Libyan rebels closing in on Tripoli

[Little Texan]

Link (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/21/gadaffi-fight-blood-rebels-tripoli)

Gaddafi will 'fight to last drop of blood' as rebels advance in Tripoli

Dictator recalls forces to defend capital from rebels – and warns that the city will burn


Muammar Gaddafi is calling for supporters from across Libya to help him defend Tripoli, with rebel forces now in control of parts of the capital and massing on its western outskirts for a decisive assault.

As Libya's dictator prepares for what is widely expected to be his last stand, he vowed that he would not be forced into exile.

"We will fight to the last drop of blood," he said. "We will never give up."

He warned of a furious fight ahead, with the remnants of the Libyan army and well-armed vigilantes bracing for urban warfare. As government forces went into full retreat towards the capital from the road west to Zawiya and from al-Aziziya, 30 miles (45km) to the south, Gaddafi again called the rebels "rats".

"All the patriots of Libya, come to defend the capital," he said, adding that he feared "Tripoli would burn".

Rebels have advanced to within 12 miles of Tripoli, seizing the town of Jadda'im and an outpost called Bridge 27, 17 miles from the centre of the capital, as they pushed east from the captured city of Zawiya.

Gaddafi maintains a strong base of support within the city he has ruled for 42 years, but neither its size nor resilience has been tested during the six months of civil war, in which government forces there have successfully crushed dissent and retained control. However, in a sign that his strongman rule may be crumbling, rebels claimed to have arrived in Tripoli by boat to reinforce the rebellion in the east of the capital.

Elsewhere in the capital, one of the largest military bases was overrun by rebel forces, who freed up to 5,000 people imprisoned by the regime and then swung open the doors of the armoury, allowing thousands of rebel supporters to seize weapons. Reports from the scene at the Mais base revealed residents were celebrating wildly.

But regime officials insisted the capital would be defended. "We have thousands of professional soldiers and thousands of volunteers protecting the city," Moussa Ibrahim, the Libyan government's information minister, warned in advance of the expected rebel attack, adding that European countries that backed the rebels had "intensified an immoral campaign against our people … We hold Mr Obama, Mr Cameron and Mr Sarkozy responsible for every death that takes place in this country."

Observers inside the capital said barricades had been erected in some suburbs and soldiers had taken up defensive positions. Weapons and ammunition were distributed to loyalists earlier in the uprising, raising the prospect of prolonged guerrilla warfare within the city.

Gaddafi's heavily fortified compound in the centre of Tripoli was bombed again by Nato jets early on Sunday, and only several miles away uprisings were reported to be underway in the suburbs of Tajoura and Fashloum. Sustained gunfire from both areas on Saturday night appeared to mark the first time that rebel movements in either area had been able to gain momentum since anti-regime protests erupted on 17 February.

Rebel forces claimed on Sunday to be in control of Tajoura, the light industrial district on Tripoli's south-eastern flank. The rebel National Transitional Council's tricolour flag, which was last flown under the monarch King Idris, whom Gaddafi ousted in a military coup in 1969, was raised over many homes in the neighbourhood.

Opposition troops were attempting to consolidate gains in the capital by trying to seize control of a disused airfield on the city's eastern edges in a bid to establish a supply line. Their rapid advances of the past week have already shut off a government supply line to the Tunisian border and tightening a stranglehold on an already weakened regime.

Tripoli residents are reported to be fleeing in large numbers, with most being allowed to pass through rebel-held Zawiya to the Ras Jdir crossing into Tunisia.

Meanwhile, to the east of the capital, rebels also made gains, creeping forward from the city of Zlitan, 80 miles from Tripoli, which had been heavily contested by one of Gaddafi's most effective military units.

One rebel offensive has reached the Sdada bridge, 60 miles south of Misrata, which fell into rebel hands last month after three months of some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

Opposition fighters claimed that a captured government soldier told them that Gaddafi's son, Khamis, sustained facial injuries during the rebel assault on Zlitan on Friday. Khamis commands the elite 32nd brigade, which retreated from the town. Another of Gaddafi's sons, Saif al-Arab, was killed by a Nato strike in April.

Gaddafi has spent much of the past five months sleeping in Tripoli hospitals, or in rooms in the city's largely empty five-star hotels. He is likely to be a prime target for rebel leaders once they reach Tripoli, but is known to be protected by a die-hard unit that would not let him be taken alive without instructions from Gaddafi himself.

His other military forces have been severely weakened during months of fighting and more than 1,000 bombing raids by Nato jets, which have focused heavily on weapons stockpiles and command and control centres.

Even if Gaddafi backed down, he has few options inside or out of Libya. The international criminal court has issued warrants for him and key regime officials, which means he is at risk if he travels to any country that recognises the jurisdiction of the ICC.

[SunisinuS]

Yea. He thinks he is the kewlest.

[Little Texan]

***Breaking News***

Gaddafi seeks talks, calls for ceasefire
Photo
5:35pm EDT

TUNIS (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's government is ready for immediate negotiations with rebels seeking to oust him, and has asked NATO to convince the rebel forces to halt an attack on Tripoli, a spokesman said on state television on Sunday.

Gaddafi was prepared to negotiate directly with the head of the rebel National Transitional Council, spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said.

