The Civil Brigade attends to the very important task of order in chaos. Such tasks will help restore order quickly.
Good day care is hard to find even in war.
I say that jokingly.
However, by not placing children in centralized daycares their survival rates increase, by keeping children scattered the chances are lowered of a large loss of children at one time.
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Good to see water, traffic control, and peace officers.
Market places and news gathering locations continue.
Last edited by Blaze; 04-04-2011 at 12:37 PM.
Let us not forget war is occurring all around the order.
Possibly 2 less tanks. Too bad tanks are a pain to refunction once disabled.
Ah, the irony of commandeered air support.
Or is that the USA's pilot?
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Kisses 4 UOriginally Posted by PETE'S BROTHER
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This photo is my new desktop photo.
The council derives it legitimacy from the decisions of local councils set up by the revolutionary people of Libya on the 17th of February. These local councils facilitated a mechanism to manage daily life in the liberated cities and villages. The council consists of thirty one members representing the various cities of Libya from the east to the west and from the north to the south. The aim of the Transitional National Council is to steer Libya during the interim period that will come after its complete liberation and the destruction of Gaddafi’s oppressive regime. It will guide the country to free elections and the establishment of a constitution for Libya.
The Council members representing Al Buntan, Al Gubbah and Benghazi have been named while the names of those representing Ajdabiya, Zintan, Misratah, Nalut and Ghat have not been disclosed due to security reasons. The council is awaiting the nomination of representatives from the central and southern regions as well as Tripoli.
The Council notes that it is the only legitimate body representing the people of Libya and the Libyan state and calls on all the countries of the world to recognise it and deal with it on the basis of international legitimacy. The Council also notes that it will honour and respect all international and regional agreements signed by the former Libyan government, emphasizing its aspirations in seeing Libya play a significant role in the establishing international peace and security.
The Council also stresses that the heads of envoys and Libya’s representatives in the UN, the Arab League and all international and regional organisations, and our embassies and diplomatic missions who have joined this revolution are the legitimate representatives of this Council in these places. We also request from those who have yet to transfer their affiliation with this Council to do so.
The Council will seek to maintain peace and security in the liberated cities with all its strength. It will also plan and work towards liberating the remaining cities still kidnapped by the tyrant Mu’ammar Gaddafi and his gang. Here, we call on all the people of Libya to participate in achieving these lofty goals through the commitment to the noble Libyan ethics and by prioritising our country before the self in the same way our ancestors did to liberate it from the Italian colonizers.
Long live Libya free and dignified.
http://ntclibya.org/english/about/
Last edited by Blaze; 04-04-2011 at 02:49 PM.
The Libyan Republic
The Interim Transitional National Council
Decrees and Announcements
Links -
31 March 2011- Statement of TNC on Counter-Terrorism
29 March 2011- A vision of a democratic Libya
27 March 2011 – Statement regarding Eman Al-Obaidi New
25 March 2011– Statement about Treatment of Detainees and Prisoners New
22 March 2011 – Statement by TNC on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1973
21 March 2011 – Statement of Affirmation
19 March 2011 – Meetings Mintues & Outcomes
5 March 2011 – Founding statement of the Interim National Council
Libyan woman who claimed rape is free
By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, Associated Press – 1 hr 10 mins ago
TRIPOLI, Libya – A Libyan woman who burst into a Tripoli hotel to tell foreign journalists that she was gang raped by Moammar Gadhafi's troops says she is not in custody.
Iman al-Obeidi made headlines last week when she was dragged away from the hotel by government officials as she screamed her allegations of rape. A government official said she was a prostitute, but her family said she is a lawyer.
On Sunday she told a Libyan dissident network based in Qatar that she was examined by a doctor to prove the rape charge. She told CNN she was detained and beaten when she tried to reach reporters a second time.
A woman the government said was al-Obeidi's lawyer told The Associated Press Monday that her client was refusing to speak to reporters because her case was under investigation.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110404/...woman_attacked
No one has seen her. There has been only a phone call to a person that would not recognize her voice.
Volunteers flock to Libya rebel army boot camp
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Ashraf Mohamed Salem has never fired a gun in his life.
But the 27-year-old science student was one of several hundred eager volunteers who showed up at the Benghazi military barracks on Monday for a basic training course so he can join the rebel army facing Muammar Gaddafi's troops.
"We want to protect our families but we have no experience. I hope we will be good enough to go to the frontline but if not we will defend our homes," he told Reuters.
He said he had worked supplying food to the frontlines during the uprising against Gaddafi that broke out in mid-February but now he had decided to fight.
"I've never fired a gun before. That's why I'm here, to learn."
The rebel army is largely made up of young civilians and their fortunes have ebbed and flowed in the face of Gaddafi's better-armed and experienced troops.
The front line is now around Brega, about 230 km by road southwest of Benghazi.
Their lack of training and military experience has been a concern not only to the rebel leadership but also to the foreign governments which have backed them with air strikes but are reluctant to commit ground troops to help topple Gaddafi.
The rebel leadership is making a concerted effort to improve matters. In the past week, there have been signs that former army officers were asserting more control over the often anarchic scenes at the frontline.
The recruits training at the Benghazi barracks were under the instruction of former army officers who had joined the rebel side, most of them coming out of retirement.
Fosi Al-Hado, a former marine commander in a slouch hat and camouflage uniform, said there little time to teach them a lot.
"We are training them with the weapons we have," he said. "Kalashnikovs, rockets launchers, machine guns. These are the only weapons that are available. We want long distance weapons, heavy artillery, missiles, to give us the advantage."
The training lasts a week and mostly covers weapons. Tactics will have to wait until later, said Hado, who said he had fought in conflicts in Uganda, Chad and Lebanon.
The best recruits are sent to the front but other fighters are needed to defend the city and strategic locations.
He said all the instructors were Libyan. No foreign personnel could be seen on the parade ground when Reuters visited the camp.
"We have no foreigners," Hado said. "We are all Libyans."
U.S. and Egyptian soldiers have been reported to be training rebels in camps in east Libya but neither their governments nor the rebel leadership have confirmed this.
ALL CLEAR
Groups of recruits sat in circles on the parade ground around rocket launchers and cannon, listening intently to the instructors.
"This goes in this hole here. Is that clear?" said one instructor putting the barrel of an anti-aircraft gun back together.
"Yes," the recruits responded in a chorus.
Their numbers included students, doctors, businessmen and engineers as well as workers or unemployed people.
While Gaddafi is known for employing female bodyguards, there were no women fighters among the rebels, unlike in rebel armies in Nicaragua or Sri Lanka. They are assigned to other jobs in the revolutionary movement, an official said.
Hisham Mohamed, 32, a communication student, said he a personal reason for joining the fight.
"I've never had training before, never had a gun. I'm here because Gaddafi detained my brother. Since 1996. We don't know where he is or if he is still alive."
Because of this, he and his family were barred from getting government jobs, he said.
Commander Hado said it was likely to be a long and difficult fight.
"We have the will. We are fighting a professional army but we have God and right on our side. When Gaddafi goes, I'll go back to retirement."
By Angus MacSwan – Mon Apr 4, 9:40 am ET
Britain not eyeing 'exit strategy' for Kadhafi
– Mon Apr 4, 9:23 am ET
LONDON (AFP) – Britain is not pursuing an exit strategy for Moamer Kadhafi, Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman said on Monday as the Libyan leader's envoy toured capitals discussing a solution to the crisis.
Kadhafi's Deputy Foreign Minister Abdelati Laabidi was to travel to Turkey and Malta on Monday.
He has already been in Athens, where "according to what the Libyan envoy said the regime seems to be looking for a solution," Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas said.
Cameron's spokesman said the British government's position on Kadhafi was clear.
…
A military plane from Jordan landed in Benghazi on Monday carrying medical supplies. Jordanian Col. Aqab Abu Abu Windi, who arrived on the plane, said it contained seven and one half tons of medical supplies to help the Libyan people and promised, "This plane is just the beginning."
…
PM boost Libya jet numbers at Italian base
– 1 hr 24 mins ago
GIOIA DEL COLLE, Italy (AFP) – Prime Minister David Cameron made a surprise visit Monday to the Italian base hosting British jets enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya, and announced four more planes for the mission.
Flying into Gioia del Colle in southern Italy, he said Britain would be deploying four new Tornado jets "in the next couple of days" to boost the NATO-led mission to protect civilians from Moamer Kadhafi's forces.
"Which will mean we will have 10 Typhoons for the mission in terms of the no-fly zone and we'll have a total of 12 Tornado ground attack aircraft involved in operations," he told reporters travelling with him.
…
Britain sends telecoms equipment to Libyan rebels
By DAVID STRINGER, Associated Press – 1 hr 57 mins ago
LONDON – Britain announced Monday it will supply communications equipment to Libyan rebels to help them withstand attacks by Moammar Gadhafi's regime.
Foreign Secretary William Hague also told the House of Commons that the United Nations and the European Union may consider dropping sanctions against some members of Gadhafi's regime if they abandon their support for the Libyan dictator. It was unclear if the offer could extend to Gadhafi's family, many of whom face sanctions.
…
"In the case of anyone currently sanctioned by the EU and U.N. who breaks definitively with the regime, we will discuss with our partners the merits of removing the restrictions that currently apply," Hague said. "Sanctions are designed to change behavior and it is therefore right that they are adjusted when new circumstances arise."
Hague told lawmakers that Britain had responded to a request for telecommunications equipment from rebel leaders in Libya following a new round of meetings in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. He said his own attempts to talk with the rebels had been hampered by their poor communications equipment.
…
Italy rejects Gadhafi regime's diplomatic push
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA and ALESSANDRA RIZZO, Associated Press – 28 mins ago
ISTANBUL – A diplomatic push by Moammar Gadhafi's regime ran into trouble Monday as opponents at home and abroad rejected any solution to the Libyan conflict that would involve one of his sons taking power.
While a Gadhafi envoy lobbied diplomats in European capitals, Italy became the third nation to declare that the rebels' interim council in Libya is the only legitimate voice for the people of the North African nation.
Italy is the third country, after France and Qatar, to give diplomatic recognition to the rebel council,
…
Libya rebels dismiss deal with Kadhafi son
by Joseph Krauss – 41 mins ago
BENGHAZI, Libya (AFP) – Libyan rebels on Monday dismissed any possible peace deal which might see Moamer Kadhafi's son left in charge of the war-wracked country.
…
Libya rebels reject transition under Kadhafi sons
by Joseph Krauss – 17 mins ago
BENGHAZI, Libya (AFP) – Libyan rebels insisted Monday that the whole Kadhafi family must leave before there can be any truce with regime forces amid reports that his sons are offering to oversee a transition.
…
Libya crisis: Rebels in race to train recruits
By Wyre Davies
BBC News, Benghazi
Training sessions in Benghazi are sometimes carried out using outdated equipment
At a military base in Benghazi, rebel leaders are in a desperate race to train new recruits.
They learn how to assemble and dismantle a heavy machine gun. Half an hour on this, then on to another lesson - perhaps the mechanics of firing a mortar shell with accuracy or how to handle an AK47.
This is how Libya's rebel army is being trained.
As one group of young men sits attentively on the floor of the parade ground in Benghazi, an instructor shows them how to arm and fire a mortar shell.
