Libyan Revolution Day 42 (more setbacks, but one high level defection)

[joshcryer]

Links to sites with updates: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-31">AJE Live Blog March 31 (today) http://blogs.aljazeera.net/twitter-dashboard">AJE Twitter Dashboard http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12776418">BBC Live Blog http://live.reuters.com/Event/Middle_East_Protests">Reuters Live Blog http://feb17.info/">feb17.info http://www.livestream.com/libya17feb?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=footerlinks">Libya Alhurra (live video webcast from Benghazi) http://www.libyafeb17.com/">libyafeb17.com

Twitter links: http://twitter.com/#!/aymanm">Ayman Mohyeldin, with AJE http://twitter.com/#!/bencnn">Ben Wedeman, with CNN http://twitter.com/#!/tripolitanian">tripolitanian, a Libyan from Tripoli http://twitter.com/#!/BaghdadBrian">Brian Conley, reporter in Libya http://twitter.com/#!/freelibyanyouth">FreeLibyanYouth, Libyan advocate http://twitter.com/#!/LibyaFeb17_com">LibyaFeb17.com twitter account http://twitter.com/#!/ChangeInLibya">ChangeInLibya, Libyan advocate

Useful links: http://audioboo.fm/feb17voices">feb17voices http://www.google.com/search?q=time+in+libya">Current time in Libya http://www.islamicfinder.org/cityPrayerNew.php?country=libya">Prayer times in Libya

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x772167">Day 41 part 2 here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixwx_B38678">Marching On in Libya, for the revolutionaries!

Rebels leave the rebel-held port of Brega for the frontline (March 29)

Photograph: Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images

Libya's foreign minister Mousa Kousa has 'defected' and 'crossed' over Malta to London
Libya's foreign minister and Gaddafi right hand man has defected, and is reportedly in London after meeting holding a series of negotiations by telephone with UK foreign secretary William Hague and senior US officials. He also met with senior French diplomats in Djerba after crossing the Tunisian border. The Maltese government confirmed last night that it had not received any contact by Libya’s foreign minister Mousa Kousa, as reports trickled on his defection.

Kousa, known to be a close aide to Col. Gaddafi was spotted in a Djerba hotel yesterday while accompanied by a number of people, including a woman and a youth. The news was revealed worldwide by MaltaToday.

A number of luggages were seen in one of a number of Libyan diplomatic plated cars that sped from Djerba towards the capital Tunis.

The news, tweeted by MaltaToday yesterday made the rounds of the newswires, as foreign diplomats in Tunis rushed to confirm Mousa Kousa’s presence in the country.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-31#update-21811">1:11am Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught tells us that Koussa was not alone, and that there are several senior Libyan government figures waiting to fly to European capitals.

She said they include the current head of intelligence, the oil mininster, the secretary of the general peoples' congress and a deputy foreign minister. She tells us:

It seems the government of Gaddafi is collapsing around him tonight, and they're running for the hills.

But its all about Cololnel Gaddafi here. The people are loyal to him, not to his ministers, so how this will be taken by the Libyan people is another matter - that's if they know what's going on. Today, state TV said that Moussa Koussa was going on holiday. We'll see if they say the same for these others.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/30/gaddafi-regime-africa-court">Gaddafi regime ordered to appear before Africa's highest court
Gaddafi's regime has been ordered to appear before Africa's highest court to face charges of "massive violations of human rights" for killing peaceful demonstrators in the early days of the uprising.

The announcement from the African court on human and peoples' rights in Arusha, Tanzania, is likely to be welcomed by the Nato coalition as a significant sign of international support.

The "order for provisional measures" issued by the court unanimously declares that the "government of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya" must immediately refrain from any action that would result in loss of life or breach human rights. It also summons the Tripoli regime to appear before the court within 15 days to explain what measures have been taken to implement the order.

The African court on human and peoples' rights is the continent's equivalent of the European court of human rights. The legal action has been initiated by another continental body, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/30/gaddafi-forces-cancel-out-rebel-gains">Gaddafi forces cancel out much of rebels' weekend gains
Muammar Gaddafi's forces have continued their rapid advance despite continued coalition air strikes, retaking much of the territory gained by rebels at the weekend.

Their advance also threatens to humiliate the western coalition by again coming within striking distance of Benghazi, the rebels' de facto capital that Paris, Washington and London launched the aerial campaign to defend.

People who had returned to the strategic town of Ajdabiya after it fell to the rebels on Saturday again fled as the government's army seized two important oil towns further along the coastal highway, Ras Lanuf and Brega.

It was not immediately clear if the regime intended to try and take Ajdabiya again after its forces were heavily pounded by air strikes at the end of last week. But the government has nevertheless pressed ahead with its counter offensive using not only the artillery that it still retains but what appears to be a larger ground force than previously deployed.

Video of the convoy sent to take Benghazi, taken from a dead soliders cell phone (shows how massive the operation was): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwWwOeZqz6M

Sky News went with Gaddafi minders to find a "civilian town bombed" only they were never shown any such thing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O5KJavfiQo

TNC presser talking about various details of the revolution (thanks to Waiting for Everyone): http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=730234&mesg_id=731532

Topic on the women of the revolution, dispels myths that they are treated poorly: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x594751

Videos to bring the Libyan Revolution into context:

The Battle of Benghazi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0vChMDuNd0

BBC Panorama on Libya Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyaPnMnpCAA

BBC Panorama on Libya Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMzwQvcx62s

Tea of Freedom Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD5tu5bJWKc

Latest indiscriminate shelling in Misurata: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wop3C4zrPXI

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x677397">Text of the resolution.

How will a no fly zone work? AJE reports: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWEwehTtK2k

Canada: http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110317/cf-libya-canada/20110317/?hub=WinnipegHome">Canada to send six CF-18s for Libya 'no-fly' mission Norway: http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFOSN00509220110318">Norway to join military intervention in Libya Belgium: http://www.lesoir.be/actualite/monde/2011-03-18/la-belgique-prete-a-une-operation-militaire-en-libye-828970.php">Belgium ready for a military operation in Libya Qatar and the UAE: http://www.defpro.com/daily/details/776/?SID=e80884adc09a37d26904578a9b5978cb">Run-up for Western world’s next military commitment ... with unusual support Denmark: http://www.cphpost.dk/news/international/89-international/51229-denmark-ready-for-action-against-gaddafi.html">Denmark ready for action against Gaddafi France: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/world/africa/19libya.html?src=twrhp">Following U.N. Vote, France Vows Libya Action ‘Soon’ Italy: http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFLDE72G2HE20110317">Italy to make bases available for Libya no-fly zone-source United Kingdom: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12770467">Libya: UK forces prepare after UN no-fly zone vote United States: http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/nations-draw-up-plans-for-no-fly-zone-over-libya-1.2765122">Nations draw up plans for no-fly zone over Libya Jordan: http://www.smh.com.au/world/military-strikes-on-libya-within-hours-20110318-1bzii.html?from=smh_sb">Military strikes on Libya 'within hours' Spain: http://english.cri.cn/6966/2011/03/19/2801s627320.htm">Spain Expected to Join NATO No-fly Zone Enforcement over Libya

"One month ago (Western countries) were sooo nice, so nice like pussycats," Saif says in a contemptuous sing-song tone."Now they want to be really aggressive like tigers. (But) soon they will come back, and cut oil deals, contracts. We know this game." - http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2058389,00.html">Saif Gaddafi

(Yeah, Saif, as if you weren't "cutting oil deals, contracts" with western states. Who are the 'tigers' now? Bombing your own people.)

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-10-0">March 10 7:28pm Saif al Islam Gaddafi says "the time has come for full-scale military action" against Libyan rebels. He goes on to say that Libyan forces loyal to his family "will never surrender, even if western powers intervene".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/29/vision-democratic-libya-interim-national-council">Libyan Karzai? Chalabi? Forget it
Fortunately, the Council wasn't made-in-the-USA or manufactured by another foreign power. Rather it came into existence, a month ago, at Libyans' own initiative, soon after the winds of revolutionary change blew Libya's way, and after its people rose to the occasion with pride and courage.

