Libyan Revolution Week 35

[joshcryer]

[joshcryer]

1. Libyan Revolution Day 240 updates below, current time in Libya, 6:53am Thursday, October 15

[pinboy3niner]

2. K&R

[ClarkUSA]

3. You. Are. Amazing. Thanks so much for the news updates!

I don't say this enough. :hi:

[tabatha]

4. Survivor mourns dead piled up on Gaddafi son’s doorstep

http://www.scotsman.com/webimage/151011ts1025libya3_1_1911977!image/2297605403.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_595/2297605403.jpg

A wounded Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) fighter makes the victory sign as he sits in an ambulance before being taken to a hospital in Sirte.
Photo: Aris Messinis By Ruth Sherlock, in Sirte Published on Friday 14 October 2011 15:54


Libyan fighters have discovered a mass grave of men thought to have been captives of troops loyal to Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi in the former dictator’s crumbling stronghold of Sirte as fighting continued yesterday. Bloated and disfigured, the corpses lay in the grounds of a farmhouse. Wearing civilian clothes, the men’s hands were tied behind their backs.

After weeks of fighting, which yesterday saw tanks push deep into the city to try and break the last pocket of resistance, three piles were found in the fields, just metres from the front line of the battle.

The spray of bullet holes in the walls, and spent anti-aircraft gun cartridges nearby, told of a grim and bloody summary execution.

Doctors who arrived on the scene two days before, as Libyan fighters first took control of the farmland, counted 42 dead.“These men were killed five days ago,” said Dr Abdul Rauf Bin Yousef, before interim government forces were in control. Some had been removed, doctors said, but yesterday 17 still remained. What exactly happened to these men in their last hours is not proven, but accounts from other prisoners paint a grim picture.


http://www.scotsman.com/news/international/survivor_mourns_dead_piled_up_on_gaddafi_son_s_doorstep_1_1911978

[ellisonz]

5. Libya owes $1 billion for fuel for revolution

Libya owes $1 billion for fuel for revolution
ReutersBy Jessica Donati | Reuters – 22 hrs ago

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya imported $1.6 billion worth of fuel during the six months of revolution, including from Qatar and Turkey, and has yet to repay $890 million, the interim oil and finance minister said on Thursday.

"We will give preference to countries and friends that helped us," Ali Tarhouni told reporters.

Refined oil products imports, such as gasoline and diesel, mainly came via the rebel oil firm Agoco, which was buying them from trading houses such as Vitol. They also included donations from Qatar, a loan from Turkey and two cargoes intercepted on way to forces of the now ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Libya paid back $660 million of which $125 million was in Sarir grade crude, $95 million in Abu Attifel crude, $40 million in naphtha and $400 million in cash.

http://news.yahoo.com/libya-owes-1-billion-fuel-revolution-085640019.html

[ellisonz]

6. U.S. Sending More Contractors to Secure Libya's Weapons Stockpile

Saturday, October 15, 2011
By ERIC SCHMITT and KAREEM FAHIM, The New York Times

WASHINGTON -- The State Department is sending dozens of American contractors to Libya to help that country's fledgling efforts to track down and destroy heat-seeking antiaircraft missiles looted from government stockpiles that could be used against civilian airliners.

The contractors, weapons and explosives specialists, are part of a growing $30 million American program to secure Libya's conventional weapons arsenal, which was ransacked during the fall of the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

American and other Western officials are especially concerned that as weapons slip from state custody, they can be easily sold through black markets to other countries, fueling regional wars or arming terrorist groups. Analysts are particularly worried about the dispersal of the SA-7, an early-generation, shoulder-fired missile in the same family as the more widely known Stinger.

-----

The State Department so far has sent 14 unarmed civilian contractors, many with military experience, to be part of teams led by Libya's Transitional National Council, according to David I. McKeeby, a department spokesman. Mr. McKeeby said that an additional two to three dozen contractors would join the effort over the coming weeks.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11288/1182424-82-0.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml#ixzz1aqX5u2SY

[pinboy3niner]

7. Libyan government fighters advance on Bani Walid

Source: Monsters & Critics

Oct 15, 2011, 11:19 GMT


Cairo - Troops loyal to Libya's transitional government said on Saturday they were advancing on Bani Walid, a day after clashes with forces loyal to deposed leader Moamer Gaddafi left nine people killed in the area.

Troops had crossed through residential areas, and snipers were the only obstacle to further advance, military commander Omar Salem told the Benghazi-based Quryna news website.
...

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/africa/news/article_1669000.php/Libyan-government-fighters-advance-on-Bani-Walid

[tabatha]

8. Heart-warming video - Libya Alhurra

http://youtu.be/hHolns_7h9A

[pinboy3niner]

9. Libyan govt beefs up security after clashes in capital

Sat Oct 15, 2011 2:08pm GMT

• Roadblocks and searches after gunbattle in Tripoli

• Pocket of pro-Gaddafi resistance still holding out in Sirte


By Barry Malone


TRIPOLI, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Libya's new government beefed up security in Tripoli on Saturday with extra roadblocks and house-to-house searches after fighting in the capital with supporters of Muammar Gaddafi raised fears of an insurgency.

At most a few dozen pro-Gaddafi fighters appeared on Friday in only a few neighbourhoods of the city which are known to be sympathetic to the deposed ruler.

...


Government forces kept up their bombardment of a small area in the centre of Sirte on Saturday with Grad multiple rocket launchers, as well as tanks and anti-aircraft guns, but there was little sign of a major push under way from the infantry.

...


"It is taking so long because the area is crowded with buildings and there is a large number of them; between 400 to 500 Gaddafi men," said Hussein Alteir, a brigade commander in Sirte.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LF0BX20111015?sp=true

[tabatha]

10. Gadhafi expected to be found guilty in Sadr case

October 15, 2011 01:57 AM
The Daily Star

BEIRUT: The Judicial Council is expected to issue a guilty verdict and death sentence in absentia next month against ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in the 33-year-old disappearance of Shiite cleric Imam Musa Sadr and two of his companions.

Sami Mansour, who presided over the session of Gadhafi’s trial Friday, said the court would issue its verdict on Nov. 18. In 2009, the Judicial Council indicted Gadhafi and 16 of his aides in Sadr’s disappearance.

While Sadr’s family said Monday he was still alive and remained a prisoner in Libya, Gadhafi’s former associate Abdel-Monem Houni claimed in February that Sadr had been killed and buried shortly after he was kidnapped.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2011/Oct-15/151374-gadhafi-expected-to-be-found-guilty-in-sadr-case.ashx#ixzz1arRYC5lO
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

[pinboy3niner]

11. Libyan forces search Tripoli for Gadhafi loyalists

AP – 5 mins ago


TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyan fighters fanned out in Tripoli to search for armed supporters of fugitive leader Moammar Gadhafi a day after a gunbattle rocked the capital.

Dozens of men combed apartment buildings for suspects in the Abu Salim neighborhood, which is home to the notorious prison of the same name. A day earlier, a gunbattle broke out in the area when a group tried to raise the green flag that symbolizes the ousted regime.

Revolutionary authorities increased checkpoints around the city. But Saturday's sweep of Abu Salim was mainly conducted by a militia that has broken with the main Tripoli military council.

Abdullah Naker, the head of the so-called revolutionary council, says "all of Tripoli will be searched" and warns his men will fight anybody trying to stop them.

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

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-forces-search-tripoli-gadhafi-loyalists-143141591.html

[tabatha]

12. FreeBenghazi

FreeBenghazi Libya.elHurra
SCUD missile launched yesterday from BaniWalid, at residential area in Misrata, was intercepted by NATO. #Libya v @freedomgrouptv
20 minutes ago

FreeBenghazi Libya.elHurra
Charred bodies found in Sirte, believed2 b civilians executed by Gaddafiforces before they could flee Hai Dollar v @freedomgrouptv #Libya
22 minutes ago

FreeBenghazi Libya.elHurra
Fighters found 11 charred & dismembered bodies on outskirts of Hai Dollar, #Sirte. Bodies show signs of torture v @freedomgrouptv #Libya
26 minutes ago

http://twitter.com/#!/search/FreeBenghazi%20

[pinboy3niner]

13. The playboy of the Libyan world

Illustration: Peter Hanan


The Irish Times - Saturday, October 15, 2011

MARY FITZGERALD


PROFILE MUTASSIM GADAFY: TO GET SOME sense of the workings of Mutassim Gadafy’s mind, his heavily fortified former compound in Tripoli’s affluent Ben Ashour neighbourhood is a good place to start.

At first glance the sprawling grounds, ringed by high walls and containing numerous low buildings, including a gym, spa, bar and guest house set among manicured lawns, appear to be what you might expect from the man often described as Muammar Gadafy’s playboy son.

But a knot of bushes in the centre conceals the entrance to a vast complex built deep underground. Down a flight of stairs and off a corridor painted green and white lies a warren of rooms and tunnels connected by reinforced metal doors about 25cm thick. Magazines including Hello! and Vogue litter the floors. A Gucci loafer lies discarded in one room, next to books on military tactics and brochures for properties in the south of France. The dozens of rooms include several stuffed with leather sofas, bedrooms lined with bunk beds, a huge industrial kitchen, a fully equipped hospital and a control room that looks like something out of a Hollywood movie. “What kind of paranoid person will build something like this – and why?” asked the scruffy revolutionary fighter who showed me around in August. “Did he think he was James Bond?”

Today the precise whereabouts of Mutassim Gadafy, fourth son of the deposed Libyan leader, are mired in confusion. Revolutionary officials have backtracked on announcements earlier this week that he had been captured in the midst of fierce fighting in Gadafy’s hometown of Sirte, one of the last holdouts of the regime diehards. Reporters were initially briefed that he was caught trying to escape the city after a four-hour gun battle. They were told the gangly Mutassim had cut his hair, which he had usually worn long, and was travelling with a family in a bid to outsmart his pursuers.

The news of Mutassim’s apparent capture prompted wild celebrations in Tripoli and other towns, including Misrata, now referred to by revolutionaries as Libya’s Stalingrad after it withstood a devastating months-long siege. But as yet there is no proof that he has been apprehended. Claims by revolutionary officials that particular regime figures have been detained or killed have often proved untrue. Soon after Tripoli fell in August, the ex-rebels said they were holding Mutassim’s older brother Saif – widely viewed as their father’s likely successor – only to have him reappear free and gloating the following day.