Most of these men have never seen a mortar round before, fired a gun or been anywhere near the front line.
Men like Salam bin Fayed - an engineer by trade ...
Salam bin Fayed is nervous about moving to the front line
Read the rest of the story -> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12954610
Rebels load weapon on road to frontline
Rebels load a weapon on the road to the frontline in Brega April 5, 2011. Libyan rebels fled east under heavy rocket fire from leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces in the oil town of Brega on Tuesday in a sixth day of fighting that has failed to give either side the upper hand. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
Libyan rebels salvage reusable parts
Libyan rebels salvage reusable parts of a machine gun mounted on the vehicle belonging to pro Gadhafi forces, that rebels claim were targeted by a NATO strike along the front line near Brega, Libya Tuesday, April 5, 2011. Libya's rebel forces are looking more effective on the front and even scrapping back some of the territory lost to Moammar Gadhafi's army, but the rag tag fighters are still a long way from being able to march to Tripoli.
Rebel fighter scans
A rebel fighter scans for loyalist troop activity near the key old port of Brega. The Libyan government said Tuesday it was ready to negotiate reforms, but refused any talk of Moamer Kadhafi stepping down saying he was a unifying figure after ruling the nation for four decades. (AFP/Odd Andersen)
Moamer Kadhafi's forces
Moamer Kadhafi's forces have been targeted by air strikes since March 19 under a UN mandate to use "all necessary measures" to protect civilians, but the siege has still not been broken.
Rebels walk near their truck to frontline
Rebels walk near their truck on the road to the frontline in Brega April 5, 2011. A Western air strike destroyed two of Muammar Gaddafi's military vehicles in the east Libyan oil town of Brega on Tuesday allowing rebels to edge forward, but diplomatic efforts to end the war remained stalled. REUTERS/Youssef Boudl
Libyan rebel, defected from pro Gadhafi
A Libyan rebel, defected from pro Gadhafi forces, wears his medals along with a dagger and a hand grenade as he stands outside Brega, Libya, Tuesday, April 5, 2011. Libya's rebel forces are looking more effective on the front and even scrapping back some of the territory lost to Moammar Gadhafi's army, but the rag tag fighters are still a long way from being able to march to Tripoli. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Libyan rebel salvages live ammunition
A Libyan rebel salvages live ammunition from a vehicle belonging to pro Gadhafi forces that rebels claim were targeted by a NATO strike along the front line near Brega, Libya Tuesday, April 5, 2011. Libya's rebel forces are looking more effective on the front and even scrapping back some of the territory lost to Moammar Gadhafi's army, but the rag tag fighters are still a long way from being able to march to Tripoli. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Rebels gesture from their trucks
Rebels gesture from their trucks to a passing vehicle carrying a multiple rocker launcher on the road to the frontline in Brega April 5, 2011. A Western air strike destroyed two of Muammar Gaddafi's military vehicles in the east Libyan oil town of Brega on Tuesday allowing rebels to edge forward, but diplomatic efforts to end the war remained stalled. REUTERS Youssef Boudl
Men unload fuel supplies for ambulance
Men unload fuel supplies for an ambulance from a truck outside Brega in eastern Libya April 5, 2011. A Western air strike destroyed two of Muammar Gaddafi's military vehicles in the east Libyan oil town of Brega on Tuesday allowing rebels to edge forward, but diplomatic efforts to end the war remained stalled. REUTERS Youssef Boudlal
Men carrying weapons pass truck loaded
Men carrying weapons in a truck pass another truck loaded with fuel supplies for ambulances and rebels' trucks outside Brega in eastern Libya April 5, 2011. A Western air strike destroyed two of Muammar Gaddafi's military vehicles in the east Libyan oil town of Brega on Tuesday allowing rebels to edge forward, but diplomatic efforts to end the war remained stalled. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal
Luis Moreno-Ocampo
International Criminal Court ( ICC ) Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo checks his email after an exclusive interview with Reuters in the Hague April 5, 2011. The United Nations Security Council is responsible for any political decisions on Libya, the prosecutor said on Tuesday, underlining his role is limited to investigating crimes. To match Interview LIBYA-ICC/ REUTERS/Jerry Lampen
Luis Moreno-Ocampo
International Criminal Court ( ICC ) Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo puts on his robe after an exclusive interview with Reuters in the Hague April 5, 2011. The United Nations Security Council is responsible for any political decisions on Libya, the prosecutor said on Tuesday, underlining his role is limited to investigating crimes. To match Interview LIBYA-ICC/ REUTERS/Jerry Lampen
Man hands weapon to near truck loaded
A man hands a weapon to another near a truck loaded with fuel supplies for the rebels outside Brega in eastern Libya April 5, 2011. Rebels have clashed with Muammar Gaddafi's forces in the east Libyan oil town of Brega for five days, rebel fighters said. REUTERS Youssef Boudlal
Libyan rebels run from artillery shells
Libyan rebels run for cover from artillery shells fired by forces loyal to leader Moamer Kadhafi outside the eastern oil town of Brega on Tuesday. (AFP/Mahmud Hams)
Rebel fighters try
Rebel fighters try to salvage the machine gun mounted on the back of a burning government military vehicle which had been manned by loyalists to Muammar Gaddafi after it was hit by a NATO air strike on the eastern outskirts of Brega April 5, 2011. Rebels have clashed with Gaddafi's forces in the east Libyan oil town for five days, rebel fighters said. REUTERS/Andrew Winning
Rebel fighters attempt
Rebel fighters attempt to salvage a heavy machine gun mounted on the back of a burning vehicle used by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi after it was hit by a NATO airstrike on the eastern outskirts of Brega April 5, 2011. REUTERS/Andrew
Rebel fighter prepares
A rebel fighter prepares to tow away a government vehicle mounted with heavy machine gun after it was hit by a NATO airstrike on the eastern outskirts of Brega April 5, 2011. An air strike destroyed two government military vehicles on Tuesday in the east Libyan oil town of Brega, where rebels have clashed with Muammar Gaddafi's forces for five days, rebel fighters said. REUTERS/Andrew Winning
EDITOR 'S NOTE: PICTURE TAKEN carry basin
EDITOR'S NOTE: PICTURE TAKEN ON GUIDED GOVERNMENT TOUR Workers carry a basin as they clean a police station which was burnt during unrest, in the centre of the city of Zawiyah April 5, 2011 REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
EDITOR 'S NOTE: PICTURE TAKEN
EDITOR'S NOTE: PICTURE TAKEN ON GUIDED GOVERNMENT TOUR A damaged police station is seen through broken glass, in the centre of the city of Zawiyah April 5, 2011.
Smoke-damaged portrait of Moammar Gadhafi
In this image taken during an organized trip by Libyan authorities, a smoke-damaged portrait of Moammar Gadhafi stands on the wall of Libyan police station burned by Zawiya rebels during fighting almost three weeks ago in the coastal city of Zawiya, 30 miles (50 kilometers) West of Tripoli, Libya, Tuesday, April 5, 2011.
Muammar Gaddafi
EDITOR'S NOTE: PICTURE TAKEN ON GUIDED GOVERNMENT TOUR A nurse, who is a supporter of Muammar Gaddafi, chants slogans in front of a picture of him during a protest at a hospital in the city of Zawiyah April 5, 2011.
– Tue Apr 5, 12:09 am ET
NEW YORK – A Libyan woman who says she is the person who burst into a Tripoli hotel to tell foreign journalists that she had been gang raped by Moammar Gadhafi's troops told a CNN interviewer Monday that she is out of custody but is receiving death threats from regime loyalists.
CNN said it was confident that the woman interviewed is in fact Iman al-Obeidi, who made international headlines on March 26 when she was dragged away from the Rixos Hotel by government agents as she screamed her allegations of rape to foreign reporters.
The CNN interviewer, Anderson Cooper, said the network could not be certain the woman they spoke to by telephone is al-Obeidi, but they were satisfied it was her after days of research and from the testimony of several people who had talked with al-Obeidi at the hotel and with the women interviewed. She spoke in Arabic through a female translator, but was not shown on camera.
The story she told was also consistent with the account al-Obeidi gave at the hotel.
She said, "There is no safe place for me in Tripoli. All my phones are monitored, even this phone I am speaking on right now is monitored. And I am monitored."
"Yesterday I was kidnapped by a car and they beat me in the street, then brought me here after I was dragged around," she said.
"Yes, yes, I want to leave Tripoli. In the middle of the night I get nightmares, and I feel threats 24 hours a day. They are constantly threatening me, with death."
The woman interviewed by CNN said that after the initial hotel uproar, Gadhafi's militamen bought her new clean clothes and took her to the Libyan TV station to have her broadcast a recantation of her story, to say that the rebels had raped her, but she refused to do so.
"The TV station has no credibility and I was fearing the consequences," she told CNN. "Behind the camera, I was facing 15 Kalashnikovs."
On Sunday and Monday, al-Obeidi did telephone interviews with two TV networks, but she was not seen. A government official said she had an agreement not to talk to reporters, but she was blocked from getting to the reporters' hotel again on Sunday.
The last time al-Obeidi, who is from eastern Libya, which is now in rebel hands, was seen was when she was dragged away from the hotel on March 26. She had gone to the hotel after she said she had escaped her gang-rape ordeal.
She said that Gadhafi forces originally abducted her from a taxi at a checkpoint, repeatedly raped her and held her captive for two days.
"Of course they had my hands tied behind me, and they had my legs tied, and they would hit me when I was tied, and they would bite me, and they would pour alcohol in my eyes so I would not be able to see," she told CNN.
"One of them, when my hands were still tied, before he raped me he sodomized me with his Kalashnikov rifle," she said.
"They said, 'Let the men from eastern Libya come and see how we treat their women, and how we rape them, and abuse them.'"
She managed to escape after she was untied by another captive, a 16-year-old girl, she told CNN.
The woman who spoke to CNN claimed she was detained and beaten when she tried to reach reporters in the Rixos Hotel a second time on Sunday.
She told CNN that she earlier was stopped from leaving the country at the Tunisian border and returned to Tripoli. The Tunisian border is to the west of Tripoli.
On Sunday a Libyan dissident network based in Qatar played a phone interview where a woman claiming to be al-Obeidi said Libyan authorities had declined her request to join her parents in Tobruk. Tobruk, near the Egyptian border, is under rebel control.
Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said al-Obeidi had made a deal with the attorney general not to speak to reporters so as not to compromise her case, and that he was aware that al-Obeidi was trying to reach media on Sunday.
"She broke her agreement with the attorney general by trying to speak to the media and was taken away," Ibrahim told The Associated Press.
Ibrahim said he didn't know what happened to al-Obeidi after she was taken away from the hotel.
Afaf Youssef, a woman the government said is al-Obeidi's lawyer, told The Associated Press on Monday that her client was refusing to speak to reporters because her case was under investigation.
Youssef said she was one of two lawyers taking up al-Obeidi's criminal case against the men who she says raped her. She also denied earlier government claims that al-Obeidi was a prostitute.
Al-Obeidi's rape claim could not be independently verified. The Associated Press identifies only rape victims who volunteer their names.
