ChaosSamusX posted:

Oh man; this article really hits you, because you find yourself thinking 'Man, these people sound really cool.' except that leads to the immediate realisation that these are the people fighting and dying out there every day - who have been doing so for months.

quote:

Libya’s Prime Minister said on Thursday the only way to reach a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Libya was for the NATO-led alliance to stop its bombing campaign. “We are calling for peace and extending our hand for peace,” Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi told a news conference in Tripoli. “But before peace NATO should stop bombing.”

quote:

Spain is expelling the Libyan ambassador to Madrid and three other Libyan diplomats here, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday. ”The government of Spain has decided to put an end to the mission of the ambassador accredited in Madrid by the authorities in Tripoli (Libya), because the Gadhafi regime has lost all legitimacy due to its continual repression of the Libyan population,” the statement said.

quote:

The Libyan ambassador to Madrid, Ajeli Abdussalam Ali Breni, “has 10 days to leave” Spain, the ministry said.

quote:

The United States has dismissed an election proposal by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s son. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters at her daily briefing: “I think it’s a little late for that,” and repeated the U.S. view that “it’s time for him (Gaddafi) to go.”

quote:

Italy’s government will host a meeting of tribal leaders from across Libya to help promote reconciliation in the country, the foreign minister said Thursday. Franco Frattini said that up to 300 people representing all of Libya’s regions will attend the meeting in Rome. He did not give a date, but the ANSA news agency said the gathering might take place next week.

quote:

Google Earth is being used as a guidance system for aiming mortars by rebel forces in Libya. An engineer – Ahmed Eyzert who has since been killed in the fighting – worked out how to drop mortar shells on enemy positions using a combination of images and data from the internet and a French mortar ranging table. The system has been refined, with rebel scouts using binoculars and laptops now pinpointing the military machinery of Gaddafi’s forces. But it is not just Google Earth that’s been helping them. The rebels say the computer game Call of Duty has taught them vital tactics.

quote:

Neal Mann tweets: “Gunfire punctuating the quiet of the night in Tripoli.”

quote:

@dovenews: BREAKING! 10 #Gaddafi forces have surrendered to the #FF in the (18) area west #Ajdabyia & reports of NATO strikes on the (40) area. #Libya

quote:

@dovenews: NATO is attacking #Gaddafi forces in #Brega now. via Revolution #libya

quote:

@fieldproducer: Jets back over Tripoli

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In Kikla, there was also an airstrike on Wednesday, but locals strongly deny libyan state tv claims that 12 died when civilian bus hit. Local people believe Wednesday's strike hit a MILITARY bus - killing Gaddafi soldiers.
Some of those I spoke to after they fled Tripoli fear "big confrontation" tomorrow. It is June 17 (4 months) and a Friday.
NATO airstrike near KIKLA, Western Libya http://yfrog.com/hsygxkpj
NATO airstrike near KIKLA, Western Libya http://pi.pe/-ptzymr
Cars cross desert front line escaping from Tripoli http://yfrog.com/gyajprxj
Cars cross desert front line escaping from Tripoli http://pi.pe/-ss180f

quote:

Libyan rebels say captured cell phone videos show rape, torture
On the front lines of Libya's war, rebel fighters say they are finding more than weapons on captured or killed soldiers loyal to ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

Rebels say they have confiscated cell phones that contain video showing Gadhafi loyalists raping women and torturing people.

CNN has obtained a copy of a video shot on a cell phone that appears to show a woman being sexually abused. The person who gave the video to CNN says it was on a cell phone that was confiscated from a Gadhafi loyalist.

It shows two men in civilian clothes standing over a naked woman who is bent over with her face on the floor.

The man standing behind her is sodomizing her with what appears to be a broomstick. "I can't bear it! I can't bear it!" the woman cries.

"Let's push it farther," a male voice says off-camera.

"No, no, that's enough!" the woman begs.

Eventually, one of the men puts his sock-covered foot on her face. In Arab culture, that is considered a major insult. But in this case, it pales in comparison to what the victim is already enduring.

Arabic speakers who listened to the video at CNN's request say the voices have Tripoli accents. There is no date on the video and the men in it are not wearing military uniforms.

CNN has been unable to verify the video's authenticity, when it was shot, or by whom. The person who gave it to CNN asked not to be identified for fear of being punished by Libya's conservative society.

The Gadhafi government did not respond to CNN requests for comment on the allegations of abuse.

But officials have said in response to similar accusations in the past that the government has not been able to verify the claims and would "welcome" a fact-finding mission.

An opposition spokesman says the video illustrates a pattern of abuse.

"We were able to confirm that rape was used as a weapon of war because it was systematic," rebel spokesman Abdullah al-Kabeir said.

The rebels have many videos showing other types of torture, and a few depict rape, he said. He did not know exactly how many videos there were showing abuse.

One of the most famous faces of Libya's revolution, Eman al-Obeidy, dramatically claimed in March she had been gang-raped by pro-Gadhafi forces. She has since fled the country.

A Libyan psychologist who has conducted an investigation of her own says al-Obeidy's case is not unique.

Siham Sergewa says she has evidence of hundreds of cases of rape by pro-Gadhafi troops.

She began her investigation after receiving phone calls from women who said they had been sexually assaulted. Her survey of 50,000 people in refugee camps turned up 259 people who said they had been raped, she said last month.

"They tie up my husband, they rape me in front of my husband and then they kill my husband," Sergewa said one woman told her.

"I'm a psychologist and I've seen lots of things, really. But sometimes after I leave some of these families I just sit in my car and cry because it's really so painful," she said.

She has compiled a number of distressing images that she says demonstrate the abuse of alleged victims. One appears to show a cigarette burn on a woman's breast, another a faded bite mark, while several others show the deep purple hue of nasty bruises.

Sergewa shared her research, complete with pictures and recordings, with the International Criminal Court at The Hague, Netherlands, where prosecutors are currently investigating accusations that the Gadhafi regime has used rape as a tool of war.

The court did not immediately respond to CNN questions Thursday about whether it had the rape and torture videos the rebels claim to have, or whether it was seeking copies.

But the court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, told CNN in May that the court has information about women who were stopped at checkpoints and, because they were carrying the flag of the rebels, were taken by police and gang raped.

Moreno-Ocampo has said the allegations are credible. An investigation is under way.

Rebel spokesman al-Kabeir, however, said some of the evidence of war crimes that prosecutors want to present in court has been destroyed by a rebel leader.

