Libyan Revolution Week 29 part 4

[joshcryer]

[joshcryer]

1. Libyan Revolution Day 202 updates below, current time in Libya, 9:55am Wednesday, September 7

No need to 'bring in' Sept. 7 updates as they're in the OP.

[joshcryer]

2. Libya slowly coming back to normality, says EU official

http://euobserver.com/24/113539">Libya slowly coming back to normality, says EU official
Shops are opening on the streets of Tripoli and more women and children are to be seen, as the interim government is getting a hold in the devastated Libyan capital, EU envoy Agostino Miozzo said Tuesday (6 September) upon his return from the country.

"There is a sense of optimism about how the general situation is evolving in the capital and the rest of the country," Miozzo told journalists in a press briefing in Brussels after his five-day visit to Libya.

He said that the situation is improving quickly in Tripoli, where pro-Gaddafi snipers were still shooting from roofs on the eve of his arrival. "Life is getting back to normality: Shops are opening more and more, people are going to work. There was huge traffic on the streets of Tripoli and even if there are some problems with fuel and water supplies, engineers are working on it."

Miozzo said Libyans were very impressed to see the EU flag hanging out of the hotel room window where they set camp so early on. "The European presence in the capital just few hours after fighting ended had a big impact," he noted.

[pinboy3niner]

3. Majority of Bani Walid residents ready to surrender, but others fear reprisals

Matthew Weaver posts at The Guardian's Live Blog:

Clan leaders from Bani Walid said the majority of town's population are ready to surrender but the rest feared reprisals, in particular against 63 Gaddafi loyalists named on a wanted list.

At televised talks the rebels offered a temporary amnesty to loyalists and ordered that a local radio station, accused of spreading alarmist propaganda, be shut down. Mahmoud Jibril, prime minister of the NTC, joined the talks by telephone on loudspeaker, promising to restore food, water and power supplies while protecting civilians. He said: "This is a real chance for Bani Walid to show its real face to the world, to enter the history of Libya."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/sep/07/libya-hunt-gaddafi-live-updates#block-1

[pinboy3niner]

4. Countries that recognise Libya's NTC

Wed Sep 7, 2011 8:02am GMT


Sept 7 (Reuters) - Nearly 60 countries have recognised
Libya's National Transitional Council. Here is a list of those
countries:

Albania
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Belgium
Benin
Britain
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Canada
Cape Verde
Chad
Colombia
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Egypt
Ethiopia
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia
Germany
Greece
Guinea
Hungary
Iraq
Ireland
Italy
Ivory Coast
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Maldives
Malta
Montenegro
Morocco
Netherlands
Niger
Nigeria
Palestinian Authority
Panama
Portugal
Qatar
Rwanda
Senegal
Seychelles
Slovenia
Spain
Togo
Tunisia
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
United States


* The African Union called on Aug. 26 for the formation of
an inclusive transitional government in Libya, saying it could
not recognise the rebels as sole legitimate representatives of
the nation while fighting continued. The stand was at odds with
AU members that have announced their recognition of the National
Transitional Council.

* China has not formally recognised the NTC, but has said
it had "always attached significance to (its) important role".

* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow might
establish formal relations with the rebels if they
were able to "unite the country for a new democratic start".


(Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7K70N920110907

[pinboy3niner]

5. Heavy gunfire in central Syria; several killed

AP – 38 mins ago


BEIRUT (AP) — Activists and residents say several people have been killed or wounded in fresh attacks by Syrian troops in the flashpoint city of Homs.

They report heavy gunfire throughout the night and Wednesday morning as military reinforcements arrived in pursuit of activists and anti-government protesters.

...


The London-based Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists on the ground, said seven people died in the shooting Wednesday.


http://news.yahoo.com/heavy-gunfire-central-syria-several-killed-074637432.html

[pinboy3niner]

14. Update: Heavy gunfire in central Syria; 6 killed

By ZEINA KARAM - Associated Press | AP – 13 mins ago.


BEIRUT (AP) — A barrage of gunfire by security forces that left residents cowering in their homes killed at least six people and wounded several others Wednesday in Homs, a hotbed of opposition to President Bashar Assad's autocratic regime, activists and residents said.


For days, security forces have been pursuing activists and anti-government protesters in Homs, part of a broader and ferocious crackdown to try to crush the most serious challenge to the 40-year Assad dynasty. The U.N. says more than 2,200 people have died in nearly six months of protests.


"All through the night, there was shooting. The gunfire didn't stop," a resident of the city told The Associated Press by phone Wednesday. "I can't tell exactly what is going on because it's dangerous to go out."

He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/heavy-gunfire-central-syria-6-killed-103638221.html

[pinboy3niner]

6. Libya's Bani Walid Ready For Rebels Entry - Negotiator

Libyan town of Bani Walid is ready to come under the National Transitional Council's authority despite pockets of resistance, a chief negotiator told AFP news agency on Wednesday.

“The negotiations were successful yesterday and we are waiting for the NTC to give us the green light to go in," Abdullah Kenshil, who held talks with Bani Walid elders on Tuesday, said.

"The elders have joined the revolution," he said, adding that some of them were now in Tripoli, and others were back in Bani Walid, where pro-Muammar Gaddafi armed men initially prevented them from returning.

He said the aggression against the elders had angered members of the community.

"Armed men waved their weapons at the elders... and this angered the community," Kenshil said.

Witnesses reported seeing the tribal elders heading away from Bani Walid, 170Km southeast of Tripoli, towards the nearby town of Tarhuna late on Tuesday.


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-sep-7-2011-1037

[CJvR]

8. After...

...Bani Walid there is only Sirte and the deep south left.

I wonder if the remaining Gaddafi loyalist intend to make a stand at either or if the are going to just melt away. The lack of progress for the Bengazi forces to advance on Sirte indicates that there is still some fight left in the loyalist army.

[joshcryer]

10. A lot of that is fear of recrimination and arrest, Bani Walid is an interesting example.

Bani Walid seems somewhat divided, with a small group of loyalists who are afraid of capture or being killed holding out. Sirte is going to be a lot like that in many ways. Bani Walid shows though that long negotiation process can work, if there's no madman in charge who says one thing (calls a cease fire) and does something else (sends a convoy to purge a city ally by ally).

[ellisonz]

15. Sabha will be much more interesting.

[pinboy3niner]

7. NATO airstrikes conducted Tuesday, September 6

Key Hits 06 SEPTEMBER:


In the vicinity of Sirte: 1 Surface to Air Missile Canister, 1 Multiple Rocket Launcher, 4 Armed Vehicle, 1 Ammo Storage Facility, 6 Tanks, 6 Armoured Fighting Vehicles, 1 Self Propelled Artillery.


In the vicinity of Hun: 3 Radars, 3 Anti Aircraft Guns.


In the vicinity of Sebha: 1 Surface to Air Missile Facility.


In the vicinity of Waddan: 8 Anti Aircraft Guns.


...


International Humanitarian Assistance Movements as recorded by NATO


Total of Humanitarian Movements *961* (air, ground, maritime)


Ships delivering Humanitarian Assistance 06 SEPTEMBER: 1


Aircrafts delivering Humanitarian Assistance 06 SEPTEMBER: 11


**Some humanitarian movements cover several days.


http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_09/20110907_110907-oup-update.pdf

[joshcryer]

11. A clue to the location of Gaddafi?

Waddan and Hun are neighboring cities. That's 11 anti-aircraft guns (ie, trucks with anti-aircraft weapons), and the radars are useful for tracking drones, etc. What's interesting is that Waddan has a road that goes right to Sirte, so Gaddafi could be trying to make a final stand in Sirte and cause a bloodbath. I hope they catch him soon so his loyalists lay down arms or scramble.

[tabatha]

26. Gaddafi is in Sabha.

[pinboy3niner]

27. Evidence?

Sabha is one of the likelier places to find him, but you can't simply declare that he's there without giving us more to support it.

[tabatha]

31. GH

"had been tracked using high technology and human intelligence." This is what GH does.

Gaddafi, after his meeting with Aisha while Tripoli was falling, left and made his way to his nuclear-proof bunker in Sabha.

Some comments by GH over the last week or so:

daffi is still in his place

up to 90 m solid rock and horizontal air suply.
very hard to knock

daffi is still in his hiding place
his two helis are worthless ,becouse if he open the hangar ,hellfire is coming .
any movement by car or feet will be stopped by some guys with long distance guns.
moussa ibrahim say it right ,daffi is in a safe place.

daffi still in sabha

kataffi is lokated and have minimal chance to escape.

6 days ago
daffi is hiding in hospitals or his underground bunker in sebha all the time.

[Iterate]

32. The speculation is focused on this location:

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=26.9452557&lon=14.4684792&z=14&l=0&m=b

There are other similar sites, but this one has gotten the most attention. If he leaves here (or any similar place), he's putting his trust in alliances that may not be so steadfast. You might say he has trust issues.

ETA: another candidate nearby that has been frequently mentioned:
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=27.2228835&lon=14.6366215&z=14&l=0&m=b

[tabatha]

36. Follow for a discussion

http://twitter.com/#!/SecularLibya

[pinboy3niner]

9. Former rebels say Gadhafi surrounded

By KARIN LAUB - Associated Press | AP – 4 mins 31 secs ago.


TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — A spokesman for Tripoli's new military council says the former rebels know where ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is hiding, and it is only a matter of time until he is captured or killed.



Anis Sharif says Gadhafi is still in Libya, and has been tracked using human intelligence and technology . Sharif refused to say where he is, but said he is trapped in a 40-mile- (60 kilometer-) radius area surrounded by rebels.


"He can't get out," Sharif says Wednesday. He says the former rebels are preparing to either detain him or kill him.

...

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/former-rebels-gadhafi-surrounded-092634853.html

[pinboy3niner]

18. Libyan fighters say Gadhafi surrounded

Posted in LBN by blogslut:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4987028

[pinboy3niner]

12. Gaddafi's personal secretary and speechwriter (he has a speechwriter??? LOL!) has been arrested

From The Guardian:

Muammar Gaddafi's personal secretary and speechwriter is under armed guard in hospital after trying to commit suicide when he was arrested, al-Jazeera reports.

Its reporter James Bays named the man as Ahmed Ramadan, citing the National Transitional Council's military unit.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/sep/07/libya-hunt-gaddafi-live-updates#block-8

If he wrote those speeches, no wonder he's attempting suicide. :rofl:

[CJvR]

22. Wow!

A genuine Blackadder moment... (at ca 1:40)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xPUpWBa3ZM

Someone actually wrote Gaddafi's incoherent ramblings? LOL! I thought Bush was the worst public speeker ever (at least in a high office), until I listened to Gaddafi's bunker speech back in February - WOW!

[pinboy3niner]

13. Zimbabwe Youth Assembly Strongly condemns expulsion of Free Libyan envoy

(Zimbabwe expelled the Libyan envoy after he and members of his diplomatic staff defected to the rebel NTC and raised the tricolor rebel flag.)

