Libyan Revolution Week 30 part 2

[joshcryer]

[joshcryer]

1. Libyan Revolution Day 207 updates below, current time in Libya, 2:22pm Monday, September 12

[pinboy3niner]

2. Dupe :)

[joshcryer]

4. Wrong spot?

:D

Yeah, that's an old one... ;)

Sorry for being late again, I wasn't even able to update the main post, but...

therentistoodamnhigh.jpg (don't have the link handy :P)

[pinboy3niner]

5. You're just too fast for me this morning, Josh :) But...

[joshcryer]

3. Gaddafi forces attack refinery, kill 15 - witnesses

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KC1C420110912">Gaddafi forces attack refinery, kill 15 - witnesses
RAS LANUF, Libya, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi attacked the front gate of an oil refinery near the Libyan coastal town of Ras Lanuf on Monday, killing 15 guards and injuring two, witnesses said.

"About 14 to 15 trucks came in from the direction of (Gaddafi-held) Sirte towards Ras Lanuf," said refinery worker Ramadan Abdel Qader, who was shot in the foot during the assault.

"We heard firing and shelling at around 9 in the morning from Gaddafi loyalists," he told Reuters.

Qader said he and his colleagues had been sleeping when the pro-Gaddafi forces attacked the refinery.

...

A Reuters reporter saw the dead bodies of 15 men with gunshot wounds at a Ras Lanuf hospital where the injured were being treated. Blood covered the floor.

...

[pinboy3niner]

6. AP UPDATE: At least 15 attackers killed, as many as 40 vehicles in convoy

By RYAN LUCAS - Associated Press | AP – 8 mins ago


TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Suspected Moammar Gadhafi's loyalists staged twin attacks on a key oil refinery Monday in possibly coordinated strikes that suggest revolutionary forces still face resistance in areas under their control. At least 15 attackers were killed, an anti-Gadhafi commander said.


The back-to-back assaults in the coastal oil facility at Ras Lanuf — saboteurs setting fires and then a convoy of gunmen riding in from the desert — was a reminder that opposition forces have potential security challenges across Libya despite pushing out Gadhafi's regime from all but a few strongholds.


Col. Hamid al-Hasi, the commander for anti-Gadhafi force in eastern Libya, said a group of 15 employees set fire to the facility, located about 380 miles (615 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli. He said five of the saboteurs were killed and the rest arrested.


In a separate attack, the port was targeted by a convoy of armed men apparently based in a refugee camp about 18 miles (30 kilometers) south of Ras Lanuf. One revolutionary commander, Fadl-Allah Haroun, said a total of 15 people were killed in both attacks.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libya-commander-says-15-killed-oil-port-attacks-114320161.html

[tabatha]

24. from aje

The raid on Ras Lanuf came from Jufren airbase
So the oasis is next on the list
As it was already

[pinboy3niner]

7. Exclusive: Scenes of clashes in Bani Walid

Correspodent Sue Turton reports from the outskirts of Bani Walid where Al Jazeera has exclusively obtained footage of revolutionary fighters battling to take over key holdout towns from pro-Gaddafi forces (1:25):

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-sep-12-2011-1431

[pinboy3niner]

8. Libyan rebels are closing in on two of Gaddafi's final strongholds

Libyan rebels are closing in on two of Gaddafi's final strongholds after apparently breaking fierce resistance with Nato support. Fighters claimed to have broken a stalemate in the desert town of Bani Walid after it was "softened up" by Nato air strikes.

Sabhil Warfalli, one of the rebels, told Reuters: "We are inside Bani Walid, we control big chunks of the city. There are still pockets of resistance."

Rebels have also launched a surprise offensive towards Gaddafi's birthplace, Sirte. Jeep-mounted infantry crashed through front lines as they advanced 18 miles towards the former leader's biggest remaining bastion.

Several villages were overrun north and south of the coastal highway by brigades totalling 1,000 men, but the central thrust along the highway itself was stopped by artillery fire 80 miles west of the city.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/sep/12/libya-egypt-middle-east-unrest#block-1

[tabatha]

9. Libya faces many problems getting oil online

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email [e-mail] to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0ef5e1ee-dd07-11e0-b4f2-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1Xk50OrxJ

■ Looting and logistics. The main problem is not war damage, but looting. Gaddafi loyalists took possession of some of the country’s largest oil fields and terminals, and when they left they took all they could with them. Cars, trucks, power generators, pumps and other equipment are all missing. Local gangs followed, taking whatever was left. Computers, air conditioning sets and anything with copper inside – start engines, for example – have disappeared. Companies – particularly oil services firms – will need to import the kit again. The gangs also took more mundane equipment: beds are missing in residential complexes. And the canteens have been savaged. All the looting has created a second big problem: logistics. As the country’s new oil officials say, local workers are willing to make some sacrifices and live for a while in precarious tent camps in the desert to get the oil fields up again. But foreign workers are unlikely to return until the facilities are properly equipped.

[tabatha]

10. So far, so pretty good

Amid trepidation, the new regime is making a remarkably hopeful start

IN THE evening cool at a fairground on the Tripoli waterfront, giggling children chant as they spin on a merry-go-round. But theirs is no childish rhyme. Their joyful cry is the revolutionary mantra that has been echoing across the Arab world: “The people demand the fall of the regime!”

A fortnight after its mercifully quick delivery from six months of harsh lock-down under the dying regime of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, the Libyan capital is slowly coming back to life, if not yet to full normality. Most Libyans see the 42 years of the colonel’s rule as an ordeal to be erased from memory. They are now entering something completely new, and facing it with the mixed trepidation and wonder of someone waking from a nightmare. It is hard to move through Tripoli without being stopped and regaled with stories of the horrors of the colonel’s rule.
...

NATO aircraft are continuing their patrols but are less needed, since the rebels now far outgun Colonel Qaddafi’s forces. Western aircraft have refrained from targeting fleeing loyalists. This would fall outside their UN mandate to protect civilians, which in any case ends on September 27th. Libyans largely praise NATO pilots for their accuracy, dismissing tales of civilian casualties as propaganda. Yet government officials say they do not want Libya now to be overrun by foreign do-gooders. They want to rebuild the country by themselves.


http://www.economist.com/node/21528654

[pinboy3niner]

11. Free Libya fighters meet 'ferolcious' resistance in assault on Bani Walid

From The Guardian's Live Blog:

Forces of Libya's new rulers have met "ferocious" resistance during an assault Bani Walid, Reuters reports.

The National Transitional Council's forces, which toppled Muammar Gaddafi last month, said they were facing about 1,000 loyalist fighters in the Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid, far more than the 100 to 150 men they had estimated earlier, while discipline had slipped in their own ranks.

NTC troops said the (other) front line was about 90km east of Sirte. Firing from tanks, howitzers and heavy machine guns could be heard above the roar of Nato war planes overhead.

"Gaddafi forces were firing Grad rockets, but we managed to advance a little bit and we will enter Sirte very soon," fighter Salah al-Shaery said.

Families trapped inside Bani Walid for weeks fled the besieged town on Monday after pro-Gaddafi forces abandoned some checkpoints on the edge of the city. Dozens of cars packed with civilians streamed out of the area. Residents described scenes of intense street-to-street fighting, saying that pro-Gaddafi forces were shelling residential areas to stop NTC fighters from advancing.

...


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/sep/12/libya-egypt-middle-east-unrest#block-3

[tabatha]

12. promising "the prettiest girls" in town as a reward.

Mon, 12 Sep 2011, 08:40 GMT+3 - Libya
A pro-Gaddafi radio station in Bani Walid is urging residents to rise up against the revolutionaries, promising "the prettiest girls" in town as a reward.

[pinboy3niner]

13. Eyewitness: life inside ‘The Hotel’, Libya’s most dreaded jail

11 Sep 2011


HE is a gentle, quietly-spoken man.

A father close to his family, who is fond of writing and poetry. He wrote something himself once, a short, factual account which he titled rather deceptively, The Hotel. The story tells of one morning when Ahmed Albousifi woke up full of the joys of life. It was January 1989 and Ahmed remembers the smell of fresh coffee and the cold winter air full of the fragrance of flowers from his garden.

He listened to jazz music in his car on the way to work at a Libyan airport handling company where he was as an IT manager, but not before taking a deliberate detour along Tripoli’s corniche so he could catch a glimpse of the wide open expanse of the sea.

In all, he says, that morning reminded him of why people “insist on life in spite of all its sorrows and troubles”.

What Ahmed didn’t know then was that for a long time to come he would never set eyes on his family again. He would also never know why, that morning, two armed secret policemen came to his office, insisting they only wanted to talk to him for 10 minutes...

...


http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/eyewitness-life-inside-the-hotel-libya-s-most-dreaded-jail-1.1122967?localLinksEnabled=false

[pinboy3niner]

14. Blast damages Tripoli arms dump-residents

Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:25pm GMT


TRIPOLI, Sept 12 (Reuters) - An explosion damaged an ammunition depot and set off a fire at a military camp on the southern outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli on Monday, residents and officials said.

A spokesman for Libya's new interim authorities, Jalal el-Gallal, told Reuters the blast near the international airport appeared to have occurred when soldiers were transporting ammunition at a weapons depot in the base.

"We know it's not a bomb or sabotage or anything like that," he said.
...

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KC24020110912

[pinboy3niner]

15. NATO airstrikes conducted Sunday, September 11

Key Hits 11 SEPTEMBER:


In the vicinity of Sirte: 1 Military Logistic Facility, 1 Command and Control Node, 1 Radar System, 3 Surface to Air Missile Systems, 7 Armed Vehicles.


In the vicinity of Waddan: 4 Anti-Aircraft Guns.


In the vicinity of Sebha: 1 Command and Control Node.


...


International Humanitarian Assistance Movements as recorded by NATO


Total of Humanitarian Movements**: 1065 (air, ground, maritime)


Ships delivering Humanitarian Assistance 11 SEPTEMBER: 0


Aircrafts delivering Humanitarian Assistance 11 SEPTEMBER: 42


**Some humanitarian movements cover several days.


http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_09/20110912_110912-oup-update.pdf

[pinboy3niner]

16. 32 members of Gadhafi's inner circle have fled to Niger in last 10 days: official

From latestbreakingnews.com:

32 members of Gadhafi's inner circle have fled to Niger in last 10 days: official - @AlArabiya_Eng

1:23PM GMT Sep 12, 2011

[pinboy3niner]

17. China now recognizes NTC--Al Jazeera nt

[pinboy3niner]

18. Muammar Gaddafi to give message on Monday-Syrian TV

Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:59pm GMT

CAIRO, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi will deliver a short message later on Monday, reported the Syrian television channel Arrai, which has previously carried messages from the deposed Libyan leader.
...

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KC29D20110912

The message is to air at either 1300 or 1400 GMT.

[pinboy3niner]

19. Gadhafi message vows to continue fight

AP – 4 mins 13 secs ago


TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Fugitive Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is accusing revolutionary forces of surrendering the country to foreign influence and vows to press ahead with his fight.

The brief message attributed to Gadhafi was read Monday on Syria's Al-Rai TV by its owner Mishan al-Jabouri, a former Iraqi lawmaker.

The statement described the opposition forces as traitors and willing to turn over Libya's oil riches to foreign interests.

...


The last message attributed to Gadhafi was a five-minute audio recording Sept. 8.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/gadhafi-message-vows-continue-fight-142557060.html

[pinboy3niner]

20. Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reports from east of Bani Walid:

We are taking you to the Outskirts of Bani Walid, to a place that Al Jazeera audiences haven't seen before; we are the only media here. Behind me is the south eastern perimeter of Bani Walid.. you can hear the noise of artilleries form inside that city.

For just over three hours, there is a battle going on. Revolutionary fighters from where I am are firing grad rockets and other people defending Bani Walid, are firing back in the name of colonel Gaddadi with artillery and mortar shells..

There was the hope perhaps today that the big push to take us into Bani Walid from the south would have happened by now. But the entire battle seems to be intriguingly dysfunctional at the moment, with not ideal coordination either between fighting groups or between the north and south frontier. So things are proceeding a lot more slowly than any of us were led to expect they would.

There are many innocent citizens who dont want to be part of this final power struggle caught up in all of this. The revolutionary fighters tell is that large parts of the city are with them, they are far too terrified to do anything about the remaining Gaddafi loyalists who are there.

Number sof Gaddafi fighters who are enabled there and armed range between 150 and 600.. Despite all the negotiations going on for weeks, they havent managed to achieev a significant uprising from within and no approach to any front in the city has been welcomed by any of the people there.

There is a lack of coordination between activities here and activities in the northern part of Bani Walid..

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-sep-12-2011-1744

[Iterate]

21. Libyan woman guided NATO bombs to Gaddafi targets

Exclusive: Libyan woman guided NATO bombs to Gaddafi targets
By Christian Lowe

TRIPOLI | Mon Sep 12, 2011 10:01am EDT

(Reuters) - The NATO bombing campaign which fatally weakened Muammar Gaddafi's rule had a secret asset: a 24-year-old Libyan woman who spent months spying on military facilities and passing on the details to the alliance.

