, which represent about 2.5 million workers or half the country's workforce, have vowed to resist austerity measures, saying they are killing the economy.

"We can't take it anymore. I have been looking for work for many months while others are eating with golden spoons," said Thanos Lykourias, 27.

(Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton.)

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Mexico police unearth human fragments in Tijuana (AP)

TIJUANA, Mexico – Prosecutors have unearthed what appear to be fat, skin and bones at properties in the border city of Tijuana once used by a man known as the "stew-maker," who confessed to dissolving the bodies of drug cartel victims.

Authorities have confirmed the finds but say it is unclear if the fragmentary remains are human. The remains have been sent to Mexico City for testing.

But anti-crime activist Fernando Ocegueda says there is reason to believe the remains belong to victims of cartel body-handler Santiago Meza Lopez.

Meza Lopez was arrested in 2009 and confessed to dissolving at least 300 bodies in caustic soda.

A similar caustic substance is used to prepare hominy for the Mexican stew known as pozole.

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Suicide car bomb near Mogadishu police camp in Somalia (Reuters)

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – A suicide car bomb exploded near a police training camp in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Monday, but the number of casualties was not immediately clear, police said.
"We saw a speeding car toward us, and it soon exploded. Every place was soon covered with flames and smoke," Hassan Ali, a police officer told Reuters.
(Reporting by Abdi sheikh and Ibrahim Mohamed; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Matthew Jones)
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Police seek help solving 2002 LA double killing (AP)

LOS ANGELES – Almost a decade after the bodies of two men were found in a burned Mercedes SUV, police detectives said Friday they need the public's help in cracking the case, which has ties to designer jewelry, a Wall Street Ponzi scheme and a former Playboy cover girl.

The case dates back to the early morning of Sept. 2, 2002, when firefighters doused a vehicle that was ablaze in the Studio City neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley. In the SUV, they found the bodies of nightclub doorman Michael Tardio, 35, and his close friend Christopher Monson, 31.

Both had been shot to death.

The men were well-known in the Hollywood club scene. Detectives said Friday they hoped former customers of the Garden of Eden nightclub, where Tardio worked, would come forward with information. A $75,000 reward was being offered in the case.

"We believe the nucleus of this case is around the Garden of Eden," Detective Dennis English said.

Officials remained tight-lipped about why the investigation had stalled for so long, but English said the men were likely killed by someone to whom they were trying to sell jewelry.

The jewelry had been in the possession of Sandy Bentley, Tardio's girlfriend at the time, who became a minor celebrity after appearing on the cover of the May 2000 Playboy with her twin sister.

Bentley previously dated Mark Yagalla, a Wall Street wonder kid who in 2002 pleaded guilty to securities fraud and was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for stealing $50 million from clients.

Yagalla lavished the money on girlfriends and expensive living, including spending more than $6 million on Bentley, buying her six cars, three Rolex watches, a ruby and platinum necklace, other jewelry, furs and a Las Vegas mansion.

English said Tardio persuaded Bentley to try to sell off her jewels, even though a court-appointed receiver seeking to recoup some losses for Yagalla's victims had demanded that Bentley turn over the gifts.

It was not known how Tardio was trying to find buyers for the jewelry, but "word of mouth would go around, especially at a place like the Garden of Eden," English said.

The jewels included custom-made pieces and an item from high-end designer Fred Leighton. English said the jewels Tardio and Monson were trying to sell were worth at least $750,000.

The TV show "CBS News 48 Hours Mystery," is featuring the case in an upcoming episode, English said.

Bentley has since "moved on with her life," he said.

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Afghan police: Suicide bombing in east kills 8 (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan – A suicide bomber detonated a car rigged with explosives in the eastern Afghan city of Khost Friday morning, killing at least eight people and injuring scores of others, police said.

Elsewhere in the east, more than 30 insurgents were killed in an overnight operation by NATO forces in Kunar province, a hotbed of the insurgency. Also, a NATO service member was killed Friday in an explosion in the south.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing in Khost, which targeted a police station. Two policemen, a patrolman and an officer, were among the dead, said Abdul-Hakim Isaqzai, the police chief of Khost province, which borders Pakistan.

"It was very powerful, It shook Khost city," he said about the blast.

The explosion, in a crowded area of the city, damaged cars, houses and shops and sent a pillar of thick black smoke into the air.

"The blast was very large. It went off in the heart of the city near a police checkpoint," 35-year-old Noorullah of Khost told The Associated Press. "There is broken glass in the residential areas around the bombing, Even people in their houses were injured by broken glass."

Noorullah, who uses one name, said city residents were expressing fear and disappointment about the continuing violence.

"Continually we are facing this disaster," he said, adding that he has little faith in the ability of the Afghan government's peace council to reconcile with insurgents. "The government officials in Khost province — they are so scared. They cannot leave their offices, their compounds, to go out to talk to the people."

President Hamid Karzai's office condemned the attack.

Amir Pacha, director of hospitals in the province, said at least 30 other people, mostly civilians, were wounded in the blast.

In December 2009, a suicide bomber, who was a double agent, killed seven CIA employees at a U.S. intelligence base in Khost.

Farther north along the Afghan-Pakistan border, pro-government security forces on Thursday captured a leader of Hizb-i-Islami, a militant group made up of loyalists of regional warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the coalition said. A suspected insurgent also was captured and a local resident who threatened security forces was killed in the operation in Khogyani district of Nangarhar province, NATO added.

The insurgent leader, who was captured, led a group of insurgents responsible for bomb attacks against coalition and Afghan forces and provided food and shelter to five fighters traveling from Pakistan, NATO said. Weapons, a roadside bomb and narcotics were confiscated at the site.

Even farther north, coalition troops patrolling from the air spotted a group of what they identified to be armed insurgents and fired on them in Ghazi Abad district of Kunar province, kicking off a more than four-hour battle late Thursday that left more than 30 insurgents dead.

