Libyan Revolution Week 34

[joshcryer]

[joshcryer]

1. Libyan Revolution Day 233 updates below, current time in Libya, 11:38am Saturday, October 8

[joshcryer]

2. Final battle for Gadhafi's hometown begins

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15445751,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf">Final battle for Gadhafi's hometown begins
Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) says it is closing in on victory over deposed dictator Moammar Gadhafi, as revolutionary fighters tighten the noose on the remaining regime loyalists in the critical bastion of Sirte.

Smoke was reported drifting over the skyline late on Friday from explosions that thundered throughout the besieged city, as long lines of civilians fleeing by car were seen forming at checkpoints manned by revolutionary forces.

Friday's push, which had been delayed to allow citizens to flee, marked the largest new assault in weeks. Anti-Gadhafi forces were said to have stormed Sirte from all sides in a bid to corner regime supporters into an ever smaller perimeter within the city. The latter responded with rockets and tank fire, and Gadhafi snipers continued to fire on fighters advancing through residential complexes.

A senior US defense official said in reference to the offensive that Gadhafi forces were "on the verge of defeat" in the key remaining bastion, claiming that victory could come as soon as the "next days."

[joshcryer]

3. Libyan fighters demand Jews' expulsion

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/203391.html">Libyan fighters demand Jews' expulsion
The revolutionaries marched in the eastern port city on Friday and condemned the settling of Jews in Libya following the 1967 Israeli aggression against some Arab countries, IRNA reported, citing a local news website.

Meanwhile, other protests and sit-ins were reportedly held elsewhere in the city during which the protesters demanded that the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) heed their calls for action.

Benghazi is Libya's second largest city where the revolution against Gaddafi started in February. The city came under opposition control during the early days of the anti-government protests.

The latest protest comes amid reports of attempts by Jewish immigrants to participate in the North African country's future administration.

PressTV. I couldn't find a more credible source and it sounds like the protests actually were taking place in Tripoli.

Here are more credible links with pictures:

http://www.daylife.com/photo/0aJo29Ie8l35x?q=Libya

http://www.daylife.com/photo/0h2I7ID8ajejN?q=Libya

http://www.daylife.com/photo/053jfIr4NI0jR?q=Libya

Of course, the mosque in NYC was protested by people, that doesn't mean all Americans are evil, etc, etc. But yeah. It's sad, either way. Would appreciate a non-PressTV source.

[Iterate]

4. First photo: Anti-Gaddafi rally in Benghazi March 18

The one in the PressTV article was a Reuters photo from March 18th. It shows up here as well:
Winds of Change in the Middle East
http://www.uskowioniran.com/2011/03/winds-of-change-in-middle-east.html

So without a direct lie, PressTV can wave the bloody shirt and imply a mass anti-Jewish rally in Benghazi when it was actually anti-Gaddafi.

[Cerridwen]

22. Thank you. I knew I'd seen that photo in a different context but I didn't have

a link handy.

I linked to your post in my reply in response to its out-of-context use in another thread. I tried to find it on Reuters but their archive only went back to about March 25th.

Thanks again.

[Iterate]

28. That "protest" was 30 people

Tripoli, Libya - Crowd Protests Libyan Jews Attempt To Restore Shul
"Tripoli, Libya - A crowd of about 30 people picketed outside a hotel to protest an exiled Libyan Jewish man’s attempt to restore the capital’s main synagogue."
http://www.vosizneias.com/92694/2011/10/06/tripoli-libya-crowd-protests-libyan-jews-attempt-to-restore-shul/

I'll go out on a limb and call bullshit on the "protest". That's not a claim about the threats or grumbling, just this protest.

We assume that because people wave the new flag that they were, or are, part of the revolution. That's not necessarily the case. Look at the photo linked here:

http://www.daylife.com/photo/053jfIr4NI0jR?q=Libya

I swear I've seen that fat-fingered * on the right in pro-Gaddafi rallies, but that aside, does this look in any way like the other revolutionary rallies? I don't think so. A lot of things don't add up.

One tell is that emphatic index finger. I know it's just body language and I'm not claiming something absolute. Look back though through a couple thousand protest photos and videos and you'll rarely see that pose among revolutionaries, but very often among the pro-Gaddafi cult. Whether in a rally or flashed at a camera, it's normally accompanied by the chant of "God, Muammar, and Libya".

[joshcryer]

29. Thanks for the new source, I figured the rally was actually small, because the pictures...

...indicated as such (if it was larger they would've featured a bigger picture and there would be more reports on it). Instead it's more of a footnote protest.

Also, I noticed the bit about PressTV showing the Benghazi picture. They cite it with "file photo" and I know they're full of shit. There was no protest in Benghazi as far as I can tell. Press TV wanted to change the narrative completely. And people wonder why we don't like their articles.

A small niche group of protesters don't represent Libyans.

[Cerridwen]

31. Yeah, I caught that. I made note that it reminded me of the teabagger "protests"

here in the US which received all kinds of coverage making them appear to be more than they were.

Typical spin. That it's done in another country than the US doesn't make it any less spin.

[pinboy3niner]

5. Libya fighters resume assault on Kadhafi birthplace

By Rory Mulholland and Herve Bar | AFP – 1 hr 41 mins ago.

...


An AFP correspondent said the NTC forces resumed the assault on Saturday after a sandstorm eased, boosting visibility in and around Sirte, once a symbol of Kadhafi's regime.

...


In eastern Sirte, NTC fighters overlooking the rectangular Ouagadougou centre said its concrete bunkers were proving tougher than they originally thought.

"It has been hit for days by tank guns and rockets, but it hasn't budged. Its paint has hardly been scratched," said one of them with a Kalashnikov.

The number of NTC fighters at the front was lower than on Friday, when hundreds poured into Sirte at dawn on heavily armed pick-ups, following a ferocious artillery and rocket barrage.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libya-fighters-resume-assault-kadhafi-birthplace-111520380.html

[pinboy3niner]

6. Libyan forces mount attack on southern Sirte

Sat Oct 8, 2011 11:58am GMT


• Force of some 100 NTC military vehicles storms into city

• Pro-Gaddafi snipers force attackers to seek cover

• Fleeing residents say civilians being killed in crossfire


By Rania El Gamal and Tim Gaynor


SIRTE, Libya, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Transitional Libyan government forces with heavy guns mounted on some 100 vehicles swept into Sirte on Saturday in one of the biggest assaults yet in the battle for Muammar Gaddafi's hometown, but had to seek cover when they drew withering fire from his diehard loyalists.

Fighters with the National Transitional Council (NTC) shouted "Allahu Akbar!" or "God is greatest!" as their pickup trucks set off. They pushed into a residential district on the southern side of the Mediterranean coastal city.

But they were forced to scramble for refuge under heavy fire from pro-Gaddafi fighters in an apartment complex, a Reuters reporter on the scene reported. Two NTC fighters were killed and three wounded in the exchanges.

"They're fighting us fiercely because, for sure, Mo'tassim is inside (Sirte)," said Abdulrazaq Haroun, one of the NTC commanders in the city. He was referring to one of Gaddafi's fugitive sons, who has been spotted in Sirte.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L807W20111008?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

7. Sirte battle less intense Saturday (video - 4:00)

From AJE Live Blog:

National Transitional Council's forces in Sirte are seeing a "(relative) lull" on Saturday from the active front a day earlier, Al Jazeera correspondent Zeina Khodr reports from the outskirts of Muammar Gaddafi's hometown.

