Middle East Thread of Despair: More Broken Than Syria

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Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

An article from the Scotsman about yesterdays fighting in Misrata:

quote:

Libya: Shrapnel had taken part of his face, but he ordered: Attack

Past blackened palm trees, upturned tanks and crumbled buildings, ambulances raced the injured to hospital from the eastern front of besieged Misrata.
It was the worst attack by Col Muammar al-Gaddafi's forces since rebels pushed past the outskirts of the city three weeks ago. Before the sun had risen, a barrage of Grad rockets rained down on rebel fighters on the east and western fronts.

Doctors at the central Higma hospital struggled to cope with a flood of casualties. Outside the wounded lay in their dozens in a tent; the makeshift emergency reception put in place when the siege began. Surgeons tried to save men with horrific post-explosive injuries; chests ripped open by shrapnel, arteries torn.

By early afternoon at the emergency field clinic on the eastern front, medics sat in shock, reliving the morning's horrors. Twelve men died there and 21 were injured.

Inside Misrata's main hospital was crowded with wounded; with the wards full, the less seriously injured sprawled on trolleys packing its corridors. Medic Feras Mohammed said: "They (pro-Gaddafi forces] were trying to enter (Misrata] from three sides, south, east and west."

Fighting was fiercest on the eastern front, where Col Gaddafi's forces launched a pre-dawn assault with an artillery barrage.

Wounded rebel fighter Awin Mufta, 20, of the Black Brigade, said the onslaught began at 4am. "They started using Grad missiles and mortars. Then they tried to enter our territory and started attacking."

Rebel fighters at the hospital said Col Gaddafi forces advanced in waves across the grassland in pickups with headlamps on. He said: "They kept the lights on to help them navigate."

The rebels retreated from their advance lookout position around a disused water wellhead, falling back three kilometres to a series of fortified checkpoints around the village of Kararim, guarding the highway west to Misrata itself.

It was then Awin Mufta said that he was hit by shrapnel in the arm and leg. As he spoke from his bed his mother, sitting by him dressed in black with a grey shawl about her head, began to cry. "I am OK, the wound is not serious," he said.

Rebel fighters milling around the hospital said that Kararim was held and lost ground had later been retaken. One Black Brigade soldier - its vehicles are painted black - said that rebels advanced towards Col Gaddafi's lines, only to be told to pull back.

The shelling was equally heavy on the eastern front around the shattered village of Dafniya, but rebel fighters and a Spanish photographer said the expected infantry assault by Gaddafi forces never came.

By day's end the fighting had petered out.

Col Gaddafi's forces had expended several thousand rounds of mortar and rocket ammunition but had made no progress.

Ibrahim al Bous, commander of Misrata's fiercest fighters, was injured in the arm. Bleeding but bandaged, he rallied his troops and returned to the fray.

But as Col Gaddafi's men pounded positions in the east and the west, rebels in the south broke into enemy territory. On Tuesday, six military commanders and their men passed the southern front line and advanced on Zletan - the biggest town between Misrata and Tripoli.

"We went forward until we spied Gaddafi troops 10km from Zletan," said Movement Brigade Commander Hassan Dua. "We went on a reconnaissance mission, we need to know the enemy to plan and prepare".

Yesterday, more troops were sent forward. As the ground shook with the sickening thuds of the rockets pounding their lines, two rebel units disappeared across the desolate expanse of desert typical of the southern front.

Back-up infantry waited behind the giant sand-filled shipping containers that make up their defensive lines. Anti-tank weapons were mounted on pickups, machine guns were loaded for action.

Hours later, the senior commander for the south region Salah Badi returned, his beard cake in blood that streamed down his face.Shrapnel had torn away part of his cheek. He said: "We saw the enemy, they hit us with rockets and rocket propelled grenades."

Standing in his bloodstained uniform, radio crackling in hand, he roused his troops, saying: "It is an honour to die defending your country, you cannot just keep watching, and defending, you have to attack."

Last week brought a change in tactics among the rebel forces: to gradually expand their frontier of control around Misrata.

Rebel fighters reported that yesterday's attacks by Col Gaddafi's forces were a retaliation to their advance, four kilometres up the road the day before. On the eastern front, rebel groups have drafted in more shipping containers and positioned them further up the road.

It is not a mad-rush offensive to Zletan and Tripoli, but the capital is in their sights.

"The major difficulty with this front is it is wide and flat, Gaddafi men can attack from any area," said Commander Majid. Rebels remain concerned that advancing too quickly might spread them too thinly. The answer then, is incremental movements, with dug in defences.

A host of other concerns are hindering them. The rebels say they are stronger in face-to-face fighting, and, crucially, a rebel advance using long-range shelling would ultimately risk hitting civilian homes in Zletan.

Splayed across the sand dune rippled a giant Libya flag. "We did this so that Nato knows not to hit us," said fighter Haroun Bashir, 23. They hope Nato would soon attack Gaddafi's troops and rocket launchers.

"We have been told that attack helicopters are coming here, but there is no sign yet," added Commander Badi.

Here's the latest NATO Update

quote:

Sorties conducted 08 JUNE: 113
Strike sorties conducted 08 JUNE: 47

Key Hits
08 JUNE: In Tripoli: 1 Vehicle Storage Facility.
In the vicinity of Tripoli:1 Surface To Air Missile Storage Facility, 1 Surface To Air Missile Site, 1 Command and Control Facility, 1 Tank, 4 Armoured Fighting Vehicles.
In the vicinity of Misurata: 1 Electronic Warfare Vehicle, 1 Military Training Camp comprising 5 Shelters, 9 Containers, 1 Air Asset.

No mention of a large number of strikes in Misrata, although who knows what the military training camp had inside of it.

# ? Jun 9, 2011 11:09

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 15:23

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Some updates:
Syria

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Overnight and this morning up to 1,400 Syrian refugees fled across the Turkish boarder following violence in the north-western town Jisr al-Shughour, Martin Chulov reports from just north of the border. Martin told Matthew Weaver:

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People are still continuing to cross; there is a lot of activity on the boarder road, and a lot of Turkish police on the main highway getting ready receive these fleeing Syrians and take them to refugee camps.

We [journalists] haven't been able to get any face time with people who have crossed in recent days. They are being put inside Red Cross camps, schools, or military bases as soon as they cross, and they are being told not to speak to media.

They [Turkey] have struck a balance with Damascus. They will take people who are fleeing; that seems something they feel duty bound to do. But by the same token they have been a close ally of Syria for some time. They haven't jumped on board the strident condemnation of Damascus from Europe and the US. They are not looking to offend their allies by allowing Syrian citizens to talk about what's been happening in that border town.

If the number of refugees increases, that may change the equation for the Turks, Martin adds. "I think there is a lot of back-room diplomacy going on between Ankara and Damascus. That may be factor in why, despite having encircled Jisr al-Shughour, the Syrian army has not yet moved in."

On refugees returning to Syria from the village of Guvecci (see map), he said: "There were 200 refugees, according to local people, who had returned back into Syria. These were people from Jisr al-Shughour. And they did say there had been at least a perception of a threat from the Syrian intelligence services. Two hundred people did cross back fearing for those who they had left behind and fearing for themselves if they did stay in Turkey."

quote:

The mystery surrounding the identity of the Syrian lesbian blogger Amina Araf continues, with ever-deepening questions over the veracity of the blog A Gay Girl in Damascus and the truth of claims that its author has been kidnapped in Damascus, writes Esther Addley.

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As we reported last night, the US embassy has been unable to find anyone of her name and has not been informed by family members of any missing person matching her description.

The Guardian and other news media have checked US public records for the names given on the blog as Araf's parents (she says her mother is American), without success.

A Damascus journalist who writes for the Guardian under the pseudonym Katherine Marsh interviewed the blogger last month.

After extensive communication by email Marsh had arranged with the blog's author to meet in a cafe, but the meeting was aborted, Araf explained in later emails, because she had felt it was unsafe. The interview was then conducted by email.

We have been unable to find anyone who has met Araf face to face or spoken to her by video-call on Skype. Sandra Bagaria, a Montreal woman who had a six-month online relationship with Araf, communicated only by email and chat messaging. She told NPR.org she was "just as confused as everyone else".

One source in the Syrian gay community told the New York Times's Lede blog that none of 40 members of an underground lesbian Facebook group in Damascus knew of Araf's identity.

A photograph supplied directly to Marsh by the blogger in May was published to accompany a piece about the apparent kidnap. It has emerged that this, like other photographs purporting to be of Araf, was in fact of a London woman, Jelena Lecic, whose identity had been appropriated without her knowledge. According to a number of online "friends" of the blogger, a Facebook page in Araf's name had more than 20 different photos attached, all of which have transpired to be of Lecic. We have removed Lecic's photograph from stories about Araf.

We are continuing to investigate this matter. Please get in touch with Esther via her Twitter account if you have information that may be useful. Thanks.

quote:

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, accused Syria of trying to "bludgeon its population into submission" by attacking anti-government protesters with snipers, tanks and artillery.

She also expressed particular concern about reports of civilians fleeing the north-western town of Jisr al-Shughour and again urged the Syrian authorities to grant the UN access for a fact-finding mission. Pillay said:

quote:
It is utterly deplorable for any government to attempt to bludgeon its population into submission, using tanks, artillery and snipers. I urge the government to halt this assault on its own people's most fundamental human rights. I urge states to keep their borders open for refugees fleeing Syria.

Yemen

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In Yemen, the defence ministry said government troops had killed 12 suspected al-Qaida members in the southern province of Abyan, the Associated Press news agency reports.

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The defence ministry said the militants were killed in gun battles with government troops in the province's Doves and Kod areas but gave no more details.

Military officials in Abyan said three soldiers also were wounded as government troops advanced toward the provincial capital of Zinjibar, which was seized by militants last week. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

James Spencer, in Foreign Affairs magazine, argues that the importance of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is being exaggerated as a bargaining chip by tribes to demand equipment to counter terrorist militias.

AQAP strength is likely to weaken further in a post-Saleh Yemen, Spencer argues:

quote:
From AQAP's limited use of suicide bombers to date, it would appear that AQAP does not have access to a large cadre of volunteers; similarly, the group's relatively slow pace of attacks suggests that it does not have many competent bomb-makers.

Clearly, if Ibrahim al-Asiri, AQAP's master bomb-maker, can be removed from the picture, much of the special operations group's capability will be lost ...

quote:

A leading international aid agency has sent us an account of daily hardship in the Yemeni capital Sana'a by a 34-year-old woman.

For security reasons the woman and the aid agency want to remain anonymous.

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I feel as if I hardly recognise Sana'a any more. It's a different city to the one I grew up in.

People used to be pretty relaxed here, but now everything is so tense. You cannot do anything spontaneously. We are all on edge. Drivers lose their temper really easily and fights break out for no reason. Shops used to keep their doors open for customers but now shopkeepers close them � uncertain of who to let in.

We're living with power cuts, not enough water and no fresh food.

In Sana'a people rely on getting water delivered once a week by tankers, but the tankers are unreliable at the moment. We don't know when we will next get a delivery of water. We have some water stored in a container but are using it really sparingly. Small quantities of water are available in the shops but it's really expensive.

We thought life might be starting to improve - we had electricity for 20 hours per day a couple of days running. But that is over and the power has cut out again.

It gets dark very early here; by 6.30pm it's night-time here so the evenings are very long. The cost of candles has doubled in price. They are such poor quality that they melt really quickly and last no time.

We can't watch the TV, of course, so we just sit in the dark and I chat with my sisters. Sometimes we just go to bed because there's nothing else to do. It means I get up very early.

Actually, I'm not sleeping very well at the moment. I'm stressed, but also the sound of the generators outside my window, which are producing power for the shops over the road, is really loud. It goes right through your head. You can smell the diesel in the air � it's very unhealthy.

All our food in the fridge was ruined because of the power cuts. It's hard to get fresh food anyway; the fuel shortages mean it's difficult for the traders to get it to market. We're eating rice and bread mostly. Sometimes we have chicken.

I walk to work in the mornings, but I shouldn't because it's dangerous. There are tribesmen or security forces with guns in the streets. Some mornings, though, it's impossible to get a taxi. We have to go out and about even though the risks are high. Real life has to go on.

I'm really worried about the day-labourers � people like plumbers or electricians. There's no work for them � nobody is doing repairs on their homes at the moment � so their incomes have disappeared. Things are really hard for them and their families.

A lot of my friends have left Sana'a now and are in the countryside. So many people have left. Our life here is very miserable � but I try to keep smiling and laughing. It's the only way ...

Libya

quote:

Here are the key points from the latest news agency reports on Libya.

� Fresh Nato airstrikes have hit the outskirts of Tripoli, according to the Associated Press. This week has seen the heaviest bombing of the Libyan capital since the Nato operation began in March.

� Mustafa AA Shaban, a counselor in Libya's foreign ministry, has accused rebels and Nato of war crimes at the UN human rights council in Geneva, and denied a UN report which found Libya's troops have carried out murders, abductions and torture, Reuters reports. While making accusations of great brutality and even cannibalism against the "armed gangs" in charge of Misrata and other rebel-held cities, Shaban said: "Nato is violating human rights in Libya tantamount to crimes against humanity, crimes of war and crimes of aggression."

� Luis Amado, the Portuguese foreign minister, has said Lisbon would soon recognise the rebel Transitional National Council as the legitimate government of Libya, joining France, Qatar, the Maldives, Italy, Spain, Kuwait, the Gambia, and Jordan.

quote:

Britain is talking up prospects for the end of the Gaddafi regime, unveiling plans for the "first week" after his departure at talks on Libya today in Abu Dhabi, writes Ian Black.

quote:
Diplomats say the latest meeting of the Libyan "contact group" will also pay special attention to the situation in western Libya, where rebel forces are fighting in the Nafusa and Zintan areas � the "forgotten front line" far away from Benghazi and Misrata.

A British-led "international stabilisation response team" � it also includes Americans, Danes, Turks, Italians and Australians � is drafting plans for a takeover by the rebel National Transitional Council once the regime goes: security, civil society, infrastructure and basic services are all being surveyed. A fuller transition document is to be drawn up in the coming weeks.

Italy, co-chairing the session with the UAE (there is always careful emphasis on Arab-western partnership), announced that it will provide �400m (�356m) in cash and fuel backed by frozen Libyan state assets � as discussions continue for an "international financial mechanism" that will allow regular transfers of funds for essential services.

The point of the contact group � this is its third meeting � is to demonstrate international unity over Libya. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton's presence is an important signal that the US is heavily involved despite leaving the military heavy lifting to Nato's European partners. The underlying assumption, of course, is that Muammar Gaddafi will eventually go. Exactly when that will be � and how it will happen � is another matter.

# ? Jun 9, 2011 13:20

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

An update of events in the last few days, followed by a big article about Qatars involvement in Libya:

quote:

Fresh round of NATO strikes hit Tripoli outskirts
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) � NATO airstrikes rattled the Libyan capital Thursday with clusters of bombing runs believed to have targeted the outskirts of Tripoli.

