And more news from Libya:
Qadhafi’s Crimes
Human Rights Watch – Libya: End Violent Crackdown in Tripoli
(New York) – Libyan security forces controlled by Muammar Gaddafi have launched a wave of arrests and disappearances in Tripoli that has gripped the city with fear, Human Rights Watch said today.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/13/libya-end-violent-crackdown-tripoli
Gaddafi forces attack western Libyan town-residents
TUNIS, March 14 (Reuters) – Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi attacked the rebel-held town of Zuwarah in western Libya on Monday, residents said. “They are coming from the eastern side and also trying to get in from the west and the south. They are one kilometre from the centre of town,” resident Tarek Abdallah told Reuters by telephone.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/gaddafi-forces-attack-western-libyan-town-residents
Gaddafi army penetrates rebel areas
Libyan leader’s forces bombard Ajdabiya, the last town standing before Benghazi, the rebel stronghold in the east.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/2011314103349669135.html
Libyan warplanes bomb rebels in east – Al Jazeera
RABAT, March 11 (Reuters) – Libyan warplanes bombed rebel hideouts between Brega and Ras Lanuf, both on the coast in eastern Libya, on Friday evening, al Jazeera news television channel reported, without giving further details. Dubai-based al-Arabiya cited an eyewitness and one of its correspondents as saying six rebels had been killed in Brega and eight in Ras Lanuf, but it did not link these deaths to an air raid by government forces.
http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE72A2AU20110311
Report: Town of Zuwārah surrounded by tanks & hostage taken
We received this distress email a short while ago, and we relay the contents to you as we received it: Qaddafi’s forces shot and wounded my cousin in the foot, leg and shoulder. Qaddafi’s forces took him to the hospital in Al-Jamil. The family spoke to the hospital. The nurses confirmed that they removed the bullets and that Qaddafi’s forces took him away. The forces are holding him hostage. The terms of release: Zuara has to raise the green flag and come out for demonstrations in support of Qaddafi. Zuara is surrounded by tanks. No one is going in or out. The people are expecting a big attack tonight. They are basically unarmed civilians.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/2011/03/report-town-of-zuwarah-surrounded-by-tanks-with-a-possible-attack-tonight/
Libyan forces push rebels back
Forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi have renewed their assault against opposition fighters in Libya. As the military accelerates its onslaught, the rebels appear to be losing their grip over several cities that they had earlier taken control of. In Az Zawiyah, near the capital Tripoli, the government says it controls the city centre, but fierce clashes were reported earlier in the day. In Brega, a key oil and gas hub, fighters have reported multiple airstrikes by government forces. The hospital there is attending to many of the wounded. In Ras Lanuf, another oil town, government forces are pushing hard – showering the city with rockets and tank shells – and forcing the rebels to retreat 15 kilometres to the east. Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds3rKO-18jg&feature=youtube_gdata
Entering Zawiya
Scenes from one of Libya’s frontline, battle-scarred cities
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-africa-12720968
VIDEO: Journalists invited inside Gaddafi-held Zawiya
The BBC’s Jeremy Bowen was among the first journalists to be allowed into the Libyan town of Zawiya since it was re-taken from the rebels by Colonel Gaddafi’s forces.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-africa-12722979
Libya revolt: Tobruk
Libyan troops forced rebels to retreat overnight from the outskirts of the oil town of Ras Lanuf, pushing the front line eastwards, and the rebel council’s chief said more volunteers were ready to fight. The front line now stands between the rebel-held town of Uqaylah and Ras Lanuf, where oil storage tanks were hit during Friday’s fighting. Rebels blamed an air strike but the government denied hitting the oil plant. Al Jazeera’s Nick Clark has the latest from the town of Tobruk, in Libya’s east.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp1UTLMlepw&feature=youtube_gdata
‘Massacre’ of rebels in Bin Jawad
Libya’s leader Muammar Gaddafi mercenaries are believed to be committing atrocities against rebels, raping captured men before chopping off their hands and feet in the town of Bin Jawad. According to rebels who escaped Bin Jawad, “a massacre” had occurred in the eastern town where Gaddafi unleashed his African mercenaries and heavy artillery on the rebels. “Gaddafi’s African mercenaries raped the young men they captured in a mosque before chopping off their hands and feet,” said a 36-year-old rebel who declined to be named.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2011%2F3%2F13%2Fnation%2F8257595&sec=nation
Rebel grave bulldozed over in Zawiya
Old men averted their frightened eyes when I approached them to ask them what had happened, and whether the macabre scenes of jubilation reflected what people really felt. And most shockingly of all, the graves of 20 rebel fighters scattered amid the trees and benches of a little park had been flattened with bulldozers and covered with builders’ sand. I saw the tracks the bulldozers had left behind. And I know there were 20 graves, because I counted them last weekend, when Zawiyah was still in rebel hands.
