- Benagain
- Oct 10, 2007
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Can you see that I am serious?
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Fun Shoe
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Hey Brown Moses, Xandu, and everyone else who's posted articles, thanks for acting as an RSS feed for my middle east news fix. It's nice to see all the varied sources of information as they occur as well as critical commentary, especially since I'm too lazy too sign up for twitter and learn French/Arabic and follow this stuff as it happens.
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Jun 14, 2011 22:14
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- Adbot
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ADBOT LOVES YOU
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May 21, 2024 18:06
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- the floor is baklava
- May 4, 2003
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SHAME
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If the document is authentic well I expect it'll be a huge scandal and we'll soon all be hearing about it endlessly.
However few things raise flags with me about that article. Firstly, The Washington Times is widely known to be a stridently right-wing paper, and I'm always inclined to question anything in it. Second, the source they cite appears to be a report in The Daily Telegraph by an apparent career pro-Israel advocate who claims the secret document was forwarded to him. He provides an image of said document in the article he posted: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/m...-golan-heights/
Also the fact that I had to do a search to find the article in the Telegraph website rather than seeing it smeared across the front page makes me wonder...
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Jun 14, 2011 23:14
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- quadratic
- May 2, 2002
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f(x) = ax^2 + bx + c
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fap fap SPLOOGE posted:
If the document is authentic well I expect it'll be a huge scandal and we'll soon all be hearing about it endlessly.
However few things raise flags with me about that article. Firstly, The Washington Times is widely known to be a stridently right-wing paper, and I'm always inclined to question anything in it. Second, the source they cite appears to be a report in The Daily Telegraph by an apparent career pro-Israel advocate who claims the secret document was forwarded to him. He provides an image of said document in the article he posted: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/m...-golan-heights/
Also the fact that I had to do a search to find the article in the Telegraph website rather than seeing it smeared across the front page makes me wonder...
The author of that Telegraph blog post is the spokesman of Just Journalism.
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Jun 14, 2011 23:36
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- Lascivious Sloth
- Apr 26, 2008
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by sebmojo
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Propaganda
quote:Libyan state television reported on Tuesday the NATO-led military alliance was bombarding civilian and military targets in the town of Al Jufrah in central Libya. It said the bombing targeted the al-Rawagha district of the town. It gave no further details.
Liberia
quote:Liberia severed diplomatic ties with Libya on Tuesday, the latest African country to distance itself from leader Muammar Gaddafi since a NATO-backed uprising against him.
The move, announced by the office of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, comes after Senegal received a delegation of Libyan rebel leaders last month and Mauritania's president was quoted last week as saying Gaddafi's departure was necessary.
"The Government took the decision after a careful review of the situation in Libya and determined that the Government of Colonel Gaddafi has lost the legitimacy to govern Libya," the statement from Sirleaf's office said.
"The violence against the Libyan people must stop," it said of its decision to withdraw the Liberian envoy from Tripoli and suspend activities of the Libyan representation in the Liberian capital Monrovia.
Tunisia
quote:Tunisia flew an F-5 warplane and a reconnaissance helicopter along its border with Libya on Tuesday, witnesses and a police source said, after Libyan troops fired several rockets into Tunisia.
Libyan troops fired Grad rockets from positions controlled by Muammar Gaddafi over the border overnight, witnesses said, in an assault likely to raise already high tensions between the two countries. The explosions caused no damage or injuries, and are likely to have been targeted towards anti-Gaddafi rebels controlling the border with Tunisia along Libya's Western Mountains region.
"An F-5 plane and a helicopter were patrolling at the border with Libya to survey the situation after the rockets fell on the region of Mrabeh," a police source in the area told Reuters by telephone.
Libyan rebels make fresh advances
quote:Pro-democracy fighters have made fresh advances in both the east and the west of Libya, gaining ground against forces loyal to the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, reports say.
Late on Tuesday, NATO resumed bombing the Libyan capital with strikes hitting the east of the city.
Libyan state TV said the bombings had struck military and civilian targets in Firnag, one of the biggest neighbourhoods in Tripoli, and Ain Zara. It said there were casualties.
In the west of the country, the fighters managed to to force government troops into retreat from the town of Kikla, about 150km southwest of the capital, Tripoli, on Tuesday, news agencies said.
And in the east, they launched more attacks against Gaddafi forces near the oil town of Brega, where fighting on Monday killed at least 25 fighters and wounded dozens more.
The wounded were transferred to a hospital in Ajdabiya, 160km south of Benghazi, the de facto capital of the rebels who have been fighting to overthrow Gaddafi since mid-February.
The rebels have spent months trying to seize the strategic oil hub of Brega, which would open the road to Sirte, the Libyan leader's home town, and from there to Tripoli.
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Jun 15, 2011 00:30
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- Chortles
- Dec 29, 2008
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Assuming that the Tunisia incursion into Libyan airspace was by a Northrop F-5 variant (i.e. the F-5A/F-5B Freedom Fighter, or the F-5E/F-5F Tiger II)... would this have been anywhere near the "Red Lines," or the sort of flight that wouldn't have happened without NATO's okay?
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Jun 15, 2011 03:08
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- Lascivious Sloth
- Apr 26, 2008
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by sebmojo
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It was in Tunisian airspace, they didn't cross the border, they were surveying where the rounds hit.
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Jun 15, 2011 03:36
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- Mozi
- Apr 4, 2004
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Forms change so fast
Time is moving past
Memory is smoke
Gonna get wider when I die
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Nap Ghost
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The only reason we're paying billions in aid to Pakistan is, well, we're already paying billions in aid to them. Personally I consider this a waste of money.
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Jun 15, 2011 05:18
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- Ghost of Babyhead
- Jun 28, 2008
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Grimey Drawer
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So it seems some of the rebels are assembling armed remote-control robots 
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Jun 15, 2011 08:06
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- quadratic
- May 2, 2002
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f(x) = ax^2 + bx + c
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/bahrain-to-sue-over-independent-reporting-2297590.html posted:
Bahrain 'to sue over Independent reporting'
By Richard Hall
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
The government of Bahrain claimed yesterday to have commissioned a UK-based law firm to file a case against The Independent for its reporting on the crackdown on protests in the country.
Nawaf al-Mawada, a representative of the Information Affairs Authority, told Bahrain's state news agency that the action was being taken because The Independent had "deliberately published a series of unrealistic and provocative articles targeting Bahrain and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia". A correspondence from the Information Affairs Authority to The Independent cites an opinion piece by Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk, in which he criticises the Bahraini government for putting 48 surgeons on trial, as being "based on slanderous hearsay". It also claims that "using columns, features and news to publish misinformation in repeated attacks on our people and rulers amounts to libel and will be treated as such in accordance with the law".
At least 31 people have died in demonstrations against the 200-year rule of the Al Khalifa family, which began in February.
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Jun 15, 2011 09:07
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Live Blogs June 15th
Feb17.info
AJE Libya
AJE Yemen
AJE Syria
Guardian
Yemen
quote:The United States is building a secret CIA air base in the Persian Gulf region to target al-Qaida terrorists in Yemen, in case anti-American factions win the current power struggle and shut US forces out, according to AP. The White House has already increased the numbers of CIA officers in Yemen and it has stepped up the schedule to construct the base.
quote:Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis demonstrated in nearly every major city of the country on Tuesday, demanding trial for the family and close aides of the ailing president, AP reports. They were the largest protests since President Ali Abdullah Saleh fled to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment for injuries suffered in an attack on his compound.
quote:Demonstrators in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and other cities, have called for the speeding up the formation of a transitional council to run the country’s affairs.
They refused to postpone the talks on this matter.
Sources have also told Al Jazeera that clashes broke out between forces loyal to president Ali Abdullah Saleh and anti-government fighters in the southern city of Taiz one day after an agreement on ending armed confrontations in the city.
The sources added that the clashes have inflicted casualties on both sides, and the fighters also burned two fuel tankers.
quote:The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),a bloc of monarchies neighbouring Yemen, say they will renew efforts to make sure a civil war is averted in Yemen, Reuters reports. Saleh has already backed out of several deals the GCC (as well as US-EU) helped strike to ease him from office.
