Libyan Revolution Week 31 part 5

[joshcryer]

[joshcryer]

1. Libyan Revolution Day 218 updates below, current time in Libya, 2:39pm Friday, September 23

[al bupp]

30. Accidental Heroes: Britain, France and the Libya Operation

From: http://www.rusi.org/news/ref:N4E7B610E8D672/">Royal United Services Institute - Interim Libya Campaign Report

Looking at the wider spectrum of operations from both the NATO and rebel side, this RUSI Interim Campaign Report analyses how the operation progressed and finally succeeded.

The report concludes that the allied military operation to assist Libya's National Transitional Council was successful despite the improvised use of weapons and military assets, together with ambiguous command arrangements.

...

With some NATO and non-NATO countries involved in military action over Libya, the report suggests the operations were 'unlike any of those of the last decade, but more like those of two decades ago'.

Finally, this Report demonstrates how special forces operations on the ground were extensive and multinational. They helped turned the tide between the rebels and Qadhafi's forces and involved a significant contingent from a range of Arab countries.

The excerpt is from a lead-in to a very interesting http://www.rusi.org/downloads/assets/RUSIInterimLibyaReport.pdf">PDF Report.

[Cali_Democrat]

2. Now in control, Libyan rebels take revenge

September 22, 2011 08:58 am EDT

The police station and hospital of this mountain oasis town have been ransacked. Most of its homes have been abandoned by terrified inhabitants fleeing to Tripoli or Sirte. Shops are shuttered, their facades festooned alternately with anti-Qaddafi graffiti. Plumes of smoke rise in the sky
clearpxl

As Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) tightens the screws on Muammar Al-Qaddafi and the remnants of his forces still control places such as Bani Walid and Sirte, other groups of rebels are busy ransacking and burning the homes of the deposed leader’s supporters in places like Twargha. Home to 30,000 people just a few weeks ago, today it is a virtual ghost town.

Human rights organizations have urged the NTC to put an end to the revenge attacks and officially its leaders have vowed to do so. But many among the rebel rank and file make their own rules and with the memory of the violence and abuse they suffered at Al-Qaddafi’s hands still fresh, they aren’t in a conciliatory mood.

Situated between the rebel bastion of Misrata to the north and the coastal town of Sirte, Twargha was at the center of some the fiercest fighting during the six-month conflict.

Read more: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90060813?Now%20in%20control%2C%20Libyan%20rebels%20take%20revenge

[mark7sys]

14. More from Steve Johansen in Tripoli

Don't know why AHN didn't include the byline, which does appear in the original:
http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=33315

Here is more from the author, Steve Johansen:

Libyans divided: Some want reconciliation, some Qaddafi’s head

A cheering crowd welcomed Mustafa Abdel Jaleel, chief of the Libya’s ruling National Transitional Council (NTC), when he made his first public appearance at Martyrs Square here in the capital and called for reconciliation rather than revenge against the ousted regime of Muamar Qaddafi.

. . .

Suha, a 23-year-old medical student who only asked to be identified by her first name, was in the street looking for a curbside vendor from whom to buy the flag of the new Libya. After years of repression, she said she was thrilled at the chance to express her true feelings — and for her, that is enough.
“Qaddafi is the past. We’ve already forgotten him. He no longer makes any difference in our lives,” she said as she held her new flag. “We want to move forward. All Libyans must move forward otherwise we will become like people of Qaddafi, full of anger and hatred.”

Read more: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article502234.ece
http://themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=33250

[grantcart]

3. K and R

not enough time to go thru all of the updates but appreciate your efforts

[pinboy3niner]

4. K&R

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]

5. Families call on NTC for compensation

Published 23 September 2011 08:26

Many Libyans lost their lives fighting against Muammar Gaddafi's forces during the conflict.

Now their families are calling for the National Transitional Council to give them compensation including monthly salaries.

The NTC has promised to look after the victim's families, but that may take some time, as the state's unfrozen funds are yet to trickle in, and security is still a top priority.

Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra reports from Tripoli, Libya (2:15):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udmo6virJo0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[pinboy3niner]

6. ANALYSIS-In Libya's new politics, localism may trump tribes

Fri Sep 23, 2011 1:12pm GMT

• Tribes loom large in society, but not politics

• Gaddafi manipulated tribes, magnifying rifts

• Tribes growing weaker as Libyans flock to towns


By William Maclean


TRIPOLI, Sept 23 (Reuters) - "No To Tribalism," declare the now tattered posters put up by rebels who overthrew Muammar Gaddafi, a defiant riposte to an Arab autocrat who magnified tribal cleavages with a policy of divide and rule.

But rebels also daubed walls with the place names "Misrata" "Zintan" and "Zawiya", suggesting that loyalty to hometown will be a far more potent force than kinship in post-Gaddafi Libya.

Nursing bitter memories of tribal manipulation, Gaddafi's immediate successors are working to give a technocratic gloss to their caretaker administration and minimise the influence of ancient kinship ties in the emerging political landscape.

Libyans, diplomats and political analysts say this effort may be pushing at an open door. The country's scores of tribes carry weight in Libyan society, but less so in its politics, an activity dominated by an urban elite more attuned to provincial roots than blood relations.

Unlike in Yemen or Iraq, tribal leaders in Libya tend not to be household names, in part because Gaddafi worked assiduously over decades, like the Italian colonialists of the early 20th century, to sap their power by playing off one against the other.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KN2DI20110923?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

7. Yemen president returns, adds confusion to crisis

By AHMED AL-HAJ - Associated Press | AP – 11 mins ago.


SANAA, Yemen (AP) — President Ali Abdullah Saleh made a surprise return to Yemen on Friday after more than three months of medical treatment in Saudi Arabia in a move certain to further enflame battles between forces loyal to him and his opponents that have turned the capital into a war zone.

Saleh, who did not immediately appear in public after his return, called for a cease-fire and said negotiations were the only way out of the crisis. The statement, however, suggested he does not intend to step down immediately and was likely to only anger protesters who have been demanding his ouster for months and the military units and armed tribal fighters that back the opposition.

Abdullah Obal, an opposition leader, said he believed Saleh "returned to run the war and drive the country into an all-out civil war."

"The cannons are now speaking. Gunfire is doing all the talking," he said. "The opposition can't meet in this atmosphere. The military people are the masters of the situation now."

The crackle of gunfire continued to be heard over Sanaa after the president issued the cease-fire call. This week, the long deadlock that endured even during Saleh's absence broke down into the worst violence in months as forces loyal to the president's son attacked protesters in the streets and battled troops led by one of the regime's top rivals, Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a former Saleh aide who joined the opposition early in the uprising.

Around 100 people have been killed — mostly protesters as regime troops hit their gathering with shelling or barrages of sniper fire from rooftops. Residents have been forced to hunker down in their homes or flee the city as the two sides exchanged bombardment over Sanaa from strongholds in the surrounding hills.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/yemen-president-returns-adds-confusion-crisis-121849118.html

[tabatha]

8. Kadhafi troops fire on fleeing family convoy

SIRTE, Libya — A fighter for Libya's interim government helping desperate residents flee Moamer Kadhafi's hometown was killed on Friday and a packed family car was destroyed when pro-Kadhafi forces fired on their convoy, a local commander said.

One month to the day since Kadhafi's compound fell to rebels in Tripoli, the campaign to take Sirte and the fugitive ex-Libyan leader's other remaining bastion of Bani Walid was on hold for another day.

Asked why National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters were delaying a final assault on Sirte, commander Osama Muttawa Swehly said "we're trying to get the families out.

"We are averaging between 400 to 500 cars a day. We are basically trying to starve (the Kadhafi forces) out."

He said reports from inside the city are that there is no electricity, the water is cut off, shops are closed and people are running out of food.

"We are giving the families every chance to get out. Once that stream turns into a trickle then stops, then it will be time to act. We don't want victory at any cost."

