Libyan Revolution Week 23

[joshcryer]

Links to sites with updates: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya">AJE Libya Live Blog http://blogs.aljazeera.net/twitter-dashboard">AJE Twitter Dashboard http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/libya">The Guardian http://uk.reuters.com/places/libya">Reuters http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/">Telegraph http://feb17.info/">feb17.info http://www.livestream.com/libya17feb?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=footerlinks">Libya Alhurra (live video webcast from Benghazi) http://libya-alhurra.tumblr.com/">Libya Alhurra archives and updates http://www.ustream.tv/channel/benghaziradio">Benghazi Free Radio, in Arabic (may have translators present at times) http://www.tributefm.com/">Tribute FM (English broadcast from Benghazi) http://www.libyafeb17.com/">libyafeb17.com

Twitter links: http://twitter.com/#!/aymanm">Ayman Mohyeldin, with AJE http://twitter.com/#!/bencnn">Ben Wedeman, with CNN http://twitter.com/#!/tripolitanian">tripolitanian, a Libyan from Tripoli http://twitter.com/#!/BaghdadBrian">Brian Conley, reporter in Libya http://twitter.com/#!/freelibyanyouth">FreeLibyanYouth, Libyan advocate http://twitter.com/#!/LibyaFeb17_com">LibyaFeb17.com twitter account http://twitter.com/#!/ChangeInLibya">ChangeInLibya, Libyan advocate https://twitter.com/#!/TheyCallMeSof">Sofyan Amry (arrived in Benghazi recently) http://twitter.com/#!/KiloFoot">KiloFoot (general Arab Spring news aggregation)

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

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1528894">Week 22 part 2 here.

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

Khaled, 38, read a news report at the broadcasting studio of Radio Nafusa al-Hurra (Free Nafusa Radio) in Jado. Amazigh people enjoy a renaissance of their culture after four decades of a ban imposed by the regime of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

Ammar Awad / Reuters



Day 149 July 16

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/16/us-libya-turkey-idUSTRE76F1G520110716">Libyan bankers offer support to rebel council
Libya's former central bank governor Farhat Bengdara said on Saturday a newly formed association of Libyan bankers was preparing recommendations to support the country's rebel leaders in raising finance.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/07/16/idINIndia-58290920110716">Heavy casualties reported in Libya fighting
Ten Libyan rebels were reported killed and 172 wounded in an attack on the eastern oil port of Brega on Saturday, while insurgents drove back forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi in the west.
http://www.intelligencer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3216550">How Gadhafi retains support
At the wake of the Arab Spring in North Africa, many of these dictators were caught in fear as they imagined themselves in a similar situation and have since intensified their crackdown on the opposition.

If they are truly the Libyan rebels' most promising vanguard, the fighters poised on the front line in the Nafusa mountains hardly inspired confidence.

Day 150 July 17

http://www.metronews.ca/calgary/world/article/918760--late-night-explosions-rock-libyan-capital">Late night explosions rock Libyan capital
A series of NATO airstrikes rocked the Libyan capital before dawn Sunday, sending up huge plumes of smoke over the city after hitting what Libyan state television said were civilian and military targets.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-07/17/c_13990370.htm">Libyan opposition rejects involvement of foreign ground forces
The Libyan opposition on Saturday ruled out involvement of any foreign ground forces.
http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Node=B1&Id=1666904">NATO Chief Cautions On Libya Ceasefire
NATO Secretary General General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has warned that any ceasefire between Libya's Qadhafi regime and the rebels would have to be "credible, verifiable and with clear conditions," failing which, "we would risk a rebound of the violence."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14176051">Col Gaddafi vows he will never leave Libya
His speech was broadcast to supporters in the city of Zawiya, which was taken back from rebels after fierce fighting in the early stages of the revolt.
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?storyid=1093429148">Libyan rebel held area will not pump oil
Libya's Arabian Gulf Oil Company's (Agoco) information manager, Abdeljalil Mayouf, said that due to reparations in the oil fields units in the rebel held area, Libya was not ready to produce oil, reported Arab News.
http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL6E7IH03S20110717">Niger fears takeover by militants in neighbour Libya
Niger fears that Islamic militants could seize power in Libya as a result of the civil war in its northern neighbour, President Mahamadou Issoufou said late on Saturday.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-17/libya-has-168-billion-abroad-for-financing-ex-bank-chief-says.html">Libya Needs to Manage $168 Billion in Assets, Banker Says
Libya has about $168 billion in frozen assets and the Transitional National Council needs to access and start managing the funds as it works to oust Muammar Qaddafi and rebuild the country, former central bank chief Farhat Bengdara said.
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/477999">NATO hits military depot in eastern Tripoli
NATO jets destroyed a military storage facility and other targets in Tripoli's eastern outskirts early Sunday, days after key international players recognized Libya's rebel leadership as the country's legitimate representative.
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20110717/OPINION01/707179991">Libyan rebels strengthened by recognition
The international intervention in Libya to protect civilians has gradually transformed into a campaign to oust Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43783897/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/">Misrata youth goes from Playstation to front line
When the war in Libya started, many young men now on the rebel front line at Misrata were so interested in computer games and mobile phones that older residents never thought they would turn into fighters. "Before the uprising, all those young men cared about was hair gel, clothes, music, mobile phones and hanging out in cafes," said Mahmoud Askutri, a businessman who has formed and funds the 1st battalion of the Al Marsa regiment, one of the rebel units fighting here to end Muammar Gaddafi's 41-year rule.

Day 151 July 18

http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=229668">Libyan Jewish group recognizes rebels
In letter to head of Libyan National Transitional Council, the Israeli president of WOLJ, offers his organization’s support, assistance.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8643674/Libya-Gaddafi-running-out-of-commanders.html">Libya: Gaddafi 'running out of commanders'
The officer escaped from a government town in the plains below the country's Western Mountains. Lying only 60 miles from Tripoli, the rebels have launched repeated offensives in the effort to reach the capital.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/07/18/158145.html">Ex-foreign minister says Libya behind 1989 airline attack
Libya is responsible for a deadly 1989 attack on a French airliner, Libyan former foreign minister Abdel Rahman Shalgam told al-Hayat newspaper in an interview published on Monday.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/07/18/libya.war/">Rebels: Our forces have advanced closer to Libyan city of Brega
Libyan rebel forces have advanced about 18 miles (30 kilometers) closer to the eastern city of Brega after dismantling thousands of landmines, a rebel spokesman told CNN on Monday.
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE76H08T20110718?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews">Russia criticises West's backing of Libyan rebels
Russia on Monday criticised the United States and other countries that have recognised the Libyan rebels' National Transitional Council as a legitimate government, saying they were taking sides in the civil war.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/18/gaddafi-brutal-regime-exposed-lost-archive">Gaddafi's Libyan rule exposed in lost picture archive
Grim footage of Sadiq Hamed Shwehdi's infamous execution also emerges from Benghazi
http://www.businessinsider.com/benghazi-soccer-resistance-2011-7#ixzz1SUSngCl5">An Amazing Story Of Resistance From Inside Libya's Soccer League
Eleven years ago an incident on the soccer pitch in Benghazi foreshadowed the Libyan revolution.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-rebels-wounded-20110719,0,5777545.story">In Libya, rebel wounded tell the story behind fight for key city
Rajab Zawiyeh, a Libyan businessman, drove to this coast rebel stronghold two days after he heard about an outbreak of fighting in the nearby oil city of Port Brega.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/07/18/libya-gaddafi-must-be-held-accountable-crimes-against-humanity">Libya: Gaddafi Must Be Held Accountable for Crimes Against Humanity
Amid preparations for the Libya contact group meeting in Istanbul on Friday, which sought a solution to the conflict in Libya, some states reportedly were-behind the scenes-exploring the possibility of offering Muammar Gaddafi the option of internal exile in exchange for relinquishing all power.
http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE76H19N20110718?sp=true">Wounded children show ferocity of Misrata's war
When 12-year-old Mohammed Bielshak left the house with his brother Ali on March 20, it was to give water from their well to thirsty rebels nearby who were fighting forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.
http://shabablibya.org/news/libyan-activists-push-for-more-open-less-homogeneous-rebel-administration">Libyan activists push for more open, less homogeneous rebel administration
One of the few really steady jobs in liberated eastern Libya these days is that of caricaturist, and guys such as Adil Mansur are cleaning up. The 30-year-old history student has drawn posters of dictator Moammar Gadhafi as a dog, a snake and a hanging victim. Today he is producing a large image of rebel interim-government leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil as a mellow and saintly figure.

Day 152 July 19

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/172077-pr-firm-took-12m-from-gadhafis-libya">PR firm took $1.2M from Gadhafi’s Libya
An international public relations firm worked to boost the regime of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi while employed by an oil executive with business interests in the country, new documents show.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-19/libyan-rebels-won-t-sign-oil-deals-until-elected-government-1-.html">Libyan Rebels Won’t Sign Oil Deals Until Elected Government
Libya’s Transitional National Council, fighting to overthrow the government of Muammar Qaddafi, won’t sign new contracts with oil companies because the movement wasn’t elected, a spokesman for the group said.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110719/local/severely-injured-libyan-girl-arrives-from-misurata.376322">Colourful welcome for Libyan girl injured in Misurata
A five-year-old Libyan girl who lost a leg in the fighting in Libya, has arrived in Malta on her way to the United States, where she will have a prosthetic leg fitted.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iST3P-HvBBIxRCVh1brNzlaof6mg?docId=eee303e63c8641deb1ed7e06efcd4e90">Libyan troops kill 8 rebels near eastern oil town
Government forces in trucks disguised with rebel flags shelled opposition positions Tuesday near the strategic eastern oil town of Brega, killing eight rebel fighters and wounding dozens more, officials said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8648173/Libyan-officials-sought-guarantees-Gaddafi-would-not-be-pursued-for-war-crimes.html">Libyan officials sought guarantees Gaddafi would not be pursued for war crimes
Libyan representatives sought guarantees Col Muammar Gaddafi would not be pursued for war crimes if he stepped down during talks with US officials.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-fighting-20110720,0,2078871.story">Libyan forces, insurgents locked in battle for Port Brega
'It's a gang fight in there,' a rebel fighter says of the latest assaults near the strategic coastal city, which is being held by forces loyal to Moammar Kadafi.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-military-cemetery-20110716,0,674939.story">Libyan faithfully tends graves of foreign World War II dead
Every morning, Salah Fatour is at his post with his worn rake and wheelbarrow, tending the garden of the dead.
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/07/15/a_wilsonian_move_by_the_white_house_in_libya">A Wilsonian move by the White House in Libya
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced today that the United States is will recognize Libya's Transitional National Council as the country's "legitimate governing authority". This comes as something of a surprise, as the normal U.S. policy is to recognize whichever government is in de facto power of a country.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e7091b92-b173-11e0-9444-00144feab49a.html#axzz1SxjBOjcA">BHL: Keep the faith: Gaddafi will fall very soon
I have just returned from Jebel Nafusa, a mountainous plateau in north-western Libya that constitutes, after Misrata in the east and Brega even further east, the third front of the war in Libya. What I saw leads me to challenge more strongly than ever the oddly defeatist declarations that have emanated from Washington, London and Paris in recent weeks.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/raghida-dergham/arab-revolutions-and-the-_b_900371.html">Arab Revolutions and the Exit Strategy for the Regimes
They have no choice but to admit that the logic of "the regime first" has been dealt a fatal blow and that there is no way to return to the status quo ante that prevailed before the onset of the Arab Spring. If those men were to recognize this clear logic, they would find many ways to save themselves from a dark fate, dark legacy and an abysmal place in history. But they must first accept to place the country and the state over and above the regime.

Day 153 July 20

http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=108614#.TiXVdGlv0eQ.tweet">Arab states committed to help Libyan people: UAE
United Arab Emirates has expressed the Arab states' committment to the welfare and help of Libyans facing an ongoing political crisis in their country.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1503419&mesg_id=1525451">What on Earth is happening in Brega?
Brega was later found to have been taken, but tabatha compiled a wonderful post on the various inconsistencies in the reports.
http://feb17.info/news/for-libyan-rebels-gadhafis-mines-a-potent-obstacle-2/">For Libyan Rebels, Gadhafi’s Mines A Potent Obstacle
Land mines increasingly are being used by Moammar Gadhafi’s forces on battlegrounds across Libya.
http://www.freemisurata.com/EngArt/archives/448">Today Malak Alshami amputated foot, 5 years old arrives to the US coming from Misratah.
Malak Alshami’s did not know that her live will change after this Friday , while she was playing in her room with her two brothers who did not spoke the alphabet yet , the Grad rockets that have fallen in the room took the two boys lives but Malak survived
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110720/local/malak-s-family-determined-to-return-to-libya-as-soon-as-possible.376505">Malak's family determined to return to Libya as soon as possible
The family of five-year-old Malak, the Libyan girl who lost a limb when a missile landed in her home, have spoken of their determination to return to Libya as soon as possible.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/27/muammar-gaddafi-arrest-warrant-hague">Gaddafi regime dismisses ICC arrest warrants
The Libyan government has dismissed international arrest warrants against Muammar Gaddafi, his son and intelligence chief.
http://www.thenational.ae/thenational/news/uae-news/dubai-telecoms-engineers-supply-libyan-rebels-with-mobile-phone-network">Dubai telecoms engineers supply Libyan rebels with mobile phone network
The stealth telecommunications team arrived in Misurata after a stomach-churning 30-hour fishing boat ride from Malta.
http://feb17.info/media/video-rebels-find-creative-ways-to-arm-against-gaddafis-forces/">Video: Rebels find creative ways to arm against Gaddafi’s forces
Rebels in the Libyan city of Misrata face an ongoing struggle against Col Gaddafi’s forces, with the city itself is still surrounded by enemy soldiers on one side and the sea on the other.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14186310">The road to recovery inside Libya's mountain hospital
It is not hard to get to Nalut these days. The town is in the rebel-held Nafusa Mountains in western Libya, about 40km (25 miles) from the border with Tunisia.

Day 154 July 21

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/20/138548543/rebels-in-western-libya-train-for-move-on-tripoli">Rebels In Western Libya Train For Move On Tripoli
Rebel commanders in the western mountains of Libya say they are supplying anti-government forces in Tripoli with weapons in advance of a march on the capital.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904233404576458154035344420.html">Rebels Move Toward Gadhafi Stronghold
Rebel fighters have penetrated Libya's southwest desert and pulled within 80 miles of Col. Moammar Gadhafi's southern stronghold, opening a new front and suggesting the strongman's grip is slipping even in areas believed firmly in his control.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/world/africa/21libya.html">Problems With Logistics, Coordination and Rivalries Hamper Libya’s Rebels
Ahmad Harari, a Libyan rebel fighting to overthrow Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, recounted how he was almost killed last week.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/20/2322983/for-libyas-western-rebels-high.html">For Libya's western rebels, high hopes but real struggles
In a house on the outskirts of this deserted village on Libya's western front line, about a dozen rebel fighters sheltered from the blistering sun, occasionally scanning the horizon with binoculars.
http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/africa/qaddafis-troops-have-fled-brega-say-rebels">Qaddafi's troops have fled Brega, say rebels
Rebel military sources said some Qaddafi forces were arcing rockets over Brega onto rebel positions from the town of Bishr, while most troops had retreated to Ras Lanuf, another oil town further west.
http://news.yahoo.com/gadhafi-calls-tribes-back-rebel-mountains-060137886.html">Gadhafi calls tribes to take back rebel mountains
It's not the first time Gadhafi has tried to rally the tribes. Since the Libyan uprising began in mid-February, he has threatened to unleash angry tribesmen on opposition-held towns, although nothing ever materialized.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/07/201172161918114981.html">Libyan rebels step up military campaign
Opposition fighters say they have forced Gaddafi forces back from Brega, while southern fighters prepare for battle.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iA8R71Dh-jnRkVtTY13wiQ5FIBaQ?docId=CNG.62af0064235da4cbd63370d32a0b2bcf.331">Libya rebels seek arms amid pre-Ramadan offensive
Libya's rebels asked France for extra arms to help them overrun Tripoli within "days", as they ramped up a pre-Ramadan offensive that has Moamer Kadhafi's troops on the run in the east.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-funerals-20110721,0,4818815,full.story">For Libyan rebels, a funeral is no somber event
As 11 fighters are laid to rest in Benghazi, the mourners celebrate their deaths as bringing the country one step closer to life without Kadafi.
http://www.petroleum-economist.com/Article/2869690/Exclusive-Qadhafi-regime-bids-to-sell-shipping-fleet.html?edit=true">Exclusive: Qadhafi regime bids to sell shipping fleet
Derek Brower, LONDON: Libya’s state-owned shipping firm is asking two Asian companies to take control of its fleet as the regime steps up efforts to secure cash to sustain its war effort.

