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Showing posts with label Muammar Gaddafi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Muammar Gaddafi. Show all posts
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
THE 7 REASONS WHY THE WEST WANTED GADAFFI DEAD
HERE THEY ARE:
1. Gaddafi wouldn't bow down to the Rothschild central reserve banking cartel.
2. Gadaffi Proposed $400 million African Satellite - gadaffi alone came up with $300 million for this project.
For those ask whats the big deal in it, it's really a huge set back for European western countries, because they get paid by Africa every year $500 million per year in rent for the services European satellite provides to Africa.
Africa being self sufficient is definitely a set back for western economy.
3. AMF: African Monetary Fund - No more borrowing from Rothschild Central Bank for African countries, AMF was planned to produce its own currency for Africa, backed by Gold standard.
Interest free.
4. Libya's $300 Billion Gold reserves.
5. Libya sits on Africa's largest oil and natural gas reserves.
6. Gadaffi planned to free the entire African continent from the clutches of Western imperialism.
7. Libya's Blue gold - Libya's priceless water basins.
* In Libya there are four major underground basins, these being the Kufra basin, the Sirt basin, the Morzuk basin and the Hamada basin, the first three of which contain combined reserves of 35,000 cubic kilometres of water. These vast reserves offer almost unlimited amounts of water for the Libyan people. *In the 1960s during oil exploration deep in the southern Libyan desert, vast reservoirs of high quality water were discovered in the form of aquifers. * thus Gadaffi, started the construction for the Phase I of the $25 Billion "Great Man made River Project" in 1984. The Great Man-Made River (GMR) is a network of pipes that supplies water from the Sahara Desert in Libya, from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System fossil aquifer. It is the world's largest irrigation project
As of now, almost all three phases has been finished by the Libyan administration .
It carries more than five million cubic metres of water per day across the desert to coastal areas, vastly increasing the amount of arable land. The cost of one cubic meter of water equals 35 cents. The cubic meter of desalinized water is $3.75. Scientists estimate the amount of water to be equivalent to the flow of 200 years of water in the Nile River.
Here is the $70 trillion Blue Gold in Libya, that caught the most attention and Love of Bankers.
Source: INTERNET
Libyan official says Gadhafi buried at dawn
MISRATA, Libya (AP) — A Misrata military council official said Moammar Gadhafi, his son Muatassim and a top aide were buried at dawn Tuesday in a secret location, with a few relatives and officials in attendance.
In a text message shown to The Associated Press, spokesman Ibrahim Beitalmal said Islamic prayers were read over the bodies. The information could not be independently verified.
| In this image made from amateur video provided by the Libya Youth Movement and filmed on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011, an injured Moammar Gadhafi is surrounded by Libyan fighters in Sirte, Libya. There are international calls, led by the U.S. and Britain, for an investigation of whether Libyan fighters killed a wounded Gadhafi after pulling him out of a drainage pipe in his hometown of Sirte last week. Gadhafi's body has been on display for public viewing in Misrata since Friday. Libya's former ruler was laid out on a mattress in a refrigerated produce locker in a shopping mall in Misrata, and long lines of people have formed to get a glance at the deposed dictator. In declaring Libya's declaration Sunday, interim leader Abdul-Jalil did not mention the circumstances of Gadhafi's death, but urged his people to eschew hatred. (AP Photo/Libya Youth Movement via APTN) |
The bodies of Gadhafi, his son Muatassim and former Defense Minister Abu Bakr Younis had been held in cold storage in the port city of Misrata since the dictator and members of his entourage were captured near his hometown of Sirte on Thursday. Gadhafi and Muatassim were captured alive, with some injuries, but died in unclear circumstances later that day.
Libya's interim leaders have promised an investigation, responding to mounting international pressure.
On Monday, Beitalmal had said the three would be buried in unmarked graves in a secret location to prevent vandalism. Presumably, the graves would also be kept hidden to avoid turning them into shrines for Gadhafi loyalists.
International organizations asking to see the burial site would be given access, Beitalmal said.
Over the weekend, Libya's chief pathologist, Dr. Othman el-Zentani performed autopsies on the three bodies and also took DNA samples to confirm their identities. El-Zentani has said Gadhafi died from a shot to the head, and said the full report would be released later this week, after he presents his findings to the attorney general.
It remains unclear when exactly Gadhafi suffered the fatal injury — before he was taken into custody or after he had been captured by revolutionary fighters.
Source:
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Monday, October 24, 2011
THE GADDAFI: NO ONE WILL TELL YOU ABOUT
The media has successfully painted Gaddafi as a hard-core dictator, tyrant whatever you want to call him. However, the media as usual has also failed to show the kind, giving Gaddafi we never heard of. Gaddafi, unlike most dictators I will refrain from naming, managed to show his humane side, the very side we dream of seeing in other dictators who just talk and talk.
I consider Libyans lucky to a certain extent and one wonders with the new democratic rule they cry for will it improve or worsen life for them. Yes, Gaddafi spent millions of Libya`s money on personal ventures but is the average Libyan poor? We know others who take a country and destroy it until you feel like there is no hope of restoring this country… looting some prefer to call it. Did Gaddafi loot Libya in any way?