According to doctors, at least 22 people have been killed and almost 200 others have been wounded in two days of fighting that began on Friday.

Video report (4:00):
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-oct-8-2011-1129

[pinboy3niner]

8. Loyalists in Sirte fiercely defend 3 areas with tanks, heavy artillery and rockets

Jonathan Head
BBC News, Sirte

It has been a slow start today. The government forces tell us they have held on to their gains from yesterday but they certainly pulled back a little bit overnight from positions where they thought they would be vulnerable to counter-attack, and they did indeed take quite a number of casualties.

We have seen fighters massing, ready to go in, but they are saying they want heavy artillery and tanks to be used against the particularly well-defended positions which they found so difficult yesterday.

Three areas - a conference centre, a compound built for Col Gaddafi and a university area - have been very fiercely defended. The pro-Gaddafi side have their own tanks, heavy artillery and rockets.

There are certainly some mercenaries from neighbouring African countries in the city but also a lot of local people have taken up arms, believing they will be killed if they leave. They think of this as a simple tribal war.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15224301

[pinboy3niner]

9. Libyans Face Heavy Resistance in Gadhafi Hometown

By CHRISTOPHER GILLETTE and KIM GAMEL Associated Press

SIRTE, Libya October 8, 2011 (AP)


With NATO warplanes circling overhead, revolutionary fighters battled block by block Saturday as snipers rained fire from rooftops in fierce street fighting in Moammar Gadhafi's hometown — the most important remaining bastion of support for the fugitive leader.

...


Anti-Gadhafi forces met strong resistance as they pushed to within less than half a mile (kilometer) from loyalist fighters dug in around Sirte's Ouagadougou convention center and Green Square in fierce street fighting in the heart of the city.

Libya's de facto leader, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, the head of the governing National Transitional Council, said the battle has been "ferocious," with 15 revolutionary fighters killed and 180 wounded on Friday.

"Our fighters today are still dealing with the snipers positioned on the high buildings and we sustained heavy casualties," he said at a joint news conference in Tripoli with Fox and Italian Defense Secretary Ignazio La Russa.

...


http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/libyans-face-heavy-resistance-gadhafi-hometown-14695682

[pinboy3niner]

10. NTC forces advance in Sirte

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr has this update from Sirte:

Anti-Gaddafi fighters have made progress. We're now in Sabah mie, a residential area which was under control of Gaddafi's men only yesterday. Now it's anti-Gaddafi forces roaming the streets.

"You can see green flags hoisted on top of the villas, and when you go inside the homes, you'll see posters of Gaddafi and army certificates - most of the people living here were commanders and officers in Gaddafi's army."

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-oct-8-2011-1613

While fleeing civilians said there is little or no food left in Site, Khodr reported seeing supplies of stockpiled food in the homes of Gaddafi's officers, indicating their preparation for a last stand here.

[pinboy3niner]

11. Yemen president says will leave power in coming days

SANAA | Sat Oct 8, 2011 10:29am EDT


SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh said on Saturday he would leave power in the coming days, the closest the veteran leader has come to announcing he plans to step down after nine months of mass protests against his 33 year rule.

"I reject power and I will continue to reject it, and I will be leaving power in the coming days," Saleh said in a speech on state television.

Saleh has been clinging to his position while opposition and ruling party representatives cast about for a formula to see through a transition-of-power deal.

"I call on my supporters to persevere and to confront any challenge," Saleh said.

...


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/08/us-yemen-saleh-idUSTRE7970W420111008

[pinboy3niner]

12. Syrian security forces fire on funeral, 2 killed

By ZEINA KARAM - Associated Press | AP – 3 hrs ago


BEIRUT (AP) — Security forces opened fire on tens of thousands of mourners who turned out Saturday for the funeral of a slain Kurdish opposition leader in northeastern Syria, killing at least two people, eyewitnesses said.

Activists said security forces also fired on a funeral procession in the Damascus suburb of Douma for three people who were killed a day earlier. Ten people were wounded, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The biggest crowds took to the streets of Qamishli, where people marched to mourn Mashaal Tammo, the prominent and charismatic Kurdish opposition figure who was gunned down Friday by masked gunmen. The slaying was the latest in a string of targeted killings in Syria as the country slides further into disorder, seven months into the uprising against President Bashar Assad.

"All of Qamishli is out today, the funeral is turning into a massive protest," Kurdish activist and lawyer Mustafa Osso told The Associated Press by telephone. The grieving cries of fellow mourners could be heard in the background.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-security-forces-fire-funeral-2-killed-101540202.html

[pinboy3niner]

17. Syria Funeral Shooting: Forces Open Fire On Mashaal Tammo Mourners (5 dead)

Posted in LBN by Amerigo Vespucci:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x5020231

[pinboy3niner]

13. Libyan fighters push deep inside Sirte, battling against weakening loyalist troops

Source: The Telegraph

Libya: ferocious fighting as rebels head for centre of Sirte

By Ruth Sherlock, Sirte

1:17PM BST 08 Oct 2011


In ferocious close-contact, street-to-street fighting, they took a central residential complex about a mile and half (3km) inside the city.


The fighters are heading for the main street in the city centre, about half a mile away.


Men hunkered on the pavement behind a low wall, taking cover from incoming sniper rounds. Bullets hissed overhead, pinging against gum trees that lined what was once a sleepy neighbourhood.


Rifle butts pointing through the street railings, gunmen shot in the direction of the sniper fire. Pickups armed with heavy machine guns pelted bullets down the street, pushing back loyalist forces.


Artillery trucks followed, supporting the foot patrol as they pushed further into city.

...


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8815183/Libya-ferocious-fighting-as-rebels-head-for-centre-of-Sirte.html

[pinboy3niner]

14. NATO airstrikes conducted Friday, October 7

Key Hits 7 OCTOBER:


1 Firing and Vehicle Staging Point was engaged and destroyed in Sirte.


...


International Humanitarian Assistance Movements as recorded by NATO


Total of Humanitarian Movements**: 1707 (air, ground, maritime)


Ships delivering Humanitarian Assistance 7 OCTOBER: 0


Aircrafts delivering Humanitarian Assistance 7 OCTOBER: 45


**Some humanitarian movements cover several days.


http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_10/20111008_111008-oup-update.pdf

[pinboy3niner]

15. Misrata: Libyan city takes siege mentality to national stage

By Joseph Logan | Reuters – 52 mins ago


MISRATA, Libya (Reuters) - Months of bombardment by Muammar Gaddafi's forces, and a central role in the war that ended his rule, have bound the devastated Libyan city of Misrata into an extended military family that runs on trust.

But as Misrata, a commercial hub whose notables opened their wallets to arm a volunteer force, flexes its muscle in the new world of Libyan politics in which gunmen speak as loudly as politicians, it is increasingly inclined to trust no one.

A collective memory of suffering, already expressed as a grudge with the rest of Libya in the scramble for political power after Gaddafi, has also taken on a bitter edge at home.

...