He added that 1,300 people had been killed in fighting in Tripoli on Sunday.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara; Writing by Richard Valdmanis)

Link (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/21/us-libya-rebels-tripoli-idUSTRE77K2EX20110821)

So, what happened to all the bold talk of fighting to the last drop of blood and never giving up? It appears it was just that...talk.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Certainly has gone full circle with Libya...

Back in my early Navy days in the mid-'80's, Libya had those damn Exocet anti-ship missiles, made things interesting.... The attack on the USS Stark back then killed 37 Sailors with it...

Then we establish diplomatic relations with them...

And now, looks like Gaddafi will soon be on his way out...

[SunisinuS]

Again...Obama is under rated.....he goes on vacation while Quak leaves this earth. Comedy.

[Little Texan]

Things are happening pretty fast in Libya. History is happening as we speak, and it looks like Quadaffy Duck is on his way out.

Link (http://abcnews.go.com/International/libyan-rebels-captured-gadhafis-son-tripoli/story?id=14349513)

Libyan Rebels Say They Have Captured Two of Gadhafi's Sons in Tripoli
'Tonight It's Over,' Member of Rebel Council Says
By OLIVIA KATRANDJIAN and JEFFREY KOFMAN

Aug. 21, 2011—

Muhammad Gadhafi, son of the Libyan leader, has surrendered to opposition forces, shortly after his brother, Seif al Islam, was captured in Tripoli, representatives of the rebel forces said today.

Rebel forces are surrounding the Gadhafi compound, Bab al Aziziya, a representative of the rebel government told ABC News.

Mohamad al Akari, a Transitional National Council advisor, said that if Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi is still in Tripoli, they believe he is in Bab al Aziziya.

"Tonight it's over," Akari said.

Reports have surfaced that Gadhafi's presidential guard has surrendered, according to Al Jazeera.

Libyan rebel forces are now in Green Square in the heart of Tripoli, according to multiple reports, clashing with government forces. In Benghazi, thousands of people have flooded the streets, setting off fireworks, waving flags and cheering for Gadhafi's imminent departure.

A defiant Gadhafi said in a broadcast on state television this evening that his forces would not give up and would "fight until the last blood drop."

"How come you allow Tripoli the capital, to be under occupation once again?" he said in the broadcast, in which he was not shown. "The traitors are paving the way for the occupation forces to be deployed in Tripoli."

Earlier today, rebel forces pushed into the western outskirts of the Libyan capital without meeting any resistance. The rebels reached Janzour, a Tripoli suburb, around nightfall today and were greeted by civilians waving rebel flags.

[Blaze]

I do not know if they are tears of joy, tears of fear, tears of pain, but my eyes are tearing streams. I am not sad. I would say I am concerned. I do ask in prayer with every electron in my soul that this evening will bring Tripoli. Let the Angels brush paths. Amen.

[Little Texan]

http://jeffreyhill.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341d417153ef0147e2ef5ed1970b-800wi

[Blaze]

14 min 55 sec ago - Libya

Libyan rebel fighters walk past a road sign reading Tripoli (top), Zhrah (middle) and Benghazi (bottom) as rebels advance through the town of Maia, 25 kms west of Tripoli August 21 [image | reuters]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/sites/default/files/imagecache/BlogsMainImage/2011-08-21T191453Z_572104082_GM1E78M093901_RTRMADP_3_LIBYA .JPG

[Nitro Express]

Gadhafi was warming up to China and giving Europe the finger. This is what the whole Libya thing is about. Chinese imperialism vs. European imperialism. NATO being the enforcer of France and Italy's oil supply. Time to disband NATO. The cold war has been over for a long time and the only nations invading anyone these days are the nations who are members of NATO.

[Blaze]

This is not good. Muammar Gaddafi is not surrendering. I am concerned. He is an evil man. He would harm people for the sake of anger.

[Hardrock69]

Bout fucking time. Next to go is the asshole in Syria. Fucking bastard. He need to be charged with Crimes Against Humanity. Glad these people are rising up finally. Can't be fun getting ass-raped by the very ruler who is supposed to improve the lives of his country.

I hope he goes ahead and fights to the death. Good riddance when the rebels remove the top of his head with an AK.

[Blaze]

RT #LIBYA: Aides to #Gaddafi say he is becoming so disconnected from reality he may soon run for the Republican nomination. LOOOL! :patriot:

[Blaze]

https://twimg0-a.akamaihd.net/profile_images/404925089/koki_normal.jpg

@flyingbirdies
أكرم

first sunrise.. Tripoli 06:37 Monday .. still not safe till now until our men secure all the streets.

https://p.twimg.com/AXbUS-qCAAAIu5s.jpg

[Hardrock69]

Now all the shoving will begin in the rebel camp. Who will be the interim president? Who sill help set up a new gummint? Who will win the coveted prize of CIA money as well as untold billions in percentages siphoned off of national oil exports?

Be sure and tune in next week to see the next incredibly unbelievable episode of "As The CIA Turns".

:D

[Blaze]

:biggrin: As the CIA Turns...


AJELive AJELive · Follow
by blakehounshell
#Libya #AlJazeera reports that tanks are leaving #Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli and have opened fire. Watch NOW aje.me/fwtYjF

[Blaze]

The error was when everyone got happy before Muammar Gaddafi was given the perp walk of shame.
God willing while I sleep I will miss a Muammar Gaddafi's capture, killing, or exile flee.