Source: The Zimbabwean

07.09.11
06:28am


The MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) Youth Assembly condemns in the strongest terms possible, the expulsion of the Libyan envoy in Zimbabwe announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi on Tuesday 30 August 2011. The expulsion is ill-informed, irrational and out of touch with the legitimate aspirations of the Libyan people, who seek to establish for themselves, a democratic form of government, responsive to the needs of the Libyan people.


The MDC Youth Assembly supports the people of Libya in their genuine aspirations to establish a responsive and responsible government of the people, for the people and by the people. While the violence and loss of innocent lives in Libya is regrettable, it will be recorded in history that the regime of Muammar Gaddafi responded with violence to peaceful protests, compelling the protesters to resort to armed conflict as the only available route to express and enjoy their fundamental rights and liberties.

...


We call upon the full Zimbabwean Cabinet to reconsider the meddling into the internal affairs of Libya that has been done by Mr. Mumbengegwi and recall that decision. We also urge the people of Libya to remain resolute in their quest to achieve democratic transition and rally behind them fully on this quest.


http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/news/zimbabwe/52476/mdc-youth-assembly-strongly-condemns.html?utm_source=thezim&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=listarticle&utm_content=headinglink

[pinboy3niner]

16. What's in a name? :)

Matthew Weaver and Paul Owen post at The Guadian's Middle East Live Blog:


Hardly breaking news, but the Foreign Office has defended its slightly eccentric way of spelling Muammar Gaddafi's name.

Jimmy Leach (a former Guardian staff member who used to be my boss and who now has the title "head of digital diplomacy at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office") writes:

So why do we spell Qadhafi like that? Why don't we spell it "Gadaffi" like everyone else and make sure everyone can find our content?

This is certainly a contender for the most inconsequential thought around Libya's momentous time, but I'll make it anyway. Given that we communicate in order to explain, shouldn't we use those same principles of SEO and spell the name like everyone else in the west seems to?

For one thing, the experts here seem to think that we spell it correctly: we spell the name with the Arabic equivalent of a Q. There is, they say, no letter in the Arabic alphabet that corresponds universally to the English hard "g" – in some dialects a hard q (ie k at the back of the throat) softens to something closer to g (as in western Libya, or northern Yemen); in other dialects (eg Egypt, south Yemen, eastern Libya) the Arabic equivalent of the English j hardens to a g . So using "G" can be confusing.

So Qadhafi it is. Because it's right. In cases like this, the alternative would be to say "let's do something wrong, everyone else does". That's a perfectly respectable argument for a digital business reliant on web traffic. The Foreign Office has other considerations …

All we have to do now is persuade Google to add "Did you mean Qadhafi?" at the top of all the rest of the results.

My colleague Esther Addley wrote a piece about this issue after the rebels stormed Tripoli and Mohammed Gaddafi's passport was found, revealing that his name is spelled "Gathafi":

For most of his 42 years in power western nations have wrestled with two pressing issues in relation to Muammar Gaddafi : how to contain his murderous megalomania - and how to spell his name in Roman characters.

More than 100 different transliterations from the Arabic have been recorded for the deposed Libyan dictator's name, with his surname variously rendered Ghaddafy, Kadaffi and al-Qadhdhafi.

Now, thanks to rebel looters, the question of how to spell the name - or at least how the Gaddafi family prefer to render it - may have been settled. Unverified footage posted online on Wednesday by a group called the Libyan Youth Movement appears to show the looted diplomatic passport of the colonel's eldest son, giving his name as "Mohammed Moammar Al Gathafi", and his title "Son of the Leader of the Revolution".

No major news organisation currently uses "Gathafi". The Guardian and most British media use Gaddafi , while the Foreign Office, like the US state department, prefers Qadhafi. The New York Times calls him Qaddafi, Le Monde goes for Khadafi, and Corriere della Sera uses Gheddafi.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/sep/07/libya-hunt-gaddafi-live-updates#block-13


Personally, I follow the authoritative reference, http://www.spelldictator.com/

:evilgrin:

[pinboy3niner]

17. I forgot to post: K&R :)

Josh will have me in the doghouse for a week, at least. :hide:

[blogslut]

19. From the AP: Libyan fighters say Gadhafi surrounded

Spokesman: He can't get out

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyan fighters have surrounded the ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi, and it is only a matter of time until he is captured or killed, a spokesman for Tripoli's new military council said Wednesday.

Anis Sharif would not say where Gadhafi had been found, but said he was still in Libya and had been tracked using high technology and human intelligence. Gadhafi is trapped within a 40-mile- (60 kilometer-) radius area surrounded by rebels, he said.

"He can't get out," said Sharif, who added the former rebels are preparing to either detain him or kill him.

Locating Gadhafi would help seal the new rulers' hold on the country. The announcement came after convoys of Gadhafi loyalists, including his security chief, fled across the Sahara into Niger in a move that Libya's former rebels hoped could help lead to the surrender of his last strongholds.

LINK: http://www.wthitv.com/dpps/news/international/libyan-fighters-say-gadhafi-surrounded-wd11-jgr_3936098

[pinboy3niner]

20. Thanks, blogslut, but...

See Post #18

Don't worry, Grasshopper--with a little practice, you'll get there.

Now repeat after me: Wax on...wax off... :)

:hi:

[blogslut]

21. Sorry about that

I didn't scan the thread properly. I'll do better next time. :)

[pinboy3niner]

23. No problem, blogslut--you're always welcome to post here

And even when you don't, we'll try to link to your relevant posts.

Hey, I beat you only by about a minute, plus or minus. My post probably wasn't showing yet when you clicked in. And if you had to read the whole thread first...well, some of our threads get pretty long...

...which is why we sometimes have to goose Josh to tell him:



The number of posts in this thread is TOO DAMN HIGH!

:)

[pinboy3niner]

24. Double K&R

But that's just me. :)

[pinboy3niner]

25. Wow--we have 6 recs, lol!

We get a lot of unrecs, and--for some unexplained reason--we get a ton of unrecs just before the rec/unrec window closes.

My heartfelt thanks to all who rec these threads. You get what we're trying to do here, and we love you. :hug:

[CJvR]

28. I fail...

...to understand the point of unrecing a thread that is basically a fact/reporting thread on a developing situation.

[pinboy3niner]

29. Sides are drawn

This is seen by some (mistakenly) as a pro-war enterprise.

Josh has plunged into debates and some with whom he's crossed swords would unrec any thread of his--even one full of puppies and unicorns and butterflies and rainbows.

I think that even some opposed to the intervention read here, and not all of them unrec. Some understand the value of this resource.


:hi:

[Amonester]

33. It might be because of the 'fear of something bad' appearing in...

a lot of 'outdated' crystal balls, or something. ;)

[joshcryer]

41. While I think pinboy3niner is on to something, its more the widsom of the crowd.

The thread gets recs when 1) something big is happening in politics (say, the Republican debates, which are lulzworthy and are bringing in posters who aren't here every day) 2) when I'm not juggling 4 different Islamaphobic Libyan bashing threads, keeping them kicked and just causing a toxic environment. I haven't done that in a few days yet and each new thread gets recs. (But I do think it's mainly due to the Republican debates drawing in more posters.)

As to 2) I think I've learned my lesson. There were several threads in the past two days that I completely ignored (didn't even click on them).

[ellisonz]

53. ...

:applause:

[pinboy3niner]

30. Niger's north, desert bolt-hole for Libya's losers

Wed Sep 7, 2011 2:14pm GMT

• Once a hub of desert tourism, insecurity reigns

• Returnees from Libya add strain to local economy


By Abdoulaye Massalaatchi


AGADEZ, Niger Sept 7 (Reuters) - Already awash with bandits, ex-rebel nomads and a growing number of al Qaeda-linked gunmen, Niger's desert north is now the main escape route south from the war in Libya -- and could yet emerge as Muammar Gaddafi's bolt-hole.

French and Nigerien military sources signalled on Monday the presence of a large convoy of vehicles carrying pro-Gaddafi forces through the region, sparking speculation that Gaddafi himself could join them as part of an exile bid.

If he does, he will pass through a desert world teeming with paradoxes, as chronic insecurity contrasts with the legendary hospitality of indigo-turbaned Tuareg nomads while a tenacious cross-Saharan smuggling trade pulls a lucky few out of poverty.

Gaddafi is no stranger to the vast region, itself the size of France, having used his oil wealth to fund both ambitious development projects and dabble in politics by, at times, both backing and seeking to mediate an end to various rebellions.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7K728320110907?sp=true

[ellisonz]

34. Gaddafi would probably need governmental help to cross into Niger.

He is a pariah.

"Armed groups are believed to have collected tens of millions of dollars in ransoms in recent years but tourism has collapsed." - Epic sentence.

[ellisonz]

35. US UN Amb. Susan Rice: Chinese actions in Libya to be scrutinized.

Tags Muammar Gaddafi, Niger, US
2 hours 56 min ago - Libya

The United States says it is not satisfied with China's explanation of a meeting in July between Chinese weapons makers and representatives of Muammar Gaddafi seeking to buy arms in violation of UN sanctions, AP reported.

US Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters Wednesday that the Obama administration "will look to China to continue to explain and clarify its understanding of what did and didn't transpire.''

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya

China has made a play for power in Africa.

[tabatha]

37. Libya: The Price of Freedom

This year, Libya has lost an estimated 50,000 men in its six month revolt. That is a staggering amount in a sparsely populated desert nation of only 6.4 million people.

Libya’s uprising was a bloody, city by city revolution — not an urban riot over high bread prices, not a surgical military coup.

To the west, Tunisia, with twice Libya’s population, lost only 224 lives in its January revolution.

To the east, Egypt, with 10 times Libya’s population, lost only 846 in its February revolution.

In American terms, Libya’s fatalities would be the equivalent of 2.4 million lives lost in six months.

Yes, the rebel forces massed around Sirte can physically crush this last major stronghold of “Gadhafis.”

But no, rebel leaders do not want more lives lost in Libya’s costly civil war.

http://blogs.voanews.com/russia-watch/2011/09/07/libya-the-price-of-freedom/

[tabatha]

38. How Qaddafi defaced Tripoli, former jewel of the Med

John Thorne

TRIPOLI // For Tripoli residents, the legacy of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi is embodied in the city's architecture: a Mediterranean jewel defaced by four decades of dictatorship and mismanagement.

"Before <1969>, Tripoli was better than Italy: clean, lovely smells, nice people," says Saad El Margheni, a cafe owner who grew up in the city. "At first we trusted Qaddafi, but every day we saw more that his was a bad revolution."
...

For Tripoli, however, the benefits of investment were warped by corruption, with state companies continuing to dwarf the private sector and Col Qaddafi's sons controlling various sectors of the economy.

The city is a haphazard sprawl of concrete, with half-finished buildings and the central beach obliterated by a motorway.

