Deadly clashes hit Oman as Kadhafi regime crumbles

MUSCAT: The wave of protests sweeping the Arab world spread to the once placid Gulf sultanate of Oman on Sunday with police shooting dead two demonstrators as Moamer Kadhafi's hold on Libya slipped further.

The UN Security Council imposed a travel and assets ban on Kadhafi's regime and ordered an investigation into possible crimes against humanity by the Libyan strongman, as Western governments scrambled to evacuate tens of thousands of citizens stranded in the North African nation.

In Oman, security forces opened fire on demonstrators who tried to storm a police station, killing two with rubber bullets and wounding around five others, a security official said.

The bloodshed in the normally sleepy pro-Western sultanate came a day after veteran ruler Qaboos announced new social benefits for students in response to protests earlier this year against rising prices and corruption.

The demonstrators were mostly unemployed and were demanding jobs, better salaries and measures to curb corruption, witnesses said.

Qaboos, who celebrated the 40th anniversary of his reign in November, came to power after overthrowing his father, Sultan Said bin Taymur, in a bloodless coup in 1970.

For decades the sultanate was an isolated country living on the margins of the modern world, but the 2010 UN Human Development Report released in November said Oman made the most improvement since 1970 out of 135 countries.

More cracks appeared in Moamer Kadhafi's regime as former justice minister Mustafa Abdel Jalil, who quit on Monday, announced a transitional government to be established in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Abdel Jalil told Al-Jazeera the transitional government would lead the country for three months to prepare for elections.

Kadhafi's son Seif al-Islam said in interviews Saturday the situation had "opened the doors to a civil war" -- just a day after Kadhafi told frenzied supporters in Tripoli's Green Square he would crush the rebels.

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton warned of "consequences" for Kadhafi and his remaining lieutenants if they continued with their "unacceptable and outrageous actions."

Anger also brewed in Yemen, Bahrain and even in Tunisia and Egypt -- where streets protests have already brought an end to the autocratic regimes of presidents Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak.

Security forces and anti-government protesters clashed again in the Tunisian capital with police using tear gas to disperse stone-throwing youths.

In Yemen, embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh said the escalating protest movement against his three-decade rule is a ploy to split the nation after deadly clashes in the formerly independent south.

"There is a conspiracy against Yemen's unity and territorial integrity and we, in the armed forces, have served to preserve the republican regime with every drop of blood we have," said Saleh.

Saleh has steadfastly refused to resign even after leaders of the Hashid and Baqil -- two of Yemen's most tribes -- turned their backs on him and joined the anti-regime movement.

In the Bahraini capital Manama, anti-regime demonstrators kept vigil in hundreds of tents in Pearl Square, which has become the epicentre of anti-government protests that entered their 14th day on Sunday.

Demonstrations were planned for later in the day in Manama, where protesters gave a rousing welcome Saturday to Shiite opposition leader Hassan Mashaima who returned home from exile in Britain.

King Hamad's move to reshuffle his cabinet on Saturday did little to soothe the protesters in Bahrain, where Mashaima told crowds of supporters "we have to carry on the battle" and unite against the regime.

Tension mounted also in Iraq where Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned his cabinet to shape up within 100 days or faces "changes" as a third provincial governor stepped down following deadly nationwide protests.

A fresh set of rallies was called for March 4 even as Maliki promised to investigate the deaths of 16 people in clashes during a "Day of Rage" against corruption on Friday.

In Cairo, protesters were back on Tahrir Square on Friday and Saturday to call for a new government to replace the line-up of Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq, which included several ministers from the toppled regime.

Military police beat and arrested several demonstrators Friday prompting the new military rulers to apologise.