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2011/04/04/110404taco_talk_anderson#ixzz1HvS7iW22">Who Are the Rebels?
During weeks of reporting in Benghazi and along the chaotic, shifting front line, I’ve spent a great deal of time with these volunteers. The hard core of the fighters has been the shabab—the young people whose protests in mid-February sparked the uprising. They range from street toughs to university students (many in computer science, engineering, or medicine), and have been joined by unemployed hipsters and middle-aged mechanics, merchants, and storekeepers. There is a contingent of workers for foreign companies: oil and maritime engineers, construction supervisors, translators. There are former soldiers, their gunstocks painted red, green, and black—the suddenly ubiquitous colors of the pre-Qaddafi Libyan flag.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/29/vision-democratic-libya-interim-national-council">A vision of a democratic Libya
The interim national council, formed by opposition groups in Libya, has said it will hold free and fair elections and draft a national constitution. Here is its eight-point plan in full.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/02/25/world/middleeast/map-of-how-the-protests-unfolded-in-libya.html">Click here for updated map

Military Installations



Oil Map



http://bit.ly/fe3P">Google Earth DL here to see positions of army and patrolling route of mercenaries

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=212059469427545728757.00049c4df2474b6543347&ll=31.203405,30.058594&spn=96.173452,183.867188&z=3">MAP of Protests across the Middle East

Mohammed Nabbous, killed by Gaddafi's forces while trying to report on the massacre in Benghazi

"I'm not afraid to die, I'm afraid to lose the battle" -Mohammed Nabbous, a month ago when all this began

I'm struggling to come up with something to say about this man. I was not aware of the Libyan uprising until I saw Mo's first report, begging for help, posted here on DU. I was stricken. Here was a man giving everything he had to explain a situation that clearly terrified him, I would not call him a coward in that moment, but you could see the fear in his eyes, and desperation in his voice. For 30 days Nabbous would spend many hours covering the uprising in Benghazi. For many nights I would go to sleep with the webcast of Benghazi live on my computer screen, looking to it occasionally to be sure it was still 'there.' Mo treated the chat room as if we were his friends, and in some way, we were. I never signed up to LiveStream to thank him for all his work and it seems somewhat shallow to do so now, given that I was a lurker for so long. Ever since I took over posting these threads "Libya Alhurra" has been linked as a source of information. It wasn't until last night, when I posted, and twitter posted on Mo's adventures out into Benghazi to try to determine the truth of the situation, that Mo's webchannel became a hit, over 2000 people were watching him stream live. This was curious to him because he'd done many reports like this in the past but he appeared somewhat bemused that the view count exploded as it did. Last night Mo became a star. This is a man who first started out with a webcast replete with fear and desperation finally overcoming that aspect of himself and losing that fear, to become someone who was a fighter for the resistance just as much as those who held the guns. Reporting on the front lines of Benghazi became his final act, and for that he should never, ever be forgotten. I'm so sorry Mo that I never got to know you better.

Mo's first report, which many of you may remember, begging for help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38EXALI60hg

Mo's last report, a fallen hero trying to spread the word to the world: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecu_iWLn-rg

Mo leaves behind a wife who is with child, she had http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/23/a_bright_voice_from_libyas_darkness">this to say about the No Fly Zone and R2P UN resolution:

We started this in a pure way, but he turned it bloody. Thousands of our men, women, and children have died. We just wanted our freedom, that's all we wanted, we didn't want power. Before, we could not do a single thing if it was not the way he wanted it. All we wanted was freedom. All we wanted was to be free. We have paid with our blood, with our families, with our men, and we're not going to give up. We are still going to do that no matter what it takes, but we need help. We want to do this ourselves, but we don't have the weapons, the technology, the things we need. I don't want anyone to say that Libya got liberated by anybody else. If NATO didn't start moving when they did, I assure you, I assure you, half of Benghazi if not more would have been killed. If they stop helping us, we are going to be all killed because he has no mercy anymore.

[joshcryer]

1. Current time in Libya, 2:56am Thursday, March 31

[pinboy3niner]

2. K&R

:hi:

[joshcryer]

3. Please take a break.

I was depressed the past two days and when I'm depressed I need at least 10-12 hours of sleep, so I slept like crazy last night, I think 12 hours+.

:hug:

I'm back in form today!

[gateley]

6. Glad you're back -- in form, no less!

Be good to yourself! :hug:

[pinboy3niner]

10. I'm glad you had that respite

It's important to take care of yourself--especially when things are so intense.

I had some time off earlier, and the team stepped up to pick up my slack--and did a GREAT job! Not naming names (my lips are sealed)--but they are our "usual suspects," lol. Real troopers. :grouphug:

I do need to step out for a while (after I re-post one more item from the end of the last thread)...back later. :hi:

[joshcryer]

16. Take care, will see you soon.

Going to be on all night, might take a small nap but I'm really refreshed so it'll be regular posting all night.

[pinboy3niner]

4. Gaddafi regime ordered to appear before Africa's highest court

Source: The Guardian

Gaddafi regime ordered to appear before Africa's highest court


African court on human and peoples' rights accuses regime of killing peaceful demonstrators


Owen Bowcott and Maya Wolfe-Robinson guardian.co.uk
Wednesday 30 March 2011 21.44 BST


Gaddafi's regime has been ordered to appear before Africa's highest court to face charges of "massive violations of human rights" for killing peaceful demonstrators in the early days of the uprising.

...


The "order for provisional measures" issued by the court unanimously declares that the "government of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya" must immediately refrain from any action that would result in loss of life or breach human rights. It also summons the Tripoli regime to appear before the court within 15 days to explain what measures have been taken to implement the order.

The African court on human and peoples' rights is the continent's equivalent of the European court of human rights. The legal action has been initiated by another continental body, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.

Court documents state that the commission has received "successive complaints against Libya". Peaceful demonstrations in the Libyan cities of Benghazi, al-Baida, Ajdabiya, Zawiya and Derna were "violently suppressed by security forces" who "opened fire at random" on 19 February, the commission alleges.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/30/gaddafi-regime-africa-court

[Turborama]

49. It's just NOT FAIR! He's been crowned King of Africa TWICE FFS!!!

Posted that Guardian article here in LBN: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4794653&mesg_id=4794653

:hi:

[pinboy3niner]

50. Thanks--I appreciate your posting your links here

And that's "King of ALL Africa," I believe--and you'd better remember that if you know what's good for you! People have been tortured and executed for less.

:hi:

[Turborama]

54. LEAVE MUAMMAR ALONE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4m3rglphXE

[pinboy3niner]

55. LOL!

I guess that was bound to happen. :rofl:

That's just what we need to cut the tension surrounding these events. We'll have to make sure Josh sees it. :)

[joshcryer]

5. Undisciplined Libyan rebels no match for Gaddafi's forces

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/30/libyan-rebels-no-match-gaddafi">Undisciplined Libyan rebels no match for Gaddafi's forces
If there's an ammunition shortage, no one has told Khalif Saed. He was firing off a large machine gun welded to the back of a pick up truck, sending the contents of the heavy belt of bullets darting through the weapon and in to an empty sky.

It's a regular enough occurrence on the open desert road along which Libya's conflict has swung back and forth through this month. Sometimes the stream of fire is celebratory, as earlier this week when it was falsely claimed that Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte had fallen.

In recent days it seems to be more out of frustration as the rebels were forced back in the face of Gaddafi's attack. What it was not was aimed at was the enemy.

Asked why he was shooting when the revolution's military leadership has appealed for discipline and its fighters not to waste ammunition, Saed said simply: "It's my gun."

:rofl:

True revolutionaries, to be sure.

[Cerridwen]

7. First, my apologies about my posts re: Sirte.

I realized what was happening just after posting here. I thought to delete my post here; but might as well own up to getting punked.

