West strikes Libya as Gaddafi forces choke Misrata(Reuters) - Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi surrounded Misrata, the only big rebel stronghold in western Libya,
killing at least nine people, cutting off its water and bringing in human shields, residents said on Monday.RussianPrime Minister Vladimir Putin said a U.N. resolution authorizing military action in Libya resembled "medieval calls for crusades" and China stepped up criticism as Western forces prepared to switch from air strikes to air patrols.
The first strikes at the weekend halted the advance of Gaddafi's forces on Benghazi and targeted Libyan air defences to give Western warplanes control of the skies, but there have been no immediate rebel gains on the ground.
The White House said the United States intended to hand over the lead role in Libyan operations to others within days. British Prime Minister David Cameron said the intention was to transfer the coalition command to NATO, but France said Arab countries did not want the U.S.-led military alliance in charge.
While Western governments wrangled, bloodshed continued on the ground despite a ceasefire decreed by Gaddafi's military.
"The people of Misrata went into the streets and to the (city) center, unarmed, in an attempt to stop Gaddafi's forces entering the city," a resident told Reuters by telephone.
"When they gathered in the center the Gaddafi forces started shooting at them with artillery and guns. They committed a massacre. The hospital told us at least nine people were killed," the resident, who gave his name as Saadoun, added.
The report could not be independently verified because Libyan authorities prevented reporters from reaching Misrata.
In an appearance on Libyan television on Sunday, Gaddafi promised his enemies a "long war" after the U.N.-authorized intervention in the uprising against his 41-year rule of this oil producing north African desert state.
Officials in Tripoli said earlier that one missile in the second wave of attacks they said was intended to kill Gaddafi had destroyed a building in his fortified compound, which was heavily bombed in 1986 by the Reagan administration.
"It was a barbaric bombing," said government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, showing pieces of shrapnel that he said came from the missile. "This contradicts American and Western (statements) ... that it is not their target to attack this place."
The military coalition enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya fired 10 to 12 missiles at targets in that country overnight, a spokesman for the U.S. Africa Command said on Monday.
Spokesman Vince Crawley said the number of coalition missile strikes was scaled back significantly from previous evenings. Early on Saturday, forces fired 110 missiles at 22 targets.
"We spent the first 24 hours establishing conditions for a no-fly zone and are now transitioning over to a patrol posture," Crawley said.
UK GENERAL DENIES TARGETING GADDAFI
Libya in images.........
killing at least nine people, cutting off its water and bringing in human shields, residents said on Monday.RussianPrime Minister Vladimir Putin said a U.N. resolution authorizing military action in Libya resembled "medieval calls for crusades" and China stepped up criticism as Western forces prepared to switch from air strikes to air patrols.
The first strikes at the weekend halted the advance of Gaddafi's forces on Benghazi and targeted Libyan air defences to give Western warplanes control of the skies, but there have been no immediate rebel gains on the ground.
The White House said the United States intended to hand over the lead role in Libyan operations to others within days. British Prime Minister David Cameron said the intention was to transfer the coalition command to NATO, but France said Arab countries did not want the U.S.-led military alliance in charge.
While Western governments wrangled, bloodshed continued on the ground despite a ceasefire decreed by Gaddafi's military.
"The people of Misrata went into the streets and to the (city) center, unarmed, in an attempt to stop Gaddafi's forces entering the city," a resident told Reuters by telephone.
"When they gathered in the center the Gaddafi forces started shooting at them with artillery and guns. They committed a massacre. The hospital told us at least nine people were killed," the resident, who gave his name as Saadoun, added.
The report could not be independently verified because Libyan authorities prevented reporters from reaching Misrata.
In an appearance on Libyan television on Sunday, Gaddafi promised his enemies a "long war" after the U.N.-authorized intervention in the uprising against his 41-year rule of this oil producing north African desert state.
Officials in Tripoli said earlier that one missile in the second wave of attacks they said was intended to kill Gaddafi had destroyed a building in his fortified compound, which was heavily bombed in 1986 by the Reagan administration.
"It was a barbaric bombing," said government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, showing pieces of shrapnel that he said came from the missile. "This contradicts American and Western (statements) ... that it is not their target to attack this place."
The military coalition enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya fired 10 to 12 missiles at targets in that country overnight, a spokesman for the U.S. Africa Command said on Monday.
Spokesman Vince Crawley said the number of coalition missile strikes was scaled back significantly from previous evenings. Early on Saturday, forces fired 110 missiles at 22 targets.
"We spent the first 24 hours establishing conditions for a no-fly zone and are now transitioning over to a patrol posture," Crawley said.
UK GENERAL DENIES TARGETING GADDAFI
Libya in images.........
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Allied forces strike Gadhafi compound; leader's whereabouts unknown
Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- The heart of Moammar Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli lay in shambles Monday following bombing by the United States and its allies, prompting a debate about whether the allies were trying to kill the Libyan leader.
U.S. Vice Adm. Bill Gortney said neither Gadhafi nor his residence had been targeted. "We are not going after Gadhafi," he told reporters at the Pentagon. Asked about reports of smoke rising from the area of the Libyan leader's palace, Gortney said, "We are not targeting his residence."
The British called off a second bombing run targeting the compound for fear of hitting civilians, a Ministry of Defence spokesman told CNN Monday, declining to be named in line with British tradition.
The ministry said earlier that Royal Air Force GR4 Tornadoes were told not to launch weapons after "information came to light that identified a number of civilians within the intended target area." At the time it did not identify the target of the aborted mission.
Libya's military bombed 
Forces attack Gadhafi's compound 
Robertson: Inside Gadhafi's compound 
Tripoli under attack 
Gallery: Civil war in Libya Gadhafi's whereabouts -- and his plans after promising a "long-drawn war" -- remained unknown Monday.
The U.S. military mission in Libya may have peaked, spokesman Vince Crowley said Monday.
"We are moving from the action phase to a patrolling phase," said Crowley, a spokesman for the military's Africa Command. "Our aircraft participation has... plateaued, if not reduced somewhat."
A witness in the Libyan city of Misrata reported "absolute destruction and carnage" by Gadhafi forces on Monday -- despite the regime's recent call for a cease-fire.