The coalition after they opened fire, a large number of armed individuals emerged from a nearby building and they also were targeted and killed.

In southern Afghanistan, a coalition service member died Friday in a roadside bombing, NATO said. The coalition did not disclose any other details about the death, which brings to 17 the number of coalition troops who have died in Afghanistan so far this month.

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Algerian police break up crowd at pro-reform rally (AP)

ALGIERS, Algeria – Algerian police thwarted a rally by thousands of pro-democracy supporters Saturday, breaking up the crowd into isolated groups to keep them from marching.

Police brandishing clubs, but no firearms, weaved their way through the crowd in central Algiers, banging their shields, tackling some protesters and keeping traffic flowing through the planned march route.

The gathering, organized by the Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, comes a week after a similar protest, which organizers said brought an estimated 10,000 people and up to 26,000 riot police onto the streets of Algiers. Officials put turnout at the previous rally at 1,500.

The new protest comes on the heels of uprisings in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt that toppled those countries' autocratic leaders.

Police presence at Saturday's march was more discrete than the week before, when huge contingents of riot police were deployed throughout the capital the night before the march. On Friday night, by contrast, the capital was calm, with police taking up their positions only Saturday morning.

Still, by breaking up the crowd, the police managed to turn the planned march into a chaotic rally of small groups.

Opposition lawmaker Tahar Besbas, of the Rally for Culture and Democracy, RCD, party, was hospitalized with an apparent head injury after he was clubbed by police. Besbas' supporters said police initially refused to take him to a hospital, though he was eventually taken away in an ambulance.

It was not immediately clear how serious Besbas' injury was.

Human rights advocate Ali Yahia Abdenour, of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights, was undeterred by the police. The frail elderly man cried out, "We want democracy, the sovereignty of the people."

Another demonstrator, 23-year-old Khalifa Lahouazi, a university student from Tizi Ouzou, east of the capital, said he "came here to seek my legitimate rights.

"We're living an insupportable life with this system," said Lahouazi, a university student from Tizi Ouzou, in the Kabylie region 60 miles (100 kilometers) east of Algiers. "It's the departure of the system, not just Bouteflika, that we want," he said, referring to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The new march comes amid weeks of strikes and scattered protests in the North African country, which has promised to lift a 19-year state of emergency by month's end in a nod to the growing mass of disgruntled citizens.

University students and nurses are among those who have held intermittent strikes, joined by the unemployed. Even the richest region, around the gas fields of Hassi Messaoud, was not spared as around 500 jobless youths protested Wednesday, the daily El Watan reported.

A group of communal guards — citizens armed by the state to fight the two-decades-long Islamist insurgency — joined the protest Wednesday in front of the governor's office in Medea, around 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Algiers to demand a variety of social benefits.

Rising food prices led to five days of riots in Algeria last month that left three people dead.

The second march comes as the pro-democracy fervor sweeping the Arab world is gaining ground, moving from neighboring Tunisia and Egypt, where longtime autocratic leaders were forced from power, to protests in Yemen, Bahrain and Libya.

In Algeria, Bouteflika has promised the lifting of a state of emergency by the end of the month. The measure, put in place to combat a budding insurgency by Islamist extremists, bans large public gatherings.

Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia acknowledged Wednesday that Algeria "cannot ignore events taking place in Arab and Islamic countries."

Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci, on a visit to Madrid, said Friday the march has not been officially banned, but only because no one has requested authorization to hold it. He praised the work of police a week earlier, noting that they did not carry firearms and that no one was injured.

He said in a French radio interview earlier this week that the protesters were only a minority.

"Algeria is not Tunisia. Algeria is not Egypt," he said in an interview with France's Europe 1 radio.

Algeria does have many of the ingredients for a popular revolt. It is riddled with corruption and has never successfully grappled with its soaring jobless rate among youth despite its oil and gas wealth. Still, experts say that this country's brutal battle with Islamist extremists that peaked in the mid-1990s, but continues with sporadic violence, has left the population fearful of a new confrontation. The violence left an estimated 200,000 people dead.

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Bahrain army withdrawn, police attack protesters (Reuters)

MANAMA (Reuters) – Bahraini troops and armored vehicles on Saturday rolled out of a Manama square that had been a base for anti-government protesters, meeting one opposition condition for a dialogue proposed by the king.

But when a few protesters tried to regain their former stronghold in Pearl Square, police beat them back.

At least 100 riot police took up position, while a group of about 50 demonstrators stood about 50 meters (yards) away.

One man raced to the center of the traffic circle, fell to his knees to kiss the yellowed grass and began praying as other protesters celebrated. Moments later, 10 police cars pulled up and policemen beat up one protester and fired teargas.

At least 100 riot police took up position, while a group of about 50 demonstrators stood about 50 meters (yards) away.

Troops in tanks and armored vehicles took over the traffic circle on Thursday after riot police attacked protesters who had camped out there, killing four people and wounding 231.

Bahrain's crown prince announced that all troops had been ordered off the streets and that police would maintain order.

"That's a very positive step," Jasim Hussain, a member of the main Shi'ite Wefaq bloc that quit parliament on Thursday, told Reuters. "They're trying to ease the tensions. I don't know whether it will be sufficient."

Wefaq had earlier rejected a call by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa for a national dialogue to end the unrest that has rocked Bahrain since Monday, saying troops must be withdrawn first, among other conditions.

Another Wefaq lawmaker said the troop pullout was not enough by itself. "There's no difference if people are killed by the military or by the security forces," said Ibrahim Mattar.

"STOP KILLING PEOPLE"

"We hope to hear a clear message from the government that it will stop killing people who are protesting peacefully."

Mattar said the king must accept the "concept" of constitutional monarchy, as well as withdrawing the military.

"Then we can go for a temporary government of new faces that would not include the current interior or defense ministers."