Next: just for fun and giggles as a peace offering from a "fellow warmonger."

A video on YouTube
Jane Austen's Fight Club

edit to add: please consider this another drive by posting. :)))

[gateley]

9. What's happening re : Sirte?

[Cerridwen]

11. It was couple of days ago; a lot of reports Sirte taken by "rebels"

turned out to false. Some of us, I was one, bought it...at first. I'm usually more careful; I let my hope get in the way of truth.

Don't know what's happening now; I'm playing catch-up.

/drive by posting out

[joshcryer]

14. There was truth to those reports, they were ambushed at Sirte.

They did apparently make it in to Sirte but were flanked, cornered off. A lot of those who made it in are probably dead by now. Kudos to Gaddafi's forces, not that it's hard to outsmart a ragtag bunch of untrained individuals most who are unarmed and even fewer who have small arms.

[joshcryer]

8. Libya conflict: reactions around the world

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/30/libya-conflict-reactions-world">Libya conflict: reactions around the world
The UN security council may have sanctioned air strikes, but they are viewed with ambivalence in most countries

[joshcryer]

12. Libya rebels flee as Gaddafi retakes Brega

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/30/libya-rebels-gaddafi-troops-brega">Libya rebels flee as Gaddafi retakes Brega
Troops loyal to the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, have retaken Brega, forcing rebel fighters into a chaotic retreat under a barrage of tank and artillery fire to the town of Ajdabiya.

With Gaddafi's forces advancing on Ajdabiya, rebels are fleeing back to the position they held before Nato air strikes began, on Saturday.

Nato planes continued to bombard the regime troops, but their outgunned opponents were forced back from positions taken earlier in the week, when they advanced to within 60 miles of Sirte, Gaddafi's home city.

Meanwhile, as debate within the anti-Gaddafi international coalition over the legality of arming the rebellion continued, the foreign secretary, William Hague, said it would be possible to supply weapons under certain circumstances.

I wish the revolutionaries appreciated what happens to these cities when they're taken by Gaddafi forces. The entire cities are cracked down on, many supporters of the revolution are disappeared, and the people are silenced. If only they appreciated this sentiment more, they might fight harder.

[pinboy3niner]

13. C.I.A. Agents in Libya Aid Airstrikes and Meet Rebels

Source: New York Times

C.I.A. Agents in Libya Aid Airstrikes and Meet Rebels

By MARK MAZZETTI and ERIC SCHMITT


Published: March 30, 2011


WASHINGTON — The Central Intelligence Agency has inserted clandestine operatives into Libya to gather intelligence for military airstrikes and contact rebels battling Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces, according to American officials.

While President Obama has insisted that no American military ground troops participate in the Libyan campaign, small groups of C.I.A. operatives have been working in Libya for several weeks as part of a shadow force of Westerners that the Obama administration hopes can help bleed Colonel Qaddafi’s military, the officials said.

In addition to the C.I.A. presence, composed of an unknown number of Americans who had worked at the spy agency’s station in Tripoli and others who arrived more recently, current and former British officials said that dozens of British special forces and MI6 intelligence officers are working inside Libya. The British operatives have been directing airstrikes from British jets and gathering intelligence about the whereabouts of Libyan government tank columns, artillery pieces and missile installations, the officials said.

...


In addition, the American spies are meeting with rebels to try to fill in gaps in understanding who their leaders are and the allegiances of the groups opposed to Colonel Qaddafi, according to United States government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the activities. American officials cautioned, though, that the Western operatives are not directing the actions of rebel forces.A C.I.A. spokesman declined to comment.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/world/africa/31intel.html

[tabatha]

30. deleted

page gone

[joshcryer]

15. New footage has emerged from the first moments of the uprising in Libya, showing gunmen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfc5eibgGm0

[joshcryer]

17. Gaddafi fuel tanker trucks stopped at Tunisia border, refused access to fuel

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=121175161291377

Translation: City Bnqirdan objection trucks and tanks preparing to enter the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Tunisia to provide fuel to the Gaddafi regime, which is devoted to al-Qadhafi, and directed the issuance of the Libyan people and the rebels

:rofl:

Gaddafi has no friends in Tunisia and in Egypt.

[joshcryer]

18. AJE: The defection of Moussa Koussa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzgQncRBIgY

[joshcryer]

19. UN slaps sanctions on Ivory Coast''s strongman Gbagbo

http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5092556">UN slaps sanctions on Ivory Coast''s strongman Gbagbo
United Nations, Mar 31 (PTI) The UN Security Council has unanimously imposed sanctions, including a travel ban and asset freeze on Ivory Coast''s strongman Laurent Gbagbo, his wife and close aides.

The resolution, which came five days after Nigeria and France introduced a draft resolution expressing concern that the country could relapse into a civil war, calls on Gbagbo to stand down from presidency of the West African nation.

Gbagbo has refused to accept Alassane Ouattara as the lawful winner of the November presidential polls.

While voting in favour of imposing sanctions on the Ivory Coast''s incumbent leader, India blasted the tendency of hurrying to adopt Security Council resolutions.

edit: better source

[tabatha]

20. Ed Schultz doing good on Libyan war.

[joshcryer]

21. Any specifics?

[tabatha]

22. He is advocating giving arms to rebels

to give them a fighting chance. "Come on liberals, they are fighting for their freedom".

[joshcryer]

23. Very interesting.

I personally don't know where to stand on that one. What they need is training and discipline. That takes weeks if not months.

[tabatha]

24. Yes, he had a military adviser saying just that.

The next guest was - Jeremy Scahill - quite an argument.

MSNBC can be watched online here:

http://www.justin.tv/rockinroosters21#/w/1021631376/14

[joshcryer]

25. Thanks, the chat there is interesting.

A far cry from Libya Alhurra.

[tabatha]

36. The chat is hardly worth reading :-(

It looks as though they are doing a Middle East special on MSNBC at 8pm every night with Richard Engel.

[MedleyMisty]

29. Yeah

I don't get how people can claim that they are trained Al Qaeda terrorists who fought in Iraq and/or CIA/FBI plants, but somehow also don't have discipline and training.

They really are peaceful people who took up arms because they were absolutely driven to it and had no other choice. I don't see how people can't get that.

And I don't know where to stand either. I know they want to do it themselves but they really do need a lot of help, and I also know that the more help they get, the more likely the influence of the forces in the coalition who are not on their side.

[tabatha]

26. DiManno: Chasing the Libyan rebels in a sea of sand

Post from GD. Interesting; explains a little of what happened at Sirte.

UQAYLA, LIBYA—First the rebel fighters were ahead of me. Then they were behind me.

That required a screeching U-turn at the swiftly collapsing front line, weaving through the bedlam of honking traffic and panicked revolutionaries now racing in the opposite direction.

“They’re 15 kilometres away!’’ yells a young gunner manning a multiple rocket launcher.

“They’re 3 kilometres away!’’ hollers a compatriot.

On the edge of a sand berm, half a dozen pick-up trucks halt to counter-attack, aiming their mounted guns south rather than east, whence Moammar Gadhafi’s forces were advancing at breakneck pace.

A volley of Katyusha rockets is launched, streaking low across the moonscape terrain.

“Stop! Stop!’’ someone shrieks. “Those are our guys!’’

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/966066--dimanno-chasing-the-libyan-rebels-in-a-sea-of-sand?bn=1

[joshcryer]

27. "Put on your vest!" "Well, goddamn, I would if I had one."

Incredible story, thanks.

[joshcryer]

28. Libya conflict leaves both sides running short of ammunition

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/30/libya-conflict-sides-short-ammunition">Libya conflict leaves both sides running short of ammunition
Both sides in the Libya conflict are running short of weapons and ammunition after almost two weeks of intense fighting that has brutally exposed the military shortcomings of the rebels, the Guardian has been told.

