Twitter ordered to give WikiLeaks data to US

A US judge ordered Twitter to hand over data of three users in contact with the controversial website WikiLeaks, rejecting arguments the move violated freedom of speech and privacy.

A screengrab of a facebook page in 2010 set up in support of former US army intelligence agent, Bradley Manning. A top US official has slammed the harsh treatment of a soldier at the center of the WikiLeaks row as "ridiculous" and "counter-productive," comments dismissed Friday by President Barack Obama.

AFP - A US judge ordered Twitter to hand over data of three users in contact with the controversial website WikiLeaks, rejecting arguments the move violated freedom of speech and privacy.

President Barack Obama's administration obtained a court order last year seeking information from the Twitter accounts as it considers action against WikiLeaks, which has released a flood of secret diplomatic documents.

One of the accounts belongs to an Icelandic lawmaker, Birgitta Jonsdottir. Iceland's foreign ministry in January summoned the US ambassador to express "serious concern" about the Twitter order.

Magistrate Judge Theresa Buchanan, based in the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Virginia, rejected the argument made by the three Twitter users' that the order would have a "chilling effect" on freedom of speech.

"The Twitter order does not seek to control or direct the content of petitioners' speech or association," she wrote.

She said the three "already made their Twitter posts and associations publicly available" and voluntarily provided information to Twitter pursuant to the website's privacy policy.

Buchanan also dismissed the argument that the order violated the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, which protects people against "unreasonable" searches.

When the trio relayed information to Twitter, they gave up "any reasonable expectation of privacy," she said.

WikiLeaks, which has strongly criticized the order, said that three Twitter users never worked for the site but that two helped make public a video that showed a 2007 US helicopter strike in Baghdad that killed several people.

The footage appeared to show the Apache pilots mistaking a camera carried by an employee of the Reuters news agency as a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

WikiLeaks has since angered US authorities by posting secret documents on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and releasing a slew of internal correspondence among US diplomats around the world.

Aden Fine of the American Civil Liberties Union, the rights advocacy group which defended the Twitter users, said they planned to appeal.

"This is not the last word," Fine said.

"This decision gives the government the ability to obtain private information about Internet communication in secret, except in extraordinary circumstances," he said.

"That's not how our judicial system works and it shouldn't have been permitted here," he said.

Fine said the Twitter users planned to take the case to a district judge. Buchanan is a magistrate, a type of legal officer who generally helps courts prepare for trials.

Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation which also backed the legal challenge, said that in an era in which third parties hold so much digital information, "the government can track your every move and statement without you ever having a chance to protect yourself."

Besides Jonsdottir, the Twitter accounts belong to US computer researcher Jacob Appelbaum and Rop Gonggrijp, a Dutch volunteer for WikiLeaks.

Buchanan rejected calls to drop the order in light of Jonsdottir's position as a foreign lawmaker.

The order "does not seek information on parliamentary affairs in Iceland, or any of Ms. Jonsdottir's parliamentary acts. Her status as a member of parliament is merely incidental to this investigation," she wrote.

The decision came amid growing controversy over the conditions in custody of Bradley Manning, 23, the soldier suspected of releasing the data to WikiLeaks.

In a letter released Thursday, Manning said that he was treated improperly at the Quantico military base in Virginia, including being stripped at night.

The State Department's chief spokesman, Philip Crowley, was quoted as telling a forum at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that the treatment of Manning was "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid."

Obama told reporters he had inquired about Manning's treatment and that the Pentagon assured him it was "appropriate."

Island nations spared as tsunami charges across Pacific

A woman is seen here watching as waves hit a deserted beach in Honolulu, Hawaii. The death toll from the earthquake and tsunami is expected to be more than 1,000 in Japan, but the wave appeared to have little power when it hit the Pacific and there were no reports of lives lost.

Graphic showing the estimated tsunami travel times

AFP - A tsunami triggered by the powerful earthquake in Japan ploughed across the South Pacific Saturday but no serious damage was reported and it was treated more as a curiosity than a danger.

Dozens of low-lying island nations were placed on alert after a monster 10-metre (33-foot) tsunami smashed into Japan following the devastating 8.9 magnitude earthquake centered near the northeastern city of Sendai.

The death toll from the earthquake and tsunami is expected to be more than 1,000 in Japan, but the wave appeared to have little power when it hit the South Pacific and there were no reports of lives lost.

