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By BEN HUBBARD and KARIN LAUB, Associated Press


      CAIRO (AP) - Hundreds of thousands poured out of mosques and
staged protests in countries across the Arab world Friday, some
trying to shake off autocratic rulers and others pressuring
embattled leaders to carry out sweeping reforms.


      Pro-government forces opened fire to break up protests in Libya
and Iraq, killing at least 15 people. Scuffles were reported in
Yemen, while pro-reform marches in Egypt, Bahrain and Jordan were
largely peaceful.


      The large crowds signaled that the push for change in North
Africa and the Middle East continues to build momentum. The first
anti-government protests erupted several weeks ago, toppling rulers
in Tunisia and Egypt and quickly spreading to other countries.


      The situation remained most volatile in Libya, where longtime
leader Moammar Gadhafi has cracked down hard on an 11-day old
rebellion after losing control over large chunks of the country.


      In Libya's capital, Tripoli, where Gadhafi remains in charge,
protesters staged the first rallies in several days. Streaming out
of mosques near the downtown Green Square and elsewhere in the
city, they chanted for Gadhafi's ouster. Troops and militiamen
confronted the protesters, some opening fire, including from
rooftops near the square. Armed Gadhafi supporters sped through the
streets in cars.


      Witnesses reported that they saw four people killed. "There are
all kind of bullets," said one protester near the Souq al-Jomaa
area in Tripoli, screaming in a telephone call to The Associated
Press, with the rattle of shots audible in the background.


      Across cities that have come under control of the rebels, tens
of thousands held rallies to support their comrades in Tripoli.


      Iraq saw its biggest and most violent anti-government protests
since the wave of regional unrest began. Thousands marched on
government buildings and clashed with security forces in several
cities, an outpouring of anger that left 11 people dead.


      The protests were fueled by frustration over corruption, chronic
unemployment and shoddy public services.


      "We want a good life like human beings, not like animals,"
said Khalil Ibrahim, 44, one of about 3,000 protesters in the
capital, Baghdad. Demonstrators knocked down blast walls, threw
rocks and scuffled with club-wielding troops who chased them down
the street.


      Many Iraqis rail against a government that locks itself in the
highly fortified Green Zone, home to the parliament and the U.S.
Embassy, and is viewed by most of its citizens as more interested
in personal gain than public service.


      Iraq's deadliest clashes Friday were reported in the northern
city of Mosul, where hundreds rallying outside a provincial council
building came under fire from guards. Officials said five people
were killed. The other deaths were reported in three other cities.


      Huge crowds also turned out in Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen, but
with very different goals.


      In Egypt, where an 18-day uprising toppled President Hosni
Mubarak on Feb. 11, tens of thousands jammed Cairo's Tahrir Square
to keep up the pressure on the country's military rulers to carry
out reforms.


      Demonstrators said they are worried the army is not moving
quickly enough on reforms, including repealing emergency laws,
releasing political prisoners and removing members of Mubarak's
regime from power.


      Thousands chanted that they won't leave until they see Prime
Minister Ahmed Shafiq, one of the Mubarak-era holdovers, removed
from office. Some waved flags of Libya to show support for the
uprising next door.


      "We made Mubarak step down and we must make Shafiq also step
down," said Safwat Hegazy, a protester from the Muslim
Brotherhood, Egypt's largest and best-organized opposition group.


      Since Mubarak's fall, the military rulers have disbanded both
houses of parliament and promised constitutional reforms that will
allow wider participation in elections, to be held within six
months. They have also promised to repeal emergency laws that give
security forces largely unchecked powers, though only when
conditions permit - a caveat that worries protesters.


      In Bahrain, the first Gulf state to be thrown into turmoil by
the Arab world's wave of change, tens of thousands rallying in the
central square demanded sweeping political concessions from the
ruling monarch.


      Security forces made no attempt to halt the marchers, an
apparent sign that Bahrain's rulers do not want more bloodshed
denunciations from their Western allies. In the early stage of the
two-week-old rallies, troops had used lethal force.


      The unrest is highly significant for Washington. Bahrain is home
to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, which is the Pentagon's main
counterweight against Iran's widening military ambitions. Bahrain's
Sunni monarchy, meanwhile, is under pressure from Saudi Arabia and
other Gulf rulers not to yield to the Shiite-led protesters,
fearing it could open footholds for Shiite powerhouse Iran.


      In the Arab world's poorest country, Yemen, tens of thousands
marching in the capital of Sanaa demanded that their U.S.-backed
president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, step down. It was one of the largest
crowds since protests erupted earlier this month.


      A Muslim preacher who led Friday's prayer told protesters it was
their religious duty to topple Saleh, describing him as a "devil
who has driven us to the stone ages." Shouts from the crowd of
"Allahu akbar," or "God is great," accompanied his words.


      "We are coming to take you from the presidential palace,"
activist Tawakul Kermal told the gathering, addressing Saleh.


      Yemen has a weak central government and an active branch of
al-Qaida. Saleh has promised to step down after elections in 2013,
but the demonstrators want him out now. Activists have been digging
in, setting up encampments in some public areas.


      A record crowd turned out Friday in Jordan, where Jordan's
largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, has warned that
citizens' patience is wearing thin with the government's "slow"
moves toward reform.


      Hamza Mansour, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, called for
quicker steps to give Jordanians a bigger say in politics and to
have them elect their prime minister - now selected by King
Abdullah II. Mansour spoke to 4,000 Jordanian protesters, the
largest crowd yet to take to the streets of downtown Amman for the
pro-reform cause.

      Associated Press writers Paul Schemm in Benghazi, Libya, Ahmed
al-Haj in Sanaa, Yemen, Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan and Adam
Schreck in Manama, Bahrain, contributed reporting.
      

Gallery

Gadhafi militia open fire on Libya protesters

US to join effort to boot Libya from UN body

Will democracy come to much of the Arab world?

US, EU both threaten Libya with sanctions

Congressman Kline reports on Afghanistan trip and congressional battles

Libyan protesters defiant after Gadhafi speech

Hundreds of thousands poured out of mosques and
staged protests in countries across the Arab world Friday, some
trying to shake off autocratic rulers and others pressuring
embattled leaders to carry out sweeping reforms.

Hundreds of thousands protest across Arab world

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