"Misrata is being flattened and razed to the ground as we speak," said the man, whom CNN is not naming to protect his safety. "He (Gadhafi) is using tanks and snipers to terrorize the city."
The man added, "They are shooting people in the main street and on the back street."
The Libyan military announced the cease-fire after an attack near Benghazi -- the heart of the Libyan opposition forces. Coalition forces pounded a Libyan military convoy there Sunday. At least 70 vehicles -- including armored personnel carriers and tanks -- were destroyed.
British military spokesman Maj. Gen. John Lorimer Monday dismissed the Libyan announcement.
"Although a Libyan cease-fire was announced again there has been no evidence to suggest there has been a change in their stance," he said.
Asked about the possibility of trying to kill Gadhafi to end his regime, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said it would be "unwise" to set specific goals.
Arab League sour on airstrikes 
A look at coalition's military hardware 
Coalition airstrike: The first hours 
Libya's weapons of war "I think that it's important that we operate within the mandate of the U.N. Security Council resolution," Gates told reporters Sunday while on a plane to Russia. "If we start adding additional objectives, then I think we create a problem in that respect. I also think that it is unwise to set as specific goals things that you may or may not be able to achieve."
The Security Council resolution, which passed Thursday, allows member states "to take all necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack in the country ... while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory."
Gates did not mention Libya in St. Petersburg, Russia, during his appearance Monday with Russian military officials. Russia has been critical of the air bombardment of Libya.
CNN's Nic Robertson was among several Western journalists taken inside Gadhafi's bombed compound in Tripoli by Libyan officials to survey the destruction.
Robertson reported a four-story building was heavily damaged. He held a chunk of metal retrieved from the site -- with writing in English -- that appeared to be from a cruise missile.
A Libyan government official said the building had been used by Gadhafi officials and said there were no casualties from the strike.
The building is about 100 yards from a statue of a golden fist crushing a model plane emblazoned with "USA" -- a monument to the 1986 American bombing of Libya in which a U.S. plane was shot down.
Bernard-Henri Levy, a French philosopher who met Monday with the Libyan opposition in Paris, said they expressed gratitude for the coalition attack. "It was really a life or death question," he told CNN. "It was a matter of hours. If the allied forces had not intervened on Saturday morning it would have been a bloodbath, it would have been a massacre."
Levy, who recently returned from Benghazi, said the rebel leaders can be trusted to install a democratic government should they take power. Though Levy noted that regime change has not been the stated goal of the attack, he predicted Gadhafi would not retain power. "He will fall like a ripe, bad and ugly big fruit," Levy said. "If he is deprived of his force, he will lose power automatically."
But support for the attacks was not universal. The Russian government said the mission has killed innocent civilians and urged more caution. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow cited reports that "nonmilitary" targets were being bombed, including a cardiac center. India, China and Venezuela have also spoken out against the airstrikes.
Arab League Secretary-General Amre Moussa told reporters Sunday that what is happening in Libya is different from what was intended by imposing a no-fly zone, according to Egypt's al-Ahram newspaper.
"What we want is the protection of civilians and not the shelling of more civilians," he said. He added that "military operations may not be needed in order to protect the civilians."
But Arab League chief of staff Hisham Youssef said Moussa's comments did not signify a shift by the organization.
"The Arab League position has not changed. We fully support the implementation of a no-fly zone," Youssef said. "Our ultimate aim is to end the bloodshed and achieve the aspirations of the Libyan people."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon -- who met Saturday with Moussa other world leaders to discuss Libya -- said support from Arab leaders was key to the Security Council's decision.
"The strong recommendation by the league of Arab states to take decisive measures -- including the establishment of a no-fly zone -- figured prominently in the adoption of the Security Council resolution," Ban told reporters in Egypt on Monday. "This decisive measure is meant to protect the civilian population, who are being killed by Colonel Gadhafi and his regime."
In Cairo, Ban was briefly mobbed by demonstrators chanting "Down with USA!" his spokesman Khawla Mattar said, adding that it was "not a serious incident."
The Libyan government has said that 48 people, mostly women, children and clerics, have died in allied attacks.
However, Gortney, the U.S. vice admiral, said, "We have no indication of any civilian casualties."
And France -- which conducted the first strike in Libya on Saturday when fighter jets fired at a military vehicle -- also disputed claims of civilian deaths.
"There is no information of killed civilians recorded by the French command," French government spokesman Francois Baroin said Monday on the French TV channel Canal+. "We must be cautious of communication campaigns and propaganda."
Ahmed Gebreel, a member of the Libyan opposition, told CNN the Gadhafi government collected bodies of people killed in fighting in the past week and displayed them over the weekend in an attempt to show they were killed by coalition airstrikes.
U.S. official said they plan to hand over operational control of the military mission. The coalition has nine other announced partners: Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Qatar and Spain.
"One of the things that was very much on (U.S. President Barack Obama's) mind is the importance of a meaningful coalition, meaning other countries making serious military contributions so the United States isn't carrying the preeminent responsibility for an indefinite period of time," Gates said.
Coalition members were still working out how the ongoing mission would be commanded, U.S. officials said Monday.
NATO could command the coalition's no-fly mission in Libya, but some Arab nations are hesitant to fly under a NATO banner, which has held up the move, said one official, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of negotiations.
"NATO has the capability to do a rapid switchover," the official said. "The problem is, they have to do everything by consensus."
If Arab nations don't sign on to a NATO mission, the other option would be to create an ad-hoc command-and-control structure piece by piece, the defense official said. But that would take time, the official said.
As of Sunday night, the United States and British military had fired a total of 124 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Libya's air defense sites, Gortney said.
Also on Monday, the New York Times announced that its four journalists who had been held in Libya since last week had been released.
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Obama courts Latin America amid Libya air assault
President Barack Obama visited Chile on Monday on a trip to reassert U.S. influence in Latin America even as he tried to sell his decision to press military strikes against Libya's Muammar Gaddafi.Following his weekend visit to Latin America's economic powerhouse Brazil, Obama was to lay out his vision for deeper political, trade and investment ties with the region.
He was also expected to hail Chile's transition from military rule to stable democracy as a model for Libya and other countries in the Arab world, which is being swept by popular rebellions against autocratic rule.
