Libyan Revolution Week 33 part 3

[joshcryer]

[joshcryer]

1. Libyan Revolution Day 230 updates below, current time in Libya, 3:16pm Wednesday, October 5

In Tripoli, Libya, women celebrate the revolution against Moammar Gadhafi's regime and call for a strengthening of women's rights, Sept. 2. After playing large but largely unsung roles during the uprising, women are now seeking a greater political role.

Photo: Alexandre Meneghini/AP

Sorry for being late today.

[pinboy3niner]

2. K&R

[joshcryer]

3. Actor-activist Sean Penn visits post-Gadhafi Libya

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/05/ap/entertainment/main20115862.shtml">Actor-activist Sean Penn visits post-Gadhafi Libya
TRIPOLI, Libya — Actor-activist Sean Penn says he admires Libyans for their courage in overthrowing Moammar Gadhafi.

Penn spoke during a visit to Tripoli on Wednesday.

He declined to comment on details about what he plans to do in the Libyan capital. But he told Associated Press Television News that he admires "the courage to say we want freedom. It's an extraordinary thing."

Standing outside a hotel, Penn also expressed confidence in Libya's efforts to make a transition to democracy.

Chavez is not going to like this.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

26. I wonder if he posed heroically with his shotgun

In the aftermath of Katrina, he looked like George Washington crossing the Delaware. It was awe-inspiring, if less-than-helpful.

:hi:

[joshcryer]

4. Exclusive: Libya's NOC seeks $6 billion in sanctions debts

http://www.cnbc.com/id/44785186">Exclusive: Libya's NOC seeks $6 billion in sanctions debts
Libya's top oil body is pursuing international oil firms for unpaid bills worth around $6 billion, a source in the National Oil Corporation (NOC) told Reuters this week, as it seeks to resume work after wartime paralysis.

Negotiations to recoup the unpaid money will put to the test relations between the OPEC member and its Gaddafi-era partners who are seeking to rebuild ties with the new administration.

The outcome of the negotiations will also give an indication of the previously all-powerful NOC's authority in the new Libya as rival bodies vie for control of its economic lifeline.

"We are starting to make arrangements for them to repay this money. It is more than $6 billion. They may be able to give us oil products," said a senior source in the NOC who declined to give his name.

As I said from the beginning, it makes no sense for Libyan's to just roll over with regards to their oil wealth. I predicted, over 6 months ago that they would not allow this to happen. And it's just hilarious that they're not going to roll over and just let the international Gaddafi-era oil contracts go away in favor of a more sour deal.

Without occupation forces it's damn hard to control the whims of a people.

[pinboy3niner]

5. Libyan government forces push into centre of Sirte

Wed Oct 5, 2011 1:09pm GMT

• Half of Sirte under interim government control: local commander

• Gaddafi birthplace will be captured "within two days"

• Residents angry at bombardment by anti-Gaddafi forces

• Red Cross trying to get new aid convoy into the city


By Rania El Gamal and Tim Gaynor


SIRTE, Libya, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Libyan government forces fought their way, street by street, into the centre of Muammar Gaddafi's birthplace of Sirte on Wednesday after their commanders said the battle for the city was entering its final hours.

...


The heavy artillery and rocket fire from Gaddafi loyalists that had been keeping fighters with the National Transitional Council (NTC) pinned on the outskirts of the city subsided on Wednesday, allowing the NTC forces to move in.

"More than half the city is under the control of the (anti-Gaddafi) rebels," said Adel Al-Hasi, a local NTC commander. "In two days, God willing, Sirte will be free."

A Reuters reporter near the centre of Sirte said she could hear the occasional thump of mortars landing near NTC positions, but that pro-Gaddafi forces had now resorted to using small arms as they switched to close-quarter fighting.

The NTC advance took them towards Sirte's government quarter, a grid of expensively built hotels, villas and conference centres where Gaddafi used to host foreign leaders.

One group of anti-Gaddafi fighters positioned themselves in a luxury hotel on the Mediterranean coast, using it as cover to fire on loyalists in a residential area about 300 metres (yards) away.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L448320111005?sp=true

[joshcryer]

6. Panetta Softens Gates NATO Plea With Libya, Afghanistan Role

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-05/panetta-softens-gates-nato-plea-with-libya-afghanistan-role.html">Panetta Softens Gates NATO Plea With Libya, Afghanistan Role
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta drew on the achievements of NATO’s operation in Libya to call for a greater commitment to the alliance even in times of budget cuts, softening a message his predecessor, Robert Gates, delivered with a rhetorical bang just four months ago.

“With the fall of the Qaddafi regime, our nations saw an example of why NATO matters and why NATO remains indispensable in confronting the security challenges of today,” Panetta told an audience of the Carnegie Europe policy group in Brussels today. “We need to use this moment to make the case for the need to invest in this alliance, to ensure it remains relevant to the security challenges of the future.”

This is why people were against the revolutionaries. The success of the revolutionaries means NATO can claim success, and we can't have that. Unfortunately people are missing that this is changing NATO and removing a good swath of US control over it. If it winds up neutering NATO (as in, not making it a US exclusive organization) as I've been hoping for, then we'll get two good things out of Libya.

[joshcryer]

7. Just so you guys know...

As the endgame nears the counter-revolutionary propaganda will escalate a whole lot, there will be dozens of threads. Sorry for engaging them today. It was so peaceful when they had me on ignore.



I expect Libyan bashing to go on for years, though, so I'm just preparing myself for that eventuality.

[pinboy3niner]

8. Libyan government forces push into centre of Sirte

Wed Oct 5, 2011 1:09pm GMT

• Half of Sirte under interim government control: local commander

• Gaddafi birthplace will be captured "within two days"

• Residents angry at bombardment by anti-Gaddafi forces

• Red Cross trying to get new aid convoy into the city


By Rania El Gamal and Tim Gaynor


SIRTE, Libya, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Libyan government forces fought their way, street by street, into the centre of Muammar Gaddafi's birthplace of Sirte on Wednesday after their commanders said the battle for the city was entering its final hours.

...


The heavy artillery and rocket fire from Gaddafi loyalists that had been keeping fighters with the National Transitional Council (NTC) pinned on the outskirts of the city subsided on Wednesday, allowing the NTC forces to move in.

"More than half the city is under the control of the (anti-Gaddafi) rebels," said Adel Al-Hasi, a local NTC commander. "In two days, God willing, Sirte will be free."

A Reuters reporter near the centre of Sirte said she could hear the occasional thump of mortars landing near NTC positions, but that pro-Gaddafi forces had now resorted to using small arms as they switched to close-quarter fighting.

The NTC advance took them towards Sirte's government quarter, a grid of expensively built hotels, villas and conference centres where Gaddafi used to host foreign leaders.

One group of anti-Gaddafi fighters positioned themselves in a luxury hotel on the Mediterranean coast, using it as cover to fire on loyalists in a residential area about 300 metres (yards) away.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L448320111005?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

9. Anti #Gaddafi fighters using heavy artillery to weaken the defences of loyalists inside #Sirte

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr tweets:

#Libya, Anti #Gaddafi fighters using heavy artillery to weaken the defences of loyalists inside #Sirte, #Libya

35 minutes ago

[pinboy3niner]

10. Libya back to school, but without Gaddafi teachings

Wed Oct 5, 2011 2:00pm GMT

By Emad Omar


BENGHAZI Oct 5 (Reuters) - ....

"Oh, Muammar the crazy," (the Libyan schoolgirl) lilts, to applause from her classmates in the Al-Amir school in Benghazi. "How much he destroyed, how much he destroyed."

...


Required reading in Gaddafi-era schools was his "Green Book", containing the ousted ruler's musings on politics, economics and everyday life. On their way to class pupils filed past portraits of the man they were instructed to call "our dear brother leader".

...


"We have many changes this year, including even the names of the schools," Fawzia Bouzeriba, a headteacher for 30 years, told Reuters.

"The course of Al-Mujtama Al-Jamahiri (Society of the masses) inspired by the Green Book was abolished," she said.

Another Benghazi headmaster, Khadiga Al-Mismary, said many history lessons had been scrapped in their entirety -- and for good.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KR21G20111005?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

11. Libya's oil-rich east bids for power

By Emma Farge

BENGHAZI, Libya | Wed Oct 5, 2011 10:06am EDT


(Reuters) - Libya's eastern city of Benghazi would risk fading back into obscurity after a six-month interlude as the seat of the rebel government were it not for one powerful asset: oil.

Benghazi residents are struggling to convert their wartime sacrifices into economic clout to restore the status of a city once deemed on a par with the capital, Tripoli, and rescue it from its relative obscurity in the Muammar Gaddafi era.

Under Gaddafi, Benghazi was at the mercy of Tripoli for its share of state funding, even though most of this is generated from nearby eastern oil fields. Libya's economy is almost entirely reliant on oil and gas revenue.

Cradle of the anti-Gaddafi revolt, Benghazi had languished low on the deposed ruler's list of spending priorities, which many see as punishment for a tradition of eastern resistance to his 42 years of one-man rule -- and to Tripoli's dominance.

"There's a feeling of entitlement in Benghazi and they want rewards. They held the fort for six months and this came on the back of a period of repression," said a Libyan oil industry source in the city where the interim National Transitional Council (NTC) set up its headquarters early in the revolt.

...


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/05/us-libya-benghazi-oil-idUSTRE7942YX20111005?feedType=RSS&feedName=lifestyleMolt

[Swede]

12. K&R

[pinboy3niner]

13. EXCLUSIVE - Libya's National Oil Co. seeks $6 billion in sanctions debts

Wed Oct 5, 2011 3:52pm GMT

• Wants money back for free oil this spring

• Says oil firms like Eni, Vitol, Conoco owe money

• Costs may reappear on Q4 balance sheets

• Will be test case for NOC's authority


By Emma Farge


LONDON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Libya's top oil body is pursuing international oil firms for bills worth around $6 billion that were left unpaid this year due to U.N. sanctions imposed in March, a source in the National Oil Corporation (NOC) told Reuters this week.

Negotiations to recoup the unpaid money will put to the test relations between the OPEC member country and its partners from the period of Muammar Gaddafi's rule, who are now seeking to rebuild ties with the new administration.

