Indonesia says 2 arrested for Myanmar Embassy plot

May 1 (Reuters) - Post position for Saturday's 139th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs after Wednesday's draw (listed as barrier, HORSE, jockey, trainer) 1. BLACK ONYX, Joe Bravo, Kelly Breen 2. OXBOW, Gary Stevens, D. Wayne Lukas 3. REVOLUTIONARY, Calvin Borel, Todd Pletcher 4. GOLDEN SOUL, Robby Albarado, Dallas Stewart 5. NORMANDY INVASION, Javier Castellano, Chad Brown 6. MYLUTE, Rosie Napravnik, Tom Amoss 7. GIANT FINISH, Jose Espinoza, Tony Dutrow 8. GOLDENCENTS, Kevin Krigger, Doug O'Neill 9. OVERANALYZE, Rafael Bejarano, Todd Pletcher 10. PALACE MALICE, Mike Smith, Todd Pletcher 11. ...

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Embassy attack spreads Libyan instability to capital

By Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Ghaith Shennib

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's central government has long had only a tenuous grip on the eastern city of Benghazi, but the bombing of the French embassy in Tripoli shows its control of the capital may now also be under threat.

The early morning car bomb devastated France's embassy, wounding two French guards, in the most significant attack against foreign interests in Libya since September's deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi.

The U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed in the Benghazi attack leading to a lingering political row in Washington with Republicans accusing President Barack Obama's administration of withholding information and the White House defending its handling of the issue.

In a blow to the Libyan government's hope of asserting its authority after the 2011 war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, the French embassy bombing, was the first of its kind in Tripoli. Both France and Libya called the attack a "terrorist act",

"Given the events in Benghazi in the last year, it may not be that surprising that even areas where there is more state control are not immune," a Western diplomatic source in Tripoli said. "People can't just point to the east now."

In the capital, the presence of state security forces is more evident than elsewhere - pick-up trucks bristling with weapons protect ministries or stand guard at roundabouts.

But the city of around 1.7 million people is not immune to violence - gunfire still often rings late into the night as armed brigades fight pitched battles against rival groups.

In the last month, the justice ministry was stormed by angry militiamen, the prime minister's aide was abducted and a car carrying the head of the national assembly was shot at.

Foreigners have been targeted in everyday crime - car jackings and theft - but the city has been seen as relatively safe compared to the rest of the North African country.

"Security in Libya is related to the post-revolution status and the fact that the ministries of interior and defense are being rebuilt," said Nizar Kawan, a national assembly member.

"The balance of power is not yet on the state's side even though it should have overall power in the country."

SECURING THE COUNTRY

There has been no claim of responsibility for the bombing but al Qaeda's north African arm, AQIM, threatened retaliation for the French intervention in Mali as recently as last week.

Westerners in the region have been on alert since January's bloody hostage-taking at the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria.

Officials said it was too early to say who was responsible.

In Benghazi, British, Italian, United Nations and Red Cross missions have already been the targets of violence. U.S. officials say militants with ties to al Qaeda affiliates were most likely involved in the September 11 Benghazi attack.

"We cannot definitely say this attack was linked to what happened in Benghazi," Interior Minister Ashour Shuail told reporters. "The problem is not just the security of embassies but the security of the whole nation."

Previous incidents in Tripoli have been minor compared to Tuesday's. In June, a small bomb exploded outside the consulate of neighboring Tunisia; in January, a bomb was thrown at an empty building which U.N. officials had considered using.

"(The attack) signals that what in the past was perceived of as some isolated groups operating in the east, in reality are probably a broader network that has links across the country," Claudia Gazzini of International Crisis Group said.

"Maybe in the east it's easier to operate and carry out such attacks; in Tripoli there is a higher number of government security forces but that doesn't necessarily imply that there is control over the capital."

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan's government has sought to clamp down on armed groups, with an Operation Tripoli campaign aimed at dislodging militias from public buildings. But it has faced resistance and still only commands few disciplined police or military officers, often outmatched by thousands of militiamen.

"There is no security at night, we see no police patrols. We want respect from the state," said Abdelhakim Mohammed of the Supreme Security Committee - a grouping of ex-rebel fighters, now better armed and powerful than the police.

"Ministers keeping call us militias to discredit us."

Analysts say various groups could see gain from attacking French interests in Libya, but they also point to the power struggle between the Libyan authorities and militias.

