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Post by pieter on Feb 27, 2011 6:57:36 GMT -7
And here a fairly good report published at the CNBC website (I found the link to this coverage at the Haaretz website:) 'Corpses Everywhere In Libya' Say DiplomatsPublished: Saturday, 26 Feb 2011 | 5:33 PM ET
By: Reuters and APPoor neighborhoods of the Libyan capital Tripoli openly defied Muammar Gaddafi on Saturday as his grip on power after 41 years of rule looked increasingly tenuous in the face of nationwide revolt. Security forces had abandoned the working-class Tajoura district after five days of anti-government demonstrations, residents told foreign correspondents who visited the area. The working-class Tajoura district in Lybia's capital TripoliThe residents said troops opened fire on demonstrators who tried to march from Tajoura to central Green Square overnight, killing at least five people. The number could not be independently confirmed. Tripoli's Green SquareA funeral on Saturday morning for one of the victims turned into another show of defiance against Gaddafi. " Everyone in Tajoura came out against the government. We saw them killing our people here and everywhere in Libya," a man who identified himself as Ali, aged 25, told Reuters. " We will demonstrate again and again, today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow until they change." The scene in Tajoura contradicted statements by Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who told reporters on Friday night that peace was returning to Libya. Much of the east of the oil-producing country, including the second city Benghazi, is in opposition forces' hands. Gaddafi's strongest European ally, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said in Rome on Saturday that he no longer appeared to be in control of Libya. Foreign powers met to discuss punitive actions against Gaddafi and expressed outrage at the tactics used to try to crush the revolt, the bloodiest of a wave of pro-democracy uprisings in the Arab world which has already swept away the longtime rulers of Tunisia and Egypt. In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama signed an order prohibiting transactions related to Libya. " By any measure, Muammar Gaddafi's government has violated international norms and common decency and must be held accountable," Obama said in a statement on Friday. Diplomats at the United Nations said a vote on a draft resolution calling for an arms embargo on Libya as well as travel bans and asset freezes on its leaders might come on Saturday after U.N.chief Ban Ki-moon said it could not wait. Palm Tree BarricadesIn Tajoura, protesters had erected barricades of rocks and palm trees across rubbish-strewn streets, and graffiti covered many walls. Pro-Gaddafi security forces were nowhere to be seen on Saturday morning but bullet holes in the walls of the tightly packed houses bore testimony to the violence of recent days. Pro-Gaddafi security forcesSeveral thousand people attended the funeral of one of the dead from Friday night's shooting, which quickly turned into another demonstration. " Gaddafi is the enemy of God," the crowd chanted. One man named Ismail, who said he was unemployed, told Reuters: " Gaddafi forces came here, they shot everywhere during a demonstration that was peaceful." Another man said he had seen 20 dead bodies in past two days. Gaddafi's camp took an optimistic view of the situation confronting the man who took over Libya as a young colonel in a 1969 military coup. " Peace is coming back to our country," Saif al-Islam Gaddafi told reporters flown into Libya under close government supervision. " If you hear fireworks don't mistake it for shooting," said the 38-year-old London-educated younger Gaddafi, smiling. He acknowledged pro-Gaddafi forces had " a problem" with Misrata, Libya's third city, and Zawiyah, also in the west, where protesters had beaten back counter-attacks by the military, but he said the army was prepared to negotiate. " Hopefully there will be no more bloodshed. By tomorrow we will solve this," he said. Saif al-Islam GaddafiA government-escorted trip to Zawiyah for the foreign media planned for Saturday morning was called off. Gaddafi himself vowed to " crush any enemy" on Friday before a crowd of supporters in Green Square and threatened to open military arsenals to his supporters and tribesmen. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi gesturing at supporters during an address at the Green Square in Tripoli. Photo: Libyan TV/AFPState television said the government was raising wages and food subsidies and ordering special allowances for all families, a late bid to enrol the support of Libya's 6 million citizens. In recent days, the flamboyant Gaddafi has made several appearances railing against his enemies as rats and cockroaches and blaming the unrest on a range of foes from the United States and Israel to al Qaeda militants and youths high on drugs. The revolt came as a surprise to the West, which once reviled Gaddafi as pariah due to his support for revolutionary movements and incidents such as the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing but later sought a rapprochement driven by oil deals and other commercial