As’ad Abukhalil on the patience of Arabs: “When you see the scenes in Libya and the brandishing of the pre-1969 Libyan flag, you think: that some people never made peace with the lousy Libyan regime and that they kept the old flag waiting for the right moment.”
Here is the latest news from Twitter:
And more news on the situation in Libya:
The Massacres/The Protests/Eyewitness Accounts
Italy says 1,000 killed in Libya unrest
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Muammar Gaddafi’s increasingly desperate attempts to crush a revolt against his four-decade rule have killed as many as 1,000 people and split Libya, Italy’s Foreign Minister said on Wednesday. As countries with strong business ties to Africa’s third largest oil producer scrambled to evacuate their citizens, and fear of pro-Gaddafi gunmen emptied the streets of the capital Tripoli, France became the first state to call for sanctions.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/23/italy-says-1000-killed-in-libya-unrest/
Opposition says over 560 killed in Libya protests
More than 560 people have been killed in Libya since the unrest began, according to estimates by the opposition. About 1,400 people were still missing, broadcaster Al Arabiya reported Tuesday.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/africa/news/article_1621117.php/Opposition-says-over-560-killed-in-Libya-protests-2nd-Lead
BREAKING: Eyewitness account updates from Tripoli right now
All lines cut off again, it might come back anytime or not! Only God knows! We can hear the thugs in Green Square cheering for him right now, gund shots, fireworks… it is maddness!!! he didn’t say anything about people who been killed, not a word, Allah will be with us…
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=1829
Witness tells of violence in Benghazi
An eyewitness to the violence in Benghazi told euronews that authorities acted violently to put down the protests, and said there were worries about soldiers at the city’s airport. “We were attacked even though our demonstrations in Benghazi were calm. We have no intention of splitting the country, no plan to divide the Libyan people, from neither the left-wing nor the right-wing. Our unity is eternal. All the population of Benghazi are one people. Gaddafi’s son talks of sedition and division, but that’s wrong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1sz2ySGiFg&feature=player_embedded
CNN’s Anderson Cooper speaks with Moftah, a resident of Eastern Libya.
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2011/02/22/exp.ac.moftah.free.cnn.html
Stories of “death and destruction” emerge from Libya
Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal reaches the Egyptian side of the border with Libya and begins to receive reports from those fleeing the country in revolt. Civilians have rushed to the Al Jazeera team with memory sticks, telling him they contain images of “horrific scenes”: planes and helicopter gunships firing indiscriminately, and mercenaries breaking into homes and “slaughtering” people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3du9ouBh-AQ
Libyan student says mercenaries killed protesters
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, Feb 22 (Reuters) – A Libyan student who saw his friends killed in protests against the rule of Muammar Gaddafi in the town of Al Bayda said on Tuesday that mercenaries from Africa had killed dozens on the Libyan leader’s orders. Gaddafi used tanks, helicopters and warplanes to fight a growing revolt, witnesses said on Tuesday, as the veteran leader scoffed at reports he was fleeing after four decades in power. Rebel soldiers said the east of Libya had broken free from the leader’s control.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libyan-student-says-mercenaries-killed-protesters
Leaked: Martyrs who fell during Al Fudail barracks siege prior to Benghazi’s liberation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTvP4TBeyds&feature=player_embedded
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=1856
BREAKING: Extreme gunfire against protesters in Benghazi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aecXrVAKgjs&feature=player_embedded
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=1806
New Footage: Blood of the Youth on the Streets
http://feb17.info/media/new-footage-blood-of-the-youth-on-the-streets/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWl0kIzvIp4&feature=player_embedded
Man from Shahat (Cyrene) recalls his story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_W9j4s0rCk&feature=player_embedded
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=1813
Libya Turns into Palestine, Throw Stones get bullets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32_oCtcnWOc&feature=youtube_gdata&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Video from Libya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZnAGLt1bD4&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsEOidtmKyI&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74r7whMKZ-A&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf_Qt2TBPw8&feature=player_embedded
Defections
Former Gaddafi No.2, Abdul Fatah Younis being interviewed on Al Arabiya
11:20pm: Younis adds: “Gaddafi’s speech was very clear to any one who has a brain. He is nervous, he is stubborn. He may commit suicide. Gaddafi won’t leave. He may commit suicide or will be killed. I didn’t wish for him to face such an end.”
http://feb17.info/videos/former-gaddafi-no-2-abdul-fatah-younis-being-interviewed-on-al-arabiya/
[SAVE-LIBYA] Military Unit From Jab’al AlAkhthar (Green Hill) Defect and Declare Support For People
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVzYADb7MMc&feature=youtu.be
John King, USA: Libya Interior Minister joins revolution
Nic Robertson reports that Libya’s Interior Minister resigned and joined forces with those opposed to Moammar Gadhafi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPLngHWwwmU
Libyan ambassadors in France back revolt
PARIS, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Libya’s ambassador to France and another diplomatic envoy from Tripoli threw their weight behind the revolt against leader Muammar Gaddafi on Tuesday, a Libyan official said.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libyan-ambassadors-in-france-back-revolt
FACTBOX-Diplomats desert Libya’s Gaddafi
Feb 22 (Reuters) – Rebel soldiers said the eastern region of Libya had broken free from Muammar Gaddafi, who witnesses said was using tanks, warplanes and mercenaries to fight a growing uprising against his rule. World powers have condemned the use of force against protesters, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accusing Libya of firing on civilians from warplanes and helicopters.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/factbox-diplomats-desert-libyas-gaddafi
Ship #1 Defects: Libyan ship spotted off Malta coast
Italian navy says it is monitoring a Libyan “naval asset” in the Mediterranean, but is not clear about its intention.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/europe/2011/02/2011222152359147622.html
Ship #2 Defects BREAKING: Second Libyan warship headed to Malta
A second Libyan warship is currently in international waters headed to the coast of Malta after refusing orders to shell Benghazi.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=1838
Protesters Gaining Ground
30% of Libya in Hands of Youth Movement, Juan Cole
If we begin at the eastern border of Libya with Egypt this morning and move west, we find the country is now divided in two, with the east largely in the hands of dissidents and the West still under the thumb of Qaddafi’s security forces. The border with Egypt is in the hands of the Youth Movement, and the Egyptian government at the Bedouin village of Sallum (pop. 14,000) is allowing the border to remain open, permitting supplies and medicine to flow into the eastern cities. This Egyptian policy is tacit support for the revolt.