"There was a commander here at the eastern front in Misrata named Mohamed al-Halboos; he ordered all the (rebel) fighters to give him all the rape videos they find on Gadhafi soldiers' cell phones. I heard that he used to destroy every rape video he got," al-Kabeir said.

Asked why potential evidence of war crimes being carried out by pro-Gadhafi forces would be destroyed by rebel forces, he cited the heavy stigma that Libyan culture attaches to the victims of such crimes.

"Aside from being a heinous crime, rape is perceived here in our culture as damaging not only for the girl, but also the whole family," he said.

In fact, he added, rape is such a taboo here that some victims' families would rather erase potential evidence than risk living with the shame.

bungdan (Dan Murphy) posted:

Having read this kristof column, i'm split on calling it "profoundly stupid" or "economically illiterate." http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/opinion/16kristof.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

Paradox Personified posted:

Loving this tweet, I need to share it.

Brown Moses posted:

Freigeist posted:

Interesting video, supposedly showing part of the force that was used to attack Misurata:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El5bvZhHIDQ
A few tanks and literal truckloads of what looks like hastily recruited black Africans with AK's, some not even wearing uniforms.

Young Freud posted:

I'm trying to figure out what's the problem with any of this.

Young Freud posted:

The one thing I want to see out of these recovered videos is the moment the rout starts. Like, these guys are chanting about "purifying Misrata" and on top of the world. Then, seconds later, the convoy is attacked by NATO fighter-bombers and those trucks empty the gently caress out as they flee for cover.

quote:

Events of Wednesday, June l5th (= situation at June l6th, 00:00 hr s)

• There is now confirmation from multiple sources including s well as video footage from a localyoutube channel that in recent days , the Natioal iberation Army has begun an outflanking maneuver on the western front sector Apart from the main westward thrust from the 'red line' around ad-Dafniya, the freedom fighters have made a thrust to the south and from there more westward, allegedly to the vicinity of Naimah

• This maneuver presumably started on Sunday June l2th at the latest (see my Misrata Update from this day) It can so far not be confirmed how far to the west this advance has reached but visual identification of the above mentioned video suggests that this axis of advance is south of most southern parallel road to the coastal highway ( i e more than 5 km south of it)

• Complaints about NATOs slow, bureaucratic and timid air supprt for Misrata's freedom fighters continues to be urged and are reported by major international news media The freedom fighters appeal to NATO to prevent the annihilation of Zlitens civil population http//t.co/J7z7Slt and http//bbc.in/jEtRXu.

• Sources in Misrata say the local freedom fighters in Zliten are now pinned into one district (Baza) which is under heavy artillery fire Photographers who got to within four miles of Zlitan on Tuesday took pictures of government rockets exploding in the town , the 'Guardian' reported

• NATO planes were reported to be hovering over Misrata in the afternoon, causing relative calm on the front lines Regime forces tried to shell the city occasionally. Sporadic she/ling was in particular also reported from the western front sector around ad-Dafniya
• Wednesday, on the western front sector, 1 freedom fighter was reported to have been killed and 6 were reported injured, including 1 who was critically injured A video by AI Jazeera English confirms that freedom fighters from Zliten are fighting alongside Misrata's freedom fighters on the western front sector http //youtu.be/c4fLvCqqcoM .

• However , according to NLA spokesman Fathi Bashagha fro Misrata, the part has been hit repeatedly in the past 24 hours by rockets fired from at least 4Okm away, which is more than twice the reach of the Grad missiles usually used by the regime forces According to another report, two children had been injured by shelling with Grad missiles on Tuesday just 1 km from Misrata's city centre

• It was reported that Apache helicopters were for the first time sighted over Naimah [presumably during daytime} The same Twitter sources also stated that regime forces had apparently been laying 'Chinese' landmines to both sides of the Coastal Highway [and presumably around parallel roads} in Naimah in order to hamper the advance by the freedom fighters This was later confirmed by AI Jazeera Arabic
• AI Jazeera Arabic reported that there was an increase in effectively conducted NATO airstrikes around Misrata for the past two days According to its own tally of 'key airstrikes' on Wednesday NATO only destroyed 2 rocket launchers and 1 anti-aircraft gun around Misrata
• The situation at the eastern front sector around Tawergah was described as 'quiet' No reports for the southern front sector are available for Wednesday.
• Meanwhile, AP reports that the life in the city of Misrata continues to normalize with children returning to school Further video footage from local youtube channels also documents activities by the local boy scouts to provide psychological re|elf to children traumatized by the war as well as the resumption of regular work by Misrata's judicial system


Comment:

An outflanking maneuver followed up by an encircling move on Zliten would be the least bloody and quickest way to force regime troops out of Zliten The reports that such a move have been initiated are therefore a tactically very important piece of information

quote:

An attack in the east near Ajdabiya wounded at least 16 revolutionaries in what may have been a friendly fire incident caused by a NATO airstrike. A spokesman had no information on the incident.

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Libyan rebels coordinating attacks on three fronts
Emboldened by improvements in their military communications, the rebels challenging Moammar Khadafy say they are now coordinating attacks on three fronts to stretch the loyalist forces’ defenses.
Their efforts were evident this week, rebels say, as they initiated new attacks in the east from Benghazi toward the oil port of Brega; on the central coast from Misurata toward the pivotal barracks town of Zlitan; and from their newest stronghold in the Nafusah Mountains into the town of Zawiya near the capital.

In addition, rebel spokesmen in Misurata and Benghazi said they had succeeded in smuggling weapons to cells of allies here in the capital, where residents say there are nightly clashes with Khadafy security forces in the rebellious neighborhoods of Tajura, Souq al-Juma, and Feshloom.

Two Tripoli residents said yesterday that rebel supporters in Tajura and Souq al-Juma were distributing leaflets urging Khadafy soldiers to put down their weapons and the residents to rise up. A rebel spokesman in Benghazi said the leaflets were composed in the east and e-mailed to the Tripoli residents to print and distribute.

The existence or origin of the leaflets could not be confirmed because foreign journalists trying to visit the neighborhoods were stopped by Khadafy soldiers and returned to their hotel. Nor could the level of rebel success on other fronts be determined.

On the most active front, between Misurata and Zlitan, a rebel spokesman said this week that the anti-Khadafy forces had advanced as far west as the town of Naima, though the NATO was urging them to retreat to the older front line at Dafniyah.

