Pakistani intelligence has linked a US Consulate employee who shot dead two Pakistani citizens last month to America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a report says.

A Pakistani intelligence official said Monday that Raymond Davis, an American official arrested last month for killing two Pakistani men in Lahore, was working undercover for the CIA.

"It is beyond any shadow of a doubt that he was working for CIA," AFP quoted an unnamed official from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. "He's on contract. He's not a regular CIA guy, but he's working for CIA. That's confirmed," the Pakistani official added. "He was sort of working behind our backs. Normal CIA guys -- we know who they are. We interact with them regularly. We know they're CIA, but in this particular case we had no knowledge of him," he went on to say.

Washington has been putting pressure on Islamabad to officially declare Davis a diplomat in an attempt to end his prosecution.

AWIP: CIA agent Davis linked to Taliban

Nato has said it will "investigate" reports that it has killed dozens of civilians in recent days in ground and air strikes in eastern Afghanistan. The governor of Kunar province has said 64 civilians have been killed in recent Nato-led air strikes in a remote mountainous district. Afghan President Hamid Karzai later said more than 50 civilians had died. Nato claims to have killed more than 30 insurgents in an overnight raid in the area two days ago. A spokesman for the Nato forces in Afghanistan told the BBC that they had no evidence of any civilian casualties, but that they were looking into the reports.

Members of a Libyan army unit told Benghazi residents on Sunday they had defected and "liberated" the city from forces supporting veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi, two residents said. Habib al-Obaidi, who heads the intensive care unit at the main Al-Jalae hospital, and lawyer Mohamed Al-Mana, told Reuters members of the "Thunderbolt" squad had arrived at the hospital with soldiers wounded in clashes with Gaddafi's personal guard. "They are now saying that they have overpowered the Praetorian Guard and that they have joined the people's revolt," Mohamed said by telephone. It was not possible to independently verify the report.

Sydney Morning Herald: Libyan city falls to anti-goverment forces
Haaretz: Witnesses: Libya army says Benghazi liberated from pro-Ghadafi forces

[Message From Libya]TELL THE WORLD WHAT IS HAPPENING TO US!

[Gun taken from sniper] اسلحة القناصة المرتزقة (شباب من بنغازى يعرضون اسلحة القناصة المرتزقة اسلحة غريبة الشكل) :You Tube
LIBYA: Soldiers burned for allegedly refusing to shoot protesters – GRAPHIC Video
Al Jazeera: Libya protests spread and intensify: The dictatorship using planes to kill protesters
You Tube: MASSACRE IN LIBYA 21 FEBRUARY 2011 (EXTREME SHOCK IMAGE +18)

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, defends the regime on state TV as demonstrations spread from Benghazi across Libya, reaching the capital city, Tripoli [Link to this video]

[As evil as they get:] "Our spirits are high and the leader, Muammar Gaddafi, is leading the battle in Tripoli and we are behind him, as is the Libyan army. "We will keep fighting until the last man standing, even to the last woman standing ... We will not leave Libya to the Italians or to the Turks ... Our spirits are high. "Muammar Gaddafi is not Zine al-Abidine or Mubarak. [He is not] a traditional ... leader. "There are tens of thousands of Libyans who are flocking to Tripoli from all over Libya to defend Tripoli, Libya and Muammar Gaddafi. This is no secret. It is known that there are buses on all coastal roads coming from all Libyan cities. "There is also the army ... The army is still well and capable. The army now will play a key role to enforce security and restore things back to order ... A firm stance is required. The Libyan army is not the Egyptian or the Tunisian army. "Our army will be in Libya, and Muammar Gaddafi will be in it until the last moment ... We will eradicate them [enemies] all."

Anti-government protests in Libya have spread to the capitol of Tripoli, amidst rumors that the country’s dictator Moammar Gaddafi has fled into exile in Venezuela. After a bloody crackdown in the eastern city of Benghazi, protesters are reportedly moving in on Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli. More than 200 Libyans have reportedly been killed by government troops and mercenaries sent to quell the gathering rebellion. BBC has reported that automatic gunfire and teargas have been fired at demonstrators in Tripoli and some government buildings have been burned to the ground. Meanwhile, Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, warned on state TV that a "civil war" was imminent. "There is a plot against Libya," said Saif, citing that "an Islamic group with a military agenda" was behind the turmoil.

He also said Libya would see "rivers of blood" and the departure of foreign oil companies and occupation by "imperialists" if the violence continued. Meanwhile, Gaddafi's other sons, Khamis and Saadi, and intelligence chief Abdullah Sanussi were reportedly leading the campaign to stop the protests in Benghazi. Moreover, Reuters reported that some Libyan soldiers have defected and joined the protests.