Out of tradition of my other thread, let us see what falls

21: 30-36
========
2 Chron 30:25 -34:10


~~~~~Chap 4 FORM
Of old the skilled first made them selves invincible to await the enemy's vincibility.
Invincibility lies in oneself.
Vincibility lies in the enemy.
------ Commentary
Prepare conditions of invincibility within your own sphere. But this is not yet victory. You must wait for the enemy's vincibility to arise. Skill is knowing that moment.

~~~~~~~~~Chap 4 FORM
Of old those skilled at defence hid below the nine earths and moved above the nine heavens.
Thus they could preserve themselves and be all-victorious.
------ Commentary
In the best defence, one goes outside the range of enemy insight, becoming ungraspable and thus unbeatable. Victory need not be achived by will or devastation. The all-victorious general resides beyond defeat.

~~~~~~~Chap 4 FORM
One skilled at battle takes a stand in the ground of no defeat
And so does not lose the enemy's defeat.
------ Commentary
For the skilled general, victory is attained before the battle is joined. Abiding in his invincibility, he awaits the moment at which he can seize the enemy's vincibility

[Seshmeister]

Certainly has gone full circle with Libya...

Back in my early Navy days in the mid-'80's, Libya had those damn Exocet anti-ship missiles, made things interesting.... The attack on the USS Stark back then killed 37 Sailors with it...


Thanks very much France, of course Britain had a few ships sunk in the Falklands by those too.

When are we going to stop selling shit like that to crazy dictators?.

Britain were training Libyan special forces just last year - lunacy.

[Nitro Express]

Bout fucking time. Next to go is the asshole in Syria. Fucking bastard. He need to be charged with Crimes Against Humanity. Glad these people are rising up finally. Can't be fun getting ass-raped by the very ruler who is supposed to improve the lives of his country.

I hope he goes ahead and fights to the death. Good riddance when the rebels remove the top of his head with an AK.

Saddam Hussain has been dead for several years. Is Iraq any better? We will see with Libya. Egypt is a mess because their biggest industry is tourism and nobody wants to go there right now. I've been hearing peace in the muslim world my whole life and it never seems to happen. We will probably be fighting the rebels in a few years like we are fighting the people we supported during the Soviet/Afghanistan war.:biggrin: It's always nice to see a bad guy go down but what the long-term effects are; especially, in that part of the world are is usually not a I love you brother love fest.

Honestly. Nobody really cares about these dictators as long as they sell us the oil. Saddam only went down when he refused to sell his oil in US Dollars. Gaddafi went down only when he started paying China more attention than his normal European oil customers. As long as Gaddafi sold his oil to the NATO nations he had nothing to worry about. It's more about money than helping humanity. It always is.

[FORD]

I just hope these "Libyan rebels" aren't like the usual CIA/BCE "exile" plants that usually accompany most of these government overthows. Probably one of the worst ways the BCE/PNAC invasion of Iraq went horribly wrong is because those idiots intended to put Ahmed Chalabi in charge of that whole mess (his crew of thugs were the ones who arranged the phony "fall of Saddam's statue" event).

Nothing more useless than a a bunch of CIA brainwashed right wing fucksticks being in charge of an already fucked up country. Want an example of how useless "exiles" are? Just look at the Batista fan club in Miami. Those idiots couldn't take out one guy with a beard.

[hambon4lif]

Saddam Hussain has been dead for several years. Is Iraq any better?In all fairness, we really don't know. We haven't got the fuck out of there long enough to find out yet.

[Nitro Express]

I just hope these "Libyan rebels" aren't like the usual CIA/BCE "exile" plants that usually accompany most of these government overthows. Probably one of the worst ways the BCE/PNAC invasion of Iraq went horribly wrong is because those idiots intended to put Ahmed Chalabi in charge of that whole mess (his crew of thugs were the ones who arranged the phony "fall of Saddam's statue" event).

Nothing more useless than a a bunch of CIA brainwashed right wing fucksticks being in charge of an already fucked up country. Want an example of how useless "exiles" are? Just look at the Batista fan club in Miami. Those idiots couldn't take out one guy with a beard.

I just went to a class reunion and the biggest nerd, dungeons and dragons geek of our school now works in the CIA.:biggrin:

[Blaze]

It is not spring in Arabia.

Certain sorts have taken upon themselves to promote the phrase “The Arabian Spring” to mean the Arabic Revolutions. “The Arabian Spring is vague term that allows a certain distance from what is happening, a term that gives it a certain fabled quality.

It is not spring in Arabia. It is summer. We all know this. The Arabic Revolutions are not some bunny hopping along bringing colored eggs and chocolate to the naive. The culling of corruption is occurring, the culling of corruption, which is occurring across the globe. This is not even an exclusive Arabic event. The Arabia Peninsula is one of the least affected areas.

Culling corruption makes some uncomfortable. This is normal. Corruption is uncomforting, demoralizing, and unsettling! Humanity will always have to address corruption. It is an unpleasant fact.

Nevertheless calling the culling of corruption by a nonsensical name will not make it fade away. Culling corruption is not a season. It is not limited to a language. It is not limited to a location. It is not a time. It is not something for only one land for only one group of people.

[Diamondjimi]

~Data~

[lesfunk]

Dipshits in the free world can Jump up and Down and Cheer "Freedom" like some halfassed Braveheart all they want. Yay! CuntDhaffi's gone YAY!
I say bullshit. More instability in the Middle East only serves to give the cocksuckers from the "office that runs things" another excuse to raise prices on my food , gas and heating oil as well as get involved in another "police action" in the region to keep us "safe from Terrorism", Thus, raising my taxes and taking away more of my civil liberties.

[Satan]

Come on down, Mo Qaddafi. Your torture suite is waiting...... http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/teufel/d010.gif

[Jagermeister]

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/08/22/libyan-draft-constitution-sharia-is-principal-source-of-legislation/

The dust has not yet settled over the Libyan capital of Tripoli since rebels took control over the weekend. But already, a draft constitutional charter for the transitional state has appeared online (embedded below). It is just a draft, mind you, and gauging its authenticity at this point is difficult. There is also no way to know whether this draft or something similar will emerge as the final governing document for a new Libyan regime.

As both the Morning Bell and Washington in a Flash noted today, Heritage Fellow Jim Phillips recently pointed out that Islamist forces “appear to make up a small but not insignificant part of the opposition coalition,” and must be prevented “from hijacking Libya’s future.” Parts of the draft Constitution allay those fears, while others exacerbate them.

Much of the document describes political institutions that will sound familiar to citizens of Western liberal democracies, including rule of law, freedom of speech and religious practice, and a multi-party electoral system.