Day 155 July 22

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/07/21/national/main20081492.shtml">Missing Maryland writer spotted in Libya prison
A Baltimore writer missing in Libya has been sighted in a prison in Tripoli, U.S. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and the writer's mother said Thursday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/21/libyan-rebels-humour-weapon-gaddafi">Libyan rebels find humour is the sharpest weapon against Gaddafi
In Zintan, the heart of the struggle in Libya's western mountains, rebels are relishing their newfound freedom of expression
http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL6E7IL23B20110721">Libya's Gaddafi urges Misrata notables to fight rebels
Muammar Gaddafi urged families and tribal leaders from Misrata to fight to take back Libya's third-largest city from rebels who have pushed his troops away after more than four months of bitter fighting.
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE76K0K720110721?sp=true">Libyan rebels report Gaddafi fight-back
Libyan rebels said a fierce counter-attack by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi had checked their gains on a frontline east of Tripoli on Thursday.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/07/21/158670.html">Slovenia, Montenegro recognize NTC
On July 20 in Benghazi, Libya, the National Transitional Council received recognition by Slovenia as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/22/us-libya-idUSTRE76H06X20110722">No Gaddafi role in proposed Libya transition: envoy
A U.N. peace envoy is suggesting a ceasefire in Libya, to be followed by the immediate creation of a transitional authority
http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/libyan-rebel-says-gadhafi-1033377.html">Libyan rebel says Gadhafi must face trial
A Libyan rebel spokesman says Moammar Gadhafi should be tried by an international criminal court.
http://news.yahoo.com/wounded-gaddafi-soldier-says-morale-troops-low-202633654.html">Wounded Gaddafi soldier says morale of troops is low
Morale is low among troops fighting for Muammar Gaddafi on the front west of Misrata and many are reluctant to fight back against rebel attacks, a recently-wounded loyalist soldier told Reuters on Friday.

Day 156 July 23

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFN1E76L1X720110722">US checks reports of ship carrying arms for Libya
The United States is investigating reports that a ship carrying weapons for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces was allowed to dock in Algeria
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i74NcItPjRb9NjnXoQ7bmePn2B8A?docId=9373971434a54562a24adc6f0995c0ad">Tunisia reinforcing border with Libya
Huge clouds of smoke from NATO-led raids over western Libya could be seen in neighboring Tunisia and the official TAP news agency says the Tunisian army is reinforcing the border area to ensure there is no spillover into its territory.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/2011/07/22/gIQAnd1LUI_story.html">U.S. struggles to free money for Libyan rebels
Despite newly won diplomatic recognition from the United States, Libyan rebels could face a long wait for promised financial relief, say U.S. officials
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-benghazi-cops-20110723,0,2753677.story?page=1">Police in Libya rebel capital pivot from oppressor to protector
"Before, people were terrified of the police; they hated us," Ganasi, 35, said as pedestrians waved to him on his rounds. "Now they see us as someone who can protect them, not someone to protect the people in power."
http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/Reflections-from-Benghazi-by-Tawfik-Mansurey-110712-154.html">Reflections from Benghazi: Colour, Life and Hope
Nowadays, I drive around town in Benghazi and I see colours and faces of real people on the many billboards around the city. Not so long ago, there weren't many colours just a green rag flapping everywhere you went from the city streets, hotels and even tied to car antennas. The only face you saw was that of the menacing Gadhafi glaring down into your car as you drove by.
http://en.qantara.de/The-Revolutionary-Power-of-Youth/16590c16844i0p/index.html">The Revolutionary Power of Youth
"Look here, I've got a university degree, but this society doesn't give me a chance: no wonder I'm a rebel." The unrest in the Arab world may have taken most people by surprise, but demographers knew it was coming. According to Jéronimo Louis Samuel Barbin, this unrest is the sound of the voice of young people who have long been at home in the modern world
http://english.libya.tv/2011/07/23/libyan-berbers-cherish-shared-history-with-jews/">Libyan Berbers cherish shared history with Jews
For centuries, Jews lived among the Berbers of Yafran, observing the Sabbath at the synagogue of Ghriba, but they suddenly left 63 years ago, and their land in Libya remains untouched.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15250140,00.html">Libyan army, rebels face common enemy in the mountains
Since the war erupted in Libya last February, many civilians of almost all ages have woken up with a gun in their hands, without knowing what to do with it. There's no way of knowing how many fighters have been killed or wounded by mishandling weapons or, simply, during one of the gun-toting celebrations after a battle victory. Small wonder that the number of victims on both sides remains unclear.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x594751">A topic on the women of the revolution, dispels myths about the treatment of women in Benghazi.

Videos to bring the Libyan Revolution into context
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0vChMDuNd0">The Battle of Benghazi. BBC Panorama on Libya http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyaPnMnpCAA">Part 1, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMzwQvcx62s">Part 2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwWwOeZqz6M">Video of the convoy sent to take Benghazi, taken from a dead soliders cell phone (shows how massive the operation was). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAclhhHv43s&feature=player_embedded">Arab Awakening: Libya: Through the Fire. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD5tu5bJWKc">Tea of Freedom Song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z41kQvx4uKw">Libya: Part 2 - The Uprising http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vNWCGDkdWY">Benghazi - Backbone of the Libyan revolution

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

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x677397">Text of UN resolution 1973. How will a no fly zone work? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWEwehTtK2k">AJE reports.

Belgium: http://www.lesoir.be/actualite/monde/2011-03-21/les-f-16-belges-dans-le-feu-de-l-action-829588.php">Six F-16 Falcon fighter jets of the Belgian Air Component. Bulgaria: The Bulgarian Navy Wielingen class frigate Drazki http://paper.standartnews.com/en/article.php?d=2011-03-23&article=35828">will participate in the naval blockade. Canada: Canadian Forces Air Command has deployed http://www.cefcom-comfec.forces.gc.ca/pa-ap/ops/mobile/index-eng.asp">a total 440 military personnel as well as the Halifax-class frigate HMCS Charlottetown are participating in operations. Denmark: The Royal Danish Air Force http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/ECE1227910/denmark-to-send-squadron-on-libya-op/">is participating with six F-16AM fighters. France: French Air Force which realizes 25% of NATO's strikes http://www.defense.gouv.fr/operations/autres-operations/harmattan/libye-debut-des-operations-aeriennes-francaises">is participating in the mission with 51 Mirage and Rafale Aircraft. Greece: The Elli-class frigate Limnos of the Hellenic Navy http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2011/03/20/greek-defence-ministry-no-participation-in-operations-outside-the-nato/">is currently in the waters off Libya as part of the naval blockade. Italy: Four Tornado ECRs of the Italian Air Force http://www.corriere.it/esteri/11_marzo_20/tripoli-bombardamento-chiesta-riunione-onu_2e95d102-52c0-11e0-a725-dbe20f0ba2b5.shtml">participated in SEAD operations. Jordan: Six Royal Jordanian Air Force fighter jets http://www.allheadlinenews.com/briefs/articles/90043651?After%20hesitation%2C%20Jordan%20joins%20in%20Libya%20no-fly%20campaign">landed at a coalition airbase in Europe on 4 April to provide "logistical support." NATO: E-3 airborne early warning and control (AWACS) http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/nordtrondelag/article1606878.ece">aircraft operated by NATO. Netherlands: The Royal Netherlands Air Force http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/dutch-f-16s-operational-over-libya">provides six F-16AM fighters and a KDC-10 refuelling plane. Norway: The Royal Norwegian Air Force has http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/libya/artikkel.php?artid=10091294">deployed six F-16AM fighters to Souda Bay Air Base. Qatar: The Qatar Armed Forces are http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123248695">contributing six Mirage 2000-5EDA fighter jets and two C-17 strategic transport aircraft. Romania: The Romanian Naval Forces http://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-politic-8423876-traian-basescu-sustine-declaratie-presa-ora-21-00-dupa-sedinta-csat.htm">will participate in the naval blockade with the frigate Regele Ferdinand. Spain: The Spanish Armed Forces are http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Espana/intervendra/cazas/F-18/fragata/F-100/submarino/avion/vigilancia/maritima/elpepuint/20110319elpepuint_14/Tes">participating with four F-18 fighters. Sweden: The Royal Swedish Air Force will http://www.swedishwire.com/politics/9050-sweden-offers-eight-fighter-jets-for-libya-mission">commit eight JAS 39 Gripen jets for the international air campaign. Turkey: The Turkish Navy http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/03/24/general-libya-diplomacy_8373237.html">will participate with five ships and one submarine in the NATO-led naval blockade to enforce the arms embargo. United Arab Emirates: The United Arab Emirates Air Force http://www.wam.org.ae/servlet/Satellite?c=WamLocEnews&cid=1300255413630&p=1135099400124&pagename=WAM%2FWamLocEnews%2FW-T-LEN-FullNews">sent six F-16 Falcon and six Mirage 2000 fighter jets to join the mission. United Kingdom: The Royal Air Force has http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/TyphoonJoinsTornadoInLibyaGroundAttackOperations.htm">deployed 12 Tornado and 10 Typhoon fighters, surveillance aircraft, and air refuelling tankers. United States: The United States has http://www.webcitation.org/5xJ8qNGGe">deployed a naval force of 11 ships and are using MQ-1 Predator UAVs to strike targets in Libya on 23 April.

As of this week the National Trasitional Council has been formally recognized by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_the_Libyan_Republic#Recognition">31 countries. France (March 10), Qatar (March 28), Maldives (April 3), Italy (April 4), Kuwait (April 13), The Gambia (April 22), Jordan (April 24), Sengal (April 28), The United Kingdom (June 4), Spain (June 8), Australia (June 9), UAE (June 12), Germany (June 13), Canada (June 14), Panama (June 14), Austria (June 18), Latvia (June 20), Denmark (June 22), Bulgaria (June 28), Croatia (June 28), Czech Republic (June 29), Turkey (July 3), Poland (July 9), Netherlands (July 13), Belgium (July 13), Luxembourg (July 13), United States (July 15), Japan (July 15), Albania (July 18), Slovenia (July 20), Montenegro (July 21).

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

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

http://english.libya.tv/2011/04/25/eastern-libyans-believe-in-national-unity-distrust-au-and-turkish-mediation-survey-reveals/">The first free public opinion poll ever conducted in Libya reveals clues to Eastern Libyan sentiments
* 98 percent of the respondents do not support the division of Libya as a part of the political solution for the current conflict with the Gaddafi regime. Around 95 percent also don’t see any role for Gaddafi or his sons in a transitional period, and think it is impossible to implement any political reform in Libya if Gaddafi or one of his sons stays in power

* Around 96 percent of those polled, believe that the 17th of February revolution can consolidate the national unity of Libya and support the model of a democratic Libya based on a constitution which respects human rights

* Al-Qaeda has not played any role in the 17th of February revolution, say 94 percent of the Eastern Libyans, and 91 percent thinks it’s impossible for Al-Qaeda to play any political role in the new Libya

* The National Transitional Council is seen by 92 percent of those surveyed as “expressing the views and wishes of Libyans for change”

This is equivalent to 17% the entire population of Libya, doing the numbers very conservatively.

http://jenkinsear.com/2011/03/19/a-legal-war-the-united-nations-participation-act-and-libya/">A Legal War: The United Nations Participation Act and Libya
The above link is to an overview of why Obama's implementation of the NFZ and R2P is perfectly legal under the law. I will not post it entirely here, however, all objections come down to the misinformed position that Obama, by using forces in Libya, was invoking Article 43 of the United Nations. This is wrong. Obama invoked Article 42, which does not require congressional approval to implement. Proof of this is that Article 43 has http://www.un.org/en/sc/repertoire/actions.shtml#rel5">never been used.

It goes like this: The US law (Title 22, Chap. 7, Subchap. XIV § 287d) grants the President the right to invoke UN Article 42 http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode22/usc_sec_22_00000287---d000-.html">without authorization, the War Powers Act (Title 50, Chap. 33 § 1541) grants the President permission to act without authorization under http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/50/1541–1548.html">"specific statutory authorization" which, by definition, is what 287d does. § 1543 of the War Powers Act requires the President to report to Congress, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/obama_explains_libya_mission_to_congress/2011/03/03/ABU9377_blog.html">which he did. One can argue all day and night about the legality of the War Powers Act, doesn't change the fact that under the law as it is written, the President acted within the law.

Editorials and stories worth reading.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/2011/03/2011328194855872276.html">Libyan Karzai? Chalabi? Forget it, http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2011/04/04/110404taco_talk_anderson#ixzz1HvS7iW22">Who Are the Rebels?, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/29/vision-democratic-libya-interim-national-council">A vision of a democratic Libya, http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/is-qaddafi-an-anti-racist/">Is Qaddafi an anti-racist?, http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2011/04/20/left-slipping-towards-qaddafi">The left: slipping towards Gaddafi?, http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2011/04/27/once-again-“stop-bombing”">Once again on "stop the bombing", http://www.juancole.com/2011/03/an-open-letter-to-the-left-on-libya.html">An Open Letter to the Left on Libya, http://www.juancole.com/2011/03/top-ten-ways-that-libya-2011-is-not-iraq-2003.html">Top Ten Ways that Libya 2011 is Not Iraq 2003, http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/05/09/110509fa_fact_anderson">Sons of the Revolution http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/voices/?ref=main-menu">Voices from the Field

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

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

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAclhhHv43s&feature=player_ded">Arab Awakening: Libya: Through the Fire is a documentary about Mo's last days, please watch it.

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

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

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

[joshcryer]

1. Libyan Revolution Day 157 updates below, current time in Libya, 2:30am Sunday, July 24

[pinboy3niner]

2. K&R

[tabatha]

3. Airstrikes hit a southeastern area of the Libyan capital early Sunday.

TRIPOLI, Libya — Airstrikes hit a southeastern area of the Libyan capital early Sunday.

The sound of a jet plane, followed by an explosion at 1 a.m., sent up a huge cloud of white smoke, not far from the sprawling compound of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi at Bab al-Aziziyah

At least two more rumbling blasts could be heard in the east of the city and Libyan television confirmed that an “imperialist Crusader” bombardment had struck the district of Ain Zara, southeast of Tripoli.

A Libyan opposition group, Free Generation Movement, posted online that there were four explosions in the Ain Zara area and speculated the target could have been the External Security headquarters or facilities for storing weapons.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/airstrike-sends-up-huge-plume-of-white-smoke-near-libyan-leaders-compound/2011/07/23/gIQALRJkVI_story.html

Thanks, Josh for your perseverance. If you get tired of the distortions, head over to

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/interactive/2011/06/2011625448137941.html#disqus_thread

for some pretty intelligent, balanced conversation - with lots of news updates and solid FF support.
Unfortunately, sometimes there is just too much to scroll through, unlike here, where news items dominate.
But, Disrupters/distorters can be and are flagged off.

[tabatha]

4. Dom Joly: It takes real custard to offend a billionaire

Watching the slightly disappointing proceedings in the Select Committee on Tuesday, I found myself with the curious sensation of feeling sorry for the billionaire Rupert Murdoch. Like everyone else, I was expecting some gnashing monster snarling at everyone and mentally noting who to have killed when proceedings were over.

As everyone moved in for the kill, however, he appeared rather phased and confused by life. It's not surprising, as everyone has now jumped on the Get Murdoch bandwagon. It's a bit like living under Colonel Gaddafi – you spend years keeping your head down for fear of it getting shot off, but once you've plucked up the courage to say, "I hate Gaddafi" there's no way back. You have to kill him off or you're toast.

This was very much what was happening in Parliament, with everyone suddenly finding their brave voice now the mob was circled around the victim. And then came Jonnie Marbles. Screwing up his move spectacularly by choosing to pie Murdoch at the moment when an MP (the wife of Metallica's manager to make things weirder) was asking a question (obviously Murdoch would not be on screen, duh!), he attempted to place a paper plate bedecked with shaving foam all over Rupert's face.

One of my heroes is a Belgian called Noel Godin. He started an anarchist group called les Entarteurs, whose main purpose in life was to custard pie public figures that he felt had grown too pompous. They would do this in a distinctly Belgian manner. First, they would meet up in a bar and sing Belgian anarchist songs before converging on their target in great numbers (he calls these tempêtes patissières – pastry storms), on the basis that this way one of them would get through. Someone nearly always did. The aim was to be funny and silly in battle, and the entarteurs would all chant "Gloup, gloup, gloup" while in action.