The intensity of the attacks suggested a return to the heavy NATO bombardment of the city on Tuesday that hit military installations across the capital and flattened major buildings in leader Moammar Gadhafi�s sprawling compound in the center of the city. Government officials did not say what had been targeted in the Thursday bombing runs.

There were eight explosions in a first series of strikes on Thursday. Hours later, the sound of six more attacks boomed in the distance.

On Tuesday, NATO conducted its heaviest attacks on Tripoli since it began airstrikes two months ago in support of a rebel insurgency. The four-month old rebel uprising seeks to push Moammar Gadhafi from power after four decades. Rebels have taken control of swaths of eastern Libya, although fighting has since become a stalemate even with NATO support.

Gadhafi shows no signs of ceding power under the building pressure of the NATO strikes, despite repeated attacks on his compound, government buildings, military radar emplacements and other army installations.

Fighting on the ground between Libyan government forces and the rebels had largely died down after the NATO strikes began. The Western alliance took to the skies over Libya under a U.N. resolution that allowed NATO flights to protect rebel force. What began as a no-fly zone quickly evolved into strong attacks on the regime.

On Wednesday, however, Gadhafi forces renewed their shelling near the western city of Misrata, killing 10 rebel fighters. Misrata is one of the few footholds rebels have in western Libya. NATO reported it had destroyed a �electronic warfare vehicle� and military training camp in the vicinity of the city as government forces had renewed their assault on the port city.

In Brussels on Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the shelling near Misrata underscored the continued need to protect civilians.

�It is an example that the Gadhafi regime still constitutes a threat to the civilian population,� he said.�We will stay committed as long as necessary,� Fogh Rasmussen added.

The alliance enumerated a series of hits in around Tripoli on Wednesday, including a surface-to-air missile site, a tank, four armored fighting vehicles and a command and control facility.

Despite it�s inability so far to oust Gadhafi, NATO is preparing for a post-Gadhafi era in the country.

Senior representatives from the U.S. and more than 30 other countries and groups were meeting Thursday in the United Arab Emirates.

The officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rhodium Clinton, hope to boost support for the Libyan opposition, which has been seeking broad international recognition and financial support with mixed results.

The U.S. on Wednesday said the first shipment of Libyan oil sold by the opposition Transitional National Council had been delivered to an American refinery. The U.S. is encouraging such sales to help the council assist the Libyan people.

Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado said on Thursday that Lisbon soon would recognize the rebel administration.

�This decision will be taken soon � because that is the way international approach is heading,� Amado told the national news agency Lusa in Lisbon. A Portuguese diplomatic delegation is due to visit Benghazi in coming days.

NATO rejected any post-Gadhafi role for the alliance, saying it was imperative that the international community, the United Nations in particular, start preparations for helping the country�s transition to a democratic government.

quote:

SPECIAL REPORT � Qatar�s big Libya adventure
To get an idea of who might wield influence in post-civil war Libya, take a look at the flags flying in the rebel-held east of the country.

Outside the courthouse in Benghazi � rebel headquarters and symbolic heart of the uprising against the 41-year rule of leader Muammar Gaddafi � fly the flags of France, Great Britain, the United States, the European Union, NATO. There�s one other flag, too: Qatar�s.

�Qatar, really, it�s time to convey our gratitude to them,� Abdulla Shamia, rebel economy chief, told Reuters. �They really helped us a lot. It�s a channel for transportation, for help, for everything.�

It has a population of just 1.7 million people, but the wealthy Gulf monarchy has long sought a major voice in political affairs in the region. It has brokered peace talks in Sudan and Lebanon, owns the influential pan-Arab news network Al Jazeera, and recently won the right to host the 2022 soccer World Cup. Now the gas-rich nation has placed a big geopolitical bet in Libya, splashing out hundreds of millions of dollars on fuel, food and cash transfers for the rebels.

A representative from the Emir�s palace declined to comment on what products Qatar has delivered to Libya, and on the ruling family�s motivations behind its Libyan engagement.

It�s certainly a gamble. If the rebels win, Qatar is likely to pick up energy deals and new influence in North Africa. But if they lose, Qatar�s ambitions may further alienate it among its neighbours.

�I guess ever since the late 1990s, Qatar has been trying to break the Saudi-dominated status quo and carve out a niche position,� said Saket Vemprala from the London-based Business Monitor International consultancy.

�At the moment I think it�s more geopolitical, they want to broaden their (influence in the) region and become a more significant player � And it certainly makes it easy for them to portray themselves as being on the right side of history,� he said.

That sentiment is on display on a huge billboard in front of the courthouse. Over a picture of Qatari ruler Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani reads the promise: �Qatar, history will always remember your support for our cause.�

��WE ARE FINE��

Being on the right side of history doesn�t come cheap.

Qatar was the first Arab country to contribute planes to police the U.N.-backed no-fly zone over Libya. Simultaneously, hundreds of millions of dollars began to flow from the Qatari capital Doha to Benghazi from early March.

While international oil traders pondered whether to brave the bombs and international sanctions to start buying oil from the rebels, Qatar was quick to throw a lifeline and help eastern Libya meet its most pressing needs including fuel, food, medicines and telecommunications equipment.

Qatar�s foreign ministry has confirmed that it has shipped four tankers full of gasoline, diesel and other refined fuels to Benghazi, which specialists estimate is enough to feed the large Benghazi power plant for one or two weeks.

But people on the ground in Benghazi say they believe Qatar is behind much of the continuing delivery of fuel supplies, as well as food, medicine and cash payments. Given that oil production in the east has stalled and the economy generates no cash, they ask, where else are all the supplies coming from?

Overall, the Qatari shipments have covered 100 percent of eastern Libya energy needs for a month and a half, Salah Fouad, a rebel oil engineer based in the eastern coastal city of Tobruk, said in May. �We are receiving a huge help from Qatar. Its role in unforgettable,� said Salah Fouad, oil engineer. �Even the little child knows Qatar�s role and assistance to us,� he said.

A western consultant who worked in Benghazi in March and April supported this view. �You ask port workers how are they doing today and they say, �Oh, we are fine. We just received aid from Qatar,�� he said, declining to be named because of the sensitivity of his mission. �You ask the council what�s the situation with diesel and they say, �Oh we are just fine, we�ve got new deliveries from Qatar.� You tell Libyan officials to let you know if something goes wrong with power facilities and they tell you, �Oh we are just fine, Qatar is helping us.��

A Gulf-based oil trader with knowledge of Qatari gasoline deliveries estimated monthly requirements at 10 gasoline and 5-6 diesel cargoes a month to help run vehicles and Benghazi�s huge power plant.

As shipments are being settled on a government-to-government basis, they are usually not followed by satellite tracking systems, which monitor mostly commercial shipments.

Those commercial shipments have included a test-case export cargo from the rebel-held east, shipped out in early May by trading house Vitol. Some traders say Qatar has gone further.

�Everyone gets excited about one Vitol cargo and doesn�t see a fleet of Qatari tankers,� said another London-based trader.

Other countries are helping the rebels as well, of course. An anti-Gaddafi coalition called the Libya contact group, including the United States, France, Britain and Italy � as well as Kuwait and Jordan � agreed in May to set up a fund to help them; Washington pledged to unlock some of the $30 billion of Libyan state funds frozen in the United States.

What makes Qatar different is the breadth and depth of its aid.

Rebel officials in Doha say Qatari banks are helping facilitate international money transfers in rebel-held areas to recapitalise the paralysed banking system, though they won�t say which banks.

Qatar is also believed by diplomatic sources in Doha to have granted some Libyans working for Qatari companies leave of absence so they can contribute to the war effort.

Several western and Doha-based diplomatic sources say Qatar is even supplying the rebels arms, including possibly Milan anti-tank missiles. The Gulf state declined to comment on whether it has supplied the rebels with arms, or in what quantity.

In May, the rebels estimated they urgently needed $2-3 billion in cash. When the anti-Gaddafi coalition set up its fund, Qatar immediately pledged the largest sum of $400-$500 million.

IMMENSE WEALTH

What�s behind Qatar�s generosity? It helps that it is so rich. Qatar�s copious gas reserves have made it one of the world�s wealthiest countries, with a sky-high gross domestic product per person of $88,000 according to the International Monetary Fund. Its $60-billion plus sovereign wealth fund owns stakes in banks Credit Suisse and Barclays, as well as London�s iconic department store Harrods.

�Qatar will soon � literally � have more money than it knows what to do with,� according to a 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable, obtained by WikiLeaks and reviewed by Reuters.

The largesse in Libya is part investment, part strategic. �They are looking to park investments around the world. They helped the Lebanon peace process, Yemen, they got the World Cup, Doha talks, Al Jazeera � these are all parts of a very big diplomatic game and a fight for influence,� says a London-based British diplomat.

The big prize is energy. Libya produced 1.6 million barrels of oil per day before the war, or almost 2 percent of world output, and has enough reserves to sustain that level of production for 77 years, according to BP. Qatar would like to control a chunk of that oil supply as well as potentially large Libyan gas exports to Europe which otherwise would effectively rival Qatar�s own deliveries.

Although gas markets have faced a severe glut in the past few years, the outlook is improving fast, especially in the aftermath of Japan�s Fukushima disaster and the decision by Germany to phase out nuclear power.

�Qatar is putting energy at the forefront of its diplomacy. Libya brings them closer to Europe and to their future markets. They will be right on the Mediterranean,� said the British diplomat.

With direct access to Europe, Qatar would be in a position to carve up the gas markets between itself and Russia, with which Doha enjoys increasingly friendly ties.

There�s also Libya�s sovereign wealth fund (LIA), which has some $70 billion worth of assets frozen around the world. The LIA owns stakes in Italian bank UniCredit, defence company Finmeccanica, British publisher Pearso which owns the Financial Times, and Belgian financial group Fortis, now known as Ageas.

If the rebels win, Qatar would have a say in what the LIA does with its investments.

�Libya is not Iraq. You are unlikely to have a protracted civil war once it is over,� said the western risk consultant who worked in Benghazi. �So those investments are not like putting money at the bottom of a pit. It should pay back and also possibly give Qatar influence on what the LIA can invest money in. If we use takeover terminology, Qatar is exploring unrealised value.�

The Qataris see such rich pickings they have recently turned down opportunities elsewhere, according to a source close to the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country�s sovereign wealth fund. �Qatar�s leaders are intensely focused on sorting out the crisis in Libya, to the extent that they have passed on a few items over the past few months.�

THE EMIR OF WHERE?

A popular joke in Benghazi illustrates Qatari ambitions in Libya perfectly. What�s the new nickname of Qatari ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani? The Emir of Qatar and Libya.

So why is an absolute monarchy, with little time for democracy at home, mixed up with a democratic rebellion?

Qatar�s foreign ministry has cited the U.N. resolution and the emir�s desire to alleviate the suffering of the Libyan people.

�The reasons as laid out as to why Qatar is acting do not quite seem to account for the huge risks and extraordinarily bold actions that Qatar is taking,� said David Roberts, deputy director of the Royal United Services Institute based in Doha. �I can only account for this apparent discrepancy by suggesting that this policy is being heavily pushed by Qatar�s elite.�

Rumours abound in Doha that the real reason for Qatar�s interest in Libya is that al-Thani�s wife Sheikha Mozah has close personal ties there, although her representatives declined to comment.

�Most of Qatar�s leadership, the al-Thanis and the sheikhs, know Libya very well, because they went to school with Libyans in the U.S. and the UK in the 70s and 80s,� said Mahmoud Shammam, Doha-based spokesman for the rebels. �So they know the situation there very well. They know the ugliness of the regime.�

MORE THAN U.S. PROXY

Could Qatar also be working for Washington? Before the war, U.S. companies had large investments in Libya, with majors ConocoPhillips and Marathon involved in direct production deals with Gaddafi�s Libyan National Oil Co. Now consultants and deal-brokers in Benghazi are struck by the low numbers of American fixers relative to their European peers.

�To some extent they may be acting as a U.S. proxy. Washington wants to achieve things but doesn�t want to do it with its own hands,� said a London-based risk consultant who has European firms as clients.

Qatar hosts a large U.S. military base; its decision to contribute planes to police the no-fly zone over Libya helped Washington argue that the western-led air strikes had Arab support. Its importance there was underscored by its ruler�s visit to Washington in April.

�We would not have been able, I think, to shape the kind of broad-based international coalition that includes not only our NATO members but also includes Arab states, without the emir�s leadership,� U.S. President Barack Obama told reporters that month after meeting the emir in the Oval office.

Diplomats also point to strains in U.S.-Saudi relations as proof of � or perhaps even reason for � improved ties between Washington and Qatar, pointing to events in Bahrain where U.S. calls for negotiation to end a recent uprising stood in stark contrast to Saudi Arabia�s decision to send in troops.

Qatar�s stand is certainly appreciated by European countries, whose diplomats argue that the emirate is playing a smart multi-polar game. �The Qataris are replacing the Saudis on certain agendas,� said a French diplomat based in Europe.

Qatar�s emir has twice been guest of honour at France�s annual Bastille Day parade since 2007 and the emirate has stakes in Airbus parent EADS, energy group EDF and construction firm Vinci. In 2008, France also passed a law granting special tax exemptions to the emir and other Qatari investors who had bought property in Paris.

BLOW TO QATARI RISK PROFILE

Despite wide-ranging support in the West, Qatar�s actions in Libya have created unease among its neighbours.

Qatar has long played the role of intermediary in the region. Though it is close to Washington and Saudi Arabia, it also has ties to Iran.

Foreign firms, including almost all the world�s major oil companies, have invested tens of billions of dollars in projects with Qatar even though they know its gas reserves are, in effect, shared with Iran. The Iranian part is the South Pars field while the Qatari part is known as the North Field.

The country�s Libya adventure increases the hazards again. �The Qatari risk profile is changing significantly now due to Libya, whereas before they had been simply viewed as a stable and wealthy partner,� the London-based British diplomat said. �No doubt that foreign majors are taking notice of that.�

quote:

Visual diary shows Libyan soldier at war
Al Jazeera has obtained exclusive pictures taken by a young Libyan soldier before he died in battle.

The images give a telling insight into the reality of the war in Libya from the perspective of the government troops.

Tony Birtley reports from the city of Misurata.

Brown Moses fucked around with this message at 13:56 on Jun 9, 2011

# ? Jun 9, 2011 13:45

Nenonen: Oct 22, 2009; Mulla on aina kolkyt donaa taskussa

It must be hard to live in Libya these days, what with NATO mercenaries bombing orphanages and cannibal gangs terrorizing innocent people.

# ? Jun 9, 2011 14:37

Spiky Ooze: Oct 27, 2005; Bernie Sanders is a friend to my planet (pictured)

click the shit outta^

What? Libya is country of the year... oh I see... someone put something in your Nescafe.

