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

bb1 wrote:Mainly good news, LL - but what is SA playing at?

Who knows, bonnie? I don't. What I do know is that the SA spokesman yesterday was insisting Gadaffi would not be given asylum there. Some more good news, the 4 Italian journalists kidnapped last night are no, I understand, free. LL

Ah, good, I missed that.
I do hope SA are not hoping for a sudden injection of money stolen from the people of Libya.

bb1 wrote:Ah, good, I missed that.
I do hope SA are not hoping for a sudden injection of money stolen from the people of Libya.

What they seem to be holding out against is the unfreezing of some assets - I will try and find a report on this and post it up. LL

http://feb17.info/

There are many reports etc on here, far too many to post up, so please have a look and read. Some of the reports are very interesting. LL

Washington Post:

US asks UN Security Council to unfreeze Libyan assets to bypass South African opposition

By Associated Press, Published: August 24

UNITED NATIONS — The United States asked the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to unfreeze $1.5 billion in Libyan assets for the cash-strapped rebels in a move to bypass opposition from South Africa, which has close ties to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

The Obama administration has been trying for more than two weeks to get the Security Council committee that monitors sanctions against Libya to unfreeze the assets, but diplomats said South Africa objected. In the committee, agreement of all 15 council nations is required.

To overcome the opposition, the United States decided to introduce a resolution before the full Council, which does not need a unanimous vote.

Mark Kornblau, spokesman for the U.S. Mission, told reporters after closed consultations that the United States will call for a vote at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) Thursday unless South Africa changes its mind and joins consensus in the sanctions committee before then.

“The urgent imperative here is to get these assets unfrozen in a way that they can get on the ground to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of the Libyan people,” Kornblau said.

“We expect it to have the necessary support to pass,” a U.S. diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. “It’s unfortunate it had to come to this point, but South Africa is being difficult.”

South Africa’s U.N. Ambassador Baso Sangqu told reporters his government is very concerned about the humanitarian situation in Libya but wants to wait for the outcome of an African Union meeting Thursday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. That meeting was expected to discuss recognition of the rebels’ National Transitional Council — now poised to take power in Libya.

He noted that neither his country — nor the African Union or United Nations — has recognized the Libyan opposition and expressed concern that the U.S.-backed resolution would imply recognition of the National Transitional Council.

The U.N. Security Council in February and March ordered all countries to freeze billions of dollars in assets of Gadhafi, key relatives, and members of his regime as well as the Libyan central bank, Libyan investment organizations and the National Oil Corporation. The aim was to punish the regime and cripple its response to protesters demanding change.

Britain, the U.S. and the European Union have called for the quick release of assets to help the National Transitional Council to rebuild the Libyan economy, restore essential services, reform the police and the army, and pay government salaries.

While the resolution introduced Wednesday focused on assets frozen in U.S, banks, council diplomats said a second resolution that will cover the U.N.’s mandate in a post-Gadhafi Libya will include proposals to unfreeze assets in other countries.

The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, would unfreeze up to $1.5 billion. It would provide up to $500 million to international humanitarian organizations “to respond to initial and currently anticipated humanitarian needs,” up to $500 million “to third-party vendors supplying fuel and other urgently needed humanitarian goods,” and up to $500 million to an internationally monitored fund set up in May by 22 nations and organizations to help the rebels.

It calls for the fund to earmark up to $400 million “for expenses related to the provision of social services, including education and health,” and up to $100 million “for food subsidies, electricity, and other humanitarian purchases for the Libyan people.”

Sangqu said South Africa agreed to release $500 million for the international humanitarian organizations, but the U.S. said it wanted the entire $1.5 billion package.

The $1.5 billion represents about half of the Gadhafi regime’s liquid assets that have been frozen in the United States. Much of the more than $30 billion in frozen assets in the U.S. is in real estate and other property holdings.

___

Hmm.
It's never good when my nose gets itchy.

BBC News Africa: Interesting aericle on Gadaffi's troops etc:

22 August 2011 Last updated at 16:28

Analysis: Why Gaddafi's crack troops melted away
By Shashank Joshi
Associate fellow, Royal United Services Institute

When one Libyan opposition activist reflected on the rebel advances into the city of Zawiya last week, he mused that "Eid could be a massive celebration indeed". He was wrong - the jubilation came much earlier.