Thank you. ~`~
Foreign minister appears to soften on Gaddafi exile
TUESDAY, 05 APRIL 2011 12:05 JB NEWS
Stalwart Espersen apparently swayed by PM’s announcement that impunity deal may be best feasible solution
Foreign minister Lene Espersen has apparently softened her stance on a hypothetical impunity deal for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as one solution to the conflict in Libya.
The Conservative Party member’s latest statement came in reaction to remarks from the Liberal prime minister, Lars Lřkke Rasmussen, that he would “never rule out anything” in order to find a solution, even allowing Gaddafi to flee to a friendly country that would protect him from prosecution for alleged crimes against humanity.
”If [Gaddafi] suddenly ended up in Venezuela, it would be difficult to pursue him. But the Libyan people would be better off than if he was still sitting in Tripoli,” the prime minister told Politiken newspaper on Sunday.
Just the week before at a conference in London on the Libyan conflict, Espersen stated unequivocally that Denmark would not support an impunity deal for Gaddafi.
“It is extremely important for Denmark and the international community that no country offer Gaddafi a deal promising impunity,” Espersen told conference attendees.
But following the prime minister’s statement, yesterday Espersen appeared to have softened her position, reports Berlingske newspaper.
An injured man flashes a victory sign inside a Turkish ship carrying 250 wounded people from the besieged Libyan city of Misrata, at a port in Benghazi. It is appearing more likely that Denmark would support exile deal for Gaddafi as a way to stop fighting (Photo: Scanpix)
Gaddafi peace plan not "credible" but may buy time
Mon Apr 4, 2011 2:50pm GMT
By William Maclean, Security Correspondent
LONDON (Reuters) - Peace proposals by Muammar
Gaddafi insisting on a future political role for his family are
almost certainly non-starters but may buy Libya's leader the
time he needs to drive a wedge in coalition ranks.
Gaddafi's chances of stirring interest in an interim
political settlement may improve if a military stalemate
endures, making his hopes for his sons seem less unrealistic.
Diplomatic activity generated by his proposals may act as a
stalling tactic that wins him time to build defences in his
western strongholds, shore up tribal loyalties and divide and
weaken the international coalition.
But there is no sign he has won broad interest in the West
for his terms for ending a war threatening to destabilise an
oil- and gas-rich region on Europe's southern flank. The notion
of any role for the Gaddafi family in government is simply too
much for his foes to stomach, analysts say.
Sources familiar with three scenarios floated by Gaddafi for
an interim settlement say they share two unacceptable features
-- that Gaddafi remain as a sort of national figurehead, albeit
retired, and that one of his sons take a role in a unity
government with the opposition, possibly as leader.
Experts on Libya said the proposals were not realistic.
"It can't be done," said Oliver Miles, a former British
ambassador to Tripoli.
"As soon as Gaddafi steps down, his sons are dead in the
water politically, because it's Gaddafi who calls the shots.
"In theory, according to Gaddafi, he's already a figurehead
and holds no official role, so it should not matter if he stays
or goes. The reality, however, is otherwise."
A diplomat familiar with the discussions said: "Various
scenarios are being discussed...Everyone wants a quick solution.
"Gaddafi's entourage wants to preserve the regime by all
means, even if it means sharing power with one of the sons or
stepping down symbolically."
LONG WAR MAY SUIT GADDAFI
Italy, once Gaddafi's closest Western partner, dismissed a
message carried by an envoy of the Libyan leader about ways of
halting the fighting and said Gaddafi must leave power.
Speaking after meeting Ali Essawi, a member of the Libyan
rebel council, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said a divided
Libya was not acceptable and the rebel council was the only
legitimate interlocutor.
He described proposals carried to Greece on Sunday by Deputy
Libyan Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi as "not credible".
Essawi said the idea of some form of transitional government
headed by one of Gaddafi's sons was "not an option".
Obeidi was due later in Turkey, a Muslim NATO member which
has said it is seeking to broker a ceasefire.
A North African political analyst, who declined to be
identified due to the sensitivity of the subject, said one of
Gaddafi's proposals was for his son Saif al-Islam to take over
as interim leader pending political reforms to be negotiated
with the Libyan opposition, and for Gaddafi himself to retire.
Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi's most prominent son, has in the past
advocated reforms to promote government transparency and
accountability, free enterprise and human rights. But he
delivered a jarring television address early in the conflict,
warning Libyans against revolt.
Gaddafi has described the rebels as "armed gangs" backed by
al Qaeda and said they are bent on terrorising ordinary Libyans,
who he says support him and his rule.
For their part, the rebels have refused any talks with
Gaddafi except to discuss the manner of his departure from power
after more than four decades of ruling the North African state.
Saad Djebbar, a former legal adviser to the Libyan
government, said it was likely that the flurry of peace feelers
from Tripoli were just Gaddafi's way of buying more time.
"He has said repeatedly in public during this crisis that he
is a long-term player while he see his enemies as short-term
players. He needs time and he feels he can get it this way."
A drawn-out conflict might hurt the coalition's ambitions
just as much as Gaddafi's, if not more.
LIBYA WAR NEEDS "HEROIC" DIPLOMATIC EFFORT
Without effective diplomacy to end the war, suggested
Shashank Joshi of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI),
Gaddafi's rhetoric portraying the coalition as Western crusaders
could find an increasingly receptive Arab audience even though
some Arab countries are fighting alongside Western forces.
In a commentary, Joshi said the underlying reality was that
"the Arab presence is a thin veneer over another transatlantic
war, and that veneer is one that will be worn away further over
time without a heroic diplomatic effort".
In the battle for leverage in any future negotiations, the
West has not always played its cards adroitly.
The coalition scored a public relations coup last week when
Gaddafi's foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, defected to Britain,
a move seen as likely to demoralize Gaddafi's encourage.
But other loyalists may not follow his example because
Britain has said publicly Koussa would not be granted immunity
from prosecution for any terrorism acts tied to Libya.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said British officials would
meet Scottish prosecutors on Monday to arrange a police
interview with Koussa over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing in which
270 people were killed.
Djebbar said Britain's treatment of Koussa was "a gift to
Gaddafi. Gaddafi will point to that and say to his followers
'you'd be better off staying with me'."
Miles agreed that the treatment of Koussa would have
discouraged those wanting to defect. "It would have been better
to say nothing in public about immunity at all," he said.
Gadhafi's cash doesn't buy friends
By Shashank Bengali
sbengali@mcclatchydc.com
Published: Tuesday, Apr. 5, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 6A
CAIRO – For decades, Col. Moammar Gadhafi splashed his oil wealth around sub-Saharan Africa with pompous abandon, building cellphone networks and luxury hotels, cozying up to kings and guerrillas, hosting peace summits and loudly proclaiming his dream to lead a "United States of Africa."
Now, just when Gadhafi could use a few friends, his African beneficiaries haven't exactly rushed to his side.
The three African members of the U.N. Security Council – South Africa, Nigeria and Gabon – voted with the United States and Britain last month to authorize "all necessary measures" to stop Gadhafi from harming Libyan civilians. The African Union, the league of nations that Gadhafi championed more consistently than anyone, has been divided over the U.S.-led military campaign against him and uttered just a whisper of disapproval.
South Africa, some of whose anti-apartheid fighters trained in Libya starting in the 1970s, slighted Gadhafi again when one of its former senior judges, Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, recommended that Libya be suspended from the organization's human rights council.
Uganda – where Libyan state money funds phone and pharmaceutical companies and built the country's biggest mosque – hastily backtracked last week from a reported offer of asylum to Gadhafi should he resign.
"It was a hoax. It is not true," an irritated Tamale Mirundi, a spokesman for the Ugandan president, said by phone from Kampala, the Ugandan capital.
Gadhafi's eager, eccentric but ultimately ineffective pursuit of an African sphere of influence encapsulates his dealings with the rest of the world over his 40-plus years in power. He was long on shtick – sweeping rhetoric, elaborate ceremonies, outlandish outfits topped by an oversize gold brooch in the shape of Africa – but experts say that his actions betrayed a man interested mainly in himself. His impulsive and often disastrous meddling in far-flung countries and conflicts alienated African leaders much as it did the West.
"If all this mythology had been true, you'd be expecting the African Union to be jumping up and down saying, 'My gosh, our brother is being bombed to smithereens by the Western imperialists,'" said Steven Friedman, the director of the Center for the Study of Democracy at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. "The mythology has been broken by his actions. If he does have any remaining friends in Africa, they're not terribly influential."
In the current crisis, unconfirmed reports said that African fighters for hire, perhaps Tuareg tribesmen from neighboring countries such as Chad, have backed Gadhafi's forces in western Libya. If true, it would hardly be the first time that he's courted armed men from Africa's ungoverned spaces.
Over nearly 42 years in power he offered shelter, financial support and military training to a hodgepodge of leaders and movements, from Idi Amin, who slaughtered tens of thousands during his reign in Uganda, to the African National Congress, which led the fight against white apartheid in South Africa.
The ANC's Nelson Mandela had particularly warm relations with Gadhafi, whom he called "brother leader."
"There are a number of cases where Gadhafi earned himself justifiably a large measure of good will with his support of African liberation movements," said J. Peter Pham, director of the Michael S. Ansari Africa Center at the Atlantic Council, a Washington research center. "On the other hand, there were many cases where the rebels he supported were warlords."
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/04/05/352...#ixzz1Ifr2LpOH
For The Love of Russia
A personal word
Yesterday, I spent the day finding out why Serbia would hold such support for Gadafi. To say the least it is complicated.
However, I noted key points.
While looking for a good quote on fighting corruption other than one of mine, I found:
"one does not fight corruption by fighting corruption,"
It appears first to be quoted in an article by Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld in September 1999 in reference the Russian money laundering scandal of that same period. Later the quote was attributed to Daniel Kaufmann. More than likely though it was just standardized internal motto from the World Bank.
The quote is noteworthy and worth so many words because while looking at Serbia, why they would remain supportive of Gadafi; I noted some patterns. Mainly, after the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, I noted:
“Following the Kosovo War, due to the many weapons in the hands of civilians, law enforcement inefficiencies, and widespread devastation, both revenge killings and ethnic violence surged tremendously. The number of reported murders rose 80% from 136 in 2000 to 245 in 2001. The number of reported arsons rose 140% from 218 to 523 over the same period. UNMIK pointed out that the rise in reported incidents might simply correspond to an increased confidence in the police force (i.e., more reports) rather than more actual crime. According to the UNODC, by 2008, murder rates in Kosovo had dropped by 75% in five years.”
In addition, due to the corruption already established, the area has remained a hot bed of horrific crimes of profit by organized criminals.
“Kosovo is extremely vulnerable to organized crime and thus to money laundering. In 2000, international agencies estimated that Kosovo was supplying up to 40% of the heroin sold in Europe and North America. Due to the 1997 unrest in Albania and the Kosovo War in 1998–1999 ethnic Albanian traffickers enjoyed a competitive advantage, which has been eroding as the region stabilizes. However, according to a 2008 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, overall, ethnic Albanians, not only from Kosovo, supply 10 to 20% of the heroin in Western Europe, and the traffic has been declining”.
All of that is very concerning. Nevertheless, what came to my attention along with this (and is of considerable note) are articles that gave details on strategy used against NATO air strikes.