# ? Jun 9, 2011 14:46

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Libya

quote:

Kuwait's foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammad al-Salem al-Sabah, says his country will transfer $180m (�110m) to Libya's rebel Transitional National Council, making use of a newly agreed mechanism for channelling funds, Reuters reports from the meeting of coalition ministers on Libya in Abu Dhabi. Italy pledged �356m to the rebels earlier today.

Meanwhile in Geneva, Maria Angela Zappia, ambassador of the EU to the UN, called Libyan foreign ministry official Mustafa Shaban's accusations of brutality and cannabalism against Nato troops "unacceptable", saying: "We firmly refute them."

quote:

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said at the Libya Contact Group meeting that Muammar Gaddafi's days as Libya's leader are "numbered" and his departure inevitable.

Clinton said:

quote:
Gaddafi's days are numbered. We are working with our international partners through the UN to plan for the inevitable: a post-Gaddafi Libya.

Yemen

quote:

Among the biggest obstacles to the crisis in Yeman "are the spoiled children" President Saleh and the late Sheikh Abdullah bin Hussein al-Ahmar, the two most powerful men in Yemen for the last 30 years, argues top Yemen-watcher Charles Schmitz in Foregn Policy magazine.

quote:
The Ahmar sons' best bet is that the Saudis back them in some form. Here they have one thing going for them: Unlike the Americans, the Saudis are not particularly keen on Yemen's republican constitution, multiparty system, and elections. The Saudis would just as likely support a stable strongman if the Ahmars can convince the Saudis that they can deliver. It will be a hard sell, given that they did not deliver for the Saudis in the war on the Houthis. With the Americans now seemingly convinced that broad-based democracy in Yemen is the best way forward, the Saudis will at least have to wait for another time to prop up a strongman.

What of the Salehs? After all, they are still in command of the elite military and security forces, and Ahmed Saleh has reportedly locked himself in the presidential palace, refusing to let the interim president in. But President Saleh is gone, and he is probably not coming back without signing an agreement to step aside. That means the Saleh clan is in a more tenuous situation than before.

Syria

quote:

Russia has confirmed it will vote against France and Britain's attempt to secure a UN security council resolution condemning Syria. Russian IAEA ambassador Grigory Berdennikov called it "untimely and not objective," and said: "That is why, if it is put to a vote, we will vote against it."

quote:

Despite the efforts of the Turkish authorities Martin Chulov has now spoken to some Syrian refugees. Here's some of his latest Twitter updates on a visit to a hospital near the border.

quote:
Wounded Syrians wanted to speak despite Turkish bid to gag them. Even Turkish Red Crescent told by Ankara to stay quiet today. #Syria

3 others in beds beside shot Syrian. They were shot during 20/5 attack near Jisr al-Shugour. The weekend's bloodbath had been brewing.

Spoke to wounded Syrian from Jisr al-Shugour in Antakya today. He was shot as soldiers shoot at defecting colleagues on Sat.

quote:

An eyewitness who was shot during clashes with the Syrian security services told Martin Chulov his version of hotly disputed clashes over the weekend.

The man, who fled to neighbouring Turkey, said the bulk of those killed, died in clashes between defecting military units and those loyal to the regime.

"It is slightly different picture to residents taking up arms and starting shoot at security forces," Martin said in a Skype interview.

quote:
However, according a gentlemen we spoke today, some residents actually did do that. We spoke to four people who were present in the village during that day and they said the bulk of those shot were defecting soldiers. There does appear to have been a number of villagers who were shot as well, some of those people had taken up arms, others were bystanders.

Refugees continue to cross the border in their hundreds, Martin reports. He said the Turkish authorities expect another 1,000 refugees tonight. "They all said that the security situation had become untenable... They do think the army will attack at some point," Martin said.

It does seem that a number of soldiers are beginning to defect, and I think the only chance the civilians have is defecting soldiers protecting them. It's also interesting how keen the Turkish government is on stopping news getting out from the refugee camps. That still hasn't stopped the Turkish website the Hurriyet Daily News getting their hands on some exclusive videos:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=syrian-refugees-bring-video-footage-to-turkey-2011-06-09
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=hospital-footage-shows-injured-protesters-2011-06-09
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=syrian-refugees-bring-video-footage-2011-06-09
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=footage-from-syria-shows-wounded-protesters-2011-06-09

# ? Jun 9, 2011 16:02

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

A small update from Tripoli:

quote:

Paul Owen has just been speaking to Xan Rice in Tripoli about today's Nato bombing of the Libyan capital.

quote:
We've heard several explosions throughout the day, seems like on the outskirts of the capital. It's not nearly as intense as it was earlier this week, but on the other hand it does seem that Nato is trying to put pressure on Gaddafi by continuing these bombing runs.

Paul asked Xan about his impressions of what Tripoli residents felt was going to happen to Gaddafi.

quote:
It's increasingly clear that people think that the only way out of this is that Gaddafi has to go, that he will go one way or the other. Now, to even mention this before the war would have been to invite a very long and horrible stay in prison, and in the early days of the conflict people would not have been talking about this kind of thing � When people are out of earshot of anyone else they are saying, "Look, we are just waiting � We want him to go." They certainly aren't expressing any great anger about the Nato bombing. There seems to be a sense of inevitability about it all � It seems like people are waiting for the end.

Xan said Gaddafi had been trying to encourage people to rally around his compound, to act as human shields, but Libyan state TV showed "not very many people there".

The following has been circulated as a TwitDoc, and is apparently written by someone who fled from Libya and experienced what happened in Zawiya at the start of the rebellion:

quote:

THE STORY OF ZAWIYA � 8th June 2011
Eye witness who left Libya Friday 27th May

Zawiya went out on 19th of February for Benghazi ,� With our Soul and Blood we will sacrifice for you Benghazi� they chanted. We stayed in the main square. The dignitaries of the city began meeting in the main and oldest mosque in Zawiya called Zaituna Mosque (also known as Al Soug mosque). A room was designated to food and drink supplies for those taking part in the peaceful sit in the main square. Then Saif Gaddafi made his infamous speech. There was a screen placed in Zawiya�s main square, so the City saw it. Gaddafi then made a speech directed specifically to Zawiya�s tribes. He sent an envoy to Zawiya offering 200,000 dinars to each family if they stopped their support for the revolution. Zawiya refused. His envoys were told, after what he did in Benghazi, Zawiya would not change their stance. Gaddafi sent Sabratha�s Khweldi AlHmedi brigade and they entered Zawiya from Daman street that leads to the main square from the West. On 24th Feb 3 at 8 am, whilst protesters were sleeping, 3 Gaddafi vehicles entered one with a machine gun and the other 2 had soldiers. They started shooting at the protesters in the main square leading to death of 3 protesters. (Video will follow of one of the martyrs). As these 3 vehicles attempted to escape via coastal road Zawiya protesters managed to kill 4 of these soldiers.
The 3 martyrs were taken to the mosque, then the people of Zawiya headed as one towards the military camp of Terfas with old shot guns, rocks, Ak47s from police stations. The forces in Terfas camp were not large in number, so they fled. Protesters managed to get 3 tanks, ammunitions and weapons. They found the tanks were useless as the turret firing mechanism was disabled beforehand. The protesters headed back to the main square with the acquired weapons. Then 12 colonels joined the revolt in Zawiya. Then they formed a National Transitional civilian council, a media council and a military council after they learnt of the formation of the NTC in Benghazi.

Weapons began to be distributed. Freedom Fighters had to swear over the Quran to fight till the last. The military council formed teams based on area of residence. Some were trained on the more complex machine guns weaponry, and faulty weapons were fixed.
The attack on the main square, the taking over of Terfas military camp and the organistaion of the fighters all occurred on the same day of Thursday 24th Feb 2011.

The next day, Friday 25th Feb 2011, after Friday prayers, Zawiya protesters headed via Jamal Abdel Nasser St (which cuts through Zawiya heading to Tripoli) to join the protesters in Tripoli without weapons in the hope of carrying on peacefully, naively thinking it was possible to continue in this vain. The Khamis brigade began firing on the Zawiya protesters from the traffic lights at the Eastern entrance of Zawiya as the protesters were on the bridge and around it. Around 50 casualties between injured and killed were a victim of this live fire on this peaceful protest. The Zawiya protesters returned to the main square. Everyone realised peaceful protesting was pointless from that day onwards. The plan was to meet up with protesters with Tajura

Preparations began to face Gaddafi forces. Entrances to the city were blocked using sand dumped by trucks and old cars and they created check points. Khamis brigade began arriving with tanks and armoured vehicles. The coastal road from Tripoli to Zawiya was shut, but was open from the other direction for use by Khamis brigade. From the 27th Bridge, 2 tanks were placed every 500m heading towards Zawiya. It would take 4 hours to get from Zawiya to Tripoli those days because of the checkpoints. TheKhamis brigade surrounded Zawiya from the Western side. They began attempts to enter Zawiya from the coastal road and from Jamal Abdel Nasser St that was blocked with sand. The first attempt was at night and Gaddafi forces suffered heavy losses. Some surrendered and were released as those captured said they were forced to advance, otherwise they would be killed by snipers from behind them, which proved true. Gaddafi forces realised Zawiya was a tougher proposition than expected and they would not be able to take the city from one front. So Alkhweldi AlHmedi brigade from Surman opened a new front from the Eastern side. Zawiya held hope Surman would rise against AlKhweldi Hmedi to protect their Eastern border. In the end Surman could not join due to clamp down by Gaddafi forces and Zawiya divided its forces between the Western and Eastern front. In an infamous incident, the Khamis brigade told forces from Da3m ( Riot police) that Zawiya was not armed and made the riot police enter with only battons from the Eastern gate of Zawiya.

Zawiya freedom fighters realised the riot police were not armed, so via microphones they told the riot police to return or join them. The Riot police realised Zawiya was armed. Khamis Brigade began firing from behind, so the Zawiya freedom fighers had to retaliate. Around 40 riot police were killed. Some were treated and some escaped.

Gaddafi forces kept attempting to enter the city unsuccessfully with heavy losses. Gaddafi forces began shelling using heavy artillery and tanks indiscriminately. Still they could not enter. This lasted for a week. So Sahban Brigade from Gheryan joined the Khamis Brigade and AlKhweldi Hmedi Brigade. In the second week, Zawiya�s ammunition began to run out. Zawiya was now surrounded from East, West and South. The only opening was to the sea northwards. The Sahban brigade was brought in, in response to the death of the top officer in Khamis Brigade who was killed in an ambush in Zawiya with his elite battalion and from that moment shelling also intensified.

Some of the people of Rigdaleen and Al Jamel supported Zawiya greatly. Zuwara residents would buy medicine from Tunisia and send it via some of the people of Rigdaleen and Al Jamel to Zawiya via fishing boats and cars risking getting caught by Gaddafi forces. And some were caught. The reason Zuwara gave medicine to people of Rigdaleen and Al Jamel to deliver to Zawiya was because Zuwara residents were searched thoroughly and were not free in their movement due to their stance against Gaddafi. There was a severe shortage of medicine in Zawiya so these medicines were crucial and the solidarity and unity between theses cities was incredible.

Gaddafi forces began shelling the hospital. In the 3rd week, the pressure increased on Zawiya and the ammunition began to run out. So Zawiya began using Gelatina (rudimentary grenades used for fishing) to use against tanks.
Some heroic actions by the youth of Zawiya took place. For example, Youth would run to the tanks, open the top and drop the Gelatina inside the tanks risking life and limb.
Zawiya fighters witnessed soldiers in their tanks tied by chains to their seat to prevent them from escaping or retreating. In one incident, a tank entered to destroy the mosque, it blew up the Azan tower. This tank began burning from inside without being attacked by freedom fighters. Everyone marvelled at this considering it to be divine intervention. One of the tank crew fled the tank whilst on fire.

One amazing act of courage was that of a youth who was protecting Al Jawhara hotel, the new hotel in Zawiya, where the Freedom fighters ammo was stored. They attacked him ferociously but he refused to leave his position with his anti aircraft weapon till he was literally blown up by Gaddafi forces.
By the end of the 3rd week Gaddafi forces had control of Zawiya. All the main streets and main square was under control of Gaddafi forces. Freedom fighters retreated to 3 areas; Gibl AlSahly, Welad Saqr and Asban area. As a result, Gaddafi forces began defending the centre of the city they controlled. The main source of attacks on Gaddafi forces was from Gibl AlSahly area which has high population density. The Gaddafi forces began to lose control of the centre. 5000 more forces were brought to the city and snipers were placed on the tops of buildings to reinforce the troops there. With the support of these extra forces, they began attacking Gibl AlSahly, Welad Saqr and Asban area. Anything that moved in the centre of the city was shot by Gaddafi forces out of fear. Many women & children were killed by snipers as a result. Any suspect car would get shot.

At the time Gaddafi claimed Zawiya was under control when in fact it was not. As a result people who came back to see the city were shot in their cars. Welad Saqr and Asban area were controlled quickly due to its open nature with low population density and large number of Gaddafi forces. All that remained free was Gibl Alsahly. The freedom fighters communicated with each other to congregate in Gibli Alsahly area. The distance of 500m between the areas could take days to cross. Those who could make it made it and others who could not buried their weapons. Others died trying. The reason for this congregation was to meet up with Zintan�s freedom fighters. Zintan�s Freedom fighters came but were thwarted by Sahban Brigage and Muaweya AlSuwe3y brigades. Muaweya AlSuwe3y brigade is the brigade responsible for shelling Nafusa mountain.

Gaddafi forces began sweeping the Gibli Sahly area. Freedom fighters realised the game was up so they went to Nafusa mountain to carry on the fight including the famous fighter known as EpicLibyanman whose last name is AlMaryami. Others hid in farms. 70 freedom fighters in one farm were ratted out by Pro Gaddafi supporters about a month ago.

Afterwards in Zawiya the houses were raided one by one. Unbelievably they have tapes playing Gaddafi�s speech Dar Dar, Zenga Zenga, Fard Fard as they raid the houses. Also another mosque built in 2009 in Welad Alshawish area in Gibli Alsahli was also destroyed.

Khamis Gaddafi himself was based in Al Jawhara hotel and some Freedom fighters leaders who were ratted out were executed before him. Not a single dead body was allowed to remain in the city. The bodies were transported mainly in Iveco cars to Mitiga base.

Gaddafi forces cut the electricity on the hospital whilst people were still under operation, entered the hospital and killed all the injured in their beds. The injured were pulled out of cars and finished off by knives. People of Zawiya began treating the injured at home as the hospital was under control of the army. Also Gaddafi forces used a military jet to fire at the hospital and Alharsha area.