http://feb17.info/general/rebel-grave-bulldozed-over-in-zawiya/
Audio from Ras Lanuf as Gaddafi forces are attacking by air, land and sea
A rebel fighter describes the battle for Ras Lanuf that went on throughout today. He says he is speaking from a car bound for the town of Al Gaila, on his way to Ajdabiyah with a friend who was wounded when a mosque was hit by pro-Gaddafi forces.
http://feb17.info/general/audio-from-ras-lanuf-as-gaddafi-forces-are-attacking-by-air-land-and-sea/
Libya proposed swapping jets for Dutch prisoners
http://feb17.info/general/footage-aftermath-of-indiscriminate-shelling-on-residential-homes-in-misrata/
Footage: Warplanes strike Ras Lanuf 3/12
Ras Lanuf on March 12, 2011: Civilian troops are seen here trying to send out those injured by an earlier Gaddafi force air strike. Towards the end of the clip danger returns.
http://feb17.info/general/footage-warplanes-strike-ras-lanuf-312/
Images from Ras Lanuf today
http://www.libyafeb17.com/2011/03/images-from-ras-lanuf-today/
More images from Ras Lanuf
http://www.libyafeb17.com/2011/03/more-images-from-ras-lanuf/
Live Caller from Libya Explains Illusion of Gaddafi Supporters
Gaddafi brings in supporters from the South, pays them money to stay in Tripoli, to create the illusion that Tripoli is pro-Gaddafi. This is merely an illusion fabricated by the regime. Listen to the call:
http://feb17.info/general/live-caller-from-libya-explains-illusion-of-gaddafi-supporters/
In Libya, Underground Jail A Daunting Reminder Of Gaddafi’s Grip
Peering into a subterranean jail, Adil Gnaybor shuddered with fear. Rusted prison bars once covered with earth were now exposed, dug up by rebels who had discovered the secret labyrinth of cells. The space was too small for Gnaybor’s 5-foot frame, and a white tube provided the only source of air. “If I go inside there, perhaps I will die,” Gnaybor said, staring into the hole. Thousands of Libyans have been arriving here at a complex of palatial homes, known as the Katiba El Fadil bu Omar, where Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi stayed during visits to this port city. It is here that Gaddafi also had an underground prison.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/13/daunting-reminder-gaddafis-grip_n_835007.html
Gadhafi government ‘certain of victory’ against Libya rebels
In TV message, government reiterates claim that the insurgents are linked to al-Qaida and foreign security services.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/gadhafi-government-certain-of-victory-against-libya-rebels-1.348969?localLinksEnabled=false
Qaddafi rout of Libya rebels pulls morale to a new low
The optimism of a few weeks ago that Col. Muammar Qaddafi would be ousted by a flexing of people power similar to the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia is now a distant memory.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/Hubq03OAJAo/Qaddafi-rout-of-Libya-rebels-pulls-morale-to-a-new-low
The Libyan Resistance
Libya: Rebels say Brega retaken from Gaddafi troops
Rebel forces in Libya say they have retaken the eastern oil town of Brega, capturing a number of elite government troops and killing others. The statement has not been independently confirmed. It came hours after the rebels had themselves been driven from the town by air and ground attacks by forces loyal to Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi. Elsewhere, the rebel-held town of Ajdabiya is reported to have come under heavy aerial bombardment. On the diplomatic front, France is stepping up its efforts to persuade the United Nations Security Council to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, a proposal backed by the UK and the Arab League.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-africa-12731079?SThisEM
Libyan rebels says Gaddafi forces fight each other
* Gunfight between security force units at Misrata: rebels
* Government spokesman says reports of mutiny are “rubbish”
* Resident says city calm by nightfall (updates with quote from resident)
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libyan-rebels-says-gaddafi-forces-fight-each-other
Press Statement: Defection of Colonel Pilot Ali Obeidi in Miteega Air Base
Al Jazeera has obtained a statement to the Colonel Pilot Ali Obeidi of one of the largest Libyan air bases in Miteega, Tripoli. Obeidi declares in this statement from the city of Misurata his departure from the Gaddafi regime and his full loyalty of the Libyan national Transitional Council in Benghazi. He declared he will be an advocate for the lives of Libyans. He also offered his condolences and greetings to the spirits of the martyrs and condemned the killing and crimes against the Libyan people.