The woman, operating under the codename Nomidia, used elaborate methods to evade capture -- constantly changing her location, using multiple mobile telephone SIM cards and hiding her activities from all but the closest members of her family.

Her biggest protection against arrest by Gaddafi's security forces though was her gender: as a young woman in Libya's conservative Muslim society, they did not suspect her.

"I was not on the radar," the woman, an engineer, told Reuters in an interview in the lobby of a Tripoli hotel, two weeks on from a rebellion that broke Gaddafi's control over the Libyan capital after 42 years in power.

more... http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/12/us-libya-woman-spy-idUSTRE78B3C320110912

[Iterate]

22. Uprising in Sirte?

MushuThaLohari MushuThaLohari
Bismillah. RT@ShababLibya Clashes between Revolutionaries and Gaddafi Loyalists inside Sirte #Libya AJA #Sirte 1 hour ago

ShababLibya LibyanYouthMovement
Clashes between Revolutionaries and Gaddafi Loyalists inside Sirte #Libya AJA #Sirte 1 hour ago

sharon_lynch sharon lynch
RT @LibyaFromFrance: #AJA : Clashes between #FreedomFigthers & #Gaddafi forces in #Sirte streets. #Libya 1 hour ago

Dernawiya Hanan
BREAKING: Independence flag raised in number 1, #Sirte, and 4 foreign snipers captured by revolutionaries. #Libya 1 hour ago

Dernawiya Hanan
AJA: Sources say Mutassim #Gaddafi has been sighted in #Sirte. #Libya 1 hour ago

RRowleyTucson Robert Rowley
Sources say Mutassim #Gaddafi has been sighted in #Sirte. #Libya #Feb17 1 hour ago

ETA:
Sirte_Feb17 Sirtawi
Updated map of #Sirte city center (with minor translation) of key areas. #FreeSirte pic.twitter.com/IwNuWcQ 2 minutes ago

Sirte_Feb17 Sirtawi
Commander of #Sirte #FF Battalion, Abdullah Karih, confirms clashes inside #Sirte on Alaan Tv. #FreeSirte #Feb17 37 minutes ago

Sirte_Feb17 Sirtawi
AJA: Sources say Mutassim Gaddafi has been sighted in #Sirte. 1 hour ago

Sirte_Feb17 Sirtawi
News that Al-Saidi Al-Mabrouk, one of the leaders of Gaddafi forces in #Sirte, was killed in clashes today. #SirteCrisis #Feb17 1 hour ago

[Iterate]

23. Darfur rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim flees Libya

Darfur rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim flees Libya
12 September 2011 Last updated at 12:14 GMT

The leader of Darfur's main Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) rebel group, Khalil Ibrahim, has returned from exile in Libya.

Mr Ibrahim fled Libya after Col Muammar Gaddafi's government - which gave him refuge last year - was ousted.

Sudan had accused Mr Ibrahim's forces of fighting for Col Gaddafi in his attempt to hold on to power.

Mr Ibrahim said he had evaded attempts by Sudanese intelligence to capture him in Libya, reports say.

more... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14881745

[tabatha]

25. Fuck you Bashar Al Assad

http://youtu.be/tkhn3_7S2UE

[Iterate]

26. US team assessing Libya embassy includes 4 military (personnel)

US team assessing Libya embassy includes 4 military
Mon Sep 12, 2011 5:23pm GMT

WASHINGTON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Four U.S. military personnel currently in Libya are part of a State Department assessment mission looking at reopening the U.S. Embassy, and their presence signals no shift in the U.S. role in the country, a Pentagon spokesman said on Monday.

Navy Captain John Kirby, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the U.S. military personnel were part of a team led by the State Department's chief of mission for Libya and were looking at whether the U.S. Embassy could still be used.

"As I understand it the embassy ... was pretty well trashed and they're trying to go back in and see if that facility is still usable and if it is what needs to be done to bring it back online. If it's not, then what are the options beyond that," Kirby said.

He said two of the U.S. military personnel were explosive ordnance experts "because one of the concerns was ... whether there was a presence of any kind of munitions at the site or any kind of hazards in that regard."

more... http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFS1E78B13220110912?sp=true

[Iterate]

30. UPDATE 1-U.S. sees Libya embassy reopening within weeks

UPDATE 1-U.S. sees Libya embassy reopening within weeks
Mon Sep 12, 2011 6:36pm GMT

WASHINGTON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - The United States hopes to reopen its embassy in Libya within weeks, the State Department said on Monday after a U.S. assessment team including four military personnel surveyed the damaged Tripoli facility.

The U.S. team, led by the embassy's second-in-command Joan Polaschik, arrived in Tripoli on Saturday to look at ways to get formal embassy operations up and running, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

...

She added that the U.S. personnel were seeking to expand the range of diplomatic functions in preparation for the expected return of U.S. Ambassador Gene Cretz and the formal reopening of the embassy.

"We still have quite a bit of work to do to secure appropriate facilities for our folks. Some of the members of that team are sleeping three and four to a room at the moment as we try to establish a permanent place to be until we can get our facilities back together," she said.

more... http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFS1E78B1ED20110912?sp=true

[tabatha]

27. Libya music scene reborn after years of suppression

BENGHAZI: Patriotic songs composed by Libyan rebels during their revolt against Muammar Qadhafi fill the air every evening in Benghazi’s Tahrir Square. After years of censorship under his ousted regime, a new music scene is taking off.

In the seafront former parking lot which became a key symbol of the seven-month uprising, an eclectic bazaar has sprung up at which vendors sell CDs and tapes honouring the conflict’s “martyrs” and extolling the “free Libya.”

“Salah Ghaly, please,” a girl asks anxiously at one stall, referring to a young Libyan singer famous for his hit songs about Tripoli and Benghazi. “It was important to sing for the two cities,” Ghaly told AFP by telephone from his base in Cairo.

During the conflict, there were fears that antagonism could grow between the capital, which was always pampered by Qadhafi, and the neglected second-largest city Benghazi which served as the rebels’ war-time base.

“Tripoli is capital of free Libya. I will never accept any other,” Ghaly sings, echoing the slogans of Libya’s new rulers. Young Libyans say Ghaly’s songs boosted their confidence. “You cannot imagine what his songs did for our morale,” said Safa Fathi al-Fakhri, 19.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/12/libya-music-scene-reborn-after-years-of-suppression.html

[tabatha]

28. Civilian Volunteers Brace War-Crippled Libya

Adel Ahmed, a strongly built, bearded man in a brown cap and t-shirt, commands a coterie of guards at a security checkpoint along the road between Misrata and Sirte. Armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles, he and his subordinates check documents of passing motorists, much as established authorities might do in any war-torn region.

But Ahmed, like others at the roadblock, had a job until six months ago when he joined the rebels and freed the port city of Misrata after months of fighting in which about 2,000 people were killed. Previously a worker at the ports, he's one of the many former students and professionals who dropped their books or left their careers to support what they call the revolution against Moammar Gadhafi.

...

“Not all the people can go to the rebels," Dukalia says. "So they ... clean, paint, deliver water and deliver milk. We try to help.”

Some of the volunteers have begun to organize and register as civic associations, and Libya's new leadership welcomes the development.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Civilian-Volunteers-Brace-War-Crippled-Libya-129662963.html

[pinboy3niner]

29. U.S. says Niger confirms detention of Gaddafi son

Mon Sep 12, 2011 6:52pm GMT
...

"We have confirmed with the government of Niger that Saadi crossed over (and) that they are either in the process or have already brought him to the capital of Naimey and intend to detain him," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFS1E78B1FX20110912

[pinboy3niner]

31. CORRECTED-U.S. says Niger intends to detain Gaddafi son

Mon Sep 12, 2011 7:24pm GMT

WASHINGTON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - The government of Niger has confirmed to the United States that it has intercepted and intends to detain Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saadi, the U.S. State Department said on Monday.
...

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFS1E78B1FX20110912

[pinboy3niner]

33. Niger says Saadi Gaddafi under surveillance, not detained

Mon Sep 12, 2011 7:38pm GMT

NIAMEY, Sept 12 (Reuters) - ....

"Nothing has changed in the government's position. There is no international search for him. Like the others he is just under surveillance," a government spokesman said, referring to other Gaddadfi loyalists who have recently fled to Niger.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KC31320110912

[Iterate]

32. Internet Spy Room Found In Tripoli

Internet Spy Room Found In Tripoli – Packed With Western Technology
by Peter Murray September 12th, 2011



From protests precipitated by Facebook posts to internet censoring by authoritarian regimes technology has played a prominent role in the world’s recent moments of social unrest. We all know that the governments of Iran and Egypt and Libya eavesdrop when their citizens talk, but to listen in on Yahoo chat or Skype they needed help. Where that help came from might surprise you. Companies in the UK, Germany, France, the US and other countries in the West have sold software to regimes that enable them to spy on their citizens – ironically the same regimes those countries are now trying to topple.

Reporters from the Wall Street Journal recently discovered a technological spy headquarters in Tripoli. They found stacks of paper documenting thousands of conversations between Libyan citizens that had been intercepted by Moammar Gadhafi’s agents. They also saw a sign on the wall that read, “Help keep our classified business secret. Don’t discuss classified information out of the HQ.” The logo on the sign belonged to Amesys, a subsidiary of the French company Bull SA, that develops equipment to monitor communications over the Internet. According to the Wall Street Journal, in 2009 Amesys provided Tripoli with their Eagle system. A kind of “deep packet inspection” technology, the Eagle is a powerful monitoring tool that can eavesdrop on emails, chats, and other online communications. A poster in the room instructed Eagle users: “Whereas many Internet interception systems carry out basic filtering on IP address and extract only those communications from the global flow (Lawful Interception), EAGLE Interception system analyses and stores all the communications from the monitored link (Massive Interception).”

Since the story broke, Amesys responded with a press release to address the “great deal of erroneous and false information” that has appeared in recent media. They confirm that they signed a contract with Libyan authorities in 2007, but only to monitor “a small fraction of the Internet lines…(a few thousand). This did not include either Internet communications via satellite (as used in Internet cafes), encrypted data such as Skype-type communications, or filtering of Web sites.”

Maybe Gadhafi’s cronies simply liked the French company’s logo.

more... http://singularityhub.com/2011/09/12/internet-spy-room-found-in-tripoli-%E2%80%93-packed-with-western-technology/

[pinboy3niner]

34. Fighting continues at Bani Walid as civilians flee

By BEN HUBBARD - Associated Press,HADEEL AL-SHALCHI - Associated Press | AP – 49 mins ago

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) —

...


Khairiyah al-Mahdi, a 40-year-old housewife, was fleeing the town along with her husband, six daughters and two sons.

She said her house was among the first to fly the revolution's tricolor flag when Libyan fighters pushed into Bani Walid over the weekend. But deteriorating living conditions, threats from Gadhafi supporters and heavy clashes in the town prompted her family to flee.

"We left Bani Walid because Gadhafi loyalists in control of the local radio announced through airwaves that anyone helping the rebels or part of them will be killed," she said. "A lot of people are scared and now leaving."

The main battle front in Bani Walid is now a bridge that links the town with the port city of Misrata to the northwest. Gadhafi loyalists have covered the pavement with oil slicks and fuel spills to hinder vehicles trying to cross into the city center.

A rebel commander, Abu Ouejeila al-Hbeishi, said Gadhafi snipers have taken up positions on roof tops, including on a hotel, an ancient castle and an administrative building in the town center. Loyalist forces also fired Grad rockets and mortars at revolutionary fighters on the northern edge of Bani Walid, where al-Hawaishi said some 2,000 former rebels have gathered.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/gadhafi-urges-defiance-oil-hub-attacked-194322723.html

[Iterate]

35. AJA correspondent: fight in Sirte streets between rebel and pro-Gaddafi.

omar_989 omar
AJA correspondent: fight in #Sirte streets between rebel and pro-Gaddafi. #Libya 9 minutes ago

Tripolitanian Libyan
#AJA: Gun battles taking place between Libyan forces and #Gaddafi militia in #Sirte. #Libya 11 minutes ago

Thanku4theAnger THANKU4THEANGER
Sirte: Heavy clashes with unconfirmed news residential area 2 & 3 freed & these areas' FFs supporting FFs in area 1 #Feb17 #libya 1 hour ago

GADDAFI LOYALISTS KILL 4 PEOPLE IN SIRTE, TNC REPORTS
22:33 12 SET 2011
(AGI) Misrata - The Libyan revolt has reached Sirte, Muammar Gaddafi's hometown. The loyalist troops killed at least "four martyrs of two families", who sparked a revolt. The TNC commander of Misrata reports so.
http://www.agi.it/english-version/world/elenco-notizie/201109122233-cro-ren1109-gaddafi_loyalists_kill_4_people_in_sirte_tnc_reports

Still very fragmented info, and comes with a caution. It's like Hawking radiation.

egad2345 elmer gadfree
Caution: As gaddafi followers shrink to small numbers, they will be the most demented & deranged. #libya #nato #icc #sirte 1 minute ago

OK, the last tweet was OT and gratuitous.

