Libyan Revolution Week 18

[joshcryer]

Links to sites with updates: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya">AJE Libya Live Blog http://blogs.aljazeera.net/twitter-dashboard">AJE Twitter Dashboard http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/libya">The Guardian http://uk.reuters.com/places/libya">Reuters http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/">Telegraph http://feb17.info/">feb17.info http://www.livestream.com/libya17feb?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=footerlinks">Libya Alhurra (live video webcast from Benghazi) http://libya-alhurra.tumblr.com/">Libya Alhurra archives and updates http://www.ustream.tv/channel/benghaziradio">Benghazi Free Radio, in Arabic (may have translators present at times) http://www.tributefm.com/">Tribute FM (English broadcast from Benghazi) http://www.libyafeb17.com/">libyafeb17.com

Twitter links: http://twitter.com/#!/aymanm">Ayman Mohyeldin, with AJE http://twitter.com/#!/bencnn">Ben Wedeman, with CNN http://twitter.com/#!/tripolitanian">tripolitanian, a Libyan from Tripoli http://twitter.com/#!/BaghdadBrian">Brian Conley, reporter in Libya http://twitter.com/#!/freelibyanyouth">FreeLibyanYouth, Libyan advocate http://twitter.com/#!/LibyaFeb17_com">LibyaFeb17.com twitter account http://twitter.com/#!/ChangeInLibya">ChangeInLibya, Libyan advocate https://twitter.com/#!/TheyCallMeSof">Sofyan Amry (arrived in Benghazi recently) http://twitter.com/#!/KiloFoot">KiloFoot (general Arab Spring news aggregation)

Useful links: http://audioboo.fm/feb17voices">feb17voices http://www.google.com/search?q=time+in+libya">Current time in Libya http://www.islamicfinder.org/cityPrayerNew.php?country=libya">Prayer times in Libya

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1299332">Week 17 part 2 here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixwx_B38678">Marching On in Libya, for the revolutionaries!

Libyan children sat atop a pickup truck armed with a rocket launcher ahead of the Friday noon prayer in the Libyan rebel-stronghold city of Benghazi.

Photograph: Gianluigi Guarcia / AFP

[joshcryer]

1. Libyan Revolution Day 121 updates below, current time in Libya, 12:59pm Saturday, June 18

Link to http://pastebin.com/06Be9XG5">part 2 template.

[joshcryer]

2. Libyan rebels live by V sign, fear Gaddafi informers, Major push imminent, re: war photographers

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jO2ekRk7yOBkRRCjwk9m5sjkQJvA?docId=1ec83a561c7b4df0a6a0d8c211805607">Libyan rebels live by 'V' sign: 'We win or we die'
MISRATA, Libya (AP) — Libya's rebels are living by their slogan "We win or we die," as daily funeral processions honor those killed in the four-month-old uprising to oust longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

The rebels' all-or-nothing spirit — symbolized by the V-for-victory sign — is on display everywhere in the eastern half of the country, which they have wrested from Gadhafi's forces.

...

This series of pictures (see link) was shot in the western port of Misrata, the rebel's de facto capital of Benghazi, and in Ajdabiya near one of the front lines. The images show Libyans of all ages demonstrating their support for the revolution.

...

Among heroes who will be remembered are the five young men who decided in the first days of the revolt that began Feb. 15 that they had to take out an army sniper who was shooting at a funeral procession for protesters killed by soldiers in Benghazi.

Gallery of 18 photos at link.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/17/libya-gaddafi-informers-tripoli?CMP=twt_gu">Libyans fear the scorpion sting of Gaddafi's informers
Locals call them pimps or snitches. They wear plain clothes, drive unmarked cars and are as numerous as scorpions in the Libyan desert, only more dangerous. Loathed and feared in equal measure, they are the eyes and ears of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, and a large part of the reason that Tripoli has not been able to join the revolt sweeping the country.

The informers' work has caused hundreds of men and women, perhaps many more, to be swept up into interrogation centres for the merest hint of dissent since Libya's uprising began four months ago. A stroll through the capital's old city on Friday morning, which started with a cup of tea and ended in the back of a battered pickup surrounded by screaming men with cocked AK-47s, offered an insight into their methods.

Together with Martin Fletcher, a Times reporter, I had planned to spend Friday morning in Tripoli's picturesque medina, killing time until lunchtime prayers. Then we would take a taxi to a suburb called Tajura where, according to rumours sweeping the city, an anti-Gaddafi protest was planned for the afternoon.

We slipped out of the Rixos hotel, where all foreign journalists have to stay, at 8.45am, minutes before the government minders instructed the guards not to let anyone else through the gate, and took a taxi to the seafront. It being a Friday – the Arab equivalent of a Sunday – the downtown area was quiet.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/06/18/major-push-in-libya-imminent-115875-23208782">Major push in Libya imminent
BRITISH special forces troops are hunting down anti-aircraft weapons in Libya in advance of a massive push against Colonel Gaddafi.

The SAS are seizing and destroying deadly “man-portable air defence systems” to stop the regime from shooting down Apache attack helicopters and fighter jets.

...

Locals have been told to evacuate the towns and the front line east of Tripoli has been closed to journalists and civilians in advance of a major attack.

British and French attack helicopters are preparing to hammer Gaddafi positions surrounding the strategic town of Zlitan, 100 miles east of the capital Tripoli. A military source revealed: “There is a lot of talk on the ground about a major push to wipe out Gaddafi’s artillery defences and it is coming very soon.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/18/world/africa/18libya.html">In Libya, More Novice Soldiers in Defense of Qaddafi
TRIPOLI, Libya — Refat, 26, was happily working in the information technology department of a British retailer here until just a few months ago when he was called to military service by the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.


Now Refat, who was not fully identified because of the fear of retribution from Libyan security forces, is patrolling the rebellious neighborhood of Souq al-Juma wearing a mismatched uniform, riding in a small white government car and worried for his life each night because of the growing number of rebel attacks within the capital on soldiers like him.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jun/18/war-photographers-special-report">The shot that nearly killed me: War photographers
Attacked by a Haitian mob, kidnapped by Gaddafi's troops, shot in Afghanistan… Who'd be a war photographer?

18 stories at the link, thanks to Iterate and pinboy3niner for these updates! As usual pulled in to the new thread due to my late posting it.

[joshcryer]

3. NATO bombs Tripoli, sending Khadafy into rage

http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2011/06/18/nato_bombs_tripoli_sending_khadafy_into_rage/">NATO bombs Tripoli, sending Khadafy into rage
TRIPOLI, Libya — Provoked by renewed daylight NATO bombing of his capital, Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy raged against the alliance yesterday, screaming his message and daring Western forces to keep it up.

Khadafy spoke in a telephone call that was piped through loudspeakers to a few thousand people demonstrating in Tripoli’s Green Square at the end of a day when NATO intensified bombing runs across the capital. State television carried the Khadafy message live, then repeated it a few minutes later.

“NATO will be defeated,’’ he yelled in a hoarse, agitated voice. “They will pull out in defeat.’’

The sound of automatic weapons being fired defiantly into the air echoed through the square for hours as carloads of pro-Khadafy supporters, many with children in tow, crammed the streets leading to the plaza.

:rofl:

[tabatha]

20. Xan Rice, author of the "Scorpion Sting"

slipped out of the Rixos for that story - also enraged someone - he has been kicked out of Libya.

Smiffysmate Smiffy's Wife
by ChangeInLibya
A huge thankyou 2 @xanrice I read his article after he escaped the Rixos yesterday am & was pounced on. He's been chucked out of #Libya.

Smiffysmate Smiffy's Wife
We need a hash tag for @xanrice removal from Libya. Every other tweet on my timeline is his guardian article

[joshcryer]

4. In ravaged Libya, ghosts of a Jewish past

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/In-ravaged-Libya-ghosts-of-a-Jewish-past-1429811.php">In ravaged Libya, ghosts of a Jewish past
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — What was once the most beautiful synagogue in Libya's capital city can now be entered only by sneaking through a hole smashed in a back wall, climbing over dusty trash and crossing a stairwell strewn with abandoned shoes to a space occupied by cooing pigeons.

The synagogue, Dar al-Bishi, was once the center of a prosperous Jewish community, one whose last remnants were expelled decades ago in the early days of Moammar Gadhafi's regime.

Inside Libya, little trace of them remains. Abroad, however, surviving members and descendants of the community are very much alive, watching with fascination from afar as Gadhafi's forces and a NATO-backed rebel insurgency battle for control of a country some of them still see as home.

"I have somewhat mixed feelings. I am sympathetic to people who want him out," said Libya-born Gina Bublil-Waldman, referring to the embattled dictator.

[joshcryer]

5. Libya’s world heritage sites in danger due to unrest

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/165159/20110618/libya-world-heritage-sites-unesco-muammar-gaddafi.htm">Libya’s world heritage sites in danger due to unrest
Architectural monuments in Libya listed by the UNESCO as world heritage sites are facing dangers of destruction following revolts in Libya to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

Ghadames, an old town in Libya also known as ‘the pearl of the desert’, has already been under bomb shelling by the troops, and now Leptis Magna, a prominent city of the Roman Empire, is also in danger, The Voice of Russia reported.

Recently, UNESCO has appealed to the troops and Libyan rebels to refrain from making military attacks to protect the World Heritage sites in Libya. Although the monuments are safe at the moment, threat of their destruction remains, Eleonora Mitrofanova, Russia’s representative in the UNESCO, said.

[pinboy3niner]

6. Heavy gun battles are taking place outside Nalut in north western Libya--Al Jazeera

Heavy gun battles are taking place outside Nalut in north western Libya. Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from Nalut, described heavy explosions and plumes of smoke rising from the city.

"We can hear small arms and machine guns as well," Bays said. "Mortars and missles are also being used."

"The opposition holds ground from Tunisian border to a position where some fighters are 80km away from Tripoli."

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-jun-18-2011-1424

[pinboy3niner]

8. Gun battles in Libya's Nalut kill 8

By Reuters
Published Saturday, June 18, 2011


Gun battles between forces loyal to Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and rebels in Libya's northwestern city of Nalut killed at least 8 rebels and wounded 13 more, a rebel fighter in Nalut said on Saturday.


"The battles started yesterday and are continuing today," the fighter, Abou Saa, told Reuters. "The revolutionaries destroyed six armoured vehciles and killed more than 45 enemy soldiers. The rebels surrounded Gaddafi's forces, who are holed up in a compound."

http://www.emirates247.com/news/world/gun-battles-in-libya-s-nalut-kill-8-2011-06-18-1.403292

[pinboy3niner]

7. Libya Dismisses Vague Proposal For Elections

Source: NPR (All Things Considered)

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson
June 17, 2011


For a brief moment this week, it looked as if diplomatic efforts might have ended the crisis in Libya. The son of Moammar Gadhafi in an interview with an Italian newspaper said they could hold elections before the end of the year and have them supervised by foreigners — even NATO. But at a rambling press conference, the Libyan prime minister quashed that proposal, saying the Libyan government will accept nothing less than Gadhafi remaining their leader.


Audio (2:21) at link:
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/17/137254058/libya-dismisses-vague-proposal-for-elections

[pinboy3niner]

9. NATO condemns fiery speech by Libyan leader

(AP) – 9 minutes ago

BRUSSELS (AP) — A NATO spokeswoman is calling Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's fiery speech "outrageous."

Gadhafi raged against the alliance Friday, screaming his message and daring Western forces to keep it up as NATO bombed the Libyan capital during daylight.

NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said Saturday in Brussels that Gadhafi and his forces have been "systematically and brutally attacking the Libyan people."

She says Gadhafi forces are even using mosques and children's parks as shields.

What started as a peaceful uprising inside Libya against Gadhafi four months ago has grown into a civil war, with rebels now holding a third of the country in the east and pockets in the west.

...


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gRY9pGgNJhT_UqlHmUcHZ_vB68Rg?docId=aae31716146f44d182a7f46ba23ba8b8

[inna]

10. US-NATO Out of Libya, Now! This imperialist military intervention has

absolutely nothing to do with humanitarian reasons. Stop the war, stop the madness.

[CJvR]

13. You want to stop the madness?

Get a gun, go to Tripoli and blow Gaddafi's head off! That will stop the madness.

[bluestate10]

89. Good try. But you're wasting your time. There is blindness of the magnitude

of a monster Qaddafi is.

[tabatha]

127. The Palestinians get it - and they should know

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1320673&mesg_id=1339399

[pinboy3niner]

11. Reporter held captive in Libya speaks with McAuliffe students

By Scott O'Connell/Daily News staff
MetroWest Daily News
Posted Jun 18, 2011 @ 12:34 AM


...


Foley was reporting in the outskirts of Brega for GlobalPost about three months ago, shortly after the conflict began, when he and three other journalists were fired on by pro-Gadhafi troops. Anton Hammerl, a South African photojournalist, was mortally wounded and left to die. The rest were taken captive.


Initially fearful that they would be mixed in with violent criminals, Foley said he was surprised to find that most of those behind bars were political prisoners.


"Some of them had just sent a text message," he said. "They were charged with treason for that."

...


Despite his ordeal, Foley said he'd like to go back to Libya and find out the fates of his fellow Libyan prisoners.


"What's going to happen to them?" he said. "That's really the story of this revolution."

...


http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x226846086/Freed-Libyan-prisoner-speaks-with-McAuliffe-students

[pinboy3niner]

12. K&R

[pinboy3niner]

14. "People died for this revolution and are still dying... We will never give up"

Libya's rebel oil chief accused the west of failing to keep up its promises to deliver urgent financial aid, saying his authority had now run out of cash completely after months of fighting.


Speaking to Reuters on Saturday in a rare interview in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi, oil and finance minister Ali Tarhouni said all crude oil production had now come to a standstill due to damage caused by the fighting.


"We don't have any (cash). We are running out of everything," he said. "It's a complete failure. Either they (western nations) don't understand or they don't care."


He added: "We are not producing any oil because of the damage. I don't expect us to produce oil any time soon. The refineries have no crude oil, so they are not working."


Asked how the rebel authority would survive, he said: "People died for this revolution and are still dying. We will find a way. One thing is for sure: We will never give up."


Tarhouni said the rebel government was holding direct talks with foreign companies on future cooperation, adding that he had no qualms about dealing with those who had earlier worked closely with Gaddafi's government in the capital Tripoli.


Asked which companies he was talking to, he named Germany's Wintershall and France's Total.


"We need help, we said we respect and abide by all contracts. The only enemy that I have is Gaddafi and his killers and thugs," he said. "In terms of commerce and companies I have no enemies." - Reuters


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-jun-18-2011-1639

[pinboy3niner]

15. NATO update / Rebels take complete control of road between Zintan and Yafran--AFP

NATO said on Saturday that it had struck two military vehicle storage facilities in the capital and an armoured vehicle maintenance facility, three surface-to-air missile loaders and three anti-aircraft guns on its outskirts.


It said it had also hit five targets around the third-largest city Misrata and seven targets around the hill town of Zintan, two rebel-held enclaves in western Libya that both saw fighting on Friday.


Kadhafi forces fired a volley of Grad rockets into Misrata killing 10 people and wounding 40, all of them civilians, rebel spokesman Ahmed Hassan told AFP.


The rebels meanwhile took complete control of the road between Zintan and Yafran, an AFP correspondent reported, adding that the highway through the Nafusa Mountains, southwest of Tripoli, was dotted with destroyed tanks and abandoned government vehicles.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110618/wl_africa_afp/libyaconflict_20110618133742

[pinboy3niner]

16. Freedom of expression explodes in Libya (VIDEO report - 2:24)

Uploaded by AlJazeeraEnglish on Jun 18, 2011

There has been an explosion of freedom of expression in the Libyan city of Benghazi. Dissent was banned, until rebels assumed control.

As Sue Turton reports, today it looks like the writing could be on the wall for Muammar Gaddafi.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWlanHP8gWk

[tabatha]

17. 'We would have been in danger if not for the Libyan uprising': Tunisian President

'We would have been in danger if not for the Libyan uprising': Tunisian President
Contrary to many, the interim leader sees the effects on Tunisia of what is happening in Libya in a positive light. “I don’t think there are dangers. We would be in danger if it wasn't for the Libyan problem. Because Colonel Gaddafi said from day one that Ben Ali should not go. And I personally think that he was rallying all those forces against Tunisia: the troops and the mercenaries from Africa. Fortunately there was an awakening among the people of Benghazi. If there hadn’t been, Tunisia would have been the target. And because of the refugee problem, by receiving a few shots every day, we are helping both sides, because we are contributing to them disarming.”
http://english.ahram.org.eg/~/NewsContent/2/8/14481/World/Region/We-would-have-been-in-danger-if-not-for-the-Libyan.aspx

#Libya - #Tunisia| A defector Libyan brigadier general disclosed to the Tunisian authorities, the plan to sabotage the Tunisian revolution & to spread the chaos in the country, by sending about 30,000 armed mercenaries few days before the outbreak of the Libyan revolution, the plan is led by Leila Trabelsi, the wife of the ousted Tunisian President Bin Ali & Gaddafi. Confirmed
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/b6iesd

"ibyanproud libyanandproud
The Moroccan King giving a speech makes me think How come we got stuck with #gaddafi ? He swears at us , calls us rats , spits on us !"
King of Morocco takes first steps to democracy
A major effort to try to respond to calls for more democracy and accountability, King Mohammed VI of Morocco has announced proposed constitutional changes that would reduce his nearly absolute powers and pick a prime minister from the largest party elected to Parliament as head of the executive branch.

But his plans fell considerably short of the constitutional monarchy that many protesters have demanded and would leave the King with absolute control over the military and religious matters.

The proposals will be put to a national referendum on July 1, instead of in September as originally planned.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/king-of-morocco-takes-first-steps-to-democracy-20110618-1g912.html#ixzz1PdqKvMbh

Thankfully, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco did not have to call in NATO for help. Also, without the Libyan uprising, maybe the Tunisian one would have failed, too. Bad for the Arab Spring in the region. And then the suppression of human rights, freedom of expression and woman's rights would have continued. In countries like that Inna would not have been able to express herself, no matter how uninformed the opinion.

[pinboy3niner]

18. Council urges probe of sinking refugee boats in Mediterranean

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The U.N. Human Rights Council is looking into the sinking of boats

• Some have said that the boats were left to drown despite the ability of area ships to save them

• Thousands of people have fled the Libyan conflict by sea

By the CNN Wire Staff
June 18, 2011 -- Updated 1427 GMT (2227 HKT)


(CNN) -- The U.N. Human Rights Council has called for an investigation into allegations that sinking boats carrying refugees fleeing the war in Libya were left to drown despite the ability of ships in the area to rescue them.


The council cited several reports of incidents in recent months of overloaded or mechanically unsound boats sinking in the Mediterranean Sea. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said last month that nearly 600 people may have drowned when a boat broke up off the coast of Libya.


In a resolution adopted Friday, the Geneva-based human rights council expressed its sadness over the deaths at sea. The victims were mostly Africans. The council said it had accounts from survivors and family members who said that 1,200 people remain unaccounted for.


The council urged the U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants and other bodies with related mandates to look into the plight of those fleeing by sea and denied assistance or rescue when approaching the countries of destination.

...


http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/06/18/libya.war.refugees/

Also, from an AFP news report:

Catholic aid group Sant'Egidio said 1,820 African migrants, most from south of the Sahara, had drowned in the Mediterranean since the beginning of the year.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110618/local/more-libya-refugees-arrive-in-sicily.371199

[pinboy3niner]

19. In Libya, Delusion Makes a Last Stand

Source: New York Times

By JOHN F. BURNS
Published: June 18, 2011


TRIPOLI, Libya —

...


Still, to see Colonel Qaddafi in his oversize sunglasses laboring clumsily over a chessboard with Kirsan N. Ilyinov, president of the World Chess Federation and a fervent believer in cosmic aliens, and then beaming as he was offered a diplomatic draw, was to be reminded of other moments of illusionist denial by autocratic rulers at moments of the most desperate chaos beyond their palace gates: Nero, fiddling in Rome; Stalin, reportedly locked in seclusion in the days after Hitler’s tanks invaded; Mao Zedong carousing with concubines as Red Guard zealots convulsed China with their puritanical brand of Maoist egalitarianism.


To sojourn in Tripoli is to travel deep into a world of illusionism and deceit. This is a world where much of the evidence available to an outsider suggests that Colonel Qaddafi, the “Brother Leader” and “Revolutionary Guide,” has led his followers into a narrowing cul-de-sac; where few if any with access to the colonel, by their own accounts, seem ready even to whisper that the game may be up; a world where a battalion of official spokesmen, inured to a lifetime of wrenching reality into the shapes commanded by propaganda, seem intent on turning truth on its head — a world, in short, where a leader beset by a murderous civil war thinks it normal to spend his Sunday afternoon playing chess.