The fierce air assault by U.S. and European forces on Gaddafi's loyalists in Libya has overshadowed Obama's Latin America trip.
He is struggling to balance his handling of world crises, including U.S. military intervention in a third Muslim country, with his domestic priorities of jobs and the economy considered crucial to his 2012 re-election chances.
Libya was certain to be the focus of attention at an Obama news conference on Monday following talks with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera.
Obama's authorization of a leading U.S. military role in the U.N.-approved campaign against Libya has opened him up to criticism from both sides of the U.S. political spectrum and threatens to complicate his domestic agenda.
Republican critics have demanded that Obama clarify the mission's goal, saying he has done a poor job of articulating the mission Americans and that it is another example of the president's failure to lead.
Some of Obama's fellow Democrats have also expressed concern about entangling the United States in Libya when its forces are already at war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The strikes are sanctioned under a United Nations resolution to protect Libyan civilians by all necessary means from Gaddafi loyalists trying to suppress a popular uprising against his rule.
Obama, in a brief statement to reporters on Saturday in Brasilia as his five-day Latin American tour got underway, said he had ordered limited U.S. military action to support an international coalition to shield Libyan civilians from harm.
AWKWARD SITUATION IN BRAZIL
In his meeting with President Dilma Rousseff, Obama found himself in the awkward position of meeting a leader whose government had abstained in last week's U.N. Security Council resolution giving the go-ahead for the strikes on Libya.
Obama is juggling the U.S. involvement in Libya with the deadly nuclear crisis in Japan, while at the same time seeking to promote deeper ties in a fast-growing Latin America he sees as a fertile region for U.S. job-boosting exports.
Latin America was optimistic when Obama took office in 2009 he would give the region the respect it feels it deserves due to its strong economic performance. But two years later there is a sense that relations have been neglected while Obama battles urgent domestic challenges and foreign wars.
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He was also expected to hail Chile's transition from military rule to stable democracy as a model for Libya and other countries in the Arab world, which is being swept by popular rebellions against autocratic rule.
The fierce air assault by U.S. and European forces on Gaddafi's loyalists in Libya has overshadowed Obama's Latin America trip.
He is struggling to balance his handling of world crises, including U.S. military intervention in a third Muslim country, with his domestic priorities of jobs and the economy considered crucial to his 2012 re-election chances.
Libya was certain to be the focus of attention at an Obama news conference on Monday following talks with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera.
Obama's authorization of a leading U.S. military role in the U.N.-approved campaign against Libya has opened him up to criticism from both sides of the U.S. political spectrum and threatens to complicate his domestic agenda.
Republican critics have demanded that Obama clarify the mission's goal, saying he has done a poor job of articulating the mission Americans and that it is another example of the president's failure to lead.
Some of Obama's fellow Democrats have also expressed concern about entangling the United States in Libya when its forces are already at war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The strikes are sanctioned under a United Nations resolution to protect Libyan civilians by all necessary means from Gaddafi loyalists trying to suppress a popular uprising against his rule.
Obama, in a brief statement to reporters on Saturday in Brasilia as his five-day Latin American tour got underway, said he had ordered limited U.S. military action to support an international coalition to shield Libyan civilians from harm.
AWKWARD SITUATION IN BRAZIL
In his meeting with President Dilma Rousseff, Obama found himself in the awkward position of meeting a leader whose government had abstained in last week's U.N. Security Council resolution giving the go-ahead for the strikes on Libya.
Obama is juggling the U.S. involvement in Libya with the deadly nuclear crisis in Japan, while at the same time seeking to promote deeper ties in a fast-growing Latin America he sees as a fertile region for U.S. job-boosting exports.
Latin America was optimistic when Obama took office in 2009 he would give the region the respect it feels it deserves due to its strong economic performance. But two years later there is a sense that relations have been neglected while Obama battles urgent domestic challenges and foreign wars.
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No-fly zone is being enforced but what is the endgame for Libya?
(CNN) -- As coalition forces continue to attack Libya and impose a no-fly zone, Moammar Gadhafi's regime is under the greatest pressure it has faced in its 42-year reign.
But questions are being asked as to what will emerge from the bombardment. Will Gadhafi survive and if so what will his next move be?
What happens if he is toppled or even killed and who would run the country? Can Libya ever enjoy peace and prosperity or is it set to be ravaged by a long and bloody civil war? CNN spoke to some experts to hear what they think the endgame could be. What follows are some of their thoughts.
Prolonged civil war likely
Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle Eastern Politics and International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said he expected the conflict to drag on.
"Libya's political landscape is uncertain but I think that Gadhafi will fight on and on and this could be very prolonged.
"It could also see Libya become extremely divided with maybe Gadhafi continuing to rule one half of the country and the other half being ruled separately.
"This would likely create a prolonged civil war. I think Gadhafi will hang on -- he has very little choice anyway as there is nowhere for him to go, he has been backed into a corner by the coalition. We must remember that there were no-fly zones imposed on Iraq in 1991 and 1993 and still Saddam Hussein remained in power.
"I think the result of military action will be a very fractious Libya. Military action could also turn public opinion within Libya once they begin to see casualties from air strikes. This could strengthen Gadhafi rather than weaken him.
"Even if we were to see Gadhafi killed, this would create a political vacuum which could see a long civil war which the West would have to take sides on.
"We don't know how divided Libya is; we don't know the strength of feeling for regime change. There is also a sense of increasing anxiety in the Arab League.
"I think Gadhafi will hold on for a long time. We also have to consider the wider implications for the whole of the Middle East. This could cause further instability throughout the Middle East and not just Libya."
Libya could have great future...
Marco Vicenzino, chief strategy adviser at the Afghanistan World Foundation, said the future for Libya could be bright if its wealth was fairly distributed.
"What happens next very much depends on whether Gadhafi survives or how long he fights to survive and that could be a long time.
"It depends on the resistance to his regime being sustained and the unity of the international community.
"If Gadhafi is defeated we would then see the transition of power to new players on the Libyan political scene made up of lawyers and the middle classes. The advantage that Libya has is its financial and human resources.
"Libya is not starting from a bleak starting point. It has money to create a strong and viable economy and to unite people and ensure they all have their basic needs. Libya has only 6.5 million people and billions of dollars in reserve.