Bahrain
quote:Bahrain is to sue the Independent newspaper, accusing it of "orchestrating a defamatory and premeditated media campaign" against the Gulf state and neighbouring Saudi Arabia. It singled out for criticism the newspaper's award-winning Middle East correspondent, Robert Fisk.
A UK-based legal firm has been hired, according to a report by the state news agency in Bahrain, where the ruling regime has been suppressing popular uprisings for months.
In his latest column Fisk wrote:
quote: Has the Khalifa family gone mad? Yesterday [Monday], the Bahraini royal family started an utterly fraudulent trial of 48 surgeons, doctors, paramedics and nurses, accusing them of trying to topple the tin-pot monarchy of this Sunni minority emirate.
He claimed the Saudi's were now running Bahrain:
quote:Bahrain is no longer the kingdom of the Khalifas. It has become a Saudi palatinate, a confederated province of Saudi Arabia, a pocket-size weasel state from which all journalists should in future use the dateline: Manama, Occupied Bahrain.
Syria
quote:The onslaught of the Syrian army goes on in the face of mounting international condemnation including for the first time from the Arab League. Syrian feared 4th division, commanded by Maher al-Assad, brother of Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad is reported to have moved to the eastern city of Deir Azzor. The same division has been in control of the town of Jisr al-Shughour since Friday, forcing most remaining people in the besieged enclave to flee to the nearby mountains bordering Turkey.
quote:The prospects are bleak in Syria and the west has no credability to do anything about it, argues Chris Doyle director of the council for Arab-British understanding.
quote:The situation in Syria will only get worse in the coming weeks with further demonstrations and killings, increased economic hardship as vital tourism and foreign investment drops away, increasing the pressure on the international community to act. Chaos in Syria will be almost impossible to contain...
The west only has itself to blame. It is the inconsistency of its policies and the failure to root its actions legally and ethically over decades – not least over Iraq, Palestine and cosying up to the most dictatorial of regimes – that has led to the lack of trust in its motives and the dilemmas it faces now.
quote:
The US has leverage in Syria it has simply chosen not to use it, argues Tony Badran from the neoconservative thinktank Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Writing Foreign Policy magazine he says:
quote:It is essential for US to abandon its hands-off approach to Syria. Once Washington states unequivocally that it sees no role for Assad except for him to leave, everything else will follow. The position of the superpower, after all, matters. The Turks, for example, who are divided on how to proceed, will stop vacillating if Obama makes it clear that he would like to see Assad depart in a manner that safeguards their interests.
Once the administration makes that decision, its ability to muster leverage increases. Washington could then widen the coalition against Assad to include other key Arab states, including Saudi Arabia. Washington should make clear that it seeks Assad's ouster as part of a broader strategy of countering Iranian influence in the region -- something about which Riyadh remains deeply concerned. There are several signs that the Saudis will be receptive to this argument, not least of which is the relentlessly critical line Saudi-owned media have taken against Assad over the last three months.
quote:A family of four, including two children aged five and four, were killed trying to flee the north-western Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour, activists claim. They were shot while getting on motorbike on the al-Abyad bridge in the city, according to the opposition group the Local Coordination Committees of Syria [LCCS].
It said witnessed claim their were left on the bridge because of the heavy gunfire.
Opposition dissident Ammar Abdulhamid claims thousands of people have been killed in the uprising.
quote: Take the official death toll figures of 1,500-2,000 offered by human rights groups and quadruple it: now you have an idea what's really happening in Syria. According to eyewitnesses more than 1,000 were killed in Rastan only in Week 11, [in] Deraa alone... other Hauran communities may have suffered as much as 2,000 fatalities. And heaven only knows what is happening now in Jisr al-Shoughour.
His claims cannot be verified.
Libya
quote:Nato dropped leaflets threatening Apache air strikes against government forces near the western rebel stronghold of Misrata, but they landed on ground claimed by the rebels, writes Chris Stephens. Thousands of leaflets were sprinkled from a bomb that detonated above no man's land east of the city, raining down over rebel units who had moved their frontline five miles forward from the shattered village of Dafniya. The rebels had apparently neglected to tell Nato about the move.
quote:Republican John Boehner, speaker of the US House of Representatives urged President Barack Obama on Tuesday to explain the legal grounds for the continued US military involvement in Libya and set a Friday deadline for the commander in chief's response.
Ratcheting up the pressure, the Ohio Republican said in a letter to the White House that the administration clearly will be in violation of the 1973 War Powers Act this weekend.
Obama did not seek congressional consent for the operation within 60 days of the March 19 US airstrikes against Muammar Gaddafi's forces.
Boehner wrote:
[quote] Either you have concluded the War Powers Resolution does not apply to the mission in Libya or you have determined the War Powers Resolution is contrary to the Constitution.
quote:Tunisia toughened its line against the Tripoli government, declaring itself ready to recognise the rebel administration, as residents near the border reported more Libyan shells landing there on Tuesday.
There were fresh reports meanwhile of Gaddafi's soldiers deserting his cause and crossing into Tunisia to escape the conflict.
quote:Canadian lawmakers voted almost unanimously on Tuesday to extend Canada's military mission in Libya under NATO's umbrella until September.
All except one member of parliament, Green Party leader Elizabeth May, voted for continuing Canada's participation in NATO air strikes aimed at protecting Libyan civilians from forces loyal to strongman Muammar Gaddafi.
But opposition leader Jack Layton earlier said that his New Democrats, while supportive of prolonging the mission now, would not agree later to another extension, saying he does not want Canada drawn into a long-term war.
quote:NATO Update June 14th
14 JUNE:
In Tripoli: 1 Air Defence Support Facility. I
n the vicinity of Tripoli: 2 Surface-To-Air Missile Launchers.
In the vicinity of Waddan: 1 Ammunition Storage Facility.
In the vicinity of Misratah: 3 Armoured Fighting Vehicles, 1 Truck-Mounted Gun.
In the vicinity of Yafran: 1 Truck-Mounted Gun.
In the vicinity of Brega: 2 Armoured Fighting Vehicles.
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Jun 15, 2011 10:02
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- Chortles
- Dec 29, 2008
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Somewhat interesting (to me anyway) note at the end of that article about the "secret" (HA!) base...quote:Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden had long urged al-Qaida not to directly challenge Saleh but to keep Yemen as a haven from which to launch attacks against the United States, while AQAP leaders argued that they should overthrow with Yemeni government. A record of that debate between bin Laden and the Yemeni al-Qaida leadership was found among the records at the compound in Pakistan where bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces May 2.
U.S. Bin Laden warned the Yemeni offshoot that its leaders would be targeted more aggressively and easily if they tried to take power, just as they are now, the officials said.
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Jun 15, 2011 11:16
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- Nuclear Spoon
- Aug 18, 2010
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I want to cry out
but I don’t scream and I don’t shout
And I feel so proud
to be alive
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I would gladly give up my place at university to let them study here, because Christ knows they deserve it more than I do
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Jun 15, 2011 11:25
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Interesting bit from this article regarding the use of foreign fighters:
quote:A Reuters journalist in Ryayna, 15 km east of Zintan in the Western Mountains, said rebels had taken the village and pushed back Gaddafi's forces.
The rebels, who had been trying to seize Ryayna for several weeks, said two of their fighters had been killed, but they had taken prisoners, including foreign fighters.
"We have captured 15 pro-Gaddafi soldiers, three of them were Libyans and the remaining 12 were either Chadians or Touaregs," rebel spokesman Abdulrahman said from Zintan.
Captured foreign fighters that have been interviewed by the media have claimed they were pretty much press ganged into fighting, usually with only minimal training. If it's the same case with the above soldiers I think it's very telling that so many of the captured fighters are so inexperienced. If this is what Gaddafi is using to fight his battles in Nafusa then no wonder they are losing so much ground. It makes me wonder if he's using his best troops to protect Tripoli and the area around it.
In other Nafusa news a journalist there is reporting that there's fighting between Zintan and Yefren, with the rebels saying they are mopping up the last pockets of resistance and securing the area. There's also reports that the rebels have caputered "Aweeneya" in Nafusa, but I've no idea where that is.
If the rebels do secure the Nalut-Zintan-Yefren region then it seems like the next town is Garyan, 20km east of Kikla. That's still in the mountains, and if that gets captured and they can secure the roads from Garyan in the east to Wazin on the Tunisian border on the west then they'll have pretty much every major road heading to Tripoli under their control, excluding the road through Bani Walid, between Garyan and Misrata.