For all that, the Qaddafi dictatorship is unusual for its lack of rigor and efficiency. In Libya, at least in the two-thirds of the country not yet lost to the rebels, a dictatorship that has all the standard instruments of suppression and fear seems in some measure to have lost the power to command the fealty of its citizens. This seems true not just in areas controlled by the rebels, and not alone in the areas of Tripoli like Tajura, Souk al-Juma and Feshloom that were fountainheads of the uprising’s early weeks and where an active underground survived the sustained use of live fire against protesters in February and early March. Now it seems broadly true among the population at large.

...


What was surprising in these encounters was that the Qaddafi government has shown from the start its readiness to deal violently with its opponents. Bookshelves of human rights reports, and testimonies from survivors, tell a story of Colonel Qaddafi as a man who might well have studied the grimmest practices of other dictators who built an elaborate machinery of fear to suppress dissent. For decades, Libya has had its ubiquitous secret police, its archipelago of Abu Ghraib-like prisons, and a chilling narrative of “disappearances,” extrajudicial murders and summary executions, often after torture. The victims number in the thousands.

...


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/19/weekinreview/19fear.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

[tabatha]

21. Female freedom fighters, NATO's mission in Libya, Ambivalence in "pro-Gaddafi" district of Tripoli

ChangeInLibya Mhalwes
by Smiffysmate
Tripoli: For the first time, a recorded statement from a group of armed female freedom fighters in the capital youtu.be/h1sCvrGzpVg
Tripoli girls pure and Cjat Atzlhan Atahbn the zero hour to stand shoulder to shoulder with their brothers and rebels to protect self-defense battalions of mercenaries and the tyrant Alqmafimtahabon you, and are ready Qmafikraba, God willing,
http://youtu.be/h1sCvrGzpVg

NATO's mission in Libya
The White House has been forced to defend President Obama's policy on Libya, after a group of congressmen filed a lawsuit against him.

The bipartisan group says the president's actions violate the US constitution. The lawsuit alleges that the president violated the US constitution by intervening militarily for more than 60 days, without seeking approval from congress.

After three months of military operations in Libya, questions are mounting about NATO's ability to bring about a resolution to the conflict. So what is NATO's mission achieving? Are there any other options, and what is the likelihood it will succeed?

Inside Story with presenter Teymoor Nabili, discusses with Justin Logan, associate director of foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute; Guma el-Gamaty, the UK Representative for Libyan Transitional National Council; and Philip Stonor, a former Royal Navy Warfare officer.
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/insidestory/2011/06/20116178921373319.html
Guma el-Gamaty - smart man, Justin Logan - not impressive.

Ambivalence in "pro-Gaddafi" district of Tripoli
While the majority of more than a dozen people interviewed in a market in Abu Salim said they liked Gaddafi, the die-hard supporters whom state TV often depicts cheering him on to the percussion of automatic gunfire seemed very few on the ground.

Many were apathetic and one shop owner, who did not give his name, said people in the area pretend to support the Libyan ruler "because of fear and intimidation."

"I'm pretty sure ordinary people will not fight to defend the regime," he said. "We are very tired of Gaddafi."

Libyan government minders strongly advise reporters not to venture into Abu Salim, saying its residents hate foreign journalists and that it is not safe to go without the protection of the Gaddafi government.

But in two hours Reuters reporters spent in a market, there was little sign of hostility apart from a scowl from one passerby.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110618/wl_nm/us_libya_gaddafi_neighbourhood

[Iterate]

22. In Tripoli, Muammar Gaddafi's opponents are preparing for a new uprising

In Tripoli, Muammar Gaddafi's opponents are preparing for a new uprising when rebels draw closer
Opponents of Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli are preparing to launch a new uprising, as they lose their fear of the embattled regime's weakened security forces.

By Nick Meo, Tripoli 7:12PM BST 18 Jun 2011

The first sign that the street was anti-Gaddafi was a surprising whisper from the men in T-shirts and jeans who were loitering in shop doorways.

"David Cameron, very good," they said with a wink – coded approval for Nato's bombing campaign against Gaddafi.

Soon a young man called Abdul approached, eager to tell the outside world that Tripoli's youths have not lost their zeal for fighting the regime.

"We're waiting for the moment," he said. "Bit by bit the government is losing its control. There are no security forces in Tripoli any more – they are all at the front.

more... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8584268/In-Tripoli-Muammar-Gaddafis-opponents-are-preparing-for-a-new-uprising-when-rebels-draw-closer.html

That may be the first sign on "the street" as Meo puts it, but the shift in journalists' reports from Tripoli in the past few days suggests a loss of control of the message that's getting out.

At some point in the not-too-distant future, four million Libyans will want to tell their stories, all at once. I hope people are ready to listen.

[tabatha]

23. “What I Saw in Benghazi” – By William Hague

It has been four months since the Libyan people decided that they would no longer be denied their basic freedoms. And it has been 90 days since NATO-led operations prevented a brutal massacre in Benghazi and stopped the sort of slaughter that we witnessed in Srebrenica in 1995. From the start, these operations have had one objective: to protect civilians from the murderous actions of the Gadhafi regime. Our actions have saved countless lives. As we mark this milestone and reflect on progress, it is clear that our action is still necessary, legal and right.
...

I visited Benghazi two weeks ago to meet the key figures in the opposition National Transitional Council. During my visit I saw a different Libya from the one oppressed for years by Gadhafi. I saw an alternative vision of an open, plural and democratic Libya that draws on the wealth of the country’s natural resources and strength of her people. I saw a flourishing civil society born out of a desire for a better future. I heard calls and witnessed an earnest ambition for Libyans to secure across the whole of their country a new way of life free from the tyranny of secret police, bunk political philosophy and a state-directed economy. I detected the deep-seated yearning for these changes that we are seeing expressed across the Arab world, from Syria to Yemen and beyond. I saw that same Arab Spring spirit in Libya.

This spirit must not be stifled. We must intensify our efforts to ensure that it can be achieved by all Libyans. But to get there, the National Transitional Council and the Libyan people require international support. They require funding to meet basic needs. Gadhafi’s state-directed economy siphoned the profits of Libya’s economy into private offshore accounts now frozen by the U.N. Security Council’s sanctions. The security situation in the country means that the opposition cannot yet pump oil to get a sustainable stream of revenue flowing. I urge all those who want to see change in Libya to contribute to the temporary fund announced last week at the Contact Group in Abu Dhabi.

http://feb17.info/editorials/what-i-saw-in-benghazi-by-william-hague-uk-foreign-secretary/

[tabatha]

24. Muammar Gaddafi war crimes files revealed

By: Chris Stephen
Thousands of documents that reveal in chilling detail orders from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s senior generals to bombard and starve the people of Misrata have been gathered by war crimes investigators and are being kept at a secret location at the besieged Libyan port.

The documents, some of which the Observer has seen, will form damning evidence in any future war crimes trial of the Libyan leader at the International Criminal Court. The court’s prosecutors are expected to travel to the city to view the documents once the daily bombardments have ceased.

One document shows the commanding general of government forces instructing his units to starve Misrata’s population during the four-month siege. The order, from Youssef Ahmed Basheer Abu Hajar, states bluntly: “It is absolutely forbidden for supply cars, fuel and other services to enter the city of Misrata from all gates and checkpoints.” Another document instructs army units to hunt down wounded rebel fighters, in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions.

Plans to bombard the city are also in the archive, say investigators, who also claim they have a message from Gaddafi relayed to the troops ordering that Misrata be obliterated and the “blue sea turned red” with the blood of the inhabitants. The documents are expected to form a crucial element of any trial against Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and his intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi if, as is expected, ICC judges confirm indictments for war crimes and crimes against humanity that are demanded by its chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo.

“From what we have here, the case is already proved,” Khalid Alwab, a Misrata war crimes investigator, told the Observer. “All the evidence is here. Signed and stamped.” The documents have yet to be revealed to the ICC, according to the 60-strong team of Libyan lawyers who brave daily shelling to collect evidence from the city. “We are ready to show them to the ICC,” said Alwab. “They are free to contact us.”

http://feb17.info/news/muammar-gaddafi-war-crimes-files-revealed/

They have to get this guy alive and take him to the Hague.

[tabatha]

27. A different take from the Guardian

"In these boxes, hidden at a secure location in the besieged rebel city of Misrata, lie thousands of documents containing the orders given by the Libyan leader and transmitted by his generals to unleash the torture, arrest and bombardment that have torn the country apart. For war crimes prosecutors, they are pure gold."

"The Observer was last week granted exclusive access to view some of the files – documents that even the ICC has not yet seen. A glance at the paperwork is astonishing: on the top of one file is a letter from 4 March, two weeks after Misrata rose up to defy Gaddafi, signed by the general he put in charge of the operation to quell the protest: Youssef Ahmed Basheer Abu Hajar. Addressed to the "fighting formations", which had by then cut all roads into the city, it issues a blunt instruction: "It is absolutely forbidden for supply cars, fuel and other services to enter the city of Misrata from all gates and checkpoints.""

"The fact that this evidence is available is down to the quick thinking of Misrata's young lawyers: when rebellion broke out on 17 February they had the foresight to rush around the city, urging the protesters who broke into army bases and police stations not to set the buildings ablaze. And when rebel forces, aided by powerful Nato air strikes, finally pushed Gaddafi's forces from the city, the lawyers were there again – persuading commanders not to destroy bases and depots that were overrun. Contrast this to the situation in the rebel capital, Benghazi, where protesters simply torched every official building they could find, taking with it every scrap of evidence."

"More surprising, given the three months of horror he has been through, is Alwab's passionate desire that Gaddafi and his generals get a fair trial; the lawyers want to ensure that all defendants have good defence lawyers, and hope foreign lawyers will do the job to remove even the hint of bias."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/18/gaddafi-misrata-war-crime-documents?intcmp=239

[pinboy3niner]

25. NATO says its aircraft hit Libyan rebel column

Sat Jun 18, 2011 8:47pm GMT


BRUSSELS, June 18 (Reuters) - NATO said on Saturday its aircraft carried out an attack on a column of military vehicles this week that Libyan opposition forces said injured 16 of its fighters.


Rebel spokesman Farag al-Moghraby said on Thursday the air strike took place near Ajdabiyah, eastern Libya, and that six rebel pickup trucks fitted with anti-aircraft guns had been destroyed.


"NATO can now confirm that the vehicles hit were part of an opposition patrol," it said in a statement after investigating the rebel report of the incident.


"This incident occurred in an area of conflict between Gaddafi forces and opposition forces," it said.


"A column of military vehicles including tanks was observed in an area where Gaddafi forces had recently been operating. In a particularly complex and fluid battle scenario, it was assessed these vehicles were a threat to civilians and they were subsequently engaged by NATO aircraft."

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE75H0AN20110618?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

26. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 122: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 1:20 AM SUNDAY, JUNE 19

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

[pinboy3niner]

28. Libyan medics battling to survive

Source: The National (UAE)

Tracey Shelton (Foreign Correspondent)
Jun 19, 2011


AJDABIYA //

...


Through the bursting bombs and shellfire raced a Libyan Red Crescent ambulance van. Inside were five volunteers who had just rescued a rebel fighter who would later lose both legs, but survive. The team had rushed him from the front to the nearest field hospital in Ajdabiya. They turned around at once and returned to collect more of the injured.


"Bombs were dropping all around us," said Mohammed Musrate, a medic with the crew. "We were under heavy fire from Nato and Qaddafi's men."


Hurtling back across the desert, the ambulance was struck from behind by a fierce explosion. Shrapnel and glass tore through the rear doors, and three of the crew were hurt. A metal shard tore through the rib cage of the team's leader, Dr Salah Al Awame. Minutes later, four days after his 28th birthday, he died on the way to the hospital as Mr Musrate struggled to revive him.

...


Dr Salah's death has become an all-too-familiar fate amid the rebel's war against government forces. Ill-equipped, poorly-armed and with little military training, estimates of the number of rebels killed vary widely - from 10,000 to 30,000 - and the death toll continues to soar.


Amid the carnage, hundreds of doctors, nurses, drivers and medics have been working in hospitals, ambulances and ad hoc field facilities. The rebels' medical volunteers work day and night, often in unspeakable conditions, with minimal supplies, outdated equipment and no pay.

...


http://www.thenational.ae/featured-content/channel-page/news/worldwide/libyan-medics-battling-to-survive?pageCount=0

[pinboy3niner]

29. Libyan Satellite TV Website Hacked

Posted: 2011/06/18
From: Mathaba




http://mathaba.net/news/?x=627182

[tabatha]

30. Nascent talks underway to help resolve Libyan crisis – UN chief

18 June 2011 –
While an agreement to end the crisis in Libya is still a long way off, the beginnings of a negotiation process have begun under the auspices of the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

In his remarks to the third high-level meeting with regional organizations on Libya, which was held in Cairo, Mr. Ban added that finding a political solution to the crisis remains the top priority of the world body.

He also stressed the importance of a coordinated effort and consistent message from the world community to the actors on the ground in Libya, where fighting has been raging for months between Government forces and rebel groups seeking the ouster of Muammar al-Qadhafi.

“Each passing day brings more turmoil to the people of Libya, the situation is still very fluid and the front lines keep shifting. It is important that we continue to work together,” Mr. Ban told the meeting via video-conference.

The talks that are now underway are being held under the auspices of the Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Libya, Abdul Elah al-Khatib.

Mr. Ban also voiced strong concern about the humanitarian situation inside the country, where there are shortages of food, fuel, medical personnel and dwindling access to water services. UN agencies and their partners have been working to assist as many of the affected civilians as possible.

“The UN's humanitarian efforts are taking place under extremely difficult circumstances,” he noted.

The Secretary-General also discussed his concerns about the humanitarian situation in a phone call yesterday with Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi.

Also participating in the Cairo meeting were representatives from the African Union, European Union, League of Arab States, and Organization of the Islamic Conference.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38765&Cr=Libya&Cr1=

[tabatha]

31. Gaddafi Crimes

http://newlibya.com/?p=36

[tabatha]

32. On a shoestring, Libya's Misrata seeks normality

Matt Robinson

MISRATA, Libya (Reuters) - Police colonel Hisham Dweni knows the sense of community spirit in the rebel-held Libyan city of Misrata will only last so long. Soon, the men manning the bullet-marked front desk at the central police station will need to be paid.

"We know the NTC (National Transitional Council) doesn't have much money. But we hope to receive some, soon," said Dweni, a stocky 43-year-old police investigator in this battered Mediterranean coastal city.

He was among dozens of police officers who answered the call last month of the provisional rebel authority in Misrata to return to work, without pay.

Just weeks since it was the scene of some of the bloodiest battles of the Libyan war so far, Misrata is dragging itself to its feet thanks to a volunteer workforce and a deep sense of pride in what was once an affluent trading hub.

http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE75G1DC20110617

[tabatha]

33. Mass grave discovered in Libyan town

Published 18 June 2011 23:52 306 Views
A tip off from a former secret police officer have led residents in the rebel-held town of Derna in eastern Libya to unravel secrets that were hidden by Muammar Gaddafi's regime for decades. A mass grave has been discovered in the area, and forensic doctors have found pieces of bone and clothing. They fear there are as many as seven people buried there. Al Jazeera's Sue Turton reports from Derna.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6kYQGXZhfE

[pinboy3niner]

34. Libya uprising

Source: The Pakistan Observer

Sunday, June 19, 2011, Rajab 16, 1432
Sara Ehsan


The wind of bringing revolution in the countries of Middle East start in the early months of 2011, where the people and opposition of Tunisia and Egypt were raising their voice against the autocrat regime in their country and demands, dictatorship Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt to step down. Inspired by protestors of Tunisia and Egypt, followed on the footsteps, the workers, youth and poor people in Libya have stood up against a government of dictatorship Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who has been ruled for 42 years, since September 1, 1969, at the young age of 27. This uprising in Libya has the same causes as those in Tunisia and Egypt to get freedom from government and hold democratic elections. All power of decision making is in the hands of Gadhafi himself, his family, and supporters. Lack of personal and press freedom under Gadhafi’s rule and no opposition parties were allowed to organize anything without his consent. .


Libya is the only African country besides Algeria and Nigeria that possesses large reserves of very high quality oil and natural gas is mainly exported to European countries. Despite an oil rich country, Libya suffers from economic disaster. It is a country, where unemployment rate is 30%, prices of basic foodstuffs such as rice, flour and sugar have increased by 85% in the last three years. His people expected that oil would be spent on the welfare of its own people, economy would flourish, industries would be established, democratic norms would take roots, and the prosperity and liberalism would flourish but Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, made business deals to plunder the country’s oil wealth and used the country as a barrier against illegal migration in Europe. He did not stop getting dictation, called as “American imperialism”.


His regime secretly channeled funds and weapons to a number of violent revolutionary organizations world wide. He also permitted to use Libya as a base of operations and training camps for some countries. After 9/11 event, Gaddafi took measures to improve his relations with the United States and other Western countries by announcing that Libya was destroying its weapons of mass destruction and offered to assist them in the “war on terrorism”. Libya’s people are not interested in imperialism but Gaddafi’s deals with imperialism. These are the real background behind the Libya uprising. For this reason Colonel Muammar Gaddafi supported Hosni Mubarak and Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali against the revolutionary uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.


Unlike the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, the Qaddafi regime has proven itself to be able and willing to use brutal military force against protesters during uprising in Libya. He used well equipped armed militias to fire the crowds and foreign mercenaries to attack protesters because he does not trust his own soldiers due to some joined the protest. Repression has reached such a brutal level that they have used the air force to bomb the protestors and thousands of protestors have been killed by Gaddafi’s security forces. Since the uprising began, he ordered to block the internet, satellite and news channels and forbidding foreign journalists from entering. Mobile coverage interrupted and electricity cut off, house fall into darkness. Since the beginning of uprising, Col. Muammar Qaddafi has been ignoring the legitimate concerns of opposition groups and painting them as tools of al Qaeda. He said on February 24 that “What is happening now is not the people’s power. It is international terrorism led by al-Qaeda”.

...


http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=98364

[Iterate]

35. A damning document against the mercenaries in the pay of Gaddafi.

A damning document against the mercenaries in the pay of Gaddafi.
Saturday, June 18, 2011 8:02 p.m.

TUNIS (TAP) - The center of Tunisia for the freedom of the press opened on Saturday afternoon, its new headquarters in Tunis, an event dedicated to the image with the program, the screening of a documentary'' the last ally of Qaddafi''Tunisian director Zuhair Latif and a photographic exhibition and Aymen Omrani Zied Ben Romdhane.

At the opening of the event, President Mahmoud Dhaouadi the center, noted that the image has played a crucial role in the fall of the Tunisian and Egyptian, hence the need, he said, to intensify the work of conservation and archiving of all productions made during the revolution to preserve this heritage and protect it from tampering.

Journalists and photographers have become real soldiers to capture the best images at the peril of their lives, he noted.

To a full house, Zouheir Latif director of the documentary''The last ally''Qaddafi said that his film is produced by the BBC and will be released next Friday at 20h on this system.

more... http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tap.info.tn%2Ffr%2Ffr%2Fculture%2F4606-un-documentaire-accablant-contre-les-mercenaires-a-la-solde-de-kadhafi.html&act=url

or in the original French... http://www.tap.info.tn/fr/fr/culture/4606-un-documentaire-accablant-contre-les-mercenaires-a-la-solde-de-kadhafi.html

The value of this TAP article isn't necessarily in its content, but as a heads-up for the coming BBC documentary. I collected a few links regarding Chad and JEM. Looks like the time is right to post them.

[Iterate]

37. Libyan Mental TV

LMTV�LOGO

Libyan Mental TV, is a venue to show sides of Libya that are unprecedented, whether it is in depth interviews of common everyday characters or events that rarely take place all over Libya.

The idea started when my cousin and I exchanged ideas over the summer up to last winter, and we finally settled on the format and theme of the channel.

Libyan Mental TV, is short for Libyan Mentality TV, if that was short at all, it focuses on the Libyan mentality and attitude towards things and it is exhibited in a humorous way, thus we chose to call it Libyan Mental-TV (LMTV)

http://lmtv.wordpress.com/

I was just looking to see if BBC had scheduled the documentary mentioned above and ran across this. I haven't vetted it at all, but most of the video is from 2007-2008 and some of it is bound to be interesting. Silly me, I thought it had to be all about State TV.