PressTV: Libya's Muammar Gaddafi has left his country for Venezuela or Brazil
RIANovosti: Russia's Zhirinovsky invites Gaddafi to move to Moscow

Women and children leapt from bridges to their deaths as they tried to escape a ruthless crackdown by Libyan forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Snipers shot protesters, artillery and helicopter gunships were used against crowds of demonstrators, and thugs armed with hammers and swords attacked families in their homes as the Libyan regime sought to crush the uprising. "Dozens were killed ... We are in the midst of a massacre here," a witness told Reuters. The man said he helped take victims to hospital in Benghazi. Libyan Muslim leaders told security forces to stop killing civilians, responding to a spiralling death toll from unrest which threatens veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi's authority.

Mourners leaving a funeral for protesters in the eastern city of Benghazi came under fire, killing at least 15 people and wounding many more. A hospital official said one of those who died was apparently struck on the head by an anti-aircraft missile, and many had been shot in the head and chest. The hospital was overwhelmed and people were streaming to the facility to donate blood. "Many of the dead and the injured are relatives of doctors here," he said. "They are crying and I keep telling them to please stand up and help us."

The Independent: Dozens reported killed in Tripoli unrest -Video

The mass rallies in Rabat and other cities are aimed at expanding democratic rights under the monarchy, which at times has been oppressive.

In what is being called an unprecedented show of political unity and strength, tens of thousands of protesters from various political strains marched peacefully in cities and towns across the country Sunday demanding rapid political reform. The rallies, marchers said, were aimed at gaining democratic rights in a nation that has long been a hereditary monarchy and at times as oppressive as its autocratic North African neighbors.

The protests closely followed the successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt and amid calls for change in other authoritarian states across the Middle East and North Africa. Demonstrations broke out in Rabat, the capital, as well as the business hub of Casablanca, the cities of Marrakech, Tangiers, Fez, Agadir and smaller towns and villages, according to activists and photographs and video posted to social media websites. [Photo: Luis Sinco, Los Angeles Times]

"We no longer want to be subjects," said Abdelilah Benabdeslam, a leader of the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights. "We want to be citizens."

A document revealed by an Egyptian rights center today appears to show that ousted President Hosni Mubarak owns platinum worth US$15 billion. A request for an investigation into the document's authenticity has been filed with the Attorney-General by Khaled Ali, head of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights. He attached a scan of the United Bank of Switzerland deposit transaction to enable investigations.

The Israeli Forces attacked and shot rubber bullets and sound bombs at the children so they could not run away, and then proceeded to arrest 13 of them. Several army vehicles came into the area for support, attacking houses and cars to frighten people so they could not come to the children’s defense.

The Israeli army has been arresting children in the village of Nabi Saleh for the past two months as a means of applying pressure on the village to end its popular unarmed resistance against the occupation. On Saturday 19 February, Israeli army officials adopted a similar strategy against the southern West Bank village of Beit Ummar. The village has been holding weekly unarmed demonstrations against the occupation and the confiscation of their land by illegal Jewish settlements such as Karmaei Tzur.

The method of using children to crush unarmed protest movements has been proven successful in villages like Ni’ilin where the demonstrations against the Separation Wall have been rendered meaningless. Now, the main target of this form of repression is the village of Nabi Saleh. No Nabi Saleh popular committee leaders has been arrested as of the time of this writing but activists connected to the demonstrations worry that it is only a matter of time.[Source]

Does a Holocaust survivor have the right to speak his mind and say ‘what happened to me during the Holocaust, I see it happening again to Palestinians, Never Again for Anyone.’ Should he be labeled an anti-Semite for such statements?

Sacramento’s carefully cultivated interfaith bonds are being stretched to the limit by an 86-year-old Holocaust survivor who is scheduled to speak at a local mosque about the Nazi Holocaust and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Auschwitz survivor Hajo Meyer made the 11th stop on his national “Never Again for Anyone” tour at the Sacramento League of Associated Muslims Islamic Center.

Meyer has equated the Holocaust to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, drawing intense fire from Sacramento’s Jewish community and the Anti-Defamation League. “Comparing Israel to Nazi Germany is repugnant, anti-Semitic and defiles the sacred memory of millions who perished during the Holocaust,” said Rabbi Reuven H. Taff, president of the 13-member Board of Rabbis of Greater Sacramento, in a civil but emotional exchange of letters with SALAM’s Imam Mohamed Abdul Azeez.

Gilad Atzmon/AWIP: Hajo Meyer on Jews and Palestine (Must See)

Excavations are beginning at the site of a former medical school in Japan which could yield evidence of war-time experiments on prisoners. The site in western Tokyo is said to be linked to Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army, which used prisoners for biological warfare experiments. The excavation was ordered after a former nurse came forward. Toyo Ishii said workers were made to bury dozens of bodies there after the surrender at the end of World War II. Ms Ishii, now 88, first came forward several years ago. A nurse in the hospital's oral surgery department, she said she had no knowledge of any experiments on humans at the site, which is said to have been the research headquarters of the unit. But she and her colleagues were ordered to take bodies and body parts for burial in the compound before US troops arrived.