Closer to home, three words recur in Misratans' descriptions of themselves and their relations: 'tarabut', or being connected to one another; 'tadamon', or solidarity; and 'takaatuf', or standing shoulder-to-shoulder.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-city-takes-siege-mentality-national-stage-143333396.html

[pinboy3niner]

16. Libya fighters seize strategic highway in Sirte

By Rory Mulholland and Herve Bar | AFP – 11 minutes ago


Forces from Libya's interim regime scored a strategic goal on Saturday in their push to capture Sirte, seizing a highway that opens the way to a final assault on a key base of troops loyal to Moamer Kadhafi.

But with thousands of civilians still trapped in the ex-leader's hometown, NTC commanders said they were pacing their advance to evacuate some of those who had not fled and to avoid losses from friendly fire.

Attacking from the east, National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters wrested control of the four-lane avenue that leads to the south of the coastal city and were advancing into the centre, an AFP correspondent witnessed.

The road links the centre to the Ouagadougou conference centre, a key base of pro-Kadhafi fighters still holding out after days of heavy pounding by NTC tank, cannon and rocket fire and ground assaults.

Saturday's fighting, which medics at a field hospital on the western of town said had wounded 20 people, centred on the Ouagadougou complex and the nearby university, where Kadhafi loyalists have been responding with only sporadic mortar and small arms fire.

...


http://ca.news.yahoo.com/libya-fighters-seize-strategic-highway-sirte-152433146.html

[pinboy3niner]

18. Snipers in last-ditch bid to defend Gaddafi hometown

Sat Oct 8, 2011 4:01pm GMT

By Rania El Gamal and Tim Gaynor

SIRTE, Libya, Oct 8 (Reuters) -

...

After their push into the south of Sirte, some of the NTC pick-ups took up position on a raised piece of ground about 1.5 km (1 mile) from the marble-clad Ouagadougou conference hall, where Gaddafi once hosted Arab and African heads of state.

From the hill, they fired salvoes of rockets at buildings down below, sending smoke curling into the sky. Gaddafi loyalists responded with mortars and bullets which whistled past the parked pick-up trucks.

HUNTING SNIPERS

For the anti-Gaddafi fighters down in Sirte's neat grid of streets, their offensive has turned into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with snipers.

They said pro-Gaddafi forces had stationed snipers in the Ouagadougou hall, the university and hospital.

More snipers were in residential buildings in the northeastern corner of Sirte. Faraj Leshersh, an NTC fighter in that sector, said the snipers were expert at operating unseen.

He said they used trenches between buildings which allowed them to move location without showing themselves. At other times, he said, they burned tyres so the smoke would conceal their movements.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L807W20111008?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

19. Foreign firms quietly return to Libya's oil rich east

By Jessica Donati | Reuters – 22 minutes ago


JAKHIRA, Libya (Reuters) - Foreign companies are quietly returning to Libya's oil fields east of Sirte, deploying skeleton teams to an area of the hydrocarbon-rich basin near the Jakhira oasis, where almost a quarter of a million barrels of crude per day was pumped into pipelines bound for the coast before the war.

...


Workers have been flown in on cargo flights but many pilots are nervous to cross Libya's skies that are still subject to a NATO-enforced no-fly zone.

...


But fears of an attack loom large and many Libyans are reluctant to leave the safety of their hometowns for remote sites southeast of Sirte, where fighting continues, and few foreign workers have returned.

With sites operating with a fraction of their pre-war workforces, small teams onsite say output will at best reach 50 percent of total capacity without the help of their colleagues.

...


http://uk.news.yahoo.com/foreign-firms-quietly-return-libyas-oil-rich-east-161229071.html

[pinboy3niner]

20. NTC forces waging fierce battle for Gaddafi command center in Sirte--Al Jazeera

Zeina Khodr's latest report from Sirte (3:13):
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-oct-8-2011-1848

[pinboy3niner]

21. Soccer-Libya celebrate probable Nations Cup berth

Sat Oct 8, 2011 4:31pm GMT

• Libya on verge of reaching finals after 0-0 draw in Zambia

• Draw secures Zambia's berth next year


By Mark Gleeson


CHINGOLA, Zambia, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Libya tearfully celebrated probable qualification for next year's African Nations Cup finals after a heroic defensive display forced a 0-0 draw in Zambia on Saturday.

But they will have to wait for other results from Saturday's later matches before being sure of their place in the 2012 tournament in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

Libya played all but one of their six-match qualifying programme away from the country after the rebellion against Muammar Gaddafi's regime forced them to play two 'home' matches at neutral venues.

Their achievement is made even more remarkable by the fact their domestic league has been suspended since March, denying most of their national team players regular competitive action.

...


"This is for all Libyans, for our revolution," said (Goalkeeper Samir Aboud, 39), whose agile saves made him look like a 21-year-old.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFB61866420111008?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

23. Libya: resistance weakens as troops advance into Gaddafi's hometown

Defenders firing few rockets and avoiding firefights may be running low on ammunition in Sirte

Peter Beaumont in Sirte
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 8 October 2011 11.49 EDT


Columns of Libyan government forces pushed deeper into the heart of Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte on Saturday, fighting resistance that appeared ever weaker.

The advance by forces of the interim government, the National Transitional Council, which at one point came within 500 metres of the city's main road, was slowed by snipers in several apartment buildings and a bunker. But in some areas the fighters have made significant progress.

The advance came through an area know as the Seven Hundreds, a district of unfinished houses backed by a sprawling suburb that only fell to government forces during fierce fighting on Friday that continued late into the night. Yesterday it was a ghost town, the streets littered with empty shell casings and smashed cars. The area is next to a compound belonging to the former dictator and includes a military base which yesterday was under control of NTC fighters.

On Friday a bulldozer was widening a sandy road leading to a breach in the wall encircling the neighbourhood which defenders had used as a firing position for weeks. Deserted villas showed signs of the heavy fighting, with holes made by shells and RPGs in the walls of many houses.

The solitary resident was a man of 75 who insisted he had been fed and treated well by revolutionary fighters who had found him. He was the only civilian encountered in Sirte by the Observer all day.

...


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/08/libya-resistance-weakens-gaddafi-hometown

[pinboy3niner]

24. Deaths mount as anti-Kadhafi fighters inch forward

By Rory Mulholland and Herve Bar | AFP – 8 minutes ago


At least 17 people were killed and 300 wounded in two days of clashes as Libya's new regime fighters struggled to take full control of Moamer Kadhafi's hometown of Sirte, medics said on Saturday.

...


NTC chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil predicted "the battle for Sirte and Bani Walid will be very vicious," referring to the two holdouts of Libya's fallen leader.

Hassan Umran, in charge of the registry at a field hospital 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Sirte, said 17 people were killed and 230 wounded in the fighting on Friday and Saturday alone.

Forces from Libya's interim regime scored a strategic goal on Saturday, seizing a four-lane avenue which opens the way to a final assault on a key base of Kadhafi's troops.

But with thousands of civilians still trapped in the ex-leader's hometown, NTC commanders said they were pacing their advance to evacuate some of those who had not fled and to avoid losses from friendly fire.