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Jun 15, 2011 11:40
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- Fragrag
- Aug 3, 2007
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The Worst Admin Ever bashes You in the head with his banhammer. It is smashed into the body, an unrecognizable mass! You have been struck down.
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drat, their chief engineer is a dead ringer for Galen Tyrol from BSG.
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Jun 15, 2011 11:43
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Syria
quote:The Facebook page Syrian Revolution has named the coming Friday "Friday of Saleh Al-Ali "after an Alawite leader of the Syrian revolution against French occupation, appealing to the Alawite community to join the protest movement.
President Assad belongs to the Alawites, a Shia Muslim offshoot which about 10 per cent of the Syrian population belong to.
quote:Several groups and well-known personalities in Iraq's Kurdish region have called on authorities to support the protest movement in Syria.
"Silence in the face of the crimes committed in Syria is a disgrace and we call on the federal government of Iraq and in Kurdistan to support human rights, freedom and democracy in Syria because it is a moral duty," said a joint statement signed by 11 local organisations and media and cultural personalities, published in Kurdistan's second biggest city Sulaimaniyah.
"The Kurds of Iraq have been victims of the brutality of the Baathist regime, and its desire to eliminate the Kurdish people, and in Syria today, the Kurds are not treated in a manner equal to that of other citizens."
The Baath party rose to power in 1963 in Syria and five years later in Iraq, where it was officially dissolved and banned after the 2003 US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
quote:Residents of Maarat al-Numanin the north are fearing an imminent crackdown.
Major General Riad Haddad, head of the military's political department, said tanks surrounding the town had not entered "yet" - suggesting they were readying an operation there. Activists said hundreds of residents were fleeing the town on Wednesday.
quote:Our correspondent in Syria Nidaa Hassan (a pseudonym) witnessed today's pro-government rally in Damascus.
quote:Syria's streets were packed and traffic backlogged as Syrians headed to the highway in the upper class neighbourhood of Mezze for a pro-Assad rally.
Text messages had been sent out earlier in the week to alert people to join. And many seemed eager to be there, showing the huge divides between those for and against the regime.
Young boys sat on the rooftops of cars holding up portraits of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad stuck onto wooden placards, trucks with groups waving Syrian flags beeped their horns, women old and young wearing t-shirts featuring Assad's face against the Syrian flag rushed towards the highway.
Chants of "we will die for you Bashar" and "God, Syria, Bashar - that's enough!" rang out.
In a stark contrast to anti-regime demonstrations, police had cordoned off the road and vendors set up selling flags adding to a party mood. Ambulances and buses were parked nearby.
An exact number is hard to estimate but looked to be in the thousands. "We love out president; he's smart and does what's best, which outsiders don't understand," said one man from Damascus, in a sign that by using the rhetoric of outside threats, from both armed gangs and hostile governments, Syria's government has succeeded at rallying some to its side. "We have security here," said another. "Even the Iraqi refugees are telling us not to go down this route of protests."
Syrian TV aired non-stop coverage of the rally, interviewing young and old, and showing the unfurling of a Syrian flag over 2km long stretching down the length of the highway.
Pro-Assad rallies have increased in number in the last week, especially in front of the French and Turkish embassies to protest their government's condemnation of the regime's brutal crackdown in Syria. While a fair amount of orchestration goes into such rallies, the president does retain support, both among those who are convinced armed gangs are roving the country and those who know there are protests but are against them.
Libya
quote:A group of 41 Libyans, 27 from the military and including officers, have arrived in Tunisia, the official TAP news agency reported on Wednesday, without saying if the soldiers had defected.
The group arrived on Tuesday at Tunisia's El Ketef port in the southeastern Mednine area on the border with Libya, the agency reported.
quote:Jacob Zuma, the South African president, has condemned NATO attacks on Libya in his harshest terms yet.
In a wide-ranging speech to parliament on Tuesday, Zuma said he had "spoken out against the misuse of" a UN Security Council resolution supported by Arab and African countries that authorised a no-fly zone over Libya and the use of force to protect civilians.
Zuma said:
quote: We strongly believe that the resolution is being abused for regime change, political assassinations and foreign military occupation.
quote:NATO's mission in Libya can be completed without the use of ground troops, the commander heading up operations said on Wednesday in a briefing on an Italian aircraft carrier.
Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard also said that the military situation in western Libya, where there has been an upsurge in fighting between regime loyalists and rebel forces in recent days, was developing "very positively".
Canadian general said:
quote: I do believe we can complete the mission without bringing in ground troop.
quote:Misrata rebel leader appeals to Nato to save neighbouring town
The leader of the besieged Libyan rebel city of Misrata has appealed to Nato to save the inhabitants of a neighbouring town facing annihilation from government forces.
Sheikh Khalifa Zuwawi, chairman of Misrata council, made the appeal through the Guardian on Wednesday after reports that Muammar Gaddafi had demanded that rebel-held areas of Zlitan, 30 miles west of Misrata, surrender of face destruction.
Zlitan's uprising began on Friday with battles around the town's hospital, but sources in Misrata say the rebels are now pinned into one district under heavy artillery fire.
Photographers who got to within four miles of Zlitan on Tuesday took pictures of government rockets exploding in the town.
Misrata's rebel forces say that without heavy weapons or Nato support they are powerless to break through a fortified ring around the town and save residents.
"As you know our forces could not get into Zlitan," said Zuwawi. "We need Nato help. We are very surprised because Nato has delayed to bomb the grad [rocket artillery] forces."
Zlitan lies along the coastal highway from Misrata, about 100 miles east of Tripoli, and rebel commanders say its capture would open the road to the capital.
But they face formidable foes in the shape of the elite 32nd brigade, controlled by Gaddafi's son Khamis, which has made Zlitan its headquarters.
On Tuesday rebel forces in Misrata pushed their frontline forwards five miles to try and relieve Zlitan, coming under fire from machine guns and rockets. But they pulled back after Nato, unaware of the advance, dropped leaflets on the area threatening pro-Gaddafi forces with destruction from Apache helicopters if they continued attacks on civilians. The Nato attacks have yet to materialise despite pro-Gaddafi forces bombarding Zlitan and Misrata late on Tuesday.
Nato insists it is taking an active role, but Misrata's rebels say the alliance's current level of engagement will not be enough to save Zlitan's population.
Zuwawi, a judge, said that the National Transitional Council (the rebel government) was surprised at the delay, adding that Nato needs to apply UN resolution 1973, authorising the alliance to use force to protect Libyan civilians, he added.
At the shell-shattered village of Dafniya, the western-most point of Misrata's frontline, rebels and civilians on Wednesday said they were baffled that Nato had not followed up on its threats, given the overnight shelling by Gaddafi's forces.
"No Nato," said Mohammed, the 14-year-old son of a Dafniya rebel fighter drinking tea behind one of the giant sand berms that shield rebel positions from sniper fire. "Where is Nato?"
There's rumours on Twitter that NATO hit various targets in Brega today, including tanks and other vehicles.
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Jun 15, 2011 13:37
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- ecureuilmatrix
- Mar 30, 2011
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Hillbilly remote weapon station! In the same fight that has molotovs and WWII guns. These rebels have gone from stones to cutting edge in a few months.
If the Iraqi Kurds get involved, that's a big support base for the Syrian Kurds.
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Jun 15, 2011 14:18
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- Young Freud
- Nov 26, 2006
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ecureuilmatrix posted:
Hillbilly remote weapon station! In the same fight that has molotovs and WWII guns. These rebels have gone from stones to cutting edge in a few months.
The thing that I find interesting is that you can build such items on the cheap. Part of me wants them to put their design notes on the internet after this is all finished. There's a company in the U.S. that sells remote-weapon stations for diplomatic protection details and they're extraordinarily expensive.
Also, I'm hoping that they can build more of those Barbie-jeep remote gun platforms. Those would be hella useful in reconnoitering and assaulting Brega and Sirte without having to bring in rebels.