http://feb17.info/general/press-statement-defection-of-colonel-pilot-ali-obeidi-in-miteega-air-base/
Update: 32 Khamis Battalion troops including General defect near Misratah
A crack Libyan brigade commanded by Muammar Gaddafi’s son Khamis was slowed by a mutiny as it advanced on Misrata on Saturday, with 32 soldiers joining the rebels holding the city, a rebel there said. One defector was a general, said the rebel named Mohammed. The feared 32nd Brigade tried but failed earlier in the day to take Misrata, the last major rebel holdout in western Libya. Stalled about 10-15 km south of the city, the brigade broke out in a fire-fight after dozens of troops balked at the idea of killing innocent civilians in the impending attack, rebel spokesman Gamal added. “Exactly 32 (soldiers) joined the rebels today,” Mohammed said. “They have been interrogated by the rebels.” The events could not be confirmed independently. Journalists have been prevented from reaching the city by the authorities.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/2011/03/khamis-troops-defec/
Report: Gadhafi troops defect near rebel-held west Libya town
Libyan brigade commanded by Gadhafi’s son Kamis had tried but failed earlier in day to take Misrata, the last major rebel holdout in western Libya.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/report-gadhafi-troops-defect-near-rebel-held-west-libya-town-1.348842?localLinksEnabled=false
Four Libyan troops defect near rebel-held Misrata-rebel
By Mariam Karouny RAS JDIR, Tunisia, March 12 (Reuters) – A crack Libyan brigade commanded by Muammar Gaddafi’s son Khamis was slowed by a mutiny as it advanced on Misrata on Saturday, with 32 soldiers joining the rebels holding the city, a rebel there said. One defector was a general, said the rebel named Mohammed. The feared 32nd Brigade tried but failed earlier in the day to take Misrata, the last major rebel holdout in western Libya.
http://feb17.info/general/four-libyan-troops-defect-near-rebel-held-misrata-rebel/
Libyan rebel talks to Al Jazeera
As fighting continues in the oil-refining town of Ras Lanuf, an anti-Gaddafi rebel fighter speaks to Al Jazeera from just outside the city. In a phonecall with our Doha studio, he describes the scene of a counter attack by rebel troops, as an oil storage facility burns after it was targeted by airstrikes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RVWJmAwD4s&feature=youtube_gdata
Video: Press Conference to Recognize the National Transitional Council in Libya
On Friday, March 11 , at 4:00 p.m. at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, North American Libyans pledged their allegiance and recognized the National Transitional Council in Libya as Legitimate Government. Speaking were Libyan Ambassador to the United States H.E. Ali Sulaiman Aujali, and Libyan Ambassador to the United Nations, H.E. Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgham.
http://feb17.info/general/video-press-conference-to-recognize-the-national-transitional-council-in-libya/
Berri to Arab Parliaments: Recognize Libyan rebels
BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri called on the Union of Arab Parliaments to urge Arab governments to immediately recognize the Libyan National Interim Council, which represents the popular uprisings and the Libyan people’s resistance against Colonel Moammar Gadhafi’s regime.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=125916
Supporting revolutionaries finally gains momentum
Despite statements by Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper, on Thursday, that Libya was in for a struggle of attrition which favors Moammar Gadhafi in the long term, Director of National Security Council (NSC) Tom Donilon told journalists that America was building a world coalition to contain the Libyan autocrat. Donilon described Clapper’s assessment as “static” and “one dimensional.”
http://feb17.info/general/supporting-revolutionaries-finally-gains-momentum/
Omar Mukhtar’s son urges courage against Gaddafi
Benghazi, LIBYA (AFP)The son of Libya’s first revolutionary can barely remember his freedom-fighter father, hanged 80 years ago by the Italians, but he has no doubt that today’s rebels will prevail. “They should hold themselves up and fill themselves with courage. God shall support them and give them victory,” says 90-year-old Mohammed Omar al-Mukhtar, sitting slightly stooped in a black cloak, white scarf and red hat.