In the Marquesas islands sirens blared, warning residents to flee to higher ground. Although waves up to three metres (10 feet) were forecast they were less than a metre when they arrived, but still flooded some houses.

In New Zealand, civil defence officials warned of waves of just over one metre and advised people to stay away from beach areas.

However, the first wave "was rather insignificant and hardly visible to the naked eye," said civil defence operations manager David Coetzee as hundreds of people made their way to the shoreline to see what the fuss was about.

"It looks pretty good out there and we are not the first ones out," Graeme Barnard told the Waikato Times newspaper as he set out for a day's fishing off Hamilton on the west coast of the North Island.

In Tonga, where a tsunami that killed nine people 18 months ago remains fresh in the memory, many people rushed to higher ground for safety while others tested the power of the tsunami by going for a swim.

"The current was flowing differently and you could feel it in the water," said Matangi Tonga editor Pesi Fonua who entered the water near the capital Nuku'alofa.

"We noticed that the water along the reef was higher but the foreshore level by the Dateline Hotel was lower than usual."

Papua New Guinea experienced dramatic and unusual tides but no destructive waves or damage, an official said.

Projections had been for any tsunami to crash into the northern coast which had experienced a devastating offshore quake and tsunami in 1998 that killed more than 2,000 people.

But Bill Yomba, manning operations at the Papua New Guinea National Disaster Centre, said locals in northern provinces noted coastal waters rushing in and out but no giant waves.

"These provinces have experienced unusual tides," he told AFP. "They've seen tides they have never seen before... now it's low tide, but the next minute it's high tide again, that's what they experienced."

Australian officials said the wave surges experienced along its vast coastline overnight were in line with projections -- measuring only between six and 20 centimetres (three to eight inches).

Residents in the Northern Marianas and Guam were ordered to evacuate low-lying areas and head to higher ground before the warning was lifted with no evidence of damage.

In Samoa, Fiji and several other small nations the tsunami warning was raised and lowered without any sign of an ocean surge while in American Samoa a wave of 50 centimetres was recorded at Pago Pago.

Reports from Tahiti said waves swamped beachfront gardens.

Yemen police 'attack' anti-regime sit-in, one dead

One demonstrator was killed and dozens more injured as Yemeni police attacked an anti-government sit-in in the capital Sanaa at dawn on Saturday, the organisers of the protest told AFP.

AFP - One demonstrator was killed and dozens more injured as Yemeni police attacked an anti-government sit-in in the capital Sanaa at dawn on Saturday, the organisers of the protest told AFP.

Police fired live rounds and tear gas grenades as they moved in on the protesters, who have been camped out in University Square since February 21, they said.

Blast at Japan nuke plant; '1,000 dead' after quake

An aerial view shows the quake-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant in the Japanese town of Futaba, Fukushima prefecture, on March 12. An explosion and feared meltdown at one of the plants exposed the scale of the disaster facing Japan after a massive quake and tsunami hit the northeast, leaving more than 1,000 people feared dead.

Map showing the Fukushima nuclear plants on the eastern coast of Japan

Rescue service members search for missing people in Natori city, Miyagi prefecture, on March 12. More than 1,000 people were feared dead after a monster tsunami unleashed by a massive quake which wreaked destruction across northeast Japan and triggered an emergency at a nuclear power plant.

A light aircraft and cars lie amid tsunami debris in Iwanuma city, Miyagi prefecture, on March 12. More than 1,000 people were feared dead after a monster tsunami unleashed by a massive quake which wreaked destruction across northeast Japan and triggered an emergency at a nuclear power plant.

An aerial view show the devastated Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture, on March 12. More than 1,000 people were feared dead after a monster tsunami unleashed by a massive quake which wreaked destruction across northeast Japan and triggered an emergency at a nuclear power plant.

An aerial view shows white smoke rising from ships at the port of Kesennuma city, in Miyagi prefecture, on March 12. At least 613 people have been confirmed killed in the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan -- but the government voiced fears that more than 1,000 had died.

AFP - An explosion and feared meltdown at one of Japan's nuclear plants exposed the scale of the disaster facing the country after a massive quake and tsunami left 1,000 feared dead.

Reactor cooling systems failed at two plants after Friday's record 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit, unleashing a terrifying 10-metre (33-foot) wave that tore through coastal towns and cities, destroying all in its path.