There has always been something gloriously bonkers about Godin and, sadly, this is what seemed to be lacking from Jonnie Marbles's assault on Murdoch. Godin would have somehow made the whole thing ludicrous, surreal and joyful. Marbles just looked like a worthy muppet. Even shouting "You're a very naughty billionaire" was strangely cringeworthy, like a line from a Carry On film.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-it-takes-real-custard-to-offend-a-billionaire-2319523.html

[David__77]

5. CCTV: Libyan Rebels expect to take Tripoli within days CCTV News

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5Aaydi6wr8

[tabatha]

15. They are a long way from doing that.

Even sometimes over-optimistic GH knows that.

"there is not much movement in the moment on the fronts .
ff gain ground in zlitan
brega is in work
gharyan also.
we have to wait for the big break on the 3 fronts
nato is working hard"

On edit:
@pdanaharbbc
Paul Danahar My sense of #NATO focus around #Zliten is they'd like it taken before Ramadan goo.DOTgl/vMfE3 rebels then consolidate a big gain in Aug'

The MSM news on Libya for the most part is awful.

[David__77]

6. BBC: Defiance On Streets of Tripoli, NATO War On Libya

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPMfYSXbTsM&feature=BFa&list=ULw0EtmGlaGIE&index=352

[pinboy3niner]

7. Gaddafi criticises Egyptian, Tunisian revolutions

Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:17pm GMT


TRIPOLI, July 23 (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi criticised on Saturday the popular uprising in neighbouring Egypt that forced Hosni Mubarak from power this year as the Libyan leader battles rebels who have claimed swathes of the country.


Gaddafi, who has stayed in power despite four months of NATO-led air strikes and a rebel campaign against his 41-year rule, questioned the value of the popular movements in Egypt, and in Libya's western neighbour, Tunisia.

...


Gaddafi defended Mubarak, hospitalised since April and due to stand trial on charges of abuse of power and killing protestors, and suggested Egyptians had been hasty in pushing him from power without a clear alternative.

...


"Hosni Mubarak should be honoured -- it would have even been better if he had remained president of Egypt," Gaddafi said.


http://af.reuters.com/article/tunisiaNews/idAFLDE76M0FJ20110723

[tabatha]

14. It is astounding how Gaddafi does not

understand the principles of democracy, and the valid rights of human beings other than his self-appraised superior family.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

18. It would be more astounding if he DID understand

Is there a longstanding tradition of democracy in the middle east and north africa? Where would Qaddafi (or rebel leaders, for that matter) look for democratic models?

I doubt he'd learn much from the U.S. We seem to be recently governed by a tyranny of minority tea-baggers. And, we have no shortage of "self-appraised superior families" - Koch, Bush, Cheney, Murdoch, Clinton, Kennedy, to name a few. Families who don't mind sending other folks' kids to war.

Whichever side wins this civil war, I think democracy will not be on the table for some time.

[tabatha]

20. The Gaddafis have lived in Europe and Britain.

Democracy is a messy business, but I think Europe and the UK are not that bad.

But I agree with you about the US - I find the tea-baggers and Koch brother types, Gaddfi-ish. They want power, money and control over the rest of us.

But, was not Kennedy trying to get out of the war he inherited?

And Clinton - he was not involved in an imperialistic war like Bush, but a humanitarian effort to prevent massacres, except he was too late for one of them.

All wars are not the same.

[pinboy3niner]

8. Captured Kadafi soldiers tell rebels they have doubts

Some Libyan government troops say they have no choice but to fight. Many are certain they are battling foreign extremists seeking to take over Libya.

By Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times

July 24, 2011


Reporting from Yafran, Libya—


Moammar Kadafi's frontline soldiers are well-fed and well-supplied, even down to the occasional single-serving bottle of Jim Beam.


And many of his troops remain convinced that they are battling foreign extremists seeking to take over Libya.


But some recently captured soldiers are haunted by doubts.

...


"We have been talking about whether what we do is right or wrong. But we don't have any choice."

...


Military leaders, he said, "told us that we were going to fight Al Qaeda, Afghans, Algeria, and that they were using local civilians as human shields."


Now that he's seen that they were actually fighting Libyans, he said, he will stay "with his brothers until everything is over."


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-intelligence-
20110724,0,3353884.story

[Iterate]

9. The NYT Coverage of the Amazigh Revival in Libya…

..has been briefly held, understandably, to make space for coverage from Norway. We expect the story will be published soon, along with an internet slide show by Bryan Denton. Meanwhile, we’ll file more posts to the At War blog.



Top, an Amazigh symbol (a character from Tamazigh, the Amazigh language) traced by finger on the hood of an anti-Qaddafi rebel’s car. The rebels often smear mud (and sometimes a mix of grease and dirt) over their cars and trucks at the front lines, to make them harder to spot in the desert. Amazigh symbols were kept largely out of public view during the decades of Qaddafi rule, and have been resurgent this year.

Bottom, a faded portrait of the Sefaou Abudeya’s father, who the Abudeya family said was imprisoned from 1978 to 1988 on suspicion of being an Amazigh activist. When he was released from prison he suffered from pulmonary ailments and other conditions, and died within three years. His son, Sefaou, is now a front-line rebel commander.

http://cjchivers.com/

I only posted the one pic for bandwidth.

[David__77]

10. Libya: bishop laments NATO rejection of Ramadan truce

The apostolic vicar of Tripoli has decried NATO’s “indifference” to proposals for a Ramadan ceasefire in the conflict in Libya.

“What amazes me is the indifference of NATO and Europe to the proposed ceasefire for Ramadan,” said Bishop Giovanni Martinelli. “For all the Libyans (for or against Gaddafi) Ramadan is a sacred period, and is a sentiment that should be respected.”

The prelate praised NATO’s new practice of warning civilians they will strike any area before bombing takes place.

...

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=11112

[pinboy3niner]

11. Germany loaning $144 million to Libyan rebels

(AP) – 39 minutes ago


BERLIN (AP) — Germany said Sunday that it is loaning Libya's rebel leadership euro100 million ($144 million) to help with the country's rebuilding and humanitarian needs.


The Foreign Ministry said it is granting urgently needed funding as a loan because frozen assets related to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi cannot yet be released.


The situation in Libya is difficult because of a lack of funding "to build up the necessary structures and overcome supply shortages — from medical care to food," Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said. "Particularly in eastern Libya, people are suffering more and more from this."

...


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i0fwMYw_Y8_56I7DpJTr3-VFksXg?docId=b4ff93670d5b42af8c76b8d49e9c40c5

[Iterate]

12. "Libya Dispatch: The Cage (2)"

"Libya Dispatch: The Cage (2)"
By Abu Ray July 19, 2011 at 2:53 PM

The billboard in the lobby shows a smiling child waving pictures of other cute smiling children, topped by the slogan, "Stop the Bleeding!" Bleeding? What bleeding? What now?

Welcome to the Rixos Hotel, Tripoli's finest and a gleaming, inlaid marble cage for Western journalists.

I'd heard a lot about this place over the last five months, about being trapped inside, about the mind games and the midnight summons, the hallways prowled by semi-feral minders and the press conferences by the smooth-tongued Moussa Ibrahim.
...

Independent trips out are strongly discouraged. In the early days, a number of intrepid journalists made it out, grabbed taxis and wandered the city unaccompanied, inevitably finding pockets of anti-Qadhafi resistance and writing intriguing articles about the unknown and seldom seen parts of the capital.

Then they get kicked out.

more... http://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/7/19/libya-dispatch-the-cage-2.html

We've watched this cycle repeated so many times - a seasoned reporter gets kicked out, soon to be replaced by one that is young and "green". They seem to be overwhelmed and easy parrot the Gadaffi/stateTV line, until they don't, and then are kicked out. We should have kept a list. Abu Ray is independent-minded exception -and a great writer.

[pinboy3niner]

13. NATO key targets hit on Saturday

Sun Jul 24, 2011 6:31am EDT

(Reuters) -

...


• NATO said key targets hit on Saturday included:

-- One military storage facility, one multiple rocket-launcher, one command and control node, one armored vehicle in the vicinity of Brega;

-- One military storage facility in the vicinity of Al Khum;

-- Two command and control nodes, two surface-to-air missile launchers, one anti-aircraft gun in the vicinity of Tripoli;

-- One military storage facility in the vicinity of Waddan;

-- One artillery piece in the vicinity of Zintan;

-- Four military storage facilities, one tank in the vicinity of Zlitan.

...


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/24/us-libya-nato-idUSTRE76N0V320110724

[tabatha]

16. Reading the Refuse of a Revolution…

…to try to determine how many heat-seeking, shoulder-fired anti-aircaft missiles were amassed by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi during his decades in power, as he expended Libyan oil revenues both to fortify his government and to assume the role of arms Sugar Daddy in Africa and elsewhere.

Have a look at the stenciling on the crate, in the two images above. This olive-drab wooden box once held a pair of SA-7bs (think: early version of the same class of portable missile as the Stinger). What can this crate, and dozens of others abandoned at former Qaddafi arsenals tell you?

More soon on the At War blog. (For background on the Libya’s SA-7s and the risks they pose beyond Libya’s borders, go here. Or here. Or here, which is an earlier post on this blog.)

Do the photographs above stump you? Hints: 9M32M is the Eastern bloc designation for SA-7b missile tubes. The case numbers tell you both where this crate fit in a particular arms shipment, and the total number of crates in that shipment. The six-digit numbers are the missile-tube serial numbers. And the 11 inside two broken circles is a common factory symbol for arms and munitions manufactured in Bulgaria. There’s more to discuss, and we’ll take these and other themes up on At War.

http://cjchivers.com/post/7998471203/reading-the-refuse-of-a-revolution

[pinboy3niner]

17. Behind Libya’s Front Lines

Source: The Daily Beast

July 24, 2011 12:00 AM EDT

Bernard-Henri Levy, shows the everyday horrors of Libya’s civil war—and the desperate need for NATO’s help.



Photo: Marc Roussel

At fifty kilometers from the frontier lies the barracks of Jweibya, halfway between the Arab city of Zintan and the Berber city of Nalut. At the very beginning of the war, Gadddafi’s first defeated battalion left 200 tanks like these behind them, here, as they fled. Except that there is one thing in particular about these tanks that left the insurgents perplexed when they took possession of them. All of them are lacking the same firing pin normally necessary to function. What happened? Sabotage on the part of an army adept, as everywhere in the Jebel, at scorched earth tactics and who found the time to remove the 200 firing pins before they retreated (we were shown twenty, fished out of a pond at the outskirts of the camp)? Or were the tanks always like that—Gaddafi, not trusting his own troops, accumulating a store of sophisticated arms like so many wonderful but broken toys (or like so many decoys and phantom weapons, absurdly tampered with and, at once, never really operable)? I don’t know.


Five more photos in this gallery:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2011/07/24/bernard-henri-levi-libya.html

[tabatha]

19. Are “Stooge” Reporters Complicit in Gaddafi Human Right Violations?

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/07/09/are-stooge-reporters-complicit-in-gaddafi-human-right-violations/

Are “Stooge” Reporters Complicit in Gaddafi Human Right Violations?
By Gordon Duff, Senior Editor

(Excerpt: a witness statement to Gordon Duff)

Debbie, Gordon, Jim,

You have to understand how things work in Libya, Syria and other countries with similar regimes. When I was living in Libya, and many years after I stopped supporting Gaddafi, I used to go on pro-Gaddafi demonstrations and rallies. In fact, I never missed one.

That’s a fact.

The reason is simple. Every state employee (ie 100 per cent of the working population) had no choice but to go on these or else go to prison instead.

Here’s how it worked: you arrive at work in the morning, only to find loads of coaches parked outside. Upon entering your work premises, you will find armed security agents outside asking you to submit your work ID.

They take the ID and give you a permit to the demo in its place. You are directed to the coaches, the coaches take you to the demo and they bring you back to your work premises. Upon returning, the piece of paper you were given in lieu of your work ID is stamped and taken away, and your ID is returned to you.

If you manage to circumvent this process, one of two things will happen:

1 You get a visit from the internal security organization during the night and you are taken away. If you’re lucky, they’d beat the he!! out of you and release you in a few days. If you’re unlucky, you vanish. And some people, including former work colleagues, friends and two neighbours of ours, have vanished and have never been seen again. Their only crime was not to go on a demo.

2 You go to work the very next day and, upon arrival, you are bundled away and suffer the same fate as No. 1 above.

And what about at the pro-Gaddafi demos themselves. What happens there? From my own personal experience, when you get there you find the whole damn gathering is infested with secret police. Everyone is listening, observing, some taking notes and pictures.

If you are seen to “lack enthusiasm”, i.e. not shout slogans for hours on end, then h e!! is your destiny. You can guarantee — and it has happened to me three times in the late 1990s — you will get visited, again in the dead of night, questioned, questioned again and again, warned and threatened that you will be watched, and then released.

If you are married or have children, insinuations will be made about what could hypothetically happen to them.

There you have it! I am talking from my own personal, direct experience.

Regards,
Name Withheld

************ Note --- take the attendances at Gaddafi rallies with a huge grain of salt. They are not valid. Not at all.

[David__77]

28. This guy uses an anonymous source and thinks Gaddafi is too pro-Israel.

Kind of curious. Surely, if there were "hundreds" of potential sources, he could at least find an identifiable person. That said, thank you for posting it - very interesting character I hadn't heard of. ADL calls him an "anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist," but I hardly respect ADL.

[tabatha]

31. There will be no identifiable persons

because they are scared about retribution.

If you read the posts, the anonymous person actually posted to say that he was the source - anonymously of course, but at least something from the source himself.

As for Israel and MENA countries - Israel did not want Mubarak to step down; Gaddafi did send an envoy to Israel, but it failed. Israel, for understandable reasons, will do whatever it takes to protect Israel. Sometimes other people take events and twist and turn them into conspiracies.

However, I do believe the source - because it is well-known that Gaddafi forces people to do what he wants.

[pinboy3niner]

21. Blasts rock Tripoli, NATO targets Gaddafi compound

Sun Jul 24, 2011 12:21pm GMT

• Gaddafi government open to more U.S. contacts

• United Nations plan would begin with ceasefire


By Missy Ryan


TRIPOLI, July 24 (Reuters) - Explosions rocked central Tripoli for the second night in a row and Britain said weeks of NATO bombardment had inflicted extensive damage on Muammar Gaddafi's heavily-fortified compound.

...


Major General Nick Pope, the Chief of the Defence Staff's communications officer, said Royal Air Force aircraft struck the high perimeter walls of Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziyah complex.


"Gaddafi has for decades hidden from the Libyan people behind these walls. The vast Bab al-Aziziyah compound is not just his personal residence, but more importantly is also the main headquarters for his regime, with command and control facilities and an army barracks," Pope said on Sunday.


"Successive NATO strikes in past weeks have inflicted extensive damage on the military facilities within."

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFLDE76N03720110724?sp=true

[tabatha]

22. Ghadhafi words

Borzou Daragahi Ghadhafi claims 18 million Libyans, claims parts of #Egypt up to Nile as part of #Libya. #feb17
Borzou Daragahi Ghadhafi calls for establishment of single #African state, (presumably with him as its leader) #libya #feb17
Borzou Daragahi Ghadhafi admonishes #Tunsians & #Egyptians 4 rising up, urges them to establish Jamahiri system based on delusional Green Book: #feb17
@hominoid555 russell renshaw Libya Colonial Plot yes it will be colonised by Libyans !
--- Comment - who is the imperialist now?

@s2m2sياسمينGaddafi blames both Egypt and Tunisia for the Libyan revolution, could almost hear him crying in backround LOL #Libyafeb17
--- I thought he had said that is was the bad West that was responsible for the Libyan war.
--- If the Libyan war had not happened, Gaddafi had planned to send in 30,000 GROUND troops into Tunisia to stop the revolution. Imperialistic much?

LibyaAlHurraTVLibyaAlHurra
You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom. - Malcolm X

[Iterate]

23. Shelling cities and towns

With major press outlets somewhat quiet or already posted, I thought I might do a current survey of reports of civilian areas being shelled.

jocarva: 09:51 Press Solidarity reports that Gaddafi forces were shelling the town of Bir Ghanam this morning

@libyanproud: #Nafusa : #Nalut : #Gaddafi forces continued their Shelling on Nalut and suburbs over last night and this morning.
@KC_Tripolitania: #Nalut still under attack: #Gaddafi forces fired 70 GRAD rockets which landed in and around #Nalut at dawn today

@moooonlight22: #Qatrun south of #Sabha city is under siege and continuous shelling w Grad missiles by #Gadafi thugs.situation is critical

@inglesi: Am told huge plume of smoke spreading across #Misrata horizon is result of a fuel storage facility nr port being hit this morning
LibyanHawk: 6 grad missile hit the south part of #Misrata city this morning and was the cause of killing two and several injuries.