Much of the information from the battlefield has been hard to verify and, at times, unreliable. The rebels said the city of Zlitan had risen up against Khadafy, but during an official visit to the neighboring town of Al Khums, many residents said that was overstated. Several residents, speaking in the presence of official government press minders, said the only fighting was at the Dafniyah front. Two residents speaking without supervision said Zlitan was at best divided, with some residents attacking the Khadafy troops stationed there.

In other cases the rebel communications system may have transmitted overly optimistic reports. Spokesmen in Misurata and Benghazi suggested Wednesday that the insurgents in the important oil port of Zawiya had closed the main road through the town to the Tunisian border. But journalists traveling the road both ways said they passed undisturbed.

In Tripoli, officials of the Khadafy government remained defiant. They said that the brief flare in violence in Zawiya was quickly snuffed out, and that Zlitan, Brega, and Tripoli were firmly under control.

After a meeting with a Russian envoy yesterday, Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, the Libyan equivalent of a prime minister, told foreign journalists that he had categorically ruled out the demands of the rebels and NATO that Khadafy leave power. “The whole Libyan people are Moammar Khadafy,’’ Mahmoudi said. He said to NATO, “You are betting on a losing horse.’’

Western officials and the rebels have insisted that Khadafy and his family leave Libya before talks on its future can begin. Democratic reform “is not yours to offer any more; you are a war criminal,’’ said Jalal el-Gallal, a spokesman for the rebels in Benghazi.

Security forces seemed not to be as prevalent in the capital as they had been in previous months, perhaps reflecting the impact of the NATO airstrikes or the widening front with the rebels. On the highways entering the city, checkpoints that a few weeks ago were heavily guarded by tanks, armored personnel carriers, and well-equipped soldiers were manned by only a few irregular guards.

And security within the city appeared much less conspicuous as well, with fewer checkpoints along the streets. One rebel sympathizer said the Khadafy forces had switched to plain clothes to avoid guerrilla attacks by underground rebels operating in the city at night, although that could not be confirmed.

In the Nafusah Mountains in the west, where a few weeks ago desperate rebel fighters were struggling to survive and information was almost impossible to obtain from the outside, the rebels have consolidated their hold well enough to set up an official “Nefusa Mountain Media Group,’’ with its own website and multilingual spokesman.

Rebels in the mountains, Misurata, and Benghazi said they had managed to smuggle in and distribute satellite telephones that have allowed them to improve their communication from disparate corners of the country, at the same time that NATO’s bombing raids have severely damaged the Khadafy forces’ communication abilities. And rebel fighters are now equipped with high-frequency radios that allow better coordination in the field, the rebels say.

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To spread international awareness and urge decision makers to take action over Syria's bloody crackdown on protesters, the group Access has set up a page where web users can watch videos from Syria and send them to world leaders.

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Syrian tycoon Rami Makhlouf, cousin of President Bashar al-Assad, is quitting business and moving to charity work, state television said, a move that would meet a demand of protesters seeking an end to Assad's rule.

Makhlouf, a hate figure among protesters, owns Syria's largest mobile phone company, Syriatel, and several large construction and oil firms. He has expanded his businesses during Assad's rule and has been widely cited by protesters in their calls for an end to public corruption.

"As for his businesses, they will be directed so that they ... create jobs and support the national economy. He will not enter into any new project that [brings] him personal gain," the television said of Makhlouf.

The European Union listed Makhlouf and 12 Syrian officials on its sanctions list which includes asset freezes and travel bans.

quote:

Sorties conducted 16 JUNE: 146
Strike sorties conducted 16 JUNE: 51
In Tripoli: 1 Vehicle Storage and Maintenance Facility.
In the vicinity of Tripoli: 1 Surface-To-Air Missile Launcher with Loader Vehicle.
In the vicinity of Brega: 7 Truck-Mounted Guns, 3 Tanks.
In the vicinity of Waddan: 1 Ammunition Storage Facility.
In the vicinity of Misratah: 5 Truck-Mounted Guns.
In the vicinity of Zintan: 2 Truck-Mounted Guns, 1 Fuel Truck.

quote:

Welcome to Middle East Live on what is set to be yet another key Friday in the Arab Spring, six months after Tunisian fruitseller Mohamed Bouazizi set himself alight and sparked uprising across the region.

Protests are planned today in Syria, Bahrain, and Yemen and women in Saudi Arabia will take on the Kingdom's ban on female driving. The King of Morocco is also expected to unveil reforms to the constitution demanded by pro-democracy activists.

Where the Arab spring will end is anyone's guess, writes the Guardian's Middle East editor Ian Black,

quote:

But it is striking how Arab unrest has become a permanent feature of the global landscape. It is unfinished business wherever it is happening.

For the moment Syria remains the most volatile country and the key place to watch. The Syria tycoon and opposition hate figure Rami Makhlouf is to give up his business interests, in a move being seen as a sign that the regime is wobbling.

Makhlouf, is a cousin of the president Bashar al-Assad, a key figure in his inner circle and a target of protesters' anger. They frequently chant slogans against him and in March tried to burn down the headquarters of his telecommunications business.

The decision comes as thousands of Syrians are again expected to take part in anti-government protests after Friday prayers.

Last month in an infamous interview with the New York Times Makhlouf said the regime will fight to the end.

Anthony Shadid, who conducted the interview, outlined the significance of Makhlouf's apparent removal from power.

quote:

The move, if true, would suggest that Assad was so concerned about the continuing protests that he would sacrifice a relative to public anger.

Diplomats also told Shadid that Assad is preparing to address the nation on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Syrian writer Robin Yassin-Kassab argues that Turkey could intervene in the crisis to create a safe haven for refugees in the north that could also act as a rebel base.

quote:

If many more refugees join the 8,500 who have fled to Turkey, [prime minister] Erdogan may order a limited occupation of Syrian territory to establish a "safe haven". That – the regime's inability to hold a section of the homeland – may prove a tipping point. It could also offer Syria its Benghazi, a base for organised resistance.

quote:

The Syrian army is reported to have move into another town in the north west of the country as opposition activists set out details of today's protests.
AP reports:

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Syrian troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships swept into another northwestern city early Friday, just days after laying siege to it, activists said.

Syria-based rights activist Mustafa Osso said large numbers of soldiers entered Maaret al-Numan. It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties in the operation.