He reiterated an opposition demand for the king to fire his uncle, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, prime minister since Bahrain gained its independence in 1971.

"We are not going to enter a dialogue as Shi'ites," Mattar said. "They try to put the issue in this frame. The dialogue should be with all people who were protesting. Some are liberal, non-Islamic. Some are Sunni and some Shi'ite."

Shi'ites, who make up about 70 percent of Bahraini nationals feel cut out of decision-making in the Sunni-ruled state and complain of discrimination in access to state jobs and housing.

On Friday, the king offered a national dialogue with all parties to try to end the turmoil fueled by Shi'ite grievances in which six people have been killed and hundreds wounded.

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to King Hamad on Friday, condemning the violence and urging the government to show restraint and respect the rights of its people.

MILITARY ORDERED TO WITHDRAW

"Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, has ordered the withdrawal of all military from the streets of Bahrain with immediate effect," a statement said on Saturday.

"The Bahrain police force will continue to oversee law and order."

More than 60 people were in hospital with wounds sustained on Friday when security forces fired on protesters as they headed to Pearl Square, then still in military hands.

Also on Friday, Shi'ite mourners buried the four people killed in the raid on Pearl Square, which protesters had hoped to turn into a base like Cairo's Tahrir Square, the heart of a revolt that ousted Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton voiced concern about reports on violence by the security forces. "I urge the Bahraini authorities to respect fundamental human rights including freedom of expression and the right to assemble freely," she said, appealing to all parties to use restraint.

Young activists had also called for an open-ended strike from Sunday and the closure of all public and private schools on a Facebook page called the "February 14 revolution in Bahrain."

They demanded that protesters be allowed back into Pearl Square, the release of all political prisoners and word on the fate of missing people, as well as the resignations of the defense and interior ministers and the security chief.

A naval base near Manama that hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet helps the United States to project power across the Middle East and Central Asia, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

A Fleet spokesman said there was no significant impact on operations and Jennifer Stride, spokeswoman for the U.S. naval base, said no evacuation of families was planned.

The United States is caught between the desire for stability in an ally seen as a bulwark against Iran and the need to uphold the people's right to express their grievances.

The unrest in Bahrain, a minor non-OPEC oil producer and regional banking hub, has shaken confidence in the economy.

In 1999, King Hamad introduced a constitution allowing elections for a parliament with some powers, but royals still dominate a cabinet led by the king's uncle for 40 years.

(Additional reporting by Michael Georgy in Manama, Ross Colvin in Washington and Charlie Dunmore in Brussels; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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India police broaden graft probe; shares take a hit (Reuters)

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian police raided a television station linked to the government on Friday, as a widening investigation into a corruption scandal threatened the coalition and worried investors sent blue-chip stocks lower.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is under growing pressure over his role in the illicit sale of mobile phone licenses, although he has said he would not resign, blaming the debacle on his sacked telecommunications minister, who is now under arrest.

Its blue-chip Sensex index turned negative after news of the raid, falling 1.8 in afternoon trade. Investors are concerned the deepening probe will raise the possibility of license revocation, which would damage key telecoms firms.

Mumbai is the world's worst performing major stock market this year, with losses of 11 percent.

"Raids have been carried out today on the offices of Kalaignar TV in connection with the 2G scam," said a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official, who declined to be identified.

The raids followed allegations that companies linked to Swan Telecom, under investigation in the sale of 2G mobile licenses, had paid $47 million to the channel owned by the family that runs the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party.

The south Indian-based party is a member of Singh's Congress party-led coalition, helping it maintain a slim majority in parliament. The DMK has denied any wrongdoing, as has Swan Telecom, now partly owned by the UAE's Etisalat.

The DMK, from the state of Tamil Nadu, is not expected to leave the coalition but the investigation is testing its links with Congress and could put pressure on it to decide whether to stay in the alliance.

The corruption scandal has shaken India's business elite and shows no signs of abating. Billionaires Anil Ambani and Prashant Ruia have both been questioned by the CBI, something unheard of in India in recent times.

Shares in companied linked to the scandal have suffered. Reliance Communications, India's No. 2 mobile phone operator controlled by Anil Ambani, fell 6.9 percent on Friday.

The Sensex is down 11 percent this year, the worst performers among major Asian markets, with worry about graft keeping investors on edge.

"FIIs (Foreign institutional investors) don't know how deep is the corruption mess yet. So, they are either staying away or exiting when they have an opportunity," said Prakash Diwan, head of institutional business at Networth Stock Broking in Mumbai .

The CBI is investigating whether Swan Telecom, now renamed Etisalat DB, paid a bribe to the DMK in exchange for the former telecommunications minister and senior DMK member, Andimuthu Raja, giving the company a mobile phone license.

The investigation of the sale of licenses in the world's second largest mobile phone market is the biggest crisis to face the prime minister and his ruling coalition since they were returned to power in 2009.

TESTING COALITION

The Congress party-led government is not in great danger of collapsing because of its support from its coalition allies, whose positions within government keep them from jumping ship.

Most analysts expect the DMK to stick with Congress for fear they would do worse in an upcoming state election this year.

"These raids, Raja going to jail, and the promise of a substantial reshuffle, show Singh is determined to do what he wants to do, but if he can't show improvements in the next two months, the long-term issues (of remaining in power) will become more scrutinized," said Manoj Joshi, an editor at the Mail Today.

The government on Thursday scrapped another lucrative satellite telecoms contract because of irregularities, dealing a fresh blow to Singh, whose office was ultimately responsible for the deal.

Foreign investors, keen to get into one of the world's fastest growing major economies, are starting to pay close attention to the scandal as it has exposed India's struggle with regulation and transparency.

India has long grappled with cracking down on corruption, which has not significantly hurt foreign investment due to the market potential of Asia's third-largest economy.