...


http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/1015/1224305817635.html

[pinboy3niner]

14. NTC commanders holding off on all-out assault in Sirte today

Libya's new regime forces kept up pressure on the last two pockets of resistance in Sirte on Saturday with hundreds of men surrounding the Dollar and Number Two districts, an AFP correspondent said.

In intense machinegun fire, NTC fighters targeted buildings at the source of incoming sniper fire.

Fighters weaved their way in and out of alleys, as the chant of "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) played from a mosque in Number 2 district where they were seen chasing a pro-Kadhafi fighter.

...


But NTC commanders decided after a meeting on Saturday to hold off on an all-out assault on the two neighbourhoods in a bid to capture the top regime figures they believe are holed up there alive, a senior commander said.

...


"We want to capture them alive to hand them over to the judiciary rather than killing them, which is why we are still not going to have a massive attack."

http://news.yahoo.com/libya-leaders-mop-deadly-tripoli-clashes-110501464.html

[ellisonz]

34. The rebels are eager to display mercy.

The opposite was true of the Gaddafi forces...

[pinboy3niner]

15. Yemeni Forces Kill 10 Protesters

October 15, 2011

VOA News


At least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded when Yemeni security officials opened fire on protesters in Sana'a.

Medical officials and witnesses say the shootings took place Saturday as thousands of demonstrators gathered to renew calls for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to leave office.

Witnesses say some of the unrest took place in areas of the capital that have been strongholds for opposition tribal leaders and loyalists of Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a Yemeni general who joined the opposition.

...


http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/7-Protesters-Killed-in-Yemen-Capital-131912228.html

AJE is reporting that the death toll has risen to 12 protesters killed.

[pinboy3niner]

16. Egypt's military rulers criminalize discrimination

AP – 47 mins ago


CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's transitional military rulers have issued a decree prohibiting all forms of discrimination, including on the basis of religion.

The step comes about a week after 26 people were killed in clashes involving minority Coptic Christian protesters, the military and others. It was the worst bloodshed since Hosni Mubarak's ouster in February.

The decree was one of the longtime demands of the protest movement that has been pushing for political and other reforms in the post-Mubarak transition toward democracy.

http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-military-rulers-criminalize-discrimination-145001193.html

[pinboy3niner]

17. Israeli man trying to preserve the history of Jews in Libya

Source: Public Radio International (PRI)

Published 14 October, 2011 04:15:00

An Israeli man, descended from Libyan Jews, is trying to preserve the vanishing history of the Jewish people of Libya.


Libya once had a large Jewish community. It fled persecution and discrimination starting in the 1940s. In the Israeli town of Bat Yam, one Israeli man’s trying to preserve Libya’s Jewish cultural relics, a mission that has turned out to be dangerous at times.

Pedazur Benattia – everyone calls him Pedi – has a trim white beard and eyes that light up when he reminisces about his parents’ life in Libya. Or when he talks about his Or Shalom Center for Libyan Jewish Heritage. Or when he shows off the enormous collection of manuscripts and Torah scrolls he has collected from Libyan immigrants who brought them to Israel fifty-odd years ago.

Pedi has never been to Libya himself; Gaddafi never allowed Israelis in. So ten years ago, Pedi started asking others to go there for him, to see how Jewish properties were holding up.

That’s how this jolly man started his very own freelance espionage ring — though he’d never call it by that name.

“I don’t think I cooperated with spies…Kind of,” Pedi said.

...


Audio at link (7:15):
http://www.pri.org/stories/world/africa/israeli-man-trying-to-preserve-the-history-of-jews-in-libya-6440.html

[ellisonz]

31. Fascinating article.

Bookmarked and shared on facebook.

Thank you for posting this!

[pinboy3niner]

57. It reads like a spy novel, doesn't it?

I'm glad to hear that someone else also finds this fascinating.

:toast:

[tabatha]

18. UNICEF Situation Report # 27 - Libya Crisis Date: 13 October 201

Child Protection

UNICEF is supporting Save the Children who is currently operating 13 Child Friendly Spaces in Benghazi, 9 in schools and 4 in IDP sites or host communities. Identification and training for another 10 child friendly spaces (CFS) in Ajdabiya has been completed, and these sites will open in the coming week. An additional CFS was opened in the newly established site for IDPs from Tawarga, with UNICEF supplies including a tent, ECD and school in a box supplies.

UNICEF and Save the Children will deploy mobile child protection teams to conduct child protection activities in communities west of Ajdabiya as communities and children return to these areas. UNICEF has supported Handicap International (HI) to conduct risk education sessions in communities and schools in Ajdabiya and Benghazi. HI, in cooperation with the mine action NGO MAG, have checked and cleared all 12 damaged schools in Ajdabiya, and are in the process of checking schools in Brega. In addition, UNICEF set up system with the MoE and JMACT to ensure that all schools in conflict affected areas between Ajdabiya and Sirte will be checked and cleared for ERW.

The child rights monitoring project with CESVI was launched at the start of October. This project will involve establishing four teams of child rights monitors in the east, Misrata, western Nafusa Mountains and Tripoli respectively. These teams will work with a network of local authorities, civil society and international actors to monitor, report, and respond to child
rights violations in the coming months.

http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNICEF%20Libya%20Crisis%20Situation%20Report%20%2327%20-%2014%20Oct%202011.pdf

Leaders of 14 youth clubs under the Scouts in the East and Misrata have been trained and are currently training 20 adolescents in child protection and psychosocial support in their areas. Activities will begin in the coming week.

[Swede]

19. K&R

[pinboy3niner]

20. Syrian forces target funeral, assassinate activist

By BASSEM MROUE - Associated Press | AP – 10 mins ago


BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian security forces trying to suppress the resilient anti-government uprising killed five people Saturday, including one person who was attending a funeral procession for a teenager shot dead in protests a day earlier, activists said.

Another of the dead was an activist for the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights who was assassinated while in hiding in a besieged eastern city, the group said.

The uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in mid-March amid the wave of anti-government protests in the Arab world that have toppled autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Assad retaliated with a military crackdown that, according to the U.N., has killed more than 3,000 people.

The funeral targeted Saturday was for 14-year-old Ibrahim al-Shayban, one of 11 people shot dead by Syrian troops on Friday. His funeral was held in the Damascus suburb of Midan. The shooting killed one person and wounded five, said the London-based Observatory and another opposition group, the Local Coordination Committees.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-forces-target-funeral-assassinate-activist-172252989.html

[pinboy3niner]

21. Libya's rival military commanders fight war of words

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Abdul Hakim Belhaj seized control as the military commander of Tripoli

• Belhaj has authority over a third of Libya's population and a large part of its wealth

• Rival commander Abdullah Naker contests Belhaj's legitimacy

• Naker has echoed a complaint that Belhaj is a stooge of the Qataris

By Nic Robertson, CNN

October 15, 2011 -- Updated 1350 GMT (2150 HKT)


Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- After emerging from the rubble of Moammar Gadhafi's Baba az' Azia palace late in August, Abdul Hakim Belhaj seized control as the military commander of Tripoli.

An Islamist who had taken little public part in the spring uprising against Gadhafi, he claimed his soldiers had won the symbolic battle for the palace, the heart of the Libyan strongman's regime. By taking control of Tripoli, Belhaj gained authority over a third of the country's population and a major slice of its wealth.

It was a power play that other opposition fighters bitterly resented.

Abdullah Naker, one of several rival commanders, claims his fighters endured far tougher and more significant battles than the siege of Gadhafi's palace, not least the struggle to win control of Tripoli's main international airport that lasted several days.

In an interview with CNN he downplayed Belhaj's success and threatened confrontation, as internal divisions threaten to pull apart the coalition that brought Gadhafi down.

...


Story and video report (2:48):
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/13/world/africa/libya-rival-commanders/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

[pinboy3niner]

22. Kadhafi fighters mount fierce fightback in Sirte

By Jay Deshmukh and Daphne Benoit | AFP – 16 mins ago


Moamer Kadhafi loyalists mounted a fierce counter-attack in the city of Sirte on Saturday, forcing back new regime fighters under a barrage of rockets and shelling, an AFP reporter said.

...


After absorbing rocket fire and shells from NTC fighters in the morning and early afternoon, Kadhafi diehards now concentrated in two neighbourhoods -- the Dollar and Number Two -- unleashed their own barrage late afternoon.

As Grad and other rockets, shells and machinegun fire rained down on them, NTC combatants, taken by surprise, quickly fled the positions on the edge of the two neighbourhoods that they had held since Friday night.

...


At NTC-held Ibn Sina hospital in Sirte, Barbara Frederick of the charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said around 500 injured people had been brought in from the city's western front since an assault was launched October 7.

Twenty-six patients remain and the others have been evacuated, said a doctor transferred from Tripoli with 20 colleagues, Abdelati Milad. The hospital itself was filled with debris but at least two operating rooms were in service.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libya-leaders-mop-deadly-tripoli-clashes-110501464.html

[pinboy3niner]

23. Syria moves towards new constitution, 6 killed

AFP – 7 mins ago


Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday appointed a committee to draft a new constitution within fours months, as activists reported more killings, arrests and gunfire in several cities.

...


Activists, meanwhile, reported at least six people killed by security forces on Saturday, which marked seven months of the revolt.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a members of its network, Ziad Rafiq al-Obeidi, was killed by security forces in Deir Ezzor. He had gone into hiding in August during military operations in the area.

...


(UN human rights chief Navi) Pillay said Syria risked "a full-blown civil war" unless the international community took action.

Arab foreign ministers will meet in Cairo on Sunday to discuss Syria's crackdown on protests at the request of oil-rich Gulf states, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.


http://news.yahoo.com/syria-draft-constitution-ready-four-months-133106950.html

[tabatha]

24. Ruined Sirte becomes a killing ground as Gaddafi loyalists face destruction, but mete out death

Ruined Sirte becomes a killing ground as Gaddafi loyalists face destruction, but mete out death of their own
Ben Farmer and Ruth Sherlock in Sirte 8:15PM BST 15 Oct 2011

It was envisaged by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi as a model of what a modern African city should be: a brilliant panoply of university and hospitals, with a glittering seafront and a marble-lined conference centre to host leaders from around the world. But this weekend the centre of Sirte, the birthplace of the former Libyan leader and lavished with money and attention for that reason, is a squalid ruin in which a pocket of diehard Gaddafi loyalists - outnumbered and outgunned - are slogging it out in a desperate, destructive attempt to delay their inevitable defeat.