"There is a lot of talent in Libya with excellent technocratic skills. That is not to say it won't be difficult and take time -- the scars of four decades of oppression won't disappear overnight.
"And Gadhafi will not go without a fight and it could be a protracted fight. However, Libya could have a great future providing money and power are distributed properly."
Gaps in knowledge, but difficult days ahead
Richard Dalton, Professor of Middle Eastern Politics and International Relations at the London School of Economics, said we really have no idea what is happening on the ground.
"We don't know what the actual balance of forces is. Is the government now very stretched or is it comfortable as to numbers of men, equipment and morale?
"The same gaps in knowledge about military resources hang over international understanding of the opposition.
"Have the military units that went to them in the East with General Abdul Fattah Yunis been in battle? Where are they deployed?
"Is there any kind of organized defense of Benghazi, or is it just a self-generated, self-deployed force?
"Difficult decisions for Libyans lie ahead: between peace and resistance, accountability for the regime and its negotiated departure.
"They will need all the support they can get through collective political action by the U.N. family and regional organizations."
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Top Yemeni general, Ali Mohsen, backs opposition
Key Yemeni General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, long close to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, says he is backing the protest movement against the regime.
Two other senior army commanders are also reported to have resigned.
President Saleh said he was "holding out" and the National Defence Council said it would block any "coup".
Tanks were deployed in the capital, Sanaa, apparently to defend key points including the presidential palace, defence ministry and central bank.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says that one by one, the pillars of President Saleh's power are being knocked away.
The military commanders who announced their resignations are from President Saleh's Hashid tribe.
Sadiq al-Ahmar, head of the Hashid tribal federation, told al-Jazeera that it was time for Mr Saleh to make a "quiet exit".
One of the tribe's leaders said the Hashid were rallying behind Gen Ahmar as a possible replacement for President Saleh, the Associated Press reported.
Meanwhile, Yemen's foreign minister was sent to Saudi Arabia with a message from President Saleh to King Abdullah, the state news agency said. The contents of the message were not reported.
'Youth revolution'
Gen Ahmar is the commanding officer of a division of the army which has sent units to a main square in the capital, Sanaa, where protests have taken place.
Middle East unrest: Yemen
- President Ali Abdullah Saleh in power since 1978
- Population 24.3m; land area 536,869 sq km
- The population has a median age of 17.9, and a literacy rate of 61%
- Youth unemployment is 15%
- Gross national income per head is $1,060 (£655) (World Bank 2009)
"The crisis is getting more complicated and it's pushing the country towards violence and civil war," the general - who commands an armoured infantry division - said in a statement broadcast by al-Jazeera television.
"According to what I'm feeling, and according to the feelings of my partner commanders and soldiers... I announce our support and our peaceful backing to the youth revolution. We are going to fulfil our duties in preserving security and stability."
Dozens of officers of various ranks lined up in central Sanaa to pledge their allegiance to the revolution.
The deputy speaker of parliament, the governor of the southern province of Aden, and a number of ambassadors were also reported to have resigned in protest against the violent suppression of anti-government demonstrations.
But President Saleh was defiant. "We're still here," he was quoted as saying. "The great majority of the Yemeni people are with security, stability and constitutional law.
"Those who are calling for chaos, violence, hate and sabotage are only a tiny minority."
A source close to Mr Saleh told the BBC that the president was not stepping down, and that he would call elections later this year.
The source claimed that if Mr Saleh left now, Yemen would descend into inter-tribal fighting within hours, and dismissed Gen Ahmar as someone who had never been close to the president.
The National Defence Council, which includes the military command and President Saleh, indicated in a statement they would oppose any effort to topple President Saleh.
"We will not allow under any circumstances an attempt at a coup against democracy and constitutional legitimacy, or violation of the security of the nation and citizens," the statement said, according to Reuters news agency.
"The armed forces will stay faithful to the oath they gave before God, the nation and political leadership under the brother President Ali Abdullah Saleh."
On Sunday, President Saleh fired his entire cabinet in apparent response to protests against his rule. He asked them to stay in place in a caretaker capacity.
'Massacre'
The president has faced a number of resignations by ministers and officials since the killing of at least 45 people at an anti-government demonstration on Friday.
Gunmen in civilian clothes fired on the rally in the capital's central square, in what the opposition called a massacre.
The killings prompted tens of thousands of people to turn out at the funerals of the victims.
President Saleh declared a national state of emergency but denied his forces were behind the shooting.
Yemen is one of a number of countries in the region that have seen unrest since the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia were ousted in popular revolts.
The president has been in power for 32 years, facing a separatist movement in the south, a branch of al-Qaeda, and a periodic conflict with Shia tribes in the north.
He has said he will not seek another term in office in 2013, but has vowed to defend his regime "with every drop of blood".
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Syria unrest: Thousands march in Deraa
Thousands of demonstrators have marched through the southern Syrian city of Deraa calling for greater freedoms.
The march follows the funeral of a man killed on Sunday, when security forces opened fire on protesters.
The demonstrators had set fire to buildings including the offices of the country's ruling Baath Party.
There have been days of violent clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces in the city, leaving at least four people dead on Friday alone.
France has again condemned the Syrian government's efforts to suppress the protests.
"France condemns the violence in which several people have died and many have been injured among the ranks of the demonstrators who gathered in Deraa on Friday, Saturday and Sunday," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said at a press briefing.
He urged the country to release all those detained for taking part in protests or "on account of their views or their actions in defence of human rights".
On Monday, the crowd was reported to have been dispersed by riot police armed with batons, the Associated Press reports.
Mourners at the funeral of 23-year-old Raed al-Kerad, who died on Sunday, chanted slogans calling for an end to corruption in the country.
"God, Syria, freedom," they shouted. "The people want the overthrow of corruption."
Reuters reports that hundreds of people also staged a sit-in another southern town, Jassem.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose Baath party has dominated politics in the country for almost 50 years, tolerates little dissent and authorities, correspondents say, are using a combination of force and concessions to try to prevent further protests.
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Bahrain and Iran expel diplomats
Iran has expelled a Bahraini diplomat in a retaliatory move, amid an ongoing dispute linked to anti-government protests in Bahrain.