The last parliamentary session was halted by opposition protests demanding an investigation into the telecoms scam, effectively stopping any reform bills such as one to make land acquisition easier for both industry and farmers.

Singh's government appears close to agreeing to a broad, cross-party investigation into the 2G mobile scandal, paving the way for parliament to resume for a February 21 budget session.

(Additional reporting by Manoj Kumar and Alistair Scrutton in New Delhi and Ami Shah in Mumbai; Writing by Paul de Bendern; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)

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Bahrain police teargas protesters as Libyans clash (Reuters)

MANAMA (Reuters) – Two of the Middle East's most entrenched rulers were battling to quell unrest on Saturday after security forces killed dozens of protesters in Libya and police fired teargas at demonstrators in the Bahraini capital.

Unrest has spread from Tunisia and Egypt to Bahrain, Libya, Yemen and Djibouti, as people of one country after another shed their fear of oppressive, autocratic rulers and took to the streets demanding democratic change and economic opportunity.

Protesters in Algiers on Saturday were surrounded by police and corralled into a courtyard, pro- and anti-government crowds in the Yemeni capital Sanaa hurled stones at each other, and protesters clashed with security forces in Djibouti.

Libyan security forces killed 35 people in the eastern city of Benghazi late on Friday, Human Rights Watch cited witnesses and hospital sources as saying, in the worst violence of Muammar Gaddafi's four decades in power.

Protests against Gaddafi's rule this week, inspired by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, were met with a fierce security crackdown, especially in the restive east around Benghazi.

A security source said clashes were still under way on Saturday in the region between Benghazi and Al Bayda, 200 km away, where local people said security forces had killed dozens of people in the past 72 hours.

The area is "80 percent under control ... a lot of police stations have been set on fire or damaged," the source said.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said Friday's killings took to 84 its estimate for the death toll in three days of protests, mostly around Benghazi, against a ruling elite accused of hoarding Libya's oil wealth and denying political freedoms.

It said the deaths in the city, 1,000 km (600 miles) east of Tripoli, happened when security forces opened fire on people protesting after funeral processions for people killed in earlier violence. There was no official word on the death toll.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged Libya to stop using force against protesters and asked Middle East governments to respond to the "legitimate aspirations" of their people.

"I condemn the violence in Libya, including reports of the use of heavy weapons fire and a unit of snipers against demonstrators," Hague said in a statement. "This is clearly unacceptable and horrifying."

In Bahrain, a key U.S. ally and home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, troops and armored vehicles left a Manama square that had been a base for anti-government protesters, hours after opposition groups rejected a royal call for dialogue unless the military stood down.

Police firing teargas beat back the few demonstrators who tried to move back into their former stronghold in Pearl Square after the army pullout.

The crown prince, charged by King Hamad on Friday with opening a dialogue with the protesters, announced that all troops had been ordered off the streets and that police would maintain order.

The announcement met one of the conditions for talks spelt out by a Shi'ite ex-lawmer of the main Shi'ite opposition bloc, Wefax, which quit parliament on Thursday.

Ibrahim Mattar told Reuters the authorities must "accept the concept of constitutional monarchy" and pull troops off the streets before a dialogue could begin. "Then we can go for a temporary government of new faces that would not include the current interior or defense ministers," he said.

The government is led by the Sunni Muslim Al Khalifa dynasty, but the majority Shi'ite population has long complained about what it sees as discrimination in access to state jobs, housing and healthcare, a charge the government denies.

The United States and top oil producer Saudi Arabia see Bahrain as a Sunni bulwark against neighboring Shi'ite regional power Iran.

The spreading unrest -- particularly worries about its possible effects on the world No. 1 oil producer, Saudi Arabia -- helped drive Brent crude prices higher this week before other factors caused them to slip on Friday.

It was also a factor in gold prices posting their best weekly performance since December.

Analysts say a key difference between Libya and Egypt is that Gaddafi has oil cash to smooth over social problems. He is also respected in much of the country, though less so in the Cyrenaica region around Benghazi.

"There is no national uprising," said Noman Benotman, a former opposition Libyan Islamist based in Britain but currently in Tripoli. "I don't think Libya is comparable to Egypt or Tunisia. Gaddafi would fight to the very last moment," he said by telephone from the Libyan capital.

In Yemen, supporters and opponents of the government threw stones at each other and fired shots in the air in Sanaa, a day after five people were killed and dozens wounded in clashes in several towns between security forces and crowds demanding an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 32-year rule.

Saleh, a U.S. ally against a Yemen-based al Qaeda wing that has launched attacks at home and abroad, is struggling to end month-old protests flaring across his impoverished country.

In Algiers, police in riot gear crammed some 500 protesters into the courtyard of a residential block before they could reach May 1 Square in the city center.

The main opposition parties did not take part in the banned protest, which was organized by human rights groups, some trade unionists and a small opposition party.

This, like other recent demonstrations in Algeria for democratic change and better economic conditions, was too small to rattle the authorities, but there have been signs that pressure is building within the ruling group for substantial change, including a new government line-up.

The political uprising sweeping through the Middle East has also reached the tiny Horn of Africa state of Djibouti, where anti-government protesters clashed with security forces on Saturday for the second day running.

On Friday, thousands of protesters called for the removal of President Ismail Omar Guelleh, whose family has held sway in Djibouti since independence in 1977. Guelleh took office in 1999 and is expected to run for a third term in April 2011.

Djibouti, a former French colony between Eritrea and Somalia, hosts France's largest military base in Africa and a major U.S. base. Its port is used by foreign navies patrolling busy shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia to fight piracy. Unemployment runs at about 60 percent.

(Additional reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers, William Maclean in London and Saleh Al-Shaibany in Muscat; Writing by Tim Pearce, )

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Riot Police Fatally Attack Bahrain Camp (Time.com)

(MANAMA) - Bahrain riot police firing tear gas and wielding clubs stormed a landmark square occupied by anti-government protesters before dawn Thursday, driving out demonstrators and destroying a makeshift encampment that had become the hub for demands to bring sweeping political changes to the kingdom.