@abdulhelal: In #Zintan it's estimated that around 3000 #GRAD missiles hit the city and about 300 homes damaged by them

@STRATFOR: Forces loyal to #Libyan leader #Gadhafi resumed attacks with Grad shells on #Dehiba #Tunisia near #Libya border, QNA reported

@EndTyranny101: #Algawalesh: #Gaddafi forces R advancing..using Grad rockets & artillery,FF reported seeing civilians amongst them..aka human shields #Libya

[Iterate]

24. Will Libya Overcome its Grudges?

Will Libya Overcome its Grudges?
23/07/2011

I just saw a video where a soldier from Gaddafi troops captured around Brega is being interviewed by a rebel military leader in Ajdabia. I won't post the video because I fear for this man's family and any retaliation by the Gaddafi regime against them. I am told by my Libyan colleagues that his accent sounds like he is from Sabha, Southern Libya.

One interesting thing in the interview is that he admits that he was paid to fight for Gaddafi. Yet, when asked about Gaddafi, he says : well.. Gaddafi never did anything good for me or my family, but he doesn't seem like such a bad guy to me anyway.

Later on in the video he acknowledges that there has been a lot of injustice (by Gaddafi) and he calls for Libyans to unite and to find a political solution. He says something about not having been aware of the real situation, alludes to having been misinformed, says that he did not know he was going to fight fellow Libyans who are just like him, says he expected he was fighting very evil people.

He also praises the rebels for having treated him well and taken him to a hospital themselves. But of course that is expected in an interview conducted and spread by the rebels themselves. I have no way of verifying whether all their POW's are treated the same way as this man in the interview who was speaking from his hospital bed.

more... http://www.dimakhatib.com/2011/07/will-libya-overcome-its-grudges.html

+

[pinboy3niner]

25. Rebels repulse attack by Gaddafi forces

Imed Lamloum
July 25, 2011 - 3:09AM

AFP


Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi launched a counter-offensive on rebels in the southwest but were repulsed, after NATO warplanes blitzed military targets in the capital.


An AFP correspondent reported that rebels on Sunday repelled an attack aimed at recapturing the desert hamlet of Gualish on the road to Tripoli, which loyalist forces lost to the insurgents in fierce fighting earlier this month.


Rebels in Gualish said they had prevented regime forces from getting within a kilometre of the hamlet, and that they had been sent reinforcements from Zintan, the main rebel base in western Libya.

...


(In an audio message broadcast on state TV, Gaddafi) also denied accusations by international rights groups of a brutal suppression of dissent and allegations that his regime had killed thousands of protesters.

...


"Only eight people have been killed and an inquiry is under way to determine who killed them. There are no protests and no gunfire. Show us where the thousands of people (reportedly killed) are buried," Gaddafi said.

...


http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/rebels-repulse-attack-by-gaddafi-forces-20110725-1hvuk.html

[pinboy3niner]

26. Algeria denies reports of arms ship for Gaddafi

Sun Jul 24, 2011 3:46pm GMT


ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria denied charges that a Libyan ship offloaded weapons for Muammar Gaddafi's troops at one of its ports.


"The foreign ministry denies categorically these allegations," the official APS news agency quoted a spokesman for the foreign ministry as saying late on Saturday.


Libyan opposition sources said the ship, sailing under a Libyan flag, arrived on July 19 at the port of Djen Djen from where the cargo was being taken over the border into Libya.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE76N09K20110724

[pinboy3niner]

27. National Security Insiders Support Decision to Recognize Libya's Rebels

Source: National Journal

National Security Insiders Poll

Most call for releasing some of Qaddafi-linked frozen funds to the rebels.

By Sara Sorcher

Updated: July 24, 2011 | 12:41 p.m.
July 24, 2011 | 12:00 p.m.


National Journal’s National Security Insiders strongly support the Obama administration’s decision to formally recognize Libya’s opposition government as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. Most said they support funneling some of the billions of dollars in frozen regime funds to the rebels for whatever they need in the fight to overthrow Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi—although some cautioned against arming the rebels directly.


Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced recently that the U.S. decided to formally recognize Libya's Transitional National Council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. Thirty-eight out of 54 respondents (70 percent) said this was the right decision, given the Obama administration’s investment in the military operation and significant contact with the rebel government over the course of several months. “Now that the United States has committed to regime change in Libya, it makes little sense not to,” one Insider said.

...


Now that the Washington has officially recognized the national council, 54 percent of Insiders said that the administration should unfreeze some of the funds for whatever supplies or weapons the rebels may need. "The money belongs to the Libyan people. Frankly speaking, who are we to withhold it or to tell them what they can and cannot do with it?" one Insider said.


Another 6 percent said the unfrozen funds should go specifically toward providing weapons, given that the U.S. has already allocated millions of dollars to refugee operations and tens of millions more in nonlethal assistance, such as vehicles, fuel trucks, ambulances, and medical equipment. Others disagreed, with 21 percent arguing that the rebels should only be able to use the Qaddafi-linked assets to stay afloat--but that the U.S. should not directly arm the insurgents.

...


http://www.nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/national-security-insiders-support-decision-to-recognize-libya-s-rebels-20110724

[pinboy3niner]

29. Seattleite seeks to help fellow immigrants cope with trauma back home

Originally published July 23, 2011 at 7:15 PM | Page modified July 23, 2011 at 7:16 PM

Amineh Ayyad, a Palestinian refugee herself, has created a unique program called Mothers Empowering Mothers to help immigrant women from the Middle East cope with worries about escalating violence in their home countries. Ayyad's program offered cooking and art classes as a way to help women form their own support system.


By Celina Kareiva
Special to The Seattle Times

...


After her 19-year-old nephew was shot dead during a protest in Tripoli earlier this year, Elmadani, her three children and her husband found their grief compounded by their distance.


"Every day we sit in front of the news and sometimes (we) can't do anything but sit and listen," she said.


Originally from Libya, Elmadani immigrated to Seattle in 1990 to join her husband. While she remained in close contact with relatives back home, she felt helpless in the wake of her nephew's death.


"It was the first time in my life I'd seen my kids crying, crying so hard until ... I felt very scared for them," Elmadani said.

...


In response to that stress and uncertainty, Amineh Ayyad began offering a six-session program of cooking and art classes to help women like Elmadani talk about their emotions in a supportive setting.


Ayyad moved to the United States in 1991 and considers herself an advocate for refugees and immigrants in the area. Her experience and interest in public health led her to create Adapt International, an organization that works to attain peace through psychosocial healing. Her support group for Middle Eastern and North African women is just one facet of this mission.

...


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015710392_immigranttrauma24m.html

[tabatha]

30. Gaddafi - human shields and other devious tactics

@BoothWilliamWilliam Booth Fighting at Qawlish in #Libya western mtns: families from Gaddafi-held town approach frontline, government troops behind them, rockets fired2 minutes ago

#Libya - #Gaddafi forces attacked Qwaleesh this afternoon; reports r they forced WOMEN & CHILDREN to march the frontlines as human shields!¡

reebenghazi Gaddafi TV is showing images of civilians assembled in the village of Badr, & appearing2 be about2 march 2 Nafusa Mt #Libya

BREAKING: FFs said that Gaddafi forces are using ambulances to smuggle weapons from #Sirte to forces located in industrial area of #Brega

BREAKING: REPORTS: Children's school in #Fashloum, #Tripoli being used as safeplace for weaponry! PLZ NOTIFY @NATO #Libya #feb17

#Nafusa : #Nalut : Recon teams report #Gaddafi vehicle convoy moving from #Tiji towards Nalut . #Feb17 #Libya @NATO

#TRIPOLI: Security forces who defected say that #Gaddafi has laid mines in some places of Tripoli, including Burj AlFatah, Saray AlHamra etc

#Gaddafi sent his senior officials to sell all investments held by #Libya in Egypt to finance its military operations against FF .

LATE BREAKING NEWS (I guess it will be confirmed or not in time)
Endtyranny101 Libya.TV reports Abdulla #Seneussi has finally succumbed to injuries sustained in his neck & has died in Al Nafat Clinic #Tripoli #Libya

[Iterate]

32. Video:Misurata revolutionaries liberate 24 families near the Bani Walid

Misurata revolutionaries liberate 24 families near the Bani Walid
http://youtu.be/MdbWD7XPh9U

An offensive pro-Gaddafi rejected
AFP
24/07/2011 | Updated: 17:57 Comments ( 4 )
The forces of the Libyan regime have launched this afternoon to resume the offensive the rebels Goualich hamlet, about a hundred miles south of Tripoli, but the insurgents repelled the attack, according to an AFP correspondent on the spot. According to him, the rebels managed to repel the forces loyal to one or two kilometers of Goualich and dozens of insurgents arrived in vehicles in the city of Zenten, the main rebel base in western Libya, to lend a hand strong. Heavy fighting took place around 16:30, according to AFP correspondent who heard gunfire. Before launching their offensive, the pro-Gaddafi has sent dozens of civilians to announce their arrival, according to testimony of insurgents obtained by AFP on site. By 15h, the rebels saw the arrival in eastern Goualich dozens of vehicles carrying civilians and arriving in the city of Al-Assabaa the hands of pro-Gaddafi, 17 km away. The civilians, many of them young, have advanced up to 200 meters from the checkpoint controlled by the rebels and then said they were forced to move by the pro-Gaddafi. They told them to leave Goualich because the army would attack them, again according to the testimony. Civilians are then left to Al-Assabaa forces and pro-Gaddafi actually arrived shortly thereafter. On July 13, heavy fighting had already held around Goualich, where hundreds of rebels had managed to push against the offensive- pro-Gaddafi.
http://egyptday1.blogspot.com/2011/07/gforces-attack-goualich-hamlet-100m-s.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Egyptday1NowWhat+%28EgyptDay1%2C+Now+What%3F%29&utm_content=Twitter

An awkward translation, but the meaning is intact.

Audio: Evening update from Qwaleesh
Posted on July 24, 2011 by admin
Here is a second update from the village of Qwaleesh in the Nafusa Mountains, thanks to Al Jazeera’s James Bays.
http://audioboo.fm/boos/420733-audio-update-from-frontline-at-qwaleesh-pictures-running-on-aje

LibyaAlHurraTV: RT @libyans_revolt #Zintan: Freedom fighters control #Albotama gate south of #Mizda. #Feb17 #Libya # Nafusa @LibyaAlHurraTV
@libyanproud: BREAKING : #Nafusa : #Mizda : MIZDA IS LIBERATED !!!! Not only butma . ALL OF MIZDA !!

abdulhelal 5 hours 25 mins ago
Pictures of the 95 deceased fighters in #Zintan martyrs square. May Allah accept them as martyrs #libya #Nafusa yfrog.com/khejfeij
http://yfrog.com/khejfeij

@septimius_sever: Gaddafi soliders looting shops in #Brega
Literally, by google: Rats Libyan tyrant steal Goods
http://youtu.be/LvcMuARXVb4
There's usually only one way anyone gets cellphone video from a Gaddafi soldier.

@EndTyranny101: Saif #Gaddafi standing on a roof of car..holding a rifle.Promising supporters weapons to kill the cowards
http://youtu.be/FRhkpJww9vo

[pinboy3niner]

33. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 158: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 1:15 AM MONDAY, JULY 25

Libya time = EDT +6 hours, PDT +9 hours, UTC +1 hour, GMT +2 hours

[tabatha]

34. Thank you France

The first foot I put outside the #Benghazi 's airport I saw this : "Thank you France" :) #France #Libya
http://twitpic.com/5vati0

[joshcryer]

48. We have a Dream

One of the huge beautiful fresco on the airport road - "We have a dream" #Benghazi #Libya #17feb http://twitpic.com/5vdwmt

[pinboy3niner]

35. NEW: Rebel Chief Says Gadhafi, Family Can Stay in Libya

Source: Wall Street Journal

JULY 25, 2011

By CHARLES LEVINSON


ZINTAN, Libya—Libyan opposition leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said Sunday that Col. Moammar Gadhafi and his family could remain in Libya as part of a political solution to the five-month-old conflict, provided they give up power and rebel leaders can determine where in Libya and under what conditions they remain.


In an interview with The Wall Street Journal during an unannounced visit to Libya's rebel-controlled western mountains, Mr. Jalil confirmed reports from other rebel officials in recent days that Qatar has stepped up the flow of military aid to rebels in recent days.

...


"Gadhafi can stay in Libya but it will have conditions," Mr. Jalil said. "We will decide where he stays and who watches him. The same conditions will apply to his family."

...


But Mr. Jalil appears to have carefully calibrated his comments on Sunday by setting conditions for Col. Gadhafi's remaining in Libya that could be broadly interpreted. Mr. Jalil didn't elaborate on where or under what conditions rebels would demand Col. Gadhafi live if he remained, but presumably it could mean anything from comfortable house arrest among his tribesmen, to a dark cell in solitary confinement.

...


MORE (w/ more details on military aid from Qatar):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904772304576466400526672420.html

[tabatha]

36. Twitter Fritters Libya, Jul 24, 2011

1. The sound of a fighter plane, followed by an explosion at 1 am local time, sent up a huge cloud of white smoke, not far from the sprawling compound of Gaddafi at Bab Al-Aziziyah.

2. NATO planes also bombed the eastern and southern eastern suburbs of Tripoli.

3. The revolutionary fighters said that 16 of them were killed and 126 wounded during fighting with Gaddfi forces in Zleitan yesterday, 150 Km east of Tripoli. Gaddafi forces have been trying hard to stop the advance of the revolutionary fighters toward Tripoli.

4. NATO bombed Gaddafi forces near Brega and destroyed ammunition storage and four armored vehicles.

5. NATO planes bombed yesterday ammunition storage, two tanks, two anti-aircraft bases, and an armored vehicle near Zlitan.

6. In Brega, the revolutionary fighters said that hundreds of thousands of land mines and the fierce counter attacks by Gaddafi forces are slowing their attempts to capture the coastal city. They are using now three advanced mine sweepers bought by Qatar from Europe.

7. ..................

http://carolv27.tumblr.com/post/8019929056/in-misrata-ffs-advanced-to-the-tuesday-market-east-of

[pinboy3niner]

37. In Libya’s West, Signs of Growing Frustration With NATO

Source: NYT 'At War' blog

July 24, 2011, 8:04 pm

By C.J. CHIVERS


One of the consistent experiences of reporting alongside opposition fighters in Libya is feeling the delineation between what the rank and file have to say of the NATO bombing campaign and the statements of the officials in the Transitional National Council, the de facto rebel authority.


Officially, the rebel leadership cannot thank the pilots flying overhead enough. The political figures of the T.N.C. are given to vanilla declarations of full support and gratitude for the work of NATO, whose leaders they clearly are wary of offending.


Those closer to the fighting or who live in harm’s way, however, have a richer take. They, too, express gratitude for NATO’s early work in the war, when Col.
Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces were stopped by airstrikes from overrunning the rebels in the east and crushing the uprising in Benghazi. But they also express deep and sometimes agonized frustration at the pace and target selection of the air support, and talk often of what they perceive to be NATO half-stepping and incompetence. You hear these complaints in Misurata, where the city’s residents faced sustained shelling, and which is still shelled or struck with rockets intermittently to this day. You hear them from fighters who have watched the Qaddafi forces’ columns drive forward in attacks, unmolested by aircraft audible a short while before. You hear them as well from those who have been hit, or nearly hit, by errant or mistaken strikes. And you can hear the exasperation loudly from Nalut today, near Libya’s border with Tunisia.

...


http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/in-libyas-west-signs-of-growing-frustration-with-nato/

[tabatha]

40. I am actually beginning to find Chivers annoying.

He should stick to his guns - i.e. military hardware, which he knows very well, and has been brilliant at that.

[pinboy3niner]

41. I like Chivers because he tells it like it is, and lets the chips fall where they may

I don't want accounts from 'journalists' who have an agenda favoring "my side." In anything--and especially in making policy decisions--we need accurate, honest information. The good, the bad and the ugly.

I can understand the frustration of ff's, expecially when their friends are dying and being maimed around them. They're paying a terrible price for freedom, and it's only natural for emotions to run high and for feelings of frustration to spill out. Chivers is simply reporting what he observes.

And I don't think he's a weapons expert. As a good reporter, he has researched issues and consulted experts to get at the truth--as he did with the Spanish cluster bombs used by Gaddafi forces.

Chivers is one of the correspondents to whom I pay attention when he's sending dispatches from the war zone. Whether or not I like what he's reporting, I feel I'm getting an honest account.

[joshcryer]

47. Completely agree.

There are times I wish the reports from him weren't so easily used to bash FFs, but generally when those reports are made they're extremely balanced. Chivers sticks to the facts, and the facts alone. He is a former marine so his "thing" is "guns" but let's be honest, these types of embattled reporters' "thing" is that they'll put their life on the line to tell the story. We can see that it's true when he asks the internet at large to help him identify munitions and the like, it's not like he's some brilliant arms analyst, one day he might be, but yeah.