The outcome of the negotiations will also give an indication of the previously all-powerful NOC's authority in the new Libya as rival bodies vie for control of its economic lifeline.

"We are starting to make arrangements for them to repay this money. It is more than $6 billion. They may be able to give us oil products," said a senior source in the NOC who declined to give his name.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L53NV20111005?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

14. ANALYSIS-Don't meddle: Russia's warning in Syria veto

Wed Oct 5, 2011 4:12pm GMT


• Russian veto amplifies Putin's "don't meddle" message

• Veto follows anger over international action in Libya

• Russian leaders want to protect own legitimacy


By Steve Gutterman


MOSCOW, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Russia's veto of a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on protests sends a warning that Moscow will not be pushed around when it sees its interests threatened by the United States and Europe.

It signals that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is planning to return to Russia's top office in a March 2012 presidential vote, will not tolerate Western interference in a country he could lead for more than a decade to come.

...


But the veto had less to do with Syria itself than with Russia's opposition to Western efforts to promote political change abroad -- a source of ire for Putin during his 2000-2008 presidency and a renewed concern as he prepares for another six years or more as head of state.

"Russia does not want to completely lose its economic position in Syria," said Lilia Shevtsova, an author and expert on Putin and a senior associate at the Carnegie Moscow Center.

"But the main thing is that Russia does not want to support any tendency that could lead to regime change in Syria and become an example for other states."

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L52WV20111005?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

15. Flag of Libya's National Transitional Council flying at the United Nations in Vienna

VIENNA, 5 October (UN Information Service) - The United Nations in Vienna, as with other duty stations across the world, has raised a new flag, representing Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC). At the ceremony the green, black and red flag was hoisted alongside other flags of the United Nations' Member States at the Vienna International Centre.

The General Assembly of the United Nations recognized the NTC as the official representative of Libya in September this year. An overwhelming majority of the General Assembly had voted to accept the credentials of the new Libyan leadership. Following the adoption by the General Assembly of resolution 66/1, the Permanent Mission of Libya to the United Nations formally notified the United Nations of a Declaration by the National Transitional Council of 3 August 2011 changing the official name of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to "Libya" as well as a decision to change Libya's national flag.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the new Libyan leadership into the international community: "For the past seven months, you have fought courageously for your fundamental rights and freedoms. Women and young people were in the vanguard, demanding a say in the political and socio-economic life of their country. As you look to the future, I want you to know that the United Nations will support you in every way we can".

Represented on the flag are a half moon and a star - the design was the national flag of Libya from 1951 to 1969.


http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/pressrels/2011/unisvic184.html

[tabatha]

16. The NTC halts fire to allow the Red Cross to deliver vital medical aid

The NTC halts fire to allow the Red Cross to deliver vital medical aid to the besieged city of Sirte. Lily Grimes reports.

http://in.reuters.com/video/2011/10/05/aid-reaches-sirte-as-assault-continues?videoId=222255944&videoChannel=-13377

[tabatha]

17. Two IU centers to study Libyan human rights violations under State Department grant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 4, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Two Indiana University research centers will share a $100,000 grant from the United States Department of State for the study of human rights violations in Libya.

The IU Maurer School of Law Center for Constitutional Democracy and the IU Center for the Study of the Middle East will collaborate with the Istituto Superiore Internazionale di Scienze Criminali in Siracusa, Italy, on the gathering of evidence of human rights violations in support of the investigation of the Libya Inquiry Commission appointed by the United Nations' Human Rights Council.

The project will be under the supervision of three faculty at the Maurer School of Law: Ambassador Feisal Amin Rasoul Istrabadi, University Scholar in International Law and Diplomacy and director of the Center for the Study of the Middle East; David C. Williams, John S. Hastings Professor of Law and executive director of the Center for Constitutional Democracy; and Timothy William Waters, associate professor of law.

http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/19796.html

[pinboy3niner]

18. Bahrain: Retrial for medics sentenced in protests

AP – 22 mins ago

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Bahrain's attorney general has ordered a civilian court retrial for 20 medical personnel sentenced to long prison terms as alleged backers of anti-government protests.

A statement Wednesday by Bahrain's government apparently nullifies the verdicts earlier this week from a special security court against the doctors and nurses, who received sentences ranging from five to 15 years. The case brought an outcry from rights groups and raised questions from the U.N. secretary general.

Bahrain has been gripped by nearly eight months of unrest by Shiite-led protests seeking greater rights from the ruling Sunni monarchy.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

http://news.yahoo.com/bahrain-retrial-medics-sentenced-protests-165147009.html

[pinboy3niner]

19. NATO weighs end to Libya campaign

By Dan De Luce | AFP – 14 mins ago


NATO allies are weighing when to call an end to the air campaign in Libya now that Moamer Kadhafi's forces are surrounded and often beyond the reach of Western warplanes, officials said Wednesday.

Forces loyal to the deposed dictator are encircled in Sirte and Bani Walid and hiding among the local population, rendering NATO fighter jets less effective and raising the risk of civilian casualties, officials said.

"The effect of air power is not necessarily the right tool with these kind of threats," a Western official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

Kadhafi's loyalists, who had once rolled across open desert in trucks and tanks, are no longer a natural target for NATO aircraft as they shelter in built-up areas.

"You can't hit something that's not there," the official said. "A sniper on a rooftop -- that's not really something we would go after (with air power)."

...


http://news.yahoo.com/nato-weighs-end-libya-campaign-144640302.html

NATO hit only 3 targets in Libya in the last 3 days--1 command and control node in Bani Walid Tuesday, none on Monday, and 2 (a rocket launcher and an armed vehicle) in Sirte on Sunday.

[pinboy3niner]

20. Eni fears largest Libyan oilfield is in ruins

Wed Oct 5, 2011 6:08pm GMT

By Jessica Donati and Ali Schuaib


TRIPOLI Oct 5 (Reuters) - Italian oil major Eni fears its largest oilfield in Libya, known as Elephant, may be in ruins, which could dash hopes of a speedy return of Libyan supplies to global markets after months of war.

"One volunteer went with a squad of 10 rebel fighters, who escorted him on a two-to-three-hour survey in which he took pictures of the mess," Eni's Libyan operations manager, Mustafa Abougfeefa, said in an interview.

The field, which pumped 130,000 barrels of oil per day before the war, was found in ruins, with its airport completely destroyed along with crucial monitors and key electronic structures, he said.

"We cannot promise the field will start producing before the end of the year. Gaddafi's militia destroyed everything," Abougfeefa said.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L54RW20111005?sp=true

[tabatha]

21. Libya mass grave discovered near Misrata

Whoever buried the five men, discovered on Wednesday in graves a little way outside the Libyan coastal city of Misrata, had a sense of order.

The bodies were buried neatly in a row of shallow sandy scrapes, each wrapped in a green military blanket, the last one of them interred on the stretcher on which he was, in all likelihood, killed.

Someone – no one knows who – had marked the place, leaving a sign next to the grave site saying: "Five dead."

All of them were men, wearing civilian clothes

....

Another made a calculation. "If these men were killed in April then this area of the front was under the control of Gaddafi forces. The only people who came here were shepherds."

It is impossible to tell. What is clear is that they were executed and their bodies dumped. Whatever the circumstances of their death, these graves are evidence of a war crime, committed, it seems likely from the military stretcher and from the army blankets, by soldiers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/05/libya-mass-grave-misrata?CMP=twt_gu

[al bupp]

22. Tweet: Mutassim Gaddafi has left Sirte

@FreeBenghazi
Libya.elHurra
Col.Bani: Mutassim Gaddafi fled Sirte 2 unknown destination. 1 car in his convoy captured, & those arrested admitted he's in convoy
15 minutes ago

[tabatha]

24. Of course when the going gets tough

the non-tough disappear.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

29. Like MacArthur sneaking out of the Philippines

leaving the rest of the troops to enjoy a stroll on the scenic peninsula of Bataan.

Bosses seek to survive.

[tabatha]

32. I am sure citizens were not prevented from fleeing.

[ellisonz]

40. MacArthur was ordered to leave by Marshall and Roosevelt.

What good would it have done to allow himself to be captured? There was no way to evacuate the remainder of his army, civilians or Filipino soldiers. They were for all practical purposes overrun. President of the Philippines Manual Quezon and his family were also evacuated. As it was, some escaped and joined the Filipino resistance - which was backed by the American military.

http://www.pacificwar.org.au/Philippines/Macescapes.html

[pinboy3niner]

23. Libyans say Gadhafi hometown could fall in days

AP – 14 mins ago


TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyan military officials said Wednesday that revolutionary forces could capture Moammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte within days.

...


Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Ahmed Bani told reporters in Tripoli that fighters surround Sirte and "no more than 20 percent is outside of rebel control."

...


Still, the 20 percent referred to the main residential area of Sirte that the fighters have been unable to take despite heavy battles. Loyalists have been based in the Ouagadougou Conference Center, a hall Gadhafi built for international summits, and a nearby hospital, from which they have been able to dominate the surrounding residential areas.

Deputy Defense Minister Fawzy Abu Kataf said the forces are delaying an all-out assault on the city to allow residents to flee. But he insisted the city could fall within days.

"It is an ethical and humanitarian issue that is delaying the liberation," he said. "We just need the Libyan residents from Sirte to get out of the way. ...It is going to two to three days till liberation."

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libyans-gadhafi-hometown-could-fall-days-190835616.html

[pinboy3niner]

25. NATO chief says Libya mission doesn't hinge on Gadhafi's capture

By Nancy A. Youssef | McClatchy Newspapers


BRUSSELS — Former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi doesn't need to be captured or killed for NATO forces to end their mission in Libya, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday.

Rather, because NATO intervened in Libya to protect civilians, the alliance could end the mission if it determines that the transitional government can fulfill that function, Rasmussen told reporters gathered here for a meeting of NATO defense ministers.

"The termination of the operation is not dependent on Col. Gadhafi," Rasmussen said. "Actually, he is not the target of our operation. The decisive factor will be the protection of the civilian population."

...


http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/10/05/126267/nato-chief-says-libya-mission.html

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

28. I hope the NATO mission can be ended

but with the stated objective of "protecting civilians", the NATO occupation could increase. If the new leadership can bring about accepted results, through election or other means, then NATO can leave. If the leadership breaks into warring factions in the post-Qaddafi era, then NATO may have to step up its activity. And air/sea power may not be enough.