http://www.juancole.com/2011/02/30-of-libya-in-hands-of-youth-movement.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29
Benghazi slips Gaddafi yoke to run itself
ALGIERS, Feb 22 (Reuters) – It was perhaps inevitable that the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi would begin in Benghazi, the ancient eastern stronghold that for years rivalled the Libyan capital. After a week of violence during which it threw off government control, the city of about 700,000 is starting to run itself under “people’s committees” as the dust of rebellion settles.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/benghazi-slips-gaddafi-yoke-to-run-itself
Benghazi, cradle of revolt, alive with celebration
BENGHAZI, Libya, Feb 23 (Reuters) – The eastern city of Benghazi, the cradle of revolt against Muammar Gaddafi, was alive with celebration on Wednesday with thousands out on the streets, setting off fireworks and handing out food.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/eastern-libyan-town-bears-scars-of-revolt
People in Libya’s Benghazi hand back weapons- residents
CAIRO, Feb 23 (Reuters) – People in Benghazi said on Wednesday they now felt safe enough to start handing in weapons recovered after security forces lost control of the eastern Libyan city. Residents said arms were being collected by the organisers of a revolt that has seen the city pass into the hands of protesters opposed to Muammar Gaddafi after soldiers switched sides, ending a crackdown there in which scores were killed.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/people-in-libyas-benghazi-hand-back-weapons–residents
Toburk Celebrates As The True Libyan Flag Of Democracy Is Rasied
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRNqG56XtFM&feature=player_embedded
EXCLUSIVE-Tobruk celebrates as Libya’s east abandons Gaddafi
TOBRUK, Libya, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Bursts of celebratory machine gun fire echoed through the streets of Tobruk on Tuesday as anti-government protesters trashed a monument to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s most treasured work. Truckloads of demonstrators rolled down the streets of the eastern Libyan port city, past low concrete houses, distant smokestacks and the glinting Mediterranean Sea.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/exclusive-tobruk-celebrates-as-libyas-east-abandons-gaddafi
Protesters take over border to ‘new Libya’, Leila Fadel, Tobruk
ON LIBYA’S north-eastern border, there were no visa procedures or passport-control officers. There was just a gaggle of armed young men – defecting soldiers and police officers – waving people through.
http://feb17.info/media/welcome-to-the-new-libya/
Western Libyan towns fall to protesters
This is a rather simple map which tries to get a sense of the ebb and flow of uprisings and regime counterattacks. I will to add more and update regularly. Most of the big developments in the last few hours have taken place in the west: in Sabratha, a fairly small town west of Tripoli, where the regime has reportedly brought up heavy armor to regain control, and in Misurata, to the east of Tripoli, which AP and others have fallen completely to the protesters. Misurata is 185km from Tripoli, and is the third-largest city in the country. If it fell because local army units went over to the rebels, and thus it can defend itself, then this would be quite promising. However, if Qaddafi still has enough mobile loyalist forces to move to Misurata, and the Sabratha reports suggest that he might, then this could be a another humanitarian disaster along the lines of what now appears to be happening in Tripoli.
http://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/2/23/western-libyan-towns-fall-to-protesters.html
East of Libya “largely in the hands of dissidents”…
“if we begin at the eastern border of Libya with Egypt this morning and move west, we find the country is now divided in two, with the east largely in the hands of dissidents and the West still under the thumb of Qaddafi’s security forces. The border with Egypt is in the hands of the Youth Movement, and the Egyptian government at the Bedouin village of Sallum (pop. 14,000) is allowing the border to remain open, permitting supplies and medicine to flow into the eastern cities. This Egyptian policy is tacit support for the revolt.
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2011/02/east-of-libya-largely-in-hands-of.html
BREAKING: Zwaara in the hands of the protesters
We have received confirmation from the ground that the city of Zwaara is now in the hands of the protesters and under their control. This is a very strategic location as it is approximately 58km away from the Libyan Tunisian border.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=1999
BREAKING: Thousands in Benghazi chanting their unity with Tripoli
Contacts on the ground have given us eyewitness accounts which confirm that thousands of people in Benghazi are out in support of Tripoli and chanting that they are one. It is understood that Benghazi is organising itself into committees to prepare for the next step to topple Gaddafi’s regime and support their brothers and sisters in Tripoli.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=2001
Burning of Huge Gaddafi Banner in Zawiya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A_LbcBKdaI&feature=player_embedded
http://feb17.info/media/burning-of-huge-gaddafi-banner-in-zawiya/
BREAKING: Burned down Municipal Guard building in Tajoura
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ds4mrE4Y-I&feature=player_embedded
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=1809
Amazing footage of protesters destroying Green Book sculpt in Misratah
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=1859
LIBYA: Photos of protesters in Benghazi
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/02/libya-photos-of-protesters-triumph-in-benghazi.html
Humanitarian Issues
Reporter missing in Libya
New York, February 22, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the ongoing deterioration of conditions for the media in the Middle East, including the disappearance of Atef al-Atrash, a critical Libyan journalist, since anti-Qaddafi demonstrations began February 17. The Internet has been intermittently down since Saturday in the country, according to international news reports, and foreign journalists continue to be denied entry. Al-Jazeera’s signal in Libya remains jammed, according to the network.
http://cpj.org/2011/02/libyan-journalist-missing-media-attacked-in-libya.php
Ghaddafi’s private pilot: “I want to leave!”