opportunities. Lockerbie, 1988Lockerbie, 1988Corpses EverywhereDiplomats say some 2,000 or more people have been killed across the country. Protesters in Zawiyah, an oil refining town on the main coastal highway 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, fought off government forces on several nights, according to witnesses who fled across the Tunisian border at Ras Jdir. A Tunisian woman carries her belongings as she crosses into Tunisia at the Ras Jdir border crossing after fleeing unrest in Libya on Feb. 23. Thousands of Tunisians are fleeing Libya, many across its western land border, after a bloody crackdown on protests against the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, state media reported on Tuesday. Tunisia has at least 30,000 nationals in Libya and officials fear they could become targets because of Tunisia's role in inspiring uprisings across the Arab world. ZAWIYAH, Libya, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Armed men opposed to the rule of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were in control of the city of Zawiyah, 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital Tripoli, on Sunday."There are corpses everywhere. It's a war in the true sense of the word," said Akila Jmaa, who crossed into Tunisia on Friday after travelling from the town. In the east, ad hoc committees of lawyers, doctors, tribal elders and soldiers appeared to be filling the vacuum left by Gaddafi's government with some success. Stanford, Libya Connected Through Alleged Ponzi Scheme At Tripoli's international airport, thousands of desperate foreign workers besieged the main gate trying to leave the country as police used batons and whips to keep them out. Washington, having evacuated Americans from Libya after days of difficulties, said it was closing down its embassy. Prosecutor-general Abdul-Rahman al-Abbar became the latest senior Libyan official to resign, telling al Arabiya television he was joining the opposition. Libya's delegations to the Arab League and the United Nations in Geneva also switched sides. Libya supplies 2 percent of the world's oil, the bulk of it from wells and supply terminals in the east. The opposition says it controls nearly all oilfields east of Ras Lanuf. Crude Oil Shipments StoppedIndustry sources told Reuters that crude oil shipments from Libya, the world's 12th-largest exporter, had all but stopped because of reduced production, a lack of staff at ports and security concerns. The massive oil terminal at Brega feels strangely deserted for Libya's second-largest hydrocarbon complex. After more than a week of turmoil in the country, production has been scaled back by almost 90 percent with many employees fleeing and ships not coming to collect its products. The most activity on the site Saturday appeared to be a squad of boys from the nearby town finishing the job of tearing apart the local headquarters of Moammar Gadhafi's Revolutionary Committee. The seaside Brega complex, some 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, collects crude oil and gas from Libya's fields in the southeast and prepares it for export. It also produces some petrochemicals and refined products for local consumption. Since the crisis began on Feb. 15, however, General Manager Fathi Eissa said the facility has had to scale back production dramatically from 90,000 barrels of crude a day to just 11,000. There are no reliable figures about the impact of the uprising against Gadhafi on Libya's oil exports, but facilities across the country have been forced to make sharp cuts. Most Libyan ports—the main method of export—also were closed due to bad weather, staff shortages or production outages, according to the International Energy Agency. Volunteer residents carrying the flag of Libya's monarchy prior to Muammar Qaddafi's reign, and offering to help in providing municipal services such as cleaning, ride on a truck in Benghazi, Libya Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Alaguri)
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Post by pieter on Feb 27, 2011 8:04:55 GMT -7
Polish governmemt Plane to Evacuate Poles From Libya
The government send a plane to the Libyan capital Tripoli Wednesday to evacuate Poles from that country, which has been hit by unrest and protests against Moammar Gadhafi’s authoritarian regime.
Around 80 Poles in Libya told the Polish authorities they want to leave. Around 500 Poles were staying or living in Libya, according to Polish media.
The Polish foreign ministry has urged all Poles in Libya to leave and warned against travel there.
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Post by pieter on Feb 27, 2011 8:07:29 GMT -7
Plane from Libya with the Poles Onboard 2011-02-24, 12:13
The government plane that evacuated Poles from Libya landed at the military airport in Warsaw at 2.35 a.m. The plane from Tripoli carried aboard 61 people. However, only a quarter of them were Polish citizens.
Government plane took off from Warsaw to the capital of Libya yesterday about 2 p.m. It supposed to take about 80 Poles who declared their willingness to escape from Libya. Ultimately, only 15 Polish countrymen returned home; rest of the passengers were citizens of Great Britain, Romania and Denmark.