[tabatha]

31. There are always squabbles at the end of a revolution.

At the end of apartheid there was a lot of jockeying by the AWB and Buthelezi. Groups are sparring for their own interests. South Africa was worse than Libya as far as divisions are concerned.

Once the battles are over, then there will be a lot of negotiations to make sure everyone feels happy.

Expect more wars of words.

But Libya has one large thing worse than South Africa; there was no 7 month war as in Libya, where a lot of the fighters have changed from apathetic citizens to war fighters. They have to get rid of the adrenalin and anger at the thousands who have died - and at all of the destruction.

So Far, Libya has done very well, and people are slowly picking up the pieces and getting back to somewhere close to normal.

[pinboy3niner]

27. Libya fighters loot Gadhafi tribe, showing divide

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI - Associated Press | AP – 53 mins ago.


ABU HADI, Libya (AP) — After capturing this hamlet, a center for Moammar Gadhafi's tribe, revolutionary fighters have gone on a vengeance spree, looting and burning homes and making off with gold, furniture and even automobiles.

Other fighters are trying to persuade them to stop and have sought to protect the tribesmen of the ousted leader. As a result, the rampage in Abu Hadi, a suburb of Gadhafi's home city of Sirte, has underscored a geographical split among the forces loyal to Libya's new interim government.

Most of those looting homes are unorganized, volunteer bands of gunmen from the city of Misrata, to the west, which was brutalized in a bloody siege by Gadhafi's forces during the nearly 7-month uprising against his rule. Trying to rein them in are revolutionaries from eastern Libya, which shook off Gadhafi's rule early and have since had time to organize their forces.

"The Misrata fighters came into the revolution with a sense of bitterness and anger," Breiga al-Maghrabi, an eastern fighter, said Wednesday. "They want revenge for what happened to them in Misrata."

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libya-fighters-loot-gadhafi-tribe-showing-divide-203223486.html

[pinboy3niner]

30. NTC discovers two mass graves containing up to 900 bodies near Tripoli

Last Updated: Wed Oct 05, 2011 23:14 pm (KSA) 20:14 pm (GMT)

By AL ARABIYA WITH AGENCIES
DUBAI AND TRIPOLI


Libya’s new rulers have discovered two mass graves containing the bodies of as many as 900 people who had “died not long ago,” reporters on the scene said on Wednesday.

“Witness testimony has allowed us to uncover two mass graves of victims of the old regime,” Tripoli security chief Naji al-Issawi told a news conference in the Libyan capital.

A mass grave in Gargaresh, on the coast some seven kilometers (four miles) from the center of Tripoli, contained the bodies of about 200 people, Issawi said, thought to have died in the battles surrounding the rebel assault that ousted Muammar Qaddafi.

A second grave in Birasta Milad, a rural area 10 kilometers (six miles) from the city center contained an estimated 700, he added.

...


More than a dozen sites have been identified as mass graves since Qaddafi was toppled, including one at the capital’s Abu Salim prison, site of a 1996 massacre of about 1,200 people that became a rallying point against Qaddafi in the early days of the Libyan uprising.

...


http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/05/170384.html

[ellisonz]

36. You can see why some of the rebels want revenge...

[pinboy3niner]

33. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 231: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 1 AM THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6

Libya time = EDT +6 hours, PDT +9 hours, UTC +1 hour, GMT +2 hours

[pinboy3niner]

34. Libya mass grave discovered near Misrata

Posted in LBN by alp227:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x5016843

[tabatha]

35. Speech of Abdel Jalil translated by Thanku4theAnger today via twitter

NTC didn't agree w/ new transitonal govt proposed by Jibril leading to his resignation once Sirte liberated
One of the keys to Tripoli 's liberation was fact that Megaryef brigade did not fight
Esawy and Shekhi both decided to resign from NTC
Jibril & Salabi both made mistakes in thinking their plan led to Tripoli liberation. Success is from Allah
Internal Security NTC executive member has not had enough time or resources
NTC will move to Tripoli once Sirte liberated to form transitional government
Supreme Security council will be responsible for Tripoli's security and its forces will have distinct uniform
All Military councils will be dissolved once Sirte liberated
We have 2500-3000 injured at the moment. 800 in Eurpoe & Jordan w/ treatment agreements w/ France ,Italy & Germany
Foreign countries including NATO countries will play no role in deciding Libya govts, transitional or otherwise
We have requested from Algeria and Niger to surrender Gaddafi family members & loyalists who fled there
Saudi Arabia's position towards our revolution was very late and it missed the opportunity to support us
Our offices are open to complaints and we welcome peaceful protests
Once Amn Waqey ( a security force) once protested by entering NTC building w/ heavy weapons. This is unacceptable
Libyan Jews issue is a concern of future Libya parliament. My "personal" opinion Jews can return if not Israeli
All heavy weaponry will moved out of Tripoli to its outskirts
Tripoli council & FFs formed the Tripoli Military council. We approved this on basis they worked with other FFs
Once funds were received by Naji Barakat (NTC exec for Health) he prepared a good programme for treatment of FFs & distributed funds to Libya embassies in 9 countries. I believe his continuation in his role is to the advantage of the injured
Transitional govt will be formed even if Beni Walid is not liberated, as Libya's liberation announcement depends on securing all borders. Beni Walid will be treated as a renegade town till its liberated
We have a meeting next Saturday with leaders of all brigades currently in Tripoli to resolve security situation
Tripoli military council headed by Belhadj approved by Defense ministry. I personally approved it on basis it coordinates with Supreme Security committee and Tripoli Civilian Council
Admin Committee has finished it part in Martyr Abdel Fatah Yunis investigation. Judicial Committee investigation ongoing. Some suspects arrested, others still sought
NTC plan to create a committee of 4 people from NTC to advise on the shape, duties and shape of transitional govt

[tabatha]

37. Photo: People digging up the mass graves found in #Tripoli

Photo: People digging up the mass graves found in #Tripoli, says around 1000 bodies found. #Libya #Feb17

http://twitter.com/#!/SumayyahG/status/121769037503016960/photo/1

[tabatha]

38. Mass grave of 200 bodies found in Gergarish today

ChangeInLibya Ismael Zmirli
Oh my god... Mass grave of 200 bodies found in Gergarish today. Another one to add to Gaddafi's crimes. #libya #tripoli #feb17
3 hours ago

[tabatha]

50. Another mass grave was found in Bab Al Aziziya last night

ChangeInLibya Ismael Zmirli
Another mass grave was found in Bab Al Aziziya last night. Hundreds of bodies, some cut up, tortured, in garbage bags. #libya #feb17
4 hours ago

[tabatha]

39. More street art

http://egyptday1.blogspot.com/2011/10/tripoli-street-art-pls-contribute-your.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Egyptday1NowWhat+%28EgyptDay1%2C+Now+What%3F%29

[inna]

41. winning hearts and minds

[ellisonz]

43. Awwww....thank you!

[mark7sys]

57. Hi, inna: did you have any reply to my earlier questions?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1923083&mesg_id=1931175

I'd also like to add this one:

Do you consider France's intervention in the revolution in America to be inappropriate and officious? If so, why?

“unrec in complete disgust and strong protest” ?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1960179&mesg_id=1961420

Sadly, I am late on the scene and so I am unfamiliar with the nature of your protest. Why should it be a problem for there to exist a clearing house for information about Libya? How this can be offensive to anyone escapes me completely.

I am eager to read anything you have written regarding what you (I gather) would consider to be the nefarious nature of the intentions of NATO countries with respect to Libya. Would you be so kind as to provide links to your previously posted thoughts here? Thanks.

( I greatly admire your signature, BTW. )



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1954856&mesg_id=1957117

[ellisonz]

71. Don't hold your breath.

[ieoeja]

Seriously. It was nice to see a mural of an American flag instead of the usual anger at us. n/t

[ieoeja]

64. Seriously. It was nice to see a mural of an American flag instead of the usual anger at us. n/t

[ellisonz]

42. Reuters: Libya's oil-rich east bids for power

Libya's oil-rich east bids for power
ReutersBy Emma Farge | Reuters – 19 hrs ago

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Libya's eastern city of Benghazi would risk fading back into obscurity after a six-month interlude as the seat of the rebel government were it not for one powerful asset: oil.

Benghazi residents are struggling to convert their wartime sacrifices into economic clout to restore the status of a city once deemed on a par with the capital, Tripoli, and rescue it from its relative obscurity in the Muammar Gaddafi era.

Under Gaddafi, Benghazi was at the mercy of Tripoli for its share of state funding, even though most of this is generated from nearby eastern oil fields. Libya's economy is almost entirely reliant on oil and gas revenue.

Cradle of the anti-Gaddafi revolt, Benghazi had languished low on the deposed ruler's list of spending priorities, which many see as punishment for a tradition of eastern resistance to his 42 years of one-man rule -- and to Tripoli's dominance.

http://news.yahoo.com/libyas-oil-rich-east-bids-power-140650032.html

[ellisonz]

44. NYT: No Presidential Candidate From Egypt Military, Officer Says

No Presidential Candidate From Egypt Military, Officer Says
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: October 5, 2011

CAIRO — The top officer of the military council now ruling Egypt said Wednesday that the military would not offer a candidate to be Egypt’s next president. His remarks appeared to be an attempt to end a frenzy of speculation that erupted after state television recently broadcast an image of him walking the streets in a civilian suit and tie.
Related

“These are only rumors, and we shouldn’t waste time talking about rumors,” the officer, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, said Wednesday while opening a military medical center, according to the English-language Web site of the state-run newspaper Al Ahram.

The statement comes at a time when political parties from across the spectrum have joined street protesters in calling for a swift turnover of power by the military council, which took control in February with the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

The council has recently scheduled parliamentary elections over four months beginning at the end of November, but it has said it will await the approval of a new constitution — which could take another year or more after the seating of the new Parliament — before holding a presidential election.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/middleeast/field-marshal-tantawi-tries-to-halt-rumors-in-egypt.html?ref=world

[pinboy3niner]

45. NATO airstrikes conducted Wednesday, October 5 (Sirte, none; Bani Walid, 8)

Key Hits 5 OCTOBER:


In Bani Walid: 1 military installation, 6 command and control nodes, 1 military staging location.


