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farraday posted:Definite chance for it to end with a spec ops raid. This is what I'm thinking as well. We know those assets are probably around somewhere, the rebels seem to be leaving it alone, and it's full of Westerners. I don't think anyone would mind the SAS and SEALs pulling off one quick mission in Libya, and that's about the best reason for one you can find. I'd actually rather that than a rebel assault.
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Aug 24, 2011 12:24
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AJE just reported this:quote:A rebel official told the Reuters news agency that fighting is underway in an area just south of Tripoli where Muammar Gaddafi may be hiding.
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Aug 24, 2011 12:26
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A very interesting update about the situation west of Sirtequote:Libyan rebels are advancing on Sirte, the last major stronghold of pro-Gaddafi forces, reports Chris Stephen from Misrata, with opposition columns now 35 miles west of the city. He also has news about the Scud missiles being fired from Sirte towards Misrata. Chris writes:
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Aug 24, 2011 12:28
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Brown Moses posted:AJE just reported this: So now it's turned into a Libyan version of "Where's Waldo"? My guess would be to concentrate the search inside Rixos (when the rebels eventually manage to get in).
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Aug 24, 2011 12:29
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The US hitting all 4 Scuds is an impressive thing to know, considering recent history. That's pretty crazy.
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Aug 24, 2011 12:33
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VikingSkull posted:The US hitting all 4 Scuds is an impressive thing to know, considering recent history. That's pretty crazy. There were early reports one had been shot down by a plane. I'd wait until Military confirmation of the shoot downs because I'm not sure where the reports the reporter cites come from.
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Aug 24, 2011 12:35
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quote:Al Jazeera's Evan Hill sent us this update:
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Aug 24, 2011 12:46
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Arwa Damon of CNN is tweeting some very interesting stuffquote:ghadafi forces have been firing grad rockets at #tripoli international airport, there was smoke rising Its in the south of the city, where Reuters say rebels suspect Gaddafi is. Maybe he's trying to make a run for it?
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Aug 24, 2011 12:56
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More from Where in the World is Muammar Gaddafi?quote:Muammar Gaddafi is still somewhere in Tripoli and clashes were under way in a southern area of the city where he may be hiding, a rebel official told the Reuters news agency.
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Aug 24, 2011 13:13
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I'm still really curious to see what they have managed to find in the compound and in the complex system of tunnels beneath it. Yesterday, they confirmed that one of the tunnels lead directly to the Rixos, so it's very possible that some high value targets may have headed there for the relative shelter of hiding behind reporters as human shields. Maybe not the Colonel himself, but someone like Saif, who seems to be the mouthpiece and the internationally connected one. Right now there seems to be two points of interest, the hotel and the airport. If it heats up much more than it is now, I would not be surprised to see international special forces and operators on the ground to secure those two key points. Besides, if the regime manages to get in the air, it's going to be a very short flight one way or the other. That no fly zone is thick and they aren't going to escape that.
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Aug 24, 2011 13:20
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Brown Moses posted:Maybe he's trying to make a run for it? wouldn't running by plane, from an international airport, in a city surrounded by hostile forces, in a country which has had a no fly zone in place for quite a few months now, be pretty much the stupidest thing he could do? I mean I'm not saying he might not try it, but it does seem right up there on the crazy scale.
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Aug 24, 2011 13:20
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Re-posting............from Wikipedia, current control of Tripoli (CLICK PICTURE TO ENLARGE): Red rebels, tan disputed, green loyalists  Al Hahdba is the road going directly south from the Rixos. Al Khadra/Al Hahdba is the area directly below Second Circle Road, and right below the Rixos. Supposedly the fighting is intense and they are potentially guarding a high value target.
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Aug 24, 2011 13:22
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dr_rat posted:wouldn't running by plane, from an international airport, in a city surrounded by hostile forces, in a country which has had a no fly zone in place for quite a few months now, be pretty much the stupidest thing he could do? I'm fully expecting Gaddafi to try and commandeer a MiG. Which he doesn't know how to fly. edit: In the unlikely event he knows he's hosed, if I were him, I would try and get myself killed in the strangest way possible, with evidence of death at least a little dubious, as to create a whole bunch of conspiracy theories and laugh at the world from the afterlife as the world trips over itself trying to explain/deny whatever the gently caress happens. Nuclear Spoon fucked around with this message at 13:26 on Aug 24, 2011 |
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Aug 24, 2011 13:24
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More updates from Matthew Chance at the Rixosquote:5 journos enter #rixos from outside, but kicked out by Gadhafi loyalists at gunpoint. We still not allowed to leave. #rixos4 Bargaining chips?