The main opposition group Al Wefaq said at least two people were killed in the assault on Pearl Square, which was littered with flattened tents, trampled banners and broken glass. There was no official word on deaths or injuries, but hospitals treated dozens of people with serious gaping wounds, broken bones and respiratory problems from the tear gas.

Hours after police retook control of the plaza, the tiny island nation was in lockdown mode. Tanks and armored personnel carriers were seen in some areas - the first sign of military involvement in the crisis. Police checkpoints were set up along main roadways and armed patrols moved through neighborhoods in an apparent attempt to thwart any mass gatherings.

Barbed wire was put up around Pearl Square and a message from the Interior Ministry declared the protest camp "illegal." The air still carried the smell of tear gas more than four hours after the assault.

The blow by authorities marked a dramatic shift in tactics. It appeared Bahrain's leaders had sought to rein in security forces after clashes Monday that left at least two people dead and brought sharp criticism from Western allies - including the U.S. - which operates its main naval base in the Gulf from Bahrain.

Police held back Wednesday as tens of thousands of protesters crowded into the seaside square, dominated by a 300-foot (90-meter) monument to Bahrain's history as a pearl diving center.

After the crackdown early Thursday, protesters who were camped in the square overnight described police swarming in through a cloud of eye-stinging tear gas.

"They attacked our tents, beating us with batons," said Jafar Jafar, 17. "The police were lined up at the bridge overhead. They were shooting tear gas from the bridge."

Many families were separated in the chaos. An Associated Press photographer saw police rounding up lost children and taking them into vehicles.

Hussein Abbas, 22, was awakened by a missed call on his cell phone from his wife, presumably trying to warn him about reports that police were preparing to move in.

"Then all of a sudden the square was filled with tear gas clouds. Our women were screaming. ... What kind of ruler does this to his people? There were women and children with us!"

One man said he pretended to be unconscious to avoid further beatings from police.

ABC News said its correspondent, Miguel Marquez, was caught in the crowd and beaten by men with billy clubs, although he was not badly injured.

The Egypt-inspired protests began Monday as a cry for the country's Sunni monarchy to loosen its grip, including hand-picking most top government posts, and open more opportunities for the country's majority Shiites, who have long complained of being blocked from decision-making roles or key posts in the military.

But the uprising's demands have steadily grown bolder. Many protesters called for the government to provide more jobs and better housing, free all political detainees and abolish a system that offers Bahraini citizenship to Sunnis from around the Middle East as a way to close the population gap with Shiites, who account for 70 percent of the population. Many of the newly minted nationals get jobs in security forces to further cement the number of presumed loyalists protecting the ruling system.

Increasingly, protesters also chanted slogans to wipe away the entire ruling dynasty that has led Bahrain for more than 200 years and is firmly backed by the Sunni sheiks and monarchs across the Gulf.

Although Bahrain is sandwiched between OPEC heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Qatar, it has limited oil resources and depends heavily on its role as a regional financial hub and playground for Saudis, who can drive over a causeway to enjoy Bahrain's Western-style bars, hotels and beaches.

Social networking websites had been abuzz Wednesday with calls to press ahead with the protests. They were matched by insults from presumed government backers who called the demonstrators traitors and agents of Shiite powerhouse Iran. Some pointed out that Iranian hard-liners have called Bahrain the Islamic Republic's "14th province" because of its Shiite links.

The protest movement's next move is unclear, but the island nation has been rocked by street battles as recently as last summer. A wave of arrests of perceived Shiite dissidents touched off weeks of rioting and demonstrations.

Outside the main state medical complex - where many injured protesters were treated - dozens of protesters chanted: "The regime must go."

Before the attack on the square, protesters had called for major rallies after Friday prayers. The reported deaths, however, could become a fresh rallying point. Thousands of mourners had turned out for the funeral processions of two other people killed in the protests earlier in the week.

Mahmoud Mansouri, whose pants were torn in the mayhem, said police surrounded the camp and then quickly moved in.

"We yelled, "We are peaceful! Peaceful! The women and children were attacked just like the rest of us," he said. "They moved in as soon as the media left us. They knew what they're doing."

The country's rulers scheduled an emergency parliament session for later Thursday. But it may only serve to highlight the country's divisions and reinforce its image as the most politically volatile in the Gulf.

The main Shiite opposition bloc, with 18 of the 40 seats, has said it will not return to the chamber until the protest demands are met.

The occupation in Pearl Square, which began Tuesday, had become the nerve center of the first anti-government protests to reach the Arab Gulf since the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

Just hours before police moved in, the mood in the makeshift tent city was festive and confident.

People sipped tea, ate donated food and smoked apple- and grape-flavored tobacco from water pipes. The men and women mainly sat separately - the women a sea of black in their traditional dress. Some youths wore the red-and-white Bahraini flag as a cape.

After prayers Wednesday evening, a Shiite imam in the square had urged Bahrain's youth not to back down.

"This square is a trust in your hands and so will you whittle away this trust or keep fast?" the imam said. "So be careful and be concerned for your country and remember that the regime will try to rip this country from your hand but if we must leave it in coffins then so be it!"

Across the city, government supporters in a caravan of cars waved national flags and displayed portraits of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

"Come join us!" they yelled into markets and along busy streets. "Show your loyalty."

Earlier Wednesday, thousands of mourners turned out for the funeral procession of 31-year-old Fadhel al-Matrook, the second known fatality from the protests. Later, in Pearl Square, his father Salman pleaded with protesters not to give up.

"He is not only my son. He is the son of Bahrain, the son of this nation," he yelled. "His blood shouldn't be wasted."