One resident, Malik Mohammed Ferjani, left with about 40 relatives in a seven-car convoy on Friday, saying he was on a Kadhafi hit list.

"People are being executed by Kadhafi soldiers," Ferjani said. "Kadhafi soldiers have a list of 500 names; my name is on that list."

The family decided to flee "after they fired three rockets at my house this morning," he said.

He was speaking at a field hospital 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Sirte, where NTC officials were searching cars coming from the city before allowing them to proceed.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jABet66DVxO3ybe866uFD4305RNg?docId=CNG.6cb7e09286a06427c39844fc27898f2a.671

[pinboy3niner]

9. Secrets of a 'super-fixer' in Libya

Fri Sep 23, 2011 8:47am GMT

By Emma Farge and Paul Hoskins


BENGHAZI/LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Flanked by two colleagues, a 60-something Englishman quietly worked the lobby of Benghazi's Tibesti Hotel last week, targeting people likely to be the power brokers in a new Libya.

Approached by a Reuters reporter, the man declined to give his name or even shake hands, describing himself as "a very private person".

Evenings, he was at the bar, smoking cigars and talking to friends -- not in short supply given the number of former British military currently in Benghazi, a rebel stronghold. The men are there, a few of them told Reuters, as fixers or "pathfinders". Their mission is to gather intelligence and build relationships on behalf of UK companies in post-Gaddafi Libya.

His rivals said this man is a "super fixer".

They identified him as John Holmes, a highly decorated former SAS commando and retired British army Major General. This was confirmed by a a western diplomat and a member of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) who has held talks with his client, British firm Heritage Oil.

...


Former members of the highly secretive Special Air Service (SAS), or "The Regiment" as it is also known, have a "frontiersman spirit" that makes them particularly well suited to this sort of work, says one person with detailed knowledge and experience of the inner workings of Britain's special forces.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KM3BJ20110923?sp=true

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

57. So the oil companies want to select Libya's new rulers. Shocking.

Oil companies will certainly be shapers of the new Libya. As will other outside influences. Will the Libyan people have any input, or will they simply be allowed to vote on a collection of alternatives proposed by these power brokers?

Interesting times are coming.

[tabatha]

10. ibyan oil flows, foreign workers wait

LETHAL COMMUTE

Fathi Issa, chairman of the management committee of state-owned Sirte Oil, waves a small, disk-shaped anti-personnel land mine the color of milky tea, and tells reporters that 6,000 of the explosives have been found on Brega beach.

"We will bring all the workers back when it's safe. We find something new every day," Issa told Reuters last week.

According to official figures from the National Transitional Council (NTC), 40,000 mines were planted around the Brega area during this year's fighting; Military spokesman Ahmed Bani told Reuters an order for 120,000 from Brazil was placed by a Gaddafi officer during the conflict, suggesting the number could be much higher.

Rabea, an engineer at Sirte Oil who only gave his first name, commutes daily along the Brega-Ajdabiya coastal road which is flanked on both sides by war graves. He has tried three times to re-establish his daily routine since the war began, most recently in late August. "I'm not afraid. The mines are mostly on the seaside," he said, his stoicism typical of many Libyans who have witnessed months of destruction.


Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2011/09/23/libyan-oil-flows-foreign-workers-wait/#ixzz1YmuBw9Qi

[pinboy3niner]

11. Libya NTC to announce new govt in next few days

Fri Sep 23, 2011 2:42pm GMT


• NTC needs to unify country, divided by tribe, region

• Rebel fighters still struggle to take Sirte, Bani Walid

• NTC says Gaddafi manhunt draws closer to target


By Emad Omar and Alexander Dziadosz


BENGHAZI/SIRTE,Libya, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Libya's interim rulers said on Friday they would announce a new government within the next few days, signalling a breakthrough in previously unproductive efforts to form a more inclusive administration to lead the war-torn North African country.

"We've agreed on a number of portfolios and who would hold the most important ones. There will be 22 portfolios and one vice premier," said Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, a spokesman for the National Transitional Council (NTC). "It would be a compact government, a crisis government."

His comments came a day after NTC forces said they had achieved gains on the battlefield, tightening their grip on southern oasis towns which sided with Muammar Gaddafi.

That progress was overshadowed by unsuccessful efforts to take two remaining strongholds loyal to the ousted leader, which if captured would bolster the NTC's credibility.

...


Rebel fighters near Sirte and residents fleeing the city said pro-Gaddafi forces had been executing people suspected of sympathising with the NTC.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KN2F120110923?sp=true

[tabatha]

12. Analysis: In Libya's new politics, localism may trump tribes

(Reuters) - "No To Tribalism," declare the now tattered posters put up by rebels who overthrew Muammar Gaddafi, a defiant riposte to an Arab autocrat who magnified tribal cleavages with a policy of divide and rule.

But rebels also daubed walls with the place names "Misrata" "Zintan" and "Zawiya," suggesting that loyalty to hometown will be a far more potent force than kinship in post-Gaddafi Libya.

Nursing bitter memories of tribal manipulation, Gaddafi's immediate successors are working to give a technocratic gloss to their caretaker administration and minimize the influence of ancient kinship ties in the emerging political landscape.

Libyans, diplomats and political analysts say this effort may be pushing at an open door. The country's scores of tribes carry weight in Libyan society, but less so in its politics, an activity dominated by an urban elite more attuned to provincial roots than blood relations.

Unlike in Yemen or Iraq, tribal leaders in Libya tend not to be household names, in part because Gaddafi worked assiduously over decades, like the Italian colonialists of the early 20th century, to sap their power by playing off one against the other.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/23/us-libya-tribes-idUSTRE78M34920110923

[tabatha]

13. Battle for Libya: all quiet in Sirte

The fighters acknowledged that the push on Sirte has been difficult.

"It is taking a long time to reach Sirte because of severe resistance from Gathafi's forces. We don't know how long it will take even now," said Rabiya Salam, a 29-year-old former bus driver.

"But we will enter the city soon, inshallah, and search house to house for that dog Moamer Gathafi."

Inside the mosque, the prayer leader warned the NTC fighters that in their battle for Sirte they should not damage civilian property.

"Search only those houses from where you are attacked, fight only those who fire at you. Don't hurt civilians and, inshallah, victory will be yours," he said.

The fighters responded with their "Allahu akbar!"

The sermon over, the rumble of sporadic artillery fire reverberated in the distance.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=48192

[tabatha]

15. Fleeing Syrian activists are finding a haven in Libya

BENGHAZI, Libya — Syrian activists fleeing persecution for taking part in the six-month-old revolt against their government are flocking to Libya, where they face no visa requirements and can find work easily because of the exodus of foreign laborers during the uprising against Moammar Gadhafi.

With fresh bullet wounds, emotional trauma and little cash, the Syrians trade experiences with one another largely without fear of Syrian President Bashar Assad's security apparatus. They also are consulting with Libyan activists on the merit of armed rebellion, with many now convinced that taking up weapons is their only hope for toppling Assad, who remains firmly in place despite months of peaceful protests, tougher sanctions and calls from the United States and Europe for his ouster.
Several Syrians who hail from the flash point towns of Deraa, Homs and Hama, interviewed here this week, said a minority of protesters already had used weapons against Assad's forces. They described rogue attacks on checkpoints and convoys, and one told of his role in bombing a bus that was carrying militia members.

The only obstacles to wider violence, they said, are a scarcity of guns and the threat of regime airstrikes.
"We're discussing weapons, but we don't even have weapons," said Amer Abdelkarim Rifai, 47, a carpenter from Homs who fled to Libya a month ago after serving time in prison for protesting. "Our cities are ghost towns now, with schools closed and shops empty, but we'll die of starvation before we stop this revolution."


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/22/2420110/fleeing-syrian-activists-are-finding.html#ixzz1Yn72sRVh

[ellisonz]

35. The Rats of Libya Welcome the Germs of Syria!

;-)

[pinboy3niner]

38. Perfect, lol!

[tabatha]

16. Prime Minister’s first speech to the UN General Assembly

It is an honour to address the United Nations General Assembly for the first time and its a particular honour to do so as such momentous events unfold in the Arab world.