As Tripoli was surrounded from three sides - east, south and west - government forces precipitously collapsed.

What at first might have been mistaken for a tactical withdrawal into urban areas, emerged more clearly as the disintegration of the government's most feared fighting units.

The vaunted Khamis Brigade - commanded by a son of Col Gaddafi - saw its barracks raided with impunity. Rebel convoys punched deep into Tripoli, meeting virtually no resistance.

Why did battle-hardened Libyan soldiers, fed on a diet of anti-rebel propaganda and willing to fight in the face of overwhelming Nato air power, melt away so suddenly?

The answer can only be speculative at this stage, but there are a few possibilities.

First, there was an element of retreat rather than a rout. Tripoli is unevenly pacified and the euphoria of Green Square obscures the continuing fighting in several suburbs.

The hundreds of rebels who flooded the streets of Tripoli have so far shown no interest in mass vengeance”

Western parts of the city are being progressively secured but enduring sniper fire shows that loyalists still remain willing to risk their lives for a crumbling regime.

Underground groups

Second, where soldiers did lay down their arms, the much-maligned National Transitional Council (NTC) deserves some credit.

Col Gaddafi's presidential guard surrendered in line with agreements it had earlier reached with the Benghazi leadership.

Over the past three months the NTC reportedly worked with Nato to arm underground groups in Tripoli.

As the noose tightened around Tripoli, these and other dissidents felt empowered to begin confronting the city's security forces.

Hence the weekend's patchwork urban revolts, some of them possibly cued by messages sent from mosques.

A remarkable amphibious assault on Tripoli demonstrated the extent of planning that underlay rebel operations, both in and outside of Tripoli, in recent days.

Third, Nato's relentless pounding of armour and artillery east of Zawiya greatly softened up government units, breaking down much of the resistance that would otherwise have slowed the rebel path.

Nato air raids on Tripoli may have worn away at the regime's ability to resist a rebel advance. As the war began to revolve around the periphery of the capital, Nato could concentrate its surveillance assets (including Predator drones) and firepower on smaller areas, exploiting intelligence transmitted directly by rebels on the ground.

On Saturday, three-quarters of all Nato targets were in the capital.

The role of Western special forces in forward air control (to guide air strikes) and rebel training is not yet understood, but seems likely to have been extensive.

This detracts nothing from the organic character of the NTC, but underscores the decisive impact of Nato's decision to serve as the rebel air force.

What about the aftermath? The possibility of ad hoc retributive justice is inevitable in post-revolutionary environments.

It would be naive to discount the possibility of serious violence, but talk of a bloodbath looks overblown. The hundreds of rebels who flooded the streets of Tripoli have so far shown no interest in mass vengeance.

Nonetheless, the NTC is under unprecedented international and Libyan scrutiny, and will be held responsible even for isolated abuses by forces nominally under its command.

Even small provocations could see the group outflanked by political competitors with their own claims to representing aggrieved groups.

Liberal constitution
Nato member states have little appetite for a peacekeeping force. They believe that a Western military footprint would inflame regional tensions.

Nor is the NTC eager for something that would further complicate efforts to establish its authenticity and independence.

The UK and France know that this revolution requires ownership, particularly as details of Nato's expansive role trickles out over the coming months. But unobtrusive and discreetly supplied advice on urban policing and the disarmament of militias would be helpful.

One crucial task is the swift repair of damaged oil and gas infrastructure. The restoration of export revenues would finance reconstruction and provide the transitional government with the resources to meet high expectations.

But even this requires sensitive policy - any suggestion that an interim and unelected government was apportioning revenue unfairly could poison the process of institution building. Iraq's difficulties in this regard should furnish important lessons.

In the longer-term, there is a paradox to Libya's revolution. The same factors that gives rise to a power vacuum - the absence of national institutions and an independent military establishment - could also enable the creation of a new Libyan state, free from predatory vested interests of the sort that are buffeting Egypt's democrats.