...


http://ca.news.yahoo.com/libya-fighters-seize-strategic-highway-sirte-152433146.html

[pinboy3niner]

25. Tunisia arrests colonel in the former Libyan intelligence service - AFP

Via AJE Live Blog:

Tunisia has arrested a colonel in the former Libyan intelligence service, hiding out in a rented house in a remote town after Gaddafi's fall, the official TAP news agency says.

The officer had crossed the border using false identity papers more than a month ago, according to a security source cited by the agency, who did not name the colonel.

He was arrested on Friday near Douz, about 500km southwest of Tunis.

Tunisian security forces had placed the man under surveillance after reports of suspicious behaviour. (AFP)

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-oct-8-2011-2126

[pinboy3niner]

26. Tripoli military deputy resigns over NTC unifying command of military forces

This was buried in a CNN report; I hadn't seen it reported anywhere else:

The fall of Sirte could not come soon enough for Libya's new leaders, eager to declare liberation once the birthplace of Gadhafi is under their control. But battles for the coastal city southeast of Tripoli have raged for weeks as Gadhafi loyalists dug in to put up stiff resistance.

Complicating the matter was the resignation Friday of Mahdi al-Harati, the deputy head of the Tripoli Military Council, (Mohammed Sayeh, a senior NTC member) said.

"He resigned due to differences with the NTC on the planning of the security of Tripoli. We are the official governing body and the efforts of the revolutionaries that fought for the liberation are appreciated but the command must be centralized," Sayeh said.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/08/world/africa/libya-war/index.html?section=cnn_latest

[pinboy3niner]

27. Germany plans airlift for Libyans wounded during civil war

Source: Deutsche Welle

08.10.2011


Germany intends to step up its assistance in Libya by offering visas for medical treatment to those wounded in the civil war. The visas are to be issued with minimal bureaucracy, according to German officials.

Berlin plans to implement a humanitarian airlift that would provide Libyans, who were severely wounded during the uprising against Moammar Gadhafi, with access to treatment in German hospitals.

"We are working with our Libyan partners to create the conditions for this (airlift) as quickly as possible," a spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry said.

A medical team from the German military arrived in the Tunisian city of Tunis on Tuesday, according to the Foreign Ministry. The German government is currently in discussions with the National Transitional Council (NTC) about how many Libyans need treatment.

...


The NTC has said that in Tunisia alone there are 2,000 badly wounded Libyans who need treatment. In total, the transitional government estimates that 30,000 people have died in Libya's civil war and 50,000 have been wounded.


http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15446581,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf

[pinboy3niner]

30. Libyan fighters make limited gains in Sirte

Source: Al Jazeera

Anti-Gaddafi forces capture residential area but face stiff resistance in battle for toppled leader's home city.

Last Modified: 08 Oct 2011 16:41


Libyan fighters continue their push to capture Sirte, the home city of the toppled leader Muammar Gaddafi.

National Transitional Council (NTC) forces managed to take control of a central neighbourhood as well as a highway on Saturday, but faced stiff resistance from Gaddafi loyalists.

Fighting was raging for the Ouagadougou conference centre, which is believed to house the command centre of Gaddafi's forces, Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr reported from the outskirts of the city.

"Loyalists are not only using small arms fire and snipers to slow the advance, they're also firing mortars to prevent anti-Gaddafi forces from taking control of this strategic complex," she said.

...


According to doctors, at least 22 people have been killed and 500 others wounded since anti-Gaddafi fighters began the "final push" operation on Friday.

...


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/10/2011108152630537373.html?utm_content=automateplus&utm_campaign=Trial6&utm_source=SocialFlow&utm_term=tweets&utm_medium=MasterAccount

[pinboy3niner]

32. Libyans claim gains in Gadhafi hometown offensive

By CHRISTOPHER GILLETTE and KIM GAMEL - Associated Press | AP – 11 mins ago.


SIRTE, Libya (AP) — Libyan revolutionary forces claimed to have captured parts of a sprawling convention center that loyalists of Moammar Gadhafi have used as their main base in the ousted leader's hometown and were shelling the city to try to rout snipers from rooftops in their offensive aimed at crushing this key bastion of the old regime.

...


Abdel-Basit Haroun, a revolutionary field commander, said 32 people had been killed in two days of fighting, while the military council in the nearby city of Misrata, which has sent many fighters to Sirte, reported 80 wounded.

The council said revolutionary forces were attacking houses to try to eliminate the "overwhelming hordes of snipers out there."

...


Mohammed al-Rajali, spokesman for the brigades attacking the city from the east, said the fighters have gained control of the Ouagadougou Convention Center, an ornate complex in the city center that Gadhafi frequently used for international summits. But they were meeting heavy resistance from villas behind the building so were focusing on firing artillery from the outskirts.

...


Anti-Gadhafi forces also have surrounded the central Green Square and a presidential palace after fierce street fighting in the heart of the city.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libyans-claim-gains-gadhafi-hometown-offensive-194655803.html

[pinboy3niner]

33. Al Jazeera report with footage of captured loyalist villas in Sirte (2:03)

Zeina Khodr's latest report contains footage from Sabamiyah, the Sirte neighbourhood which NTC fighters took control of today. Gaddafi loyalists have fled the area and left behind are copies of the Green Book and posters of the toppled leader.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-oct-8-2011-2311

[pinboy3niner]

34. Pro-Gaddafi fighters filmed firing Scud missile in battle for Sirte

Source: The Telegraph

Amateur footage captured from a pro-Gaddafi fighter is purported to show a Scud missile being fired in Sirte as the bloody battle for the loyalist stronghold reaches a crescendo.

11:05AM BST 08 Oct 2011


The video is reported to have been discovered on a mobile phone belonging to a fighter loyal to Muammar Gaddafi and is alleged to show the launch of a Soviet-made Scud missile from the former leader's hometown of Sirte.


The footage was obtained when Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) forces, having launched a furious 'final offensive' on the loyalist stronghold, advanced into areas of the city previously held by pro-Gaddafi forces.


In August, a Nato warplane shot down a Scud missile fired from the coastal city where fighters loyal to the deposed dictator have been continuing to battle the rebellion against him despite the NTC taking power in the country.


And only last month, Nato said its fighter jets destroyed two Scud missiles that were part of the former leader's arsenal near Bani Walid.

Video (1:15):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/libya-video/8815069/Libya-Pro-Gaddafi-fighters-filmed-firing-Scud-missile-in-battle-for-Sirte.html

[pinboy3niner]

35. AFP reporter wins war correspondents' prize (and Alex Crawford wins TV category) for Libya reports

(AFP) – 5 hours ago


RENNES, France — AFP correspondent Sara Hussein was among the winners at the annual Bayeux-Calvados award for war correspondents announced Saturday in Rennes, northwest France.

Hussein, a 27-year-old reporter based at the agency's Jerusalem bureau, won the young reporter's award for three dispatches on the Libyan conflict.

...


Alex Crawford of Sky News took the television category for her coverage of the Libyan conflict.

...


The Bayeux-Calvados awards, launched in 1994, recognise the work of journalists covering conflicts around the world.


http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iSdFJZMH8W840X1e13DBsucVap1A?docId=CNG.2dcb68d1c001f58225bc79b145422ed5.51

[pinboy3niner]

36. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 234: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9

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

[pinboy3niner]

37. Darkened screens at Benghazi multiplex await war's end

By Jay Deshmukh (AFP) – 6 hours ago


BENGHAZI, Libya — The day after the Libyan revolution erupted in February, Benghazi's posh Al-Feel multiplex cinema closed its doors. Its screens are likely to remain dark until the war ends and the boys come home.