Last week I was in Tripoli and Benghazi. I saw the hunger of a people eager to get on with reclaiming their country, writing themselves a new chapter of freedom and democracy.

This has been the most dramatic episode of what has been called the Arab Spring.

My argument today is that Libya and the Arab Spring shows the UN needs a new way of working.

Because the Arab Spring is a massive opportunity to spread peace, prosperity, democracy and vitally security but only if we really seize it.

So the events of this year present a challenge to all of us.


http://www.heralddeparis.com/prime-ministers-first-speech-to-the-un-general-assembly/149991

[tabatha]

17. Private companies to ship medicine to Libya

FIMBank and Actavis in joint effort to ship medicinal supplies to Libya.

An initiative by Malta-based trade finance institution FIMBank, intended to facilitate the urgent shipment of medicinal supplies to Libya, has been endorsed by Actavis,one of the world’s leading players in the development, manufacture, and sale of first-class generic pharmaceuticals.

Actavis, which also operates a manufacturing plant in Malta, has also agreed to provide part of the required supplies free of charge. On its part, FIMBank will be waiving all fees and interest charges for international trade services connected with this shipment.

The initiative, in which other pharmaceutical companies operating in Malta have also shown an interest, has received the support of Maltese government and other public agencies which have expedited the bureaucratic process involved, including the Sanctions Board, the Customs Department and the Malta Financial Services Authority.

The shipment is expected to arrive in Libya over the next days, where it will be received by the Libyan health authorities for onward distribution to public and private hospitals in the areas affected by the current conflict.

http://shabablibya.org/news/private-companies-to-ship-medicine-to-libya

[pinboy3niner]

18. Residents flee Kadhafi hometown as assaults stall

By Rory Mulholland | AFP – 1 hour 35 minutes ago


Desperate residents fled Moamer Kadhafi's hometown of Sirte on Friday as fighters for Libya's interim government held off a final assault on one his two remaining bastions to allow civilians to escape.

A local commander with the National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters near Sirte said pro-Kadhafi forces were targeting residents even as they fled, with a fighter killed and a packed family car destroyed when their convoy was hit.

...


Asked why NTC fighters were delaying a final assault on Sirte, commander Osama Muttawa Swehly told AFP: "We're trying to get the families out.

...


He said one escape convoy had come under fire from anti-aircraft guns, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.

"One fighter was killed and one family car was destroyed," he said, with an unknown number of occupants also presumably killed.

...


http://uk.news.yahoo.com/kadhafi-troops-fire-fleeing-family-convoy-123154187.html

[Swede]

19. K&R

[pinboy3niner]

20. Countries that recognise Libya's NTC

The current listing compiled by Reuters:

Fri Sep 23, 2011 4:06pm GMT


Albania
Algeria
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Belgium
Benin
Britain
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Canada
Cape Verde
Chad
China*
Colombia
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Egypt
Ethiopia
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia
Germany
Greece
Guinea
Hungary
Iraq
Ireland
Italy
Ivory Coast
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Maldives
Malta
Montenegro
Morocco
Netherlands
Niger
Nigeria
Palestinian Authority
Panama
Portugal
Qatar
Rwanda
Senegal
Seychelles
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Togo
Tunisia
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
United States

* The African Union (AU) recognised the National
Transitional Council (NTC) on Sept. 20 as Libya's de facto
government, removing another piece of diplomatic support for
ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi.

* China officially acknowledged the NTC as Libya's "ruling
authority" on Sept. 12.

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow might
establish formal relations with the rebels if they
were able to "unite the country for a new democratic start".

(Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KM0SB20110923

[pinboy3niner]

21. Syrian security forces kill nine in Homs: activists

AFP – 19 mins ago

NICOSIA — Syrian security forces on Friday shot dead nine civilians demonstrating in the Homs area in the centre of the country, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jOwo_6R6QnxeCTcSZTIIji_U11Fg?docId=CNG.319356b1d05d041438fa9fcead8b1118.a71

[pinboy3niner]

22. Captured general says Gaddafi moving secretly in southern desert

From AJE's Live Blog:

A captured general loyal to Muammar Gaddafi has said the fugitive Libyan leader was secretly moving around in the southern desert, a commander of the new regime told the AFP news agency on Friday.

"General Belgasem al-Abaaj, who we captured on Monday, said that Gaddafi had contacted him by phone about 10 days ago, and that he was moving secretly between (the oasis town of) Sabha and Ghat" on the Algerian border, said Mohammed Barka Wardugu.

Abaaj had said that Gaddafi "is helped by Nigerian and Chadian mercenaries who know the desert routes," added Wardugu, spokesperson for the Desert Shield Brigade attached to the National Transitional Council (NTC).

The general was Gaddafi's intelligence chief in the southern Khufra region, where he was wanted by the NTC for many crimes, Wardugu said.

"I think Gaddafi is hiding in the Sahara region between Libya and Algeria," he said, adding that dozens of dozens of mercenaries and soldiers loyal to Gaddafi had been arrested in the south.

"We have arrested 18 Gaddafi soldiers, 300 Chadian mercenaries and today we caught 60 people of different nationalities (Sudanese, Somalis and Eritreans) in the vicinity of Zouila" southeast of Sabha, Wardugu said.

He said the region was calm following the capture of Sabha on Wednesday.

...

(AFP)


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-sep-23-2011-2012

[ellisonz]

36. Coward. He's trying to make a run for it!

[tabatha]

23. Clean drinking water for 100,000 people in south of country

The ICRC is helping to meet the needs of people fleeing the conflict in Libya and of the local population.

Around 4,000 refugees and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa are still living in two camps near the border with Libya. Tens of thousands of Libyans have been taken in by residents or have been able to find places to live in the area on their own.

Supplying water to Ben Guerdane and Remada

"The massive influx of people from Libya is putting huge pressure on water resources in the border area of south-eastern Tunisia," said Valeria Gamboni, in charge of the ICRC's activities in the region. "The climate is very dry, so we had to take action to ensure that the people living here and those fleeing Libya would have enough water. Although the influx of displaced people has diminished considerably, the needs remain considerable."

The ICRC is providing support for the national water board to boost the supply of drinking water in the areas of Ben Guerdane and Remada, which have been particularly hard hit.

"Work is under way that will result in a considerable increase in the volume of water supplied to some 100,000 people," said Tomasina Churchward, the ICRC engineer in charge of the project. "In Ben Guerdane, a 5.3-kilometre pipeline has just been built to link an existing well with the reservoir that serves not only the city but also nearby villages, the Choucha refugee camp and even a village in Libya in the Jebel Nefusa border region. By mid-December, a second pipeline, 10.2 kilometres long, will improve the supply of water for the people of Remada."

The ICRC has also built a water desalinisation and distribution system to improve access to drinking water for the refugees and migrants in the Choucha camp.

http://reliefweb.int/node/448500

[tabatha]

24. Libya The Future Conference in London

LIBYA - THE FUTURE EMERGENCY CONFERENCE QE11 Conference Centre London Monday 26th September 2011
Libya The Future Conference in London is about how British industry & business can help Libya rebuild itself and to help UK businesses & organisations understand how to do business with the new NTC Libyan regime.

Limited Availability
Bookings will be taken on a first come basis, delegate places can be booked from 10th September 2011.
For Exhibition & Delegate Enquiries
Stephen Foley
booking at
http://libya-conference-booking.eventbrite.com
Contact
Phone [phone] or 01706 378827

http://www.libya-conference.co.uk/#

[tabatha]

25. Libya restarts gas output

Libya has restarted its eastern gas fields to feed its large power plants on the Mediterranean, thus reducing the need for diesel after having spent billions of dollars on fuel imports during the seven months of civil war.