Inland is Bab Al Aziziya, an army camp transformed into Col Qaddafi's fortified lair, with pea-green concrete walls, gun turrets and a warren of bunkers.

http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/africa/how-qaddafi-defaced-tripoli-former-jewel-of-the-med

[Cali_Democrat]

39. Racist violence overshadows Libya's revolution

Racist violence overshadows Libya's revolution
Arab World | 06.09.2011

As Tripoli strives to get back to normality and enjoy its new-found freedom after Gadhafi's rule, disturbing reports have emerged of alleged indiscriminate violence against blacks many of whom are Libyan nationals.


"They grabbed my two brothers last night and took them to prison. We're black, that´s our only crime," Zeinab Muhamed, a Tripoli resident told Deutsche Welle.

At first glance, the atmosphere at Tripoli's former sport club - opposite the city's main harbour - has changed dramatically. Yesterday's yacht and sailing boat owners have been replaced by prisoners and their relatives waiting outside. All of them are black residents of Tripoli's old town, Medina.

"None of them are Libyans. Those guys we keep inside are all foreigners paid by Gadhafi to kill our people, what are we expected to do with them? They are mercenaries, you know?" local rebel council officer Abdulhamid Abdulhakim told Deutsche Welle from the main gate. Apparently, the unexpected visit of foreign journalists to the makeshift prison has made him nervous.

Read more...http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15366254,00.html

[Cali_Democrat]

40. AU urges Libya's new masters to halt racist attacks

AU urges Libya's new masters to halt racist attacks
PARIS, FRANCE - Sep 07 2011 20:21

The African Union denounced reports of racist attacks in Libya on Wednesday and the head of its executive arm urged the new rebel government there to disassociate itself from the violence.

The chairperson of the AU commission, Jean Ping, said many members of the African Union had not yet recognised the National Transitional Council as the legitimate government of Libya because of reports of anti-black violence.

Libya's former leader, ousted strongman Muammar Gaddafi, recruited many sub-Saharan Africans into his armed forces and since rebel forces seized Tripoli last month there have been reports of reprisals against blacks.

"Blacks are being killed. Blacks hare having their throats slit. Blacks are accused of being mercenaries. Do you think it's normal in a country that's a third black that blacks are confused with mercenaries?" Ping demanded.

Read more...http://mg.co.za/article/2011-09-07-au-urges-libyas-new-masters-to-halt-racist-attacks/

[tabatha]

43. Links should have been provided in article.

Libya: Stop Arbitrary Arrests of Black Africans - by Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch has not found evidence of killings of Africans in Tripoli or systematic abuse of detainees, but the widespread arbitrary arrests and frequent abuse have created a grave sense of fear among the city’s African population, Human Rights Watch said.
http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/09/04/libya-stop-arbitrary-arrests-black-africans

Tawarghas must be protected from reprisals and arbitrary arrest in Libya - Amnesty International
Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) must do more to protect black Libyans, Amnesty International said today, after allegations that members of the Tawargha tribe were detained, threatened and beaten on suspicion of fighting for al-Gaddafi forces.

Some Tawarghas who have been detained in Tripoli are said to have been made to kneel facing the wall, and then been beaten with sticks and whips. Others have simply vanished after being arrested at checkpoints and taken from hospitals by armed revolutionaries (thuwwar).
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/tawarghas-must-be-protected-reprisals-and-arbitrary-arrest-libya-2011-09-07

Rebel Fighters Target Black Libyans, Sub-Saharan Africans, Amnesty Reports
Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the National Transitional Council, has urged opposition fighters not to seek revenge. In May, the council issued guidelines for its forces to act in accordance with international laws and standards. Mahmoud Shamman, a spokesman for the council in Dubai, didn’t answer calls seeking comment on the Amnesty statement.

--------------

There are no reports of widespread killings. The abuse is abhorrent, and must be stopped. However, unfortunately, in all revolutions there are those who cannot contain their anger - please note the necklacing by blacks on people they thought were traitors during the liberation of South Africa. And the subsequent murder of 3,000+ White farmers in the years after 1994.

Knowing many South African blacks myself, I would never paint them all as the same kind of people who did necklacing or murdered farmers. The same care should be taken not to tar all Libyans with the same brush.

The most important factor, is that Jibril, head of TNC, has repeatedly stated that there must be no revenge - and if it gets out of hand, he will resign. It does not come from the top, as it did with Gaddafi - street to street, house to house, etc.

And unfortunately, AU should put their own house in order first - such as in Zimbabwe, and other despotic states.

[tabatha]

44. Execution by Necklacing

During Nelson Mandela's trial, they found a document wherein he had said that some hideous punishment must be found for "traitors" (i.e. Blacks who actually support, work with and are friendly to Whites). In this document, Nelson Mandela suggested - cutting off their noses.

Years later, his wife, Winnie Mandela, publicised the idea of "necklacing" the traitors.

For non-South African readers: the "necklace" was a method of execution used by the ANC 'liberation army guerillas" whereby black 'sellouts to apartheid" were cruelly torched to death with petrol-filled tyre placed around their necks. Some 400 people were burnt alive by this ANC-horror execution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69QsiRBGc6Q

[inna]

80. Nice shot at Nelson Mandela there, dude. I thought you were a big supporter,

based on your previous claims - but clearly, that was misinformation.


Bad, bad, bad ANC/Mandela/Pan-Africanism/Gaddafi/etc.


Good, good, good US-NATO/"Rebels". Got it. :patriot: :nuke:

[tabatha]

112. Let me explain.

Your accusations reflect the simplistic black and white view you have of the world.

I am a great supporter of Mandela. I think he is one of the wisest men on the planet.
I am also a fan of Desmond Tutu - who has on occasion criticized Nelson Mandela.
Tutu pressured Mandela to marry his wife because he thought not being married set a bad example.

I am not a great fan of Winnie Mandela, and not a fan of necklacing.

I understand that humans are not perfect.
I understand that the actions of a few (necklacing) do not reflect on the majority of people.
You like to paint everyone with the actions of a few.

I cannot tell you how many arguments I have had with my Mother who related all of the crime that occurred after 1994 to me - and there were plenty affecting my family. A nephew was shot dead, a niece was shot in the stomach, a friend was shot and is paralyzed for life, my sister was held up with a gun in her stomach. Cars were stolen, break-ins happened, etc, etc.

My mother is like you - condemned all of the blacks by the actions of a few just as you are condemning all of the Libyans by the actions of a few.

My sister is not like that - and wept at the World Cup last year at the growing unity in South Africa - and yes it was her son who was shot dead and her daughter who was shot in the stomach and barely survived.

The acquaintance who was shot and is paralyzed, has not thought of leaving South Africa - she even worked in Nelson Mandela's office for disabled persons. You could probably find her if you looked hard enough.

You, on the other hand, see evil everywhere you want to see it - like my mother. My mother's and my conversations got so heated with my defending the new South Africa despite the rape and the crime, that we just avoided the topic. And I have put my money where my mouth is, in support.

The Libyans are an awesome people, who like most populations, have bad eggs.

[joshcryer]

46. No criticism from the AU is credible.

[tabatha]

51. Since they were founded and funded by Gaddafi

and are pro-Gaddafi, their statements are hardly neutral and unbiased.

[pinboy3niner]

42. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 203: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 2:16 AM THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8

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










Inside one of Gaddafi's torture cells
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2030931/Libya-Inside-Gaddafis-torture-chamber-The-bloodstained-cells-inside-primary-school-used-brutalise-enemies.html

[pinboy3niner]

45. Fighters head towards showdown with pro-Gaddafi town

Wed Sep 7, 2011 11:50pm GMT


• NTC fighters advance towards loyalist stronghold

• NTC sends mission to Niamey, urging no refuge for Gaddafi

• Documents show US-UK firm worked on Gaddafi tanks this year


By Maria Golovnina


WISHTATA, Libya, Sept 8 (Reuters) - - Libya's new rulers sent a column of extra fighters towards the tribal bastion of Bani Walid overnight, preparing a showdown with supporters of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi, possibly including his sons or even Gaddafi himself.


Gaddafi's whereabouts have been a mystery since rebel fighters stormed his Tripoli headquarters two weeks ago. Bani Walid, one of the few towns still in the hands of his followers, has refused to surrender despite a stand-off lasting days.


Officials from the interim ruling National Transitional Council said they had sent reinforcements after reports that Gaddafi had issued a call for the town to fight.


Reuters reporters saw a convoy of NTC forces pickup trucks heading towards Bani Walid with dozens of fighters clutching RPGs and shouting anti-Gaddafi slogans.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7K74ST20110907?sp=true

[tabatha]

47. Gaddafi loyalists 'forced to kill' by soldiers

7 September 2011 Last updated at 15:08 ET Help

The hunt for Colonel Gaddafi goes on in Libya and more harrowing stories are emerging about his regime's last days in Tripoli.

At least 1,000 former loyalists have been detained since the city fell.

Some have been telling the BBC how they were forced to commit appalling crimes to defend their leader.

Ian Pannell reports.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14827991

[tabatha]

48. Libya sends envoy to Niger, seeking Gaddafi

Libya's new leaders are urgently seeking Niger's help in preventing Moamar Gaddafi, his family or his troops from crossing the border, as the hunt for the fugitive strongman intensifies.

New regime forces, meanwhile, are poised to battle loyalist troops still holding out in their remaining strongholds of Bani Walid, south-east of Tripoli, Sabha in the deep south and the coastal city of Sirte, Gaddafi's hometown.

Libya's new rulers, the National Transitional Council (NTC), are anxious to arrest Gaddafi and put him on trial, sealing their hold on the country.

But they are fearful he may slip into a neighbouring state, particularly Niger, to which a convoy carrying other senior ousted regime officials fled on Monday.

Niger was adamant Gaddafi was not with them, and Washington said he was not believed to be among them.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-08/libya-sends-envoy-to-niger2c-seeking-gaddafi/2876018

[tabatha]

49. Libyan professor rises to role of rebels' prime minister

By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times

September 7, 2011, 5:04 p.m.
Reporting from Tripoli, Libya—
Ali Tarhouni could use some sleep. Fatigue has eclipsed elation for the U.S. business school professor who has become one of the new Libya's most high-profile leaders.

"Caffeine and nicotine what is keeping me going," Tarhouni acknowledged Wednesday in the wood-paneled office where Moammar Kadafi's prime minister was once ensconced.

His portfolio for Libya's transitional government comprises economics and the energy sector, no small matters in an oil-rich nation embarking on an ambitious makeover of Kadafi's peculiar strand of crony socialism.

But in the absence of top interim leaders here in Tripoli, Tarhouni has been serving as a kind of stand-in prime minister. His first task: getting a battered capital that initially lacked security, running water, power, public services and gasoline up and running again.



http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-professor-20110908,0,3206828.story

[tabatha]

50. Getting to Know the Opposition - Who did the world recognize?

The transitional government emerged as four pillars: National Transitional Council (NTC), The Executive Board (TEB), the Libya Stabilization Team, and The Local Councils.