http://feb17.info/general/omar-mukhtar%E2%80%99s-son-urges-courage-against-gaddafi/
Battered Libyan rebels try to keep spirits up
Fighters are all but pushed out of Ras Lanuf, and are regrouping in Port Brega and Benghazi. ‘Better to die for freedom,’ says a father as he buries his son, who had joined the rebels to help the wounded. The rebels carried Fathi Ali down a dirt road to his grave.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/dY-Qv15iyD8/la-fg-libya-east-20110312,0,7994310.story
At Crossroads, Libya Rebels Vow to Stand or Die, Anthony Shadid
After another day of retreat, rebels prepared for what some called a last stand at Ajdabiya, where government forces are advancing.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=483c447c257810ec293f1d8f02e7bb9c
The Libyan Revolution For Freedom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XgBHUJfHEI&feature=player_embedded
Attacks on the Media
Amnesty International: Killing of Al Jazeera journalist condemned
Amnesty International warns of a campaign of attacks and harassment against journalists reporting from Libya after an Al Jazeera cameraman is shot dead. Amnesty International has today condemned the killing of Al Jazeera cameraman Ali Hassan Al Jaber in Libya and warned of a campaign of attacks and harassment against journalists. “It appears that the Al Jazeera team was brutally and deliberately targeted” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Director.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/killing-al-jazeera-journalist-condemned-2011-03-13
Al Jazeera cameraman killed in Libya
An Al Jazeera cameraman has been killed in what appears to have been an ambush near the rebel-held city of Benghazi in eastern Libya. Ali Hassan Al Jaber was returning to Benghazi from a nearby town after filing a report from an opposition protest when unknown fighters opened fire on a car he and his colleagues were travelling in. Two people including Al Jaber were shot. Al Jaber was rushed to hospital, but did not survive. Wadah Khanfar, the director-general of Al Jazeera, said the network “will not remain silent” and will pursue those behind the ambush through legal channels.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3SIeFEsOv0&feature=player_embedded
Libyan crowd mourns Al Jazeera cameraman
Unidentified assailants opened fire on a van carrying Al Jazeera Arabic personnel on Saturday, killing 56-year-old cameraman Ali Hassan al-Jaber and wounding another man. The attack occurred at around 4:30 pm as the team was returning from filming an opposition protest outside of Benghazi, Libya’s second-largest city. A crowd gathered in the city’s main square to honor al-Jaber, a Qatari national. They waved Qatari flags and chanted slogans in support of Al Jazeera, such as “with our soul, our blood, we’ll defend Al Jazeera.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JG0cr0nACg&feature=youtube_gdata
Honoring a Fallen Hero, Journalist, & Martyr – Ali Hassan Al Jaber
The death of Ali Hassan Al Jaber marks the first confirmed killing of a journalist in the current conflict in Libya. Al Jaber, a Qatari national, was born in 1955 and received his bachelor and master’s degrees in cinematography from the Academy of Arts in Cairo. He was the director of CNBC Arabiya TV bureau in Qatar.
http://feb17.info/general/honoring-a-fallen-hero-journalist-martyr-ali-hassan-al-jaber/
Libyans mourn slain Al Jazeera cameraman
An Al Jazeera cameraman has been shot dead while working in eastern Libya. The network has condemned the attack as a cowardly crime. Ali Hassan al Jabr from Qatar was one of three people travelling in a car when it was ambushed. Gerald Tan reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvph4qq_48g&feature=youtube_gdata
Hamas: Al-Jazeera cameraman hit aimed at concealing Libyan massacres
Hamas has condemned the killing of Al-Jazeera cameraman Ali Hassan al-Jaber as ”a failed attempt to conceal massacres against the Libyans.”
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd8
Once lauded, foreign journalists now threatened in eastern Libya
Al Jazeera cameraman Ali Hassan al Jaber, a Qatari national, was killed Saturday in an ambush about 15 miles outside of Benghazi when gunmen presumed to be Qaddafi loyalists sprayed his vehicle with gunfire.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/v-cRgAnIrUQ/Once-lauded-foreign-journalists-now-threatened-in-eastern-Libya
Humanitarian Crisis
UN asks Libya to allow access to rebel-held areas
The United Nations has asked Libya’s authorities to give it access to areas on both sides of its conflict to assess the impact of the violence on civilians, a UN envoy today.
http://www.sabcnews.com/portal/site/SABCNews/menuitem.5c4f8fe7ee929f602ea12ea1674daeb9/?vgnextoid=bf0e7447510be210VgnVCM10000077d4ea9bRCRD&vgnextfmt=default&channelPath=Africa
Libyan rebel medics learn fast on bloody front line
BREGA, Libya, March 13 (Reuters) – Two corpses, spilled intestines and severed limbs; medic Osama Jazwi is no longer fazed by his daily routine on the front line of fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. “Yesterday we also had a rocket attack, burns, broken bones, shrapnel wounds,” said 33-year-old anaesthesiologist Jazwi on Saturday, in a tiny rural clinic which has become the first stop for rebels wounded after fighting Gaddafi warplanes and tanks.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libyan-rebel-medics-learn-fast-on-bloody-front-line
UN Libya Refugee Camp Analysis : Tunisian Transitional Camp
This is a satellite-based quantitative analysis of the newly-established transitional camp for displaced peoples fleeing the conflict in Libya, located along the southern side of highway route P1, 8.5 kilometers west of the Ra’s Ajdir border crossing facility in Ben Guerdane, Tunisia. This assessment provides an estimate of the number of tent shelters erected within the camp, the average approximate tent size, and the derived potential current population capacity, as based on satellite imagery recorded on the morning of 3 March 2011.