“61 people flew in that plane, about 20 people are British, 15 Poles and we have 15 citizens from Romania and two from Denmark. At this moment, these people are under our care” –said Margaret Wozniak, the spokeswoman of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Aministration
She informed that the Poles, who came back home are among others from Poznan, Lublin and Bialystok. Evacuees declared that they want to return to their families as soon as possible.
Ministry spokeswoman said that her department provides an accommodation in Warsaw and transport. “We are ready for it as we cannot imagine these people to be deprived of accommodation. If they declare that they want to reach out to their families immediately, of course, we will assist them in that” - said Wozniak.
Asked by journalists why so few Poles came back on the government plane, Wozniak said that only so many people managed to get to the airport in Tripoli. She added that the Poles are leaving Libya on evacuation planes sent by other countries.
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Post by pieter on Mar 2, 2011 6:38:30 GMT -7
edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/03/02/libya.conflict/index.html?hpt=T1Gaddafi: Libya dignity under attackLibyan leader says he is just a symbol and power is in the hands of the people during televised address to supporters.Gaddafi said that the world did not understand the Libyan system that puts power in the hands of the peopleLibyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has said that he is not a president and so cannot resign his position, and that power is in the hands of the people, during a televised public rally in the capital, Tripoli. " Muammar Gaddafi is not a president to resign, he does not even have a parliament to dissolve," Gaddafi said on Wednesday, surrounded by dozens of supporters in a large ballroom for a ceremony to mark 34 years of " people power." " Attacks on me are seen by Libyan people as attacks on their symbol and dignity." " The foreigners want Gaddafi to step down, to step down from what? Gaddafi is just a symbol for the Libyan people... This is how the Libyan people understood it." He said that the world did not understand the Libyan system that puts power in the hands of the people. " The people are free to chose the authority they see fit," he said. " We put our fingers in the eyes of those who doubt that Libya is ruled by anyone other than its people," he said, referring to his system of " direct democracy" which he outlined in his Green Book political manifesto, launched in 1977. " I have always said that the Libyan people are free [in managing their own business]." Gaddafi said there were no protests in the second largest city, Benghazi, Derna, or the eastern town of al-Baida ... that it all started with sleeper cells taking over weapons and security stations. He said that terrorists released prisioners from jails and included them in their forces. " These are criminals not political prisioners ... there are no political prisioners in Libya ... We had to destory the weapons storages to prevent them from falling into the hands of the terrorists." He repeated his claim that al-Qaeda was behind the popular uprising against his 41-year rule and promised to fight to the last man and woman. " Sleeper cells from al-Qaeda, its elements, infiltrated gradually ... Suddenly it started in al-Baida... The sleeping cell was told to attack the battalion ... and it took arms from police stations." " The soldiers went home and left their battalion" while the al-Qaeda cells " took the weapons and control of the town. It was the same situation in Benghazi," whcih is under the control of the rebel forces. But he said " we will fight to the end, to the last man, the last woman ... with God's help." Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland, reporting from Benghazi, said that Gaddafi's claim that al-Qaeda is behind the unrest will have some resonance in the West. Gaddafi also called for the United Nations and NATO to investigate what had happened in Libya, saying that he saw a conspiracy to colonise Libya and seize its oil. " I dare you to find that peaceful protesters were killed. In America, France, and everywhere, if people attacked military stores and tried to steal weapons, they will shoot them," he said. He urged the United Nations and NATO to " set up fact-finding committees" to find out how people were killed.