Energy firm Sirte Oil's chairman told Reuters gas output has resumed from the Hateiba and Assoumoud gas fields in eastern Libya and supplies were now flowing to coastal power plants.

“We have started producing and sending gas to the power plants of Benghazi and Zuetina. We even sent some power to Egypt the other day,” Sirte Oil Chairman Fathi Issa told Reuters by telephone.

“Soon we won't have to use diesel anymore.”

Fuel imports have been one of the biggest items of expenditure for interim leaders over the past seven months, costing hundreds of millions of dollars each month.

http://www.iol.co.za/business/international/libya-restarts-gas-output-1.1143725

[tabatha]

26. EU Lifts Libyan European Airspace Ban

September 23, 2011

The European Union has lifted a ban on the use of European airports and European airspace by Libyan aircraft as part of wider moves to end sanctions against the North African country.

The EU has also ended an asset freeze on Afriqiyah Airways and agreed to release funds held within the EU by 22 Libyan entities including Libyan Arab Airlines.

The sanctions were lifted following a meeting of world powers in Paris which agreed to free up billions of dollars of frozen assets to help Libya's new rulers rebuild the nation after 42 years of Muammar Gaddafi's rule and six months of civil war.

The EU had imposed sanctions on a wide range of individuals and entities in Libya this year to isolate Gaddafi, who was ousted from power in Tripoli last month.

http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1316780104.html

[pinboy3niner]

27. Libyan fighters plan new attack on loyalist city

AP – 20 mins ago


WADI DINAR, Libya (AP) — A spokesman for a unit of Libyan revolutionary fighters says they are planning a new attack on a loyalist stronghold southeast of the capital after two weeks of failed attempts to take the city under fierce resistance.

Abdel-Salam Genouna says the brigade of fighters will try to enter the city of Bani Walid from the south after failing to defeat supporters of Moammar Gadhafi from a northern front line. More than 30 of the fighters have been killed in the effort.

He told The Associated Press Friday that a lack of leadership and support from their military council was to blame.

Bani Walid is 90 miles (140 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli and is one of the last remaining strongholds of forces loyal to Gadhafi.

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

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-fighters-plan-attack-loyalist-city-172547711.html

[al bupp]

28. Syria: The revolution will be weaponized

Posted to LBN by Jefferson23

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x628237

[pinboy3niner]

29. NTC fighters enter Sirte, control eastern gate

From AJE's live Blog:

Fighters of Libya's National Transitional Council have penetrated the eastern gate of Sirte, the hometown of Muammar Gaddafi, after entering it without any resistance from the former leader's forces, a commander told the AFP news agency on Friday.

"Our fighters are in control of the eastern gate of Sirte," Commander Ahmed Zlitni from the operations centre told AFP.

"They are two kilometres (1.2 miles) ahead of the gate and holding positions there. Technically we can say that we entered Sirte from the east," Zlitni said, adding that the fighters "did not face any resistance" when they crossed the gate.

Fighter Muatiz Saad, deployed near the town of Sultana, 30 kilometres (19 miles) east of Sirte, also told AFP that a large number of his comrades had entered Sirte from the eastern gate.

"I was at the frontline and I came to know that our troops have entered Sirte from the eastern gate," he told AFP at one of their bases near the town of Harawa, around 40 kilometres east of Sirte.

Earlier this week the fighters of the National Transitional Council, Libya's new ruling body, faced stiff resistance around six kilometres ahead of the town of Sultana from loyalists of Gaddafi.

For the past four days they had been unable to push ahead and from early Thursday there was also a drop in fighting after they faced shortages of ammunition. (AFP)


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-sep-23-2011-2115

[tabatha]

31. Opinion: Gaddafi guilty of war crimes

I went to Misrata shortly after rebel forces liberated the city in mid-May. Gaddafi’s forces had relentlessly shelled this strategic port city in western Libya for two months. Most of the fighting took place in the center of the town, and journalists were able to report on the city’s destruction. What they weren’t able to document were the atrocities that Gaddafi’s forces committed in the small villages surrounding Misrata.

"Witness to War Crimes," a report I authored for Physicians for Human Rights, tells that story and shares the experiences of the people of Misrata.

Dr. Katherine Close and I interviewed more than 50 people, and we documented that Gaddafi’s forces used children as human shields to protect them from NATO bombing, disappeared elderly nursing home residents, tortured, raped and executed civilians, attacked hospitals, ambulances, doctors and their patients, and issued orders to starve civilians and block humanitarian aid from entering Misrata.

We are now uncovering a similar pattern of atrocities that Gaddafi’s forces may have committed during their final days in Tripoli: Scores of civilians summarily executed at a makeshift detention facility. Doctors wearing green scrubs found shot and killed. Sick and wounded patients rounded up or left to die in hospitals.

These are war crimes. The question remains, what now must be done?

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/opinion/110830/opinion-gaddafi-guilty-war-crimes

[pinboy3niner]

32. In Libya, Some Just Learning Of Gadhafi's Downfall

Source: NPR

September 23, 2011

by Corey Flintoff


In Libya, civilians are fleeing from Sirte, the last major town that is still in the hands of forces loyal to ousted strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

Many say they were cut off from the rest of the country, without electricity and with dwindling food supplies. Some say they knew nothing of the rebel advances in the past month, including the capture of the capital, Tripoli.

...


One man who just brought his family out of Sirte says people there are cut off from the outside world. Without electricity, he says, they had no information from outside the city, only what he called Gadhafi's "black rumors." He says many people did not know that Tripoli fell a month ago.

Others say they did know what was going on, and it gave them hope. Ismael Milaad, a 34-year-old gym teacher from Sirte, says he had access to a generator and a satellite dish, so his neighbors gathered at his house to learn what was going on.

Milaad says there are many men in Sirte who are preparing to fight the pro-Gadhafi forces as soon as most civilians are out. He adds, though, that he fears that there will be civilian casualties, because Gadhafi fighters are keeping some families trapped in the city center and using them as human shields.

...


Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approx. 7:00 p.m. ET
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/23/140738547/in-libya-some-just-learning-of-gadhafis-demise?ft=1&f=2

[ellisonz]

40. Time for some NATO leaflet drops.

[tabatha]

33. After Siege, Misrata Shuts Door on Returns

“There are hundreds of names,” Mr. Sherqessiya says, waving one stack of printouts with alleged collaborators’ details. “Anyone who has helped Gadhafi brigades, directly or indirectly, anyone who has hurt Misrata, regardless of whether he is from here or from outside, will be punished.”

Indirect help, Misratan officials say, included supplying food, water, ammunition—or information—to Col. Gadhafi’s troops.

Local fury is fueled by the fact that, during the siege, many who identified themselves as refugees from Misrata were shown on Libya’s state television participating in pro-Gadhafi demonstrations in neighboring cities and denouncing the rebels as bandits and terrorists.

Many, if not most, such demonstrations were staged by the Gadhafi regime, and participation in them was obligatory.

The restrictions on the return of refugees from Misrata are temporary, until the scarred city’s emotions abate, Mr. Sherqessiya says.

“The people are angry,” he says. “But day by day this will pass. Today we are fighting, tomorrow we say hello to each other, and the day after we’ll drink tea together.”

http://feb17.info/news/after-siege-misrata-shuts-door-on-returns/

[tabatha]

34. Journalist tells of Libyan ‘massacre’

“There was no space in the hospital... But only because all the people of the city were there waiting to donate blood. They would stay there all day and night, ready to help anyone who got injured.”

He smiles as he recalls their community spirit, but this poignant memory makes his eyes well up and he wipes away a solitary tear before the saltiness stings the fresh grazes on his face.

“The Libyans are amazing people. If they can help you they will. They were even nicer to me because I am a journalist. They all came to my room with gifts... food, T-shirts... They were telling me sorry, as if it was their fault that I got hurt.

“I remember one man, in his nineties, who lived under Italian occupation and spoke Italian, hanging around my hospital room in case I needed anything. And the doctors... They are the heroes of this battle, apart from the fighters, of course.”