Among Eastern Libyans there is a consensus that an official body is needed, and few have expressed opposition to the NTC as a governing body. The main concern has been over the selection process. The NTC seems to be dominated by two key-families: the Bogaigis and the Garianis. For most Libyans, faith is placed with the President, Mustafa Abdel Jalil who benefits from popular support. His recent announcement that he will be the first to stand trial in any country for transitional justice was well received, and confirmed people's faith in him to lead Libya into the transition.

The Executive Board's (TEB) primary mandate has been to focus on diplomacy. The TEB is not well known to local groups, and perceived by many to be out of touch with the Libyan streets. On a political level, many still question how the TEB and NTC work together, with some local activists suggesting that they appeared to be evolving into competing entities. The success of the NTC and TEB will be determined by their ability to integrate with the Tripoli technocrats in the next phase.

As a testimony to the NTC's recognition of the need to respond immediately following the fall of Gaddafi, a group was formed by presidential decree called the Libyan Stabilization Team to deliver safety and stability during the transition phase. The LST consists of committees dedicated to delivery on everything from basic services to governess to civil society. The Chairman of the Team is Dr. Ahmed Jehani, NTC's Minister of Reconstruction and the Spokesman is Dr. Aref Nayed (Ambassador to the UAE).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/manal-omar/getting-to-know-the-oppos_b_951728.html

[tabatha]

52. Flush with victory

THE most complete so far in the chain of upheavals to rock the Arab world, Libya’s revolution seems to have come surprisingly well packaged. It is only two short weeks since Tripoli fell to the rebels, but cocky graffiti and cartoons of "fuzzhead", a derogatory nickname for Muammar Qaddafi, animate walls everywhere. Radio stations blare an impressive repertoire of catchy revolutionary tunes. The flag of the revolution emblazons car bonnets, headscarves and lapels. It flutters from lampposts and windows. With the oil pumps at rest, stickers sporting the colours appear to be the country's major industry.

For all the festive bunting, and despite the fact that rebels have pushed the front far to the southeast, the Libyan capital remains wary. Provisions are still short, with long queues for fuel. Shops and government offices are mostly shut. Abdullah Shamia, a member of the Muslim Brothers who is the economy minister on the National Transitional Council, the proto-government that is gradually shifting its seat from Benghazi to Tripoli, modestly describes the situation as stable but improving.

There is talk, though little sign, of a pervasive fifth column of Qaddafi loyalists. Despite efforts to shoo rebel gunmen off the capital's streets, everyone seems to recognise their need to show off their pride, which erupts in spontaneous grins at the slightest greeting. Still, the celebratory gunfire that punctures the sultry night air sets nerves on edge, serving more as a reminder that fighting continues than as reassurance of rebel control.

Yet no one doubts how the fighting will end. Mr Qaddafi has fled to an unknown location, said by some to be an oasis in the far south, near the border with Niger. Four of his seven sons have been killed or slipped into exile. With each day come more reports of regime associates defecting, being captured or seeking asylum.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook/2011/09/libya-0

[pinboy3niner]

54. In a New Libya, Racing to Shed Ties to Qaddafi

Source: New York Times

A mosaic depicting Colonel Qaddafi covered with bullet holes adorns the side of an apartment
building in Tripoli. (Moises Saman for The New York Times)


By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Published: September 7, 2011


TRIPOLI, Libya — Khalid Saad worked for years as a loyal cog in Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s propaganda machine, arranging transportation to ferry foreign journalists to staged rallies, ensuring that they never left their hotels without official escorts and raising his own voice to cheer the Libyan leader.


The day that rebels took Tripoli, Mr. Saad immediately switched sides.


Now he works for the rebels’ provisional government, coordinating transportation for its officials and insisting that his previous support for Colonel Qaddafi was just business. “My uncle and my son were soldiers for the revolution,” he said in an interview. “Everyone will be happy now. Everything is changed now. Everyone is free.”


As the curtain falls on Colonel Qaddafi’s Tripoli, many of its supporting actors are rushing to pick up new roles with the rebels, the very same people they were obliged not long ago to refer to as “the rats.” Many Libyans say the ease with which former Qaddafi supporters have switched sides is a testament to the pervasive cynicism of the Qaddafi era, when dissent meant jail or death, job opportunities depended on political connections, and almost everyone learned to wear two faces to survive within the system.

...


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/world/africa/08tripoli.html

[pinboy3niner]

55. Al-Rai TV airs Gaddafi audio message urging followers to rise up

From latestbreakingnews.com:

@iDeskCNN

al-Rai TV aired an audio message claiming to be from former #Libya leader Moamar Gadhafi. ... rallying Gadhafi supporters to rise up...

2:23AM GMT Sep 8, 2011

[pinboy3niner]

57. Gaddafi defiant in call Syria TV says is from Libya

Thu Sep 8, 2011 2:45am GMT


• Gaddafi says rebels, NATO to be defeated

• Says convoy in Niger "not the first"


CAIRO, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in a phone call a Syrian television station said was made from inside Libya, vowed on Thursday to defeat rebels who control most of the country.


He also said a Libyan military convoy that arrived in neighbouring Niger was "not the first", and gave no hint this might be a step towards him and his followers fleeing Libya.


Gaddafi, whose whereabouts are unknown, instead said in the brief live speech carried by Arrai TV that his forces would rally to defeat the rebels and NATO, which has attacked his military through air strikes.


"The youths are now ready to escalate the resistance against the 'rats' (rebels) in Tripoli and to finish off the mercenaries," Gaddafi said during the call, which the television station said was being made from within Libya.


"We will defeat NATO...and NATO is rejected by the Libyan people," he said.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7K800C20110908?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

56. Heat-Seeking Missiles Are Missing From Libyan Arms Stockpile

Source: New York Times

Looted crates of mortar rounds lay on the ground of a factory in Tripoli.
(Moises Saman for The New York Times)



By ROD NORDLAND and C. J. CHIVERS

Published: September 7, 2011


TRIPOLI, Libya — The sign on the wall reads “Schoolbook Printing and Storage Warehouse,” but the fact that the double gates in the wall have been crudely ripped off suggests that something more interesting might be inside.


It turns out that the only books to be found in any of the three large buildings in the walled compound are manuals — how to fire rocket launchers and wire-guided missiles, among others. The buildings are actually disguised warehouses full of munitions — mortar shells, artillery rounds, anti-tank missiles and more — thousands of pieces of military ordnance that are completely unguarded more than two weeks after the fall of the capital.


Perhaps most interesting of all is what is no longer there, but until recent days apparently was: shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles of the type that could be used by terrorists to shoot down civilian airliners. American authorities have long been concerned that Libyan missiles could easily find their way onto the black market.


These missiles, mostly SA-7b Grails, as NATO refers to them, have been spotted in Libya before and are well known to have been sold to the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi by former Eastern bloc countries. The evidence at the schoolbook warehouse confirms just how large those quantities were. It also raises questions about how many of them may have been purloined by rebels, criminals or smugglers.


Matthew Schroeder, who researches heat-seeking antiaircraft missiles and their proliferation for the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, said the discovery of yet another looted arms depot in Libya was cause for concern, especially depots that contained what security specialists call Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems, or Manpads.

...


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/world/africa/08missile.html

[tabatha]

58. Western nations have ‘nothing to fear’ from Libya

TRIPOLI A Tripoli military commander with suspected Al Qaeda links, Abdelhakim Belhaj, said: “The West has nothing to fear” from Libyan revolutionaries and thanked Nato for its support.

“I can assure you that the Libyan revolutionaries have no natural agenda to spark fears from the East or West,” Belhaj, head of Tripoli’s military council, said in an interview late on Tuesday.

“We have no ideological link with Al Qaeda. The only thing is that we found ourselves on the same field of operations (Afghanistan) with this organisation, and that does not mean we have the same ideological values,” he added.

According to French daily Liberation, Belhaj was a founder of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), close to Al Qaeda. He was arrested by the American CIA in 2004 before being handed to the Gaddafi regime.

Letters recently discovered in Tripoli documenting the collaboration between western intelligence services show that the CIA informed Libyan authorities that Abdullah Al Sadiq (Belhaj’s fighter name) and his pregnant wife were travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok where the American agency should ‘grab’ and deliver him to the regime.

“We are grateful for all those who supported our cause, a support which has notably been demonstrated by UN Security Council Resolution 1973,” that authorised the protection of civilians and made western intervention in Libya possible.

Belhaj also paid homage to Nato for having helped liberate Tripoli by providing air cover to the operation launched by fighters against the capital, which on August 23 led to the conquest of the Bab Al Aziziya fortress, Gaddafi’s powerbase.

http://www.omantribune.com/index.php?page=news&id=100231&heading=Middle%20East

[tabatha]

59. Libyan Transitional Government Rejects Koussa Role

Updated: Wednesday, 07 Sep 2011, 9:29 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 07 Sep 2011, 9:29 PM EDT

(NewsCore) - Libya's transitional government has rejected an attempt by Moussa Koussa, the former foreign minister, to take a role in the new administration in Tripoli, The (London) Times reported Thursday.

Sources in London and Qatar, where Koussa is living in exile, said Wednesday that overtures from Colonel Moammar Gadhafi's former intelligence chief about a return to top-flight politics had been rebuffed by Libya's Transitional National Council (TNC).

Koussa fled Tripoli for Britain in March, landing in a private jet at Farnborough after escaping by car across the Libyan border to Tunisia. After questioning by British police and intelligence officers over his alleged role in the Lockerbie bombing, he flew to Qatar in April.

Sources in Doha, the Qatari capital, confirmed Wednesday that Koussa was still assisting NATO with security operations in Libya, including guiding military strikes against logistical targets of the Gadhafi regime.

The former minister is living in the city's Four Seasons hotel, where he has been visited regularly by his sons. Qatar is picking up the tab, with his stay in the country sanctioned from the top by Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani.

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpps/news/libyan-transitional-government-rejects-koussa-role-dpgonc-20110907-kh_14914141

[pinboy3niner]

60. Gaddafi shows no signs of surrender

Source: Al Jazeera

Gaddafi calls on Libyans in a new audio message to take up arms against rebel 'traitors'.

Last Modified: 08 Sep 2011 02:54


Deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has issued an audio message encouraging Libyans to take up arms against rebel forces and accusing the country's rebel-led National Transitional Council (NTC) of being a front for Western powers.


"To all my beloved Libyans, the Libyan land is yours and you need to defend it against all those traitors, the dogs, those that have been in Libya and are trying to take over the land," he said in the message that was broadcast early on Thursday on Syria-based Al-Rai TV.


"They were spies for the Italians and now they are spies for France. All those germs and rats... capture all those who are working with NATO and the UK to bomb our country and kill Libyans and our children."


Gaddafi also slammed reports that he had fled to neighbouring Niger as "psychological warfare and lies".

...


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/20119813848107476.html

Taking a page from Assad in Syria, he's calling them 'germs' as well as 'rats.'