Now let us get to the unknown facts about the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi:
1. There is no electricity bill in Libya; electricity is free for all its citizens.
2. There is no interest on loans, banks in Libya are state-owned and loans given to all its citizens at 0% interest by law.
3. Home considered a human right in Libya – Gaddafi vowed that his parents would not get a house until everyone in Libya had a home. Gaddafi’s father has died while him, his wife and his mother are still living in a tent.
4. All newlyweds in Libya receive $60,000 Dinar (US$ 50,000 ) by the government to buy their first apartment so to help start up the family.
5. Education and medical treatments are free in Libya. Before Gaddafi only 25% of Libyans are literate. Today the figure is 83%.
6. Should Libyans want to take up farming career, they would receive farming land, a farming house, equipments, seeds and livestock to kick- start their farms – all for free.
7. If Libyans cannot find the education or medical facilities they need in Libya, the government funds them to go abroad for it – not only free but they get US $2, 300/mth accommodation and car allowance.
8. In Libyan, if a Libyan buys a car, the government subsidized 50% of the price.
9. The price of petrol in Libya is $0. 14 per liter.
10. Libya has no external debt and its reserves amount to $150 billion – now frozen globally.
11. If a Libyan is unable to get employment after graduation the state would pay the average salary of the profession as if he or she is employed until employment is found.
12. A portion of Libyan oil sale is, credited directly to the bank accounts of all Libyan citizens.
13. A mother who gave birth to a child receive US $5 ,000
14. 40 loaves of bread in Libya costs $ 0.15
15. 25% of Libyans have a university degree.
In my view, he is not at all a culprit, but I can't tell you guys about "Why westerns no more wanted Gaddafi?"
Source: by Moreno K O'campo (Pastebin) Re-edited by: Admin
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Calls for investigation of Gadhafi's violent death
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Mounting calls for an investigation into whether Moammar Gadhafi was executed in custody overshadowed plans by Libya's new rulers Sunday to declare liberation and a formal end to the eight-month civil war that toppled the longtime dictator.
| A man reacts while viewing the bodies of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, background, his ex-defense minister Abu Bakr Younis and his son, Muatassim Gadhafi, foreground, in a commercial freezer at a shopping center in Misrata, Libya, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011. Libya's new leaders will declare liberation on Sunday, officials said, a move that will start the clock for elections after months of bloodshed that culminated in the death of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. (AP Photo/David Sperry) |
An autopsy confirmed that Gadhafi died from a gunshot to the head, Libya's chief pathologist, Dr. Othman al-Zintani, said hours before the liberation declaration was to start the clock on a transition to democracy.
However, the pathologist said he would not disclose further details or elaborate on Gadhafi's final moments, saying he would first deliver a full report to the attorney general. Libya's acting prime minister said he would not oppose an investigation, but cited an official reporting saying a wounded Gadhafi was killed in cross-fire following his capture.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Britain's new defense secretary, Philip Hammond, said a full investigation is necessary.
The Libyan revolutionaries' image had been "a little bit stained" by Gadhafi's death, Hammond said Sunday, adding that the new government "will want to get to the bottom of it in a way that rebuilds and cleanses that reputation."
"It's certainly not the way we do things," Hammond told BBC television. "We would have liked to see Col. Gadhafi going on trial to answer for his misdeeds."
Clinton told NBC's "Meet the Press" that she backs a proposal that the United Nations investigate Gadhafi's death and that Libya's National Transitional Council look into the circumstances, too.
The 69-year-old Gadhafi was captured wounded, but alive Thursday in his hometown of Sirte, the last city to fall to revolutionary forces. Bloody images of Gadhafi being taunted and beaten by his captors have raised questions about whether he was killed in crossfire as suggested by government officials or deliberately executed.
Gadhafi's body has been on public display in a commercial freezer in a shopping center in the port city of Misrata, which suffered from a bloody siege by regime forces that instilled a virulent hatred for the dictator in Misrata's residents. People have lined up for days to view the body, which was laid out on a mattress on the freezer floor. The bodies of Gadhafi's son Muatassim and his ex-defense minister Abu Bakr Younis also were put on display, and people wearing surgical masks have filed past, snapping photos of the bodies.
The New York-based group Human Rights Watch, which viewed the bodies, said video footage, photos and other information it obtained "indicate that they might have been executed after being detained."
"Finding out how they died matters," said Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch. "It will set the tone for whether the new Libya will be ruled by law or by summary violence."
The Syrian-based Al-Rai TV station, which has served as a mouthpiece for the Gadhafi clan, said the dictator's wife, Safiya, also demanded an investigation.
"I am proud of the bravery of my husband, Moammar Gadhafi, the holy warrior, and my sons who confronted the aggression of 40 countries over the past six months," the station quoted the widow as saying in a statement.
Jibril, the acting Libyan prime minister, said he would not oppose an inquiry into Gadhafi's death, but that there is "no reason" to doubt the credibility of an official report that the ousted leader died in cross-fire.
"Have you seen a video of somebody killing him? I haven't seen any video tape or mobile film that shows somebody is killing Gadhafi," Jibril told reporters in Jordan where he was attending an international economic conference.