Soon, he is back to recounting his adrenaline-fuelled story with Italian gusto. Mr Bernardi began his journey in Benghazi and was in Misurata during the worst part of the siege in April. After a short while away from Libya he returned to Tripoli in August and witnessed its liberation. There he saw a big improvement in the level of military organisation. But as he made his way towards Sirte, with soldiers from Misurata, he began to feel unsafe.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110922/local/Journalist-tells-of-Libyan-massacre-.385773

[pinboy3niner]

37. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 219: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

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]

39. Gadhafi's daughter says father is well, fighting

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI - Associated Press | AP – 1 hr 12 mins ago.


TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Moammar Gadhafi's firebrand daughter said in an audio recording broadcast Friday that her father is in high spirits and fighting alongside his supporters against the revolutionary forces who swept his regime from power.

In her first public remarks since the fall of Tripoli a month ago, Aisha Gadhafi accused the country's new leaders of being traitors, noting that some of them were members of Gadhafi's regime before defecting in the civil war.

"Those who have betrayed the pledge they offered (to Gadhafi), how come they won't betray you?" she said in a warning to Libyans.

The prerecorded four-minute message was broadcast on the Syrian-based Al-Rai TV, which has become Gadhafi's main mouthpiece. The elder Gadhafi, his chief spokesman and his son and one-time heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, have also released statements through the channel since the takeover of Tripoli.

...


"I assure you, he is fine, a believer in God, in good spirits, is carrying his gun and is fighting side by side with the warriors," she said.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/gadhafis-daughter-says-father-well-fighting-210048716.html

[tabatha]

41. Nope he is running like a rat, side by side and helped by desert experts.

[pinboy3niner]

43. ...

[tabatha]

42. Aljazeera's Sue Torton reporting from the East Gate of Sirte #Libya 23/9/2011

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS4Vdb4Uum0

[pinboy3niner]

44. Misurata, proud of its role in Libya revolt, looks to the future

Despite an urban tableau of wartime destruction, Misurata — an emblem of the uprising against Libya's Moammar Kadafi — has made strides in reclaiming a sense of normality amid the disarray.



Libyan fighters drive past buildings in Misurata damaged during battles this year between Libyan rebels and troops loyal to Moammar Kadafi. The western city is known as "Libya's Stalingrad" because of the extended siege it endured. (Darren Whiteside, Reuters / September 24, 2011)


By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times

September 23, 2011, 3:24 p.m.
Reporting from Misurata, Libya— Its principal commercial drag, Tripoli Street, could be the Hollywood set for an urban warfare action thriller: Charred tanks and pulverized shipping containers sit in front of blackened buildings pockmarked with rounds from bullets, rockets and sundry other lethal ordnance.


But the hellish scene in the western port city of Misurata has nothing to do with fiction. More than a thousand people were killed here and many more injured in a months-long series of street battles that ousted the forces of Moammar Kadafi from the city and eventually, its environs. No one has cataloged the vast scope of damage to homes and factories, businesses and infrastructure.


Yet, despite the devastating tableau, Misurata — which became an international emblem of the uprising against Libya's longtime autocratic leader — has already made strides in reclaiming a sense of normality amid the disarray. Even as Kadafi remains on the lam and his loyalists continue to hold out, or wreak havoc, in several towns, a certain commercial bustle is now evident amid the ruins of Misurata, dubbed "Libya's Stalingrad" during the protracted siege.


Backpack-bearing elementary school students have returned to their classes, sidestepping mounds of rubble en route. And though a colossal reconstruction effort looms — and many of the city's young men have joined the forces still seeking to liberate Kadafi's lingering strongholds — residents seem determined to get back to a semblance of everyday life.

...


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-misurata-20110924,0,3086057,full.story

[ellisonz]

46. Very few in the Western world had heard of Misrata before...now it is eponymous as Midway.

[tabatha]

45. Libyan National Amazigh Congress

RT @wheelertweets: 1st #Libyan National Amazigh Congress: Mon, Sep 26. Exhibition Hall beside Rixos Hotel in #Tripoli. Registration at 9am. Program begins 10am

[pinboy3niner]

47. Yemen unrest: 'At least 16 dead' in Sanaa attack

Source: BBC

At least 16 people have been killed in a government assault on protesters in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, a medic told reporters.

Witnesses say the demonstrators came under attack in the capital's Change Square - the focus of the protests.

The attack on the camp's southern end reportedly started late on Friday.

...


Mohammed al-Qabati, a medic at the field hospital in the square, told AP news agency at least 16 people had died in the latest government assault, which came at the end of a week of fighting in which reports say scores of people have died.

He told AFP news agency 55 were wounded in the attack.

...


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15044857

[pinboy3niner]

48. Anti #Gaddafi fighters firing #Grad rockets into sirte as they start push into #Gaddafi hometown

Al Jazeera correspondent Zeina Khodr tweets:

@ZeinakhodrAljaz

#Libya, Anti #Gaddafi fighters firing #Grad rockets into sirte as they start their push into #Gaddafi hometown, #Sirte, #Libya

1 hour ago

[pinboy3niner]

49. Turkey seizes Syrian ship, announces arms embargo

Posted in LBN by Bosonic:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x5004559

[pinboy3niner]

50. From goodwill to government

Source: Mail & Guardian

SCOTT PETERSON Sep 24 2011 10:03


As temperatures soared above 41C and rebels took control of the Libyan capital in August, the failing dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi had one last weapon: thirst. Deep in the desert, pro-Gaddafi loyalists shut off the wells and pumps that provided one-third of Libya's parched population with water from desert aquifers that are part of the vast underground "Great Man-Made River Project", which Gaddafi dubbed the eighth wonder of the world.

...


"We had a nightmare scenario, people dying of dehydration," said Panos Moumtzis, the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Libya. The United Nations Children's Fund set up an emergency hub in Tunisia to deal solely with the water crisis. "What is interesting is to see the coping mechanism of the Libyan people. They went back to old wells in their neighbourhoods; there was an incredible feeling of solidarity."

...


In Tripoli, the water crisis after the August 21 fall of the capital is a case in point. Some Libyan bottling factories distributed water for free and farmers took tankards of water into the city from their farms. Brainstorming with Libyans, the UN decided to ask the 685 mosques to send one truck each to collect and then deliver 12 bottles to every family in their area.


The council suggested supplying water first to pro-Gaddafi neighbourhoods and the poor, said Moumtzis. The charity Médecins Sans Frontières delivered water to prisons and African migrants under threat who had gathered in camps; the council insisted that Libyans join the charity to ensure a Libyan face on deliveries. "Was it perfect? No. Some people behaved in an undignified way; others were very disciplined," said Moumtzis.

...


http://mg.co.za/article/2011-09-24-from-goodwill-to-government/

[pinboy3niner]

51. Libyan forces advance on Sirte, NATO planes in skies

Sat Sep 24, 2011 6:01am EDT

NEAR SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - Columns of military vehicles of Libya's provisional government advanced on the Muammar Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte on Saturday as NATO planes roared overhead, Reuters journalists said.
...

The Reuters journalists saw forces of the ruling National Transitional Council advance from both the west and the south of Sirte.
...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/24/us-libya-idUSTRE7810I820110924

[pinboy3niner]

52. NTC fighters are inside Sirte, 4 km from city's center; heavy fighting reported

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr gave a live report describing heavy fighting as NTC forces attempt to reach and evacuate remaining civilians. NATO hit some targets overnight, and at one point about two hours ago NTC fighters had to pull back several hundred meters while NATO warplanes attacked several targets.

[pinboy3niner]

54. Reuters now reports NTC forces massing in Zafran Square, about 1 km from city's center

They are moving tanks and mortars into the square.

[pinboy3niner]

53. Sabha is calm, NTC forces negotiating with remaining loyalists to surrender weapons

Al Jazeera correspondent Tony Birtley reports Sabha is "calm and peaceful" with no fighting going on, and food and fuel deliveries are arriving.