[pinboy3niner]

36. Summary of today's developments in Libya

From The Guardian's Live Blog:

• In a new message, Muammar Gaddafi purportedly accused the rebels of surrendering Libya to foreign influence and vowed to press ahead with his fight against them (see 3.59pm). "We will not be ruled after were the masters. We will not hand Libya to colonialism, once again, as the traitors want ... There is nothing more to do except fight until victory," Gaddafi reportedly said. But the message was not broadcast as an audio recording, as others have been since the rebels took Tripoli. Instead the owner of Al-Rai TV, Mishan al-Jabouri, read it out. It was meant to be a televised appearance, but this was cancelled for security reasons, the channel said. "It was meant to show the leader among his fighters and people, leading the struggle from Libyan lands, and not from Venezuela or Niger or anywhere else," Jabouri said. Gaddafi's whereabouts are still unknown.


• The US department of defence has acknowledged that it has troops on the ground in Libya – four troops, to be exact. Four military personnel entered Libya over the weekend as members of a state department team in Tripoli assessing how to reopen the US embassy. US troops have been on the ground in the Libyan conflict before, when marines rescued an air force pilot who had ejected over eastern Libya. Meanwhile, Nato said it would continue its military operations while a threat to civilians persists (see 2.29pm).


• The rebels seized a town 150 miles south of Sirte, cutting the last road out of the city (see 4.31pm), which is one of the last pro-Gaddafi hold-outs. At least 15 people were killed in an attack by Libyan forces loyal to Gaddafi on the oil refinery in Ras Lanuf. There have been differing reports of the identity of those killed. Reuters quoted a refinery worker saying that 14 or 15 trucks had come from the direction of the Gaddafi-held coastal city of Sirte and reported that the attackers killed 17 guards. But AP said 15 were killed, and they were attackers. Quoting the commander for anti-Gaddafi forces in eastern Libya, AP reported that 15 employees loyal to Gaddafi attempted to set fire to the facility and then a convoy of gunmen rode in from the desert. There were also conflicting reports about what was happening in Bani Walid, another of the last few pro-Gaddafi towns.


• One of Gaddafi's sons, Saadi Gaddafi, has crossed into neighbouring Niger and is on his way to the capital, Niamey. He is the most high-profile former regime member to flee to the landlocked African country. Saadi, 37, entered the country in a convoy with nine other people, Niger's justice minister Amadou Morou said. Adamou said Saadi "has no status at all" in Niger, indicating that he has not been granted refugee status, which guarantees certain rights. Al-Arabiya reported that 32 members of Gaddafi's "inner circle" had arrived in the last 10 days (see 2.32pm).


• China finally recognised the NTC as Libya's legitimate government (see 3.59pm).


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/sep/12/libya-egypt-middle-east-unrest#block-27

[pinboy3niner]

37. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 208: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:05 AM TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

Libya time = EDT +6 hours, PDT +9 hours, UTC +1 hour, GMT +2 hours










Inside one of Gaddafi's torture cells
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2030931/Libya-Inside-Gaddafis-torture-chamber-The-bloodstained-cells-inside-primary-school-used-brutalise-enemies.html

[pinboy3niner]

38. Libya's revolutionary leader calls for civil state

By BEN HUBBARD and HADEEL AL-SHALCHI - Associated Press | AP – 47 mins ago


TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — The chief of Libya's revolutionary movement has addressed a crowd of thousands in a landmark square in central Tripoli, calling for a democratic state with strong civic institutions.

The speech by Mustafa Abdul-Jalil came late Monday night during the largest public gathering of revolutionary leaders since rebel forces stormed into the capital last month, effectively ending the rule of Moammar Gadhafi.

Abdul-Jalil heads the National Transitional Council, founded in the eastern city of Benghazi early in the six-month civil war. Its leaders have been arriving in the capital over the last week to start building a new government.

Anti-Gadhafi forces have not extended their control over all of Libya, with pockets still held by Gadhafi loyalists.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libyas-revolutionary-leader-calls-civil-state-212544725.html

[pinboy3niner]

41. AP update:

By BEN HUBBARD and HADEEL AL-SHALCHI - Associated Press | AP – 29 mins ago

...


Mustafa Abdul-Jalil addressed a rowdy crowd of thousands in Martyr's Square in central Tripoli, a site that until recently was famous for pro-Gadhafi rallies. Flanked by a few dozen revolutionary leaders in their largest public gathering since rebel forces stormed into the capital on Aug. 21, he called on Libyans to build a state based on the rule of law.

"No retribution, no taking matters into your own hands and no oppression. I hope that the revolution will not stumble because of any of these things," he said.

As he spoke, thousands waved flags, cheered and chanted, "Hold your head high, you're a free Libyan!" Some wept openly as fireworks exploded overhead.

...


Abdul-Jalil said the new Libya would focus on youth and women, adding that some ministries and embassies would be headed by women. Some have criticized the rebel movement for not putting women in leadership roles, and none stood on stage with the movement's leaders.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libyas-revolutionary-leader-calls-civil-state-212544725.html

[tabatha]

39. Jalil's speech from a Libyan on AJE

(Note - tuwar = freedom fighters)

Watched NTC members speech in Martyrs' Sq. They were all fantastic.

Mustafa Abdul Jalil speech was really powerful and for sure he made Libyan people very happy

He told that this Revolution belongs to tuwar (FF), women (mothers, wives, daughters, sisters of Libyan men) and all other Libyans inside and outside country.

He thanked to Mr. A. Shalgam and Mr, Shabashi which asked the international community to help Libya to fight the dictator.

He thanked Arab League, all Muslim countries which support NO fly zone.

He thanked the International community especially France, UK, Italy, USA, Canada, Spain and other countries.

He thanked Qatar and Emirate, Turkey which spent 300 mil for all expenses of Libyan people during Holy month of Ramadan, as well as Tunis and Egypt. He told that Libyan Revolution will never succeed if there were no Tunis and Egypt's Revolutions and how they open theirs hopsitals for wounded tuwar. Tunis helped too, much to Nafusa mountain tuwar.

He mentioned each brave city in Libya and asked for support for Ben Walid, Sirt and Sebha. He asked tuwar not to hurt any Libyan civilian in these cities, to protect women, children and special people who worked as policemen or security in G regime. He asked not to hurt Libyan soldiers because they are forced to fight and they have information that they used to shoot Grad missiles in wrong direction not to hurt tuwar round cities.

He promised that Libya will be country of law, and transparent. He promised good salaries and good life for each Libyan. The government will establish control of the country's revenue and it will be transparent. He told that women will be ministers and ambassadors of Libya.

He told that Libya is moderate Muslim country and it will not change. They will not tolerate not right not left extremists.

He asked people of Tripoli and all Libya to assure foreigners that Libya is safe country and to welcome them warmly.

He asked each Libyan to help NTC to establish Libya and keep this Revolution shinny.

It was very warm, sincere and promising speech.

He speech was cut off with well know chants about Revolution and against G.

People had Libyan flags and Flag of Amazigh people.

They were very, very happy till they were listening M.A. Jalil, chanting, singing and dancing....fantastic sight.

I was crying watching seeing and listening - so happy for them, for Libya.

I hope G saw Martyr's Sq. tonight. NTC members were near people, not hiding behind high wall of the old city - because at this same place he used to collect people by force and he was afraid of them.

Addition;

He thanked to NATO for protecting Libyan people and also police of Libya as they have never shoot at protesters when uprising start.

He thanked the Libyan soldiers who refused to shoot at their brothers and joined tuwar.

[pinboy3niner]

40. Residents flee Gaddafi town, food dwindles

Mon Sep 12, 2011 10:14pm GMT


• Residents flee with their children

• Extent of support for Gaddafi not known


By Maria Golovnina


NEAR BANI WALID, Sept 12 (Reuters) -

...


Residents -- those who had enough fuel for their cars, at least -- trickled steadily out of the town on Monday, vehicles packed with as many passengers as possible, children stacked up on people's laps, belongings strapped to the roofs.

...


"Rockets are falling on civilian houses, most of the valley is now controlled by revolutionary fighters. But there is still a lot of fighting with the city," Aburaz al-Furjari, 42, told Reuters on his way out.


"Gaddafi propaganda radio said this morning that NATO will bomb the city today. That's why we are leaving. All the shops are closed. There's no food and very little fuel."

...


The NTC...say that the pro-Gaddafi forces pose a much bigger threat to the civilian population, their rockets destroying at least 25 houses over the last 24 hours.


"We are going back into Bani Walid and we will move carefully street-by-street," field commander Assam El-Qadny said. "Civilians are fleeing because of the (pro-Gaddafi rockets)."


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KC36220110912?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

42. Media reports 'fuzzy' on Ras Lanuf refinery attack

Haroon Siddique and Paul Owen posted on The Guardian's Live Blog:

My colleague Chris Stephen has just got back from the frontline near Sirte in Libya. He said that the reports of what happened at Ras Lanuf have been "fuzzy" on local media too.


Reuters says that 14 or 15 trucks came from the direction of Sirte and reported that the attackers killed 15 guards. But the Associated Press said the 15 killed were attackers ....


Chris reports that the rebels have seized a town 150 miles south of Sirte, cutting the last road out of the city. "The attack on Sirte got to 30 miles from the city before hitting a frontline," Chris said. "Now they have pulled back. Nato is hammering the city."


He said that Bani Walid, one of the other remaining hold-outs for pro-Gaddafi forces, is "a mass of confusion": "The rebels here who hold the south and east say nothing is happening in the town, which contrasts with Reuters, who report a second day of heavy fighting in the town."


In Tripoli, NTC fighters revealed they had captured Muamamr Gaddafi's foreign spy chief, Bouzaid Dorda. Reuters reporters saw Dorda, a former prime minister who ran Gaddafi's external spy service, held by a score of fighters in a house in the capital's Zenata district on Sunday.


Dorda was sitting on a sofa with an armed guard beside him. When a fighter asserted that he had killed people, he replied defiantly: "Prove it."


The Associated Press has some quotes from the message purportedly by Gaddafi (left) read out on al-Rai TV today:

We will not be ruled after were the masters. We will not hand Libya to colonialism, once again, as the traitors want.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/sep/12/libya-egypt-middle-east-unrest#block-21#block-24

Reports on the refinery attack also differed on where the attackers came from, with some reports saying they came from the West (from the direction of Sirte) and others saying they came "from the desert" to the South.

[tabatha]

43. A few photos from Green Square for TNC speeches

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nafusa/

[joshcryer]

45. AJE has video now (massive turnout): Libya's new leader calls for civil state

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G9LmGuljAs">Libya's new leader calls for civil state - video
The chief of Libya's transitional government urged a cheering crowd in Tripoli to strive for a civil, democratic state, while loyalists of fugitive leader Muammar Gaddafi killed at least 15 opposition fighters in an attack on a key oil town in Libya's east.

Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra reports.

Massive turnout. I don't think Gaddafi ever had numbers even remotely close to this, it's awesome.

edit: they removed the video and reuploaded it for some reason

[pinboy3niner]

44. Libya war threatens spiral of rights abuse - Amnesty

Mon Sep 12, 2011 11:01pm GMT


• Amnesty highlights war crimes on both sides of conflict

• Report calls on NTC to stop unlawful killings, torture

• Reprisal killings may escalate unless order restored soon


By Peter Griffiths


LONDON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Forces on both sides of the Libyan war have committed war crimes and the country risks descending into a bloody cycle of attacks and reprisals unless order can be established, human rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday.


Muammar Gaddafi's attacks on civilian protesters were a crime against humanity, while arbitrary detentions, torture of prisoners and widespread abductions were war crimes, the London-based charity said in a report.

...


It urged Libya's interim rulers, the National Transitional Council (NTC), to investigate abuses on both sides and to put human rights at the top of their agenda.


"Those responsible for the dreadful repression of the past under Gaddafi will need to be held accountable." said Claudio Cordone, senior director at Amnesty. "The (NTC) must be judged according to the same standards. Without this, justice would not be done and a vicious cycle of abuses and reprisals risks being perpetuated."

...


Amnesty said anti-Gaddafi soldiers were also guilty of human rights abuses, although on a smaller scale.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7K92CL20110912?sp=true

[tabatha]

46. Libya's rebel forces committed abuses, says Amnesty

'Revenge killings'

In its report, Amnesty International concludes that the majority of abuses during the conflict have been committed by forces loyal to Col Gaddafi.

They include deliberate attacks on civilians, a widescale campaign of enforced disappearances, and arbitrary detention and torture - atrocities which could amount to war crimes, it says.

But, it says, those fighting Col Gaddafi have also been complicit in serious violations.

The report refers to the lynching of black Africans suspected of being mercenaries hired by Col Gaddafi, as well as revenge killings and the torture of some captured pro-Gaddafi soldiers.