"What I told the press several times ... (is) that coroner says in the medical report that he (Gadhafi) was already wounded, taken out, put in that truck and on the way to the field hospital there was cross-fire from both sides," Jibril said. Jibril said it's unclear whether the fatal bullet was fired by loyalists or revolutionary forces.
The vast majority of Libyans seemed unconcerned about the circumstances of the hated leader's death, but rather was relieved the country's ruler of 42 years was gone, clearing the way for a new beginning.
"If he (Gadhafi) was taken to court, this would create more chaos, and would encourage his supporters," said Salah Zlitni, 31, who owns a pizza parlor in downtown Tripoli. "Now it's over."
Libya's interim leaders are to formally declare later Sunday that the country has been liberated. The ceremony is to take place in the eastern city of Benghazi, the revolution's birthplace.
The long-awaited declaration starts the clock on Libya's transition to democracy. The transitional leadership has said it would declare a new interim government within a month of liberation and elections for a constitutional assembly within eight months, to be followed by votes for a parliament and president within a year.
The uprising against the Gadhafi regime erupted in February, as part of anti-government revolts spreading across the Middle East. Neighboring Tunisia, which put the so-called Arab Spring in motion with mass protests nearly a year ago, has taken the biggest step on the path to democracy, voting for a new assembly Sunday in its first truly free elections. Egypt, which has struggled with continued unrest, is next with parliamentary elections slated for November.
Libya's struggle has been the bloodiest so far in the region. Mass protests quickly turned into a civil war that killed thousands and paralyzed the country for the past eight months. Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte was the last loyalist stronghold to fall last week, but Gadhafi's son and one-time heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, apparently escaped with some of his supporters.
Jibril said Libya's National Transitional Council must move quickly to disarm former Libyan rebels and make sure huge weapons caches are turned over in coming days. The interim government has not explained in detail how it would tackle the task.
Source:
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Hugo Chavez calls Muammar Gaddafi's death an 'outrage'
VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez expressed anger over the death of Muammar Gaddafi, calling it an "outrage" and saying the ousted Libyan strongman was a "martyr".
"Sadly the death of Gaddafi has been confirmed," said Chavez, who had just returned to Venezuela from cancer treatment in Cuba.
"They assassinated him. It is another outrage," the Venezuelan leader told reporters in the town of La Grita.
"We shall remember Gaddafi our whole lives as a great fighter, a revolutionary and a martyr," he said.
Chavez had defended Gaddafi since the start of the uprising against the Libyan leader's regime in February, and accused NATO of using the conflict to gain control over Libya's oil.
"The saddest thing is that in its quest to dominate the world, the empire and its allies are setting it on fire," Chavez said, referring to the US by his preferred nickname.
Chavez has refused to recognise the new Libyan regime, and has ridiculed Libya's new UN representative as a "puppet" and a "dummy".
In 2004, Chavez was awarded the Al-Kadhafi International Prize for Human Rights, a prize granted by the Libyan leader. Cuba's Fidel Castro and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega have also won the award.
Source: News.com.au
Libya's new leaders to declare liberation Sunday
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libya's new leaders will declare liberation on Sunday, officials said, a move that will start the clock for elections after months of bloodshed that culminated in the death of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
But the victory has been clouded by questions over how Gadhafi was killed after images emerged showing he was found alive and taunted and beaten by his captors.
| The body of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi lies on a mattress a commercial freezer at a shopping center in Misrata, Libya, Friday, Oct. 21, 2011. The burial of slain leader Moammar Gadhafi has been delayed until the circumstances of his death can be further examined and a decision is made about where to bury the body, Libyan officials said Friday, as the U.N. human rights office called for an investigation into his death. (AP Photo/Manu Brabo) |
The long-awaited declaration of liberation will come more than two months after revolutionary forces swept into Tripoli and seized control of most of the oil-rich North African nation. It was stalled by fierce resistance by Gadhafi loyalists in his hometown of Sirte, Bani Walid and pockets in the South.
Sirte was the last to fall, but Gadhafi's son and one-time heir apparent and many of his fighters have apparently escaped, raising fears they could continue to make trouble.
With Gadhafi gone, however, the governing National Transitional Council was moving forward with efforts to transform the country that was ruled by one man for more than four decades into a democracy.
NTC officials had said the announcement would be made Saturday in the eastern city of Benghazi, the revolution's birthplace. But spokesman Abdel-Rahman Busin said preparations were under way for a Sunday ceremony instead. He didn't give an explanation for the delay.
The transitional leadership has said it would declare a new interim government within a month of liberation and hold elections for a constitutional assembly within eight months, then to organize parliamentary and presidential vote within a year after that.
On Saturday, acting Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, who has said he plans to resign after liberation, said the interim government "should last until the first presidential elections."
Speaking at the World Economic Forum on the Jordanian shores of the Dead Sea, he also said the NTC must move quickly to disarm rebels who helped to overthrow Gadhafi's nearly 42-year-old regime. He said it was a priority to ensure huge caches of weapons are turned in over the "next few days."
Jibril also said the Libyan people must remember the agony of the past and choose a different path for the future. He said he was "relieved" after Gadhafi's ouster, describing it as a "great moment in my life."
