And more news from Libya:
The Opposition makes even more gains
Protesters say shot down Libyan plane
Gaddafi’s opponents say crew of military aircraft firing at radio station was captured, meanwhile ICC announces attacks on civilians may constitute crimes against humanity.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4035492,00.html
Protesters march in Tripoli
Several hundreds of people gather in the Libyan capital, chanting slogans against Muammar Gaddafi.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2011/02/2011228143136646521.html
Gaddafi rivals close in on Tripoli
Areas near capital fall to protesters amid fears that forces loyal to Libyan leader could launch counter-attack.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/20112286305265691.html
Opposition declares new Libya government as Qaddafi hangs on
Two key cities in Libya’s west appeared to fall to opposition forces this weekend as leaders in the country’s ‘liberated’ east moved to fill the governance vacuum that Qaddafi’s ouster would create.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/CN5pXINFH9E/Opposition-declares-new-Libya-government-as-Qaddafi-hangs-on
Kadafi loses another city to Libyan opposition
A possible standoff shapes up as protesters with tanks and antiaircraft guns mass in Zawiya, the city just west of Tripoli that Moammar Kadafi’s forces have surrounded with armor and military checkpoints. Moammar Kadafi’s tenuous grip on Libya was further loosened when the city closest to the capital fell under the control of rebel forces, leaving Tripoli encircled by opponents determined to topple the dictator’s 41-year regime.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/n26jcW8hzRc/la-fg-libya-revolt-20110228,0,4472667.story
Rebels in Libya Gain Power and Defectors
Rebels challenging Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi showed their firepower and military coordination as defecting officers in the east took steps to establish a unified command.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/28/world/africa/28unrest.html
Libyans Organize Citizen Councils to Run Cities Liberated from Pro-Gaddafi Loyalists
In the liberated city of Benghazi where pro-Gaddafi forces have been ousted, Libyan people are now organizing a self-government structures to manage the city. One group calling itself the Coalition of the February 17 Revolution—which is made up of doctors, lawyers, teachers, professors, workers, students—just established a city council to manage the day-to-day activities of the city. Democracy Now! correspondent Anjali Kamat speaks to two female Libyan attorneys who are very involved in the Coalition.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/28/libyans_organize_citizen_councils_to_run
Libyans in “Liberated” Eastern Cities Balance Self-Government With Supporting Tripoli Resistance: Anjali Kamat Reports
As anti-government rebels close in on the Libyan capital city of Tripoli, we get the latest from Democracy Now! correspondent Anjali Kamat. She has just returned to Egypt after spending five days in eastern Libya, where popular uprisings have liberated the area from pro-Gaddafi forces. “There is a sense that Gaddafi could do anything to people [in Tripoli] and there is a real sense of fear,” Kamat says, “but I think people are also trying to see what they can do to manage their city and also to support their friends and families in Tripoli who are still under siege.”
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/28/libyans_in_liberated_eastern_cities_balance
Forces prepare to march on Tripoli
SEVERAL towns in western Libya have been taken by opposition forces, which are now preparing to march on the capital, a member of a revolutionary committee said in the town of Nalut.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/forces-preparing-to-march-on-tripoli/story-fn3dxity-1226013293612
Benghazi Commune – Capital of Libyan revolution!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w59Ru9jAqIY&feature=player_embedded
Libya: Fewer Police Abuses in Zuwara, Under Control of Anti-government Forces
(Ras Ijdir, Tunisia) – There have been few, if any, abuses by the police in the city of Zuwara, 109 kilometers west of Tripoli, during and since its takeover by anti-government forces a week ago, Libyan citizens and foreign workers from the city told Human Rights Watch.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/02/27/libya-fewer-police-abuses-zuwara-under-control-anti-government-forces
Several west Libya towns in opposition hands: official
NALUT, Libya (AFP) – Several towns in western Libya have been taken by opposition forces, which are now preparing to march on the capital, a member of a revolutionary committee told AFP in the town of Nalut. An AFP reporter arriving in Nalut, a town of 66,000 people, 235 kilometres (146 miles) west of Tripoli, found that strongman Moamer Kadhafi’s loyalist security forces had entirely disappeared from the streets. “The city has been liberated since February 19. It has been run by a revolutionary committee named by the town’s communities,” local lawyer and committee member Shaban Abu Sitta told AFP.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/27/several-west-libya-towns-in-opposition-hands-official/
BREAKING: Soldier kills security battalion commander!