We posted in these threads before about the solidarity placard seen in Syria:

"The germs of Syria salute the rats of Libya" :)

[tabatha]

61. Libyans start to dream of political parties

By Mohamed Hasni (AFP) – 2 days ago

TRIPOLI — As Libya's new leaders work on setting the country right and eliminating the last holdouts of Moamer Kadhafi's loyalists, budding politicians are looking forward to the planned elections.

"Our party is being formed," said Abdel Dayem al-Gharabli, a lawyer from Zawiyah, west of Tripoli, after lengthy talks in a cafe with a group of friends.

To be called the National Democratic Encounter, it aims to be broad-based, supporting the rule of law and respect for liberties, he said.

"But it would also be inspired by the moderate Islam that unites all Libyans," he said.

"We're starting from zero because Moamer Kadhafi banned any sort of political organisation in his "republic of the masses" where only the revolutionary committees were allowed," added Sadek Zarruk, an appeal court judge.

Since the uprising against Kadhafi's rule that began on February 17, few new political groupings have been announced apart from the New Libya Party, formed in July by Libyans living in the United Arab Emirates.

Fighters in Benghazi, cradle of the revolt to topple Kadhafi, also set up an Alliance of the Youth of February 17, which could yet morph into a political party.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h5TmV3XyQPPnNy2yDfp6sVEGcIZg?docId=CNG.2db02c9cd0555a1b4cc3a76310337a41.201

[tabatha]

62. 5 Things To Know About Libya’s Missing Antiaircraft Missiles

News reports today say that shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles from Muammar Gaddafi’s stockpiles in Libya have gone missing, just as PM feared at the war’s outset. Here’s what you need to know about these weapons and aircraft defenses against them.

UPDATE: CNN originally reported that shoulder-mounted SA-24s have gone missing in Libya. But arms control experts now tell PM that there’s no evidence of gripstocks for the missiles in Libya. That means that any SA-24s looted from Gaddafi’s stockpiles could be vehicle-fired, but not shoulder-fired. This makes them less of a terrorist threat.

That said, the proliferation of these missiles on the black market is still a large concern, especially in other parts of the world where gripstocks might be available that would allow the weapons to be used as Man Portable Air Defense (MANPAD) missiles. Even in Libya, sources tell PM, there is evidence of shoulder-firing capability for the less-sophisticated SA-7s.

News from reporters and Human Rights Watch personnel in Libya say that Russian surface-to-air missiles have been looted from a Libyan warehouse. The SA-24 missiles, made in Russia, can shoot down an aircraft flying at 11,000 feet. SA-7 missiles, like the one seen here, have been reported missing, too.

Popular Mechanics has been tracking this threat since the outset of the conflict in Libya—and before. Here’s the need-to-know summary on antiaircraft missiles, including some things you probably didn’t know.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military/weapons/5-things-to-know-about-libyas-missing-antiaircraft-missiles-6394788?click=pm_latest

[pinboy3niner]

63. Libya: MI6 tricked me into trap, claims torture victim

Source: The Telegraph

A second man shipped to Libya with the help of MI6 says the British Government “tricked” him into a trap, leading to his ill-treatment and starvation in a Tripoli jail.


By Andrew Gilligan

9:30PM BST 07 Sep 2011



Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Sami Saadi (aka Abu Munthir), a former deputy leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), said he was the victim of a “conspiracy” by the British, who arranged his “rendition” to Col Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.


The allegations are the most serious yet of Britain’s involvement in seizing alleged terrorist suspects and delivering them to repressive countries for intense interrogation, often torture.

...


The documents found in Tripoli include a March 2004 memo from the CIA to Libyan intelligence stating: “We are aware that your service had been co-operating with the British to effect Abu Munthir’s removal to Tripoli.” In the memo, the CIA offered to help pay for the aircraft used by the Libyans, saying: “If your government were to charter a foreign aircraft from a third country, the Hong Kong government may be able to co-ordinate with you to render (Mr Saadi) and his family into your custody.”


Mr Saadi said he was placed in a cell measuring 6ft by 7ft for the next 14 months. “I suffered from diarrhoea and I was kept completely isolated,” he said. “They were constantly threatening me and my family. They said I would be executed because I was a rebel against Libya.”


Mr Saadi said he was questioned by MI6 agents during his imprisonment. “They wanted to know how we could co-operate to tackle al-Qaeda terrorism,” he said. “They knew we had nothing to do with al-Qaeda. I told them what I was suffering and they took no notice.”

...


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8748437/Libya-MI6-tricked-me-into-trap-claims-torture-victim.html

[tabatha]

64. ‘Eyes of the world were on NATO,’ Canadian general says

Sacking the capital would have to be entirely a rebel initiative. “It was clear that we (NATO) couldn’t take Tripoli. You can’t do it from 30,000 feet.’’

Once the anti-Gadhafi fighters breached the capital’s ramparts, there was little NATO could contribute.

“We couldn’t get into that furball,” says Bouchard. “We couldn’t get into the middle of that spaghetti bowl because you don’t know who’s who. They’re not wearing uniforms, the equipment’s the same. There was no way we could bomb Tripoli. That close-in battle — it was their fight, not ours. So you let them deal with it while we concentrated on removing the capability for (loyalist forces) to hit Tripoli with long-range weapons.

“And it turned out, for this campaign, to be the viable way of doing business.’’

Critically, by that juncture NATO had destroyed Gadhafi’s capacity to defend or go on the offensive. As well, as Bouchard had strategized, the bulk of loyalist troops would refuse to stand and fight once they’d been severed from their leadership — which was effectively accomplished by destroying command structure and communication.

Bouchard had access to sophisticated surveillance but, as the capital fell to the rebel advance, he watched events unfold on TV, like everyone else. “I was amazed at the speed that it happened.’’

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1050654--eyes-of-the-world-were-on-nato-canadian-general-says?bn=1

[tabatha]

65. In a New Libya, Ex-Loyalists Race to Shed Ties to Qaddafi

“There are very few instances of revenge,” said Abdulmajeed el-Dursi, the former chief of the Qaddafi-era foreign media operation, sipping coffee at a cafe full of rebels and talking about opening a media services company.

“It is legitimate, all these things they are doing — freedom of the press, the rule of law,” Mr. Dursi added. “We always thought it was the right thing to do.”

Officials at the rebels’ detention centers around the city say they have sent scores of Colonel Qaddafi’s former soldiers and supporters back to their homes after they have turned in their weapons, and even some of the former soldiers now insist that they are revolutionaries at heart.

Ahmed el-Naeli was a soldier from Tripoli captured and jailed weeks ago by rebels in the Nafusah Mountains, where a reporter for The New York Times gave him a business card. On Tuesday, he called to say that he, too, had changed sides. After his capture, Mr. Naeli said, “I turned around and joined the revolution.”

Officials at local police stations say hundreds of officers are returning to work, usually in their home neighborhoods without incident.

They are “well accepted” because local residents understand they were only part of the system, said Abdou Shafi Hassan, 34, a former officer who began working with the rebels months ago, smuggling weapons and plastic explosives for them until he was caught and sent to jail.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/world/africa/08tripoli.html

[pinboy3niner]

66. In new audio, Gadhafi denies rumor he fled Libya

By RAMI AL-SHAHEIBI - Associated Press | AP – 6 mins ago.


BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — From hiding, Moammar Gadhafi is denying rumors that he fled Libya and vows "never to leave the land of his ancestors."

In an audio message broadcast Thursday on loyalist Al-Rai TV, a voice purportedly of Gadhafi denounces reports that he had fled to neighboring Niger and claims he is still in Libya.

Gadhafi also blasts former rebels who ousted him from power as "a bunch of mercenaries, thugs and traitors" and claims "we are ready to start the fight in Tripoli and everywhere else, and rise against them."


http://news.yahoo.com/audio-gadhafi-denies-rumor-fled-libya-053610253.html

[pinboy3niner]

67. Captured Gaddafi home video shows him with grandchildren

A home video found in Muammar Gaddafi's compound that was shot in 2005 reveals the Libyan leader and his grandchildren.

The videos were shot in one of the Colonel's famous tents used to greet western leaders and dignitaries before the uprising began and where he is now believed to be living.

Al Jazeera's Sue Turton reports from north of Bani Walid (2:43):


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-sep-8-2011-0752

[pinboy3niner]

68. 9/11 anniversary casts shadow for Muslims: author

Thu Sep 8, 2011 6:30am GMT


By Pauline Askin

SYDNEY, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The approaching tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks is casting a long shadow for U.S. Muslims, many of whom are dreading the approaching anniversary because they fear a resurgence of prejudice and hate, said author Mona Eltahawy.


Egyptian-born but U.S.-based, Eltahawy said the attacks on New York and Washington were a shocking and negative introduction to Islam for many in the United States, compounding the difficulties for Muslims already struggling with their identities in the diverse, secular nation.

...


"Now that we're coming up to the tenth anniversary of 9/11, it's a time to say we're here and we're not going anywhere, we're Americans and Muslims too. It's been a difficult ten years and a lot of us are dreading this tenth anniversary because it brings out a lot of hate and prejudice."

...

"When you think Muslim women, you think women in a head scarf or a women like me. There isn't just one way to think of what a Muslim women is, there's a diversity of appearances and a diversity of voices," she said.

...


"These are most definitely not social media revolutions. To say they were social revolutions removes agency and courage from all those people who went out on the streets and faced, whether it was the Mubarak regime security thugs ... or what we saw happening in Libya."


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL3E7K714M20110908?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

69. Gaddafi’s chemical weapons spark renewed worries

Source: Washington Post

By Simon Denyer, Published: September 7


AL-AJELAT, Libya — Documents showing the shipment of thousands of gas masks and chemical-weapons protection suits to Moammar Gaddafi’s remaining strongholds in the last weeks of his regime raised fresh concerns Wednesday about whether the deposed Libyan leader’s forces could still have access to deadly mustard gas.


The Pentagon and an international monitoring organization have said that Gaddafi’s remaining stockpiles are secure. But more than 11 tons of mustard gas is known to be accumulated in a country that suddenly lacks a strong central authority and where weapons are fast proliferating. Libyan rebels say they are concerned that Gaddafi holdouts could have access to the mustard gas and could use it in a last-ditch effort to halt advances by the opposition.


“It hasn’t happened yet, but it’s not beyond Gaddafi,” said Mohammed Benrasali, a senior member of Libya’s civilian stabilization team.


Rebel commanders say the concerns are one reason they are moving cautiously as they try to drive Gaddafi loyalists from his home town of Sirte and a key military headquarters in the desert at al-Jufrah.

...


http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/gaddafis-chemical-weapons-spark-renewed-worries/2011/09/07/gIQA4TBVAK_story.html?hpid=z3

[Cali_Democrat]

70. African women say rebels raped them in Libyan camp

David Enders
McClatchy Newspapers

JANZOUR, Libya — When the sun sets on the refugee camp for black Africans that has sprung up at the marina in this town six miles west of Tripoli, the women here brace for the worst.

The rebels who ring the camp suddenly open fire. Then they race into the camp, shouting "gabbour, gabbour" — Arabic for whore — and haul away young women, residents say.