Gadhafi's blood-streaked body has been put on display in a commercial freezer at a shopping center in Misrata as Libyan authorities argued about where to bury the remains. Fighters from Misrata — a city brutally besieged by Gadhafi's forces during the civil war — seemed to claim ownership of it, forcing the delay of a planned burial Friday.
Fathi Bashagha, a spokesman for the Misrata military council, said a decision will be made Saturday but he ruled out a full autopsy unless demanded by an international committee or the transitional government "and so far there have been no requests."
At least four groups of doctors have examined the body and determined the cause of death was a bullet to the head and stomach, Bashagha said. "As far as we are concerned in Misrata, doctors have checked him and determined how he died, so there is no need to cut his body up," he said.
The bloody siege of Misrata over the summer instilled a particularly virulent hatred of Gadhafi there — a hatred now mixed with pride because he was captured and killed by fighters from Libya's third-largest city, 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli.
Residents crowded into long lines to get a chance to view the body of Gadhafi, which was laid out on a mattress on the floor of an emptied-out vegetable and onions freezer. The body had apparently been stowed in the freezer in an attempt to keep it out of the public eye, but once the location was known, that intention was swept away in the overwhelming desire of residents to see the man they so deeply despised.
Men, women and children filed in to take their picture with the body, with some chanting "We want to see the dog."
The site's guards had even organized separate visiting hours for families and single men.
Gadhafi's 69-year-old body was stripped to the waist, his torso and arms streaked with dried blood. Bullet wounds in the chest, abdomen and left side of the head were visible.
Gadhafi's family, most of whom are in Algeria or other nearby African nations, issued a statement Friday calling for an investigation into how Gadhafi and another of his sons, Muatassim, were killed. In the statement on the pro-Gadhafi, Syria-based TV station Al-Rai, they asked for international pressure on the NTC to hand over the bodies of the two men to their tribe.
Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the images of his last moments were very disturbing.
"More details are needed to ascertain whether he was killed in some form of fighting or was executed after his capture," Colville said.
Source:
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
NATO strike kills Gadhafi's son but leader escapes
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi escaped a NATO missile strike in Tripoli that killed one of his sons and three young grandchildren, a government spokesman said early Sunday. Hours later, Gadhafi's forces shelled a besieged rebel port in a sign that the airstrike had not forced a change in regime tactics.
NATO's attack on a Gadhafi family compound in a residential area of Tripoli late Saturday signaled escalating pressure on the Libyan leader who has tried to crush an armed rebellion that erupted in mid-February.
| In this photo taken on a government organized tour, ruins of a house are seen at the site of a NATO missile attack in Tripoli, Libya, Saturday, April 30, 2011. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi survived a NATO missile strike Saturday that killed his youngest son, Saif al-Arab Gadhafi and three grandchildren and wounded friends and relatives, Libya's spokesman said. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) |
The alliance acknowledged that it had struck a "command and control building," but insisted all its targets are military in nature and linked to Gadhafi's systematic attacks on the population.
Libyan officials denounced the attack as a crime and violation of international law. However, British Prime Minister David Cameron, without confirming fatalities, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that the strike was in line with a U.N. mandate to prevent "a loss of civilian life by targeting Gadhafi's war-making machine."
The attack struck the house of one of Gadhafi's younger sons, Seif al-Arab, when the Libyan leader and his wife were inside, said Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim. Seif al-Arab, 29, and three of Gadhafi's grandchildren, all younger than 12, were killed.
Journalists taken to the walled complex of one-story buildings saw heavy bomb damage. The blast had torn down the ceiling of one building. Dust and smoke rose from the rubble, which included household items such as smashed toilet bowls, bathroom sinks and furniture among the broken walls and demolished floors.
When news of the deadly strike spread, rebels honked horns and chanted "Allahu Akbar" or "God is great" while speeding through the western city of Misrata, which Gadhafi's forces have besieged and subjected to random shelling for two months, killing hundreds. Fireworks were set off in front of the central Hikma hospital, causing a brief panic that the light would draw fire from Gadhafi's forces.
On Sunday morning, Gadhafi's troops shelled Misrata's port as a Maltese aid ship, the Mae Yemanja, unloaded food and medical supplies, said Ahmed al-Misalati, a truck driver helping move the cargo.
"We were still working this morning when they started firing rockets," said al-Misalati. "Some fell in the ocean, some on the pavement, some in the warehouses, and in the water in front of the boat."
The boat quickly embarked back to sea, he said.
Last week, regime loyalists attempted to mine Misrata's harbor to close the besieged city's only link to the world.
NATO warplanes have been carrying out airstrikes in Libya for the past month as part of a U.N. mandate to protect Libyan civilians.
The commander of the NATO operation, Canadian Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard, said he was aware of unconfirmed reports that some Gadhafi family members may have been killed and he regretted "all loss of life, specially the innocent civilians being harmed as a result of the ongoing conflict."
Seif al-Arab Gadhafi, was one of the youngest of Gadhafi's seven sons and brother of the better known Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, who had been touted as a reformist before the uprising began in mid-February. The younger Gadhafi had spent much of his time in Germany in recent years.