The bloodshed has brought embarrassing rebukes from allies such as Britain and the United States. A statement from Bahrain's Interior Ministry said suspects have been "placed in custody" in connection with the two protester deaths from earlier in the week, but gave no further details.

The widening challenges to the region's political order - emboldened by the downfall of old-guard regimes in Tunisia and Egypt - also flared elsewhere in Arab world.

In Yemen, the embattled president flooded the ancient capital of Sanaa with more than 2,000 security forces to try to stamp out demonstrations that began nearly a week ago. They turned deadly Wednesday in the southern port of Aden, with two people killed in clashes with police.

In Libya, security forces fired rubber bullets and water cannons at hundreds of marchers in Benghazi, the second-largest city. Witnesses said some police stations were set on fire and one protester said he saw snipers on a roof of a security headquarters firing on protesters.

The unrest was triggered by the temporary detention Tuesday of an activist but quickly turned into a rare public challenge to the 42-year rule of Moammar Gadhafi.

Brian Murphy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

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Yemeni police block protesters' march on palace (Reuters)

SANAA (Reuters) – Anti-government protesters clashed with police blocking them from marching to Yemen's presidential palace in Sanaa on Sunday, witnesses said.

The clashes occurred while President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the main opposition group were preparing for talks that the government hoped would help avert an Egyptian-style revolt in the Arabian Peninsula state, a vital U.S. ally against al Qaeda.

Saleh decided to postpone a visit to the United States planned for later this month "due to the current circumstances in the region," the state news agency Saba said without elaborating.

About 1,000 people attended the demonstration shouting "the Yemeni people want the fall of the regime" and "a Yemeni revolution after the Egyptian revolution," before dozens broke off to march to the palace.

In the harshest response yet to a wave of protests in the capital, police prevented the smaller group from reaching the palace, hitting them with batons, while protesters threw rocks at the police, witnesses said. Four people were injured.

Anti-government protests have gained momentum in Yemen in recent weeks, inspired by protests in Tunisia and Egypt, and prompted Saleh to offer significant concessions to calm tensions, including a pledge to step down in 2013.

Many of the Sanaa protests, including a "Day of Rage" on February 3 attended by tens of thousands of opposition and pro-government demonstrators, ended peacefully.

Although pro- and anti-government protesters have clashed in recent days, police have generally stayed out of the fray in Sanaa. They have clamped down more firmly outside the capital.

Opposition officials said 10 protesters were briefly detained in Sanaa on Sunday and 120 more were taken into custody overnight in the city of Taiz after protests on Saturday.

Instability in Yemen would present serious political and security risks for Gulf states. The United States relies heavily on Saleh to help combat al Qaeda's Yemen-based arm, which also carries out attacks in neighboring Saudi Arabia.

In the south, where the government faces al Qaeda and secessionist militants, a court sentenced six men to death for kidnappings and armed attacks on police, Saba said.

RIGHTS CRITICISM

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch criticized Yemen for allowing government supporters to assault, intimidate and sometimes clash with protesters calling on Saleh to quit.

"The Yemeni authorities have a duty to permit and protect peaceful demonstrations," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead, the security forces and armed thugs appear to be working together."

There was no immediate response from Yemeni officials.

Saleh, in power for more than three decades and concerned about unrest in some parts of the Arab world, said more than a week ago he would step down when his term ends in 2013 and pledged his son would not take over the reins of government.

U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Saleh to follow up his pledges of reform with concrete action.

The offer, which included an invitation to dialogue, was Saleh's boldest gambit yet to avoid a showdown with protesters in the poverty-stricken country, where some 40 percent live on less than $2 a day, while a third suffer from chronic hunger.

"The opposition does not reject what came in the invitation by the president and is ready to sign an agreement in no more than a week," said former Foreign Minister Mohammed Basindwa, now an opposition politician.

Another opposition official said the talks should start within days. Yemen's opposition, which wants the talks to take place under Western or Gulf auspices, has said it is seeking assurances reforms would be implemented.

Saleh, a shrewd political survivor, has backed out of previous promises to step aside. Analysts say his concessions could be a genuine way to exit gracefully but he may hope to wait out regional unrest and reassert his dominance another day.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Mokhashaf in Aden; Writing by Cynthia Johnston and Firouz Sedarat; editing by Andrew Dobbie)

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Yemeni police block protesters' march on palace (Reuters)

