GADDIFI TOPPLED!!!!!TRIPOLI CELEBRATING!!!!!!!!

Telegraph:

Gaddafi 'running out of commanders'

A Libyan colonel that defected to the rebel side last month has said that the regime has had to use soldiers from its elite special forces to command popular militias after suffering months of desertions.

By Ruth Sherlock in Yefren, 10:47PM BST 17 Jul 2011

The officer escaped from a government town in the plains below the country's Western Mountains. Lying only 60 miles from Tripoli, the rebels have launched repeated offensives in the effort to reach the capital.

Leaders of the elite fighting force belonging to Gaddafi's son Khamis had left their brigades to fight elsewhere and came to man this front line reported the Colonel. "The leaders are from the Khamis Brigades, but the rest are new recruits or volunteers. They were inexperienced; some barely could hold a gun".

After six months of fighting in a war that is raging across the country, and has three major front lines, the colonel's account depicts signs of strain in government ranks.

Hundreds of young men from low income families in Libya, many with roots in neighbouring Mali and Niger were recruited from their homes in the south of the country, captured government soldiers told the Daily Telegraph from inside a locked hospital ward in the rebel held western mountain town of Yefren.

"I was promised 500 dinar to fight. My father died long ago, and my family needed the money. When I got there I was frightened and I wanted to go home. My mother didn't want me to come," said a black soldier from Mali aged 20.

The Colonel and the captives report that lies and death threats being used to keep soldiers in line. "They told us we were fighting an invading force of Al Qaeda. A few months ago, they told us Osama Bin Laden had visited," said a captive member of Gaddafi's security brigades. "And on state television we saw that NATO was hitting the homes of innocent civilians. Watching other news channels is a punishable offense." Some fighters are hardened regime loyalists, including men who left their posts in the Navy to come and fight for Gaddafi. But up to "80 per cent" would leave if they could, said the Colonel, who depended on the help of his fellow officers to escape.

"When we realised we were battling Libyans, many of the boys said that because they were Muslims, was sinful to fight. A lot of the soldiers don't want to fight" said a captured Libyan soldier.

"Many of the officers I was with got excited when they heard that the rebels had made progress. But it is hard to escape. If they think you might defect, they will execute you immediately," said the Colonel.

The Nato bombing campaign has also weakened the government troops significantly he reported. It has also stopped lethal attacks on the rebel capital Benghazi.

"Gaddafi intended to strike the court house with scud missiles, but the scud missile launcher had to be moved from his home town of Sirte. They couldn't do it because NATO would bomb them."

Despite the allegations, government troops have so far succeeded in curtailing rebel advances on the capital. Rebel offenses to the east and west of the country have seen fierce fighting, but have failed to break a months' long stalemate.

"Gaddafi still has lots of ammunition," said the Colonel. "And there are loyalists who have joined him. In my group men volunteered to leave the Navy to fight for him on the front lines".

In preparation for the long fight, the defected colonel is now training rebel fighters in the mountain town of Nalut. "I know how Gaddafi works, and I have trained 150 to battle against him. Tomorrow they graduate, and I will train more and more until we end this".:

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

1 hour 46 min ago

AFP reports: Anti-Gaddafi forces have claimed they have routed most of Muammar Gaddafi's troops out from the oil town of Brega.

"The rebel fighters have encircled Brega, an oil export terminal with a refinery and chemical plant which for months
marked the eastern limit of Gaddafi's control, rebel spokesman Shamsiddin Abdulmolah said."

5 hours 41 min ago

The leaders of South Africa and Britain disagreed over how to proceed in Libya.

South African President Jacob Zuma, speaking at a news conference after talks with visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron, pushed for NATO to give an African Union (AU) "roadmap" involving talks between Libyan rebels and leader Muammar Gaddafi the chance to succeed.

"We both want to see a future for Libya that doesn't include Colonel Gaddafi," Cameron said. "The difference is that the president sees that as the outcome of a political process, whereas I believe for a political process to work it has to be the starting point. That is the difference between us. That's the gap."

5 hours 48 min ago

Rebel forces have encircled Brega and routed out most of Gaddafi's troops there, in the biggest boost for the opposition in weeks, a rebel spokesman told Reuters.

"The main body [of Gaddafi's forces] retreated to Ras Lanuf" to the west, Shamsiddin Abdulmolah said by telephone. "I am told they have some four-wheel-drive trucks with machineguns spread out between Ras Lanuf and Bishr."

8 hours 7 min ago

Russia said it does not intend to recognise the rebel National Transitional Council as Libya's official authority but intended to view it as a formal negotiating partner.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week's recognition by Western and regional powers of the opposition government at the expense of Gaddafi's regime in Tripoli was tantamount to picking sides in a civil war.

"We do not share this position for one simple reason - this again means that those who declare this recognition stand wholly on the side of one political power in a civil war," Lavrov said.

Good morning!

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

1 hour 57 min ago

The US now says it's time to recognise the Transitional National Council as the official voice of the Libyan people.

The US also emphasised that other countries are recognising the TNC, and that it is not negotiating with the Gaddafi regime.

Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan has more.



5 hours 17 min ago

US officials have met with representatives of Muammar Gaddafi to deliver a message that the embattled Libyan leader must go, a State Department spokesperson said.

The rare meeting between US diplomats and Gaddafi envoys on Saturday was held "to deliver a clear and firm message that the only way to move forward is for Gaddafi to step down," the official said on Tuesday.

5 hours 18 min ago

Libyan rebels said they had won control of the strategic oil refinery town of Brega, as a US official confirmed US envoys had met with members of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

"The bulk of Gaddafi’s forces have retreated to Ras Lanuf," rebel spokesman Shamsiddin Abdulmolah told AFP, referring to another oil hub some 50km to the west.

11 hours 8 min ago

The AFP news agency reports:

US envoys recently held a rare meeting with representatives of Gaddafi's regime and urged the Libyan strongman to cede power, a US official said Monday.

The United States and other Western powers on Friday recognized the rebel Transitional National Council as Libya's legitimate authority. The official said that Washington had no plans to meet again with Gaddafi's envoys.

The US state department told CNN that Saturdya's meeting "was not a negotiation.It was the delivery of a message" that ... Gaddafi must leave power."

13 hours 38 min ago

AFPreports: As anti-Colonel Gaddafi forces are retreating from the Eastern town of Brega on the fifth day of fighting, "tonight we sleep in Brega!" cried 25-year-old Mufta Idris from a Toyota pick-up that was carrying him and four other members of the Hasan Jaber Brigade to the front in Brega.

16 hours 10 sec ago

AFP reports: Anti-Gaddafi forces have claimed they have routed most of Muammar Gaddafi's troops out from the oil town of Brega.

"The rebel fighters have encircled Brega, an oil export terminal with a refinery and chemical plant which for months marked the eastern limit of Gaddafi's control, rebel spokesman Shamsiddin Abdulmolah said."

Telegraph:

Libyan foreign minister admits Lockerbie bombing involvement.

A former Libyan foreign minister has admitted the country was involved in the Lockerbie bombing but said for the first time it was part of a wider conspiracy.

By Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent. 6:45PM BST 18 Jul 2011

The former minister, Abdul Rahman al-Shalgham, who was ambassador to the United Nations when he defected in February, revealed a new theory about who was responsible for the explosion on board Pan-Am Flight 103 in an interview with an Arabic newspaper.

"The Lockerbie bombing was a complex and tangled operation" he said, when asked to describe the background to the disaster.

"There was talk at the time of the roles played by states and organisations. Libyan security played a part but I believe it was not a strictly Libyan operation."

He went on to say that the compensation payment to the families he helped negotiate on behalf of the regime – while disclaiming responsibility – angered the Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi. "He used to say, 'We had no role in Lockerbie, so why should we have to pay compensation'," Mr Shalgham said.

Two Libyan state employees were put on trial in The Hague under Scottish law for the bombing of Flight 103, in which 270 people died in 1988. One, Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, though he was released on medical grounds in 2009.

Libya always denied involvement, and alternative theories state that it was the work of Iranian intelligence, or a Palestinian terrorist group.

Mr Shalgham's revelations are the first serious suggestion that there could be elements of truth to both stories. Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the former minister of justice who defected at the beginning of the uprising against the Gaddafi regime in February and is now chairman of the opposition Transitional National Council, claimed in an earlier interview that Col Gaddafi personally ordered the bombing.

But Mr Abdul Jalil was only involved in politics from 2007, having been a provincial judge most of his career. Mr Shalgham, by contrast, was Libyan ambassador to Rome at the time of the bombing and later at the heart of government.

In the interview with Al-Hayat, a Saudi-backed newspaper, he admitted that the Libyan security services had carried out the terrorist attack on a Berlin nightclub used by American troops in 1986, which sparked the American bombing of Tripoli the same year.

He also said that the regime had ordered the explosion which brought down a French airliner over Niger in 1989 which killed 171, wrongly thinking that a Libyan dissident, Mohammed al-Megrief, was on board. As in the case of the Lockerbie bombing a year earlier, the disaster was caused by explosives packed into a suitcase in the hold.

Al JazeeraEnglish. 16 Jul 2011

Presenter Sebastian Walker explains why the rebels are willing to take up antiquated arms in this video extra from the upcoming episode of Al Jazeera Fault Lines.

"I think most of these weapons are ones that have been liberated from the Qadaffi forces....Some of [the guns] date back to the second World War."

Al Jazeera programme 'Fault Lines'
The US and the new Middle East: Libya
Fault Lines travels to the frontlines of the war in Libya to see what US policy looks like on the ground. This is the link to the full episode.

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/faultlines/

Good day!

Al Jazeera

Libyan rebels pushed back from Brega

Opposition fighters come under fire as they clear mines that have held up their efforts to regain key eastern oil town.
Last Modified: 19 Jul 2011 23:24

Libyan government forces in trucks disguised with rebel flags have shelled opposition positions near the strategic eastern oil town of Brega, killing 13 rebel fighters and wounding dozens more, officials said.