Amnesty said a full picture had yet to emerge, but said it had asked Libya's opposition leadership to take steps to rein in its supporters and investigate any abuses, and to combat xenophobia and racism.

Mohammed al-Alagi, a justice minister for Libya's transitional authorities, said that describing the rebels actions as war crimes was wrong.

"They are not the military, they are only ordinary people," Mr al-Alagi told the Associated Press news agency.

He said the rebels had made mistakes, but said these could not be described as "war crimes at all".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14891913

[tabatha]

47. Racism in Libya by Clay Claiborne (a black, anti-war activist)

Arab prejudice against blacks has a long and ignoble history. Racism against Africans has been a problem of long standing in Libya. Whereas progressives see the current revolutionary situation in Libya as an opportunity to combat this disease and build a new unity between Africans and Arabs free at last from Qaddafi's meddling, some pro-Qaddafi "left" groups are attempting to use Libyan racism, both real and exaggerated, to attack the revolution. They do this by denying that racism was ever a problem under Qaddafi and "discovering" it among those they still insist on calling the "rebels."

To hear them tell it, you'd think the Klu Klux Klan just took over in Libya. This alarmist piece from the Party for Socialism and Liberation is typical of this line. FYI, PSL is the leading member of the ANSWER Coalition:

.. excerpt ..

This is a very warped view of reality. Take, for example, the claim of "saturation bombing." Does PSL even have a clue what they are talking about? Operation Rolling Thunder in Vietnam was an example of saturation bombing. It involved 306,183 strike sorties that dropped 864,000 tons of bombs and probably killed over a million Vietnamese. Nothing like that has happened in Libya.

While the PSL says "NATO warplanes bombed indiscriminately and the “rebels” swept through the wreckage," Reuters tells it somewhat differently,

.. excerpt ..

So "saturation bombing" turns out to be "a NATO airstrike on a building." NATO hit a grand total of 3 targets in Tripoli on the day Abu Salim fell in some of the hardest fighting of the whole Tripoli campaign. They hit that building in Abu Salim and, for their own safety, two surface-to-air missile launchers somewhere around the city. A lot of brave freedom fighters gave their lives to liberate Abu Salim that day but these "anti-imperialists" will give all the credit for the victory to NATO and it's 3 strike "saturation bombing."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/09/12/1015087/-Racism-in-Libya

Debunks the wsws article.

[joshcryer]

48. Clay Claiborne is a shining gem of support for revolution, I really love that guy.

I don't have a Kos account but I really want to sign up just to thank him.

[al bupp]

49. A Woman on Libya’s Front Lines

Sarah Elliott for The New York Times
Dr. Mariam Talyeb, seven months pregnant with her first child, stood at the final rebel checkpoint in the city of Bani Walid, Libya.

NEAR BANI WALID, Libya — The rebel fighter, in a billowing white “Free Libya” T-shirt, jeans, scarf and camouflage cap, was leaning against a car, talking in a businesslike manner with other rebels.

It took a few long stares to realize that this fighter was a woman, the only Libyan woman in sight.

...

Her name was Miriam Talyeb. She was 32 years old, a dentist and seven months pregnant with her first child. Her husband was part of the brigade of fighters who carried assault rifles and drove trucks mounted with rocket launchers.

...

Women have played a large part in Libya’s revolution, buying and delivering arms, sheltering fighters, demonstrating, cooking and spying on the forces of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. Since the colonel’s forces fled Tripoli, it has been common to see women posing for pictures with guns in the newly renamed Martyrs’ Square. But in carrying her own weapon into battle, Ms. Talyeb is unusual, as is her husband, for supporting her decision to fight.

More at: http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/12/a-woman-on-libyas-front-lines/

[tabatha]

50. Unearthing Gaddafi's chemical weapon claims

Libya's rebels have Colonel Gaddafi's fighters cornered, with only a few towns still loyal to the former leader across Libya. His loyalists are sworn to fight or die in his name.

But Channel 4 News met an undercover agent who claims an informant in the inner circle of the former "brother leader" warned him that if it ever came to this endpoint, Gaddafi would be at his most lethal.

He said: "He just looked at me and laughed and said you know the Brits and the Americans know exactly what Gaddafi has - he has this, this and that of chemical weapons and he will use them."

This Libyan agent said he posed as a Gaddafi loyalist and spied for Nato as he told us of his secret war. He showed us intelligence reports he'd filed on troop and ammunition movements, targets and Gaddafi's efforts to acquire chemical munitions.

Documents we obtained last week at an abandoned Gaddafi military base recorded shipments, between April and July, of brand new chemical warfare suits and decontamination kits to key Gaddafi strongholds such as Sirte. Receipts showed they'd arrived.

What we now know from our intelligence contact in Tripoli is that the orders to send those chemical protection suits and kits to Sirte and al-Juffra came directly from Muammar Gaddafi himself.

http://www.channel4.com/news/unearthing-gaddafis-chemical-weapon-claims?345345

[tabatha]

51. Exclusive: Secrets Of Saif Gaddafi's Home

Sky News has exclusively uncovered evidence showing Saif al Islam Gaddafi's influence over the Libyan army.

He is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. He denies he was part of a brutal crackdown that started in February.

He has always maintained he withdrew from politics in Libya in August 2008.

But in a control room at his farm, on the outskirts of Tripoli, we found evidence of a side of Saif Gaddafi he has tried to hide.

Among his personal papers was a document exposing his links to the military.

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16068199

[joshcryer]

52. U.S. military boots ARE on the ground in Libya, Pentagon admits

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2036760/U-S-military-boots-ARE-ground-Libya-Pentagon-admits.html">U.S. military boots ARE on the ground in Libya, Pentagon admits
Four U.S. service members arrived on the ground in Tripoli over the weekend.

The move comes despite assurances from military leaders and President Obama that the U.S. would not be sending uniformed military personnel into Libya.

The four troops are in Tripoli working under the State Department's chief of mission to assist in rebuilding the badly damaged U.S. Embassy.

Pentagon spokesman Capt. John Kirby Kirby said the embassy in Tripoli was hit during the conflict between Muammar Gaddafi's forces and the rebels.

Cheap headline, but I thought I'd post this one rather than the http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/national_world&id=8351780">AP report because it's lulzworthy.

[tabatha]

55. US Embassy property is US ground in any country

It is not foreign ground.

And I believe most embassies in the world have marines on guard.

[joshcryer]

53. Libya’s Battle-Tested Women Hope Gains Last

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/world/africa/13women.html">Libya’s Battle-Tested Women Hope Gains Last
TRIPOLI, Libya — Aisha Gdour, a school psychologist, smuggled bullets in her brown leather handbag. Fatima Bredan, a hairdresser, tended wounded rebels. Hweida Shibadi, a family lawyer, helped NATO find airstrike targets. And Amal Bashir, an art teacher, used a secret code to collect orders for munitions: Small-caliber rounds were called “pins,” larger rounds were “nails.” A “bottle of milk” meant a Kalashnikov.

In the Libyan rebels’ unlikely victory over Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, women did far more than send sons and husbands to the front. They hid fighters and cooked them meals. They sewed flags, collected money, contacted journalists. They ran guns and, in a few cases, used them. The six-month uprising against Colonel Qaddafi has propelled women in this traditional society into roles they never imagined. And now, though they already face obstacles to preserving their influence, many women never want to go back.

“Maybe I can be the new president or the mayor,” Ms. Gdour, 44, said Monday afternoon as she savored victory with other members of her rebel cell. They are three women who under the old government ran an underground charity that they transformed into a pipeline for rebel arms.

But in the emerging new Libya, women are so far almost invisible in the leadership. Libya’s 45-member Transitional National Council includes just one woman. The council’s headquarters does not have a women’s bathroom.

[tabatha]

54. Great set of photos

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=204250749640749&set=a.204250719640752.53895.133738650025293&type=1&theater

[joshcryer]

57. OMG, thank you for that. Tears in my eyes.

[tabatha]

56. Volunteers End Gadhafi's 42 Years in Power

The six-month uprising in Libya that ousted leader Moammar Gadhafi was largely driven by volunteers who fought back
against the government's attempt to crush their revolt. Volunteers have also provided support in other ways.

http://youtu.be/mprhP9HdzKw

[joshcryer]

58. Libya war threatens spiral of rights abuse: Amnesty

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE78C01I20110913">Libya war threatens spiral of rights abuse: Amnesty
Forces on both sides of the Libyan war have committed war crimes and the country risks descending into a bloody cycle of attacks and reprisals unless order can be established, human rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

Muammar Gaddafi's attacks on civilian protesters were a crime against humanity, while arbitrary detentions, torture of prisoners and widespread abductions were war crimes, the London-based charity said in a report.

Amnesty also criticised Libya's opposition forces and said Gaddafi's fall from power after 42 years had left a "security and institutional vacuum" that they exploited to carry out revenge killings and torture.

...

Amnesty said anti-Gaddafi soldiers were also guilty of human rights abuses, although on a smaller scale.

[joshcryer]

59. Libya's transitional leader pledges no extremism

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/africa/news/article_1662595.php/Libya-s-transitional-leader-pledges-no-extremism">Libya's transitional leader pledges no extremism
Cairo - The leader of Libya's Transitional National Council said in Tripoli that it will rule without 'extremist ideology,' reports said Tuesday.

'We are Muslim people calling for a moderate Islam, and will stay on this road,' Mustapha Abdul Jalil told thousands of cheering supporters late Monday, according to Dubai-based Al Arabiya television.

'We are Muslim people of forgiveness,' he said, urging Libyans not to seek revenge against former officials of fugitive leader Moamer Gaddafi.

The families of former government figures 'are not responsible for crimes' of their relatives, he said.

[joshcryer]

60. Libya rebel leader calls for democratic state

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/12/MN5E1L3ISH.DTL">Libya rebel leader calls for democratic state
The chief of Libya's revolutionary movement told thousands of cheering Libyans in Tripoli on Monday to strive for a civil, democratic state, while loyalists of the hunted dictator Moammar Khadafy killed at least 15 opposition fighters in an attack on a key oil town in Libya's east.

From hiding, Khadafy urged his remaining followers to keep up the fight, a sign that Libya's six-month civil is not over even though revolutionary forces now control most of the country and have begun setting up a new government in the capital.

Mustafa Abdul-Jalil addressed a rowdy crowd of thousands in Martyrs' Square in central Tripoli, a site that until recently was famous for pro-Khadafy rallies. Flanked by a few dozen revolutionary leaders in their largest public gathering since rebel forces stormed into the capital on Aug. 21, he called on Libyans to build a state based on the rule of law.

"No retribution, no taking matters into your own hands and no oppression. I hope that the revolution will not stumble because of any of these things," he said.

[inna]

61. the title of these ever-present and annoying threads is just ridiculous.

what's happening in Libya right now has very little to do with any resemblance of "revolution".


it's NATO-orchestrated regime change, FFS.


:fuck:


:nuke:

[Iterate]

62. Libyans call it a revolution and they didn't ask your permission.

They also prefer the term "uprising". Would that be permissible?

Worse yet, it's non-ideological and not a class-based revolution. The horror. All those years you spent memorizing anachronistic terminology and the imperialist-Nahtoe narrative, just wasted, useless.

Then we have the kicker because the first three things Libyans have done after liberating their cities has been to tear down the Gaddafi flag, stomp the cultist pictures, and burn that fucking green book. How ungrateful. I'm sure they don't understand it all as well as you do. After all, they're just simple angry Arab Islamists who are foolishly moved my millions of CIA agents.

[joshcryer]

69. Wow, I've seen low, beyond the pale...

...but that pretty much is the bottom of the barrel.

And this coming from someone who is purported a supporter of anti-intervention/anti-imperialist/pro-Libyan.

They call it a revolution, they call the fighters revolutionaries (they don't even call themselves rebels and dislike the term). To call it something else is to directly contradict the Libyans fighting.

[tabatha]

79. Democracy.

Freedom of the press. I don't know if that is clearly understood.
I find the many, lying tweets from certain tweeters annoying. I just ignore them.

So if it is NATO-orchestrated regime change. why was MI6 (NATO member country), CIA (NATO member country) working with Gaddafi right up until the uprising?

You are also aware that NATO cannot help the Syrians who are begging for the same protection, because they would not be able to get enough members in the UN to pass another resolution as they did for Libya. I guess you are happy about that - more people will die and the streets of Syria run with blood. Ohhh, how fabulous.

The Libyans have died in their thousands to rid themselves of a bloody dictator who took it upon himself with no UN sanction to interfere in other countries, such as Sudan, causing much bloodshed, heartache and social upheaval.

I have sympathy for those who are so blind and heartless about people in another country celebrating their freedom, and that do not understand that those people can now create posts like yours without the fear of being shot.

On other otherhand, it is mildly amusing seeing the twisted agony of a small mind whenever one of these posts is made. So :nuke: away - it is only you that is suffering inside - because you cannot autocratically determine that everyone think like you, and post like you. That must be hell on earth. :rofl:

[mark7sys]

86. Forgive me for my ignorance, but ...

“it's NATO-orchestrated regime change”

Hosni Mubarak was our guy; it isn't going to make things easier for the US government to be supporting Egyptian citizens who want a non-mafia-based government, and yet, here we are.