"You should be here in the evening, when they come in firing their guns and taking people," one woman from Nigeria said Wednesday as she recounted the nightly raids on the camp. "They don't use condoms, they use whatever they can find," she said, pointing to a discarded plastic bag in a pile of trash.

As she spoke, other women standing nearby nodded in agreement.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/09/07/3126979/african-women-say-rebels-raped.html

[tabatha]

95. adding that they did not appear to be a faction fighting for either side

From that article, the following quote:

"It was a group of young men," she said, adding that they did not appear to be a faction fighting for either side."

So why are the rebels being blamed when they do not know who did it?

[Cali_Democrat]

71. Amnesty International Ignores Atrocities Against Black People in Libya

by Karen Marlow
06/09/2011

The "triumphant" rebels have been targeting supposed loyalists in the territories they control. There have been reports of the mass abuse of black people, who are suspected of being mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa on Gaddafi’s payroll.

Among the victims are nationals from Chad, Sudan, Ghana and Nigeria, many of whom came to Libya as guest workers and had no chance to flee when the violence erupted in the country.

“Anyone with dark skin, they say he's a mercenary,” the Emirate newspaper The National cites a local resident as saying.

Some reports claim hundreds of black people have been rounded up, arrested or even summarily executed in the first days after Tripoli was captured.

Read more...http://mathaba.net/news/?x=628567

[pinboy3niner]

72. You're linking to Mathaba? Really?

This is the "news" website that lovingly posts speeches of "Colonel" Gaddafi and his son, Saif, as well as articles like:


NATO Tries To Explain Why They're Still Bombing The Hell Out Of Libya

UN Libya plan for 'Troops on the ground', Invasion of Libya, NATO Crimes In Libya


Mathaba is NOT a credible news source.

[inna]

83. LOL, Mathaba is openly biased, woefully unreliable, and.... at LEAST as credible

as your mainstream pro-war corporate propaganda "news sources" to the likes of NYT, Faux, and Torygraph.


As for their open support of Gaddafi...


:Oh Horrors!: :runs in panic: :oh noes!: :they support Gaddafi!!!:


- so do the majority of Libyans (or close to that, given the recent developments), so fucking what?


Absurd demonization of Gaddafi is beyond lame, really.



************************************


As a side point - don't shoot the messenger; credibility of Mathaba notwithstanding, the MSM on all continents has been chock full of stories of systematic rebel atrocities/hate crimes/virulent racism and discrimination against the Black Africans.

[Amonester]

93. I guess the MSM could not cover the 'kill the migrant workers who ask to be paid'

'state' policy for decades(?), since these 'anonymous' workers 'might have' ended up in mass graves around Tripoli?

Maybe gawdawful wasn't that much the 'model employer' angel some here 'still' think he was...

[Amonester]

73. Most of the summarily executed were under the command of Gadhafi

forces, and they were executed by Gadhafi's thugs because they refused to continue without being payed.
(Dead 'workers' stop asking for overdue pay??(puke) And yeah, talk about 'democratic' workers' rights... (double-puke?))

But, of course, that little detail isn't included in that news link. No need to smear AI for that.
Also, I didn't see that poor black woman's horror story in there: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/08/28/libya.gadhafi.nanny/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

Why?

[tabatha]

94. Mathaba is a joke and known liars.

A bunch of AJE posters went over to the Mathaba site, and posted a number of posts. The next day all of the posts were deleted, the posters banned, and all comments thereafter had to be approved.

Amnesty International is a very credible organization and would not ignore any abuses. They are in the field all over Libya and would report anything for which they have evidence.

[pinboy3niner]

74. Turkish Airlines to resume Libya flights this month

Thu Sep 8, 2011 8:17am GMT


ISTANBUL, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Turkish Airlines said on Thursday it will resume flights to Libya next week as the African country starts rebuilding after a six-month war that ended Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule.

...


The airline's inspectors examined repairs to Benghazi's airport, damaged during the fighting, and decided it was ready for flights, the statement said. Tripoli flights will resume once preparations there were completed, it added.


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7K80XZ20110908

[pinboy3niner]

75. Libyan estimate: At least 30,000 died in the war

3:51 a.m. Thursday, September 8, 2011

By KARIN LAUB

The Associated Press


TRIPOLI, Libya — At least 30,000 people were killed and 50,000 wounded in Libya's six-month civil war, the interim health minister said, offering a first detailed estimate of the high cost in lives of bringing down Moammar Gadhafi.


There have been rough estimates in the past, but Naji Barakat, the health minister in the new Libyan leadership, said his figures are based, in part, on reporting from hospitals, local officials and former rebel commanders.


Barakat said he'll only have a complete count in several weeks, but that he expects the final figure for dead and wounded to be higher than his current estimates. Libya has a population of just over 6 million.


At least 4,000 people are still missing, either presumed dead or held prisoner in remaining Gadhafi strongholds, including his hometown of Sirte, Barakat told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Others killed in fighting were hastily buried, and are now being exhumed for identification.

...


http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/libyan-estimate-at-least-1162680.html

[pinboy3niner]

76. OT: Dedicated to the team...

ALDONZA: Why do you do these things?

DON QUIXOTE
What things?

ALDONZA
These ridiculous... the things you do!

DON QUIXOTE
I hope to add some measure of grace to the world.

ALDONZA
The world's a dung heap and we are maggots that crawl on it!

DON QUIXOTE
My Lady knows better in her heart.

ALDONZA
What's in my heart will get me halfway to hell.
And you, Señor Don Quixote-you're going to take
such a beating!

DON QUIXOTE
Whether I win or lose does not matter.

ALDONZA
What does?

DON QUIXOTE
Only that I follow the quest.

ALDONZA
(spits)
That for your Quest!
(turns, marches away; stops, turns bock
and asks, awkwardly)
What does that mean... quest?

DON QUIXOTE
It is the mission of each true knight...
His duty... nay, his privilege!
To dream the impossible dream,
To fight the unbeatable foe,
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go;
To right the unrightable wrong.

To love, pure and chaste, from afar,
To try, when your arms are too weary,
To reach the unreachable star!

This is my Quest to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far,
To fight for the right
Without question or pause,
To be willing to march into hell
For a heavenly cause!

And I know, if I'll only be true
To this glorious Quest,
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest.

And the world will be better for this,
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach the unreachable stars!


--From 'Man of La Mancha'

:patriot:

[pinboy3niner]

77. Libyan central bank sells gold, says assets all safe

Thu Sep 8, 2011 9:00am GMT


TRIPOLI, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Libya's central bank, under control of the country's new leaders, said on Thursday none of its assets had been stolen and that it had sold 29 tonnes of gold to help pay salaries.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFV9E7J300N20110908

[pinboy3niner]

78. Libyian students try to evict loyalist diplomats from Philippine embassy

From AJE Live Blog:

The AP has reported that two enraged Libyan students have barged into their embassy in the Philippine capital to try to evict diplomats they suspect remain loyal to former dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

AP reporters saw the students scale the embassy's steel gate and then scuffle with guards. They broke open a wooden door and tried to look for two of four Libyan diplomats inside they accuse of remaining loyal to Gaddafi.

Libyan Elyosa Fathi Elgardag says he planned to drag the two alleged Gaddafi loyalists out of ``our embassy.''

The students were still inside the embassy Thursday afternoon.


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-sep-8-2011-1112

[pinboy3niner]

79. Gadhafi loyalists fire rockets from desert bastion

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI - Associated Press | AP – 1 hr 24 mins ago


WADI DINAR, Libya (AP) — Moammar Gadhafi's loyalists fired at least 10 rockets from inside one of his last strongholds Thursday, hours after the ousted Libyan leader urged his fighters to crush opponents he ridiculed as germs and rats.


Former rebels have massed outside the desert town of Bani Walid for days waiting for orders to take the town, but the rocket fire marked an escalation in the standoff, which could reach a climax when a deadline for surrender negotiations runs out this weekend.

...


Reporters with the forces chasing remaining Gadhafi loyalists heard at least 10 loud explosions along the desert front line at Bani Walid, a dusty town of 100,000 some 90 miles (140 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli. The barrage followed a close-quarters gunfight in the same area between a patrol of fighters and several loyalist youths in a civilian car. One of the Gadhafi gunmen was killed.


Smoke billowed from where the rockets landed in Wadi Dinar, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) outside Bani Walid. The former rebels said the projectiles fired were Grad rockets.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/gadhafi-loyalists-fire-rockets-desert-bastion-102222977.html

[pinboy3niner]

81. ICC prosecutor asks Interpol to issue 'red notice' to arrest Muammar Gaddafi

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has requested that Interpol issue a "red notice" to arrest Muammar Gaddafi for the alleged crimes against humanity of murder and persecution.

“Arresting Gaddafi is matter of time”, said Moreno-Ocampo, who is also requesting red notices for the arrest of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Al-Senussi.

A red notice seeks the provisional arrest of a wanted person with a view to extradition or surrender to an international court based on an arrest warrant or court decision.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-sep-8-2011-1750

[Iterate]

82. Libyan capital takes Kadhafi out of the classroom

Libyan capital takes Kadhafi out of the classroom
By Dominique Soguel | AFP – 4 hrs ago

Schools in the Libyan capital are gearing up for a very different kind of academic year: replacing repeated oaths of allegiance to the autocratic Guide, Moamer Kadhafi, with lessons in democracy.

"We feel so happy because we are free," said Rafa al-Sharif, 15, wrapped in the flag of Libya's former monarchy, which was adopted by anti-Kadhafi forces as their banner.

Sharif said she is eager to learn about King Idris, who ruled Libya from the time it was first united in 1951 until he was overthrown by Kadhafi in 1969, "because he was so kind. He wasn't like Kadhafi. Kadhafi is a criminal."

With classes due to resume on September 17, the interim minister of education and teachers in the capital are rushing to modify curriculums to reflect the new political reality of "Free Libya" after six months of war.

more... http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-capital-takes-kadhafi-classroom-111442775.html

++

First labor action in free Libya?
Monday there was an anecdote on the AJE blog from a reliable Libyan poster about a labor action in Benghazi. Nurses at one of the hospitals were on strike, or threatening to strike, to force the dismissal of incompetent Gaddafi enforcers and to reintroduce high professional standards. I assumed it would be picked up and reported by a journalist, so I didn't copy it here. I haven't seen it reported though, so all I can do now is keep on the lookout -and ask for a heads-up -for what might be an interesting piece.

[pinboy3niner]

84. Gaddafi's 'Amazonian' bodyguards' barracks quashes myth of glamour

Tripoli living quarters belonging to Libya dictator's elite cadre reveals a picture of ruthless control and shattered lives

Martin Chulov in Tripoli guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 7 September 2011 19.45 BST

...


Now, nearly three weeks after Tripoli fell, the dictator's ravaged compounds are finally shedding light on the enigmatic unit. And like much else in Gaddafi's Libya, the myth of glamour and steadfast devotion is at odds with a reality of ruthless control and illusion.

...