http://info.publicintelligence.net/UN-LibyaRefugees1.pdf
TUNISIA: Migrant workers from Libya face long wait in border transit camp
RAS AJDIR 14 March 2011 (IRIN) – When violence broke out in the western Libyan town of Zawiyah, Bangladeshi migrant worker Mohammed Nienn, 28, was doing a shift as a steelworker.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=92186
Developments
Libya Live Blog – March 14
As the uprising in Libya continues, we update you with the latest developments from our correspondents, news agencies and citizens across the globe.
http://english.aljazeera.net/http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-14
Egypt rejects Gaddafi request for military help
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat- A Libyan diplomatic source has revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that that the official in charge of provisions and supplies in the Libyan Army, abruptly left Cairo for Libya last Thursday after a quick 24-hour visit. According to the source which spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, the Libyan envoy Maj. Gen Abdul-Rahman al-Sid met with members of the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces, but not with Field Marshal Tantawi, chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, who assumed power in Egypt after the fall of the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak. The source added: “The Egyptian officials handed the Libyan envoy a written message in a closed envelope, and he immediately left Cairo for home along with Ali Marya, the Libyan ambassador to Cairo.
http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=24492
2 US warships cross Egypt’s Suez Canal
Egyptian officials say two US vessels have crossed the Suez Canal en route to the Mediterranean Sea to be close to Libya. The nuclear-powered submarine USS Providence and Destroyer USS Mason entered the canal Saturday from the Red Sea.
http://thedailynewsegypt.com/region/2-us-warships-cross-egypts-suez-canal.html
Analysis: Arab League backs no-fly zone in Libya
The Arab League’s decision lays the groundwork for foreign powers to consider a no-fly zone over Libya. The league also reportedly decided to recognise a rebel council as the representative of the Libyan people. The decision, announced on Egyptian state television, ends weeks of debate among Arab nations, overcoming widespread resistance to the idea of foreign intervention in an Arab member state. Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from the capital Cairo, puts the decision into perspective.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOMHvdZE5G0&feature=player_embedded
OIC chief backs no-fly zone over Libya
Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu on Tuesday called on the United Nations to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. “We join our voice to the voices asking for a no-fly zone in Libya, and we call on the Security Council to do its duty in this regard,” Ihsanoglu said at the start of an emergency meeting of the 57-member OIC in Saudi Arabia.
http://feb17.info/general/oic-chief-backs-no-fly-zone-over-libya/
France steps up Libya no-fly zone efforts
France promised on Sunday to step up efforts to persuade its partners to impose a no-fly zone on Libya after the plan won the backing of the Arab League.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/March/international_March731.xml§ion=international&col=
US backs no-fly zone over Libya
Washington applauds decision by Arab League aimed at preventing Gaddafi from using warplanes as an “important step”.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2011/03/201131362124556608.html
France’s Sarkozy says EU backs Libya aid zones
BRUSSELS, March 11 (Reuters) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy said EU leaders meeting on Friday backed creation of humanitarian aid zones, some of them within Libya, to help Libyans and would consider all options to protect them.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/frances-sarkozy-says-eu-backs-libya-aid-zones
Britain and France alone as EU rejects no-fly zone
European leaders have locked horns over the handling of the crisis in Libya during emergency talks in Brussels yesterday, with France and Britain looking isolated in their push for military intervention.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/britain-and-france-alone-as-eu-rejects-nofly-zone-2239774.html
Canada welcomes Arab League’s no-fly zone appeal
The 22-member Arab League called on the United Nations to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, which would force Libyan warplanes to stay grounded instead of being used to attack rebel positions.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2011/03/13/17598831.html
EU leaders call on Qaddafi to step down immediately
At a meeting today in Brussels, the EU issued an unexpectedly strong statement supporting Libyan rebels but said it wanted a UN mandate and Arab involvement before considering military action.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/7LuKYSAOLXM/EU-leaders-call-on-Qaddafi-to-step-down-immediately
Obama to assign envoy to Libyan opposition
Both United States and France strengthen ties with opponents of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi; Libya cuts diplomatic ties with France.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/obama-to-assign-envoy-to-libyan-opposition-1.348648?localLinksEnabled=false
Obama: Noose tightening on Gaddafi
US president says sanctions are taking effect, as EU members remain split on what action to take against Libyan leader.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/europe/2011/03/20113111806764824.html
Obama says U.S. will keep working for Kadafi ouster
A special envoy will be named to determine ways to help the Libya rebels. The EU tightens sanctions and calls on Kadafi to step down. President Obama vowed Friday that the United States would continue “slowly tightening the noose” to force Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi from power, but also made it clear that the U.S. would proceed cautiously on any potential military operation.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/SJ76O9P8DLc/la-fg-libya-warfare-20110312,0,3479260.story