"We can't open until fighting ends on the front line where our brothers are battling Kadhafi's men," said Helmi Ali Hassan of the locals risking their lives to capture the hometown of the deposed leader, hundreds of kilometres to the west across the vast Gulf of Sirte.

Hassan, a security guard at the cinema, said the mood in the eastern city is "revolutionary and sombre at the same time," as the rebellion has killed tens of thousands since February.

...


""Not a single movie has been screened here since the revolution began. How can we show a movie? People are still engaged in the revolution," said Majid Omar, a caretaker who comes daily to the theatre, gets it cleaned and waits for news from the front line.

Almost every family in Benghazi has someone or the other on the front line. So you can imagine what the mood is like. Entertainment is the last thing people are thinking about," he told AFP.

...


http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gx2_XKgiOVPtk8sPtb9gGnKmYl5Q?docId=CNG.7117cfe14a89bf0b72893c130662f8d1.61

[joshcryer]

38. Libya: suicide tank driver leads the charge for Gaddafi's Sirte

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8815898/Libya-suicide-tank-driver-leads-the-charge-for-Gaddafis-Sirte.html">Libya: suicide tank driver leads the charge for Gaddafi's Sirte
The young tank driver knew his task was reckless at best and most likely suicidal.

Mohammad Hassan Bagha had volunteered to drive his crippled Soviet-era vehicle alone across an open field in full view of snipers and crash through a wall surrounding a complex full of Gaddafi loyalists.

The plan was to breach the reinforced wall in one of the remaining strongholds in the former Libyan dictator's birthplace, after 36 hours of barrage had failed to do so. Rebel gunmen would use the opening to clear the snipers from the clutch of shattered university buildings within.

Mr Bagha said he planned to leap out of his tank at the last moment with the vehicle set on collision course, but seemed to appreciate there was little hope he would evade the snipers.

[joshcryer]

39. LIBYA: Fighters make gains in Kadafi's hometown

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/10/libya-surt-fighting.html">LIBYA: Fighters make gains in Kadafi's hometown
After weeks of failed offensives, insubstantial incursions and withering counterattacks, it seemed Saturday that the end game had begun in earnest for Moammar Kadafi’s hometown, Surt.

Street by street, fighters for Libya’s transitional government captured a residential district that had been riddled with loyalist snipers.

“Kadafi’s men are 300 meters away,” a fighter shouted over the loud judder of machine-gun fire, pointing to the end of the street where smoke curled from a mortar explosion.

...

“They are going to fight to the death,” said Mohammed Habi, 27, referring to the loyalist militias, composed of Kadafi soldiers and civilians who loathe the ragtag brigades that have upended their lives. “They know they have nothing left to live for.”

[pinboy3niner]

40. Sky Trio Win War Awards For Libya Reports

1:08am UK, Sunday October 09, 2011

Three journalists from Sky News have been given prestigious reporting awards at the annual Bayeux-Calvados ceremony for war correspondents.


Special correspondent Alex Crawford, her producer Tim Miller, and cameraman Martin Smith were announced winners at the event on Saturday in Rennes, north-west France.


Crawford and team were honoured with two awards for reports from Libya's besieged town of Zawiyah, between March 4 to 6.


The Sky team were awarded the Television Trophy, along with the The Lower Normandy Secondary School Students’ Varenne Foundation Prize.

...




Sky's Alex Crawford has covered many elements of the Libyan uprising


http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16085403

[tabatha]

41. Libya: The Losers

OCTOBER 13, 2011
Max Rodenbeck

General Mbairish turns stone-faced when asked what Qaddafi’s intentions are today. “My opinion is that Qaddafi will never stop. He will accept that thousands die. He will fire rockets on cities if he gets any chance.” The general pauses and toys with his Rolex watch before adding softly, “He’s gotten used to killing.”

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/oct/13/libya-losers/

[pinboy3niner]

42. Yuri Kozyrev wins Bayeux Calvados War Photographer Award

Source: British Journal of Photography

Noor photojournalist Yuri Kozyrev has swept the photography categories at this year's Bayeux Calvados Awards for his recent work in Libya.
(Image courtesy of the Prix Bayeux Calvados. © Yuri Kozyrev, NOOR)


Author: Olivier Laurent
08 Oct 2011


Yuri Kozyrev, a Noor photographer, has won the overall photography category, as well as the Public Choice Award for his iconic image shot in Libya in early 2011 (shown above).

...


Kozyrev's wins come a month after he received the Visa d'Or News Award, worth €8000, at the Visa Pour l'Image photojournalism festival. Since December 2010, the Noor photographer has been covering the Arab Spring movement, which has brought down and challenged regimes across the Middle East. His work has been hailed as being one of the most comprehensive and coherent to emerge from that period.

Read more about Kozyrev's work in BJP's profile here.

For more information about the Bayeux-Calvados Award, visit www.prixbayeux.org.


http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2115698/yuri-kozyrev-wins-bayeux-calvados-war-photographer-award

[pinboy3niner]

43. Anti-Gaddafi Forces Aim For Heart Of Sirte

Sky News – 35 minutes ago


Soldiers loyal to Libya's new government hope to advance into the heart of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's home town of Sirte today.

The troops are reported to be within a mile of the town centre.

But the advance has come at a heavy price, with hundreds injured and dozens killed by diehard supporters of Col Gaddafi.

Sky correspondent Alex Rossi, reporting from the front line, said: "They're throwing everything they've got at Sirte in what they're calling the final push.

"Over the last 36 hours the revolutionaries have made very good progress.

...


http://uk.news.yahoo.com/anti-gaddafi-forces-aim-heart-sirte-065350686.html

[pinboy3niner]

44. Jonny Hallam (AFP) - #NTC Forces on Sunday took control of #Sirte university

Jonny_Hallam

Jonny Hallam (AFP) - #NTC Forces on Sunday took control of #Sirte university.#Libya

10 minutes ago

[pinboy3niner]

45. Also being reported on-air now by AJE nt

[pinboy3niner]

48. NTC forces take control of Sirte university

AFP News – 1 hour 2 minutes ago

...


On Sunday morning, the NTC combatants were finally able to enter the university and its new campus, a huge construction site where Kadhafi snipers had been picking them off from unfinished buildings.

But fighting was still raging for the conference centre, an enormous rectangular building and its concrete bunkers, a key base for the pro-Kadhafi forces.


http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ntc-forces-control-sirte-university-091900048.html

[pinboy3niner]

46. Libya: Street fighting rages in Sirte - BBC video (1:37)

Street fighting has raged in Sirte for a second day as troops loyal to Libya's transitional government confront the remnants of ex-leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

Interim authority forces seized control of a key boulevard, isolating a conference centre where Gaddafi loyalists have been holed up.

Will Grant reports (1:37):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15231378

[pinboy3niner]

47. Libya forces struggle to take Kadhafi hometown

By Rory Mulholland | AFP – 45 mins ago.

...


