Anthony Shadid New York Times

Colonel Muammar el-Gaddafi's last moments on Thursday were as violent as the uprising that overthrew him.

The words were not uncommon in angry Arab capitals a decade ago: Osama bin Laden was hero, sheikh, even leader to some. But after his death, a man who once vowed to liberate the Arab world was reduced to a footnote in the revolutions and uprisings remaking a region that he and his followers had struggled to understand. In the Middle East, reactions...

A day after routing a ragtag army in an eastern town near the rebel capital of Benghazi, forces loyal to Colonel Moammar el-Gaddafi launched attacks on Wednesday on the city of Misurata, the last rebel stronghold in western Libya.Phone lines, electricity and water were cut off as government forces used tanks and heavy artillery to bombard the city ...

Rebel fighters fled this strategic refinery town on Thursday under ferocious rocket attacks and airstrikes by forces loyal to the Libyan leader, Colonel Moammar el-Gaddafi.The retreat capped several days of fighting as bold plans of a westward drive to Tripoli by the undermanned and ill-equipped rebel army were dashed by the superior Gaddafi forces...

The signs in Bayda still read the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab State of the Masses. It was never much of a state, nor did the people have much say. Now two weeks after its liberation, residents of this highland town have the task of making it so, a challenge that may prove pivotal to the course of Libya's revolt.Far from the front, in mood ...

Carried on the shoulders of protesters who claimed him as their own, Egypt's new prime minister waded into a crowd of tens of thousands in Tahrir Square on Friday, delivering a speech bereft of regal bombast that illustrated the reach of Egypt's nascent revolution and the breadth of demonstrators' demands that remain unanswered."I am here to draw m...

The Egyptian military moved to clear the last protesters from Tahrir Square on Monday as the armed forces consolidated their control over what it has called a democratic transition from nearly three decades of President Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian rule. A day after the military dissolved the feeble Parliament, suspended the Constitution and calle...

One revolution ended on Friday. Another may soon begin.In a moment that may prove as decisive to the Middle East as the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, 18 days of protest hurtled Egypt once again to the forefront of politics in the Middle East. In the uprising's ambition, young protesters, savvy with technology and more organized than their rulers, began to...

President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt turned over all power to the military and left the Egyptian capital for his resort home in Sharm el-Sheik, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced on state television on Friday.The announcement, delivered during evening prayers in Cairo, set off a frenzy of celebration, with protesters shouting "Egypt is free!"The Eg...

The Egyptian military appeared to assert its leadership Friday amid growing indications that President Hosni Mubarak was yielding all power. A Western diplomat said that Mr. Mubarak had left the capital.As protesters were swarming into the streets Friday morning for what was expected to be the biggest and most volatile demonstrations in the three-w...

President Hosni Mubarak told the Egyptian people on Thursday that he would delegate authority to Vice President Omar Suleiman but that he would not resign, enraging hundreds of thousands gathered to hail his departure and setting in motion a volatile new stage in the three-week uprising.  (Watch: Mubarak's full speech)The declaration by Mr. ...

President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt prepared to address the nation on Thursday, with government officials indicating that they expected him to step aside, and Egypt's military announcing that it is intervening in state affairs in an attempt to stop a three-week-old uprising.The military declared on state television that it would take measures "to main...

Egypt's armed forces on Thursday announced that they had begun to take "necessary measures to protect the nation and support the legitimate demands of the people," a step that suggested the military intends to take a commanding role in administrating the strife-torn nation.There was no immediate confirmation that the army intended to replace the go...

Despite a wider government crackdown, tens of thousands of Egyptians streamed toward the central Tahrir Square on Friday, carrying baskets of bread, food and water for those camped out there and apparently anticipating a long siege to press for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.As the uprising entered its 11th day, with the regime seeking to se...

Just hours after President Hosni Mubarak declared Tuesday night that he would step down in September as modern Egypt's longest-serving leader, President Obama strongly suggested that Mr. Mubarak's concession was not enough, declaring that an "orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful, and it must begin now."While the meaning of the...