22 February – The private pilot of Moammar Ghaddafi, a Norwegian citizen, says he wants to leave Libya as soon as possible, but may have to wait for the Libyan leader. 57-year-old Odd Birger Johansen for the last year has been the pilot of the private jet of Colonel Ghaddafi. He is now in Tripoli, together with his wife and daughter that had chosen this unhappy moment to visit him for a holiday in Libya.
http://www.afrol.com/articles/37407
Mass evacuations under way in Libya
Governments scramble ships and aircraft to pick up citizens stranded amid violent unrest in the North African nation.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/02/20112234434813424.html
Egypt evacuates citizens from Libya
Army sets up field hospitals on Libyan border to receive returning Egyptians.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/02/2011221222342232993.html
US unable to move its diplomats from Libya Tuesday
WASHINGTON, Feb 22 (Reuters) – The United States said it had been unable to move any of its nonessential U.S. diplomats and embassy family members out of Libya on Tuesday and expected them to depart in coming days. Witnesses streaming out of Libya into Egypt said Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi used tanks, warplanes and mercenaries to try to crush protests against his 41-year rule.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/us-unable-to-move-its-diplomats-from-libya-tuesday
Aid from the Egyptian City of Matruh Arrives in Libya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrtEFeUHKoI&feature=player_embedded
http://feb17.info/media/aid-from-the-egyptian-city-of-matruh-arrives-in-libya/
LIBYAN RELIEF FUND – PAYPAL – DONATE – SAVE LIBYA
http://feb17.info/media/libyan-relief-effort-paypal/
Thomas Lipscomb: The U.S. Should Immediately Provide Humanitarian Relief to Libya and Can Easily Do So
Rather than the embarrassing administrative flip flops we saw during President Obama’s “considering” of the freedom demonstrations in Tahrir Square, initiating humanitarian aid should be a no-brainer.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-lipscomb/the-us-should-immediately_1_b_826810.html
Developments
Libya: Commanders Should Face Justice for Killings
(New York) – Witnesses in Tripoli have described Libyan forces firing “randomly” at protesters in the capital on February 22 and 21, 2011, Human Rights Watch said today. While Human Rights Watch is unable to verify these reports, sources from two hospitals in Tripoli said at least 62 bodies, victims of clashes, had been brought into their morgues since February 20.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/02/22/libya-commanders-should-face-justice-killings
Hold Gadhafi Accountable for Atrocities
(CNN) – Libya’s fate lies in the hands of its citizens and a ruler intent on keeping power at whatever the cost in the blood of protesters. But the United Nations, the United States and other governments can help protect those protesters from Gadhafi’s guns and encourage a democratic result. To do so, they should quickly replace catch-phrase condemnations with resolute steps.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/02/22/hold-gadhafi-accountable-atrocities
Defiant Gaddafi vows to ‘fight on’
Libya witnessed another day of chaos on Wednesday, as a defiant Muammar Gaddafi refused to step down in the face of widespread protests, calling instead for his supporters to “cleanse” the country “house by house”. Calling those who stand against him “rats” and “mercenaries”, he said during a televised address on Tuesday that he would fight to the last, and that he would rather die “a martyr” than quit office. On Wednesday, Franco Frattini, the Italian foreign minister, said that reports of 1,000 people being killed in a violent anti-government crackdown on protests that has raged since February 17th were “credible”. Al Jazeera’s Lawrence Lee reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYyho9dBq-o&feature=youtube_gdata
Pressure mounts on isolated Gaddafi
Pressure builds on Libyan ruler Col Muammar Gaddafi after a chorus of UN condemnation and further resignations by top officials.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-12550719
The people’s reaction to Gaddafi’s speech
http://www.libyafeb17.com/?p=1816
Defiant Gaddafi vows to fight on
In televised speech, Libyan leader blames youths inspired by region’s revolutions for unrest and vows to die a “martyr”.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2011/02/201122216458913596.html
INTERVIEW-Gaddafi seen doing “everything” to keep Tripoli
LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Muammar Gaddafi was not bluffing when he vowed on Tuesday to defy mounting protests, a Libyan familiar with official thinking said, adding that the veteran leader would do “everything” to keep control of the capital. Noman Benotman, who returned to Britain on Monday evening after spending the past 10 days in Tripoli, helped lead an armed Islamist rebellion against Gaddafi in the mid-1990s but has since built ties to reformists as well as Libyan security services under a programme of political reconciliation.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/interview-gaddafi-seen-doing-everything-to-keep-tripoli
Fighting Nears Tripoli, Where Qaddafi Keeps Grip on Power
Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya held control of the capital on Wednesday, but there were indications that the fighting had reached the northwest of the country around Tripoli.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=1668a8daba08553c5a52a1d6ba2a1503
Report: Gadhafi ordered sabotaging oil pipelines to Mediterranean
Arab League suspended Libya from its sessions in light of the continuing violent crackdown on anti-government protests; Clinton says watching situation in Libya with ‘alarm.’