For example, the use of well-made decoys (an old but useful trick), using civilians as shields, burning tires, and many other examples scattered in various documents scattered across the Net. In short, Kadafi will employ successful tactics his criminal friends used previously.
NATO herself learned many lessons from the first humanitarian mission, the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
Keep in mind, NATO is a just a booster. Calling on NATO is like calling your persnickety cautious aunty. You know if the reason is good she will help, but goodness she is going to inquire about everything, twice. Eventually, she will sunder away, ballyhoo and pour over details for years.
The quote I opened with was incomplete.
"One does not fight corruption by fighting corruption," he said. "One has to instead go to the tougher, more systemic weaknesses and implement the appropriate political and institutional reforms."
----------------------------------------------------
- Russia brought a case against the Bank of New York concerning the scandal http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle1803772.ece
- http://www.acdemocracy.org/viewarticle.cfm?id=260
- http://info.worldbank.org/etools/doc...ida/index.html
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo#Rule_of_law
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo#Rule_of_law
- http://iinternational.org/showCnews....ence=page%3D45
Last edited by Blaze; 04-06-2011 at 09:49 PM.
Lots –
2 fell again
The Art of War
The Military is based on guile,
Acts due to advantage,
Transforms by dividing and joining.
Chap7 THE ARMY CONTENDING
Commentary
These are three fundamental elements of action. Guile alters the other’s perception of the world. Then advantage arises in unanticipated ways, as conditions open and close. The all-victorious military is founded in deception, motivated by victory and endlessly transforming.
The Art of War
Swift like the wind,
Slow like the forest,
Raiding and plundering like fire,
Not moving like a mountain,
Difficult to know like yin,
Moving like thunder.
Chap7 THE ARMY CONTENDING
Commentary
Yin is the mate of yang. It is dark, quite, hidden.
Six ways of moving. Six ways of being and changing. These powers of the natural world are the powers of the skillful general, of the victorious military. Who can resist the wind or move a mountain?
Last edited by Blaze; 04-06-2011 at 09:53 PM.
Ultranationalist Serbs Organize Pro-Qaddafi Campaign
By Iva Martinovic, Charles Recknagel
BELGRADE -- As the NATO bombing of Libya continues, Serbian ultranationalists are trying to stoke support for Muammar Qaddafi by portraying both Tripoli and Belgrade as twin victims of Western aggression.
The pro-Qaddafi campaign comes as Serbia today marks the 11th anniversary of the start of NATO's bombing campaign to end the Serbian crackdown on Kosovo. To mark the anniversary, air-raid sirens sounded out across Serbia today.
The efforts to link Serbia and Libya as victims of Western aggression is spearheaded by leaders of ultranationalist parties. But it also has echoes in the government's own ambivalent posture toward the UN-approved Libyan operation.
"I can say that we are deeply concerned and unhappy because of the current situation in Libya," Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said earlier this week.
"We are a country that has a bitter experience and as such calls for the cessation of all combat activities and of the use of excessive force by all sides in the conflict so that destruction and civilian suffering would end."
The government has stressed that it fully supports Libya territorial integrity and sovereignty but that it also supports the UN Security Council's decisions. Belgrade has suspended all activities with Libya's Defense Ministry but taken no other actions against Tripoli.
Cheering On Qaddafi
Nationalist leaders have gone far beyond Serbia's official ambivalence. They have called for a rally on March 27 in Belgrade to protest the bombing of Libya and, to build support, regularly rail against Operation Odyssey Dawn.
Dragan Todorovic is the head of the parliamentary caucus of the Serbian Radical Party, whose leader Vojislav Seselj is being tried for war crimes in The Hague:
"Qaddafi absolutely has our support and we absolutely think that nonmeddling in one country's affairs has to be respected and that citizens of that country should choose the government that suits them," Todorovic said.
But if this language sounds blunt, it only suggests the kind of anger ultranationalist organizations are stoking among their members.
Numerous pages on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, and other social-networking sites have sprung up over the past weeks to support Qaddafi and link his story to that of the ultranationalists' hero, former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.
One of the most active of the Facebook pages, Support for Muammar al-Gaddafi from the People of Serbia, hosts hundreds of messages from people urging Qaddafi to persevere and recalling Serbia's situation 10 years ago.
A Serbian Facebook page in support of Muammar Qaddafi
Some of the messages read like greetings cards to Libya's leader: "They should know we are with them! That's how it used to be for us but no one gave us support!"
Remembering 'Target'
But others focus purely on Serbia in 1999: "Target! How I remember running as a child with a couple of friends to the demonstrations, with a paper target fixed to my chest. Does anyone else remember the slogans? I remember a few. 'Only Clinton shoots in the back!', 'Monica, clench your teeth!' does anyone know a few more?"
In 1999, many Serbs took part in demonstrations to protect sites in Belgrade and elsewhere during NATO's March 24-June 10 bombing campaign. The demonstrators wore paper bull's-eyes emblazoned with the word "target."
Traces of the bombing can still be seen throughout Serbia today. In the capital, the Milosevic-era Defense and Interior Ministry buildings still stand in ruins on one of the main avenues.
The Human Rights Watch advocacy group put the civilian death toll of the NATO bombing at around 500. Official Serbian figures say some 2,500 civilians were killed and 12,500 injured during the 11 weeks of bombing.
Welcome In Tripoli
The ultranationalists' pro-Qaddafi campaign has received appreciative attention in Tripoli, where state-run television has broadcast some of the Internet content to show that Qaddafi has supporters in other countries.
A Libyan opposition group called the Libyan Youth Movement advised media this week that Serbian hackers have tried to bring down websites linked to anti-Qaddafi forces.
The Libyan Youth Movement said it estimated there are over 50,000 active Serbian Qaddafi supporters online and suspected "there are powerful nationalist organizations and political parties" behind the movement.
Some Serbian political commentators say the pro-Qaddafi movement is aimed at building support in Serbia against efforts to eventually bring the country into the European Union. Milan Pajevic of the Isak Fund says Serbia needs to carefully weigh its interests.
"There is no difference between the position of Croatia or any other European country and what should be Serbia's position," Pajevic says. "Besides this institutional, formal process of EU integration, Serbia is a European country and should behave in line with and in agreement with its partners."
Old Friends
The fact that ultranationalist Serbs are trying to link their country's bombing over Milosevic's crackdown on Muslim Kosovars with the fate of Libya -- an officially Muslim nation -- might seem a curious way to stoke political anger against the West.
But analysts say that the effort not only plays on memories of NATO's 1999 campaign but also upon decades of officially close ties between the former Yugoslavia and Qaddafi. Both countries were among the founding members of the Nonaligned Movement (NAM), which was established in Belgrade in 1961.
Those ties between Tripoli and Belgrade continued despite the breakup of Yugoslavia. Qaddafi consistently expressed support for Milosevic against the West, particularly during NATO's 1999 bombing campaign, and Serbia kept close ties with Libya in the form of weapons trade and a business presence.
Serbian President Boris Tadic has flown to Tripoli several times since he was first elected in 2004, and has been given state awards by Qaddafi. Several other Serbian officials have also visited Libya in recent years.
Serbia has several times found itself in the news in connection with the Libya crisis, including media reports that Serbs had piloted planes that reportedly bombed protesters in the eastern city of Benghazi. Belgrade has denied those reports, as has Qaddafi.
Qaddafi made the denials in an exclusive interview he gave to the private Serbian television station Pink just hours after the UN Security Council voted in January to impose sanctions against him, his family, and close aides. He told Pink that "the Arab media tried to bribe [the Serbs] to say that they bombed civilians" and also rejected charges his forces had violently suppressed opposition protesters.
The nationalists' embrace of Qaddafi contrasts sharply with the activities of Serbian pro-democracy youth activists who helped train Egypt's antigovernment demonstrators in the nonviolent resistance tactics that helped push President Hosni Mubarak's from power last month.
Nedim Dervisbegovic of RFE/RL's Balkan Service also contributed to this report
African Mercenaries in Libya - Part III
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi could not only face The International Criminal Court in The Hague for crimes against humanity in his country, he has been involved in terrorist and criminal acts in Northern Ireland, when Libya supplied arms to the IRA during its terror campaign, and Sierra Leone, when Gaddafi masterminded the 11-year civil war that left over 50,000 dead.
Aroun Rashid Deen a journalist from Sierra Leone living in New York comments that "It was also part of Gaddafi's broader agenda included in his geopolitical ambition to destabilize much of West Africa and establish satellite states in the region to be headed by puppet regimes that will be doing his bidding. The decade-long war ripped Sierra Leone apart. Thousands of its victims, whose arms and legs were chopped off by rebels, were reduced to being paupers, roaming the streets as beggars in Freetown and other cities. Children as young as a day old were also among those whose arms and limbs were hacked off by Gaddafi's rebels. Pregnant women, too, were disemboweled with delight in their display of ghastly brutality."
For now, Gaddafi is trying to retain power by arming thousands of Africans with the complicity of African governments, building a strong African anti-West block. The media outlet News Days of Zimbabwe reports it is difficult to believe that gunmen with military experience were hired and flown out of various African nations without the knowledge of security services in those countries, suggesting some African governments have cooperated with the plan or at the very least looked the other way.
If Gaddafi stays in power, he will keep on threatening his own people and the whole world, through violence and terrorism as he did in the past. The United States is bracing for possible Libyan-backed terrorist attacks. The New York Times writes that, asked if American officials feared whether Gaddafi could open a new terrorism front, President Obama's top counter-terrorism official John O. Brennan said: "Gaddafi has the penchant to do things of a very concerning nature. We have to anticipate and be prepared for things he might try to do to flout the will of the international community."[1]
East Africa
Djibouti
No clear information on mercenaries heading to Libya
Eritrea
Unconfirmed sources say huge numbers of foreign mercenaries from the African country of Eritrea have arrived by ship at the port (ferry terminal area) in Tripoli, Libya on Tuesday, March 15, 2011. The mercenaries were seen roaming around on the streets of Tripoli. In the past four weeks the Eritrean government has been said by credible sources to have sent two battalions of Eritrean army of artillery unit and a commando unit to Libya in the last four days to support Gaddafi
Eritrea sent these two battalions through Chad. A Chadian member of government told a French intelligence personnel in Chad that Eritrea sent the two battalions as cover-up as "bakers, technicians, cooks, nurses and drivers to help in the humanitarian activities". The Chadian intelligence officer believes that the Eritrean artillery unit may have played a major role in the recent battle gains around Tripoli for Gaddafi[2]
Ethiopia
Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya's deputy UN ambassador, who has turned against the Gaddafi regime, said Ethiopians were among the mercenaries that that came in support of the Libyan leader[3].
The video below shows Ethiopian mercenaries being captured in Libya.
http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/31896
Uganda
No clear information on mercenaries heading to Libya.
However, Uganda has accused Gaddafi of involvement in recent terrorism attacks in which two suicide bombs killed 76 people as they watched the FIFA World Cup final in Kampala last year[4]. Furthermore, Wikileaks revealed that Uganda's leader, Yoweri Museveni, fears the Libyan leader is out to shoot down his Presidential plane and he has since asked US security agencies for surveillance protection whenever he is flying[5].