A pink petticoat in the forecourt distinguishes this two-storey heap of rubble from other more intact buildings nearby. And further inside, the shattered lives of press-ganged young women starts to emerge.

...


This is the room of the commandant, a vehement Gaddafi loyalist named Fatima Baroud, who hasn't been seen for several months. Women who served in this unit had an abiding fear of Baroud, but were even more terrified of the small room with the rank blue carpet to the side.


"That is where I was raped," said Nisrine Gheriyanih, 19, in a prison yard this week, having been captured by the anti-Gaddafi forces. "They would come and take us by the hand and walk us down the corridor. We knew what would happen."

...


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/07/gaddafis-amazonian-bodyguards-barracks

[pinboy3niner]

85. Amnesty International urges countries neighboring Libya not to harbor Gaddafi, aides

Amnesty International has urged countries that neighbour Libya not to harbour Gaddafi and his aides.

The calls comes after Algeria gave sanctuary to Gaddafi's wife, daughter and two of his sons, and Niger is reported to have given safe have to his security chief Mansour Dhao.

Amnesty reminded Libya's neighbours that Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and his intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanussi, are are accused of crimes against humanity.

Claudio Cordone, senior director at Amnesty, said:

No country should provide a safe haven to Colonel Gaddafi or others suspected of committing crimes under international law. All African states should reaffirm their commitment to ending impunity for the most serious crimes under international law.

This includes arresting and surrendering all ICC suspects to The Hague.

If they are found outside Libya, national authorities in that country must immediately arrest them and hand them over to the ICC to face trial for these crimes.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/sep/08/gaddafi-won-t-leave-libya-live-updates#block-17

[pinboy3niner]

86. Interim prime minister Mahmoud Jibril arrives in Tripoli

He will hold a live news conference in about 10 minutes. AJE Live Stream will cover it here:

http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

[pinboy3niner]

87. Syrian activists appeal for international help

Thu Sep 8, 2011 2:57pm GMT


AMMAN, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Syria's underground opposition appealed to the international community on Thursday to send in human rights monitors to help deter military attacks on civilians in an increasingly bloody crackdown on popular unrest.

The Syrian Revolution General Commission, an umbrella bloc of grassroots activists, said a rise in the number of protesters killed of late during the almost six-month-old revolt had won over many reluctant Syrians to the need for outside help.

"Calling for outside intervention is a sensitive issue that could be used by the regime to label its opponents as traitors. We are calling for international observers as a first step," spokesman Ahmad al-Khatib told Reuters.

"If the regime refuses it will open the door on itself for other action, such as no-tank or no-fly zones," he said.

Syrian protesters have been chanting slogans calling for international protection but there has been no hint in the West of an appetite for a repeat of NATO air strikes that played a key role in the fall of Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7K82UR20110908?sp=true

[Iterate]

88. Funeral service of martyrs of al Qalaa massacre

Common Martyrs Qalaa massacre
http://youtu.be/z9TmZIplgPk



9.7.11 Nafusa fighters fired into the air during the funeral of 35 civilians in the town of al Qalaa, southwest of Tripoli.

[pinboy3niner]

89. Gaddafi vows to fight on, Libyans try to move on

(WRAPUP 5)

Thu Sep 8, 2011 4:18pm GMT

• Defiant former leader vows to keep fighting

• NTC fighters advance towards loyalist stronghold

• Exchanges of fire around pro-Gaddafi Bani Walid

By Christian Lowe


TRIPOLI, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The voice of Muammar Gaddafi boomed out from his hiding place on Thursday, denying he had fled Libya and cursing as rats and stray dogs those whose efforts to start governing in his place are being frustrated by his diehard followers.

...


Backing up his words, a cannonade of Grad missiles flew out of Bani Walid, a desert town south of Tripoli where a hard core of loyalists -- estimated by their opponents at about 150 -- are under siege by the new interim government. Some of its commanders suspect Gaddafi himself might be hiding inside.


Two of the defenders were killed and one of the siege force wounded in overnight skirmishing, though a military spokesman for the National Transitional Council said the new rulers would abide by a truce until Saturday to allow negotiated surrenders at Bani Walid and Gaddafi's home town of Sirte, on the coast.


"We can do it within two hours maximum," Ahmed Bani said of taking over Bani Walid. He said he believed Gaddafi's son and heir-apparent Saif al-Islam was there, though he did not share the belief of some others in the NTC that his father was.


...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7K80SB20110908?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

90. Tunisia stops Gaddafi general from flying out of the country

Tunisia has prevented a close aide to the deposed Libyan leader from leaving the country, a government official
said on Thursday.

General Khouildi Hamidi and his family attempted to fly out of Tunis international airport on Wednesday but were prevented by customs police, the official told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-sep-8-2011-1715

[pinboy3niner]

91. Guardian reporter returns to Libya for first time since being detained in a Gaddafi prison

Matthew Weaver and Paul Owen post on The Guardian's Live Blog:


The Guardian's Ghaith Abdul-Ahad is returning to Libya for the first time since he was detained for two weeks in one of Gaddafi's prisons in March.


As he waited for passport to be stamped at the Libyan-Tunisian border, Ghaith said:

It feels very strange. This border represented this great iron wall, that I tried so long to cross and eventually I got caught. It's not like anxiety; it's some other feeling that starts churning inside your heart as I'm reaching this border ... Every time I hear a Libyan accent I think of the interrogators in the prison. So it will be very interesting to see Libya in a different light.

He described scenes on the approach to the border:

Along the road you see many families stopping by these young kids selling Free Libya memorabilia - T-shirts, signs, bracelets, all decorating their cars before reaching the border.


There's some sporadic shooting; I presume celebratory fire. You have militia dressed in jeans, cowboy hats carrying guns. There are signs along the border, kind of graffiti (saying): "Welcome all the Libyan families who are coming back." There is a sense of euphoria amongst the families ... These are families who had to leave during the fighting. So there is a festive feeling, (but) of course there is an anxiety among kids because of the shooting on the other side.

On the gunfire Ghaith said: "They are militia men, they are kids, probably still pumping with adrenaline from all the fighting. Of course there will be shooting. They are shooting now trying to organise the traffic. I come from Iraq. I saw the chaos that took weeks, months, basically years. In Iraq eight years on and there is still chaos. (In Libya) two weeks after the fall of the regime there are rebels and there are people dressed like police who are stamping passports."


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/sep/08/gaddafi-won-t-leave-libya-live-updates#block-22



In Tripoli, Janan Moussa of Dubai's Al Alan TV reports that life is beginning to return to normal in the capital:

2day I saw some #libya(n) families at beach of #tripoli hanging out. Very hot here. Life more& more getting normal. Traffic Jam.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/sep/08/gaddafi-won-t-leave-libya-live-updates#block-12

[pinboy3niner]

92. Witness in Mubarak trial says he objected to force

By SARAH EL DEEB - Associated Press | AP – 37 mins ago.


CAIRO (AP) — A senior security chief has testified at the trial of Hosni Mubarak that his superiors told troops to drive armored vehicles into peaceful protests but he never heard orders to fire live ammunition.

The former Egyptian leader and his security chiefs are facing charges of ordering the use of lethal force against the protests that eventually ousted Mubarak.

Maj. Gen. Hassan Abdel-Hameed, who was first deputy interior minister for training, tells The Associated Press that he was ridiculed when he objected to plans to drive armored vehicles into protesters and fire large amounts of tear gas at them.

Abdel-Hameed told the AP on Thursday that some policemen used live ammunition to break up the rallies. Abdel-Hameed has not been charged in the case.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/witness-mubarak-trial-says-objected-force-160527586.html

[pinboy3niner]

96. Interim PM Jibril threatens to resign if rebels allow infighting

"Some have made attempts to start a political game before reaching a common consensus on the rules," Jibril told a news conference, adding that the priority for the new administration was to finish the battle against Gaddafi forces.

"If we discover that we are not on common ground, then I will retreat."

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7K83G420110908

[pinboy3niner]

97. Libya plans shake-up of oil sector

Thu Sep 8, 2011 5:21pm GMT


• Power to shift from NOC to oil ministry

• NOC will split into three departments

• Libyan companies push for more say in oil future


By Emma Farge


BENGHAZI, Libya Sept 8 (Reuters) - Libya's interim government is drafting a proposal that would shrink the responsibilities of the National Oil Corp (NOC) to make it a purely commercial organisation, a member of the interim government has told Reuters.

The North African country is trying to restore oil production after more than six months of fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi which have caused foreign oil companies to flee and led to infrastructure damage to oilfields and export terminals.

Libya's new leaders are preparing a draft proposal to give more power to the oil ministry and carving up the NOC's responsibilities, according to Mustafa el-Huni, a member of the National Transitional Council (NTC) with responsibility for oil.

"The ministry should make policy. The NOC is a commercial entity, while the ministry is a political (one) and should be involved in international participation and putting policies in place," El-Huni told Reuters late on Wednesday.

This would be a change from the system under Gaddafi where the NOC handled both the daily operations of the oil sector and represented Libya on the world stage at OPEC meetings.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7K838820110908?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

98. Tripoli military commander who was renditioned and tortured meets British rep

From The Guardian's Live Blog:

Tripoli's military commander, Abdul Hakim Belhaj, today personally demanded an apology from a senior British official for the first time since learning that MI6 had allegedly played a role in his rendition to Libya seven years ago, Martin Chulov reports.

Belhaj, whom the CIA sent to the Gaddafi regime seven years ago after seizing him at Bangkok airport, met with Britain's special representative in Libya, Dominic Asquith.

Belhaj's spokesman described the meeting as "civilised", but said Asquith had declined to apologise, citing the Gibson inquiry, which is investigating the MI6 claims, which emerged from an archive of correspondence between Libyan spies and MI6 found in a ransacked spy headquarters in Tripoli.

A diplomatic source in Tripoli said: "The special representative said that we take these claims very seriously and explained that last year the PM set up the Gibson inquiry to examine whether the security services were involved in the improper treatment of detainees overseas, including rendition. He told Belhaj that the inquiry has announced that it will look carefully at these latest allegations."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/sep/08/gaddafi-won-t-leave-libya-live-updates#block-35








Inside one of Gaddafi's torture cells
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2030931/Libya-Inside-Gaddafis-torture-chamber-The-bloodstained-cells-inside-primary-school-used-brutalise-enemies.html

[pinboy3niner]

99. ANALYSIS-Gaddafi refuge would cost Libyan neighbours dear

Thu Sep 8, 2011 6:09pm GMT


* Gaddafi refuge in region fraught with security risks

* Leaders seen weighing future ties with new Libyan rulers

* Questions remain over presence in Niger of Gaddafi officials


By Bate Felix Tabi Tabe and Mark John


NIAMEY/DAKAR, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Playing host to an exiled Muammar Gaddafi would entail huge costs for any of the African countries on Libya's southern borders, who would likely face a diplomatic and economic backlash from the West and Libya's new rulers.