Here's one place to start:
http://lmtv.wordpress.com/2007/04/09/bbc-libya-documentary-half-hour/

[pinboy3niner]

36. Gaddafi artillery kills four rebel fighters West of Misrata

Four rebel fighters were killed on Sunday when their positions west of the city of Misurata came under artillery fire from government troops, a Reuters reporter said.

The reporter, at a field hospital near the front line, said he saw the dead and wounded being brought to the hospital in the backs of pick-up trucks.


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-jun-19-2011-1119

[tabatha]

38. NATO LIES by Libyan State TV

1) No downed NATO helicopter

fieldproducer Neal Mann: A NATO official says that a report on Libyan State TV of a downed apache helicopter is not true and 'a fabrication' #Libya

2) NATO did not target residential area

Wing Commander Mike Bracken, NATO spokesman,
tells Al Jazeera NATO did not target Souq Al Juma area of Tripoli, only missile site #libya

Guma_el_gamaty Guma El-Gamaty:
I had calls from tripoli 2 say housing compound in arada suq aljumaa wer civilians died was hit by missile launched from land by G forces!!

Tripolitanian Libyan
@RRowleyTucson @ForLibyanWomen the angle it fired at was below critical angle of 45, meaning it either hit surface or helicopter

RRowleyTucson Robert Rowley
#Tripoli: Many reports home hit in #AradaSouqAlJumaa was struck by #Gaddafi land to land rocket purposely to blame on @NATO. #Libya

NAVYBOYUK
watched the sky report again whats missing 1/no plaster on the walls 2/no belongings 3/no bodies 4/no furniture 5/same "confused" and "shocked" goons standing around ibrahim as if they where there living in the neighbourhood.


(Photo taken by http://twitter.com/#!/fieldproducer)

Jen Armour
local residents are tweeting that they believe that this building, which was mostly vacant, was hit by a pro-Gaddafi rocket, not by NATO

Abubaker Amry
does not look like air stikes what do you think

Gaddafi forces launch surface-to-surface missile on Tuesday evening in Tripoli
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ughpN459Fjw
The tyrant's brigade launches most probably a ballistic missile at the time of the passage of NATO last Tuesday in Tripoli, I wonder why....?

Comment on AJE blog
There is line of artillery around Tripoli positioned in 3 locations: Ghut AlRuman, Wadi Al Rabee3 and the Swani . This artillery line is aimed at Tripoli in case it revolts all together.LibyaFeb17

Also, reporters at Rixos hotel reported a quiet night (NATO jets) on the night the residential area was reportedly hit.

On edit, new photo. Additionally, there was no smoke seen in the Sky News report - they got there when the ambulance was racing off.


(Photo taken by http://twitter.com/#!/fieldproducer)

See his FB page for more details:
http://www.facebook.com/Fieldproducer

Tarek Ali - Qadafi launched rocket from the nearby area of Tripoli to increase the pressure on the international collation against him
Tarek Ali - I heard this from Soq Elgomaa residential area man

[tabatha]

44. NATO acknowledges civilian casualties in Tripoli strike

19 Jun. 2011
NATO acknowledges civilian casualties in Tripoli strike

Naples – NATO says that a military missile site was the intended target of air strikes in Tripoli last night. However, it appears that one weapon did not strike the intended target and that there may have been a weapons system failure which may have caused a number of civilian casualties.

“NATO regrets the loss of innocent civilian lives and takes great care in conducting strikes against a regime determined to use violence against its own citizens,” said Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, Commander of Operation Unified Protector. “Although we are still determining the specifics of this event, indications are that a weapons system failure may have caused this incident,” he added.

This campaign has conducted over 11,500 sorties and every mission is planned and executed with tremendous care to avoid civilian casualties. NATO remains fully committed to this operation.

NATO’s operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR is being conducted under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973. This mandate authorizes NATO to use all necessary measures to protect the civilian population of Libya. The Qadhafi regime could stop all this fighting by complying with the international community’s demands.

http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/news_75639.htm

Feels a little like the Anthony Wiener story, where everyone had Breitbart wrong (because he's a bad guy) - but he was correct for once.

----------- Update: at least there is this now on record:

libyanproud libyanandproud
@jfjbowen even moussa Ibrahim admitted it was the first time civilians casualties by NATO ! We still appreciate NATO involvement

[pinboy3niner]

39. Libya: Misrata's terrifying routine

19 June 2011 Last updated at 14:02 ET

Andrew Harding
Africa correspondent


...


After weeks of fighting on a long, meandering front line that seems to have got bogged down in the dunes, woods and orchards surrounding this rebel-held city, the conflict here has settled into something close to a daily routine. Terrifying and chaotic - but a routine nonetheless.

...


By the time we reached a nearby field clinic the front line ambulance crews had brought in six dead, and 36 wounded fighters - a little higher than usual, but nothing out of the ordinary in this war of attrition. The casualties had already been sent back to the main hospitals in the city centre.


And so by early evening, the usual crowds were gathered outside the Hekma hospital in Misrata, scanning through lists of the dead and wounded. The death toll had risen to 10 by then. Local radio started broadcasting appeals for blood donations.


A little later, we heard more explosions coming from the port area, and news of another civilian casualty. For weeks Misrata itself has been spared the indiscriminate bombardments that killed so many civilians here in April and early May. But somehow Col Gaddafi's rockets seem to be back in range. On Friday, a woman was killed in her kitchen. On Saturday, another woman was killed. Today, a pregnant woman was badly injured.

...

Tomorrow, I imagine, will be much the same.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13833095

[pinboy3niner]

40. What's really going on in Gadhafi's Tripoli?

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• CNN's David McKenzie gets away from Libya government minders to talk to ordinary people

• "Ninety percent of the people hate Gadhafi," a businessman says

• Security forces battle protesters right behind journalists' backs, a cab driver says

• The government denies there are anti-Gadhafi protests in the capital

By David McKenzie, CNN
June 19, 2011 -- Updated 1717 GMT (0117 HKT)


Tripoli, Libya (CNN) --

...


CNN, like other media here, is under severe government restrictions. But I recently managed to slip away from government minders to talk directly to several Libyans.

...


And in the Souq al-Juma neighborhood of the capital, where anti-Gadhafi protests first erupted in February, the government's propaganda bubble is quickly burst.


While international journalists including me were ferried by government minders to a pro-Gadhafi rally at Green Square on Friday afternoon, multiple sources tell CNN that several Tripoli neighborhoods were wracked by running battles between protesters and security forces.


"They were protesting right around the corner. They streamed out of a mosque and onto the small square," said Mahmoud. "Almost immediately Gadhafi forces fired at them with live rounds."


Mahmoud and other sources say that the group was several hundred strong. He claims that three people were killed and that the area was put under lockdown by government security.

...


http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/06/19/libya.voices/

[pinboy3niner]

41. 'Damning' proof South Africa sold sniper rifles to Libya

2011-06-19 15:13

Julian Rademeyer


Johannesburg - Damning video evidence has emerged, proving for the first time that sniper rifles made in South Africa are being used in Libya’s bloody civil war by forces loyal to embattled dictator ­Muammar Gaddafi.

...


Video clips circulating on the internet and filmed as battles raged in the city of Misrata in north-western Libya earlier this year show rebel fighters displaying captured sniper rifles. The weapons have been identified as the work of a Midrand armoury, Truvelo Manufacturers.

....


The National Conventional Arms Control Committee has repeatedly stonewalled questions about the sale of about 120 sniper rifles and between 50 000 and 70 000 rounds of ammunition to Libya in October last year, just months before the country descended into violence.


An estimated 15 000 people have been killed in four months of fighting in Libya and there have been reports of snipers killing ­civilians, children and even mourners at funerals.

...


“There are procedures in South Africa we follow. We stick to the rules and regulations. We are not prepared to say yes or no. If the conventional arms control committee wants to divulge any information they are entitled to do so,” (Truvelo director Ralf Gebert) said this week.


...


http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Proof-SA-sold-rifles-to-Libya-20110619

[pinboy3niner]

42. Misrata area Sunday: "9 people were killed and 51 wounded, both rebels and civilians"

AFP reports that nine people were killed on Sunday and 51 were wounded in fighting around the western Libyan rebel-held city of Misurata, rebel officials said, adding that the dead included both fighters and civilians.

Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi used heavy artillery to bombard the Dafnia sector at the western entrance to Misurata, and rebels in the city retaliated, the officials said in a statement received by AFP.

As a result "nine people were killed and 51 wounded, both rebels and civilians," said the statement, adding that several of the wounded were in critical condition.

The report could not immediately be verified, but other rebel sources reported that heavy fighting was taking place east and west of Misurata in the evening.


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-jun-19-2011-2036

[pinboy3niner]

43. Nato suggests 'weapons systems failure' in Tripoli raid

19 June 2011 Last updated at 16:05 ET


Nato has admitted "a weapons systems failure" may have led to civilian casualties in Sunday morning's air strike in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.


In a statement, the alliance said the intended target of the strike was a military missile site, but "it appears that one weapon" did not hit it.


The Libyan government earlier said Nato bombed a residential area, killing several civilians.

...


"Nato regrets the loss of innocent civilian lives and takes great care in conducting strikes against a regime determined to use violence against its own citizens," said Lt Gen Charles Bouchard, commander of operation Unified Protector.


"Although we are still determining the specifics of this event, indications are that a weapons system failure may have caused this incident," he added.

...


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13833752

[pinboy3niner]

45. Libya's cash-strapped rebels awaiting foreign funds--Reuters

By Maria Golovnina
BENGHAZI, Libya | Sun Jun 19, 2011 3:42pm EDT


(Reuters) - Libya's cash-strapped rebel authority said on Sunday it expected to start replenishing its empty coffers this week with the first batch of money promised by its foreign allies.


The rebels need more than $3 billion to cover salaries and other needs in the next six months and have won promises of financial assistance from its Western and Arab supporters.


Based in the eastern coastal city of Benghazi, rebels say they have yet to receive any cash from abroad and have been increasingly bitter in their criticism of Western nations.


Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice chairman of the rebel National Transitional Council, said he hoped the money would land soon.

"To this day we have not received any promised money. The mechanism is now in place and the funds should have been deposited last week," he said, estimating the NTC's total needs, as stated in the official rebel budget, at about $3.5 billion.


"We are very optimistic that the money will be made available in the coming days ... We believe this money will be deposited very shortly."

...


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/19/us-libya-east-cash-idUSTRE75I29720110619

[pinboy3niner]

46. Jolie visits refugees (in Lampedusa) who fled Libya, Tunisia

Updated at 04:50 PM today



In this photo provided by the UNHCR, actress and goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Angelina Jolie, right, and and the U.N. Refugee chief Antonio Guterres, second from right, meet with migrants at the immigration center in Lampedusa, Italy, Sunday, June 19, 2011. Jolie traveled to Lampedusa on Sunday to mark World Refugee Day. She visited a migrant holding center and then participated in a ceremony at Lampedusa's memorial for migrants lost at sea. (AP Photo/UNHCR, Jason Tanner)


By FRANCESCO MANETTI Associated Press


LAMPEDUSA, Italy (AP) - June 19, 2011 (WPVI) -- Angelina Jolie traveled to the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa on Sunday to thank its residents for welcoming in the estimated 20,000 migrants who arrived after fleeing unrest in Tunisia and Libya.


Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, toured a migrant holding center, chatted with some refugees and then participated in a ceremony at Lampedusa's memorial for migrants lost at sea as part of commemorations for World Refugee Day on Monday.


"It is very hard to imagine looking out at this beautiful sea how many people have risked their lives and how many people have risked their children's lives and so many of them have lost their lives at sea," she said.


She thanked the residents who gathered for the ceremony for welcoming the migrants in and asked them to consider how "horrible" their lives must have been that they would risk everything for the chance of a better life in Europe.


"Can you imagine how it must feel to finally cross in" to Italy? she asked. "For the coast guard to save them and carry them to safety, save their children's lives and give them a chance to survive and to have a future, and what it means to them," said Jolie, wearing a plain black blouse and jacket.

...


http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/entertainment&id=8199786

[pinboy3niner]

47. U.S. First Lady to Visit South Africa (to smooth tension over Libya?)

Source: Wall Street Journal

JUNE 19, 2011, 7:52 A.M. ET

By JACKIE BISCHOF


JOHANNESBURG—U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama is expected to arrive in South Africa on Monday to meet with women's groups, speak about the importance of education and youth leadership, as well as take in the sights.


Yet many say there's another unstated aspect of the trip: soothing prickly ties between the U.S. and South Africa. South Africa's shifting stances on crises in the Ivory Coast and Libya has showed the continent's foremost economic and political power to be an important but unpredictable partner—an ally that can turn fierce public critic. Mrs. Obama's might help reduce tensions in a way that a visit from a senior U.S. official couldn't, say analysts.


"This visit is a political exercise as much as it is a public relations exercise," says Chris Landsberg, a politics professor at the University of Johannesburg. "I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't send some key messages to South Africa's decision makers from her husband." One of those messages would be to convey the importance the U.S. places on its relationship with South Africa, despite their differences in foreign policy.


"This is very much a people diplomacy-type trip," says Elizabeth Trudeau, spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in South Africa. "There's no question in the United States and South Africa about the strength of our partnership, our friendship."

...


Central to the trip is a keynote address to a U.S.-sponsored Young African Women Leaders Forum meeting in Johannesburg. She'll deliver the speech at the Regina Mundi Church, a safe haven for political activists during South Africa's era of white-minority government, known as apartheid.

...


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303936704576395281113014552.html

[tabatha]

48. I believe it has been planned for a long time.

[pinboy3niner]

49. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 123: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM MONDAY, JUNE 20

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

[tabatha]

50. FF advances, Alexblx reports, Tweet comments

Salih Mansur al-Ubaydi, who was the first officer in the Libyan army to defect from Al-Qadhafi's regime, has revealed that the Libyan "Freedom Fighters" intend to advance on Sirte and on Tripoli in the next few days to eliminate the remnants of Al-Qadhafi's forces and the mercenaries he hired from African countries.
Furthermore, informed source that asked to remain anonymous told "Future for Libya" that Al-Qadhafi is hiding underground and moves between a delivery hospital and a church to evade elimination by the NATO strikes.
The same source denied that the "Freedom Fighters" received weapons from any source, stressing that they collect weapons after seizing control of camps of pro-Al-Qadhafi's forces, and that they develop these weapons.
He emphasized that Al-Qadhafi offered the "Freedom Forces", more than once, millions to back down, but they refused, insisting on going ahead with their revolution, which they regard as "God-given."Posted by Voice of Free Libya on 7:02 PM. LYM

On Sunday 19th June 2011, @Alexblx said::
Stand off in #Zawiya: #Gaddafi is short of men & munitions - so has by default left most of west Zawiya precincts beyond the main road in #FF hands.
Gaddafi has only allocated sufficient manpower to Zawiya to hold city centre, Tripoli approach roads, and keep open coastal supply road to #Tunisia.
Abortive uprising was successful in overall #Libya liberation conflict to the extent that it has forced Regime to allocate more men and equipment to Zawiya control points - that he will now be unable to allocate to other fronts in Nafusa and #Misrata

#FF had not planned Zawiya uprising so early but plans were discovered by G - So uprising forced to start earlier than planned.
Some #FF have returned to Mts to complete liberation of #Nafusa - But Zawiya & #Tripoli FF brigades remain in west Zawiya pending #Tripoli uprising.
#FF do not openly hold territory - but are entrenched in safe 'no go' locations - and will prepare the ground and link up with #Nafusa #FF at next #Zawiya/#Tripoli uprising.
In the meantime - FF are continuing night time anti regime operations - including gun battles and checkpoint raids against G forces in east and central Zawiya. #Libya
http://twitter.com/#!/Alexblx

Commentary
by RRowleyTucson @fieldproducer Yeah, not that we need it now. But Kudos to NATO for telling the truth, a feature which Gaddafi don't have #feb17 #Libya
by RRowleyTucson Since February 17th and due to Gaddafi: 16,000 people dead. 25,000 in jail (just in Tripoli). 40,000 injured. #libya #feb17
by RRowleyTucson Test broadcast of #Zletin Free Radio has started on 91.00 FM that covers Zletin and surrounding areas #Libya #feb17

by ChangeInLibya Mhalwes Brega: Freedom fighters returning from front lines report seeing Gaddafi forces shoot at and argue with each other. #libya #feb17
by ChangeInLibya The 5 #NATO deaths were accidental - the 16000 #Libya people killed by #Gaddafi were deliberate -As r 30000 hes killing in #Tripoli prisons

by Thanku4theAnger : UNCONFIRMED: Brega: After NATO bombing and earlier clashes with FFs, reports that Gaddafi forces are fighting each other.
by FreeLibyanman #Nato acknowledged killing 9 civilians,Can #Gaddafi acknowledge killing 15k civilians,injuring 46k. n't to mention detainees & rape victims

by SecularLibya For all #gaddafi loving westerners , he has called on Jihadists to attack Western countries ! #Feb17 #Libya
by SecularLibya @cordeliers @samhusseini #NATO saving civilians from Ghaddafi's massacres is "illegal"??? Have you lousy neo-progressives gone mad? #Libya
by SecularLibya @MuammarLGaddafi If you had bal*s you would not GRAD peoples homes killing children from 40 km away. COWARD. @Fromjoanne @RRowleyTucson

by Longing4Libya @THerwees My blood is boiling right now at these self-righteous "anti-imperialist" leftists that are sitting on their high horses
by Longing4Libya The same government that accused it's opponents of being Al-Qaeda is now calling for global Jihad. #Gaddafi #mad free #Libya

by dovenews Brigadier Fooa'ad Alidrisee & 34 officers from #Zwara have defected & joined the 17feb revl fb.me/IUA7XsnA @libyatvarabic @AJArabic

[Iterate]

51. The Soug al Jomaa Anthems

The Soug al Jomaa Anthems
von The Free Generation Movement - حركة جيل الاحرار, Sonntag, 19. Juni 2011 um 14:45

Some days ago we heard that someone had played our original national anthem in Soug Al Jomaa and it caused a stir....

A contact of ours who lives nearby told us of how he watched as security made a fool of themselves.

A man entered the mosque and walked to the top of the minaret. There, he cut the cables to all the loud speakers and attached them to his own stereo player that he had brought along. He pressed play, utilising some kind of time delay method, and walked back down. He then locked the gate to the minaret with a heavy gauge padlock he had brought along. Then he quietly left the mosque. Minutes later, the anthem was blaring out for the whole district to hear. Beautiful.

Minutes later, a tundra truck arrived. A security man exited the truck and fired a flare into the sky before making a call on his radio. Seconds later more then 10 civilian cars arrived with katiba soldiers fully armed. The cars were all sorts of makes and models, from Mercedes E class to small smart cars!

For 15 minutes our contact told us of how they were shouting and screaming, positioning themselves in some kind of formation. Shouting:

"Cover him, cover him"

"Careful there is someone on the roof"

"look look some one is looking through the window"

All the while they were shooting at the mosque and at the minaret.

Little did they know that there was absolutely no one in the mosque whatsoever.

It took them nearly 45 minutes to eventually stop the anthem, which was on loop.

Good on the boys and girls of Soug al Jomaa...

-----------------------------------------------

You know I can't remember the decade when I first heard the lament that the Arab world had not produced its own non-violent resistance, its own Gandhi or MLK. Now that they are doing it, amidst the carnage no less, it comes with a sense of humor not found in the other solemn and often humorless movements. It's a shame no one is taking notice. Not pure enough I guess.

[tabatha]

52. Thanks for that story.

I love their website:
http://www.fgm-libya.org/

and their logo:


http://www.facebook.com/TheFreeGenerationMovement

and

http://twitter.com/#!/Niz_FGM

TWITDOC
Thanku4theAnger THANKU4THEANGER
Breaking:Names of members of new Gaddafi committees aimed to cause problems in Eastern Libya & Tripoli#Feb17#Libya http://twitdoc.com/AAV

[Iterate]

53. oh yes, the website, thank you

I see I forgot to include it. While the subject is at hand, I think special mention and attention and praise is deserved for the various website designers in this new cause. So many of them are absolutely beautiful, and they work well.

A thought on my other point. Within the first two weeks after Feb 17th there was an arrogant admonition from the famous American leftist who-will-not-be-named to the Libyan protestors for not having the discipline and training needed to maintain a non-violent uprising. Nevermind that the discussion of such training alone would have earned a disappearance. By comparison, Egypt had the relative luxury of years of preparation by thousands of activists.