The shattered remains of housing blocks and the wreckage of once comfortable homes, after nine days of intense pounding and bombardment, are more reminiscent of the grimmest scenes from Grozny, towards the end of Russia's bloody Chechen war, than of anything seen in Libya so far. And the area around the grid of streets where anything between 200 and 500 loyalists are still holding out have become a killing ground, with loyalists, civilians and forces of the new Libyan government dying by the day.

Yesterday came the most vivid accounts yet of what is happening behind the loyalist lines, where gunmen have been executing anyone believed to have sympathies with the revolutionaries, according to one man who claimed to have survived such a massacre.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8829523/Ruined-Sirte-becomes-a-killing-ground-as-Gaddafi-loyalists-face-destruction-but-mete-out-death-of-their-own.html

[pinboy3niner]

25. Striking Workers Force Decision on Oil Field Management

Source: Tripoli Post

15/10/2011 15:52:00


Under the regime of Muammar Al Qathafi, workers' rights were unheard of; worker' strikes were illegal and independent workers' unions outlawed. Now for the first time in 42 years, workers managed to test the strength in unity. Unions are free to organise and workers free to strike.

The first workers to flex their muscles have been oil field workers at Waha Oil company in Libya. A unified strike action by the workers here appears to be going the way the workers have planned and the change in personnel they had been advocating for is having the effect they desire for.

the country's top oil man had promised to remove their managers whom they accuse of cooperating with former Libyan leader Muammar Al Qathafi troops during the conflict.

...


According to Reuters, field workers say they have documental evidence that Waha Oil directors gave Al Qathafi's troops food, shelter and equipment worth millions. As such, they are refusing to work for them again.

Now sources in the country'sNational Oil Corporation, NOC, have confirmed that following industrial action by the oil field's workers, the company's chairman Bashir Alashhab and his deputy would be replaced.

...


http://tripolipost.com/articledetail.asp?c=1&i=7099

[tabatha]

26. Comprehensive report of latest developments #Libyaupdates

Comprehensive report of latest developments #Libyaupdates, via @al_omari #Libya Oct15

Libya, Oct 15, 2011
by Hussein Al-Omari on Saturday, October 15, 2011 at 2:00pm
(Sources: Aljazeera)

1. Gaddafi sent out an audio message calling on his loyalists to get out after Friday and fight the new government.

2. About 50 of Gaddafi loyalists had a protest in support of Gaddafi in the neighborhood of Bou Sleem in Tripoli raising green flags.

3. Gaddafi loyalists started shooting and the revolutionary fighters responded to them using light weapons arrested some and chased the rest away.

4. The casualties were 2 of Gaddafi loyalists got killed, 1 of revolutionary fighter got killed, 27 of Gaddafi loyalists arrested.

5. Four of the arrested Gaddafi loyalists were Africans using fake identification cards.

6. Abdul-Hakim Belhaj, head of military council in Tripoli said the council will deal strongly with those trying to disturb peace.

7. Gaddafi forces in Sirte are now forced into a residential area of 700 m from north to south and 1500 m from east to west.

8. Gaddafi forces inside Sirte no longer use heavy weapons.

9. after preparing enough forces for the final battle of Bani Walid.

http://carolv27.tumblr.com/post/11493162833/comprehensive-report-of-latest-developments

[pinboy3niner]

27. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 241: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16

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

[pinboy3niner]

28. Egypt’s Military Expands Power, Raising Alarms

Posted in GD by alp227:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2124173

[joshcryer]

29. Comesa applauds calls for democracy in Egypt, Libya

http://www.maravipost.com/malawi-politics/politics/5925-comesa-welcomes-democratic-developments-in-egypt-libya.html">Comesa applauds calls for democracy in Egypt, Libya
Regional trade bloc Comesa on Saturday said it "welcomed positive developments" in the democratisation process in Egypt and Libya, calling on the two North African countries to successfully complete the ongoing transition.

"We express our solidarity with the Egyptian people in their desire for democracy, good governance and the respect for human rights," leaders of the 19 member organisation, said in a communique at the end of the two day summit in the Malawian capital Lilongwe.

The leaders, who included Sudan Omar al-Bashir who had left earlier on Saturday before the communique was read, said they noted developments in Libya, saying:" We reiterate the need for the respect of sovereignty and independence of Libya and we call support for a fully-Libyan owned and driven process in the transformation of the country."

[ellisonz]

30. Libya's new rulers contend with pro-Gaddafi district

Libya's new rulers contend with pro-Gaddafi district
ReutersBy Barry Malone | Reuters – 2 hrs 38 mins ago

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The armed men wearing the colours of Libya's new government are everywhere, eyes darting side to side, some edgy, others excited, as they train anti-aircraft guns on Tripoli's most pro-Gaddafi neighborhood.

But one local man takes a chance down a quiet side street. Pulling his car up alongside a foreign journalist, he jumps out with a message he wants to get across: "Gaddafi was better."

He is nervous and his hands are shaking. Because he speaks little English he points to his pregnant wife in the car, who has a small girl playing on her lap and another beside her.

-------

The Tripoli district of Abu Salim remains a hotbed of support for Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's ousted leader.

http://news.yahoo.com/libyas-rulers-contend-pro-gaddafi-district-235559470.html

[joshcryer]

32. Pravda: NATO helicopters shot down over Sirte.

http://www.opednews.com/Diary/Pravda-NATO-helicopters-s-by-Peter-Duveen-111015-142.html">Pravda: NATO helicopters shot down over Sirte.
Pravda article by Lisa Karpova balances a lack of reportage from the viewpoint of the government forces aligned with Muammar Qaddafi.

An article carried today by the Russian news service Pravda claimed Libyan armed forces under Col. Muammar Qaddafi have downed ten NATO helicopters over Sirte, a moderate-sized coastal city now under seige by NATO-backed insurgents. The article also claims that Red Cross personnel are being used to call in coordinates for NATO air strikes.

"errorists were running and surrendering in droves in Sirte after continually failing to quell the outbreak of pro-Gaddafi guerrilla resistance in the city," said Pravda's Lisa Karpova, citing the Cuban news service Prensa Latina as a source. "There were ten helicopters firing on civilians that were shot down by the resistance," Karpova's article said.

Karpova also related news of the reported downing of a NATO helicopter in Tripoli.

Hilarious article. :rofl: Reminds me of repeatedly posted articles here by anti-Libyan people.

[pinboy3niner]

33. Damn the imperialist Red Cross!1!!

:rofl:

[tabatha]

36. Have you ever typed "Libya" into twitter.

You would think that there are two different Libyas, with the bulk of the tweets about the fictional Libya.

[Iterate]

48. A slow-motion train wreck

I've spent far, far, FAR too much time scouting in that open #Libya hashtag. I can't say that it's been worth the effort other than to watch a slow-motion train wreck of opposition to free Libya and gain a better understanding of creationism.

For all their flavors, from cultist true believers to 19th century ideologues to anti-Arab Islamophobes, they seem to have at their core a refusal to believe that the revolution is popular and legitimate. That may be their last stand. Until they accept the Libyan rejection of dear brother/idol/ideologue I can't see that the hate, denial, or conspiracy theories will end. It seems more like religion that it does sane politics.

[mark7sys]

38. Amazing Facts!

http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/terror/15-10-2011/119336-Fierce_Libyan_Resistance_against_NATO_terrorists-0/
Source: Supposedly Prensa Latina (although I don't happen to see this sort of thing there).

It would be wisdom for NATO to come to the realization that their efforts will never achieve the desired result . You cannot defeat a popular homegrown resistance under any circumstances whatsoever. Ask Hitler, Goering and von Paulus about that.

The Nazis faced a “popular homegrown resistance” (and the Allies really needn't have bothered themselves)? How, I wonder, did that manage to escape my notice for all these years?

Perhaps those same europigs, now the Nazi aggressors, who are descendents of those that rolled over and played dead for the Nazi blitzkrieg, don't have what it takes to resist tyranny, but other people do.

So if you “roll over and play dead” you're a pig, and if you support the people who fight evil SOBs like Hitler & Gaddafi you're a pig. People are just pigs, I guess!

“… women from Misratah distributed leaflets in areas of Sirte calling for the cessation of looting, stealing, racist murders against blacks and the horrific, systematic violating of women.”

Well, we already knew that the women of Mişrātah are brave and valiant: there's no arguing that.

Libyans are simple, easy going people who prefer freedom and principles over slavery and living in fear. They even give their enemies the opportunity to have a change of heart, forgiving as they are. This fine quality trickles up and down in a free, democratic society of the people, by the people and for the people which the Jamahiriya is, thanks to the leadership and guidance of Muammar Ghaddafi.

Prior to the uprising of the Al-Qaeda-backed riffraff, Libya enjoyed an ideal “free, democratic society of the people, by the people and for the people”, much as the citizens of Russia, China and North Korea do.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

[pinboy3niner]

44. More amazing facts...

Lizzy reporting from Tripoli after the fall that all the news reports were wrong, Gaddafi's forces still held 80 % of the city.

More interesting now are the propagandists' claims that NTC forces destroyed all the buildings in Sirte with their shelling. The truth is that some areas were very heavily damaged by shelling from both sides. The reports the propagandists don't mention:

"Seventy-five percent of Qadr Abu Hadi is under our control," NTC field commander Mufbah Raslan told AFP.

"We have had three days of intense fighting. They have been attacking us with Grad rockets, machineguns and sniper fire," he said.

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Libyas-NTC-eyes-symbolic-coup-in-Sirte-20111003

As Grad and other rockets, shells and machinegun fire rained down on them, NTC combatants, taken by surprise, quickly fled the positions on the edge of the two neighbourhoods that they had held since Friday night.

http://news.yahoo.com/libya-leaders-mop-deadly-tripoli-clashes-110501464.html

Concerns about the humanitarian crisis have focused on the Ibn Sina hospital. Medical workers who fled Sirte said patients were dying on the operating table because there was no oxygen and no fuel for the hospital's generators.