Rebel forces have been pushing to seize the frontline town, which is home to an oil refinery and terminal, for nearly a week, but they say minefields planted by Gaddafi's forces have slowed the advance.

They took positions 10km east of the oil port, working to clear the mines so they can move forward.

"Maybe within three or four days we will solve this problem of mines and we will be in Brega," said rebel spokesman Ahmed Bani.

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reporting from the area says rebels thought their position was betrayed by "spies and traitors" within their camp but they were certain those disloyal to the cause would be rooted out.

The rebels are fighting in a residential area on the town's eastern side and control about one-third of the town, another rebel spokesman said.

Heavy casualties

A doctor at the hospital in the nearby city of Ajdabiya said a lot of severely injured fighters were taken there on Tuesday, most of them with head and chest injuries caused by gunshots and explosions.

"The numbers of casualities exceeded the numbers of beds available," said Hiba Shasha.

Another doctor at the same hospital said eight rebels were killed and dozens wounded on Tuesday, raising the total to at least 34 rebels killed in five days of fighting.

He said the rebels had taken four prisoners, and one dead government soldier had been taken to the rebel hospital. It is unclear how many other government soldiers have been killed. The Libyan government rarely provides information on its casualties.

In an audio message directed at a rally of thousands in the town of al-Aziziya, south of Tripoli, Muammar Gaddafi emphasised the importance of Libya's vast oil wealth to his regime, and called the civil war a battle "for our way of life."

Waving the green flags and chanting "Only God, Muammar and Libya" the supporters gathered in the town main square. The embattled leader remains fiercely popular in certain sections of the country.

Gaddafi addressed the crowd vowing to fight on till the end: "We are in our homes, on our land, we will fight; we will defend, with men, women and children."

The rally was the fifth in 12 days, staged to show Gaddafi's support in the towns he still controls.

Rebels struggling to oust Gaddafi since the uprising against his rule broke out in February control much of Libya's east, but Brega has been under government control since early April.

The two sides have been locked in a stalemate with the rebels unable to advance beyond pockets in the west despite a NATO air campaign against Gaddafi's forces.

Last week, more than 30 nations gave the rebels a boost by recognising their National Transitional Council as the country's legitimate government, potentially freeing up billions of dollars in urgently needed cash.

Telegraph:

Libyan representatives sought guarantees Col Muammar Gaddafi would not be pursued for war crimes if he stepped down during talks with US officials.

A US official was unequivocal in saying that the only message given to Col Gaddafi in the meeting was that he should stand down.

By Damien McElroy, Richard Spencer, 6:27PM BST 19 Jul 2011

Diplomats involved in contacts with Libyan officials said that Tripoli sought talks with Washington as part of a series of informal negotiations on Col Gaddafi's future.

But while French mediators last week insisted that Col Gaddafi must leave Libya, a move that would make him vulnerable to arrest and war crimes charges, American diplomats only insisted that the dictator give up power.

European diplomats said on Tuesday that America, which is not a member of the World Court, could formally put its weight behind a deal to scrap UN sanctions that authorised war crime charges. "There is open question here of an American role but the Americans have also been very clear that they delivered a message and not launch negotiations," a European diplomat said.

Libyan emissaries have held a series of meetings with Turkish, French and South African officials in previous weeks. Unnamed regime officials met senior American diplomats in Tunis on Saturday.

"There have been a number of indications that talks behind the scenes are going on and the feeling is that these centre on Gaddafi continuing to live in Libya or being allowed a dignified exile, probably somewhere in Africa," said Oliver Miles, a former British ambassador who has met Gaddafi loyalists in recent weeks.

A US official was unequivocal in saying that the only message given to Col Gaddafi in the meeting was that he should stand down. "This was not a negotiation. It was the delivery of a message," the official said.

The French defence minister yesterday said pressure on Col Gaddafi to seek a negotiated exit had risen but warned the Libyan leader could still hold out.

"The countdown has begun," said Gerard Longuet, the defence minister who last week called for immediate talks with Col Gaddafi. "I am cautious because Gaddafi is not rational and he could opt for a bunker strategy, taking the whole civilian population of Tripoli hostage."

"As panic takes over in the ranks around Gaddafi, we are seeing more and more emissaries of all types who are touring world capitals," he said. "When one of those comes within our range our message is always the same: Gaddafi must go."

Libyan rebels launched a full-scale attack on the oil town of Brega on Thursday, taking significant casualties as they fought through the streets on Saturday and Sunday.

They are also having to deal with extensive minefields and traps full of chemicals, they have said.

The Transitional National Council on Monday claimed that only a small pocket of 150-200 loyalist fighters were holding out.

The French foreign ministry backed the rebels' statement. "The Libyan resistance forces are in the process of controlling the totality of the city," the spokesman, Bernard Valero, said.

"It represents progress on the ground by the action of Libyan rebel forces. It would seem to confirm the retreat and isolation of Gaddafi and his forces."

The rebels have made no significant gains on the eastern front since March, and the loss of Brega would be a major blow for Col Gaddafi.

Coming back to one of yesterday's posts:

"The Lockerbie bombing was a complex and tangled operation" he said, when asked to describe the background to the disaster.