Somalia
There is no confirmed news that Somali merceneraries are present in Libya. On the other hand, there is evidence that Somali immigrants have been harassed for having been taken for mercenaries and that at least four of them have been killed[6].
Sudan
Reports claim that Darfur rebels areamong mercenaries in Libya (See Hudson-NY Report: Gaddafi Mercenaries in Libya)[7].
Tanzania
No clear information on mercenaries heading to Libya
Kenya
Kenyan mercenaries are among foreign soldiers helping Gaddafi. This was confirmed by Gaddafi's former Chief of Protocol Nouri Al Misrahi in an interview with the Al Jazeera broadcasting network. When asked where the mercenaries came from and how they were recruited, the first country he mentioned was Kenya. He then clarified that they were not sent officially by their governments, but were recruited directly by the regime[8].
Diplomatic relations between Libya and Kenya resumed in 1998, after 11 years ago after they were severed. The relations between the two countries severed in 1987 after Kenya accused Libya of supporting a rebel movement in its universities and in providing aids to Kenyan opposition groups[9].
West Africa
Benin
According to Saudi-owned satellite channel, Al-Arabiya, last February four planes with mercenaries took off from Benin and landed to Benghazi in order to help Gaddafi.[10]
Burkina Faso
Tuaregs from Burkina Faso have been hired by the Libyan regime. The Tuareg community is composed of some 1.5 million people spread across Algeria, Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali and Niger. According to the AFP, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has recruited some 800 Tuareg separatist fighters from Niger, Mali, Algeria and Burkina Faso[11]. According to news reports in Libya there are also non-Tuareg mercenaries from Burkina Faso. However, there is not enough clear information.
Burkina Faso is one of the African countries which enjoyed the most benefits from Libya's investment. In this country, Gaddafi expanded its infrastructure and built the hospital. Traditionally, the government of Burkina Faso has established close partnership with Gaddafi.
Former leader of the opposition coalition of Burkina Faso Hama Arba Diallo said "Gaddafi is not only investing in Burkina Faso, […] and we are very grateful. What happened in Libya […] become a burden for us all," said Diallo[12].
Cape Verde
No information on mercenaries heading to Libya.
Ivory Coast
No information on mercenaries heading to Libya.
The Ivory Coast is now facing a political and humanitarian crisis.
Gambia
Gambian President Yahya Jammeh declared that the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, should resign. Jammeh's declaration came as a surprise. Gaddafi was actually considered as the mentor of the Gambian President, who is one of the African most cruel dictators. Gambian opposition's media outlet, Freedom Newspaper, reports the following: "Speaking on behalf of The Gambian leader, during in a nationwide televised speech, the Head of Gambia's Civil Service Dr. Njogu Bah said Gaddafi has lost the will of the people, and should resign in the interest of peace, stability, and tranquility in Libya. Mr. Bah says power belongs to the people, and the mass revolt in Libya clearly manifests that Libyans want to see an end to Gaddafi's rule"[13].
Gambia was considered to be one of Libya's major ally. In 1994, Gaddafi helped Jammeh, at the time he was an army Lieutenant, to topple the democratically elected Government of former Gambian President Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara. Libya also provided bilateral support to Gambia in the areas of military hardwire (weapons), agriculture, education, and other areas of national development[14].
There is no clear information on mercenaries from Gambia in Libya. The Gambian President stated: "We are calling on all Gambians in Libya and around the world not to be used as mercenaries because the current revolution taking place in Libya is one that will not fail, Allah willing. Any Gambian that is captured as a mercenary in Libya should not expect any intervention or support from the Gambia government."[15]
Ghana
According to media items, Ghanaian mercenaries are fighting in Libya. Rumors say that Ghanaians are being offered US$2500 dollars per day to go fight on behalf of the Gaddafi regime[16]. However, many simple Ghanaian workers have been captured by Libyan rebels, who thought that they were mercenaries.
Guinea Conakry
Many Guineans have expressed sympathy with the Libyan leader, and denounced the air raids on Libya. Pro-Gaddafi Guineans said they would seize this opportunity to show their gratitude to the Libyan leader who has always been kind to Guinea[17].
According to Guinean media, hundreds of Guinean soldiers went to fight in Libya allegedly sent by their own government.[18]
Guinea Bissau
No information on mercenaries heading to Libya.
Liberia
News items reports that mercenaries from Liberia are fighting in Libya[19].
Gaddafi is also responsible for financing and supporting former Liberian President Charles Taylor, facing trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity as a result of his involvement in the Sierra Leone Civil War.
Mali
BBC reports that Tuaregs from Mali confirmed that a large number of their community's members were hired by Gaddafi[20].
Furthermore, the Rebel National Libyan Council claims Mali sent regular troops to assist Gaddafi[21]. The government of Mali denies the allegations. However, reports state that a discreet recruitment office for mercenaries was installed in a Libyan hotel in the Mali's capital, Bamako[22].
Niger
Tuareg from Niger have been hired as mercenaries. According to French daily, Le Monde, Gaddafi has often used battalions of Tuaregs, picking these rugged warriors from tribes living in Southern Libya but mostly in the Tuareg communities of Mali and Niger. One of Gaddafi's closest advisors is also a Tuareg[23].
The Rebel National Libyan Council claims that Niger sent regular troops to assist Gaddafi[24].
Nigeria
Nigeria backed the UN's No-Fly-zZone resolution over Libya. Nigeria's permanent representative to the UN, Prof. Joy Ogwu, said, in a statement after the vote, that the Federal Government declared: "the current state of affairs leaves an indelible imprint on the conscience and moves us to act. The magnitude of this humanitarian disaster is, indeed, what compelled Nigeria to vote in favor of this resolution."[25]
Nigeria's backing possibly comes as a reaction to Gaddafi's remarks in 2010, when the Libyan leader stated that Nigeria should be split into a Muslim and a Christian country to end communal clashes. Nigerian politicians, religious leaders and civil society reacted strongly, calling Gaddafi anything from "mad" to "evil," "ignorant," "reckless" and "inflammatory."[26] After Gaddafi's remarks, Nigeria recalled its ambassador to Libya but few months later the two countries mended their relations.
Media items report the presence of Nigerian mercenaries in Libya. Two men, identified by Libyan rebels as Nigerians in civilian clothes, were shot and killed during a firefight in Benghazi[27].
Senegal
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade is a Gaddafi's supporter. Wade has been considered for long time as Gaddafi's protégé.
There is no clear information on mercenaries from Senegal in Libya.
Sierra Leone
No confirmed news about the presence of mercenaries from Sierra Leone.
However, some unconfirmed rumors have been floated by the fact that Gaddafi has been hiring mercenaries from states and organizations from which had received support in the past; and Gaddafi had, in the past, supported Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a rebel army that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, starting in 1991 and ending in 2002.
Aroun Rashid Deen a journalist from Sierra Leone living in New York writes of Gaddafi's involvement in Sierra Leone's internal affairs: "Gaddafi was the mastermind and key financier of the brutal war that left hundreds of thousands dead in Sierra Leone in West Africa in the 1990s. The war would not have happened in the first place had it not been for the desire of the Libyan leader to punish the government of Sierra Leone for what he regarded as its siding with the West in the 1980's when Gaddafi was at loggerhead with particularly the United States and Britain."[28].
Togo
No information on mercenaries heading to Libya.
by Anna Mahjar-Barducci
April 6, 2011 at 3:30 am
----------------------------------
[1] http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us...ror-at/764903/
[2] http://mahta.net/2011/03/eritrean-me...ve-in-tripoli/
[3] http://ayyaantuu.com/thousands-kille...rcenaries.html
[4]http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/zimbabwe/7397.html
[5]http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/zimbabwe/7397.html
[6] http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=92154
[7] http://www.hudson-ny.org/2000/gaddaf...aries-in-libya
[8] http://www.africanews.it/english/ken...g-for-gaddafi/
[9] http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Dail...998052908.html
[10] http://illassa-benoit.over-blog.com/...-67995447.html
[11] http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsCont...rcenaries.aspx
[12] http://www.worldnewsco.com/5002/muam...ngs-in-africa/
[13] http://www.freedomnewspaper.com/Home...N/Default.aspx
[14] http://www.freedomnewspaper.com/Home...N/Default.aspx
[15] http://articles.cnn.com/2011-02-25/w...er?_s=PM:WORLD
[16] http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePag....php?ID=203647
[17] http://en.ce.cn/World/Africa/201103/...22324043.shtml
[18] http://guinee.over-blog.net/article-...-67972138.html
[19] http://www.iss.co.za/iss_today.php?ID=1239
[20] http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/11892...0304/libya.htm
[21] http://www.afrol.com/articles/37494
[22] http://www.dotspress.com/libya-has-r...a-faso/771152/
[23] http://www.worldcrunch.com/niger-tra...an-mercenaries
[24] http://www.afrol.com/articles/37494
[25] http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?t...01103193293550
[26] http://www.afrol.com/articles/35705
[27] http://nationalmirroronline.net/news/8225.html
[28] http://www.shout-africa.com/top-stor...-sierra-leone/
Link to article -> http://www.hudson-ny.org/2025/africa...ies-in-libya-3
Late-waking rebels run from Kadhafi's artillery
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110405...trebelsretreat
Gosh, they should have called for strike before they went to bed. Then at least their time and equipment would have been well spent as bait.
It is very difficult to not crack a joke about nap-time.
The ninnies!
Last edited by Blaze; 04-06-2011 at 11:29 PM.
By DAVID STRINGER, Associated Press – Wed Apr 6, 3:43 pm ET
APNewsBreak: Top Libyans said to be very scared
LONDON – Libya's former-energy minister said Wednesday that several members of Moammar Gadhafi's inner circle want to defect, but many are too scared to abandon the dictator fearing the safety of themselves and their families.
Omar Fathi bin Shatwan, who also served as industry minister, told the Associated Press that he had fled by fishing boat to Malta on Friday from the western Libyan city of Misrata.
Shatwan, who left the government in 2007, said he still had contact with some government figures and explained that many feared for their safety. In some cases, their families are under siege, he said.
"Those whose families are outside Libya will flee if they get a chance," Shatwan said. "But many can't leave, and all the families of ministers are under siege."
Shatwan said he had last had contact with Gadhafi in 2006, and had not spoken with the tyrant's sons since leaving office. "Ministers who are friends of mine, I have spoken to them," he said.
The 59-year-old said he had spent 40 days at his home in Misrata before escaping from Libya,
It is difficult to help whole families escape.
U.S. official: Frozen Libya assets exceed $34 billion
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Libyan assets frozen by the United States as part of sanctions against Muammar Gaddafi and his top officials have now risen to more than $34 billion, the Treasury's top official for sanctions, anti-terrorism and money laundering said on Thursday.
David Cohen, who is nominated to take over as the Treasury's undersecretary secretary for financial intelligence, told a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing that European authorities have frozen a "substantial amount" of other such assets. He said the amount is difficult to gauge, but probably is less than the more than $34 billion frozen by U.S. authorities.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by James Dalgleish)
Residents shelter from mortars in Libya's Misrata
ALGIERS/BEIRUT (Reuters) – People in the Libyan city of Misrata are crammed five families to a house in the few safe districts to try to escape mortars raining down from government forces, a rebel spokesman said on Thursday.