SANAA (Reuters) – Anti-government protesters clashed with police blocking them from marching to Yemen's presidential palace in Sanaa on Sunday, witnesses said.
The clashes occurred while President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the main opposition group were preparing for talks that the government hoped would help avert an Egyptian-style revolt in the Arabian Peninsula state, a vital U.S. ally against al Qaeda.
Saleh decided to postpone a visit to the United States planned for later this month "due to the current circumstances in the region," the state news agency Saba said without elaborating.
About 1,000 people attended the demonstration shouting "the Yemeni people want the fall of the regime" and "a Yemeni revolution after the Egyptian revolution," before dozens broke off to march to the palace.
In the harshest response yet to a wave of protests in the capital, police prevented the smaller group from reaching the palace, hitting them with batons, while protesters threw rocks at the police, witnesses said. Four people were injured.
Anti-government protests have gained momentum in Yemen in recent weeks, inspired by protests in Tunisia and Egypt, and prompted Saleh to offer significant concessions to calm tensions, including a pledge to step down in 2013.
Many of the Sanaa protests, including a "Day of Rage" on February 3 attended by tens of thousands of opposition and pro-government demonstrators, ended peacefully.
Although pro- and anti-government protesters have clashed in recent days, police have generally stayed out of the fray in Sanaa. They have clamped down more firmly outside the capital.
Opposition officials said 10 protesters were briefly detained in Sanaa on Sunday and 120 more were taken into custody overnight in the city of Taiz after protests on Saturday.
Instability in Yemen would present serious political and security risks for Gulf states. The United States relies heavily on Saleh to help combat al Qaeda's Yemen-based arm, which also carries out attacks in neighboring Saudi Arabia.
In the south, where the government faces al Qaeda and secessionist militants, a court sentenced six men to death for kidnappings and armed attacks on police, Saba said.
RIGHTS CRITICISM
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch criticized Yemen for allowing government supporters to assault, intimidate and sometimes clash with protesters calling on Saleh to quit.
"The Yemeni authorities have a duty to permit and protect peaceful demonstrations," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead, the security forces and armed thugs appear to be working together."
There was no immediate response from Yemeni officials.
Saleh, in power for more than three decades and concerned about unrest in some parts of the Arab world, said more than a week ago he would step down when his term ends in 2013 and pledged his son would not take over the reins of government.
U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Saleh to follow up his pledges of reform with concrete action.
The offer, which included an invitation to dialogue, was Saleh's boldest gambit yet to avoid a showdown with protesters in the poverty-stricken country, where some 40 percent live on less than $2 a day, while a third suffer from chronic hunger.
"The opposition does not reject what came in the invitation by the president and is ready to sign an agreement in no more than a week," said former Foreign Minister Mohammed Basindwa, now an opposition politician.
Another opposition official said the talks should start within days. Yemen's opposition, which wants the talks to take place under Western or Gulf auspices, has said it is seeking assurances reforms would be implemented.
Saleh, a shrewd political survivor, has backed out of previous promises to step aside. Analysts say his concessions could be a genuine way to exit gracefully but he may hope to wait out regional unrest and reassert his dominance another day.
(Additional reporting by Mohammed Mokhashaf in Aden; Writing by Cynthia Johnston and Firouz Sedarat; editing by Andrew Dobbie)
View the original article here

Yemeni police block protesters' march on palace (Reuters)

SANAA (Reuters) – Anti-government protesters clashed with police blocking them from marching to Yemen's presidential palace in Sanaa on Sunday, witnesses said.

The clashes occurred while President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the main opposition group were preparing for talks that the government hoped would help avert an Egyptian-style revolt in the Arabian Peninsula state, a vital U.S. ally against al Qaeda.

Saleh decided to postpone a visit to the United States planned for later this month "due to the current circumstances in the region," the state news agency Saba said without elaborating.

About 1,000 people attended the demonstration shouting "the Yemeni people want the fall of the regime" and "a Yemeni revolution after the Egyptian revolution," before dozens broke off to march to the palace.

In the harshest response yet to a wave of protests in the capital, police prevented the smaller group from reaching the palace, hitting them with batons, while protesters threw rocks at the police, witnesses said. Four people were injured.

Anti-government protests have gained momentum in Yemen in recent weeks, inspired by protests in Tunisia and Egypt, and prompted Saleh to offer significant concessions to calm tensions, including a pledge to step down in 2013.

Many of the Sanaa protests, including a "Day of Rage" on February 3 attended by tens of thousands of opposition and pro-government demonstrators, ended peacefully.

Although pro- and anti-government protesters have clashed in recent days, police have generally stayed out of the fray in Sanaa. They have clamped down more firmly outside the capital.

Opposition officials said 10 protesters were briefly detained in Sanaa on Sunday and 120 more were taken into custody overnight in the city of Taiz after protests on Saturday.

Instability in Yemen would present serious political and security risks for Gulf states. The United States relies heavily on Saleh to help combat al Qaeda's Yemen-based arm, which also carries out attacks in neighboring Saudi Arabia.

In the south, where the government faces al Qaeda and secessionist militants, a court sentenced six men to death for kidnappings and armed attacks on police, Saba said.

RIGHTS CRITICISM

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch criticized Yemen for allowing government supporters to assault, intimidate and sometimes clash with protesters calling on Saleh to quit.

"The Yemeni authorities have a duty to permit and protect peaceful demonstrations," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead, the security forces and armed thugs appear to be working together."

There was no immediate response from Yemeni officials.

Saleh, in power for more than three decades and concerned about unrest in some parts of the Arab world, said more than a week ago he would step down when his term ends in 2013 and pledged his son would not take over the reins of government.

U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Saleh to follow up his pledges of reform with concrete action.

The offer, which included an invitation to dialogue, was Saleh's boldest gambit yet to avoid a showdown with protesters in the poverty-stricken country, where some 40 percent live on less than $2 a day, while a third suffer from chronic hunger.

"The opposition does not reject what came in the invitation by the president and is ready to sign an agreement in no more than a week," said former Foreign Minister Mohammed Basindwa, now an opposition politician.

Another opposition official said the talks should start within days. Yemen's opposition, which wants the talks to take place under Western or Gulf auspices, has said it is seeking assurances reforms would be implemented.

Saleh, a shrewd political survivor, has backed out of previous promises to step aside. Analysts say his concessions could be a genuine way to exit gracefully but he may hope to wait out regional unrest and reassert his dominance another day.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Mokhashaf in Aden; Writing by Cynthia Johnston and Firouz Sedarat; editing by Andrew Dobbie)

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Ore. man dies after hospital tells police call 911 (AP)

PORTLAND, Ore. – Coughing and unable to sleep, Birgilio Marin-Fuentes drove himself to the hospital after midnight earlier this week, but he crashed his car just shy of his goal.

By the time somebody noticed the accident in the Portland Adventist Medical Center parking garage and told police, about 20 minutes had gone by.

The 61-year-old Cuban immigrant eventually died, leaving his family in grief, police upset, and a congressman requesting an investigation. All are asking why a police officer was told to call 911 for a heart attack victim just outside the hospital door.

Marin-Fuentes had struck a pillar and wall early Thursday morning inside the first level of the garage under an "emergency parking only" sign about 125 feet from the emergency room entrance.

