NY oil price hits new 2008 peak

Protests took place in several cities after Friday midday prayers in the Middle East and North Africa for political reforms and democracy, report agencies. Libyan security forces used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters from the streets after Friday prayers in Col Gaddafi's stronghold of Tripoli. A reporter in the flashpoint eastern suburb of Tajoura said demonstrators were burning the official Libyan flag. Government forces launched air attacks on rebel territory in the east. Meanwhile, New York oil briefly surged past $104 on Friday to strike the highest level for two and a half years, as traders reacted to worsening violence in Libya. New York's light sweet crude for April delivery surged as high as $104.09 per barrel -- which was last seen on September 29, 2008. It later stood at $103.45, up $1.54 from Thursday's closing level. Brent North Sea crude for April rallied as high as $116.30 before pulling back to $115.77, up 98 cents. Another report adds, Yemeni troops killed four demonstrators and wounded seven others Friday when they fired on an anti-regime rally in the north, officials and Shiite rebels said, as protests raged across the country. The shooting, which came a day after the opposition and clerics offered embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh a smooth exit from power, took place in Amran province, about 170 kilometres (105 miles) from the capital Sanaa. In Baghdad, thousands of protesters massed in cities and towns across Iraq after streaming in on foot Friday in defiance of vehicle bans for rallies over corruption, unemployment and poor public services. The demonstrations were markedly smaller than similar protests which took place in more than a dozen cities a week ago, spurring Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to give his cabinet 100 days to shape up or face the sack. On Friday, a crowd that rose to around 2,000 in number descended on Baghdad's Tahrir Square, while 1,500 gathered in the northern city of Mosul and 1,000 rallied in the southern cities of Nasiriyah and Basra. Meanwhile, in Amman thousands of Jordanians demonstrated Friday in the city to demand "regime reforms," a day after Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit rejected calls for a constitutional monarchy. "The people want regime reform. Reform is a popular demand. We want a new electoral law," the protesters, including Islamists, trade unionists and leftists, chanted in the city centre after midday prayers. In Cairo, a popular referendum on constitutional changes in Egypt has been set for March 19, an army source told a news agency Friday. "The referendum will take place on March 19, depending on the security situation in the country. But that is the date that has been set, yes," the army source said. A statement on the cabinet's Facebook page said there would be changes to seven articles of the constitution. It said one article will be removed and three additions will be made. Egypt's new Prime Minister Essam Sharaf vowed to respond to demands for democratic change as he addressed thousands of protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square a day after his appointment. Meanwhile in Tunisia, new Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi accused toppled president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of "high treason" during his first public appearance. Tunisia will hold an election on July 24 to choose an assembly to write a new post-revolution constitution, which was a key demand of government critics. Another report from Saudi Arabia adds: cyber activists have created a group on Facebook calling for a "Day of Anger" Friday in the eastern Shiite-majority Saudi region, following the arrest of a Shiite cleric who called for a constitutional monarchy. In Bahrain, six opposition groups, including the largest Shiite parliamentary bloc, set conditions for dialogue Thursday which include electing a "constitutional assembly" to form a new constitution. Police dispersed young Sunnis and Shiites who clashed late Thursday in a town in Bahrain, residents said. The incident was the first of its kind in the kingdom rocked by a wave of protests calling for political reforms. In Syria: Activists are demanding political reforms be made a top priority as revolts rattle regimes across the Middle East, toppling Egypt's and Tunisia's leaders in less than a month.