Qadhdhafi cornered
Aljazeera is citing a report from a Libyan journalist that Al-Qadhdhafi now only controls the area around his compound in Bab Al-`Aiziziyyah. That makes sense: because Libyan regime TV showed a pro-Qadhdhafi “demonstration” and it was so small and nervous that the camera zoomed too closely that we could see the nostrils of the demonstrators.
And more news from Libya:
Libyan forces shoot protesters
Several people reported dead as tens of thousands of Libyans take to the streets calling for an end to Gaddafi’s rule.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2011/02/2011225133345917205.html
Libya Executes 150 Troops for Refusing to Attack Protesters
It is now a matter of common knowledge that the Gadhafi regime has lost control of virtually the entire military of Libya (as well as virtually the entire territory of Libya), but when troops first started defying orders to turn their guns on protesters, the reactions were quite shocking.
http://news.antiwar.com/2011/02/24/libya-executes-150-troops-for-refusing-to-attack-protesters/
Libya Protests: Thousands Gather To Show Solidarity Against Gaddafi
BENGHAZI, Libya — Militias loyal to Moammar Gadhafi fired in the air Friday to disperse marches by regime opponents defying a fierce clampdown to attempt their first major protest in the Libyan capital Tripoli in days. Across rebellious cities in the east, thousands held rallies in support of the Tripoli protesters.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/25/libya-protests-thousands-_n_828097.html
‘Gadhafi may use chemical, biological weapons against Libya unrest’
Speaking to Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera, Libya’s former minister says beleaguered dictator may turn to the country’s estimated 9.5 tons mustard gas stockpile.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/gadhafi-may-use-chemical-biological-weapons-against-libya-unrest-1.345603?localLinksEnabled=false
Libyan crackdown ‘escalates’ – UN
Thousands may have been killed or injured as the Libyan government crackdown escalates “alarmingly”, says the UN human rights head.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-africa-12576427
Libya: 8-year-old girl shot in leg
As Tweets were coming indicating that there was some violence in Misurata today, we get a video via the Sharek platform, showing an 8-year-old girl named Fatima who says she was shot near her home – she’s in a hospital in Misurata.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd1lnfsScnc&feature=youtube_gdata
Report: 23 killed in clashes in north-western Libya
At least 23 people have died in clashes between protesters and security forces in the north-western city of al-Zawiya, the Libyan news website Quryna reported.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/africa/news/article_1621803.php/Report-23-killed-in-clashes-in-north-western-Libya-Extra
At most 50 pro-Gaddafi demonstrators in Green Square
The BBC now also reports that State TV is broadcasting images of Green Square which they claim to be live, the BBC writes: Libya’s state TV shows footage of what it says is Tripoli’s “Green Square now”. There are about 50 demonstrators at most in the shot, carrying pictures of Col Gaddafi. Someone is heard shouting pro-Gaddafi slogans and chanting “Popular revolution” and “We are Libyans”.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2453
Group: Gadhafi forces slay injured protestors in hospitals
ROME (AFP) — Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moamer Gadhafi stormed hospitals in Tripoli and summarily executed injured anti-regime protestors who were being treated, a report said Thursday. Members of the Libyan Revolutionary Committee, the backbone of Gadhafi’s regime, “burst in hospitals and killed wounded people who had protested against the regime,” said Slimane Bouchuiguir, who leads the Libyan branch of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), cited by Italian news agency MISNA.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=363184
Counting the dead in Libya’s Benghazi hospital
A Libyan girl ran screaming in hysterics from the Benghazi hospital morgue on Thursday, her face streaming with tears. Staff tried to calm her. She had just identified the mutilated body of her brother. “Most families have still not found their lost relatives,”
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/25/139161.html
BREAKING: Eyewitness account from doctor in Libya
“I recently spoke on BBC news but unfortunately I was on my way back from Gatwick airport to Sheffield on the train and my battery died. I have spent the last weeks in Tripoli. There are a few things I would like to make clear: Firstly: A massacre and a crime against humanity are currently going on in Libya. There has been Deaths of at least 50-70 civilians arriving to different hospitals in Tripoli every night. I am a Doctor at Sheffield Northern General Hospital and have personally seen bodies with bullet wounds to the head, neck and chest.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2410
Libya – treating the injured as the fighting continues (graphic)
Here’s a video showing several wounded men in what the person who posted the video claims to be Az Zawiyah on February 24, when the army reportedly fired at protesters for up to 5 hours. Eyewitnesses say that as many as 100 were killed and 400 were injured.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkj00iwG8RM&feature=youtube_gdata
Libya analysis: ‘There’s a sense of calm at the centre of the storm’ – video
Middle East editor Ian Black assesses Muammar Gaddafi’s grip on power, protests around Tripoli and the likelihood of a fightback by the regime
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/feb/24/libya-analysis-video
Audio: Majority of people currently driving in Tripoli are not from Tripoli
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2399
BREAKING: Heavy gunfire against protesters in Gheryan
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2389
Families mourning their loved ones after Gaddafi’s fierce attack on Zawiya (Feb. 24)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj-o2siIBS8&feature=player_embedded
http://feb17.info/videos/families-mourning-their-loved-ones-following-gaddafis-ruthless-attack-on-zawiya-feb-24/
Video footage of the underground prison in Benghazi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj-o2siIBS8&feature=player_embedded
More Footage of Martyrs and the Wounded after Gaddafi’s attack on Zawiya (Feb. 24)
The man filming: “Rivers of blood, that killer! Rivers of blood, that killer! Rivers of blood! Rivers of blood!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ejmyn8Yzpk&feature=player_embedded
http://feb17.info/videos/more-footage-of-martyrs-and-the-wounded-after-gaddafis-attack-on-zawiya-feb-24/
Martyrs from the Battle for Misrata Airport
http://feb17.info/videos/martyrs-from-the-battle-for-misrata-airport/
Protesting continues during funeral procession of Gharyan Martyr (Feb. 24)
http://feb17.info/videos/protesting-continues-during-funeral-procession-in-gharyan-feb-24-2/
Gaddafi Family Palace Trashed in Benghazi
CNN’s Ben Wedeman reports that residents of Benghazi find sweet pleasure in ransacking a Gadhafi palace.