Smoke was seen billowing from the Fukushima No. 1 atomic plant about 250 kilometres (160 miles) northeast of Tokyo after an explosion at the ageing facility on Saturday destroyed the walls and roof, reports said.

The blast reportedly left several workers injured.

Kyodo News agency said radioactive caesium had been detected near the site, quoting the Japanese nuclear safety commission. Radioactivity rose 20-fold outside, reports said.

The plant "may be experiencing nuclear meltdown", Kyodo and Jiji reported before the explosion, while public broadcaster NHK quoted the safety agency as saying metal tubes that contain uranium fuel may have melted.

The cooling system of the plant was damaged in the massive earthquake that struck the region 24 hours earlier, leaving authorities scrambling to fix the problem and evacuate more than 45,000 residents within a 10-kilometre radius.

Thousands were also evacuated from near a second plant, Fukushima No. 2, which also suffered damage to its cooling system.

Parts of the No. 1 reactor's nuclear fuel rods were briefly exposed to the air Saturday after cooling water levels dropped and a fire engine was pumping water into the reactor, Jiji Press reported.

A spokesman for operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) told AFP: "We are trying to raise the water level."

The atomic emergency came as the country struggled to assess the full extent of the devastation wreaked by the massive tsunami, which was unleashed by the strongest quake ever recorded in Japan.

The towering wall of water pulverised the northeastern city of Sendai, where police reportedly said 200-300 bodies had been found on the coast.

More than 215,000 people were in emergency shelters, police said.

The full scale of those left homeless was believed to be much higher, with police saying they had not received a tally from Miyagi prefecture, the hard-hit province that is home to Sendai.

"What used to be residential areas were mostly swept away in many coastal areas and fires are still blazing there," Prime Minister Naoto Kan said after surveying the damage by helicopter.

The unstoppable black tide picked up shipping containers, wrecked cars and the debris of shattered homes and crashed through the streets of Sendai and across open fields, forming a mud slick that covered vast tracts of land.

"There are so many people who lost their lives," an elderly man told TV reporters before breaking down in tears. "I have no words to say."

An AFP tally compiled from national and provincial police data put the confirmed death toll at least 703.

"It is believed that more than 1,000 people have lost their lives," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano.

"The damage is so enormous that it will take us much time to gather data," an official at the police agency told AFP.

Authorities said more than 3,000 homes were destroyed or swept away and tens of thousands of people spent the night in emergency shelters.

The tsunami obliterated Rikuzentakata, a coastal city of some 23,000 people, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.

In the shattered town of Minamisoma, Sayori Suzuki, a 34-year-old housewife, recalled the utter horror of the moment the quake hit.

"It was a tremor like I've never experienced before," she told AFP. "Things just flew from the shelves."

"My house is okay, but a relative's house was washed away."

Some 50,000 military and other rescue personnel were pushed into action to spearhead the Herculean rescue and recovery effort with hundreds of ships, aircraft and vehicles headed to the Pacific coast area.

Army helicopters airlifted people off the roof of an elementary school in Watari, Miyagi prefecture.

The towering wave set off alerts across the Pacific, sparking evacuations in Hawaii and on the US West Coast.

Chile said it was evacuating coastal areas and Ecuador's state oil company announced it had suspended crude oil exports due to risks posed by the tsunami.

The Bank of Japan said it would do its "utmost" to ensure the stability of financial markets after the quake brought huge disruption to key industries.

Major manufacturers including Toyota, Nissan and Sony were forced to suspend production at some sites, raising short-term concerns for the nation's struggling economy.

In quake-hit areas, 5.6 million households had no power Saturday and more than one million households were without water. Telecommunications networks were also hit.

Leading international offers of help, President Barack Obama mobilised the US military to provide emergency aid after what he called a "simply heartbreaking" disaster.

The United States, which has nearly 40,000 military personnel in Japan, ordered a flotilla including two aircraft carriers and support ships to the region to provide aid.

The quake, which hit at 2:46 pm (0546 GMT) and lasted about two minutes, rattled buildings in greater Tokyo, the world's largest urban area and home to some 30 million people.

Millions were left stranded in the evening after the earthquake shut down the city's vast subway system.

But with small quakes felt every day somewhere in Japan, the country is one of the best prepared to deal with the aftermath of such a calamity.