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/report-gadhafi-ordered-sabotaging-oil-pipelines-to-mediterranean-1.345175?localLinksEnabled=false
Gaddafi’s Next Move: Sabotage Oil and Sow Chaos?
There’s been virtually no reliable information coming out of Tripoli, but a source close to the Gaddafi regime I did manage to get hold of told me the already terrible situation in Libya will get much worse. Among other things, Gaddafi has ordered security services to start sabotaging oil facilities. They will start by blowing up several oil pipelines, cutting off flow to Mediterranean ports. The sabotage, according to the insider, is meant to serve as a message to Libya’s rebellious tribes: It’s either me or chaos.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2052961,00.html#ixzz1EjO0g4QY
Libya’s Gaddafi plans to devolve power -Arabiya TV
CAIRO, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi will announce a plan to devolve power to local governments and give them control over their budgets, satellite news channel Al Arabiya reported on Tuesday, quoting Libyan state television.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libyas-gaddafi-plans-to-devolve-power–arabiya-tv
In Gaza, 2,000 hail from Libya and wait to return
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Libyans in Gaza say they have been trapped in the coastal enclave for decades since the Libyan regime prevented them from returning home. Ali Muhammad Ali Al-Farahani, 32, said that today, some 2,000 descendants of Libyan fighters were in Gaza, and prevented from returning to the North African country by the Libyan government.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=362388
Libya corruption, cult of personality drive Qaddafi’s grip on power: WikiLeaks cable
Libya leader Muammar Qaddafi has retained power for four decades by playing political rivals, including his sons, off one another, cables from the US ambassador to Libya reveal.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/peR4Ncq5U1Y/Libya-corruption-cult-of-personality-drive-Qaddafi-s-grip-on-power-WikiLeaks-cable
Libya source of jamming of Lebanese news channels: TRA
BEIRUT: The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority confirmed Tuesday that Libya has been jamming Lebanese news channels. “It turned out that the jamming likely came from a Satellite News Gathering base present outside Lebanese territories, and specifically inside Libyan territories, especially as the area covered by network provider Arabsat stretches throughout vast areas in the Middle East, Gulf, Africa and Europe,” said a TRA statement.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=125205#axzz1EjyJ5F4l
Report: Gaddafi’s daughter-in-law denied entry into Lebanon
Beirut – A private jet carrying the daughter-in-law of Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi was refused permission to land in Beirut the previous day, according to a radio report Wednesday. Hannibal Gaddafi’s wife, who is Lebanese, and several members of Libya’s ruling family were onboard the plane due to fly from Tripoli to Rafic Hariri International Airport, Voice of Lebanon radio reported.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1621356.php/Report-Gaddafi-s-daughter-in-law-denied-entry-into-Lebanon
Mousa al-Sadr alive in Libyan prison: sources
As protests sweep Libya demanding the ouster of the regime and several accusations of human rights violations are directed at Muammar Gaddafi, the file of the disappearance of Mousa al-Sadr has started coming to the forefront once more with sources telling AlArabiya.net that the Shiite imam is alive in a Libyan prison.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/23/138850.html
Sadr killed and buried in Libya: former Gadhafi associate
BEIRUT: Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s agents assassinated Lebanese influential Shiite cleric Imam Musa Sadr and buried him in the southern city of Sabha, Gadhafi’s associate Abdel-Monem al-Houni said in remarks to be published Wednesday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=125201
Libyan officials say Qatar, Al Jazeera arranged revolt
In their first press conference since a revolt began on February 14, the Libyan regime’s secretary general and deputy commander of the air force said that reports of air strikes against civilians were false. They singled out Qatar, Al Jazeera’s host country, for spreading “lies” and hiring Egyptian and Libyan “sheikhs” with “high salaries” to foment the unrest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJMqKdoPTkw&feature=youtube_gdata
Libya unrest raises oil concerns
This is the first time that the changes sweeping the Arab world have hit a major oil producer and there are now fears that the spike in oil prices could hurt the fragile global economy. While Libya only produces two per cent of world oil production, 85 per cent of that is sent to Europe. Al Jazeera’s Nick Spicer reports from Berlin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQVY0Ds9IO4&feature=youtube_gdata
Libya’s revolt scares oil traders
“Nothing explodes like an oil refinery and rioters tend to like to burn things,” analyst says.