Here's another non-violent way to end a war:

Niz_FGM Niz
19/6/11- 1st hand confirmation that Tripoli based senior military officer has evacuated his family to Tunisia, concerned about impending end
vor 12 Stunden

[joshcryer]

56. That was awesome, and I completely agree. It appears to be the youth of Tripoli who...

...are quite young in many of the videos (where they are disguised), they probably would not be allowed to fight by the freedom fighters anyway, especially since I've noticed quite a few females in their ranks. It's like the mid 90s early 2000s anarchist movement which tried to use "propaganda of the leaflet" (as opposed to "propaganda of the deed"!) which I was heavily involved in in my younger years.

[pinboy3niner]

54. GOP splitting over U.S. role in Libya and Afghanistan

Source: Los Angeles Times

The party once relatively unified on foreign policy issues has some key leaders seeking to cut off funding for the wars. Other Republicans criticize the effort as a growing 'isolationist' agenda.


By Christi Parsons and Lisa Mascaro, Washington Bureau

June 19, 2011, 5:40 p.m.


Reporting from Washington— Republicans are facing a widening fissure over the U.S. role on the world stage as party leaders decide whether to confront President Obama this week over his policy toward Libya.


House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and other congressional Republican leaders have said that U.S. involvement in NATO's bombing campaign, which hit the 90-day mark Sunday, violates the War Powers Act. The House could seek to cut off money for the war as it takes up the annual Pentagon spending bill later this week.


Meanwhile, several of the party's potential presidential candidates have called for the U.S. to quit the fight in Libya and questioned the depth of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.


Other Republican figures have begun pushing back, criticizing what they see as a growing "isolationist" agenda within the party. The result is that Republicans, once relatively unified on foreign policy issues, now have a division that parallels the long-standing split in Democratic ranks.


The debate was on public display Sunday as two of the GOP's leading figures on defense and foreign policy, Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, sharply criticized Republican presidential hopefuls and congressional leaders who question the country's military intervention around the world.

...


http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-gop-war-20110620,0,769085.story

More:

Neocons warn House GOP on Libya
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/06/17/neocons_warn_house_gop_on_libya

JACKSON DIEHL: Will the Republicans put up a dove nominee in 2012?
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/06/17/1709550/will-the-republicans-put-up-a.html

[pinboy3niner]

55. House May Vote This Week on Money for Libya Strikes

Source: New York Times

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
Published: June 19, 2011


WASHINGTON — The House appears likely to vote this week on a measure that would limit financing for the American military efforts in Libya, using the chamber’s appropriations power to push back against the White House, which did not seek Congressional authorization for the mission.


Any measures to end or reduce financing for the military’s involvement in the NATO-led airstrikes in Libya are likely to divide members of Congress. They are split in both the House and Senate between two slightly incongruous alliances: antiwar Democrats and Republicans who are angry about the usurping of Congressional authority, and Democrats who do not wish to go against the president, joined by hawkish Republicans who strongly support America’s role in Libya.


Last week, Representative Dennis J. Kucinich, Democrat of Ohio, said he would offer an amendment to a spending bill for the Department of Defense that is expected to reach the House floor this week. The amendment would cut off current and future spending for military operations in Libya.


At least one Republican could propose a separate bill that would set terms for the financing of the Libya operation, Republican officials said. It would probably take a more narrow approach than the Kucinich amendment, cutting off spending for specific actions like Predator strikes. It also could prohibit the use of ground forces in the country. (There are no such American forces there now.)

...


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/20/world/africa/20powers.html

[pinboy3niner]

57. Medvedev stance dims hope for UN Syria vote

Source: Financial Times

By Charles Clover in Moscow
Published: June 19 2011 22:36 | Last updated: June 19 2011 22:36


Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, has left little room for compromise on the question of outside intervention in Syria, complaining in an interview with the Financial Times that Russia had been all but tricked into supporting last March’s UN resolution on Libya.


He said the broad way in which the western allies interpreted March’s resolution 1973 had turned it into “a scrap of paper to cover up a pointless military operation” and practically ruled out supporting any resolution on Syria, no matter how vague.

...


He said he would not even support a watered-down UN resolution, such as the one circulated by Britain and France 10 days ago, which had condemned Mr Assad’s regime without supporting sanctions or military measures.


Both countries have since stepped back from pressing for a vote because of the fear that Russia and China would veto it. Brazil and India have also given lukewarm support to the idea.


“If we push for a UN vote and get a veto, it will poison the atmosphere in the Council over Syria for some time,” a British diplomat said last week. “It is best to wait and see how events develop on the ground.”

...


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/13f8da06-9a9b-11e0-bab2-00144feab49a.html

[pinboy3niner]

58. Benghazi on the Hill

Source: Foreign Policy

Posted By Marc Lynch
Saturday, June 18, 2011 - 12:58 PM


"There’s no outcry in the country to say 'comply with the War Powers Act,' outside of academia." That's what Senator John McCain told Foreign Policy in an interview a few weeks ago. How quickly things change. With House Speaker John Boehner presenting an ultimatum for administration compliance with the War Powers Act, and Congressional GOP leaders hinting at defunding the campaign, the demand that the Obama administration obtain Congressional authorization for the operation in Libya has suddenly become front page news. A full-scale battle over Presidential authority looms.


The administration should have secured authorization for the Libya campaign early on, to put it on solid legal and bipartisan political footing. Congressional oversight is as important for the Obama administration as it was during the Bush administration -- a point which applies to Libya just as it does to drone strikes and global counter-terrorism operations. They probably didn't do so because they (correctly) expected that a Congressional resolution authorizing the Libya campaign would come to the President's desk with riders attached repealing health care reform, reinstating Don't Ask Don't Tell, and abolishing Medicare. But politics shouldn't be allowed to outweigh the importance of effective Congressional oversight and respecting the rule of law.


Beyond the political jockeying, however, the sudden burst of attention to Libya should be an opportunity for the public to take a fresh look at what is actually happening in Libya. This is a good time to realize that the war in Libya was very much worth fighting and that it is moving in a positive direction. A massacre was averted, all the trends favor the rebels, the emerging National Transitional Council is an unusually impressive government in waiting, and a positive endgame is in sight. This is a war of which the administration should be proud, not one to be hidden away from public or Congressional view.


I supported the intervention in Libya reluctantly, in the face of strong evidence of in impending humanitarian catastrophe and an unprecedented, intense Arab public demand for Western action. I believe fully that the NATO intervention prevented a major massacre in Benghazi, which would have guaranteed the survival of the Qaddafi regime. The retaliation campaign which followed the regime's survival would have been bloodier still. There would have been a chilling effect across the region, encouraging violent repression and demoralizing challengers. And the impact on America's image in the region of failing to act and allowing the massacre would have been profound. Many of the same people (in the Arab world and in the U.S.) who now lambaste Obama for intervening would have been editorializing about his betrayal of his promises to the Muslims of the world and his indifference to Muslim lives.

...


http://lynch.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/06/18/benghazi_on_the_hill

[pinboy3niner]

59. China says Libya rebel chief to visit

BEIJING | Sun Jun 19, 2011 11:06pm EDT


BEIJING (Reuters) - The head of the Libyan rebel group leading the fight to oust Muammar Gaddafi will visit China, Beijing said on Monday in another step in its efforts to expand ties with opposition forces in the war-divided north African country.


The leader of the Libyan rebels' National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, will visit China for two days from Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a single sentence statement on its website (www.mfa.gov.cn).


China has not taken a firm side in the war between Gaddafi's forces and the opposition groups now encroaching on the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and has said its recent meetings with Libyan government and rebel representatives are part of an effort to encourage a ceasefire and negotiated end to the war.


But courting the rebels so openly has marked a policy adjustment for China, which while never a close ally of Gaddafi, generally avoids wading into other nations' domestic conflicts.

...


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/20/us-china-libya-idUSTRE75J0KQ20110620

[pinboy3niner]

60. Libya: A Slideshow

Source: The New Republic

Chris Clemans and Sidney Kwiram
June 20, 2011 | 12:00 am



In rebel-controlled areas, the pictures of the dead and missing appear on hospital walls, courthouses and
checkpoints. Some of the missing are confirmed to be detained by Qaddafi forces. These images are in the
makeshift headquarters for the volunteers who took control of Baida in February. Baida, March, 2011.
Sidney Kwiram / HRW 2011


In the most recent issue of The New Republic, Tom Malinowski, the Washington director for Human Rights Watch, writes about his recent trip to Libya and the state of the revolution. “For 40 years, under Muammar Qaddafi’s dictatorship, it was dangerous for Libyans even to have a conversation about what kind of country they wanted to live in,” he observed. “Now, in the eastern cities that have freed themselves from Qaddafi’s grip, something important is happening. An entire society is trying to define its political identity. This process could still end tragically. But it has begun mostly well. And it deserves greater attention.”


Malinowski’s impressions bring to light the sincerity and care with which the people of eastern Libya are taking their first steps in building a legitimate democracy from scratch. He stresses, however, the delicacy and uncertainty of this process and the importance of foreign scrutiny as the country moves forward. This slideshow features photographs taken by HRW researcher Sidney Kwiram, who accompanied Malinowski on his visit to the rebel-controlled city of Benghazi.

All photos: copyright Sidney Kwiram / HRW 2011


http://www.tnr.com/article/90220/libya-slideshow-gaddafi-rebels

[catchnrelease]

61. K&R

[pinboy3niner]

62. Libyan civilians build weapons to fight Gadhafi

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, Associated Press – 17 minutes ago


MISRATA, Libya (AP) — Aref Abu Zeid used to be a heavy equipment engineer at the Libya Steel Company. Now he runs an 80-man team working 12 hours a day turning out rockets and weapons to fight Moammar Gadhafi's forces.


In this rebel stronghold in western Libya, civilian engineers, mechanics and tradesmen are pumping out materiel to arm the uprising against Gadhafi's rule that has become a civil war.


"None of us here have anything to do with the military," said Abu Zeid, 50, a short man with a thick salt and pepper beard and an easy smile. "Our need to protect our homes, our lives and our city forced us into this war work."

...


Before the war started, Mohammed al-Ahmar ran a women's clothing store called 'The Princesses' Palace' off Tripoli Street. Some of the fiercest battles between Libyan rebels and Gadhafi's army rattled along that street for days.


"Gadhafi's troops destroyed my shop and I lost 12 friends in the fighting," he said. "How could I just repair and open my shop again and go back to business?" he asked.

...


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g40VOldErBBLAx7L05PZ5yTzUu6g?docId=6cf69230bad14f5cbb521ac5941424a5

[joshcryer]

63. Video: Libyans prevented from entering Cynthia McKinney’s talk hosted by ANSWER LA

http://feb17.info/media/video-libyans-prevented-from-entering-cynthia-mckinneys-talk-hosted-by-answer-la/">Video: Libyans prevented from entering Cynthia McKinney’s talk hosted by ANSWER LA
On June 16th, The ANSWER Coalition in LA held an event titled “Eyewitness Libya” with Cynthia McKinney, part of Cynthia’s nation-wide tour to continue to propagate Gaddafi’s lies. Members of the Libyan community in LA were prevented from entering the room in which the event was being held, on the basis of “seeming like they may cause trouble”. They stood outside as others were allowed in, although many of them were invited to the public event. It was ironic that an event discussing the situation in Libya did not host any Libyans to speak in the panel or even allow Libyans to enter the room to participate in the discussion.

Video here: http://youtu.be/yD9oo3NncWw

[Iterate]

64. Dissident Libyan Official: Gaddafi Plotted The Creation of Tuareg State in The Sahara of Algeria

Dissident Libyan Official: Gaddafi Plotted The Creation of Tuareg State in The Sahara of Algeria
Dissident senior official in Col. Muammar Gaddafi regime, former Libya’s permanent representative in the UN, Abdurahman Shalgham, revealed to Echorouk that Gaddafi tempted to settle a small state for Tuareg in the Sahara of Algeria, Mali and Niger.

Mustapha Dalaa/ Azzedine Ait El Hara 2011.06.18

Mr Shalgham told Echorouk in a phone interview that Gaddafi “believes that the more neighboring countries are unstable, Libya becomes stronger, and vice versa, adding that this is the reason why “he tended to create seditions in Algeria, Sudan, Egypt, Tunisia, Chad, Mali and Niger.”
...

As for the accusations of Gaddafi towards the rebels as pertaining to al-Qaeda, Mr Shalgham said “Well, Gaddafi tells stories, and nobody could believe him today. He has been promising to organize elections for many years…I’m 60 today, and I’ve never voted in my life!” He added “Head of the National Transition Council has already asserted that there is no al-Qaeda in Libya, and I can tell you that I know all the rebels, one by one, and nobody belong to al-Qaeda.”

Former Libya representative in the UN further accused Gaddafi of playing double game with Mali and Niger, saying “he used to sell arms to Niger and Mali governments, but at the same time he sold arms to the Tuareg rebels there! He didn’t give a damn whether those arms would reach al-Qaeda terrorists.”

He concluded by asserting that Gaddafi worked on supporting the creation of a state in the Sahara of Algeria that gathers Tuareg of Algeria, Mali and Niger.

more... http://www.echoroukonline.com/eng/index.php?news=13720

[tabatha]

65. About Saba Poverty, underdevelopment and political vacuum: Chronicle of a history out of Libya

This is one of the richest oil-producing countries, yet Libya is a country where everything stopped there for over four decades.Indescribable poverty, medieval infrastructure, public service ... caricature of black gold, the Libyans have had the dark.Gold has always been in the hands of the guide and its smala.

From our special correspondent in Libya, Fatma BEN DHAOUI OUNAIS

Which of us would have suspected for a moment that there is poverty in Libya?As a neighboring country, we knew that the side caricature partly due to the escapades of Gaddafi and a big lie, which states that the Libyans lodge, use electricity and water free, and live from the oil rent as pashas.Some of us even believed that the small "delay" in the timing of the Libyan revolution compared to Tunisian and Egyptian is certainly due to the absence of the poverty factor in the case of Libya.

It was not until I move the site to see for myself scenes worthy of the poorest countries and that these thousands of citizens that killing Muammar with missiles experienced an even more heinous crime, that of theft Libya.

Ezzogm City is one of the neighborhoods anarchic construction at Tobruk.Or running water, no school, no mosque ... the people are tired of Ezzogm to bring tanks of water and go far to accompany their kids to school ... and it lasts for 37 years, when which this city has sprouted like a mushroom in the center of Tobruk, because of poverty.

http://www.lequotidien-tn.com
and then select second story - Misère, sous-développement et vide politique : Chronique d'une Libye hors de l'Histoire
(translated from French)

[Iterate]

66. Top Ten Mistakes in the Libya War - Juan Cole

Top Ten Mistakes in the Libya War
Posted on 06/19/2011 by Juan

In the post-World War II international legal regime, there are only two grounds for going to war, according to the United Nations Charter. One is self-defense. The other is if the United Nations Security Council authorizes war for the preservation of international order or (with the passage of the Genocide Convention) for the prevention of crimes against humanity. The UNSC authorized intervention in Libya, and “deputized” any nations that felt the inclination to step up to this international obligation. The Libya intervention, in and of itself, is therefore legal in international law in a way that the Iraq War was not. I personally believe that the UN attempt to forbid unilateral aggressive war is absolutely central to our survival on earth, and although it has had many failures, it is an ideal worth reaching for. Its corollary is that there are occasionally justified uses of force, but only a UNSC resolution can make them legal. Given this situation, it is desirable that the UNSC be expanded, with the addition, at the least, of India and Pakistan (you can’t add just one, and the Muslim world needs permanent representation) and of Brazil and a major African country.

That the Libyan intervention is legal does not mean that the war has been prosecuted wisely. I urged after the UNSC resolution that it be a limited intervention aiming at protecting civilians from Muammar Qaddafi’s vicious attacks on innocent crowds and reckless endangerment of non-combatants in the tenement buildings being shelled by his tanks and cluster bombs, and from his forces’ relentless rolling of tanks on Free Libya cities.

Here, it seems to me, are the mistakes made so far in the prosecution of the war:

1. President Barack Obama should have gone to Congress for authorization to stay in the Libya war. Not doing so weakened the legitimacy of the war in the US public, and involved his setting aside the legal advice he received from government lawyers. He could have set a precedent for the return to constitutional rule in the US, but tragically declined to take up that opportunity. (I have held this position from the beginning, by the way). But a corollary I am not sure American nationalists will accept is that even if Congress authorizes a war, in the absence of an attack on the US, that would be illegal in international law unless the UNSC signed off on it. That is what did not happen with regard to Iraq. Those criticizing Obama now often did not criticize W., and often still do not, for a much more important legal violation.

more... http://www.juancole.com/2011/06/top-ten-mistakes-in-the-libya-war.html

Plenty to quibble about here, but I'd really rather see a top ten list of missed opportunities, especially a world-wide discussion of what is to be done with leaders who have clearly lost legitimacy but refuse to leave.

[tabatha]

67. "what is to be done with leaders who have clearly lost legitimacy but refuse to leave?"

That is the burning question. I watched CNN's i-Revolution last night, and even in the countries that went reasonably easily (Egypt and Tunisia), there is no guarantee that they will get what they demonstrated for. In this modern world, countries that armed themselves to the teeth to defend against foreign enemies, are not attacked for the most part because they are so well-armed (Bahrain, Saudia Arabia) - but are using those weapons against their own people.

That is populations of millions can be held in check by the few who are armed to the teeth.

There was no other way in Libya but for intervention against Gaddafi's accumulation of weapons. But that has problems as noted in Cole's article.

It is also what has scared me about the US after Bush - the US is the dominant military force of the planet, but if that military is the hands of a nincompoop, then it is very dangerous.

[pinboy3niner]

68. NATO: Airstrike targeted high-level Gadhafi command site

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: NATO describes the target as a "command and control site"

• The Libyan government alleges 15 people, including three children died

• NATO earlier had denied the attack

• Fighting is ongoing near Dafniya, west of Misrata

By the CNN Wire Staff
June 20, 2011 11:11 a.m. EDT


Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- NATO confirmed Monday that it carried out an airstrike against a high-level command and control site associated with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's regime -- an airstrike the Libyan government alleges killed 15 people, among them three children.


NATO said the airstrike near Zawiya followed information-gathering through reconnaissance. The target was "directly involved in coordinated and systematic attacks" against the Libyan people, a NATO statement said.

...


Meanwhile, fighting was ongoing Monday between rebels and troops in Dafniya, west of Misrata. Several rounds of bombardments could be heard by a CNN crew, and three dead rebels were brought into a field hospital close to the front lines. Hospital staff said 20 other wounded rebels were also brought to the hospital. Earlier Monday, three other dead rebels were brought to a second field hospital.


At least eight people died and 30 were wounded Sunday in the fighting, according to records at Al-Hikma hospital and a field hospital where casualties were being treated. Most of the dead appear to be rebel fighters.

...


http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/06/20/libya.war/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

[pinboy3niner]

69. Senior Gaddafi commander, wife, 2 children reported killed in Surman NATO strike

According to an email by the Free Generation Movement, the wife of Khaled El-Khweldi (Katiba Commander and major regime member) and his 2 children are dead following blasts today in Surman.

This has been confirmed from family sources. His children are Khaleda and Khweldi (the names after his grandfather), aged 4 and 6.

His wife is Safaa Ahmed Mahmoud, was an engineer and daughter of high end military commander Ahmed Mahmoud.


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-jun-20-2011-1812

[pinboy3niner]

79. The commander, Khaled El-Khweldi, survived, according to regime spokesman nt

[pinboy3niner]

70. Jolie, global leaders speak out on World Refugee Day

Source: Sofia Echo (Bulgaria)

Mon, Jun 20 2011 14:02 CET
by The Sofia Echo staff


World Refugee Day, June 20, is being marked with the release of disturbing statistics about a 15-year high in forcibly displaced people around the world, while the Italian island of Lampedusa – now internationally a byword for the refugee crisis following upheaval in the Arab world – saw a visit by UN refugee agency goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie.


On the eve of this year's World Refugee Day, Jolie joined the United Nations refugee chief on a visit on Sunday to Lampedusa, where they met some of the tens of thousands of people who have crossed the Mediterranean and descended on the small Italian island after fleeing unrest in North Africa, the UN News Centre said.


More than 40 000 people, including refugees and asylum-seekers, have arrived by boat to Lampedusa since the beginning of 2011, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

...


On June 17, Jolie travelled to a refugee camp in Turkey where she visited with Syrians who had fled the violence in their country.


There are now more than 9600 Syrian refugees living in four camps managed by Turkey and the Turkish Red Crescent along the border area.


http://www.sofiaecho.com/2011/06/20/1109323_jolie-global-leaders-speak-out-on-world-refugee-day

[pinboy3niner]

71. EU planning for post-conflict Libya

Source: AP

2011-06-20 18:35


Luxembourg - European Union foreign ministers were trying on Monday to work out a political solution to the Libyan conflict, as well as post-war planning to ensure that Libya does not descend into chaos.