Many of the residents of Maaret al-Numan, a town of 100,000 on the highway linking Damascus with Syria's largest city, Aleppo, have fled after Syrian forces swept through the northwestern province of Idlib last week near the Turkish border.

The opposition group the Local Coordination Committees of Syria said today's protests will mark three months of the uprising that it says has claimed the lives of 1,600 people. Activists are appealing to the regular army to defect.

The LCCS claim:

quote:

In Deir Azzour and Homs, residents attempted to bring food to the soldiers and to ask that the protests be allowed to continue peacefully.

quote:

It's still early but there are already a few reports of women taking to the roads in Saudi Arabia, writes Brian Whitaker.

quote:

In what seems to have been a night-time excursion before the official start, @FouzAbd tweeted:

Only mom is driving and I don't see any other women driving. But ppl r not harassing us at all

Drove all the way from our Uni where we celebrated my sister's graduation till our house. And then went out again and driving in AlSahafa

On our way back home and no one harassed us at all. Even thu some men stared at us

Meanwhile, Ana3rabeya tweeted:

quote:

Some Saudi Men are considering going out for a drive while wearing women's Abayas to confuse the police!

It may be difficult to judge the success or otherwise of today's action, since it's not intended as a mass demonstration in a single place – more a case individuals asserting their rights here and there.

The authorities will probably claim there has been little response. My guess is that they will arrest a few women, but not so many as to imply that there has been large-scale defiance of the rules.

The important thing to keep in mind, though, is that this has never been intended as a one-off one-day protest. The idea is that from today women who have international licences will drive whenever they wish to do so.

The real measure of success will be how long it takes the authorities to cave in and start issuing Saudi driving

quote:

Over on the Defence and security blog, Richard Norton-Taylor discusses Nato's lack of civilian casualties so far in the Libya conflict.

quote:

For all sorts of reasons, including political ones — the need to keep as many Arab nations as possible on side — Nato has to limit civilian casualties to an absolute minimum. And it seems to have succeeded. Though the risk increases as the air strikes continue, the number of civilian deaths appears remarkably low given that Nato planes have been involved in more than 3,000 strike sorties, a significant number though only about a third the number over the same period during the 1999 Kosovo war ...

Many of Nato's targets in Libya have been hit by more than one bomb. Most of the civilians killed by Nato strikes, including one which killed 13 people, seem to have been the result of "friendly fire" — Nato bombs hitting rebels. As a result, Gaddafi and his spokesmen have not been able convincingly — so far at any rate — to use civilian casualties as a propaganda weapon.

quote:

Huge news if true. The BBC tweets:

quote:

Yemeni President Saleh will not return home from Saudi Arabia where he is being treated for shrapnel wounds , a Saudi official tells AFP

quote:

Australia's Herald Sun has more from that Saudi official on the apparent decision of president Saleh not to return.

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"The Yemeni president will not return to Yemen," the official said, requesting anonymity.

"It has not been decided where he will stay," the official added, apparently suggesting that Saleh might eventually leave Saudi Arabia for another country.

It is probably best to be cautious about this for now. There have been numerous contradictory reports about Saleh's health in the last few days.

As Yemen based journalist Jeb Boone tweets:

quote:

AFP quoting Saudi official saying Saleh will not return to #Yemen. I bet I could find a Saudi official to say he's become Darth Vader.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera has shown footage of tens of thousands of anti-government protesters gathering in the southern Yemeni city of Taiz.

quote:

NATO said on Friday it was checking whether one of its air strikes in Libya mistakenly wounded at least 16 rebels and destroyed six of their combat trucks. Rebel spokesman Farag al-Moghraby said the incident took place near Ajdabiyah, a town about 180 km (113 miles) south of Benghazi, the base for opposition to long-time Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

“(It was most likely) a NATO air strike that had mistakenly hit that location,” he told Reuters by telephone. “We are investigating where the air strike came from, whether it’s NATO or Gaddafi forces.”

He said no one was killed in the incident, but six rebel pickup trucks fitted with anti-aircraft guns had been destroyed.

NATO military spokesman Mike Bracken said the alliance was not currently in a position to confirm or deny the report as it did not have personnel on the ground in Libya.

He added: “NATO is aware of the media reports of an incident involving opposition forces. We are checking the details and circumstances of this particular incident.”

NATO is under pressure to escalate Libya missions that might turn the fight, especially on the stalemated eastern front, in the rebels’ favour.

Bracken said so-called “dynamic targeting” — when air crews pick targets while in flight — took longer to investigate than pre-planned bombing sorties.

NATO accidentally struck rebel positions on several occasions early in its three-month-old Libyan air campaign. It said at the time that the similar appearance and equipment of rebel and Gaddafi forces in the desert terrain made targeting difficult.

Western officials have also accused Gaddafi’s military of hiding equipment in urban areas or behind human shields.

quote:

NATO warplanes dashed into the Libyan capital Tripoli at midday on Friday, pounding a target in the south of the city and sending a thick cloud of black smoke rising high into the air, the Associated Press reported.

A series of explosions rumbled across other parts of the city as fighter jets could by heard flying overhead. Fire engines raced through the streets, sirens blaring. It wasn't clear what was hit or whether there were casualties, the AP said.

NATO has been ramping up the pressure on Gaddafi's regime.

quote:

The main opposition party in Bahrain, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, has called for anti-government protests after Friday prayers today to mark the fourth month of the uprising (which actually began on 14 February), reports Press TV, the Iranian-government-controlled news network.

All of al-Wefaq's MPs resigned from parliament in March in protest at the deaths of anti-regime demonstrators.

Meanwhile, protests were held overnight in a number of places, according to YouTube footage (update: see 11.43am).

In a significant development this week, the US, a close ally, put Bahrain on its list of human rights abusers, a list that includes Iran, North Korea, Syria and Zimbabwe.

Bahrain is an important strategic ally to the US, not least because it is home to the US Navy's fifth fleet, a relationship that some critics feel has dampened American criticism of the crackdown against protesters in the Gulf state.