...


International Humanitarian Assistance Movements as recorded by NATO


Total of Humanitarian Movements**: 1624 (air, ground, maritime)


Ships delivering Humanitarian Assistance 5 OCTOBER: 3


Aircrafts delivering Humanitarian Assistance 5 OCTOBER: 37


**Some humanitarian movements cover several days.


http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_10/20111006_111006-oup-update.pdf

Wednesday was the third day with no strikes in Sirte. The last strikes there were on Sunday, when NATO reported striking 1 multiple rocket launcher and 1 armed vehicle.

[pinboy3niner]

46. Red Cross brings aid to Gadhafi hometown in Libya

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI - Associated Press | AP – 16 mins ago.


SIRTE, Libya (AP) — The international Red Cross delivered baby milk, diapers and other humanitarian aid to civilians in Moammar Gadhafi's besieged hometown on Thursday, seeking to ease shortages amid rapidly deteriorating conditions.

Dibeh Fakhr, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said two trucks entered Sirte and handed over the goods, which also included medical supplies, hygiene kits and clean drinking water, to representatives of families remaining in the Mediterranean coastal city. It was the ICRC's third successful delivery since Saturday, she said.

Sirte, 250 miles (400 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli, is the most important of the pro-Gadhafi cities that are still holding out against Libya's new rulers and its defenders have put up a fierce resistance for three weeks, with the two sides trading artillery, tank and mortar shelling.

Revolutionary forces claim Gadhafi's fighters are using a conference center and a hospital as bases, but Fakhr said the ICRC has been unable to confirm those claims because the situation was too dangerous to tour the hospital during previous trips on Saturday and Monday, when they delivered 50 oxygen tanks.

...


Dr. Nuri al-Naari said 70 revolutionary forces have been killed in the past 15 days of fighting in and around Sirte.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/red-cross-brings-aid-gadhafi-hometown-libya-125736477.html

[pinboy3niner]

47. UN raises death toll in Syria unrest to 2,900

AP – 48 mins ago.


GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.'s human rights office has raised its tally of people killed during seven months of unrest in Syria to over 2,900.

A spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights says the figure is based on "reliable sources" inside and outside the country.

The spokesman, Rupert Colville, said Thursday that the names of the dead have all been confirmed and likely include some members of the security forces.

The figure represents an increase of at least 200 since the beginning of September.

Since mid-March, Bashar Assad's regime in Syria has cracked down on protesters leading movements similar to those that have ousted other Arab autocrats this year.

http://news.yahoo.com/un-raises-death-toll-syria-unrest-2-900-124719248.html

[pinboy3niner]

49. Also posted in LBN by pampango:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x5017792

[pinboy3niner]

48. Heavy fighting continuing in Sirte, reports Guardian correspondent on the scene

Haroon Siddique posts a report from The Guardian's Peter Beaumont in Sirte on their Live Blog (audio at link):

There is still heavy fighting in the Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte, Peter Beaumont reports from the city.

About 500m from where I am there is a tank which at one stage was firing a round every minute into the city. The hospital is about 3km (away) and you can see smoke coming from the area ... which has got quite a number of pro-Gaddafi fighters.

It is still quite difficult to move around, there's still quite a lot of snipers. Even where I am, which is reported to be held, it is still quite heavily contested. It (Sirte) is far from fallen but it is under a lot of pressure. All the fighters I speak to on the new government side say it will fall within the next couple of days. People have been saying that apparently for the last two weeks.

On the plight of residents, Peter said:

A lot of civilians have left the city, those that can have driven out. The civilians that are still stuck in the city are largely ones who don't have petrol for their cars. The commanders, I spoke to this morning, said we want civilians to leave but eventually we are going to have take the city properly. There is a growing sense of inevitability that there will be an intensive push into the city at some stage soon.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/06/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest#block-16

[tabatha]

51. RIGHTS ABUSE INVESTIGATION

Responding to allegations from international rights groups, al Dharrat said some ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters had committed abuses themselves during the war.

"There have been human rights abuses," al Dharrat said. "(NTC chairman) Mustafa Abdel Jalil has ordered the creation of a committee to investigate human rights violations."

Al Dharrat said the abuses were not "systematic or ordered by officials" but "individual acts".

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L618C20111006?sp=true

Imagine Gaddafi doing that.

[pinboy3niner]

52. Kadhafi diehards bid to break Sirte siege

By Herve Bar and Rory Mulholland | AFP News – 21 minutes ago


Intense fighting raged in Sirte on Thursday after forces loyal to Moamer Kadhafi tried to break a siege of the ousted strongman's hometown by fighters loyal to Libya's new regime.

...


Fighting on the northeastern front line was presaged when the toppled leader's diehards advanced several hundred metres (yards) overnight under the cover of darkness, fighters of the National Transitional Council told AFP.

"There was a lot of movement during the night; their snipers advanced here and there," an NTC fighter told AFP.

...


NTC field commander Salah al-Jabo said his men were trying to evacuate the Ibn Sina hospital near the Ouagadougou centre, what he said he believes may be one of the pro-Kadhafi fighters bases.

He said the "Red Cross is already there," and the reporter said he had seen at least one vehicle from the agency enter the city.

...


http://ph.news.yahoo.com/kadhafi-diehards-bid-break-sirte-siege-142427485.html

[tabatha]

53. Fighters told: Don't take revenge in Gaddafi town

Richard Porritt
6 Oct 2011

The battle for Colonel Gaddafi's stronghold of Sirte is almost won, according to the new Libyan government.

Revolutionary troops fought their way street-by-street today to take over the heart of the city after weeks of combat in the toppled leader's home town.

But National Transitional Council leaders have had to warn troops not to take revenge by looting homes abandoned by residents fleeing the violence.

NTC sources said most of those looting homes are unorganised, volunteer bands of gunmen from the city of Misrata, which was besieged by Gaddafi's forces during the uprising against his rule.

Trying to rein them in are revolutionaries from eastern Libya, which shook off Gaddafi's rule early and whose leaders have had time to organise their forces.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23995173-fighters-told-dont-take-revenge-in-gaddafi-town.do

[tabatha]

54. Losing hearts, minds and limbs

KhadijaMAli Khadija Ali #Zliten is suffering from mines! This is a huge problem that keeps getting bigger but keeps getting ignored. (cont.)2 minutes ago

KhadijaMAli Khadija Ali
Trying to think of a way to get attention to the mines in #Zliten. Breaks my heart to see the city suffering until this very second of G.
1 minute ago Favorite Retweet Reply

KhadijaMAli Khadija Ali
This is also going to create an even bigger problem, a problem of amputees. We have more than enough amputees as it is. #mines #Zliten

[pinboy3niner]

55. Syria: Mother of girl who was reported to have been killed not sure it was her daughter on TV

Thursday, 06 October 2011

By Al Arabiya
Dubai and Beirut


The mother of Zainab al-Hosni, the 18 year-old woman who was reportedly tortured and killed by Syrian security forces, told Al Arabiya TV on Wednesday that she wished her daughter were still alive.

“The first thing I did when I went to the morgue, is that I received my son’s corpse,” she said on Panaroma, an Al Arabiya TV program, adding “(people working in the hospital) later told me to take Zainab’s corpse and to sign a paper that says that a terrorist group is the one that killed her.”

But Zainab’s mother, whose name was not given, did not absolutely reject the claim that the girl shown on Syrian state TV was her daughter.

“I doubt that the girl on TV is my daughter, and if she was, then who was the girl that the morgue people handed to me … I wish that my daughter was still alive.”

...


Other Syrian activists dubbed the incident as a theatrical play, a staged farce, and as evidence offered up the fact that that the real name of Zainab’s mother is Dalal, which is different from the name mentioned by the woman who claims she is Zainab al-Hosni.


http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/06/170476.html

Some background:

HRW demands UN probe into Syrian woman's death
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=2010308&mesg_id=2016207

Syrian TV airs interview with woman reported dead
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=2045324&mesg_id=2058262

[pinboy3niner]

56. Syria-based TV to air Gaddafi speech on Thursday

Brief heads-up from Reuters:
http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L63QP20111006

[pinboy3niner]

58. Gaddafi warns developing world leaders of similar fate

BEIRUT Oct 6 (Reuters) - Deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi said leaders of the developing world who recognised Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC)that ousted him with the aid of NATO firepower would suffer a similar fate.
...

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L63VW20111006

[pinboy3niner]

59. Mutassim Gaddafi has fled Sirte--NTC military spokesman

Muammar Gaddafi's son Mutassim has fled the former leader's hometown of Sirte and was last heard of heading south, a Libyan government military spokesman told Al Jazeera.

"The last information we got about him (Mutassim) is that he left Sirte last Sunday," spokesman Ahmed Bani said. "We arrested one of (Gaddafi's) mercenaries and he confirmed this."

Libyan government forces have tried for weeks to take Sirte from fighters loyal to Gaddafi but were still being held back by sniper fire on Thursday.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-oct-6-2011-1908

[pinboy3niner]

60. UPDATE 1-Gaddafi warns developing world leaders of similar fate

Thu Oct 6, 2011 4:46pm GMT


• Gaddafi calls on Libyans to protest

• Says NTC not legitimate


BEIRUT Oct 6 (Reuters) - ....

...


He made the comments in an audio recording obtained by Reuters on Thursday from Syria-based Arrai television. It was not clear when the message was recorded.

"To those who recognize this council, be ready for the creation of transitional councils imposed by the power of fleets to replace you one by one from now on," he said.

Gaddafi also called on Libyans to take to the streets, saying conditions in Libya were "unbearable".

"I urge all Libyan people to go out and march in their millions in all the squares, in all the cities and villages and oases," Gaddafi said.

"Go peacefully ... be courageous, rise up, go to the streets, raise our green flags to the skies," he added.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L640520111006?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

61. NTC sends reinforcements to Bani Walid

From AJE Live Blog:

Libya's new rulers sent reinforcements on Thursday to the desert city of Bani Walid, where a campaign to capture the stronghold of Gaddafi has ground to a halt, a senior commander said.

Mussa Ali Yunes, commander of the Jado Brigade, also insisted that Gaddafi's son, Seif al-Islam was inside the city, along with a large number of allies, and that there was a 50 per cent chance Gaddafi himself was there.

