Gaddafi loses grip on (Misurata) Libya’s third city (& the 1st big city in the west of the country)

[Turborama]

Source: Financial Times

By Heba Saleh in Cairo and Roula Khalaf in Beirut
Published: February 23 2011 18:45 | Last updated: February 23 2011 18:45

Muammer Gaddafi’s grip on Libya continued to weaken on Wednesday with the first big city in the west of the country slipping out of his control and his opponents beginning to organise their own local administrations.

The loss of Misurata, Libya’s third city, to his opponents meant that Col Gaddafi had lost control of the vast majority of his country’s Mediterranean coast. With the exception of Sirte, the home of his Gadadfa tribe, which lies almost in the middle of Libya’s coastline, his opponents control all main settlements from Misurata, 200 kilometres east of Tripoli, all the way to the eastern border with Egypt.

Residents of Misurata said army units stationed locally had sided with protesters who rose up against Col Gaddafi, and the city had been free of government control for two days. “The people are now organising themselves into committees,” said Ahmed, a hotel employee. “Some are managing traffic, others are cleaning up after the fighting and the fires of previous days. There are also people handing out water and milk to the population.”

He described how at the start of the uprising residents had gone to the local airport and placed metal containers on the runway to prevent attempts by Col Gaddafi to fly in “mercenaries” – a reference to fighters brought in from sub-Saharan Africa who have been shooting at protesters alongside forces loyal to the Libyan leader.


Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9ca683f4-3f78-11e0-a1ba-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss#axzz1EpqVBHyY

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[Kurovski]

1. Soon.

K&R

[Kurovski]

2. Kick. (nt)

[Matariki]

3. Yay people.

I hope they (re)build something good.

[fascisthunter]

4. down goes another authoritarian right winger

buh-bye

[BOHICA12]

5. Fascist true ....wackadoodle for sure .... but Right Winger???

the nut has been a friend of the really radical violent left for a very long time.

[Lucky Luciano]

6. Don't be fooled - fascist defines right wing. nt

[hugo_from_TN]

7. Remember - all bad people = right wing.

Regardless of how many left wingers they've helped.

[Lucky Luciano]

8. Qadaffi only helps himself. Anyone else helped is incidental. nt

[fascisthunter]

9. fascism is right wing.... not left wing

[BOHICA12]

10. So where do Mao & Stalin fall in the spectrum?

or Mugabe?

[Turborama]

11. Hope this helps...

[fascisthunter]

12. nevermind