Gadhafi's children had been increasingly engaged in covering up scandals fit for a soap opera, including negative publicity from extravagant displays of wealth such as a million-dollar private concert by pop diva Beyonce, according to a batch of diplomatic cables released by the secret-spilling WikiLeaks website.
Seif al-Arab, who studied and partied for years in Munich, had several run-ins with law enforcement there.
In 2007, he even saw his house and hotel suite raided by police over allegations of illegally possessing weapons despite his claims of enjoying diplomatic immunity.
Between November 2006 and July 2010 police led investigations against Gadhafi's son on ten accounts, ranging from speeding incidents to bodily harm and possession of illegal weapons, Bavaria's state justice ministry confirmed last month.
All the investigations against him, however, were dropped.
German media reported that Gadhafi's son returned to Libya in February and Bavaria's Interior Ministry later said he had been declared a persona-non-grata.
Moammar Gadhafi and his wife were in Seif al-Arab's house in the capital's Garghour neighborhood when it was hit by at least one bomb dropped from a NATO warplane, according to Ibrahim.
Seif al-Arab "was playing and talking with his father and mother and his nieces and nephews and other visitors when he was attacked for no crimes committed," Ibrahim said.
The government spokesman said the airstrike was an attempt to "assassinate the leader of this country," which he said violated international law.
"The leader himself is in good health," Ibrahim said.
In addition to his eight biological children, Gadhafi also had an adopted daughter who was killed in a 1986 U.S. airstrike on his Bab al-Aziziya residential compound — retaliation for the bombing attack on a German disco in which two U.S. servicemen were killed. The U.S. at the time blamed Libya for the disco blast.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a Gadhafi ally, condemned Saturday's deadly strike, calling foreign military intervention in Libya "madness." He said he believes "they order they've given is to kill Gadhafi.
In Misrata, rebel fighters were rejoicing.
Standing outside an improvised triage unit in a tent in the parking lot, Medic Abdel-Moneim Ibsheir considered the strike a form of justice.
"Gadhafi was not far away, meaning he's not safe," he said as occasional explosions could be heard throughout the embattled city. "It's just like our children getting hit here. Now his children are getting hit there."
Eleven dead had reached the hospital morgue by midnight Saturday, including two brothers, ages 11 and 16. Two more had arrived by 1:30 a.m., and four more at another hospital.
In Tripoli, dozens danced, waved and clapped in unison at the Bab al-Aziziya compound early Sunday to show support for the regime. Heavy bursts of gunfire were heard in Tripoli after the attack.
The fatal airstrike came just hours after Gadhafi called for a mutual cease-fire and negotiations with NATO powers to end a six-week bombing campaign.
In a rambling pre-dawn speech Saturday, Gadhafi said "the door to peace is open."
He also railed against foreign intervention, saying Libyans have the right to choose their own political system, but not under the threat of NATO bombings.
In Brussels, a NATO official said before Saturday's fatal strike that the alliance needed "to see not words but actions," and vowed the alliance would keep up the pressure until the U.N. Security Council mandate on Libya is fulfilled.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Libyan rebels retreating after Gadhafi onslaught
RAS LANOUF, Libya (AP) — Libyan government tanks and rockets pounded rebel forces into a panicked full retreat Tuesday after an hourslong, back-and-forth battle that highlighted the superior might of Moammar Gadhafi's forces, even hobbled by international airstrikes.
No such strikes were launched during the fighting in Bin Jawwad, where rebels attempting to march on Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte ended up turning around and fleeing east under overcast skies. Some fleeing rebels shouted, "Sarkozy, where are you?" — a reference to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, one of the strongest supporters of international airstrikes.
World leaders in London, meanwhile, debated how far they should go to force an end to Gadhafi's 41-year autocratic rule. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the world must speak with a single voice to ensure that the North African country "belongs not to a dictator, but to its people."
Rockets and tank fire sent Libya's rebels in a panicked scramble away from the front lines. The opposition was able to bring up truck-mounted rocket launchers of their own and return fire, but they went into full retreat after government shelling resumed.
The two sides traded salvos over the hamlet of Bin Jawwad, now pockmarked with shrapnel and small arms fire. Rockets and artillery shells crashed thunderously as plumes of smoke erupted in the town. The steady drum of heavy machine gun fire and the pop of small arms could be heard above the din as people less than a mile (a kilometer) outside the village scaled mounds of dirt to watch the fighting.
"This today is a loss, but hopefully we'll get it back," said Mohammed Bujildein, a 27-year-old from Darna. He was gnawing on a loaf of bread in a pickup truck with a mounted anti-aircraft, waiting to fill up from an abandoned gas tanker truck on the eastern side of Ras Lanouf.
| A Libyan rebel urges people to leave, as shelling from Gadhafi's forces started landing on the frontline outside of Bin Jawaad, 150 km east of Sirte, central Libya, Tuesday, March 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) |
Even in Ras Lanouf, roughly 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Bin Jawwad, there appeared to be shelling — there were thuds in the distance and black smoke rising from buildings. Some rebels pushed farther east.
"If they keep shelling like this, we'll need airstrikes," Bujildein said. It makes it easier to go to Sirte. If there's air cover, we'll be in Sirte tomorrow evening."