http://english.aljazeera.net//indepth/features/2011/02/201122212923942483.html
FACTBOX-Growing U.S.-Libya trade ties at risk
Feb 22 (Reuters) – A top U.S. senator has urged the Obama administration to show disapproval for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s violent efforts to quash pro-democracy protests by considering new sanctions on the North African country.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/factbox-growing-us-libya-trade-ties-at-risk
International Reactions
Arab League suspends Libya; minister defects
In response to fiery speech in which Gaddafi vowed to cling to power, US says will take ‘ appropriate steps’; Al-Jazeera says Libyan interior minister announced his support for ‘February 17 revolution’; official news agency says ‘brother leader told Berlusconi Libya is fine’.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4032575,00.html
UN Security Council holds Libya meeting
UNITED NATIONS – The UN Security Council held formal consultations Tuesday on the Libya crisis with western nations pressing for a strong statement on the violence roiling the North African nation. “There is even more concern after what was a very worrying speech by Moamer Kadhafi,” said one diplomat before the meeting of the 15-nation council.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/22/un-security-council-holds-libya-meeting/
Nations condemn Libyan crackdown
Strong reaction and string of defections follow reports of massive use of force by Gaddafi against civilian protesters.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/201122214042786138.html
Erdogan Warns Libyan Regime against “Turning Blind Eye” to People’s Demands
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Libyan regime against ignoring people’s demand for democracy. “One must not fall into the mistake of turning a blind eye to the people’s demands for democracy and freedoms. The Libyan administration must not commit such a mistake,” Erdogan said in a speech to his lawmakers in parliament. “Ruthless interventions against those who voice democratic demands will increase the spiral of violence… The spread of growing violence to the whole of Libya is dangerous,” he said.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=3481&cid=22&fromval=1&frid=22&seccatid=55&s1=1
Gaddafi speech very frightening, says Merkel
BERLIN, Feb 22 (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel described Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s speech on Tuesday, in which he vowed to cling to power, as very frightening and said he had virtually declared war on his own people. Merkel told a news conference she would support eventual sanctions against Libya if Gaddafi failed to stop the violence.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/gaddafi-speech-very-frightening-says-merkel
Kerry: Gadhafi ‘Is Irredeemable’
The Massachusetts Democrat also said in a statement Tuesday that U.S. and other oil companies should “immediately cease operations in Libya until violence against civilians ceases,” and that the United Nations Security Council should condemn violence directed at the protesters and remove Libya from the Human Rights Commission.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/02/22/kerry-gadhafi-is-irredeemable/
Medvedev warns Arabs of ‘extremism’
Russian president says rebellions could empower fanatics, break up states and “spread extremism in the future”.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/europe/2011/02/2011222142449923896.html
U.S. Condemns Libyan Tumult but Makes No Threats
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton calls violence by the Libyan government unacceptable but notes that Americans’ safety is the first concern.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=c5b63e6e460d3755e99579093dcf4cec
Calls grow for stronger U.S. response on Libya
WASHINGTON, Feb 22 (Reuters) – The U.S. government faced mounting calls for action against Libya on Tuesday as the regime of Muammar Gaddafi used tanks, helicopters and warplanes to unleash fresh attacks on pro-democracy demonstrators. The White House said it offered condolences for victims of “appalling violence” and urged the Libyan government to respect the rights of its citizens.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/calls-grow-for-stronger-us-response-on-libya
PM calls for aid cuts for repressive states
David Cameron is pressing for Middle East countries that fail to reform to be stripped of hundreds of millions of pounds of EU aid.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/pm-calls-for-aid-cuts-for-repressive-states-2223087.html
Solidarity
Bouazizi family’s message to Libya
The family of Mohamed Bouazizi, the young Tunisian from Sidi Bouzid whose act of self-immolation triggered the Tunisian Uprising, has a message for the families in Libya who have lost their loved ones to the violent repression of the protests. Bouazizi, a 26-year-old street vendor, set himself on fire on December 17 after police abused and humiliated him. He died of his burns on January 4. The protest movement that began in Sidi Bouzid swelled to become a nationwide phenomenon, and spread to other countries in North Africa and the Middle East. Most recently, it reached Libya. Hundreds of Libyans have been killed as Muammar Gaddafi attempts to petrify the protests against his regime. Menobia Bouazizi, Mohamed’s mother, recorded this message for their families. Her family sent the video to Al Jazeera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61m567lqL74&feature=player_embedded
Gaza demonstrations: Gaddafi not fit to rule Libyans
Senior Islamic Jihad Movement official Mohammed al-Hindi said what the Gaddafi regime is doing to his people is ”no less of a crime than what Israel is doing to the Palestinians.”
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Q
Native Libyan Students Come Out in the masses to the protest in DC against Libyan Govt. Order
Native Libyan Students come out in the mass to the protest against Gaddafi in DC carrying signs that read “My siblings are risking life. I can risk a scholarship.” It was reported that the Libyan Embassy issued letters to all Native Libyan students studying abroad here in America that if they did not protest in Pro-Gaddafi rallies, they would lose… Read the rest of the story
http://feb17.info/media/native-libyan-students-come-out-in-mass-to-the-protest-in-dc-against-libyan-govt-orders/
Live: Protesters outside White House in D.C. March to Libyan Embassy
http://feb17.info/media/live-protesters-outside-white-house-in-d-c-march-to-libyan-embassy/
Pictures: Remembering the Martyrs of Libya: Candlelight Vigil in Washington, D.C.
http://feb17.info/media/remembering-the-martyrs-of-libya-candlelight-vigil-in-washington-d-c/
TODAY IN EGYPT: Cairo Takes to the Streets for the LIBYANS!
http://feb17.info/media/today-in-egypt-cairo-takes-to-the-streets-for-the-libyans/
Analysis/Op-ed
Inside Story – Libya on the brink
Libya’s embattled leader clings to power, with his military unleashing the bloodiest crackdown among the wave of protests sweeping the Arab world. But how long can Muammar Gaddafi survive? And what are the risks if his regime is toppled?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CssmL46gzBM&feature=youtube_gdata
Riz Khan – Libya’s lucrative ties
As world leaders condemn violence against protesters, what is at stake for Western nations with close ties to Gaddafi?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx5cUpSN0_Q&feature=youtube_gdata
Wedeman: Gadhafi blames unrest on ‘rats’
CNN’s Ben Wedeman reports from Libya, where it “appears the Gadhafi regime is falling apart,” despite a defiant speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0oWXGx3Eq4
Moammar Gadhafi’s Private Mercenary Army ‘Knows One Thing: To Kill’
Moammar Gadhafi is using foreign mercenaries from Africa who don’t speak Arabic, as a private army to protect his regime and they have shown no hesitancy to fire on civilian protesters, witnesses have said. A doctor in Benghazi told ABC News several foreign mercenaries were captured by Libyan police who have sided with the protesters. The captives, the doctors said, can’t speak English or Arabic and when confronted by locals they had a hard time communicating.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/benghazi-doctor-gadhafi-foreign-mercenaries-quell-protests/story?id=12972216
Has Gaddafi unleashed a mercenary force on Libya?