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Post by pieter on Mar 2, 2011 6:51:39 GMT -7
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Post by pieter on Mar 5, 2011 5:53:17 GMT -7
Gaddafi fights to regain controlForces loyal to embattled Libyan leader launch fresh attack on Az Zawiyah, close to Tripoli, but opposition fights back.Last Modified: 05 Mar 2011 08:09 GMTMuammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, has launched a fresh military offensive to retake some of the towns he lost control over the past 18 days. Opposition to his decades-old rule has quickly swelled into a full-blown rebellion, but Gaddafi stepped up attacks on Friday. By Saturday morning, his forces broke through opposition defences in the city of Az Zawiyah after they began renewed attacks at 6am local time, eyewitnesses told Al Jazeera. The loyalist forces attacked residential areas in the city, firing heavy artillery from all sides, including from the sea. Tanks and armoured vehicles had broken through defences into Martyrs' Square, in the heart of the town, early in the day. By 10am, the people of the town had retaken Martyrs' Square, after hours of intense fighting and a high number of casualties. At least 30 people were killed in fierce clashes in the town the previous day, but the death toll from the assault on Saturday morning was unclear. But Gaddafi's forces had encircled the town and were closing in on the centre again. By midday, they had blocked off all access to the town, the Reuters news agency reported. " Az Zawiyah is encircled by Gaddafi's forces, there are a lot of checkpoints. They are tightening their grip on the centre," a Reuters journalist said, adding government forces were manning checkpoints some 3km from the centre of town. Dr Hamdi estimated more than 150 people had been injured on Saturday morning. " A large number of people are gathered in the centre of the square after they pushed forces out of the city," Dr Hamdi told Al Jazeera. Thousands of people were assembled at the square, he added, preparing to defend it from any further assaults by Gaddafi's forces. " There is news that the [pro-]Gaddafi security forces are gathering at the outside of the city and we are bracing ourselves for another attack," Dr Hamdi said. Others called for foreign intervention to prevent further loss of life. " There is a very tragic situation in the city," Ahmed, a resident of Az Zawiyah, said. " We were expecting the world to intervene but they have let us down." " It's not a matter of oil or gas being taken out of our country, it's human lives," he said, pleading for the United Nations or the Arab League to step in to protect Libyan civilians. " They have no mercy on civilians; the regime is attacking everything indiscriminately," Ahmed said. * Gaddafi's security forces were using ambulances to kidnap wounded people, Human Rights Solidarity, a Geneva-based organisation, told Al Jazeera. " Now with all the artillery, tanks and armored vehicles, the fierce fighting is ongoing and people are massacred in a way that we didn't see in Iraq,” Abdul-Fatah Az-Zawi, another local, told Al Jazeera. DeadlockThe opposition has wrested the entire eastern half of the country from Gaddafi's grip, along with several cities in the west close to the capital Tripoli, which is now symbolic to his defiance. In the past few weeks, the opposition forces were able to fend off several assaults on the territory they control. Members of Gaddafi's government, diplomats, soldiers and even some of his closest allies have renounced their allegiance, and foreign leaders are becoming increasingly vocal in their calls for the besieged leader to step down. Anti-Gaddafi protests had been planned on Friday afternoon in the capital, but Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reported that security personnel were out in force in sensitive parts of the city, and quickly surrounded people who appeared likely to demonstrate. " Tripoli itself is a city almost completely locked down, electronic communications cut off for the previous 24 hours, shops shut, particularly nobody on the street," she said. Meanwhile, rebels claimed control of the strategic town of Ras Lanuf, after exchanging heavy shelling and machine gun fire with pro-Gaddafi forces on Friday. There was no sign of soldiers loyal to Gaddafi in the town on Saturday, although the Gaddafi government's denials that the opposition controlled Ras Lanuf. Rebel fighters opened fire on a helicopter flying overhead on Saturday, according to the Reuters news agency. At least eight people were killed and more than 20 wounded during the fighting on Friday, a doctor said. It was unclear what the rebels would do following the battle in Ras Lanuf. The next major town along the coastal road to the west is Sirte, Gaddafi's home town. The fighting underlined how both sides are pushing against the deadlock. Both sides are struggling to take new territory, Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland reported. Al Jazeera’s reporter Jacky Rowland" The situation in the east of the country is really a stalemate, with anti-Gaddafi forces either unable or unwilling to advance further to the west and to try to take the fight closer to Gaddafi's strongholds like Sirte and Tripoli," she said. " If you look at the rebel forces, they're a rather undisciplined, orderly bunch," she said. For many of the anti-Gaddafi fighters, this is their first military experience. Tarik Yousef, dean of the Dubai School of government, told Al Jazeera that foreign powers are likely to be trying to assess the new dynamics that have emerged in the wake of the transformative changes that have rocked the country in recent weeks. " Effectively, Libya is now a failed state, with two divided geographies," he explained. Diplomatic battlesNot to be outdone on the diplomatic front, Gaddafi's government on Friday asked that Ali Abdussalam Treki, a senior Libyan diplomat, be accepted as the country's new envoy to the UN after the entire Libyan delegation in New York backed the pro-democracy protesters. Ali Abdussalam TrekiUN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-Moon (left) and Mr. Ali Treki (right) Gaddafi's government made its first official reaction to sanctions announced by the UN, in a letter by Mussa Kussa, his foreign minister. Lybian foreign minister Mussa Kussa The letter called for the travel ban and assets freeze ordered against Gaddafi and his close aides " to be suspended until such time as the truth is established". Kussa demanded that the Security Council " stand up to the states that are threatening force against it." The foreign minister added that military action against Libya would be " inconsistent" with the UN charter and international law and " compromise a threat to peace and security in the region and indeed the whole world." Western powers say they are studying a no-fly zone against Libya to prevent attacks on civilians. Yet diplomats say that no official request for such action has been made to the UN Security Council. Al Jazeera* Reaction Pieter: How long does it has to take to establish a no-fly zone against Libya, to stop the murder of Libyan civilians by their own opressors? And to prevent the regime to to kidnap wounded people and kill and torture unarmed civilians? Will we get another Libanon (1978-1989) or Rwanda soon? I dont understand the abstention of the West and the world? Only words and resolutions don't solve anything. Boycots and sanctions won't get emediate results, because the regime has arms and supllies to survive for a while.