"It's a disaster," a doctor who gave her name as Nada told Reuters as she fled the city on Tuesday. "They are hitting the hospital. Two kids have died there. There is random shooting at the hospital from both sides."

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L41K320111004?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

47. Another report described Gaddafi loyalists blasting buildings in Sirte

I neglected to include that, but I can look it up, if necesary.

[pinboy3niner]

35. From Aztecs star to Libyan hoops hero

Source: San Diego Union-Tribune

Written by Mark Zeigler

7:41 p.m., Oct. 15, 2011


It was surreal enough that he was in Libya, of all places, to play basketball.

Libya.

He had arrived a few months earlier at a behest of a former teammate, saw the indoor cement courts with sand blowing across them, met Muammar Gaddafi’s son (“pretty intense guy, to say the least”) who oversaw the ministry of sport, was feted in local hotels and restaurants, was told he’d be instantly granted Libyan citizenship and issued a passport because, well, they were in Libya and it wasn’t like there was any sort of democratic red tape.

But now he was starting against South Africa in the opening game of the 2009 African Championships in Suleiman Al-Darat Hall in the coastal Libyan city of Benghazi, wearing a green and white uniform with Arabic script across the front, the thunderous chants of a packed arena echoing in his ears.

...


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/oct/15/aztecs-star-libyan-hoops-hero/

[tabatha]

37. Photos of the Tripoli Festival

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=261737030528487&set=a.261736993861824.57693.196059987096192&type=3&theater

[pinboy3niner]

39. Secretary Clinton to meet with NTC leaders in Libya--sources

The Asian News International (ANI) news service reports, based on 'diplomatic sources' and attributing to "The News" (which appears to refer to this Pakistan newspaper story):

During the tour, Hillary is scheduled to hold talks with leaders of the National Transition Council (NTC) in Libya, and with the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan, The News quoted sources, as saying.

http://zeenews.india.com/news/south-asia/hillary-to-visit-pakistan-next-week_736836.html

[pinboy3niner]

40. Yemen activists plan new mass march despite deaths

AFP – 19 mins ago


Yemeni pro-democracy activists called for a new mass demonstration Sunday aimed at bringing 10 months of protests to a head, a day after troops shot dead at least 12 people marching in the capital.

"We will continue with our protests... even if thousands of our youth are killed. This is the only way to ensure the fall of the regime," Walid al-Ammari, a spokesman for the protesters, told AFP.

Ammari said activists are planning a fresh march on areas of Sanaa controlled by troops loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh from their base in Change Square.

They hope to reach within a kilometre (less than a mile) of the presidential palace, a move that could provoke another deadly response from the security forces.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/yemen-activists-plan-mass-march-despite-deaths-073342246.html

[pinboy3niner]

41. Arab League to discuss suspending Syria

By MAGGIE MICHAEL - Associated Press | AP – 31 mins ago


CAIRO (AP) — Arab League officials say Arab foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting to discuss whether to suspend Syria from the organization to pressure Damascus to end the deadly crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.

The officials say Sunday's meeting in Cairo comes in response to the Syrian government's failure to stop killing protesters.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/arab-league-discuss-suspending-syria-081315689.html

[pinboy3niner]

42. Activists: Syrian troops fire on funeral in south

By ZEINA KARAM - Associated Press | AP – 9 mins ago


BEIRUT (AP) — Activists say Syrian government troops have fired live ammunition to disperse mourners gathered for the funeral of an activist in the country's east.

There was no immediate word on casualties from Sunday's shooting in the city of Deir el-Zour.

The activist, Ziad al-Obeidi, was shot dead Saturday. He worked for the British-based Observatory for Human Rights in Syria and had been in hiding since troops stormed the city two months ago.

Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman said some 7,000 people calling for the downfall of President Bashar Assad took part in Sunday's funeral procession.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/activists-syrian-troops-fire-funeral-south-091340093.html

[pinboy3niner]

43. Hillary Clinton in Malta

16 October 2011 09:56


US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Malta tomorrow Monday afternoon on her way to Tripoli, Libya for talks with the National Transitional Council on Tuesday.

During her short visit she will meet Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and discuss the role of Malta and the US in the Libyan situation.Malta is still without a US ambassador after Douglas Kmiec resigned last April after being accused in a Department of State report that he devoted to much time to inter-faith activities.

A priority for Mrs Clinton in Libya will be how to stop terrorist groups who want to lay their hands on some of the thousands of shoulder-launched missiles that have gone missing in Libya.

...


http://www.maltastar.com/pages/r1/ms10dart.asp?a=16992

[pinboy3niner]

45. It is my sad duty to inform you...

...that the time for recommending has expired. :)

[pinboy3niner]

46. Anti-Gaddafi forces claim headway into Bani Walid, delay Sirte push

Source: Deutsche Presse Agentur

Oct 16, 2011, 10:38 GMT


Cairo- Forces loyal to Libya's new rulers claimed Sunday major advances on the town of Bani Walid, one of the last bastions of the fugitive deposed leader Moamer Gaddafi.

The anti-Gaddafi forces were controlling around 85 per cent of Bani Walid, the Libyan website Qurnyanew quoted Mahmoud Buras, a media spokesman in the town, as saying on Sunday.

'The revolutionaries have liberated the Bani Walid hospital, the whole industrial zone and part of a marketplace,' he added.

'The town's liberation is on the horizon,' said Buras.

...


http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/africa/news/article_1669120.php/Anti-Gaddafi-forces-claim-headway-into-Bani-Walid-delay-Sirte-push

[pinboy3niner]

49. Libya Fighters Search Capital for Opponents After Firefight With Loyalists

By Mariam Fam - Oct 16, 2011 2:27 AM PT


Libyan fighters searched neighborhoods in Tripoli for armed supporters of Muammar Qaddafi, after a firefight broke out between his loyalists and opponents in the capital.

Opposition troops combed apartment buildings for Qaddafi fighters and weapons yesterday after the battle on Oct. 14, which marked the first major fighting in the city since the rebels took control in August, the Associated Press reported. Concern over the looting of missiles and weapons has prompted the U.S. State Department to send dozens of contractors to the country to help aid in recovery efforts, the New York Times reported yesterday.

“The possibility that these weapons may cross borders is an area of considerable concern,” Andrew J. Shapiro, the assistant secretary of State for Political-Military affairs, told reporters on Oct. 14 in Brussels, according to AP.

The eight-month conflict interrupted oil production in Libya, which has the largest crude reserves of any African nation. National Oil Corp.’s Chairman Nuri Berruien said yesterday that Libya’s Sharara field, which is operated by Repsol YPF SA, is scheduled to start producing between 80,000 and 100,000 barrels a day of crude before the end of the month.

...

[Iterate]

50. Libyans Tearing Down Gadhafi's Tripoli Compound

Libyans Tearing Down Gadhafi's Tripoli Compound
by The Associated Press
TRIPOLI, Libya October 16, 2011, 12:20 pm ET

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyan bulldozers began knocking down the green walls surrounding Moammar Gadhafi's main Tripoli compound known as Bab al-Aziziya on Sunday, as the new leaders said it was time "to tear down this symbol of tyranny."

The sprawling, fortress-like compound has long been hated by Libyans who feared to even walk nearby during Gadhafi's more than four decades in power and its capture was seen as a turning point in the civil war as revolutionaries overran the capital in late August.

Ahmad Ghargory, commander of a revolutionary brigade, said the area will be turned into a public park.

"It's the revolutionary decision to tear down this symbol of tyranny," Ghargory said. "We were busy with the war, but now we have the space to do this."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=141395693

[tabatha]

52. Video

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/libya-video/8830171/Libya-Rebels-demolish-Gaddafis-home.html

[tabatha]

51. Strong Libyan rebel

Strong Libyan rebel who saved a life of two injureid relebs by holding them by his hands and putted them in save place. he was jumping between the tanks and destroyed some of these tanks. He was and still a hero.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/free_libya/6249593806/in/photostream

Don't usually see "rebels" with such long hair.

[pinboy3niner]

53. NTC forces advance in Bani Walid and Sirte

From AJE Live Blog:

Libyan NTC fighters have taken control of Bani Walid hospital after fierce fighting with Gaddafi troops.

Meanwhile, in concurrence with the fighting in Bani Walid, battles continue to rage in the southern front near the artificial river reservoir in al-Kassara district to which the fighters advanced after taking control of al-Garjoma district in south of Bani Walid.

In Sirte, NTC fighters have launched a fresh attack, using tanks and other heavy weaponry.

A number of NTC field commanders have earlier cited difficulties after fierce battles last Saturday, prompting their forced retreat.

The fighters have reorganised their ranks and launched a fresh offensive by tanks and artillery fire at Gaddafi troops, supported by additional reinforcements, besides ongoing NATO air raids on sites where Gaddafi troops were hiding.

NTC justice minister Mohamed al-Allaqi has reaffirmed that violations said to be committed by NTC fighters cited in an Amnesty International report, were "individual cases, not systematic behavior by NTC fighters".

Speaking at a press conference in Doha, Allaqi has also noted that the Libyan attorney general has added reports by civil rights organisations to the investigation file for the accusations.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-oct-16-2011-2058

[ellisonz]

55. We posted that within a minute of eachother.

:toast:

:nopity: for Gaddafi.

[pinboy3niner]

56. lol!

:toast:

[ellisonz]

54. AJE: Parts of Bani Walid Under Thuwarr Control

AJE Live Stream - Special Coverage: Libya Uprising - Tweeting revolutions
1 hour 16 min ago - Libya

Libyan NTC fighters have taken control of Bani Walid hospital after fierce fighting with Gaddafi troops.

Meanwhile, in concurrence with the fighting in Bani Walid, battles continue to rage in the southern front near the artificial river reservoir in al-Kassara district to which the fighters advanced after taking control of al-Garjoma district in south of Bani Walid.

In Sirte, NTC fighters have launched a fresh attack, using tanks and other heavy weaponry.

A number of NTC field commanders have earlier cited difficulties after fierce battles last Saturday, prompting their forced retreat.