But despite the Lockean tenor of much of the constitution, the inescapable clause lies right in Part 1, Article 1: “Islam is the Religion of the State, and the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia).” Under this constitution, in other words, Islam is law. That makes other phrases such as “there shall be no crime or penalty except by virtue of the law” and “Judges shall be independent, subject to no other authority but law and conscience” a bit more ominous.

[jhale667]

Though the GOP will continue to deny it, the Libyan people have already thanked Obama.

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/334941/LIBYA-THANKS-OBAMA.jpg

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/22/libyans-thank-obama-poster_n_933396.html

Libya Rebels Thank Obama, Sarkozy, Cameron, Rice With Huge Poster In Benghazi Square

As Libyans gathered early Monday morning to celebrate rebel advancement into Tripoli and the arrest of Seif al-Islam, Moammar Gaddafi's second eldest son, some had a clear message to world leaders: "Thank You."

Libyans supportive of rebel forces held up a large sign with portraits of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and U.S. President Barack Obama.

Above their images was written: "FANTASTIC 4."

"GOD BLESS YOU ALL. THANKS FOR ALL" was written below their portraits.
In March, the United States joined a multinational coalition and conducted military operations in Libya, something President Obama reiterated in his statement on Monday:

In the face of this aggression, the international community took action. The United States helped shape a U.N. Security Council resolution that mandated the protection of Libyan civilians. An unprecedented coalition was formed that included the United States, our NATO partners and Arab nations. And in March, the international community launched a military operation to save lives and stop Qaddafi’s forces in their tracks.

In a July trip to Istanbul, Hillary Clinton announced that the United States would recognize the primary rebel group, the Transitional National Council, as Libya's government.

[Jagermeister]

I am going to go out on a limb here and say " This will come back to bite us in the ass"

Fuck yeah those people are happy. For now.

Let's see what happens...

[Jagermeister]

Libyan oil could take years to come back
http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/23/markets/libya-oil-production/index.htm


Now see if these folks are sooooo damn happy that we helped them liberate the country why not just let the good old USA come in and fix these wells and take 50% of the oil production form them. FOR FREE.

[Blaze]

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



@blakehounshell
Blake Hounshell
Video of awesome Libyan rebel wearing Qaddafi's hat


blakehounshell Blake Hounshell
Another awesome video RT @krmaher RT @shunradan: Qaddhafi's golf cart was just liberated! bit.ly/oZsHAU

[Blaze]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/full/304971540.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJF3XCCKACR3QDMOA&Expires=1314130894&Signature=6vgHaBynsQH9%2BQwKmvcg0SrE4r0%3D

[jhale667]

Libyan oil could take years to come back
http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/23/markets/libya-oil-production/index.htm


Now see if these folks are sooooo damn happy that we helped them liberate the country why not just let the good old USA come in and fix these wells and take 50% of the oil production form them. FOR FREE.


Somebody was listening to Captain Combover's diatribe on FAUX last night...

[Jagermeister]

Somebody was listening to Captain Combover's diatribe on FAUX last night...

No I came up with that on my own after reading that article on CNN. Unlike you I like to be really well informed so I look at all sides of an issue before having a take on it. I don't often watch fox news or any news for that matter. I read it on the net daily at various places some of which are questionable but hey I'm conservative ya know.

Who is capt combover? lol.

[Blaze]

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/08/23/article-2028982-0D8B5B9400000578-180_634x409.jpg
Gaddafi's old home.

http://i.imgur.com/EWexD.jpg
Journalist inside Rixos having a cigarette
The Journalist are being used as human shields as Gaddafi is suspected of taking cover in the Hotel.
There is also a US delegate being held.
This is an intense and dangerous situation for the journalist at Rixos. Each one walks a fine line between informing and being ushered out into the street to become a mishap of war.

[Blaze]

http://mediacdn.disqus.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/139/3170/original.jpg

http://mediacdn.disqus.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/139/3169/original.jpg

http://mediacdn.disqus.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/139/3168/original.jpg

http://mediacdn.disqus.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/139/3167/original.jpg

http://mediacdn.disqus.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/139/3166/original.jpg

http://mediacdn.disqus.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/139/3165/original.jpg

http://mediacdn.disqus.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/139/3164/original.jpg

http://mediacdn.disqus.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/139/3163/original.jpg

http://mediacdn.disqus.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/139/3162/original.jpg

~Wittmann~

[conmee]

Myanmar Gadfly needs our prayers now more than ever! Death to the rebel scum!!!!

That is all.

Icon©®™

[Blaze]

mchancecnn Matthew Chance
#Rixos crisis ends. All journalists are out! #rixos
7 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

mchancecnn Matthew Chance
I can see the NTC rebels. We are nearly there!
7 minutes ago

mchancecnn Matthew Chance
We have been holed up together for what seems like an eternity. We could finally get out freedom!!! #rixos
7 minutes ago

mchancecnn Matthew Chance
439pm local time: Crammed with other journos in the car. Reuters, other cameramen, FOX, and AP #rixos
8 minutes ago

mchancecnn Matthew Chance
438pm local time: Now pulling out of #rixos hotel after 6 days of a complete nightmare. Still dodgy situation
8 minutes ago

mchancecnn Matthew Chance
437pm local time: ICRC cars have arrived at the hotel.

[Blaze]

blakehounshell Blake Hounshell
Cheap shot? RT @Ali_Gharib: Leaked Cable: McCain Promised Qaddafi To Help Secure Military Equipment From U.S

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/08/24/302759/mccain-lieberman-graham-qaddafi/


:mad:

[Blaze]

@jenanmoussa
Jenan Moussa
here is what I am taking about. shooting in #tripoli #libya. u can see the guy with RPG and other rebels
28 minutes ago via Twitpic
http://hotproxy02.twitpic.com/photos/full/382228790.jpg

[Blaze]

The BBC's Wyre Davies in Tripoli says the scene at the hospital in Abu Salim was one of the most appalling and distressing he had ever seen.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

We need professional help, from the international Red Cross, because there has been a massacre in Abu Salim”

Osama Pilil
Abu Salim resident
Around the hospital, on gurneys and in corridors, there were hundreds of dead people - men, women and children, our correspondent says.

It is not known exactly who they were, but some were civilians, some fighters, some apparently African mercenaries, he adds.

Residents said some had been alive when they were brought to the hospital, albeit with very bad injuries. Others had already died.

However, the hospital was closed because the medical staff had fled the fighting, and the people were left there to die, they added.

"These bodies have been here in the hospital for five days. Nobody has taken care of them - to bring them to the mortuary, to identify them, to bury them," Osama Pilil, a local, told the BBC.

"We need help. It is very urgent. There is no government here. We need professional help, from the International Red Cross, because there has been a massacre in Abu Salim," he added.

Our correspondent says the stench was appalling.