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Post by pieter on Mar 5, 2011 6:20:25 GMT -7
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Post by pieter on Mar 5, 2011 6:27:56 GMT -7
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Post by pieter on Mar 5, 2011 6:34:31 GMT -7
Libya can still count on a few alliesBy Thair Shaikh, CNN March 4, 2011 -- Updated 2127 GMT (0527 HKT) Old friends: Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez (left) meets Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in a tent in Tripoli, 2004.(CNN) -- Despite facing intense pressure from parts of the international community to relinquish power, the Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi can still count on the continued support of some prominent world leaders, say analysts. Much of Gadhafi's overseas backing is based on a shared anti-colonial narrative and the instincts of some regimes to undermine the norms of the international community, experts believe. So while many countries have criticized Gadhafi in the aftermath of protests that have left more than 1,000 people dead and many more injured, according to the U.N., some of his allies, including Venezuela and Zimbabwe, refuse to publicly criticize Libya. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and his friend, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe." There is a natural alignment between all regimes which are into power maximization, that is, regimes trying to accumulate as much power as they can for themselves," says Barak Seener, a Middle East research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank. " Venezuela, for example, also has close links with Iran," added Seener. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has called for an international good will commission to mediate in Libya; in contrast the U.N. Security Council over the weekend voted for tough restrictions and possible war crimes charges against the Libyan regime. On Monday, Chavez said Gadhafi, " has been my friend and our friend for a long time," in remarks broadcast on Venezuelan state television. And in comments made on Thursday, Chavez described alleged preparations to invade Libya as "a madness, and in front of that madness, as always, the Yankee empire that tries to dominate the world, at the cost of fire and blood." The former Cuban President Fidel Castro on Thursday also condemned what he described as the inevitable U.S.-backed invasion of Libya by NATO to get its hands on that country's oil. Seener said that countries with a record of " domestic abuse," such as limiting freedom of speech and having no independent judiciary, have no sense of accountability to their people in the same way that elected powers do and that lack of perceived accountability tends to spill over into their foreign polices. Another close allay of Gadhafi is Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. Libya has pumped millions of dollars into Zimbabwe, which already has few international friends, says Jane Kinninmont, senior research fellow at the think tank Chatham House. " There is not a great incentive (among the international community) to back Gadhafi as not many would bet on him retaining power... but while some countries have done a diplomatic turnaround, Mugabe is unlikely to do so," Kinninmont says. She adds that, for example, during the bloody ethnic conflict in the Sudanese region of Darfur, Sudan faced international condemnation but " did still have its friends in the international world." There is also a second group of nations -- including China, Russia and Turkey -- which while unlikely to openly back Gadhafi, would not support an invasion and they would also be against a no-fly zone, said Seener. " It is not simply a case of being anti-Western. Turkey for example is increasing diplomatic and economic links with Iran and as it does so it is entering the Iranian sphere of influence. They will not condemn what Gadhafi is doing in Libya," says Seener. Despite the continued backing of Gadhafi by his allies, some analysts predict a sorry end for the leader. Scott Horton, an international lawyer said: " Deposed dictators now are subject to lawsuits, both civil suits by the governments that succeeded them and human rights suits, and they wind up being prosecuted and successfully sued." However, Barak Barfi of the New America Foundation said: " I think there is a very good possibility he'll fight to the death knowing he has very few options."