Bahraini blogger Lamees Dhaif, on a tour of the US with 19 other bloggers from the country, was highly critical of US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Mondoweiss reports. It quotes Dhaif as saying:

quote:

We expected that Americans would stand by us. We thought that when five armies came into our country, America would give a definite no no no, this should not happen. We were shocked by Hillary Clinton's statement. She gave the green light for the people who are crushing us. If Iran was coming to Bahrain, we wouldn't mind [the Saudi and UAE armies entering Bahrain]. But nobody is there but us.

quote:

The Bahrain protests map has been updated so you can click on the blue markers to view videos of the demonstrations. Protests purported to have taken place in Karzakkan, Ma'ameer and Barbar last night have also been added to the map.

quote:

Bahrain hunger striker Zainab al-Khawaja has been allowed to spend 10 minutes with her husband Wafu Almajed, who was arrested in April, writes Peter Walker.

quote:

The Associated Press news agency has filed a report on the first day of the women's driving protest in Saudi Arabia. The agency says one woman took a 45-minute tour through Riyadh with her husband in the passenger seat. Maha al Qahtani said: "I wanted to make a point. I took it directly to the streets of the capital." There were unconfirmed reports of others driving in Dammam, in the east of the country, and elsewhere.

AP says the protests could encourage other pushes for reform for Saudi women, who are not allowed to vote and must obtain permission from a male guardian to travel or take a job. Wajeha al-Huwaider, a Saudi women's rights activist who posted clips of herself driving on the internet three years ago, said:

quote:

We want women from today to begin exercising their rights. Today on the roads is just the opening in a long campaign. We will not go back … We'll keep it up until we get a royal decree removing the ban.

AP says the driving ban is the only such country-wide rule in the world. "There is no written Saudi law barring women from driving only fatwas, or religious edicts, by senior clerics following a strict brand of Islam known as Wahhabism. They claim the driving ban protects against the spread of vice and temptation because women drivers would be free to leave home alone and interact with male strangers. The prohibition forces families to hire live-in drivers or rely on male relatives to drive."

Philip Luther of Amnesty International said:

quote:

Not allowing women behind the wheel in Saudi Arabia is an immense barrier to their freedom of movement, and severely limits their ability to carry out everyday activities as they see fit, such as going to work or the supermarket, or picking up their children from school.

quote:

Paul Owen has been speaking to Jason Burke in Riyadh on the Saudi women's driving protest.

He says the police have been told to take a softly-softly approach, which reflects the fact that many Saudi royals are sympathetic to the women's demands. But he said that as usual in Saudi Arabia change would only come slowly. He was also sceptical about any prospect of widespread Arab spring protests in the kingdom. "Saudi Arabia does things in a Saudi Arabian way," Jason said, while the king has bought off certain groups with a massive spending programme. "There is still a very powerful conservative establishment" and the people involved in the driving protest are very much confined to the intelligentsia.

quote:

Video has emerged purporting to show arrested men being forced to chant in support of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president. The prisoner appear to have been promised water in return for doing this.

quote:

There have been several reports of protests taking place in Syria today. The activist group, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria is mapping the reports.

Separately we've compiled a Google Map of showing videos that activist claim were filmed today. We will try to update it as more videos emerge.

Click on each Guardian icon to see the video.

quote:

There are unconfirmed Twitter reports from activists that four people have been killed in today's protests in Syria.

@Razaniyat:

quote:

The first revolutionary martyred today Friday 17-6-2011 is from Homs from Za'rour family. #Syria

@MalathAumran:

quote:

2 brave protesters killed by security in #aleppo #syria

A 16 year old protester was shot and killed by security forces in Da'el, #Daraa -- #syria will always remember you.

quote:

An eyewitness in Hama tells Al Jazeera a huge demonstration is going on now, estimating more than 150,000 people had taken to the streets chanting for peace, toppling the regime and praising Turkey for its support to Syrian refugees.

The protesters were carrying a giant Syrian flag he said residents had sown themselves in an effort to rival the 2,3km long flag used in a pro-Assad rally in Damascus earlier this week.

The witness said no army, secret police or even traffic police were deployed on the streets, but the military remained posted around the main entrances to the city where two weeks ago at least 64 protesters were killed by security forces in a single day.

“Last night we saw tanks moving around the eastern gate of Hama and we were having a night demonstration at the time, so we moved towards them and started talking to the soldiers,” he said. “We explained to them that there are no Salafis and no terrorists here and we gave them some food.”

Thewitness said he saw some soldiers defect from their unit last night, prompting gunfire but no confirmed casualties, and said the soldiers were now being sheltered by residents. Duing the assault on the north-west, several eyewitness accounts reported soldiers and secret police defecting.

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The Local Coordination Committees, an activist network, says heavy machine gunfire has been heard in the Bab Tudmor area in Homs as protesters chanted "God is great".

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A protest in Latakia has reportedly been dispersed by security forces. It started near al-Dardaa mosque in the Tabiyat area.

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The Spanish authorities have detained a close associate of the former Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak. Businessman Hussein Salem is wanted for trial in Egypt on charges of bribing Mubarak and his family and squandering public funds.

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Salem's detention was seen as a major step towards unravelling secrets of corruption throughout the reign of Mubarak, and possibly a key to locating and retrieving much of the Mubaraks' riches, believed to be stashed abroad at a time when the country's economy is depressed. Some estimate Mubarak's holdings at tens of billions of dollars.

Here's the full story.

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Jack Shenker sends this from Cairo on the arrest of Hussein Salem in Spain:

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In one of the most significant arrests made since Hosni Mubarak fell from power in early February, the former president's "Mr Fix It" was finally apprehended last night in Spain. Hussein Salem, a 77-year-old ex-intelligence officer and businessman who formed a close personal bond with the Mubarak family and fled the country a week into the revolution, has been wanted by the Egyptian authorities on multiple charges of economic fraud and corruption for several months. Yet despite being the subject of an Interpol warrant Salem had managed to evade capture until yesterday, when Spanish police swooped on his villa in Majorca.

Salem is alleged to have been the man behind many of the dirty deals that enriched the Mubarak family and their associates, including the politically controversial sale of cheap Egyptian gas to neighbouring Israel and the construction of Red Sea resort town Sharm El-Sheikh. Egyptian prosecutors hope that Salem will help unlock the murky web of embezzlement that engulfed the old regime. "Salem is not just a suspect in a corruption trial or for abuse of power. He is the bag of secrets and is the face of all the illicit and illegal activities of Mubarak and his two sons," said independent economist Abdel-Khaleq Farouk this morning.

Egypt will now issue a formal request to Spain for Salem to be transferred to Cairo, although the two countries do not have an extradition treaty.