"We are heading for the southern front of Bani Walid," 170 kilometres southeast of Tripoli, Yunes said, referring to a column of 1,000 men and hundreds of vehicles.

The troops were dispatched from Gargaresh, about 10 kilometres from the capital.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-oct-6-2011-2049

[pinboy3niner]

62. Sniper fire holds up push into Gaddafi's hometown

Thu Oct 6, 2011 5:32pm GMT

• Gaddafi loyalists "not going to give up" fight for Sirte

• NTC says Muammar Gaddafi's son Mo'attassem fled the city

• Red Cross evacuates wounded from besieged hospital

• Libya's interim chief heading for Tripoli - spokesman


By Rania El Gamal and Tim Gaynor


SIRTE, Libya, Oct 6 (Reuters) -

...


Anti-Gaddafi fighters on Thursday had advanced just over one kilometre (miles) into Sirte from the luxury hotel on the Mediterranean shore that had earlier marked the front line.

They were hunkered down in a neighbourhood of villas and five-storey residential blocks from where they were using machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades to try to take out loyalist sniper positions.

They set up firing positions, fortified with sandbags, next to the apartment block windows. But they were drawing heavy fire: buildings were riddled with bullets and their balconies had been partially demolished by heavy-calibre rounds.

A Reuters reporter saw a rocket-propelled grenade crash into one of the apartment buildings with NTC fighters inside. It caused little damage because, by a fluke, it passed through a hole made earlier by another projectile.

...


The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said its team evacuated three wounded from Sirte's Ibn Sina hospital, including a seriously injured nine-year-old girl.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L63YE20111006?sp=true

[tabatha]

63. Another Mass Grave Discovered in Tripoli

Representatives at the Tripoli Military Council said another mass grave has been found in the district of Tajoura in the Libyan capital on Wednesday.

They believe that at least 200 bodies have been buried, and locals residents say they are possibly corpses that were found on the streets after deadly clashes that occurred at the end of August this year.

Identification of the bodies has yet to be made, according to the military council. A representative said there are possibly 700 additional bodies in a mass grave, bringing the total to 900.

Some of the perished were Qaddafi loyalist soldiers killed in action, while others appeared to have been executed.

Meanwhile, fighters aligned with the National Transitional Council uncovered a large stash of money and jewelry in a house in Sirte, birthplace of Muammer Qaddafi.

The cash found in the house, which is located in the village of Abu Hady, was said to be worth at least 1 million dinar, equivalent to U.S.$800,000.

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/06/170538.html

[tabatha]

65. Sky Correspondent Honoured For 'Moral Courage'

Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford has been honoured for her "significant contribution" to reporting on the Middle East and, in particular, Libya.

Crawford was announced as the recipient of the James Cameron Memorial Award for 2011 at City University London.
In March, Crawford and her crew were the only journalists to get inside the besieged town of Zawiya in a convoy of then-rebel fighters.

She became the first foreign journalist to broadcast from the convoy as they made it to Martyrs' Square late on August 21.
"The objective was to be with the fighters and try to reflect what they were doing, and try to be the first if possible, keeping within all the risks in mind," Crawford later explained.

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16084250

[tabatha]

67. Alex Crawford Bio

Where are you from?

I was brought up in Africa. Lived through two coups in Nigeria as a child, then onto Zambia. Went to school in Zambia where I lived in the copper mining town of Kitwe and was taught Bemba. Went onto (as was then) Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) where we had school lessons in terrorist drill as well as fire drill. The country was going through a civil war at the time and the borders were closed to all except school children crossing over from Zambia. Came to England (Lancashire) when I was sixteen and did my O levels and A levels in Kent. Got a trainee place with Thomson Regional Newspapers and they sent me to college in Newcastle where I did a three year newspaper training course. I did my newspaper work experience on the South African Rand Daily Mail based in Johannesburg and got my first newspaper job in the south of England with the auspicious Times newspaper, Wokingham Times, that is.

How did you get started in broadcasting?

Got taken on by the BBC Training scheme and did my radio training at BBC Radio Nottingham covering the national miners strike (Nottingham NUM broke away from the national body and thus sparked off the big miners union split which led to the disintegration of the NUM and the end of the strike – and ultimately the closure of the majority of the mines in Britain. I moved down to London and worked at BBC Broadcasting House contributing to Radio One Newsbeat, Radio Four Today programme, The World this Weekend, The World Tonight. Got taken on and trained by BBC TV at Television Centre and then worked as a sub-editor on the One o’clock News and on the first hourly news bulletins as well the Six o’clock news with Sue Lawley and the Nine o’clock news with Michael Buerk Joined TV-am – the now defunct independent breakfast channel – for a year and was sent to their Washington bureau. Joined Sky at its launch in 1989 as producer. Switched to reporting within six months and have covered the following positions since then: news reporter, Political correspondent; Business correspondent, News correspondent and now Asia correspondent based in Delhi, India.

http://tvnewsroom.co.uk/q-and-a/qa-alex-crawford-2631/

[pinboy3niner]

66. Gaddafi still hiding in south Libya --de facto PM

"The latest report is that he is in southern Libya under the protection of the Tuareg tribe, and from time to time crosses into Niger," Mahmoud Jibril told Reuters during a visit to Baghdad.

"Security is the most important thing for him. To specify where he is exactly even for ten hours is very difficult. I hope within the coming days we will be able to confirm where he is located exactly," he said.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L64AE20111006

[pinboy3niner]

68. "No one can fire at you so long as you are demonstrating peacefully"

--Gaddafi, in radio speech urging his followers to rise up and "march in their millions"

(AJE Live Stream has been airing a clip of the speech--with translation--in its news reports, and I did a spit-take when I heard that!)

[ellisonz]

69. Typical Daffi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42Lf7yNhdtk

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

86. It's a good ploy

If the NTC (the group formerly known as Rebels) fires on Qaddafi supporters in a peaceful gathering, then NATO will have to bomb the NTC.

Protecting civilians, and all that.

[ellisonz]

109. Bozo.

[pinboy3niner]

70. NTC forces capture area in Bani Walid

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: The speaker alleged to be Gadhafi tells Libyans to be brave and protest

• Gadhafi loyalists were driven from the hills in Bani Walid

• Fighting has raged for weeks for control of Bani Walid and Sirte

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 1:15 PM EST, Thu October 6, 2011

(CNN) -- ....

...


Meanwhile, revolutionary fighters still battling to remove the last bastions of Gadhafi's forces were able to wrest control of strategic posts in the hills of Bani Walid.

The hills lie on the northern front of the fighting in Bani Walid and were infested with snipers, said Abdulla Kenshill, a National Transitional Council spokesman in the city.

The council's fighters were also able to confiscate much of the heavy weaponry used by the Gadhafi loyalists.

Kenshill said two of the council's fighters were killed in a rocket attack Wednesday night.

Bani Walid radio was still broadcasting pro-Gadhafi messages from homes inside the city, Kenshill said. However, Libya Al Hurra radio, which supports the revolutionaries, was also on the air from Bani Walid, which is about 170 kilometers (105 miles) southeast of Tripoli.

...


http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/06/world/africa/libya-war/index.html?hpt=iaf_c1

[pinboy3niner]

72. Iraq offers advice to Libyan leader on democracy

AP – 38 mins ago.


BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's prime minister offered to help Libya, a country with a shared history of dictatorship, build its fledgling democracy during a meeting Thursday with Libya's visiting prime minister, said an Iraqi spokesman.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told his Libyan counterpart, Mahmoud Jibril, who was on a one-day visit to Iraq, that Baghdad is will to ready to lend support on writing a constitution and holding elections, said Ali al-Moussawi, a spokesman for the Iraqi leader.

"Al-Maliki expressed Iraq's readiness to support Libya especially because there are similarities between the Iraqi and Libyan experiences, where the two countries got rid of dictatorships," al-Moussawi said.

Iraq has held several democratic elections with wide participation across the political, religious and sectarian spectrum since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein.

...


Libyans themselves, although supported by a NATO air campaign, were the driving force that ousted Moammar Gadhafi from power; in Iraq, U.S. troops toppled Saddam. Also, Libya does not have the same sectarian divide between Sunni and Shiite that fueled much of the violence that crippled Iraq and brought it to the brink of civil war.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-offers-advice-libyan-leader-democracy-210500579.html

[pinboy3niner]

73. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 232: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7

Libya time = EDT +6 hours, PDT +9 hours, UTC +1 hour, GMT +2 hours

[tabatha]

74. Put poisonous speech on the back burner

Thursday, 06 October 2011 17:33

GRANDSTANDING as well as the peddling of hate speech by politicians should be deplored. Throughout the Libyan revolution, the former strongman Muammar Gaddafi used crude language –– such as rats, infidels and so forth –– to try to portray the rebels as usurpers, amateurs, thieves, robbers and anarchists, whose brief was to make Libya an Italian colony again. Sounds familiar?

Gaddafi, in the political trenches for a good 42 years, seems not to have learnt and fully understand the age-old cliché that in politics or international relations, there are no permanent friends but permanent interests. Even his own envoy in Harare ditched him.

It is a historical truism that when dictators are cornered, their spin-doctors go into over drive as they use the blame-game technique in their horrendous propaganda campaigns.

In Libya, who has had the last laugh now? The rats have outwitted the cat in its lair.

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/letters/32673-put-poisonous-speech-on-the-back-burner.html

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

81. The spin is dizzying

The article compares the NTC with Robert Mugabe, since they both "overthrew dictators" and are now examples of democracy.

It also compares speeches of Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill, and (of course) Robert Mugabe. The article mentions a Mugabe phrase "turn guns into ploughshares". The maintenance of farm equipment in Zimbabwe has not fared so well since Mugabe "overthrew the dictator". Ploughshares have been sold as scrap, possibly to gun makers.

I hope Zimbabwe is not the model for the new Libya.

And, in Libya's case, the rats did not beat the cat. The NATO air and sea forces cornered the cat. Even now, the cat would probably have the rats for lunch, if not for NATO forces.

[tabatha]

103. You totally missed the point of the article.

"Much has been said about former Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Douglas Smith’s words that black Zimbabweans will never attain majority rule in his lifetime. He lived long enough to be ruled by his nemesis, President Robert Mugabe."
It is not comparing the NTC with Robert Mugabe; it is comparing Gaddafi with Ian Smith. Good grief.