http://feb17.info/videos/gaddafi-family-palace-trashed-in-benghazi/
Protesters Gaining Ground
Gaddafi opponents hold off attack on town:witnesses
RAS JDIR, Tunisia, Feb 25 (Reuters) – Libyan security forces tried to seize back control of the coastal town of Zawiyah, about 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital, but were driven back by government opponents, witnesses said on Friday. The strategic town, site of an oil terminal on the main highway into Tripoli, has become the focus of a stand-off between forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi, and civilians — some of them armed — who want an end to his 41 years in power.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/gaddafi-opponents-hold-off-attack-on-townwitnesses
Opposition forces close in around Libyan capital
Another western town, Zawiya, about 30 miles from Tripoli, rises up against Moammar Kadafi, who gives a rambling interview blaming Al Qaeda for the popular uprising. Protesters plan a huge rally in Tripoli after Friday prayers.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-kadafi-20110225,0,3844850.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fmiddleeast+%28L.A.+Times+-+Middle+East%29
Big Libya oil terminals in rebel hands: residents
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Key Libyan oil and oil product terminals to the east of the capital are in the hands of rebels who have seized control from leader Muammar Gaddafi, said residents of Benghazi who are in touch with people in region.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/24/us-libya-oil-terminals-idUSTRE71N42L20110224
Libyans in Benghazi hold mercenaries, run city
BENGHAZI, Libya: Residents of Benghazi have jailed those they say are mercenaries and set up “people’s committees” to run this eastern city now out of the control of leader Moammar Gadhafi, who has lost control of swathes of Libya. A court compound in the center of Benghazi, on the Mediterranean coast, has become a focal point for those seeking to re-impose law and order after a bloody rebellion against Gadhafi loyalists who relinquished the city to residents.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=125270#axzz1EqcZqB8x
In freed Benghazi, Libya’s second city, strong calls for Kadafi’s overthrow
Days after protesters took control of Benghazi after attacks by Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi’s militia and alleged mercenaries left many dead and injured, rallies continue at the courthouse.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-benghazi-20110225,0,182920.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fmiddleeast+%28L.A.+Times+-+Middle+East%29
“Everywhere There is Graffiti Saying, ‘Welcome to the New Free Libya'”: Democracy Now! Correspondent Anjali Kamat Reports
Anti-government protesters have taken control of large swaths of Libya in the uprising against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. It remains unclear how many people have been killed in Gaddafi’s brutal crackdown, but estimates have topped 1,000. Democracy Now! correspondent Anjali Kamat reports from the Libyan city of Tobruk.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/24/everywhere_there_is_graffiti_saying_welcome
Photos: Eyewitness account of Tripoli on the 22nd February
A contact sent us this account with five photos attached. We relay to you the message as we received it: I was in Tripoli, I left yesterday..I tried to take pictures and record videos before i left-not a lot and in good quality due to security reasons. I attached some city pictures from feb 22. although I couldn’t take their pictures, some protestors had taken over some streets- one had a rifle – close to the state TV. and there were barricades in some streets put by the youth. there were barricades around the state TV, the police+military men were in control. I’ll try to clean up and send pictures and videos from earlier. May Allah help Libya.The victory so soon inshaALLAH
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2326
Libyans overcome fear to spread word of violence
LONDON, Feb 25 (Reuters) – Libyans say they risk arrest or even death for talking to the foreign media because the authorities are desperate to stop information about their violent crackdown reaching the outside world. A nationwide wave of protests against the 41-year rule of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been met with a fierce response from security forces which, according to some European governments, has killed several thousand people.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libyans-overcome-fear-to-spread-word-of-violence
Announcement of the Liberation of Misrata (Feb. 24)
http://feb17.info/videos/announcement-of-the-liberation-of-misrata-feb-24/
“We hear about protesters joining fri. protests from the East”
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2358
Huge Rally in Benghazi, Libya (2.23.11)
CNN’s Ben Wedeman gives a firsthand account from a rally in Benghazi, Libya.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgP0Gro52c8
BREAKING: Tajoura shouting loud – Down Down with Gaddafi!