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Aug 24, 2011 13:26
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the Rixos situation just got a bit more confusing mchancecnn Matthew Chance posted:5 journos enter #rixos from outside, but kicked out by Gadhafi loyalists at gunpoint. We still not allowed to leave. #rixos4 mchancecnn Matthew Chance posted:All puzzled as to why we are being kept in #rixos. Any ideas? #rixos4 Possibly its just one of those things where communications gone to hell and the guards don't really know what the hell their meant to be doing. edit: or yeah bargaining chips, but hopefully not.
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Aug 24, 2011 13:29
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^^^^^ I suspect that the regime put extreme loyalists in charge of the hotel for this very contingency. Even a conscript or regular Army guard can watch the news, especially with a hotel full of news people. I doubt they'd stay behind until things get sorted out.Arkane posted:Re-posting............from Wikipedia, current control of Tripoli (CLICK PICTURE TO ENLARGE): Has there been any indication of the situation in Sirte, Gadaffi's hometown? I know they (the city elders) were negotiating with the Rebels so they could enter the town peacefully, but I haven't seen anything since. It's possible the Colonel may head back to that area for a last stand. Things are going to get pretty lovely at the Rixos I'm afraid. They've got human shields and hostages, so there's very little that the rebels can do about it. It'll certainly be a test of how committed the loyalists are to their cause.
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Aug 24, 2011 13:33
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They could also be human shields to prevent any heavy assaults. I still think there's a chance some Gaddafi family members are in there. It would suprise me if they have tunnels to the Rixos they also have tunnels to the airport where fighting is occuring at the moment.
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Aug 24, 2011 13:37
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Blood shed in Tripoli http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv4oVz99GxQ
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Aug 24, 2011 13:37
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Brown Moses posted:Muammar Gaddafi has made an audio address saying his retreat from the Bab al-Aziziya compound was a "tactical move". 'tis but a flesh wound!
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Aug 24, 2011 13:49
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I'm starting to wonder if he is in Tripoli if he's hiding in the tunnels, and his military are protecting the entrances, as there's been no reports of the rebels being able to penetrate the tunnel system yet.
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Aug 24, 2011 13:53
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That's assuming that a vast tunnel system exists
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Aug 24, 2011 13:56
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I wonder if those plans the rebels apparently found describe just the bunker under the compound or any of the wider tunnel network that may or may not exist.
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Aug 24, 2011 13:57
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Brown Moses posted:I'm starting to wonder if he is in Tripoli if he's hiding in the tunnels, and his military are protecting the entrances, as there's been no reports of the rebels being able to penetrate the tunnel system yet. Or he's shacked up with Lizzie Phelan in the Rixos.
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Aug 24, 2011 13:58
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Paul Danahar has just reported a massive explosion in the Gaddafi compound, and black smoke pouring out of it. Apparently the UK, US and France are working together to get a UN resolution together to unfreeze Libyan assets as soon as possible.
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Aug 24, 2011 14:00
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NATO is increasingly concerned with the possibility of Gadaffi loyalists in the military around Sirte resorting to their stockpiles of chemical weapons. They know of some that exist in Sirte itself and just to the South of Sirte, but many of them remain unaccounted. Whether they are still in working condition is up for debate, but it's certainly not a risk that anyone wants to take. This according to a SKY News reporter via the NATO command.
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Aug 24, 2011 14:20
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They've been bombing stockpiles in the hope of destroying most of them, whether or not that worked is another question.quote:Libyan rebel leader Jibril to hold talks with Sarkozy
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Aug 24, 2011 14:22
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Brown Moses posted:They've been bombing stockpiles in the hope of destroying most of them, whether or not that worked is another question. I'd wager that the the French COS, Commando-Marines, SAS, Qatari Special Forces, maybe the U.S. and others have boots on the ground or preparing to insert special ops to verify and secure those chemical weapons caches. The hostage situation at the Rixos and the security of WMD's are two areas they won't take any chances with, not even in Rebel hands. *E* SKY is reporting that the spokesman for the Rebel operation around Tripoli has announced an offer of amnesty and reward for anyone who turns in Pro-Gadaffi regime members and a bounty on the head of the Colonel himself, dead or alive. Furious Mittens fucked around with this message at 14:35 on Aug 24, 2011 |
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Aug 24, 2011 14:28
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Sheee-yit, just yell loudly down into the tunnel that you'll be unleashing a 'deadly weapon' down there in 15 minutes if they don't give up, give 'em a quarter-hour, toss a shitload of mason jars full of hornets' nests or killer bees down there and close the doors  Ghadaffi: What's the wo...OH DEAR LORD! BEES!