"There was talk at the time of the roles played by states and organisations. Libyan security played a part but I believe it was not a strictly Libyan operation."

I hope the fall of Gaddafi sheds some light on that, because al-Magrahi certainly didn't decide to blow up an airliner all by himself.

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

9 hours 44 min ago

France accepts Muammar Gaddafi could stay in Libya if he quits politics, under a ceasefire deal to end a conflict with rebels backed by Paris, the French foreign minister said on Wednesday.

"One of the possibilities being considered is that he stay in Libya but on the clear condition that he steps aside from Libyan political life," the minister, Alain Juppe, told LCI television.

"That is what we are waiting for before we start the political process for a ceasefire."

14 hours 56 min ago

In this exclusive interview, Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin speaks with the new secretary general of the Arab League, Nabil Al Araby. He talks about whether the Arab League's No-Fly Zone resolution on Libya was a mistake.



17 hours 50 min ago

Thirteen opposition fighters have been killed near the eastern oil town of Brega where rebels have been pushing to seize the area for nearly a week.

Rebels told Al Jazeera, their position was leaked to Gaddafi's forces by spies within the rebel force. The opposition controls most of eastern Libya but has not controlled Brega since April.

The town has crucial oil and gas supplies and rebels fear that Gaddafi loyalists may sabotage the facilities there if they are forced to retreat. Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reports from Brega.



17 hours 54 min ago

Tens of thousands of embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's supporters rallied on Tuesday (July 19) in al -Azizyah town, 40km southwest of Tripoli. Waving the green flags and chanting "Only God, Muammar and Libya" the supporters gathered in the town main square.

Gaddafi addressed the crowds with a live audio speech and vowed to fight on till the end.

"We are in our homes, on our land, we will fight, we will defend, with men, women and children," he said. The rally was the fifth in 12 days, staged to show Gaddafi's support in the towns he still controls.

Good morning!

Al Jazeera:

France says Gaddafi could stay in Libya
French foreign minister says Libyan leader could be allowed to stay in his country if he relinquishes power.



Muammar Gaddafi could stay in Libya if he gives up power, France has said, signaling a new effort to find a diplomatic solution to a conflict that has so far failed to topple the Libyan leader.

French foreign minister Alain Juppe, speaking on France's LCI TV, said foreign powers were now ready to let Gaddafi stay in Libya if he stepped down.

"One of the scenarios effectively envisaged is that he stays in Libya on one condition which I repeat - that he very clearly steps aside from Libyan political life," Juppe said.

"A ceasefire depends on Gaddafi committing clearly and formally to surrender his military and civilian roles."

However, Gaddafi's foreign minister swiftly dismissed the French proposal, saying Gaddafi's departure after 41 years in power was not a matter for discussion.

France's proposal reflected an awareness that it would be hard, if not impossible, to flush Gaddafi out of Tripoli by force or persuasion. Opposition forces have struggled to maintain steady progress towards the capital Tripoli.

Heavy fighting

On Wednesday, anti-Gaddafi forces suffered heavy casualties in fighting for the eastern oil hub of Brega, a town they must capture if they are to advance towards Tripoli.

Eighteen fighters were killed and up to 150 wounded in the latest clashes, a doctor at an opposition-controlled hospital said.

"Yesterday, it was a disaster," Dr Sarahat Atta-Alah told Reuters News Agency at Ajdabiya hospital in eastern Libya.

Heavy fighting was also reported near the western town of Misrata, an opposition stronghold. Medical workers at the city's Hikam hospital said seven opposition fighters had been killed and 35 wounded.

Call for more aid

Three Libyan opposition leaders met French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris, asking him to persuade France's Arab allies to provide them with weapons.

"France can help us get this help from friendly Arab countries," Souleiman Fortia, a representative of the National Transitional Council, told reporters after the meeting.

"With a bit of help we can be in Tripoli soon."

France was the first country to publicly recognise the council and the first to launch air strikes against Gaddafi forces when now NATO-led operations began in March.

"We want to maintain close links with them and see how we can help them," said Juppe.

Telegraph:

The headless corpse, the mass grave and worrying questions about Libya's rebel army

The five corpses floated disfigured and bloating in the murky bottom of the water tank. Wearing green soldiers' uniforms, the men lay belly down, decomposing in the putrid water.

By Ruth Sherlock, Al-Qawalish, 7:00PM BST 20 Jul 2011

The streaks of blood, smeared along the sides of this impromptu mass grave suggested a rushed operation, a hurried attempt to dispose of the victims.

Who the men were and what happened to them, close to the Libyan rebels' western front line town of Al-Qawalish in the Nafusa Mountains, remains unknown.

But the evidence of a brutal end were clear. One of the corpses had been cleanly decapitated, while the trousers of another had been ripped down to his ankles, a way of humiliating a dead enemy.

The green uniforms were the same as those worn by loyalists fighting for Col. Muammer Gaddafi in Libya's civil war. No one from the rebel side claimed the corpses, or declared their loved ones missing.

There was no funeral, or call to the media by the rebels to see the 'atrocities committed by the regime'.