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2407
Amazing: Women of Darnah demonstrate! English translation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=406_15Iygk4&feature=player_embedded
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2391
Libya’s revolutionaries
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2302
LEAKED: Tripoli, the City of Graffiti 22nd February
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2276
BREAKING: Amazing photography from Benghazi on 20th February
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2340
Beautiful photographs of the citizens of Benghazi, young and old, cleaning their city
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2379
Defections
Libya’s Jordan ambassador turns against Gaddafi
AMMAN, Feb 24 (Reuters) – Libya’s ambassador to Jordan said on Thursday he left his post in protest at his government’s violent crackdown on demonstrators calling for the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. “In these difficult time we face as our people fall in unimaginable bloody confrontations … I cannot comprehend what age we are in and cannot believe there is anyone who can justify this,” Ambassador Mohammed Al-Barghathi told reporters while delivering a statement announcing his resignation. Barghathi is the latest among scores of Libyan diplomats and politicians who have resigned or voiced their opposition to the violent crackdown in their country.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libyas-jordan-ambassador-turns-against-gaddafi
Libyan ambassador to France resigns
Reuters quotes a diplomatic source saying that the Libyan ambassador to France has resigned his post. Al Jazeera adds that all diplomats at the Libyan embassy in New Delhi, India have now defected as well.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2432
Gaddafi’s hold weakens with loss of top insider
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s world was shrinking on Friday as a close adviser abandoned him, opponents consolidated their control of the country’s oil-rich east, and Switzerland froze some of his assets.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/25/139145.html
BREAKING: Resigned Libyan Justice Minister speaks to Al Jazeera right now
Some quotes from Mustafa AbdulJaleel’s interview with Al Jazeera, Libya’s ex Justice Minister: Gaddafi is a coward. He cannot speak in front of the camera lens. He is hiding in his base and can no longer come out in public and speak like he used to. Misratah is the number one city in business in Libya. It is impossible for the drugs to be coming from such a wonderful city. Gaddafi used to rule Libya with an iron grip, But that time is over. He used the same attitude in his last speech, but never again. The matter now is in the hands of the people, the freedom fighters. Everyone should head to Tripoli to get rid of this villan. I was an eyewitness to Labraq bombings, they bombed the airport and nearby communities. I have not witnessed anything in Tripoli. Casualties are in the 100′s, possibly in the thousands. We will only know when he leaves.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2257
Developments
Gaddafi blames Libya’s unrest on al-Qaeda
Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, has said in a speech on state television that al-Qaeda is responsible for the uprising in his country. This is the first 7 minutes of his speech. Speaking on the phone from an undisclosed location, Gaddafi said the protesters were young people who were being manipulated by al-Qaeda, and that many were under the influence of drugs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0DXhTruWT0&feature=youtube_gdata
Gaddafi accuses al-Qaeda of causing uprising
Muammar Gaddafi claimed that al-Qaeda’s Osama bin Laden was behind the Libyan uprising. The Libyan leader said the country’s young people were being manipulated and drugged by al-Qaeda in speech aired on Libyan state television on Thursday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_vuNzGASKc&feature=youtube_gdata
Gaddafi will take his own life Hitler-way: ex-minister
Muammar Gaddafi will commit suicide the way Adolf Hitler did at the end of World War II rather than surrender or flee, a former Libyan cabinet minister told a Swedish newspaper in an interview published on Thursday. “Gaddafi’s days are numbered.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/24/139114.html
BREAKING: Large scale clean up process in Tripoli – New footage!
With journalists and tv camera crews invited to tour Tripoli tomorrow, the Gaddafi regime has ordered a large scale clean up mission around Tripoli. In the first segement, The People’s Council building which was burnt is being repainted white, whereas the second segment shows streets being cleaned from debris and other remnants from the clashes.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2362
Defiant Gaddafi pushes his case
As Libya descended further into chaos, Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, for the second time addressed the nation on state TV. However, Gaddafi’s argument that he was not the leader is simply a denial of responsibility. Al Jazeera’s Laurence Lee reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2ThlAzZYL8&feature=youtube_gdata
Libya orders mass cash handouts in attempt to quell unrest
State television says Muammar Gadhafi’s beleaguered regime to increases food subsidies, allowances as well as a sweeping cash grants.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/libya-orders-mass-cash-handouts-in-attempt-to-quell-unrest-1.345647?localLinksEnabled=false
World leaders weigh Libya response
EU considering sending humanitarian intervention force to country, as UK calls for international probe into violence.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/2011224143852557185.html
France, UK draft sanctions text on Libya violence
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 24 (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council plans to meet on Friday to receive a French-British draft proposal for sanctions against Libyan leaders over the deadly attacks on demonstrators there, council envoys said. No vote is expected on the draft elements of a sanctions resolution when the 15-nation council convenes at 3 p.m. (2000 GMT), Western diplomats said on Thursday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, they expressed hope for speedy negotiations on the text and a vote sometime next week.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/france-uk-draft-sanctions-text-on-libya-violence
UN to meet on Libya violence
The UN Security Council will meet on Friday and may push for sanctions to deter government-sponsored violence.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/02/201122515028440299.html
US mulls Libya no-fly zone
White House ‘not ruling anything out’ in respect to Libya, says enforcing no-fly zone among options being considered; meanwhile, US supports European drive to expel Libya from UN’s top human right body.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4033869,00.html
Envoys seek UN rights probe into violence in Libya
GENEVA — Diplomats will be pressing Friday for a human rights investigation into Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s violent crackdown on protesters and for the suspension of Libya from the U.N.’s top human rights body. The efforts at an emergency meeting in Geneva could also set the stage for other possible international sanctions.