Loyalists reportedly want to surrender their arms to NTC members, not the NTC brigades that have come from Benghazi and elsewhere. NTC commanders reportedly are promising no retribution against loyalists.

[pinboy3niner]

55. NATO airstrikes conducted Friday September 23

Key Hits 23 SEPTEMBER:


In the vicinity of Sirte: 1 Ammunition Storage Facility, 1 Anti Aircraft Gun, 1 Command and Control Node, 2 Armed Vehicles.


...


International Humanitarian Assistance Movements as recorded by NATO


Total of Humanitarian Movements**: 1418 (air, ground, maritime)


Ships delivering Humanitarian Assistance 23 SEPTEMBER: 1


Aircrafts delivering Humanitarian Assistance 23 SEPTEMBER: 7


**Some humanitarian movements cover several days.


http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_09/20110924_110924-oup-update.pdf

[pinboy3niner]

56. UPDATE 1-Libyan forces enter Gaddafi stronghold Sirte

Sat Sep 24, 2011 11:11am GMT


By Alexander Dziadosz

SIRTE, Libya, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Libyan provisional government forces backed by NATO warplanes stormed Sirte, one of Muammar Gaddafi's last strongholds, on Saturday but came under heavy sniper fire.

Black smoke billowed over the town as National Transitional Council (NTC) forces massed in Zafran Square about 1 km (half a mile) from its centre. Gunfire could be heard from the town centre as NTC fighters moved tanks and mortars into the square.

Pick-up trucks mounted with machineguns and loaded with NTC fighters raced into the town. NTC forces also advanced from the south of Sirte, the deposed leader's hometown.

"They have snipers above the mosques, above the buildings. They're using the houses and public buildings," NTC fighter El-Tohamy Abuzein told Reuters from his position on a roundabout in Zafran Square.
...

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KO0EX20110924

[pinboy3niner]

58. 30 NTC fighters killed in battle for Bani Walid

Published on Sep 24, 2011


BANI WALID, Libya (AFP) - Fighting has claimed the lives of 30 interim government fighters in the campaign to capture the Gaddafi bastion of Bani Walid southeast of the Libyan capital, Dr Mabruk Kernaf said on Saturday.

The National Transitional Council's (NTC) northern front commander said another 50 had been wounded.

This was the first overall toll given on NTC casualties since the start of fighting.

Meanwhile, an AFP reporter reported rockets being fired by troops loyal to former Liban leader Muammar Gaddafi at an NTC position some five kilometres (three miles) outside the desert city, 180km south-east of Tripoli NTC fighters launched a widespread assault on the city on Sept 10, but withdrew the same night after encountering fierce resistance.

...


http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_716249.html

[CJvR]

77. Looked up...

Bani Walid on Google Earth.

The place is a fortress, if they tried to assault it from the north they were lucky to escape with only 50 casualties. They need to bring up heavy firepower if they are to take a position like that by storm, but a far better option is to simply flank the city and take it from the south, the ground there is much more favorable.

[ellisonz]

86. Bani Walid held off the Italians for quite awhile.

The problem would be crossing the steep and open ground of the wadi that runs through it without allowing Gaddafi's men to reposition and provoked fire into residential areas. Like it or not - they are going to have to use serious fire power to punch into Bani Walid and Sirte. It's either that or a protracted siege. They could try attacking Sirte from the sea and Bani Walid with rolling artillery fire through the wadi. Divert the opposing fire and flank. Diversion generally works well. Pin them down from two sides and then systematically clear them out.

[pinboy3niner]

88. That's true--the terrain gives defenders a natural advantage

Revolutionary fighters were more successful in Sirte, advancing rapidly to the city center. Once there, though, they faced a problem similar to Bani Walid. They were at the mercy of loyalist snipers manning the urban 'high ground' of building rooftops.

Meanwhile, the NTC forces that captured the East Gate made forays 20 km inside Sirte but kept coming under shelling directed by loyalist spotters who were doing a very effective job. By dusk Saturday, the NTC fighters returned to their positions at the East Gate.

The reports of the tactical withdrawal came from AJ's Zeina Khodr, who was with the fighters who penetrated to the city center (who have now withdrawn to the outskirts of Sirte) I'm waiting to hear a report from Sue Turton, who was with the forces at the East Gate. It's likely that they have continued to hold that position, but there has been no report to confirm that.

The latest AJ reports indicated NTC currently is using heavy weapons against loyalist positions. Commanders also are reported to be holding strategy meetings today and awaiting reinforcements.

[pinboy3niner]

59. Libyan forces push into Gadhafi's hometown Sirte

By BEN HUBBARD - Associated Press | AP – 8 mins ago


SIRTE, Libya (AP) — ....

Explosions rocked the city and plumes of smoke rose into the sky as Gadhafi's forces returned fire with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. Ambulances sped from the direction of the fighting, and a doctor said at least one fighter was killed and 25 others wounded in the battle.

The fighters occupied a key roundabout called Zafaran west of the downtown area and said their goal was to occupy two neighborhoods on the western side of the city.

...


A commander of one of the brigades fighting for Sirte, Mohammed al-Sugatri, said foot soldiers had gone past the roundabout and were heading toward the downtown area. He said Gadhafi's forces and snipers also were attacking from buildings on the outskirts of the city.

The former rebels had said they would wait until civilians could escape, but al-Sugatri said commanders decided to advance because several families from the rebel-held city of Misrata were in danger.

"There are lots of people from Misrata who are stuck in the city living in basements. They have no food or water and many of their children are sick so we had no choice but to attack," he said.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-forces-push-gadhafis-hometown-sirte-120026199.html

[pinboy3niner]

60. NTC begins Sunday to discuss new, temporary government

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The NTC wants to form a government that will carry Libya into elections

• Forming the new government could take a week, a senior NTC member says

• The interim government would include a premier, a vice premier, and 22 ministers

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 9:12 AM EST, Sat September 24, 2011


Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Libya's National Transitional Council will hold an urgent meeting Sunday to discuss the formation of an interim government, a senior council member told CNN Friday.

Mohammed Naser, the council member, said the formation of a government could take up to one week, but NTC members agreed that the interim government would include a premier, a vice premier, and 22 ministers. Naser did not give further details.

...


The NTC, he said, will expand as cities are liberated in order to give representation to all regions of the country. Ultimately, the council could have approximately 80 members; it currently has 43.

...


http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/23/world/africa/libya-war/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

[pinboy3niner]

61. Libyan leader: interim govt to be named in a week

AP – 6 mins ago

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — The head of Libya's National Transitional Council says an interim government will be announced in the coming week.

Mustafa Abdul-Jalil says Libyans must (unite) to form a new government. The NTC failed to seat a new Cabinet last week amid disagreements over which cities should be represented and other issues.

Abdul-Jalil spoke to reporters after returning from New York where he and the NTC's premier Mahmoud Jibril represented Libya at the first post-Moammar Gadhafi U.N. General Assembly.
...

http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-leader-interim-govt-named-week-135050049.html

[pinboy3niner]

62. Breaking: Blasts send huge plume of smoke over Libya capital

AP – 4 mins 17 secs ago


BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — A huge plume of smoke is filling the sky over Tripoli's harbor area and explosions can be heard.

It's not immediately clear what caused the blasts, which hit Saturday afternoon.

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

http://news.yahoo.com/blasts-send-huge-plume-smoke-over-libya-capital-140803005.html

[pinboy3niner]

64. Al Jazeera reporting ammo dump accident caused Tripoli blasts nt

[al bupp]

66. You tube video of the plume (ostensibly)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdgLQ6EzBGg

[pinboy3niner]

68. A couple more reports from AJE Live Blog:

The Associate Press is reporting that a huge plume of smoke is filling the sky over Tripoli's harbor area and explosions can be heard.