More and more information is coming to light regarding how Britain and the US have cooperated with Gaddafi, even in the filthiest of ways. It doesn't make things easier for us to be supporting Libyan citizens who want a non-gangster-based government. But if we in the US are going to insist on prattling away ceaselessly for decades-on-end about how we value self-determination and human rights, then logic dictates that we should either lend a hand when asked, or (at minimum), get out of the way.

By going against their own interests (as evidenced by their own long-term policies and relationships) NATO countries are motivated by … what, exactly? NATO countries are theorized to benefit … how, exactly?

There are those who want to yip about oil, but economically it matters but little who is selling Libyan oil, a small coterie of gangsters or a representative government. It matters but little who will buy Libyan oil. The very fact that the oil is sold -- by anyone and to anyone, anywhere – this will influence supply and demand worldwide. I.e., it will put downward pressure on prices world-wide. I.e., it will make life easier for consumers world-wide. I have not yet had the pleasure of seeing anyone explain just how aiding Libyan citizens can be about oil.

(Actually, if one wants to keep the oil flowing, the best policy is to support the status quo, not jump into the middle of an uprising. If we insist on being angry with NATO, here is a plausible rationale: they have mucked up the oil market in the middle of a world-wide recession.)


So your position, Inna – if I understand it correctly – is that NATO countries are highly motivated to create conditions in which fundamentalist Muslims might take control of Libya and Egypt. And this is in the interest of NATO countries how, exactly?

NATO's members have nightmares about fundamentalist Muslims; is 'orchestrating' the destabilization of the Middle East and Africa deemed to be rational behavior on NATO's part, or just what?


If someone would be so kind as to point me to that location where Inna (or anyone like-minded) has explained the nefarious nature of NATO's intervention, I would appreciate it enormously. And the statement that the uprising against gangster-government was “NATO-orchestrated” leaves me even more baffled; I am sadly unaware BOTH of WHY NATO would embark on such an undertaking and of HOW they are theorized to have done so.

Were the same countries also theorized to have “orchestrated” the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia and Syria as well? If so, any such countries must surely be on Israel's black-list by now! If the Libyan uprising is, indeed, “NATO-orchestrated”, then America in the schizophrenic position of investing billions of dollars a year in Israel while simultaneously intentionally pulling the rug out from under Israel. Again, please forgive me for my ignorance, but I'm new here: is this apparent lunacy on the part of the West something which you have explained somewhere, Inna?

[tabatha]

97. Love your last paragraph - it sums up the lunacy.

"Were the same countries also theorized to have “orchestrated” the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia and Syria as well? If so, any such countries must surely be on Israel's black-list by now! If the Libyan uprising is, indeed, “NATO-orchestrated”, then America in the schizophrenic position of investing billions of dollars a year in Israel while simultaneously intentionally pulling the rug out from under Israel. Again, please forgive me for my ignorance, but I'm new here: is this apparent lunacy on the part of the West something which you have explained somewhere, Inna?"

And the hit and run posts - an illogical bumper-sticker type slogan posted with a negative smilie, then run off without any explanation about why what was posted could possibly be logical or true.

No engagement - no intelligent discussion. Just a damning of others who post and discuss, because darn it those annoying headlines have to make one think and that is too hard. It is much easier just to quote the propaganda, and in authoritarian manner Cheney-like, damn those who do not follow the program. Bet you won't get an answer.

[tabatha]

98. deleted

[al bupp]

110. That's an excellent 5th (or so) post, sir

Many of those points, I've made myself, and I daresay others here have as well. Generally speaking, there seems to be a feeling among critics of the uprising that the powers that be, namely NATO, the "Banksters" (I do like that one, I must admit,) and others such as, say PNAC, or Imperialists in general are taken to be at once very devilish in their machinations and also amazingly incompetent.

In this way they can be said to both have understood that despite the upset to business as usual that the Arab Spring has had overall, and the Libyan uprising in particular, especially w/ respect to oil & gas interests, that these Machiavellian imperial powers figured it was well worth it in the long run having succeeded in removing a noisome loose cannon in Gaddafi, as well as have done so in such a bungling manner as to have in effect handed the country to al-Qaeda.

There's more to it, mostly tired rehashings of Cold War rationales and rivalries that largely and conveniently ignore anything so troubling as evidence or observation. I'm not saying it stands up to reason. In fact, it seems to be mostly an emotional response. This explains how carefully targeted bombing can be called carpet bombing, or (the unfortunate) wide-spread detention of dark-skinned people called genocide.

'Tis a pity, because the larger reality of what's happened and continues to happen in Libya and elsewhere in the Arab world, the toppling of tyrants and long-time dictators, ought to inspire instead.

[mark7sys]

115. The general rule in America's historical playbook ...

... is for them to support dictators (provided, of course, they are not leftist dictators). So I want to think the best of America if, arguably, they do something refreshingly different. Given the number of brain-dead policies which the US has adopted in the last 20 years, I can well imagine how people could get into the rut of thinking “America: BAD, no matter what they do” or “NATO: BAD, no matter what it does”; perhaps it is time to snap out of it.

I take your point, al bupp … however … it grieves me to say so, but I myself am one of those people who tend to think that the tail that wags the dog in America seems to be both Machiavellian & hopelessly bungling at the same time. For example, our mismanagement of the banking and insurance industries both (successfully) scammed the nation for the enrichment of fat cats AND killed the goose that delivered golden eggs. For the pursuit of one more buck (more for 'me') we are willing to (idiotically) bring down even the very companies for which we work (Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, AIG, what-have-you). For the pursuit of one more buck we are willing to tank the whole economy. Then after coming to the edge of financial Armageddon, we fight tooth and nail to get right back to the free-wheeling anything-goes good-old-days when it was our 'right' to threaten the whole economy in pursuit of the final buck (but only after the Nation is saved by {who else?} tax-payers).

The energy sector, again, appears to be managed in a mode both Machiavellian and idiotic. The greening of our energy economy would be good for jobs (but not for dirty jobs, of course), good for the environment and good for national security. But no matter how many energy crises we endure, we CANNOT change course because the tail wags the dog. The powers that be WANT the oil economy preserved (even if it kills us), while the average citizen does not recognize the insecurity we manufacture for ourselves by sending an uncountable amount of money abroad to purchase a dwindling commodity, oil, from people that hate us.

Our expedition in Iraq appears to have had one or more Machiavellian purposes (I'm afraid that if it did not, then arguably it had no rationale whatsoever), but the execution was either FUBAR out of dim-wittedness or, worse, FUBAR on purpose (and how Machiavellian would THAT be?).

My rants prove that I am willing and able to criticize America. Some of my bitterest criticisms concern America's support for dictators throughout its history and around the globe. I can't very well turn around and criticize America for supporting liberty for Libyans without a pretty solid reason. If Inna or anyone else would explain such a reason to me I would then be vastly better informed than I am at present.


You make the case, al bupp, that criticisms of NATO verge on complete irrationality. To pick up that thought, it is support for and cooperation with Mubarak, Gaddafi and their ilk which makes US (or any other country) accessories in the rape of the citizens of those countries. And yet, when we drop the dictators we are THEN accused of being “imperialists”. Honestly, the logic escapes me.

[al bupp]

116. This discussion probably deserves its own thread

While you make some interesting points w/ regards to the apparently schizophrenic "handling" of the banking and energy sectors, I'm not sure that they make for good comparison. In both cases, the dynamics you're describing are based on a set of some very complex factors that cannot be said to be whole or even largely under the control of any one group or conspiracy (unless it's the infamous "conspiracy of horse's asses" we were warned about in Cabaret.)

For instance, in the banking collapse of which you write, while certainly it was made possible by some very short-sighted and absurdly doctrinaire rationales which translated into legislation (supported by not a few Democrats, by the way) that left much of sector essentially unregulated and opaque to even the banking players themselves, it was not the only factor. The lack of regulatory oversight and transparency certainly set the stage for the creation of complex and highly leveraged derivative assets that were the ultimate cause of the collapse. However, it was the basic entrepreneurial and capitalistic nature of our society an the financial sector itself that led people to actually invent and trade mortgage-backed securities. I'm not sure this can be easily legislated against, and certainly doesn't fit the typical description of a Machiavellian conspiracy.

I think a similar case case can be made for the energy sector where a lot of the problem of getting away from fossil and nuclear fuels boils down to simple inertia. It's incredibly difficult to create an entire alternate system that goes from production to distribution through to end use w/ compatible appliances or vehicles. There are big investments in the existing systems. Beyond the vested interests who, because of fiduciary responsibilities to their share-holders likely are looking more to short term bottom line than 5 or 10 years in the future, there are significant logistical implications, such as wondering how would we get hydrogen stations to be as common as gas stations are now.

Nevertheless, sir, we are largely in agreement here. Iraq being a prime example of a completely FUBAR adventure, which I have little doubt was based on some very Machiavellian assumptions and considerations and was pursued w/ a slavish devotion to doctrine and loyalty to the extent that it undermined its own objectives. So, you're right this type contradiction has certainly happened in the recent past.

I also agree that for once it appears that our government and NATO have somehow (perhaps via "stopped clock syndrome", if you will) gotten it right in Libya. We are on the right side of a popular uprising against a brutal dictator, not mention having backed-away from long-time partners such as Mubarak. For this is seems we ought to be thanking Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice who were reported to have been the ones who talked Obama into the policy. I think it will turn-out buy us considerable good will in the Arab world, at least on the street.

Those who rail against interference in a "sovereign nation" seem to have forgotten their American history, for the same could have been easily said of French "interference" in our revolution. Given recent history in Vietnam, Nicaragua and elsewhere, I can understand why some would be inclined do so. I just wish there was more willingness to look to the specifics in the case of Libya and venture a different conclusion.

[mark7sys]

117. Very cool place you've got here at DU, al bupp.

Wonderful to find a group of people who can discuss such things. America isn't quite as bad off as I had thought.

“it was the basic entrepreneurial and capitalistic nature of our society an the financial sector itself that led people to actually invent and trade mortgage-backed securities. I'm not sure this can be easily legislated against ...”

Well, I'm afraid that if it can't be legislated against, we're all doomed. But it is, I agree, difficult. There is a constant cat-and-mouse game of regulation and evasion. If credit default swaps had been properly deemed in the first instance to be insurance policies and regulated as such (with at least a minimum of what could be considered rational capital reserve requirements), then the AIG cataclysm – in the drastic form which nearly took us all into a black hole – would not have been possible.

“... and certainly doesn't fit the typical description of a Machiavellian conspiracy.”

Well, to the best of my ability to make things out, the FDA is run by the industry which the FDA is supposed to be regulating … and financial sector “regulation” appears to work about the same way (although the Bernard Madoff scandal demonstrates that mere basic competency within regulatory agencies is also a critical factor). If I didn't call it “a Machiavellian conspiracy”, I would at least call it a case of putting the foxes in charge of the hen house. (Is there really much difference?)


BTW, just read your journal post from 22Oct08. Bravo!

[al bupp]

118. I think so, too, sir

Your point about the revolving door between government and the industries it purportedly regulates pretty much hits the nail on the head. Yet another symptom of why we have the best government that money can buy, dammit those people stay bought! You're right it's Machiavelli as even Machiavelli never imagined it, isn't it?

Thanks for the props on the old (and so far only) journal posting. One of these days there'll be another, this time a think piece on the interesting split among us here at DU (and among the left side of the political spectrum in general) over the question of Libya.

[mark7sys]

119. New Rules Would Require Financial Firms to Provide “Living Wills”

I think you'll get a kick out of this if you haven't seen it yet:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2011/09/13/bank-failure-fdic-wants-to-make-sure-banks-have-a-contingency-plan/

[Iterate]

63. Photos from the mass grave site discovered in Tajoura

IbnOmar2005 Ibn Omar
on.fb.me/nPyfjk photos from a mass grave discovered in #Tajoura, a suburb of #Tripoli #Libya

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.194325353971325&type=1

[pinboy3niner]

64. Clock ticking on Gaddafi bastion's last stand

Tue Sep 13, 2011 11:17am GMT

By Maria Golovnina


NORTHERN GATE OF BANI WALID, Libya, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Wary of alienating a powerful local tribe, fighters backing Libya's new rulers are urging families to leave the besieged town of Bani Walid before resorting to full-scale military force to take one of Muammar Gaddafi's last strongholds.

...


National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters at the northern gate of the city said they were giving civilians two more days to leave Bani Walid before mounting a full-scale assault. A radio address transmitted from the nearby town of Tarhouna was appealing to people to leave to safer areas, fighters said.

"We don't want to kill anyone. We do not want to turn them into enemies," said Abumuslim Abdu, an anti-Gaddafi fighter, his chest criss-crossed with ammunition belts.

"We are under orders from our commanders to proceed very carefully and avoid harming civilians."