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/envoys-seek-un-rights-850837.html
Switzerland freezes Gadhafi’s assets to condemn violence in Libya
Gadhafi withdrew money and halted oil exports to Switzerland after relations soured in 2008; remains unclear if he still has assets there.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/switzerland-freezes-gadhafi-s-assets-to-condemn-violence-in-libya-1.345519?localLinksEnabled=false
Libya has billions of dollars in U.S. banks: cable
LONDON: Libya’s secretive sovereign wealth fund has $32 billion in cash with several U.S. banks each managing up to $500 million, and it has primary investments in London, a confidential diplomatic cable shows. The cable, obtained by WikiLeaks and revealing the details of a January meeting between the head of the Libyan Investment Authority and the U.S. ambassador in Tripoli, comes as the United States and European governments explored the possibility of freezing assets belonging to the Libyan government.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=125262#axzz1EqcZqB8x
Leaked cable reveals Libya’s assets in Europe, U.S, Africa
LONDON: Libya has invested in a wide range of companies including European bluechips through its sovereign wealth fund, estimated to manage around $70 billion. In a diplomatic cable obtained by WikiLeaks, Mohammad Layas, head of the Libyan Investment Authority, said several U.S. banks are each managing up to $500 million of the fund’s money.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=125263#axzz1EqcZqB8x
Libya Protests: Muammar Gaddafi’s Billions To Be Seized By Britain
The funds are expected to be seized within days. The Treasury is understood to have set up a unit to trace Col Gaddafi’s assets in Britain, which are thought to include billions of dollars in bank accounts, commercial property and a £10 million mansion in London. In total, the Libyan regime is said to have around £20 billion in liquid assets, mostly in London. These are expected to be frozen as part of an international effort to force the dictator from power. A Whitehall source said: “The first priority is to get British nationals out of Libya. But then we are ready to move in on Gaddafi’s assets, the work is under way. This is definitely on the radar at the highest levels.” Col Gaddafi was yesterday accused of ordering the deaths of thousands of protesters, but he refused to surrender as Libya descended into civil war.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/24/britain-seizing-gaddafi-assets-libya_n_828006.html
Libya coerced US oil companies to pay for terrorism settlements, leaked cable shows
LONDON (Reuters) – Libya’s ruling family tried to coerce billions of dollars from Libyan and foreign oil companies, and its leader Muammar Gaddafi exhorted the United States to sow division in Saudi Arabia, leaked American diplomatic cables reveal. One cable seen by Reuters, sent from the U.S. embassy in Tripoli, shows Gaddafi’s government exerting heavy pressure on U.S. and other oil companies to reimburse Tripoli the $1.5 billion Libya had paid in 2008 into a fund to settle terrorism claims from the 1980s.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/24/libya-coerced-us-oil-companies-to-pay-for-terrorism-settlements-leaked-cable-shows/
Top Mideast official on Libya: “I don’t have any answers for you right now”
DOHA, Qatar-The State Department’s top Middle East official, Jeffrey Feltman, said Thursday that he was personally “inspired” by the youth-led revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia and that the uprisings roiling the Arab world showed “there’s a fundamental shift in the relationship of how people in the region view their rulers.” Feltman, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, was in Qatar on one of several stops in the Persian Gulf, where the United States is seeking to reassure nervous allies even as it urges them to embrace meaningful political reform. He was a speaking at a townhall meeting hosted by Northwestern University in Qatar and billed as a forum on media and Internet freedom in the Arab world.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/24/top_mideast_official_on_libya_i_dont_have_any_answers_for_you_right_now
Libya’s Opposition Leaders Slam U.S. Business Lobby’s Deals With Gaddafi
NEW YORK — A broad coalition of interests from oil companies, defense manufacturers and well-connected lobbying firms to neoconservative scholars and Harvard Business School professors has worked in recent years to advance a rapprochement with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and take advantage of business opportunities in the country, even in the face of the longtime international pariah’s brutal repression of his people and his legendary belligerence.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/24/muammar-gaddafi-us-business-lobby_n_827769.html
Sadr news reverberates through Tyre
TYRE: In “the city of Imam Musa Sadr,” as its residents like to refer to it, the Shiite cleric’s admirers have been jolted by the latest revelations about the fate of the missing imam, and refuse to hear any talk of his demise. People in Tyre insist that Libya’s oppressive regime deprived the imam of the chance to continue his struggle against injustice, and they are enthusiastic about the prospects for the fall of Moammar Gadhafi’s regime, hoping to be reunited with their imam after nearly a 33-year absence. The pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat published remarks this week by Libya’s former Arab League envoy, Abdel-Monem Houni, indicating that Gadhafi had ordered the assassination of Sadr and his two Lebanese companions. The news has reverberated throughout the Shiite community and among the followers and supporters of Sadr, the founder of the Amal Movement.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=125291#axzz1EqcZqB8x
As Gaddafi Teeters, Will the Mystery of Lebanon’s Missing Imam Be Solved?