Earlier, Bahrain had expelled the Iranian charge d'affaires.
Tehran has criticised Bahrain's Sunni rulers for using troops from other Gulf states to help control mainly Shia protesters.
Bahrain has accused Iran, the main Shia power in the Gulf, of interference in its internal affairs.
Both countries withdrew their ambassadors earlier this week.
"After the illogical and incomprehensible actions of the Bahrain government, especially expelling one of our diplomats, as a reprisal the attache at Bahrain's embassy has been summoned and told that one of the embassy's diplomats must leave Iran," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.
Referring to the "legitimate demands of the population", he said that the "repression of peaceful protests and illogical actions only aggravate the crisis and deepen wounds".
On Wednesday, at least three people were killed when Bahraini authorities cleared a month-old protest camp from Pearl Roundabout in Manama.
In a brief protest in Manama on Sunday the main opposition group, Wafeq, appealed to the UN to protect them against violence, and to the US to help pressure troops from other Gulf states to leave Bahrain.
Opposition groups led by Wafeq said they would not hold talks with the government until troops were removed from the streets and prisoners released.
Bahrain's council of ministers said it regretted the "negative" response to an offer for dialogue from Crown Prince Sheikh Salman.
Some 1,000 troops from Saudi Arabia and a further 500 from the United Arab Emirates arrived in Bahrain on Monday at the invitation of the government.
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Bahrain king speaks of 'foiled foreign plot'
Bahrain's monarch Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has said that a foreign plot against his kingdom had been foiled and thanked troops brought in from neighbouring countries to help end increasing unrest after weeks of protests.
State news agency BNA quoted Khalifa as telling the troops on Sunday night: "An external plot has been fomented for 20 to 30 years until the ground was ripe for subversive designs ... I here announce the failure of the fomented plot."
King Hamad told the forces that if such a plot succeeded in one Gulf Arab country, it could spill into neighbouring states, BNA said.
Bahrain had witnessed anti-government protests for weeks before security forces, bolstered by troops from other Gulf countries, smashed a protest site in the capital Manama and drove protesters off the streets.
The ferocity of the crackdown last week stunned Bahrain's majority Shias, the main force of the protests.
It also angered Iran, which is the region's non-Arab Shia power.
Iran, which supports Shia groups in Iraq and Lebanon, has complained to the United Nations and asked neighbours to join it in urging Saudi Arabia to withdraw forces from Bahrain.
Sunni rulers of Gulf states are concerned that Iran will gain more influence in the oil-rich region because of Bahrain's unrest.
King Hamad's announcement came after a day of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions between the Gulf island kingdom and Iran.
In a sign of rising tensions between the countries, Bahrain expelled Iran's charge d'affaires on Sunday, accusing him of contacts with some opposition groups, a diplomatic source said.
And Iran expelled a Bahraini diplomat in response. Bahrain has also said previously that it arrested opposition leaders for dealing with foreign countries.
Bahrain is home to the US navy's 5th fleet.
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Japan will overcome crisis - IAEA
The situation at Japan's quake-damaged nuclear plant remains very serious, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said.
But IAEA director-general Yukiya Amano said he had "no doubt that this crisis will be effectively overcome".
Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi plant have been battling to cool reactors and spent fuel ponds to avoid a large-scale release of radiation.
Meanwhile, the death toll from the quake and tsunami has risen to 8,450, with nearly 13,000 people missing.
'Positive developments'
The Fukushima plant was crippled by fire and explosions after the 11 March quake and tsunami.
Electricity has been restored to three of six reactors and engineers hope to test water pumps soon.
Earlier, some workers were temporarily evacuated from the complex after grey smoke was seen rising from the No 3 reactor.
Reports said the smoke appeared to have come from a pool where the reactor's spent fuel rods were kept.
Radiation levels did not appear to have risen significantly though after the smoke was spotted, the IAEA and Japan's nuclear safety agency said.
White smoke was later seen rising from the No 2 reactor.
"The crisis has still not been resolved and the situation at the [plant] remains very serious," Mr Amano, the head of the IAEA, told an emergency board meeting.
But he said he was starting to see positive developments; the cooling system had been restored to reactors 5 and 6, and they "are no longer an immediate concern".
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission - whose staff are in Tokyo conferring with the Japanese government and industry officials - said the Japanese nuclear crisis appeared to be stabilising.
The NRC said that reactors 1, 2 and 3 had some core damage but their containment was not currently breached.
Meanwhile, the government has ordered a halt to some food shipments from four prefectures around the Fukushima nuclear plant, as concern increases about radioactive traces in vegetables and water supplies.
Villagers living near the plant have been told not to drink tap water because of higher levels of radioactive iodine.
The suspension - which the government said was just a precaution - applies to spinach from the prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma, as well as milk from Fukushima.
Over the weekend spinach and milk produced near the nuclear plant was found to contain levels of radioactive iodine far higher than the legal limits.
However, senior government official Yukio Edano told a news conference that eating or drinking the contaminated food would not pose a health hazard. "I would like you to act calmly," he said.
The World Health Organization said it had no evidence of contaminated food reaching other countries. However, China, Taiwan and South Korea have announced plans to toughen checks of Japanese imports.
Bad weather forced Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan to cancel a planned visit to emergency workers near the Fukushima plant.
It is also making the recovery work a much more difficult task.
Search-and-relief efforts in the prefecture of Miyagi, where the police chief believes the final quake-tsunami death toll could reach 15,000, have been delayed by driving rain.
"We basically cannot operate helicopters in the rain," Miyagi official Kiyohiro Tokairin said.
"We have been using helicopters to deliver relief goods to some places but for today we have to switch the delivery to places that we can reach by road," he said.
More than 350,000 people are still living in evacuation centres in northern and eastern Japan.
There are shortages of food, water, fuel and medicine in the shelters, officials say.
Some aid from foreign countries has started to arrive, and the government has started the process of finding temporary housing in other parts of the country for those made homeless.
Workers in north-east Japan have begun building temporary homes for the displaced. The prefabricated metal boxes with wooden floors were put up on the hillside near the devastated town of Rikuzentakata.
Nearly 900,000 households are still without water.