~~~~~~~~~~~~


Feelinghelpless Just now
State of Abu Salim hospital....... Apologies, may already have been posted. I've been out.
Alex Thomson Channel 4 (UK)


They say there are still snipers around Abu Salim district so best not to simply drive
to the hospital there. Our driver left us on the main road running by
the hospital building. We'd done a recce and seen a hole in the
fence.We split up to present less of a target – myself,
cameraman Stuart Webb and our security adviser, a former Royal Marine
best left unnamed – and we legged it across the empty dual
carriageway and hit that hole in the fence.We'd arranged to RV with
our van under a nearby flyover in one hour precisely.Fifty yards from
the main entrance something was wrong. Very wrong.Four Red Cross
ambulances lined up and staff hurriedly stretchered out the last few
injured men."Conditions in there are dreadful – just
dreadful," said Red Cross worker Bridget Comninos, "we are
just trying to assist doctors here." In one ambulance a man,
almost incoherent with fear, just kept saying: "Al Hamdillulah"
– thank God.Three young children sat near him almost beatifically
calm in their shock. Ten feet away, outside the main door, a dead
man's corpse hummed with clouds of flies. Piles of surgical
dressings, bloody sheets and half-empty blood bags were all around
us, oozing fluids onto the ground. Another body, inflated with
decomposition, lies 20 yards away in the sun. Male, fighting age,
half the head missing. Fifty yards further on a pile of human bodies,
bloated in the hot sun. I count 22 here, including three women, and
one child. Some of the male bodies are in military clothing but not
all.Inside, it is not a hospital but a mortuary – or something for
which there is no word. Stretchers and beds are stained with fluids
and blood, some still dripping on the floor.In one room a picture of
colonel Gaddafi smiles down on at least 23 more corpses shoved onto
trolleys at all angles. There is no language for the stench. You fear
even to breathe in here.A hospital orderly vomits quietly in a
corridor. This is a lost place, abandoned in the chaos of fighting. A
hospital worker says we have seen only the bodies from fighting in
Abu Salim in the past few days.Downstairs, a fighter shoots the lock
off the hospital basement and here are scores more bodies. Some are
Col Gadaffi’s soldiers but another, broken child lies abandoned
here too. Some were clearly shot dead but in all honesty most are too
far gone to investigate.

I couldn't do it.

[Blaze]

http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg737/scaled.php?tn=0&server=737&filename=gahte.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640
ianinegypt 10 hours 16 mins ago Twitter
This dog was the mascot of some rebels. It's been with them for three months. #Libya

[Blaze]

Long report on captured Gaddafi 'soldiers' at Mitiga Hospital, By Martin Chulov, UK Guardian.