The cracks running through the crumbling regime of Muammar Gaddafi have shed some fresh light on the fate of Musa Sadr, a popular and influential Lebanese Shi’ite cleric who mysteriously vanished while on a trip to Libya 33 years ago. Abdel-Monem al-Houni, a former colonel in the Libyan army who participated in the 1969 coup that brought Muammar Gaddafi to power, has broken a three-decade silence to declare that Sadr was shot and killed on the orders of the Libyan leader. At the same time, however, other reports emanating from the turmoil of Libya suggest that the cleric may actually still be alive, languishing out of sight in a prison for more than three decades.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053630,00.html
Humanitarian Crisis
UN rights body urges Libya action
Leaders urged to use “all means possible” to stop crackdown by government forces, ahead of Security Council meeting.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/02/201122592849729302.html
Red Crescent in Libyan aid effort overstretched: EU
SOFIA – The Red Crescent, which is the only humanitarian aid organisation currently on the ground in Libya, is already overstretched and facing a severe shortage of medical supplies, EU’s Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said Thursday. “What particularly worries us is that with the exception of the local organisation of the Red Crescent — which is already gasping for breath and cannot ensure enough medical services, especially in Benghazi — there are practically no other structures that could join the (humanitarian) action,” Georgieva told the Bulgarian national radio.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/24/red-crescent-in-libyan-aid-effort-overstretched-eu/
Libyan government: Reporters will be treated as Al Qaeda collaborators
The Libyan government officially warned the State Department on Thursday that foreign journalists entering Libya would be arrested and treated as al Qaeda collaborators. “Be advised, entering Libya to report on the events unfolding there is additionally hazardous with the government labeling unauthorized media as terrorist collaborators and claiming they will be arrested if caught,” the State Department said in a press release. The State Department said that Libyan government officials told U.S. diplomats that approved teams of reporters from CNN, BBC Arabic, and Al Arabiya would be allowed into the country, but any other reporters found in Libya would be in danger. “These same senior officials also said that some reporters had entered the country illegally and that the Libyan government now considered these reporters Al Qaida collaborators,” the State Department said. It was not immediately clear which Libyan government officials issued the warning, but the State Department said it was a “senior official” of the Libyan government. Reporters would be arrested on “immigration charges” and their safety could not be guaranteed, the U.S. diplomats were told.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/24/libyan_government_reporters_will_be_treated_as_al_qaeda_collaborators
URGENT: American Citizen Detained in Libya
At least one American citizen has been detained in the Libyan uprising. LLHR calls upon the Libyan government to immediately release all political prisoners currently in government custody. Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that her primary concern was the safety of American nationals in Libya. LLHR calls upon the American government to pressure the Gaddafi regime to release Gibani Abdelgader Gibani, an American citizen toward whom the US bears a particularly marked responsibility.
http://feb17.info/media/urgent-american-citizen-detained-in-libya/
Journalists missing in Libya
CPJThe Committee to Protect Journalists is still very alarmed by the regime’s threatening rhetoric regarding journalists, as well as the continued violence journalists have experienced. “Naim Ibrahim al-Ushayba, a Libyan journalist from Benghazi and a correspondent forLibya Al-Youm news website, told CPJ that there is still no news about his colleague Atef al-Atrash, who disappeared after speaking to Al-Jazeera on the air on February 17. Al-Ushayba said the following other journalists have also been missing since the day before the demonstrations began: Mohamed al-Sahim, a blogger and political writer who published a critical article about the Libyan regime shortly before February 17; Mohamed al-Amin, a cartoonist; blogger Jalal al-Kawafi; and Idris al-Mismar, a writer and the former editor-in-chief of Arajin, a monthly culture magazine.”
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2398
FACTBOX-Libya evacuations by country
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/factbox-libya-evacuations-by-country
Lebanon, Syria discuss Libyan rescue mission
BEIRUT: Caretaker Foreign Minister Ali Shami asked Libyan authorities Thursday permission to send a plane to Tripoli airport in a bid to evacuate Lebanese citizens stranded in the crisis-stricken North African country. Shami, who is currently in Rome on an official visit, also contacted his Syrian counterpart Walid Moallem and discussed the situation in Libya, the National News Agency said. The two reportedly discussed the possibility of employing Syrian commercial aircraft to help get Lebanese and Syrian nationals out of Libya. Middle East Airlines, Lebanon’s national carrier, said it was awaiting permission from Libyan authorities to fly an Airbus A321 aircraft to Tripoli, possibly as soon as Friday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=125292#axzz1EqcZqB8x
Foreigners flee Libyan chaos
Countries around the world step up efforts to evacuate citizens, but some warn an exodus of refugees could spark crisis.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/2011224151252240283.html
Human Rights Watch Libya: Africa’s Rights Body Should Act Now
(London) – The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights should impose immediate measures on the Libyan government to end the massive human rights abuses occurring throughout the country, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), Human Rights Watch, and INTERIGHTS said today. The three human rights organizations submitted a joint request to the commission on February 24, 2011, asking it to act on Libya during its meeting in Banjul, Gambia, which began on February 23
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/02/25/libya-africa-s-rights-body-should-act-now
Solidarity
Egyptians, Tunisians try to help Libyan neighbors (AP)
AP – Having successfully toppled their own autocratic rulers, Egyptian and Tunisians are rushing to the aid of their Libyan neighbors with hastily organized blood drives, field hospitals and convoys of food and medicine.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110224/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_mideast_helping_libya
Helping our brothers in Libya
What is happening in Libya from crimes against humanity demand us as humans , as Arabs and as Egyptians to help our Libyan brothers and sisters in their quest to freedom and democracy. Our Libyan brothers and sisters are in need of blood and medical supplies , you only can watch one the videos I posted in my daily posts about Libya to know the challenge the Libyan hospitals in the liberated Libyan cities and districts face from blood and medical supplies shortage.
http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/02/helping-our-brothers-in-libya.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EgyptianChronicles+%28Egyptian+chronicles%29
Libya, Canada is with you!