Rebel forces had been on the brink of defeat by government forces before a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone and campaign of strikes by the U.S. and its allies helped them regain lost territory. It is unclear, however, if international support exists to deepen the air campaign and attack Gadhafi's heavy weaponry enough to help the rebels make further advances. Some countries, including Russia, contend the airstrikes already have gone beyond the U.N. mandate of protecting civilians from attacks by Gadhafi.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said Tuesday there are plenty of "non-military means at our disposal" to oust the Libyan leader.
France, which has been at the forefront of the international campaign, struck a more forceful tone.
"We, the French and English, we consider that we must obtain more" than the end of shooting at civilians, Defense Minister Gerard Longuet said on France-Inter radio. He also said Libyan politicians could be targeted since they gave orders to the military.
In London, Clinton, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Arab League, the African Union and around 40 foreign ministers began discussing the future of Libya and how to ratchet up pressure on Gadhafi.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said several nations planned to put forward a deal that would propose a cease-fire, exile for Gadhafi and a framework for talks between Libya's tribal leaders and opposition figures on the country's future.
In signs of emerging ties between the opposition and the international community, Clinton met with Libyan opposition envoy Mahmoud Jibril in London, and a senior Obama administration official said the U.S. would soon send an envoy to Libya to meet with rebel leaders.
The official said Chris Stevens, former U.S. envoy to Tripoli, will travel to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in the coming days to establish better ties with groups seeking to oust the longtime Libyan leader. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning, stressed that the move doesn't constitute formal recognition of the opposition.
In an open letter to the international community, meanwhile, Gadhafi called for a halt to the "monstrous assault" on Libya and maintained that that the rebels were supported by the al-Qaida terrorist network.
"What is happening now is providing a cover for al-Qaida through airstrikes and missiles to enable al-Qaida to control North Africa and turn it into a new Afghanistan," he said, accusing the international community of carrying out genocide against the Libyans.
Libyan state news agency JANA quoted a military official as saying that airstrikes of the "crusader imperialist assault" targeted civilian and military targets in Misrata, Tripoli, Zlitan, Mazdah and Watayah.
Prime Minister David Cameron, however, said Britain had received reports that it was Gadhafi who was pounding Misrata, the main rebel holdout in the west, and relentlessly targeting civilians.
"Gadhafi is using snipers to shoot them down and let them bleed to death in the street. He has cut off food, water and electricity to starve them into submission," Cameron said.
Rida al-Montasser, an activist in Misrata, confirmed heavy shelling on two streets in the city, but said rebels remain in control. Three people were killed in Misrata on Monday and several others were wounded.
The rebels remain woefully outgunned by Gadhafi's forces, though they do show some improvements since their seige of Ajdabiya a week ago. They have more ammunition and heavy weapons that they've captured from government forces, and they are showing better efforts at using them. But it is still unclear how they can take the stronghold of Sirte without further aggressive international air support.
The rebel advance reached Nawfaliyah, some 60 miles (100 kilometers) from Sirte, on Monday, but the next day they were driven back to the hamlet of Bin Jawwad, a few dozen miles (kilometers) to the east.
In a scene reminiscent of the rebels' rout last week, panicked volunteers jumped into their pickup trucks and attempted to speed away from the bombardment, kicking up dust clouds and choking the narrow coastal highway in a mad scramble of vehicles.
Sirte is dominated by members of the Libyan leader's Gadhadhfa tribe and was used as a second capital by Gadhafi. Its loss would be a symbolic blow and open the way to the capital, Tripoli.
"This is their last defensive line. They will do everything to protect it," explained rebel fighter Twate Monsuri, 26. "It's not Gadhafi attacking us, he's just defending himself now."
Gadhafi forces continued to besiege Misrata and Libya's third-largest city. Residents reported shelling by government tanks of residential areas, with three people killed.
The U.S. Navy reported that two of its aircraft and a guided missile destroyer attacked a number of Libyan coast guard vessels, rendering them inoperable, in the port of Misrata. It said the Libyan vessels had been "firing indiscriminately" at merchant ships.
One of Libya's top officials, meanwhile, abruptly made a "private visit" to Tunisia late Monday, according to the official news agency there.
Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim in Tripoli insisted on Tuesday that Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa's visit was not a defection.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Libyan rebels close on key Gadhafi stronghold
BIN JAWWAD, Libya (AP) — Rebel forces on Monday fought their way to the doorstep of Moammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte, a key government stronghold guarding the road to the capital Tripoli.
The lightning rebel advance of the past few days, backed by powerful international airstrikes, has restored to the opposition all the territory they lost over the past week and brought them to within 60 miles (100 miles) of this bastion of Gadhafi's power in the center of the country.
| Libyan rebels jubilate on the front line outside of Bin Jawaad, 150 km east of Sirte, central Libya, Monday, March 28 2011. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) |
"Sirte will not be easy to take," said Gen. Hamdi Hassi, a rebel commander at the small town of Bin Jawwad, just 18 miles (30 kilometers) from the front. "Now because of NATO strikes on (the government's) heavy weapons, we're almost fighting with the same weapons, only we have Grad rockets now and they don't."