In three darkened rooms at the back of a Tripoli hospital, Gaddafi's wounded lay awaiting their fate.Some
writhed in agony, steel pins holding together their shattered bones;
some lay, mummy-like, in bandages and plaster. Others shrouded
themselves in olive-green blankets – shutting out the world. All 93 of
the men in Mitiga hospital had a story to tell and some felt the time to
speak openly had finally come."I was a normal soldier in the
national army," said Ali Ahmed. "I understood things wrongly." Why was
he fighting for Gaddafi? "In the end," he said simply, "he wasn't the
man we thought he was."Alongside him another former soldier,
Khaled Khalifa, nursed a broken leg. He had the resigned gaze of a man
who knew the game was up. He had been captured the day before while
fighting in the district of Abu Selim, which meant he had fought on for
five days after the rebels stormed Tripoli. His reason for
defending the regime was simple. "If you are a military man, you fight,"
he said, "but I wish I hadn't now. What we have seen there are no words
to explain."Next door, past two young rebel guards who posted to
keep vigilantes away, Ahmed Farat rolled his head from side to side, a
vacant expression on his face. He seemed to think insanity was his best
defence. "I'm crazy, you know," he said. "Crazy."The man next to
him, a Senegalese national named Ali Senegal, said he had been in the
wrong place at the wrong time when he was shot in the back of the neck
in Abu Selim on Wednesday. "I swear by God I'm just a worker," he
said. The right side of his face had ballooned to twice its normal size
and his jaw was clearly broken."No he's not, said Farat. "He knows what he is, he is a sniper." "You
swear by God, do you?" asked a hospital supervisor. "You were caught
with a weapon. You were a sniper and we all know that."There were
three other non Libyans in the hospital, men from Mali, Niger and
Uganda – all of them with a fate less sure than the wounded members of
what was once a standing army. "We treat everyone the same here," said
one physician. "I don't ask where they're from, or what they have done.
We just treat them." However, in a small room near the bloody
emergency room, another rebel had been posted to keep watch on four
other alleged Gaddafi men, one of them the Ugandan, who lay on a
stretcher, his hands cuffed to a rail with plastic and blood seeping
from a bullet wound near his ankle. He looked terrified.Across
from him was a gaunt man in soiled pants who refused to utter a word to
anyone. "We don't think he's Libyan," said Dr Mohammed Hassan. "But the
one next to him is." The man he pointed to had a black eye and a
shattered left shoulder. "I was just walking home when I got shot," the
injured man said.Dr Hassan stepped out of the room and closed the
door behind him. "Liars, all of them," he said, as he walked away to
treat another man with a gunshot wound – this time one of the "good
guys" – a man from nearby Souk al-Jummah who had been nursing a wound at
home for the past week.More than five days since the collapse of
Gaddafi's military, the wounded are still streaming into Tripoli's
hospitals. But many – perhaps hundreds – are staying away from state
institutions, fearful of reprisals at the hands of rebels. In Abu
Selim, a group of five severely wounded soldiers of the Gaddafi regime
cried out to visiting reporters from the second floor of a ruined fire
station, which had been used as a field hospital until recent days.Several more soldiers lay dead on the ground floor, along with another couple with less severe wounds. The
news crews took the wounded men to hospital. As they passed checkpoints
manned by young rebels, the Gaddafi loyalists were heckled –
particularly the black Libyans among them.Gaddafi's men are
clearly taking a risk by seeking treatment, but it is a risk that those
already at Mitiga hospital seem happy to have taken. "I could not stay
away from treatment with a wound like this," said Ahmed Fatfat, pointing
at his fractured leg and the bullet wound in his abdomen. "I had been
in the military for only 20 days. I joined because I believed in Libya. I believed Gaddafi. We were told we were fighting terrorists, al-Qaida, all of the things we now know to be wrong."The
medical staff seemed to warm to him. Indeed, there is a sense that
regular soldiers who did what they were told will be forgiven. "Let
them go to their houses, to their families," said Mehdi al-Sagaigi.
"They followed Gaddafi like blind men. They didn't think. All Gaddafi's
supporters were like that. But the mercenaries, damn them," he said.
"Send them to a court. That is the best that they can hope for."Back inside the ward, a hospital worker gave his mobile phone to another wounded soldier so he could call his wife. "See,
they look after us," said Khalifa, playing to the doctors standing
nearby. "They give us food and water and they know that we were just
people doing what we thought was right. I have other friends who are
wounded. Give me the phone and I will tell them to come to this hospital
too."

[Little Texan]

I'd take this with a huge grain of salt as these rebels have been about as accurate as Andrew at melodiCrock with most of their claims of late.

Link (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/world/africa/01tripoli.html?pagewanted=print)

Libya Rebels Say Qaddafi Is Cornered in Town
By ROD NORDLAND

TRIPOLI, Libya — Rebel fighters believe they have cornered Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in the desert town of Bani Walid, only 150 miles from the capital, and have called on him to give up peacefully to avoid further bloodshed, a top official of the transition government said Wednesday.

“Since today we have learned that he is staying in Bani Walid,” said Abdul Hafith Ghoga, the deputy chairman of the Transitional National Council, in a telephone interview from his home in Benghazi. “We are waiting to give him a chance to surrender.”

There was no way to corroborate Mr. Ghoga’s claim on the location of Colonel Qaddafi, whose ability to outrun the rebel forces that toppled him last week has prevented them from claiming absolute victory in the struggle in Libya, the Arab Spring’s most violent uprising. Previous assertions by rebel forces concerning the whereabouts of Colonel Qaddafi and his family, routed from their Tripoli compound on Aug. 23, have proved premature or false.