I should say though that he does make the arms trade part of his primary life-focus and for that he should be praised. When he gets back I'm sure he'll write a book or two, it'll be a good read for sure.

[tabatha]

52. Well he did not stick to the facts about the bodies in the well.

No one, repeat no one, knows what happened - i.e. no reporter/jourmalist knows the FACTS.

Chivers GUESSED that it was the fault of the rebels and that they were covering it up, and it was picked up by the Telegraph and repeated.

Sorry, those are NOT facts.

There are NO facts to stick to. He was just making S H I T up.

I am sorry - I dislike it when people are smeared with "no facts".

I was upset at the Sky News story that was BS.

[tabatha]

38. *** Journalists get it wrong again ***

This is a post in response to the story in the Telegraph "The headless corpse, the mass grave and worrying questions about Libya's rebel army".

The response is by a Libyan who twitters here:
http://twitter.com/#!/search/LibyansRevolt
(Amal al-Leebi is the pen-name of a British-Libyan surgeon and humanitarian. You can follow Amal on twitter @libyansrevolt)

"This article is factually incorrect. I was in Libya near Yefren last week and witnessed this happening. The bodies were discovered on approximately 12th July and it was unknown how long they had been in there.

The water tank they were in is a reservoir which supplies drinking water for a few households. There were 5 bodies that were unidentifiable as they had been so badly decomposed and the smell from this reservoir was so great that nobody could go in and get the bodies out.

To give you an idea of how difficult it is logistically, these reservoirs are built in the ground with a manhole type cover on the top. They are about 3-4 metres deep and maybe 4x4metres.

So a ladder was put down and several people tried to get them out but the bodies were so decomposed that they fell apart and it was difficult for anyone to get near due to the smell. Somebody even brought along a gas mask with oxygen supply but that didnt make a difference.

The water level was thought to be quite low as they were near the bottom, they thought there was only 30-40cm of water.

In the end, because they couldnt get them out, it was decided by senior members of the council that they would be buried inside this tank. A big digger was brought and the aim was to fill the tank with earth. When the first large amount of earth was dropped in by the digger the earth all sunk to the bottom and displaced the bodies so the water level rose. They realised that they could now get them out so 4 or 5 more loads were put in until the bodies came right out of the manhole.

They tried to identify them but all that could be seen were that they were all libyan and wearing some kind of military uniform (some of the rebels also wear a similar type so they didnt know) - no identification paper. Many of them had gunshot injuries or worse.

So basically the rebels did not try to cover anything up nor was it their intention, they just simply didnt have the facilties to do anything. They even discussed possibility of getting tissue samples for DNA analysis later but where would they get test tubes from or store such things. In the end they took many pictures of them all in the hope that they may be identified later and then buried them at a nearby spot."

You can see the comment under the article:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8650436/The-headless-corpse-the-mass-grave-and-worrying-questions-about-Libyas-rebel-army.html#disqus_thread

[pinboy3niner]

39. Bahrain commission to investigate army, torture claims

By Praveen Menon

MANAMA | Sun Jul 24, 2011 4:06pm EDT


(Reuters) - A commission tasked by Bahrain to investigate weeks of protests that rocked the Gulf island kingdom said Sunday it would look at the role of the security forces in the unrest and examine charges of torture.


At a news conference marking the launch of the five-member panel's investigation, chairman Cherif Bassiouni said his team would look at 30 police officers being investigated by the Interior Ministry for allegedly not following procedures.


He said the army would also be investigated.

...


Panel chief Bassiouni is an Egyptian-American law professor and U.N. war crimes expert who was involved in the formation of the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) and recently headed a U.N. inquiry into events in Libya.

...


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/24/us-bahrain-investigation-idUSTRE76N2LP20110724

[pinboy3niner]

42. When Dictators Shoot Back

Source: Newsweek

Gaddafi and Assad are unyielding and murderous. Has the Arab Spring turned into an Arab Hell?

Tahar Ben Jelloun


Muammar Gaddafi and Bashar al-Assad agree on at least one point: Spring must be eliminated; the year should have just three seasons. The demand for dignity and freedom by those willing to die for those values—that is what they cannot bear, and strive to curb ruthlessly. Gaddafi and Assad are the same kind of people as Saddam Hussein. Like him, they can’t tolerate opposition, and answer it with weapons. Like him, they cling to their positions, which they occupy without legitimacy. Like him, they count on tribalism to fortify their power. Like him, they are afraid of justice. Like him, they are convinced they are right.


Because of these two men, what has been called the Arab Spring is in the process of clouding over and becoming more like an Arab hell.

...


These revolts are not revolutions. They have been spontaneous, without leaders, without ideology, without any political party. They have been driven by a yearning to stop living in submission, to stop being denied human dignity. These obstinate rebellions will stop only with the departure of those who practice—and symbolize—repression, theft, corruption, and the exercise of absolute power.

...



As for Libya, Gaddafi has no future. The day his mercenaries grow weary, he will fall. All negotiations for surrender have failed (South African President Jacob Zuma felt that the mediation of the African Union was “undermined” by NATO raids). There have been 10,000 deaths since the beginning of the uprising.


What does that matter, Gaddafi says to himself. He will leave Libya only by divine will, he has reportedly said. But divine will did not tell him to massacre his own people. That is why the U.N. Security Council voted on its “no-fly zone” resolution and why NATO intervenes daily. You don’t know Gaddafi if you think he’ll give in to international pressure and take the path of a negotiated exile. His pathology didn’t just appear today. He is a hunted man who does not understand that his people are clamoring mightily for his departure. He is convinced he is in the right, that he is a victim of the West and of elements of Al Qaeda. When you have been in power for 42 years, you forget what’s real; you think normality is whatever you decide it is. At no time has Gaddafi thought he is a dictator, even if he blithely confuses the immense resources of his country with his own wealth. He is not crazy; he is sick, and has been for a long time. As Philippe Gros, a researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Research, stated recently in Le Monde: “Unlike Milosevic, Gaddafi has nothing to negotiate other than his departure, which makes his abdication more uncertain.”

...


Tahar Ben Jelloun is today's most significant Francophone Moroccan novelist and poet. His work straddles Arab cultures throughout the world, chronicling hopes and impasses, whether through the eyes of desperate immigrants (in his book Leaving Tangiers) or political prisoners (This Blinding Absence of Light).


http://www.newsweek.com/2011/07/24/has-arab-spring-become-arab-hell.html

[pinboy3niner]

43. RAW, Libya, Two converted pickups almost get knocked out by regime forces so Rebels send in a tank

Video of action near Misrata (1:51):

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/misrata-jul-25-2011-1207

[ellisonz]

69. The rebels would win this alot faster...

...if they learned how to coordinate tanks with infantry forces in coordinated flanking attacks instead of just trying to slug it out. If they keep the battlefield fluid the Gaddafi forces will have less time to prepare a defense. Maneuver warfare - it's what separates the World Wars.

[pinboy3niner]

44. Bulgaria expels Libyan diplomat

Mon, Jul 25 2011 11:50 CET
byThe Sofia Echo staff


A Libyan diplomat has been given 24 hours to leave Bulgaria, the Foreign Ministry in Sofia confirmed on July 25 2011.


The diplomat is Ibrahim Alfouirs, who has been declared persona non grata and has been ordered to leave Bulgaria under Article 9 of the Vienna Convention.


The note was handed to the embassy at 9am on July 25, meaning that Alfouirs has until the same time on July 26 to leave.


Article 9 specifies: "The receiving State may at any time and without having to explain its decision, notify the sending State that the head of the mission or any member of the diplomatic staff of the mission is persona non grata or that any other member of the staff of the mission is not acceptable.

...


http://www.sofiaecho.com/2011/07/25/1128671_bulgaria-expels-libyan-diplomat

[pinboy3niner]

57. Rebel flag flies over Libyan Embassy in Bulgaria

Monday, Jul. 25, 2011

The Associated Press


SOFIA, Bulgaria -- The Libyan Embassy to Bulgaria has gone over to the rebel side following the Bulgarian government's decision to expel a senior diplomat there.


Bulgaria announced Monday that it would move to expel Ibrahim Al-Furis, the embassy's chief of consular affairs, for activities inconsistent with his diplomatic status - a phrase often used to refer to espionage.


But Al-Furis seemed to have other ideas, switching his allegiance from Libyan dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi to the rebels fighting to drive him from power. He and a group of diplomats took over the embassy, expelling two diplomats who remained loyal to Gadhafi's rule and hoisting the rebel banner over the embassy building in Sofia.


Footage from the private bTV channel showed rebel supporters raising their flag and smashing a bust of Gadhafi to pieces in the embassy's yard. Attempts to reach the embassy by phone weren't successful.

...


http://www.bnd.com/2011/07/25/1798905/rebel-flag-flies-over-libyan-embassy.html

[Iterate]

64. Video report from Bulgarian TV

"Destroy the idol of Gaddafi and fly the flag of independence in Bulgaria"
http://youtu.be/LCtCuD8_G64

So evidently it was a coup of sorts at the embassy and Ibrahim Al-Furis was sent packing. From their somewhat determined and PO'ed expressions, it must have been a swell time working there over the past few months. Nice that the Bulgarian editors got the slo-mo in at the end.

[pinboy3niner]

66. Interesting timeline

The guy defects to the rebel side, along with most of the staff, AFTER the expulsion note is delivered. Bulgarian authorities say that his expulsion order still stands while they try to sort out who's who at the embassy.

And, apparently, the only two remaining Gaddafi loyalists were locked in a room by the defectors before they eventually let the loyalists go and kicked them out of the embassy.

One of the reports on this referred to it as something like a 'drama in a bottle,' which may be the Bulgarian version of 'tempest in a teapot.'

Nice slo-mo. Makes Gaddafi bust-smashing look like a new sport. :)

[pinboy3niner]

45. London memorial planned for Anton Hammerl (photojournalist killed by Gaddafi forces)

Source: British Journal of Photography

Author: Olivier Laurent

25 Jul 2011


The family of Anton Hammerl, a South African and UK-based photojournalist killed in Libya in early April, will be holding a memorial service on 08 September in London.


Gaddafi's forces shot Hammerl "in an extremely remote location in the Libyan desert" on 05 April. The crime was witnessed by American journalists Clare Morgana Gillis and James Foley, who were with Hammerl and were abducted by pro-Gaddafi loyalists following the shooting. For weeks, the Libyan authorities had assured their South African counterparts that Hammerl was alive and being detained in an undisclosed location.

...


http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2096416/london-memorial-planned-anton-hammerl

[Iterate]

46. Many roads to defection in regime-held western Libya

Many roads to defection in regime-held western Libya
Monday, July 25, 2011 , by Deborah Pasmantier, AFP

In mainly government-held western Libya, the rebel army largely consists of defectors – people who for differing reasons took the dangerous decision to break with Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

Braving the myriad security services and their vast network of informers built up over four decades in power, individuals ranging from regular army officers to youngsters, studying overseas, have rallied to the armed revolt.

When the youth of the south-western hilltown of Zintan began demonstrating, Col Juma Brahim, usually based in the capital Tripoli, was in his hometown on leave.

“I saw these youths cry out against Col Gaddafi. It was magic. In the beginning, I simply watched, I didn’t demonstrate. I just watched but my heart was with them,” Col Brahim, 50, said.“One day, my nephew asked me for a gun. I went to my grandmother’s place to look for an old World War II rifle.”

more... http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110725/world/Many-roads-to-defection-in-regime-held-western-Libya.377192

or http://www.libyafeb17.com/2011/07/many-roads-to-defection-in-regime-held-western-libya/

[pinboy3niner]

49. British Ministry of Defence defends bombing of a Tripoli research centre Sunday

Libya: the Ministry of Defence has defended the bombing of a Tripoli research centre which Tornado and Typhoon aircraft destroyed on Sunday.

In an operational update MoD spokesman Major General Nick Pope, said the central organisation for economic research (COER), was a key intelligence building for Gaddafi's forces.

Ostensibly an engineering academy, the COER has in reality long been a cover for the regime's nefarious activities. Up until Colonel Gaddafi's renunciation of weapons of mass destruction in 2003, the COER was responsible for his long-range missile development programme. Intensive surveillance by Nato over the past weeks revealed that the building was still being actively used by his security apparatus to repress the civilian population, and was thus a wholly legitimate target.

RAF planes were also involved in bombing on Sunday in the Nafusa mountains. The latest Nato update on target hit have been added to the Guardian's daily interactive guide to the Libya bombing campaign.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jul/25/syria-libya-middle-east-unrest-live#block-7

[David__77]

50. Residents in western Libya say NATO hit hospital

...

Ambulance driver Osama Mahmoud said three doctors were among the dead at the Zlitan hospital. "In this whole area there is no military," Mahmoud told The Associated Press.

...

At the scene of the destroyed hospital, X-rays, medical supplies and hospital gurneys peeked through the tangled rubble and twisted metal. Four bulldozers worked to clean up the damage.

Residents said NATO planes bombed the buildings early Monday morning. A NATO spokesman in Naples, Italy, said the alliance would not release information on the strikes before Tuesday.

...

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/07/25/general-ml-libya_8582725.html

[pinboy3niner]

58. Latest update of this story:

Jul 25, 4:32 PM EDT

Libyan government shows reporters NATO bomb sites

By PAUL SCHEMM
Associated Press

...


"This is not the first time that such allegations have been made and, as is the case with all NATO strikes, a thorough damage assessment is conducted afterward," the NATO officer said, adding that NATO takes great care to minimize the risk to civilians.


Journalists have in the past been shown sites described as civilian that turned out to be otherwise.


On Thursday, the site of a bombed out construction site of a Turkish company shown to journalists was found to contain extensive graffiti suggesting it was being used as a barracks to house soldiers from the 32nd Brigade.

...


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_LIBYA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-07-25-16-32-01

[tabatha]

87. See

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14287072

[Iterate]

51. We, Libyans, decide

We, Libyans, decide
24/07/2011

The sign behind her reads : Thanks France. As I was taking a photograph of it, a woman came up to me in Benghazi's version of Tahrir Square and said : "We are all Sarkozy". I said : "Oh really? What do you think of Sarkozy suggesting that Gaddafi resigns but stays in Libya?" She did not even think for a minute before she said : "No No.. That is none of Sarkozy's business. Gaddafi's fate is our business, us, the Libyan people".

Another lady hurried towards me to say : "We thank the US and France for what they are doing. But they have no say here in things. They should just give us the air cover we need to march to Tripoli. We Libyans will do it ourselves. We shall liberate Libya from the tyrant and we Libyans shall decide his fate".

Foreign ground troops are out of the question for now. Signs in many parts of Benghazi clearly state they are not welcome. What rebels hope for is to get weapons, aid and money from friendly countries to help them make it to Tripoli. Qatar has already sent two batches of military and humanitarian aid but other countries are yet to do their part.

When I discuss the matter with intellectuals, activists and politicians, the line is not very different to that of ordinary people on the street. They tell me they had no choice, Gaddafi troops were coming to massacre them in Benghazi and the rest of Eastern Libya.

more... http://www.dimakhatib.com/2011/07/we-libyans-decide.html

[tabatha]

53. FFs Zliten found boxes of Chemical Bombs

LIBYA_BREAKNEWS Ossama by littlelisa8
BREAKING:FFs Zliten found boxes of Chemical Bombs, fears r now raisd that Gaddafi will use weapons of mass destruction just to stay in power25 Jul

littlelisa8 Lisa
by RRowleyTucson
RT “@LIBYA_BREAKNEWS: Mustafa Abdul Jalil: We have conclusive evidence of #Gaddafis involvment in the #Lockerbie #Bombing. #Libya #feb17”

#Libya Brega - Today, strong winds prevailed & uncovered 1000s of landmines previously buried in #Brega; the minefield has now been cleared.
1 hour ago

[tabatha]

54. Rabta Chemical Weapons Production Facility at Ain Er Rabta, Libya

Conclusion:

Despite various opinions stating that the mustard gas stockpiles are probably ‘degraded’ (it doesn’t degrade in sealed containers underground), or that Gaddafi doesn’t have a means to deliver chemical weapons (he most certainly does), if Gaddafi decides to go out in a blaze of glory by using weapons of mass destruction, he definitely has the means to do so.

http://bigenoughlie.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/rabta-cwpf-libya/

[pinboy3niner]

55. Factbox: Latest developments in Libyan conflict

Mon Jul 25, 2011 8:10am EDT

(Reuters) -

...


• Fighting briefly broke out in the western mountains where rebels have captured large swathes of territory.

