Unrest: Middle East and North Africa, country by country

By The CNN Wire Staff (CNN) -- Demonstrations have spread across parts of the Middle East and North Africa. Here is the latest from each country and the roots of the unrest.

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NEW DEVELOPMENTS

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EGYPT

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-- Voters in Egypt will elect members of parliament in September and cast ballots for president sometime after that, a member of the ruling military council said Monday. Gen. Mamdou Shahen said the elections would not be held under Egypt's emergency law, though he did not specify when the law would be lifted.

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-- Egypt's military rulers shortened the nationwide curfew. It now applies from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m.

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LIBYA

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-- Opposition fighters Monday entered territory loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, but soon had to flee amid a barrage of gunfire, rebels told CNN. As they moved into Umm el Ghindel -- near Sirte, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's birthplace -- they began searching some homes and found that Gadhafi's forces had armed residents in the area, rebels said. As they were talking to residents, asking them to join the opposition, gunfire broke out. Rebels told CNN they refused to fire back and began a hasty retreat. A stream of vehicles could be seen fleeing the area.

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-- Opposition forces on Monday claimed to CNN that they had gained control of Nawfaliya. CNN reporters could hear explosions and see plumes of smoke in the area, coming from the direction of Nawfaliya and Sirte. The battle for Sirte, the rebels said, could be their toughest and bloodiest yet. They credited coalition airstrikes with helping them regain ground, noting that they had encountered little resistance as they headed westward over the weekend.

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-- U.S. intelligence sees signs that some of those who are "relatively close to the Libyan leader are questioning whether he has staying power," a U.S. official said. Libyan rebels have made significant gains against Gadhafi forces and American intelligence has seen indications that the "morale of Gadhafi forces is on the decline," the official told CNN.

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-- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said told NBC's "Meet the Press" that those around Gadhafi are reaching out to say, "You're misunderstanding us. You don't appreciate what we're doing. Come and talk to us." Clinton said the United States is sending a message back: "Do you really want to be a pariah? Do you really want to end up in the international criminal court? Now is your time to get out of this and to help change the direction."

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-- Two Reuters television journalists missing in Syria since Saturday have been released by Syrian authorities, the news agency reported Monday. The two traveled to Syria on Thursday to cover the unrest in the country, according to Reuters.

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-- NATO's secretary general ruled out arming Libyan rebels Monday as the alliance continued to take over command and control of the entire Libyan mission. The first NATO sorties to maintain the no-fly zone over Libya flew on Sunday, NATO officials said. The alliance is expected to be in complete command of the no-fly zone by the end of the day Monday. The mission of protecting civilians is expected to be under full NATO control by the end of the week, they said.

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SYRIA

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--Security forces expelled protesters from the main square in Daraa before dawn on Monday, firing into the air and turning water cannons on demostrators in a clash that lasted for about 30 minutes, according to a witness.

--An "extraordinary number" of security forces flooded Daraa on Monday, patrolling streets and guarding government buildings in an apparent attempt to stave off further protests, political activist Aman Aswad told CNN. The city is extremely tense and "people are sitting at home scared, watching the updates on TV," Aswad said.

-- Syria's state-run news agency denied reports that security forces had fired on protesters Monday. The reports are "completely false," the agency reported on its website, citing an official government source.

--In Latakia, mysterious men in black shirts carrying sophisticated weapons terrorized residents overnight Monday, a witness told CNN. "We do not understand who these men are but government officials say they are members of a 'foreign group,'" the witness said. "We all think they are lying about this because every time one of them is captured and handed over to the police he is released." The witness also said army troops were protecting government buildings and other sites.

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YEMEN

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--At least 121 people died and 45 were wounded in an explosion at an ammunition factory in Yemen on Monday, medical and security officials said. The dead and and wounded were mainly locals who were ransacking the factory after it was taken over by militants on Sunday, security officials said. The explosion took place in Abyan Province in southern Yemen.