...


EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has expressed concern about post-war stability in Libya if planning is not done and help is not rendered.


She has said a successful post-conflict period in North Africa will require what she calls the three M's: money, market access and mobility. She wants Europe to contribute billions of euros to develop the economies of Libya, Egypt and Tunisia.


http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/EU-planning-for-post-conflict-Libya-20110620

[pinboy3niner]

72. Exclusive: Libya rebels buy grains in first major deals--Reuters

Mon Jun 20, 2011 10:12am EDT
By Michael Hogan and Jonathan Saul


HAMBURG/LONDON (Reuters) - Libya's rebels have bought close to 100,000 metric tones of wheat and flour in recent weeks, the first major commercial food deals done by those fighting to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi, trade sources said.


They said food consignments were being routed mainly by land through Egypt and Tunisia, with little coming in by sea as ship owners remained reluctant to risk their vessels.


Sources said Qatar and possibly the United Arab Emirates were providing the financing, enabling the rebels to do deals.


"It is very hard to say how much has been imported, I would guess something a little under 100,000 metric tones," one grain trader said. "I have booked a large number of contracts for Russian bagged wheat flour for June-August shipment."

...


"European banks are currently unwilling to confirm letters of credit for the government side but are willing to work with the rebel side," another European dealer said. "Often the word Libya does not appear on the bank documents."


"The rebels seem to have enough money to pay, with people speculating this comes from their oil sales or a supportive government."

...


http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCATRE75J3I920110620?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

73. Libya: Surgical Care in Misrata

Source: Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders

June 20, 2011

A semblance of normalcy has returned to the port city of Misrata in western Libya. Since the anti-government rebels retook the city, boats have been bringing supplies regularly from the eastern city of Benghazi, the rebellion’s putative capital, and stores have reopened their doors.


After a nearly three-month long siege, fighting has ended in the center of Misrata. The front line has pulled back to outside the city. However, while the situation has changed since the first Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) team arrived on April 18, bombing continues nearby, producing scores of victims. On June 10, violent fighting west of the city wounded 150 people, 51 of whom sustained serious injuries.


On that day, the MSF surgical team working at the Kasr Ahmed hospital treated 33 wounded patients from Dafnya, on the western front line. The other wounded were treated at the Al Hikma hospital, the city's trauma hospital, and the Abbad hospital. The months of siege left behind massive destruction, including a central pharmacy that is now a pile of rubble. However, the city still has medical facilities and infrastructure.


There are some very specific medical needs–for example, the system for referring patients by ambulance is poorly-organized and wounded patients are often transferred to the hospital by regular automobile, without appropriate medical assistance.

...


The siege of Misrata and the incessant bombardments have also, unexpectedly, forged a strong sense of solidarity among the population. "One day, we had to unload an entire boatload of freight and volunteers came to take care of it," Ismael says. "They found containers for us and worked very quickly. They all wanted to participate in the humanitarian effort."


http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=5393&cat=field-news

[pinboy3niner]

74. Libya Contact Group promises more $$$ aid to rebels

In the last Libya contact group meeting in Abu Dhani, Kuwait promised $180 m, Qatar $100 m, France $240 m, Italy $500 plus in fuel and cash.

The meeting also 'activated' the temporary financial mechanism that was adopted in the Rome meeting in May.

The Libya contact group members including Hillary Clinton said that NTC has submitted their plan of how they intend to spend the money and how to monitor it.

NTC officials said they need $3 billion for the next 6 months to pay wages for their fighters employees and to feed the population. The vice chairman of the NTC Ghoga said that they are not beggars and that they are asking for their money - reference to the estimated $160 billion assets frozen in the west.

The UAE finance minister says the UN Security Council needs to adopt a resolution in order to defreeze these assets.


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-jun-20-2011-2123

[pinboy3niner]

75. Tunisia may recognise Libya rebels

Source: Magharebia

By Monia Ghanmi for Magharebia in Tunis – 20/06/11

...


"The humanitarian aid that the people and government of Tunisia have offered, and the brotherly positions that they have taken, far exceed the issue of recognising the TNC," rebel leader Mustapha Abdel Jalil said after meeting with Interim Tunisian Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi.


The TNC chairman noted that several Arab states have recognised the council as the sole representative of the Libya people. Abdel Jalil added, "We've now come to matters that are much greater than recognition, and our arrival in Tunis at an invitation from the President of Tunisia is in itself recognition."


After lauding the assistance provided by Tunisia to displaced Libyans, the rebel leader expressed his optimism about the future of Libyan-Tunisian relations, noting that Tunisians would have the greater share in the reconstruction of Libya in the post-Kadhafi era. Tunisia opened an office in Benghazi on Monday (June 20th) to facilitate trade.


"The war has delayed many stages in Libya, and the country will certainly witness development in which Tunisian labour will play the greater role and will have the greater share because we need your experience," Abdel Jalil said.

...


Abdel Jalil also met with Interim President Foued Mebazaa who confirmed that Tunisia would stand besides the Libyan people as they lived through a difficult time. Mebazaa said last Tuesday (June 14th) that "the Libyan danger is still there."


"In spite of all the security arrangements we have made, we still arrest infiltrators everyday sent by Kadhafi against us at the Tunisian-Libyan border," the interim president said.

...


http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/06/20/feature-01

[pinboy3niner]

76. Kadhafi defectors tell of orders to 'show no mercy'

– 33 mins ago


BENGHAZI, Libya (AFP) – A group of 22 security personnel who defected from Moamer Kadhafi's forces in south Libya claimed on Monday they were directly ordered not to give captured rebels the rights of normal prisoners.


Four representatives of officers from the deep south of the war-torn country told reporters they had been ordered to "show no mercy to prisoners," who, they were told, were rebels linked to Al-Qaeda.


Immediate superiors issued orders such as "'don't give them (prisoners) their rights'," according to former Kadhafi army captain Mohammed Ahmed Salih al-Tabowy, speaking through a rebel interpreter.


The former fighters also chronicled a near four-month effort to defect, which saw them skirt the burning-hot Niger and Chadian borders aided by undercover rebels before reaching safety at Sarir southeast of Benghazi last week.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110620/wl_africa_afp/libyaconflictdefection

[pinboy3niner]

78. Libyan rebels say over 20 Gaddafi troops switch sides

Mon Jun 20, 2011 7:35pm GMT


BENGHAZI, Libya, June 20 (Reuters) - More than 20 troops from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces have defected from a brigade based in southern Libya and joined the rebellion, rebels said on Monday.


Four of the men were presented to reporters in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi on Monday. Rebels said they had escaped from Gaddafi's unit based in the Katroun region of southern Libya this month.


"We have now defected from the regime. The Gaddafi regime has lost all credibility. Therefore we declare that we offer our services to the National Transitional Council in Benghazi," said Major Lamin Sidi Ibrahim al Tabouwi, one of the men.


There was no way to immediately verify their stories. Rebels said a total of 22 soldiers and officers as well as three civilians had escaped together from the southern unit.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE75J1UL20110620

[pinboy3niner]

77. Rebels shut off oil pipeline to Zawiya

Libyan rebels have shut off a pipeline in the Western Mountains region that supplies crude from an oilfield in the south to the Zawiyah refinery near the capital Tripoli, a rebel spokesman said on Monday.

"Rebels have turned off a pipeline in Rayayna, which is used to ship oil from the Awbari oilfield in the south to the Zawiyah refinery," rebel spokesman Juma Ibrahim said by phone from the Western Mountains town of Zintan.

"This is an attempt by the rebels to stifle the Gaddafi regime in Tripoli," he said. His account could not be independently verified. (Reuters)


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-jun-20-2011-2320

[pinboy3niner]

80. SEC Scrutinizes Conoco, Occidental Ties to Libya

Source: Wall Street Journal

JUNE 20, 2011, 5:04 P.M. ET
By ISABEL ORDONEZ


ConocoPhillips and Occidental Petroleum Corp. said they have received inquiries from the Securities and Exchange Commission related to their operations in Libya.

...


Over the weekend, Exxon Mobil Corp. also said that it received a request from the SEC for information about Libya.

Conoco owns 16.33% of the Waha oil-field concessions in Libya, which have an average output of about 350,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

...


The Wall Street Journal reported this month that U.S. securities regulators are examining whether Goldman Sachs and other financial firms might have violated bribery laws in dealings with Libya's sovereign-wealth fund.

...


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304887904576398061706997744.html

[tabatha]

81. Latest political and military developments in the Libyan crisis

June 20 (Reuters) - Following are the latest political and military developments in the Libyan crisis.

* The NATO military alliance has endangered its credibility with a bomb that destroyed a house in the Libyan capital, killing several residents, Italy's foreign minister said on Monday.
* Libya's rebels have bought close to 100,000 tonnes of wheat and flour in recent weeks, the first major commercial food deals done by those fighting to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi, trade sources said.
* EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday to look into the possibility of using frozen Libyan funds to assist rebels opposing Gaddafi.
* The United Arab Emirates central bank has ordered the Gulf country's banks to freeze the assets of 19 Libyan individuals and institutions and expects to complete a report on the measure within a week, an official said on Monday.

* A leader of the Libyan rebel group leading the fight to oust Gaddafi will visit China, Beijing said on Monday in another step in its efforts to expand ties with opposition forces in the war-divided north African country.
* NATO said it conducted 137 air sorties on Sunday, 60 of them strike sorties that aim to identify and hit targets but do not always deploy munitions.

NATO said key targets hit on Sunday included:
-- One military vehicle store, two surface-to-air missile guidance radars in the vicinity of Tripoli
-- Two rocket launchers, one truck-mounted gun, three tanks, three anti-aircraft artillery pieces and one military logistics truck in the vicinity of Misrata
-- One command-and-control node in the vicinity of Sebha

* Since NATO took over command of air strikes on March 31, its aircraft have conducted 11,781 sorties, including 4,469 strike sorties. NATO members participating in air strikes in Libya include: France, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Italy and the United States.
* Twenty ships under NATO command are patrolling the central Mediterranean Sea to enforce a U.N. arms embargo. On Sunday, 10 vessels were hailed to determine destination and cargo. Three were boarded but none diverted.

A total of 1,439 vessels have been hailed, 105 boarded and eight diverted since the start of the arms embargo. (editing by David Stamp)

NATO STATEMENT ON SORMAN STRIKE (emphasis added)
NATO Strikes Military Command and Control Node

NAPLES – NATO is aware of allegations that a NATO strike targeted a residential building in the vicinity of Sorman, west of Tripoli, in the early hours of Monday morning.

After careful checking, NATO can confirm that it did conduct a strike in that area at the time. This was a precision strike on a legitimate military target -- a command and control node which was directly involved in coordinating systematic attacks on the Libyan people.

While NATO cannot confirm reports of casualties, we would regret any loss of civilian life and we go to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties. This is in stark contrast to the Qadhafi regime, which continues its policy of systematic and sustained violence against the people of Libya.

The facility which was struck was identified as a command and control node through rigorous analysis based on persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance carried out over a prolonged period of time. NATO does not target specific individuals.

“This strike will greatly degrade the Qadhafi regime forces’ ability to carry on their barbaric assault against the Libyan people,” said Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, Commander of Operation Unified Protector.

NATO will continue its mission to protect the people of Libya, in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973.

[pinboy3niner]

82. Libyan Media Minders Nervous After Guard’s Death

Source: New York Times

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Published: June 20, 2011


TRIPOLI, Libya — Reports that a guard at the hotel housing foreign journalists here had been fatally shot sent a tremor of anxiety through Qaddafi government media operation here on Monday. While Qaddafi loyalists said the guard accidentally shot himself with his own weapon while eating a late dinner at the end of the hotel two days earlier, at least two people working for the government said on condition of anonymity that he was killed by rebel snipers.


The guard had been assigned to protect a prominent state television commentator known for his outspoken attacks on the rebels who has taken refuge with his family inside the safety of the hotel because of death threats against him. The commentator, Yousef Shakeer, said in a brief interview that the government had identified his would-be assassin as a past member of the Libyan Islamist Fighting Group — a jihadist group that dates back years — and he affirmed the government’s account that the guard accidentally shot himself on Saturday night.


While the details of the shooting could not be confirmed, it came amid growing reports of episodes of violence between local rebels challenging the government of Col. Muammar el- Qaddafi and his security forces. Some Tripoli residents said Monday that the sense of danger from the ground is compounding the effect of the escalation of NATO strikes from above.

...


And residents of Tripoli continued to describe hard-to-confirm bursts of violence in the capital as well. On Friday a Qaddafi soldier in the rebellious neighborhood of Souq al-Juma told a reporter that he feared for his life after a nighttime rebel guerrilla attack had killed a fellow soldier and seriously wounded another. Residents of the same neighborhood later told CNN that Qaddafi forces had killed three people who had tried to protest there on Friday.

...


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/world/africa/21libya.html

[pinboy3niner]

83. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 124: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM TUESDAY, JUNE 21

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








___________________________________

[pinboy3niner]

84. Rockets hit Libya's Misrata, kill child-witness

Mon Jun 20, 2011 8:05pm GMT


MISRATA, Libya, June 20 (Reuters) - A salvo of three rockets fired by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi killed a child in a built-up area near the port in the rebel-held city of Misrata on Monday, a witness said. A 13-year-old child was killed in the attack on the al-Rwaisat neighbourhood, a man called Mustafa al-Gafouf, who identified himself as the child's uncle, told a Reuters reporter outside a house damaged by one of the rockets.


Two more children were wounded, he added.


A rebel at the scene called Hassan Douwa said: "Is NATO waiting for Gaddafi to kill us all before it does its job? Give us the planes and we will do it ourselves."

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE75J20E20110620

[tabatha]

85. Over 20 Gaddafi troops switch sides

“We have now defected from the regime. The Gaddafi regime has lost all credibility. Therefore we declare that we offer our services to the National Transitional Council in Benghazi,” said Major Lamin Sidi Ibrahim al Tabouwi, one of the men.

The four men said they defected from their unit with the help of local opposition fighters who drove them across the desert along Libya’s border with Chad towards a town where they were eventually picked up by the revolutionary Martyr Ahmed brigade.

They said they decided to escape as a group months ago but were unable to do so earlier because southern Libya is tightly controlled by Gaddafi’s troops. They said many other officers and soldiers who tried to defect had been captured.

“Our direct officers gave us orders such as, catch ‘those rats’,” said al Tabouwi, a white cotton turban wrapped round his head. “We were ordered to show no mercy, not to respect their (revolutionaries’) rights.”

http://english.libya.tv/2011/06/20/over-20-gaddafi-troops-switch-sides/

[tabatha]

86. Reporters Without Borders, the Birth of Free Media in Eastern Libya

The Internet has been crucial in the battle against
Middle East dictatorships over the past few
months. In Libya, cyber-dissidents got around
censorship and the regime’s shutdown of the Internet
to tell the whole world about the uprising and the
authorities’ repression of the population, unaware they
were launching the country’s first free media outlets.
The online news work continues as part of the war, but in
the east of the country, beyond the control of the regime,
a whole “media revolution” has taken place. After 42 years
of dictatorship, an energetic “free media” driven by a new
generation of “citizen journalists” has emerged through the
creation of many newspapers and radio and TV stations.

Report directed by Servane Viguier
in Benghazi and Tobrouk in April 2011
Investigation carried out with financial support
from the European Union

http://en.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/libye_2011_gb.pdf

[pinboy3niner]

87. Also--iRevolution: Online Warriors of The Arab Spring (CNN)

CNN correspondent Amber Lyon reports from the digital edges of the democratic revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, and Bahrain on the movements spreading through North Africa and the Middle East. Using computers and cell phones, and social media like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, young citizen journalists have leveraged the technology of the Internet to call out injustices, demand democratic change, organize protests, and share news about how to evade authorities desperately trying to contain the spread of revolution.

CNN Presents – iRevolution: Online Warriors Of The Arab Spring... replays on Saturday, June 25 at 8:00p.m. ET and PT on CNN/U.S.

...


http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/16/cnn%e2%80%99s-amber-lyon-reports-on-the-digital-roots-of-the-%e2%80%98arab-spring%e2%80%99/?iref=allsearch

[tabatha]

88. I watched that last night as I noted earlier.

It was somewhat depressing. Autocrats can turn off the internet. If they have the weapons they have total control.


Images of the Devastation Along Misurata’s Main Road
In the nearly three-month siege of Misurata, Tripoli Street, the city’s main thoroughfare, was the site of some of the most severe and sustained fighting in Libya. The images below, taken by Faraj Al Kewedeir, a photographer who has been documenting the fighting for the rebels, provide a panorama of the destruction. Click and drag the images below to view the damage along the street.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/05/23/world/africa/images-of-the-devastation-on-misurata-main-road.html

[joshcryer]

97. I know I've mentioned my intellectual counterpart Eben Moglen, but this is so important to know.

There will come a time in the future where the people will have to take the internet from the autocrats and the governments, otherwise they will use it against us, either by cutting it off or by suppressing the information flow it provides. Very good stuff.

[tabatha]

90. De-miners in Misrata, making the rubble safe - picture essay

A de-mining team run by one of the world’s largest humanitarian networks is clearing rebel-controlled Misrata of tons of unexploded ordnance to bring safety to the city’s civilians.

In a race against time to clear live munitions in the battle-torn Libyan city before normal life resumes, de-mining experts are rendering ordnance safe and training civilians in the delicate art of de-activating warheads.

Macabre museums of unexploded shells, warheads and mines have sprung up around the city since bombing by Muammar Gaddafi’s forces and Nato airstrikes began. A deadly new hobby of arms tourism is in vogue with children using the battle zones as playgrounds, where they risk losing limbs and their lives.

For Briton Richard MacCormack, head of the de-mining team run by global aid network ACT Alliance, there is a moral imperative incumbent on all armed forces in the conflict to see that the residual risk to the civilian population is cleaned up. ACT staff on the ground in Misrata have learned of cases of a number of children evacuated to Tunisia with limbs lost to unexploded ordnance.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/deminers-in-misrata-making-the-rubble-safe--picture-essay-2300181.html


Johnny Thomsen (left) and Fred Pavey, explosive ordnance disposal technicians, neutralise an improvised explosive device alongside a heavily travelled road in Misrata. The device used a Claymore-type mine connected to both victim- and command-activated switches.

[pinboy3niner]

91. Boehner under pressure from the right and the left on Libya policy

Source: The Hill

By Russell Berman - 06/20/11 07:57 PM ET

...


But conservative hawks such as Karl Rove, Liz Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz are urging Boehner to resist the temptation to pass legislation that would, in their view, undermine American power and prestige on the world stage.


“Speaker Boehner is in a very difficult position, not just because of his members but because of the way the administration has handled this,” said Randy Scheunemann, a former senior foreign policy adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

...


The Libya fight has put Boehner in the unusual position of challenging the president’s authority to wage war. In 1999, Boehner argued in favor of robust presidential powers and called the War Powers Resolution “constitutionally suspect.” Just a few weeks ago, the Speaker displayed his hawkish inclinations when he made a vocal push to maintain U.S. engagement in Afghanistan and Pakistan, warning against using the death of Osama bin Laden as an excuse to withdraw from the region.


Now, however, Boehner finds himself leading a conference that includes dozens of members more closely aligned with Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) than former President George W. Bush on foreign policy.

...


And Scheunemann acknowledged there was an element of politics to the efforts of House Republicans to tie Obama’s hands. “If John McCain were president, you would not be seeing this level of opposition from House Republicans,” he said.


http://thehill.com/homenews/house/167485-boehner-under-pressure-from-both-sides-on-libya

[pinboy3niner]

92. Scores of U.S. Strikes in Libya Followed Handoff to NATO

Source: New York Times

By CHARLIE SAVAGE and THOM SHANKER
Published: June 20, 2011


WASHINGTON — Since the United States handed control of the air war in Libya to NATO in early April, American warplanes have struck at Libyan air defenses about 60 times, and remotely operated drones have fired missiles at Libyan forces about 30 times, according to military officials.


The most recent strike from a piloted United States aircraft was on Saturday, and the most recent strike from an American drone was on Wednesday, the officials said.


While the Obama administration has regularly acknowledged that American forces have continued to take part in some of the strike sorties, few details about their scope and frequency have been made public.


The unclassified portion of material about Libya that the White House sent to Congress last week, for example, said “American strikes are limited to the suppression of enemy air defense and occasional strikes by unmanned Predator” drones, but included no numbers for such strikes.


The disclosure of such details could add texture to an unfolding debate about the merits of the Obama administration’s legal argument that it does not need Congressional authorization to continue the mission because United States forces are not engaged in “hostilities” within the meaning of the War Powers Resolution.