The fighters loyal to the ruling National Transitional Council have gradually forced back Kadhafi diehards in Sirte since launching their bid on Friday to take full control of the Mediterranean city.

...


Medics said six NTC fighters were killed and 99 wounded on Saturday, taking the toll to 23 dead and almost 330 wounded since they launched what they are calling their final assault on the Kadhafi bastion.


Thousands of civilians are still trapped in the former Libyan leader's birthplace, and NTC commanders said they were pacing their advance to evacuate some of those who had not fled and to avoid losses from friendly fire.

...


... Salima Ali Omar said however that the forces loyal to the old regime appeared to be fighting a losing battle.


"The (Kadhafi) volunteers say they are fed up, they don't want to fight any more. They are throwing their guns in the rubbish bins," she said.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libya-forces-struggle-kadhafi-hometown-085812078.html

[pinboy3niner]

49. Syria warns of reprisals for recognition of opposition

AFP – 10 mins ago.

Syria will retaliate against any country that recognises the opposition National Council, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said on Sunday.

"We will take significant measures against any country that recognises this illegimate council," Muallem told a news conference, as the newly formed opposition group lobbied for support in Cairo.

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-warns-reprisals-recognition-opposition-102242687.html

[pinboy3niner]

50. Libya govt says captures Sirte landmark targets

Sun Oct 9, 2011 11:40am GMT

By Rania El Gamal and Tim Gaynor


SIRTE, Libya Oct 9 (Reuters) - Libyan transitional government forces said on Sunday they had captured the university and a conference centre in Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, but were holding off an assault on the main square to let civilians escape.

...


"We have entered the Ouagadougou centre, there is some fighting going on, but it's under our control."

He said the National Transitional Council forces had also reached the main square of the Mediterranean coastal city, but could not move in yet as they were waiting for civilians to leave the area.

...


"Last night, we were sleeping in the university and this morning we came under random strikes there," said a fighter who had withdrawn from the position. "We have martyrs inside and we are trying to get them out."

Two bodies lay in a nearby field hospital, one with his face blown off. They had been hit by fire from an anti-aircraft gun while trying to evacuate patients from a frontline hospital, their comrades said.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE79800E20111009?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

51. Libya govt forces seize main hospital in Sirte

Sun Oct 9, 2011 12:20pm GMT

SIRTE, Libya Oct 9 (Reuters) - Libyan transitional government forces seized the main hospital in the city of Sirte on Sunday, a Reuters witness said, capturing more than a dozen fighters loyal to former leader Muammar Gaddafi who had used the buildings to launch mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L90CK20111009

[Iterate]

52. U.S. firms face mixed fate in Libya as workers strike

U.S. firms face mixed fate in Libya as workers strike
Sun Oct 9, 2011 3:35pm GMT

* Oil workers on strike, demand justice, change and training
* Conoco, Marathon and Hess are joint-owners of troubled Waha Oil
* Workers say 380,000 bpd complex targeted by Nato, restart 4-6mths

By Jessica Donati

TRIPOLI, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Workers protesting at the headquarters of Libya's National Oil Company on Sunday said they would strike until managers were replaced and possibly tried for fighting alongside Gaddafi.

Most of the crowd worked for Waha Oil, a joint venture with American firms ConocoPhillips , Marathon and Amerada Hess .

Documents proving managers had used the Waha Oil complex as a base for Gaddafi fighters had been presented to the NOC chairman that morning, protesters said.

The oil fields had been targeted by NATO because they were used to feed, shelter and equip loyalist fighters, according to the workers, who said it could take four to six months to restart flows.

more... http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L90I520111009?sp=true

++

[Iterate]

53. In Tripoli, Gadhafi's Palace Becomes People's Market

In Tripoli, Gadhafi's Palace Becomes People's Market

by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro
October 9, 2011

...

Nearby at the live chicken stall, Salem al Nawal — who works in the oil sector — says he can't believe the scenes he's witnessing.

"I wish I had a camera. I saw one old man trying on a pair of pants and trying a suit on in the open air," he says.

Al Nawal says he decided to stroll to the market on Friday after he'd heard that they were selling dogs and birds. He says after seeing Gadhafi's house, with all of the graffiti and rubble, that this market is the real symbol of the people's power.

"People will always prevail," he says. "The aspiration of the people no matter how poor, uneducated, they will prevail. They are staying and gone. He cannot defeat the people's will."

With full audio report: http://www.npr.org/2011/10/09/141185482/in-tripoli-gadhafis-palace-becomes-peoples-market?sc=tw&cc=share

[pinboy3niner]

54. Anti-Gadhafi fighters make gains in Sirte

By CHRISTOPHER GILLETTE - Associated Press | AP – 3 hrs ago


SIRTE, Libya (AP) —

...


Libya's de facto leader, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, head of the governing National Transitional Council, said Sunday that anti-Gadhafi fighters have made huge gains in Sirte and Bani Walid, southeast of the capital.

"I do believe, God willing, that the liberation of these cities will happen within this week," Abdul-Jalil told reporters in Tripoli.

...


In Bani Walid, advancing fighters drove Gadhafi forces out of the airport, said Abdullah Kenshil, who led failed talks for the revolutionaries in search of a peaceful surrender of the city.

"The takeover of Bani Walid is imminent," he said. "The fighters are only one kilometer from the heart of Bani Walid."

He claimed that Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam was seen on Saturday distributing cash to his loyalists in Bani Walid. "We are 100 percent sure that he is inside, at least until last night," Kenshil said.

...


The revolutionary forces also now control the University of Sirte on the southern outskirts. As they push forward, Gadhafi loyalists are fighting in an ever-shrinking defensive perimeter consisting only of a Gadhafi palace complex, some residential buildings and a hotel near Green Square in the city center.


http://news.yahoo.com/anti-gadhafi-fighters-gains-sirte-123334792.html

[joshcryer]

55. Gaddafi's enemies first guests at showpiece hotel

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/09/uk-libya-sirte-hotel-idUKTRE79811920111009">Gaddafi's enemies first guests at showpiece hotel
...

The seven-floor building, replete with luxurious beach villas, indoor swimming pools and Jacuzzis overlooking the Mediterranean, was built by Gaddafi to host world leaders and state guests.

But, completed only recently, the hotel has not seen any of those guests, and now the rag-tag army of civilians battling to take the coastal city from Gaddafi loyalists are the first ones to arrive.

"It is a brand new hotel, no one ever slept here before, the revolutionaries are the first people," said fighter Saleh al-Wared, as he moved from one room to another showing journalists around.

"Look at that. Come see where is the phone, it is in the bathroom ... you can only dream to stay in this place."

More of Gaddafi's luxury, and I cannot say that this is anything other than class warfare.

[pinboy3niner]

56. Libya forces take key objectives in Kadhafi hometown - AFP

By Rory Mulholland and Herve Bar | AFP – 20 mins ago


Libya's new regime forces were on the verge of taking full control of Moamer Kadhafi's hometown Sirte after seizing its showpiece conference centre and university from his diehards on Sunday.

National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters also seized control of the Mediterranean city's hospital and university campus, AFP correspondents said.

...


An AFP correspondent on the spot confirmed the NTC fighters were in control of the landmark complex. "We are ready to take the centre" of Sirte "within a matter of hours," said Fayad.