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

[Iterate]

58. Tripoli water supply still off - power grid shelled by Gaddafi forces

It keep waiting for a media report, but tweets will have to do. The shelling of the towers came from Bani Walid late Friday, with later additional attacks on the repair crews. It goes without saying that Nato was blamed by the nutters. Power is also off in Sahba and environs because of the same attack. Who designed that hopeless system anyway?

FreeBenghazi Libya.elHurra
Oct13:Gaddafiforces in BaniWalid shelled power-grid, stopping Hasawinah water pumps. Sth #Libya w/out water+electricity v @almanaramedia 23 hours ago

FreeBenghazi Libya.elHurra
Minister Barassi: Team sent2 fix grid shelled by Gaddafiforces, which cut water&electricity to South Libya v @Qrynanew pic.twitter.com/WKeixvRv 23 hours ago

Weddei Mawadda Elmabruk
No running water in #Tripoli #Libya 15 Oct

ChangeInLibya Ismael Zmirli
If you have family in Tripoli ask them to conserve water for the next 2 or 3 days, which is how long the fixes might take #libya #feb17 15 Oct
Today, a city of over 2 million residents is once again facing a water shortage until the electricity is restored to Hasawna's pumps #libya 15 Oct
Yesterday, Gaddafi's thugs in BaniWalid fired missiles at the electricity lines feeding the pumps that supply Tripoli with water #libya 15 Oct

[pinboy3niner]

60. Hey, cuz

I appreciate you and tab keeping your eyes on the tweets, especially when my mainstream news is slow.

Unless something REALLY BIG is happening, weekends seem to be very low-staffed in the news media--The Guardian, which has a great live blog, even drops it until the weekend's over. AJE does some light coverage, but you know how they vary--sometimes going dark for more than 24 hours, even during the week.

Unless there's something really big happening, even the combat correspondents seem to take weekends off. Leaving us poor morans to scramble for any nugget of news we can get. :)



:hi:

[Iterate]

64. Another factor -much of the news is becoming local

tabatha posted this on the 12th:
Libyans find voice in new era of press freedom
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=2088904&mesg_id=2102412
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/12/world/meast/libya-new-newspapers/

I do like the local stories as well. Sometimes they're more telling, like the one about the oil worker's strike that you posted. But with more of the news in print, Arabic, and of local interest(as the article points out), the less of it shows up in media accessible to us. It's still there, but not nearly as much. Sooner or later the outraged nutters will give up, so maybe then it will be easier to find.

I've passed by posting some of them because it was just a tweet or two (thinking that a news service would soon pick it up), but not any more. :toast: cuz

[ellisonz]

69. Agreed.

There's an absence of coverage from Southern Libya too.

Where oh where is Muammar? :sarcasm:

[tabatha]

59. Jalil with soccer team - scroll down for pictures

http://www.17022011libya.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15375

[tabatha]

61. Other tweets

10 Prisoners, alive but tortured and in a very poor health, are found in
a hideout of 1 of the apartment buildings in district No. 2. #Sirte

ORHP1958 Red Arrow
"@Thanku4theAnger: More than 100 bodies found in Beni Walid hospital by FFs including missing marytrs from Tripoli & Gheryan #Libya #Libia

FromJoanne Joanne ♌ Leo
#Tripoli I heard today that men (pre Gadafi) who never allowed their wife to work now want her 2 learn foreign language and find job #Libya

Thanku4theAnger THANKU4THEANGER
Call with M. Gaddafi ordering AlTayeb AlSafy to name Pro Feb17 ppl & families in media. G sounds rattled is.gd/IIET5E #LIBYA #Feb17

Guma_el_gamaty Guma El-Gamaty
Libya Breaking FF entered Binwalid from 3 sides & met together at centre of city main roundabout & market. G loyalist fled 2 Thlumat area!

GrimlenFaceProm Mongo
RT @perfectsliders #BaniWalid control of new areas in northern part of Bani Walid, arrested more than 20 Gfroces goo.gl/fb/p6Xhz

press conference in #Doha, #Allaqi has noted that the #Libyan attorney general has added reports by civil rights organisations to the investigation file for the accusations.

alj: #NTC justice minister has reaffirmed that violations said to be committed by #NTC fighters cited in an Amnesty International report, were "individual cases, not systematic behavior by NTC fighters" #Libya #feb17

[Prometheus Bound]

62. In Gaddafi's hometown, residents accuse NTC fighters of revenge

In Gaddafi's hometown, residents accuse NTC fighters of revenge
By Rania El Gamal
SIRTE | Sun Oct 16, 2011 4:48pm EDT

(Reuters) - Residents returning to Sirte are accusing Libyan interim government fighters of demolishing and looting homes, shops and public buildings in Muammar Gaddafi's home town to take revenge for its support of the fugitive leader.

"They envy and hate us because Muammar is from here. But we are just civilians. The revolutionaries are coming here for revenge and destruction," said a Sirte resident who did not want to be named. "We didn't resist in this neighborhood so why did they destroy our homes?"

....."Are you coming to liberate the city or to steal from it?" said Ahmed, another resident, inside his house. "If I knew this would happen I would not have left. I would have stayed and fought for my house."

Many residents who fled the fighting have been returning to the town .....They found almost every house and building either damaged by a rocket or mortar, burned out or riddled with bullets. Water floods the streets and the city's infrastructure is in tatters.

The devastation is similar to that suffered by some other cities in Libya during the war. But the ferociousness of the bombardment of Sirte and the burning of homes that belong to Gaddafi family members and supporters has raised suspicions that some fighters loyal to the NTC are looking for reprisals.

....."Some revolutionaries passed by us when we were sitting outside the house and told us 'wait, you didn't see anything yet'," Mohammed, another Sirte resident said ..... Reuters reporters saw many of them roaming the streets of Sirte with chairs, tyres and computers on the backs of their pickup trucks. Brand new BMW and Toyota cars were seen being driven away by the fighters and being towed outside of the city. One fighter tried to push a white Porsche car up a street as another drove a looted beach buggy nearby.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/16/us-libya-sirte-looting-idUSTRE79F2DL20111016

[tabatha]

63. From the same outfit that claimed Saif and Mutassim were captured.

Thanku4theAnger THANKU4THEANGER
Don't believe any news by Reuters on Beni Walid. They are not reliable & are rumour mongers. #Feb17 #libya
1 hour ago

I have not seen any news outfit repeat the stabbing in Tripoli claim they made yesterday.

Yes, there has been looting. How much of this has been embellished?

Also, in any such conflict, this is bound to occur.

In South Africa, even though there was no war, 3000 farmers have been killed in revenge, and the crime of stealing from those with more is ongoing to this day.

I hope the NTC puts a stop to this.

As for Reuters, I would rather get the news elsewhere.

[Prometheus Bound]

65. The report was on Sirte, not Beni Walid.

[tabatha]

66. Benghazi fighters arrested three men for looting on Saturday.

Libyan fighters also faced discord over the looting of buildings, including the airport and houses in Sirte, on the coast 400km southeast of Tripoli. Trucks were seen carting off tractors, industrial generators and heavy machinery on the road from Sirte to nearby Misrata, which was under siege by Gaddafi forces for months and saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

Associated Press reporters also saw trucks carrying equipment from Sirte's airport, including red-carpeted mobile staircases, baggage carts, airplane towing vehicles and security screening equipment, all apparently meant for Misrata's badly damaged airport. Smaller pickups were loaded with rugs, freezers, refrigerators, furniture and other household goods, apparently taken by civilians and fighters to be used in their homes or resold.

The looting was an indication that reconciliation and unity may be difficult to achieve in post-Gaddafi Libya.

Commanders tried to rein in looting by ordering fighters to refrain from entering private homes and to detain anybody not authorized to be in the area. Benghazi fighters arrested three men for looting on Saturday.

Revolutionary forces also distributed fliers at checkpoints leading into the city that read, "Dear Muslims, avoid God's wrath. Do not steal from people's homes, their cars, or take their personal possessions.''

http://mcaf.ee/geh96

Benghazi fighters arrested three men for looting on Saturday.

Dear Muslims, avoid God's wrath. Do not steal from people's homes, their cars, or take their personal possessions.

[tabatha]

67. Let us hope that soon this we be all that Libyans will have to worry about.

Magic!! Landscape picture of last night's lightning in Nalut, taken by Issa Abu Halsa

http://twitter.com/#!/FreeBenghazi/status/125725679571570689/photo/1

[tabatha]

68. yemen_updates Yemen Updates

yemen_updates Yemen Updates
by Thanku4theAnger
News of casualities of tonight mad shelling & confrontations started to flow. Reports of killed familes & wounded. #sanaa #yemen
4 hours ago

tomfinn2 tom finn
by Thanku4theAnger
Series of huge explosions rocking Sana'a.
4 hours ago

yemen_updates Yemen Updates
by Thanku4theAnger
Heavy clashes now between 1st Armored Division troops & Rep Guards in Zeraa St. near #Change Square. #sanaa #yemen
5 hours ago

[tabatha]

70. Libya survivor sheds light on piles of bodies around Surt

By Ruth Sherlock, Los Angeles Times
October 17, 2011

Reporting from Surt, Libya— The remains of more than two dozen men lay facedown in the dirt, their hands bound behind them. Plastic cuffs cut into the flesh of their wrists; bullet holes riddled their blood-spattered backs.

According to fighters for Libya's transitional government who say they found the corpses last week, the men were recent victims of supporters of ousted Libyan strongman Moammar Kadafi.

The fighters say all were executed by loyalist forces in a paroxysm of revenge and fury as former rebels advanced into the crumbling Kadafi stronghold of Surt.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-libya-killings-20111017,0,6961741.story

[tabatha]

71. My Walk Through the Valley of Death

My Walk Through the Valley of Death
Oct 17, 2011 1:00 AM EDT
When Janine di Giovanni arrived in Libya, she hoped to find a triumphant nation basking in newfound freedom. Instead she was confronted with a land haunted by the ghosts of Gaddafi's reign of terror.