Not good. That will give an advantage in killing large quantities of people.Killing large quantities of people is a calculated risk. Depending where you have the mental state of the opposing army it can inspire a tougher battle or be a huge moral blow. Either way, a humans are lost. People that could take to arms or support services.
MORTARS ON ROOFTOPS
Rebels in Misrata, Libya's third-biggest city about 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli, control the Mediterranean Sea port and the northern and eastern districts. Until now they have been under fire from long-range artillery.
But residents say pro-Gaddafi forces, backed by tanks and snipers on rooftops have been able to push gradually into more of the city, and are now using shorter-range mortar fire.
"Because there are few safe areas in Misrata, many families are now living together in the same house," said Misrati. "Houses are overcrowded and you find at least four of five families together in one house.
"The snipers are on top of 14-storey buildings ... Now they brought the mortars up on to the buildings too, to reach more areas inside Misrata," he said.
I guess sharp shooting is not a common thing most people learn. It just seems as if thier should be some buck shooters in the Revolutionist Army.
Five Libya rebels said killed by NATO strike
This is a fact of war. As Gadafi camouflages his Army to look more and more like the Revolutionist it is simply impossible to tell from air.
PLUS--->>> If Gadafi has gotten communication channels by hacking, which it is safe to assume he is trying, his army can send false information and set traps.
France said on Thursday that while the West must work harder for a political solution in Libya, the outside world should also do more to support the rebels.
"Gaddafi has clearly lost all legitimacy, his camp is disintegrating and we are seeing new defections every day. On the other hand his force and rebel forces continue to fight each other without any side winning," Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said.
"No, it's not convincing at all. NATO has other means. I requested there be combat helicopters like Apaches and Tigers. These damage tanks and armored vehicles with exact precision without harming civilians."
That will still be difficult with Gadafi playing camouflager... And takes time to arrange.
Contact group on Libya to meet in Doha on April 13
LONDON – A group set up to guide the international intervention in Libya will hold its first meeting in Qatar next week, officials said Thursday.
Britain's Foreign Office said the contact group, which includes European powers, United States, allies from the Middle East and a number of international organizations will meet in Doha on Wednesday.
The ministry could not confirm precisely who has been invited to attend. British government officials said the U.S. would be represented, and that the Arab League is also expected to be at the talks.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said last week that he planned to travel to the talks alongside about a dozen other Arab, European and international officials.
The group was established during a summit in London last week to act as the political guide to the NATO-led military operation and humanitarian assistance mission in Libya.
Side note ->> S.Africans 'must vote ANC for Mandela health'
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – South African youth leader Julius Malema urged voters to back the ruling African National Congress in local polls to keep former president Nelson Mandela healthy, media said Thursday.
It annoys me when a someone has a name I hold dear it a batty manipulative loon.
Side note ->> $1.5B in penalties for Nigerian bribe scheme
US: FARC, Taliban are among largest traffickers
Criminals are always a concern.
Fighting corruption with corruption will give you more corruption.
You are the one that is accountable for your own deeds,
The deep roots of Qaddafi's psychology of violence
Tripoli, Libya – The video clip ran late at night on Libya’s state-run TV with a warning: not suitable for children.
It was a gruesome scene that appeared to show an antigovernment mob beating the dead body of a Col. Muammar Qaddafi loyalist in the rebel bastion of Benghazi.
Such visceral imagery has long defined political discourse in Libya. The roots of extreme violence stretch back to the colonial period under Italian rule. But from the earliest years of his reign, Colonel Qaddafi has employed violence – from assassinating dissidents abroad to killing opponents at home – to sow fear among Libyans and warn against dissent.
For more than four decades, the self-declared “Brother Leader” has waged a form of psychological warfare against his own people, analysts say. And taking what he believes to be the lessons from the recent dictator-toppling revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, Qaddafi today continues to use brutal images to undermine the rebellion, which he consider a personal affront to his near-perfect rule that must be tackled with “no mercy.”
The rebel forces, shaped likewise by that violent history, know the power of persuasion achieved with propaganda gore, and spread their own version.
“Our country is different from others in the world,” says a Libyan professional in Tripoli who could not to be named for security reasons. “Here [people] are welcoming. But if you touch them [aggressively] even a little bit, they will pound you in response.”
The rebels hand out their own imagery of government crimes, and say one reason for their fight is because the preponderance of violence comes from a regime that has used violence as a tool of control for nearly 42 years.
Credence of that view is mounting daily in news reports of regime-inflicted violence, from eyewitness accounts of Libyan soldiers branded traitors and killed by their own side, to apparent evidence of serious abuses found in a burned-out police station west of Tripoli.
The dangers are so widely accepted that even the fear of a vengeful bloodbath by Qaddafi forces, if they routed the rebels weeks ago, was enough to prompt a US- and European-led military intervention.
Decades of brutality
At the same time, government officials distribute their own atrocity videos, of acts carried out by rebel “terrorists” who must be hunted down – in the words of Qaddafi – “alley by alley.”
“Libyans have had a very rough time over the last century or so,” says George Joffe, a Middle East and North Africa specialist at Cambridge University. “Under the Italian occupation they saw their numbers halved, and they just simply died off like flies in concentration camps during the Italo-Sanussi wars, and that certainly left a mark.”
“And … under the Qaddafi regime," says Mr. Joffe. "there has been an extreme intolerance of any dissidence of any kind at all, and the population has been very profoundly disciplined by the regime itself.”
Add the longstanding confrontation between tribes, which provides a further reason for violence – as manifest in the execution of those involved in a 1993 coup – and “you can see where some of this viciousness comes from,” notes Joffe.
True believers blame the rebels
For true believers, the government’s application of force is justified and always right, and Qaddafi’s use of violence is no different from any other government protecting itself from its enemies. Libya’s leader has also learned, argue some, lessons from the pro-democracy revolts sweeping the Arab world.
Qaddafi “looks at Tunisia and Egypt, because what made Ben Ali and Mubarak leave? It was blood,” says Abdul Jalil, a television host working with foreign journalists on behalf of the government. “[Qaddafi] is not stupid. He knows what happens when you kill people.”
Still, Mr. Jalil has no time for rebels who capture loyalists and “slit their necks from ear to ear, they burn people. Muammar Qaddafi did not do these things in all his life.” So he says he understands the calculation in towns that have risen up against the regime.
“Speaking individually, with more than 300,000 people in Zawiya, if I have to kill 500 people to protect 300,000, then I will kill them – even if they are Libyans.”
Qaddafi's psychological game
Such cold calculations may partly stem from the chronic uncertainty that has characterized life in Libya throughout the Qaddafi era, a “psychological game” that has “kept Libyan society off balance,” says Mansour el-Kikhia, chairman of political science at the University of Texas, San Antonio.
“It’s like having people in a bag, and shaking the bag and you keep shaking it, never allowing them for one second to come to a rest, to think about it,” says Mr. Kikhia, a Libyan dissident and author of the 1997 book “Libya’s Qaddafi: The Politics of Confrontation.” “So they spend their whole time, their whole existence just thinking about how to make it from one hour to the next.”
Kikhia left Libya in 1980, not long after seeing five people – two of them his personal friends – hung as a public spectacle in three locations in Tripoli. Traffic was diverted to force drivers to the scene. “They showed it on television, so every Libyan can see… ‘Don’t oppose me, in any way.’ "
For decades, Libya has been charged with serious human rights abuses such as routine torture. Some events have been formative, such as the death of some 1,200 inmates in 1996 – the figure calculated by a Human Rights Watch source – when the regime responded to a prison revolt by opening fire with heavy machine guns.
In decades past, Libyan dissidents abroad – dismissed as “stray dogs” by Qaddafi – were tracked down and assassinated in the United States and Europe. But such actions are not acknowledged publicly.
"My father didn’t kill anybody…. He didn’t say, ‘Go and kill innocent people,' " said Seif al-Islam, Qaddafi’s most influential son, when asked about the risks of criminal proceedings in a BBC interview broadcast on Tuesday.
The International Criminal Court has another view, says the Court's lead prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. He told Reuters this week that Libya explored ways to put down protests, after the events in Tunisia and Egypt.
Think you know the Middle East? Take our geography quiz.
“The evidence we have is that the shootings of civilians was a predetermined plan,” Mr. Moreno-Ocamps said. “The planning at the beginning was to use tear gas and [if that failed to work] … shooting.”
According to Mr. Islam, it was the rebels that committed crimes. “They hang people, they execute people,” he told the BBC. “You saw the picture of cutting the hands and the legs and head of one guy in front of the people. So do you think the Libyan people are barbarians, and wild and happy with that? Of course not.”
Added Qaddafi’s heir apparent: “Listen: God [is] with us, because this time we are fighting [for] the right cause.”
That perception of serving a higher purpose, among the Qaddafi family and their supporters, may in fact be adding fuel to the repressive drive against the rebels.
“[Qaddafi] thinks that he has created the ideal political system, and that’s what’s been introduced into Libya,” says Joffe of Cambridge University, about the tangle of ideas found in Qaddafi’s famous Green Book, which he has widely distributed throughout Libya since 1975 as a guide to his "democratic socialism" philosophy.
“Now when it is rejected by Libyans, in the rebellion in the east, this is more than just simply a political dispute – this is a personal rejection, which he takes very personally,” says Joffe. “And since he considers the system to be in some ways perfect … he takes this as a personal insult which he must personally avenge.”
But Libyan officials maintain that does not mean targeting civilians, regardless of their role in the uprising.
“Have they seen us attacking or killing civilians? They haven’t,” says Musa Ibrahim, the government spokesman, about loyalist attempts to capture the rebel-held enclave of Misratah.
Yet hundreds of wounded were evacuated by sea from the city this week: 71 by the French charity Doctors Without Borders, and 250 by Turkey.
Many evacuees recounted stories of Libyan snipers shooting civilians, and tanks blasting the town indiscriminately.
“As a Libyan citizen, I will not stand and speak for a government that kills civilians. I will never do that,” said Mr. Ibrahim on Monday night. “The team that works with me here … we are young men and women.
Do you think we are going to stand here, face the whole world … to defend a government that kills civilians? What do you think we are, monsters?”
And yet, evidence appears to grow of regime abuses. The New York Times reported discovering a number of photographs, their provenance still unclear and during an official trip on Tuesday, on the second floor of a police station destroyed during fighting in the city of Zawiya, 20 miles west of the capital.
The Times reported that the images showed “corpses bearing the marks of torture;” one of a man with scars across his back, and another with his hands bound. There were also photographs of puddles of blood and one of a long pruning saw; their provenance was not clear.
Al Jazeera English on Tuesday interviewed a former Libyan soldier, who said he had witnessed the execution of fellow soldiers accused of sympathy for the rebels in Qaddafi’s hometown of Sirte.
Such violence appears to have spurred lethal antagonism on the rebel side. Kikhia of the University of Texas says that rebel friends of his on the frontline in Misratah have been astonished at how many nations are represented fighting alongside loyalist forces, from Algeria and Chad to Ukraine and Serbia.
"When they catch them, they kill them straight away,” says Kikhia of rebel treatment of the mercenaries.