"It is only a question of coordination between (Misrata fighters on) the western front and (Benghazi fighters on) the eastern front. We just need time."

...


They later advanced another kilometre (1,000 yards) north along streets littered with debris and lined by pock-marked buildings towards the heart of the city.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libya-forces-tighten-grip-kadhafi-hometown-095738296.html

[pinboy3niner]

57. Libya govt says takes landmarks in Gaddafi hometown - Reuters

By Rania El Gamal and Tim Gaynor

SIRTE, Libya | Sun Oct 9, 2011 3:39pm EDT


(Reuters) - Libyan government forces captured landmark buildings in a thrust toward the center of Muammar Gaddafi's hometown Sirte, but came under a fierce counter attack which inflicted dozens of casualties.

...


National Transitional Council (NTC) forces captured Sirte's main hospital as well as the university and a lavishly built international conference center, but one large group of anti-Gaddafi fighters fled in disarray after coming under an intense mortar volley.

The university, seized overnight, also came under a sustained counter-attack, as did the conference center.

...


But even as the Gaddafi counter attack appeared to be underway, another group of fighters was attacking a number of buildings in the center of the city that they said housed Gaddafi's security forces, a Reuters witness said.

"We are now in the center of Sirte," said commander Salam Al Shalmany. "They are in these buildings about half a kilometer from where we are. Once we finish this, it's over. This has gone on too long."

...


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/09/us-libya-idUSL5E7KT4YC20111009?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

[pinboy3niner]

58. Al Jazeera update from Sirte (video - 0:54)

Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley sent this update from the front-line in Sirte.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-oct-9-2011-2131

[pinboy3niner]

59. Libya liberators battle into centre of Sirte

Source: Financial Times

Last updated: October 9, 2011 6:05 pm

Michael Peel in Abu Dhabi


Troops loyal to Libya’s new leaders battled deep into Muammer Gaddafi’s home town on Sunday, moving close to a symbolic triumph that will start the clock ticking towards the country’s first free elections for more than 40 years.

...


Libya’s ruling National Transitional Council has said it will declare liberation of the country and start moving towards democracy once Sirte is captured, even though pockets of Gaddafi supporters remain in Libya and the colonel is still at large.

George Joffé, a north Africa specialist at the University of Cambridge, said the fall of the colonel’s birthplace and start of political reforms would test the NTC’s ability to reconcile former loyalists and withstand infighting between its various factions.

He said “This is the real test. Because now is the moment when all of these tensions that have largely been suppressedwill erupt to the surface.”

...


NTC forces captured 15 Gaddafi loyalists who had used the hospital to launch mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, Reuters said.

...


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/03fa56d8-f280-11e0-824e-00144feab49a.html

[pinboy3niner]

60. Syria warns over opposition as 11 more killed

AFP – 30 mins ago


Syria threatened retaliation Sunday if other states recognise a newly formed opposition bloc as President Bashar al-Assad renewed a pledge of reforms and security forces shot dead at least 11 people.

Foreign Minister Walid Muallem warned that Damascus will retaliate against any state that recognises the Syrian National Council (SNC), formed in Istanbul in late August and uniting the key groups opposed to Assad's rule.
...

He also issued a thinly veiled warning to Turkey, which has condemned Friday's assassination of Kurdish politician and SNC member Meshaal Tamo as a "loathsome" act.

"Syria will not stay with its arms crossed. If Turkey throws us a flower, we will send them one back," he said.
...

Sunday's killings came a day after two people were killed at the funeral of Tamo, who was assassinated at Qamishli in the north on Friday.
...

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-warns-not-recognise-opposition-vows-reform-154859349.html

[inna]

61. noxious. not even worth unreccing at this point.

[joshcryer]

64. Toxic.

Not even worth reading at this point.

(Thought I was on ignore and didn't have to put up with the toxicity.)

[tabatha]

73. I hope you never have to live under a tyrant like Gaddafi.

You may become less toxic.

[tabatha]

62. Captured Gaddafi soldier in #Sirte admits to raping 4 females aged 14-20

ChangeInLibya Ismael Zmirli
Captured Gaddafi soldier in #Sirte admits to raping 4 females aged 14-20 #libya #feb17 fb.me/12GWCAxMJ

[pinboy3niner]

63. Libya conflict: Gaddafi town Sirte 'close to falling' - BBC

9 October 2011 Last updated at 13:02 ET

...


They also captured the main Ibn Sina hospital in Sirte, where scores of people wounded in the offensive were seeking treatment. While many were civilians, others were taken into custody by the NTC, suspected of being Gaddafi loyalists.

...


"We took 50 prisoners. They were mostly mercenaries. They were lying in beds pretending to be wounded. Some were wounded. We found Kalashnikov and other weapons under their beds," Osama Swehli Muttawa, an NTC field commander, told AFP.

...


The NTC believed one of Col Gaddafi's sons was hiding in the hospital, but there has so far been no sign of him or word of his whereabouts.

...




http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15232870

[pinboy3niner]

65. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 235: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM MONDAY, OCTOBER 10

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



Noor photojournalist Yuri Kozyrev has swept the photography categories at this year's Bayeux Calvados Awards for his recent work in Libya.
(Image courtesy of the Prix Bayeux Calvados. © Yuri Kozyrev, NOOR)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[pinboy3niner]

66. Libya fighters in 'final stages' to take Gadhafi hometown, they say

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: A hospital in Sirte, one of the last bastions of pro-Gadhafi troops, falls, the NTC says

NEW: Troops loyal to Libya's new leaders enter Bani Walid for the first time

About 10 are killed and more than 100 wounded in the fighting for Sirte

The NTC has been battling hard to take control of Gadhafi's hometown

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 3:42 PM EST, Sun October 9, 2011


Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Fighters loyal to Libya's new leaders say they have "reached the final stages of the fight" to take control of former leader Moammar Gadhafi's hometown.

About 10 people were killed and more than 100 injured in the fighting overnight, said Al Zubair Al Kadi, a field commander on the frontline in Sirte, on Sunday.

Troops loyal to the National Transitional Council also entered the pro-Gadhafi stronghold of Bani Walid for the first time on Sunday, said Abdulla Kenshill, an NTC spokesman there.

NTC forces "liberated" nearby the villages of Teninai and Shuwaikh overnight, and advanced to within a kilometer (about three-fifths of a mile) of Bani Walid's main market, he said.

They also took control of the airport in the southwest of the city, he said.

Five fighters were badly injured, he added.

...


http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/09/world/africa/libya-war/index.html?hpt=wo_c1

[pinboy3niner]

67. Libya govt forces attack Gaddafi security HQ in Sirte

Sun Oct 9, 2011 10:14pm GMT

• NTC forces attack Gaddafi security HQ in central Sirte

• Gaddafi forces putting up fierce resistance (New story)


By Rania El Gamal


SIRTE, Libya, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Libyan transitional government forces attacked deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi's security headquarters in the centre of his hometown of Sirte, hoping that once the buildings had been captured the fight for the city would be won.

...


But as night fell on Sunday, pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns pounded the white security buildings on a tree-lined square with a fountain in the centre while infantry blasted away with AK-47s from behind a high concrete wall, Reuters witnesses said.

...