Russia, however, has criticized the international strikes against government forces that made the rebel advance possible, saying they have overstepped their U.N. mandate to protect civilians by taking sides in a civil war.
The U.S. launched six Tomahawk missiles Sunday and early Monday from navy positions in the Mediterranean Sea, two defense officials said Monday on condition of anonymity because they were not yet authorized to release the information.
That brought to 199 the number of the long-range cruise missiles fired by international forces in the week-old military intervention, one official said.
International air forces flew 110 missions late Sunday and early Monday — 75 of them strike missions. Targets included Gadhafi ammunition stores, air defenses and ground forces, including vehicles and tanks, a third official said.
Libya's rebels have recovered hundreds of miles (kilometers) of flat, uninhabited territory at record speeds after Gadhafi's forces were forced to pull back by the strikes that began March 19.
In a symbolic diplomatic victory for the opposition, the tiny state of Qatar recognized Libya's rebels as the legitimate representatives of the country — the first Arab state to do so.
Hassi said there was fighting now just outside the small hamlet of Nawfaliyah, 60 miles (100 kilometers) from Sirte and scouting parties had found the road ahead to be heavily mined.
He added that the current rebel strategy was to combine military assault with an attempt to win over some of the local tribes loyal to Gadhafi over to their side.
"There's Gadhafi and then there's circles around him of supporters, each circle is slowly peeling off and disappearing," Hassi said. "If they rise up it would make our job easier."
Witnesses in Sirte reported Monday there had been air strikes the night before and again early in the morning, but the town was quiet, and dozens of fighters loyal to Gadhafi could be seen roaming the streets.
Moving quickly westward, the advance retraced their steps in the first rebel march toward the capital that was stopped March 5 by Gadhafi's superior weaponry. But this time, the world's most powerful air forces have eased the way by pounding the government's military assets for the past week.
The east of the country shook off nearly 42 years of Gadhafi's rule in a series of popular demonstrations starting in mid-February and inspired by similar successful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. Gadhafi's forces crushed similar uprising in the west of the country.
Sirte is strategically located about halfway between the rebel-held east and the Gadhafi-controlled west along the Mediterranean coast. It is a center of support for Gadhafi and is expected to be difficult for rebels to take.
West of Sirte is the embattled city of Misrata, the sole place in rebel hands in the country's west. Residents reported fighting between rebels and Gadhafi loyalists who fired from tanks on residential areas.
Rida al-Montasser, of the media committee of Misrata, said that nine young men were killed and 23 others wounded when Gadhafi brigades shelled their position in the northwestern part of the city on Sunday night. He also said that the port was bombed.
Turkey's Anatolia new agency said a Turkish civilian ferry carrying 15 medics, three ambulances and medical equipment was heading for Misrata to help treat some 1,300 people injured in attacks there.
Meanwhile, international airstrikes have continued against Libya, including the southern town of Sebha, reported the state news agency. The area remains strongly loyal to Gadhafi and is a major transit point for ethnic Tuareg fighters from Mali and Niger fighting for the government.
JANA said the strikes destroyed a number of houses, though past attacks on Sebha, 385 miles (620 kilometers) south of Tripoli, targeted the airport and the flow of foreign fighters reinforcing the regime.
Britain's Defense Ministry announced Monday that its Tornado aircraft had attacked ammunition bunkers around Sebha in the southern desert in the early hours of the morning.
After retaking two key oil complexes along the coastal highway in the past two days, rebels promised to quickly restart Libya's stalled oil exports, prompting a slight drop in the soaring price of crude oil to around $105 a barrel.
The U.N. Security Council authorized the operation to protect Libyan civilians after Gadhafi launched attacks against the protesters who demanded that he step down. The airstrikes have crippled Gadhafi's forces, allowing rebels to advance less than two weeks after they had seemed at the brink of defeat.
The assault on Sirte, where most civilians are believed to support Gadhafi, however, potentially represents an expansion of the international mission to being more directly involved with regime change.
"This is the objective of the coalition now, it is not to protect civilians because now they are directly fighting against the armed forces," Khaled Kaim, the deputy foreign minister, said in the capital, Tripoli. "They are trying to push the country to the brink of a civil war."
His position found some support in Russia, where Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said strikes on Gadhafi's forces would amount to interference in what he called Libya's civil war, and thus would breach the U.N. Security Council resolution that envisaged a no-fly zone only to protect civilians.
The tiny Persian Gulf state of Qatar, however, has formally recognized the rebels as the legitimate representatives of the country and promised to help them sell their crude oil on the international market.
Qatar has been well ahead of other Arab countries in embracing the rebels and is also participating in the U.N.-mandated no-fly zone over Libya.
Turkey, meanwhile, has confirmed that even as rebel forces advance on Sirte it has been working with the government and the opposition to set up a cease-fire.
"We are one of the very few countries that are speaking to both sides," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Selcuk Unal said, without confirming whether Turkey had offered to act as mediator.
Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also told reporters his country will take over the running of the airport in Benghazi to facilitate the transport of humanitarian aid to Libya. He did not say when, however.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Gadhafi vows 'long war' after US, allies strike
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Moammar Gadhafi vowed a "long war" against the international military force that struck at his forces with airstrikes and dozens of cruise missiles that shook the Libyan capital early Sunday with the sound of explosions and anti-aircraft fire. In the capital of the rebel-held east, the Libyan leader's guns appeared to go silent.
