KUWAIT (Reuters) – Around 500 Kuwaitis staged an anti-government protest on Friday, demanding the resignation of the prime minister and an end to a political crisis hampering legislation in the major OPEC oil producer.

“The people want the overthrow of the head (of government),” the crowd chanted, echoing slogans of protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square that led to the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

KUWAIT/RIYADH (Reuters) – Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is using its political clout and financial power to draw regional allies into a united front against perceived threats from Iran and popular discontent with Arab autocrats.

Saudi rulers, alarmed by shifts in U.S. policy in response to the toppling of long-time ally Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and protests roiling Bahrain, Oman and Yemen in the kingdom’s own Gulf backyard, are vigorously pushing back.

KHARTOUM/JUBA (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of people fled as north Sudanese militias accused of helping seize the contested Abyei border region over the weekend moved further south, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

Armed groups, thought to be northern militias, also opened fire on four U.N. helicopters in Abyei on Tuesday, a U.N. spokeswoman said.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Four U.N. helicopters were fired on in Sudan’s central Abyei region on Tuesday, probably by militias allied to the Khartourm government, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

North Sudan seized Abyei at the weekend, forcing thousands of people to flee and raising suspicion among southerners that the north wants to grab territory along their ill-defined border before the south splits away on July 9.

KHARTOUM/JUBA (Reuters) – A south Sudanese government minister resigned on Tuesday, accusing Khartoum of war crimes after the northern army seized the disputed Abyei border region, forcing thousands to flee.

The announcement raised political tensions after Sudan’s northern army moved tanks into Abyei town, the area’s main settlement, on Saturday, sparking an international outcry.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – More than 15,000 people have fled Sudan’s Abyei region to the south after the northern army seized the disputed area and parts of the main town were burned and looted, United Nations officials said Tuesday.

A senior southern minister in the Khartoum government resigned, protesting against what he called war crimes committed by the northern army which had moved tanks into the main regional town over the weekend after weeks of tensions.

WAD AL-BASHIR CAMP, Sudan (Reuters) – Southerners’ furniture and belongings are piled high in this slum in Sudan’s northern capital, ready to catch the next truck home before the region breaks away to form a new nation in July.

But the route is blocked. Fighting in the disputed central region of Abyei has threatened to plunge north and south back into conflict. The luggage is left baking under the searing sun.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Armed looters set fire to parts of Sudan’s disputed Abyei border town on Monday, the United Nations said, days after north Sudanese troops seized it, pushing the north and south closer to conflict.

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said the north wanted a peaceful solution but the army stayed put in all the territory it took, defying demands from the U.N. Security Council and drawing sharp criticism from the United States.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan’s northern army vowed to hold territory it seized in the disputed oil-producing region of Abyei, defying a U.N. demand it withdraw and pushing the north and south closer to conflict as the south prepares to secede.

Khartoum sent tanks into Abyei town, the area’s main settlement, on Saturday, the United Nations said after weeks of growing tension and accusations of skirmishes by both sides.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan’s northern army has taken control of the disputed Abyei region and is clearing it of armed groups from the South, a minister from the northern government said on Sunday.

Control of oil-rich and fertile Abyei has been the main point of dispute between northern and southern Sudan ahead of plans for the South to become a separate state on July 9 following a January referendum on independence.