Reports describe black, French-speaking troops but observers warn they could just be sub-Saharan immigrants in the army
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/22/gaddafi-mercenary-force-libya?CMP=twt_fd
The King of King’s speech
Al Jazeera’s senior policy analyst says Gaddafi’s threats were no different from those of any foreign occupier.
http://english.aljazeera.net//indepth/opinion/2011/02/2011222181341136101.html
Navigating Libya’s tribal maze
Intricate tribal structure plays a crucial role in both Libyan politics and the current pro-democracy opposition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSWNdmj0Rps&feature=youtube_gdata
http://english.aljazeera.net/video/africa/2011/02/201122352025494387.html
Gadafy family may have billions in secret accounts
THE GADAFY family could have billions of dollars of funds hidden away in secret bank accounts in Dubai, southeast Asia and the Persian Gulf, much of it likely to have come from Libya’s vast oil revenues, according to analysis by leading Middle East experts.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0223/1224290629955.html
Qaddafi speech: More Saddam Hussein than Mubarak
Muammar Qaddafi’s Libya may be autocratic like Tunisia and Egypt. But unlike the leaders of those regimes, Qaddafi seems willing to plunge his country into war to preserve power.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/wGisp26ygpg/Qaddafi-speech-More-Saddam-Hussein-than-Mubarak
Robert Fisk: Gaddafi raved and cursed, but he faces forces he cannot control
So he will go down fighting. That’s what Muammar Gaddafi told us last night, and most Libyans believe him. This will be no smooth flight to Riyadh or a gentle trip to a Red Sea holiday resort. Raddled, cowled in desert gowns, he raved on.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-gaddafi-raved-and-cursed-but-he-faces-forces-he-cannot-control-2222904.html
Britain can push democracy or weapons – but not both | Simon Jenkins
David Cameron’s arms-sale tour has mired him in typical liberal interventionist hypocrisy. Better let the Arab world sort itself out. I must be missing something. The present British government, like its predecessor, claims to pursue a policy of “liberal interventionism”, seeking the downfall of undemocratic regimes round the globe, notably in the Muslim world. The same British government, again like its predecessor, sends these undemocratic regimes copious weapons to suppress the only plausible means of the said downfall, popular insurrection. The contradiction is glaring.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/22/britain-push-democracy-weapons-cameron
When the Zionists flocked to Qadhdhafi’s Libya
“After Colonel Qaddafi abandoned his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction in 2003, many American officials praised his cooperation. Visiting with a congressional delegation in 2009, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Independent of Connecticut told the leader and his party-loving national security adviser, Muatassim, that Libya was “an important ally in the war on terrorism, noting that common enemies sometimes make better friends.” Before Condoleezza Rice visited Libya in 2008 — the first secretary of state to do so since 1953 — the embassy in Tripoli sought to accentuate the positive. True, Colonel Qaddafi was “notoriously mercurial” and “avoids making eye contact,” the cable warned Ms. Rice, and “there may be long, uncomfortable periods of silence.” But he was “a voracious consumer of news,” the cable added, who had such distinctive ideas as resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a single new state called “Isratine.” “A self-styled intellectual and philosopher,” the cable told Ms. Rice, “he has been eagerly anticipating for several years the opportunity to share with you his views on global affairs.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/when-zionists-flocked-to-qadhdhafis.html
Lobbyists for the Libyan dictator
“So, to get the full picture of Libya’s lobbying influence over your lawmakers, start with Marcus Baram’s broader piece on the D.C. firms serving a wide swath of Mideast nations and then check out Laura Rozen’s more Libya-specific piece in Politico. There are several prominent firms in the mix, including The Livingston Group and White and Case LLP. The most interesting player, by far, is neocon mainstay Richard Perle, who — per Rozen — “traveled to Libya twice in 2006 to meet with Qadhafi, and afterward briefed Vice President Dick Cheney on his visits, according to documents released by a Libyan opposition group in 2009.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/lobbyists-for-libyan-dictator.html
“Gaddafi Cares More for Himself and His Power than He Cares for Anybody in Libya”: Libyan American Activist Abdulla Darrat on Bloody Crackdown on Protesters
The Libyan government faces international condemnation for a vicious assault on the growing uprising against the four-decade rule of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. On Monday, Libyan troops and pro-government mercenaries attacked a large demonstration in the capital of Tripoli. Armed forces hunted down protesters in the streets, while Libyan warplanes and helicopters fired on them from above. The violence comes amidst more signs that Gaddafi’s government is losing ground. On Monday, several Libyan officials broke with Gaddaffi, including the justice minister and the country’s delegation to the United Nations. For more, we are joined by Libyan American activist Abdulla Darrat. “It really shows what over the last 40 years has become a country dominated by the megalomania of this one human being, who cares more for his self and his power than he cares for anybody in Libya,” Darrat says.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/22/gaddafi_cares_more_for_himself_and
“We’re Witnessing the Violent Lashings of a Dying Beast”: Libyan Novelist Hisham Matar on the Gaddafi’s Violent Crackdown in Libya
Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi vows not to leave the country as opposition protesters take control of key cities. After a week of demonstrations, thousands of protesters have been killed or injured by pro-Gaddafi police and hired mercenaries, and more than a thousand people are missing. For more on Libya, we are joined from London by Hisham Matar, a renowned Libyan novelist. He is the son of a prominent Libyan dissident and he is currently helping to run an ad-hoc news desk informing the Western media of events occurring in Libya. “The world now is watching the massacre and history will hold the international community responsible,” Matar says. “Not only are we watching an unelected dictatorship massacring its own people, we are watching a dictatorship that the world has profited from its close relationships with.”