The rebels were forced into yet another retreat on Wednesday, with Muammar Gaddafi's forces regaining much of the territory taken by them at the weekend and threatening to humiliate the western coalition by again coming within striking distance of Benghazi.

Concern is deepening in the coalition about the rebels' fragile morale and lack of military experience to mount a sustained challenge to the regime.

A military stalemate is now a real possibility, partly as both sides are struggling to re-equip their forces.

Now if only the rebels weren't shooting their ammunition into the air. :rofl:

[pinboy3niner]

34. Ben Wedeman just said in a CNN live feed...

...that there are professional military officers (Libyan army defectors) with the rebel forces and they're tryilng to tell the young men to conserve ammo, but the officers aen't listened to because there's no official command structure or officers.

They're also having communication problems because cell service is down in the area.

[tabatha]

31. Women rally at White House for missing Libyan woman

WASHINGTON - Protests against Moammar Gadhafi have been a daily occurrence outside the White House since weeks before the U.S. and allies established a no-fly zone over Libya.

But on Wednesday, a small group of North African women held a separate demonstration along Pennsylvania Avenue to draw attention to the case of Eman al-Obaidi, the young lawyer who made international headlines by entering a Tripoli hotel and telling a gathering of western journalists that Gadhafi government forces had raped her.

With cameras rolling, al-Obaidi was forcibly taken out of the hotel. She hasn't been seen since.

"We are all proud of Eman," says Hannah bin Galbun, one of the dozen or so demonstrators gathered outside the White House. "In a conservative society like Libya's, women are always suppressed and forced to stay silent."

Al-Obaidi now faces a lawsuit from several of the pro-Gadhafi officials she's accused of rape. A government official had initially accused of her of being drunk or mentally unstable, then claimed she was a prostitute.

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=41&sid=2326400

[pinboy3niner]

35. CNN is about to do an update soon on AC360 nt

[pinboy3niner]

40. Details in Post #37 nt

[tabatha]

32. Treasury: Libya frozen assets to keep rising

Adam Szubin, director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, said in an interview that there was a very high degree of international unity about the need to curb Gaddafi's government, and to prevent his regime from using violence against the dissidents trying to oust him.

The U.S. Treasury has already identified a number of "key middlemen" who may be holding assets on Gaddafi's behalf and "front companies" linked to his regime, Szubin said. It is preparing to add these to its blacklist.

The Treasury on February 25 banned U.S. transactions with Libya's state oil producer, its central bank and other state entities, in line with actions imposed by the United Nations and European Union aimed at cutting off Libya's revenues.

Szubin said "a large part" of the Gaddafi regime's sources of funds have been immobilized already but Treasury is continuing to work with broker-dealers, large money center banks and others in search of assets and accounts to freeze.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/30/us-usa-libya-assets-idUSTRE72T73R20110330

[MedleyMisty]

33. Stories from the Libyan youth

http://feb17.info/editorials/stories-from-the-youth-in-gaddafis-libya/

I started to pick up and drop off the sisters regularly, learning even more about the stricken conditions that characterized the citizens of a country whose oil revenue marked 32 billion USD in 2010. My greatest shock came when I finally learned Maysa’s story. Her unbalanced movements were the result of a large tumor that had been expanding in her leg. The Libyan hospitals suffer from regular low funding and, due to the poor quality of Libyan universities, often employ improperly trained staff.

Maysa’s doctor cautioned that the risks of complications were high, that she was much better off obtaining surgery in Egypt or Tunisia, where most Libyans are forced to seek healthcare treatment. Maysa couldn’t afford the expense to travel to Egypt or Tunisia, much less to pay for the surgery. I asked her then, what could she do? Her expression dropped, and like many youth forced to realize the stark reality of impoverishment brought on by the Gaddafi regime, at 23 years of age she replied quite stoically, “Well, eventually, it will get really big and I guess, they will have to cut it off.”

Two years later this electrical engineering scholar still worked at the same, low-paying job. Omar graduated with honours but was not one of the top five. More importantly, his family lacked connections to anyone powerful enough to help him obtain a government scholarship. Like many others, Omar was forced to forgo his passion and ventured into employment not only unrelated to his field, but beneath his qualifications. The 350-750 LYD salaries are not quite enough to support basic necessities, but Omar was one of the lucky ones able to find work at all.

She told me that Najila’s dad was murdered by Gaddafi in 1989. His wife and 8 children – the youngest of whom was just 3 – were forced to watch as he was hung by loyalists. Gaddafi’s men taunted them, telling them this is the fate of traitors. Najilah’s father’s only crime was his piety. He was suspected of corroborating with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, simply because of his long beard and frequent trips to the Mosque. No other evidence was ever put forward to substantiate the charges of treason. His story is one of thousands wrongfully killed by Gaddafi’s regime.

Like I said. It's the bottom 99% against the top 1%. Globally.

Any American worker who turns their backs on these people should feel ashamed.

[pinboy3niner]

37. State TV is calling Eman al-Obeidi a prostitute and a traitor

AC360 showed a very brief clip in which the state TV anchor said "even a whore can be patriotic," but that "Sister Eman" has a "political hate agenda" and "is extremely radical."

CNN reports that today there is still no sign of Eman.

[Turborama]

44. I wonder if Moussa Koussa knows her fate and will tell all

Women carrying a banner bearing the image of Iman Al-Obeidi during
a demonstration in Benghazi,
March 27. REUTERS

[pinboy3niner]

38. AJ reported airstrikes were continuing about 3 hours ago

And the air strikes continue. Explosions have reportedly shaken an eastern suburb of Tripoli, as warplanes staged a raid on the Libyan capital, a witness has told the AFP news agency

Libya's state news agency also reported the attack.

Shortly after the aircraft flew over the east and southeast suburbs of the city, explosions could be heard in the southeast Salaheddine district, targeting a military site in the area, said the witness, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Gaddafi's Bab al-Azizia (meaning Splendid Gate) home and compound is located in a southern suburb of the city - whch is also home to 1million people.

Jana, the official Libyan news agency, said "a civilian site in Tripoli has been the target tonight of bombing from the colonialist crusader aggressor." They continued:

The price of any bomb or missile launched by the crusaders on the Libyans is paid for by the Qatari and Emirati governments.

2:46am:
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-31

[pinboy3niner]

39. Libya rebels flee eastward by the hundreds

Source: Los Angeles Times

Libya rebels flee eastward by the hundreds


Kadafi's forces appear poised to take Port Brega after pushing the opposition fighters out of Ras Lanuf, another oil refinery city.


By David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times

March 31, 2011



Reporting from Port Brega, Libya— Dispirited rebel fighters continued their headlong retreat across eastern Libya on Wednesday, surrendering a strategic oil city they captured just three days earlier and fleeing eastward by the hundreds.

Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi appeared poised late in the day to seize a second oil refinery city, Port Brega, as rebels in gun trucks near the city turned and fled at the sound of exploding rockets and artillery. Kadafi's men had pushed rebels out of Ras Lanuf, site of a petrochemical complex and port, on Wednesday morning.

Escaping rebels poured through the western gate of the crucial crossroads city of Ajdabiya, where allied airstrikes Saturday ended a 10-day government siege. Some rebels vowed to make a bloody stand in the nearly deserted city, but others fled in panic.

...


The rebel effort is plagued by confusion and dissension. Clusters of volunteer fighters bickered over tactics and weapons Wednesday, with many refusing to take orders from defecting army regulars nominally in command. Others demanded to know why allied warplanes were not attacking their enemy, and why tanks and rocket batteries captured from Kadafi's men were not being used.

...


It was unclear how far Kadafi would push his forces and expose his men and weapons to allied warplanes in the flat, open desert between Port Brega and Ajdabiya.

[pinboy3niner]

41. Libya: Moussa Koussa resigns - factbox

Source: The Telegraph

Libya: Moussa Koussa resigns - factbox


Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa arrived in Britain on Wednesday and has quit Muammar Gaddafi's government, according to the Government


11:30PM BST 30 Mar 2011

Mr Koussa was one of Gaddafi's key officials, his spy chief and the architect of a dramatic shift in Libya's foreign policy that brought the country back to the international community after years of sanctions.