ALMAHDY ALARABY
He is one of the top military leaders of Gaddafi forces in the Western coast of Libya and is originally from Zawiya. His betrayal of the people of his own City will never be forgotten. After 17th Feb, heads of the Zawiya asked for his support. He gave his word to join the revolution which gave a moral boost to others and encouraged other officers to defect and join the revolution. The military council at AlMahdy AlAraby�s request called on those with military service experience to join Surman military camp which is headed by AlMahdi AlAraby and to come without wearing military gear and bringing their ID. So the youth prepared to go to the camp on the basis that this force would help liberate Tripoli. The next morning, 20th of Feb 2011, news came out they AlMahdy AlAraby fled to Bab Alazizia. The youth arrived at the main square in Zawiya. AlMahdy AlArby was declared to have betrayed the City via microphones from the mosque.

The most amazing part of this story is that fact that Zawiya is still fighting to this day.

Brown Moses fucked around with this message at 16:37 on Jun 9, 2011

# ? Jun 9, 2011 16:20

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

The BBC has this story:

quote:

Libya crisis: MIsrata rebels begin tactical manouvring
On Wednesday, with so many casualties on the front line - in rocket attacks that followed a rebel offensive - Misrata felt more than ever like a city under siege.

Stopping for a cup of coffee in the morning, we were told that we would have to take it away, we could not drink it there.

Chairs were stacked on tables inside; the owner said it seemed frivolous to be serving coffee, and did not want gossip in his shop with so many people risking their lives on the front line.

The usual coffee bar we go to on the other side of the street was already closed. And, as if to make a point, a funeral procession passed of a fighter killed just a few hours before.

Volunteers tried to control traffic that had built up outside the private hospital which is now the main casualty clearing point, while a radio appeal went out for blood donors. A crude hand-drawn sign sent drivers with a rare blood group towards priority parking spaces.

The two most important defensive lines control the main east-west coastal road that is Libya's artery in better times.

It is a four-hour drive to Benghazi to the east and not much more than two to Tripoli to the west.

Further defences are scattered across a less well-defined front line among flocks of sheep in rolling farmland to the south.

The front lines were set up at the borders of the district of Misrata after Col Muammar Gaddafi's troops were pushed out of the city in fierce house-to-house fighting in April and May.

When the final story of Col Gaddafi's downfall comes to be written, as seems increasingly likely, the courage of this resistance - fought with huge losses against a ruthless enemy - could prove the decisive chapter of Libya's revolution.
Growing competence

Breaking out of this rebel enclave is the next phase, and it looks as if this week it has started.

A series of probing raids began to the west on Monday, and then on Tuesday and Wednesday the first serious fighting happened on the eastern front line.

Fighters who spoke to the BBC said they had come within sight of the outskirts of the next town, Tawargha.

There has never been any doubt about the courage and resolve of a city mobilised for survival, but there have been questions up to now over the technical competence of a citizen army, most of whose men had not handled a weapon until this year.

They are now engaging in tactical manoeuvres, holding their ground, and using rifles and rocket-propelled-grenade launchers with far more ability.

And although they still lack the ability to use tanks or any other heavy artillery left over from Col Gaddafi's troops, they have welded rocket-launching pods taken from helicopters onto the back of modified pick-up trucks, along with anti-aircraft guns and Grad rocket launchers.

In the advances of both fronts, they moved forward across "red lines" agreed with Nato, and are setting up forward defensive positions.

The red lines were established to give Nato jets the ability to launch strikes on moving vehicles knowing they would be Gaddafi forces. But the move forward implies that those red lines are not fixed.

In any case, the head of military intelligence for the rebel side and military spokesman, Ibrahim Battalmal, has told the BBC they do not depend on Nato support for these smaller tactical skirmishes.

Since British Apache and French Tiger helicopters entered the campaign last week, none has been used on this front - a fact confirmed by a fighter on the eastern front, Ibrahim Arifa, who said: "We saw jet fighters in the morning, but not helicopters."

In advances in both directions, fighters said pro-Gaddafi soldiers whom they had captured had been trying to give themselves up.

This could be wishful thinking, but it could imply the relentless bombing that the Gaddafi government and forces have sustained this week - in day and night-time raids over Tripoli, might finally have broken its ability to manage its forces.

# ? Jun 9, 2011 16:30

automatic: Nov 3, 2010; by Y Kant Ozma Post

Brown Moses, do you have any links to new videos from Wednesday's offensive?

# ? Jun 9, 2011 16:39

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Not yet, I would expect any to be uploaded on the Patriots of Misratah Youtube channel. Most videos seem to be upload a few days after the events.

A couple more stories:

quote:

Qaddafi Son Told Rebels of Exit Plan: Aide
Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi�s son, Saif al-Islam, has approached rebels to negotiate an exit from power for his father in the last few days, an aide to National Transitional Council leader Mahmoud Jebril said.

�Of course, he is trying to put some terms. We understand those terms and we know how to play the negotiations,� Mohamed Al Akari told Bloomberg Television today in Abu Dhabi, where foreign ministers from the 22-nation Libya Contact Group are meeting. �We are talking now of the last stage of this operation.�

Qaddafi won�t be allowed to remain in Libya even though he is �dreaming of staying in the country,� Al Akari said. South Africa is among the countries that might offer him a safe haven, he added.

The insurgency against Qaddafi�s four-decade rule began in February. A month later NATO-led forces launched an air campaign in support of the rebels that intensified on June 7 with attacks on Qaddafi�s compound in the capital, Tripoli. The Libyan leader�s isolation increased in recent weeks with a series of high-profile defections.

Before the third meeting of the contact group began today in Abu Dhabi, Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez told reporters of the efforts to negotiate Qaddafi�s departure.

�End the Conflict�

�We still don�t even know if Qaddafi will accept a negotiated exit, but of course there are many countries willing to facilitate this because it will end the conflict,� Jimenez said. �Finding a place for him is now the critical issue, since everyone has agreed he has to go.�

She declined to say which countries would be prepared to accept Qaddafi, while saying that Turkey and South Africa are involved in working on a solution to the issue.

Uganda said on March 30 it would consider a request for political asylum, while Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez still calls Qaddafi a �friend.� The Libyan leader may also find refuge in about a dozen African states, such as Zimbabwe, where he has investments and protection from prosecution for war crimes.

The international community has begun planning for what NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen yesterday described as a �long and complex� transition to democracy in Libya.

�We are working with our international partners through the UN to plan for the inevitable: a post-Qaddafi Libya,� U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in prepared remarks in Abu Dhabi today. �In the days ahead, we have to coordinate the many plans taking shape.�

The escalation of NATO�s air campaign comes as the rebels make gains. At the moment, they control areas in eastern Libya and Misrata in the west, while Qaddafi has held on to Tripoli.

Abdurrahman Shalgham, Libya�s former foreign minister and representative to the United Nations, told reporters in Abu Dhabi that rebel troops will reach Tripoli within �some weeks, and that Qaddafi has �very few days� left in power.

quote:

Ian Traynor writes from Brussels, where Nato defence ministers have been meeting to discuss Libya. He says Nato was told that Britain, France and the other six countries engaged in the Libya bombing campaign would struggle to keep up the intensive attacks on Muammar Gaddafi without other countries joining in.

quote:
With the Nato-commanded air strikes on Libya to be prolonged by 90 days from the end of this month, alliance defence ministers were warned on Thursday that without extra assets and participants the campaign could falter.

"Those who are bearing the brunt of the strike burden are increasingly pressed," said Robert Gates, the US defence secretary. "I think they'll be able to sustain it. But the question is just how much more painful it becomes, if other countries that have the capabilities, that have the capacity, don't step up."

Only eight of 28 Nato member states are involved in the bombing campaign, which has reached a peak in tempo and intensity this week. France and Britain are doing most of the attacks, while Norway and Denmark, Belgium, Italy and Canada are also heavily involved. The Americans are supplying the intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance air capacity as well as most of the air-to-air refuelling needed to keep the campaign running.

At a closed meeting of Nato defence ministers yesterday, Gates singled out the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey for refusing to take part in the ground strikes. He also voiced his exasperation with Germany and Poland, who have refused to commit to any aspects of the Libyan operations.

Germany, which was strongly opposed to intervention in Libya and abstained in the UN security council vote authorising the air strikes, brushed aside the Anglo-American criticism.

Thomas De Maiziere, the German defence minister, said Berlin had decided not to get involved. "That's the way it will stay."

But he added that if the UN were to mandate an international force in a post-Gaddafi Libya, he would "constructively examine" the potential for dispatching German troops.

# ? Jun 9, 2011 16:43

A Winner is Jew: Feb 14, 2008; by exmarx

Brown Moses posted:

5 explosions reported in Tripoli over the last 20 minutes or so. I'm amazed there's anything left to bomb.

If there is one thing that Afghanistan has taught NATO, it's that you can never bomb rubble enough really.

# ? Jun 9, 2011 17:18

Shanakin: Mar 26, 2010; The whole point of stats are lost if you keep it a secret. Why Didn't you tell the world eh?

Pretty irrelevant but Australia now recognises the TNC as the legitimate representatives of the Libyan people.

quote:

Rudd backs Libyan rebel council

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has recognised Libya's rebel council as the country's legitimate political representative and warned Moamar Gaddafi that his days are "well and truly numbered".

"We do not recognise governments, we recognise states," he told reporters at a summit aimed at backing the Benghazi-based rebels against the defiant leader's rule.

Mr Rudd called the Transitional National Council (TNC) "the legitimate interlocutor of the Libyan people," and added: "we use that formulation deliberately."

He predicted Mr Gaddafi's end may come soon.

"The emerging consensus view among this group of foreign ministers is that Gaddafi's days are well and truly numbered," he said, adding that the end "may come sooner than many of you in this room may think".

Mr Rudd was not alone in giving his backing to the TNC.

A senior US State Department official said American secretary of state Hillary Clinton also described the rebel council as "the legitimate interlocutor" of Libya.

Ms Clinton "used the word 'the' rather than 'a' in describing the TNC as the legitimate interlocutor for the Libyan people through this interim period," the official said.

"This is our own signal of moving toward that transition of working with the TNC on its own roadmap through this interim period," he said.

Other countries, including Britain, Italy, France and Spain, have already recognised the TNC and have broken links with Mr Gaddafi.

Two dozen countries, including the US, Britain, France and Italy, as well as delegates from the United Nations, the Arab League, the African Union and the Organisation of Islamic Conference are attending the summit in in Abu Dhabi.

The talks among the powers came amid continuing explosions in the Libyan capital.

- ABC/AFP/Reuters

# ? Jun 9, 2011 17:22

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Twitter is saying Washington has recognised them as well, I'm sure other countries will now follow suit.

# ? Jun 9, 2011 17:30

Lawman 0: Aug 17, 2010

Brown Moses posted:

Twitter is saying Washington has recognised them as well, I'm sure other countries will now follow suit.

Well that's pretty much gg for the G man then.

Man watching all these things unfold over the past few months has really been a honor. It has truly lifted my inner :smith:

and made me realize that in the modern world no matter how hopeless things get their will always be the chance for true change. :unsmith:

May these revolts and battles be etched into and celebrated within the human story for all time! Let us never forget the fact that even ordinary people can do amazing things when they free themselves from their shackles of fear and doubt!
Right guys?

# ? Jun 9, 2011 18:26

Ace Oliveira: Dec 27, 2009; "I wonder if there is beer on the sun."

Lawman 0 posted:

Well that's pretty much gg for the G man then.

Man watching all these things unfold over the past few months has really been a honor. It has truly lifted my inner and made me realize that in the modern world no matter how hopeless things get their will always be the chance for true change.
May these revolts and battles be etched into and celebrated within the human story for all time! Let us never forget the fact that even ordinary people can do amazing things when they free themselves from their shackles of fear and doubt!
Right guys?

This poo poo has changed the Middle East and the Arab world forever, and considering how much attention the US and Europe gave to these events, it's a part of human history. I doubt it's gonna be forgotten anytime soon.

# ? Jun 9, 2011 18:34

Mozi: Apr 4, 2004; Forms change so fast
Time is moving past
Memory is smoke
Gonna get wider when I die; Nap Ghost

If only we could help in Yemen and Syria. I don't mean bombing them, necessarily, but at least in Libya we don't feel completely helpless as people are murdered.

# ? Jun 9, 2011 18:59

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

The Guardian just posted this article about the Syrian refugees in Turkey:

quote:

Syrian refugees in Turkey: 'People see the regime is lying. It is falling apart'
As the blood from a gunshot wound oozed down his right thigh, Abu Majid shook his fist: "You know what dictatorships are like in the Middle East," he said. "Syria was the strongest of them all, like an iron ball. Well it isn't any more."

The 39-year-old elder from the besieged Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour fled with his wife and children to southern Turkey after he says he was shot last Saturday in a battle � the fiercest yet during the three-month uprising.

Since fleeing, he has kept in contact with men who stayed in Syria, and others among the several thousand who have crossed the border as government forces prepare for what many fear will be a full-scale assault on a largely abandoned town that was, until Saturday, home to 41,000 people.

After five days away from his homeland, Abu Majid is convinced that the four decades of unshakable autocracy he left behind are now steadily unravelling. He is sure that the government's claim that armed locals killed 120 government forces through ambushes and assaults in Jisr al-Shughour over the weekend will soon be proved wrong. He is sure, too, that those who oppose the rule of President Bashar al-Assad now outnumber his supporters. But he says Assad's government is stirring sectarian chaos as it tries to claw back the legitimacy it lost during street demonstrations across the country, which it regularly crushed through violence.

"We never thought in sectarian ways before all this happened," he said. "And now people are talking about Sunnis, Alawites, Shias, Christians. You can say many things about us, but you can't say that Syria was ever like Iraq or Lebanon. This is leading the country into the unknown."

Officials in southern Turkey said that about 2,500 Syrians, many from Jisr al-Shughour, had crossed the border. Despite being told by their hosts not to speak publicly about the uprising, refugees are still willing to talk about the events of last weekend, which Damascus has tried to cast as an armed rebellion that it had no choice but to put down.

"There was a desertion," said Abu Majid. "I saw it with my own eyes. There were a large number of strangers in town on Saturday. I don't know who they were, they were big men, many of them bearded and most in civilian clothes. They started shooting at the people and some of the security forces tried to join us. They were killed � there were many of them killed."

In beds alongside him in Antakiya's government hospital, three other Syrians, also nursing wounds, chimed in. They had all been shot in earlier clashes on 20 May at a village 10 miles south of Jisr al-Shughour.

"Assad has never liked our area," said one of the men. "He tried to get us then and they were the first moments of what eventually happened on the weekend."

A second man, whose three-week-old groin wound seeped a tangerine slime, said that Jisr al-Shughour and the Sunni Arab area that surrounds it has long been considered by the Assad regime, which is made up of a clan all from a minority Alawite Muslim sect, to be potentially disloyal.

"When they decided to turn this into a sectarian problem, it was easy to attack our area and them blame us for attacking them. They are liars and they are starting to pay for their lies."