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/23/were_witnessing_the_violent_lashings_of
Death and Destruction in Libya
UPDATE: The regime is collapsing. The minister of interior Gen. Abdulfatah Younis, whom Gaddafi praised in his speech, has just resigned and joined the revolution. Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal reaches the Egyptian side of the border with Libya and begins to receive reports from those fleeing the country in revolt.
http://pulsemedia.org/2011/02/22/death-and-destruction-in-libya/
How absolute is Qaddafi’s power? 4 key questions
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi has long elicited chuckles abroad with his outlandish attire and over-the-top rhetoric, but his brutal crackdown this week is no laughing matter. This backgrounder offers a look at how the eccentric dictator came to power – and how he’s held on to it for 41 years.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/xR0Jt7dYyt8/How-absolute-is-Qaddafi-s-power-4-key-questions
Tyrant hangs by his teeth
Gadhafi vows to die a martyr, crush revolt as media reports cite up to 3,000 casualties
A defiant Muammar Gadhafi vowed Tuesday to die “a martyr” in Libya and said he would crush a revolt which has seen eastern regions break free from four decades of his rule and has claimed the lives of 300 people, according to the first official figures. But media reports put the number of casualties at 3,000, including those wounded in the unrest. The reports said the figure included 700 fatalities in Tripoli alone.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=125216#axzz1EjyJ5F4l
Muammar Gaddafi’s cult of personality has finally crumbled | Daniel Kawczynski
He dreamed of being the Arab world’s champion, but Gaddafi’s brutal repression of the people he claims to love is now clear. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has always dreamed of the popularity his great idol, the Egyptian revolutionary leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, enjoyed at the height of his power. Arab nationalism and a determination to crush what he perceived to be a western stranglehold of the world were the key driving factors he used to promote his cause. He wanted his people to see him as the great champion not only of Libya, but of the whole Arab world, with him at the helm of a great march against western imperialism.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/23/muammar-gaddafi-cult-personality
A story of two Gaddafis, Jody McIntyre
Watching Saif Gaddafi speak on Sunday evening, it was difficult to take him seriously. As a friend sitting next to me so aptly summed up, “sometimes, you just have to accept that you’re not the public speaker in the family.” But there is no joke about what Muammer Gaddafi is inflicting upon the people of Libya. Bombs dropped from planes on protesters in Benghazi, live ammunition fired into demonstrations in Tripoli, the capital; this is a massacre.
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/02/22/a-story-of-two-gaddafis/
Al-Qadhdhafi’s last speech, As’ad AbuKhalil
It was an unusual speech: following his political rhetoric over the years, I would say it was more like the young Qadhdhafi. He never was an orator: he speaks like a street thug. But in recent years, his oratorical mode have changed: he has been speaking for years as if he is sedated, as if he talks while under the influence of tranquilizing pills. Not yesterday. His tone was strong and sharp as in yester years. He was the street thug: and war criminal that he is. UNSC condemned the killing: Mubarak and Bin Ali killed more than 300 civilians and no one reacted. So according to UN standards, it is acceptable to kill 300 civilians by Arab tyrants, but more than that number would lead to UN condemnation. Obama and Hillary still don’t want Qadhdhafi to surrender power: they fear the impact on oil field, just as they feared the impact in Egypt on the lousy peace treaty. Qadhdhafi said yesterday that great powers and their representatives came to him and paid their respect. That was true: tell that to Paul Wolfowitz: I read his lousy piece in the WSJ today on the plane and he berated Hillary for meeting with Mu`tasim Qadhdhafi. She and Obama should be condemned: but he forgot that it was his Bush administration that engineered the honey moon with Qadhdhafi. Qadhdhafi will go down violently: as I have said for weeks now. He is so loathed by his people. None of his ideas or schemes or gimmicks would stay. The ugly green that he promoted will soon disappear from Libya. Shame on all the leftist groups and quasi leftist leaders who gave support to Qadhdhafi over the years: especially George Hawi, Muhsin Ibrahim, Walid Jumblat, and others. Do you know when he fought his war in Chad, he asked those leaders to send him fighters and they actually did in return for his dollars. What about that US tenured professor who wrote a book in English in praise of Qadhdhafi’s Green Book? He told me that wrote it in return for Libyan money. The ball is rolling: it does not seem to stop.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/al-qadhdhafis-last-speech.html
Libya Update: The Violence of An Unraveling Regime [On Qaddafi’s Speech]
On Sunday night, Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi—son of Libyan “leader” Colonel Mu’ammar al-Qaddafi—gave a televised speech in which he denied the existence of genuine grievances and protests for regime change in Libya, attributing the last six days of social unrest to both foreign interference as well as “drunken and drugged out” elements of society. The protests, which began in Benghazi in the eastern part of the country, have spread to all major urban and rural areas, including the capital city of Tripoli in the western part of the country. Typical of most existing and former authoritarian regimes in the Arab world, Saif al-Islam claimed that without the regime Libya would be thrown into chaos—all varieties of it (an Islamist takeover, a civil war between the resource-rich eastern and population-dense western provinces, and the return of colonialism). He proceeded to assert the resolve of the regime to withstand all attempts to “undermine the state of Libya” threatening that “now is the time” to use violence in all its forms, including the armed forces, armed civilians, and the revolutionary committees. Saif al-Islam ended his speech with what appeared to be a dare directed at the Libyan people. He claimed that thousands of protesters represented very little of the 5-6 million inhabitants of Libya.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/707/libya-update_the-violence-of-an-unraveling-regime_on-qaddafis-speech-
The Young Turks: Revolution In Libya!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKPJDifnLgI
A brief note on Libya, Stephen Walt
…where Qaddafi’s brutal, narcissistic, and incoherent campaign of repression has been far more reprehensible than Mubarak’s. I’m wary of direct U.S. military intervention there, but U.S. spokesmen should be condemning his actions in the strongest possible terms and looking into both a Security Council resolution and the creation of an international peacekeeping force to keep order there in a post-Qaddafi environment.