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We warned you to be cautious of that report about Yemen's president Saleh not returning. Now a Yemeni government spokesman insists he is on the mend and will be back soon.

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"The presidency has confirmed to me that the president will return within coming days," Abdu al-Janadi, Yemen's deputy information minister insisted. Reuters. "The president's health is improving continuously," he said.

With so many conflicting reports the true state of Saleh's health is impossible to tell.

Freigeist posted:

Interesting video, supposedly showing part of the force that was used to attack Misurata:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El5bvZhHIDQ
A few tanks and literal truckloads of what looks like hastily recruited black Africans with AK's, some not even wearing uniforms.

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Libya
The accounts of the former deputy head of Libya's sovereign wealth fund, Mustafa Zarti, were unblocked by the EU today. His accounts were originally frozen because Austria called him a "close confident of the regime in Libya". Zarti denies close links, other than being friends with Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. Nato today called an offer of elections Saif made earlier this week a "cynical PR ploy".

In Misrata, at least 10 people were killed and 40 wounded after Gaddafi's forces shelled the rebel-held city, Reuters reported. Near Zlitan, which is between Tripoli and Misrata, rebels and government forces exchanged heavily artillery fire. Capturing Zlitan would be a major victory for the rebels.

"We had a strategy to finish everything today but some of the fighters think it's a game," a rebel unit commander called Mohammed Ali told Reuters. "They shot when they weren't supposed to shoot and they have ruined it."

In Tripoli, Nato resumed bombing with six loud explosions heard in the south of the city this morning. A few hundred people filled the capital's Green Square waving green revolutionary flags and chanting pro-Gaddafi slogans following Friday prayers.

The US is paying two European mine-clearing groups nearly $1m to hunt and dispose of loose anti-aircraft missiles that could make their way from Libyan battlefields to terror groups, the Associated Press reports.

Tunisia
In Tunisia, a lawyer for ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has denied the charges against him and dismissed his upcoming trial for money laundering, abuse of power and drug trafficking as politically motivated.

Bahrain
In Bahrain, an influential Shia cleric warned today that "cosmetic reform" would not satisfy protesters. Sheikh Issa Qasim said: "It is not reasonable and one should not be deluded into thinking the people, after much fatigue, suffering, and the dearest of sacrifices, will accept coming up empty-handed." The king has promised a national dialogue from 1 July, to discuss democratic reforms.

Syria
Angelina Jolie travelled to Turkey's border with Syria to meet refugees fleeing the government crackdown there. The actress and UN goodwill ambassador arrived in Hatay on a private jet with boxes of toys. There are now nearly 10,000 Syrian refugees in camps in Turkey. The Turkish authorities greeted her with a huge banner that said: "Goodness Angel of the World, Welcome."

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Turkish officials have confirmed they are considering setting up safe havens inside Syria to help protect Syrians fleeing the violence, according to the Turkish daily Hürriyet.

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Ankara will supply humanitarian aid for thousands of Syrian refugees massing at Turkey's border and could consider opening a corridor inside the Arab republic in response to the uprising there, a foreign ministry official has said.

"There are at present more than 10,000 people just over Turkey's border, on the other side of the barbed wire," the official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Hürriyet Daily News on Thursday.

Given the number of refugees fleeing President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on dissidents who have now arrived at the Turkish border, a humanitarian corridor could be opened on the Syrian side of the border, the official said, but added that such a decision would only be taken after observing further developments in the southern neighbour.

The Syrian writer Robin Yassin-Kassab said Turkish safe havens in the north could provide the Syrian opposition with a base.

Brown Moses posted:

The AJE reporter in Nafusa is reporting the rebels are currently trying to capture two towns, Takut and Tiji, both of which are located at the base of the mountains in the northwest. These two towns are on the road to Az Ghazzabiyah, which I've previously mentioned as being used as a base for an Gaddafi artillery battalion that's currently currently shelling Nafusa and Nalut on a regular basis. Once they've captured those two towns they will be attack Az Ghazzabiyah directly.

Sivias posted:

Are NATO and the Rebels working in tandem? I.E. is there active communications and planning between the two?
"We're going to bomb this spot at this hour - attack after 3:00"
I would imagine that would require some sort of 'boots on the ground' assistance group with the gear to coordinate and communicate all the rebels.

http://www.defense.gouv.fr/operations/autres-operations/operation-harmattan-libye/actualites/libye-point-de-situation-n-23 posted:

Enfin, une petite équipe de militaires français a été placée auprès de l’envoyé spécial français qui est en lien avec le Conseil national libyen de transition (CNT). Ils assurent une mission de liaison qui peut les amener à conseiller le CNT sur des aspects techniques (logistique, organisation ou communication…).

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In Libya, More Novice Soldiers in Defense of Qaddafi
Refat, 26, was happily working in the information technology department of a British retailer here until just a few months ago when he was called to military service by the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

Now Refat, who was not fully identified because of the fear of retribution from Libyan security forces, is patrolling the rebellious neighborhood of Souq al-Juma wearing a mismatched uniform, riding in a small white government car and worried for his life each night because of the growing number of rebel attacks within the capital on soldiers like him.

Just last Thursday, he said, four armed rebels ambushed a group of his fellow soldiers at a checkpoint, killing another amateur soldier named Walid, a 20-year-old student, and leaving another in the hospital.

“We are afraid,” Refat said. “We are standing under the light and they come from the darkness.”

Novice soldiers like Refat, whose account provided the first confirmation of widespread rebel reports of their nocturnal guerrilla attacks, appear to be an increasingly important part of the Qaddafi government’s defense against potential insurrection in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. The professional soldiers of the Qaddafi militias who once cruised the streets of neighborhoods like Souq al-Juma in their white Toyota pickup trucks, he said, have all been called away to fight on the front lines near Misurata, the Nafusa Mountains or the eastern oil city of Brega.

As anxiety hung over the capital Friday on the four-month anniversary of the start of the Libyan uprising, Refat was patrolling the streets with another amateur soldier, a petroleum engineer in civilian life, under the supervision of an older, nonuniformed leader who made his living as a teacher.

“No one has a gun or a Kalashnikov,” Refat said, to prove the degree of calm in the neighborhood as he gave a tour to a pair of foreign journalists picked up for roaming the city without an official minder.