"If there is any place in the world ready for a disaster of the scale and scope of this historic calamity, it is Japan," said Stacey White, senior research consultant at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

In a rare piece of good news, a ship that was earlier reported missing was found swept out to sea and all 81 people aboard were airlifted to safety.

But mostly the picture was one of utter devastation.

The tsunami submerged the runway at Sendai airport, while a process known as liquefaction, caused by the intense shaking of the tremor, turned parts of the ground to liquid.

Hours after the quake struck, TV images showed huge orange balls of flames rolling up into the night sky as fires raged around a petrochemical complex in Sendai. A massive blaze also engulfed an oil refinery near Tokyo.

Nearly 24 hours after the first, massive quake struck just under 400 kilometres northeast of Tokyo, aftershocks were still rattling the region, including a strong 6.8 magnitude tremor on Saturday.

The US Geological Survey said more than 100 aftershocks had hit the area.

Japan sits on the "Pacific Ring of Fire" and Tokyo is in one of its most dangerous areas, where three continental plates are slowly grinding against each other, building up enormous seismic pressure.

The government has long warned of the likelihood that a devastating magnitude-eight quake will strike within the next 30 years in the Kanto plains, home to Tokyo's vast urban sprawl.

Police fire tear gas at protesters in Bahrain

The sectarian rift between Bahrain’s Sunni Muslims and the Shiite opposition protesting against the monarchy in Bahrain played out on the streets of the capital Friday, as protesters marched again and were tear-gassed by security forces.

By News Wires (text)

AP - Security forces reinforced by pro-government mobs fired rubber bullets and tear gas Friday to scatter protesters near Bahrain’s royal palace, witnesses said, as conflict deepened between Sunni Muslims backing the ruling system and Shiites demanding it give up its monopoly on power.

The clashes broke out after an hours-long standoff between tens of thousands of demonstrators facing down lines of riot police and Sunni vigilantes carrying swords, clubs, metals pipes and stones. One protester, Habib Ibreeq, said people used private cars to ferry the injured to hospitals.

The latest clash reinforces the sense that nearly a month of protests led by the Shiite majority to demand sweeping political reforms was veering toward sectarian street battles between the divided communities. Shiites, who complain of discrimination, are also increasingly calling for the ouster of the Western-allied Sunni monarchy ruling the small but strategic island nation that is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5^th Fleet.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, meanwhile, was in Bahrain on a mission to encourage dialogue between the protesters and the country’s monarchy, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.

More than 700 people were treated for breathing problems and other troubles linked to tear gas, hospital officials said. Several others were hit by stones or cut by blades.

Some main opposition parties had called for the march to be canceled, fearing Bahrain was moving dangerously close to full-scale sectarian battles after weeks of protests modeled on the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. On Thursday, students clashed at a school and Sunni groups burned a Shiite-owned supermarket and threatened other businesses.

But Shiite youth groups ignored the appeals to call off the protest near the offices and compounds of Bahrain’s king and other members of the ruling dynasty that has held power for more than two centuries.

The brief - but intense - melee began as protesters began to withdraw from a razor wire barrier separating the two sides. Witnesses said some stones were thrown from the pro-government mobs and they began to pour through an opening in the blockade.

Within moments, police had fired tear gas and rubber bullets to drive back the demonstrators, according to Sayed Yousef al-Mahafdha of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, who witnessed the clash. The use of rubber bullets was also witnessed by two protesters and Dr. Ali al-Iqri, who was part of an ambulance crew treating the wounded.

A statement earlier by Bahrain’s Interior Ministry warned against holding the march amid a “level of sectarian tension that threatens Bahrain’s social fabric.”

Hours before the clash, pro-government bands attacked several cars trying to reach the area near the royal compounds.

Johnny Miller, a British cameraman on assignment for Iran’s state-run Press TV, said dozens of assailants broke the windows of their car and insulted his Bahraini Shiite assistant.

Many Shiites in Bahrain claim the pro-government mobs include Sunnis from other Arab states and South Asia who are given citizenship and jobs under a government program to try to offset the Shiites’ demographic advantage.

“This is a systematic operation to unleash these thugs to threaten Shiites and act as enforcers for the ruling system,” said a prominent human rights lawyer, Mohamed al-Tajer.