Here are some facts about Mr Koussa:

* Western-educated, Mr Koussa holds an MA from Michigan State University in the United States. He speaks fluent English, though prefers not to speak English at public gatherings, instead using a translator.

* He was head of Libya's External Security Organisation, which made him the country's de facto spy chief. He was appointed foreign minister in a government reshuffle in 2009, replacing Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgham, who was appointed Libyan ambassador to the United Nations in New York.

* Mr Koussa, with Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, played a central role in negotiating the lifting of international sanctions on Libya in 2004. As a confidence-building measure, he provided information to Washington on the activities of al Qaeda in Libya and north Africa.

* A US embassy cable published by the WikiLeaks website described Mr Koussa as "the rare Libyan official who embodies a combination of intellectual acumen, operational ability and political weight". Another leaked cable said he was "a useful and powerful interlocutor who has been mostly cooperative in liaison channels and key to our re-engagement."

* According to US embassy cables, Mr Koussa offered the British government assurances that Abdelbasset al-Megrahi, the man convicted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, would be given a low-key welcome if freed and allowed to return home.

In the event, he was given a hero's welcome when he touched down in Tripoli last year, embarassing the British government.

...


* Mr Koussa acted as informal mentor to another of Gaddafi's sons, Mutassim, who is national security advisor. He accompanied Mutassim on a visit to New York soon after Libya emerged from international isolation. A U.S. embassy cable quoted Koussa, in a private conversation, as saying that Mutassim was not a keen student of international relations and had to be prompted to read books on the subject.

* Before the Libya crisis, there were indications that Mr Koussa was no longer at the centre of the country's ruling circle. There had been unconfirmed reports of a physical altercation between him and one of Gaddafi's sons. At an international summit in Tripoli in December, Mr Koussa spent much of his time smoking in the public buffet area while the rest of Gaddafi's entourage were cloistered in a private room.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8417465/Libya-Moussa-Koussa-resigns-factbox.html

[Turborama]

43. Interesting insight, thanks. Here's a short video report from AJE on this

Which I posted in the videos forum: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x568328

:hi:

[MedleyMisty]

42. Now that we have tasted hope

A poem by a Libyan writer - http://abudai.tumblr.com/post/4225202196/now-that-we-have-tasted-hope

Also - the Twitter peeps are worried about all this sudden pushing of "the rebels are weak and untrained" combined with the "CIA agents talking to the rebels". I am too. Very worried.

[pinboy3niner]

45. The "weak and untrained" comments appear to be largely accurate

That's what foreign press correspondents are reporting from the places where fighting is going on. They seem to use "weak" to mean "outgunned" by the superior firepower and heavy weapons of the Gaddafi forces. Untrained is pretty much a given. Although there are exceptions, as Ben Wedeman observed tonight in a live report aired on CNN's AC360.

Wedeman reported that he'd see one unit of civilian volunteers that was pretty undisciplined, then run into another with some men wearing uniform shirts and having better weapons who appeared to be defectors from army special forces, then run into another that appeared not very well fed, young men who were"wild-eyed" probably from the fighting they'd gone through.

Professional military officers are present among the rebels, but more than one report says they are not being listened to by the civilian volunteers.

The Interim Transitional National Council has a new military chief (its third), but he has only been on the job a matter of days--far too short to make any headway against the tremendous challenges he faces.

:hi:

(btw, I posted a link to your OP today so those following the Libya threads would have an opportunity to see it.)

[MedleyMisty]

52. I know

I posted more thoughts about it in the post with the link to the article about the spokeswoman.

I've decided to just watch and not make assumptions for now. Plus the person who was the most worried about it - he seems to be mostly accepted by what I've come to see as the inner circle on Twitter, but I have seen the occasional questionable thing and conflict with the others. So yeah - waiting and seeing.

And thank you for posting the link! :)

[tabatha]

46. Sources: CIA officers aided in pilot rescue

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/03/ap-libya-cia-officers-aided-pilot-rescue-033011/

By Adam Goldman - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Mar 30, 2011 20:51:45 EDT

WASHINGTON — The CIA has sent small teams of operatives into Libya after the agency’s station in the capital was forced to close, and officers assisted in the rescue one of the two crew members of an F-15E Strike Eagle that crashed, an American official and a former U.S. intelligence officer told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The agency’s precise role in Libya is unclear. Intelligence experts said the CIA would have sent officials to make contact with the opposition and assess the strength and needs of the rebel forces battling Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in the event President Obama decided to arm them.

The American official and the former U.S. intelligence officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said the CIA helped safely recover the fighter jet’s weapons specialist, who was first picked up by rebels. The pilot was rescued by Marines.

[MedleyMisty]

47. The TNC has a spokesWOMAN

Seriously - once Libya is up and running again, all the women in Saudi Arabia should move there.

http://www.sandraoffthestrip.com/2011/03/07/iman-bugaighis-is-spokeswoman-for-libyan-provisional-transitional-national-council/

Iman Bugaighis is spokeswoman for Libyan Provisional Transitional National Council

FT.com Mar o4:
“It’s still chaos but we are very pleased with what we have achieved until now. We started two weeks ago from zero.”
Bugaighis found it ironic that the Libyan PYNC has created people’s committees that could easily have leapt from the pages of Col Gaddafi’s Green Book, which outlines his model of Jamahiriya, or “the rule of the masses”.

“This is what Gaddafi wanted, okay, it’s happened,” Ms Bugaighis says. “It’s very shocking for him.”

LOL!

Have been reading more - you know, it was the first time I'd really read an American MSM article about Libya and it shows how deep the mental divide is when you check completely out of American media like I have for the last 10 years - it was like a different way of thinking, a different way of being. No wonder I don't relate very well to a lot of Americans.

Anyway - still not really sure what to think about the new message about the rebel army and about the CIA. Guess we'll see. I read about Cameron meeting with the TNC - I do think they're so out in public now that it's completely not possible to just totally shut them out and replace them, so that's good.

To keep my spirits up, I'm hoping that the "CIA meeting with the rebels" thing is a way to try and stop all the "OMG who are we helping are they terrorists help daddy I'm a-scared of the brown people with guns" stuff. Which hmm - the new untrained and undisciplined message could also be helping with that - trying to show that they aren't trained terrorists, that they really are just normal people. Haha - maybe this is why people subscribe to the idea of Obama playing 11 dimensional chess, hoping things will come out all right in the end.

Someone noted that the CIA announcement means that Obama is owning Libya, and that means he expects to win.

I don't even know what to think.

Someone else is saying that it's a sign of the US preparing to recognize the TNC.

One thing above all that the Libyan revolution has taught me - nothing in this world is black and white. So I don't know. I'm going to try to not assume that it's good or that it's bad until I know more about it.

Good night, peeps! Libya Hurra!

[tabatha]

51. Good night.

Thanks for your posts.

[pinboy3niner]

48. Former Nicaraguan FM unlikely to be recognized as Libya's UN ambassador

Our regular liveblog readers will remember that, at about this time yesterday, we mentioned that Nicaragua's first lady announced that former foreign minister Miguel D'Escoto was to become the new Libyan ambassador to the United Nations.

Now Susan Rice, US ambassador to the UN, has poured cold water on the idea, saying that D'Escoto was only in the US on a tourist visa - which didn't allow him to undertake government business.

She also said that he had been appointed by Moussa Koussa, who has since quit the administration and fled to Britain. Rice told reporters:

I think the first question is whether he's actually been appointed in any legitimate fashion.

D'Escoto is a Roman Catholic priest and a former Sandinista revolutionary, whose left-wing government in Nicaragua was attacked by US-funded Contra fighters during the 1980s. He once called former US president Ronald Reagan "the butcher of my people".