ICC might launch Libya crimes probe from Egypt
Egypt’s former foreign minister Ahmed Abul Gheit has invited International Criminal Court General Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to visit Egypt in order to carry out the Security Council-mandated investigation into crimes against humanity in Libya, well-placed sources at the United Nations told Al Arabiya.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/03/11/141133.html
Britain freezes $19 bln of Libyan assets – Cameron
BRUSSELS, March 11 (Reuters) – Britain has frozen 12 billion pounds ($19.2 billion) of Libyan assets as it tries to ramp up pressure on Muammar Gaddafi via sanctions, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday. The EU has imposed sanctions on the Libyan Investment Authority, the Libyan central bank, three other financial institutions and at least 27 people, including Gaddafi. Cameron said the EU’s 27 member states needed to look into Libya’s oil income. That could involve adding the Libyan National Oil Company to the sanctions list, EU diplomats have said.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/britain-freezes-19-bln-of-libyan-assets-cameron
African leaders will travel to Libya to try and end the violence
The African Union announced that it has set up a panel, consisting of leaders from South Africa, Uganda, Mauritania, Congo and Mali, that will travel to Libya shortly in an attempt to end the violence. “The ad hoc committee was set up … to engage with all parties in Libya, facilitate in an inclusive dialogue among them, and engage AU partners … for the speedy resolution of the crisis in Libya,” the bloc said. Like the Arab League, the African Union has rejected any other foreign intervention.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/2011/03/african-leaders-will-travel-to-libya-to-try-and-end-the-violence/
Ban Ki-moon comments on Libya
The UN secretary-general has appointed a special envoy to Libya. Ban Ki-moon is resisting pressure to take sides in the conflict. This is what he had to say on the issue on whether or not the opposition national council in Benghazi should be recognised as the de facto government.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szo9qe1sqmg&feature=player_embedded
Gaddafi regime suspends diplomatic ties with France
Gaddafi’s regime has suspended its diplomatic ties with France following the country’s official recognition of the Libyan National Transitional Council. Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim told journalists in Tripoli that the decision had been made today and that it is “clear the French government is concentrating on dividing Libya.”
http://www.libyafeb17.com/2011/03/libya-suspends-diplomatic-ties-with-france/
Libya proposed swapping jets for Dutch prisoners
The Libyan government tried and failed to swap three captured Dutch military personnel for two Libyan Air Force jets whose pilots defected with their warplanes to the European island nation of Malta last month. Maltese officials who helped negotiate the release of the Dutch prisoners in conjunction with Greek diplomats on Thursday, say they rejected Libya’s request for the return of the Libyan Mirage fighter planes.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/03/13/libya.dutch.prisoner.swap/index.html?eref=edition
Libya opposition to meet with Clinton in Paris today
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will continue on to Egypt and Tunisia in her first trip to address the Arab revolutions. But the window for foreign assistance to Libya is quickly closing.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/RcUAbgMsq4c/Libya-opposition-to-meet-with-Clinton-in-Paris-today
Other News
Libya seeks Italy’s help with fire at oil facility
CAIRO: Libya’s de facto oil minister said Sunday the country’s crude production has fallen “drastically” and that he has reached out to Italian oil giant Eni SpA for help in extinguishing a blaze at an eastern oil facility snatched back from rebel fighters.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=125930
Gaddafi urges Russia, China, India: invest in Libya oil
TUNIS, March 13 (Reuters) – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi urged Russia, China and India on Sunday to invest in Libya’s oil sector, state television said. It said Gaddafi had made the appeal during talks with the ambassadors of the three countries.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/gaddafi-urges-russia-china-india-invest-in-libya-oil
Tripoli Pours Old Notes Back in Circulation
Libya’s central bank has ordered banks to recirculate old currency in the first sign that the oil-rich north African state is facing liquidity problems amid international efforts to freeze the regime’s assets. Officials at the central bank’s office in Benghazi told the Financial Times that the directive came as they were informed by fax on Tuesday that Farhat Omar Bengdara, the governor, had been replaced by Abdulhafiz Zlitni, a former central bank governor and secretary of planning and finance.
http://feb17.info/general/tripoli-pours-old-notes-back-in-circulation/
Solidarity
Rally for Libya in front of the Arab League in Cairo
March 12, 2011 As the Arab League convened to discuss the crisis in Libya, protesters rallied outside of the Arab League building in Cairo in support of the people of Libya and called for a No-Fly-Zone.
http://feb17.info/general/rally-for-libya-in-front-of-the-arab-league-in-cairo/
Analysis/Op-ed
Excellent analysis: Azmi Bshara speaks to Al Jazeera Arabic
I was typing in a flurry as Azmi Bshara, a well known political analyst spoke on Al Jazeera. I have translated his major points and summarised them as best as I could in this post which I hope will be of benefit to you.
http://www.libyafeb17.com/2011/03/excellent-analysis-azmi-bshara-speaks-to-al-jazeera-arabic/
How far – and how fast – will Qaddafi’s forces push into Libya’s ‘liberated’ east?