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KD1R420110913?sp=true

[Iterate]

65. Kais Al-Hilali

Kais Al-Hilali



An artist from Benghazi who lived to fight with his brushes and paints, eschewing Libya’s weapons and bloodshed in favor of the satirical anti-Gaddafi graffiti and caricatures that he daubed across Benghazi’s walls. Here we recount the tragic loss of this brave artist:

Having left his artistic mark at a roundabout on the western side of the city, reputedly a bastion of pro-Gaddafi support, Kais was driven by two friends through the Tabalina suburbs. They stopped at an improvised checkpoint near the Tripoli Bridge, presuming the gunmen manning it were rebels. The driver, Ayman Hadar, recalls. “A burst of gunfire hit us and Kais fell dead in the back seat” They didn’t shoot again and disappeared. “We sped to the hospital, but it was too late.” Rebel commanders have denied having a checkpoint at that location. We later learned that this was an ambush put in place deliberately to kill Kais as a consequence of his artistic expression against the regime.

Kais is known as the artist of the Libyan Revolution May Allah have mercy on him.

http://www.feb17martyrs.com/kais-al-hilali/

[pinboy3niner]

66. NATO airstrikes conducted Monday, September 12

Key Hits 12 SEPTEMBER:


In the vicinity of Sirte: 1 Radar System, 8 Surface to Air Missile Systems, 5 Surface to Air Missile Trailers/Transloaders, 1 Armed Vehicle, 2 Air Defense Command Vehicles.


In the vicinity of Waddan: 1 Anti-Aircraft Gun.


In the vicinity of Sebha: 6 Tanks, 2 Armoured Fighting Vehicle.


...


International Humanitarian Assistance Movements as recorded by NATO


Total of Humanitarian Movements**: 1110 (air, ground, maritime)


Ships delivering Humanitarian Assistance 12 SEPTEMBER: 0


Aircrafts delivering Humanitarian Assistance 12 SEPTEMBER: 45


**Some humanitarian movements cover several days.


http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_09/20110913_110913-oup-update.pdf

[Iterate]

67. Ahmed Faisel Abouzeid

Ahmed Faisel Abouzeid



Majjedin Marwan writes:

He is 30 years old , his name is Ahmed Faisel Abouzeid lives in seyahiya, Tripoli. My favorite cousin !! :( . He is a Lab Doctor who used to work near Mitiga airport. He was shot while in-front of his house by a chadi kid who use to have asylum in the country and we use to treat him very good. My cousin’s wedding was supposed to be now more or less after Ramadan ! But God Bless him. He used to be a very nice person helped people. He was well known not only in his area but most areas in Tripoli .

[pinboy3niner]

68. 'Day of anger' in Syria over Russian support for Assad (after security forces kill 19 more people)

AFP – 52 mins ago


Pro-democracy activists called a "day of anger" across Syria on Tuesday to protest against Russia's backing for President Bashar al-Assad, after his security forces shot dead at least another 19 people.

"Do not support the killers," activists urged Russia in a message announcing Tuesday's action posted on The Syrian Revolution 2011, a Facebook page that has been the engine for the six-month-old revolt against Assad's regime.

"We express our anger towards Russia and the Russian government. The regime will disappear but the people will live," the activists added.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/day-anger-syria-over-russian-support-assad-111850824.html

[pinboy3niner]

70. NATO airstrikes pound pro-Gadhafi targets in Libya

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI and RYAN LUCAS - Associated Press | AP – 24 mins ago


TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — NATO warplanes pounded targets in a number of strongholds of support for fugitive dictator Moammar Gadhafi, the alliance said Tuesday, as an offensive by revolutionary forces on a key loyalist town stalled.

...


Gadhafi's supporters, who claim he is still in Libya, have put up fierce resistance in Bani Walid, some 90 miles (140 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli, beating back repeated attempts by revolutionary forces to take the town since launching a two-pronged assault Friday.

The former rebels say they have captured the northern half of Bani Walid, but they have struggled to push farther into the city for several days.

Families continued to stream out of Bani Walid on Tuesday to escape the heavy fighting and deteriorating living conditions. Fleeing residents say there is no electricity or running water in the town, and shops are running out of food.

...


"We're giving a chance for the families to leave the city to escape the mortar rounds and rocketing from the Gadhafi loyalists," (Saad Mohammed, a Libyan fighter preparing for the day at the town's northern gate) said.


http://news.yahoo.com/nato-airstrikes-pound-pro-gadhafi-targets-libya-124134168.html

[pinboy3niner]

71. Turkish PM visits Egypt to boost regional influence

Tue Sep 13, 2011 7:59am GMT

• Erdogan, amid feud with Israel, to also visit Tunisia, Libya

• Turkish leader popular over pro-Palestinian stance

• Erdogan seen bidding for more influential role in region


By Tulay Karadeniz and Yasmine Saleh


CAIRO, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan threw Turkey's weight behind a Palestinian bid for statehood and criticised Israel in an address to Arab states meeting in Cairo geared to buttress his image as a leader of a region in turmoil.

...


His destinations on the tour -- Egypt, Tunisia and Libya -- have all witnessed the fall of entrenched leaders to grassroots revolts this year, challenging the old order across the region.

"Erdogan, Erdogan!" cheered a group of demonstrators as the Turkish prime minister left the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo where he spoke. They were calling for change in Syria, whose military is trying to stamp out popular unrest.

Displaying a populist touch, Erdogan stopped and shook the demonstrators' hands.

...


Outside the League, Syrian protester Samer Zaher, 30, said: "Erdogan has turned into an Arab hero ... We have not found a leader as powerful as him addressing (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad) and asking him to quit."

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KD0GX20110913?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

72. Saadi Gaddafi says he's on humanitarian 'mission' in Niger

From The Guardian's Live Blog:

Saadi Gaddafi, the son of fugitive Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who was found to have crossed into Niger yesterday, has been speaking to CNN's Nic Robertson.

Robertson does not seem to have recorded the conversation, as in his report he paraphrases Saadi throughout.

But he says Saadi told him he was on a "humanitarian mission" in Niger. He said thousands of his tribesmen left their homes and travelled to Niger because of their fear of the Libyan rebels.

He said he wanted to negotiate with the National Transtional Council now ruling Libya and make sure his tribesmen are allowed safely back into the south of Libya. He said their humanitarian situation in Niger was very poor.

Saadi also said he would like to work with the UN to alleviate this humanitarian problem.

He said he was not escaping and running away, but was trying to help his countrymen.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/sep/13/libya-syria-egypt-middle-east-unrest-live-updates#block-24

Nic Robertson's report at CNN (1:34):
http://cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2011/09/13/bpr-robertson-saadi-gadhafi.cnn

[pinboy3niner]

73. Canada to reopen Tripoli embassy, unfreeze $2.2 bn in Libyan assets

From latestbreakingnews.com:

@CBCAlerts

Canada gets UN approval to unfreeze \$2.2B of Libyan assets . Money to help 'new #Libya get back on its feet': Baird.

1:38PM GMT Sep 13, 2011

@CBCAlerts

Canada prepared to reopen its embassy in Tripoli: Baird . Embassy reopening to aid resumption of trade. #cdnpoli

1:30PM GMT Sep 13, 2011

[pinboy3niner]

78. Canada unlocks Libyan assets; SNC Lavalin (Canadian engr. firm) on hold

Tue Sep 13, 2011 3:42pm GMT

• Ottawa to unfreeze $2.2 bln in assets

• Temporary embassy reopens in Tripoli

• SNC Lavalin waiting to resume its engineering projects


OTTAWA, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Canada has obtained U.N. approval to unfreeze $2.2 billion in Libyan assets for humanitarian aid and reestablished its diplomatic mission in Tripoli on Tuesday, government officials said.

The released money will be used to rebuild infrastructure and to pay wages of police, teachers and essential services following Libya's six-month uprising, Foreign Minister John Baird told reporters.

Meanwhile, Canadian engineering giant SNC Lavalin Group Inc said it would still monitor the situation before returning to work on its Libyan projects, which include a prison, a water pipeline and an airport.

...


Baird spokesman Chris Day said the Canadian mission was working from a temporary location while the government refurbishes the embassy and puts security in place.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFS1E78C0UU20110913?sp=true

[al bupp]

74. Croatian Daily: Serbs, Croats executed by rebels in Libya

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/world-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=13&nav_id=76364">Serbs, Croats executed by rebels in Libya

Zagreb-based Večernji List says that 12 Serbians, 9 Croatians, 11 Ukrainians and 10 Colombians were among those captured, and then shot and killed by the rebels, while other victims "were not identified".

The newspaper is quoting the rebels in Misrata who claim that "a group of foreign mercenaries" was inside "the security building" in the town's center - and that those who did not die in the fighting were "convicted on the spot".

"A bullet to the head and goodbye forever," a local rebel commander was quoted as saying, and then adding: "Those are murderers, not soldiers, they are people who are heartlessly killing for money."

In Belgrade, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they had no information about Serbian citizens being executed.

There's no indication in the second-hand report on when the alleged executions took place, or why it's now being revealed. Many Tweets are now circulating w/ this headline, but all seem to be based on the initial Croatian report.

[Iterate]

84. A strange provenance

There seem to be several versions of the story, and some difference in detail. I just tried to track the versions but have deleted it because I was bound to be too wrong somewhere about something. Suffice it to say it's a long trip through an odd set of blogs and newspapers from "private contractors", to Zionists and anti-Zionists, Serb nationalists, and Italian newspapers.

An earliest version so far shows up on 25 Apr 2011 on a Chicago-based Serbian language TV website. Here's the translation via google:

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522Abdelaziz%2BMadini%2522%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26tbas%3D0%26biw%3D1309%26bih%3D657%26tbs%3Dcdr:1,cd_min:1/4/2011,cd_max:1/6/2011%26prmd%3Divnso&rurl=translate.google.de&sl=sr&u=http://www.rtvbostel.com/news/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D348:qmetak-u-elo-i-zbogom-zauvijekq-profesionalne-ubice-iz-hrvatske-bih-i-srbije-likvidirane-u-libiji%26catid%3D44:vijesti-iz-svijeta&usg=ALkJrhjxOuKHahalJhHiIwbfcIYtWYeqYg

[pinboy3niner]

87. Remember this?: Gaddafi Gets Love From Serbian Nationalists On Facebook

By JOVANA GEC 04/ 5/11 01:00 PM ET

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) -- Five years after their leader Slobodan Milosevic died while on trial for genocide, some Serb nationalists have found a new idol: Col. Moammar Gadhafi.

A Facebook group supporting the Libyan leader has gathered more than 66,000 "likes" by Tuesday, reflecting the deep hatred that some Serbs feel for the West over the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia, which ended Belgrade's rule over the former province of Kosovo.

"The same aggressors who were murdering us, now are relentlessly attacking the Libyan people," said the extremist Nasi organization – an affiliate of the Russian group with the same name – which is behind social media support campaign for Gadhafi.

"We launched the campaign out of defiance to the West and true support to a friend," the group added.

...


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/05/gaddafi-facebook-serbian-nationalists_n_845074.html

Which makes it ironic that Gaddafi warned against the use of Facebook... :)

Another article is titled, Cyberwar: Gaddafi’s online mercenary army:

http://english.libya.tv/2011/08/30/cyberwar-gaddafis-online-terrorists/

[Iterate]

93. And Ashad has learned from it: The Syrian Electronic Army

Sure, I remember those. The unnamed "journalist" had to be Lizzie Phelan.
Here's one for Lizzie fans:

Russian Report confirms 70-80% of Libya remains under Jamahiriya control
Posted on September 9, 2011 by BJ Murphy
http://redantliberationarmy.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/russian-report-confirms-70-80-of-libya-remains-under-jamahiriya-control/

Here's a related topic I was recently trying to get caught up on:

Cyber soldiers against cyber activists in Syria
http://english.periodismohumano.com/2011/08/01/cyber-soldiers-against-cyber-activists-in-syria/

There's a podcast here that has a primer on the topic:

Syrian Electronic Army, Tech Aids Repression in Bahrain, Nuclear Power in Afr...
Posted: September 2011

Episode 337 begins with two segments about tech and the so-called Arab Spring. We'll talk about the Syrian Electronic Army and about Nokia-Siemens in Bahrain. We'll also hear a great piece about nuclear power in Africa. And we'll end with a look back into the history of aerial surveillance.
http://www.world-science.org/technology_podcast/spies-in-the-sky-aerial-recon-in-world-war-ii/

Skip ahead to about 19:00 remaining. The part about the Syrian Electronic Army is about 4-5 minutes long.

The interesting part was that non-fake participants got caught up in it, and I would imagine that the same sort of bandwagon effect occurred with Gaddafi.

[pinboy3niner]

75. World Bank recognises Libya's new rulers

By Mohamed Hasni | AFP – 23 mins ago


The World Bank said on Tuesday it recognises the National Transitional Council as Libya's official government, after the new regime promised moderate Islamic rule and to investigate alleged war crimes.