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JORDAN

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--Jordan's King Abdullah II made a call for national unity and reform following bloody clashes between protesters and government loyalists late last week, the country's Petra News Agency reported. "What matters to us in this stage is that our national unity must not be undermined," the king said Sunday, while visiting the southern region of Petra. "We are proceeding in earnest with the political reform process and we have nothing to fear."

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PREVIOUS DEVELOPMENTS

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LIBYA

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-- NATO members on Sunday agreed to take over the full scope of the military mission in Libya. NATO ambassadors unanimously approved a plan for a so-called "No Fly Plus" in Libya that will allow it to protect civilians as well as enforce a no-fly zone and an arms embargo.

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-- French warplanes on Sunday led airstrikes on armored vehicles and on a large ammunition depot in the regions of Misrata and Zintan, according to the French Ministry of Defense.

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-- Libyan rebels continued their westward advance Sunday, a day after the retreat of Moammar Gadhafi's forces from a key eastern city Saturday reinvigorated the opposition. The rebels took operational control of two key cities -- Ras Lanuf and Brega. A CNN crew in Ras Lanuf witnessed damaged vehicles on the outskirts of the town, although the town appeared to have avoided major destruction. No clashes were reported on Sunday.

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-- Some opposition fighters focused on securing Brega's entrance Sunday while others traveled in trucks heading west, encountering little resistance along the way.

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-- Several busloads of Gadhafi's forces, mainly rifle-carrying snipers, arrived in the besieged city of Misrata Saturday and forced residents from their homes, according to a witness.

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-- Breakfast at a Tripoli hotel housing international journalists took a decidedly grim turn Saturday when a desperate Libyan woman burst into the building frantic to let the world know she had been raped and beaten by Moammar Gadhafi's militia.

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-- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told CBS' "Face the Nation" that he was unaware of coalition attacks causing civilian casualties.

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-- More than 351,000 people have left Libya since the start of the unrest, the U.N. refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration said last week.

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-- Dirk Niebel, Germany's minister for development aid, criticized nations implementing the U.N. resolution authorizing force in Libya. "I find it strange that countries that are still getting oil from Libya are happily bombing the place. I think before military intervention, you should exhaust all nonmilitary methods of pressure," he said.

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Roots of unrest

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-- Protests in Libya started in February when demonstrators, fed up with delays, broke into a housing project the government was building and occupied it. Gadhafi's government, which has ruled since a 1969 coup, responded with a $24 billion fund for housing and development. A month later, more demonstrations were sparked when police detained relatives of those killed in an alleged 1996 massacre at the Abu Salim prison, according to Human Rights Watch. High unemployment and demands for freedom have also fueled the protests.

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YEMEN

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-- Seven Yemeni soldiers were killed and seven others were wounded on Sunday when members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula attacked them in Marib, two security officials said. The attack took place at a military checkpoint a mile north of the government complex in Marib province, east of the capital, Sanaa. Three "al Qaeda terrorists were killed" and six others were arrested in Lawdar district, Yemen's official news agency Saba reported Saturday.

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-- After the fighting Saturday, the Yemeni government said it was a sign that strong measures are needed to combat instability within the country.

-- After accepting opposition demands for constitutional reforms and parliamentary elections by the end of the year, President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Sunday he will not offer any more concessions. Saleh told an Arab television network that he is "ready to step down with respect and dignity, even within a two hours' notice" but not to "gangs," "drug dealers" or al-Houthi rebels."

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-- Saleh, speaking to Al Arabiya television on Saturday, warned that some leadership factions in the opposition have a "foreign agenda."

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-- There were two rival demonstrations in Yemen on Friday, one pro-government and the other anti-government. A human rights activist described the anti-government protest as huge and said a funeral prayer took place at the protest for two of the people who died last week during the violence in Sanaa.

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Roots of unrest

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-- Protesters have called for the ouster of Saleh, who has ruled Yemen since 1978. The country has been wracked by a Shiite Muslim uprising, a U.S.-aided crackdown on al Qaeda operatives and a looming shortage of water. High unemployment fuels much of the anger among a growing young population who have suffered from poverty. The protesters also cite government corruption and a lack of political freedom. Saleh has promised not to run for president in the next round of elections.