...


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/world/africa/21powers.html

[tabatha]

93. Libyan Conflict - Photos and Videos

A boy flashed a victory sign as he mourned his relative, a rebel fighter killed during a battle, at the funeral in Misurata.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?195079-Libyan-Conflict-Photos-and-Videos/page227

[pinboy3niner]

94. Spain indefinitely extends mandate for Libya mission

Source: AFP

The Spanish parliament voted on Monday to indefinitely extend Spain's mandate to take part in the NATO-led international military operation aimed at preventing attacks on civilians in Libya.


After a debate lasting more than three hours, all parliamentary parties with the exception of the United Left voted in favour of the request for the extension from the government of Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

...


Spain has sent four F-18 fighter jets and a Boeing 707-refuelling plane to help enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.


It has also deployed a frigate, the S7-74 submarine Tramontana and a CN-235 maritime patrol plane to enforce an arms embargo.

...


The original mandate was limited to one month. In April the mandate was extended for another two months.


http://www.expatica.com/es/news/spanish-news/spain-indefinitely-extends-mandate-for-libya-mission_157708.html

[joshcryer]

95. Libya: China welcomes opposition figure Mahmud Jibril

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13853210">Libya: China welcomes opposition figure Mahmud Jibril
The top foreign affairs official in Libya's opposition has arrived in China for talks with the Beijing government.

Mahmud Jibril is expected to discuss bringing to an end the crisis in Libya, where China has oil interests.

Beijing follows what it calls a policy of non-interference and neutrality in the domestic affairs of other nations.

It abstained in the United Nations Security Council vote which led to the Nato military campaign and has since criticised air strikes.

[joshcryer]

96. Children in Libya's rebel east await end of war

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/21/uk-libya-east-children-idUKTRE75K16620110621">Children in Libya's rebel east await end of war
Ruwid Omar, a Libyan boy with a mop of sun-kissed hair, spends his days roaming the streets of Benghazi singing rebel songs, waving opposition flags and chatting to foreign visitors in fluent English.

"I lived in Manchester for eight years with my parents before. But I like Benghazi better actually," he said, squinting in the bright sun outside Benghazi's courthouse building -- a symbol of Libya's revolt against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

"I like the revolution. We are here (in the square) all day or at home watching TV," added the 14-year-old.

Schools have been closed in Libya's rebel-held east since the start of the uprising in February, and children like Ruwid have been largely left to their own devices.

[joshcryer]

98. NATO loses contact with drone chopper over Libya

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110621/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_libya">NATO loses contact with drone chopper over Libya
TRIPOLI, Libya – NATO said one of its unmanned drones disappeared over Libya on Tuesday, refuting reports that forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi had shot down an alliance attack helicopter.

Libyan state television repeatedly broadcast images of what appeared to be aircraft wreckage, including a red rotor and close-ups of markings in English.

It quoted an unnamed Libyan military official saying a NATO Apache attack helicopter was downed in Zlitan, about 85 miles (135 kilometers) east of the capital Tripoli. The report claimed it was the fifth Apache that had been downed.

A NATO spokesman said the alliance lost radar contact with an unmanned helicopter drone Tuesday morning and is looking into the incident, but denied that an Apache had been lost.

[pinboy3niner]

107. Drone Copter is NATO’s First Combat Casualty in Libya

Source: Wired (Danger Room blog)

By David Axe June 21, 2011 | 10:57 am

...


Libyan state TV showed wreckage of the drone and claimed it was from a manned Apache gunship Gadhafi’s forces had shot down 85 miles east of Tripoli. But the debris’ color, shape and markings prove it was from an MQ-8 Fire Scout, a so-called “Vertical-Takeoff Unmanned Aerial Vehicle” built by Northrop Grumman.


The U.S. Air Force has been flying fixed-wing Predator and Global Hawk drones over Libya since April and March, respectively. But this is the first we’ve heard about drone choppers.


As with the stealth chopper(s) used in the Osama Bin Laden raid last month, a crashed aircraft has opened a window into previously unreported military tactics.


The U.S. Navy is the only know user of the surveillance-optimized Fire Scout, although U.S. Special Operations Command uses the somewhat-similar Hummingbird robocopter, built by Boeing.


The Navy has ambitions to buy nearly 200 MQ-8s, but at the moment the sailing branch uses just a handful of the $10-million, 24 foot-long, pilotless choppers for “operational testing” in combat zones.

...


http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/06/drone-copter-is-natos-first-combat-casualty-in-libya/

[joshcryer]

99. SYRIA: Pro- and anti-Assad Syrians clash; 3 dead

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110621/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria">Pro- and anti-Assad Syrians clash; 3 dead
BEIRUT – Government supporters and opponents clashed in at least two Syrian cities on Tuesday, leaving three people dead, activists reported, as President Bashar Assad's regime sought to counter a 3-month-old pro-democracy uprising with mass demonstrations.

The Local Coordinating Committees, which track the Syrian protest movement, said two people were killed in the central city of Homs and one in the eastern city of Deir el Zour. The two sides have clashed in the past, but Tuesday's violence appeared to be the worst such violence.

Assad's authoritarian regime mobilized tens of thousands of people to wave flags and pictures of Assad in several major cities on Tuesday, a day after he offered a vague plan for political reform in a speech that was rejected by opposition supporters who took to the streets shouting, "Liar!" He had shown no sign of readiness to end his family's long political domination in Syria, a key opposition demand.

An eyewitness in Homs told The Associated Press a pro-Assad protest with some 10,000 participants "descended" on the city on Tuesday. "Nobody knows them, they are strangers to the city, they were asking for directions," he said.

[joshcryer]

100. All Confused On the Western Front: NATO and Libya's Rebels Don't Jibe

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2078831,00.html">All Confused On the Western Front: NATO and Libya's Rebels Don't Jibe
"Where is NATO?" the rebel asks, with no small amount of frustration. It is just after midnight, Friday, June 17, and he is holed up in Dafniyah, a hamlet west of the revolutionary enclave of Misratah on the coast of western Libya. Like all the fighters in the dry fields outside the rebel city, Ashrf Ali, 30, had anticipated that the military alliance would launch a bombing campaign in the early hours of the morning last Friday, hitting Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's troops to allow the rebels to push further inland. Instead, NATO planes have merely buzzed the sky in routine reconnaissance and patrol sorties, leaving Ali and his fellow fighters unable to advance.

Throughout parts of Libya under rebel control, people are frustrated with NATO. Between its slow pace of attacks and the errant strikes that have killed rebel fighters, the speculation now is that the Western coalition lacks the resources and resolve to help the rebels topple Gaddafi.

Nice article, two paragraphs because they're rather "thick." (As in wordy.)

[joshcryer]

101. Qaddafi Tanks Deprived of Diesel as Ships Shunning Libya: Freight Markets

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-21/qaddafi-tanks-deprived-of-diesel-as-ships-shunning-libya-freight-markets.html">Qaddafi Tanks Deprived of Diesel as Ships Shunning Libya: Freight Markets
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi is facing a fourth month without the diesel cargoes needed to power tanks as he endures an 11-week air campaign led by NATO.

No vessel delivered the fuel to Qaddafi-controlled ports since February, according to five oil-product traders and three shipbrokers interviewed by Bloomberg. The country, once Africa’s third-largest crude producer, normally got four shipments a month, they said. One vessel holds 34 million liters (9 million gallons), enough to fill all Libyan tanks 18 times over, based on data from IHS Jane’s, a military analysis company.

While the country has the continent’s biggest proven crude reserves, oil fields and refineries were shut by the fighting that began with the uprising against the regime in February. Crude rose 37 percent in New York in the next three months on concern that violence would spread to bigger producers. Prices fell 19 percent since the start of May as fighting failed to spread, Saudi Arabia offered more cargoes and on signs global economic growth is weakening.

“I suspect Qaddafi has gone to an austere environment and is not able to replace fuel,” said Robert Maginnis, a senior strategist for the U.S. Army in the Pentagon. “Qaddafi would be hurt more than the rebels if diesel supplies are cut.”

[joshcryer]

102. House GOP considers measures to rebuke action in Libya

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20072791-503544.html">House GOP considers measures to rebuke action in Libya
Republican House leaders will meet later today to discuss whether to try to constrain the ability of President Obama to continue military operations in Libya.

Republicans, frustrated with what they see as a lack of consultation by the president, are considering a variety of legislative measures, from a resolution rebuking the president to an amendment similar to the one introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) to cut off funding for the war.

"The fact that the White House ignored the advice of the Justice Department and flouted the War Powers Resolution calls for some serious accountability. We're discussing all available options with our members to hold the administration to its obligations," said Kevin Smith, a spokesperson for House Speaker John Boehner.

White House spokesman Jay Carney argued such a move might hurt NATO's mission in Libya. "At a time when Colonel Qaddafi is under great pressure, and our allies are bearing a considerable -- considerable burden of the effort, it would send a bad message to both Qaddafi and to our friends around the world to... have a vote like that."

I hope liberals everywhere don't buy into the GOP houses lies. But I am afraid some will. :(

[pinboy3niner]

103. NATO reiterates that compound hit at Surman Monday was a command and control facility

Speaking at press conference (NATO spokesman Mike) Bracken repeated Nato's claim that a compound attacked on Monday was a legitimate target. Libyan officials said at least 15 civilians were killed in the attack.

Bracken described the attack as a "precision strike on a highly significant command and control node near Zawiyah".

Nato could not verify reports of civilian casualties, he said. He showed satellite images suggesting that the building targeted had 17 satellite dishes on its roof, including some that 3m wide. "I ask how many buildings require 17 satellite dishes if they are not a command and control communications facility?" Bracken said.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jun/21/syria-libya-middle-east-unrest-live#block-10

[pinboy3niner]

104. WaPo: Troops' "danger pay" at odds with WH on Libya

June 21, 2011 9:56 AM


(Washington Post) The White House has officially declared that what's happening in Libya is not "hostilities."


But at the Pentagon, officials have decided it's unsafe enough there to give troops extra pay for serving in "imminent danger."


The Defense Department decided in April to pay an extra $225 a month in "imminent danger pay" to service members who fly planes over Libya or serve on ships within 110 nautical miles of its shores.


That means the Pentagon has decided that troops in those places are "subject to the threat of physical harm or imminent danger because of civil insurrection, civil war, terrorism or wartime conditions." There are no U.S. ground troops in Libya.

...


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/21/politics/washingtonpost/main20072919.shtml

[pinboy3niner]

105. Kerry, McCain push Libya resolution

By DONNA CASSATA


WASHINGTON (AP)— Two top senators are pushing a resolution authorizing a limited role for the U.S. military in Libya.


Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., and John McCain of Arizona, the senior Republican on the Armed Services Committee, planned to introduce the resolution on Tuesday. McCain spoke about the measure on the Senate floor.


He said the resolution would authorize President Barack Obama to advance U.S. national security interests as part of the international coalition challenging Moammar Gadhafi. The authority would be limited to a year.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43479835/ns/politics

[pinboy3niner]

106. Libya: Government Using Landmines in Nafusa Mountains

Source: Human Rights Watch

Placement of More Than 150 Antipersonnel Mines Confirmed


June 21, 2011


(Cairo) - Libyan government forces placed more than 150 antipersonnel landmines in at least one location in the Nafusa Mountains, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch visited the site, inspected mines that had been removed, and interviewed the rebel fighters who removed them.


"These antipersonnel landmines pose a huge threat to civilians," said Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch. "More than 150 countries have banned landmines, but Libya continues to defy this global trend."


Human Rights Watch has confirmed government use of five types of landmines in six separate locations in Libya, including the use of antipersonnel and antivehicle landmines near Ajdabiya.


This is the first confirmed use of landmines in the Nafusa Mountains, in the far western part of Libya.


The mines found in the mountains are a Brazilian-made antipersonnel mine, the T-AB-1. The mines were placed about 10 miles north of the town of Zintan in a place called Khusha (coordinates N 32º 02.448', E 012º 12.710'), apparently to defend government positions further north.


The T-AB-1 plastic antipersonnel mine has a low metal content and is therefore difficult to detect once placed, Human Rights Watch said. In addition to its antipersonnel properties, the T-AB-1 can be used as a fuze for an antivehicle mine with the same name.

...


The Mine Ban Treaty comprehensively bans the use, production, and transfer of all antipersonnel mines, requires destruction of stockpiles within four years and clearance of mined areas within 10 years, and calls for assistance to landmine victims. In recent years, the only government forces that have continued to lay antipersonnel mines are Burma's.


"The use of antipersonnel mines in the Libya conflict is endangering civilians and will continue to do so after the fighting has stopped," Goose said.


http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/21/libya-government-using-landmines-nafusa-mountains

[pinboy3niner]

108. Treasury Imposes Sanctions Against Libyan Banks and Companies

By Cheyenne Hopkins - Jun 21, 2011 8:54 AM PT (Bloomberg)

...


“The Treasury Department is carefully monitoring Libyan- associated entities worldwide to ensure that they are not attempting to evade sanctions and assist the Qaddafi regime,” Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control Director Adam Szubin said in a release. “We will remain vigilant in our efforts to isolate the Qaddafi regime from the international financial system.”

The Treasury blocked licenses from three Libyan-owned banks and identified nine Libyan owned- or controlled companies subject to sanctions. OFAC, as the office is known, removed sanctions against Libya’s former oil minister and former chairman of the National Oil Corporation of Libya, Shokri Muhammed Ghanem, who defected from the Qaddafi regime last month.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-21/treasury-imposes-sanctions-against-libyan-banks-and-companies.html

[pinboy3niner]

109. Libya's Zliten rebels struggle to inch forward

21 June 2011 Last updated at 11:52 ET

Andrew Harding
Africa correspondent (BBC)

...


"Every day they (Gaddafi's forces) are arresting people - they have checkpoints everywhere; every 100m they will check you.


"There is no fighting, because we finished everything here. We don't have military equipment," he says.


I ask him if they have run out of ammunition.


"Yes. We are waiting for things to change from outside Zliten - we are waiting for Misrata rebels to come."


The man says he can hear Nato bombs landing outside the town, but Colonel Gaddafi's forces are still managing to hide much of their heavy weaponry.


"They put rocket launchers inside the mosques and the hospitals… and every public place," he says. "Still he will lose, because he fighting his people, you know. His military forces cannot fight their families."


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13862623

[pinboy3niner]

110. Libya: Dozens of patients receive treatment in Italian hospitals

Source: Adnkronos International (AKI)

last update: June 21, 18:11


Libya, 21 June (AKI) - Italy is giving medical treatment to dozens of Libyan civilians as a result of an accord signed between the rebel leadership and Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.


Following the accord signed on 8 April by Frattini and Libya's rebel National Transitional Council leader leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil, 22 patients have received treatment in hospitals in Italy's northern Lombardy and Lazio region and a further 14 including 9 children will arrive this week.


An Italian Airforce C-130J transport plane on Tuesday flew back to Libya the 22 patients who have been treated with 11 accompanying persons, the foreign ministry said.


The plane will return with an additional 14 Libyan patients, including 9 children, and 10 accompanying persons.

...


http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Aki/English/Security/Libya-Dozens-of-patients-receive-treatment-in-Italian-hospitals_312156226243.html

[pinboy3niner]

111. Libyan rebels say they are close to Gaddafi's hometown

Source: Monstrs and Critics

Jun 21, 2011, 15:53 GMT


Tripoli/Cairo/Brussels - Libyan rebels said Tuesday they have advanced towards the city of Sirte in a bid to secure the frontline leading to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.


Abdul-Fattah Yunis, who leads the opposition fighters, said the rebels were closing in on Sirte, hometown of leader Moamer Gaddafi.


He said rebels aim to 'liberate it from the security brigades, with Tripoli next in line,' according to the opposition Libyan Youth Movement group.


Yunis stressed the need to secure the way leading to the eastern region.


'We must secure it completely. Our forces our now ready and our preparations are complete,' he said.

...


http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/africa/news/article_1646808.php/Libyan-rebels-say-they-are-close-to-Gaddafi-s-hometown

[pinboy3niner]

112. NATO Reviewing Civilian Casualties in Libya Strike

Source: New York Times

By ERIC SCHMITT and J. DAVID GOODMAN

Published: June 21, 2011


NATO is investigating the possibility that a house in Tripoli that was destroyed during an alliance attack over the weekend might have been hit by a Libyan missile and not an errant NATO missile, a NATO official said Tuesday.


After acknowledging Sunday for the first time that NATO airstrikes might have caused civilian casualties, NATO officials now say they have learned that a Soviet-made SA-6 surface-to-air missile from a Libyan stockpile that was hit that night might have been responsible for the attack. Libyan officials said nine civilians were killed; reporters saw the bodies of five people, including two children.


“When reports of the building being hit first appeared, NATO looked to see if there were planes near by, and there were,” said a NATO official who spoke on ground rules of anonymity. “There was a report of a weapons failure, and NATO concluded that this may explain what happened. Subsequently, we learned about the SA-6, which came from a site we were targeting at the same time.”

...


Determining the cause of the damage was difficult because NATO warplanes had targeted an SA-6 site near the house, officials said, presenting several possibilities for how the home was destroyed: an errant bomb, a SA-6 missile fired at NATO warplanes that accidentally hit the home, or some combination of these.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/world/africa/22libya.html

[pinboy3niner]

113. GOP Rep. Seeks to Cut Off Libya Funding; Obama ‘Violating the War Powers Act’

June 21, 2011 2:41 PM


ABC News’ Rick Klein (@rickklein) reports:

As bipartisan frustration mounts over President Obama’s actions in Libya, a Republican lawmaker is moving to cut off funding for U.S. efforts unless the president gets congressional approval.


Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., is filing a bill today that would shut down funding for the operations within 30 days, with the exception of money spent to withdraw American assets from the region.

...


Heck’s proposal would go further in constricting the Obama administration than most Republicans – and many Democrats - would. But House leaders are pressing for some type of action on Capitol Hill this week, to register bipartisan disapproval – and potentially threaten funds for U.S. operations.

...


http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/06/gop-rep-seeks-to-cut-off-libya-funding-obama-violating-the-war-powers-act.html

[pinboy3niner]

114. Broadcasting to Libya in Berber

Source: Al Jazeera

Berber culture and language revived in Libya after decades of neglect and mistrust under Gaddafi.

Last Modified: 21 Jun 2011 12:10


The uprising in Libya has shaken Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's hold on the country.

One community that up until now had been too afraid to showcase its cultural heritage is benefiting from greater cultural freedoms in rebel-held areas.

Al Jazeera's James Bays has been spending time with the ancient Berber people and filed this report.


VIDEO (2:10):
http://english.aljazeera.net/video/africa/2011/06/2011621111013293873.html

[tabatha]

115. Open Letter to Gaddafi Supporter Cynthia McKinney from Disappointed Palestinians

Dearest Cynthia McKinney,

Two years ago, you spoke out against Israel’s human rights abuses in Palestine. You were even put in an Israeli prison after your attempts to help deliver medical supplies and humanitarian aid on a ship to Gaza in 2009. For your sacrifices, you gained respect from many Palestinians all over the world.

However, we can’t help but be irked by your recent stance on Libya. It’s fine to be against NATO intervention in Libya. You’re entitled to your own opinion. But to praise Libyan dictator Muammer Gaddafi is completely unacceptable. Anti-intervention shouldn’t equate to whitewashing Gaddafi’s crimes.

Last month, you appeared on Libya State TV, a propaganda organ of the Gaddafi regime. In an interview, you said that the “last thing we need to do is spend money on death, destruction and war… I want to say categorically and very clearly that these policies of war…are not what the people of the United States stand for and it’s not what African-Americans stand for.”

Maybe you could have garnered some legitimacy with that statement if you weren’t speaking on a station run by Gaddafi. Or even better, if you at least offered some recognition that Gaddafi is guilty of perpetrating “death, destruction and war” on his own people.

.....

Ms. McKinney, your pro-Gaddafi stance is completely hypocritical and contradictory to your support for the Palestinians. Unless you retract your statements supporting Gaddafi, we don’t think you have any business sailing to Gaza again. We refuse to accept opportunistic support from people who advocate for murderers.

Sincerely,

A Group of (Severely) Disappointed Palestinians from Gaza, West Bank, and the US

http://yansoon.net/2011/06/21/open-letter-to-pro-gaddafi-cynthia-mckinney-from-disappointed-palestinians/

[tabatha]

117. "A powerful reminder of why the international community is acting to protect the Libyan people"

Alistair Burt, FCO Minister for Middle East and North Africa spoke to people in the Libya Western Mountains about what they have seen, heard and experienced in the third Eyewitness Libya event.