Syrians learned almost 30 years ago what to expect when the army descends en masse on a village. In 1982, between 10,000 and 40,000 people were killed by the military of Assad's father, Hafez al-Assad, in the wake of an Islamic uprising. The UN has cautioned against anything like a repeat.

Navi Pillay, the UN's high commissioner for human rights, accused Syrian leaders of trying to "bludgeon its population into submission".

Turkey said on Thursday that it would not close its border to refugees fleeing Syria, and by nightfall the flow of people crossing the border that snakes between the two countries appeared to have increased.

In the village of Guvecci in the deep south, minivans were shuttling along a bitumen road between the countries, disgorging dozens of men, women and children who then made their way along dirt roads that wove between olive groves.

Along the highway south to Turkey's southernmost extremities and north to Antakiya, police and military officers were stationed by mid-morning in an attempt to make sure that all refugees were ushered into makeshift camps � and away from waiting press.

Hundreds of white tents had been erected in the town of Yayladagi and mattresses were piled in the back of lorries in anticipation of a further influx.

Several hundred people remained in a no-man's land near Guvecci on Thursday, apparently unsure whether to proceed to Turkey or to go back to their villages. Locals told the Guardian that up to 200 refugees had returned to Turkey on Thursday, in fear of ramifications from their exit. "They wouldn't say whether they had been threatened," said one man, Ibrahim Kerdje.

On the road north, ambulances regularly passed by, taking casualties to hospitals in Antakiya, where the Turkish government has promised to treat wounded refugees free of charge. Allowing Syrians to cross the border, but not to speak, appears to be an extension of a delicate balancing act as Ankara tries to please the west by discharging its humanitarian obligations, while appeasing Damascus by trying to prevent the scrutiny it fears.

On Wednesday, the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said: "We hope that Syria softens its stance towards civilians as soon as possible and makes the steps it is taking for reforms more convincing for civilians, for a transformation."

The wounded in the hospital ward were not convinced.

"It won't always be closed like it has been," said Abu Majid as he leaned against a walking frame. "People now are clearly seeing the lies of the government. Every house in Syria has someone connected to the military of the intelligence service. That is how they have stayed so strong.

"So people can see that the government is lying to them when they say that people in a place like Jisr al-Shughour have the ability to attack an army and kill so many people. It is impossible. For this to happen the regime has to be falling apart. Assad has to go, 100%. There is no returning to the time before 15 March."

# ? Jun 9, 2011 20:20

automatic: Nov 3, 2010; by Y Kant Ozma Post

It's pretty amazing that soldiers are defecting and standing with the people. That requires a level of bravery that I cannot comprehend.

# ? Jun 9, 2011 20:25

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

I don't know if any of you missed this early, but I highly recommend watching it, some really good footage from the Gaddafi side of the conflict.

quote:

Visual diary shows Libyan soldier at war
Al Jazeera has obtained exclusive pictures taken by a young Libyan soldier before he died in battle.

The images give a telling insight into the reality of the war in Libya from the perspective of the government troops.

Tony Birtley reports from the city of Misurata.

And here's a video of Syrian soldiers abusing some prisoners.

There's currently reports of fierce fighting in Zliten, as well as reports of fighting in parts of Tripoli.

There's also reports that Tunisia and the UAE will recognise the NTC, and there's also reports that Tunisia released a large number of items that were heading to the rebels in Nafusa, but were impounded.

Brown Moses fucked around with this message at 20:37 on Jun 9, 2011

# ? Jun 9, 2011 20:30

ecureuilmatrix: Mar 30, 2011

Brown Moses posted:

I don't know if any of you missed this early, but I highly recommend watching it, some really good footage from the Gaddafi side of the conflict.

There's also reports that Tunisia and the UAE will recognise the NTC, and there's also reports that Tunisia released a large number of items that were heading to the rebels in Nafusa, but were impounded.

That video is :smith:

defined. These doomed rebels...

If Tunisia takes a stronger role, that's really big news. That would help the Nafusans a lot.

Maybe, the rebels could then move toward the coastal border.

# ? Jun 9, 2011 22:04

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Good report from Nafusa from AJE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toXVrDsJ-Gg

# ? Jun 9, 2011 22:44

automatic: Nov 3, 2010; by Y Kant Ozma Post

I was watching Restrepo earlier today and I decided to google Tim Hetherington, apparently he has a square in Ajdabiya named after him

quote:

Just days after Hetherington's death in Misrata, the Libyan city of Ajdabiya renamed its largest square after him. Anti-Gaddafi protesters also held a march to the newly rechristened Tim Hetherington Square in his honour. "We have named the square after this hero and I now consider Tim as one of our martyrs," Al Jazeera quoted a Libyan surgeon in the city as saying.

Just an interesting fact.

# ? Jun 9, 2011 23:07

Ace Oliveira: Dec 27, 2009; "I wonder if there is beer on the sun."

Brown Moses posted:

I don't know if any of you missed this early, but I highly recommend watching it, some really good footage from the Gaddafi side of the conflict.

I wonder if Al-Jazeera is going to release the entire video. I'd be interested in seeing it.

You know, before watching it I was expecting to feel sympathetic to the guy, and expect to see a regular guy who got drafted into Gaddafi's army, but nope, the guy is a fanatic who takes pictures of prisoners being executed and beaten.

# ? Jun 10, 2011 00:02

Mad Doctor Cthulhu: Mar 3, 2008

Lawman 0 posted:

Well that's pretty much gg for the G man then.

Man watching all these things unfold over the past few months has really been a honor. It has truly lifted my inner and made me realize that in the modern world no matter how hopeless things get their will always be the chance for true change.
May these revolts and battles be etched into and celebrated within the human story for all time! Let us never forget the fact that even ordinary people can do amazing things when they free themselves from their shackles of fear and doubt!
Right guys?

You're absolutely right. The one problem a lot of regimes have is that they really lose touch with reality at the expense of power. The narrative they like to push is one where they are strong, dedicated, indestructible,and infallible. But every single part of that 'machine' is a human being and is as flawed as anybody else in this world. They may manage to slam and slap people down, but when it comes to people finally having enough then that force is unstoppable. Even if you destroy the people, you do not destroy the movement.

I'm surprised the idea of a regime being completely unstoppable still persists after the American Revolution, to be honest. No matter how big something is, no matter how strong they look, the real victor is the one who has nothing left to lose. As the Arab Spring shows us, you underestimate movements at your own peril because they have nothing but time on their side, and that is often enough.

# ? Jun 10, 2011 01:50

Lascivious Sloth: Apr 26, 2008; by sebmojo

Libya Defections

quote:

ChangeInLibya: 18 Libyan regime officials just fled to Tunisia. Some of them high ranking army officers. #libya #feb17

NTC Support

quote:

At the International Contact Group meeting in Abu Dhabi, donors have pledged more than $1.3bn to help support Libya's main opposition group, NTC, as countries backing NATO's military mission there met to prepare for the post-Gadhafi era.

Italy and France offered a combined $1.02bn while Kuwait and Qatar [$100mn] promised a combined $280 million to a fund set up to provide transparent assistance to the opposition.

Turkey has established a $100m fund to support Libyan opposition government based in Benghazi, Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish foreign minister, said.

Oil

quote:

The US on Wednesday said the first shipment of Libyan oil sold by the opposition Transitional National Council had been delivered to an American refinery. The US is encouraging such sales to help the council assist the Libyan people.

Kevin07 speaks about this being over soon:

quote:

New York Times: As the NATO military alliance intensified attacks in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, including a new round of daytime raids, senior officials meeting here acknowledged reports that Colonel Qaddafi�s son Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi could be seeking a negotiated exit and said that repeated entreaties reflected the government�s isolation and weakness, despite public defiance.

�There have been obviously multiple feelers from the Qaddafi regime to various members of the international community coming every other day,� Australia�s foreign minister, Kevin Rudd, said after a meeting of more than 30 nations and international organizations.

Mr. Rudd said the consensus here was that �Qaddafi�s days are well and truly numbered,� giving urgency to the efforts to prepare the opposition for taking power and overseeing a transition. �This is no longer an academic proposition,� he said. �It is a real proposition and one we may be facing sooner than many of you in this room may think.�

Lascivious Sloth fucked around with this message at 01:56 on Jun 10, 2011

# ? Jun 10, 2011 01:51

Jut: May 16, 2005; by Ralp

Ace Oliveira posted:

I wonder if Al-Jazeera is going to release the entire video. I'd be interested in seeing it.

You know, before watching it I was expecting to feel sympathetic to the guy, and expect to see a regular guy who got drafted into Gaddafi's army, but nope, the guy is a fanatic who takes pictures of prisoners being executed and beaten.

reminds me of Abu Ghraib. I think this kind of behaviour is expected in any war. No saying it's right (it isn't), but it's worth bearing in mind when dealing with people who think war is a game.

# ? Jun 10, 2011 05:15

Chortles: Dec 29, 2008

You mean the majority of American youth? :haw:

(Aka "why I don't see revolution in America.")

To add on to what Mad Doctor Cthulhu said, I actually had a pet theory based off of the premise of "America wants to snake its way into control of [insert Arab Spring country here]," that America might consider the dictator more trouble than he's worth, but that the dictators in question are too wedded to... well... being a dictator, to "take the money and run"* (better).

* With the possibility of Mubarak, if the "held out to buy time to get the money out" theory is true.

# ? Jun 10, 2011 05:59

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

It's Friday, so expect alot of news, and expect the news from Syria to be extremely grim:

Lives Blogs June 10th
LibyaFeb17.com
Feb17.info
AJE Syria
AJE Yemen
Libya
Guardian

Libya
NATO

quote:

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/06/10/libya.gadhafi/
A U.N. resolution justifies the targeting of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, a senior NATO military official with operational knowledge of the Libya mission told CNN Thursday.

The resolution applies to Gadhafi because, as head of the military, he is part of the control and command structure and therefore a legitimate target, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Asked by CNN whether Gadhafi was being targeted, the NATO official declined to give a direct answer.

But a NATO official disputed the claim, saying the alliance was not specifically targeting Gadhafi.

�We are targeting critical military capabilities that could be used to attack civilians, including command and control centers that could be used to plan and organize such attacks,� said the official who works in the office NATO spokeswoman, Oana Lungescu.

�We are simply not targeting individuals,� the official added.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

NATO has been ramping up pressure on the regime, employing helicopters last weekend for the first time against Gadhafi�s forces. Explosions are heard often in Tripoli, evidence of allied air strikes.

NATO intervened in March in the months-long civil war under a U.N. mandate to protect civilians as Gadhafi tried to crush the revolt against him.

The resolution adopted by the U.N. Security Council authorized �all necessary measures,� with the exception of a ground invasion, to protect civilians.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday it is time to start planning for what to do in Libya after Gadhafi�s departure �because Gadhafi�s reign of terror is coming to an end.�

But Gadhafi has refused to step down, going so far this week as to do a live audio broadcast as NATO warplanes bombed his Tripoli compound.

�We will not surrender,� he said during Tuesday�s broadcast.

Diplomacy

quote:

The special envoy of Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said he was preparing to visit Tripoli to find a solution to the Libya conflict after meeting the opposition in Benghazi.

�I am now involved in preparations for a Tripoli trip,� Mikhail Margelov told reporters in Moscow after returning from his trip to rebel-held eastern Libya and Egypt.

Margelov said Medvedev had not ordered him to meet Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and he instead planned to hold talks with the Libyan prime minister and foreign minister.

Twitter
While I've been avoiding posting too much stuff directly from Twitter that's not coming via journalists in Libya, it's got to the point where reports are coming in from places like Zilten and Bani Walid which cannot be confirmed by journalists or independent sources. Seeing these may be significant I'm going to start posting them, but just be aware they could be exaggerations (FFs kill 500 Gaddafi troops!) or plain bullshit (Gaddafi sniper rifles with fingerprint scanners!).

From the last 12 hours:
Zliten, just west of Misrata

quote:

@ChangeInLibya: Zliten: Very very big clashes throughout the day. Gaddafi forces are shelling buildings in the city itself now, where FF are.
Some FF from Zliten escaped to Misrata a week ago. They were given 4x4s and ammo and they are now back in Zliten.
Freedom fighters from Misrata are clashing with G forces and trying to destroy the rocket launchers that have been aimed at Zliten

quote:

@RRowleyTucson: #Zliten: #Gaddafi Regular Army have city under martial law, going house to house arresting people.

quote:

@LibyaNewMedia: Gaddafi troops firing mortars at residential areas in Zlitan. This is happening inside the city & is not related to Misrata revolutionaries.

quote:

@dovenews: BREAKING! Fierce fight between G forces & #Zlitan #FF killing 1 #FF & 5 of #Gaddafi forces.

Brega, the Eastern frontline

quote:

@dovenews: NATO used Apaches 2 attck some of G military targts near Brega this morning, thy also droppd leaflts askin G forces 2 giveUp & surrndr 2 FF

There's also reports of the Nafusa rebels carefully capturing towns, and moving further east and north. They aren't covering a huge amount of ground, but that's probably due to the large number of small settlements in the area they are capturing and securing. There's also various repoerts of Nafusa rebels send groups will supplies to other cities, including Zawiya and Zliten.

There's more and more rumours of fighting between rebels in Zawiya and Gaddafi troops, but it's impossible to know if these rumours are true. The rumours started around the same time the Nafusa rebels captured Yefran, so the upsurge in reports of fighting in Zawiya might relate to the other rumours of Nafusa rebels transporting equipment there.

One of the journalists trapped in the Rixos Hotel says it's quiet, so other journalists have asked him how to use Twitter, so expect more Twitter accounts from journalists in Tripoli being opened soon.

Yemen

quote:

AP - US officials say American forces launched an airstrike against al-Qaeda targets in southern Yemen last week to keep al-Qaeda's Yemeni offshoot from taking advantage of the unrest there.

The officials, speaking anonymously on Thursday, said that last Friday's strike killed a midlevel al-Qaeda operative named Abu Ali al-Harithi.

It followed a May 5 drone strike that just missed al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, US officials said.

Bahrain

quote:

The organisers of the Bahrain Grand Prix have finally cancelled the event after Formula One teams complained about competing in the country. Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone had already announced the race was now "not on" after a complaint from teams at the rescheduling of the event, which was initially put back to 30 October amid condemnation from human rights groups.

Syria

quote:

Syrian state television says the army has begun operations in Jisr al-Shughour, a restive northern town near the Turkish border.

The government says the operation aims to restore security in the town, where authorities say 120 officers and security personnel were killed by "armed groups'' last week.

After the Syrian government vowed to retaliate, many residents fled, fearing a crackdown.

Activists said the security forces were shot by government troops, after they refused to open fire on civilians. The alleged killings cannot be independently verified.