Today, Muammar Qaddafi’s forces induced a panicked rebel retreat from Brega, peppering the town – home to one Libya’s largest petrochemical complexes – with rocket and mortar fire.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/miNU9WUPi9I/How-far-and-how-fast-will-Qaddafi-s-forces-push-into-Libya-s-liberated-east
Military Intervention in Libya: for a categorical rejection of NATO/Saudi intervention
I think that it would be best for the democracies of Tunisia and Egypt to provide bases for the support of the Libyan opposition and for the establishment of volunteer bases for Arab people (especially those who are militarily trained) who wish to aid the rebellion against the Qadhdhafi tyranny. I don’t trust the Tunisian or the Egyptian military because they are not the product of popular people’s will, and are led in both cases by appointees of tyrants, but they can help if they wish. Mustafa Abd-al-Jalil is a potential messenger for Wahhabi tyranny who can foil the democratization of Libya. He has become famous for double talk and for dishonesty. Fortunately, the council is very fragmented but is also infiltrated by Qadhdhafi’s henchmen. Kristof and John Kerry should know that Arabs are qualified to chart their own history and that neither of them is qualified for a second to lecture or preach about Arab welfare when both are notorious for history of endorsing and/or silence toward Israeli war crimes.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/03/military-intervention-in-libya-for.html
Long guerrilla war would follow Gaddafi “win”
Far from ending Libya’s conflict, a military victory by Muammar Gaddafi would see his enemies retreat to a few urban strongholds and relaunch their revolt as a grinding guerrilla war.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/3/12/worldupdates/2011-03-11T213709Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-555085-1&sec=Worldupdates
Qaddafi on a Roll, Rebellion Could Collapse, Juan Cole
In Libya, forces loyal to dictator Muammar Qaddafi made rapid advances against the rebels on Saturday and Sunday, pushing them out of Ra’s Lanuf, and then Uqaila, and finally claiming to take Brega.
http://www.juancole.com/2011/03/qaddafi-on-a-roll-rebellion-could-collapse.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29
Listening Post – Libya: The propaganda war
This week on Listening Post: Propaganda wars escalate as the crisis in Libya rumbles on and Belgium’s media divisions reflect a divided country that is still struggling to form a government.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZB-daF8LUU&feature=youtube_gdata
Inside Story – Gaddafi: Losing the battle for Arab opinion
The foreign ministers of the six Arab Gulf states met on Thursday in the Saudi capital Riyadh to discuss the ongoing crisis in Libya. They say that the existing Libyan regime is illegitimate and contact should be initiated with the Libyan rebels’ national council. The foreign ministers have also urged the Arab League to take the necessary measures to stop the bloodshed in Libya. The Arab Gulf Council countries have already backed a no fly zone over Libya earlier this week. So has Muammar Gaddafi lost another diplomatic battle?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8TxBpGRw_s&feature=youtube_gdata
Inside Story – Has Gaddafi lost the diplomatic battle for Libya?
Diplomatic and political developments are now taking place that might shift the battle for Libya. France has become the first European country to recognise the Libyan rebel leadership, the National Libyan council, as the country’s legitimate government. The step was announced in Paris by the office of Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, one day after European members of parliament tried to convince the entire EU to recognise the rebels. Other members of the EU have said that they need to know more about the opposition’s political leadership and agenda, and that they want to work together with the Arab League before taking steps to recognise them. But Portugal has already cut ties with the Gaddafi government, and leaders around the world are being asked to take a stand. Has Muammar Gaddafi lost the diplomatic battle? Will a new government rise in the east of Libya?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TbdrBTbBmQ&feature=youtube_gdata
Wounded Gaddafi
Despite his counter-offensive, Libya’s leader faces a bleak future
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-africa-12720643
Veering From Peaceful Models, Libya’s Youth Revolt Turns Toward Chaos
Libya has turned in a new, darker direction as the rebel movement born out of protest has become an armed uprising lacking coordination and leadership.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=3b1c1d81270b7d49994c2b72bc968c2c
In Libya Revolt, Youth Will Serve, or at Least Try
Boys as young as their early teens have left their homes in hopes of joining the opposition forces.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/world/africa/12youth.html
Libya dispatch: Momentum
A second dispatch from Libya from Abu Ray, who’s been very, very close to the action. “I came here to cover a revolution, not a war,” said one photographer in disgust after a particularly bad day on the front. Many of those covering this conflict have been surfing from one Middle East uprising to the last and as exhausting as it’s been, it’s also been an uplifting story of peoples peacefully overcoming nasty repressive governments. Until now. In Egypt and Tunisia the militaries balked from shooting their own people and in the end presidents had to go. In Bahrain, a mercenary military and police were finally restrained by a country that needs world opinion on its side.