But Mr. Ghoga’s claim, if true, would represent the first information on the location of the fugitive former leader who ruled Libya for 42 years.

The transition government formed by the rebels has given recalcitrant Qaddafi relatives and their loyalists until this Saturday to stop fighting without conditions.

Mr. Ghoga also confirmed reports that a Qaddafi son, Saadi el-Qaddafi, had offered to negotiate a coalition government with the rebels, but that the rebels rejected that out of hand.

Mr. Ghoga laughed out loud when asked about Saadi el-Qaddafi’s overtures. “They have no choice, Qaddafi has no choice, he has to surrender by Saturday.”

Bani Walid, a town of about 50,000 people southeast of Tripoli, is a stronghold of Libya’s largest tribe, the Warfallah, who have traditionally been strong supporters of the regime. Oddly, it is located in the Misurata District, which includes the coastal city of Misurata, a focal point of fierce fighting through much of the six-month rebellion.

Another Qaddafi son, Khamis, was reported killed when he and a group of bodyguards tried to break through a rebel checkpoint on the road to Bani Walid, rebel fighters in the area have told journalists, but his death has never been verified. A rebel spokesman, Col. Ahmed Bani, quoted survivors of that incident as saying they were escorting Khamis, once the head of the feared Khamis Brigade guarding Tripoli, to refuge in Bani Walid.

In addition, there have been unverified reports that Colonel Qaddafi’s second wife, daughter and two of his sons, who fled to Algeria earlier this week, went through Bani Walid, south to the oasis town of Sabha, and then to a remote desert crossing into Algeria. They were granted asylum on humanitarian grounds there earlier this week, infuriating the rebel forces, who have demanded that Algeria repatriate them.

Rebel forces have massed on the outskirts of Bani Walid, but have stopped advancing during a unilateral ceasefire declared by the rebels for the three-day-long Id al-Fitr holiday.

The rebels also have moved closer to the coastal city of Surt, Mr. Qaddafi’s hometown, another one of his rumored refuges.

Mr. Ghoga said the rebel ceasefire has been holding and there have been no reports of major fighting on its first full day.

The call to surrender was rejected by a spokesman for Colonel Qaddafi, Moussa Ibrahim, in a telephone call to The Associated Press headquarters in New York. “No dignified, honorable nation would accept an ultimatum from armed gangs,” the A.P. quoted him as saying.

Rebel officials have expressed hope that their ceasefire would persuade Colonel Qaddafi to surrender and avoid the bloodshed of a last stand. Their announcement of his location may have been calculated to pressure him into taking their Saturday ultimatum seriously.

A spokesman for the NATO operational command in Naples, speaking on condition of anonymity as a matter of alliance policy, said that its operations in Libya were continuing normally. "Our mission continues, our mission is still ongoing as long as there is a threat against civilians." However, the spokesman refused to confirm specifically whether there were any air strikes on Wednesday.

Mr. Ibrahim told The A.P. that that a missile attack possibly from NATO warplanes had killed 1,000 people in Surt — a tally that could not be independently verified. Throughout the six-month conflict, Colonel Qaddafi’s government has exaggerated the extent of casualties it says have been inflicted by NATO bombings.

As they secure growing acceptance abroad, the rebels’ readiness to press their demands showed the extent to which they have been emboldened by the NATO-backed military advances that helped to sweep them into Tripoli.

At the same time, the rebel leadership, struggling to unite bands of fighters and ensure security in the capital and elsewhere in the country, appeared to reject the need for international peacekeepers. “We don’t now expect military observers to be requested,” said Ian Martin, a United Nations special envoy for post-conflict planning in Libya, Reuters reported. “It’s very clear that the Libyans want to avoid any kind of military deployment of the U.N. or others.”

The rebels’ growing confidence came as anxiety eased in Tripoli, more than a week after rebel forces seized Colonel Qaddafi’s compound here in heavy fighting.

With the sounds of gunfire trailing off in Tripoli, banks reopened on Tuesday and residents who had been terrified of venturing outside calmly lined up to withdraw money. More shops opened for business, just in time for Id al-Fitr, the holiday that comes at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The international momentum to provide financial assistance to the rebels has also accelerated, with the Libya sanctions committee at the United Nations approving the unfreezing of $1.6 billion worth of Libyan dinars held in Britain. William Hague, Britain’s foreign secretary, said it was “another major step forward in getting necessary assistance to the Libyan people, building on the remarkable progress in recent days.”

But Russia has put a hold on the release of an additional 2.5 billion euros by Germany and France for the time being, diplomats said. Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, said it was important not to rush to release assets before checks were in place to ensure that it was not squandered, lost or stolen.

Reporting was contributed by Kareem Fahim and David D. Kirkpatrick from Tripoli, Libya, Alan Cowell from London, Neil MacFarquhar from the United Nations, and Rick Gladstone from New York.

[Diamondjimi]

[Blaze]

http://www.kabobfest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Wheres-Gaddafi11.jpg

[Nickdfresh]

September 2, 2011
Files Note Close C.I.A. Ties to Qaddafi Spy Unit
By ROD NORDLAND

TRIPOLI, Libya — Documents found at the abandoned office of Libya’s former spymaster appear to provide new details of the close relations the Central Intelligence Agency shared with the Libyan intelligence service — most notably suggesting that the Americans sent terrorism suspects at least eight times for questioning in Libya despite that country’s reputation for torture.