With rumors of a planned rebel attack or demonstration, though, security was tight. Foreign journalists were almost completely barred from leaving their hotel until after 4:30 p.m., and two who did slip out briefly in the morning reported seeing truckloads of riot police officers. To counter any potential opposition, the government organized a rally by thousands of Qaddafi supporters for much of the day in the city’s central Green Square — the largest such demonstration here in several weeks.

Loudspeakers and state television broadcast a defiant recorded message from Colonel Qaddafi. “NATO will be defeated,” he predicted, calling the rebels challenging his rule “sons of dogs.” (On Thursday, he delivered a radio address in the city of Bani Walid, urging residents to march together against the rebels based in Misurata.)

A few hours earlier, NATO jets had again buzzed the city and dropped bombs in broad daylight, increasing the tension. One large explosion south of the city sent a thick cloud of black smoke snaking over the skyline.

About 100 miles to the east, Qaddafi forces remained locked in battle with rebels attempting to advance from Misurata toward the barracks town of Zlitan. The Associated Press reported that rebel fighters and a woman living nearby had been killed when the Qaddafi forces fired Grad rockets and artillery at the rebels’ front lines.

In Tripoli, the streets of Souq al-Juma were full of what appeared to be plainclothes police officers and security agents — several ultimately came forward to confer with the soldiers — and some residents said they were afraid to be seen talking to reporters.

For a while, a group of young men smoking shisha pipes under a tree at a roadside cafe whispered of their nightly battles with Qaddafi forces, their gratitude for the NATO bombing and their hopes that rebel fighters would eventually reach the capital. When a reporter mimicked a popular Qaddafi slogan, a young man replied with a stony look, saying, “Don’t say that here! You are in Souq al-Juma!” And he insisted that even beyond the neighborhood, “90 percent” of Tripoli residents want Colonel Qaddafi to go.

Then another group of men pulled up chairs. The first group turned anxious and silent. And then the newcomers explained that all of Souq al-Juma, like all of Tripoli, supported Colonel Qaddafi.

A few blocks away, two young men in plainclothes, who had been sitting by a wall, stood up to introduce themselves as deputy police officers. Then they summoned the soldiers to escort the journalists away.

Touring the neighborhood, Refat noted the hollow shell of the police stations that rebels had burned down during the initial uprising four months ago. And he pointed out where each night the rebels had painted anti-Qaddafi graffiti on the walls of schools, mosques and other buildings, forcing Refat and his fellow soldiers to cover it up with pro-Qaddafi graffiti the next morning. As a civilian, he said, he had been “addicted to the Internet,” and he missed it badly since the Qaddafi government had shut it down (with the exception of the hotel housing foreign journalists) at the start of the uprising. Still, he said, he understood the reasons, “because people were putting up bad things about Libya, like ‘Qaddafi kills people,’ and, on the other side, to cut the communication between these people.”

By nightfall, the rumored rebel attack in the capital had failed to materialize. Some said they still expected local rebels to mark the day with some actions after the final evening prayer, at 10 p.m. But by then, the foreign journalists were sealed in their hotel, its phone lines were down and the Internet was no longer working there either.

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For the first time, Al Jazeera has filmed NATO helicopters operating in Libya. There a significant threat to every aircraft landing in Libya, a danger which became more apparent when surface to air missiles and launchers were found recently in the hands of a pro-Gaddafi cell hiding in the rebel-held city of Benghazi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APnyWVuNX7c

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President Barack Obama ignored legal advice from top Pentagon and U.S. Justice Department lawyers, siding with other advisers who said he had legal authority to continue air strikes against Libya without congressional approval, the New York Times reported on Friday.

Citing officials familiar with the administration’s deliberations, the newspaper reported the Pentagon and Justice Department lawyers argued that the U.S. bombing runs over Libya, under NATO command, were “hostilities.”

As such, Obama would have had to end or pull back the military flights after May 20 since he did not get backing from Congress for them under the War Powers Resolution.

The Times reported that Obama instead latched onto legal advice from inside the White House and the State Department that the bombing missions fell short of “hostilities” and that they could continue without the green light from Congress.

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Canada’s foreign affairs minister is going to Libya to meet with forces opposing dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

John Baird’s office confirmed Friday he will head to Libya to meet with members of the National Transitional Council (NTC), the government-inwaiting should Gadhafi be forced from office.

Baird is planning to visit Benghazi, where the council is based.

Baird’s office wouldn’t discuss the logistics or timing of the visit for security John reasons, but said the intention to go is not new.

“His trip to Libya will be a factfinding mission. He will meet with NTC leaders to assess Libya’s most pressing current and future needs,” spokesman Chris Day said in an e-mail to Postmedia News.

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Provoked by renewed daylight NATO bombing of his capital, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi raged against the alliance, screaming his message and daring Western forces to keep it up.

Gaddafi spoke in a telephone call that was piped through loud speakers to a few thousand people demonstrating in Tripoli’s Green Square yesterday, at the end of a day when NATO intensified bombing runs across the capital.

State television carried the Gaddafi message live, then repeated it a few minutes later.

”NATO will be defeated,” he yelled in a hoarse, agitated voice. ”They will pull out in defeat.”

The sound of automatic weapons being fired defiantly into the air echoed through the square for hours as carloads of pro-Gaddafi supporters – many with children in tow – crammed the streets leading to the plaza.

Although there was a large presence of police and soldiers in the square, many of those firing rounds wore civilian clothes.

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The U.N.’s main human rights forum has extended the mandate of its expert panel investigating abuses in Libya.

The U.N. Human Rights Council condemned “ongoing gross and systematic human rights violations” in the North African country, some of which it said “may also amount to crimes against humanity.”

The 47-member council agreed without a vote Friday to back the resolution that extends the work of three independent human rights experts until the end of the year.

The panel told the Geneva-based council earlier this month government forces have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in a conflict it estimates has killed between 10,000-15,000 people.

The council welcomed the rebel authority’s pledge to investigate alleged abuses by its forces also mentioned in the report.

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Check out an updated map on the latest events in Libya. Updated 6/17.

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UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres returned this week to North Africa and issued a fresh call for the international community to help countries like Tunisia who have sheltered hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the violence in Libya.

Guterres, touring Choucha Camp near Tunisia’s border with Libya on Thursday, also stressed that the international community could not allow the crisis in Libya to destabilize Tunisia. He warned that Tunisian generosity, which comes at a crucial time in its own modern history, should not be taken for granted.