"He lived long enough to be ruled by his nemesis, President Robert Mugabe."
It is in now way comparing Mugabe with NTC - all it is saying is that Smith lived long enough to see his words proven wrong.

"In the two scenarios above, the grandstanding received joyous applause. However, when the end came the dictators had to eat their words. Who can forget Zanu PF’s claim that they would rule until donkeys grow horns?
Ironically, Morgan Tsvangirai is ensconced in the Prime Minister’s office despite Zanu PF’s claims."
Once again talking about people having to eat their words.

Where did you learn comprehension?

"As Zimbabwe hobbles into the next electoral theatre, my hope is that speeches that poison the chalice will be put on the back burner. In the context of the inclusive government, tolerance will help nurture our young democracy."
He is asking for Zimbabwe to do better.

Good grief again. Reread the article.

[pinboy3niner]

75. Mugabe warns against Libya-style uprising

06/10/2011 00:00:00

by Deutsche Press-Agentur


PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe Thursday said the Arab Spring could have been avoided if the countries' leaders had “read” the situation properly and warned that Western powers backing the uprisings could target Zimbabwe next.

“We have had good relations with those Arab countries in trouble today. We have sympathy with them because they did not read warnings that they should have read. That things were changing because of the wishes of their people, and because of machinations of the imperialists,” the president said.

“The pattern has been the same ... Protests against some political measure or system or wanting change. It ends up being a demand for the entire government to go,” said Mugabe addressing senior members of his Zanu-PF party.

Mugabe said Zimbabwe must be watchful of what has happened in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Libya where Western powers “pretend to be following the grievances of the protestors” when in fact they are after resources of the countries.

...


http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-6209-Mugabe+warns+against+Libya-style+uprising/news.aspx

[pinboy3niner]

76. NATO in Libya: why the alliance is staying

Source: Christian Science Monitor

NATO ministers decide to continue the mission in Libya amid concerns that Muammar Qaddafi is still at large and the new leadership council needs continuing help with security.

By Howard LaFranchi, Staff writer / October 6, 2011


Washington

The word from NATO defense ministers Thursday that the Alliance is not ready end its Libya campaign reflects a two-fold objective: It encourages the new Libyan leadership to continue moving forward in the country’s political transition, and it dashes any hopes of remaining loyalists to Muammar Qaddafi that international oversight is about to end.


“We’re seeing a balancing in NATO’s message to Libya that tells the transitional leaders there won’t be any undue meddling in their affairs, while also letting the loyalists know that is not pulling out,” says Fred Wehrey, a Libya expert at the RAND Corp. in Santa Monica, Calif. “They’re trying to wean the new leaders and encourage them to walk on their own, while letting the holdouts know that nothing has changed that would encourage them to rally.”


NATO Defense ministers met in Brussels Thursday, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said afterward that a consensus formed around four conditions to be met before the mission could end:


• An end to the armed resistance from loyalists in holdouts like Sirte, Colonel Qaddafi’s birthplace, and Bani Walid.

• Successfully terminating the ability of remaining Qaddafi forces to attack civilians.

• Assuring Qaddafi’s inability to command forces.

• Certainty about the new leadership’s ability to secure the country.

...


http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2011/1006/NATO-in-Libya-why-the-alliance-is-staying

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

85. "Certainty about the new leadership’s ability to secure the country"

This, and the goal of "protecting civilians", could keep NATO/UN in play for a long time.

Pretty much the same goals that keep us in Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea.

[tabatha]

96. Will not happen.

NATO wants out asap. That is why they were talking of leaving before Gaddafi was captured.

[pinboy3niner]

77. Libya: wounded patients evacuated from Sirte hospital

06-10-2011 News Release 11/208

Tripoli/Geneva (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) evacuated three war-wounded people from Ibn Sina hospital in Sirte to a field hospital on the other side of the front line on 6 October 2011.

It benefited from a lull in hostilities during a few hours that enabled it to carry out this operation. An estimated 20,000 people who have fled the fighting are now staying near Sirte, often in difficult conditions.

"The three wounded patients needed to be taken out. In the current conditions, the hospital in Sirte cannot provide the specialized care they need," said Cordula Wolfisberg, an ICRC doctor who entered the hospital. "Together with the medical staff at the hospital, we identified which patients required evacuation and were stable enough to withstand it. We also made sure they were willing to leave."

Once outside Sirte, the patients, accompanied by three members of their families, were transferred further to a hospital in Misrata. One of the evacuees is a seriously injured nine-year-old girl. Medication for people suffering from chronic diseases – donated by other humanitarian organizations – was also delivered by the ICRC to the hospital.

"Today there were only a few doctors left to treat war-wounded people in the Sirte hospital," added Dr Wolfisberg. "Because of the fighting in the area, most patients have been moved from the wards to the corridors. In addition, the hospital is packed with civilians from the neighbourghood, including many women and small children."

ICRC delegates also delivered food parcels, baby milk, diapers and hygiene items for 1,000 people inside conflict-stricken Sirte.

The ICRC reiterates that all possible measures must be taken to protect civilians and ensure safe access for health-care and humanitarian workers, as required by international humanitarian law.

This was the third time since 1 October that the ICRC had managed to enter Sirte from the west. The security situation remains extremely volatile, limiting movements and the time that ICRC staff can spend inside the city.

While thousands of civilians are still caught inside Sirte, many others have fled the city in recent weeks in search of safety. More than 18,000 people, among them many women, children and elderly people, are currently displaced east of Sirte. Around 5,000 of them are staying in the desert nearby and others are scattered in Harawa and its surroundings, some 50 kilometres east of Sirte. West of the city, hundreds of people have moved to safer areas between Sirte and Misrata.

"Waves of civilians are leaving the city almost every day," said Ghafar Bishtawi, an ICRC delegate, east of Sirte. "We even saw entire families leaving on foot, bringing their small children with them, without any food or water."

Together with Libyan Red Crescent volunteers, the ICRC is distributing potable water, baby food, baby milk and hygiene items to most of the displaced people.

The ICRC remains committed to meeting the needs of people in and near cities where fighting is taking place, especially Sirte and Bani Walid.


http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/news-release/2011/libya-news-2011-10-06.htm

[pinboy3niner]

78. Arab Spring, Africa high in Nobel peace prize talk

Thu Oct 6, 2011 11:42pm GMT

By Terje Solsvik and Gwladys Fouche


OSLO Oct 7 (Reuters) - The award of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday has autumnal Oslo turning thoughts back to the Arab Spring, but Africans, from Liberia, or perhaps Sudan, offer a strong challenge in perennial speculation on who will win the global accolade.

With no woman winning the award for seven years, there are a number of strong female contenders widely tipped for 2011.

...


Several of those nominated for the prize as leading lights in the Egyptian and Tunisian protest movements are women -- Asmaa Mahfouz and Israa Abdel Fatah of Egypt's April 6 Youth Movement Facebook group and Tunisian blogger Lina Ben Mhenni are among nominees who might be part of an Arab Spring award.

But the difficulty of identifying a clear individual, or even formal group, which might receive the prize on behalf of the Arab Spring movements, may discourage the committee -- as might continued uncertainty about the impact of the changes, both in Egypt and Tunisia, as well as in Libya, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere, where bloodshed is continuing.

Egyptian men Ahmed Maher and Google executive Wael Ghonim, arrested for trying to help keep social media alive during the protests that toppled Hosni Mubarak, are also cited among potential laureates. Afghan Sima Samar is another contender, for her efforts to improve women's rights and access to healthcare.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L644L20111006?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

79. Libya at a standstill until Sirte falls

By Portia Walker, Special for USA TODAY


SIRTE, Libya — The fighters ran from building to building, ducking as weapons fire came in over the rooftops around them.

Shouting "Allahu Akbar (God is great)," they pounded nearby apartment blocks with machine gun fire in one of the few parts of Moammar Gadhafi's hometown they have yet to subdue.

" Mutassim is there," said Amran al Awaib, a rebel commander, referring to one of the sons of Libyan dictator Gadhafi.

"I hear him on the radio," said Amran al Awaib, a rebel commander. "I am sure he will fight till death. On the radio he says, 'Fight! Don't give up!'"

...


To the west, brigades from Misrata have been firing rockets and mortars from secured positions along the highway outside the city. But advances appear to lack planning. Young men in pickups race toward the city. They assemble and unleash rockets and fire heavy machine guns before retreating after coming under sustained attack.

...


http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2011-10-06/sirte-libya-rebels/50680750/1

[ellisonz]

80. AJE: Final Battle of Sirte Underway

33 min 47 sec ago - Libya

Street fighting and heavy bombardment also continued from overnight at the Ouagadougou conference centre, a major stronghold of pro-Gaddafi forces, while the Mauritanian Quarter was also under attack.

Meanwhile, medics at a field hospital 50km west of Sirte said 18 injured anti-Gaddafi fighters had been brought in, most of them with shrapnel wounds, but that there were no immediate reports of any killed.
Tags Gaddafi, Muammar Gaddafi, Rebel fighters, violence
2 hours 2 min ago - Libya

The battle for Sirte, hometown of former leader, Muammar Gaddafi, is currently underway. Revolutionary fighters have begun a major assault today, to try to end a three week standoff.

Commanders say this is the final push to take the town from Gaddafi loyalists.

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from the frontline, said that this was going to be the "final assault".

"Right now they are bombarding it and trying to weaken defences - it is going to be quite a fight today."

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya

[pinboy3niner]

82. Liberian, Yemeni women win Nobel Peace Prize

Fri Oct 7, 2011 9:20am GMT


OSLO Oct 7 (Reuters) - Three women who have campaigned for rights and an end to violence in Liberia and Yemen, including Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.

Another Liberian, Leymah Gbowee, who mobilised fellow women against the country's civil war including by organising a "sex strike", and Tawakkul Karman, who has worked in Yemen, will share the prize worth $1.5 million with Johnson-Sirleaf, who faces re-election for a second term as president on Tuesday.

"We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society," Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland told reporters.

"The Nobel Peace Prize for 2011 is to be divided in three equal parts between Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work."