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Jun 15, 2011 15:33
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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AJ Arabic are reporting that the rebels now control everything in Nafusa west of Kikla, having removed the remaining pockets of Gaddafi resistance. With the Tunisian government saying they are ready to recognise the rebels this could mean even more aid and supplies moving across the Wazin border crossing.
As I said before, I expect the rebels to attack Gayran, and if they capture that then the noose will really begin to tighten.
A bit more Rebeltech from the Guardian:
[edit] While the Nafusa mountains are mostly free, Al Ghazzabiyah, which is located on the plains arounds 10-15km north west of Nalut and 10-15km north east of Wazin is currently full of Gaddafi artillery and rocket launchers, and responsible for regular but ineffective attacks on both locations. It could do with a few precision NATO strikes.
Brown Moses fucked around with this message at 15:50 on Jun 15, 2011
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Jun 15, 2011 15:35
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- Benagain
- Oct 10, 2007
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Can you see that I am serious?
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Fun Shoe
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Young Freud posted:
The thing that I find interesting is that you can build such items on the cheap. Part of me wants them to put their design notes on the internet after this is all finished. There's a company in the U.S. that sells remote-weapon stations for diplomatic protection details and they're extraordinarily expensive.
Also, I'm hoping that they can build more of those Barbie-jeep remote gun platforms. Those would be hella useful in reconnoitering and assaulting Brega and Sirte without having to bring in rebels.
While I'm sure that some of the difference in cost is overcharging to a group that can afford it, remember that there's probably a marked difference between the two in terms of battery life, the amount of damage it can take, ruggedness of the optics, ability to deal with dust and debris, reliability of the firing mechanism etc. etc.
That thing's cool and cheap but doesn't look like it'd last long when it's actually being shot at, although it'll still probably be helpful.
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Jun 15, 2011 15:44
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Few more updates:
quote:Here is a round-up of the latest from Libya this afternoon:
• John Boehner, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, has told Barack Obama he is skating on thin ice legally in keeping US forces involved in Libya for nearly three months without congressional authorisation.
• Liberia severed diplomatic ties with Libya.
• Saad Djebbar, a former legal adviser to the Libyan government, told Reuters Muammar Gaddafi would continue to play for time and seek to demoralise and splinter the coalition. Djebber said:
quote: Gaddafi's mentality is that as long as my enemies haven't triumphed, I haven't lost. The US stance, that the major outside role should be played by the Europeans and Arabs, sends the wrong signal. Gaddafi will be very encouraged by it. His line is: "We are steadfast. We can wait it out."
He said Gaddafi would be active in supplying Tripoli with food and fuel during Ramadan in August, to ward off revolution.
quote:Nato is using Twitter to help it identify targets in Libya, Richard Norton-Taylor and Nick Hopkins report.
quote: Potentially relevant tweets are fed into an intelligence pool then filtered for relevance and authenticity, and are never passed on without proper corroboration. However, without "boots on the ground" to guide commanders, officials admit that Twitter is now part of the overall "intelligence picture".
quote:Panama recognized the National Transitional Council as the “legitimate representative of the Libyan people “. The announcement was made by president Ricardo Martinelli. Panama is the 15th country to recognize the Libyan rebels and the first Latin American nation to do so.
quote:MEP Simon Busuttil will lead a European Parliament delegation to the Libyan border with Tunisia. The delegation will be dispatched to witness the situation in Tunisian refugee camps on the border where many migrants fleeing from Libya are currently staying.
The parliamentary delegation is planning to visit the UNHCR camps in the border villages of Choucha and Ramada and also the refugee camp set up by Qatar in Tataouine in order to discuss the current situation with UNHCR field workers, border authorities and migrants who have escaped from Libya.
The delegation will also be visiting the main point of the departure of migrants from Tunisia into Europe and will also be meeting key government ministers in the Tunisian administration.
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Jun 15, 2011 16:09
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Not much else to report tonight, usual clashes, just more news about the victories in Nafusa. Apparently Gaddafi troops were bombed as they fled from the town that was captured, that's not confirmed though.
There's also a rumour a US Nimitz class supercarrier departed from Italy today heading to Libya.
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Jun 15, 2011 20:25
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- Chortles
- Dec 29, 2008
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Another F2000/grenade launcher sighting in #25 Libyan rebel arms gallery, this time with a suppressor, so it may have been used during the urban "sniping" (by making it less obvious where the shot came from, and/or being masked by unsuppressed weapons fire).
On top of the Boehner snippet, Kucinich @ co. have resorted to outright suing Obama:quote:Anti-war Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich and nine other members of the House signed the lawsuit challenging the Obama administration's circumvention of Congress in authorizing use of military force in a protracted effort to oust longtime Libyan ruler Moamer Kadhafi.
"With regard to the war in Libya, we believe that the law was violated. We have asked the courts to move to protect the American people from the results of these illegal policies," Kucinich said in a statement as the lawmakers filed their suit in federal court in Washington.
The suit "challenges policy that any president can take the US to war unilaterally," said the lawmakers, who included Republicans Walter Jones of North Carolina and Ron Paul of Texas.
[...]
The House of Representatives recently passed a symbolic resolution chiding Obama for not seeking congressional approval for US involvement in Libya and giving him until June 17 to respond.
The White House has said it would soon issue a detailed report to Congress on Libya and the US military intervention.
In addition to stressing that Obama violated the War Powers Resolution, Wednesday's lawsuit specifically questions the president's policy of committing the United States "to a war under the authority of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)," or the United Nations, without authorization from Congress. quote:WASHINGTON – The Obama administration says U.S. military action in Libya does not require congressional authorization because American forces are now playing a support role.
The White House is making that case in a detailed report on the Libya mission sent to Congress on Wednesday afternoon. The report responds to inquiries in a House resolution that chided Obama for failing to provide a "compelling rationale" for the Libya campaign.
Senior administration officials say the White House believes that because U.S. forces are not engaged in sustained fighting and there are no troops on the ground in Libya, the president has the authority to direct the mission.
Also, if the rumor about the departure from Italy is true, that would be the USS George H. W. Bush. According to Stars and Stripes, she just arrived in Naples this past weekend on her first deployment, along with the USS Truxton, and with EA-18G "Growlers" onboard (actually electronic warfare, not just surveillance).
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Jun 15, 2011 20:52
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- Xandu
- Feb 19, 2006
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It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am.
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This is an important admonishment of Bahrain by the US.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-15/u-s-lists-ally-bahrain-with-human-rights-violators-iran-syria.html posted:
The United States put Bahrain, a Persian Gulf ally, in the company of Iran, North Korea, Syria and Zimbabwe on its list of human rights violators presented to the UN Human Rights Council.
Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, has tried to crush protests that have wracked the country since February, as the Shiite majority population has agitated for the Sunni Muslim monarchy to allow greater economic opportunities and freedoms.
“The Bahraini government has arbitrarily detained workers and others perceived as opponents,” said Eileen Donohoe, the U.S. ambassador to the council, in a statement to the council today. “The United States is deeply concerned about violent repression of the fundamental freedoms of association, expression, religion and speech of their citizens.”
The U.S. notes “signs of hope” in the Bahraini government’s recent moves to lift some restrictions and to launch a national dialogue on reforms, she added.
Bahrain’s crackdown has put the United States in the position of speaking out against a country that is both a close ally and which received security assistance from Saudi Arabia in putting down the protests.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has repeatedly called on Bahrain to exercise restraint amid reports that it has detained doctors for treating injured protesters. President Barack Obama welcomed Bahrain’s crown prince last week and praised news that the country will lift the martial law declared in March.
Donohoe’s statement also listed Belarus, China, Cuba, Libya, Myanmar, Sudan, Venezuela, and Yemen for council attention because of human rights abuses.
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Jun 16, 2011 04:55
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- Chortles
- Dec 29, 2008
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I wonder if Donahue's Yemen mention specifically cited the Saleh regime?
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Jun 16, 2011 07:09
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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While I wait for the blogs to update here's a interesting article about the situation in Zawiyah
quote:Gaddafi regime claims 'great victory over al-Qaeda' in crucial town of Zawiyah
To the government of Muammar Gaddafi the story of the small city on the coast 30 miles west of Tripoli is a very different one. It is the scene of a glorious episode of fighting al-Qaeda ‘rats’ who wanted to topple the Brother Leader’s rule; were rooted out of their holes at the beginning of the uprising; tried again last week; and who have now been well and truly beaten.
