The week ahead for February 17-23: Pervez Musharraf, PS4 and a fragile Libyan vote
A look at what’s coming up on the East Coast and around the world. This week, that includes dry faucets in India, a visit to Serbia and three Baltimore Blast games.
- Libyan vote: Libyan High National Electoral Commission chairman Nuri al-Abbar speaks during a ceremony to announce the date for Libyans to go to the polls to choose a commission to draft a new constitution on January 30, 2014 in Tripoli. “The General National Congress, in coordination with the High National Election Commission, decided to fixed the elections to the commission of 60 for February 20,” the president of the GNC Nuri Abu Sahmein said. MAHMUD TURKIA – AFP/Getty Images
- Indian court hearing: In this photograph taken on May 25, 2012, Italian marines Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone are escorted by Indian police outside a court in Kollam. A court will decide Feb. 18 whether to try the pair under anit-piracy laws, The Hindu reported last week . Credit: AFP/Getty Images
- Visit to Serbia: Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos speaks with European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton during a Foreign Affairs Council meeting at the EU Headquarters in Brussels on February 10, 2014. Venizelos will visit Serbia Tuesday, according to outlet inSerbia.info Credit: JOHN THYS – AFP/Getty Images
- Dry taps: Indian youth dance and cool off at the Jal Vihar water park on World Water Day in Hyderabad on March 22, 2013. Water in large portions of the city will be shut off on Monday and Tuesday, according to The Times of India. || NOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images
- Blast games: Cheerleaders stand during the intro to a Baltimore Blast game in January. The Blast play against three teams this week, starting with the Pennsylvania Roar. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun Staff)
- Train show in Virginia: A 2008 Baltimore Sun file photo shows trains at Greenberg’s Train and Toy Show at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. The show visits the Virginia Beach Convention Center Feb. 22nd-23rd (Photo by Steve Ruark)
- Summit wraps up: Visitors view a stand at the Japanese pavilion during the opening of the World Future Energy Summit on January 20, 2014 at the National Exhibition Center (ADNEC) in Abu Dhabi. The event runs until February 22, 2014. KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images
- PS4 debut: A Sony employee plays “Play Room,” video game on Sony’s PlayStation 4 game console during the “Try! PlayStation 4! -2.22–” event at Ginza Sony building in Tokyo on February 1, 2014. As the game console’s Japan debut on February 22 is apporaching, Sony started its touch and try events in major cities, Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA – AFP/Getty Images
- More Musharraf delay?: A Pakistani supporter of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf lights candles during a vigil for Musharraf’s recovery in Islamabad on February 9, 2014. Musharraf has been in a military hospital since falling ill with heart trouble while travelling to court on January 2. A court trying Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for treason ordered him to appear on February 18, the latest postponement in the long-delayed case. AAMIR QURESHI – AFP/Getty Images
- Depp premiere: Actor Johnny Depp attends the premiere of “3 Days to Kill” in Los Angeles, California February 12, 2014. The movie opens in the U.S. on February 21. || Credit: Mario Anzuoni – Reuters
- ACC show: “Self Search,” an original bronze sculpture by Thomas Wargen priced at $12,000, sits on display at the 2013 American Craft Council Show. The show returns to the Baltimore Convention Center Feb. 21-23. || Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun Staff
- Bluebeard winds down: French theatre director Juliette Deschamps poses in Bordeaux on January 31, 2014. Deschamps is directing the opera “Le Chateau de Barbe Bleue”, or “Bluebeard’s Castle”, a one-act opera by Hungarian composer Bela Bartok, presented in Bordeaux from February 12 until February 18, 2014. JEAN PIERRE MULLER – AFP/Getty Images
(Reuters) – Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said on Friday the government was safe and security under control, dismissing a statement by a senior army official calling for the parliament to be suspended and the armed forces to “rescue” the country.
Major General Khalifa Haftar, a leading figure in the 2011 revolution against Muammar Gaddafi, called in a video statement for a presidential committee to govern until new elections in what he described as a “road map” rather than a coup bid.
Government officials quickly brushed off Haftar’s video, in which the grey-haired officer appeared in military uniform, as the work of a retired soldier with no backing within Libya’s armed forces.
But the confusion it provoked was a reminder of the fragility of Libya’s transition to democracy with its interim government and General National Congress or GNC parliament paralyzed by infighting among rival factions.