Since the bodies were seen by the Daily Telegraph attempts to discover their identities have been unsuccessful, in part because of obstruction by rebel authorities in the area. Having highlighted the discovery to those authorities the area was subsequently bulldozed and the bodies dissappeared.

The find will add to concerns highlighted in recent days over human rights violations by rebel forces. Human Rights Watch last week said they had looted homes, shops and hospitals and beaten captives as they advanced.

The Daily Telegraph found homes in the village of al-Awaniya ransacked, and shops and schools smashed and looted. The town, now empty, was inhabited by the Mashaashia, a traditionally loyalist tribe that has long been involved in land disputes with surrounding towns. [Could this have been some kind of retaliation by the towns they were in dispute with? Or soldiers shot by oithers as retaliation for trying to defect? See my comment on this below.]

Human rights groups fear that reprisals may get worse as the rebels advance on towns nearer the capital such as Al-Sabaa and Gheryan which are loyalist strongholds.

The author of the HRW report, Sidney Kwiram, last night called on rebel leaders to investigate the latest find. "It is critical that the authorities investigate what happened to these five men."

The bodies were discovered in a water tank just off the main road between Zintan, the main town in the area, and Al-Qawalish as the rebels consolidated their advance.

At the time, rebel commanders, including former government troops who had defected, claimed that the men were most probably killed by Col Gaddafi forces for trying to defect - a common allegation.

"The day of our first assault on Al Qawalish we found the bodies there, and they were already in bad shape," said Col. Osama Ojweli, the military coordinator for the region.

"This is not unusual in Gaddafi's army. In other battles we have found men, their hands tied behind their backs with dusty wire and executed – we found them shot in the head by the regime."

A colonel, who defected last month and cannot be named, said: "If they think you might leave, they will shoot you." His claim was backed up by loyalists captured and held prisoner in the nearby town of Yafran.

But suspicions have been raised after the rebel authorities disposed of the bodies and bull-dozed the site where they were found.

Drivers also said they had military orders not to take journalists to the site. "If you go there I will ditch you in the desert," the driver of another news organisation reportedly said.

The rebel army is aware that NATO intervention on their side was justified by concern at regime human rights abuses in western capitals.

The Libyan Transitional National Council has now flown officials, including Abdulbaset Abumzirig, deputy minister of justice, to the Nafusa to investigate abuse claims.

"From what I have seen they are treating prisoners very well," he said. "We have promised to hand them back to their families after the war."

But Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch both said there were documented cases of extra-judicial killings by rebel forces, including deaths in custody under torture.

In particular, in the early phases of the uprising, loyalists and sub-Saharan Africans accused of being mercenaries were lynched. Since then, men in rebel-held areas suspected of being members of Col Gaddafi's security services have been taken from the homes, and subsequently found dead with their hands tied.

Both organisations say these are not on the scale of the abuses perpetrated by the regime. "We have come across a number of cases of executions of suspected Gaddafi fighters in both the east and the west," said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director of HRW.

"I does fit a consistent pattern, though I don't think these killings are authorised by the rebel authorities in Benghazi."

Diana Eltahawy, of Amnesty, said members of the Transitional National Council, the rebel government, had admitted to there being a problem with some of their troops but had not done enough to tackle it.

"There is no comparison with the Gaddafi side. But the concern is that there is not sufficient will to address this in the leadership," she said. "It needs to be stopped before it becomes worse."

My take on this:
It is a well-known fact that war atrocities are not limited to one side or the other; even in WW2 the Allies have been found wanting in this area. However, it would appear that there are many reasons for this happening, the two I highlighted above and also basic revenge for what has been done by the pro-G forces against the Libyan civilian population. Jumping to immediate conclusions, as many of these Human Rights activists do, is counter-productive, and slinging mud at either side is also not a good idea. Yes, we know Gadaffi has ordered many evil things to be done to his own people, so should we really be surprised when some of the rebels adopt his tactics? Let us wait until the end of all this and then sit in judgement on what has happened, not rake up things and use them as propaganda slanted one way or the other. Lamplighter

Sadly, individual bad acts do happen in these situations, it is the way of the world.
I am actually not sure that the rebels would pollute a water tank?

bb1 wrote:Sadly, individual bad acts do happen in these situations, it is the way of the world.
I am actually not sure that the rebels would pollute a water tank?

That also crossed my mind, whereas pro-G forces might well do just that. LL

Even in the fog of war, people don't usually pollute their own water....I will reserve judgement on this one.
Not that I don't think that the rebels as individuals will have taken a bit of personal payback - it would be a miracle if they hadn't - but a water tank in the desert?

Morning!

Al Jazeera:

Gaddafi rules out talks with Libya rebels
Assertion comes as rebels say they have captured one of Gaddafi's most important commanders on their way to Zliten.
Last Modified: 22 Jul 2011 00:03

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has ruled out talks with the rebels seeking to end his 41-year-rule.

"There will be no talks between me and them until Judgment Day," Gaddafi told a crowd of thousands of his supporters in his home city of Sirte on Thursday in a remotely delivered audio message. "They need to talk with the Libyan people ... and they will respond to them."