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2247
The Dictator Still Has Some Friends
Libyan Ambassador to the UAE, Omar Mansour Al Ghanai, speaks to protesters in UAE, refuses to take down Green Flag
This audio is of the Libyan Ambassador to the UAE, Omar Mansour Al Ghanai, speaking to Libyan protesters outside of the embassy. Our insider said he refused to allow any Libyans to enter the embassy. The second speaker is an unknown protester. He begins to get angry when the people demand him to take down the green flag and replace it with the revolutionary flag. He denied that other embassies changed the flag, as the embassy in London did.
http://feb17.info/insider/libyan-ambassador-to-the-uae-omar-mansour-al-ghanai-speaks-to-protesters-in-uae-refuses-to-take-down-green-flag/
Latin America divided over Gaddafi
Libya’s government has spent years strengthening relations with Latin America, mostly through investments. Muammar Gaddafi had been quietly cultivating economic and diplomatic relations in Latin America that might now be working to his advantage. Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo reports from Sao Paulo on the region’s divided reaction to Gaddafi’s crackdown on protests in Libya.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-HvdqjsqXM&feature=player_embedded
Analysis/Op-ed
Libya tribes: Who’s who?
With more than 140 tribes and clans, Libya is considered one of the most tribal nations in the Arab world, a crucial factor in determining Muammar Qaddafi’s political future.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/7KZStJ8X9jc/Libya-tribes-Who-s-who
Libya: To Oust a Tyrant, Sarah Leah Whitson
A year ago, my colleagues and I organized an unprecedented news conference in Tripoli to release our report assessing Libya’s human rights record and steps toward reform. We invited victims of government abuses to join us and speak about what they had suffered. Seif Islam Kadafi, one of the sons of Libya’s ruler, was primarily responsible for persuading officials to allow us to hold the news conference. As the semi-sanctioned internal voice for reform, his “private” foundation had pushed publicly for changing the country’s laws and freeing political prisoners, and it helped establish two private newspapers that sometimes criticized government policies. We had a sense that, with Seif Islam’s support, some genuine political liberalization was possible and civil society might be able to breathe more freely.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/02/24/libya-oust-tyrant
Kadhafi digs in as Arab states brace for protests (AFP)
AFP – Eastern Libya is in full revolt as an insurrection against strongman Moamer Kadhafi intensified, and a string of Arab states braced for a fresh wave of anti-regime protests.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110225/wl_afp/mideastpoliticsunrest
Fate of Gaddafi inner circle also at stake
As he desperately tries to squash a popular rebellion, Libyan ruler Moammar Gaddafi is banking on the loyalty of a close circle of relatives and security officials whose personal fates depend on his survival, according to U.S. officials and analysts.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=d00d918d5dbe00b05dc2d4cf19b8a439
The tribes against the bunker, Pepe Escobar
Libya’s is a tribal revolution. It was not, and it is not, being led by young urban intellectuals, like in Egypt, or by the working class (most of it in fact composed of foreign workers). Even though the actors of the anti-Muammar Gaddafi uprising may be a mix of ordinary Libyans, educated and/or unemployed youth, a section of the urban middle classes and defectors from the army and the security services, what trespasses all them is the tribe. Even the Internet, in the Libyan chapter of the great 2011 Arab revolt, has not been an absolutely decisive actor.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MB26Ak05.html
Arabs48.com, “Azmi Bishara on Libya”
On Al Jazeera, Dr. Azmi Bishara said that the violence unleashed in Libya against the Libyan people is beyond belief — indicative of desperation on the part of the political order — or rather “disorder” — in Libya, attempting to put a quick end to the uprising before escalation, as the situation is a matter of life and death for Gaddafi for he has nowhere to go. . . . As for the position of the West, Dr. Bishara pointed out its hypocrisy: on one hand, the West doesn’t care for the government in Libya; on the other hand, it is worried, not only about an exodus of undocumented Libyans to the West, but more importantly about interruption in Libyan oil export. Dr. Bishara said that the strange thing is that it is still assumed in some quarters that the Libyan government is hostile to the West, so the silence of the West adds to the confusion, but it is clear that behind the rhetoric the Libyan government had normal relations with the West. It goes without saying that the West will shift its position once it figures out that the regime in Libya is falling. . . . Dr. Bishara emphasized that it is urgent for a united national leadership to emerge and put forward a program, especially given that the state and the social order in Libya are fragile. Therefore, a new leadership must present an alternative program now, not waiting for victory. Without a clear program the people cannot but fear what may happen.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/bishara240211.html
How dictators stash their cash 101: Swiss freeze Qaddafi assets
Switzerland today froze the assets of Libya strongman Muammar Qaddafi and 26 other people from his entourage, less than two weeks after freezing assets belonging to Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/z9q3rTnMm_U/How-dictators-stash-their-cash-101-Swiss-freeze-Qaddafi-assets
How dictators stash their cash 101: Egypt, Libya not alone in losing assets
Switzerland says it has returned more than $1.5 billion over the past 20 years, but money laundering continues on a grand scale. ‘It’s like untying the Gordian knot,’ says a former Department of Justice official.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/LptBIQ3DBoI/How-dictators-stash-their-cash-101-Egypt-Libya-not-alone-in-losing-assets
Silenced for decades, crowds in ‘Liberated Libya’ berate Qaddafi
Exuberance fills the streets of eastern Libya, but many can’t shake the fear that Col. Muammar Qaddafi will find a way to crush their revolt.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/DKbcVWpwB1s/Silenced-for-decades-crowds-in-Liberated-Libya-berate-Qaddafi
Scorn for Qaddafi explodes from ecstatic Libyans
‘It’s all been inside for 41 years,’ says a local man in ‘liberated’ eastern Libyan city of Tobruk. ‘Now it’s BOOM – like TNT!’
