It was a strongly worded statement underlining what it called Egyptian authorities’ moral and legal obligation to respect freedom of expression. And Mr. Kerry urged an independent inquiry into the events of the past 24 hours. The statement went on to say that all of Egypt’s leaders need to act immediately to help the country take a step back from the brink.
A mass jailbreak has taken place from a prison in Libya. It happened in the early hours of Saturday morning at the al-Kwafiya prison in the eastern city of Benghazi. The prisoners include a small number thought to be supporters of Libya’s former ruler Colonel Gaddafi. Rana Jawad reports.
The al-Kwafiya prison on the southern outskirts of Benghazi is known as the biggest facility of its kind there. 1, 200 prisoners are known to have escaped. A security spokesman in Benghazi told the BBC that some had been captured but he didn’t specify how many. In a news conference the Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said the al-Kwafiya jailbreak happened as residents in the area stormed the prison protesting against its existence in their district. Most of the inmates in that prison are convicted of serious crimes and they also include a small number of people thought to be supporters of Libya’s former ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
Police in Tunisia have fired teargas to disperse thousands of demonstrators outside the country’s parliament in Tunis. Rival secular and Islamist protesters had gathered following the state funeral of the secular politician Mohamed Brahmi who was assassinated on Thursday.