Making his second visit to Choucha since the Libyan crisis erupted in February, the High Commissioner praised the Tunisian people and government for their remarkable generosity in welcoming more than 540,000 people fleeing Libya, including migrant workers, refugees and asylum-seekers.

Brown Moses posted:

NileSat, who has been ignoring the agreement made by Arab countries to stop broadcasting Libyan State TV, most likely because the owner is a friend of Gaddafi's, has been given one week to shut the channel down or face prosecution in Egypt for aiding Gaddafi with his war crimes.

ChaosSamusX posted:

I agree with the intervantion and Libya wholeheartedly, but how can you say that bombing falls short of 'hostilities'? I think bombing is a pretty drat hostile action.

Ballz posted:

Is it the U.S. specifically doing the bombing, though? Thought it was pretty much Britain and France doing the heavy lifting at this point, probably with the U.S. supplying logistics.

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James Bays: Heavy battles continue near Nalut, mortars, rockets and heavy guns are used. Gaddafi forces are attacking from Ghezaya.

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Fighting in Nalut killed at least 8 revolutionaries and wounded 13 more, a fighter said on Saturday. “The revolutionaries destroyed six armoured vehciles and killed more than 45 enemy soldiers. The rebels surrounded Gaddafi’s forces, who are holed up in a compound.”

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James Bays reports that 20 have been wounded in Nalut and that the electricity has been cut off.

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Al Jazeera Arabic : NATO aircraft targeted Gaddafi forces near Kikla.

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Libya TV : Many families who fled the conflict have returned to their homes in the Nafusa Mountains now that the revolutionaries have full control over the area.

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@libyanandproud : Preliminary Reports suggest that #Ghazaya is now in the hands of Freedom Fighters.

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Neal Mann, three hours ago : There was the sound of an explosion in Tripoli and jets were flying overhead.

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@fieldproducer tweets: Just been up on the roof, latest aitstrike has hit a location about 2km to the south of our location,close to the site hit yesterday #Libya

@fieldproducer: Jets now over Tripoli #Libya

@fieldproducer: Sound of an explosion in the distance in Tripoli #Libya

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Libyan officials describe the Abu Salim district in the Libyan capital Tripoli as fervently pro-Gaddafi, but some residents seem more ambivalent about the man who has ruled their North African country for four decades.

“Some people like (Muammar) Gaddafi, some do not,” a man who gave his name as Ibrahim told Reuters in Abu Salim on Saturday. “Me? I don’t care. I just want to be left alone.” After he spoke, a man came out of a stall on the other side of the alley chanting Gaddafi’s name. Ibrahim waved him off. “Ignore him,” he said, rolling his eyes and grinning broadly.

While the majority of more than a dozen people interviewed in a market in Abu Salim said they liked Gaddafi, the die-hard supporters whom state TV often depicts cheering him on to the percussion of automatic gunfire seemed very few on the ground. Many were apathetic and one shop owner, who did not give his name, said people in the area pretend to support the Libyan ruler “because of fear and intimidation”.

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Ben Wedeman, CNN correspondent in Libya, tweets

Hearing incoming Grad rockets hitting Dafniya, west of #Misrata. Much heralded Apache helicopters yet to make themselves felt. #Libya #17feb

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The Libyan government has denied rebel allegations that Moammar Gaddafi loyalists have been raping women, despite videos captured on cell phones that appear to show sexual abuse. The Gaddafi regime had initially not responded to CNN requests for comment on the abuse allegations but Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmudi said Friday at a news conference that women are “our sisters” and Libyan soldiers would not commit such heinous acts. ”This, like the other mercenaries lies, are false,” al-Mahmudi said.

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Tweeted by SerajElalem 1 hour ago:
#NTC press conference with Mr.Mahmoud Shamam, I'm live tweeting
The Executive office is planning to start a temporary media council
the temporary media council will have 13 members, 8 of them at least are youth from independent press
the 8 independent members will be chosen by Mr.Mahmoud Shamam
Libya Al-ahrar (started by Mahmoud Shamam, broadcasting from Qatar) will be under #NTC control
there will be an executive board formed to supervise Libya Al-alhrar,
the board will be formed form tLibya Al-ahrar's members and members nominated by the #NTC
Mr.Shama has announced a training program targeting the youth who have started the new media outlets in #Libya
about not electing the member of the temporary council, Mr.Shamam "we're in a war time and in no condition for voting, im only temporarily managing the media committee"
"we are not providing any financial support for media in this transitional period"

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Libya’s opposition oil minister has said the crude oil production is now at a standstill.

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Austria is ready to recognise Libya”s National Transitional Council (NTC), as the sole representative of the country, a spokesman announced Saturday. “We consider the National Transitional Council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people,” government spokesman and vice-chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said.

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Italy signed an agreement Friday with Libyan Opposition meant to stem a stream of migrants fleeing unrest. The Italian Foreign Ministry said the accords call for cooperation to fight “clandestine immigration” by exchanging information on the smugglers’ groups that organizes it, on the routes across the Mediterranean used by the human traffickers and groups specializing in falsifying passports and other documents.

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Libya’s opposition oil chief accused the west of failing to keep up its promises to deliver urgent financial aid, saying his authority had now run out of cash completely after months of fighting. Speaking to Reuters on Saturday in a rare interview in Benghazi, oil and finance minister Ali Tarhouni said all crude oil production had now come to a standstill due to damage caused by the fighting.

“We don’t have any (cash). We are running out of everything,” he said. “It’s a complete failure. Either they (western nations) don’t understand or they don’t care.” He added: “We are not producing any oil because of the damage. I don’t expect us to produce oil any time soon. The refineries have no crude oil, so they are not working.”

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Nato has accused Muammar Gaddafi of using mosques and children’s parks as shields after the Libyan leader taunted the alliance in an address broadcast to protesters in Tripoli.

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The U.S. is paying two European mine-clearing groups nearly $1 million to hunt and dispose of loose anti-aircraft missiles that could make their way from Libyan battlefields to terror groups. The State Department’s hiring of British and Swiss weapons demolition teams in Libya to search for missiles, mines and other deadly munitions was prodded by fears that terrorists could use scavenged man-portable air defense systems, known as MANPADS.

Brown Moses posted:

NileSat, who has been ignoring the agreement made by Arab countries to stop broadcasting Libyan State TV, most likely because the owner is a friend of Gaddafi's, has been given one week to shut the channel down or face prosecution in Egypt for aiding Gaddafi with his war crimes.