The NTC's draft constitution is an impeccably liberal document, promising to fill that vacuum with inclusive and pluralistic structures of government.

That promise may flounder on the cross-cutting tribal, religious and regional fault-lines of Libya's war, but its best prospect of redemption lies in persuading the wary that their best chance of equitable treatment lies in the restoration of political authority.

Shashank Joshi is an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a defence think tank, and a doctoral student of international relations at Harvard University.

Reuters:

S.Africa not assisting Gaddafi to exit: minister
Mon Aug 22, 2011 8:50am GMT

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa is not facilitating Muammar Gaddafi's exit from Libya after rebels swept into Tripoli and knows that the Libyan leader will not seek asylum in the southern African country, Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said on Monday.

Nkoana-Mashabane also denied at a media briefing in Johannesburg that South Africa had sent aircraft to Libya for Gaddafi's exit and said Gaddafi's current whereabouts are not known.

"Should we start speculating if he is going to ask for asylum in South Africa? No, we will not speculate because we know, yes for sure, that he will not ask to come here," Nkoana-Mashabane told reporters.

"I am quite amazed that there is even an insinuation that we are facilitating the exit of anyone," she added.

South African President Jacob Zuma has spearheaded a mediation effort by the African Union but two personal visits to Libya by the South African leader this year failed to produce a tangible outcome.

Zuma has been critical of NATO air strikes on Libya saying the United Nations resolution authorising intervention had been abused.

South Africa will not recognise a rebel government at this time. "As far as we are concerned, if this government falls, there is no government," Nkoana-Mashabane said.

She said widespread speculation that South Africa had sent aircraft to Libya was untrue.

"The South African government would like to refute and dispel the rumours that it has sent planes to Libya to fly individuals to some undisclosed locations or South Africa".

Al Jazeera:

Libyan rebels explore Gaddafi's bunker
Fighters comb through underground tunnel network beneath the Bab al-Aziziyah compound.
Last Modified: 25 Aug 2011 10:27

Al Jazeera has gained access to part of an underground tunnel network beneath Muammar Gaddafi's compound in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

Fighting for overall control of the area around Bab al-Aziziyah is still ongoing.

Our correspondent Andrew Simmons and cameraman Justin Okines joined rebel fighters as they combed Gaddafi's underground hideouts.

Not just my nose twitching then, LL?

bb1 wrote:Not just my nose twitching then, LL?

Dunno, Bonnie, I think we just have to wait and see what happens. Oh, the rebels are now saying they think Gadaffi and sons might be holed up in some apartments near the compound. Will post up anything that I seee. Hey, we have passed 2,000 views! Can I cook or can't I? LL

Cookin' with gas, LL

CNN:

Watch this! They may have Gadaffi trapped! http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/08/25/libya.war/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Al Jazeera:

Evidence of 'mass execution' in Tripoli

Al Jazeera correspondent finds bodies of men reportedly killed by Gaddafi forces just as rebels closed in on capital.

Last Modified: 25 Aug 2011 14:11

Al Jazeera has found evidence of a possible mass execution of political activists in Libya.

Visiting a hospital in Tripoli on Thursday, Al Jazeera's James Bays said he saw the bodies of 15 men suspected to have been killed a few days earlier as the rebels closed in on the Libyan capital.

"The smell here is overpowering," Bays said from the hospital where a number of bodies lay.

"I have counted the bodies of 15 men we were told there were 17 here. Two bodies were taken away by relatives for burial."

"We are told these men were political activists who have been arrested over the last few days and weeks and being held near the Gaddafi compound. When the opposition fighters started to enter the compound we are told they were killed.

"Everyone I have spoken to who has looked at these injuries, all the medical staff, they say they believe that the injuries they see on the bodies of these men have the hallmark of a mass execution."

Bays said there were no forensic scientists at the hospital. Doctors there had taken photos of the exit and entry wounds on the bodies, with the intention of showing it to an expert at a later stage.

Hunt for Gaddafi

The grisly discovery came amid rumours that rebels had surrounded a Tripoli building where Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader now on the run, is reportedly hiding along with some of his sons.