News has reached us via email that a security battalion commander in az Zawiya was killed by a soldier in the battalion. Soldiers refused orders to shoot and the commander was determined on the implementation of the orders of Khoweildy. One of the solders stepped forwards and rendered him dead with a bullet to the head. The soldier then said: It’s better that you die rather than the victims be tens of youth.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2930
Mercenary under attack in Libya
http://in.reuters.com/news/video?rpc=401&videoId=190188541&feedType=VideoRSS&feedName=WorldNews&rpc=401&videoChannel=117460
Libyan militias prepare to join forces before assault on Tripoli
Heavily armed youths and former security forces ready for push, but Gaddafi family stronghold of Sirte looms
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/27/libyan-militias-prepare-assault-tripoli?CMP=twt_gu
http://feb17.info/videos/statement-from-libyan-police-in-jdabiya-feb-24/
Mass Anti-Gaddafi Demonstration in Jdabiya
http://feb17.info/videos/mass-anti-gaddafi-demonstration-in-jdabiya/
Kufra rejects financial bribery and weapons on a plane sent by Saif Gaddafi
A provisional government in Kufra declared its support for the people and annouced that they rejected any attempts at bribery from Saif Gaddafi. “The city of Kufra declares itself liberated.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sa1Ryu7Fec&feature=player_embedded
Libya opposition launches council
Protesters in Benghazi form a national council “to give the revolution a face”.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2011/02/2011227175955221853.html
Annoucement from liberated Nalut
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiQnfAkaDGI&feature=player_embedded
Heavy weapons seized in Zawiya prepped for use against Gaddafi’s forces
http://feb17.info/videos/heavy-weapons-seized-in-zawiya-prepped-for-use-against-gaddafis-forces/
Tank/Heavy Weaponry in Zawiya
http://feb17.info/videos/tankheavy-weaponry-in-zawiya/
Anti-Gaddafi protesters in Nalut (western Libya)
http://feb17.info/videos/anti-gaddafi-protesters-in-nalut-western-libya/
Hamza Battalion outpost overlooking Airport road, Misrata
http://feb17.info/videos/outpost-where-hamza-battalion-fired-at-civilians-on-airport-road-misrata/
The Martyrs/Injured/Qadhafi’s Crimes
Libya rebels fight pro-Gaddafi units near Misrata
ALGIERS, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Opponents of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have held off an attack by pro-government forces near the town of Misrata and shot down a military aircraft, a witness told Reuters on Monday. Misrata is 200 km (125 miles) east of the Libyan capital. “An aircraft was shot down this morning while it was firing on the local radio station. Protesters captured its crew,” said the witness, Mohamed. “Fighting to control the military air base (near Misrata) started last night and is still going on. Gaddafi’s forces control only a small part of the base. Protesters control a large part of this base where there is ammunition.” “Misrata is still under the control of the protesters,” he said.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/anti-gaddafi-forces-shot-down-military-aircraft-near-misrata-and
Report: 50 people killed in clashes in Libyan town
At least 50 civilians were killed Saturday overnight in the oil refining town of Zawiyah in Libya after heavy fighting between protesters and troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Reuters reported quoting local residents.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=210008
One of the Men killed during attack on Protesters in Martyrs’ Square, Zawiya (*Graphic*)
http://feb17.info/videos/one-of-the-men-killed-during-attack-on-protesters-in-martyrs-square-zawiya-graphic/
Murdered unarmed protesters and chaos in Souq Al Jumaa, Tripoli (Feb. 25)
http://feb17.info/videos/murdered-unarmed-protesters-and-chaos-in-souq-al-jumaa-tripoli-feb-25/
Protesters brutally killed prior to the liberation of Benghazi (*Graphic*)