At least, that was the Libyan government’s message. It took a minibus full of foreign journalists to show who was in charge of the ghost town of empty streets and fire blackened, bullet-scarred buildings.
“Everything is normal life here now,” one of the government minders said, waving a hand at the empty shops in the centre of town, scene of the worst of the fighting.
He pulled over a lonely motorist to ask how he felt about being liberated by Gaddafi forces from the rebels.
“We are very happy to be free again,” said Emad Ibrahim, 35, who had exhausted, bloodshot eyes. He said it without enthusiasm and kept glancing at the young policeman with a pistol stuck in his belt who stood near by. There was no doubt that Gaddafi forces were in control of Zawiyah again; a huge green flag, with what looked like bullet holes in it, flapped lazily over the town centre in the bright sunshine.
But last week’s new outbreak of fighting, in which 13 people died including a seven year-old boy, was clearly stretching Gaddafi’s forces; dozens of tough-looking soldiers were patrolling the streets. They lounged menacingly in doorways staring at locals or stopped vehicles on the roads and checked for weapons in the boots of cars.
There were far more soldiers on the road then there had been a week earlier when The Daily Telegraph drove along it from Tunisia, encountering just a handful of lightly-manned checkpoints.
Other new outbreaks of rebellion in the past week in small towns in the south and west of Libya have also put extra pressure on security forces which have been wracked by desertion and attacked by Nato from the air.
Zawiyah is a special case though. The brutal crushing of its rebellion at the beginning of its uprising touched the conscience of the world, and prepared the way for Nato’s air attacks on the regime. If a rebellion started again in the city, it would have powerful symbolic importance.
"Everything is quiet and nice,"’ said another frightened-looking motorist who was stopped at random and had his opinion asked. Then he accidentally gave the game away.
"There is nobody on the streets because they are at home, afraid of the rebels. That’s why the shops are not open as well." So the rebels haven’t gone away, and Zawiyah was not as nice or as normal as the government minders liked to think it was.
The seaside city of 250,000 people is one that the Gaddafi regime simply must hold. It lies on the regime's lifeline route to Tunisia, and if its population again successfully rose against him as they did in February, Gaddafi would be cut off from vital supplies of food and fuel that he desperately needs to survive.
The government minders, who accompany journalists on all official trips in Gaddafi-controlled Libyan territory, insisted that back in February the city had been seized not by its people but by foreign al Qaeda terrorists.
"They stood on that roof up there and shot at the people," said one of the minders excitedly. "Killed the people because they loved Mummar Gaddafi," he added by way of explanation.
He pointed out the gutted remains of the five-star Zawiyah Jewel Hotel, where he said al Qaeda’s leadership had made their last stand as heroic Gaddafi forces closed in.
"They were men from Algeria and Afghanistan, not Libyans at all," he added.
Another one pointed out the empty expanse in front of the hotel where he said al Qaeda had destroyed a mosque. Rebels say, with far more credibility, that Gaddafi forces bulldozed the mosque after the uprising to punish the city.
Driving back on the road to Tripoli we passed a giant queue of cars waiting in the hot afternoon sun at an empty petrol station for a fuel delivery. When motorists saw the government minibus and its police escort only a couple made the defiant clenched fist salute of Gaddafi supporters; most of them just stared sullenly.
I've highlighted that passage because I think it supports some of the stuff I've been hearing about Zawiyah. There's claims that the rebels originally hadn't planned to attack Zawayih, but had been preparing for an attack by gathering nearby. Their rally point was discovered, forcing them to attack, and they managed to capture some buildings on the west of the city. Currently they are holed up on one side of the city, while Gaddafi's troops control everything else. How well equipped they are, and whether or not they are receiving reinforcements is another question.
I've also come across this good article about Gharyan, about 20km east of the Nafusa eastern frontline at Kikla, and almost certaintly the next target for the Nafusa rebels due to it's important road links to Tripoli:
quote:Tension beneath the calm in gateway town to Tripoli
GHARYAN, Libya, June 15 (Reuters) - Despite an outward appearance of normality there is an undercurrent of tension in this town, gateway to Tripoli from Libya's Western Mountains where rebels are advancing towards Muammar Gaddafi's capital.
On numerous walls around town on Wednesday graffiti had been recently painted over. The windows of one government building were smashed, the sign for another was riddled with holes.
Gharyan lies around 20 miles east of Kikla, which rebels battling forces loyal to Gaddafi seized on Tuesday. It could be the next target if the rebels are able to sustain their eastwards advance.
While many traders and people on the streets in Gharyan were reluctant to talk to reporters, one shop owner said the calm in the area during the day was replaced by fighting every night.
"Two thirds of the people here are for the rebels," he told Reuters, giving his name as Mohammed.
Libyan government minders brought a group of reporters here on Wednesday to demonstrate that despite fighting to the west, Gharyan has been unaffected and that people were going about their lives as usual.
The few who were willing speak to reporters in front of the minders were strongly pro-Gaddafi.
"We are behind our leader and we will fight to the death for this country," said Mustapha, who said he was a university lecturer. "Why did NATO come here to bomb us when we did nothing wrong?"
Just over 50 miles (80 km) south of Tripoli, Gharyan is the largest town in the Western Mountains and straddles the highway to the Libyan capital.
The road north from here winds down from the mountains past rocky slopes covered in scant vegetation to the flat plain below that leads all the way to Tripoli.
The shops were open here on Wednesday, but there were also a noticeable number of uniformed and plain-clothes police officers on the streets. When reporters approached residents, many would not say anything.
"No talk, no talk," said one shop owner, before disappearing from view without another word into the back of his shop.
Another man, who gave his name as Yunis and spoke in French, attacked French President Nicolas Sarkozy in particular.
"Sarkozy is stupid, he is fighting this war for petrol," he said. "This is colonialism all over again."
Well away from the government minders, the shop owner, Mohammed, said the majority of Gharyan's residents were looking forward to the arrival of rebel forces.
"We can't wait for the rebels to come here," he said.
Brown Moses fucked around with this message at 09:02 on Jun 16, 2011
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Jun 16, 2011 08:53
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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I thought I'd do a bit of a round up of the situation in different areas of Libya, just to clarify what I think is going on.
Nafusa mountains
Reports from journalists in the area seem to confirm the claims by rebels that they now control every town and village in the mountain from Wazin on the Tunisian border, to Kikla in the east, around 200km in total.
There's two key locations for Gaddafi's forces, Al Ghazzabiyah, which is being used to launch artillery strikes against Wazin on the Tunisian border and the town of Nalut, the main rebel stronghold in the area. However, as these two locations are in the mountains it would be very difficult for Gaddafi's forces to launch ground assault on those cities.
The second important location is Garyan/Gahyren, which is a larger mountain town sitting on a major transport route. This is almost certaintly to be the next target for the Nafusa rebels, the capture of which would lead to Tripoli becoming even more isolated. It's around 20km from Kikla, 15km of which is fairly flat terrain.
There's been various reports that Gaddafi's forces in Nafusa are made up of large numbers of poorly trained conscripts, which might suggest Gaddafi is using his experienced troops to defend the areas close to Tripoli.
Brega and the East
All reports seem to indicate that the rebels are slowly advancing on Brega, backed with NATO airstrikes and their own artillery. The initial rebel attacked suffered heavy casualties after a unit walked into a trap, and since then the rebels have been more careful. There's claims that the rebels and NATO have caused heavy casualties on Gaddafi troops in the area, but it's impossible to verify. One rebel was quoted as saying they expect to have Friday prayers there.
The rebel troops in the area are probably the best equipped and best trained, but they lack the battle experience of the troops in the west.
Misrata and Zliten
Currently rebels are fighting in the west of Misrata, trying to edge towards Zliten. The main problem is NATO has given the rebels red lines not to cross, so NATO can freely bomb whatever is behind it. The problem with that is NATO hasn't been attacking anyone.
Yesterday when the rebels pushed past the red line NATO dropped a bunch of leaflets on them telling them they would be attacked by gunships, mistakenly thinking they were Gaddafi troops. The rebels retreated, and lost their gains, and are still waiting for attacks. There has been rumours of NATO attacks on Gaddafi troops in the southwest, but the rebels are still stuck in Misrata.