It's not immediately clear what caused the blasts, which hit Saturday afternoon. (AP)

UPDATE:

An Al Jazeera team says the fire can be seen from their hotel roof.

"The big fire in Tripoli is apparently an ammunitions dump which has caught alight. We're chasing confirmation. We can hear quite loud explosions."

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-sep-24-2011-1709

The AFP news agency reports that a series of blasts that rocked Tripoli and sent up a huge black plume of smoke on Saturday was "accidental," a fighter for Libya's National Transitional Council said.

"This was just an accident. The weapons store exploded by itself. This was not caused by anyone," the NTC fighter, Abdel Basset Hussein, told AFP outside the naval base housing the munitions.

The series of explosions had erupted earlier in the afternoon, causing jitters among residents in the eastern districts of city where the naval base is located.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-sep-24-2011-1824

[tabatha]

74. Just burning tires

‎4AdamAdam by 2011feb17Most of the smoke at the naval base in Tripoli came fr fire burning in a pile of used tires, not ammunition according to eyewitness. #Libya

[al bupp]

75. Video from Algeria

http://www.algeria-isp.com/videos/politique-libye/201109-V1428/libye-fumee-ciel-tripoli-apres-explosion-port.html

[pinboy3niner]

63. NTC fighters advance to broadcasting station in Sirte

In Sirte, revolutionary fighters occupied a key roundabout called Zafaran west of the downtown area in the Mediterranean coastal city, 250 miles (400 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli. They then advanced to a broadcasting station on a major boulevard. Many were wounded by hand grenades and snipers firing from tall buildings, according to witnesses returning from the front lines.

Moftah Mohammed, a 28-year-old fighter who brought four of his wounded friends to a field hospital on the western edge of the city, described heavy gunfire from houses and fierce street battles.

He said his friends were wounded by snipers who shot them as they drove forward to fire a rocket-propelled grenade, then attackers threw hand grenades at two other revolutionary fighters who went to pull the wounded from the car.

...


More than 1,300 families have left the city in the past week, fighters said. A few dozen waiting at a checkpoint outside the city on Saturday described rapidly deteriorating conditions, with entire families hiding in basements and children suffering from diarrhea because clean water is scarce.

http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-forces-push-gadhafis-hometown-sirte-120026199.html

[pinboy3niner]

65. Yemeni president's troops kill 40 in new battles

By AHMED AL-HAJ - Associated Press | AP – 40 mins ago.


SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Forces loyal to Yemen's newly returned president attacked renegade troops with mortar shells and heavy gunfire Saturday and used rooftop snipers to pick off unarmed protesters fleeing in panic, killing more than 40 people and littering the streets of the capital with bodies.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has clung to power despite nearly eight months of protests and an assassination attempt that forced him to get weeks of emergency medical treatment in Saudi Arabia, returned to Yemen Friday. Street battles that had reignited a week earlier rapidly escalated, signaling a possible full-fledged attempt to crush his rivals and tighten his grip on the country he has ruled for 33 years.
...

http://news.yahoo.com/yemeni-presidents-troops-kill-40-battles-150251523.html

[pinboy3niner]

67. Libyans with no leadership quit Bani Walid front

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI - Associated Press | AP – 10 mins ago.


WADI DINAR, Libya (AP) — Many revolutionary fighters are abandoning one of the main fronts in the battle to rout Moammar Gadhafi's loyalists, saying they're not afraid of dying in the face of heavy resistance but are tired of the disorganization and lack of ammunition among their own ranks.

Bani Walid has proven impenetrable in part because of its daunting natural defenses — the town of 100,000 is strung along mountain ravines where loyalists hold the high ground. But the nearly month-old assault has only underscored the disarray in the forces of Libya's new rulers, which include both a relatively organized military and brigades of untrained volunteers.

The regular forces have already pulled back from the Bani Walid siege to focusing on Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte, further east on the Mediterranean coast, and other strongholds further south.

...


To enter Bani Walid from the northwest, coming from Tripoli, the revolutionary fighters must cross a steep valley, some 400 yards (meters) wide, that divides the city. Gadhafi loyalists hold the high ground on the other side, enabling them to rain down with rockets, mortarts and cluster bombs on fighters trying to approach the valley.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libyans-no-leadership-quit-bani-walid-front-155757385.html

[pinboy3niner]

69. Latest developments in the Libyan conflict

Sat Sep 24, 2011 4:06pm GMT


(Reuters) - Following are the latest political and military developments in the Libyan crisis.


• Provisional government forces backed by NATO warplanes swarmed into the city of Sirte on Saturday as they tried to win control of one of deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi's last bastions of support.


• The provisional government forces found weapons believed to be banned internationally near Sabha and Wadan, the head of the National Transitional Council (NTC) said.

...


• Forces loyal to Gaddafi who control the city of Sirte have been executing residents suspected of sympathising with Libya's new rulers, forces backing the country's interim government and fleeing residents said.


• The U.S. ambassador returned to work in Libya on Thursday, raising the U.S. flag over a re-opened embassy a month after Gaddafi was driven from power with the help of a NATO-led bombing campaign.


• Oil, the lifeblood of the battered Libyan economy, is starting to trickle onto the world market as the country recovers from seven months of fighting, but it could take as long as three years to get back to pre-war output levels, analysts say.

...


• Forces loyal to Libya's new government have occupied all districts of the desert city of Sabha, until now a stronghold of supporters of Gaddafi, and are investigating reports he may have fled the city, a government spokesman said on Thursday.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE78N00820110924?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

70. Libya fighters push into Gaddafi bastion

Source: Al Jazeera

Supported by tanks, heavy artillery and NATO bombing runs, NTC forces have reached the centre of Sirte.

Last Modified: 24 Sep 2011 14:20


Fighters aligned with Libya's National Transitional Council have launched a fierce two-pronged assault on Sirte with the support of heavy artillery, tanks and NATO warplanes.

Al Jazeera correspondents said NTC fighters on Saturday had pushed into the center of the city, overrunning positions that forces loyal to deposed dictator Muammar Gaddafi had held for months.

Gaddafi's forces battled the attackers with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades and snipers as explosions rocked Sirte and its outlying areas and plumes of smoke rose into the sky

Ambulances have been carrying casualties from the fighting, with one medic estimating that one NTC fighter had been killed and 25 wounded.

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from the battle in Sirte, said the momentum in the fighting has so far been behind the onrushing NTC troops.

...


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/2011924131234234816.html

[pinboy3niner]

71. From the Reuters update:

In the fighting for Sirte, Reuters journalists said NTC fighters had captured its strategically vital eastern gate, 50 km from the town. NTC forces had come under heavy rocket fire from just behind the gate for more than a week.

"The gate is very symbolic for us becaue it's very close to Sirte and it has raised our (morale)," NTC fighter Ahmed Khairy told Reuters, as his comrades draped the new Libyan flag over its arches and shouted: "God is greatest".

Identity cards that NTC fighters said were left behind by pro-Gaddafi fighters littered the ground at the gate. Most were owned by Libyan nationals but several belonged to Nigerians.

NTC officials have said Gaddafi used mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa to bolster his ranks during the war.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KO0EX20110924?sp=true

[tabatha]

72. philosophy

[pinboy3niner]

73. Libya returns to world community, Jibril tells U.N.

By Alistair Lyon | Reuters – 10 minutes ago


UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Libya's de facto Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril told the United Nations on Saturday his country has been reborn after toppling Muammar Gaddafi and appealed for the release of remaining frozen Libyan assets.


"A new Libya is coming to life," he said in the first appearance by Libya's new leadership at the United Nations.

...


Jibril, who headed a state economic think tank under Gaddafi until he resigned after his proposals for liberalizing the economy were rejected, told the U.N. General Assembly Libya was on a new path to a constitutional democracy and reconstruction.


"We do not claim we have a magic wand," he said, contrasting this with Gaddafi "who looked at himself in the mirror and suddenly discovered he is an almighty prophet with a solution to every problem on Earth, except for Libya's problems."