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/0z-9_oUS1zg/Scorn-for-Qaddafi-explodes-from-ecstatic-Libyans
Libya Gradually Splintering… Gaddafi Renews Threats
Until the early morning hours of the eighth day of the Libyan revolution, the casualties’ figures were rising appallingly reaching about thousands. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was re-tightening his bloody grip on the capital Tripoli and its surroundings by his militia, which spread terror in its neighborhoods. With the exception of Tripoli which was threatened by immediate danger, it appeared that Gaddafi has lost his hold on the rest of Libya regions, starting from the east, which announced its complete freedom from the tyranny, to the south, where the tribes announced it is joining the Revolution, to the West, where the rebels made important breakthroughs, particularly in Misurata, but remained unable to reach the besieged capital from outside and violated from the inside.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=3733&cid=21&fromval=1&frid=21&seccatid=64&s1=1
Blood and oil
The West has to deal with tyrants, but it should do so on its own terms. LESS than two years ago, at the G8 summit in L’Aquila in Italy, prime ministers and presidents sat down to talk about world trade and food security with Muammar Qaddafi. Today Libya’s tyrant is paying mercenaries to shoot his people in the streets like “rats” and “cockroaches”. Gangs of soldiers have roamed Tripoli, the capital, in open-backed trucks searching for people to machinegun. Snipers have fired indiscriminately from the rooftops and, it is said, helicopter gunships have spread terror from the sky (see article). The hope is that by the time you read this Mr Qaddafi has fallen, and Tripoli is sharing the joy of Benghazi to the east, where Libya’s uprising began. Yet his people are paying a terrible price for freedom. And the fear is that even now Mr Qaddafi will somehow clamber over the bodies littering the streets to seize back the power that has slipped away from him.
http://www.economist.com/node/18231320
The Satan of Our History
Latest from our freedom-loving friend in Tripoli: I am in Tripoli, on the 24th February at 1pm. As I heard in the news this morning that Zawiya city is under attack, I called my friend in Zawiya to check. He confirmed to me that Zawiya city has been under ruthless and continuous attack since last […]
http://pulsemedia.org/2011/02/24/the-satan-of-our-history/
More on intervention in Libya, Issandr El Amrani
Helena Cobban responds to my post on choices for intervention in Libya, advocating “incapacitation” rather than my “decapitation.” But then again she is a Quaker and therefore a pacifist, I am an Arab and therefore prone to irrational bouts of violence and strong-horse worship (if I understand my Lee Smith correctly). To tell the truth, I am not bothered by the idea of killing Qadhafi, I just prefer that Libyans do it.
http://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/2/24/more-on-intervention-in-libya.html
Libya: What can and should outsiders do?, Helena Cobban
I’ve been following the news of the carnage in Libya with huge sorrow, and there seems little hope it can be ended soon. Anti-Qadhafi forces seem to have taken control of large portions of the east of the country, while the country’s dangerous and possibly deranged long-time leader has been reinforcing his positions in the capital, Tripoli. There has been a lot of anguished discussion over what outside powers should “do” about Libya, with a lot of this focusing on imposing a “no-fly zone” over the whole country, presumably with the aim of preventing Qadhafi from rushing in any more reinforcements or resupplies from elsewhere, concentrating his forces within Libya, or using his air force once again to bomb the insurgents from the air. (One good critique of this idea came from Bob Dreyfuss, here.)
http://justworldnews.org/archives/004171.html
Al Jazeera speaks to Muhammad al-Senussi
Muhammad al-Senussi, who would be Libya’s crown prince if the country still had a monarchy, has spoken out about the ongoing violence in the country from London. Libya was a monarchy until Muammar Gaddafi took power in a military coup in 1969 and the exiled King Idris has long since died. In this interview with Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Phillips, al-Senussi asks the international community to help remove Gaddafi from power and stop the ongoing “massacre”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjdUS36_-oE&feature=player_embedded
Alex Becker: Wolfowitz and Neoconservative Interventionalism Are Wrong on Libya
In a piece Tuesday for the American Enterprise Institute’s “Enterprise Blog,” former Undersecretary of State and World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz characterized US action in the wake of violent unrest in Libya as “shameful” and “sitting on our hands.” Our immediate response, writes Wolfowitz, should have included the list of actions below.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-becker/wolfowitz-and-neoconserva_b_827776.html
The Business of Business in Libya, TARECQ AMER
Another North African country is in the throes of revolution, causing yet more confusion and consternation among western leaders. One can only imagine the chagrin these Europeans and U.S. American progenitors of universal morals feel as they woke up only to see another despotic investment (this time in the form of odd-ball dictator Muammar Qaddafi) fall to the wrath of his people. Money at risk, investments troubled, and cultivated relationships strained all under the hue and cry of popular uprisings that challenge the very foundations of neo-liberal capitalism. There is a clear and protracted state of confusion going on amongst these leaders. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (again) tries in vain to find the safest words to meet the moment of fury in the streets of Libya while not straying too far from the corporate demands for stability at any cost. Her boss, President Obama, hides away on Presidents’ Day perhaps hoping that by tomorrow all this will have gone away and he can get back to soaring speeches and mesmerized crowds.