http://feb17.info/videos/protesters-brutally-killed-prior-to-the-liberation-of-benghazi-very-graphic/
Tripoli Hospital (*Graphic*)
http://feb17.info/videos/tripoli-hospital-graphic/
Severe gunshot wound being treated, Tripoli Hospital (*Graphic*)
http://feb17.info/videos/severe-gunshot-wound-being-treated-tripoli-hospital-graphic/
Protesters brutally killed prior to the liberation of Benghazi (*Very Graphic*)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M52nwM5-7iE&feature=player_embedded
Sniper in Tajura, Tripoli
http://feb17.info/videos/sniper-in-tajura-tripoli/
The Dictator is Clinging on to Power
Report: 50 people killed in clashes in Libyan town
At least 50 civilians were killed Saturday overnight in the oil refining town of Zawiyah in Libya after heavy fighting between protesters and troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Reuters reported quoting local residents.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=210008
Gaddafi faces endgame as he bribes civilians to fight for him
Protesters in a large working-class district of the capital, Tripoli, defied security forces, compelling them to retreat. As rebel advances threatened the last redoubt of the leader, he ordered weapons to be distributed to his civilian supporters.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/gaddafi-faces-endgame-as-he-bribes-civilians-to-fight-for-him-2226891.html
Gadhafi: Libya is peaceful, UN sanctions are null and void
Speaking to Serbian station Pink, beleaguered Libyan leader says has support of the people of Libya support me, adding that rebel groups will be dealt with.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/gadhafi-libya-is-peaceful-un-sanctions-are-null-and-void-1.346075?localLinksEnabled=false
LIBYA: U.N. names names, identifying inner members of Kadafi regime in travel ban
The U.N. Security Council might have limited resources with which to intervene in the uprisings in Libya, but it named names — and birthdays and passport numbers — in its resolution Saturday imposing travel bans and freezing the assets of members of the Kadafi regime. The U.N. resolution, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, lists the names, dates and places of birth of dozens of Kadafi’s closest associates and relatives, lending some insight into who is controlling the foundering regime.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/02/libya–6.html
Gaddafi’s sons tried to get Saudi cleric help – TV
DUBAI, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Sons of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have failed to persuade prominent Saudi clerics to issue religious rulings against a revolt that is threatening to bring down the veteran leader, Al Arabiya television said on Monday. The Saudi-owned channel said on its website that Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam had contacted one cleric, Salman al-Awda, and Saadi Gaddafi had reached out to a second, Ayedh al-Garni, but both rejected their calls. “You are killing the Libyan people. Turn to God because you are wronging them. Protect Libyan blood, you are killing old people and children. Fear God,” Garni said he told Saadi.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/gaddafis-sons-tried-to-get-saudi-cleric-help-tv
Christiane Amanpor: Exclusive Interview With Gadhafi’s Sons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UZ0bloIOk4
Breaking Video: Saif Gaddafi rallying his loyalists
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fAccZfa7Rs&feature=player_embedded
Images of Gaddafi’s security forces in Tripoli
These killers have been spotted patrolling different areas of Tripoli in search of protesters. The first image is a close up of their vehicle with pictures of Gaddafi on the dashboard and emblems of the “People’s Guard” on the door and hood, the “People’s Guard”…no comment. The second image shows two of them armed with AK-47s and removing barricades that were set up by peaceful protesters to prevent them from patrolling the neighborhood.