Dr. Faisal Krekshi, 55, head of the recently renamed Tripoli University, says that during the Gaddafi regime, the school was a “center of propaganda. If you wanted to be promoted, you had to be loyal.” Educated in the West as an ob-gyn, he decided to return and teach his people during the regime. Gaddafi trusted him and made him the family gynecologist to his daughters and wife, but as soon as Krekshi could, which was in February 2011, he defected to the rebels and worked from within a sleeper cell. Now he is back running the university, and some say this thoughtful, intelligent man is Libya’s best chance to be an honest, solid politician.

During the NATO bombing, he says, “Gaddafi was taking dead bodies from my hospitals—the bodies of dead rebel soldiers—and planting them in places where NATO had struck, then bringing out the media and saying, ‘Babies are dying,’?” he remembers. “There was nothing that was beyond him.”

So what lies ahead for Libyans? Krekshi is careful, because he is concerned. He says Tripoli University is the most important educational institution, but also the most dangerous. “It is capable of immense brainwashing,” he says. “One could easily get 120,000 students on the streets in a matter of hours. That’s the power of propaganda. So we have to be careful where we go, how we do it.” The lessons to be learned in Libya, he says, are about transparency.

“And there cannot be revenge,” he says, referring to Iraq. For example, the former dean, a known player in the regime, was told specifically not to come back to campus after Gaddafi fled. But he did—and the angry students quickly arrested him. “I said, don’t touch him,” Krekshi says. “They wanted me to take him to prison.” He sighs. “Healing will take a long time. That is one thing that is for certain.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/10/16/libya-gaddafi-s-reign-of-terror.html

[tabatha]

72. Libya’s Reluctant Spokesman

On the U.S. release of his second novel, Anatomy of a Disappearance this fall, Hisham Matar was designated by Robert F. Worth in The New York Times as “an authentic interpreter and witness, someone who could speak across cultures and make us feel the abundant miseries that fueled the revolt.” Revolt here, of course, refers to the Arab Spring, that chain of rebellions from Tunis to Cairo which leveraged union organizing, social media, Wikileaks and was ostensibly triggered by censorship, government violence, skyrocketing unemployment and food prices to turn ordinary citizens against their (often-U.S. backed) dictators in plazas and squares in Middle Eastern and North African capitals. However much those covering it in the United States wanted to point narrowly to Western-invented social media, careful analysis suggested it was a long time in coming with multiple, complex causes. The big story has been and will continue to be told. But in his novels Matar has explored what state violence does to families in their most intimate moments.

Anatomy of a Disappearance tells the story of a young narrator obsessed with his missing father in ways that show some vague desire to fill the elder’s shoes, to claim his stepmother somehow as his own. As many of the reviews have noted, Matar’s father was kidnapped from Cairo in 1990 by agents of Muammar Qaddafi and secreted to Tripoli’s infamous Abu Selim Prison where he was likely tortured. His whereabouts remain unknown. Matar writes in elegant English, and, as Worth notes, “seems uniquely poised to play the role of literary ambassador between two worlds that have long been locked in mutual suspicion and ignorance.”

http://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/3157/matar_kunzru_10_15_11/

[pinboy3niner]

73. Libya bulldozes Gaddafi's Tripoli compound

Source: Mail & Guardian

KIM GAMEL TRIPOLI, LIBYA - Oct 17 2011 08:35


Libyan revolutionary forces bulldozed the green walls surrounding Muammar Gaddafi's main Tripoli compound, saying it was time "to tear down this symbol of tyranny".

The sprawling, fortress-like compound known as Bab al-Aziziya has long been hated by Libyans who feared to even walk nearby during Gaddafi's more than four decades in power and its capture was seen as a turning point in the civil war as revolutionaries overran the capital in late August.

Ahmad Ghargory, commander of a revolutionary brigade, said on Sunday that the area will be turned into a public park accessible to all Libyans.

"It's the revolutionary decision to tear down this symbol of tyranny," Ghargory said. "We were busy with the war, but now we have the space to do this."

Already, the courtyard in front of Gaddafi's former house, which he used for many fiery speeches trying to rally supporters during the uprising, has been turned into a weekly pet market. Tripoli residents roam the premises as if at a museum, with vendors selling revolutionary flags and other souvenirs.

...


http://mg.co.za/article/2011-10-17-libya-bulldozes-gaddafis-tripoli-compound/

[pinboy3niner]

74. Libya fighters in new push on Kadhafi desert holdout

By Jay Deshmukh and Daphne Benoit | AFP – 1 hour 28 minutes ago


Fighters of Libya's new regime have forced their way into the desert oasis of Bani Walid, one of the last holdouts of Moamer Kadhafi diehards, but encountered heavy resistance.

The intensified fighting in the desert town some 170 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Tripoli happened Sunday, even as the battle eased in the city of Sirte, the other main holdout of fighters backing the overthrown strongman Kadhafi.

"We attacked this morning from the southwest. Our men where inside the town this afternoon. But there was heavy resistance" from the Kadhafi loyalists, Jamal Salem, a commander of the National Transitional Council (NTC) forces, told AFP.

Salem said the new regime forces "have not retreated," but by Sunday evening he was unable to specify how far his fighters had managed to advance into Bani Walid.

The NTC forces mounted their fresh assault on the stronghold after launching a barrage of artillery fire against the positions of pro-Kadhafi fighters.

Abdallah Kenshil, an NTC official, told local television channel Libya Al-Ahrar that the fighters had reached the town centre, but the claim could not be independently verified.

...


http://ca.news.yahoo.com/libya-fighters-push-kadhafi-desert-holdout-030403164.html

[pinboy3niner]

75. Libyan interim fighters 'enter Bani Walid'

Source: Al Jazeera

NTC military commanders say they met heavy resistance from Gaddafi loyalists in the town, 170km southeast of Tripoli.

Last Modified: 17 Oct 2011 08:44


Libyan interim government forces say they have entered Bani Walid, one of the last outposts still loyal to deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi, with National Transitional Council fighters saying they now control about 60 per cent of the town.

NTC military commanders said they encountered heavy resistance from Gaddafi loyalists in the town, located about 170km southeast of Tripoli, on Sunday.

Meanwhile, fighting has eased in the city of Sirte, Gaddafi's birthplace and his final coastal stronghold.

Jamal Salem, a commander of the NTC forces, said: "We attacked this morning from the southwest. Our men were inside the town this afternoon. But there was heavy resistance" from the Gaddafi loyalists.

The NTC forces mounted their fresh assault on the stronghold after launching a barrage of artillery fire against the positions of pro-Gaddafi fighters.

...


Story and video report (1:30):
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/10/2011101745240224798.html

[pinboy3niner]

76. Government forces take more of Gadhafi stronghold

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Bani Walid is one of the last cities loyal to ousted ruler Moammar Gadhafi

• Government forces surround the city from all sides, an official says

• Troops loyal to Moammar Gadhafi flee are captured

• The United Nations cites evidence of prisoner torture by the NTC

By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 5:41 AM EST, Mon October 17, 2011


Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Libya's new government said it is getting near to gaining full control of Bani Walid after its fighters took control of the city's main hospital overnight, a military official said Monday.

Bani Walid is one of the last cities loyal to ousted ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

Gadhafi troops remain in Klomat, an area east of the city center, according to Salah Beniran, a field commander in Bani Walid for the new government, who said many of Gadhafi troops are now fleeing.

About 20 of Gadhafi's troops were captured on Saturday as government forces began sweeping areas they control in the city.

...


Story and video report (2:38):
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/17/world/africa/libya-war/index.html?section=cnn_latest

[pinboy3niner]

77. TV station mourns death of Gaddafi's son Khamis in Libya

Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:15am GMT


DUBAI Oct 17 (Reuters) - A television station based in Syria that supports Muammar Gaddafi confirmed on Monday that the deposed Libyan leader's son Khamis had died in fighting southeast of the capital Tripoli on Aug. 29.

Khamis commanded an elite military brigade and his death marked the highest-profile pro-Gaddafi casualty since the uprising began that ended Gaddafi's 42 years in power.

Arrai television announced Khamis's death, along with that of his cousin Mohammed Abdullah al-Senussi, son of Gaddafi's wanted intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi , saying they were killed during a battle with National Transitional Council (NTC) forces in the city of Tarhouna, 90 km (60 miles) southeast of Tripoli.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LG0PD20111017

[pinboy3niner]

78. Libya govt says its flag flies over Bani Walid

Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:40am GMT


• NTC says it has captured Bani Walid

• Not clear if all town under their control

• Fighting still continues in Sirte, no sign of advance


By Barry Malone


TRIPOLI, Oct 17 (Reuters) - - Libyan interim government forces said on Monday they had raised the country's new flag over Bani Walid, one of the last bastions of pro-Muammar Gaddafi loyalists, but it was not yet clear if the town had been completely captured.

Along with Gaddafi's hometown Sirte, Bani Walid has been one of only two towns in Libya where there is still armed resistance to the rule of the National Transitional Council (NTC).

"We have reached the city centre (of Bani Walid) and have raised the flag," Colonel Abdullah Naker, head of the Tripoli Revolutionist Council, told Reuters on Sunday.

Fighters taking part in the assault on Bani Walid also told Reuters they had entered the town which is nestled into rocky hills some 150 km (90 miles) south of Tripoli.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LH0N320111017?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

79. UK's Hague offers more aid to Libya during visit

AP – 3 mins 37 secs ago


TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Britain's foreign secretary says it's "very, very important" to catch Moammar Gadhafi and other former Libyan regime figures wanted by the International Criminal Court.

William Hague made the comments Monday during a visit to Tripoli. He also promised more humanitarian aid and says the final shipment of Libyan cash that had been frozen in the United Kingdom will be returned soon.

The longtime Libyan leader remains on the run and fighting with his supporters continues on two fronts more than two months after Tripoli fell to revolutionary forces. Some believe he might try to flee to another African country.

Hague says Britain has been reminding neighboring countries of their responsibility to apprehend and hand over any regime suspects found on their territory.

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


http://news.yahoo.com/uks-hague-offers-more-aid-libya-during-visit-103829017.html

[tabatha]

82. Libya Updates

• William Hague, the British foreign secretary, paid a visit to Tripoli, during which he announced a doubling of NHS care for Libyans injured in the conflict (see 12.31pm).