Elsewhere in the city, grown rich on 42 years of Gaddafi largesse, troops and residents still loyal to the former leader launched counter attacks after losing three landmark buildings -- the hospital, the university and the lavish Ouagadougou centre, built to host summits of foreign dignitaries.


Despite the counter strikes, the buildings appeared to remain in NTC hands.


But in just one field hospital to the east of the city, doctors said they had received 17 dead and 87 wounded in Sunday's fighting.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L90MN20111009?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

68. Gerhard Heinz is back from a trip to North Africa

A few of his tweets from last night:

good evening free libya
Just back from a short trip to north afrika


the last days i was on travel with some friends to tunesia and a little bit east of it , nice people in the mountains


daffi is on the run with only 12 body guards


daffi travel in 4 old pick ups,with max. 3 hours rest per day,the main problem is the lack of infrastrukture for helis.

[pinboy3niner]

70. Gaddafi, the sly bastard, has learned expert tricks for blending in...

:evilgrin:

[tabatha]

71. Actually, there is another poster there who knows Heinz

who says that Gaddafi is in Bani Walid. (Frysia)

A different poster asked, where does Gaddafi get his gas? Good point.

[pinboy3niner]

69. Libyan Islamist demands role for "moderate" Islam

Sun Oct 9, 2011 11:41pm GMT


• Al-Sallabi gained influence with ties to Qatar

• Opponents suspect he wants strict Islamist rule

• Analysts monitor fault lines between militias


By Barry Malone


TRIPOLI, Oct 10 (Reuters) - A prominent and influential Libyan Islamist cleric, returning to his native land after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, has demanded a role for "moderate" Islam in politics.

"We call for a moderate Islam," Ali Al-Sallabi said at a meeting late on Sunday that included supporters and opponents. "But you all have to understand that Islam is not just about punishment, cutting hands and beheading with swords."

Though he has no formal political role, Al-Sallabi has become a hugely significant voice in Libyan affairs because he is close to the government of Qatar, an influential backer of interim rulers the National Transitional Council(NTC).

He also is a close associate of Tripoli's military commander Abdel Hakim Belhadj, a rising -- and increasingly divisive -- Islamist figure in post-Gaddafi Libya.

...


Several members of the crowd -- some of them Islamic scholars -- berated Al-Sallabi, telling him that religious leaders had no place in politics.

...


"The political game depends on lies, conspiracies, and deception. Forcing religion into this game is a serious issue," (Faraj Aby Al-Esha, a longtime critic of Gaddafi who has also recently returned to the country, told Al-Sellabi).

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L90RL20111009?sp=true

[tabatha]

72. Libya battalions unite in Sirte

Posted on October 9, 2011 by admin
By: Tracey Shelton

Each night near the embattled city of Sirte, battalion leaders meet in an abandoned beach palace. Here, in this elaborate former retreat of a Gaddafi spokesman, they discuss the next day’s battle tactics.

These commanders from the city of Misrata are not trained military strategists. Some are teachers, others businessmen, computer experts, and laborers, but for 7 months they have led their civilian fighters in a war against a well equipped national army.

Like their leaders, almost none of the men under their command had fired a weapon before entering the battlefield. They had not entertained the idea of becoming soldiers, but at the outset of the revolution in February, the sight of Gaddafi’s tanks rolling into their home town moved them to action. In defense of their homes and families, this motley untrained crew formed a military force that defeated Gaddafi’s army, forcing them to retreat from Misrata after a bloody two month battle.

http://feb17.info/news/libya-battalions-unite-in-sirte/

[pinboy3niner]

74. "the sight of Gaddafi’s tanks rolling into their home town"

Some truths lost in the pro-Gaddafi propaganda are that Gaddafi's tanks actually DID fire indiscrimimately on Benghazi before they were taken out by French warplanes operating under NATO/UN auspices.

Gaddafi's tanks also entered Benghazi at one point, firing on buildings in the city, and nearly 100 people were killed. Al Jazeera's James Bays reported on it at the time, and CNN's Arwa Damon reported on the damage from the regime's 'technicals' that also penetrated the city. Both correspondents were in the city at the time.

Whenever Gaddafi propagandists insist that he would only go after armed insurgents, I have to shake my head. The evidence shows that the regime used tanks to shell the civilian population in Benghazi. Yet there are some--even here--who keep trying to substitute lies for the historical truth.

[ellisonz]

78. There are captured video recordings showing the onslaught...

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

They had no intent of being merciful.

[joshcryer]

80. Remember, Mo's life was taken because of the Benghazi siege.

They did make it in to Benghazi in small packs, the UN intervention was late to the party.

[al bupp]

75. AJA (Video): Thuwar Inside Ouagadougou

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKHgw6O27k8

[joshcryer]

79. Interesting shot at 1:20, I see flags of states that supported the NTC (Tunisia, Cape Verde).

But I also see what appears to be Cameroon and Angola there. I would love to see that poster before the other bits were ripped off. As it appears that they intentionally left Tunisia and Cape Verde (if so, Angola would've been a mistake).

Cameroon is an even more interesting example because they abstained at the UNGA (meaning they didn't vote for the NTC as representatives of Libya but nor did they vote against it).

Could just be a coincidence, but I know that the Tunisian flag flies in Libya regularly.

[joshcryer]

76. Libya fighters find scenes of despair in Surt hospital

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-libya-surt-20111010,0,4509349.story">Libya fighters find scenes of despair in Surt hospital
Reporting from Surt, Libya— An emaciated patient lay unconscious in the abandoned intensive care unit. The heart monitor beside the bed beeped loudly, ringing out across an empty ward damaged by a bomb blast. Outside the battle continued to rage.

Libya's transitional government seeking to finally seize control of Moammar Kadafi's hometown captured — at least temporarily — the central hospital in the loyalist city on Sunday. Inside the Ibn Sina Hospital, they found scenes of destruction and human despair.

Injured loyalist soldiers and civilian patients, some barely breathing, lined the corridors. Blood smeared the filthy floors, and bottles of urine lay under the beds.

"The hospital was full of wounded soldiers, and there were not enough doctors. They barely had time to administer standard first aid," said Muftah Omar, 48, a Surt resident.

[joshcryer]

77. Libyan Forces Seize Key Locations in Sirte

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-10/libyan-forces-seize-key-locations-in-sirte.html">Libyan Forces Seize Key Locations in Sirte
Libyan forces from Misrata said they wrested control of key buildings in Muammar Qaddafi’s hometown of Sirte from his supporters, after several days of intense street fighting that left scores dead and wounded.

The Misratan fighters seized Ouagadougou Hall, a complex being used by Qaddafi loyalists as a base, and the city’s main Ibn Sina hospital, the Misrata Military Council said in statements late yesterday.

Misratan forces advanced on Sirte from the west, while units of armed forces loyal to the National Transitional Council marched from the east and other groups came from the south to end several weeks of fighting that began when negotiations on Sirte’s surrender broke down early last month.

Sirte, about 300 miles east of Tripoli, is a strategic town linking the east and western part of the country. It is one of the last major strongholds of Qaddafi loyalists, and a new government to see Libya through to elections won’t be announced until a month after it is fully under NTC control.

[joshcryer]

81. Week 34 part 2 here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2088904