"They are together. They are in a small hole," Muhammad Gomaa, one of the fighters involved in the battle near Bab al-Aziziya - Gaddafi's compound that was overrun by the rebels - told Reuters. "Today we finish. Today we will end that."

However, Al Jazeera's Sue Turton reporting from Tripoli, said "at the moment, these are rumours, we cannot confirm whether those reports are true or not."

The rebels are determined to find Gaddafi, and have offered amnesty and a reward to anyone who kills or captures the 69-year-old Libyan leader.

In Benghazi, the National Transitional Council (NTC) told a news conference on Wednesday that Libyan business people had contributed $1.7m for the cash reward.

"The NTC supports the initiative of businessmen who are offering two million dinars for the capture of Muammar Gaddafi, dead or alive," Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the NTC chief, said.

Gaddafi made an audio address broadcast earlier on Wednesday by the al-Rai television channel. In the address he called on Tripoli residents to repel the rebels' advance.

But rebel reinforcements have streamed into Tripoli to join in the fight against remnants of Gaddafi's forces.

Fighting on Thursday was concentrated along the perimeters of Bab al-Aziziya and the neighbouring Abu Salim district, where Gaddafi reportedly released, armed and paid former prisoners to fight for his regime.

A rebel spokesman told Al Jazeera that "Libyan territory is 90 to 95 per cent under the control of the rebellion".

Turton reported on Thursday that locals are very worried that there are going to be attacks by pro-Gaddafi supporters across the city.

"There are check points popping up all over the city. Locals are managing to get hold of weapons to police their streets," she said.

"There is a lot of nervousness … people are very worried that Gaddafi loyalists are coming through these streets

"We've been told about clashes as rebels try to regain control of Abu Salim, the pro-Gaddafi neighbourhood that took a lot of casualties yesterday when rebels took on Gaddafi loyalists there."

The fight for Sirte

Elsewhere in the country, rebel commanders said they are readying fresh attempts to advance against Gaddafi's forces in his hometown Sirte, 360km east of the capital and to break a siege of Zuwarah, a town to the west.

Jacky Rowland, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Ras Lanuf, 200km from Sirte, said rebels there were assembling heavy weaponry in anticipation of an assault on the Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte.

However, Scott Heidler, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the eastern city of Benghazi, said there had already been a stop to rebel advancement towards the Gaddafi stronghold.

"So we are facing a battle in the coming hours," he said.

Rebels advancing towards Sirte were also blocked on Wednesday in the town of Bin Jawad as loyalists kept up stiff resistance.

Libya for the free website:

Hospital receives execution victims
A Tripoli hospital has received the bodies of 17 civilians believed to have been executed in recent days by government forces in Gaddafi’s compound in the capital, a British medical worker said today.

“Yesterday a truck arrived at the hospital with 17 dead bodies,” Kirsty Campbell of the International Medical Corps told Reuters.

“The bodies were rounded up 10 days ago. They were found in Bab al-Aziziya when the revolutionaries went in. The men were shot, execution style,” she said.

The wounds were not battlefield injuries, she said.

Freedom fighters overran the fortified Bab al-Aziziya complex, the centre of Gaddafi’s power, on Tuesday.

She said there had been reports of more bodies, but added: “I myself counted 17 last night.”

Campbell said family members had identified the victims.

Oh God. I shudder to think what is going to be found in coming days.

A huge thank you from me too, LL.

lily wrote:A huge thank you from me too, LL.

Why thank you me wee darling! I didn't do much, you know, just posted things up for people to read .... LL

You posted good articles up, LL.

Reports are coming in that the rebels - the government? - have found enormous stockpiles of food, medicine and fuel.

Good morning!

Al Jazeera: Link as there are vidoes not yet on you tube: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/08/2011826573517261.html

Libyan rebels storm Gaddafi stronghold area

Situation in capital volatile as rebels sweep into Abu Salim neighbourhood to clear pockets of resistance.
Last Modified: 26 Aug 2011 06:56

Libya's rebels have stepped up their assault on the capital Tripoli, storming the Abu Salim neighbourhood as they continue to clear pockets of resistance in what is seen as the last stronghold of Muammar Gaddafi.