http://feb17.info/videos/images-of-gaddafis-security-forces-in-tripoli/
Ammo against Anti-Gaddafi protesters
http://feb17.info/videos/ammo-against-anti-gaddafi-protesters/
Muammar Gaddafi’s nurse flees Libya for Ukraine
Galyna Kolotnytska, a Gaddafi confidante, arrived in Kiev on a Ukrainian defence ministry aircraft that evacuated 185 people
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/27/libya-muammar-gaddafi-nurse-ukraine
Media trip backfires for Libyan officials
Forces fighting to oust the Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi have seized the city of Zawiya, 50km (30 miles) from the capital, Tripoli. The Libyan government took journalists to Zawiya on Sunday morning. But instead of a show of government force, reporters saw opposition fighters manning the barricades in the city centre and flying their flag. The BBC’s Jeremy Bowen reports from Zawiya.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12590969
Humanitarian Crisis
Libya exodus sparks border crisis
Libya’s western border with Tunisia is being overrun with migrants, many of them from Egypt, fleeing the turmoil in Libya, aid workers say.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-africa-12591935
As Death Toll Grows, 100,000 Flee Libyan Violence
Estimates of the death toll in Libya have reached at least 2,000 and more than 100,000 people are believed to have fled the country into neighboring Egypt and Tunisia. We speak to Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch, who has just returned from the Libya-Tunisia border.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/28/as_death_toll_grows_100_000
Developments
Live Blog – Libya Feb 27
As the uprising in Libya enters its 13th day, we keep you updated on the developing situation from our Doha headquarters.
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/live-blog-libya-feb-27
Libya attacks could be crime against humanity-court
THE HAGUE, Feb 28 (Reuters) – The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor said on Monday military attacks against civilians in Libya could be a crime against humanity and warrant the launch of a full investigation within days.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/icc-prosecutor-says-expects-to-open-libya-probe-soon
World applies pressure on Gaddafi
Foreign ministers from around the world are gathering in Geneva to discuss their response to the mounting humanitarian crisis in Libya.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-africa-12593481
U.S. and Allies Weigh Libya No-Fly Zone
WASHINGTON — Obama administration officials held talks on Sunday with European and other allied governments as they readied plans for the possible imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent further killings of civilians by forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/28/world/europe/28military.html?_r=1
Clinton: U.S. is reaching out to anti-Gadhafi Libya opposition
Comments by Secretary of State come as nations convene in Geneva to discuss common response to the revolt against the long-time Libyan leader.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/clinton-u-s-is-reaching-out-to-anti-gadhafi-libya-opposition-1.346054?localLinksEnabled=false
Hillary Rodham Clinton, “‘We’ve Been Reaching Out to Many Different Libyans Who Are Attempting to Organize in the East'”
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, there’s reports that there’s — the former justice minister has set up his interim government in Benghazi. Has the U.S. had any contact with them? Do you think that’s a viable sort of bridging mechanism? SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we are just at the beginning of what will follow Qadhafi. First we have to see the end of his regime with no further violence and bloodshed, which is a big challenge in front of all of us. But we’ve been reaching out to many different Libyans who are attempting to organize in the east and as the revolution moves westward there as well. I think it’s way too soon to tell how this is going to play out, but we’re going to be ready and prepared to offer any kind of assistance that anyone wishes to have from the United States.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/hrc280211.html
US ready to help Libya’s insurgents
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States said Sunday it was prepared to offer “any kind of assistance” to Libyans seeking to overthrow the regime of strongman Moamer Kadhafi as they set up a transitional body. As forces opposed to the longest-serving Arab leader took control of several western Libyan towns, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton echoed the calls of world leaders, including President Barack Obama, for him to quit.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/27/us-ready-to-help-libyas-insurgents/
France sends aid to Libyan rebels to oust Gadhafi
GENEVA — France announced it is sending two planes with humanitarian aid to Libya’s opposition stronghold of Benghazi on Monday, in what its prime minister described as the start of a “massive operation” to push Gadhafi from power. French Prime Minister Francois Fillon spoke in Paris as foreign ministers from around the world, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, gathered in Geneva to coordinate action against Gadhafi’s regime.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/02/28/general-libya-diplomacy_8329576.html
Leave now, Cameron urges Gaddafi
Prime Minister David Cameron urged Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to “go now” as the UK imposed sanctions in an effort to force him from power. The Prime Minister, speaking inside Downing Street, also said that he was “delighted” at the success of a second special forces-led operation to rescue oil workers stuck in the remote Libyan desert.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/leave-now-cameron-urges-gaddafi-15098250.html#ixzz1FE53jW2n