http://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/3/14/libya-dispatch-momentum.html
Robert Fisk: Palestinians understand Gaddafi better than we do
To Beirut. Storms. Heavy rain. Seas sweeping over the little port by my home. A meeting with a close friend of a son of Gaddafi. “He wants a battle, habibi, he wants a battle. He wants to be the big guerrilla hero, the big man who fights the Americans. He wants to be the Libyan hero who takes on the colonialists. Mr Cameron, Mr Obama, they will do it for him. They will give him the hero title. They will do what he wants.” There is a lot of cigar smoke in the room. Far too much. So to the refugee camp at Mar Elias. A man who escaped the Sabra and Shatila massacre in 1982, white-haired now, my age, shaking his head at the plight of his people in Libya. “You know we’ve 30,000 people there, Robert? Gaddafi flung them out more than 10 years ago. Most of them are from Gaza.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-palestinians-understand-gaddafi-better-than-we-do-2239799.html
The right intervention mix for Libya
The question of whether foreign powers should intervene in the fighting in Libya to prevent Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi from attacking civilians has generated great debate around the world. The matter is particularly complex because it includes humanitarian, legal, political and logistical military dimensions that need to be reconciled.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=125890
Libya from a Libyan’s Perspective
By Tasnim “The revolution skipped us,” my brother said. He was in Libya, watching the celebrations in Tahrir Square on TV. The joke in Libya was that Tunisians were asking Libyans to duck so the Tunisians can see the revolutionaries on the other side. At the time the Facebook page for Libya’s Day of Rage was being repeatedly taken down and put back up, young masked Libyans were posting videos encouraging people to go out to the streets, and the older generations were muttering “We’ll believe it when we see it.” Two days before the “Day of Rage,” there were demonstrations in Benghazi. Relatives of the 1200 prisoners who were massacred in the Abu Sleem prison had taken to the streets following the detention of Fathi Terbil, human rights lawyer and the official spokesman of the victims’ families. For the next couple of days, and across several cities, there was a cycle of protests, deaths of protesters, and shootings at funeral marches for dead protesters. Police stations were burned, posters of Gaddafi were torn down and videos of unarmed protesters facing snipers, live ammunition and thugs with construction-hats were posted on the internet. Across the country people gathered for sit-ins and demonstrations, and in Benghazi the central square which is still the site of protests was renamed Tahrir Square. During this time, most media outlets were still using the excuse of not being on the ground and allowing their coverage of Libya to be limited to bulletins about “unrest” in the country.
http://www.kabobfest.com/2011/03/libya-from-a-libyans-perspective.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kabobfest%2FGrillMe+%28KABOBfest%29
Killing in the Name of: Libya, Sovereignty, Humanity
Libyans are begging to be saved, we have been told. We are also told that the international community has the responsibility to protect Libyans. It is now March 11, 2011. Yesterday, the Republic of France recognized the sovereignty of the Interim Transitional National Council of the Libyan Republic, presumably as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. France is scheduled to send an ambassador to Benghazi soon, but she may arrive too late, or too early. Everything depends on how transitional or permanent the new “government” will be, located as it is “in the City of Benghazi, the temporary location, till the liberation of Tripoli the Capital City and the permanent location of the Council,” as its founders declared on March 5, 2011.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/870/killing-in-the-name-of_libya-sovereignty-humanity
The War of Freedom in Libya : Busy Day
I saw a TV news report showing the weapons the revolutionaries use and I was shocked to know that those heroes’ real weapon is faith only because all their weapons are extremely old in a way you can’t imagine. Some of the weapons go back to the WWII , their air defense system is manual and so the least thing the rich Arab countries can do is to give some more advanced weapons. I am not even asking the NATO and the States now.
http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/03/war-of-freedom-in-libya-busy-day.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EgyptianChronicles+%28Egyptian+chronicles%29
The Top 10 Quotes from Gaddafi’s Green Book
In 1975, Gaddafi outlined his political tenets in The Green Book. From the Libyan dictator’s views on women and breastfeeding to why “the black race [will] prevail,” Andrew Roberts offers a speed read. Plus, full coverage of Libya’s uprising.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-02/gaddafis-green-book-the-top-10-quotes/
The Middle East has just shattered five conventional beliefs
With President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in Egypt – widely considered to have one of the region’s most stable regimes until only recently – and Colonel Moammar Gadhafi clinging to power in Libya, there is no clear end in sight to the turmoil sweeping across the Arab world.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=125892