• The forces of the new Libyan government, the National Transitional Council, have raised their flag over Bani Walid, one of the last towns holding out against them (see 11.57am). It is not clear if the town has been completely captured. The battle for Sirte, the other main hold-out, continues.

• The New York Times has reported that the new dean of Tripoli University, Faisal Krekshi, has claimed that a bedroom, jacuzzi and gynaecological operating theatre underneath the university are evidence that Muammar Gaddafi used to rape female students there (see 11.47am). Gaddafi is still on the run. He said he had found DVDs of students being sexually assaulted there, corroborating student reports, but had destroyed them to protect victims' privacy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/17/yemen-israel-libya-and-syria-middle-east-live-blog

[pinboy3niner]

80. Libya forces battle Kadhafi diehards for Bani Walid

By Imed Lamloum | AFP News – 1 hour 35 minutes ago

...


The focus of the NTC operations (in Sirte) are two seaside residential neighbourhoods, the Dollar and Number Two, where Kadhafi loyalists are holed up.

One NTC fighter told AFP there had been an exodus of civilians from the two areas Sunday and that the besieging troops wanted to give others the chance to leave.

The latest lull contrasted sharply with Saturday when Kadhafi loyalists mounted a fierce counter-attack in Sirte, forcing back the NTC fighters under a barrage of rockets and shelling.

Dr. Abdulsalam Abdelgani, a medic at a field hospital behind the eastern front line, said two NTC fighters were killed and 28 wounded in Sunday's fighting on that side of Sirte.

Abdelgani also told AFP he and his colleagues had found the corpse of a doctor who had gone missing in the nearby desert town of Bin Jawad, which fell to NTC fighters late August.

"We found his body in Sirte; he had been hanged," Abdelgani said.

...


http://sg.news.yahoo.com/libya-fighters-push-kadhafi-desert-holdout-030403510.html

[pinboy3niner]

81. Egypt: Mubarak sons said to have millions in Swiss banks

AP – 10 mins ago

CAIRO (AP) — A senior Egyptian Justice Ministry official says ousted President Hosni Mubarak's two sons have an estimated $340 million in Swiss bank accounts.

Assem al-Gohary says Swiss authorities are investigating whether one of the sons, Alaa, was involved in money laundering along with other ex-regime figures. At home, Mubarak and his sons have been charged with corruption.
...

http://news.yahoo.com/mubarak-sons-said-millions-swiss-banks-111146471.html

[tabatha]

83. NTC forces in new push on desert oasis of Bani Walid (video)

AFP - Fighters of Libya's new regime have forced their way into the desert oasis of Bani Walid, one of the last holdouts of Moamer Kadhafi diehards, but encountered heavy resistance.

The intensified fighting in the desert town some 170 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Tripoli happened Sunday, even as the battle eased in the city of Sirte, the other main holdout of fighters backing the overthrown strongman Kadhafi.

"We attacked this morning from the southwest. Our men where inside the town this afternoon. But there was heavy resistance" from the Kadhafi loyalists, Jamal Salem, a commander of the National Transitional Council (NTC) forces, told AFP.

Salem said the new regime forces "have not retreated," but by Sunday evening he was unable to specify how far his fighters had managed to advance into Bani Walid.

http://www.france24.com/en/20111017-libya-ntc-forces-new-push-desert-oasis-bani-walid-resistance-gaddafi-fighters

[tabatha]

84. Egyptians freed from Sirte clamor to go home

Zidans home, wedged between residential zones one and two on the coast, became a front line one month ago when the offensive against Sirte was launched by National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters.

'We were trapped. We had no car to use to escape and we were afraid of the Qadhafi snipers. We could hear the bullets flying outside. The walls were shaking, all the windows exploded during the fight,' he recalled.

'When we heard that Qadhafi was out like Mubarak, we were happy for our Libyan brothers but we were keeping quiet. We were watching the news but with low volume because otherwise Qadhafi troops would have killed us,' said another Egyptian, Mohamed Zuawi Budjelthiya.

http://arabia.msn.com/News/World/MA/2011/October/9992010.aspx

[tabatha]

85. Relatives of Gaddafi officials flee Sirte

AFP - October 17, 2011, 11:18 pm

Families of former Libyan regime officials have streamed out of Sirte, including the mother and brother of Muammar Gaddafi's spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, an NTC field commander says.

"These are families of regime officials; there is Mussa Ibrahim's mother and brother among them," said Wessam bin Hamaidi gesturing at seven cars loaded with men, women and children fleeing a disputed pocket of Gaddafi's hometown on Monday.
A throng of some 150 National Transitional Council fighters formed around the vehicles in a chaotic scene before the families were whisked off, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

Hamaidi, in charge of military operations in Sirte's eastern front, said the passengers included other "wanted" people but "no big fish," adding there were fighters mixed in with the fleeing civilians.

Minutes later, NTC fighters firing machine guns and mortar mounted an offensive in Dollar and Number 2 neighbourhoods where diehard Gaddafi loyalists are holed up and from where the families had fled, the AFP reporter said.

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/10477962/relatives-of-gaddafi-officials-flee-sirte/

[pinboy3niner]

86. UN chief tells Assad killings must stop in Syria

AFP – 6 mins ago


UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to immediately stop the killings of civilians and to accept an international probe on human rights violations.

"There are continuous killings of civilian people. These killings must stop immediately," said the UN chief in Bern.

"I told Assad, 'stop before it is to late'," said Ban, noting that thousands have perished in the regime's brutal crackdown on dissent.

"It is unacceptable that 3,000 people have been killed.

"UN is urging him again to take urgent action," he said.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/un-chief-tells-assad-killings-must-stop-syria-133400637.html

[pinboy3niner]

87. Bani Walid has fallen to NTC fighters--Al Jazeera

Tony Birtley reports from the center of Bani Walid that NTC forces control 95 percent or even more of the city, and the biggest danger there now is being hit by a falling bullet from all the celebratory gunfire by NTC fighters.

The majority of Gaddafi fighters melted away, Birtley says, leaving discarded weapons and uniforms behind.

[pinboy3niner]

90. Libyan fighters seize Bani Walid

Source: Al Jazeera

NTC military commanders say 95 per cent of Gaddafi stronghold has fallen, despite some pockets of resistance.

Last Modified: 17 Oct 2011 13:58


Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) says its fighters have captured the town of Bani Walid, one of two last remaining strongholds of deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi.

NTC military commanders said on Monday that they were encountering pockets of resistance in the town, located about 170km southeast of Tripoli. But they said they had claimed about 95 per cent of it.

"We are very much in the centre of Bani Walid. They (Libyan fighters) came through here just over an hour ago and they are saying this is an almost complete liberation of the town," Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reported from inside Bani Walid.

"(There are) some pockets of resistance by pro-Gaddafi forces but by-and-large 95 per cent of the town is under (NTC) control."

...


Full story with video report (3:14):
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/10/2011101713437351911.html

[Distant Observer]

88. Has all resistance been snuffed, and all evil ones killed yet? Time for truth and reconciliation?

[pinboy3niner]

89. NATO airstrikes conducted Saturday and Sunday, October 15 and 16: None

Key Hits 16 OCTOBER:

Nil.

...


International Humanitarian Assistance Movements as recorded by NATO


Total of Humanitarian Movements**: 1999 (air, maritime)


Ships delivering Humanitarian Assistance 16 OCTOBER: 35


Aircrafts delivering Humanitarian Assistance 16 OCTOBER: 0


**Some humanitarian movements cover several days.


http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_10/20111017_111017-oup-update.pdf

Link to report for Saturday:
http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_10/20111016_111016-oup-update.pdf

[tabatha]

91. Libyan fighters seize Bani Walid

Libya's ruling National Transitional Council says its fighters have captured the town of Bani Walid, one of two last remaining strongholds of deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi.

NTC military commanders said on Monday that they were encountering pockets of resistance in the town, located about 170km southeast of Tripoli. But they said they had claimed about 95 per cent of it.

"We are very much in the centre of Bani Walid. They came through here just over an hour ago and they are saying this is an almost complete liberation of the town," Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reported from inside Bani Walid.

" some pockets of resistance by pro-Gaddafi forces but by-and-large 95 per cent of the town is under control."

Our correspondent said the fall came after three days of heavy fighting, using a lot of heavy weapons and tanks.

[]b]"The gunfire of celebration is ringing out and they are going completely crazy here because they know this is sending a very clear message to those pro-Gaddafi elements who are still holding out in Sirte. Basically, there is nowhere left to go," he added.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/10/2011101713437351911.html

[Iterate]

92. Boxing-Libya's outlawed boxers open first club in 30 years

Boxing-Libya's outlawed boxers open first club in 30 years
Mon Oct 17, 2011 2:59pm GMT
By Jessica Donati

TRIPOLI Oct 17 (Reuters) - When Muhammad Ali was photographed shaking hands with Libya's most promising boxer, few could have known Giubran Zugdani would soon never been seen in the ring again.

Zugdani collected victories across the world and has a file of newspaper clippings to prove it. But Libya's former leader Muammar Gaddafi banned the sport shortly after Zugdani's appearance in the 1976 Olympics and, with a generation of talented boxers, Zugdani disappeared from the limelight forever.

Or so it was thought. Fast forward three decades and the now middle-aged men have dusted off their ancient gloves and opened the first boxing club in Libya since the sport was outlawed.

"He stopped the game because he didn't like stars," said Zugdani, speaking at the new premises, half a sports hall at the club that formerly belonged to Saadi Gaddafi and his football team.

more... http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LH1J920111017?sp=true

[Iterate]

93. Libyans Hope to Discard a University’s Dark Past

Libyans Hope to Discard a University’s Dark Past
ANNE BARNARD
Published: Sunday, October 16, 2011 at 6:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, October 17, 2011 at 12:12 a.m.

TRIPOLI, Libya — Dr. Feisel Krekshi, the new dean of Tripoli University, arrived for his first day of work accompanied by 25 young men who fought their way onto campus with Kalashnikovs and homemade grenades.

His job, which former rebel commanders secretly assigned to him before they drove Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s government from Tripoli, is to reinvent Libya’s most prestigious institution of higher learning — an important test case for the reshaping of the country.