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Post by pieter on Mar 5, 2011 6:45:27 GMT -7
Libyan rebels successfully repel Gadhafi forces in ZawiyahLibyan leader Muammar Gadhafi sent tanks and soldiers into the western city of Zawiyah on Saturday morning in an attempt to regain control of the city after a day of bloody fighting which left at least 30 people dead. By Reuters Tags: Israel news Muammar Gadhafi Libyan rebels have repelled an attack by Muammar Gadhafi's forces on the western town of Zawiyah, a rebel spokesman told Reuters on Saturday. The Libyan leader sent tanks and soldiers into Zawiyah on Saturday morning in an attempt to regain control of the city after a day of bloody fighting which left at least 30 people dead. Libyan rebel on his way to fight pro-Gadhafi forces March 4, 2011.Photo by: AP The rebellion in Zawiyah -- the closest rebel-held territory to the capital Tripoli and the site of another oil refinery -- has been an embarrassment to the authorities who are trying to show they control at least the west of the country. " They entered Zawiyah at six in the morning with heavy forces, hundreds of soldiers with tanks. Our people fought back ... We have won for now and civilians are gathering in the square," said Youssef Shagan, the rebel force spokesman in Zawiyah. " We captured 3 APCs, two tanks and one pick-up after an hour and a half of fighting. A lot of civilians fled when the fighting started," he said, adding that there were government snipers in the town. Earlier reports said Gadhafi's forces had reasserted broad control of the Mediterranean coastal town, 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital Tripoli but had run into rebel resistance in a central square. A rebel fighter in central Zawiyah told Reuters by phone that Gadhafi's forces were re-grouping at the entrance of the town after being pushed back on Saturday morning. " Gadhafi will never enter this city. He will never set foot here. The only way for him to enter the city is when we are all dead. He has to kill us all to control the city," said the rebel, who gave his name as Ibrahim. He said there were casualties on both sides but could not give a precise number.
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Post by pieter on Mar 5, 2011 6:58:39 GMT -7
Revolutionaries capture Libyan oil port from Gaddafi forcesSaturday, 05 March 2011 Libyan revolutionaries have captured the oil port town of Ras Lanouf from pro-Muammar Gaddafi forces, their first military victory in what could be a long, westward march from the opposition-held east of the country to the capital Tripoli. Witnesses said on Saturday that Ras Lanouf, 140 kilometers (about 87 miles) east of the Gadhafi stronghold of Sirte, fell to the hands of revolutionaries on Friday night after a fierce battle with pro-regime forces who later fled. An Associated Press reporter who arrived in Ras Lanouf late Saturday morning saw Libya's red, black and green pre-Gadhafi monarchy flag adopted by the revolutionaries hoisted over the town's oil facilities. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals. But in Tripoli the deputy foreign minister in Gaddafi's government, Khaled Kaaim, said on Friday that " the government controls it: in Ras Lanouf, everything is calm." Deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaaim (left)Earlier a government source admitted that Brega, between Ras Lanouf and the opposition's headquarters of Benghazi, was in the revolutionaries' hands, only to be swiftly contradicted by a colleague, who said fighting there was still ongoing. Ras Lanouf is 200 kilometers (120 miles) east of Sirte, the Libyan strongman's hometown. Loud explosions and machine-gun fire could be heard in the desert 10 kilometers east of Ras Lanouf, as truckloads of armed insurgents headed in that direction accompanied by ambulances. " They are firing Grad rockets. I saw four people killed in front of me. A rocket hit them," said a revolutionary, who gave his name as Marai. ZawiyaIn the western town of Zawiya revolutionaries have repelled an attack by Gaddafi's forces, an opposition spokesman told Reuters on Saturday. " They entered Zawiyah at six in the morning with heavy forces, hundreds of soldiers with tanks. Our people fought back ... We have won for now and civilians are gathering in the square," said Youssef Shagan, the revolutionary force spokesman in Zawiyah. " We captured 3 APCs, two tanks and one pick-up