http://www.counterpunch.com/amer02242011.html
What Really Bothered Qaddafi (Speech Excerpt with Translation)
On February 22nd, Qaddafi delivered a televised speech in which he appeared troubled and angry. Most observers assumed he was such because of his imminent dethroning. But that was not what was bothering him. Taking a break from superficial analysis at Jadaliyya, we put our minds to the task and excavated the phonetic meaning of his angry speech, captured by its finale.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/735/what-really-bothered-qaddafi-%28speech-excerpt-with-translation%29
How Long Will the U.S. and Europe Keep Repeating the Same Mistakes in the Middle East?
It took until Hosni Mubarak was safely in Sharm El Sheikh and newly free Egyptians were celebrating in Tahrir Square before President Obama finally came out firmly for democracy in Egypt, no qualifiers attached.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-levine/how-long-will-the-us-and-_b_827245.html
Jamahiriyyah TV
I am now watching Jamahiriyyah (Qadhdhafi regime) TV. What a show. It has the feel of channel 68 of public access TV in the US. Cheap studio and jittery camera movement. The discussion is purely Islamic justification of preserving the ruler and warnings against Fitnah. There is talk of the security that leader provided. It has a flash that Libyan government denies the rumors spread by those satellite stations “who conspire against Libya”. It talks about demonstrations in support of the “brother leader of the revolution”–Qadhdhafi. But there is more: the guests on the show seems as comfortable as when I had my wisdom teeth extracted. They also seem to look shiftily toward the side: as if they are waiting and looking for the nearest exist.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/jamahiriyyah-tv.html
Rejuvenation of Arab nationalism and/or identity
I have argued in public speeches (although I have not published it yet) about “the rejuvenation of Arab nationalism” in the wake of the war on Iraq back in 1991. I still stand by my thesis and now find ample evidence of it. This is an unreported story of the developments in the Arab world: how the events in Tunisia have affected every Arab country in one way or another, and only Arab countries. How the slogans are being changed from maghrib to mashriq without an organizational orchestration. Tunisia is leading the way: it is setting the tone and pace of the uprisings. I am watching live footage of demonstrations in Tunisia today: and the slogans could not be clearer: a voice of Arab nationalist solidarity. There are flags of most Arab countries in the protests in Tunisia today, and as soon as Bin Ali fled, Tunisians were chanting about the “liberation of Palestine.” Egyptian protesters have been more cautious in their collective action because: 1) Egyptian nationalism is strong and have been nurtured for decades by Sadat and Mubarak AND Camp David; 2) Egyptian protesters are keen on not antagonizing the military at this point for many reasons, and the Arab nationalist manifestation would translate into undermining that precious–by US/Israeli standards–treaty. But these are revolutionary time: Alexander Kerensky is barely remembered in the Russian Revolution. Ahmad Shafiq will be a footnote to the story. The Tunisian protesters will also lead the way in how they keep pushing: after they achieve victories, they push even more. Now they want to bring down the cabinet and to create a constitutional convention. Finally: what is Aljazeera if not an Arab nationalist phenomenon? Also, note that Islamist from Tunisia to Morocco and to Egypt are now increasingly speaking about the “Arab ummah”.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/rejuvenation-of-arab-nationalism-andor.html
History should be harsh on Tony Blair for embracing Gaddafi | Alexander Chancellor
Tony Blair knew what a murderous ‘mad dog’ Gaddafi was. The only convincing reason for the rapprochement was the promotion of British interests in Libya. In the light of subsequent events, Neville Chamberlain’s effort to appease Adolf Hitler is usually portrayed as one of the most shameful episodes in modern British history. But surely Tony Blair’s love-in with Colonel Gaddafi was worse. Chamberlain never pretended to like Hitler. He certainly never embraced him. His aim was to prevent war by reaching an accommodation with a man whose full infamy he did not appreciate. He was naive to believe he could rely on Hitler’s promises, and he was culpably indifferent towards the fate of the Czechoslovaks, but the prospect of another war between Britain and Germany seemed so terrible (as, indeed, it turned out to be) that his policy of appeasement can at least be understood. As Winston Churchill, the arch-opponent of appeasement, said in his House of Commons eulogy to Chamberlain after his death in 1940: “Neville Chamberlain acted with perfect sincerity according to his lights, and strove to the utmost of his capacity and authority, which were powerful, to save the world from the awful, devastating struggle in which we are now engaged. This alone will stand him in good stead as far as what is called the verdict of history is concerned.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/25/tony-blair-colonel-gaddafi-alexander-chancellor
Chomsky: US supports stable dictators
“For the Arab public, the major threat by overwhelming majority is the US and Israel.”
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/166788.html
Cartoons
Gaddafi’s Hallucinations. See “State T.V.” animation
http://www.markfiore.com/political-cartoons/watch-gaddafi-libya-revolt-uprising-dictator-overthrow-revolution-tunisia-animated-video-mark-fiore-animation