The Misrata rebels also claim there's a group of Zliten rebels currently surrounded by Gaddafi troops in the middle of Zliten, and there's footage of what rebels claim to be Gaddafi artillery strikes on the Zliten rebels in the centre of the city.
Gaddafi troops in the region seem to be the best equipped and trained troops, while the rebels are battle hardened, but lacking in armoured vehicles and artillery, although they do have access to units trained in Benghazi.
Zawiyah
As I stated in my earlier post, it seems there's a number of rebels holed up in the south west of Zawiyah, but not that much fighting. Beyond that there's not much information coming from there.
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Jun 16, 2011 10:07
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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I thought I'd do a bit of a round up of the situation in different areas of Libya, just to clarify what I think is going on.
Nafusa mountains
Reports from journalists in the area seem to confirm the claims by rebels that they now control every town and village in the mountain from Wazin on the Tunisian border, to Kikla in the east, around 200km in total.
There's two key locations for Gaddafi's forces, Al Ghazzabiyah, which is being used to launch artillery strikes against Wazin on the Tunisian border and the town of Nalut, the main rebel stronghold in the area. However, as these two locations are in the mountains it would be very difficult for Gaddafi's forces to launch ground assault on those cities.
The second important location is Garyan/Gahyren, which is a larger mountain town sitting on a major transport route. This is almost certaintly to be the next target for the Nafusa rebels, the capture of which would lead to Tripoli becoming even more isolated. It's around 20km from Kikla, 15km of which is fairly flat terrain.
There's been various reports that Gaddafi's forces in Nafusa are made up of large numbers of poorly trained conscripts, which might suggest Gaddafi is using his experienced troops to defend the areas close to Tripoli.
Brega and the East
All reports seem to indicate that the rebels are slowly advancing on Brega, backed with NATO airstrikes and their own artillery. The initial rebel attacked suffered heavy casualties after a unit walked into a trap, and since then the rebels have been more careful. There's claims that the rebels and NATO have caused heavy casualties on Gaddafi troops in the area, but it's impossible to verify. One rebel was quoted as saying they expect to have Friday prayers there.
The rebel troops in the area are probably the best equipped and best trained, but they lack the battle experience of the troops in the west.
Misrata and Zliten
Currently rebels are fighting in the west of Misrata, trying to edge towards Zliten. The main problem is NATO has given the rebels red lines not to cross, so NATO can freely bomb whatever is behind it. The problem with that is NATO hasn't been attacking anyone.
Yesterday when the rebels pushed past the red line NATO dropped a bunch of leaflets on them telling them they would be attacked by gunships, mistakenly thinking they were Gaddafi troops. The rebels retreated, and lost their gains, and are still waiting for attacks. There has been rumours of NATO attacks on Gaddafi troops in the southwest, but the rebels are still stuck in Misrata.
The Misrata rebels also claim there's a group of Zliten rebels currently surrounded by Gaddafi troops in the middle of Zliten, and there's footage of what rebels claim to be Gaddafi artillery strikes on the Zliten rebels in the centre of the city.
Gaddafi troops in the region seem to be the best equipped and trained troops, while the rebels are battle hardened, but lacking in armoured vehicles and artillery, although they do have access to units trained in Benghazi.
Zawiyah
As I stated in my earlier post, it seems there's a number of rebels holed up in the south west of Zawiyah, but not that much fighting. Beyond that there's not much information coming from there.
Syria
quote:• Thousands of civilians fled in panic as tank columns pushed into the north-west of Syria in an expanding military campaign against the protest movement. In the capital, Damascus, thousands turned out for loyalist rallies as a pro-government website reported president Bashar al-Assad was to address the nation on constitutional changes "within the coming hours".
• The violence has not deterred protesters but added to their anger at a government that they say offers them no hope, our pseudonymous Syria reporter, Nidaa Hassan, reports from Homs.
quote:The crackdown has been particularly intense in Homs, Syria's third most populous city about 100 miles north of Damascus. Regime tanks move around the neighbourhoods, leaving indents from their tracks on the roads lined by concrete low-rise buildings. Gunfire has become as common a sound on the streets as the ever-present honking of car horns, and the heightened security presence is obvious. But despite the violence, resistance has been fierce.
• Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, express alarm about the Syrian crisis in speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
quote:The mounting casualty rate among civilians is alarming. I am gravely concerned about the human rights and humanitarian crises.
• Activists are hoping to persuade officers from the regular army to defect, but so far there has been little sign of dissent in the higher ranks, writes Ian Black.
quote:The National Initiative for Change a liberal exile group, is pinning its hopes on Ali Habib, the defence minister, a member of the minority Alawi sect to which the Assads belong; and on Daoud Rajha, the chief-of-staff and a Greek Orthodox Christian. Habib commanded Syrian forces in the coalition that ejected Saddam Hussein from Kuwait in 1991. Both men are considered pro-western and are professional soldiers. So subjecting them to the US and EU sanctions imposed on senior figures in the last few weeks was a mistake – if the hope is to encourage divisions at the top in Damascus.
• Syria-watcher Joshua Landis says the army will stay loyal. In an interview with the Economist, Landis who is more sympathetic to the regime than most observers, says the protest movement is leaderless and unlikely to succeed. He says Syrians face a Hobbesian dilemma, implying the country needs a strong government to avoid sectarian violence.
quote:Syria-based human rights activist says security forces have arrested hundreds of men in the northwestern Idlib province that has been under military siege for a week.
Mustafa Osso says the arrests are mainly concentrated in the Jisr al-Shughur area, the town of Maarat al-Numan and nearby villages.
He says troops opened fire early on Thursday in the outskirts of Maarat al-Numan, but no casualties were reported.
quote:Sky's News correspondent Stuart Ramsay has entered Syria, using a smuggling route from Turkey. He's visited villages which are nearly deserted after residents fled towards Turkish border. Footage is available on Sky's website.
"We've been driving through a number of towns to Jisr al Shughur," Ramsay says.
"They are virtually empty and there is this sense of fear because the Syrian army is not very far away.
"They have been moving through villages, clearing people away and pushing them towards the Turkish border."
quote:Based on a new UN report, AFP writes: Syrian forces stood by as Palestinian demonstrators crossed the Golan Heights ceasefire line during demonstrations of May 15 (anniversary of Israel’s creation) and June 5 and were fired upon by Israeli forces. At least 27 people were killed in the demonstrations.
Some diplomats said the accounts given in the report reinforced claims that Syria is stirring up border troubles to divert attention from President Assad's crackdown on protestors. One diplomat said the Palestinian leaders were "furious that their people were used as cannon fodder".
Yemen
quote:Crude oil donated to Yemen by Saudi Arabia will be distributed in Yemen's provinces starting next week, Yemen state television reported.
Yemen TV cited the country's industry ministry, without giving further details.
Saudi Arabia has donated 3 million barrels of crude oil to its impoverished southern neighbour, whose largest refinery, in Aden, has been shut for months after a blast on its main crude oil pipeline stopped the crude flow in mid-March.
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Jun 16, 2011 10:27
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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James Bays, an AJE journalist currently travelling around the Nafusa region, just sent a odd Tweet (originally all in caps):
quote:For first time seeing groups of cars crossing frontline on the plain from Tripoli, people fleeing capital.
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Jun 16, 2011 10:53
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Libya
Misrata
Dipolmacy
quote:Russia and China expressed concern about the situation in war-torn Libya on Thursday and urged strict adherence to U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The warning to the West from two permanent Security Council members came in a joint declaration signed by Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow.
quote:Mikhail Margelov, the Russian envoy, is in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, to meet top officials of Muammar Gaddafi's regime to seek a way to end the country's civil war.
The ITAR-Tass, the Russian news agency, said Margelov met on Thursday with Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi, the Libyan foreign minister. He also was to meet with Al-Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi, the prime minister.
Last week, Margelov visited the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi and said that Gaddafi had lost his legitimacy. However, Margelov also says NATO airstrikes are not a solution to Libya's violent stalemate.
Defections
quote:A boat has docked in a southern Tunisian port carrying 19 Libyan military servicemen, including officers, who fled the violence in their country, Tunisia’s state news agency reported on Thursday.