Gaddafi's remarks cast doubts on a flurry of recent Western efforts to negotiate an end to a deepening conflict.

In another speech broadcast by Libyan television, Gaddafi addressed "a meeting of Misurata tribes", calling for "a march on the city (east of Tripoli) to liberate it" from rebels.

Meanwhile, the rebels have escalated their offensive against Gaddafi's forces east of the capital Tripoli, capturing one of the most prominent government commanders along the way.

After two days of fighting, they moved their position to around 4km forward from Dafniyah, a small town between Zliten and Misurata.

"We move forward [now] towards Zliten," Ayman, an opposition field commander, said, referring to the coastal town 160km east of Tripoli.

"We are now close to an area called Tuesday Market in Zliten and, God willing, we will liberate our people in Zliten soon from the forces of the tyrant."

The Libyan government said that NATO air strikes targeted civilian sites in Zlitan. Foreign media were shown destroyed buildings and wounded civilians in the town.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Misurata, described General Abdul Nabih Zayed, the captured commander, as the one of the most high-value prisoners taken by the opposition to date.

Zayed allegedly co-ordinated the deployment of tanks into Misurata in March which triggered the recent fighting.

"According to the military commanders here in Misurata, Zayed was actually captured yesterday as they started their offensive towards the town of Zliten. He was slightly injured, so he was brought back to the hospital here in Misurata," she said.

"Its also a significant catch because it is happening at the time the opposition started their push towards Zliten. They have made significant territorial gains. Rebel commanders are saying they are interrogating General Zayed and they are hoping he will give them significant information."

Boobytrapped oilfields

In another claim on Thursday, opposition officials said Gaddafi forces had boobytrapped vital petroleum installations in Brega so they could be blown up if his forces lost the oil town.

Qatari munition-labelled boxes sent to Libya

Mahmoud Jibril, the opposition diplomatic chief, characterised Brega on Thursday as a "big minefield" and said some oil installations were "full of bombs, explosives".

The advance towards Brega has been slowed by vast quantities of anti-personnel mines planted by retreating Gaddafi loyalists and the difficulties in attacking an estimated 200 government troops fighting from positions near the oil facilities.

At least 72 opposition fighters have died and 623 others injured since the push was launched on July 14 for Brega, located 800km east of Tripoli and 240km southwest of Benghazi, the opposition stronghold.

On the war's western front, opposition commanders said they were awaiting orders from Benghazi to start a fresh offensive from the Nafusa Mountains just days before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Energy shortage

With no end to the conflict in sight, the Libyan opposition is seeking new supply deals to import fuels into eastern parts of the country to help alleviate energy shortages, a source in the opposition oil ministry said on Thursday.

Even in peacetime the oil producer still needed to import some fuels because of insufficient refining capacity. Increased military demand and damage to oil infrastructure have further boosted import requirements.

"Vitol are providing some fuels but I'm not sure it's enough to serve the whole country. They are pursuing other suppliers," a source in the opposition oil ministry said.

Vitol, a trading firm, has been the opposition's major oil trading partner since the war began and has regularly shipped cargoes of oil products including diesel - badly needed to keep the country running.

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from the eastern town of Jalu, said the Gaddafi forces have repeatedly crossed the eastern desert south of Benghazi to destroy oilfield infrustructure.

"In early July, they attacked a pumping station in Field 103, southwest of Jalu, and boobytrapped the engine room with landmines," she said.

"War has brought oil production in Libya to a standstill. And Gaddafi is determined to prevent the opposition in the east from starting its own oil business."

Link as videos not yet on you tube: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/07/2011721232433682725.html

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

12 hours 52 min ago

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reports on how "the fight in Libya is slowly shifting from territory to resources"



12 hours 53 min ago

Gaddafi forces have boobytrapped vital petroleum installations in Brega so they can be blown up if his forces lose the town.

Mahmoud Jibril, the opposition diplomatic chief, characterised Brega on Thursday as a "big minefield" and said some oil installations were "full of bombs, explosives".

1 day 4 hours ago

While France says Muammar Gaddafi could stay in Libya if he gives up power, revels on the ground were planning their next strategy.

Gaddafi loyalists have been making it hard for rebels to break the months-long seige. Opposition fighters have been aided by NATO strikes but the battle appears far from over.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid reports from the western front near Misurata.

Good evening: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/07/201172304953864716.html (link as there is a pic worth seeing, which illustrates the madness of the colonel!)

Al Jazeera:

Central Tripoli 'rocked by five explosions'

Libyan capital hit by series of blasts thought to be the result of NATO airstrikes.
Last Modified: 23 Jul 2011 01:08

The Libyan capital was rocked by a series of explosions, thought to be the result of NATO airstrikes, early on Saturday, the Reuters news agency reported.

Four blasts rocked the hotel were international media were based and a fifth was heard slightly further off, the agency quoted witness as saying.

There was no official word on what were the possible targets or if there were any casualties.

Earlier, the opposition has escalated its offensive against Gaddafi's forces east of Tripoli, capturing one of the most prominent government commanders along the way.