He says he counsels them to avoid such retribution because “Qaddafi is not our teacher,” and “the point of this whole revolution is to end what Qaddafi has been doing, to end [his] atrocities."
Kikhia says the rebels should instead heed the example of Omar Mukhtar, the Libyan who led a rebellion against Italian Fascist rule in the 1920s, when the resistance chief was confronted by a similar problem.
“Someone said they wanted to kill the Italian prisoners, and Omar Mukhtar told them, ‘Don’t do that,’” explains Kikhia. “One of his fighters said, ‘But they kill us.’ And Omar Mukhtar said to him, ‘But they are not our teachers. Therefore we should not learn wrong from them.’”
By Scott Peterson – Thu Apr 7, 7:00 am ET
NATO: We did not know Libya rebels used tanks
NATO jets attacked a rebel convoy between these two towns Thursday, killing at least five fighters and destroying or damaging a number of armored vehicles.
...
"A no-fly zone is not equipped to contend with guerrilla warfare or with a stalemate that places rebels and loyalists at close proximity with one another." he said
Despite the attacks on anti-aircraft sites, Gadhafi's forces still pose a danger for NATO warplanes. They retain radars and surface-to-air missiles, as well as automatic cannons and shoulder-launched missiles that can hit planes at altitudes up to 5,000 meters (15,000 feet).
Over the past week, Gadhafi's forces had switched tactics by leaving their heavy armor behind and using only light trucks armed with heavy machine guns and fast-firing anti-aircraft cannons on the front lines between Brega and Ajdabiya. These have proven very effective in disrupting repeated rebel attempts to push west toward Tripoli, but Gadhafi's forces have not been able to drive the rebels back toward Benghazi or establish a solid front line in that sector.
"These trucks cannot hold ground," Harding said. "When you see their tanks coming up, those are the vehicles that can cause the greatest harm to civilians."
On Thursday, the situation in that sector "was very confusing, vehicles going back and forth," he said.
'Four reporters missing' in Libya as others expelled
– Thu Apr 7, 11:48 am ET
PARIS (AFP) – Two US journalists and a Spanish and a South African reporter were reported missing Thursday in east Libya, as the Kadhafi regime expelled 26 foreign reporters from Tripoli, media watchdog RSF said.
"Reporters Without Borders has learned from a reliable source that four journalists -- a South Africa, two Americans and a Spaniard -- have been missing in the east of the country since April 4," it said in a statement.
The watchdog reiterated its concern about Rana Akbani, a woman reporter of Syrian nationality, who it said has been missing in eastern Libya since March 28.
...
Reporters Without Borders has previously condemned the detention of Lofti Ghars, a journalist with Canadian and Tunisian dual citizenship who works for Al-Alam TV.
He was arrested by pro-Kadhafi forces on March 16 as he arrived in Libya from Tunisia, it said.
Three Al-Jazeera journalists who were arrested in early March -- Mauritian reporter Ahmed Vall Ould el-Dine, Norwegian photographer Ammar Al-Hamdane and British photographer Kamel Ataloua -- were meanwhile still being held by Kadhafi forces, it added.
Microsoft executive held by Libyan authorities
– Thu Apr 7, 12:06 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Microsoft is seeking the release of its country manager in Libya, who has been in the custody of the Libyan authorities for two weeks, the US software giant said.
The Seattle, Washington-based company said Khalid Elhasumi has been held by the authorities in Tripoli since March 19 and Microsoft has been working with his family and international organizations to help get him released.
"We continue our efforts to ensure his safety and soonest possible release," Microsoft said in a statement.
"We are hopeful that the authorities will release Khalid soon," said Ali Faramawy, Microsoft's vice president for the Middle East and Africa.
"We are in close touch with his family and are actively working to provide support and ensure his safety," Faramawy said.
Wael Ghonim, an executive at another US technology giant, Google, became a prominent voice of the protesters who eventually secured the ouster of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
Microsoft, however, said it did not know why its Libya country manager was being held. "We currently have no information about the reasons for his detention," it said.
Microsoft said Elhasumi joined the company in 2010 and manages its operations in Libya which opened in 2006.
Are the Libyan Rebels Hapless Fighters or Abandoned by NATO?
Uri Friedman – Thu Apr 7, 12:23 pm ET
Scan the news today and you'll see two narratives bubbling to the surface regarding the Libyan rebels: first the rebels are unhappy with NATO and second the rebels are a hapless fighting force. Both could be true, but this is a rundown on who's saying what.
THE REBELS AND NATO
The Associated Press, reporting on rebel claims that NATO mistakenly struck opposition forces for the second time in a week, explains that rebel fighters are increasingly angry about their coordination with the military alliance and quotes one fighter shouting, "Down, down with NATO" (CNN's Ben Wedemen quotes another fighter putting it even less diplomatically: "f**k you NATO!"). The AP adds that opposition commanders have recently complained about NATO airstrikes "coming too slowly and lacking the precision to give the rebels a clear edge."
THE REBEL ARMY
Meanwhile, at The New York Times, C.J. Chivers concludes that the rebel military is "not really a military at all." The rebel fighters may be brave, he says, but their numbers are few and they have no communication equipment or command structure and scant training, fighting experience, or understanding of offensive and defensive combat. "When their morale spikes upward," Chivers writes, "their attacks tend to be painfully and bloodily frontal--little more than racing columns down the highway, through a gantlet of the Qaddafi forces' rocket and mortar fire."
At The Atlantic, Ryan Calder tells of one rebel fighter who drove a car filled with propane into Muammar Qaddafi's military base in Benghazi, but of other unarmed fighters who fled shelling in the town of Brega before foreign photographers had a chance to finish snapping their photos. "These are the ragtag rebels," he says:
???>>>>Groups of four or five buddies who carpool to the front in their own cars, high-school teachers and high-school dropouts, petroleum engineers and shepherds and bakery owners, packing their own lunches of macaroni and beans, wearing construction helmets and plastic safety goggles for protection, and carrying the Kalashnikovs they managed to buy on Benghazi's streets.
As we learned from The Daily Show last night, Fox News' Geraldo Rivera apparently agrees with Chivers and Calder. As he scampers about in the midst of a firefight in Libya, Rivera warns the West not to arm the rebels: "I swear to God, if you give these people weapons more powerful than they have right now, they will be a grave danger to themselves and others. The real danger here are these crazy kids with machine guns. They have no discipline in combat."
Directed by adults, Libyan children salute Gaddafi
"The children were brought here. This is their education. They shout all day instead of studying," said the man, shaking his head. He said he always supported Gaddafi but was upset with the authorities allowing Libya to descend into civil war.
"Cameron is a problem, he is bombing Libya," he said, in a reference to Britain's part in the NATO campaign against Libya. "But this is a problem too," he added, pointing at the children.
While the propaganda machine works overtime to prop up the image of a strong state, weeks of conflict and Western air strikes seemed to have loosened Gaddafi's hold on people's minds.
Even during the most tightly controlled events, dissent is always evident. People are talking about change with varying degrees of openness, saying it is time for Gaddafi to go.
"People need to hope for change," a bookshop owner said quietly on a recent visit. "Nothing more needs to be said."
Ali, owner of a clothing shop, said he could not forgive a government that had given orders to shoot its own people during peaceful anti-government protests in February, a chain of events at the start of the uprising that led to the war.
"I used to love Gaddafi but many people have died," he said. "It changed everything. Business was good before February. We cannot live like this. Things have to change."
On the surface, Gaddafi's influence is still strong in Tripoli. People avoid eye contact with foreign journalists.
Europe, US moving to help cash-needy Libya rebels
– Thu Apr 7, 3:53 pm ET
BENGHAZI, Libya (AFP) – Europe and the United States are moving to help Libya's rebels after talks convinced them the insurgency is a bona fide democratic movement, sources involved in the talks said on Thursday.
But that aid is "non-lethal" -- meaning no weapons were being provided -- and within the limits of UN Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions on Libya and allowing international military action to protect civilians, they said.
The Western allies were setting up a communications system between the rebel military and NATO's base organising air strikes.
They were also examining ways to help the Libyan opposition overcome a liquidity crunch and providing "big behind-the-scenes political assistance," the sources said on condition they not be identified.
One source stressed that the Western input was just an "engagement" and was in "no way forcing a solution" on the rebel's political body, the Transitional National Council (TNC).
[ For complete coverage of politics and policy, go to Yahoo! Politics ]
Three Western envoys have held talks with council members in recent days.
They are Antoine Sivan, a French diplomat who worked in Iraq and Qatar; Christopher Prentice, the British ambassador to Italy who was using experience gained in Iraq, Jordan and Sudan; and Chris Stevens, a US diplomat who used to work in the American embassy in Tripoli.
None has spoken publicly about their conclusions from the talks. But their delegations and spokespeople for the rebel council have all said that the Western powers were satisfied with the rebels' democratic aspirations.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner gave an upbeat assessment.
"We've been encouraged by many of the public statements they've made, as well as what they've said in private, in terms of respecting human rights and also in terms of trying to create a democratic transition that's inclusive," Toner said.
"So we've seen the right things. There's not necessarily a checklist or a laundry list, but we believe it's moving in the right direction," Toner told reporters.
"And I would just add that we're well aware that there's an urgency here, and we're trying to move as quickly, but as prudently as possible," he said.
Unlike France, Italy and Qatar, the United States has not recognized the TNC, saying it needs to understand the movement better.
Concerns of Al-Qaeda infiltration in the rebel movement -- a major initial fear for Washington -- were also comprehensively debunked during the discussions, they said.
Those reassurances were bolstering the council's bid to become recognised internationally as the only representative body of the Libyan people.
France, Italy and Qatar have already made that step.
Britain was generally aligned with its allies on recognition, given that it wanted to see Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and his family depart, but did not want to "tie itself in knots" by making such a clear-cut statement, one source said.
After the days of exploratory talks, the envoys had successfully impressed upon the rebels that "NATO was not a magic wand" that could achieve their military aims of taking control of all the country, another source said.
They had also talked over the "complex and unresolved issues" involved in trying to free frozen Libyan funds abroad to help the rebellion finance its civilian activities in the east of the country.
Oil companies, notably, "have to be careful to operate within the law," one source said, a day after the insurgency shipped out its first cargo of oil it plans to sell through an escrow arrangement with Qatar.
"The issue of liquidity is a real one," the source said, adding that legal studies were being made to see how seized money could be signed over to the TNC.
Additionally, "if the regime were to collapse and suddenly the whole country became the responsibility of the TNC, then they clearly understand there would be pressing immediate needs," the source said.
"There would be suddenly a requirement to convince their population that they have the capacity and a plan to restore services, to pay salaries, to set in motion a political process in line with their vision," the source said..
Even after oil sale, Libyan rebels face challenges
Quoted from -oon Wed Apr 06, 2011 02:11 pm PDT Report Abuse
That is just good military strategy to remove the enemy's source of income...dont underestimate Ghadafi
Rebels blame Libya air strike on mistake by NATO
He said rebels had transported 20 tanks to the front line at Brega for the first time, but at about 10:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. EST) the advance was hit. "We were taken by surprise by a vicious attack by airplanes on our tanks."
"We had informed them about the time those tanks were leaving Benghazi," he said. "And we had also informed them that in the early morning they would be advancing toward Brega."