Major Sunni-Shiite clashes occurred during the 1990s and forced Bahrain’s Sunni rulers to introduce political reforms that included an elected parliament. But the island’s Shiites - about 70 percent of the population - still see themselves stuck in a permanent underclass status.

They are effectively blackballed from top government or security posts and complain that voting districts are gerrymandered to prevent a Shiite majority in the 40-seat parliament, where the main Shiite bloc took 18 seats in elections last year.

A main grievance is the Sunni naturalization policies, which seek to offset the lopsided Shiite population advantage and bulk up the ranks of loyalists. Opposition groups estimate tens of thousands of Sunnis from across the Arab world and South Asia have been brought to Bahrain in recent years.

On Wednesday, thousands of Shiites marched outside the immigration office in the capital, Manama, to decry the “political naturalizations” and demand a mass expulsion.

Bahrain’s leaders, meanwhile, are under strong regional pressure to stand firm.

The other Sunni Arab dynasties in the Gulf - particularly Saudi Arabia - fear any crack in Bahrain could encourage more uprisings across the oil-rich region to demand an end to their authoritarian grip. Protests have flared already in Oman and Kuwait. Saudi security forces were out Friday in a major show of power amid rumblings of wider demonstrations.

The Gulf Sunni leaders also see Bahrain as a potential beachhead for Shiite powerhouse Iran. Although there is no evidence of political ties between Tehran and Bahrain’s main Shiite groups, some hard-liners in Iran have called Bahrain the “14^th province” of the Islamic Republic.

On Thursday, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council backed a $20 billion aid plan for Bahrain and Oman, the least well-off in the super-wealthy bloc.

In Geneva, U.N. human rights officials said three prominent human rights activists in Bahrain are being targeted by death threats conveyed through Facebook and other social media sites. Rupert Colville of the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said the messages on Facebook and other social media websites denounce the three men as “traitors” and aim to incite people to kill them.

The three being targeted are Mohammed Al Masqati, president of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights; Naji Fateel, another member of the society; and Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, a former director at Frontline Defenders, Colville said.

Niger votes for new president in return to civilian rule

Voters in Niger went to the polls Saturday to pick a new president, in the run-off of a presidential election heralded as the end of a long military rule in one of the world's poorest countries.

By News Wires (text)

REUTERS - Coup-prone Niger, which faces a growing threat from al Qaeda allies on its soil, bids on Saturday for a return to democratic rule with an election run-off between two presidential rivals.

The vote comes a year after soldiers ousted ex-leader Mamadou Tandja for outstaying his term in office in the West African uranium-producing state.

It is due to culminate in the swearing-in of a new civilian leader and the end of junta rule in April.

Favourite to win is veteran opposition leader Mahamadou Issoufou, who scored 36 percent in the January first round and has since won endorsements from defeated candidates representing around 30 percent of the total vote.

Issoufou stands against Tandja party ally Seyni Oumarou, who scored 23 percent in the first round. Oumarou had the backing of a broad alliance of parties until they defected last month in the hope of securing posts in a future Issoufou government.

A desert nation whose uranium riches have drawn billions of dollars of investments, mainly from French nuclear giant Areva, Niger remains one of the poorest countries in the world and has suffered repeated coups since 1960 independence.

The election marks a chance for a new start for the country but analysts said challenges remained if it were to break with an era marked by widespread graft and strong-arm governments.

"The country does have a new opportunity, but whether it grasps it remains to be seen," said Jeremy Keenan at University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

"There is no new blood on the scene. It's been the same old figures since time immemorial -- even Issoufou is part of the furniture," he said, adding that many Nigeriens remained sceptical of the chances of change.

Joint patrols

The future role of the army will be under scrutiny, with junta leader Salou Djibo set to enjoy a strong reputation abroad and locally if he makes good on promises to hand over power.

Recent statements from Djibo have suggested he sees the army as playing a greater role in generating development in a country where two-thirds of the population live on less than $1 a day and life expectancy at birth is just 52.5 years.

Aside from droughts that bring regular food crises, Niger now faces a rising threat from al Qaeda-linked fighters who have kidnapped westerners in desert regions and attacked army units.

The abduction of two French nationals from an expatriate bar in its capital Niamey in January was the most blatant yet and has prompted international aid groups across the Sahel region to review how they carry out operations to ensure staff safety. The two Frenchmen were later found dead after a failed rescue bid.