A Syrian reporter accompanying the troops Friday said troops backed by tanks were on the outer edges of the town, ready to enter.

quote:

Syrian state TV, quoting their reporter at the scene, said armed groups set fire to fields around Jisr Al Shughur.

quote:

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reports from Yayladagi in Turkey about today's developments in Jisr al-Shugur:

quote:
This isnt a surprise, perhaps the only surprise is that they (the army) have taken so long to announce that's what they are doing. The military operation has been building, according to sources from inside Syria that media have been able to speak to. They talked about tanks massing in the area around Jisr al-Shugur. They talked about Jisr al-Shugur itself emptying of people as people flee the violence they felt was almost a certainty.

Of course, the syrian authorities are calling it an operation to restore security. It seems almost certain the picture there is a lot more complex, because the number of testimonies we have had now about the split within the security services within Syria itself, about the casualty figures... seems to have risen, not only because of battles between protesters and security forces but because of a split within the military itself in Syria where we understand the mukhabaraat (secret police) wanted to fire at protesters, but certain members of the army were more resistant about doing so, and that may have contributed to the high death toll.

quote:

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from Yayladagi in Turkey on the humanitarian situation at the border with Syria:

quote:
The turks have been very welcoming to the Syrian refugees as far as it goes. Their borders are open as far as we know they are taking almost eevryone who comes, they are feeding them and housing them. As of yesterday afternoon, the official figure was 1, 700, we think as of now it must be more because at least another 400 arrived that we filmed alone. It's filling up fast, we understand they are building other facilities to take up to 5,000 which is the least they can expect.

quote:

Is the blog a Gay Girl in Damascus a cynical hoax? If it is a fantastically elaborate one, writes Esther Addley. Cached pages on social media and dating websites suggest "Amina Araf" has an internet identity dating back at least to 2007. Online friends on various sites say they have corresponded extensively � always by text � with someone they believe to be Araf.

quote:

Ominously the Syrian government says it has begun "restoring security" to the north western town of Jisr al-Shughour. A violent crackdown in the town has been feared for days after the government claimed 120 security personnel were killed in the area by "armed gangs".

Syrian refugees fleeing the town recall a very different series of events and say they fled to Turkey fearing a massacre.

Abu Majid, who was wounded in the leg in clashes in the town, told the Guardian's Martin Chulov:

quote:
People now are clearly seeing the lies of the government. Every house in Syria has someone connected to the military of the intelligence service. That is how they have stayed so strong.

So people can see that the government is lying to them when they say that people in a place like Jisr al-Shughour have the ability to attack an army and kill so many people. It is impossible. For this to happen the regime has to be falling apart. Assad has to go, 100%. There is no returning to the time before 15 March.

Once again more protests are planned across Syria today after Friday prayers.

The Local Coordination Committee of Syria, an umbrella group coordinating the protests, says today's demonstrations will be held in honour of Saleh al-Ali, a Syrian revolutionary who commanded one of the first rebellions against the French in 1918.

Leading opposition dissident Ammar Abdulhamid lashes out at the Syrian government's propaganda campaign:

quote:
Reports by the regime of major losses in security officers are simply put bogus. Regime officials have been telling all sorts of fantastical lies especially on Syrian TV and Arab news networks that will make Goebbels blush.

One such lie is that Hamzah Al-Khateeb, the child who was tortured to death and had his penis chopped off, was actually a Salafi terrorist who sought to enslave local women. Trying to cover both sides of the story should not be used as an excuse to repeat regime lies to a global audience.

Syrian activists are doing their best through their videos, commentaries and interview to compensate for the information embargo imposed by Syrian authorities, and most of what we have conveyed so far was later verified through interviews by eyewitness testimonies provided by refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

Meanwhile, the regime continues to spin its tall tales in the hope that repetition will ensnare the hapless journalist, the conspiracy theorist, the anti-imperialist, and occasionally, which is an added bonus, a big network, like say, CNN or BBC, meaning that, eventually, the official lie becomes part of the accepted wisdom. In fact, it has already coloured coverage of the revolution.

quote:

A violent crackdown appears to be underway in and around Jisr al-Shughour.

Nadim Houry, from Human Rights Watch, tweets:

quote:
eyewitness: shootings in Sermaniyyeh now, 8 km away from #Jisr al-Shughur in #Syria

The Guardian's Martin Chulov, who is just across the border in Turkey, tweets:

quote:
Refugees from jisr al-shughour say syrian army moved into the village overnight after besieging it for 3 days. #syria

quote:

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the Syrian regime of perpetrating an "atrocity" against anti-government demonstrators, the Anatolia news agency reported.

"I talked to Mr. Assad four or five days ago... But they underestimate the situation."

"Unfortunately they do not behave humanely," Erdogan said, describing the treatment of the bodies of women slain by the security forces as an "atrocity". He also said the brutal crackdown on protestors was "unacceptable."

quote:

The international Red Cross called Friday for immediate access to Syria.

"Vital humanitarian assistance must reach vulnerable people without delay," said Jakob Kellenberger, president ICRC, adding that the relief agency was ready to deploy its staff.

"We are reiterating our request for access to all persons detained in order to assess the conditions in which they are being held and the treatment they are receiving, and so that we can confidentially share our findings with the authorities concerned.

"I stand ready to go to Syria myself to hold talks with the authorities," he added.

"We are determined to assist people who are having to cope with the violence. And we are determined to visit those who have been detained."

God help Syria, because no-one else will.

# ? Jun 10, 2011 09:26

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Jenan Moussa Tweeted the following last night:

quote:

I tried to translate a little poem written by a Syrian guy. It is what Syrians will tell their mothers tomorrow before they go out.

quote:
I go out to die my mother, don't be afraid;
The fearful are the dead, my mother, and those who go out will live.
And please, mother, if you hear about my death, don't cry.
Either I come back with my head up, or I die and make you proud.
The fearful live like the dead, my mother, with no feelings.

Here's the latest NATO update

quote:

Sorties conducted 09 JUNE: 149
Strike sorties conducted 09 JUNE: 43

Key Hits
09 JUNE: In Tripoli: 1 Vehicle Storage Facility.
In the vicinity of Tripoli: 2 Command & Control Facilities, 1 Early Warning Radar, 2 Surface-To-Air Missile Launcher, 2 Anti-Aircraft Guns, 3 Tanks.
In the vicinity of Misurata: 2 Rocket Launcher, 1 Truck-Mounted Gun, 4 Tanks, 1 Heavy Equipment Transport, 2 Command & Control Nodes, 2 Armoured Fighting Vehicle, 2 Check Points.
In the vicinity of Brega: 1 Command & Control Facility.

That's a pretty big increase in attacks in the Misrata area, I hope that means they are supporting the rebels advance on Zliten.

Here's also the report for Misrata:

quote:

Events of Tuesday, June 7th and Wednesday, June 8th (= situation at June 9th, 00:00 hrs)

� (Update on Monday a video report showed the training and graduation of a platoon-sized elite military unit
in Misrata - i.e about 30-50 soldiers.)
� According to its own report, NATO did not execute any key airstrikes around Misrata, Zliten and AI Khums
on Tuesday.
� One report from Tuesday indicated that regime forces are hiding 30 tanks and some armoured vehicles in
the archeological UNESCO World Heritage site of Leptis Magna on the eastern outskirts of AI Khums in
order to shield them from NATO airstrikes
� According to the Misrata Airport Manager , the air port will be operating again soon
� No clear reports on fighting are available for Tuesday.

� Starting in the early hours of Wednesday , regime forces Iaunched an all-out attack on the western (around
Dafniya from 05 00 hrs local time) , eastern (on the line Tamina - Kararim - Tawergah as well as on the
Coastal Road right on the seaside east of the marshlands from 00:00 hrs local time) and southern front
sectors (at an area called 'Janan Alzaiyto on' or 'Olive G ardens' from 1200 hrs locaI time)
This attack was even fiercer than the one on Monday. It again included heavy shelling with multiple rocket
launchers and other heavy artillery from all directions covering advances by mechanized infantry units
(seemingly also on all three front sectors, but mostly concentrated on the western and eastern front
sectors)
This counter-offense was characterized as 'one of the fiercest attacks in weeks' and shelling was reported
to have also affected areas 'near the city centre' as well as in the Sabha Area near the Steel Factory
complex south of the port
Initial, pannicked reports mentioned an attack by 'thousands' of regime troops but this figure was later
corrected as too high. Later reports gave an estimate of 500 regime soldiers for the eastern front sector ,
i.e several companies or a total of one battalion for the entire city These attacks also reportedly included
about 150 4x4 vehicles and 20 tanks , the latter mostly coming from the direction of Zliten
For the eastern front sector, one report mentioned the use of human shields (local civilians) by advancing
regime forces Another report cited a freedom fighter as saying that some regime forces tried to infiltrate
the city by disguising themselves as freedom fighters
In mid afternoon, after the first alarming reports about the extent of the regime counter-offensive had been
picked up by major global press agencies, the reportedly unusual take-off of about a dozen NATO fighter
jets from bases in Italy was report ed by a local Italian eyewitness.
� By late afternoon, the regime forces attacks were repelled and pushed back on both fronts, again with
reportedly heavy losses on the regime side At that time, the summoned NATO jets arrived on the battle
scene and heavily striked the regime forces' remaining (and presumably already retreating) tanks and
other armed vehicles Rumours of NATO helicopters being used too could not be verified
� The NLA reportedly again captured 'some regime soldiers and destroyed many military vehicles' It was
reported that NATO (and most probably the National Liberation Army) had destroyed a total of about 170
vehicles and artillery pieces around Misrata on that single day.
� Strangely, NATO did not cite the multiple destroyed military vehicles around Misrata reported by
numerous sources but lists '1 electronic warfare vehicle, 1 military training camp comprising 5 shelters, |
containers' and, somewhat enigmatically '1 air asset' as key airstrikes for Wednesday
� On Wednesday, up to '30 people' respectively '13 freedom fighters' were reported killed and up to '43
people' respectively '20 freedom fighters' were reported injured (most of the latter strongly injured)
'People' being unspecified civilians and/or freedom fighters
� According to one report, 'at least 70' regime soldiers were killed Some ammunition and vehicles were
seized according to another report, but otherwise no further reports on the regime forces' losses and
POWs on Wednesday are available It can however be assumed from the above cited-reports that there
were indeed substantial losses
� According to the latest report , there are now over 10'000 freedom fighters in Misrata

Some very interesting news form Syria

quote:

Half the army unit in Jisr al-Shughour defected to the side of the protesters, refugees fleeing the town have told Martin Chulov on the Turkish border.

There is an element of wishful thinking in the claims of refugees and activist, Chulov says in an Audioboo interview. But he adds:

quote:
There was a defection in Jisr al-Shughour. At least half of the security base inside the town did cross over to the other side. People are saying if it happened here it's going to happen elsewhere. They [activists and refugees] believe that ultimately they will prevail.

There does appear to have been a substantial defection. That would explain why there has been such a dramatic response by Damascus which has encircled the town for the past five days ready to assault it.

Refugees have told Martin that 5,000 troops have massed in the Jisr al-Shughour today and shooting has been heard. Martin said the Syrian revolution has "reached a potentially decisive stage, but the information is patchy and it does need a lot of collaboration".

quote:
In the past week or so it doesn't appear that President Assad has got any more of a grip on the regime. It does appear to be a society that is slowly unravelling.

And more from Bahrain:

quote:

While Bahrain's rulers champion a national dialogue with the opposition, stories of arbitrary arrests and torture continue to filter out, writes Haroon Siddique.

A British born woman, living in the Gulf state, who has dual nationality told BBC Radio 4's Today programme about the detention of her husband.

Al'aa Shehadi described her husband as "apolitical" and said she suspected he had been detained because her family has political connections.

quote:
One day he came home from lunch and on his way back to work, in his office car park, he was approached by eight plainclothes police officers who blindfolded him, handcuffed him and took him away. He was held incommunicado in detention for 48 days before he was suddenly summoned to a military court and charged with participating in an illegal gathering of more than five people and of spreading false information.

I didn't recognise him [when he got out] his head was shaved, he had a beard, he had lost about 10 kilos in weight...he had bloodshot eyes, there was a 4cm very deep scar on his neck that he didn't have when he was arrested.

It's no lonely place being in a Bahraini prison right now. He's in good company. You've got the best of the best in Bahrain who are either in jail or facing trail on similar charges.

Brown Moses fucked around with this message at 10:25 on Jun 10, 2011

# ? Jun 10, 2011 10:22

Boner Slam: May 9, 2005

Lascivious Sloth posted:

NTC Support

HEY THERE BROWN PEOPLE WITH OIL, LOOK WE BOMBED YOUR CRAZY DICTATOR FOR YOU, HERE IS SOME MONEY. YOU LIKE US RITE`? WE BE FRIENDS NOW. SO I HEARD YOU HAVE SOME OIL UP THERE. ANYWAY WHATS NICE ABOUT BEEING FRIENDS IS THAT WE HELPS EACH OTHER RIGHT. BOY, JUST THE OTHER DAY I WAS THINKING HOW NICE IT WOULD BE TO HAVE MORE OIL. I REALLY ENJOY OUR FRIENDSHIP. LETS GO DRINK A COFFEE TOMORROW. BY THE WAY HOW IS YOUR OIL INDUSTRY COMING ALONG?

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

# ? Jun 10, 2011 10:34

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

I've started following journalists in Syria, from what they are saying the phone lines have all been cut in Jisr el Shoghour, and the fields State TV claimed were burnt by "armed gangs" were burnt by the Syrian armed forces as they advanced on the city, according to eye witnesses. Interviews with Refugees in Turkey are saying Jisr el Shoghour is almosts empty, with the residents fleeing to the mountains or Turkey.

Some other related news from AJE:

quote:

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from Yayladagi in Turkey, said:

quote:
From Syrian state TV, they are telling us that armed units are moving on the town of Jisr al-Shugur. They are also saying that armed gangs are burning the fields around Jisr al-Shugur. Whoever is doing it, that will provide a smokescreen for whatever is going to happen inside but there is no question that the crackdown that the Syrian government is planning is going to be immense. We have had reports from inside Syria about tanks moving there... some of the villages have nearly emptied of population, people are bracing themselves for some sort of conflict, people have erected barricades where they can there. The Syrian military of course is very well equipped, very well armed, so some kind of showdown is imminent in this area.

# ? Jun 10, 2011 10:47

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Syria

quote:

Syrian information ministry spokesman, Reem Haddad, is emerging as Syria's Comical Ali.

She told the BBC that refugees from Jisr al-Shughour were not fleeing the army but armed groups. "There is no army in Jisr al-Shughour," she said before the operation began today.

And she described the refugee crisis in Turkey like this: "A lot of them find it easy to move across because their relatives are there. It's a bit like having a problem in your street, and your Mum lives in the next street, so you go and visit your Mum for a bit."

That would almost be adorable, if it wasn't trying to excuse a massacre.

quote:

Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has condemned Syria's crackdown on anti-government protesters as "inhumane'', al-Jazeera reports.