Libya: African mercenaries ‘immune from prosecution for war crimes’
African mercenaries hired by the Gaddafi regime to kill Libyan protesters would be immune from prosecution for war crimes due to a clause in this weekend’s UN resolution that was demanded by the United States.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8350968/Libya-African-mercenaries-immune-from-prosecution-for-war-crimes.html
MK Ahmed Tibi: Israeli Arab leaders who visited Libya didn’t back Gadhafi
Tibi was among initiators of delegation of Higher Arab Monitoring Committee to Libya in 2010, which is now drawing criticism due to Libya’s violent crackdown on anti-government protesters.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/mk-ahmed-tibi-israeli-arab-leaders-who-visited-libya-didn-t-back-gadhafi-1.346128?localLinksEnabled=false
Solidarity
Long live Tunisia! Long live Egypt!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa2NeuZ-K00&feature=player_embedded
Libya violence shocks Maghreb neighbours Libya’s people
Recent events in Libya are being closely followed around the Maghreb, with governments and citizens alike voicing concerns about the deteriorating situation there. Demonstrations are being held daily In Nouakchott, where political parties and civil-society groups have joined a public condemnation of the violence that is rocking Libya’s cities.
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/02/27/feature-01
Libyan Freedom Waves Proudly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpHZUbeoNno&feature=player_embedded
Analysis/Op-ed
Libya unrest: Benghazi gripped by anti-Gaddafi fervour
Almost spontaneously, the Libyan city of Benghazi has been galvanised into action. Residents have taken on the challenge of normal life just as dynamically as protesters took on Muammar Gaddafi’s toughest troops. Ayman Nas is on one of a series of committees that have sprung up. “The banks started operating, and next week hopefully the schools will start and the university,” he said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12593058
Ex-radio engineer for Gaddafi regime uses newfound freedom to broadcast encouraging messages to rebels in Tripoli
IN BENGHAZI, LIBYA When Benghazi fell into the hands of the opposition a week ago, Saleh Zayani grabbed two sound mixers and a microphone and headed to the radio transmission building.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/27/AR2011022703873.html
The Economist, “The Liberated East: Building a New Libya”
Delegates to the new assembly paint Libya’s future as a liberal parliamentary democracy, and have decked Beida’s parliament building in portraits of King Idris and his tricolour. Lawyers from Tobruk and Benghazi claim to be running civilian committees, and have called for the restoration of the 1952 constitution, amended to uphold a multi-party republic. But the hold of the lawyers seems uncertain in Benghazi. The royal tricolour — which sprouts on lampposts across Beida — is a rarity, as if people are uncertain which way the tide of history will go, and though the police have finally left their posts, they have not helped the civilian leadership fill the resulting vacuum, apparently for fear of appearing in public. . . . Feeding their grievances is an ingrained resentment of foreigners that verges on xenophobia. The easterners see Western contractors reaping the benefits of their oil wealth to the tune of millions of dollars, while propping up the regime in return. And although a third of Libyans are jobless, 1.2m Egyptians and hundreds of thousands of other migrant workers have found work in Libya—the result of Mr Qaddafi’s aborted attempts at African and Arab unity. Among the spray-painted graffiti in Beida, some denounce foreign workers and call Mr Qaddafi a Jew.
http://econ.st/fa4one
Libyan city grapples with self-rule
Having broken free of Kadafi’s rule, but with no government to replace it, the residents of Benghazi are making their own piecemeal efforts to keep city services running and provide security. In Benghazi, the center of the eastern rebellion that broke free from 41 years of despotic rule a week ago, everyone is in charge — and no one is in charge. But everyone seems to have claimed a piece of the revolution.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/3lgbJBBUNWU/la-fg-libya-benghazi-20110228,0,379531.story
Punish Gadhafi, not Libya
For a self-professed (and self-deluded) man of the people, Moammar Gadhafi has, over more than four decades of thievery and oppression, amassed an obscene amount of money. He may claim parenthood of the “Third Way” between Marxism and capitalism but his multiple bank accounts fall resoundingly in favor of a tyrannical corruption of the later
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=125373
who is calling for American intervention in Libya?, Max Ajl
History is being re-written in front of our eyes, but not by the usual suspects. I remember the debates over the Balkan Wars and whether America should have a “right” to “humanitarian intervention” there as classic moments when the touchstone of leftist ethics – do not intervene – was the most reliable guide to political thinking. Liberals like David Reiff, the pathetic Samantha Power, and Thomas Friedman, the NYT court jester, supported “humanitarian intervention” in the Balkans, sometimes in a tacit alliance with “conservatives,” although it was the latter more than the former who opposed the war and especially the intervention in Kosovo.