Colonel Muammar el-Gaddafi's last moments on Thursday were as violent as the uprising that overthrew him.

The words were not uncommon in angry Arab capitals a decade ago: Osama bin Laden was hero, sheikh, even leader to some. But after his death, a man who once vowed to liberate the Arab world was reduced to a footnote in the revolutions and uprisings remaking a region that he and his followers had struggled to understand. In the Middle East, reactions...

A day after routing a ragtag army in an eastern town near the rebel capital of Benghazi, forces loyal to Colonel Moammar el-Gaddafi launched attacks on Wednesday on the city of Misurata, the last rebel stronghold in western Libya.Phone lines, electricity and water were cut off as government forces used tanks and heavy artillery to bombard the city ...

Rebel fighters fled this strategic refinery town on Thursday under ferocious rocket attacks and airstrikes by forces loyal to the Libyan leader, Colonel Moammar el-Gaddafi.The retreat capped several days of fighting as bold plans of a westward drive to Tripoli by the undermanned and ill-equipped rebel army were dashed by the superior Gaddafi forces...

The signs in Bayda still read the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab State of the Masses. It was never much of a state, nor did the people have much say. Now two weeks after its liberation, residents of this highland town have the task of making it so, a challenge that may prove pivotal to the course of Libya's revolt.Far from the front, in mood ...

Carried on the shoulders of protesters who claimed him as their own, Egypt's new prime minister waded into a crowd of tens of thousands in Tahrir Square on Friday, delivering a speech bereft of regal bombast that illustrated the reach of Egypt's nascent revolution and the breadth of demonstrators' demands that remain unanswered."I am here to draw m...

The Egyptian military moved to clear the last protesters from Tahrir Square on Monday as the armed forces consolidated their control over what it has called a democratic transition from nearly three decades of President Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian rule. A day after the military dissolved the feeble Parliament, suspended the Constitution and calle...

One revolution ended on Friday. Another may soon begin.In a moment that may prove as decisive to the Middle East as the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, 18 days of protest hurtled Egypt once again to the forefront of politics in the Middle East. In the uprising's ambition, young protesters, savvy with technology and more organized than their rulers, began to...

President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt turned over all power to the military and left the Egyptian capital for his resort home in Sharm el-Sheik, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced on state television on Friday.The announcement, delivered during evening prayers in Cairo, set off a frenzy of celebration, with protesters shouting "Egypt is free!"The Eg...

The Egyptian military appeared to assert its leadership Friday amid growing indications that President Hosni Mubarak was yielding all power. A Western diplomat said that Mr. Mubarak had left the capital.As protesters were swarming into the streets Friday morning for what was expected to be the biggest and most volatile demonstrations in the three-w...

President Hosni Mubarak told the Egyptian people on Thursday that he would delegate authority to Vice President Omar Suleiman but that he would not resign, enraging hundreds of thousands gathered to hail his departure and setting in motion a volatile new stage in the three-week uprising.  (Watch: Mubarak's full speech)The declaration by Mr. ...

President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt prepared to address the nation on Thursday, with government officials indicating that they expected him to step aside, and Egypt's military announcing that it is intervening in state affairs in an attempt to stop a three-week-old uprising.The military declared on state television that it would take measures "to main...

Egypt's armed forces on Thursday announced that they had begun to take "necessary measures to protect the nation and support the legitimate demands of the people," a step that suggested the military intends to take a commanding role in administrating the strife-torn nation.There was no immediate confirmation that the army intended to replace the go...

Despite a wider government crackdown, tens of thousands of Egyptians streamed toward the central Tahrir Square on Friday, carrying baskets of bread, food and water for those camped out there and apparently anticipating a long siege to press for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.As the uprising entered its 11th day, with the regime seeking to se...

Just hours after President Hosni Mubarak declared Tuesday night that he would step down in September as modern Egypt's longest-serving leader, President Obama strongly suggested that Mr. Mubarak's concession was not enough, declaring that an "orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful, and it must begin now."While the meaning of the...