• Witnesses said a group of civilian cars left the pro-Gaddafi town of Asaba, followed by Gaddafi's troops, and stormed toward Qawalish before pulling back and shelling rebels from a distance.

• NATO said it conducted 163 air sorties Sunday, 43 of them strike sorties that aim to identify and hit targets but do not always deploy munitions.

• NATO said key targets hit Sunday included:

-- One military storage facility near Brega;

-- One tank and one multiple rocket launcher near Gharyan;

-- One surface-to-air missile launcher, one military storage facility and one tank near Tripoli;

-- One ammunition storage facility near Waddan;

-- One tank near Zintan;

-- Two ammunition storage facilities and one command and control node near Zlitan.

...


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/25/us-libya-nato-idUSTRE76O20X20110725

[tabatha]

56. Libya: Rebel chief dismisses death reports

Major General Abdel Fattah Younes, Chief of Staff of rebel forces in Libya has dismissed recent rumors about his injury or death. The former Muammar Gaddafi aide mocked these rumors and accused Gaddafi regime of distributing this false information in order to influence the morale of the rebels.

According to Younes, the rebel forces have been making great progress on the ground during firefights against Gaddafi's battalions. Maj. Gen. Abdul-Fattah said the battle for the strategic oil city of Brega is a decisive battle for Gaddafi regime, which is defended by all its military forces to prevent it from falling completely in the hands of the rebels. Younes, who was the interior minister in the Government of Libya before defecting the Gaddafi regime added that the rebels actually control all entrances to Brega except the Western entrance, pointing out that the battle will be resolved during the upcoming hours. Younes said the operation of NATO is progressing well and is "excellent." He praised the close cooperation with the rebels to weaken Gaddafi regime militarily.

Younes was quoted assaying on Tuesday "The lightly armed rebels wish to overthrow Gaddafi and finish (the task) before the holy month of Ramadan." However, he stressed he could not speculate on the specific date of the completion of the military campaign.

http://www.albawaba.com/main-headlines/libya-rebel-chief-dismisses-death-reports-385386

On edit, comment from GH
i am shure the ff work with a nato planing groop.
exept of some moves from some comanders who break out ,the plan works.
with more risk or better trained troops it will be quicker.
but who want more risk?
and better trained troops are not in the theatre(exapt on the assault ships)
if you see some frontal attacks from ff on youtube there is definitiv a lack of low and medium ranks
but thank good they have a good airforce

On edit, one more comment from the ever wise Jerry Drawhorn
Of course without "NIDO's" help the Nafusa fighters would not have been able to take most of those Gadaffi bases at the base of the Nafusa...all of which were attacked by NIDO bombing prior to the FF's moving on them. Al Qa'aa would never have been taken...and all those heavier weapons not in the hands of his men. So get the impression that either Chivers is making up something that thought funny and attributing it to a rebel commander (just like he tried to saddle the killing of some tied up Gadaffi men dumped in a well on the FF's...when in fact it made no sense for them to contaminate a well with decaying bodies nor to seal it over...or to show him the site afterwards if they were the ones who committed the atrocity). While his analysis of weapons is good...I've found that he is sometimes very uncritical of his own "exposés when it can make a good headline. Did he bother to ask the rebel field commander if he really thought NATO wasn't helping? Here's where the reporter needs to ask the more detailed question...not simply leave an "impression".

[Iterate]

59. Our Revolution, My Story

An account from one person of Tripoli in late February. Well done.
http://youtu.be/X_mxaCiCxbA

Aircraft using road in Libya for landing
http://storyful.com/stories/1000005743
or better
http://youtu.be/Q-mZu7e5D3M

Civilian aircraft have been using a road that cuts through fields as a runway in Libya with the full backing of NATO. The so-called “air bridge” has been operating for about a month between the rebel city of Benghazi in the east and the Nafusa Mountains in the west.

The “runway” is less than a mile long and just 12 meters wide and is used as an ordinary road when there is no air traffic.

And for another perspective on one such landing, take a look at this video, which says it is Libyan Rebels waiting for plane to land on new runway in Nafusa Mountains:
http://youtu.be/8-v0qYQ096E

That was for the NTC visit to the Nafusa and should forever end all arguments about the worst airports, most hair-raising landings, and best pilots. Here's a video of the reception:
Head of NTC Abduljaleel arrives in Nafusa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9I20l-xUvQ

[tabatha]

61. That's a keeper.

Boeing never dreamt ....

[tabatha]

60. "Maash Nibbouh" !

Pronounced "Ma'ash Nibbouh" in Libyan dialect, this is actually the phrase you will hear the most on Benghazi's streets every single day. It literally translates as: "We don't want him any more" ! And it refers to... Gaddafi. (In Arabic it is: معش نبوه .. it comes from ما عادش )

Kids as young as 3 might not be able to say a full sentence or tell you a story, but they know how to say that phrase.

They also know how to say : "Muammar itlaa barra.. tawwa" , which means : Muammar leave.. now !

Children, women, men, old, young, middle-aged .. everyone repeats those phrases with such passion and such determination.

I asked one middle-aged lady: "So does that mean you wanted him before?" She explained to me that although he had killed, tortured and imprisoned anyone who would criticise him, they did not mind him so much, up to the point when the first demos kicked off in Eastern Libya and were brutally crushed. She said that the turning point for her was when she saw what she describes as "foreign mercenaries" spreading fear in Benghazi's streets. She said she was shivering in her home as she saw them coming down the street, armed. "My brother who used to be with Gaddafi and a member of his popular committees, had to go downstairs with others to the building's entrance to protect the women and children from any harm", she said. Then she continued with clear anger and pain: "Honestly when the rape started, that was already way too much for us to take. We can take the killing and opression, but we can't take anything that touches our family honour, our women, our girls."

And finally she had to repeat to me : "Ma'ash nibbouh, ma'ash nibbouh" !

http://www.dimakhatib.com/2011/07/maash-nibbouh.html

[Iterate]

65. Dima Khatib's on a roll,

and as long as she keeps writing it, we'll keep posting it.

Here's another personal account, but from the 1950's. It needs a caution for those who don't like "heartwarming", but it's also good look at the worlds as it once was:

"The Boy From Mizda"
by Kirsten Russell

My father, Ray Russell, grew up on a farm in Missouri, coming of age during the Great Depression. The poverty he experienced then was enviable wealth compared to what he began to witness early in 1952, after he joined the U.S. State Department's technical assistance program unofficially known as Point Four (now the U.S. Agency for International Development) and moved our family to Tripoli, Libya, North Africa.

At the Foreign Service Institute in Washington, D.C., Dad had learned that the newly independent nation of Libya was one of the poorest countries in the world. Only 13 Libyans had any college education, and the average annual wage was equivalent to 35 U.S. dollars. Over 90 percent of the population were illiterate, and over 10 percent were blind from trachoma, a contagious eye disease. We saw many trachoma victims in Libya, some with eyes hidden under white film, some with eyes missing.

Dad's assignment in Tripoli was to establish and direct a farm school for Libyan boys. During most of 1952 he labored to open the school, ordering school supplies and equipment, supervising construction work on the school building, writing lesson plans and reference materials, and selecting students from scattered coastal and desert communities.

more... http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2009/0103/fsl/fsl_mizda.html

[pinboy3niner]

62. Turkey sends fuel aid to east Libya

Mon Jul 25, 2011 2:51pm GMT

By Emma Farge and Humeyra Pamuk


LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) - Turkey has delivered its first cargo of fuel to aid east Libya as part of multi-million dollar free oil supply deal with the cash-strapped rebel government aimed at easing shortages, industry sources told Reuters.


Libya's civil war has damaged oil infrastructure and severely hampered the rebel government's ability to produce and sell oil, increasing its reliance on foreign aid to pay for imports of refined products. Turkish Petroleum International Company (TPIC), a subsidiary of Turkey's state-owned oil and gas exploration company Turkiye Petrolleri (TPAO), has shipped two fuel cargoes worth at least $10 million, an industry source familiar with the deal said. .... Regular fuel supplies such as gasoline for cars and diesel used for power plants are vital to the rebels to win the war and retain popular support in a country long-accustomed to subsidised energy. A second industry source said the Turkish government was seeking to line up more suppliers and that he expected one or two more cargoes to be sent.


"The Turks are pushing for more supplies," he said. The supply deal is a sign of closer ties between Benghazi and Ankara, which recognised the rebel Transitional National Council earlier this month and pledged $200 million in aid.


It was not clear whether funding for these fuel deliveries was included in this sum, but the trade sources said that the fuel was being delivered for humanitarian reasons, with no payment expected.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE76O0DQ20110725

[pinboy3niner]

63. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 159: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM TUESDAY, JULY 26

Libya time = EDT +6 hours, PDT +9 hours, UTC +1 hour, GMT +2 hours

[tabatha]

67. Tunisia deploys troops, tanks to Libyan border

Security sources said the Army deployed thousands of troops along with main battle tanks and armored vehicles along the border with Libya. They said the Tunisian Army reinforcements were meant to repel any attack from Libya.

"We are seeing an increasing number of rocket and other attacks from the Libyan side," a security source said.

The sources said the regime of Libyan Col. Moammar Gadhafi has been amassing troops along the border with Tunisia in the area of Wazen-Dehbia. They said the Gadhafi mobilization appeared intended for a major assault on rebel-held positions along the border.

The Libyan rebels have held parts of the eastern border with Tunisia since April 29. The rebels have repelled at least two Gadhafi offensives across from the Tunisian border city of Tataouine.

On July 20, at least seven BM-21 Grad rockets were fired from Libya into Tunisia near the border post of Wazen-Dehbia. Nobody was injured but the attack sent civilians fleeing from the facility.

Explosions have also been reported along Tunisia's southern border, particularly near the town of Ben Gardein. The sources attributed the bombs to NATO air strikes on Gadhafi military warehouses.

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2011/af_tunisia0924_07_25.asp

[tabatha]

68. Libya's lawyers build case against Gaddafi

Lawyers in the Libyan city of Misurata are attempting to build a case against the government of Muammar Gaddafi for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

They have already uncovered documents that show security forces were told to starve the population of the city and target mosques. Mobile phone footage of security forces shelling a minaret appears to corroborate the documents.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid reports from Misurata, Libya.

http://youtu.be/ziSoCHE1pSg

[pinboy3niner]

70. Fuel scarce in Misrata after Gaddafi forces rocket depot

Mon Jul 25, 2011 10:35pm GMT

By Mussab Al-Khairalla


MISRATA, Libya, July 25 (Reuters) - Rebel-held Misrata was running short of fuel on Monday as a fire raged at a storage depot hit by a rocket from Libyan government forces.


More than a day after the strike late on Sunday, thick plumes of black smoke still rose into the sky and choked much of the city, sparking panic-buying by civilians and risking shortages for the rebel forces holding the cut-off town.


Most petrol stations closed, leaving drivers facing lengthy queues in the summer heat at the few that stayed open, with priority given to vehicles used by rebels on the frontline and by the emergency services.


"Patience is good, thank God," said motorist Ismail Mohammed. "We have long queues for petrol now but most people haven't said anything."


Libya's third-largest city, home to around half a million people, has been cut off by land for months from other rebel-held areas further east but has been able to get crucial supplies, including food and fuel, by boat.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFKHA47580420110725

[pinboy3niner]

71. UN envoy, rebels say no Libya peace plan yet

Monday, 25 Jul 2011

• Gaddafi government open to more U.S. contacts

• United Nations plan would begin with ceasefire

• Libyan foreign minister leaves Cairo after talks


By Rania El Gamal


BENGHAZI, July 25 (Reuters) - The U.N. envoy to Libya and the Benghazi-based rebel council discussed on Monday ideas for ending the civil war, but said a firm initiative had yet to take shape.


With a diplomatic push to end the conflict gathering steam, Abdul Elah al-Khatib told Reuters after the meeting that he would head to Tripoli on Tuesday to canvass government views.

...


Tripoli-based journalists were taken to Zlitan to see what officials said were some food warehouses and a clinic that were hit by NATO forces.


The officials said seven bodies had been recovered from what they said was the destroyed clinic, where blankets and oxygen tanks but no beds could be seen.

...


Rebels near Zlitan said in an online posting that the facilities had once served civilian uses -- two medical centrers, a food store and a public bath -- but had been turned into military bases by Gaddafi forces.


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE76O16Q20110725?sp=true

[Mimosa]

72. War porn rocks! NOT. n/t

[pinboy3niner]

73. Libya: UN mission to Tripoli finds areas in urgent need of humanitarian aid

Source: UN News Centre

Trucks carrying food aid into Libya


25 July 2011 – United Nations humanitarian agencies said today that they have identified areas of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, where residents urgently need humanitarian assistance, including medical treatment for injuries caused by the ongoing conflict in the North African country.


“Although the mission observed aspects of normalcy in Tripoli, members identified pockets of vulnerability where people need urgent humanitarian assistance,” said the acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya, Laurence Hart, in a press release following the conclusion of the mission on Saturday.


The assessment mission, the fourth to Tripoli since the beginning of the crisis, was intended to further look into the needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other vulnerable groups, and to ensure that they received assistance. The mission also assessed the humanitarian impact of the conflict on civilians.


The health sector is under strain, having lost thousands of foreign workers at the beginning of the conflict, according to the press release issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Medical supplies, including vaccines, are rapidly running low, and the mission received reports of heavy psychosocial impact of the conflict, mainly on children and women.


Although basic food items are available in the markets, prices are rising and there are concerns over the sustainability of supplies into the city especially as the holy month of Ramadan approaches, if the conflict persists.


Outside Tripoli, the team also visited Al-Khoms and Zletan, east of Tripoli and close to the frontline, as well as Gharyan, in the Western Mountains area. All those towns have seen a significant influx of IDPs.

...


http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39144&Cr=libya&Cr1=

[Iterate]

74. Documents show Gaddafi forces were ordered to starve Misrata

Libyan lawyers build case against Gaddafi
Documents uncovered that show "security forces were told to starve" population of Misurata.
Last Modified: 25 Jul 2011 21:42

Lawyers in the Libyan city of Misurata are attempting to build a case against the government of Muammar Gaddafi for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

They have already uncovered documents that reportedly show security forces were told to starve the population of the city and target mosques.

Mobile phone footage of security forces shelling a minaret appears to corroborate that evidence.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid reports from Misurata, Libya.
Source:
Al Jazeera

http://english.aljazeera.net/video/middleeast/2011/07/2011725211515591752.html

The information we've seen before is making its way through the legal system, with added evidence collection.

[pinboy3niner]

75. Tricky Question of The Day: What if Qaddafi is allowed to stay in Libya?

Tuesday, 26 July 2011

By RAY MOSELEY
Al Arabiya


The suggestion coming out of Paris and London that Col. Muammar Qaddafi may be allowed to stay in Libya if he agrees to leave power raises some tricky questions.

...


Even if Britain and France assured the colonel he would not be sent to The Hague or put on trial within the country, how could they guarantee that a new Libyan government would honor such conditions indefinitely?


What would be required to protect him from constant threats or attempts at assassination by those who have fought against him?


What would need to be done to make sure that, as a civilian, he would not become involved in plots to regain power?

...


http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/07/26/159413.html

[pinboy3niner]

76. NATO airstrikes conducted Monday:

Key Hits 25 JULY:

In the vicinity of Brega: 1 Military Facility, 5 Armoured Vehicles, 2 Tanks, 11 Light Military Vehicles.


In the vicinity of Tripoli: 2 Command and Control Nodes, 2 Anti-Aircraft Weapon, 3 Multiple Rocket Launchers, 1 Military Vehicle.


In the vicinity of Waddan:1 Ammunition Storage Facility.


In the vicinity of Zlitan: 3 Command and Control Node, 1 Military Armoured Vehicle Storage Facility, 2 Armed Vehicles.


In the vicinity of Al Khums: 1 Military Vehicle Storage Facility.


In the vicinity of Gharyan: 2 Armoured Fighting Vehicle.


http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_07/20110726_110726-oup-update.pdf

The Guardian observes that Monday's strikes represent a significant increase in bombing:

There was a marked increased in Nato air strikes in the last 24 hours. In its latest update on the campaign Nato said there were 54 strike sorties on Monday with 36 targets hit. Nato has insisted that the bombing campaign will continue during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins next Monday, if there is a threat to civilians.

During Monday's raid 19 targets were hit in the oil town of Brega, scene of a battle for control between the Gaddafi's forces and the rebels for more than week.

Nato's update has been added to the Guardian's day-by-day guide to the campaign .