State television said 48 people died in the U.S. and European strikes, which marked the widest international military effort since the Iraq war and came as the rebels saw a month's worth of gains reversed by Gadhafi's overwhelming firepower.
Rebels said the international strikes also hit an air force complex outside Misrata, the last rebel-held city in Libya's west. Gadhafi forces have bombarded the city from the complex, which houses a base and a military academy.
| Tracer bullets are fired in the skies over Tripoli, Libya, as heavy explosions rock the city early Sunday, March 20, 2011. The U.S. and European nations pounded Moammar Gadhafi's forces and air defenses with cruise missiles and airstrikes Saturday, launching the broadest international military effort since the Iraq war in support of an uprising that had seemed on the verge of defeat. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) |
In Benghazi, the rebel capital and first city to fall to the uprising that began Feb. 15, people said the strikes happened just in time. Libyan government tanks and troops had reached the edges of the city on Saturday.
Mohammed Faraj, 44, a former military man who joined the rebels, held a grenade in each hand as he manned a checkpoint on the outskirts of the city.
"Me and all of Benghazi, we will die before Gadhafi sets foot here again," Faraj told The Associated Press. "Our spirits are very high."
Though the U.S. and Europeans focused their attention on the no-fly zone, the U.N. resolution authorizing the action demanded a ceasefire and authorizes "all necessary means" to protect civilians.
Adm. Mike Mullen, the top U.S. military officer, said the goals of the international campaign "are limited and it isn't about seeing him go."
In the phone call to state television, Gadhafi said he would not let up on Benghazi and said the government had opened up weapons depots to all Libyans, who were now armed with "automatic weapons, mortars and bombs." State television said Gadhafi's supporters were converging on airports as human shields.
"We promise you a long war," he said.
The U.S. military said 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from American and British ships and submarines at more than 20 coastal targets to clear the way for air patrols to ground Libya's air force. French fighter jets fired the first salvos, carrying out several strikes in the rebel-held east, while British fighter jets also bombarded the North African nation.
President Barack Obama said military action was not his first choice and reiterated that he would not send American ground troops.
"This is not an outcome the U.S. or any of our partners sought," Obama said from Brazil, where he is starting a five-day visit to Latin America. "We cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people there will be no mercy."
Explosions rocked the coastal cities, including Tripoli, where anti-aircraft guns could be heard firing overnight.
Libyan TV quoted the armed forces command as saying 48 people were killed and 150 wounded in the allied assault. It said most of the casualties were children but gave no more details.
Mullen told NBC's "Meet the Press" that he had seen no reports of civilian casualties as a result of the coalition's military operation.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was "deeply concerned" about civilians and called on all sides work to distinguish between civilians and fighters and allow safe access for humanitarian organizations.
Gadhafi, who has ruled Libya for 41 years, said the international action against his forces was unjustified, calling it "simply a colonial crusader aggression that may ignite another large-scale crusader war."
His regime acted quickly in the run-up to the strikes, sending warplanes, tanks and troops into the eastern city of Benghazi, the rebel capital and first city to fall to the rebellion that began Feb. 15. Then the government attacks appeared to go silent.
Operation Odyssey Dawn, as the allied assault has been dubbed, followed an emergency summit in Paris during which the 22 leaders and top officials agreed to do everything necessary to make Gadhafi respect a U.N. Security Council resolution Thursday calling for the no-fly zone and demanding a cease-fire, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.
Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, told reporters in Washington that U.S. ships and a British submarine had launched the first phase of a missile assault on Libyan air defenses.
Gortney said the mission has two goals: prevent further attacks by Libyan forces on rebels and civilians, and degrade the Libyan military's ability to contest a no-fly zone.
Defense officials cautioned it was too early to fully gauge the impact of the onslaught. But a senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the mission was ongoing, said the Americans felt that Libya's air defenses had been heavily damaged given the precision targeting of the cruise missiles.
Mohammed Ali, a spokesman for the exiled opposition group the Libyan Salvation Front, said the Libyan air force headquarters at the Mateiga air base in eastern Tripoli and the Aviation Academy in Misrata had been targeted.
Switzerland-based Libyan activist Fathi al-Warfali said Misrata came under heavy shelling Sunday.
"Misrata is the only city in western Libya not under Gadhafi's control; he is trying hard to change its position," al-Warfala said.
About 20 French fighter jets carried out "several strikes" earlier Saturday, military spokesman Thierry Burkhard told The Associated Press.
"All our planes have returned to base tonight," he said, and denied a Libyan TV report that a French plane had been hit.
He would not elaborate on what was hit or where, but said French forces are focusing on the Benghazi area and U.S. forces are focused in the west.
The U.S. has struck Libya before. Former President Reagan launched U.S. airstrikes on Libya in 1986 after a bombing at a Berlin disco — which the U.S. blamed on Libya — that killed three people, including two American soldiers. The airstrikes killed about 100 people in Libya, including Gadhafi's young adopted daughter at his Tripoli compound.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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