After two days of fighting, they moved their position to about 4km forward from Dafniyah, a small town between Zliten and Misurata, on Thursday.

"We move forward [now] towards Zliten," said Ayman, an opposition field commander, referring to the coastal town 160km east of Tripoli.

Qatari munition-labelled boxes sent to Libya

"We are now close to an area called Tuesday Market in Zliten and, God willing, we will liberate our people in Zliten soon from the forces of the tyrant."

The Libyan government said that NATO air strikes targeted civilian sites in Zliten. Foreign media were shown destroyed buildings and wounded civilians in the town.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Misurata, described General Abdul Nabi Zayed, the captured commander, as one of the most high-value prisoners taken by the opposition to date.

Zayed allegedly co-ordinated the deployment of tanks into Misurata in March which triggered the recent fighting.

"According to the military commanders here in Misurata, Zayed was actually captured yesterday as they started their offensive towards the town of Zliten. He was slightly injured, so he was brought back to the hospital here in Misurata," she said.

"Its also a significant catch because it is happening at the time the opposition started their push towards Zliten. They have made significant territorial gains. Rebel commanders are saying they are interrogating General Zayed and they are hoping he will give them significant information."

While Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has ruled out talks with the opposition fighters seeking to end his 41-year-rule, a spokesman for his government has expressed interest in entering into a dialogue with the US.

"There will be no talks between me and them until Judgment Day," Gaddafi told a crowd of thousands of his supporters in his home city of Sirte on Thursday in a remotely delivered audio message. "They need to talk with the Libyan people ... and they will respond to them."

The remarks came as his foreign minister reportedly met his Russian counterpart to discuss the Libyan leader's exit from the country.

Gaddafi's representatives are reportedly ready to hold more "productive" talks with senior US officials, a Libyan government spokesman said on Friday.

The statement followed a meeting between representatives of the two governments in Tunisia last weekend.

"We did explain many things to American officials. We realised they did not have the full picture; we corrected much misinformation," he said.

The spokesman also said that the Libyan government remained "very powerful" despite five months of war with the fighters and a NATO bombing campaign.

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

1 day 11 hours ago - Libya

Qatar has sent at least 200 tonnes of aid, including medical supplies, to help Libyan opposition forces since foreign support began to arrive. The Qatari air force showed Al Jazeera a cargo plane bound for Libya containing computers, printers, rice, milk and sugar.

The main cargo on the plane were a military police unit and some intelligence personnel. Also on the plane were four trucks full of wooden boxes which were clearly marked "munitions".

Al Jazeera was unable to find out if they were for the Qatari security forces to use or the rebels. But the trucks were driven away by men who told Al Jazeera they had recently joined the pro-democracy fighters.

Al Jazeera's Rosie Garthwaite reports from an air base in Benghazi.

Qatar has supported the pro-democracy rebels from the start, I think?

bb1 wrote:Qatar has supported the pro-democracy rebels from the start, I think?

Yes, right up front, a tiny country but with as great heart! LL

Good morning!

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

2 hours 11 min ago

Airstrikes hit a south-eastern area of the Libyan capital Tripoli early on Sunday.

The sound of a fighter plane, followed by an explosion at 1 am (2300GMT), sent up a huge cloud of white smoke, not far from the sprawling compound of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi at Bab al-Aziziyah.

Libyan state television said NATO air strikes struck the Libyan capital but gave no further details.

6 hours 30 min ago

Explosions rocked the Libyan capital early on Sunday, Reuters witnesses said, sending a giant plume of smoke into the air. Libyan state television said NATO air strikes struck the Libyan capital but gave no further details.
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Assorted reports including a long one about how Libyan women are coping at this time: http://feb17.info/

Good moirning:

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

10 hours 4 min ago

Libyan opposition forces have repelled an offensive by government troops in the town of Qwalish.

Sunday's attack was aimed at recapturing the strategic desert town, southwest of the capital Tripoli.

Witnesses said dozens of civilians were sent to the area just before the attack. Opposition fighters seized control of the region earlier this month.

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Telegraph:

Germany makes £88 million available to Libyan rebels

Germany has said it was making available to the Libyan rebel National Transitional Council up to 100 million euros (£88 million) in loans for civilian and humanitarian purposes.

1:08AM BST 25 Jul 2011

"Because of Colonel Gaddafi's war against his own people the situation in Libya is extremely difficult," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement issued in Berlin.

"There is a lack of means to build up the necessary structures and to relieve supply shortages, all the way from medical equipment to food. People are suffering more and more as a result, particularly in eastern Libya."

On the battlefield, the rebels said 16 of their men were killed in two days of fighting for Zliten, the last coastal city between insurgent-held Misurata and the capital.

The insurgents have been trying for weeks to take Zliten, 120 miles from Tripoli and 40 kilometres west of Misurata.

The rebels say they have chased the bulk of Kadhafi's forces from Brega in the east and are poised to advance toward the capital from Misurata and their other western enclave in the Nafusa Mountains, southwest of Tripoli.

Rebels at Brega now face "negligible" resistance, military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani said.