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Aug 24, 2011 14:28
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quote:Rebels are offering an amnesty for anyone who captures or kills Col Gaddafi, Reuters reports.
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Aug 24, 2011 14:37
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Brown Moses posted:Rebels are offering an amnesty for anyone who captures or kills Col Gaddafi, Reuters reports. "What did the Colonel say when you stabbed him in the back? I never asked. Did he call you a traitor? Did he plead for a reprieve?" "He said the same thing he’d been saying for hours: 'Has anyone seen my hat?'”
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Aug 24, 2011 14:47
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Brown Moses posted:Apparently the UK, US and France are working together to get a UN resolution together to unfreeze Libyan assets as soon as possible. Weren't Libyan assets already being unfrozen and given to the NTC? I'm sure there are all sorts of different assets and esoteric laws dictating how such things can be handled. It would be interesting to find detailed reports on exactly what types of assets have been frozen/unfrozen/transferred/etc.
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Aug 24, 2011 14:50
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VikingSkull posted:This is what I'm thinking as well. We know those assets are probably around somewhere, the rebels seem to be leaving it alone, and it's full of Westerners. I don't think anyone would mind the SAS and SEALs pulling off one quick mission in Libya, and that's about the best reason for one you can find. I'd actually rather that than a rebel assault. How timely http://twitter.com/#!/MitraCNN posted:Special forces from Britain, France, Jordan, Qatar on ground in Libya stepped up operations in Tripoli n other cities - NATO official
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Aug 24, 2011 14:51
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cgeq posted:Weren't Libyan assets already being unfrozen and given to the NTC? I'm sure there are all sorts of different assets and esoteric laws dictating how such things can be handled. It would be interesting to find detailed reports on exactly what types of assets have been frozen/unfrozen/transferred/etc. I think it's more so any legal barries that might exist because of the UN resolution is removed globally. More on the Gaddafi bounty: quote:Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the chairman of Libya's rebel Transitional National Council, has offered a reward of around £1m for capture of Gaddafi. A million pounds and an amnesty? I bet Gaddafi is feeling even more paranoid now. And regarding tunnels quote:The design director of the Turkish construction company that designed and built the Rixos hotel flatly denied rumours that it was connected by underground tunnels to Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound, writes Robert Booth.
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Aug 24, 2011 14:51
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Visual overview of the battlefield and frontlines: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SpUpabAeMA
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Aug 24, 2011 14:54
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Why is the hashtag #rixos4 being used? For while I thought that meant only four journos were in the hotel.
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Aug 24, 2011 14:55
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Golbez posted:Why is the hashtag #rixos4 being used? For while I thought that meant only four journos were in the hotel. I don't get it either. In other Journalist News Jonny Hallam(BBC) is headed west from Brega, last tweet from Ras Lanuf, so we should get an idea of where that front line has got to when he gets to it.
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Aug 24, 2011 14:58
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farraday posted:I don't get it either. Last I heard Rob Crilly said it was at Bin Jawad this morning.
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Aug 24, 2011 15:00
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Guardian live blog re: tunnels:quote:2.45pm: The design director of the Turkish construction company that designed and built the Rixos hotel flatly denied rumours that it was connected by underground tunnels to Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound, writes Robert Booth.
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Aug 24, 2011 15:01
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quote:Special forces from Britain, France, Jordan, Qatar on ground in Libya stepped up operations in Tripoli n other cities - NATO official Lizzie was right! This is obviously just the beginning of the North Atlantic Terrorist Organization's efforts to occupy and enslave all of North Africa!
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Aug 24, 2011 15:01
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Golbez posted:Why is the hashtag #rixos4 being used? For while I thought that meant only four journos were in the hotel. #Rixos4 refers to Matthew Chance (CNN), Jomana Karadsheh (CNN), Matthew Price (BBC), and Missy Ryan (Reuters). Not quite sure why it's just those four being focused on, but that's Twitter for you.
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