Niger has since said it plans to step up joint patrols and intelligence-sharing as part of a defence pact with neighbour Mali, which is also under pressure from neighbours and Western powers to do more to tackle the problem.

While neither candidate has clearly stated an intention to review contracts in the resource sectors, opponents of Tandja argue a vote for his MNSD party would risk a return to widespread corruption under his government.

Tandja himself is in jail facing graft charges after a junta-led investigation found at least $128 million had been stolen from state coffers during his 10-year rule.

SOAS's Keenan said it remained questionable how committed the new government would be to exposing corruption under his rule, suggesting it might prefer to sweep some of the misdeeds under the carpet and focus efforts on building the economy.

Ouattara in Nigeria as AU piles pressure on Gbagbo

Ivory Coast's presidential hopeful Alassane Ouattarra has left his Abidjan hotel for the first time since the disputed Nov. 28 election, arriving in Nigeria in a bid to gather support for efforts to oust his rival for the presidency, Laurent Gbagbo.

By News Wires (text)

AP - The African Union reaffirmed Alassane Ouattara as the legal president of Ivory Coast, but his future remained uncertain Friday as an aide warned of death threats and the country’s strongman refused to budge from the presidential mansion.

The AU is now calling on Ivory Coast’s highest court to swear in Ouattara as president, according to a three-page report made available to The Associated Press by a diplomat at the presentation. The report also sets out how Ouattara will appoint a unity government that will include members of Laurent Gbagbo’s party.

The AU’s Peace and Security Council is to appoint a high-level representative who will be given two weeks to oversee the implementation of these recommendations, according to the final communique.

Gbagbo, who has been in power for a decade, insists he won the Nov. 28 election despite U.N.-certified results showing Ouattara received more than 54 percent of the vote to Gbagbo’s 46 percent.

Pascal Affi N’Guessan, Gbagbo’s representative at the meeting, said he holds out hope that the high-level AU representative will reconsider a decision that he says is “unacceptable.”

On Friday, Ouattara left Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, where the AU meeting had been held. He was headed to Nigeria for talks with Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian president who has been a proponent of an armed intervention to force Gbagbo out.

The trip to Ethiopia and Nigeria marks the first time that Ouattara has left the hotel where he has been under United Nations protection since the contested election, and it was not immediately clear if he would face problems returning to Ivory Coast.

The only way to reach the hotel where Ouattara has been living is via a chartered helicopter, which lands on the estate’s back lawn. He is believed to have left by helicopter to Bouake, a city in the north controlled by rebels loyal to him which has an airport.

The day of his departure, a decree was read on state television announcing that U.N. helicopters would no longer be allowed to fly over Ivory Coast.

The top U.N. official in Ivory Coast told reporters Friday that getting Ouattara back into the country is no simple matter.

“I have no comment because it regards the security of a head of state,” said U.N. Special Representative Choi Young-jin. “But it is more complicated than you can imagine.”

Ouattara’s spokesman Patrick Achi said that Ouattara has been receiving death threats and that he was not at liberty to discuss his travel arrangements. The commercial capital of Abidjan, where the international airport is located, is controlled by the army loyal to Gbagbo, even though several northern suburbs of the city have in recent weeks fallen to an armed group that claims loyalty to Ouattara.

Last week, Gbagbo’s security forces opened fire with tanks on a group of unarmed female demonstrators, killing seven. Choi said that nearly 400 people have been killed, and interviews with families of victims and an AP review of the names of the dead provided by several city morgues indicates the majority are Muslims from the north, the demographic that voted in largest numbers for Ouattara.

It remains unclear how the AU plans to force Gbagbo to step down. He has refused similar calls from other world and regional bodies, including the U.N. Security Council and the regional bloc ECOWAS, which is headed by Nigeria’s president and which has a military wing that can be mobilized to intervene in conflicts.

But pro-Ouattara forces in Abidjan may not wait for those diplomatic channels to be exhausted.

The top U.N. envoy confirmed Friday that parts of the city are now under their control and their reach is growing. The commandos wear amulets in the form of leather bracelets and woolen hats with flaps over their ears, a type of dress common among the country’s northern rebels who have long supported Ouattara.

They say that they are preparing to take Abidjan whether or not Ouattara gives them the go-ahead because Gbagbo is attempting to usurp power.

“We saw what happened in Egypt,” said one leader of the group who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. “We are doing our revolution our own way.”