He was understood to have been appointed after Gaddafi's first choice, Ali Treki, was reportedly denied a visa to enter the United States.

3:47am:
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-31

[pinboy3niner]

53. WH Press Secretary's statement following leaks about CIA ops in Libya:

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release March 30, 2011

Statement by the Press Secretary, 3/30/11


As is common practice for this and all Administrations, I am not going to comment on intelligence matters. I will reiterate what the President said yesterday – no decision has been made about providing arms to the opposition or to any group in Libya. We’re not ruling it out or ruling it in. We’re assessing and reviewing options for all types of assistance that we could provide to the Libyan people, and have consulted directly with the opposition and our international partners about these matters.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/30/statement-press-secretary-33011

[pinboy3niner]

56. Whew! A top national priority is spared!

Bill Carter reports in the NYT's Media Decoder blog that before the President addressed the nation on Libya, the White House had to negotiate with ABC to avoid conflict with another top national priority--"Dancing with the Stars."


Before Libya, White House Must Negotiate With ABC
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/28/before-libya-white-house-must-negotiate-with-abc/?smid=tw-NYTimesAd&seid=auto

[pinboy3niner]

57. Report: Egypt not supplying arms to either side in Libya

From The Guardian:

Martin Chulov, who was in Benghazi early on, has more on the Egyptian angle. He says Egypt is not supplying weapons to the rebels despite an earlier report in the Wall Street Journal. Here is Martin's take, with some fascinating background.

There has been much speculation about whether the Egyptians might send arms to Libya – whether to the regime or the rebels.

On the eve of the creation of the no-fly zone, a Libyan jet touched down in Cairo. It contained Gaddafi's chief of military supplies, Major General Abdul Rahman al-Zawi. He brought with him a blank cheque and a pledge that all past tensions would be quickly forgotten if Egypt's military rulers would sell weapons to the regime.

Gaddafi's man was politely sent packing. So too, according to Egyptian and western officials, were Libya's rebels who have made similar overtures. The rebels have beaten a regular path to Cairo, where they have met US and British diplomats and members of Egypt's high military command.

They have told all parties that the weapons they procured from Gaddafi's bases were not enough to sustain them for longer than several months. US officials recently suggested to an American newspaper that the rebels have established a weapons supply line through Egypt were denied this week by Egyptian officials and western diplomats.

"The Egyptians have been explicit about this," said one. "If they are doing it, they are doing it very quietly and we quite frankly don't think they are."

Egyptian officials contacted by the Guardian this week said the reasons to refuse both sides were rooted in the country's fragile new order. "We need to focus on our own borders and what is happening within them," said one senior official, linked to the military command. "The people would likely not respond well to us backing the violent overthrow of a neighbouring state, no matter the lack of regard people have for Gaddafi. Egypt is in a very delicate position and as transitional military rulers, we cannot be seen to be acting beyond our domestic obligations."

Western officials said Egypt was content to fall in behind consensual Arab support for the campaign in Libya, but play no active, or indirect role.

"If the rebels want weapons, they need to get them from elsewhere for now," said one diplomat.

1.54pm:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/30/libya-middle-east-syria-bahrain-yemen

[pinboy3niner]

58. Ouattara forces enter Ivory Coast's San Pedro port--Reuters

Full story:
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE72U00R20110331

[Tx4obama]

59. Any new news regarding the 32 Libyan Diplomatic cars?

From a Wednesday DU thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x776691

Libyan Diplomatic cars have crossed the Libyan-Tunisian

00:43 Almanara Media reports that 32 Libyan Diplomatic cars have crossed the Libyan-Tunisian border into Tunisia. There is news that the following Libyan diplomats are in Tunisia making plans to defect and leave to Europe:

1. Abu Zaid Dorda – Chief of Intelligence
2. Shukri Ghanem – Oil Minister
3. AbulGasem AzZwai – General Secretary of the People’s Committee
4. AbdulAati Abedi – Libyan Ambassador to Tunisia

http://www.libyafeb17.com/

[pinboy3niner]

61. Moussa Koussa reportedly crossed into Tunisia in a convoy

There have been reports of other senior Libyan officials READY to defect, but so far I've seen no confirmed reports of other defections.

:hi:

[Tx4obama]

62. Thanks. n/t

[pinboy3niner]

60. Women working in war zones: 'It's What I Do,' by Lynsey Addario

Source: NYT 'Lens' blog

March 30, 2011, 8:41 pm

Lynsey Addario: ‘It’s What I Do’

By LYNSEY ADDARIO


Lynsey Addario was freed from captivity in Libya on March 21, along with Tyler Hicks, Stephen Farrell and Anthony Shadid. Nine days later, in New York, she sat down with James Estrin, Kerri MacDonald and David Furst to share her thoughts on the experience. David W. Dunlap edited Ms. Addario’s answers to her colleagues’ questions into a narrative.


I was reading the feedback to the account that Anthony, Tyler, Steve and I wrote. (“Four Times Journalists Held Captive in Libya Faced Days of Brutality.”) Some comments said: “How dare a woman go to a war zone?” and “How could The New York Times let a woman go to the war zone?”

To me, that’s grossly offensive. This is my life, and I make my own decisions.

If a woman wants to be a war photographer, she should. It’s important. Women offer a different perspective. We have access to women on a different level than men have, just as male photographers have a different relationship with the men they’re covering.

In the Muslim world, most of my male colleagues can’t enter private homes. They can’t hang out with very conservative Muslim families. I have always been able to. It’s not easy to get the right to photograph in a house, but at least I have one foot in the door. I’ve always found it a great advantage, being a woman.

...



MORE w/ Lynsey Addario's war photos:
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/lynsey-addario-its-what-i-do/?smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto

[joshcryer]

63. Amazing article, and amazing comments.

Thanks.

[pinboy3niner]

64. I recommend this very highly--FOUR STARS

Dedicated to Georgette "Dickey" Chapelle, the first American female reporter killed in action (Quang Ngai Province, Republic of Vietnam, November 4, 1965).

R.I.P. :patriot:

[pinboy3niner]

65. Former Foreign Sec.Straw tells BBC Moussa #Koussa defection cd be 'tipping point' in #Libya

Former Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, tells BBC Moussa #Koussa's apparent defection could be a 'tipping point' in the #Libya crisis

[Runework]

67. Jack Straw is a total scumbag

you're really going to cite him? lol

[pinboy3niner]

69. If a Rush Limbaugh comment is posted do you interpret that as an edorsement, too?

Uh-oh. I guess that means DU is awash with fans of Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann!1!! lol

[Runework]

77. Considering Straw's constant prevarications

regarding the Iraq war, and his suppression of information regarding it even now

I wouldn't take him as a good source of info

[joshcryer]

70. Feel free to contribute, the thread doesn't limit your sources.

There are both negative and positive articles posted in this thread.

[pinboy3niner]

73. Jack Straw's full quote to BBC Radio 4's Today program:

From a distance, what's clear is that there is unlikely to be any military 'victory' for either side. So it does depend on which side psychologically collapses. I don't think the rebels are going to, and nobody wants them to, so it is about boring your way inside the brain and heart of the regime. There is a tipping point with all of these regimes and I think Musa Kusa's apparent defection - certainly his unscheduled visit here - will be a very important factor in just adding to the weight against the Gaddafi regime and tipping the balance against him.

9.28am:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/31/libya-middle-east-syria-gaddafi

[pinboy3niner]

66. AJE has posted videos from a Belgian paper of F-16s bombing a regime-controlled airfield:

8:41am:
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-31

[joshcryer]

68. Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid drove around the eastern front in volunteer ambulance

8:59am Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid spent some time driving around the eastern front in Libya with Hatem Al Hodairy, a volunteeer ambulance driver:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlD3GoKU-GE

[pinboy3niner]

71. In Libya, CIA is gathering intelligence on rebels

Source: The Washington Post

In Libya, CIA is gathering intelligence on rebels


By Karen DeYoung and Greg Miller, Wednesday, March 30, 9:32 PM


The Obama administration has sent teams of CIA operatives into Libya in a rush to gather intelligence on the identities and capabilities of rebel forces opposed to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, according to U.S. officials.