These ordinary Libyans shared their firsthand accounts of human rights violations and deliberate targeting of Zintan and Nalut by Qadhafi’s forces. Also represented were representatives from human rights organisations including: Amnesty International and Lawyers for Justice in Libya. Many of those speaking still have relatives in Libya: they gave their accounts in confidence, so that others could speak out on their behalf.

This was the third eyewitness event, following those that took place during May, which looked at accounts from people from Misrata and Tripoli.

Following the meeting on Monday 20 June Mr Burt said:

"Speaking to ordinary Libyans living through these extraordinary times is always a powerful reminder of why the international community is acting to protect the Libyan people from the Qadhafi regime.

“I have heard today about the situation in the Western mountains, which is the main route of escape for refugees hoping to reach Tunisia. What is clear is the pressing need for Qadhafi to allow fuller access for aid agencies and to stop attacking the civilian population.

“His forces continue to try to crush the people’s legitimate desire for freedom. We will remain steadfast in our commitment to stop him and to protect and support ordinary Libyans”.

http://ukun.fco.gov.uk/en/news/?view=News&id=619140982

[tabatha]

119. Videos and news

Video of Glorious moment FFs entered and liberated Kufra
http://youtu.be/gYpMl1cYW_4

Video of of many truck loads of mercenaries being transported on Airport Road in Tripoli.
http://is.gd/W7Uh1X #Libya #feb17
(Jeez, Gaddafi transports foreign mercs in trucks like cattle)

Video of Libya heroic operation to one of the rebels in the city of Misurata
http://youtu.be/ZagRlYOQ8jA

Video of FIRST election ever in Libya from 1952. This website has INCREDIBLE videos from Libya 's modern history
http://is.gd/72lUjB #feb17

Video of Queen Elizabeth & Prince Phillip visitng Tobruk in 1954 #Libya #feb17
http://is.gd/GsII2k

Video from 1911 in Libya, 14 Libyan FFs were hanged by Mussolini's Italian occupation. This is why Martyr Sq… (cont)
http://deck.ly/~5mbAm

Awesome video of the Tripoli GRAND PRIX in 1935
http://is.gd/bCpYyA #Libya #feb17


Thanku4theAnger
Ahrar Trablus Charity a Libyan aid organization in Djerba was attacked by 45 Gaddafi thugs. 4 aid workers got stabbed. WTH! #Libya #feb17
Great news: Singer of Tea of freedom is alive! His death apparently was a rumour spread by Pro G scumbags http://is.gd/SsGtna #Libya #feb17
FreeLibyanma:
@LibyanStateTV LOL-so basically, you hit a plane that dropped splash! in the sea & found the driver's jacket-except the planes was no-pilot?

If cuteness could kill, this freedom fighter would end Gaddafi on her own : ) #feb17 #Libya
http://yfrog.com/gzzq3izj

[pinboy3niner]

116. Women in the Arab Spring: The other side of the story

Source: Washington Post (news blog)

Posted at 12:23 PM ET, 06/21/2011
By Elizabeth Flock



Much has been written about the women who have protested, organized, blogged and conducted hunger strikes throughout the Arab Spring. An opposition newspaper in Libya recently headlined a story about the role women have played in the uprisings this way: “She is the Muslim, the mother, the soldier, the protester, the journalist, the volunteer, the citizen.”


But the other piece of the story is the anguish countless women have had to endure, in the form of rape, detention, or simply a lack of appreciation of their role in the protests.


In Syria, for example, rapes and other assaults on women have increased during the past few months, indicating an escalation of violence by the governments and its allies, the Post’s Gul Tuysuz quotes Syrian residents as saying.

...


Many women who have protested alongside men despite the dangers also feel that their efforts have gone unappreciated. One Egyptian protester told EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton during a visit to Tahrir Square:

“The men were keen for me to be here when we were demanding that Mubarak should go. ... But now he has gone, they want me to go home.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/women-in-the-arab-spring-the-other-side-of-the-story/2011/06/21/AG32qVeH_blog.html

[pinboy3niner]

118. In Libya, duty calls to Halifax doctor

Source: Toronto Star

Published 26 minutes ago

Jeremy Relph
Special to The Star



DAFNIA, LIBYA—Dr. Fathi Badi held the rebel’s head in his hands as a neck brace was slid on over his damaged vertabrae. The man’s left leg was crushed too, and would have to be amputated.


Outside the field hospital, a man punched the door. Another pickup arrived. Men screamed as they brought their wounded and dead, their bodies slumped in the back of a truck beneath a mounted gun. A man wept, smacking his forehead repeatedly. Another man screamed under a tree.

...


Some 800 fighters have passed through the clinic, most of them injured by shrapnel from the near-constant shelling. He deals with “all kinds of serious injury — head, burns, chest wounds and gunshots.”

“All the people who die are young people — 18, 19, 16, 25,” he says. “That’s the hardest thing.”


“What did we do to Gadhafi for him to treat us like this? To kill people from our city, my relatives, my friends — all this so he can stay in power?”

...


Gadhafi loyalists have continued their attacks despite flyer drops from NATO warning that aggression against civilians would be met by Apache helicopters. The message appears to have gone unheeded. Grad rockets land in the city daily.


“We want to do something to stop this war,” Badi says. “We want to let the whole world know we’re suffering here.”



http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1012747--in-libya-duty-calls-to-halifax-doctor

[pinboy3niner]

120. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 125: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22

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

[pinboy3niner]

121. Germany opens inquiry against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi

21 June 2011


BERLIN (BNO NEWS) -- German prosecutors on Tuesday opened a formal inquiry against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi over alleged crimes against humanity, the DPA news agency reported.


The federal investigation will gather evidence for the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. On May 16, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo requested an arrest warrant against three Libyan top officials.


The United Nations-backed court is still considering the evidence against Gaddafi, one of his sons, and Abdullah Al Sanousi, the head of Libya's Intelligence agency, for alleged crimes against humanity committed since last February when anti-government protests began.


On June 13, the German government recognized the Libyan rebels based in Benghazi as the legitimate government of the North African country. Germany did not get involved in the ongoing NATO-led military campaign in Libya.


The ICC and the German inquiry will address the many reports of attacks on Libyan civilians in their homes and in public spaces, crackdown of demonstrations with live ammunition, the use of heavy artillery on funeral processions, and the arrests of dissidents.

...


http://channel6newsonline.com/2011/06/germany-opens-inquiry-against-libyan-leader-muammar-gaddafi/

[pinboy3niner]

122. (Former Dem. Rep. Lee) Hamilton derides Congress, White House for missing bigger picture on Libya

Source: NBC News (First Read blog)

By NBC's Lauren Stephenson

...


Regardless, the former Indiana congressman Hamilton says the White House and Congress need to stop arguing over the legality of fighting in Libya and start taking action. "You have, once again, the president and the Congress arguing process (over) 'who has the power to do what?' That's an argument that's gone on for decades if not centuries in this country."


He added that such arguments "divert attention."


Instead of "discussing the...key issue: What the United States should be doing in Libya," Hamilton said, "(We) see this rather arcane legal argument between the White House and the Congress, both of whom have their set talking points."


Hamilton said the United States should focus on protecting the Libyan people rather than ousting Libyan Leader Moammar Khaddafy immediately.

...


http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/21/6910681-hamilton-derides-congress-white-house-for-missing-bigger-picture-on-libya

[pinboy3niner]

123. House to consider two Libya resolutions on Wednesday

Source: The Hill

By Pete Kasperowicz - 06/21/11 07:01 PM ET


House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said on Tuesday evening that House Republicans would meet on Wednesday to discuss two Libya resolutions -- one that would authorize the use of force in Libya, and another that would require the U.S. to withdraw military forces.


Boehner said both bills would be posted online Tuesday night. House leaders have hinted that a vote could be schedule for this week on a Libya bill.


The resolution supporting the Libya mission would mirror language introduced by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.). The resolution in opposition would require all troops to be withdrawn except those engaged in non-hostile actions.

...


http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/167711-house-to-consider-two-libya-resolutions-on-wednesday

[pinboy3niner]

124. Gaddafi rockets dent sense of security in Misrata

Tue Jun 21, 2011 8:52pm GMT

By Matt Robinson


MISRATA, Libya, June 21 (Reuters) -

...


"Everyone is worried. We don't know where to go anymore. Only when I die will I be safe," said Mohammed Mabrouk, who lives near one of two houses hit by the rockets. The other two landed in open areas.

...


"Gaddafi's forces have moved forward about a kilometre," Dr Mohammed Grigda said at the field hospital in Dafniya just outside Misrata. It was impossible to verify the information but a Reuters reporter in Dafniya saw that rebel mortar positions had edged back slightly.


Shelling by government forces positioned outside Misrata has been limited to neighbourhoods on the edge of the city. A child was killed and two others were wounded on Monday when a rocket exploded in a house near the port in the east.


In the Western Mountains, where the rebels made significant gains in recent weeks, NATO launched four air strikes against loyalist forces outside the town of Nalut near the border with Tunisia, a rebel spokesman there said. Gaddafi's soldiers fired 20 rockets into the town, but no one was hurt.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFLDE75K15E20110621?sp=true

[tabatha]

128. Video of recent Misrata bombardment by Gaddafi

http://youtu.be/0UCXaMueLwE

[tabatha]

125. Libyan medics battling to survive

AJDABIYA

The front-line fighting was especially heavy last month when the rebels made the first of several attempts to take the city of Brega from the forces of Col Muammar Qaddafi.

As the rebel army advanced on the oil-rich city, both sides were brought under a furious barrage of Nato air strikes.

Through the bursting bombs and shellfire raced a Libyan Red Crescent ambulance van. Inside were five volunteers who had just rescued a rebel fighter who would later lose both legs, but survive. The team had rushed him from the front to the nearest field hospital in Ajdabiya. They turned around at once and returned to collect more of the injured.

"Bombs were dropping all around us," said Mohammed Musrate, a medic with the crew. "We were under heavy fire from Nato and Qaddafi's men."

Hurtling back across the desert, the ambulance was struck from behind by a fierce explosion. Shrapnel and glass tore through the rear doors, and three of the crew were hurt. A metal shard tore through the rib cage of the team's leader, Dr Salah Al Awame. Minutes later, four days after his 28th birthday, he died on the way to the hospital as Mr Musrate struggled to revive him.

"Doctor Salah was my friend," Mr Musrate said. "The night before we ate together and told jokes. I still can picture his face that morning when we left for the front."

http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/africa/libyan-medics-battling-to-survive?pageCount=0

[tabatha]

126. Away Alone: Unaccompanied children find shelter after fleeing Libya

SALLUM, Egypt, June 21 (UNHCR) – Big, beautiful eyes barely hide the pain she's been through. Rosie has lived in three countries – Ethiopia, Sudan and Libya. The teenager never had a chance to set down roots, driven out of each country to save herself, always in search of somewhere to call home.

But the 17-year-old Ethiopian refugee was also all on her own, encountered at the depressing border crossing town of Sallum in north-west Egypt after fleeing from war-torn Libya. She was not the only unaccompanied minor stranded there.

David, also 17, is a loner who keeps to himself in a tent pitched in one corner of Sallum's port area. He has no friends, unlike 16-year-old Robert and Gerry, 15, who met in a Libyan Red Crescent camp in Benghazi earlier this year and have become firm buddies.

All four had been stuck for months at Sallum, unable to join the average of 2,000 people entering Egypt daily from Libya, mostly Egyptians and Libyans. Since conflict erupted in Libya last February, more than 300,000 people have entered Egypt through Sallum, with many carrying on to their home countries.

http://www.unhcr.org/4e0099c79d.html

[pinboy3niner]

129. Rocket shatters a family's life in Libya's Misrata

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• A rocket slams into a home, killing a 14-year-old boy

• His father, mother and brother are all hurt

• The family has named a newborn son after the deceased teen

By Ben Wedeman, CNN

June 22, 2011 -- Updated 0616 GMT (1416 HKT)


Misrata, Libya (CNN) -- Twelve-year-old Faraj Abu Shaiba is burned and in shock -- but somehow he manages a weak smile from his hospital bed.


Monday evening, a rocket fired by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi slammed into his home in Misrata's Ruwaisat neighborhood.


Faraj's 14-year-old brother, Ibrahim, was killed instantly -- washing his hands at the sink before evening prayers.

...


The day before the attack, the mother gave birth to a son. The family has named him Ibrahim, after the brother who died in the attack.


The older Ibrahim was buried Monday night, just hours after he was killed -- the latest grave in this city's rapidly growing cemeteries.


http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/06/22/libya.misrata.aftermath/

[pinboy3niner]

130. Why Germany Abstained on UN Resolution 1973 on Libya

Source: Foreign Policy Journal

by Richard Rousseau

June 22, 2011


It would be too easy to consider that Germany’s abstention during the vote on Resolution 1973, on Libya, at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was a serious mistake caused by the inexperience of Guido Westerwelle, the young German Minister of Foreign Affairs. Diplomatic cables published lately by Wikileaks confirmed that this was the US impression of the minister. American diplomats outlined a track record of his alleged inconsistencies and incompetence in support of their argument in the Wikileaks cables. In reality, however, the abstention was prompted by major political and economic considerations. Time will demonstrate what the full consequences of that decision will be. However, for now it is possible to analyze the basic reasons behind it, and what might be some of the possible outcomes.


On 17 March, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1973, which created the legal framework for the creation of a “no-fly zone” over Libya and demanded an immediate ceasefire and an end to attacks on civilians by armed forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. The UN General Secretary said that these attacks might indeed constitute “crimes against humanity”. The Security Council imposed a ban on all flights over the country’s airspace and tightened its existing sanctions on the Gaddafi regime and its supporters.


Ten members of the Security Council voted in favor of the resolution: the United States, Great Britain, and France, all permanent members of the Security Council, and Bosnia, Colombia, Gabon, Lebanon, Nigeria, Portugal and South Africa, non-permanent members. No country voted against it, but there were five abstentions: Brazil, China, India, Russia, and Germany. The Former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has called the Germany’s abstention “an absurd mistake.” So why did Germany, a close supporter of the U.S., refuse to support Resolution 1973? What made the German Foreign Minister, who had praised the desire for freedom among the young people in Tunis and Cairo a month before, suddenly change his tune in the Resolution 1973 vote a month later?


There is no need to draw a parallel with Germany’s non-participation in the “coalition of the willing”, which intervened militarily in Iraq in 2003, as in this case Berlin assessed, like many other European major powers and members of the international community, that there was a lack of legitimacy for such a foreign armed intervention. In the case of Libya, a great majority of UN Security Council member states have actually endorsed Resolution 1973.

...


http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/06/22/why-germany-abstained-on-un-resolution-1973-on-libya/

[tabatha]

131. A museum in western Libya has just opened with an exhibition that honors the rebellion.

New exhibition honors the insurgency - Danish report
A museum in western Libya has just opened with an exhibition that honors the rebellion.
http://www.dr.dk/NETTV/Update/Forside.htm?video={8BC4B328-54D5-4BC1-AF50-5C1246086E05}
(English spoken by Libyans)

Gaddafi forces bomb Misrata (Reuters)
Governmen- propelled rockets damage parts of rebel-held Misrata, hospital set up near front line to assist rebelsGovernmen- propelled rockets damage parts of rebel-held Misrata, hospital set up near front line to assist rebels
http://alertnetlive.trust.org/Event/Libya__Middle_East_refugee_crisis


@ChangeInLibya @FromJoanne good morning one colonel From G. Troop have arrived to tunisia via the desert and confirm defection #libya #feb17

cathynewman Cathy Newman Libya funded out of reserve so no extra pressures on defence budget says Cameron

[pinboy3niner]

132. Poll: 85% in N. Africa see more democracy within 5 years from Arab Spring

Two thirds of people across the Middle East and North Africa believe the Arab Spring will produce more democratic governments, a new poll has found.

The overall results of the poll conducted by YouGov for Doha Debates masked wide variations in different regions. Optimism was highest in North Africa where 85% believe the unrest would result in more democracy within the next five years.

Some 70% of people in North Africa agreed that 'change has started and we are entering a new era in the Arab world'. But in Gulf countries fewer than the respondents shared this view.




_

There was also a marked contrast in the fear of demonstrating in different regions. Half of those in Gulf countries said they would be scared to take part in demonstrations, compared to only 16% in North Africa.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jun/22/syria-libya-middle-east-unrest-live#block-18

[pinboy3niner]

133. China Moves Closer to Libyan Opposition

Source: New York Times

By KEITH BRADSHER
Published: June 22, 2011


BEIJING — China’s foreign minister met here with the leader of Libya’s rebel opposition on Wednesday and said in a statement afterward that the opposition was “an important dialogue partner,” the latest in a series of Chinese moves to improve ties to the opposition.


Yang Jiechi, the foreign minister, declared after his meeting with the rebel leader, Mahmoud Jibril, that the opposition “has been increasingly representing the Libyan people and has gradually become an important political force in Libya.” Mr. Yang repeated China’s calls for a negotiated peaceful settlement to the conflict.


China has consistently preached nonintervention in recent years and has opposed international efforts to put pressure on even repressive governments like those in Zimbabwe, Sudan, Myanmar and North Korea. When the United Nations Security Council voted in March to authorize airstrikes against Colonel Qaddafi’s forces to prevent them from killing civilians in opposition areas, China was one of five countries that abstained.

...


Strong criticism of Colonel Qaddafi by other Arab countries, like Qatar, as well as efforts by African leaders to negotiate a settlement in Libya may have made China more willing to depart from its usual practice of avoiding contact with opposition groups, Mr. Simpfendorfer said.

...


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/world/asia/23beijing.html

[pinboy3niner]

134. House to vote on U.S. role in Libya mission

Source: CBS News (blog)

June 22, 2011 10:32 AM
By Lucy Madison


House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, plans to hold a House vote this week on measures that would force a congressional consensus on the U.S. military operations in Libya - despite President Obama's recent report arguing that the mission was legal with or without congressional authorization.


House Republican leaders have drawn up a pair of resolutions that would provide two clear directives in regard to U.S. military force in Libya. One sponsored by Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fl.) would authorize the limited use of military force in support of the NATO mission in Libya, and is similar to a Senate bill proposed on Tuesday by John Kerry, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Arizona.


The other resolution, however, would require a withdrawal from engagements there - excepting "forces engaged in non-hostile actions such as search & rescue, aerial re-fueling, operational planning, intelligence/surveillance/reconnaissance, and non-combat missions," according to Boehner.

...


House Republicans are expected to discuss the resolutions on Wednesday, and the House could vote on them as early as Thursday.

...


http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20073266-503544.html

[pinboy3niner]

135. Canadian general rejects calls for Libyan ceasefire

Source: Toronto Star

Allan Woods
Ottawa Bureau


OTTAWA—The commander of NATO forces operating over Libya says recent calls for a ceasefire may simply give government forces a chance to regroup and resupply.


Lt.-Gen. Charles Bouchard, speaking from Naples, Italy, acknowledged comments made by the Italian foreign minister and the head of the Arab League, but said a temporary halt to the hostilities could ultimately undermine the three-month-old bombing campaign.

...


But Bouchard told Canadian reporters on Wednesday that humanitarian aid is getting through to civilians in rebel-held eastern Libya and even in Tripoli. To the west, from Tripoli to the border with Tunisia, the delivery of assistance by unaffiliated aid groups has been more difficult, he said.


“A ceasefire, temporary in nature, cannot just be an opportunity for both sides to reload and engage in further violence down the road. We must continue to stay engaged to prevent that rearming from taking place and reinforcement from taking place,” he said.


“Truly, at the end of the day, if the Gadhafi regime wants their population to receive humanitarian assistance all they have to do is let the shipments go by.”

...


http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1013054--canadian-general-rejects-calls-for-libyan-ceasefire

[pinboy3niner]

136. McConnell: GOP Outspoken On Libya Because There’s A Democrat In The White House

Source: Talking Points Memo

Brian Beutler | June 22, 2011, 10:48AM


Here's an impressive package of candor from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who spoke to reporters Wednesday at a breakfast roundtable hosted by the Christan Science Monitor.


McConnell admitted that his party is divided over President Obama's military action in Libya, but that you're only hearing about it because Obama's a Democrat. Many of these same divisions, he said, existed under President Bush, but party loyalty "muted" the dissent.


"I'm not sure that these kinds of differences might not have been there in a more latent form when you had a Republican president," McConnell admitted. "But I do think there's more of a tendency to pull together when the guy in the White House is on your side."

...


"I think some of these views were probably held by some of my members even in the previous administration but party loyalty tends to kind of mute them," he said. "A lot of our members, not having a Republican in the White House, feel more free to kind of express their reservations which might have been somewhat muted during the previous administration."