...


http://ca.news.yahoo.com/libya-returns-world-community-jibril-tells-u-n-195814746.html

[pinboy3niner]

76. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 220: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

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

[tabatha]

78. Unfortunately, NATO cannot afford another Libya

Rip Rap, that is starting already.

The opposition leaders in Syria are opening saying they are using the Libyan model for their revolution. They are forming a Syrian National Council- after the TNC, they are creating a safety zone along the border with Turkey and will ask the UN to make it a no fly zone- like Benghazi, and they are beginning to arm the demonstrators. They praise Libya.

[ellisonz]

84. They need the backing of the Arab League and the UN.

The disintegration of the former Yugoslavia is more of the Syria model. That required major boots on the ground. I do not believe the international community (without US/British/French backing)wants to take on the Syrian military (which is substantially more sizable than Gaddafi's. Syria is a tough nut to crack. Ironically, the power most positioned to help is Israel; but as we all know Syria and Israel are mortal enemies in general. I don't think the Saudis, Jordanians, and Turks want to risk upsetting the regional power balance.

Getting a UN resolution would not be easy. China or Russia would likely veto. Let's hope Assad decides to mess with Israel. It would actually probably save more innocent lives than are going to be lost if the violence goes on for a year.

[pinboy3niner]

79. Libyan NTC forces thrust deep into Gaddafi home town

Sat Sep 24, 2011 10:57pm GMT


• NTC forces mass in square near centre of Sirte

• Commanders planning to hold ground overnight

• NTC fighters say presence of civilians forcing caution


By Alexander Dziadosz


SIRTE, Libya, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Libyan interim government forces backed by NATO warplanes have mounted their deepest thrust into Muammar Gaddafi's home town of Sirte, getting as close as half a kilometre from the centre of the deposed leader's coastal stronghold.

Gunfire could be heard coming from the town centre and black smoke rose as National Transitional Council (NTC) forces massed in Zafran Square on Saturday and moved up tanks and mortars. Pick-up trucks mounted with machineguns and loaded with fighters raced in.

Field medics said two NTC soldiers had been killed and more than 20 wounded in the fighting against pro-Gaddafi forces.

...


The NTC assault plan has divided Sirte into three zones. "They took area number one and they are fighting in area number two and they are holding there until morning," NTC commander Fathi Bafhaaga told Reuters.

Reuters journalists at the scene said it was the deepest NTC fighters had got into Sirte, but it was not possible to verify whether the NTC was holding onto its gains overnight.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KO10D20110924?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

80. Bitter battle for Gaddafi's hometown

Source: Mail & Guardian

BEN HUBBARD SIRTE, LIBYA - Sep 25 2011 07:46

...


Explosions rocked Sirte throughout the day as fighters pushing in on four roads came under heavy fire from loyalist snipers and artillery guns. Along the city's main thoroughfare, they faced close-range gunfights with loyalists hiding in apartment buildings and throwing hand grenades at them from windows.

...


By Saturday evening, however, the fighters had pushed east along the city's main thoroughfare into its urban centre, overrunning a TV station and pushing loyalists farther back. Nato warplanes patrolled overhead during the fighting, and revolutionary commanders said airstrikes took out some loyalist tanks, although that could not be confirmed immediately.

...


Gaping holes marred the walls of the TV building, and two of the Gaddafi regime's green flags still flew from the roof. Two tanks sat nearby, and rebel trucks with mounted machine guns raced forward while blasting at loyalist positions. In front of a convenience store, a group of men fired a half dozen mortars, yelling "God is great!" after each one flew into the distance.


Most of the fighters came from the western city of Misrata, which saw some of the fiercest fighting in the civil war that erupted after Libyans rose up against Gaddafi in mid-February. For the assault on Sirte, they have used many of the urban battle tactics developed in the defence of their own city, including blocking the road with shipping containers and filling them with sand so they couldn't be moved.

...


At a small mosque outside town that has been converted into a field hospital, Dr Mahmoud Khlef said six revolutionary fighters were killed Saturday and close to 80 wounded, most of them by shrapnel from rocket-propelled grenades.

...


http://mg.co.za/article/2011-09-25-bitter-battle-for-gaddafis-hometown/

[tabatha]

81. Pouring Their Hearts Out

I've been busy getting myself back to some kind of normal. Life in Tripoli is improving everyday but it will take a while for everyone to get back to work and on their feet again.

I went back to work last Saturday and resumed classes that had been interupted since last February. Not all the students have been able to come back yet. Although stability is returning to Tripoli, the war continues in Sirte and Bani Walid as well as part of Sebha.

Some of my students are fighting at the front, some are involved in getting supplies to the fighters and some I haven't heard from at all - I pray they are safe and well. The rest are coming to class and we've been doing some review to get us started again. But most of all the students want to practice their speaking/communication skills. They finally have something to talk about! Never before have I seen such an outpouring of thoughts, feelings and ideas from my students. They have discovered the freedom of being able to speak their minds for the first time in their entire lives. It is an amazing thing to be a part of this, to hear them express themselves like never before. It's so wonderful!

http://khadijateri.blogspot.com/2011/09/pouring-their-hearts-out.html?spref=tw

[pinboy3niner]

82. Post-revolution delegates from Egypt and Libya address U.N.

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 3:19 AM EST, Sun September 25, 2011


(CNN) -- A pair of north African delegates addressed the U.N. General Assembly for the first time Saturday, each representing a new government formed after revolution and civil war ousted their respective long-time leaders.

From Libya, the executive chairman of the country's transitional council formally addressed the assembly's 66th annual session, saying his country was ready to "redevelop itself" and "heal its wounds."

...


Jibril's speech was in stark contrast to a rambling 90-minute address given by the former Libyan leader two years ago in which he criticized the United Nations and the composition of its security council.

From Egypt, Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr also addressed the assembly -- the first time an Egyptian delegate has done so representing a post- Mubarak government.

Long-time strongman and former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down in February, handing over power to the military and ending three decades of iron-clad rule following an 18-day popular revolution.

...


http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/25/us/un-general-assembly/index.html?section=cnn_latest

[pinboy3niner]

83. AJE reporting NTC fighters have withdrawn from Sirte

Al Jazeera reports commanders say they are assessing the situation, don't know when they will go back in.

This withdrawal is surprising, as the NTC forces had brought in shipping containers to use in establishing defensive positions, intending to hold territory gained.

The commanders said the situation is complicated by the presence of civilians who were unable to escape the city.

[pinboy3niner]

85. Commander says forces too few to hold ground, casualties too high

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr reports NTC forces suffered 9 dead and up to 97 wounded on Saturday, mostly from sniper fire.

Meanwhile, in fighting at Bani Walid AJ reports 30 NTC fighters were killed in the last 24 hours.

[pinboy3niner]

87. AP update with casualty figures of 7 revolutionaries killed, 150 wounded in Sirte

Libyan forces besiege Gadhafi's hometown Sirte

By BEN HUBBARD - Associated Press | AP – 8 mins ago.


SIRTE, Libya (AP) — Libya's revolutionary forces say they have stepped up a siege around Moammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte to wear down his loyalist forces inside.

The fighters have set up new roadblocks and checkpoints and posted snipers at key spots on Sunday.

The move comes after a heavy push by the fighters into the edge of the downtown that failed to dislodge Gadhafi's men inside Sirte on Saturday. Seven fighters were killed and 150 were wounded in fierce street battles with Gadhafi's men.

The revolutionaries took Tripoli last month, effectively ending Gadhafi's rule and sending him into hiding. But his loyalists still hold Sirte, as well as Bani Walid and pockets in south Libya.

Officer Osama Nuttawa al-Swehli says NATO hit four targets in Sirte in pre-dawn airstrikes.

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

http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-forces-besiege-gadhafis-hometown-sirte-094422942.html

[joshcryer]

89. Week 32 here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2000115