In a rare piece of good news, an 80-year-old woman and her grandson were found alive on Sunday in the rubble of their home in Ishinomaki city, where they were trapped for nine days.
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Emotional farewell to 16-year-old schoolboy tsunami victim
Rikuzentakata, Japan (CNN) -- Most children in Japan are normally celebrating graduation at this time of the year, looking forward to the commencement of the next chapter of their young lives.
But at Rikuzentakata No. 1 Junior High School, students are mourning the end of young lives -- three so far, they say.
On Monday they crowded around a car, carrying the body of their friend, 16-year-old Hiroki Sugawara.
This was not a planned funeral. It was barely a funeral at all. But this was the best his parents could do, given the massive number of fatalities in Japan's historic tsunami.
Hiroki's parents and his two brothers drove his body to the school, now an emergency shelter. Exposing his deeply battered face, crushed in the devastating tsunami, Hiroki's father said he wanted to give his friends a chance to say goodbye to the boy who loved to play soccer with his teammates.
"Don't give up hope," wept Hiroki's father, speaking before two dozen of Hiroki's young friends. "Keep living for my son."
Hiroki shouldn't be dead, said his best friend, Takuma Kinno. Hiroki was absent from school the day the tsunami hit, so he was with his grandparents in their home, sitting on low-lying ground. His friends were at school, which sits high above the tsunami-devastated neighborhoods.
"I've lost my best friend," said Kinno. "Hiroki died young. He should have lived a long life."
The scope of Rikuzentakata's devastation boggles the imagination of the outside observer. Everywhere you look, homes lie like broken sticks for miles. Scattered in the debris, there are signs of shattered lives: a child's toy hammer, a stroller and a 10-speed bicycle.
For the children who lived in these neighborhoods and survived, it's simply incomprehensible, say aid organizations.
"We've already spoken to children having nightmares and unable to sleep. They're frightened of the sea, because they believe it's going to come back. They're frightened of being indoors because the building shook so violently during the earthquake. So there's absolutely a chance that these children will have serious difficulties in coming to terms with what happened to them," says Save the Children's Andrew Wander.
Hiroki Sugawara's family spent only about 10 minutes at the school. They didn't want a scene, they just wanted to give their son's friends a chance to say farewell.
Some of Hiroki's female classmates hugged his mother, who wept in deep, audible sobs. Hiroki's soccer teammates stood crying, unable to approach the car. Hiroki's young brother clutched his hands and bowed his head in a stance of sorrow too mature for his young frame.
Hiroki's parents bowed deep to his son's classmates, as is typical for the end of a Japanese funeral. His father covered his son's face and slid behind the wheel of the car, next to his son.
It defies the natural order for a parent to bury his child. But there is nothing natural or orderly these days for Rikuzentakata.
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Effect of radiation on humans still harbors mysteries
(CNN) -- Japan's alarm over radiation found in spinach and milk has also raised questions, given that little is known about its effect on the human body.
While some tests have been done on animals, sparse information is available on how eating contaminated food affects people in the short and long term.
The main reason is the lack of research subjects, limited to those affected by the 1945 nuclear attacks on the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima and the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster in the Ukraine, then a part of the Soviet Union.
But now Japan is looking for answers, all part of the ripple effect from the March 11 mammoth earthquake and subsequent tsunami that wreaked havoc on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant's six reactors and led to the release of unknown quantities of radioactive vapors.
On Sunday Japanese authorities slapped restrictions on milk and spinach that tested positive for radioactive cesium-137 and iodine-131 isotopes. In addition to the spinach and milk, very small amounts of radioactive iodine have been detected in tap water near the plant.
Trace radiation found in spinachGupta keeps distance from reactors'I thought Japan would disappear'Dr. James Cox, an oncology professor at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, said he believes the radiation levels measured in these products pose a "nonexistent" immediate risk to humans, and "very low" long-term risk.
Still, he concedes that "radiation doses ingested through food is really very poorly understood."
While studies were conducted in Japan after World War II, experts today are cautious to draw definitive conclusions on how the consumption of radiation-tainted food after the atomic bombings affected people. That is mostly because the research didn't focus as much on the thyroid gland and the presence of specific radioactive isotopes in food.
But Chernobyl has become a real-life laboratory for such studies, not only due to the presence of radiation but also the fact that iodine pills -- which are commonly prescribed for those with radiation contamination -- were not generally available to those in and around that stricken plant in the former Soviet Union.
That case is relevant in the current crisis because the iodine-131 isotope found in spinach and milk samples in Japan is a by-product of nuclear reactors, like the ones in Japan and Chernobyl.
Iodine-131 differs from regular iodine because it is radioactive. It collects in the human thyroid gland because the thyroid readily absorbs iodine and assumes the iodine-131 strain is like any other form, said Cox, an expert on the effects of radiation on the survivors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
The thyroid produces some of the body's most important hormones, which play a role in functions such as food metabolism and regulation of body temperature. To fight off iodine-131, doctors typically prescribe iodine pills that fill up the thyroid so there's no more room and force the iodine-131 out of the body.
Residents -- including many children -- drank milk contaminated with Chernobyl-produced iodine-131, said Cox. And experts believe this milk consumption contributed to cases of cancer, though it is notable that radiation contaminated other types of food as well.
The lack of access to iodine pills is less of a problem now. Cox says it might not be a bad idea for residents near Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to take these pills as a precaution, despite their potentially harmful side effects, including allergic skin reactions and kidney damage.
"It might be a prudent thing to do, especially for the kids right around Fukushima," he said.
Iodine's eight-day half-life -- the time it takes for a radioactive isotope to decay by half -- means that in eight days, half of its radioactivity level will disappear. By contrast, cesium-137 has a half life of about 30 years, so it lingers for much longer. But even less is known on the impact of cesium-137, among other isotopes, when consumed by humans in food.
Experts do know that direct radiation exposure (without a conduit like food or water) can be deadly. Large doses of airborne exposure can cause death as soon as a few days. Lower degrees of exposure may result in heightened risk for developing cancer later in life, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Generally, health risks from radiation exposure can range from skin reddening to cancer and death, according to the CDC. Damage depends on the type of radiation, how much radiation the body has absorbed, the way the person was exposed to the radiation, and the length of time a person was exposed.