Excavating the dark side of campus was almost too easy. Dr. Krekshi’s fighters found war prisoners in shipping containers and drawers full of intelligence dossiers on students, not to mention a mysterious office suite near Colonel Qaddafi’s preferred lecture hall. Inside was a queen-size bed, a Jacuzzi and a gynecological examining table, part of what the dean calls evidence that the deposed leader, on campus visits, summoned female students and raped them.

Now, Dr. Krekshi’s larger challenge is to reverse decades of placing political orthodoxy above academic inquiry, reforming a curriculum that forced students to spend years studying Colonel Qaddafi’s eccentric Green Book and a faculty he calls “90 percent contaminated.”

more... http://www.ocala.com/article/20111016/ZNYT03/110163021?p=all&tc=pgall

+++

[Iterate]

94. Libyans say they uncover secret Gaddafi-era morgue

Libyans say they uncover secret Gaddafi-era morgue
Mon Oct 17, 2011 6:17am GMT
By Jessica Donati

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Fighters loyal to Libya's new rulers broke into a locked part of Tripoli's main hospital at the weekend and discovered the remains of 17 people, including a baby, in what staff said was a secret morgue for Muammar Gaddafi's opponents.
...

But some doctors fear they will never know for sure as the bodies are already in a very advanced state of decomposition and come with no personal belongings or documents.
...

Doctors at the hospital said it had a separate entrance to the rest of the building and staff were banned from even speaking to the men who carted bodies in and out.

"One of the worst people, the man in charge of Abu Salim , controlled around 30-40 cabinets there. We were never informed about the bodies and we never learned who the guards were," Nouri Al Habab, who works at the main hospital morgue, told Reuters.

more... http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE79G02W20111017?sp=true

[tabatha]

95. Gaddafi stronghold Bani Walid falls

One of the two last strongholds of Gaddafi loyalists, the town of Bani Walid, has finally been contained, Libya's interim government has claimed, leaving only parts of the ousted tyrant's birthplace out of rebel reach.

The advance by National Transitional Council (NTC) forces inside Bani Walid, about 90 miles (150km) south-east of Tripoli, came after a six-week standoff that included frequent clashes with former members of Gaddafi's security forces backed by a fiercely loyal local population.

A breakthrough in the siege of the town came over the weekend when senior members of the resident Warfilla tribe, which accounts for roughly 15% of Libya's total population, said they would recognise the NTC as long as its forces did not invade.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/17/libyan-rebels-capture-bani-walid

[tabatha]

96. Thanku4theAnger THANKU4THEANGER

Ahrar TV: Omar Hadad reporter in Sirte: Israeli weapons specifically made for G 32nd Brigade with its insignia found by FFs #Feb17 #libya

NTC Military spokeseman: Ahmed Bani: The remaining part to be liberated in Sirte does not exceed 1km sq. #Feb17 #libya

Ahrar TV:Omar Hadad reporter in Sirte: Abdallah Senussi is currently leading remaining G forces & FFs are trying to arrest him #Feb17 #libya

Ahrar TV: Omar Hadad reporter in Sirte: I can confirm Mutassem Gaddafi is under arrest but not declared for security reasons #Feb17 #libya

Ahrar TV: Omar Hadad: Sirte: Majority of Area no.2 now under FF control. All high buildings cleared of snipers #Feb17 #libya

Video: Secret morgue found in Tripoli Central Hospital w/ bodies of Libyans executed in 1984 & 1990 is.gd/8XaJER #Feb17 #libya

[tabatha]

97. No civilian deaths in the battle for baniwalid

freelibyanyouthShabab Libya
#baniwalid council: "no civilian deaths in the battle for baniwalid due to successful evacuation of the residents of the town" 1/2freelibyanyouthShabab Libya#baniwalid council: "this was due to the cooperation between the ntc, local council & residents." 2/2

[pinboy3niner]

98. NTC forces celebrate capture of Gaddafi bastion Bani Walid (no sign of lingering resistance)

Mon Oct 17, 2011 7:46pm GMT

• NTC says has captured pro-Gaddafi redoubt of Bani Walid

• No sign of lingering resistance from Gaddafi loyalists

• Fighting continues in Sirte, no sign of NTC advance


By Barry Malone


BANI WALID, Libya, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Fighters with Libya's interim government fired their guns into the air and hoisted the country's new flag over the centre of Bani Walid on Monday to celebrate their capture of one of the final bastions of Muammar Gaddafi's loyalists.

A Reuters team that drove into the heart of Bani Walid, in desert hills 150 km (90 miles) south of Tripoli, saw no signs of resistance from supporters of the deposed leader who have been holed up inside the town for more than six weeks.

"Bani Walid is completely free. It is liberated, 100 percent," said Mohammed Shakonah, a military commander with the National Transitional Council (NTC).

...


An NTC fighter in camouflage fatigues and with an AK-47 assault rifle hanging from his shoulder, embraced a medical worker and both men wept in joy.

"If Gaddafi could see this, he would give up," said Abdelfattah, another NTC fighter in the central square.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LH3NI20111017?sp=true

[tabatha]

99. Aimen Ashur Photography

The guys and the car all look beat.

[pinboy3niner]

100. NTC confirms agreement with NATO that partially lifts No Fly Zone--AP

In a step toward normalcy, the transitional leadership council confirmed it has signed an agreement with NATO that partially lifts the no-fly zone imposed in March over the country, allowing resumption of some flights without seeking NATO approval. The embargo was imposed as part of the U.N. Security Council resolution that authorized airstrikes to protect civilians from Gadhafi's regime.

Anwar Elfeitori, the minister of transportation and communications, said the agreement signed Thursday in Malta will make it easier to transport wounded fighters from the front lines for treatment.

"The partial lifting of the air embargo will help with the transportation of the casualties, which is the No. 1 priority at this time, as well as facilitate the movement of people between Libya and the rest of the world," Elfeitori told The Associated Press in an interview.

He said the agreement only applies to specific routes and altitudes for humanitarian flights but is designed so it can be amended to include other areas as security conditions allow.

http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-forces-seize-most-bani-walid-145412736.html

[pinboy3niner]

101. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 243: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18

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

[pinboy3niner]

102. U.S. Debated Cyberwarfare in Attack Plan on Libya

Source: New York Times

By ERIC SCHMITT and THOM SHANKER
Published: October 17, 2011


WASHINGTON — Just before the American-led strikes against Libya in March, the Obama administration intensely debated whether to open the mission with a new kind of warfare: a cyberoffensive to disrupt and even disable the Qaddafi government’s air-defense system, which threatened allied warplanes.

While the exact techniques under consideration remain classified, the goal would have been to break through the firewalls of the Libyan government’s computer networks to sever military communications links and prevent the early-warning radars from gathering information and relaying it to missile batteries aiming at NATO warplanes.

But administration officials and even some military officers balked, fearing that it might set a precedent for other nations, in particular Russia or China, to carry out such offensives of their own, and questioning whether the attack could be mounted on such short notice. They were also unable to resolve whether the president had the power to proceed with such an attack without informing Congress.

In the end, American officials rejected cyberwarfare and used conventional aircraft, cruise missiles and drones to strike the Libyan air-defense missiles and radars used by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s government.

...


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/world/africa/cyber-warfare-against-libya-was-debated-by-us.html?src=me&ref=world

[pinboy3niner]

103. Britain warns Africa not to shelter Libya fugitives

Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:41pm GMT

By Adrian Croft


TRIPOLI Oct 17 (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned Libya's neighbours on Monday not to shelter Muammar Gaddafi or members of his entourage who have been indicted by the International Criminal Court.

"We've been very active in reminding other countries in Africa of their responsibilities ... to apprehend and to hand over to Libya or the ICC any of those people who go onto their territory," Hague said in Tripoli.

"We will continue to assist in looking for them."

...


"We've made representations to the governments of Niger and Burkina Faso in particular but we don't know where Gaddafi is, so we can't solve that one at the moment," Hague told Reuters en route to his next stop in Morocco.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LH3XQ20111017?sp=true

[tabatha]

104. FF comander refuses to arrest Gaddafi's cousin Ishkal, and tells him that he's free to go.

http://youtu.be/hFhRqK0fBWs

[pinboy3niner]

105. Syrian tank forces kill 25 in opposition hotbed Homs

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

AMMAN | Tue Oct 18, 2011 4:43am IST


(Reuters) - Syrian tank forces killed at least 25 people in a thrust into the opposition hotbed of Homs aimed at stemming growing armed resistance to President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on a seven-month-old popular uprising, residents said.

It was one of the highest daily death tolls in the large central Syrian city that has seen some of the most extensive protests in a tide of unrest where protesters are demanding an end to 41 years of repressive Assad family rule.

...


In Homs, 140 km (90 miles) north of Damascus, tanks firing heavy machineguns swept into Sunni districts of Bab Sbaa, Bab Dreib and Bab Amro where large protests demanding the removal of Assad have taken place regularly, residents and activists said.

They said loyalist forces encountered rudimentary resistance, although army deserters were helping some inhabitants defend their neighbourhoods and managed to hit several tanks with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).

...


http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/10/17/idINIndia-59950520111017

[pinboy3niner]

106. Malta struggles to treat Libya war victims--Al Jazeera video (2:50)

Al Jazeera's Karl Stagno-Navarra reports from Malta, where medics are struggling to cope with the increasing number of Libyan fighters in need of medical care:

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/malta-oct-18-2011-0259

[pinboy3niner]

107. Death of officer key to Egypt prison breaks

By MAGGIE MICHAEL - Associated Press | AP – 3 hrs ago


CAIRO (AP) — A senior prison officer was killed by his subordinates as he tried to stop mass prison breaks during Egypt's popular uprising against President Hosni Mubarak, an Egyptian rights group said Monday.

...


Chaos struck Egypt's prisons as inmates watched the uprising against Mubarak unfold on television starting Jan.25.

An official investigation has yet to be completed into the escape of more than 23,000 inmates and deaths of at least 120.

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights said witnesses say el-Batran opposed an alleged official plan to unleash anarchy in the country as a way of derailing the popular uprising against Mubarak.

At the time, authorities and state media said el-Batran was killed by rioting inmates in al-Qatta prison on the outskirts of Cairo.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/death-officer-key-egypt-prison-breaks-215455675.html

[joshcryer]

108. Week 35 part 2 here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2137317