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L70DD20111007

[pinboy3niner]

83. Nobel peace winner Karman says award is victory for Yemen, Arab Spring

Fri Oct 7, 2011 11:24am GMT


• Karman says Yemenis will keep up fight to remove Saleh

• Says the prize is a "message to Arab dictators"

• Yemeni activists, government welcome the news


By Ahmed Jadallah


SANAA, Oct 7 (Reuters)- - Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakul Karman said on Friday the award was a victory for Yemen and all Arab Spring revolutions and a message that the era of Arab dictatorships was over.

The peace activist, who was detained briefly during protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, told Reuters the peaceful revolution to topple him would continue.

"This is a victory for the Yemeni people, for the Yemeni revolution and all the Arab revolutions. This is a message that the era of Arab dictatorships is over. This is a message to this regime and all the despotic regimes that no voice can drown out the voice of freedom and dignity," the 32-year-old mother of three said.

"This is a victory for the Arab Spring in Tunis, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen. Our peaceful revolution will continue until we topple Saleh and establish a civilian state."

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L712820111007?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

84. Libya battle the odds in fight for Nations qualification

Fri Oct 7, 2011 8:03am GMT


By Mark Gleeson

CHINGOLA, Zambia Oct 7 (Reuters) - Libya's players will have more than soccer on their minds when they meet Zambia in a vital African Nations Cup finals qualifier on Saturday, coach Marco Paqueta said.

As fighting rages in Libya, with government forces trying to take Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, Paqueta said his players had all the motivation they would ever need.

"In their minds they are not only playing for football success but for a new government and a new country," the Brazilian said on Friday.

...


Just over a month ago Libya were not even sure of completing their programme in the qualifiers but fielded a team to play behind closed doors in neutral Cairo against Mozambique and won their penultimate group game to keep themselves in contention.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFB25119220111007?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

87. Kadhafi hometown rocked by street fighting

By Herve Bar and Rory Mulholland | AFP – 2 hrs 54 mins ago.


Moamer Kadhafi's besieged hometown of Sirte was rocked by heavy street fighting on Friday, as the ex-leader called on Libyans to turn out in their millions to demonstrate against the country's new rulers.

...


By midday Thursday, NTC fighters had halted the pro-Kadhafi assault and were advancing on foot among the buildings, in the face of rocket and sniper fire.

Thursday night, the Ali Nuri Sbag Brigade advanced nearly a kilometre (0.6 mile), bringing them close to the north-south thoroughfare that forms a pro-Kadhafi stronghold, an AFP correspondent said.

The brigade is made up mostly of defectors from Kadhafi's army. Their professionalism is evident, in marked contrast to the amateurism of certain units of civilian volunteers.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/kadhafi-hometown-rocked-street-fighting-091744080.html

[pinboy3niner]

88. 2,000 Gaddafi loyalists surrounded at Ougadogou conference center in Sirte

From The Guardian's Live Blog:


Peter Beaumont has made it to within 800m of the Ougadogou conference centre in Sirte where 2,000 Gaddafi loyalists are surrounded.

In first part on a interrupted sat phone call he says:

There are a couple of T55 tanks moving around firing into the conference centre to the left of me. And then there's a convoy of gun trucks. Some of the buildings behind (the conference centre) have reinforced walls with snipers slipped in it. If I peek out from this truck I'm hiding behind there's a pink house, I'm told there is an awful lot of snipers in there as well.

Peter adds: "Over to my left there is a huge cloud of black smoke, then at the end of the conference centre there is another fire burning and there have just been two detonations in that direction."

Soon afterwards we lost connection, apologies.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/07/libya-battle-for-sirte-live-updates#block-9#block-13

[pinboy3niner]

89. "It is completely surrounded. There is no way out."

The Guardian's Matthew Weaver posts another update from Peter Beaumont, their correspondent on the battle line in Sirte:


The general view is that around 2,000 Gaddafi loyalists are hold up in Sirte, Peter Beaumont reports in the second part of his sat phone update.

They are very well armed and very well motivated and they are really not giving up without a fight.

It is not entirely safe. (Sound of shelling) ... that's one of the tanks firing into the conference centre. No it's not safe, but I'm in a relatively good position right now. I don't know how long we will stay here.

On the number of civilians trapped in Sirte, Peter said:

The lowest estimates I've heard is 250 families. I'm not sure I believe that, but what I do believe is that the people who are stuck simply don't have petrol for their cars and can't get out of the city.

The Red Cross have not been able to get in today, it is full scale battle going on.

On the (significance) of battle, Peter said:

This is where a large concentration of the loyal of the loyal are holding out. It has got a huge political significance. The government has made it clear that even though Bani Walid is also under siege, it is the fall of Sirte that will trigger the full liberation of (Libya). That will then start the political process that will lead to elections in about eight months time.

He adds that Gaddafi forces are surrounded on all sides.

I've driven completely around it. It is completely surrounded. There is no way out. There have been continuing effort to negotiate. But I'm told that all that the fighters in the city ask for is 'please give us more time'. It appears that this morning time ran out.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/07/libya-battle-for-sirte-live-updates#block-9#block-14

[pinboy3niner]

90. At least 10 NTC fighters killed, 140 wounded in battle for Sirte--El Mundo reporter

The Guardian's Live Blog relays updates from the Spanish newspaper's correspondent:


Javier Espinosa from the Spanish newspaper El Mundo says the death toll in Sirte has increased to 10 fighters.

Here are his most Twitter updates in English:

half an hour trapped in a ditch NTC fighters laughing and eating chocolate cakes but bullets flying around #Sirte #Libya


coming back from inside crazy as usual they had pushed deep inside but now fighting house to house and Ouagadougou resist #Sirte #Libya


right now 10 dead and 140 injured only in west #Sirte big offensive but commanders on the field doubt they can take the city today

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/07/libya-battle-for-sirte-live-updates#block-9#block-19

[pinboy3niner]

91. Libya NTC forces take most of Gaddafi stronghold Sirte

Source: BBC

7 October 2011 Last updated at 09:04 ET

...


Sustained tank and mortar fire has been targeting Sirte and there are huge columns of smoke across the city, some 360km (225 miles) east of Tripoli, with many buildings struck and on fire, says our correspondent.

...


The interim authorities' troops are coming from both Misrata in the west and Benghazi in the east.

The Benghazi forces are only 1km from the city centre but have faced heavy resistance from snipers inside the city.

The Ouagadougou conference centre, where many of the Gaddafi loyalists are believed to have gathered, has become the focus of the artillery barrages.

...


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15210806

[pinboy3niner]

92. Reform or go, Russia's Medvedev tells Syria leaders

Fri Oct 7, 2011 1:15pm GMT

By Steve Gutterman


MOSCOW Oct 7 (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday Syria's leaders should step down if they cannot enact reforms, but warned the West not to try to push President Bashar al-Assad from power.

Medvedev's remarks appeared aimed to push Assad toward compromise and to patch up Russia's image after it blocked a U.N. Security Council draft resolution that would have condemned Syria's deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

He also made clear that Russia opposes change in Syria on terms set by the West.

"We are using our channels and are actively working with the Syrian leadership, we are demanding that the Syrian leadership implement the necessary reforms," state-run RIA quoted Medvedev as telling his presidential Security Council.

"If the Syrian leadership is incapable of conducting such reforms, it will have to go, but this decision should be taken not in NATO or certain European countries, it should be taken by the Syrian people and the Syrian leadership," he said.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L71FW20111007?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

93. NATO airstrikes conducted Thursday, October 6

Key Hits 6 OCTOBER:


1 Tank was engaged and destroyed in Bani Walid.


...


International Humanitarian Assistance Movements as recorded by NATO


Total of Humanitarian Movements**: 1662 (air, ground, maritime)


Ships delivering Humanitarian Assistance 6 OCTOBER: 1


Aircrafts delivering Humanitarian Assistance 6 OCTOBER: 37


**Some humanitarian movements cover several days.


http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_10/20111007_111007-oup-update.pdf

[pinboy3niner]

94. Sirte assault being conducted without NATO's help

Matthew Weaver notes at The Guardian's Live Blog:

While we wait for news from Peter in Sirte, its worth pointing out that this assault appears to have been conducted without Nato's help.

The last time Nato hit Sirte was on Sunday when one rocket launcher and an armed vehicle were hit.

Nato has had one of its quietest weeks in the Libya campaign. There were eight strikes against Bani Walid on Wednesday, more than the rest of the week put together. One more tank was hit in Bani Walid yesterday, according to the latest update from Nato.

The Guardian has been mapping the campaign each day, since it began.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/07/libya-battle-for-sirte-live-updates#block-9#block-22

[pinboy3niner]

95. Libyan fighters assault main Gadhafi base in Sirte

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI and KIM GAMEL - Associated Press | AP – 28 mins ago


TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Revolutionary fighters on Friday assaulted a convention center in the center of Sirte that forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi turned into their main base, in what commanders said was a final offensive to crush resistance in the holdout city after weeks of siege.

The forces of Libya's new rulers were pushing into the Mediterranean coastal city from the west, east and south in heavy fighting, trying to squeeze Gadhafi loyalists into a smaller and smaller perimeter. The two sides battered each other with rockets, mortars and tanks, as Gadhafi snipers fired down on fighters advancing through housing complexes .

At least eight revolutionary fighters were killed and 125 were wounded, doctors said. Ambulances sped down Sirte's main avenue to a field hospital set up in an abandoned villa five miles (eight kilometers) from the center. Doctors said a senior commander, Ali Saeh of the Free Libya Brigade, was injured, shot twice by a sniper as he led fighters through loyalist forces in a residential area.

...


Leaders of the interim government have said that once Sirte falls they can start a timetable for elections. Sirte is key to the physical unity of the country, since it lies roughly in the center of the coastal plain where the majority of Libya's 6.5 million people live, blocking the easiest routes between east and west. Gadhafi loyalists, however, still control another major city, Bani Walid, in the central mountains, and Sabha deep in the deserts of the south.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-fighters-assault-main-gadhafi-sirte-135336432.html

[pinboy3niner]

97. Libyan fighters assault main Gadhafi base in Sirte

By CHRISTOPHER GILLETTE - Associated Press | AP – 3 mins 32 secs ago.


SIRTE, Libya (AP) — ....