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/02/22/a_brief_note_on_libya
Libya: The messy collapse
Soldiers held their ground in Tripoli after fierce clashes last night, as the government’s control narrows geographically amid increasing regime and diplomatic defections…. The uprising in Libya has grown and spread rapidly, in part because the security forces have responded so violently, which has emboldened protestors and opposition… Protests occurred in western Libya (for example in Zintan) as early as February 17, before spreading to Tripoli, where the final battle may now be concentrated. Crowds initially numbered in the low hundreds to the low thousands. As confidence grew, protestors increasingly called for the overthrow of the regime… After security forces killed more than 20 protestors, February 18 saw imams refusing to deliver authorised sermons, and some spoke out against the regime. Defections by tribal leaders, military, police, clerics (including the country’s most senior cleric, Sheikh al-Sadiq al-Gheryani), and government officials (notably Libyan diplomats at the UN and the Arab League), have created a rapidly growing tide against the regime.
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2011/02/libya-messy-collapse.html
This is an Arab 1848. But US hegemony is only dented | Tariq Ali
With western-backed despots being turfed out politics has changed for ever. So just how far can the revolution spread? The refusal of the people to kiss or ignore the rod that has chastised them for so many decades has opened a new chapter in the history of the Arab nation. The absurd, if much vaunted, neocon notion that Arabs or Muslims were hostile to democracy has disappeared like parchment in fire.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/22/arab-1848-us-hegemony-dented
Muammar Gaddafi: method in his ‘madness’ | Brian Whitaker
Gadaffi has lost touch with his people, but though his actions may seem bizarre, there is a kind of logic to his behaviour. “People of Libya!” the broadcast began, “In response to your own will, fulfilling your most heartfelt wishes, answering your incessant demands for change and regeneration … your armed forces have undertaken the overthrow of the reactionary and corrupt regime, the stench of which has sickened and horrified us all. At a single blow your gallant army has toppled these idols and has destroyed their images … From this day forward, Libya is a free, self-governing republic.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/23/muammar-gaddafi-madness
Qaddafi: “Song of the Rain”
This cartoon in Arabic is about Qaddafi’s speech last night in response to the Libyan people’s revolution which is at its height this week. Amid rumors that he fled to Venezuela and much news that the Libyan people have secured control on many of the cities, to give a speech and claim that he is still in control, Qaddafi appeared in a jeep! He opened the door only to acknowledge that it was raining outside, so he folded back his giant umbrella and decided not to give the speech. And there was absolutely no one to whom he would speak except the man holding the long microphone! The filmed scene of Qaddafi’s appearance for the speech was strangely quiet, as though a Christmas Eve, not even a mouse stirring! with the exception of the melodramatic rain …”Good thing,” Qaddafi said. I was going to hang out with the people at Alsahah Al-Khadra, but that won’t happen. And now you all know that I am not in Venezuela! He cursed the media outlets that “falsify news.”And the speech, or non-speech, was over! It lasted only a minute, or two — on top of the 42 years of his rule that led to this strange, stageless, and almost wordless soliloquy.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/715/qaddafi_song-of-the-rain
Gaddafi’s Latest Coup
May 3, 1983: Former Chief of Staff of the IDF Rafael Eitan refers to Palestinians as drugged cockroaches scurrying in a bottle.
February 22, 2011: Muammar Gaddafi refers to his own people as drugged cockroaches that need to be cleansed.
http://pulsemedia.org/2011/02/23/gaddafi%E2%80%99s-latest-coup/
Libya’s tragedy, Gaddafi’s farce
If you think Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is stupid, much less crazy, think twice. He was the first to sense and assess correctly the ripple effects of what happened in Tunisia on 14 January 2011. He was fully cognizant and apprehensive of its implications for Libya and, above all, for his 42-year record of autocratic rule. Nouri Gana comments for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11823.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29
Gaddafi goes Tiananmen, Pepe Escobar
Talk about The King’s Speech; this was The African King of Kings’ Speech. A furious, delirious, possessed, prophet-as-psychopath Muammar Gaddafi may have improvised the ultimate lunatic rant to send chills down the spines of the Libyan people and the whole world – delivered right from the family house bombed by the United States under president Ronald Reagan in 1986. His message: there will be blood.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MB24Ak05.html
Gaddafi? Kadafi? Qaddafi? What’s the correct spelling?
You say, Gaddafi, we say Qaddafi. Other variations on the leader of Libya include “Gathafi,” “Kadafi,” and “Gadafy,” creating an unholy mess for newspaper editors.
As Europe watches Arab unrest, fears over oil, migration shade its response
Some have criticized Europe for responding slowly to the upheavals in Tunisia and Egypt, though the EU was quick to condemn Libya’s violence.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/FxddBTfKaro/As-Europe-watches-Arab-unrest-fears-over-oil-migration-shade-its-response
Cartoons
Steve Bell on Muammar Gaddafi – cartoon
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cartoon/2011/feb/23/muammar-gaddafi-libya-cartoon