after an hour and a half of fighting. A lot of civilians fled when the fighting started," he said, adding that there were government snipers in the town. Earlier reports said Gaddafi's forces had reasserted broad control of the Mediterranean coastal town, 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital Tripoli but had run into rebel resistance in a central square. A opposition fighter in central Zawiyah told Reuters by phone that Gaddafi's forces were re-grouping at the entrance of the town after being pushed back on Saturday morning. " Gaddafi will never enter this city. He will never set foot here. The only way for him to enter the city is when we are all dead. He has to kill us all to control the city," said the revolutionary, who gave his name as Ibrahim. He said there were casualties on both sides but could not give a precise number. Explosion in al-Rajma In another incident, at least 19 people were killed and dozens wounded when twin blasts ripped through a weapons depot at the al-Rajma military base, southeast of Benghazi, doctors said. The cause of the explosions was not immediately clear, but most residents ruled out an air strike by Gaddafi loyalists. Resident Abdallah Bubakr told AFP rebels turned up at the base demanding weapons to take to the front at Ras Lanuf. " Two cars rode up with people at the place and said they wanted weapons to take to Raslanuf. They entered the store and just after they left Rajma, there was the first explosion, followed five minutes later by another," he said. Tripoli sees protestsSome 400 protesters marched out of the Murad Agha mosque after noon prayers in the eastern Tripoli district of Tajoura, chanting, " The people want to bring the regime down!" and waved the red, black and green flag of Libya's pre-Gaddafi monarchy, which has become the banner of the uprising. Pro-Gaddafi forces quickly moved in. They fired volleys of tear gas and - when the marchers continued - opened fire with live ammunition, according to witnesses. It was not clear if they fired at the crowd or into the air, but the protesters scattered, many of them taking refuge back in the mosque, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene. A doctor said several people were wounded and taken to a hospital. " All these people are threatened with death," said a 35-year-old among the Tajoura protesters Friday. " We have no education, no economy, no infrastructure. ... We want nothing but the end of the regime. We were born free but he is suppressing us." He said he had recently had kidney surgery, but " look at me, still I went out with the people because we are oppressed people." " I am not afraid," said another man in the march. " We want to show the world that we are not afraid." Thousands of Gaddafi supporters later packed into the capital's central Green Square, waving green flags and pictures of the Libyan leader in a counterdemonstration complete with fireworks. Armed men dressed in blue formed a security cordon around mosques in Tripoli while helicopters buzzed overhead. Before prayers, some 1,500 worshippers inside the Murad Agha mosque debated what to do. At one point, they decided to hold a sit-in inside the mosque to avoid coming under gunfire by stepping outside. In the mosque's courtyard, they burned a copy of the Green Book, Gadhafi's political manifesto, as well as the green flag of Gadhafi's Libya. At the same time, young men from the neighborhood transformed a nearby square, tearing down posters of the Libyan leader and replacing them with the flags. They spray-painted walls with graffiti reading, " Down with Gadhafi" and " Tajoura will dig your grave." In the end, the 400 worshippers in the mosque decided to march. Internet services, which have been spotty throughout Libya's upheaval, appeared to be halted completely in Tripoli on Friday before the protests. Renesys Corp., a Manchester, New Hampshire, company that maps the pathways of the Internet, said it wasn't able to reach any of the websites it tried to access inside Libya. Google's transparency report, which shows traffic to the company's sites from various countries, also showed that Internet traffic in Libya had fallen to zero. Libyan authorities briefly barred many foreign journalists from leaving their Tripoli hotel, claiming it was for their protection because they had information " al-Qaeda elements" planned to open fire on police to spark clashes. They later allowed them to go out.