http://www.maxajl.com/?p=5004&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+http%2Fwwwmaxajlcom%2Ffeedrss2+%28Jewbonics%29
The World Oil Politics of the Libyan Revolt, Juan Cole
The question of what comes after Qaddafi became more complicated on Sunday, as rival claims to forming a provisional liberated government emerged. Former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel-Jalil had announced on Saturday from Benghazi that he would head an interim government. But on Sunday human rights attorney Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga said from Benghazi that an interim government was being formed for all of liberated eastern Libya, and disputed Abdel Jalil’s claim of leadership. The new council will form a paramilitary to take further territory away from Qaddafi’s forces, Ghoga said.
http://www.juancole.com/2011/02/the-world-oil-politics-of-the-libyan-revolt.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29
News Analysis: Tremors From Libya Threaten to Rattle the Oil World
A recent spike in the price of oil has many wondering how high it will go, and what the fallout could be to a vulnerable recovery in the United States.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=dd6b44472fcf4c633b35aa92506976fa
Libya: neither tribal nor Islamist
Libyans want democracy, justice and freedom. This revolution is for all, and won’t fall to extremists
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/27/libya-democracy-freedom-extremists-gaddafi
Nancy A. Youssef, “Rebels in Libya’s East Say They’re Not Ready to Take Tripoli”
Military commanders in liberated eastern Libya said that while they’re eager to wrest control of the capital, Tripoli, from dictator Moammar Gadhafi, they believe his personal forces are better equipped and trained than their newly cobbled together Libyan People’s Army. All they can promise the residents who are asking them to charge forward toward the capital, 600 miles to the west, is that they’ll move “soon, if we get orders.” . . . Soldiers who joined the People’s Army, either as defectors or because they were recruited, are defensive about suggestions that they should march toward the capital.
http://bit.ly/e8bLPT
U.S.:Neo-Con Hawks Take Flight over Libya, Jim Lobe
In a distinct echo of the tactics they pursued to encourage U.S. intervention in the Balkans and Iraq, a familiar clutch of neo-conservatives appealed Friday for the United States and NATO to “immediately” prepare military action to help bring down the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27572.htm
Farid Marjai, “Musa Sadr in Libya?”
His family believes Imam Sadr might be alive. His son-in-law Mehdi Forouzan said that some of the released Libyan prisoners reported that he had been sighted in a prison. He further indicated that both the Lebanese courts and the Iranian Parliament contend Sadr is alive. Forouzan added that a “welcoming committee” was just formed in Lebanon. Recently, Hezbollah of Lebanon issued a statement about the current situation in Libya and condemned Gaddafi for crimes against his people.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/marjai260211.html
Humor
Gaddafi gags spread as Libya exorcises leader cult
BENGHAZI, Libya, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Cowed for four decades by Muammar Gaddafi’s oppressive rule, eastern Libya is now awash with cartoons and jokes about him, helping people shake off his personality cult and deep fear of his security apparatus.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/gaddafi-gags-spread-as-libya-exorcises-leader-cult
Libyan Brother Leader Unveils Anti-Drug Campaign
To stem the tide of drug-induced protesters taking over Libya, the country’s Brother Leader Muammar Gaddafi is initiating a campaign against drugs. read.
http://www.kabobfest.com/2011/02/libyan-leader-unveils-anti-drug-campaign.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kabobfest%2FGrillMe+%28KABOBfest%29
