Rival Libyan militias clash near military base

[Bosonic]

Source: AP

TRIPOLI, Libya — Rival militias clashed on the outskirts of Tripoli for a fourth day Sunday, the most sustained violence since the capture and killing of Moammar Gadhafi last month.

The fighting, which has left at least four people dead since late last week, raised new concerns about the ability of Libya's transitional government to disarm thousands of fighters and restore order after a bloody eight-month civil war.

Libya's interim leader, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, said his National Transitional Council brought together elders from the rival areas — the coastal city of Zawiya and the nearby town of Warshefana — over the weekend and that the dispute has been resolved. "I want to assure the Libyan people that everything is under control," he said Sunday. However, as he spoke, fighting continued.

On Sunday afternoon, journalists heard gunfire and explosions of rocket-propelled grenades on the outskirts of a major military camp of the ousted regime. The camp, once a base of elite forces commanded by one of Gadhafi's sons, Khamis, is located on a highway midway between the capital of Tripoli and Zawiya, 30 miles (50 kilometers) to the west.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45276737#.Tr_XY1bG3q4

[Harmony Blue]

1. How come no media attention on this?

The civil war is ongoing it appears.

[bongbong]

2. Right on schedule

It's almost time for Operation Independent Libya II (O.I.L II). The various oil companies will bypass the middleman this time, and just have some executives from them appointed as "The New Parliament".

[Po_d Mainiac]

3. Absolutely no one could have seen this coming..n/t

[walerosco]

4. Nation

dont you guys know that brown people love war, they are used to war, death and destruction and remember its better to fight them over there so we dont have to fight them over here. I wonder if the average Libyan is better off now than before Gaddafi fell or if he believes he will be better off 10 yrs from now without Gaddafi or if Gaddafi regime change and the war never started

Civil war is no joke and those people who wanted NATO will suffer the consequences of a civil war

[Poll_Blind]

5. It benefits the MIC greatly to "Africanize" Libya. Which is to say, to plunge it...

...into a never-ending civil war in which we can sell both sides weapons in exchange for natural resources like, oh, say, petroleum or economic "deals" involving same.

Take the blinders off for a moment and realize that America is the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_industry#World.27s_largest_arms_exporters">largest arms dealer in the world. So much of our country is centered around war and violence, from the videogames our children play and the movies they watch to our staggering sales of weaponry.

And frankly, while the practice guts so much about America and the rest of our planet that is worthwhile, the practice is also extremely lucrative and likely to continue to be a huge part of America- whether we turn away from the realities or not.

PB

[ellisonz]

6. Key factor:

The reason for the initial clash remains unclear, though accusations have been flying, including that some of the Warshefana had links to the old regime. At one point last week, fighters from Zawiya entered Warshefana and seized weapons. In retaliation, Warshefana fighters set up random checkpoints and fired at the main highway.

Good thing Gaddafi bought enough weapons to arm half of North Africa...

[jakeXT]

7. Is there a map of who hates whom? (Misurata Hates Benghazi, And They Both Hate Tripoli)

Misurata Hates Benghazi, And They Both Hate Tripoli
http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_display.cfm/blog_id/38106

[PurityOfEssence]

8. All deaths are the responsibility of the interventionists

There wasn't much of a revolt, and it was about to be crushed--probably with VERY little loss of life--when the western powers intervened. Those who tug on heartstrings to justify this violation of sovereignty in a very complex society are responsible for EVERY DEATH SINCE MARCH 19TH.

It's their guilt. It's their responsibility. The forthcoming keenings of "oh, how could anyone expect this..." are pathetic self-serving excuses.

At the time of the UN intervention, somewhere around 100 deaths had occurred, and virtually none of the protests where they happened were non-violent.

Now we're faced with the second act of a revolution, which history shows to be rather messy, and if it comes to a boil, it will do so in the middle of an election where the opposition can use it as an issue.

Once again, though, I proclaim that I don't know what's about to happen, unlike the chirping champions of certainty.

[TheWraith]

9. Right, Ghaddafi was just joking when he told his troops to kill the city of 300,000 people.

Because he was just such a wonderful guy, benevolent tyrant and all that. :eyes:

Your narrative is completely wrong and contrary to reality.

[Prometheus Bound]

10. He did not "tell his troops to kill the city of 300,000 people."

I'm not sure why you would want to promote that propaganda here. Everyone knows what it is.

[TheWraith]

11. They published the written orders.

Granted he was a little more florid, what with ordering them to stain the water with the blood of the city's inhabitants.

[Prometheus Bound]

12. In a radio address, he told Benghazi residents that...people who had no arms had no reason to fear.

Gadhafi tells rebel-stronghold Benghazi: Libya army is coming tonight
Published 21:58 17.03.11
Latest update 21:58 17.03.11

Muammar Gadhafi told Libyan rebels on Thursday his armed forces were coming to their capital Benghazi tonight and would not show any mercy to fighters who resisted them.

In a radio address, he told Benghazi residents that soldiers would search every house in the city and people who had no arms had no reason to fear.

"It's over ... We are coming tonight," he said. "You will come out from inside. Prepare yourselves from tonight. We will find you in your closets."

The speech was broadcast on radio and television shortly after a defense ministry statement warned that any foreign military action would trigger counter-attacks and endanger all air and sea traffic in the Mediterranean region.

...In the speech, the Libyan leader denounced the rebels and said: "We will show no mercy and no pity to them".

He also told his troops not to pursue any rebels who drop their guns and flee when government forces reach the city.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/gadhafi-tells-rebel-stronghold-benghazi-libya-army-is-coming-tonight-1.349868