As for the consumption of radiation-contaminated food, Cox said the studies indicate that cancer rates are higher for those who eat and drink such products than for the general population. Yet it is hard to draw hard-and-fast conclusions, especially since those who might drink contaminated milk around Chernobyl, for instance, might be exposed to radiation in other ways as well.
There's little evidence, too, that consuming radiation-contaminated food will cause genetic mutations that can be passed on to one's offspring.
"There's always an assumption that there would be a genetic risk, but that has never been shown in humans," said Cox.
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Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev has said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's description of the UN resolution on Libya is "unacceptable".
The rare rebuke came after Mr Putin said the resolution resembled "medieval calls for crusades".
Mr Medvedev said such comments could "lead to a clash of civilisations".
The UN resolution, which Russia abstained from voting on, authorised military action in Libya to protect civilians from pro-Gaddafi forces.
Mr Medvedev told Russian news agencies: "Under no circumstances is it acceptable to use expressions which essentially lead to a clash of civilisations, such as 'crusade' and so on.
"It is unacceptable. Otherwise, everything may end up much worse compared to what's going on now."
Mr Putin had said UN Security Council Resolution 1973, which was adopted on Thursday, was "defective and flawed" as it "allows for everything".
The resolution authorises "all necessary measures" to protect civilians in Libya, but Mr Putin said there was no logic in killing civilians to achieve that end.
He said he was worried at the ease with which decisions to use force in international affairs were being taken.
Mr Putin and Mr Medvedev's comments are the most public sign so far of a split in Russia's political leadership.
Mr Medvedev has traditionally been seen as "Putin's man" and many had expected him to return his title to the former President Putin at elections next year.
Analysts have suggested that Mr Medvedev is attempting to position himself as a modernising force in the run-up to the elections.
But in November last year, Mr Medvedev warned that Russia risked slipping into a period of political "stagnation" by being dominated by the pro-Kremlin United Russia party.
Neither Mr Medvedev nor Mr Putin has publicly declared their intention to run for the presidency.
The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says Mr Putin's strong criticism of the UN's resolution could be designed to distance himself from Mr Medvedev's foreign policy decisions and to boost his own domestic popularity by talking tough.
However, his comments are unlikely to change Russia's approach to the Libyan crisis, says our correspondent - which has been to criticise the coalition's military intervention but not stand in its way.
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Google says China disrupting e-mail service
Google has blamed the Chinese government for problems accessing its e-mail service in the country.
Internet users have complained that the authorities have stepped up disruption of its Gmail service in recent weeks.
Google said it had found no technical issues, and blamed "a government blockage carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail".
Users say the interference coincided with an internet campaign calling for protests like those in the Middle East.
Last year, Google said it suffered cyber-attacks from China-based organisations intent on hacking into the Gmail accounts of Chinese rights activists.
The incident caused tensions between China and the United States, and led to Google reducing its presence in the Chinese market.
Beijing has always denied any state involvement in the cyber-attacks, and has in the past called such accusations "groundless".
But problems resurfaced this month with Google writing in its official blog about hackers exploiting a vulnerability in Internet Explorer to attack some Gmail users.
"We've noticed some highly targeted and apparently politically motivated attacks against our users. We believe activists may have been a specific target," it wrote.
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Pakistan mine gas explosions 'kill 24' in Balochistan
A series of methane gas explosions at a mine in Pakistan's Balochistan province have killed at least 24 workers, officials say.
Rescue workers are trying to reach about 30 other miners who are trapped.
Hopes of rescuing the survivors were fading because of a lack of oxygen, one official told the BBC.
The mine, near the provincial capital, Quetta, was declared dangerous two weeks ago but those warnings were ignored, reports said.
Balochistan is rich in minerals but its mines have a poor safety record.
The blast took place while miners were drilling in the 4,000ft deep coal mine. Workers recovered 10 bodies on Sunday - the victims died of suffocation.
"They had severe burns, which means that the blasts also caused a fire," Mohammad Iftikhar, provincial chief inspector of mines, told AFP news agency.
Bleak outlook
The presence of huge quantities of methane gas in the mine is also hindering the rescue operation.
"We are trying our best to rescue as many workers as we can, but the chance of finding survivors is bleak now," mine inspector Iftikhar Ahmed told the Associated Press news agency.
"They are removing debris and are trying to clear the way to move forward but we are not able to move forward," Balochistan's home secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani said.
The mine in the remote Sorange district is owned by the state-run Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation, but it was leased to a contractor.
Officials promised action against those responsible for ignoring warnings to stop mining.
Balochistan has been at the centre of a decade-long insurgency with Baloch nationalists demanding more jobs and royalties from the region's natural resources.
The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Karachi, which is on the border of Balochistan, says the nationalist insurgency hampers immediate access to such remote areas in the restive province.
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US Army apology for photos of soldiers with Afghan body
The US Army has apologised for graphic photographs of US soldiers grinning over the corpses of Afghan civilians they had allegedly killed.
The photos published by Germany's Der Spiegel magazine were said to be among many seized by US Army investigators.
An army statement said the photographs were "repugnant" but were already being used as evidence in a court martial.
Afghan civilian deaths at the hands of foreign forces is a highly sensitive issue in Afghanistan.
These photographs are purported to have been taken by a "rogue" US Army unit in Afghanistan in 2010.
Such images are only going to exacerbate tensions between the Afghan government and the people on the one hand and the US-led coalition on the other, says the BBC's Paul Wood in Kabul.
US court martial
It is unclear exactly when the photographs published were taken but Der Spiegel says they are among 4,000 pictures and pieces of video they have obtained.
Some of the images show two soldiers kneeling over a body. They each hold the face of the dead man up to the camera by grabbing his hair and turning his head. One of the American soldiers is grinning.
The US Army said these photographs depict "actions repugnant to us as human beings and contrary to the standards and values of the United States Army".
"The actions portrayed in these photographs remain under investigation and are now the subject of ongoing US court-martial proceedings, in which the accused are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty," it added.
Soldiers who are convicted will be held accountable as appropriate, the army says.
Der Spiegel magazine says it has identified one of the soldiers in the photographs as Cpl Jeremy Morlock. He is one of five soldiers accused of the premeditated murder of three Afghan civilians earlier this year.