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SYRIA

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-- Syria will lift its emergency law that has been in place for nearly 50 years, a government official said Sunday. But Reem Haddad, spokeswoman for the Syrian Information Ministry, said it was too early to say when it would be lifted. The law allows the government to make preventive arrests and override constitutional and penal code statutes, and bars detainees held without charge from filing court complaints or having a lawyer present during interrogations.

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-- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was expected to address the nation amid reports of protesters being shot to death in recent days as they called for government reforms. Assad was expected to speak "within the next couple of days," a source close to the Syrian government said.

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-- A day after violent protests erupted in the restive city of Daraa, security forces opened fire at protesters in the coastal city of Latakia, witnesses said. Anti-government demonstrations in Latakia had started peacefully before several people were wounded in a hail of gunfire as security forces tightened their control on access to the city, witnesses said.

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-- Syria's state-run news agency, SANA, citing an unidentified official source, said the attacks of "armed gangs" in Latakia over the past two days has led to the deaths of 10 security force members and civilians and two gunmen. SANA reported that 200 people, most of them security forces, were wounded by the gangs.

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-- Presidential spokeswoman Shaaban blamed "a group of gunmen and smugglers" who allegedly seized police weapons and began shooting. Their actions compelled security guards to fire back in defense of their post, she said.

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-- "The situation in Syria has worsened considerably over the past week, with the use of live ammunition and tear gas by the authorities having resulted in a total of at least 37 people being killed in Daraa, including two children," said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

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-- Eyewitnesses said demonstrators took to the streets in Daraa on Friday. Protesters chanted for freedom and criticized the government. One activist, Kamal Aswad, said more than 100,000 demonstrators turned out. Syrian human rights activists reported smaller demonstrations in other cities, including Damascus, Deir Al-Zour, Raqqa, Latakia and Homs.

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--U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, appearing Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," said the United States has no plans to enter the conflict in Syria as it has in Libya. "Each of these situations is unique," she said. "Certainly we deplore the violence in Syria, we call as we have on all of these governments during this period of the Arab awakening, as some have called it, to be responding to their people's needs, not to engage in violence, permit peaceful protests and begin a process of economic and political reform."

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Roots of unrest

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-- Opponents of the al-Assad government allege massive human rights abuses, and an emergency law has been in effect since 1963. Earlier in March, Syrian human rights attorney Haitham Maleh -- arrested in October 2009 during a government crackdown on lawyers and activists -- was freed, his son said. The move comes amid demands by many citizens for more economic prosperity, political freedom, and civil liberty.

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JORDAN

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-- Sixty-two citizens and 58 members of Jordanian security forces, including two senior officers, were injured during Friday's clashes in Amman, Jordan, according to the country's General Security Directorate.

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-- Officials say police tried to separate the two groups and were initially overwhelmed before they later regained control of the situation.

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-- Jordan Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said, "Things have gotten a little out of hand." He noted that the country has "a leadership that initiates reform."

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-- Several demonstrators calling for reform in Jordan were injured in Amman Friday when government supporters hit them with rocks and sticks, protest organizers said.

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-- Government opponents and supporters chanted dueling slogans while police stood by, one organizer said. Many protesters advocate a constitutional monarchy and less power for the king; they also are angry about corruption and the privatization of some services, among other things.

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Roots of unrest

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-- Jordan's economy has been hit hard by the global economic downturn and rising commodity prices, and youth unemployment is high, as it is in Egypt. Officials close to the palace have told CNN that King Abdullah II is trying to turn a regional upheaval into an opportunity for reform. He swore in a new government following anti-government protests. The new government has a mandate for political reform and is headed by a former general, with opposition and media figures among its ranks.

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BAHRAIN

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-- Bahrain authorities handed over the bodies of two people killed in earlier clashes between protesters and government supporters, according to a journalist in Manama.

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-- Protesters on Friday marched in residential areas outside Manama, the capital city, where armored vehicles rumbled through the streets and jet fighters patrolled the country's airspace.