Although it has been known that Western intelligence services began cooperating with Libya after it abandoned its program to build unconventional weapons in 2004, the files left behind as Tripoli fell to rebels show that the cooperation was much more extensive than generally known with both the C.I.A. and its British equivalent, MI-6.

Some documents indicate that the British agency was even willing to trace phone numbers for the Libyans, and another appears to be a proposed speech written by the Americans for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi about renouncing unconventional weapons.

The documents were discovered Friday by journalists and Human Rights Watch. There were at least three binders of English-language documents, one marked C.I.A. and the other two marked MI-6, among a larger stash of documents in Arabic.

It was impossible to verify their authenticity, and none of them were written on letterhead. But the binders included some documents that made specific reference to the C.I.A., and their details seem consistent with what is known about the transfer of terrorism suspects abroad for interrogation and with other agency practices.

And although the scope of prisoner transfers to Libya has not been made public, news media reports have sometimes mentioned it as one country that the United States used as part of its much criticized rendition program for terrorism suspects.

A C.I.A. spokeswoman, Jennifer Youngblood, declined to comment on Friday on the documents. But she added: “It can’t come as a surprise that the Central Intelligence Agency works with foreign governments to help protect our country from terrorism and other deadly threats.”

The British Foreign Office said, “It is the longstanding policy of the government not to comment on intelligence matters.”

While most of the renditions referred to in the documents appear to have been C.I.A. operations, at least one was claimed to have been carried out by MI-6.

“The rendition program was all about handing over these significant figures related to Al Qaeda so they could torture them and get the information they wanted,” said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director of Human Rights Watch, who studied the documents in the intelligence headquarters in downtown Tripoli.

The documents cover 2002 to 2007, with many of them concentrated in late 2003 and 2004, when Moussa Koussa was head of the External Security Organization. (Mr. Koussa was most recently Libya’s foreign minister.)

The speech that appears to have been drafted for Colonel Qaddafi was found in the C.I.A. folder and appears to have been sent just before Christmas in 2003. The one-page speech seems intended to depict the Libyan dictator in a positive light. It concluded, using the revolutionary name for the Libyan government: “At a time when the world is celebrating the birth of Jesus, and as a token of our contributions towards a world full of peace, security, stability and compassion, the Great Jamhariya presents its honest call for a W.M.D.-free zone in the Middle East,” referring to weapons of mass destruction.

The flurry of communications about renditions are dated after Libya’s renouncement of its weapons program. In several of the cases, the documents explicitly talked about having a friendly country arrest a suspect, and then suggested aircraft would be sent to pick the suspect up and deliver him to the Libyans for questioning. One document included a list of 89 questions for the Libyans to ask a suspect.

While some of the documents warned Libyan authorities to respect such detainees’ human rights, the C.I.A. nonetheless turned them over for interrogation to a Libyan service with a well-known history of brutality.

One document in the C.I.A. binder said operatives were “in a position to deliver Shaykh Musa to your physical custody, similar to what we have done with other senior L.I.F.G. members in the recent past.” The reference was to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which was dedicated to the overthrow of Colonel Qaddafi, and which American officials believed had ties to Al Qaeda.

When Libyans asked to be sent Abu Abdullah al-Sadiq, another member of the group, a case officer wrote back on March 4, 2004, that “we are committed to developing this relationship for the benefit of both our services,” and promised to do their best to locate him, according to a document in the C.I.A. binder.

Two days later, an officer faxed the Libyans to say that Mr. Sadiq and his pregnant wife were planning to fly into Malaysia, and the authorities there agreed to put them on a British Airways flight to London that would stop in Bangkok. “We are planning to take control of the pair in Bangkok and place them on our aircraft for a flight to your country,” the case officer wrote.

Mr. Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch said he had learned from the documents that Sadiq was a nom de guerre for Abdel Hakim Belhaj, who is now a military leader for the rebels.

In an interview on Wednesday, Mr. Belhaj gave a detailed description of his incarceration that matched many of those in the documents. He also said that when he was held in Bangkok he was tortured by two people from the C.I.A.

On one occasion, the Libyans tried to send their own plane to extradite a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, Abu Munthir, and his wife and children, who were being held in Hong Kong because of passport irregularities.

The Libyan aircraft, however, was turned back, apparently because Hong Kong authorities were reluctant to let Libyan planes land. In a document labeled “Secret/ U.S. Only/ Except Libya,” the Libyans were advised to charter an aircraft from a third country. “If payment of a charter aircraft is an issue, our service would be willing to assist financially,” the document said.

While questioning alleged terror group members plainly had value to Western intelligence, the cooperation went beyond that. In one case, for example, the Libyans asked operatives to trace a phone number for them, and a document that was in the MI-6 binder replied that it belonged to the Arab News Network in London. It is unclear why the Libyans sought who the phone number belonged to.

The document also suggested signs of agency rivalries over Libya. In the MI-6 binder, a document boasted of having turned over someone named Abu Abd Alla to the Libyans. “This was the least we could do for you to demonstrate the remarkable relationship we have built over recent years,” an unsigned fax in 2004 said. “Amusingly, we got a request from the Americans to channel requests for information from Abu Abd through the Americans. I have no intention of doing any such thing.”

Scott Shane contributed reporting from Washington.

NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/03/world/africa/03libya.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all)