...


http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/06/mcconnell-gop-outspoken-on-libya-because-theres-a-democrat-in-the-white-house.php

[pinboy3niner]

151. McConnell won't say where he stands on Libya mission--McClatchy

By David Lightman and Halimah Abdullah
McClatchy Newspapers


WASHINGTON — Republicans are divided over how to proceed on endorsing — or trying to curb — the U.S. mission in Libya, and on Wednesday Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell illustrated his party's political dilemma.

Pressed repeatedly by reporters at a Washington breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, he refused to state a position.

...


Asked for his own view, or even a gut feeling, the Kentucky Republican wouldn't even hint at his position.


McConnell said he usually takes his cues on such matters from McCain.

...


"He's not normally as deferential to McCain," said Jennifer Duffy, a senior editor with the Cook Political Report. "I get the sense that perhaps (McConnell) does not have a final course of action yet, though he knows he needs one."


http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/22/2279427/mcconnell-wont-say-where-he-stands.html

[pinboy3niner]

137. Rebel Leaders in Libya’s Misrata Curb Press Freedoms as Casualties Mount

Source: Bloomberg

By Chris Stephen - Jun 22, 2011 8:55 AM PT


Rebel leaders in the besieged western Libyan city of Misrata imposed restrictions on the foreign press, marking a sharp contrast with their previous openness and with the policies of their counterparts in Benghazi in the east.


Journalists traveling to Dafniya, a village near Misrata on the eastern frontline, are being turned back at checkpoints by rebel fighters, who say they have been told by authorities that some members of the western media may be spies.


Fast internet access has ended, journalists may only use officially approved translators, and Misrata officials no longer recognize the accreditation of the National Transitional Council, the Benghazi-based rebel government known as the NTC. The council has courted foreign media as its officials seek assistance and loans from abroad.


The restrictions came into force this week as the casualty toll from daily rocket attacks on the city by forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi mounts, and after reversals on the battlefield where rebel offensives failed to enlarge the Misrata pocket. NTC spokesmen in weren’t immediately available to comment about the developments.

...


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-22/rebel-leaders-in-libya-s-misrata-curb-press-freedoms-as-casualties-mount.html

Libyan rebels in Misrata clamp down on foreign media

Press face curbs on frontline reporting, internet links and translators, as insurgents go on alert for Muammar Gaddafi's spies


Chris Stephen
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 22 June 2011 17.04 BST

...

Frontline units said they were under instructions not to allow journalists access because of suspicions that some would be working for other interests.


"We are afraid of spies from Gaddafi," said Mohammed Durat, head of the Misrata media centre and a member of the ruling city council. "You need a permission to work here."

...


The new rules come amid a change in spirit across much of the city.


After a month of fighting, the armed rebel militia, lacking heavy weapons and armour, has failed to push the frontlines forward. Continual rocket and mortar bombardments by government forces on frontline areas are inflicting a rising death toll, shaking the morale of people in the city.

...


The mood of officialdom is in sharp contrast to that around the city, where foreign reporters are still given free accommodation and free travel from passing cars. Rebel units, doctors and other citizens have all voiced strong support for the foreign media.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/22/libyan-misrata-tough-foreign-media

[pinboy3niner]

138. 19 nations publicly recognize rebel NTC as legitimately representing the Libyan people

The list, as compiled by Reuters:

RECOGNITION OF NTC AS REPRESENTING LIBYAN PEOPLE

United States*

France

Britain

Italy

Spain

Turkey**

Qatar

Maldives

Kuwait

Gambia

Jordan

Senegal

Australia

Germany

United Arab Emirates

Canada

Panama

Austria

Latvia

RECOGNITION AS OF NTC LEGITIMATE POLITICAL FORCE

China***

Russia****

Malta

Sources: Reuters, official government websites

Notes:

* A May 23 State Department note called the NTC "a credible and legitimate interlocutor for the Libyan people". In June 9 comments to journalists in Abu Dhabi, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the Council as "the legitimate interlocutor for the Libyan people during this interim period."

** The Turkish Foreign Ministry says that while it sees the NTC as "a legal and credible representative" of the Libyan people, it does not see it as the sole representative.

*** Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi described the NTC diplomatic chief Mahmoud Jibril as an "important dialogue partner" during Jibril's trip to Beijing in June.

**** Mikhail Margelov, President Dmitry Medvedev's special representative for Africa, met Libyan rebel leaders in Benghazi in June.

(Compiled by Mark John; Editing by Matthew Jones)


http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFLDE75L0TC20110622?sp=true

[Iterate]

139. Following Up, Part II. Down the Rabbit Hole: Arms Exports and Qaddafi’s Cluster Bombs

Following Up, Part II. Down the Rabbit Hole: Arms Exports and Qaddafi’s Cluster Bombs
By C. J. CHIVERS June 22, 2011, 9:29 am

Over the next few days, At War will try something different, and allow readers to look over our shoulders on an unusual reporting and verification adventure, and to journey with us on the follow-up on the attacks with cluster munitions in Misurata, Libya. Ready for a tour of some of the ins-and-outs of conflict reporting in the Internet Age? Then come along for a bit of a ride.

In mid-April, The New York Times reported that forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi were firing cluster munitions on the besieged city of Misurata. Earlier in June, this blog described the spadework that led to that report, including details of the observations of journalists, witnesses, doctors and human-rights advocates present in the city during some of the attacks. The post also detailed the use of social media by a source who — working from photographs from The New York Times of a piece of the expended munitions and from other descriptions provided by e-mail — pinpointed the identification of the particular ordnance being fired.

The ordnance in question, then all but unknown to the public but now (thanks to the war in Libya) widely discussed, was the MAT-120 mortar cargo bomb. (See Janes.com for details on the MAT-120.)

The MAT-120 is a relatively new type of cluster munition that is fired by 120-millimeter mortar tubes. After being propelled into the air, each round’s cargo canister opens in flight above the targeted area and releases 21 submunitions, or bomblets, that descend to the ground below. Human Rights Watch, which also witnessed and verified the attacks with these weapons by the Qaddafi forces, described their effect this way: “Upon exploding on contact with an object, each submunition disintegrates into high-velocity fragments to attack people and releases a slug of molten metal to penetrate armored vehicles.”

more... http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/following-up-part-ii-down-the-rabbit-hole-arms-exports-and-qaddafis-cluster-bombs/

[pinboy3niner]

143. Good follow-up (again) by Chivers

The bottom line:

In effect, the Spanish ministry had validated Mr. Noriega’s reporting and Mr. Marsh’s analysis. So much for the Qaddafi government’s claim that it did not possess these rounds. It is a matter of record that it did, and that statements otherwise are false.

Tomorrow's report also promises to be interesting:

In the next post, we will examine how, by stringing together innuendo and unrelated facts, a counter-narrative can be invented and circulated on-line, and make it all the way to Iranian state TV.

Thanks or posing, Iterate. :hi:

[JackRiddler]

140. Your picture depicts children used as human shields for missiles.

That's not my judgement. I'm going by the standards set in the discussion about NATO bombs striking immediately adjacent to a playground in Tripoli. NATO supporters defended this as legitimate, based on (unsubstantiated) claims that there was a bunker under or next to the playground.

Nato accuses Gaddafi of using mosques and children's parks as shields
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4888990

[tabatha]

144. I did not put that picture there, but if you read the description:

"Libyan children sat atop a pickup truck armed with a rocket launcher ahead of the Friday noon prayer in the Libyan rebel-stronghold city of Benghazi."

It is neither a children's park, children's playground or a mosque - it is a pickup truck in a street.

As for hitting a bunker next to a playground, was the playground damaged/hit? Have any mosques been hit by NATO? I think the answers are no.

Gaddafi is hitting nothing else but children's parks, homes, playgrounds, schools, food supplies, water supplies - because the rebels have no military installations. All they have are their homes and towns.

Way to misconstrue and stretch beyond logic!

[pinboy3niner]

141. LIBYA: Running Out The Clock

Source: StrategyPage

June 22, 2011: Rebels have turned their attention towards clearing out pro-Kaddafi forces outside of Tripoli. These gunmen are still outside Misarata, holding the eastern city of Sirte and operating in the desert south. Rebel forces are fighting in Zliten, which is 60 kilometers west of Misarata and 130 kilometers from Tripoli. Berber rebels are holding onto the mountains south of Tripoli, and ready to advance on the city 150 kilometers to the north. NATO air strikes are chewing up the Kaddafi forces coming from Tripoli, across the coastal plain, to the mountains. Depending on how numerous the Berber rebels become, and how weak the Kaddafi forces get, the Berber advance could happen within a week, or more than a month. Dealing with the largely amateur Berber force, it's hard to make precise plans.


In Tripoli, the rebels are organizing and reinforcing their armed followers. These rebels harass Kaddafi forces and provide target information for NATO bombers. Kaddafi's supporters in Tripoli are numerous enough to organize some demonstrations for the media. But in most neighborhoods, the talk is of when Kaddafi will be gone. Kaddafi is trying to hang on and play world public opinion. Kaddafi apparently seeks to partition Libya, keeping control of Tripoli and the west Libyan oil fields. But the oil is far to the south of Tripoli, and the area is largely inhabited by Berbers, who are hostile to Kaddafi. The Berbers are armed and organized and have chased most Kaddafi gunmen to the edge of the mountains. Kaddafi has ordered his troops to keep the Berbers in the mountains south of Tripoli, and the fighting has been vicious. The Kaddafi forces have been accused of using landmines, and firing rockets on civilians.


The rebels and Kaddafi forces are stalemated between Misarata and Tripoli. But each day the Kaddafi forces get weaker (from NATO bombings, declining morale and the NATO blockade), while the rebels, who can export oil and import whatever they want, get stronger. Most importantly, the rebel forces continue to receive more training, and gain experience in combat.

...


http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/libya/articles/20110622.aspx

[pinboy3niner]

142. How Misurata shaped young Gaddafi

The city which helped propel him into power is now a thorn in Libyan leader's side.

Last Modified: 22 Jun 2011 09:36


Fifty years ago a young Muammar Gaddafi was welcomed into the city of Misurata which became an important part of his life.

The Libyan leader was educated in the city which played a leading role in the coup d'etat which brought Gaddafi to power.

But now Libya's third-largest city is a thorn in Gaddafi's side, remaining steadfastly in the hands of anti-government rebels.

Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reports on Gaddafi's legacy in the city that has become a key battleground in the fight for control of Libya.


Watch at AJE (3:09):

http://english.aljazeera.net/video/africa/2011/06/201162263012392978.html

[pinboy3niner]

145. Diplomats Flock to Rebel City

Source: Der Spiegel

By Juliane von Mittelstaedt and Volkhard Windfuhr


Ahmed Jibril wages the war against the dictator Moammar Gadhafi in a small, yellow house near the harbor in Benghazi. There are no weapons here, and some don't even have a computer, as they sit in front of scratched desks on stacks of corrugated floor covering. They are the 14 employees of the new foreign ministry, which was once only a branch of the ministry in Tripoli before the entire staff joined the revolution. Only one member, its former head, is no longer there, having fled to Egypt.

...


Meanwhile, the world is sending its diplomats to Benghazi. Hundreds have already been to the city or are there now, opening new consulates and liaison offices. Benghazi has turned into a test case for international law. The situation there is unprecedented, with a rebel government being recognized by the world and visited by politicians, even as the rebels continue to battle the army of the country's ruler. There is an odd feeling of simultaneity between the acts of overthrowing the regime and rebuilding in Benghazi these days.

...


The revolution has entered a new phase. Rebel border guards are now stamping immigration forms at the Egyptian border. The transitional council has voted to establish a news agency, an airport authority and an intelligence service. The voluntary militias are now called the National Liberation Army. Several commissions are developing a constitution.


The question now is no longer whether Gadhafi will be brought down, but what happens afterwards. "Our biggest concern is a power vacuum on the day after Gadhafi steps down," says a European diplomat. For this reason, international experts are trying to prepare for regime change as effectively as possible. They are working on scenarios for taking over Tripoli. They are searching for ways to avoid both a massacre by Gadhafi's troops and the humanitarian disaster that could result from the expected lack of water and electricity. At the same time, talks are underway with Gadhafi's government officials and contacts as more members of the transitional council are prepared to negotiate. Even the idea of the dictator being placed under house arrest inside Libya is now a possibility.

...


Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan


http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,769470,00.html

[pinboy3niner]

146. China: Libyan rebels increasingly represent public

BEIJING (AP) — China's foreign minister sought to bolster ties with Libya's rebels on Wednesday, telling the opposition leader that his Transitional National Council represents a growing segment of the Libyan public.


Yang Jiechi's remarks to Mahmoud Jibril on Wednesday were China's strongest endorsement of the council yet, marking an attempt to hedge China's bets over the outcome to the Libyan conflict and dealing a further diplomatic setback to Moammar Gadhafi.


"Since the Transitional National Council was formed, it has become more representative by the day and is becoming an important political force," Yang said, according to a statement issued by the ministry.


"The Chinese side regards it as an 'important dialogue participant,'" he said.

...


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j7RGy_Rc4XHmsWlv8CEuS9xzFJMA?docId=2c2092859826407b989a852c4f3c04b4

[pinboy3niner]

147. Denmark recognises rebel Libyan government

Source: Copenhagen Post

Wednesday, 22 June 2011 14:26

Change in position comes after months of dialogue with rebels through special diplomat


Foreign Minister Lene Espersen announced today that Denmark had formally recognised the National Transitional Council (NTC) as the only legitimate representation of the Libyan rebels while on a visit to Benghazi.


Espersen’s statement comes after several meetings with the leadership of the NTC today.


“I think the time has come. Our fear that competing groups will try to take over the country have been shown to be unfounded,” she said told Politiken newspaper.

...


“Everyone supports the NTC to lead Libya’s transition to a free country. These are people we can trust once Gaddafi is gone,” Espersen said.


http://www.cphpost.dk/news/newsflash/51843-denmark-formally-recognises-rebel-libyan-government.html

[tabatha]

148. Peaceful demonstrations

Peaceful demonstration in Ghadames:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW1j77sOf_g&feature=player_embedded

Huge demonstration in Misrata in full support of Libya:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvIftDPO7cI&feature=player_embedded

Unarmed Libyan Civilians demonstrating in Gharyan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu6h0AyzDo8&feature=player_embedded

Peaceful demonstration by women of Derna, Libya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URoAm8NT6Ts

(For the history books)

[pinboy3niner]

149. US House Leaders Abruptly Cancel Thursday Libya Vote

JUNE 22, 2011, 4:49 P.M. ET.

By Siobhan Hughes


WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--House Republican leaders on Wednesday abruptly canceled plans to vote Thursday on whether to set limits on U.S. activities in Libya following a challenging caucus meeting at which lawmakers were divided over how to proceed.


A vote may now occur on Friday. House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio), faced with some rank-and-file lawmakers who want to end the U.S. involvement in Libya, had been pushing alternatives that would set limits on the Obama administration but stop short of forcing the U.S. to end its involvement.


But that is not enough for some Republicans, who want to go further.

...


Some Republicans are pushing the House leadership to allow a vote on a third option: cutting off funding for the operation in Afghanistan. House Republican leaders are still debating whether to allow such a vote.


http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110622-713550.html

[tabatha]

150. NEWS: UNMAS on the ground in Benghazi, as Libyan children continue to face risks

Libya, 2011: A tank becomes a piece of playground equipment for children in Benghazi, Libya. The situation on the ground in Libya remains fluid, with civilians facing daily threats from continued fighting and the remnants of clashes. The UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has deployed its Standing Mine Action Capacity (S-MAC) to Cairo, Egypt and Benghazi, Libya.

UNMAS is working in partnership with UNICEF and ICRC as well as mine action NGOs to establish the type, extent and locations of the landmine and explosive remnant of war threat and to education the local population of the dangers posed by these items.


To learn more: www.mineaction.org and you can find the Joint Mine Action Coordination Team - Libya on Facebook here: www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Joint-Mine-Action-Coordination-...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unmas/5741885553/in/photostream

[pinboy3niner]

152. ***** Libya rebels, Kadafi regime hold indirect talks *****

Source: Los Angeles Times

A spokesman says the opposition insists that the strongman cannot be involved in any future government, but it may allow him to live out his last years in Libya at an isolated location.


By Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times

June 22, 2011, 2:15 p.m.


Reporting from Beirut— Indirect talks on the future of Libya have been taking place between representatives of Moammar Kadafi's government and rebels based in the eastern city of Benghazi, a spokesman for the opposition said Wednesday.


Mahmoud Shammam of the Transitional National Council said the private mediation efforts, which have yet to bear fruit, have been held in South Africa and France through intermediaries. He said the opposition has held firm that Kadafi and his family be excluded from any future government, but added it was possible the dictator could live out his last years in Libya at an isolated location.


"We are engaging in discussion with some people who have contact with people from the regime," Shammam told The Times during a brief interview on the sidelines of a talk he delivered in the Lebanese capital. "We are contacting them on the mechanism of the departure of Kadafi. We don't negotiate the future of Libya."

...


The big stumbling block in any talks, he said, is Kadafi himself. "He has to accept to leave or he has to accept to be held in a remote area of Libya," he said. "We don't mind an internationally supervised stay in one of Libya's oases."


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-rebels-envoy-20110623,0,3507935.story

[pinboy3niner]

153. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 126: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:30 AM THURSDAY, JUNE 23

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

[pinboy3niner]

154. House Republicans Plan Vote to Restrict Military Funds in Libya

June 22, 2011, 6:14 PM EDT

By James Rowley


June 22 (Bloomberg) -- House Republicans plan to vote this week on restricting spending for U.S. military involvement in Libya to activities not directly involved in hostilities, lawmakers said.


House Republicans who attended a closed caucus said a resolution presented by House Speaker John Boehner to limit U.S. forces to non-combat activities didn’t go far enough because it wouldn’t impose any spending restrictions.

...


At the second caucus, Boehner presented House members two alternatives on Libya: a bipartisan resolution introduced in the Senate that supports U.S. involvement in a mission commanded by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and one that would bar “hostilities” by U.S. ships and planes.


During the closed session, members sought stronger language because “a lot of people want to just cut off the funding,” said Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon, a California Republican. “That’s what our power is.”

.,..


Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said in an e-mail that the House will consider the Senate resolution and “a stand-alone funding limitation” for the 2012 fiscal year, “which will cut off funding for hostilities, but not leave our NATO allies in the lurch.”

...


http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-06-22/house-republicans-plan-vote-to-restrict-military-funds-in-libya.html

[tabatha]

155. Well, then they should restrict all funds for Iraq and Afghanistan

because they are way, way larger - and if the Libyan outcome is good, then the US will have more friends than from the Iraq and Afghanistan debacles.

[pinboy3niner]

156. Libya's Gaddafi accuses NATO of civilian "murders" (new audio broadcast)

RABAT | Wed Jun 22, 2011 7:20pm EDT

(Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi accused NATO states of murder in an audio speech broadcast late Wednesday, days after the alliance acknowledged for the first time its bombs may have caused civilian casualties.


"You said, 'we hit our targets with precision', you murderers!" he said in a tirade against NATO on state television.


"One day we will respond to you likewise and your homes will be legitimate targets," he said, warning of war in Europe, the United States and Asia.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/22/us-libya-gaddafi-idUSTRE75L80H20110622

A defiant Gaddafi accused NATO states of being murderers of innocent civilians and vowed revenge.

"One day we will respond to you likewise and your homes will be legitimate targets," he said in an audio speech on state TV.

The date on the screen was June 22 but Gaddafi referred to a June 19 strike on a house in Tripoli after which NATO regretted civilian casualties as "yesterday's crime", suggesting he was speaking on June 20 and raising questions over his location.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/22/libya-idUSLDE75L21P20110622

[pinboy3niner]

157. Libyan minister travels to Tunisia; more Libyan troops flee their nation's civil war

By The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – Wed, 22 Jun, 2011


TUNIS, Tunisia - Libya's foreign minister has crossed into neighbouring Tunisia but his final destination is not known.


The official TAP news agency says that Abdelati al-Obeidi headed to the Tunisian island of Djerba, a launching point for other destinations, as he has done many times in the past to seek a diplomatic solution to Libya's civil war.


In another development Wednesday, TAP said a boat carrying 38 Libyans fleeing combat in their homeland, including soldiers and some ranking officers, arrived at the Tunisian port of Ketf.

...


http://ca.news.yahoo.com/libyan-minister-travels-tunisia-more-libyan-troops-flee-204859465.html

[joshcryer]

158. Week 18 part 2 here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1347495