Libya shows signs of slipping from Muammar Gaddafi's grasp

[Lunabelle]

Muammar Gaddafi's regime has shown fresh signs of buckling as rebels have come close to cutting off supply routes and the Libyan interior minister arrived in Egypt in what appeared to be the highest-ranking defection for many months.

The Libyan leader broadcast a defiant appeal to his supporters to rid the country of "traitors", telling them: "The blood of martyrs is fuel for the battle." But the call was issued over a poor telephone line to state television, and most was inaudible – the result of what officials said was a technical breakdown.

Gaddafi's rallying call came as rebel fighters moved into Zawiyah, 30 miles west of Tripoli, straddling a critical road supply route from the Tunisian border. Rebel forces claimed to have near total control of the town, but government troops still held its oil refinery, the regime's last homegrown supply of fuel. Reuters reported that pro-government snipers in Zawiyah were firing on any civilians who ventured out of doors.

The anti-Gaddafi National Transitional Council (NTC) also claimed to have taken the city of Surman and said it was close to gaining control of Sabratha, along the same coastal road. A rebel spokesman said that talks were under way with government forces over their surrender.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/15/muammar-gaddafi-losing-grasp-libya

[DCBob]

1. I think finally the end is near for Mr Gaddafi..

Hopefully it will end without an ugly massacre.

[Xithras]

2. It may.

There's still the question of their SRBM's. We know that Libya has hundreds of short range ballistic missiles, and that Gadaffi hasn't fired any of them yet. Libya was also participating in a UN managed plan to destroy their chemical weapon stockpiles, and that program hadn't been completed yet. He still had about a quarter of his original mustard gas stores left when the war started and they threw the UN out.

According to the Russian envoy to Libya, who spoke with Gadaffi last month, there's supposed to be a plan in place to "blow the country up" if Tripoli falls. Because the missiles were mentioned in that discussion, we can probably presume that he's planning some kind of armageddon-like "final order". A last bit of shock and awe for the world to remember him by.

[pinboy3niner]

4. US officials: Gadhafi fires first scud missile

7:01 p.m. Monday, August 15, 2011

By LOLITA C. BALDOR


The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A U.S. military official says Libyan government forces fired a scud missile for the first time in this year's conflict with rebels, but it landed east of Brega and hurt no one.

The official says the early Sunday missile launch was detected by U.S. forces shortly after midnight and it landed in the desert about 50 miles outside Brega. Rebel and regime forces have battled over the strategic port city, and control has gone back and forth between the two sides.


http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/us-officials-gadhafi-fires-1111776.html

Source: The Telegraph


Col Gaddafi fires scud missile at rebel territory as Nato braces itself for final violent showdown


Col Muammar Gaddafi's Libyan government appeared to be preparing for a last violent final showdown after it emerged that his beleaguered regime had fired a Scud missile at rebel territory as the forces closed in on Tripoli.


By Damien McElroy, Zintan, Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent

9:00PM BST 15 Aug 2011



The rebels were attempting to identify the trajectory of the missile which was fired from Col Gaddafi's stronghold of Sirte even as his envoys headed for new talks with the opposition and a United Nations special envoy in Tunisia.


Despite rumours that he is preparing to flee, the opposition fear Col Gaddafi is preparing a desperate last stand in Tripoli and towns still loyal to him in the face of recent rebel advances on two fronts which has cut off his crucial supply routes.

...


The launch of the ballistic Scud missile, which has a range of more than 200 miles, was detected by a US Aegis destroyer in the Mediterranean on Sunday, officials told The Daily Telegraph.


The regime is thought to possess more than 100 of the Scud B variant missiles. It agreed to destroy them in a deal to end sanctions a decade ago, but rows over their replacement mean the systems remain intact.


Although military planners believe that the majority of the missiles were taken out in recent air strikes, several mobile brigades are thought still to exist.

...


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8703041/Col-Gaddafi-fires-scud-missile-at-rebel-territory-as-Nato-braces-itself-for-final-violent-showdown.html

[backscatter712]

7. Scuds are so inaccurate that firing Patriots at them actually caused more damage.

They're pretty dumb - not much different from WWII-era V2 rockets.

[Xithras]

11. Libya has SCUD-B's

SCUD-B's use a slightly more refined version of the guidance system found on the SCUD-A's, which were direct ripoff's of the V2's.

So, yeah, it's nearly 70 year old technology. It's accurate enough to hit a city, but it's nothing like the precision weaponry the US has today.

[Xithras]

9. Thanks! Hadn't heard those updates.

I wonder how many missiles are in a mobile brigade. Are we talking 5 missiles left, or 50?

I notice that the article says they were taken out in "recent airstrikes". I assume that we started targeting them following Gadaffi's statements to the Russians. Destroying his missile launch capabilities seemed like a bit of a no-brainer once he made that threat.

[joshcryer]

13. They've been destroyed since the onset of NATO intervention.

There was an early report where Gaddafi's government claimed that NATO hit a civilian facility, but news crews went down there and found that it was full of scuds either being repaired or being assembled or maintained or whatever.

I'm actually shocked he was able to get one off, had to have been a hail mary, imo.

[pinboy3niner]

15. That news only broke today

I don't know where they came up with the notion of a mobile missile 'brigade.'

That's a term normally used for a relatively large--and fairly specifically defined--ground force (usually an infantry, armor, or armored cav unit in a division).

Their missile 'brigade' may be more on the order of an artillery battery.

In any case, they would have been targeted by the NATO coalition from the beginning, as Josh suggests (though first priority early on was air defense systems).

With NATO around, I doubt any SCUD missile crews are enthusiasic about firing. ("You want us to do WHAT????" :) )

[tabasco]

3. Good. Ship his sorry ass off to the Hague for his mass murder trial.

Starting with Lockerbie.

[pinboy3niner]

5. Welcome to DU, Lunabelle

:hi:

[Lunabelle]

8. Thank you

Life long bleeding heart liberal here. Been a Democrat all my life and want the party of the working people back.

[txlibdem]

6. The world stands with you, our Libyan brothers and sisters

Keep up the fight and never back down!

And don't forget to ensure that Universal health care is in your constitution, as is public ownership of your oil and water resources! You have value as people but the "West" wants to rob you of your valuable minerals and water from your aquifers. Play nice with the West and shake hands but hold firm to your principles of Democracy and sharing your nation's wealth with its people.

Ask anybody who's been to Kuwait. They have it pretty darn good. Then compare that to the average citizen of "some other Arab nations" who haven't yet been part of the Arab Spring.

[Motown_Johnny]

10. K&R (if only for the great screen name and avatar)

[Lunabelle]

12. Thanks

I'm a crazy night owl moon chick.

[Motown_Johnny]

14. we can always use more of those, Welcome to DU