The boat arrived on Wednesday at a port in the region of Ben Gardane, near the border between Libya and Tunisia, the TAP news agency said. It gave no further details.
Dozens of Libyan officials, including the foreign minister and the top energy official, have fled the country since February when a revolt began against the 41-year rule of leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Western powers say the defections from his administration, coupled with NATO air strikes and attacks by rebel fighters, will help dislodge Gaddafi.
Nafusa and Tripoli
Here's a map of Tripoli as of May 10th, useful for finding locations in the city:
http://twitpic.com/4whkoh/full
quote:NATO on Thursday denied claims that it carried out an air strike on a bus in the southern Libyan city of Kikla after state television reported that 12 passengers had been killed in an attack.
A senior official in the alliance said:
quote: NATO did not conduct any air strike in the city yesterday.
quote:Sam Kiley, Sky News: Hotel destroyed by nato last night in tripoli. No evidence casualties locals claim it was G communications centre
quote:The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the RAF was involved in overnight Nato raids on Tripoli.
In an email statement spokesman Major General Nick Pope said:
quote:Royal Air Force aircraft last night participated in further coordinated NATO strikes against Colonel Gaddafi's key facilities in Tripoli.
The RAF Tornado and Typhoon aircraft dropped a number of Paveway guided bombs in a precision attack on multiple targets within the large military vehicle depot that forms part of Gaddafi's Bab Al Aziziyah compound in the Libyan capital. Our aircraft also contributed to the wide ranging air patrols which are flown daily by the Nato-led forces to enforce UNSCR 1973, and an RAF patrol located a regime main battle tank near Yafran, which was attempting to avoid air attack by placing itself amongst residential buildings.
Thanks to the precision effect of the Brimstone missile, delivered by a small warhead and exceptional accuracy, the Tornado was nevertheless able to destroy the tank with minimal risk of causing collateral damage.
Syria
quote:Around 300 men have been arrested in north west Syria, according to a human rights group, AP reports.
The news appears to confirm activists fear that it is not safe to return to Jisr al-Shughour despite attempts by the regime to encourage back refugees.
quote:Syrian security forces made sweeping arrests Thursday, randomly detaining males above the age of 16 in a northwestern province that has been under military siege for a week, a Syrian human rights activist said.
Mustafa Osso said the arrests were mainly concentrated in the Jisr al-Shughour area, the town of Maaret al-Numan and nearby villages, where the army has been massing troops for days in what appears to be a preparation for a fresh military operation.
Osso added that troops opened fire early Thursday in the outskirts of Ma'rrat al Nu'man, a town of 100,000 on the highway linking Damascus with Syria's second-largest city, Aleppo. No casualties were reported.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of tanks, armored personnel carriers and buses used to transport anti-terrorism forces were deploying around the town of Khan Sheikhon south of Maaret al-Numan.
Osso said said the number of people detained daily in the area is at least 300.
quote:The tension in Idlib province has forced about 500 Syrians to flee the country since Wednesday, raising the number of people who sought refuge in Turkey to 8,900, according to Turkish authorities.
quote:Russia and China oppose outside interference in the unrest in the Arab world, the two presidents said on Thursday in a declaration as the West seeks their support for a draft UN Security Council resolution condemning the crackdown on protests.
quote:An activists says the army has closed in on yet another town in the northwest.
"Dozens of tanks, armoured cars, personnel carriers and army trucks have been deployed at entrance points to Khan Sheikhun, and soldiers have started going in" to the town near Hama, rights activist Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said.
He added that the military had also cut the Aleppo to Damascus road with barricades.
Yemen
quote:Masked gunmen attacked buildings near the southern Yemeni city of al-Hota on Thursday, residents told Reuters.
The group, which Yemen's military described as al Qaeda militants, temporarily took over a security forces administrative building and council offices in Masameer district, the residents said by telephone.
quote:The first shipment of Saudi crude donated to Yemen arrived at the port of Aden on Thursday, trade and shipping sources told Reuters.
"The first tanker carrying 600,000 barrels has arrived," one shipping source said, adding that the oil would be sent to Aden refinery, which has been shut for months, to be processed into much-needed oil products
quote:Anti-Saleh demonstrators organised a massive march in the city of Taiz in protest against any regional or international attempts to thwart the revolution, Al Jazeera reports.
They reiterated their call for the formation of a transitional council that does not include representatives of the regime of President Saleh.
The march reached Freedom Square where they began to set up tents and resumed their sit-in at the square, despite the deteriorating security situation in the city for weeks. Brown Moses fucked around with this message at 13:16 on Jun 16, 2011
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Jun 16, 2011 13:10
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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In this article a journalists discusses sniper clearing techniques, heavy metal and rock music with a bunch of young rebels in Misrata:
quote:Libyan Rebels: A Sound Track
Many men have psyched themselves up for war by listening to rock and roll or heavy metal. But how many have sung Pink Floyd’s “Mother” within earshot of the enemy in the dead of night? “When it got really quiet, we’d play guitar and sing ‘Mother, do you think they’ll drop the bomb?’” said Abdulfatah Shaka, 22, his rocket-propelled-grenade launcher at his side. “The snipers would get furious and start shooting everywhere.”
It was the last week of April in the Libyan city of Misurata, the scene of the most-intense battles of the revolution. This is an old-fashioned, urban war: nonsurgical and hugely bloody. Muammar Qaddafi has deployed tanks, multi-barreled rocket launchers, snipers, foot soldiers, and foreign mercenaries. Facing them are civilians with light weapons, Mad Max–style pickup trucks, and, in the case of Shaka and the dozen or so merry young men he leads, a zest for rock music.
Less than three months earlier, Shaka was an engineering student who had never even held a gun. Bassam Essraity, a handsome 23-year-old with gelled hair and a trim beard, who now sat opposite him cradling a Belgian-made assault rifle, was doing media studies. They would play guitar together, jamming on the beach or hanging out in parking lots at night in their cars, doors open, drinking strong coffee or bottles of non-alcoholic beer.
After asking me to sit on his left—firing RPGs had destroyed the hearing in his right ear—Shaka explained that his introduction to pop and rock, and to the English language, came via the Backstreet Boys. As he learned to play the guitar, and broadened his musical horizons through Internet downloads, his taste grew more refined. “Neil Young, Metallica, and Pink Floyd, especially Dark Side of the Moon,” he said. “Iron Maiden and Nirvana too,” Essraity added. “We were just young guys enjoying music, dreaming of freedom.”
Then, in the third week of February, the revolution began. Shaka stuck close to his uncle, who had fought in Libya’s war with Chad in the 1980s. His uncle grabbed an RPG launcher when Misurata’s armory was overrun. After blasting two of Qaddafi’s tanks, he was shot dead. His weapon, still stained with blood, was handed to Shaka. Essraity, whose house had been hit by a tank shell, joined him on the front line, as did Hazim “Haz” Bozaid, a powerfully built 29-year-old with a goatee, a stocking on his head, and a black Sepultura T-shirt. An import manager, he was also the lead vocalist and guitarist in a local thrash and death-metal band called Acacus. “I was inspired by Megadeth, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Chuck Schuldiner’s Death, that sort of stuff. It was not easy to find in Libya, so if you got something on tape, you guarded it like gold,” he told me.
At first, their unit moved around the city, so bringing guitars to the battlefield was not possible. Shaka left his acoustic model in his car, and his electric guitar—“a Gibson, but a Chinese Gibson”—at home. Both were stolen when Qaddafi’s troops raided his house. They also kidnapped his father, who had not been seen since.
In recent weeks, Shaka’s men had been more rooted, based on the side roads off Tripoli Street, the city’s main thoroughfare, where Qaddafi’s snipers were causing havoc from their hideouts. The revolutionaries’ strategy was to starve the snipers out, cutting off their supply stream by blocking the road with huge shipping containers full of wet sand and metal filings. Shaka’s job was to shoot the tanks, armored cars, and bulldozers that tried to move the containers. Before loading his weapon, he wrote his uncle’s name on the RPG. For Bozaid, a machine gunner who put his body count at more than 25, preparation for battle meant listening to Slayer on his smart phone. “Some of my friends said that I should be reading the Koran. But I needed my drug.”