Erdogan, a weary ally of Syria who is in regular contact with the Assad regime, told Turkish TV:

quote:
Unfortunately, they [the regime of Bashar al-Assad] are acting in an inhumane way.

The savagery right now ... Think about it, the images they are playing in the heads of the women they kill is so ugly, these images are hard to eat, hard to swallow. I talked to Mr Assad four or five days ago ... But they underestimate the situation.

quote:

A Google Map of today's protests in Syria, compiled by activists, is starting to fill up. The blue markers show reports of protests today. If earlier Fridays are anything to go by, the map is likely to be updated with more reports as the day goes on.

From Twitter:

quote:

@jenanmoussa: Deir al Zoor is already out in the streets

Libya

quote:

An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people have been killed on both sides in four months of fighting in Libya, according to Cherif Bassiouni, who led a U.N. Human Rights Council mission to Tripoli and rebel-held areas in late April.

His panel found evidence of war crimes by Gaddafi forces, including attacks on civilians, aid workers, and medical units. Aircraft, tanks, artillery, Grad rockets, snipers were used. It also found some evidence of crimes by opposition forces.

quote:

Libyan state television reported on Thursday that the NATO-led military alliance had hit civilian and military targets in the town of Zuwarah, 120 km west of the capital Tripoli.

quote:

Canada is preparing to keep its planes in the skies over Libya for another three and a half months in a mission that the government says will cost $60-million.

The Canadian Forces now have more than 650 aviators and sailors deployed to operation MOBILE, with six CF-18 fighters taking part in NATO airstrikes to weaken the forces of Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi.

quote:

Leading senators of both parties say they will soon push legislation letting President Barack Obama confiscate up to $10 billion in seized Libyan government assets and use it for humanitarian aid in that war-torn country.

None of the money could be used to supply Libyan rebels with weapons or military equipment.

The bill comes four months into the rebel effort to oust Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. The U.S. has frozen more than $30 billion in Gadhafi regime assets, and opposition leaders have appealed repeatedly for financial help.

The legislation was announced by South Dakota Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson and Alabama GOP Sen. Richard Shelby, leaders of the Senate Banking Committee. It is co-sponsored by leading lawmakers from the Senate Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Homeland Security panels.

From Twitter:

quote:

@dovenews: Ghadames: The Algerian army opened fire on the Freedom Fighters when they tried to control the Libyan-Algerian border

quote:

@dovenews #Gaddafi forces are attacking #AdDafinya with tanks & #FreedomFighters are ready to repel any attack.

Yemen

quote:

AFP - Three civilian family members of an al-Qaeda suspect were killed on Friday in an air raid on a suspected jihadist hideout in south Yemen, a local official said.

# ? Jun 10, 2011 11:32

ArchRanger: Mar 19, 2007; I'm tired of following my dreams, I'm just gonna ask where they're goin' and meet up with 'em there.

Boner Slam posted:

HEY THERE BROWN PEOPLE WITH OIL, LOOK WE BOMBED YOUR CRAZY DICTATOR FOR YOU, HERE IS SOME MONEY. YOU LIKE US RITE`? WE BE FRIENDS NOW. SO I HEARD YOU HAVE SOME OIL UP THERE. ANYWAY WHATS NICE ABOUT BEEING FRIENDS IS THAT WE HELPS EACH OTHER RIGHT. BOY, JUST THE OTHER DAY I WAS THINKING HOW NICE IT WOULD BE TO HAVE MORE OIL. I REALLY ENJOY OUR FRIENDSHIP. LETS GO DRINK A COFFEE TOMORROW. BY THE WAY HOW IS YOUR OIL INDUSTRY COMING ALONG?

This is still dumb as all hell. Qaddafi was happily selling the West oil before all of this started, if that's all they wanted it would've been far easier for everyone involved to let him slaughter all the protesters he wished. Nevermind that the NTC said at least a month ago that they were going to honor all the past oil arrangements, so even if that's all they wanted no further bribery was needed.

Edit: And because I haven't said it yet, thanks for all the effort you're putting into this Brown Moses.

ArchRanger fucked around with this message at 11:44 on Jun 10, 2011

# ? Jun 10, 2011 11:42

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Libya

quote:

Misratah News: The city is being shelled and specifically in the Dafniyah area. There are also clashes between the revolutionaries and Gaddafi�s forces in Zlitin

quote:

Mohamed Al Akari, an aide to National Transitional Council leader Mahmoud Jebril, talks about contacts with Libyan authorities and how he expects a new government by the end of June. Watch the interview here.

quote:

Russia's Africa envoy, Mikhail Margelov, has spoken out after a meeting with rebel leaders in Benghazi, Libya, and with a cousin of Muammar Gaddafi's in Cairo. He said he would travel to Tripoli as soon as Nato provided a transport corridor to meet members of Gaddafi's government, and there was still a chance for talks between Libya's opposing sides. Russia is attempting to act as a mediator in the conflict. Reuters notes:

quote:
Analysts say motives behind Russia's trouble-shooting efforts include the desire to gain global clout and preserve its influence in a country where it had billions of dollars in arms, energy and railway deals.

Margelov said Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, had not asked him to meet Gaddafi, who had "lost the moral right to play a role in Libya's political life in the future by bombing his people".

Syria

quote:

REUTERS - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the legitimacy of the rule of President Assad was open to question after the killing of protesters by security forces.

"I would say the slaughter of innocent lives in Syria should be a problem and a concern for everybody,"

Gates told a seminar in Brussels. "Whether Assad still has the legitimacy to govern his own country, I think is a question everyone needs to consider," he said.

quote:

Al Jazeera's Rula Amin reports on events in Syria from Beirut, Lebanon:

quote:
The residents [of Jisr al-Shugur] say that most of the town there is empty. Most people have fled, either to nearby villages or to Turkey. The army is saying that they have already arrested a number of armed gangs and they are pursuing others. according to the state media, there are about 2000 armed men roaming Jisr al-Shugur and neighbouring villages. this is the official version. what the government is trying to portray here for the outside world is that it is pursuing armed groups that are killing security forces.. now if you talk to the residents they say it was a heavy crackdown by the army against protesters. some of the people there did carry weapons against the security forces, there were clashes. But they insist the high number of casulaties among the security forces actually took place when there were clashes between the security forces and the army themselves as people tried to defect or refused orders to shoot.

quote:

Al Jazeera's Rula Amin reports that protests have already started in Dir ALzour, Qamishly, Amouda and Homs.

quote:

An Al Jaeera Arabic correspondent, reports from a refugee camp in Yayladagi, Turkey:

quote:
The camp has already about 4000 people inside it, 6 buses just arrived and about 150 new people entered the camp despite demands by those inside it not to allow more refugees in because the camp is already full and crowded. 90 percent of the new comers are women and children, most of them are from Jir Al-Shugour. About 10 thousand Syrians are near borders with Turkey, but only few hundreds are trying to enter Turkey. Most of them will stay inside Syria near the borders fearing that if they leave the country, they will not be able to go back.

quote:

A new video has been published with English subtitles apparently showing a defected officer from the Syrian army saying he and other soldiers have joined the uprising for democracy after being unable to continue following order to kill unarmed protestors:

Al Jazeera cannot independently verify the footage, but is working to directly contact the man on the video who give his name as Hussein Harmoush, an officer in the 11th Battalion.

�I announce my split from the Syrian army and I am joining the Syrian youth alongside a number of the free Arab Syrian army. Our current aim is the protection of the protestors who are asking for freedom and democracy,� says the man on the video.

He gives three reasons for splitting from the military: The mass killings of Syrians; the raids on peaceful villages; the killing of women and children, especially what he calls the �massacre� in Jisr al-Shughour last Saturday.

The man calls on soldiers to �protect civilians and property as well as the government buildings from the criminal elements led by Bashar al Assad and his regime,� while assuring the people of Syria that �the free soldiers have vowed to protect the students of freedom and democracy in our beloved Syria.�

quote:

Friday has been dubbed the "Friday of clans" in Syria, and protests are taking place across the country. This video, posted on Youtube, reportedly shows one such protest.

quote:

Al Jazeera's Rula Amin says protests have begun in towns across Syria:

quote:
RulaAminIn #Homs as well, protests startedin different neighborhoods, eyewitness on AJA reports security forces already firing at protesters #Syria

quote:

The Syrian opposition group, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, reports further signs of resident resistance in the north west.

Until recently the group has stressed the peaceful nature of the protests. But that appears to be changing:

In an updated on the Idlib governorate (the area that includes Jisr al-Shagour) it confirms Nadim Houry's reports of shooting in a nearby village.

quote:
Intensive firing in the village of Sarmeneyah, 8km from Jisir Shaghour area while people lit tires on its entrances in an attempt to block the advance of the army

Sweeping the villages surrounding Jisir Shagour. About 40 tanks in the village of Sarmaneyah that had been broken into, and the village of Sheikh Sendian is expected to be stormed soon passing through all the other villages in preparation for storming the bridge from the north.

quote:

The first videos of today's post-Friday prayers protests in Syria are starting to emerge. This one shows a sizeable rally in the northern town of Qamishli.
Another, from the south-western area of Horan, shows protesters making now familiar chants calling for the downfall of the regime.

Yemen

quote:

Mohamed Qubaty, a Yemeni opposition member, spoke to Al Jazeera from London:

quote:
Unless they (the Saudis) want us again to descend into civil war, I don't think that (sending Saleh back) is a reasonable way to sort out the problem in Yemen. I think the Saudis had tried with their initiative and Ali Saleh has at least three times reneged on those promises to sign the initiative that was proposed by the GCC countries. Now I think it is his presence there in Saudi which opens up a window for political compromise and solutions in the country. His return means that the country will be back on its way towards civil war. and that actually threatens the whole world...

quote:
I think the opposition have more than once shown their willingness to co-operate with the vice president and the rest of the regime who are willing to go for a compromise so we could have a transitional phase thats peaceful and we could start working towards forming a new coalition and a government for serving the whole situation there. Unfortunately the vice president's position is too awkward and wuithout really help from our regional partners, especially our brothers the Saudis, the situation could very easily fall into chaos.

quote:

According to Al Jazeera sources, there are rallies expected in 17 Yemeni provinces calling for a transitional council and the toppling of the regime.

Israel?!?

quote:

The Israeli daily Haaretz has unearthed a terrific story about Israel's diplomatic battle plan to avoid what it regards as a potentially disastrous bid by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to have Palestine recognised by the UN.

A leaked cable from foreign ministry director general Rafael Barak outlines instructions to Isreali diplomats all over the world. It says:

quote:
The goal we have set is to have the maximum number of countries oppose the process of having the UN recognise a Palestinian state. The Palestinian effort must be referred to as a process that erodes the legitimacy of the state of Israel ...

The primary argument is that by pursuing this process in the UN, the Palestinians are trying to achieve their aims in a manner other than negotiations with Israel, and this violates the principle that the only route to resolving the conflict is through bilateral negotiations.

The goal is to get the country in which you serve to vote against recognising a Palestinian state. Your plan must include approaching the most senior politicians, mobilising the relevant force multipliers [such as local Jewish communities, non-governmental organisations], using the media, influencing local public opinion, and public diplomacy aimed at all the relevant communities.

Paul Owen looked into the issue on the Middle East blog a couple of weeks ago, specifically here and here. Abbas is pressing the UN to recognise Palestine as an independent state and for the body to admit the state as a member. But although Israel may succeed in getting the US to block the UN's admitting Palestine as a member, it is unlikely it will be able to stop the UN recognising Palestine. As the Guardian's Middle East editor, Ian Black, put it, only the US, Israel "and AN Other" are likely to reject this, and the decision will be made by a majority vote in the general assembly; the US has no veto.

# ? Jun 10, 2011 12:14

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Jenan Moussa is Tweeting about Syria, some good stuff:

quote:

Here u go. Videos started appearing online. Dems in #: Qamishly: http://bit.ly/iGOhKO "People want to topple the regime" all chanting.

Protestors in Deir el Zour chanting for Al assad" "Go leave to #iran": http://bit.ly/jQpPe9 #syria

#syria state tv: The great #syrian army is entering Jisr el Shoghour now #syria

#syria state tv: 2 limited gatherings in #Latakia after Jumaa prayers #syria

Al Jazeera: protests in different #syria(n) city: #Qamishli, #Latakia, #Deir el Zour, #Daraa, #Homs, #Amouda, #Boukamal #syria

Also from #Deir el Zour, #syria http://bit.ly/mJs7Fx people chanting: "people want to topple the regine" #syria

#syria(n) opposition sites speak about loud bangs in #Homs. Also news of random arrest of people praying in Al Hafeth mosque. #syria

Which language is this? A message to #china? http://bit.ly/jUbPD5 and what does it say? In #syria.

#syria(n) online groups: Demos in #latakia went out of Omar Ibn el Khatab mosque, calling to topple regime.

First video we see out of #Latakia of protestors. Small in nb yet significant cz #Assad is from there. http://bit.ly/kWX5NT #syria

Syrian forces shoot dead 2 protestors in village of #Bursa Al hariri in southern plain of #Hauran: wires #syria

Reuters quaoting eye witnesses: Syrian forces shoot dead 2 protestors in village of #Bursa Al hariri in southern plain of #Hauran #Syria

First visual evidence of protests in #Damascus #syria, Rokn el Din neighborhood: http://bit.ly/iyVehu

Couple more bits from Syria:

quote:

In Zabadani, a mountain town 45km north-west of Damascus, around 1,500 protesters are chanting for freedom, the toppling of the regime and an end to the military assault on Jisr al-Shughur, an eye witness told Al Jazeera.

The procession left the Jisr Mosque after Friday prayers and are trying to merge with other demonstrations in the town, which came under a security clampdown after large anti-regime protests in early May.

The eye witness said that the protest is peaceful so far and security forces have remained at the entrance to the town. Communication is up and running, except for the internet which is intermitted, as it is in the capital Damascus.

quote:

An eyewitness in Deir Ezzour in eastern Syria told Al Jazeera around 10,000 protesters are marching towards the central square, formerly known as Sahet al-Basil after President Assad�s late brother, but which has been renamed Sahet al-Tahrir, Liberation Square, by the protesters.

He said security forces had left the city four days ago but that residents feared an attack after reports that tanks and armoured personnel carriers were heading towards Deir Ezzour from Raqqa to the north and from Damascus.

�People here fear a military campaign on Deir Ezzour,� he said to Al Jazeera. �We have witnessed strange people in the city in the last few days drawing marks like the cedar tree on the Lebanese flag in certain neighbourhoods. So people are scared they will be targeted.�

Over the past few weeks protestors in Deir Ezzour city have burned a number of buildings belonging to the ruling Baath Party while across the governorate protestors have burned the flags of Iran, Russia and China to express their outrage at the perceived support those countries have given the Assad regime during its bloody crackdown.