Explaining its decision was based on "evolving events in Libya and the views of member countries," the bank pledged to take a major role in rebuilding after seven months of an insurrection that ousted dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

...


The World Bank's recognition of the NTC came a day after China, which had long helped prop up Kadhafi before the uprising broke out, became the last permanent member of the UN Security Council to do so.

But South African President Jacob Zuma said Tuesday the African Union still does not recognise Libya's new leaders, on the eve of a regional meeting in Pretoria on the latest developments in the conflict.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/world-bank-recognises-libyas-rulers-150620342.html

[pinboy3niner]

76. Link to full Amnesty International report (112-pages, pdf)

THE BATTLE FOR LIBYA: Killings, Disappearances and Torture

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE19/025/2011/en/8f2e1c49-8f43-46d3-917d-383c17d36377/mde190252011en.pdf

[Iterate]

77. #Sirte update - inside the city

Sirte_Feb17 Sirtawi
Commander of #Sirte #FF Battalion, Abdullah Karih, confirms clashes inside #Sirte on Alaan Tv. #FreeSirte #Feb17 23 hours ago

Sirte_Feb17 Sirtawi
#Sirte local radio announces names of 50 ppl whom the regime calls as traitors, thugs and AlQaida members. Gives them ultimatum till... cont 16 hours ago
G regime give 50 men in #Sirte ultimatum to hand themselves in by tomorrow or they'll be executed.
4 more Martyrs in #Sirte 2day: Jamal Fozi AbuZeid, Radwan Meilif, Badr Meilif, Nasir Muhammad Gteit.

alchemist585 Nasr Anaizi
According to AlManara #Sirte is imploding. Ppl within R revolting due to siege. They attacked & killed snipers. Two districts R fee. 4 hours ago

Sirte_Feb17 Sirtawi
Gaddafi Thugs seen earlier today trying to clear blocked entrances to # 1 in #Sirte. Locals fear thugs might launch offensive today. #Feb17 2 hours ago

emmaomo2011 emmaomo
Misrata FF on the outskirt of Sirte youtube.com/watch?v=RxUDCp… #Libya 3 minutes ago (Arabic report, but there's an English bit at 1:50)
ETA better URL: http://youtu.be/RxUDCpNGzts

[tabatha]

80. Libya: How They Did It SEPTEMBER 29, 2011 Nicolas Pelham

Only when I reached Suq al-Juma, Tripoli’s sprawling eastern suburb of 400,000, three days after the rebels entered the city on August 21, did I feel I was somewhere free of Muammar Qaddafi’s yoke. In contrast to the deserted, shuttered streets elsewhere in the capital, the alleyways behind its manned barricades were a hive of activity. Children played outside until after midnight. Women drove cars. The mosques broadcast takbir, the celebratory chants reserved for Eid, the end of Ramadan, that God is Great, greater even than the colonel. Replacing absent Egyptian laborers, volunteers harvested tomatoes and figs in the garden allotments. The grocer proudly told me that he was really an oil exploration technician, charged with running a store his neighborhood had opened the day of the uprising—August 20—to keep their community fed. Others had dug wells to ensure that water flowed, and used their connections with the local refinery to maintain supplies of gasoline. While its price elsewhere in Tripoli had risen a hundredfold to $7.50 a liter, in Suq al-Juma it was distributed for free.

While the barricades kept out Qaddafi’s regime, they offered its enemies a safe haven from the snipers and other remnants of Qaddafi’s rule; the residents fed rebels homemade Ramadan sweets and washed their clothes. A rebel brigade from Misrata pitched camp in a whitewashed branch of Mohammed Qaddafi’s Internet company, LTT, due to open this summer. A mosque sheltered dozens of pale and dazed inmates, rebels liberated from Tripoli’s complex of political prisons in Abu Salim. The people there helped them bridge their missing years by projecting Arabic satellite television on its wall. (When Qaddafi’s image appeared, a few flung stones at the mosque.) In a school turned makeshift prison, police officers back at work interrogated a motley assembly of suspected mercenaries, saboteurs, and regime militiamen.

Suq al-Juma claims to have been Tripoli’s first neighborhood to rally to Qaddafi’s revolution in 1969, and the first to turn against it thirty-nine years ago. (It is still punished with unpaved streets.) It prides itself on its cohesiveness. Unlike Tripoli’s other suburbs, which are magnets for urban migration, its residents claim descent from families who founded the neighborhood centuries ago. Several suburbs responded to the alarm the mosques sounded as the faithful broke their fast after sundown on August 20, but the organization and scale of Suq al-Juma’s uprising was unmatched. Within minutes, the entire district had cobbled together barricades out of old fridges, burned-out cars, and other war detritus, and stationed armed men at its gates. Trucks drove through the streets distributing homemade Molotov cocktails and grenades called gelatine, and, later that night, guns they had bought over the previous six months at 3,000 dinars apiece. Based on a precompiled blacklist, vigilantes broke into the homes of a thousand regime henchmen, or farment, Tripoli’s bastardized vernacular for “informant,” and disarmed them and hauled them away.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/sep/29/libya-how-they-did-it/?pagination=false

[tabatha]

81. Libya: Inside the Hunt for Gaddafi's Key Men

By Abigail Hauslohner / Tripoli Tuesday, Sept. 13, 201

Fathi Sherrif is surprisingly good-humored for a man who spent 13 days struggling to breathe inside a steel container. "There was no food. No toilet. 'You don't have to pray because you don't know Allah. Gaddafi knows Allah.' — That's what they'd say to us," he says of his captors. Sherrif and his five brothers were thrown in jail last March for offering covert support to Libya's then nascent rebellion. But when the rebels breached the walls of Ain Zara prison two weeks ago, the 49-year-old businessman emerged as an influential player in the new Libya. His self-appointed task: hunting senior officials of Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

"We have eyes everywhere. We have our people looking," he says from his new makeshift office on the ground floor of Gaddafi's ransacked internal security headquarters. Most of his men are former prisoners, their discipline and dedication driven, at least in part, by personal vendetta. "We have approximately 15 volunteers — they work out of their cars," Sherrif says. "It's not that Mustafa Abdel-Jalil won't pay us, but we don't want it. We are working for free."

In the post-Gaddafi Libya, the hunters have become the hunted.

In just two weeks on the job, Sherrif estimates that his unit has captured some 35 high-value detainees, including several ministers and Gaddafi aides. "God wants us to catch them alive," he says coolly. One of his captives was Ahmed Ramadan, a top Gaddafi aide tagged by other senior regime officials as the man responsible for relaying all of the dictator's orders until the fall of Tripoli. Sherrif's men found Ramadan on a farm in Seraj, on Tripoli's outskirts. And when they burst into the house where he had been hiding, they say Ramadan pointed a gun at his head and tried to kill himself. He pulled the trigger but somehow survived and was taken to Tripoli's central hospital. When he stabilized, they moved him to Matega, a military base that rebels have turned into their Tripoli command center and central prison facility.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2092803,00.html#ixzz1XqyqzhLa

[tabatha]

83. Another article for Inna's nuke pile.

Time to burn the books and articles of history on Inna's nuke pile.

Say after me ----
there is no freedom of speech, there is no freedom of speech, there is no freedom of speech, there is no freedom of speech.

Just :nuke: it all.

[pinboy3niner]

82. Summary of today's developments in Libya

Posted by Matthew Weaver and Paul Owen on The Guardian's Live Blog:

• Saadi Gaddafi, the son of fugitive Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who was found to have crossed into Niger yesterday, said he was there on a "humanitarian mission" to help protect his tribesmen who had also crossed the border (see 2.37pm).


• Three of Gaddafi's generals are trying to secure refugee status in Niger. The generals arrived in the capital Niamey on Monday night, a Niger government official told AP.


• In his first Tripoli speech Libya's interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil called for unity and moderation. He also pledged that women would play an active role in the new government as ministers and ambassadors.


• Nato attacked areas near Sirte and Sabha today. Those two cities, along with Bani Walid, are the primary bastions of Gaddafi loyalists. In his Tripoli speech, Jalil said Bani Walid, Sirte and Sabha were now under siege by Gaddafi forces.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/sep/13/libya-syria-egypt-middle-east-unrest-live-updates#block-30

[tabatha]

85. One of the crimes of his former in the port of Tripoli

Returned the port of Tripoli Maritime in Libya to work on a regular basis despite the difficult circumstances, and thus revealed some of the tragedies of the regime of Libyan leader former Muammar Gaddafi in the port, including its role in illegal immigration to Europe in particular, through the port of Tripoli.
Report Tamer Almzhal Date of broadcast 13-9 -2011

http://youtu.be/1i0AKTQBm68

Another atrocity by Gaddafi.

[tabatha]

88. Clock ticking on Gaddafi bastion's last stand

Tue Sep 13, 2011 11:17am GMT
By Maria Golovnina

NORTHERN GATE OF BANI WALID, Libya, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Wary of alienating a powerful local tribe, fighters backing Libya's new rulers are urging families to leave the besieged town of Bani Walid before resorting to full-scale military force to take one of Muammar Gaddafi's last strongholds.

The drawn-out standoff at the town -- home of Libya's biggest tribe, the Warfalla -- has turned the obscure oasis 150 km (90 miles) south of Tripoli into a new flashpoint in the North African nation's seven-month-long war.

Libya's new rulers are keen to bring the stubborn town into the fold as quickly as possible but have hesitated to employ heavy-handed tactics that could estrange the Warfalla and derail their efforts to create an all-inclusive government.

National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters at the northern gate of the city said they were giving civilians two more days to leave Bani Walid before mounting a full-scale assault. A radio address transmitted from the nearby town of Tarhouna was appealing to people to leave to safer areas, fighters said.

"We don't want to kill anyone. We do not want to turn them into enemies," said Abumuslim Abdu, an anti-Gaddafi fighter, his chest criss-crossed with ammunition belts.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KD1R420110913

[tabatha]

89. BEFORE NATO OVER LIBYA .... BEFORE NATO OVER LIBYA

Le Chahid Mohammed Al-Nabbous, un héros libyen du jounalisme engagé

"We want our freedom"
"We want Gaddafi to leave"
"For God's sake, who can rule for 42 years?"
"They are killing us".

http://youtu.be/ZQtgMhcyVHM

Polish your French.

http://egyptday1.blogspot.com/2011/09/voice-of-libya-inspiring-story-of.html

[al bupp]

106. Great french documentary on Mo, thanks

I really like the sound of Free Libya in french: "Libye Libre". The part where they speak w/ Mo's father and uncle is a real tear-jerker.

[pinboy3niner]

90. Oil tanker waits off Libya for loading instruction

Tue Sep 13, 2011 5:20pm GMT


• Tanker, chartered by Vitol, waits outside Mellitah

• Traders say condensate via tender to be loaded


By Jessica Donati


LONDON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - An oil tanker is waiting off Libya for loading instructions, the owner of the vessel said on Tuesday.

In a sign that war-torn Libya was working to get its oil industry back on its feet, market sources said the tanker would probably load a part of a Libyan condensate tender, which was offered late last week.

NewLead Holdings, which owns the tanker Newlead Avra, said it was now waiting for instructions from charter Vitol near the port of Mellitah in western Libya.

...


Oil trading sources said the condensate has been sold to Austrian oil and gas company OMV and it is likely to taken to the Italian port of Trieste.

...


On Tuesday, Ahmed Majbri, chairman of the Libyan oil firm Arabian Gulf Oil Co. (Agoco), told Reuters the firm has promised to give half its early crude oil production to Vitol as payment for fuel supplied to rebels during the uprising against Gaddafi.


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KD2W320110913?sp=true

[tabatha]

91. Carpet salesman leads hunt for Gadhafi

TRIPOLI, Libya – Three weeks after Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi was driven out of Tripoli, effectively ending his 42-year reign, his would-be successor addressed a cheering crowd of thousands in what used to be called Green Square, the now renamed Martyrs’ Square.

“We seek a state of law and prosperity,” said Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the interim head of the anti-Gadhafi forces’ National Transitional Council. The interim government has been recognized by scores of other countries as Libya’s new governing authority. With fireworks crackling in the early evening (not gunfire), Jalil warned his own forces against acts of retribution aimed at the remaining Gadhafi loyalists.

“To anyone who harmed the Libyan people in any way,” he intoned, “we need the courts… the judicial system… to decide.” With that there were more fireworks, a crescendo of shouted acclamation.

Just off the square, a Ferris wheel glittered brightly among the other children’s rides in the city’s now re-opened amusement park. In the harbor that had been empty only days earlier, no fewer than 15 tankers were tied up and waiting for the signal to start taking on fresh shipments of oil and natural gas from two refineries lurching back into production. The shops and cafes in the city’s retail sections have come back to life. Sanitation crews are on full schedule, cleaning the city and white-uniformed traffic control officers are back working patiently at the task of keeping the rivers of cars moving.

