Multiple bombings targeting Shia pilgrims in Iraq killed at least 80 people in cities across the country.
Libya postponed its elections because it needs another six weeks to organise them. It also arrested lawyers from the International Criminal Court who allegedly shared forbidden information with Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Saif al Islam.
In Egypt, former president Hosni Mubarak and his interior minister Habib Al-Adli were sentenced to life in prison for their role in the brutal suppression of protesters in last year’s uprising. Six security chiefs were acquitted and Mr. Mubarak and his two sons were cleared of separate corruption charges. Thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to express their anger that no one had been convicted of actually carrying out the killings of protesters.
Calls for western intervention strengthened following another massacre of villagers in Syria - at least 78 were said to have been slaughtered near Hama. The Free Syrian Army was reported to have killed at least 100 soldiers after declaring it would no longer abide by the ceasefire called by the UN and the Arab League.
An Iraqi suicide bomber, presumably a Sunni extremist, killed at least 18 people outside the headquarters of a Shia religious foundation in Baghdad.
Syrian government forces killed more than 100 men in the town of Houla. A UN Security Council resolution denoucned the violence. Some said a tipping point was reached in the 15-month-long uprising.
Egypt’s first round of presidential election resulted in a victory for Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood and Ahmed Shafiq, a the former prime minister under Hosni Mubarak. The will face each other in a run-off in June.
Two separate bomb attacks in the Syrian capital of Damascus killed at least 55 people. The Al Nusra front, an Islamic group, claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails ended their weeks-long hunger strike, after Israeli authorities agreed to improve prison conditions. There had been growing concern about the potential for unrest in the event of a prisoner’s death.
South Sudan accused Sudan of bombing seven areas on its side of the disputed border, saying the attack violated a UN-backed ceasefire.
At least 20 people were killed in protests in Cairo against Egypt’s military council. Many of those demonstrating were supporters of Hazem Abu Ismail, a Salafist who was barred from running in this month’s presidential election.
Human Rights Watch said that Syrian forces killed at least 95 civilians in the fortnight before a ceasefire came into effect on April 12th.
Ahead of elections scheduled for June, authorities in Libya banned all political parties based on religious, ethnic or tribal allegiance, for the aim of preserving ‘national unity’.
A ceasefire plan drafted by Kofi Annan seemed to be holding up in Syria. According to rebels and activists, dozens still die daily at the hands of government forces.
Egypt’s election committee disqualified ten candidates from running in the planned presidential elections, including Omar Suleiman (Mubarak’s spy chief), Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat al-Shater, and an ultra conservative, Hazem Abu Ismail.
Syrian forces attacked residential areas across the country, disregarding the arrival of UN peace monitors. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon requested the UN increase its number of observers to 300.
Omar Suleiman, the vice president under Hosni Mubarak and long-time head of the intelligence agency, announced his candidacy for the presidency of Egypt.
Syrian troops opened fire on refugees crossing the border into Turkey, killing at least two people. The act provoked a protest from Turkey. An estimated 24,000 Syrian refugees have crossed into Turkey to escape the turmoil in their country. A ceasefire brokered by Kofi Annan started on April 12th but is not expected to hold long.
Government air raids in Yemen killed about 40 Al-Qaeda militants in the south, days after they attacked an army base which left 30 dead.
Syria agreed to an April 10th deadline to start implementing a peace plan drafted by the UN-Arab League, but it still insists it will not pull its troops out of cities until opposition forces disarm.