Police say officers Angela Luty and Robert Quick found him unconscious and unresponsive and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A third officer, Andrew Hearst, went to the ER intake desk and told them what was happening.

Police say that's when he was told to call the emergency line.

"The officers recognized this man needed medical attention immediately, and two officers began CPR immediately, and a third officer went to ask for assistance, and they were told they had to wait until an ambulance arrived," said Sgt. Pete Simpson, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman.

Judy Leach, a hospital spokeswoman, said emergency room staff was told it was a car crash and they were following the proper protocol by instructing police to summon an ambulance crew.

"With an automobile accident you don't know if the patient needs to be extricated or transported," Leach said Friday. "There are protocols in place to ensure the right thing is done for the right patient at the right time."

She said hospital security officers equipped with a mobile defibrillator were dispatched, and a paramedic went outside to check on the situation.

But Simpson said officers did not receive any medical assistance and were left to fend for themselves until the ambulance arrived and the crew wheeled Marin-Fuentes the short distance to the emergency room aboard a gurney.

"It's a traumatic experience to give CPR and have a person not survive, especially to be that close to a hospital with trained medical personnel right there who could have assisted," Simpson said.

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer said Friday he has asked the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to conduct an independent investigation to make sure the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act approved in 1986 was followed.

The act requires all Medicare participating hospitals with emergency departments to treat any critically ill patients on their premises, including parking lots, Blumenauer said.

Blumenauer said he was "deeply concerned" about the way the incident was handled and has been in contact with both national and state hospital associations "to make sure everybody gets their signals straight."

Mark McDougal, a Portland attorney representing the family of Marin-Fuentes, said the family was pleased that Blumenauer has asked for a federal investigation.

"It is particularly disturbing that the hospital has given an account which is directly contradicted by the officers at the scene," McDougal said.

Efforts by The Associated Press to reach the victim's wife, Claudia Luis Garcia, on Friday were unsuccessful.

But she told The Oregonian she believes if she had insisted on driving with her husband to the hospital, he might still be alive.

"They left him to die," Luis Garcia said.

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Algeria police stifle Egypt-inspired protest (Reuters)

ALGIERS (Reuters) – About 50 people shouted anti-government slogans in a square in Algeria's capital on Saturday but they were encircled by hundreds of police trying to stamp out any attempt to stage an Egypt-style revolt.

Government opponents called for a mass protest march to demand democratic change and jobs, but most local residents so far stayed away and thousands of police in riot gear were moved to the capital to enforce a ban on the march.

"I am sorry to say the government has deployed a huge force to prevent a peaceful march. This is not good for Algeria's image," said Mustafa Bouchachi, a leader of the League for Human Rights which is helping organize the protest.

The small knot of protesters on May 1 Square, near the center of the city, shouted "Bouteflika Out!" -- a reference to the Algerian president -- and some waved copies of a newspaper front page with the headline "Mubarak has fallen!"

The resignation on Friday of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and last month's overthrow of Tunisia's leader, have electrified the Arab world and led many to ask which country could be next in a region where an explosive mix of authoritarian rule and popular anger is the norm.

Widespread unrest in Algeria could have implications for the world economy because it is a major oil and gas exporter. But many analysts say a revolt is unlikely because the government can use its energy wealth to resolve most grievances.

The protest march is scheduled to begin at May 1 Square at 11 a.m. (1000 GMT). When a handful of protesters arrived there two hours in advance, police arrested some of them and encircled the rest.

A small counter-protest started up nearby, with people chanting "We want peace not chaos!" and "Algeria is not Egypt!"

POLICE PRESENCE

A police helicopter hovered over the neighborhood and about 200 officers in helmets and armed with batons were at the square. Dozens of police vehicles were parked nearby.

Thousands more police were on stand-by in other parts of Algiers, a city of densely packed whitewashed buildings on a steep hillside sloping down to the Mediterranean Sea.

Near Kennedy Square, about 3 km (1.8 miles) from the center, police outnumbered local residents. They milled around in riot gear, drinking coffee, smoking and reading newspapers.

Other Arab countries have also felt the ripples from the revolts in Egypt and Tunisia. Jordan's King Abdullah replaced his prime minister after protests and in Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh promised opponents he would not seek a new term.

Protest organizers in Algeria -- who say they draw some of their inspiration from events in Egypt and Tunisia -- said police were turning people away before they could reach the march, or parallel protests planned for other cities.

"Algerians must be allowed to express themselves freely and hold peaceful protests in Algiers and elsewhere," the rights group Amnesty International said in a statement.

The government says it refused permission for the rally for public order reasons, not because it is trying to stifle dissent. It says it is working hard to create jobs and build new homes, and has promised more democratic freedoms.

Saturday's protest is not backed by Algeria's main trade unions, its biggest opposition parties or the radical Islamist groups which were banned in the early 1990s but still retain grassroots influence.

The march "is likely to be violent, but unlikely to destabilize the regime," said Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy.

(Editing by Tim Pearce)

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Bombs hit 3 police buildings in Pakistan

Police stand guard after a bomb blast behind the police building in Gujranwala, near Lahore on February 9, 2011.Gujranwala has been largely free of the militant violenceThree police officers were injuredThe explosives were detonated by remote control
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Bomb blasts in Pakistan rocked three police buildings near Lahore, police told CNN on Wednesday.
Police chief Ghulam Mehmood Dogar said the three bombs were planted on Tuesday night at a police station, an office of a senior police official and a police barracks.
They were detonated by remote control this morning in the city of Gujranwala, 70 kilometers northwest of Lahore, Dogar said.
Three police officers were injured and parts of the buildings were damaged.
The first two explosions happened within 30 minutes of one another, and the third bomb was detonated about three hours later.
Gujranwala has been largely free of the militant violence plaguing parts of Pakistan.
Police said there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.
On Monday, two people were injured when in back to back explosions at police stations in the southern port city of Karachi.
Journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report
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