Tripoli basically liberated itself on Aug. 21. There had only been a few brief, albeit bloody, skirmishes as rebel forces moved in – Gadhafi “loyalists” simply melting away as they had in many smaller cities and towns as the revolution made its way to the capitol.

http://shabablibya.org/news/carpet-salesman-leads-hunt-for-gadhafi

[pinboy3niner]

92. Libya's siege town: Sniper nests and empty shops

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI - Associated Press | AP – 33 mins ago


WADI DINAR, Libya (AP) — The streets are now no man's lands. Stores were emptied of food and water days ago. Expert snipers on rooftops watch over one of the last strongholds of Moammar Gadhafi's rule.


The accounts from residents fleeing Bani Walid build a portrait of a battlefield-in-waiting for an expected all-out assault by the revolutionary forces now controlling much of Libya.


With anti-Gadhafi fighters massing on the outskirts, the desert crossroads 90 miles (140 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli is seen as the next key showdown for the few loyalist bastions dotting Libya, including Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte. Parts of the town have been taken by the anti-Gadhafi opposition, but the heart of Bani Walid remains a redoubt for groups still flying the Gadhafi-era flag.


The resistance has been fierce — stalling the revolutionary units that swept through other areas after the capital Tripoli fell from Gadhafi's hands in late August. The loyalists are now readying for a possible last stand with a mix of firepower and guerrilla-style tactics: Firing Grad rockets toward the revolutionary outposts in nearby Wadi Dinar and coating the main road with oil slicks and other flammable materials so that cars slip back or touch off small fires.

...


"The radio told us that NATO is out to get us and that the revolutionary forces want to steal our babies, kill us and rape us," said Ramadan Abdel-Rahman, who was fleeing with his wife and seven children, including a daughter less than two weeks old.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libyas-siege-town-sniper-nests-empty-shops-181321371.html

[pinboy3niner]

94. Arab League urges Syria to 'stop bloodshed'

Source: Al Jazeera

Pressure on Damascus intensifies from Turkey and the Arab League, but activists claim dozens were killed on Tuesday.

Last Modified: 13 Sep 2011 19:27


Diplomatic pressure on Damascus from the Arab League and Turkey has escalated, although the Syrian regime continued its violent campaign against anti-regime protestors.


Activists in Syria said that at least eleven people had been killed in accross Syria on Tuesday, bringing the total number reported dead over the past 24 hours to 33.


At least five of those killed were shot dead in the town of Kfar Nubouzeh, near central city of Hama, as snipers from the security forces fired at a funeral for villagers killed the day before, activists said.


Meeting in Cairo on Tuesday, the foreign ministers of the 22-member Arab League called for the Syrian leadership to take urgent steps to halt violence in Syria, where tanks and troops have been sent to quell six months of protests against President Bashar Assad's rule.


"The current situation in Syria is still very serious and an immediate change has to happen in order to stop the bloodshed and prevent people facing more violence," the Arab League said in a statement.

...


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/09/201191314579931618.html

[pinboy3niner]

95. Police, missile defence top Tripoli security priorities

Tue Sep 13, 2011 7:31pm GMT


• Turning fighters into police is a priority

• Tripoli may face a missile threat


By William Maclean


TRIPOLI, Sept 13 (Reuters) - The main security challenge for Tripoli is integrating the fighters who toppled Muammar Gaddafi into the police force to build the revolution's "legitimacy", an official of the interim administration said on Tuesday.

Outlining priorities, Osama Abu Ras, a member of the Supreme Security Committee for Tripoli, told Reuters that Gaddafi's forces remained capable of firing missiles and the capital may be a potential target for such attacks.

Abu Ras said Gaddafi's military manpower was depleting "day by day" due to defections to the revolutionary National Transitional Council (NTC) and he did not believe his troops, in themselves, posed a threat to the capital, but missiles fired from a distance might.

"We have a very strong (military) front now in our favour but there is a threat of some missiles, including Grad missiles, and rockets. This could be a real threat," he said.

Asked if this was a threat to Tripoli, he said "It can be".

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KD3UH20110913?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

96. Jordan to resume flights to Libya's Benghazi

By JAMAL HALABY

updated 9/13/2011 10:44:33 AM ET


AMMAN, Jordan — Turkey's airline resumed flights to Benghazi, Libya on Tuesday, and the head of Jordan's flagship airline said Tuesday that Royal Jordanian will restart daily service there on Thursday, ending a seven-month halt because of Libya's civil war.

Hussein Dabbas said flights to the capital Tripoli may resume later this month, once aviation safety is ensured and the airport there can accommodate flights.

Dabbas said the decision to resume flights to Benghazi was prompted by a "strong demand" for travel there. Benghazi was the command post of Libya's rebels before they took control of Tripoli last month.

...


Turkish Airlines resumed flights to Benghazi on Tuesday. A plane carrying 126 passengers landed at the Benghazi airport in the morning and returned to Istanbul, carrying 156 people, including some wounded Libyans, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported. The company suspended flights in February.

Turkish Airlines' chairman Temel Kotil, who was on the flight, said the company will soon resume flights to Tripoli.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44502301/ns/world_news-europe/

[tabatha]

99. Libya's Freedom Fighters: How They Won byClay Claiborne

Now that Tripoli is more or less secure, more stories are coming out that help us understand how the Libyan freedom fighters were able to achieve such a rapid victory over Mummar Qaddafi in his capital of 42 years. I want to use today's diary to share with you some of the more enlightening material I have found.

Nicolas Pelham has a very good piece in the New York Review of Books, August 29 2011, that gives us a good overview of the planning and perpetration that went into the assault:

................

While Nicolas Pelham gives us the big picture Al Jazeera's Evan Hill gave us a window into one Tripoli families experiences:

Good stuff again:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/09/13/1016246/-Libyas-Freedom-Fighters:-How-They-Won

[pinboy3niner]

100. Women volunteers proudly do their bit for Libya revolution

By Mohammad Ali Harisi | AFP – 31 mins ago


Bursting with revolutionary pride and armed with brooms and paintbrushes, every day a group of Libyan women from all walks of life meet at a Tripoli square before fanning out to clean up the capital and paint pro-revolution wall murals.

Dressed in yellow uniforms, around 50 housewives, employees and professionals gather at the Al-Qadisiyah square to ready for daily volunteer missions on behalf of the rebellion that ousted strongman Moamer Kadhafi from more than four decades of rule.

"We started a voluntary campaign on Saturday to clean up our city. We will continue our work for a week," Nema Oreibi, 52, told AFP as she swept the streets near a hotel on Shatt avenue.

"I come here with my family to carry out my duty towards the revolution. I wish I could carry a rifle, but for me the broom serves the same purpose," said the teacher, adjusting her black veil.

...


Another painting shows a woman dumping Kadhafi in the "trash bin of history," together with his Green Book of political philosophy, rats and a Nazi flag.

"Now we can smell and breathe freedom," said Tekli's 12-year-old sister, Camilla.


http://news.yahoo.com/women-volunteers-proudly-bit-libya-revolution-205849979.html

[pinboy3niner]

101. Tripoli's new normal - bickering politicians

Tue Sep 13, 2011 9:43pm GMT


• Libya's new rulers jockey for power

• Tripoli savours return of water, shopping, schools

• Libyans fear blunt talk could stir rivalries


By William Maclean


TRIPOLI, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Less than a month after Muammar Gaddafi's fall, Tripoli is bustling. Shoppers throng markets. Banks are open. Electricity and water are back, most of the time. Out in the desert, some oil flows.


With parts of the giant OPEC member country still at war, the rapid spread of a semblance of normality is startling.


"We actually thought it was going to be far worse than this in our planning for Tripoli," said a security official, who asked not to be identified as he was not authorised to talk to the media.


But for Tripoli, home to a third of Libya's 6 million population, it's a distinctly new kind of normal.


The welcome return to everyday routines after six months of turmoil has been accompanied by emerging signs of a country starkly unfamiliar to Libyans brought up under 42 years of Gaddafi's rule.

...


One of the most telling novelties since the fall of Tripoli is free speech, and with it an early, and for some uncomfortable, dose of public political bickering.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE78C0JG20110913?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

102. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 209: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

Libya time = EDT +6 hours, PDT +9 hours, UTC +1 hour, GMT +2 hours










Inside one of Gaddafi's torture cells
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2030931/Libya-Inside-Gaddafis-torture-chamber-The-bloodstained-cells-inside-primary-school-used-brutalise-enemies.html

[pinboy3niner]

103. Kadhafi son under house arrest in Niger: US

Source: News International

WASHINGTON Fallen Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi's son Saadi, who arrived in Niger at the weekend, is being held under house arrest at a government residence, the US State Department said on Tuesday.

"Our understanding is, like the others, he's being detained in a state guest house and that it is appropriate that Niger and the TNC work through this together," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington, referring to the National Transitional Council, Libya's interim government.

"It's essentially a house arrest in this government facility, is our understanding," she said.

...


http://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=22663&title=Kadhafi-son-under-house-arrest-in-Niger

[pinboy3niner]

108. Gadhafi's son reaches Niger capital, seeks refuge

September 13, 2011 1:58 PM


(AP) NIAMEY, Niger — A son of Moammar Gadhafi has arrived in Niger's capital to seek political asylum.

Officials had confirmed over the weekend that al-Saadi Gadhafi had crossed the border from Libya. He was in the central town of Agadez on Monday, but government spokesman Marou Amadou said just after midnight Wednesday that he is now in Niamey, Niger's capital.

Three generals in Gadhafi's army are also in Niamey trying to gain political asylum for themselves and other members of Gadhafi's crumbling regime. They were in negotiations with Nigerien officials all day Tuesday.

The former rebels in Libya want regime officials to be sent back. Al-Saadi Gadhafi is the subject of a United Nations sanction for commanding a military unit that is accused of repression of demonstrations.

...


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/13/ap/africa/main20105446.shtml

[tabatha]

104. Gadhafi insider: Defector led to quick downfall of Tripoli

NIAMEY, Niger — A military leader close to fugitive Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi said Tripoli fell so quickly because a defector inside the regime provided targets to the rebels and ordered loyalist troops in the wrong direction.

Aghaly Alambo, a Libyan Tuareg who was formerly a Gadhafi insider, made the claims in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday.

"It took everybody by surprise how fast Tripoli fell," Alambo, who has since fled to Niger, said in a television interview conducted in French that was translated by NBC News.

He said the reason rebels quickly overran the capital was that an unnamed security official he called the "Libyan," was playing a double game. He had defected to the rebel side, but Gadhafi didn't realize it until 24 hours into the assault on Tripoli, Alambo said.

The official, who he said was in charge of security for the capital, was handing GPS coordinates to the National Transitional Council at the same time he was ordering Gadhafi troops in the wrong direction in order to create mayhem.

Alambo called it a high level betrayal and that nobody had been in contact with Gadhafi for about a month, including his generals or even his son.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44505971/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

Jeeez, NATO has looooong coordinating arms.

[pinboy3niner]

105. Turkey's Erdogan tells Arabs to embrace democracy

Tue Sep 13, 2011 11:09pm GMT


• Erdogan seeks to bolster influence in changing region

• Criticises Israel, Syria's Assad


By Tulay Karadeniz and Yasmine Saleh


CAIRO, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told Arab leaders on Tuesday popular uprisings jolting their nations were a "light of hope" for the oppressed and urged them to embrace democracy.


"Democracy and freedom is as basic a right as bread and water for you, my brothers," Erdogan said in Cairo, his first stop on a tour of three Arab countries where "Arab Spring" revolts have toppled Arab autocrats, including Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak.


"The freedom message spreading from (Cairo's) Tahrir Square has become a light of hope for all the oppressed through Tripoli, Damascus and Sanaa," Erdogan said to an enthusiastic audience gathered in an opera house in the Egyptian capital.


Erdogan, whose has won plaudits across the Arab world through his growing criticism of Israel, was interrupted several times with standing ovations and chants of "Erdogan, Erdogan!".

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KD42M20110913?sp=true

[tabatha]

107. LibyaFF from Benghazi captured in Ajdabiya

AmazighLibya@Amazigh_LibyaFF from Benghazi captured in Ajdabiya. G loyalists maliciously lied to fam saying he was dead. Watch his reunion w/ fam

http://youtu.be/1QqJ_lzQT2k

[pinboy3niner]

109. Libyan rebels seek UN representation

Updated 06:26 p.m., Tuesday, September 13, 2011

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The new president of the U.N. General Assembly says Libya's rebel leaders sent a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon saying the National Transitional Council wants to represent the country at the United Nations.

(Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, who took over the presidency Tuesday at the start of the assembly's 66th session) said the assembly's newly formed credentials committee will make a recommendation to the 193-member world body.

http://www.chron.com/news/article/Libyan-rebels-seek-UN-representation-2169093.php

[pinboy3niner]

111. It's about that time. 'Scuse me while I whip this out...

:evilgrin:

[joshcryer]

112. Few mins, getting distracted.

Libya bashing / state commies... you know me. :P

[pinboy3niner]

113. My contribution...

I won't try to beat you on the day/date/time post. Pressure's off on racing to post the thread, link here, then race back to try to beat me. It's all yours. :)

[joshcryer]

114. Week 30 part 3 here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1935125