"The French embassy bombing may have been part of a militia turf war," said Geoff Porter, director of North Africa Risk Consulting. "A signal to Zeidan that he should steer clear of the more powerful and well-established Tripoli militias and perhaps Operation Tripoli would be best left to peter out."

Diplomatic missions are now likely to step up security in light of the attack, which may also deter wary investors.

"The exposure of the capital's vulnerability to terrorist attack will come as a severe blow to the Libyan government's faltering efforts to restore investor confidence in the country," IHS Country Analyst Richard Cochrane said.

(Editing by Jon Hemming)

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Syrian opposition opens first embassy, says world lets it down

By Yara Bayoumy and Regan Doherty

DOHA (Reuters) - A Syrian opposition bloc recognized by the Arab League as the sole representative for Syria opened its first embassy in Qatar on Wednesday in a diplomatic blow to President Bashar al-Assad.

But opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib, who took Syria's seat at an Arab summit in Doha on Tuesday, used the ribbon-cutting ceremony to voice his frustration with world powers for failing to do more to help in the two-year-old struggle to topple Assad.

"There is an international willingness for the revolution not to triumph," he told reporters at the embassy, which was festooned with balloons in the red, green, white and black of Syria's national flag.

Alkhatib, a Sunni Muslim cleric who resigned this week as leader of the Syrian National Coalition, but who is staying on as a caretaker, also alluded to internal differences plaguing the opposition umbrella group formed in Qatar in November.

"The only way to victory is unity," he declared.

Damascus raged against summit host Qatar for helping the opposition into Syria's seat at the League, while Russia and Iran also criticized the move to delegitimize Assad's rule.

Yet although the 22-member Arab bloc lent its support to giving weapons to Syrian rebels, it is unclear how much impact the opposition's diplomatic advances will have inside Syria.

The Cairo-based coalition's control over insurgent groups is tenuous at best. Some of the most militarily effective, such as the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, openly reject its authority.

Alkhatib told Reuters in an interview he was surprised by a rebuff from the United States and NATO to his request for Patriot missiles based in Turkey to help protect rebel-held parts of northern Syria from Assad's helicopters and warplanes.

"I'm scared that this will be a message to the Syrian regime telling it 'Do what you want'," he said.

OPPOSITION DISUNITY

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, speaking to students in Moscow via video link from Brussels, again said the Western alliance had no intention of intervening in Syria.

"We believe that we need a political solution in Syria," he said, noting there was no U.N. mandate for NATO action there.

Disunity among Syria's opposition in exile and the armed factions on the ground have long hindered the struggle against Assad and have contributed to Western reluctance to intervene.

Alkhatib has cited the West's failure to do more to help the opposition, as well as the coalition's internal divisions, as reasons for announcing on Sunday that he would quit as leader.

He offered no clarity on his own political future in his interview with Reuters. "I have given my resignation and I have not withdrawn it. But I have to continue my duties until the general committee meets," the former mosque imam said.

The Arab summit's support for Assad's foes may prove more symbolic than practical, but Syria vented its wrath at Qatar for its pro-opposition actions at the annual gathering.

"The emir of Qatar, the biggest bank for supporting terrorism in the region, began his presidency of the Arab League by hijacking it with tainted oil and money," said state news agency SANA, a mouthpiece for Assad's government.

Qatar's Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani "committed a flagrant violation of the League's pact by inviting the deformed body, the 'Doha Coalition', to usurp Syria's seat in the League", SANA said, in a scathing reference to the opposition.

Qatar has funded political opposition groups and is believed to be funneling money and weapons to rebels in Syria.

Russia, which gives Damascus military and diplomatic support, scolded the Arab League for taking "another anti-Syria step" by giving Syria's seat to the opposition.

Arab nations are far from united on Syria, with Algeria, Iraq and Lebanon often opposing any action against Assad's rule.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and some others have thrown their support behind the mostly Sunni Muslim rebels in Syria, partly to weaken Shi'ite Iran, the main regional ally of Assad, whose minority Alawite sect is distantly derived from Shi'ite Islam.

Iran, which has sent advisers, money and weapons to help Assad stay in power, also lambasted the Arab League for allowing a foe of Assad to take Syria's seat at the summit, calling this "a pattern of dangerous behavior".

Iran views Assad as a pillar of an "axis of resistance" against Israel and a bulwark against Sunni militants in Syria, a country which for three decades has been the main conduit for Iranian arms supplies to Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah movement.

(Additional reporting by William Maclean in Doha, Oliver Holmes and Erika Solomon in Beirut, Marcus George in Dubai and Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Jon Boyle)

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