The forces of Libya's new rulers were pushing into the Mediterranean coastal city from the west, east and south in heavy fighting, trying to squeeze Gadhafi loyalists into a smaller and smaller perimeter. The two sides battered each other with rockets, mortar shells and tank fire, as Gadhafi snipers fired down on fighters advancing through housing complexes. Friday's push marks the largest new assault on the city for weeks.

Smoke drifted over the skyline and explosions thundered throughout the city, as long lines of residents fleeing by car formed at revolutionary forces' checkpoints.

Fighters entering through the western gate quickly advanced to within just a mile (two kilometers) of the city center but faced heavy resistance from a loyalist force of roughly 800 men, according to one commander's estimate.

"We started the attack at 6 a.m. today. The first group hit the outskirts of Sirte. We were fired on by Gadhafi snipers. We had many soldiers wounded," said commander Altaib Aleroebi of the ex-rebels' West Mountain Brigade, which led the attack on the western front.

At least 12 revolutionary fighters were killed and 195 were wounded, doctors said. Ambulances sped down Sirte's main avenue to a field hospital set up in an abandoned villa five miles (eight kilometers) from the center. Doctors said a senior commander, Ali Saeh of the Free Libya Brigade, was injured, shot twice by a sniper as he led fighters through loyalist forces in a residential area.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-fighters-assault-main-gadhafi-sirte-135336432.html

[pinboy3niner]

98. Sirte: Libyan rebels mount massive attack on Gaddafi's forces - video

guardian.co.uk, Friday 7 October 2011

Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi defending the coastal city of Sirte are facing a fierce bombardment by rebel troops. The new Libyan government's forces hope to take the last major Gaddafi stronghold by the end of the week. Large numbers of civilians are fleeing the surrounded city (0:42):


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/oct/07/sirte-libya-rebels-gaddafi-video

[pinboy3niner]

99. Libya fighters launch assault on Sirte

Source: Al Jazeera

At least nine people killed in "final push" by NTC fighters to take stronghold of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Last Modified: 07 Oct 2011 16:11

...


Plumes of black smoke could be seen rising from several points in the city, amid the sound of machinegun fire and explosions.

NATO fighter jets flew overhead, but there were no reports of air strikes.

Our correspondent said that while thousands of civilians had left over the past three weeks, some were still trapped inside.

"We spoke to civilians as they left and while some said they had been trapped inside the city or even prevented from leaving by Gaddafi loyalists, there are some that did not want to leave.

...


Salah al-Jabo, an NTC field commander, said his men were trying to evacuate the Ibn Sina hospital near the Ouagadougou centre.

...


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/10/201110783935223881.html

[pinboy3niner]

100. NTC fighters intensify assault on Sirte (video - 3:23)

Watch Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr report from the frontline (3:23):

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-oct-7-2011-1908

[pinboy3niner]

101. NATO sees Gaddafi loyalists near defeat in Sirte - US

Fri Oct 7, 2011 8:14pm GMT

• Sirte is last major concentration of resistance

• Gaddafi doesn't have control over militia supporting him

• TNC improving security but additional steps needed


By David Alexander


ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Commanders of NATO operations in Libya believe forces loyal to ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi are on the verge of defeat in Sirte, a key milestone for ending alliance military operations, a senior U.S. defense official said.

The commanders' assessment was delivered to U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who was visiting the U.S. Navy base at Naples, Italy, that serves as headquarters for the 6th Fleet. He was briefed on the status of air and sea operations aimed at protecting Libyan civilians from attacks by Gaddafi loyalists, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Commanders told Panetta in closed-door sessions that Gaddafi, whose exact whereabouts are unknown, effectively has no nationwide command and control over militias who support him, the official said.

Gaddafi loyalists in the city of Sirte, the last major concentration of resistance to Libya's new rulers, are likely to be defeated within days or weeks, the official said.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFN1E79618Y20111007?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

102. Is this the beginning of the end in Libya?

Source: Global Post

What could be the final assault of the Libyan conflict has begun in Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte.

James Foley
October 7, 2011 15:02


OUTSKIRTS OF SIRTE, Libya — Nearly three weeks into their assault on Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte, the revolutionaries launched their first coordinated attack on the city proper, sending hundreds of trucks and men on foot pushing from strategic points into the city.

The results were mixed — with rebels having cleared a neighborhood of bungalows known as the 700 Houses complex where they’d taken significant sniper fire, but still mostly thwarted from entering one of the loyalist centers which contains Sirte’s main hospital and Ugadugo Congress Hall.

...


The early morning push got the revolutionaries to the last wall before the complex, but there they were bottlenecked at the gate and the organization disintegrated. Accurate sniper fire pinged into the green steel doors, wounding at least three fighters trying to peak around the corner into the open field of fire. Gun trucks ran through the gate but, after firing their barrage, returned bloodied and panicked, some crashing into others.

...


The loyalist fire appeared to be coming from a military base southeast of the wall. Gun trucks pushed toward the base, backed by tank fire, while fighters snaked between a path of parked vehicles to build a trench as a firing position. A bulldozer even broke down the wall so fighters could get through in other places. But loyalist sniper fire and RPGs sporadically rained down, keeping the ambulances filled with horizontal bodies.

At the 700 Houses, several kilometers west, another group of brigades pushed from a farming area into the rows of bungalows. Using heavy firepower, backed by a patchwork of men and teens firing anything they could get their hands on, the fighters took the houses. The rebels stepped on wall hangings of Gaddafi in celebration. One reported they’d found three loyalist bodies next to Draganov sniper rifles.

...


http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/the-casbah/the-beginning-the-end-libya

[pinboy3niner]

104. As final battle rocks Sirte, NTC forces prepare to launch new offensive at Bani Walid

Last Updated: Fri Oct 07, 2011 18:57 pm (KSA) 15:57 pm (GMT)

By Al Arabiya and Agencies

...

Mussa Ali Yunes, commander of the Jado Brigade, said “we are heading for the southern front of Bani Walid,” speaking of a column of 1,000 men and hundreds of vehicles.

Yunes said efforts were being made to convince the remaining 10 percent of the population still there to leave before the new assault is launched after a month-long siege.

“The offensive could, possibly, be launched in two days, but that depends” on the situation, he added, explaining that the NTC forces were outgunned.

“There are many weapons in Bani Walid, weapons of high technology, very recent, coming from Russia,” he said. “We need more precise weapons but also intelligence on the inside, particularly on the number of missiles they have.

“About 2,000 fighters are deployed on the northern front, but they only have light weapons for now, because all the heavy weapons are in Sirte.”

...


http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/07/170640.html

[pinboy3niner]

105. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 233: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:05 AM SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8

Libya time = EDT +6 hours, PDT +9 hours, UTC +1 hour, GMT +2 hours

[pinboy3niner]

106. Wintershall restarting 100,000-bpd Libyan fields

JAKHIRA, Libya Oct 7 (Reuters) - German oil and gas company Wintershall was restarting oil fields in Libya with a combined capacity of 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) on Friday, after a team of some 20 key workers were flown to the south-eastern desert, a Reuters reporter in the area said.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFN1E7961P020111007

[pinboy3niner]

107. Obama hails Tunisia as 'inspiration' of Arab Spring

Fri Oct 7, 2011 10:45pm GMT

• Obama awards Tunisia first Arab Spring White House visit

• Says 'deeply encouraged' by progress since uprising

• Discusses $50 million in loan guarantees, business aid


By Alister Bull


WASHINGTON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama heralded Tunisia's progress toward democracy after a White House meeting with Prime Minister Beji Caid Sebsi on Friday, awarded for the country's "inspiration" of the Arab Spring.

"The United States has enormous stake in seeing success in Tunisia and the creation of greater opportunity and more business investment in Tunisia," Obama said after an Oval Office meeting the Tunisian leader.

Washington hopes Tunisia's progress toward democracy will set an example others will follow after faltering steps in that direction by Egypt, and Obama discussed an aid package worth $50 million in loan guarantees and enterprise seed capital.

"Given that Tunisia was the first country to undergo the transformation we know as the Arab Spring, and given it is now the first to have elections, we thought it was appropriate that Tunisia would be the first to visit the White House," he said.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFN1E7961SK20111007?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

108. Breaking:

Jimmy says...



"The number of posts in this thread is too damn high!"

:evilgrin:

[pinboy3niner]

110. Sirte update from Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr at the front line (video - 2:04)

Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi are being hemmed into an ever decreasing area of the ousted Libyan leader's home town of Sirte. They are surrounded in the heart of the city. But still, the loyalists continue to fiercely defend the seat of Gaddafi's family and tribe.

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr reports from the frontline (2:04):

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-oct-8-2011-0535

[pinboy3niner]

111. American fighter makes Libya's war his own

Fri Oct 7, 2011 11:28pm GMT

• Man from Maryland fighting to capture Gaddafi hometown

• Gaddafi forces jailed him soon after he arrived in Libya

• Says he will stay on until Libya is free


By Rania El Gamal


SIRTE, Libya, Oct 8 (Reuters) - For seven months, Matthew Van Dyke has been fighting a war that is not his.

A U.S. citizen, from Maryland, he left home to come to Libya in March to fight Muammar Gaddafi's forces, spent 165 days in prison and when he was released returned to the front line.

"I am here to fight Gaddafi ... I will leave when it is finished ... when Libya is free," he said, on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sirte, where heavy fighting between forces of the National Transitional Council (NTC) and Gaddafi loyalists has been going on for weeks.

Van Dyke is a familiar face among NTC fighters and journalists on the front line in Sirte.

When he is not fighting, he is taking journalists covering the war on battlefield tours to where fierce combat is taking place.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L730J20111007?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

112. U.S. beefs up search for conventional weapons in Libya

By Charley Keyes, CNN Senior National Security Producer

updated 7:01 PM EST, Fri October 7, 2011


(CNN) -- The United States is putting its money where one of its concerns is -- locating conventional weapons that may have gone astray during the upheaval in Libya.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Friday that the United States is sending in more personnel and devoting millions more dollars to the hunt.
...

"We now have nine teams working across Libya," Nuland said in Washington. Until recently, just one team had been in place.

"We initially had given $3 million to this effort; we've recently added another $10 million. And we are working all around Libya," she said.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/07/world/africa/libya-weapons/index.html?section=cnn_latest

[joshcryer]

113. Week 34 here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2079456