And the Guardian update from Yemen:

quote:

Here's a round-up of events in Yemen today:

� Pro- and anti-government supporters are again holding rival Friday rallies in the capital Sana'a. Activist Ibrahim Saleh gives a flavour of the atmosphere in this tweet:

quote:
Pro-Saleh in Sabeen square chanting "the people want Ali Saleh" & Saleh replies "I'm dead, I'm dead!!" #Yemen #Arabspring

� More members of Saleh's family are reported to have fled the country, according to the Arabic paper al-Quds.

� Amid the political upheaval government forces continue to attack suspected al-Qaida militants, the Associated Press news agency reports.

quote:
Government warplanes and artillery struck Islamic militants who seized a town in southern Yemen, where extremists suspected of links to al-Qaida have begun operating openly, training with weapons and controlling roads, emboldened by the country's political turmoil.

Brown Moses fucked around with this message at 13:20 on Jun 10, 2011

# ? Jun 10, 2011 12:47

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

quote:

protests in Al hassan mosque in Midan area inside #Damascus #syria People screaming " Allahu w Akbar".

Video of demos In new neighborhood in #damascus http://bit.ly/mw0P5n. We saw demos in 3 different neighborhoods inside #damas so far #syria

Huge nb in Deir el Zoor protesting against #Assad regime. Watch http://bit.ly/jSCYPw #syria

Iyad El Baghdadi is also reporting stuff:

quote:

Reports that regime has removed a statue of Hafez al-Assad from entrance of Hama, to prevent it being "defiled." #Syria

I don't know how the regime will take this? I heard that "God curse your soul, Hafez!" is becoming a popular chant. #Syria

#Syria protest map: http://j.mp/ioQlz6 (it may double as a population density map of the country!)

Another chant: "Daraa don't be afraid, Assad will go before Gaddafi!"

Deaths reported in Homs. #Syria

Some other stuff from Syria

quote:

French television news station France 24 is to take legal action after it was apparently hoaxed into reporting the resignation of Lamia Shakkour, the Syrian ambassador to Paris, Kim Willsher reports.

A collection of video clips from protests from AJE.

quote:

Footage of a big demonstration in the central Syrian city of Homs today has been uploaded to YouTube. Protesters are holding up English-language banners underlying their desire to be seen and heard by the outside world. One says: "Bashar go out," another: "Syrian [people] want to bring down the regime."

quote:

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught tweets about the refugee situation in Turkey, near the Syrian border, where people who have fled unrest in Jisr al-Shugur have not been allowed to speak to the media.

quote:
Preposterous isolation of Syrian refugees in Yayladagi continues. We are throwing notes over fence and using Bluetooth.

quote:

Syrian forces shot dead two civilians on Friday when they fired at a pro-democracy demonstration in a village in the southern Hauran Plain, cradle of the uprising against Baathist rule, residents said.

"There was a demonstration of 1,000 people when the 'Amen' (security police) fired from their cars," one of the residents of Busra al-Harir village said

quote:

Al Jazeera has spoken to a resident of Jisr al-Shughour where a military assault is underway. �It�s tragic,� said the eyewitness, a resident of Jisr al-Shughour who fled the town this morning and is making his way towards the Turkish border to seek refuge.

�They have burned down all the crops in surrounding fields and the villagers are fleeing to the nearby mountain.�

He said he had seen the army shooting at fleeing villagers with machine guns. He denied the regime�s claims that there are armed gangs in Jisr al-Shughour. �All the accusations of residents sheltering gangs are false,� he said. �And we never asked the army for help or to enter our city. It is them firing on us.�

The resident said a military operation had just started in Al Serminiyye, a village five kilometers south of Jisr al-Shughour, where he said he counted 16 tanks surrounding the village, many shelling it.

He said that he was travelling with four residents of Jisr al-Shughour who had been shot during the assault. All communications are out in Jisr al-Shughur and its surrounding villages.

quote:

A military assault is also underway on the town of Ariha, 30km east of Jisr al-Shughour, according to a resident who spoke to Al Jazeera en route to the Turkish border.

"Ariha was invaded this morning at 4am by thugs and security forces. We heard gun fire and so I took my family and left as fast as we could," he said.

Last Friday and Saturday the north-west governorate of Idleb, which contains Ariha and Jisr al-Shughour, saw some of the largest anti-regime protests since the uprising began, with between 50,000 to 100,000 people taking to the streets in Ma�arat al-Numan, while 50km south in Hama at least 50,000 took to the streets.

In the early 1980s, former president Hafez al-Assad ordered military assaults on both Hama and Jisr al-Shughour in order to crush a revolt by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, massacring in Hama between 10,000 and 30,000 people.

And from Libya:

quote:

Chris Stephen reports from Libya that pro-Gaddafi forces launched infantry and artillery attacks today on the western end of the Misrata pocket near the village of Dafniya, inflicting heavy rebel casualties.

Three rebel ambulances were destroyed on the road to the front and eyewitnesses said pick-up trucks loaded with the bodies of the rebel dead were coming back from the front.

At Misrata's Hikma hospital a steady stream of ambulances brought wounded fighters in from the front. Radio Misrata reported that three Gaddafi tanks had joined infantry on an attack on the front line, but that the rebel positions had not been penetrated.

quote:

Chris Stephen in Libya sends more on the attack on the Misrata area.

quote:
The Reuters cameraman got back badly shaken, said heaviest attack he's seen, lots of rebel casualties. The rockets seem to be landing pretty close to the city.

This is either a sign that Gaddafi's forces are attacking the rebels again, or the rebels are trying to attack Gaddafi's forces, which would be supported by some earlier reports. Reports from a few days ago said rebels were already making small probing attacks on the western front, so maybe this is the main assault.

quote:

Rebel commanders in the besieged Libyan opposition enclave of Misrata have complained that requests for Nato air support during a week of heavy attacks by pro-Gaddafi forces have been ignored, writes Chris Stephen:

quote:
After a week of infantry assaults and bombardments, the Misrata Military Council says 24 rebel fighters have been killed and 45 wounded. But pleas for Nato air support have gone unanswered.

"We asked through the operations room in Benghazi for the Apaches to take part in the fight with Gaddafi troops but up to now we did not get any promise," said Fathi Bashaga, the member of the city's military council responsible for Nato liaison. "What we expect from Nato is the introduction of their Apache."

But, as Chris points out, the British Ministry of Defence confirms they took part in an Apache strike last night near Misrata, hitting a communications unit and Grad rocket launchers. Chris says the rebel commanders in Misrata do not seem to know about it.

Major General Nick Pope, the chief of the defence staff's strategic communications officer, said:

quote:
Off Misrata, HMS Ocean launched British army Apache helicopters to attack a regime military communications installation and multiple rocket launcher which had been identified by Nato surveillance operations. Both targets were destroyed and the helicopters returned safely to Ocean.

Pope also said RAF Tornado and Typhoon aircraft destroyed four of Gaddafi's "main battle tanks" near Zlitan, which is west of Misrata, and to the south, near Bani Walid, attacked a tank transporter.

quote:

The Gaddafi regime has been negotiating a secret deal with Greece to use $20bn (�12bn) of its funds that are frozen abroad for �humanitarian relief� and �peace talks�.

Also, Libyanproud just Tweeted this:

quote:

I just received a 60 gb hard disk from #Tripoli will filter through it !

Let's hope it's not porn and mp3s.

# ? Jun 10, 2011 13:29

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

quote:

Al jazeera sources: 9 members of #syria #Baath ruling party submitted their resignation

#syria opposition online groups speak about shooting in #Latakia on protestors.

And here is another evidence of protests today in #Aleppo: http://bit.ly/kYjopx

quote:

In Dumeir, 35km east of Damascus, 3,000 protesters have taken to the streets after Friday prayers chanting for freedom, the toppling of the regime and an end to military operations in Jisr al-Shughur, Deraa and other Syrian cities.

An eyewitness who spoke to Al Jazeera said there is a heavy presence of security and armed thugs surrounding the demonstration, but that all was peaceful so far.

Secret police had yesterday been raiding homes in Dumeir and had arrested at least 10 people, he said, the majority of them doctors who they accused of breaking the law by setting up field hospitals to help wounded protesters.

As first reported by Al Jazeera, doctors have faced a systematic campaign against them by the secret police, being threatened against treating wounded protesters.

He said that people fear more will be arrested today.

quote:

We've put together this Google map showing the location of protests videos today across Syria. Click on the Guardian icon to see the video.

Syrian activists have also been compiling a Google map showing reports of protests today.

quote:

The Guardian's Martin Chulov has an intriguing Twitter update from the Turkish border, pointing to possible Iranian involvement in the Syrian crackdown.

quote:
All 6 Jisr al-Shughour men I've spoken to in Turkey talked of bearded men who spoke no Arabic present during last Sat bloodbath. #Syria

Yemen

quote:

The Associated Press reports that nearly 100,000 Yemenis are protesting at Change Square in Sanaa, demanding the oust of the wounded President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, leader of the opposition tribal confederation, led a march through the square carrying bodies of 41 fighters killed last week in battle with government troops, the report said.

Protesters chanted, "The people want a transitional government,` and `The people want the butcher put on trial,'' referring to Saleh, it said.

There's reports from Libya of Zliten emptying of civilians, and Gaddafi troops taking up positions inside buildings, preparing for battle.

Also, bullshit report of the day:

quote:

Libyan forces shot down a NATO helicopter in the sea off the coast of the town of Zlitan on Friday, Libyan state television said.

It quoted a military spokesman as saying it was the third aircraft to be shot down by Libyan forces since NATO began air strikes on Libya in March. There was no independent confirmation of the report.

# ? Jun 10, 2011 14:04

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Libya

quote:

UK Ministry of Defense : Yesterday, near Zlitan, Royal Air Force Tornado and Typhoon aircraft destroyed four of Colonel Qadhafi�s main battle tanks. To the south, near Bani Walid, RAF aircraft attacked a tank transporter. Another patrol engaged a self-propelled gun near Gharyan. Off Misratah, HMS Ocean launched British Army Apache helicopters to attack a regime communications installation and multiple rocket launcher. These were identified by NATO surveillance operations. Both targets were destroyed and the helicopters returned safely to HMS Ocean.

quote:

Emma Murphy : Large explosions were heard in Tripoli, followed by sirens and then two more explosions five minutes later.

quote:

Norway says it will scale down its fighter jet contribution in Libya from six to four planes and withdraw completely from the NATO-led operation by Aug. 1.

Defense Minister Grete Faremo said Friday she expects understanding from NATO allies because Norway has a small air force and cannot �maintain a large fighter jet contribution during a long time.�

The Scandinavian country�s Air Force says Norwegian F-16 jets have carried out about 10 percent of the NATO airstrikes in Libya since March 31.

quote:

NATO denied on Friday a Libyan state television report that Libyan forces shot down a NATO helicopter in the sea off the coast of the town of Zlitan.

A military official at the headquarters of NATO�s Libya mission in Naples said: �We have no indication to show that this is true. It�s a spurious claim.�

Libyan state television quoted a military spokesman as saying it was the third aircraft to be shot down by Libyan forces since NATO began air strikes on Libya in March.

I've also seen reports Cananda is pull it's AWACS aircraft out to cut costs, but the UK RAF has it's own AWACS aircraft, so they won't go without.

Syria

quote:

Reem Haddad, the information ministry spokeswoman, tells Al Jazeera that the army has not yet entered Jir al-Shughur.

She says the people leaving the town are "fleeing from armed groups".

She says "a lot of citizens" had asked the army to intervene and that there was "a state of absolut terror" in the area, stressing that 120 police and security forces were killed in an ambush earlier this week..

She denied reports that soldiers had defected, refusing to shoot at protesters.
"There has been absolutely no mutiny at all," she says.

quote:

Today, it's been 11 years since late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad died.

The ministry of interior has released a statement warning residents in Assad�s hometown of Qardaha on the Syrian coast against responding to leaflets in nearby Latakia calling for pro-democracy protests.

Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria unchallenged and with an iron fist for three decades. He was credited for consolidating power in a nation wracked by coups following independence from France, but heavily criticised for appalling human rights abuses, including the 1982 Hama massacre, described as "the single deadliest act by any Arab government against its own people in the modern Middle East."

Early in his career Hafez al-Assad changed the family name from al-Wahsh, meaning "the beast" to al-Assad, meaning "the lion".

quote:

In Binnish, a town 5km from Idlib in northwest Syria, 10,000 protesters are calling for freedom and the toppling of the regime, an activist in the town tells Al Jazeera. "The protesters are chanting: 'Peaceful, peaceful' while holding olive branches," he said.

The army has surrounded the town but so far there have been no attacks on the protesters, he said. However, residents are growing fearful of an impending attack after seeing a claim on Syrian state TV that their town is harbouring 100 armed men, who are terrifying residents.

"We haven't witnessed anything like this," the activist said. "And we are not calling for the army to enter the town. We fear that they will use this as an excuse to enter Binnish like they did in Jisr al-Shughur."

The activist also said he had been in contact with the family of two men from Binnish, Abdel Fatah al-Omar and Abdel Fatah Asaad who were arrested recently. The family told him the men had been severely tortured.

"Now we fear they will be forced on Syrian TV to confess they are responsible for killing protesters, which we believe the security forces are responsible for."

quote:

Refugees from Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour are all talking unprompted about a possible Iranian involvement in the crackdown in the town, Martin Chulov reports.

Speaking from southern Turkey via Skype, Martin says:

[quoet] All of them have said unprompted that during the Syrian army operation last Saturday there were a number of men wearing black and fully bearded which is very unusual in Syria certainly among the security services.

Everybody has hinted, or said directly, that these people did not speak Arabic. The implications being that they may well have been Iranian.

Two days ago the Foreign Office in London said there had been Iranian officers on the ground in Syrian helping the regime.

We were told that these people played a significant role in helping with the technical side, but this is the first we've heard that there were unexplained people in the conflict zone standing alongside Syrian soldiers.

If Iran is involved on the ground it does mark a significant step upwards. It would say that there is some significant pressure being felt in Damascus and indeed by Iran if they are prepared to send people to front lines like this to assist the Syrians in a crackdown.

[/quote]

# ? Jun 10, 2011 14:44

Pureauthor: Jul 8, 2010; ASK ME ABOUT KISSING A GHOST

Man, things in Syria are really going downhill right now.

# ? Jun 10, 2011 14:48

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 15:23

Mad Doctor Cthulhu: Mar 3, 2008

Pureauthor posted:

Man, things in Syria are really going downhill right now.

Isn't this the way it always goes? Just like Libya, we get protesters who are getting sick of their conditions, then the government has a crackdown where they kill a lot of people but try to lie their way out of it, then poo poo gets really real and eventually it gets to the point where the government has to make concessions or is usurped?

You would think Syria would have figured this out by now.

# ? Jun 10, 2011 14:53

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Middle East Thread of Despair: More Broken Than Syria

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