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-- Human Rights Watch urged Bahrain earlier this week to end its "campaign of arrests" of doctors and human rights activists. Six were arrested over the weekend. The government denied there is such a campaign.

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-- King Hamad said last week the kingdom had foiled a foreign plot to destabilize it, though he did not name the foreign entity.

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Roots of unrest

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-- Protesters initially took to the streets of Manama to demand reform and the introduction of a constitutional monarchy. But some are now calling for the removal of the royal family, which has led the Persian Gulf state since the 18th century. Young members of the country's Shiite Muslim majority have staged protests in recent years to complain about discrimination, unemployment and corruption, issues they say the country's Sunni rulers have done little to address. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights said authorities launched a clampdown on dissent in 2010. It accused the government of torturing some human rights activists.

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SAUDI ARABIA

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-- Security forces arrested several people demonstrating at the Interior Ministry Sunday. Two activists said about 100 men had gathered there to demand the release of imprisoned relatives.

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Roots of unrest

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-- Demonstrators have demanded the release of Shiite prisoners who they feel are being held without cause. Others have taken to the streets over the creation of a constitutional monarchy, more rights and other reforms. Late last month, King Abdullah announced a series of sweeping measures aimed at relieving economic hardship.

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EGYPT

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-- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was in Egypt on Wednesday for talks with officials and military leaders of the key U.S. ally. It was Gates' first visit to Egypt since President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down.

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-- The visit follows a referendum last weekend in which voters overwhelmingly approved proposed constitutional amendments paving the way for parliamentary elections in June.

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-- A report published last week by Amnesty International describes the mistreatment of 17 female demonstrators at the hands of the Egyptian military after a protest March 9. The group said the women were beaten, given electric shocks, subjected to strip searches, forced to submit to "virginity checks" and threatened with prostitution charges. An army major denies allegations of torture or virginity tests but confirms 17 women were arrested.

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-- Some activists, concerned citizens and politicians are calling for a protest against a new law that Egypt's ruling military council is poised to approve. The law could make protests a criminal offense punishable by jail time and large fines.

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Roots of unrest

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-- Complaints about police corruption and abuses were among the top grievances of demonstrators who forced President Hosni Mubarak from office. Demonstrators also were angry about Mubarak's 30-year rule, a lack of free elections and economic issues, such as high food prices, low wages and high unemployment. Since Mubarak's departure, several thousand people have protested in Cairo's Tahrir Square to urge Egypt's new rulers to implement promised reforms. They pressed Egypt's Supreme Council to end an emergency law and release political prisoners, among other things. They also demanded civilian representation in government.

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TUNISIA

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-- In two short months, this country has gone from decades of strict one-party rule to an explosion of more than 30 registered political parties.

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Roots of unrest

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-- The revolt was triggered when an unemployed college graduate set himself ablaze after police confiscated his fruit cart, cutting off his source of income. Protesters complained about high unemployment, corruption, rising prices and political repression. An interim government came to power after an uprising prompted autocratic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to leave the country January 14. Those demonstrations helped spark protests across North Africa and the Middle East.

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MOROCCO

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-- Moroccan Foreign Minister Taib Fassi Fihri held talks Thursday in New York with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the situation in the Arab world, particularly in the Maghreb region, the state-run MAP news agency reported.

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-- Fihri said Wednesday that proposed constitutional reforms will strengthen the separation of powers and will help a "new Morocco" emerge, MAP reported. He said the committee in charge of revising the constitution will submit its results for the king's approval in June, after which they will be put to a public vote.

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Roots of unrest

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-- Protesters are seeking, among other things, political reforms to limit the monarchy's power and have not accepted reforms proposed by King Mohammed VI that demonstrators say do not go far enough, according to Human Rights Watch. As uprisings swept the region, the king proposed the creation of an elected prime minister position to serve as the government's chief executive, promotion of human rights and gender equality and economic improvements.

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ELSEWHERE

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-- Sporadic demonstrations have erupted in recent weeks in other Middle Eastern and northern African nations, such as Algeria, Djibouti, Oman, Kuwait and Sudan and in the Palestinian territories.

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