The information has become more crucial as the administration and its coalition partners move closer to providing direct military aid or guidance to the disorganized and beleaguered rebel army.

Although the administration has pledged that no U.S. ground troops will be deployed to Libya, officials said Wednesday that President Obama has issued a secret finding that would authorize the CIA to carry out a clandestine effort to provide arms and other support to Libyan opposition groups.

...


Several lawmakers briefed by Clinton, Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said they were told that the United States is still trying to put together a full picture of the Libyan rebellion but believes that it does not contain large numbers of radical Islamic militants.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-libya-cia-is-gathering-intelligence-on-rebels/2011/03/30/AFLyb25B_story.html

[pinboy3niner]

72. Sen. Lindsay Graham: Gaddafi an 'unlawful enemy combatant'

Lindsay Graham, an influential Republican senator on the Armed Forces Committee, has weighed in with CNN on the flurry of recent developments in Libya.

Graham says there are "some very sophisticated people" leading the opposition in Libya and that he does not fear the country risks turning into an "al-Qaeda-driven state" if the rebels win:

"You know, to be honest with you, I'm sure there are probably some people under the banner of opposition that are - that may have some al-Qaeda sympathies, but I have zero concern about this turning into an al Qaeda-driven state; and the Libyan people are not going to replace Gadhafi to be run by al Qaeda."

The US mission in Libya needs to be aimed more specifically at taking Gaddafi out of power by force, Graham said, using overwhelming airpower - specifically A-10 and AC-130 warplanes. He also said he considers Gaddafi an "unlawful enemy combatant."

9:21am:
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-31

[pinboy3niner]

74. TIME: The Gaddafi Regime Suffers A Huge Defection

Source: TIME

The Gaddafi Regime Suffers A Huge Defection


By Vivienne Walt Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2011


In a thundering blow to Muammar Gaddafi's standing and the morale of his regime, Libya's Foreign Minister Moussa Kusa defected to London on Wednesday night, in the regime's most high-profile break since the Western bombing campaign began nearly two weeks ago—if not, indeed, the most momentous split in the Libyan government in years.


Kusa, who has long been one of Gaddafi's most trusted aides, landed at London's Farnborough Airport at about 9 p.m., after slipping across Libya's border into Tunisia earlier this week. He landed apparently without forewarning British authorities, and immediately requested political asylum. "Kusa is not happy about how the government has handled the conflict," said his friend, Noman Benotman, a former leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which was aligned with al-Qaeda until 2008, speaking to TIME late Wednesday night. Benotman said Kusa revealed earlier this month that he was distressed that Gaddafi had once again turned Libya into a pariah state, after years of Kusa's careful work in restoring its standing in the U.S. and Europe. "He was the key figure to rehabilitate Libya with the international community," Benotman said by phone. "Now it is all gone."

...



Kusa is more than just a familiar face to Western leaders. He has fled Libya carrying a wealth of information which could prove extremely valuable to the coalition, as they try to assess how to end the military conflict and get Gaddafi to step down after nearly 42 years in power. As one of Gaddafi's closest aides, Kusa presumably would be informed about Gaddafi's current war plans and his state of mind after 11 days of the coalition's aerial bombing, as well as whether he might be open to negotiating a deal regarding exile for Gaddafi and his family.


In addition, Kusa was a long-standing chief of Libya's intelligence service, before being appointed Foreign Minister in 2009. That means he likely holds critical information which could ultimately lead to international indictments against Gaddafi and his family, including whether the Libyan leader ordered the PanAm jet to be shot down over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1989, an attack which killed 270 people. He might also provide insights and information about more recent events, including the military's decision to shoot unarmed protesters in Benghazi and other towns in eastern Libya in mid-February. Those actions are believed to be the most likely bases for a possible indictment of crimes against humanity, which could be handed down by the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The question remains whether Kusa himself, as a knowledgeable insider in Gaddafi's court, would be immune to charges.


Read more:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2062329,00.html#ixzz1IAK4QIvn

[pinboy3niner]

75. CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 11 AM THURSDAY, MARCH 31

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

[pinboy3niner]

79. NATO officially took command of Libya operations 3 hours earlier

The official handoff was at 6am GMT (8am in Libya).

[pinboy3niner]

76. Qatari Emir: NATO playing the role the Arab League should have in Libya--AJE nt

[pinboy3niner]

78. CNN: Enraged mother stands by daughter, Eman al-Obeidi (story & video)

Enraged mother stands by daughter, allegedly raped by Gadhafi's men


From Reza Sayah, CNN

March 30, 2011 -- Updated 1841 GMT (0241 HKT)


Tobruk, Libya (CNN) -- Like everyone else, Aisha Ahmad watched the riveting drama unfold in a Tripoli hotel as a desperate woman burst into a dining room filled with journalists, sobbing, screaming, wanting the world to know she had been raped by 15 of Moammar Gadhafi's militia men.

The arresting images of how swiftly the woman, Eman al-Obeidy, 29, and the journalists were stifled stirred viewers around the world. But perhaps none more so than Ahmad.

This was her daughter. And she was enraged.

Just weeks before, Ahmad might have wept in silence. But now, with war engulfing Libya and its future hanging in the balance, Ahmad feared Gadhafi no more.

"If I were to see his face, I would strangle him," she told CNN in an interview at her modest home in the eastern coastal city of Tobruk.


MORE (w/ video):
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/03/30/libya.rape.case/

[pinboy3niner]

80. Libya: The challenges facing allies

Source: BBC

Libya: The challenges facing allies


By Caroline Wyatt
Defence correspondent, BBC News


Defence sources say forces loyal to Libyan leader Col Gaddafi are starting to feel the pinch on their arms supply as the coalition air campaign "chops the legs" off their already-stretched supply chain.

A long-range bombing raid by US and British warplanes earlier this week destroyed a major ammunition dump storing small arms and artillery munitions.

Home to some 40 concealed underground bunkers, the coalition believes it could have been used by pro-Gaddafi forces against civilians in areas such as Misrata and Zintan in the north.

"With highly targeted strikes like this we are hitting Gaddafi's forces where it hurts, limiting their supply lines and in turn reducing their capability to kill their own civilians," said UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox.

...


Rebel problems

As the fighting in and around key towns in Libya continues, it is also believed that Col Gaddafi's loyalists are still recruiting more foreign fighters or mercenaries from outside Libya, from countries such as Chad, Mali and Niger, and using them mainly to control urban areas.

...


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12916122

[pinboy3niner]

81. Captured by Qaddafi's Forces (video of NYT journalists describing their experience--5:59)

On March 15, four New York Times journalists covering the Libyan conflict were captured. They were freed six days later. Back in New York, they reflected on Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's Libya.

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/03/30/world/africa/100000000752052/libyafour.html

[pinboy3niner]

82. UK Foreign Sec'y: Moussa Koussa is not being offered any immunity from prosecution nt

[pinboy3niner]

83. "Only person who's spoken w/ clarity about endgame in Libya is mother of Eman al-Obeidi"

Posted on Thu, Mar. 31, 2011

Worldview: Taking a shot at providing a Libya-endgame strategy


By Trudy Rubin
Inquirer Opinion Columnist


The only person who has spoken with clarity about the endgame in Libya is the mother of Eman al-Obeidi. Obeidi is the brave Libyan law student who burst into a Tripoli hotel to tell Western journalists she'd been gang-raped by government goons; she was promptly dragged screaming out of the hotel by secret police. A government spokesman said she was a whore and would be charged with slander.

Obeidi's mother, interviewed by CNN in the eastern town of Tobruk, said of Moammar Gadhafi: "If I were to see his face before me, I'd strangle him. I'd like to drive to Tripoli and cut his head off."

Unfortunately, no one else involved in the current Libyan conflict has been that direct.