For the Tripoli Street battle, Essraity and another member of the unit brought along their guitars. When they played during lulls in the fighting, Shaka led the singing. Bozaid said his own voice was “too deep” for anything but metal. Essraity, a skilled guitarist, told his friends: “I’m like Slash—I don’t sing.”
One by one, the sniper’s nests were cleared. Shaka and his men entered the buildings in pairs, peeling apart at the tops of stairs, and flushing rooms with hand grenades or flaming tires. During a raid on one apartment block, he made an unexpected find: a guitar, with a broken neck. He turned it over, and saw the words The Wall. It was his.
“I left it, because there was no time and it was really dangerous,” he said.
Now, with Tripoli Street liberated, Shaka and his men were enjoying a day of rest before heading off to battle elsewhere. Bozaid talked about the metal festival he wanted to stage when Qaddafi was finally defeated. “It’s my dream—Hazfest,” he said. “It’s going to come true, if I’m still alive.”
Shaka picked up a guitar and began to strum.
quote:
And did you exchange
a walk-on part in the war
for a lead role in a cage?
“Come on, everybody together,” he said.
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How I wish, how I wish you were here …
And it just came up on Twitter that the Misrata rebels have just stopped letting journalists go the the frontlines in the west, for unknown reasons. Could be they are preparing for a heavy assault, or maybe they've got some more "advisers" who don't want to be filmed or photographed helping them out.
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Jun 16, 2011 13:27
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Couple of updates:
quote:Russia's envoy to Libya Mikhail Margelov met the Libyan foreign minister today, but it doesn't sound like he made much progress, according to AP.
quote:Interfax quoted Margelov as saying that he was told "Gadhafi is not prepared to leave, and the Libyan leadership will talk about the country's future only after a cease-fire."
The foreign minister also said, according to Margelov, that the African Union should be "the main force" in reaching a resolution.
Margelov was also due to meet the Libyan prime minister Al-Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi. Don't hold your breath.
quote:Al-Jazeera's James still has his caps lock on to tweet what he claims is Nato bombing on one of Gaddafi's positions in Kikla south west of Tripoli.
quote:
IN KICKLA. JUST SEEN NATO AIRSTRIKE ON GADDAFI POSITION
THICK BLACK SMOKE. LOOKS LIKE FUEL DUMP HIT.
Sounds like NATO is helping with the rebel advance in Nafusa.
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Jun 16, 2011 14:57
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Syria
quote:The European Union begins work to toughen sanctions against Syria, looking at adding firms and individuals to a list of allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad already hit by sanctions.
Several diplomatic sources said experts from the 27-nation bloc were discussing ways of "widening sanctions" against Damascus.
"The idea is to move up a level," said a diplomat who asked not to be identified. "Talks are focusing on new names and entities."
The EU to date has slapped two sets of sanctions against Assad's government over its crackdown on protesters, with EU foreign ministers late May adding the president to a blacklist of 23 Syrian officials hit by an assets freeze and travel ban.
Further sanctions could be approved at an EU summit in a week, on June 23-24.
Several European nations - notably Britain, France, Germany and Portugal - have joined Washington in pushing for a UN resolution condemning the crackdown but this is opposed by permanent Security Council members China and Russia.
Beijing and Moscow on Thursday issued a joint statement opposing outside interference in the unrest in the Arab world.
quote:President Bashar al-Assad is losing control to his hardline relatives, his forces are overstretched, his government is running out of money and the revolt against his rule is gathering support and funding.
Given all this, analysts and Syrian-based diplomats say the international community is starting to plan for a Syria without the Assads.
The risks of a slide into sectarian war are significant, most Syria-watchers nonetheless say, believing Assad will fight to the end, and start to regionalise the conflict by inciting violence in Lebanon, Turkey and across the borders with Israel.
"Despite everything they have done over the past few weeks - killing, torture, mass arrests and raids - the protests are continuing," said one Western diplomat. "This regime will fight to the death, but the only strategy they have is to kill people, and this is accelerating the crisis."
In its attempt to stamp out protests across the country of 23 million, the government has withdrawn most security forces from the suburbs of the capital, Damascus, diplomats say.
Yet each time the authorities go in hard to deal with one centre of rebellion, other towns rise up.
The full Reuters analysis of Syria's Assad can be read [url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/16/us-syria-assad-idUSTRE75F3H120110616]here.[/rul]
Libya
quote:John Boehner (left), the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, has responded to the White House's statement that Barack Obama has the legal authority to press on the military involvement in Libya. The White House said that Obama had not overstepped his authority because US military participation in Libya had already been scaled back to a support role that did not require congressional consent.
But Boehner, a Republican, said today that this did not pass the "straight face" test. He told reporters that the letter members of Congress had received yesterday from the White House did not make clear whether Obama's legal advisers agreed that the Libyan conflict was too limited to require congressional authorisation under the 1973 War Powers Resolution.
Boehner warned that members of Congress still had options for dealing with the Libyan conflict, including "the power of the purse" - that is, cutting off funding for the war, Reuters reports.
quote:In Libya, the Russian envoy, Mikhail Margelov, and foreign reporters were taken to a cafe in central Tripoli that government officials said had been destroyed in a Nato air strike overnight. Reuters reports:
quote: The building was a wreck of twisted metal and debris, and the dust from pulverised concrete coated the street. The cafe is near the Libyan parliament building and other government buildings, in an area which has been bombed several times. A Tripoli resident, who did not want to be identified, said the cafe was frequented by government officials.
quote:France's foreign minister, Alain Juppe, has dismissed accusations by Libyan rebels that Algeria is helping Muammar Gaddafi by sending mercenaries to the country to battle his opponents.
quote:An envoy leading Moscow’s efforts to help end the war in Libya said Gaddafi’s government rejected the idea of his departure from power during talks in Tripoli in Thursday, Russian news agencies reported. “From the point of view of the Libyan leadership, there cannot be any talk of Gaddafi’s departure today,” Interfax quoted Mikhail Margelov as saying.
quote:A boat has docked in a southern Tunisian port carrying 19 Libyan military servicemen including officers. The boat arrived on Wednesday at a port in the region of Ben Gardane, near the border between Libya and Tunisia.
quote:Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger announced Thursday he planned to fly to the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi this weekend to meet rebel leaders there.
"I intend to visit Benghazi on Sunday, to bring relief packages, and establish contact with leaders of the National Transitional Council (NTC)," said Spindelegger, who is also Austria's deputy chancellor.
Austria has not formally recognised the NTC. But "I believe this is the right moment" to visit, the minister said.
The aim was to send a signal that Austria saw the NTC as capable of leading Libya in the future and building up good relations with Austria and the European Union, he said.
A ministry spokesman said the trip would go ahead once the necessary security clearance had been received.
Sources said representatives of the Austrian oil and gas giant OMV would accompany the minister.
Before the crisis there, Libya accounted for around 10 percent of OMV's daily oil production.
Yemen
quote:Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger announced Thursday he planned to fly to the eastern Libyan city of
Benghazi this weekend to meet rebel leaders there.
"I intend to visit Benghazi on Sunday, to bring relief packages, and establish contact with leaders of the National Transitional Council (NTC)," said Spindelegger, who is also Austria's deputy chancellor.
Austria has not formally recognised the NTC. But "I believe this is the right moment" to visit, the minister said.
The aim was to send a signal that Austria saw the NTC as capable of leading Libya in the future and building up good relations with Austria and the European Union, he said.
A ministry spokesman said the trip would go ahead once the necessary security clearance had been received.
Sources said representatives of the Austrian oil and gas giant OMV would accompany the minister.
Before the crisis there, Libya accounted for around 10 percent of OMV's daily oil production.
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Jun 16, 2011 16:21
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- Nonsense
- Jan 26, 2007
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Hopefully the Libyan Civil War will end soon, seeing as Gaddafi, seeks elections.
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Jun 16, 2011 17:16
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- Adbot
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ADBOT LOVES YOU
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May 21, 2024 18:06
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Seems like NATO is helping out the Nafusa rebels today, I've read a few reports saying they've been hitting ammo dumps, fuel dumps and vehicles. I'm guessing NATO are clearing the way for their advance onto the next town, letting them cut off Tripoli a bit more.
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Jun 16, 2011 17:22
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Jun 14, 2011 22:14
SoroScrew 