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jul/26/syria-libya-middle-east-unrest-live#block-4

[pinboy3niner]

77. BBC: Libya air strike aftermath questions

A BBC correspondent raises more questions about regime claims of civilian sites hit, with civilian casualties, after he and other members of the international press were taken by government minders to see the sites in Zlitan:

26 July 2011 Last updated at 00:42 ET

By James Reynolds
BBC News, Zlitan

...


We saw pieces of medical equipment on top of the wreckage - including fresh notepaper, an old microscope, and what appeared to be public health leaflets and pages of medical notes.


Officials told us that the air strike happened at seven in the morning and killed 7 people. But we were not able to find out the names of the dead. Nor were we taken to hospital to see their bodies.

...


Officials told us that three people were still trapped underneath the wreckage. We were unable to get a clear idea as to whether or not the officials believed that the missing people were alive or dead.


Bulldozing wreckage


The few minutes of the rescue effort that we were able to see differed from those that I have seen in other parts of the world.


Bulldozers drove through the wreckage without appearing to check whether or not they were coming up against any bodies or survivors.

...


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14287072

[pinboy3niner]

78. Syria: Activist group campaign to focus on fate of nearly 3,000 'disappeared' in uprising

The fate of almost 3,000 people who have disappeared in Syria since the uprising began in March is to become the focus of a new campaign by the activist group Avaaz .

It says it has compiled the names of 2,918 people who have been seized by regime but whose whereabouts are unknown and whose arrest has not been acknowledged.

Avaaz will launch a website on Thursday that profiles some of those missing, providing the person's name, age, job, where they lived and details of their disappearance. It claims the number of "disappeared" is increasing significantly each day in Syria.

The Guardian will have a full report on the campaign tomorrow.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jul/26/syria-libya-middle-east-unrest-live#block-5

[pinboy3niner]

79. Land mines slow Libyan rebels’ march toward Tripoli

Source: Washington Post

By William Booth, Updated: Tuesday, July 26, 3:50 AM


KIKLA, Libya — First Milad Saadi and his men pray. Then they walk into a mine field.

...


“Stick around, we will find a thousand in this field today,” said Bashir Ghourish, one of the seven-man demining team from nearby Zintan.


As rebels slowly press toward Tripoli, they are discovering ever more extensive mine fields laid by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi in and around civilian areas. The number of mines unearthed by the rebels is quickly growing from hundreds to thousands, as opposition fighters move into towns abandoned by retreating Gaddafi troops.

...


“It is part of Gaddafi’s scorched earth strategy,” Saadi said. “A kid might step on it, an old man, an animal. Anything that moves. It is an unimaginable thing, it’s a war crime.”

...


http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/libyan-rebels-take-it-slow-demining-fields/2011/07/23/gIQAgP1EaI_story.html

[Iterate]

80. Gaddafi cuts access to oil and water (and failed)

Gaddafi cuts access to oil and water
Published 26 July 2011 09:28 301 Views

Libya is blessed with vast reservoirs of oil and water, however both need electricity to get them out of the ground. Muamar Gadaffi, Libya's longtime leader, has tried to cut access to these resources, by cutting electricity from opposition strongholds in the east of Libya. Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reports from Jalu, Libya.

http://english.aljazeera.net/video/
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kggKKPmNgVs

Before you watch, there's no reason to set your hair on fire -GFs blew up the wrong pylon and actually cut off the power for pumping to both east and west. The report is an expansion of a story already tweeted and posted back in April and May.

[pinboy3niner]

81. Young Libya war casualty travels to US tomorrow

Source: Times of Malta

Malak whispering to her father at the Gżira apartment where they have been staying for
the past week. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi


Tuesday, July 26, 2011, by
Claudia Calleja


Five-year-old Malak will be leaving Malta tomorrow for the US where she will be fitted with a prosthetic leg after she lost her limb when a rocket was fired into her Misurata home in Libya.


The missile, launched by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, crashed into her parents’ bedroom while she was having an afternoon nap with her younger brother and baby sister, who were both killed.

...


Malak, a name which means angel, was carried off the ship by her father holding a flag of the Libyan National Transitional Council – a symbol of condemnation of the Gaddafi government.


The girl’s story made international headlines after a nine-foot rocket exploded inside her home on May 13. Malak’s right leg was nearly torn off and her left arm and leg were broken.

...


http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110726/local/Young-Libya-war-casualty-travels-to-US-tomorrow.377413

[pinboy3niner]

82. Turkey will deliver more fuel to aid Free Libya

Turkey will deliver a further 18,000 tonnes of fuel to the Libyan opposition's National Transitional Council, in addition to 10,000 tonnes already sent, the Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Tuesday.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-jul-26-2011-1259

[pinboy3niner]

83. Libyan diplomat in Bulgaria has no link to us, Transitional National Council says

Source: Sofia Echo

Scenes at the Libyan embassy after consul-general Ibrahim Alfouirs was
ordered expelled from Bulgaria for activities inconsistent with his
diplomatic status - allegedly including threatening Libyans in Bulgaria
and claiming links to Gaddafi's intelligence services, allegations he
denies - but after the expulsion order, he sided with the anti-Gaddafi
rebels and tried to declare himself ambassador.

Photo: Reuters
__________________________________________________________________

Tue, Jul 26 2011 15:32 CET
by Clive Leviev-Sawyer


Bulgaria has reiterated its determination to expel Libyan consul-general Ibrahim Alfouirs, who after being served on July 25 with a notice that he is persona non grata, insisted that he was siding with the anti-Gaddafi Transitional National Council – which, in turn, on July 26 said that he had nothing to do with them and called on Sofia to go ahead with deporting him.


On July 25, Alfouirs was given 24 hours to leave Bulgaria, but reportedly reacted by seeking to portray himself as allied to the rebels, attacking Gaddafi portraits at the embassy, raising the rebel flag in place of the Libyan flag and resisting attempts by the ambassador to deal with him.


Mladenov said that the decision to expel Alfouirs was based on his activities in recent months having been inconsistent with his status as a diplomat.


Allegations have been reported that Alfouirs had issued threats against members of the Libyan community in Sofia and claimed to have close links with the Gaddafi intelligence establishment.

...


http://www.sofiaecho.com/2011/07/26/1129425_libyan-diplomat-in-bulgaria-has-no-link-to-us-transitional-national-council-says

[pinboy3niner]

84. Rebels send mixed messages on whether Gaddafi can stay in Libya

The Libyan opposition are sending out mixed messages on whether Gaddafi can stay in Libya if he agrees to relinquish power.

In his interview with Wall Street Journal, rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said Gaddafi and his family could stay in the country if he agreed to stand down.

But Guma el-Gamaty, the UK spokesman for the National Transitional Council, just tweeted that Gaddafi would face trial if he stayed in Libya.

If Gadhafi & sons stay in Libya once relinquish power in tripoli then they will face court trial by Libyans like Mubarak by Egyptians now!!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jul/26/syria-libya-middle-east-unrest-live#block-6

[pinboy3niner]

85. Desperate Kadhafi regime appeals for volunteers

By Essam Mohamed for Magharebia in Tripoli – 25/07/11


Pressed on all fronts, forces loyal to Moamer Kadhafi are turning to media outlets in an effort to replenish their ranks.


Regime forces recently launched a recruitment drive with newspaper ads, radio announcements and televised appeals. The advertisements seek volunteers to fight for Kadhafi's embattled regime, offering a monthly bonus of 1,000 dinars in addition to regular pay.


The new recruits would be trained for a period ranging from six months to a year. In addition to the cash hand-outs, the regime is offering education and healthcare for volunteers and their families, as well as access to loans, housing and a guaranteed job after the completion of training.


At the same time, the 32nd Reinforced Brigade, led by Khamis Kadhafi, opened its doors to new soldiers. The military announcement said volunteers would be given three months of training and a bonus of 300 dinars. The statement added that recruits would have the right to leave the army after six months.

...


http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/07/25/feature-01

[tabatha]

86. Libya air strike aftermath questions

The few minutes of the rescue effort that we were able to see differed from those that I have seen in other parts of the world.

Bulldozers drove through the wreckage without appearing to check whether or not they were coming up against any bodies or survivors.

In the short time that we were there, we did not come across the distinctive smell of dead bodies decomposing in the heat. Nor did we see rescuers stop and listen for shouts from any survivors in the wreckage.

A short time later we were taken to a third bomb site. Officials told us that this site contained both a school and a mosque.

We saw a number of school exercise books on the ground amid the rubble. School desks were in another set of buildings which largely survived.

A small group of Gaddafi supporters gathered around us. They stood on top of the rubble and cheered. We heard loud explosions coming from the frontline not far away from us.

The Gaddafi supporters watched the smoke rise from the horizon. They cheered some more.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14287072

[Iterate]

88. Tripoli Green Square Reality Check

Tripoli Green Square Reality Check
Tue Jul 19, 2011 at 01:06 PM PDT
by Clay Claiborne

...
As the battle for control of Libya rages on the battlefields another important battle has taken place in the realm of the media for the claim of legitimacy based on popular support among the Libyan people.

In this realm, the centerpiece of Qaddafi's claims to popular support has been a series of mass rallies in Tripoli on June 17th, July 1st and July 8th. In each of these occasions the pro-Qaddafi folks have stated that 1.7 million Libyans rallied for Qaddafi in Tripoli's Green Square. For example:

Pro-Qaddafi Rally Draws 1.7 million: 1/4 of the Population
...

Now others reporting on these pro-Qaddafi protests have estimated much lower numbers for these crowds, in the range of 10,000 to 30,000. It has also been said that the majority of those in attendance had some relation to Qaddafi security forces, approximately 10% of the Libya population has such an association. It has also been reported that many of the Qaddafi supporters were not from Tripoli at all but have been bused in from out-of-town, that they were paid to show up, or threatened if they failed to show up.

So there have been a lot of questions about the accuracy of these reports.

I got to wondering if it was even possible for 1.7 million people "the world's largest demonstration" to fit in Tripoli's Green Square and as it turns out it's not.

more... http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/19/996082/-Tripoli-Green-Square-Reality-Check?via=blog_511082

Great piece with info on crowd estimation and some details of the production of misleading crowd video. Clay Claiborne has quite a few good DKos dairies.

[tabatha]

91. Clay Caliborne is very good at disproving the BS.

[al bupp]

89. Official Statement from Mustafa Abdel Jalil, Chairman of the National Transitional Council

1 hour 38 min ago - Libya

In response to what was quoted in the Wall St Journal re: Gaddafi being held inside Libya, the National Transitional Council would like to clarify a few points:

The discussion regarding this matter transpired three weeks ago with Mr. Abdel Elalah Khatib the special envoy to the United Nations. At that time we had made it clear to Mr. Khatib and the other party that they would have one week to respond to the offer.

Since that time, our official position has been to negate the offer since the time allotted has expired.

We also maintain that we will not accept any direct or indirect negotiations with the regime. We encourage our friends and allies to support us in maintaining pressure on Gaddafi and his family to leave power and the country.

The official position of the National Transitional Council is that Gaddafi must leave power and must depart Libya. Furthermore, the National Transitional Council affirms that the Libyan people have the right to hold Gaddafi and his family accountable for the crimes they have committed.

From: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya">AJE Libya Live Blog

[Iterate]

90. Reading the Refuse: Counting Col. Qaddafi’s Heat-Seeking Missiles, and Tracking Them Back...

Reading the Refuse: Counting Col. Qaddafi’s Heat-Seeking Missiles, and Tracking Them Back to their Sources
July 26, 2011, 3:16 pm
By C.J. CHIVERS

One unwelcome consequence of the war in Libya has been the escape from Libyan state custody of untold numbers of portable antiaircraft missiles, which have been carried off from storage bunkers as Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s military has ceded territory and military bases to opposition fighters. The missiles seen in the largest quantities have been the type visible in the photograph above, the SA-7, a Soviet-era weapon of the same class as the more widely known American-made Stinger.

...

Such fears have helped spur efforts to encourage military forces worldwide to account for and secure inventories of Man-Portable Air Defense Systems, or Manpads, of which the SA-7 is one type, and to destroy stocks no longer deemed necessary for a nation’s defense. The State Department claims that since 2003 a mix of American government programs has resulted in the destruction of more than 32,500 of the missiles in more than 30 countries. The programs have varied from underwriting destruction directly to financing buyback programs to collect loose missiles. (The latter are programs that the government prefers not to discuss, but are known to have been used in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq — at least. The State Department has declined to comment on whether such programs have already begun in Libya. It would not be a surprise if they had.)

...

Being militarily obsolete and obsolete for use against civilian aircraft are two different things. But notions of obsolescence raise another question. If these missiles are nearly 30 years old, would they work at all? A key question is whether the battery units would be fresh enough to activate the system, and allow it to fire. Much would depend on storage conditions, and so far little is known about how these weapons were stored and maintained over the past decades. I looked at all of the factory-provided service logs for all of the cases. None of them had been used to record any maintenance or service checks. That does not mean that the weapons were not looked after. The logs had been published in Latin and Cyrillic characters. The Qaddafi military may have used other ledgers, in Arabic, to keep such records.

...

In the end, even with that missed opportunity to learn more, the ruins of Ga’a were useful. They told of quantities. And the information about which nations had manufactured some of Libya’s SA-7s provided a lead for a next step for any interested arms-trade researcher. That step: press the successor governments to Communist-era Bulgaria and Yugoslavia to examine the archives of their export agencies and weapons plants, and to release the quantities and serial numbers of Manpads sold to Libya. This data could be exceptionally helpful for sketching out the scale of the Libya problem, for accounting for weapons that remain in arsenals and for tracing the origins of loose missiles that are likely to turn up later, either on markets or battlefields or at the scenes of future crimes.

more... http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/26/reading-the-refuse-counting-col-qaddafis-heat-seeking-missiles-and-tracking-them-back-to-their-sources/?src=tptw

[tabatha]

92. Gadaffi often tries to blame #NATO for strikes on infrastructure - but it is G-forces doing the raid

anitamcnaught
Anita McNaught
#Gadaffi often tries to blame #NATO for strikes on infrastructure - but it is G-forces doing the raids. youtu.be/kggKKPmNgVs

or

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

[pinboy3niner]

93. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 160: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:30 AM WEDNESDAY, JULY 27

Libya time = EDT +6 hours, PDT +9 hours, UTC +1 hour, GMT +2 hours

[pinboy3niner]

94. Airstrikes must stop before talks can be held, Libyan PM says

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• "This aggression must stop immediately," al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi says

• The government and the rebels are far from any agreement, the U.N. envoy says

• Al-Mahmoudi says Moammar Gadhafi's future is not up for negotiation

• Urgent humanitarian assistance is needed in Libya, a U.N. report says

From Ivan Watson and Jomana Karadsheh, CNN

July 26, 2011 5:28 p.m. EDT


Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Libya's prime minister said Tuesday that NATO airstrikes must stop before any negotiations to resolve the five-month old conflict there can begin.


His statement came as the United Nations reported a visit to the country by the secretary-general's special envoy to Libya found the government and the rebels "far apart on reaching agreement on a political solution"


Prime Minister al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, speaking to reporters in Tripoli, said that "this aggression must stop immediately."


"A cease-fire is a must before we can be able to have any sort of dialogue or solution to the Libyan problem," he insisted.

...


http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/07/26/libya.prime.minister.envoy/

[pinboy3niner]

95. Lockerbie convict makes rare appearance in Libya

TRIPOLI | Wed Jul 27, 2011 12:21am BST


TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The former Libyan intelligence agent convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing over Scotland made a rare public appearance on Tuesday at a rally in support of Muammar Gaddafi.


Libyan state television showed Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, who returned to Libya in 2009 after being freed from a Scottish jail on the grounds he was suffering from terminal prostate cancer, wearing traditional local garb and sitting in a wheelchair at a tribal meeting in Tripoli.

...

[pinboy3niner]

96. NPR: U.S. Looks For Ways To Break Libya Stalemate

Source: NPR

July 26, 2011

by Rachel Martin

...


One U.S. official is pushing for the U.S. to use clandestine action to target Gadhafi. The CIA has operatives on the ground in Libya, but so far U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence operation say their role is limited to gathering intelligence about Gadhafi's forces.

...


The other way to break the stalemate is to give the rebels the weapons they need to win decisively, but that's controversial. According to one U.S. official, opposition leaders have asked the U.S. for tanks, artillery and heavy machine guns. So far, the U.S. has said no.


Still, even without that help, the Libyan rebels have kept up the fight.


According to one U.S. official, the rebels struck a key blow to Gadhafi a couple of weeks ago when they severed a major fuel pipeline that feeds a regime refinery in Zawiya, about 30 miles outside Tripoli.

...