Cpl Morlock agreed to plead guilty in late February and get a shorter prison term if he testified against the other accused soldiers.
They deny the charges. Another seven soldiers from the same unit have been charged with conspiracy to cover up the alleged murders.
Cpl Morlock's court martial is due to resume on Wednesday.
The five accused of murder allegedly threw grenades and opened fire on civilians in unprovoked assaults, while the other seven are accused of dismembering the victims and collecting body parts.
Afghan anger
These photographs purportedly depict the alleged actions of a few "renegade" soldiers, but Afghan sensitivities about civilian deaths are running high after a series of incidents in which coalition forces have been blamed for accidentally killing civilians in bombing raids.
"This could inflame the situation. This is the last thing we expected at this time. Our position is very clear, stop killing civilians and this killing is not acceptable to the president, to the country and to the people of Afghanistan," an official from Afghanistan's National Security Council which deals with the US army, who wished to remain unnamed, told the BBC's Bilal Sarwary.
A record number of civilians were killed in Afghanistan last year. More than 2,700 civilians were killed in 2010 - up 15% on the year before.
A UN report on civilian deaths said that the Taliban were responsible for 75% of all deaths. The proportion killed by Afghan and Nato forces fell, accounting for 16% of civilian deaths.
Correspondents say that the deaths of Afghans by foreign hands provokes greater outrage than killings by the Taliban.
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Amnesty International criticises 'tough' Kashmir law
Rights group Amnesty International has criticised a tough Indian law which it says has been used to detain up to 20,000 people without trial in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Amnesty urged India to scrap the Public Safety Act (PSA) which allows detention for up to two years without charge.
The group also criticised the judiciary for its failure to protect human rights of the detainees.
Kashmir has been gripped by a violent separatist insurgency since 1989.
The detentions have been made since the beginning of the insurgency, the Amnesty says in a new report released in Srinagar city on Monday.
Titled Lawless Law: Detentions under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act documents how the law is used to secure long-term detention of individuals against whom there is insufficient evidence for a trial.
"The Jammu and Kashmir authorities are using PSA detentions as a revolving door to keep people they can't or won't convict through proper legal channels locked up and out of the way," said Bikramjeet Batra, Amnesty's campaigner for Asia Pacific programme in India.
"Hundreds of people are being held each year on spurious grounds, with many exposed to higher risk of torture and other forms of ill-treatment," he added.
The report says the detainees include political leaders and activists, suspected members or supporters of armed opposition groups, lawyers, journalists and protesters, including children.
Often, they are initially picked up for "unofficial" interrogation during which time they have no access to a lawyer or their families.
Even minors are being held under the law, the report says.
Amnesty International called upon the government of Jammu and Kashmir to repeal the law and end the system of detentions.
It also asked the government to release all detainees or charge those suspected of committing criminal acts with recognised offences and try them fairly in a court of law.
The Himalayan region of Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and is claimed in full by both.
The region is also one of most militarised in the world with hundreds of thousands of troops present on both sides of the Line of Control - the de facto border between the two countries.
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Ivory Coast: Laurent Gbagbo supporters 'join army'
Thousands of supporters of Ivory Coast's disputed President Laurent Gbagbo have gathered at an army base to enlist, amid fears the crisis could destabilise West Africa.
The young activists were heeding a call to join the army from a key ally of Mr Gbagbo, Charles Ble Goude.
He urged them to fight supporters of Alassane Ouattara, widely recognised as the winner of last year's elections.
Forces loyal to Mr Ouattara have gained more territory in the west.
The New Forces ex-rebels have taken the town of Blolequin, residents say - the fifth they have seized in recent weeks.
The fighting has led some 90,000 people to cross into neighbouring Liberia, the UN refugee agency says.
UNHCR head Antonio Guterres said the conflict could affect countries across West Africa.
"The risks of destabilising the region are enormous," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.
He pointed out that Liberia was a poor country recovering from its own civil war and said hundreds of other refugees had also crossed into Ghana.
Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer, used to enjoy the highest living standards in West Africa.
The November election was supposed to reunite it after a 2002-3 civil war but Mr Gbagbo refuses to cede power.
Absentee soldiers
On Saturday Mr Goude, appointed as Mr Gbagbo's youth minister, urged his supporters to join the army and "liberate" the country - the New Forces still control northern areas.
Ivory Coast: Battle for power
- 435 killed since disputed election
- 500,000 forced from their homes
- 9,000 UN peacekeepers to monitor 2003 ceasefire
- Election intended to reunite country
- World's largest cocoa producer
- Previously seen as haven of peace and prosperity in West Africa
- Alassane Ouattara recognised as president-elect
- International sanctions imposed to force Laurent Gbagbo to go
Prospective recruits turned up an army base in the main city, Abidjan, chanting slogans such as "the rebels will die".
The BBC's John James in the city says the crowd pushed at the gates of military headquarters as soldiers struggled to keep order.
The current Ivorian armed forces number about 50,000, our reporter says.
But sources within the army have told the BBC there is widespread absenteeism from those reluctant to fight Mr Ouattara, recognised by most of the world as the rightful president-elect.
Mr Ouattara is still under blockade at a hotel in Abidjan, but our reporter says his forces have been strengthened by defections from the state army, as well as a new force called the "Invisible Commandos" which has taken control of a large part of northern Abidjan.
Mr Goude's Young Patriots militia has set up road blocks around Abidjan in recent weeks.
He is under UN sanctions for previously inciting violence - charges he denies.
Our reporter says the increasing number of armed youths in the city has led some 400,000 people to flee Abidjan.
Pro-Gbagbo security forces and pro-Ouattara militias have clashed on several occasions and both sides have been accused of atrocities.
Last week, the UN mission in Ivory Coast said the shelling of a market in a pro-Ouattara district of Abidjan by pro-Gbagbo forces could constitute a crime against humanity.
Mr Gbagbo's allies have denied firing the shells, which killed at least 25 people.
The UN says more than 435 people have been killed since the November election.
The UN helped organise the election and says that Mr Ouattara won - a position endorsed by the African Union, which has said Mr Gbagbo should stand down by 24 March.
But Mr Gbagbo says there was widespread fraud in areas under New Forces control and he was the rightful winner.