That is a big loss of life and armor. Did Gadafi intercept (hack) the communication lines and lead the Revolutionist to believe they were informing NATO?
NO MILITARY SOLUTION
The debate underscored tensions within Washington about how to best influence events in Libya, where poorly trained rebels are outgunned by Gaddafi's loyalist forces despite a coalition air campaign.
Asked by Senator Lindsey Graham how the war would end, Ham said: "I think it does not end militarily."
He said there was a low likelihood that rebels would be able to fight their way to Tripoli and oust Gaddafi by force.
"That's a very honest answer. I would assess (the chance) as almost impossible," replied Graham, a Republican.
Rebel fighters sit in vehicle in Ajdabiyah
Rebel fighters sit in a vehicle in Ajdabiyah April 7, 2011. REUTERS/Esam al-Fetori
:gasp:
May the Angels brush your path and only the best of Jinns be your friends
Libya rebels unlikely to oust Kadhafi: US general
– Thu Apr 7, 10:26 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Western allies have stepped up "non-lethal" aid to Libyan rebels hours after a rebel armoured unit was hit by apparent NATO 'friendly fire', sources said.
The aid is authorised by UN Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions and allowing military action to protect civilians, sources said Thursday.
The aid includes establishing a communications system between rebel fighters and NATO's base organising air strikes.
My personal view at this point would be that that's probably not the ideal circumstance, again, for the regional reactions that having American boots on the ground would entail."
Amid calls by some senators to arm and train the rebels before it was too late, Ham said that he had "some indication that some Arab nations are in fact starting to do that at present."
UNICEF: Snipers targeting children in Libya city
– Fri Apr 8, 7:31 am ET
GENEVA – Snipers are targeting children in the besieged rebel-held Libyan city of Misrata, the U.N.' s children agency said Friday.
Hundreds of residents have been killed and wounded in the assault by Gadhafi's forces on Libya's third-largest city, and residents are running short of water, food and medicine.
"What we have are reliable and consistent reports of children being among the people targeted by snipers in Misrata," UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado told reporters in Geneva.
The information was based on local sources, Mercado said. She was unable to say how many children have been wounded or killed in this way.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it is sending a team to Misrata by boat Friday and would investigate the reports of snipers targeting children.
A spokesman for the Geneva-based aid group, Christian Cardon, told The Associated Press that children and other civilians not involved in hostilities are never a legitimate target in an armed conflict. "But without having any more information, we can't comment on what is happening there," he said.
Rebels repel Gaddafi assault on Misrata's east
By Mariam Karouny – Fri Apr 8, 8:22 am ET
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Libyan rebels said on Friday they had repelled an assault by government troops on the eastern flank of the coastal city of Misrata but the fighting had forced residents to flee the area.
A rebel spokesman said forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi had advanced on the heavily populated Esqeer district in an effort to loosen the rebels' grip on Misrata where families are crammed together in the few remaining safe districts.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it expected a humanitarian vessel it had chartered to reach Misrata by midday on Saturday, but gave no details of the relief cargo it was carrying.
"The attack from the east has been repelled now and the (pro-Gaddafi) forces have been pushed back," a rebel spokesman who gave his name as Hassan al-Misrati told Reuters by telephone.
Gaddafi's armor also shelled areas around Misrata's strategically important Tripoli road, which cuts through to the city center from the western outskirts.
+++++++
By Alexander Dziadosz – 2 hrs 57 mins ago
AJDABIYAH, Libya (Reuters) – Libyan rebels painted the roofs of their vehicles bright pink on Friday to avoid more friendly fire casualties after a NATO air strike killed five fighters.
Changing the color regularly once communications have been fully established would be a good.
Or rotating color tops by day of the week.
Hell, it was most likely a ingenious young man that started a trend. Bravo, if so.
I can almost hear the conversation.
...
Outside Ajdabiya, rebel fighters slapped peach-colored paint on their vehicles to try to distinguish from the pro-Gadhafi units.
"We are painting the trucks so NATO won't hit us," said Salam Salim, a 29-year-old rebel militiaman.
U.S. sanctions 5 senior Libyan government officials
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Friday increased pressure on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and extended financial sanctions to five senior Libyan government officials and two entities controlled by Gaddafi's children.
The U.S. Treasury Department said it added Libya's prime minister, oil minister, finance minister, Gaddafi's chief of staff and the country's internal security director to its sanctions blacklist.
The sanctions prohibit U.S. transactions with them and seek to freeze any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction.
(Reporting by Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)
"They have a choice to make, and we will make that choice as stark as possible."
A ship from the U.N.'s World Food Program reached Misrata on Thursday, delivering 600 tons of food as well as medical supplies. The food, including flour, vegetable oil and high energy biscuits, are enough to feed 40,000 people for a month, the Rome-based WFP said in a statement.
Last edited by Blaze; 04-08-2011 at 10:42 PM.
Opps missed some of my editorials that I normally highlight in green
I have been locked out of my communications portal since this morning. It could be another 24 hours at least before the mail I sent is read.
Interesting piece on speaking your mind using Egypt as an example.
And now for something almost completely positive: Every day I receive a digest of news articles from the Middle East, almost all of them translated from Arabic. Reading these pieces is often like trying to pierce a veil woven of metaphor and coy allusion. Here, for example, is a recent article from the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar on efforts to foster reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas: "The problem is that the initiatives are not serious, especially since they are accompanied by conditions and counterconditions and they all serve the game of political cards between this or that side. … This game of cards and passing balls does not have any implementation signs, at least for the time being, on the grounds of reality." This is how you write when you have internalized the idea that you can't say what you think.
Now, increasingly, you can say what you think -- at least in Egypt, Tunisia, and a few other countries in the region. Here's a piece from the English edition of Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egypt's bestselling newspaper, ridiculing the pap extruded by the country's state media since the Six-Day War with Israel, which was trumpeted as a great victory until the truth dawned [a few days later] that it was an utter fiasco: "Since then, and for the last 45 years, Egyptian television has been stunted. Bland, dull, unimaginative, and chronically incapable of delivering accurate and relevant news in an appealing fashion, state television has been on autopilot and content with simply existing."
Al-Masry is Egypt's boldest daily, and English editions are granted more latitude than Arabic ones. But I have been increasingly struck by new tones of voice glimmering through the fog of polemic and circumlocution in the wider Arab media. We tend to think about political change as a matter of elections and laws and new institutions, but such transformations take hold in people's minds by offering new ways of thinking, speaking, and writing. Saying what you think is habit-forming.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article...4/08/good_news
Qaddafi's Great Arms Bazaar
And we've been looking at weapons and munitions -- lots of them. These arsenals represent a matter of pressing concern for human rights organizations because in the wrong hands, powerful military weapons can wreak havoc on the civilian population. In 2003, Human Rights Watch researchers deployed all over Iraq to inform U.S. authorities of the massive, unsecured weapons caches that we had found scattered across the country, urging them to secure the stocks. But the U.S. and allied armed forces, too busy looking for nonexistent weapons of mass destruction, failed to act. We watched in despair as weapons stocks were looted in places like Baquba, where Saddam's Second Military College had vast supplies of powerful munitions.
Everyone paid the price for the failure to secure those weapons:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article...at_arms_bazaar
The Mind of Muammar
What can we learn from reading the Libyan dictator's Green Book?
Very interesting quick read for those that have never never read the Green Book.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article...ind_of_muammar
I am on respite tomorrow.
This is noteworthy enough to add to the collection of news stories about Libya.
Kadhafi ordered sex drugs for Libya rapes: prosecutor
– Wed Jun 8, 7:36 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – Investigators have evidence that Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi ordered mass rapes and bought containers of sex drugs to encourage troops to attack women, the chief ICC prosecutor said Wednesday.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he may ask for a new charge of mass rape to be made against Kadhafi following the new evidence.
The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor is expecting a decision from judges within days on his request for charges of crimes against humanity to be laid against the Libyan leader, one of his sons and his intelligence chief.
"Now we are getting some information that Kadhafi himself decided to rape and this is new," Moreno-Ocampo told reporters.
He said there were reports of hundreds of women attacked in some areas of Libya, which is in the grip of a months-long internal rebellion.
There was evidence the Libyan authorities bought "Viagra-type" medicines and gave them to troops as part of the official rape policy, Moreno-Ocampo said.
"They were buying containers to enhance the possibility to rape women," he said.
"It was never the pattern he used to control the population. The rape is a new aspect of the repression. That is why we had doubts at the beginning, but now we are more convinced that he decided to punish using rape," the prosecutor said.
"It was very bad -- beyond the limits, I would say."
Kadhafi's regime had not previously been known for using rape as a weapon against political opponents and Moreno-Ocampo said he had to find evidence that the Libyan leader had given the order.
In March, a Libyan woman made international headlines when she entered a Tripoli hotel and said she had been raped by Kadhafi troops.
Iman al-Obeidi was detained but managed to escape from Libya. She ended up in Qatar but was deported back from there to rebel-held Libya. She is now resting at a refugee centre in Romania.
Moreno-Ocampo issued arrest warrants last month against Kadhafi, his son Seif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanussi. ICC judges are to announce in days whether they agree to the charges.
The Libyan government does not recognize the international court's jurisdiction.
Rob Crilly is a noble! Indeed he is! He exposed one of the Media outlets for the C.U.N.T.s they are...
Thank you Rob Crilly For standing up! Thank you for exposing the lie. God willing, others will follow your suit. Many today loosened their gags not only of their voice, but also their courage, their heart, and their soul.
Sidenote~
[retracted] says he is this that or the other, but in truth he is not. He knows that segments of the media must come down. But he keeps his f'loons brains washed in mock nobility. Indeed, he is one of the naked C.U.N.T.s and this is the reason a faction indeed broke away when chance upon a bounty bot. You know, F'loon when someone says don't look over here. Indeed you should look over there.
Last edited by Blaze; 10-11-2011 at 05:05 AM.
Greetings,
The new operation location & updates:
http://oolith.wordpress.com/campaigns/libya/
Regards,
================================================== ====================
Notice:
The below are letters I wrote to concerning a profile here.
They will serve as my counter-statement
05-27-2013, 11:24 AM
ClarathecarrotAKA Thome has used my personal details in a post and referenced them back to me.
http://www.rotharmy.com/forums/showthread.php?66870-VBULLETIN-Upgrade-Fix-Suggestions&p=1767661&viewfull=1#post1767661
I have not been on this site for months, can't anything be done about this harassment of me?
In addition, it is very suspect that he would say that in the thread most likely to be checked after a token error.
I would not doubt that there maybe a trigger that cause the token error associated with my IDs here.
I am very unsettled that after so very long, he is still harassing me.
In addition, I am also very upset that my details were not removed without my noticing them. Oh my goodness, what else has he written on here that is my personal information?
Please address this swiftly and strongly.
I should not have to keep a monitor on this site for my own protection.
Please,my goodness this is ok. The small harassments will turn into very bad ones.
I am going to go search and make sure he has not been flaunting about my information.
Please Advise.
J
05-27-2013, 02:15 PM
This thread should be called the unread thread...
Hey Jackass! You need to [Register] or log in to view signatures on ROTHARMY.COM!
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