MORE w/ audio report (4:17):
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/26/138705540/u-s-looks-for-ways-to-break-libya-stalemate

[pinboy3niner]

97. NATO: Gadhafi cannot wait us out

Tuesday, Jul. 26, 2011

The Associated Press


BRUSSELS -- NATO says it will continue bombing the Libyan regime's armed forces as long as needed, and the country's leader, Moammar Gadhafi, cannot "wait us out."

Spokeswoman Carmen Romero said Tuesday that, as long as Gadhafi's forces threaten civilians, NATO will continue air operations over Libya.

...

NATO says it has the resources to maintain the campaign at its present level.


http://www.bnd.com/2011/07/26/1800019/nato-gadhafi-cannot-wait-us-out.html

[pinboy3niner]

98. Gaddafi must be brought to justice, Hague is told by International Criminal Court

Source: The Daily Mail (UK)

By Jason Groves

Last updated at 1:16 AM on 27th July 2011


William Hague faced humiliation last night as international prosecutors insisted Colonel Gaddafi cannot escape justice by remaining in Libya.


Any new government would be obliged to arrest the dictator under warrants issued last month, the International Criminal Court said.


Foreign Secretary Mr Hague had suggested the dictator could be allowed to stay in Libya as part of a deal brokered by the West.


But a spokesman for the court’s chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said: ‘He has to be arrested.’

...


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2019174/Gaddafi-brought-justice-William-Hague-told-International-Criminal-Court.html

[pinboy3niner]

99. Libya's Misrata struggles to clean up unexploded ordnance

Tue Jul 26, 2011 8:10pm GMT

By Mussab Al-Khairalla


MISRATA, Libya, July 26 (Reuters) - Street fighting in Libya's third city of Misrata ended months ago with rebel victory, but those battles are still claiming fresh victims.

...


Fifteen-year-old Mohammed Diab recollects an encounter with a mortar shell in April that changed his life.


“We heard a mortar hit the wall out in the street, then I took it out with my hand and brought it into our garden where it exploded in my hand," he said quietly.


"I didn't imagine it would explode as it had already exploded in the wall."


It blew off all four fingers and half the palm of his left hand, but he was discharged from hospital after only five days to make room for wounded fighters from the front.


Doctors told him he might receive a false hand -- once the conflict in Libya ends and Misrata returns to normality.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFKHA66932920110726?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

100. More Gaddafi forces hiding in civilian areas: NATO

Tue Jul 26, 2011 6:55pm GMT

By Alysha Love


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO accused Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on Tuesday of hiding army installations in civilian areas making those locations valid military targets and misleading international journalists by showing them bogus strike areas.


The military alliance said Gaddafi is aiming to discredit Western military efforts to protect civilians during the fighting, conducted under a United Nations mandate.


"Pro-Gaddafi forces are increasingly occupying facilities which once held a civilian purpose," Canadian Colonel Roland Lavoie, a NATO military spokesman, told a news briefing in Brussels.

...


"By occupying ... these facilities, the regime has transformed them into military installations, from which it commands ... attacks, causing them to lose their formerly protected status and rendering them valid and necessary military objectives for NATO," Lavoie said.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE76P0H020110726

[David__77]

101. Video: Rally in Al-Khums

It does show that the state apparatus of the Tripoli authorities is still functioning, if anything. We'll see how it pans out over the next five months - how it compares with the last.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyh7er-7wXM

[tabatha]

105. It shows nothing of the sort.

All it shows is propaganda.

Wonder why all of the pro-Gaddafi rally videos are so blurry?

[JackRiddler]

102. Libyan Rebels have CONCEDED Ground Since Bombing Began

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4936980

Oops.

Source: The Independent

Fresh diplomatic efforts are under way to try to end Libya's bloody civil war, with the UN special envoy flying to Tripoli to hold talks after Britain followed France in accepting that Muammar Gaddafi cannot be bombed into exile.

The change of stance by the two most active countries in the international coalition is an acceptance of realities on the ground. Despite more than four months of sustained air strikes by Nato, the rebels have failed to secure any military advantage. Colonel Gaddafi has survived what observers perceive as attempts to eliminate him and, despite the defection of a number of senior commanders, there is no sign that he will be dethroned in a palace coup.

The regime controls around 20 per cent more territory than it did in the immediate aftermath of the uprising on 17 February.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/libyan-rebels-have-conceded-ground-since-bombing-began-2326524.html

Sorry about reality intruding on your weekly victory thread, NATO people. I'm sure the Gaddafi forces are utterly demoralized, the population of Tripoli is secretly against the regime and anyway much smaller than claimed, and that the key stronghold you keep expecting to fall to the rebel onslaught is teetering.

.

[joshcryer]

103. *sigh* Will the weekly "gloating" on even the most minute reports ever end?

Do you think this report will magically stop the rebels from continuing their battle? They will continue even if their European allies leave.

It is wishful thinking to believe that this will end any other way than Gaddafi's ouster. Period. Too many people have too much to lose if Gaddafi remains in power (the laws of the land make it illegal to dissent with the punishment of death).

[tabatha]

104. Sorry for you.

This is not a weekly victory thread. It is a thread providing news about an uprising against a tyrant. Some people like to see justice prevail.

The Independent does not have a good reputation.

Actually, what astounds me the most, is the non-reality of posters who do not understand or know what is going on - but grab onto one report that supports their opinion as the fact of the day.

"The regime controls around 20 per cent more territory than it did in the immediate aftermath of the uprising on 17 February."

That is laughable on its face. The eastern part of the country is under FF control.

Here is another report that says the opposite - oh dear, what a quandry, who are we to believe?

AP sources: Rebels gaining on Gadhafi regime - Jul. 12, 2011 7:56 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is facing dramatic shortages of fuel for his soldiers and citizens in Tripoli, and he is running out of cash to pay his forces and what is left of his government, according to the latest U.S. intelligence reports. In France, the foreign minister reported that Gadhafi is prepared to leave power.

Rebel forces that captured towns from Nalut to Kikla in Libya's western Nafusa mountains cut a key crude oil pipeline that feeds one of the regime's major refineries in the town of al-Zawiya, U.S. officials told The Associated Press. They cited U.S. intelligence estimates that fuel shortages could occur within as little as a month.

Intelligence analysts are pointing to the collection of indicators, including territory seized and looming fuel and money shortages, as the first shift from stalemate to momentum for the rebels since the conflict began in mid-March, the U.S. officials said.

The U.S. officials said morale among Gadhafi's soldiers was poor, according to troops who were captured or defected. Commanders aren't pleased with the quality of forces they have and are not making major gains on the battlefield, the officials said.

The rebels, too, are facing supply problems. They are so busy trying to hold territory and survive that they have done little work governing the territory they hold, the officials said.

In Tripoli, Libyan officials warned that the rebel-controlled eastern half of the country could be cut off from water supplies without a truce to allow for maintenance work on a power plant pumping water up from the desert.

However, in the rebel-held city of Benghazi, the manager there of the Great Man-made River project, Abdel Razek al-Zlitni, said there are no water supply problems in eastern Libya.

http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/WomensBasketball/Article_2011-07-12-ML-Libya/id-bdbbe86529944f20980af7abb3f19a87

I would say that at the start of the conflict, the rebels controlled 0% of the country. They now hold the eastern half (50%) and most of the Western Mountains, as well as most of the border with Tunisia.

Facts speak louder than BS.

Edited to add link.

[pinboy3niner]

106. Gaddafi controls only "a truncated rump of the country" he once dominated--The Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8663293/The-Libyan-campaign-is-running-into-the-sand.html

Even this pessimistic report recognizes that Gaddafi has lost control of much of the country to the opposition.

The rebels hold the East, and have gained control of Misrata and virtually all of the Jebel Nafusa, as well as a key border crossing with Tunisia.

The assertion that the regime controls 20 percent more territory than before is unsupported and is ludicrous on its face. A look at any of the interactive maps tracking territorial control over time debunks this ridiculous claim.

And, btw, if Gaddafi forces were to gain territory, it would be reported here, just as rebel gains--AND losses--are reported.

[tabatha]

107. What is even more nonsensical about that statement

"The regime controls around 20 per cent more territory than it did in the immediate aftermath of the uprising on 17 February."

In the immediate aftermath of the uprising on 17 February, there were just demonstrators in the streets, and Gaddafi had control over everything (100%) including Benghazi.

So for the regime to control 20% more, they must have taken non-Libyan territory.

[tabatha]

108. Brega news

News of Jabal Nafousa's 17Feb Revolution News More than 150 soldiers from the al-Gaddafi surrendered to the national army on the outskirts of Brega and with more than 25 cars and weapons, and they meet the rebels welcome

[tabatha]

109. Sorry for the bandwidth gulp

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V3BQKxq45KM/Thm1-GyuGJI/AAAAAAAAALI/J-WkDZ6xIzo/s640/Areal+View+Yafran.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CNJ2kaYAcck/Th3hhEvB86I/AAAAAAAAANw/tJ_NbBIUFwI/s640/battle+field+4c.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bi0QWfBjaBM/TiycRwWFDKI/AAAAAAAAAWg/MqUL0VCR4YI/s640/egypt+banner+free.jpg

[pinboy3niner]

110. Libyan expat announces 'first' political party in Benghazi

"We call ourselves the New Libya Party because everything was destroyed," said Ramadan Ben Amer, 53, a co-founder of the party


AFP
Published: 09:22 July 27, 2011


Benghazi, Libya: Libyan expats on Tuesday became the first to take a stab at forming a political party in Benghazi, headquarters of the widely recognised National Transitional Council and stronghold of rebels fighting to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

...


"The reform and development of the oil and alternative energy sector," is the first item on the party's agenda followed by health care and social security.


New Libya Party aspires to the cancellation of all taxes, starting with personal income taxes. Its platform, as outlined in a glossy brochure, promotes equal rights, the participation of women and youth in society, as well as the protection of minorities, while limiting the role of tribes as these are "a social entity" that "should not be treated as a political body."


Libya, Amer added, should aspire to be a Muslim but secular state, where an individual's relationship to God is treated as a private rather than a public matter.

...


http://gulfnews.com/news/region/libya/libyan-expat-announces-first-political-party-in-benghazi-1.843630

[pinboy3niner]

111. Conn. journalist who was held captive in Libya to testify before Congress

Associated Press

July 26, 2011


NEW HAVEN, Conn.— A journalist from Connecticut who was detained in Libya for six weeks is scheduled to testify about her experiences before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.


Clare Gillis was one of four foreign journalists captured by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in April and released after 44 days. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal says Gillis is scheduled to appear Wednesday at a hearing about legislation to enhance the U.S. diplomatic ability to locate missing Americans abroad, and advocate for their humane treatment and release.

...


http://www.courant.com/community/new-haven/hc-ap-ct-libya-journalistsjul26,0,7154262.story

[pinboy3niner]

112. Libyan PM: No Talks on Gadhafi Departure

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011 at 2:55 am UTC


Libya's prime minister says leader Moammar Gadhafi's departure is not up for discussion.


Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi also said Tuesday there will be no way to have dialogue on Libya's political crisis until what he called NATO “aggression” stops.


He commented after talks with U.N. special envoy Abdul Elah al-Khatib, who met with the Libyan opposition on Monday in Benghazi.


Khatib said that after meeting with the government and opposition that it is clear the two sides are “far apart” on reaching a political solution. But he said both sides remain committed to working with the United Nations.

...


http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/07/26/libyan-pm-no-talks-on-gadhafi-departure-2/

[pinboy3niner]

113. The Guardian's summary of latest developments in Libya

• Libyan state television has broadcast footage showing Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, at a gathering in support of Muammar Gaddafi . Megrahi appeared to be frail and was sitting in a wheelchair almost two years after his release from a Scottish prison.


• ITN has this footage of Megrahi's appearance at the rally .


• Parties to the crisis in Libya remain deeply divided on how to reach a political solution the United Nations envoy Abdul Ilah Al-Khatib said after visits to Benghazi and Tripoli. His spokesman said: "The Special Envoy said it is clear from the discussions in Tripoli today and in Benghazi yesterday with representatives of the Libyan Transitional National Council, that both sides remain far apart on reaching agreement on a political solution,"

...


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jul/27/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-live#block-1

[pinboy3niner]

114. Libyan Diplomat Takes On A New, Yet Familiar, Role

Source: NPR

by Michele Kelemen

July 27, 2011


Now that the U.S. has recognized the rebel government in Libya, the Transitional National Council, as it is known, wants access to the country's frozen assets. The rebel representative in Washington, D.C., also wants his office back; until earlier this year, Ali Aujali was the Libyan ambassador, but he hasn't been able to get back into his office for months.


Aujali gave up many of the perks of diplomatic life when he broke from Moammar Gadhafi's regime. The embassy was closed and its bank accounts frozen. Aujali lost his diplomatic credentials and couldn't pay some of his staff or drivers, but those are the least of his worries.


"Yeah, we are OK, I can't complain," Aujali says. "People are dying in Libya, and I can't complain if I don't have the same, you know, facilities I used to have. I have to wait for a taxi to get picked up, for example, which sometimes is not always available. I have no driver; I used to have one."


And he hasn't been able to get into the embassy at the Watergate since April. But Aujali is more optimistic about that, now that the U.S. has recognized the Transitional National Council as the legitimate government of Libya.

...


MORE (plus audio will be available at approx. 9am ET):
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/27/138610081/libyan-diplomat-takes-on-a-new-yet-familiar-role

[pinboy3niner]

115. All Libya's remaining diplomats in the UK are being expelled, the Foreign Office has confirmed

Sky News foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall claims this will allow the National Transitional Council to put its representatives in the embassy.

He tweets:

UK expelling all remaining 8 Libyan Embassy staff. Will allow NTC to replace them Official recognition of NTC as representing Libya.

Libyan Charge d'affairs is now in with Foreign Office Permanent Under Sec being given the news he is being expelled.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jul/27/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-live#block-4

[pinboy3niner]

116. Reuters: Britain to expel all Libyan embassy staff

LONDON | Wed Jul 27, 2011 10:42am BST

...


"We can confirm that the Libyan charge d'affaires has been called to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and is being informed that he and the remaining Libyan diplomats in the UK are being expelled," the spokesman told Reuters.


http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/07/27/uk-britain-libya-idUKTRE76Q1NR20110727

[pinboy3niner]

118. The Guardian confirms: The NTC will be invited to establish a London embassy

The Guardian's Nicholas Watt confirms that the NTC will be invited to establish a London embassy.

William Hague: Libyan charge d'affaire and all embassy staff to be expelled. NTC to be invited to establish embassy #libya

Nick will be covering Hague's press conference which is due to start in the next 20 minutes. Both Sky News and BBC will be taking a live feed.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jul/27/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-live#block-6

[pinboy3niner]

119. Hague says Britain now regards the NTC as the sole authority for Libya

"We will deal with the NTC on the same basis as other governments around the world," he said. He also confirmed the expulsion of Gaddafi's remaining diplomats from London and the invitation to the NTC to form an embassy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jul/27/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-live#block-10

[joshcryer]

117. Libya rebels set to advance on Zlitan - video

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14304022?utm_source=twitterfeed">Libya rebels set to advance on Zlitan - video
After nearly two months of stalemate, rebels in the Libyan city of Misrata are making small but significant moves towards the capital Tripoli.

They are advancing on a town called Zlitan, less than 100 miles from the capital.

Once that falls, they believe, the road to the west will open up.

The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse reports.

[pinboy3niner]

120. Italian Senate Extends Funding for Afghanistan, Libya Missions

Source: Bloomberg

By Andrew Davis - Jul 27, 2011 2:53 AM PT


The Italian Senate voted to extend funding for foreign military missions, supporting forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and a NATO-led effort in Libya.

...


Italy’s 9,250 troops currently serving abroad will be reduced to 7,222, newspaper Corriere della Sera reported yesterday. Today’s vote, which must be followed by backing in the lower house Chamber of Deputies, approved 694 million euros ($1 billion) in funding for the missions, down from 911 million euros in the first half.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-27/italian-senate-extends-funding-for-afghanistan-libya-missions.html

[pinboy3niner]

121. Egyptian women demand equal rights in new constitution

Tuesday, 26 July 2011

By AFP
CAIRO


Fifteen Egyptian groups called on Tuesday for women’s rights to be guaranteed in the new constitution, after a popular uprising that toppled the regime paved the way for a new charter.


“We are not proposing a new constitution, but we want women’s rights to be included,” Amina ElBendary, a professor of Arab and Islamic Civilization at the American University in Cairo, and one of the signatories, told a news conference.


“We have simply put forward some suggestions of clauses which could be included in the next constitution,” she said.


After eight weeks of research in various parts of Egypt, the 15 groups are calling for a women’s quota in parliament and in local councils, as well as equal rights for women at work and in education.

...


http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/07/26/159493.html

[joshcryer]

122. Week 23 part 2 here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1586218