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Post by pieter on Mar 15, 2011 12:35:39 GMT -7
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Post by pieter on Mar 15, 2011 12:56:51 GMT -7
Pro-Gadhafi fighters raise their fists as they are pictured during a government-organized visit for foreign media near Ras Lanouf, 380 miles southeast of Tripoli, Libya.March 11: In this photo taken during a government organized visit for foreign media, pro-Qaddafi soldiers sit by their tank next to a destroyed building in the main square of Zawiya.Libyan students shout slogans during a pro-Gadhafi rally organized in the parking lot of the Rixos hotel where the foreign press is staying in Tripoli, Libya, Monday March 14, 2011. Teachers had brought the students from neighborhood schools to protest. The signs read "God, Moammar and Libya" (Jerome Delay / AP)
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Post by pieter on Mar 15, 2011 13:04:23 GMT -7
Libyan rebels
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Post by pieter on Mar 15, 2011 13:10:15 GMT -7
Gaddafi troops take back cities as world powers talkTuesday, 15 March 2011
TRIPOLI (Agencies)Western allies planning for a possible no-fly zone over Libya may find their deliberations overtaken by events, as Muammar Gaddafi's forces close in on the opposition's stronghold of Benghazi with tanks, infantry and air support. France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Tuesday that the Group of Eight powers have failed to agree on military intervention in Libya, after the countries discussed proposals for a no-fly zone there. "For the moment I have not convinced them," Juppe said on Europe 1 radio, referring to his talks with fellow G8 foreign ministers at a dinner on Monday night. Juppe recognized that Gaddafi had the upper hand in his battle against Libya's rebels, whom he has driven out of several towns this week with shelling and airstrikes. "Gaddafi is scoring points," Juppe said, adding that there was nothing to stop Gaddafi seizing the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi. "Currently we do not have the military means because the international community has not decided to provide them," he said. The G8 powers agreed instead to turn to the U.N. Security Council for a resolution to "raise the pressure against the Gaddafi regime," Juppe said, citing a possible sea embargo. Forces loyal to Gaddafi launched attacks Monday on a key town which rebels have vowed to defend as the U.N. Security Council wrangled over Arab calls for a Libya no-fly zone, with Russia insisting "fundamental questions" remain. Keeping up the pressure, U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday issued a new warning to Gaddafi, who he said had "lost his legitimacy and ... needs to leave." European and Arab envoys emphasized the need for urgent U.N. action as Gaddafi's forces advance. But because of the split between world powers, the Security Council would need several days to agree measures, diplomats said. In Tripoli, the UN's new envoy to Libya, Abdul Ilah Khatib, held talks with Foreign Minister Mussa Kussa to demand an end to the violence and access for humanitarian relief efforts, the world body said. Regaining control of cities Revolutionaries in Ajdabiya said four shells had crashed west of the town while a former officer who defected from Gaddafi's air force said there had been air strikes. Former colonel Jamal Mansur also said rebels had regained a foothold in Brega, 80 kilometers (50 miles) to the west, which the Libyan army said it captured on Sunday. Ajdabiya guards vital roads north along the coast to the capital of Benghazi and east across the desert to the oil port of Tobruk, which has given the protesters control of eastern Libya up to the Egyptian border. The lightly-armed revolutionaries have been pushed back some 200 kilometers by superior forces in the past week and are now only 170 kilometers from Benghazi, Libya's second city with a population of around one million. On the western front, Gaddafi's forces entered the town of Zuwarah after clashes with rebels in which at least one person was killed, a witness and pro-Gaddafi source said. Libyan army spokesman Colonel Milad Hussein said in Tripoli that government forces were "marching to cleanse the country" of insurgents, whom he called "rats and terrorists." But state television in Tripoli said former Libyan soldiers like Mansur who defected to the protesters would be pardoned if they surrender to government forces. Mansur admitted the protesters were seriously ill-equipped and warned they could turn to urban guerrilla warfare. "We are asking the West to carry out targeted strikes on military installations" as proposed by France. Weighing no-fly zone A no-fly zone may not make a decisive military difference, but could make a difference. The sooner it is done, the better British PM David Cameron Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Feb. 28 that the U.S. and NATO allies were considering a no-fly zone. Since then, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the United Nations Security Council have failed to decide on taking any kind of military action. And the Arab League didn't give its support until March 12, by which time the protesters were losing ground. Gaddafi has taken advantage of that indecision, launching an offensive that has pushed the revolutionaries back from town after town. British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have been the most forceful advocates for a no-fly zone as a way to limit Gaddafi's forces and protect civilians. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been wary of the commitment, as has the Obama administration. "A no-fly zone may not make a decisive military difference, but could make a difference," Cameron said in London on Monday. "The sooner it is done, the better, because the effect it will have will be so much the greater." A senior Libyan opposition figure, Mahmoud Jibril, met with Clinton in Paris on Monday and extended rebel requests beyond a no-fly zone to include air strikes to disable three Gaddafi- controlled airfields, supplies of combat material, and other measures, according to a U.S. official who briefed reporters on the condition his name not be used. The U.S. official said afterward that the administration is trying to determine what actions Arab nations may take to support the protesters. "While the Arab League has called for a no-fly zone to be imposed over Libya, a move seen as crucial to winning U.N. endorsement, Arab countries have made it clear that they don't intend to take part and may not contribute significantly to paying its costs. It would be carried out by the international community and by those countries who are able to impose it, like the NATO countries, for instance," the Arab League's ambassador to the U.S., Hussein Hassouna, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television March 8.
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