In the west, the Nafusa campaign is focused on Asabah, gateway to the garrison town of Gharyan on the highway to Tripoli.

Nato warplanes blitzed a string of military targets in Tripoli on Sunday, an official said, as embattled Libyan leader Gaddafi blamed a "colonial plot" for the conflict engulfing his country.

"In Tripoli there were two command and control nodes, two surface-to-air missile launchers and one anti-aircraft gun (hit)," a Nato official said from the mission's headquarters in Naples, Italy.

Gaddafi said late on Saturday in an audio message broadcast on state television that the unrest that has swept his country since a popular uprising erupted mid-February was a "colonial plot." He did not elaborate.

He also denied accusations by international rights groups of a brutal suppression of dissent and allegations that his regime had killed thousands of protesters.

"They lie to you and say, 'Libya kills its people with bullets, that is why we have come to protect civilians'," Kadhafi said, referring to the Nato air campaign which was mandated by the United Nations with the aim of protecting civilians in Libya.

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

The latest Nato strikes came after rebel forces said they had lost 16 fighters east of Tripoli and had infiltrated the capital and attacked a regime command post where a son of the strongman was among officials targeted.

The rebels, who have been fighting to oust Kadhafi for more than five months, said the assault "seriously injured" a high-ranking member of Kadhafi's security forces.

On Thursday, "there was an attack on an operations centre of top regime officials, including Seif al-Islam Kadhafi," National Transitional Council vice President Ali Essawy said after meeting Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini in Rome.

He said one person was "seriously injured," identifying him as a high-ranking security official.

Frattini said the "rocket attack against an operations centre" probably in a Tripoli hotel was aimed at "top officials ... including Kadhafi's son Seif, and the head of the secret service, Abdullah al-Senussi."

On Thursday, unconfirmed rumours swirled that rebels in Tripoli had tried to assassinate senior regime members that day.

Libyan officials denied the attack occurred and denounced as "criminal and unjustified" what they said were Nato raids that killed six guards at a pipeline factory south of an oil plant in the eastern town of Brega.

"There was no attack," government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told reporters of the rebels' claims that they had attacked a Tripoli command post.

Rebel forces, he said, were losing their battles in the east of the country and to the southwest and were trying "to boost their morale with lies and small victories."

Feb 17 Libya News:

Rebel Chief Says Gadhafi, Family Can Stay in Libya
Posted on July 25, 2011 by v1d

The head of Libya’s opposition movement says leader Moammar Gadhafi and his family may stay in the country as long as they give up power and rebel leaders determine where and under what conditions they remain.

In an exclusive interview with The Wall Street Journal Sunday, Mustafa Abdel Jalil said Mr. Gadhafi’s ability to stay in Libya “will have conditions.” He said opposition forces “will decide where he stays and who watches him,” and that the same restrictions will apply to his family.

Jalil’s comments appeared to soften his position, and echo recent statements by French, U.S. and Italian officials. The rebel leader made similar remarks earlier this month, but had to issue a quick denial after protests erupted in the opposition’s eastern stronghold, Benghazi.

Jalil spoke to the Journal Sunday during his first visit to the rebel-held western mountains region since he was chosen to lead the Transitional National Council in February.

Rebel chief Mustafa Abdul Jalil says says Gadhafi and family can stay in Libya

In the interview, Jalil also said Qatar has sent military personnel to the western mountains to train rebel fighters and build an operational command center. The Journal quoted Qatari representatives accompanying Jalil as saying the Gulf nation recently increased the quantity and improved the type of military aid it is sending to the rebels.

Earlier Sunday, Germany said it is offering loans of up to $144 million to the rebel council to help with humanitarian needs and rebuilding.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said his country is granting the loans because the Mr. Gadhafi’s frozen assets cannot be released to the opposition at this time. He said the loans will provide a way to help the rebel council build up “necessary structures” and overcome a shortage of supplies.

The offer follows a meeting this month in Turkey, where more than 30 nations announced their support for the council.

NATO carried out more airstrikes in Libya’s capital, Tripoli. Witnesses say there was at least one explosion near a residence of Mr. Gadhafi early Sunday. There were no reports of casualties.

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Libya’s beleaguered leader, Muammar Qadhafi, has sent a delegation of senior officials to Egypt to sell Libya’s investments in Egypt, according Abdel Moneim al-Honi, representative of the Libyan National Transitional Council in Egypt.

The sale is intended to fund ongoing military operations against Libyan rebels, al-Honi told Al-Masry Al-Youm, adding that the assets are estimated at several billions of dollars.

According to Honi, the delegation to Egypt includes Libya’s Minister of Economics Mohamed al-Huweij and three other ministers. The officials are hoping to return to Tripoli with cash from any sales that are made.

Honi was Libya’s ambassador to the Arab League before breaking with Qadhafi’s regime and announcing his support for the Libyan rebel movement, which has been conducting an armed struggle since February.

Source: Al Masr Al Youm

The head of Libya’s opposition movement says leader Moammar Gadhafi and his family may stay in the country as long as they give up power and rebel leaders determine where and under what conditions they remain.


Hmmmm.....can't see that ending well.