...


But back to Libya. Clarity is most lacking over what to do in the future. Obama was correct to turn over the lead to a NATO-Arab coalition and to rule out use of American ground troops. But can he align this limited military investment with his stated political aim of getting rid of Gadhafi? If the dictator stays, the NATO no-fly zone will have to continue indefinitely. Such a stalemate cannot be sustained.

...


http://www.philly.com/philly/news/columnists/118971109.html

[pinboy3niner]

84. Rebels want Koussa returned to Libya for trial: He "has blood on his hands"

From The Guardian:

Chris McGreal has just been on the phone from Benghazi with reaction from the rebels on the defection of Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister.

While they obviously welcome it as a sign that the regime is crumbling from within, says Chris, they have called for his return to Libya for trial once the conflict is over. They believe Koussa has "blood on his hands", as he is alleged to have overseen the assassination of Libyan opposition figures. They also suspect he had a hand in the Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am 103.

On the reports that the CIA is already involved in operations in Libya, Chris say it's a hugely sensitive subject because the rebels are at pains to emphasise the homegrown nature of the revolution. They equivocated but did not deny the reports outright. As for the situation on the ground, Chris says the rebels launched an attack on Brega, but it did not amount to much.

"They charged down the road, government forces fired rockets that knocked out the lead vehicles killing the occupants and the rest fled en masse."

11.36am:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/31/libya-middle-east-syria-gaddafi

[pinboy3niner]

85. The Guardian trying to confirm Gen. Khouildi Hamidi, intel coordinator, is defecting nt

[pinboy3niner]

86. Syria: Assad speech shows either "supreme confidence or extreme recklessness"

From The Guardian:

Syria: My colleague Brian Whitaker writes that Bashar al-Assad, in his speech to the Syrian government yesterday that was broadcast on state TV, showed either.

"Contrary to the impression given in some of the news reports, Assad did talk about reform, and talked about it rather a lot," Brian says.

"Syria is already reforming, he said, and will continue to do so. But just when it seemed that he might be on the point of announcing some specific new reforms, he stopped speaking and the parliament gave him a final round of applause."

To understand why, we have to look at an interview Assad gave to the Wall Street Journal at the end of January – which he also mentioned in his speech on Wednesday. Interviewed shortly after Ben Ali had been ousted from Tunisia and when the Egyptian uprising was just a few days old, he said:

"If you did not see the need for reform before what happened in Egypt and in Tunisia, it is too late to do any reform. This is first. Second, if you do it just because of what happened in Tunisia and Egypt, then it is going to be a reaction, not an action; and as long as what you are doing is a reaction you are going to fail."

So Assad is trying a different tack. Reform, yes, but all in good time. There will be no hasty concessions to protesters as happened in Tunisia and Egypt; that would be a sign of weakness and would only encourage further demands. Instead, the relevant ministries will announce their plans in due course, after full and careful consideration, etc, etc.

That is certainly a bold strategy, but in the midst of growing turmoil it's either a sign of supreme confidence or extreme recklessness.


11.48am:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/31/libya-middle-east-syria-gaddafi

[pinboy3niner]

87. Ajdabiya: rebels are still coming under ferocious fire from tanks and artillery, losing ground

The BBC's Ben Brown in Ajdabiya says the rebels are still coming under ferocious fire from tanks and artillery. They appear to be losing ground quickly, he says, as the regime troops slowly but surely move eastwards.

1212:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12776418


At the same time, Al Jazeera's Sue Turton reported from near the front at Brega (15 km east of the town) that rebel comanders there believe their fighters are beginning to show more discipline today.

[David__77]

88. Bizarre English-language Libyan state TV...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAh5skGYGT0

Note: I do not approve the editorial content of this user's youtube account!

...

This is very strange. The accent, the statement at the bottom of the screen "Social activities call on all the Libyans to join the peaceful muster march going to Benghazi. that is tomorrow Thursday morning at Shaab harbour in Tripoli," and the WEATHER REPORT...

I wonder if this "peaceful muster march" (!) is related to earlier reports that Gaddafi wanted to send a march of women to Benghazi carrying olive branches. I have wondered about this because it is a possibility...

[pinboy3niner]

90. I think you're right about it being related to earlier reports

One involved a plan by a tribal group to march. There were suspicions that any marches would be intended to put civilians in harm's way--and at risk of being killed or injured by coalition strikes.

btw, that sounds like a machine translation, doesn't it?

[David__77]

92. Oh I think you're right.

Yes on both accounts. I wonder if the news readers are also reading machine translations! The one presenter is pretty bad. They have another one that speaks better English, but has very odd screen presentation.

I've been doing too much military analysis, and keep thinking what I would do we I on either side of the conflict. The march to Benghazi idea was one that dawned on me early on as a potential, because it would present unique challenges to the rebels. They cannot allow a march of Gaddafi supports obviously, who would likely be armed in any case. But to repel them or detain them would be politically problematic. I don't think it will materialize anyway. Earlier state news reports showed a circle of women discussing their plans for marching from south Sirte, but that could all be more a "political organizing" thing than a real plan.

[pinboy3niner]

89. NATO: no confirmation of reports of civilian casualties in Tripoli, investigating--Reuters nt

[pinboy3niner]

91. The Guardian's summary of events so far:

• Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister, has defected to the UK, although William Hague has said he is not being offered any immunity from prosecution. Rebels in Benghazi welcomed Koussa's action, however insisted Gaddafi's former foreign minister has "blood on his hands", as he is alleged to have overseen the assassination of Libyan opposition figures. Some rebels told the Guardian that they also suspect he had a hand in the Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am 103.

•It has emerged that Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorising covert US help in Libya. Obama signed an order, known as a "finding", within the last two or three weeks, according to reports. The move will undoubtedly fuel speculation that the US and its allies are planning to actively arm the rebels, the Guardian's Paul Harris wrote. The White House and the CIA both declined to comment on the report.

• Western air strikes have killed at least 40 civilians, Reuters has reported. The news agency said the top Vatican official in Tripoli told a Catholic news agency of the deaths. "The so-called humanitarian raids have killed dozens of civilian victims in some neighbourhoods of Tripoli," said Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, the Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli. However foreign reporters in Libya who have been taken to sites that were said to have been struck have not seen convincing evidence of heavy civilian casualties.

12.30pm:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/31/libya-middle-east-syria-gaddafi

[pinboy3niner]

93. “If anybody knows where the bodies are buried... it’s...Moussa Koussa"

Christopher Dickie, Middle East editor for Newsweek and the DailyBeast says:

“Moussa Koussa has been in very, very close touch with western intelligence for a very long time” on behalf of Col Gaddafi. “If anybody knows where the bodies are buried, literally and figuratively, and where the money is hidden and all kinds of vital information like that, it’s almost certainly going to be Moussa Koussa. He’s the guy who can lead the west to the overthrow of Gaddafi, if anybody can.”

1:00pm:
http://feb17.info/

[defendandprotect]

99. LIBYA HURRA -- !!

[pinboy3niner]

94. gov't says Col. #Gaddafi & sons in #Libya, will remain there 'until the end'--Reuters

Libyan government spokesman says Colonel #Gaddafi and sons are in #Libya and will remain there 'until the end' - Reuters
11 minutes ago via TweetDeck

http://twitter.com/bbcnews

[pinboy3niner]

95. Libya's government has shrugged off the departure of foreign minister Mussa Kussa...

by Andrew Newby Andrew Newby – 12 mins ago

Libya's government has shrugged off the departure of foreign minister Mussa Kussa, saying Moamer Kadhafi's regime "does not depend on individuals," in its first admission of the defection.

1159 GMT:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110331/wl_africa_afp/mideastlivereport_43

[pinboy3niner]

96. Reuters: 20 civilians killed in Misrata on Wed. when shelling hit houses--rebel spokesman nt

[joshcryer]

97. Part 2 here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x780359

[tabatha]

98. deleted