That risk is seen outweighing residual admiration in the region for a leader who, while irking many states with his frequent meddling in their affairs, also lavished gifts on his neighbours and was a major voice of the anti-colonial movement.


"There is no upside for anyone to take in Gaddafi. I don't buy the idea that popular support for Gaddafi would compel any of these governments to do that," said Tom Cargill at London-based think-tank Chatham House.

...


Gaddafi has repeatedly vowed to stay in Libya and African Union commission chairman Jean Ping told French radio on Thursday that while the continental body had identified several exile options, "he (Gaddafi) does not want to leave".


That, ultimately, could be the best outcome for countries such as Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad which all could have much to lose if Gaddafi showed up at their doorstep.


...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7K836Z20110908?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

100. Libya power struggle threatens post-Gaddafi unity

Thu Sep 8, 2011 6:41pm GMT


• Armed brigades jostle for role in new-look Libya

• Interim council sends mixed messages to brigades

• Fears foreign powers could back rival sides in power struggle


By Mohammed Abbas


TRIPOLI, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Libya's internationally backed interim council has yet to establish a credible administration in Tripoli, where makeshift armed brigades united only by the six-month struggle against Muammar Gaddafi are now jostling for influence.

Elections are planned, but for now seem a distant prospect to the disparate fighters seeking a stake in Libya's future.

Mahmoud Jibril, de facto prime minister of the National Transitional Council (NTC), visited the Libyan capital on Thursday for the first time since Gaddafi's fall on Aug. 23, accusing others of playing "political games" and threatening to resign if infighting erupted in the movement that overthrew Gaddafi.

...


Those units have set up bases in Tripoli, spraying walls and cars with the names of their home towns. Some fighters wear bandanas and t-shirts with the name of their brigade. Unruly gunmen often fire into the air, unnerving Tripoli residents.

If this were not enough, some Libyans believe that France, Britain, Qatar and other countries that helped the revolt with cash, air power and diplomatic muscle now back rival camps.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7K82CA20110908?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

101. Libya's acting premier calls for unity, rebuilding

AP – 9 mins ago.


TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — The acting prime minister for Libya's new rulers is appealing for national unity to rebuild the country while calling Moammar Gadhafi a figure of the past.

Mahmoud Jibril says the battle for Libya is not over, with pockets still controlled by Gadhafi loyalists. Only after the whole country is "liberated," he said, can a new government be formed.

Thursday's appearance was Jibril's first in the capital since rebel forces stormed the city last month, effectively ending Gadhafi's rule and sending him into hiding.

...


Jibril refused to discuss Gadhafi's whereabouts or send a message to the former ruler.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/libyas-acting-premier-calls-unity-rebuilding-185244919.html

[pinboy3niner]

102. NATO airstrikes conducted Wednesday, September 7

Key Hits 07 SEPTEMBER:


In the vicinity of Sirte: 5 Armoured Fighting Vehicles, 2 Armed Vehicles.


In the vicinity of Waddan: 18 Surface to Air Missile Systems.


...


International Humanitarian Assistance Movements as recorded by NATO


Total of Humanitarian Movements: *984* (air, ground, maritime)


Ships delivering Humanitarian Assistance 07 SEPTEMBER: 1


Aircrafts delivering Humanitarian Assistance 07 SEPTEMBER: 22


**Some humanitarian movements cover several days.


http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_09/20110908_110908-oup-update.pdf

[pinboy3niner]

103. Libya mission continues until threat gone - NATO head

Thu Sep 8, 2011 6:51pm GMT


* Rasmussen says NATO mission a great success

* Mission prevented a massacre, Gaddafi not the target

* No NATO troops on ground, military evaluation needed later


By Daniel Alvarenga


LISBON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - NATO will continue its mission in Libya as long as there is any threat to the country's population from forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi that are still offering resistance, the head of the western alliance said on Thursday.

NATO's Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters in Lisbon that after the threat had gone, the alliance's role would be a supporting one.

"NATO and our partners will continue the mission as long as the threat remains, but not a minute longer," he said after meeting Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Portas.

"Some pockets of resistance still exist and these constitute a potential threat to the population, so we will continue until there is no threat," he told reporters later, following a meeting with Portuguese Defence Minister Pedro Aguiar Branco.

...


"Gaddafi is not the target of our operation. The end of the mission ... will be based on a broad political assessment of the situation. First to assess whether the National Transitional Council will be able to protect the population, and secondly there will be a military evaluation on the ground."

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE78706Y20110908?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

104. Special Libyan unit hunting down Gadhafi

By RYAN LUCAS - Associated Press | AP – 10 mins ago.


TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Determined to hunt down Moammar Gadhafi, Libya's new rulers say they have dedicated a special unit of fighters to track the elusive former leader, listening in on his aides' phone calls, poring over satellite images and interviewing witnesses.


Although leads come mostly from on-the-ground tips, help is also coming from France and other Western countries, according to a French intelligence official. Satellite-based transmission intercepts of suspicious phone calls try to pinpoint where Gadhafi might be. Small CIA teams are also assisting in the manhunt, according to former U.S. officials.

...


A former rebel fighter, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said revolutionary forces stormed a villa on Tripoli's outskirts last week acting on a tip.


The fighter, who took part in the operation, said they believe Gadhafi was at the villa and escaped less than an hour before the raid through a secret tunnel. Computers were on and cups of tea were still warm, he said, indicating the occupants had just fled.

...


Anis Sharif, a spokesman for the Tripoli military council, said the former rebels have a unit of more than 200 "special forces" leading the manhunt in collaboration with the operations room in the capital. He claimed they have located Gadhafi — he would not say where — and that his capture is "just a matter of time."

...


http://news.yahoo.com/special-libyan-unit-hunting-down-gadhafi-195931739.html

[pinboy3niner]

105. Gadhafi regime sold off $1b in gold reserves in final months

From latestbreakingnews.com:

Gadhafi regime sold off $1b in gold reserves in final months, claims new Libyan central banker - FT.com

8:24PM GMT Sep 8, 2011
Hot

[pinboy3niner]

106. Gaddafi regime sold 20 percent of Libya's gold reserves to cover salaries

In Tripoli Thursday, the new governor of Libya's central bank told reporters the former regime sold about 20 percent — or 29 tons — of the country's gold reserves to cover salaries during the uprising. Qassim Azzuz also said none of the bank's roughly $115 billion in assets "went missing or were stolen" during the uprising. He said the figures did not include still unknown sums of money accumulated by Gadhafi and his family, which were held outside the local banking sector.

http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-rebel-pm-calls-unity-rebuilding-201539437.html

[pinboy3niner]

107. Crossing desert from Libya to Niger fraught with danger

Thu Sep 8, 2011 9:03pm GMT


• Nearest major town about 1000 km from border

• Guide says several routes to enter Niger

• Crossing involves 3 days drive through sand dunes, barren land


By Bate Felix and Nathalie Prevost


NIAMEY, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Despite his repeated pledges to stay in Libya to the death, if Muammar Gaddafi needed a quick exit, one obvious option is to discreetly slip in to Niger in the south.

There are several ways to cross into Niger from the Libyan border, across over 1000 km (600 miles) of flat barren land, sand dunes and a mountain range to get to Niger's major border town of Agadez.

The journey could take anything between two to three days, Ibrahim Mohammed, a veteran guide of the Sahara told Reuters by phone on Thursday in Niamey, Niger's capital.

Mohammed said he had led caravans and convoys across the treacherous desert for over 20 years on foot, horseback, camel and truck.

Niger's Justice Minister Marou Adamou said on Wednesday that the Sahel nation's border was porous and it was possible that more people, even those close to the Gaddafi regime, had made their way or were making their way into Niger.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7K83PU20110908?sp=true

[tabatha]

108. Sabha news - getting closer

FreeBenghazi Libya.elHurra
#Sabha police joined Feb17. They control all stations & Public Security Directorate. They're guarding all property v @sabha17feb #Libya
3 hours ago

Gaddafiforces attacked Oasis Hotel last night, stealing&vandalising, leading2 clashes btw them & hotel guards #Libya v @sabha17feb
4 hours ago

RedCross team of 6 that was detained by Gaddafiforces included 2 Swiss, 2 Libyans, 1 Bosnian, 1 Lebanese #Sabha v @sabha17feb #Libya
4 hours ago

Gaddafiforces detained RedCross team who visited #Sabha 2 days ago. Thuwar offered2 escort team but they declined v @sabha17feb #Libya
4 hours ago

@Niz_FGM we sent thuwar in Nalut packets of brioche, biscuits, dates. Their mums made them zummeeta and bseisa.
4 hours ago

#FFs have taken the town of #WadiAhamar near #Sirte via @AlArabiya_Eng
7 hours ago

Thuwar liberated half of #Sabha. Morale of Gaddafi's cousins, forces & mercs low. Their position much weaker v @sabha17feb #Libya
8 hours ago

#Sabha thuwar gained 14 anti-aircraft guns (14.5's) & large number of small arms & ammo, strengthen their position v @sabha17feb #Libya
8 hours ago

#Sabha thuwar confiscating looted items, & placing them in warehouse so they can b returned2 rightful owners #Libya v @sabha17feb
9 hours ago

Gaddafi loyalists in #Sabha looting public&private Co's. Thuwar setup neighbrhd committees 4 security & 2return goods #Libya v @sabha17feb
9 hours ago

#AJE #anitamcnaught Gaddafi loyalist in BaniWalid deserting, but Saif believed2 have 200 still loyal who could cause problems #Libya
14 hours ago

20 vehicles loaded with heavy weapons & mercenaries left #Sabha for #Sirte, last night #Libya v @sabha17feb
16 hours ago

[pinboy3niner]

109. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 204: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

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










Inside one of Gaddafi's torture cells
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2030931/Libya-Inside-Gaddafis-torture-

chamber-The-bloodstained-cells-inside-primary-school-used-brutalise-enemies.html

[pinboy3niner]

110. Brazil: Gaddafi’s sneaky nip-and-tuck

Source: Financial Times

September 8, 2011 10:20 pm by Iona Teixeira Stevens


Last week, Brazilian television featured a local – if bizarre – angle on the Libya story. The ousted Libyan dictator, Colonel Muammer Gaddafi, it seems is one of the more notorious past foreign customers of an industry Brazil is famous for – plastic surgery.


“He (Gaddafi) said he was in power for some time and did not want to give the idea to younger people that he was an old man,” said one of the colonel’s Brazilian plastic surgeons, Liacyr Ribeiro, on television. He and his colleague described how they flew to Libya 16 years ago to give the dictator hair implants and a facelift.

...


But just in case people get the idea that plastic surgery can solve all of their problems, they only need look to Gaddafi. His facelift did not save him from the Arab spring.


In fact, according to his doctors, he trusted no one even back then, opting for a lesser procedure because he did not want to submit to a general anaesthetic, which would have left him vulnerable to a coup, or worse.


http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/09/08/brazil-gaddafi%E2%80%99s-sneaky-nip-and-tuck/

[joshcryer]

111. Week 29 part 5 here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1902449