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from Tripoli on Friday morning, described the situation as "volatile and fluid", adding that "it's difficult to give a good overview".

"It's quite a hard place to get around because of the checkpoints and because of flash points," he said.

"Overall the last 24 hours have been a little more peaceful than the previous 24 hours. In most of the city things seem to be improving.

"But there are these flash points, like Abu Salim, where there are Gaddafi loyalists and where there have been opposition forces going there to ... clear those Gaddafi loyalists and there have been some heavy gun battles."

Flushing out snipers

Rebel fighters swept through houses and side streets to flush out snipers and were emerging with dozens of prisoners as gunfights were going on, the Reuters news agency reported.

Local residents, some with children, were in cars trying to get out of the neighbourhood, where support for Gaddafi has traditionally been strong, the report stated.

Residents have been told to stay inside for their own safety, Al Jazeera correspondents reported.

Meanwhile, fighting continued in several other key areas, including the Tripoli neighbourhoods of Ghargour and Bab al-Aziziya.

Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte was also still not under rebel control as of Friday, and rebel brigades heading there from the east were pushed back by air and ground counter-offensives, Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reported from the frontline on the road to the town of Ras Lanuf.

The rebels have offered a reward to anyone who kills or captures the 69-year-old Gaddafi, whose whereabouts and those of his powerful sons remain unknown.

Despite the ongoing clashes, Sean Foley, a scholar at the Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation in Malaysia, said the rebels had overcome hurdles in six months to remove a "well-entrenched" regime.

"This is an opposition force that only six months ago didn't exist," he told Al Jazeera.

"Over the last six months it has built an impressive array of allies around the world, and it's fought a war on the ground against a well-entrenched, well-financed and well-though out opposition and government.

"This opposition and government in-waiting has been extremely impressive. It seems to be only a matter of time before they finish what they need to do."

Moving to Tripoli

The fighting came as the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) announced that it would transfer its leadership to Tripoli from its Benghazi base.

Ali Tarhouni, a senior NTC official, said leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil would arrive in Tripoli as soon as the security situation permitted.

The rebels were boosted in part by a United Nations decision to release $1.5bn in seized Libyan assets to be used for emergency aid, in a decision that came after the United States and South Africa ended a dispute over the money.

The assets were frozen in US banks, but South Africa had blocked the release on the Security Council's sanctions committee, saying it would imply recognition of the NTC.

The last-minute accord with South Africa meant that the United States did not press for a Security Council vote. A new request was immediately made and approved by the Libya sanctions committee, diplomats said.

"The money will be moving within days," a US diplomat said.

The new request made no mention of the NTC, only that the money would be directed through the "relevant authorities."

Washington said on Thursday the money would pay for UN programmes, energy bills, health, education and food, and would not be used for any "military purposes".

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

1 hour 35 min ago

Al Jazeera's James Bays reporting live from Tripoli says the security situation is still dangerous and volatile, but has improved slightly.

"This last 24 hours has been better than the 24 hours before," Bays said.

Al Jazeera: 25 Aug 2011

The headquarters of Libya's intelligence services - a notorious symbol of Muammar Gaddafis 42-year rule - is now firmly in rebel hands.

Detailed reports on anyone opposing him would come directly to this building. Parts of the compound also served as a prison, with secret cells housing many Libyans that the regime would make disappear.

The building is full of confidential documents that could provide a valuable insight into what was one of the world's most secretive regimes.

But it will take weeks to sift through.

Jamal Elshayyal reports from Tripoli in this Al Jazeera Exclusive.

Al Jazeera: 25 Aug 2011

Al Jazeera's correspondent James Bays visited a hospital in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, where he saw the bodies of 15 men - believed to be civilians killed in a mass execution. He had this report.

[Note: this report contains images that may offend sensitive viewers]
Category:

Al Jazeera 24 August 2011:

Maram Wafa, a resident of Tripoli, spoke to Al Jazeera earlier and urged everyone in the city to "please remain [at] home, remain safe because the city is full of snipers".

"The city is really not safe, even if it is under our control still it is really not safe, we really have to be careful," she told Al Jazeera.