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

Transitional Libyan government faces challenges
Published 12 September 2011 02:19

Revolutionary forces have been asked to answer to Mahmoud Jibril, who will head the interim government to be announced next week. Libya's National Transitional Council faces disagreement between the NTC's political and military leadership.

Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra reports from Tripoli.

Oh, thank the Lord you are back, LL News keeps happening.

Hope you had nice hols

bb1 wrote:Oh, thank the Lord you are back, LL News keeps happening.

Hope you had nice hols

Yes I am back and had a good time! What news? Doesn't seem to be much on here at all from when I went - I expected to read pages of stuff .... maybe the fun and games with bentit etc kind of overtook the Libya thingy! Never mind, you didn't manage to break the thread after all! LL

I meant to do it properly today, honest, and then the hater trolls ended up all over the Sun....

bb1 wrote:I meant to do it properly today, honest, and then the hater trolls ended up all over the Sun....

It's okay, I was joshing you! But if this is still going on in November you will have to look after this thread again as I will be away for 2 weeks. Oh, the joys of being retired and able to go places as and when you like!!!! I may stay retired .... LL

We've been keeping them Trolls at bay, LL. And we never told them nuffink about where you were, even on pain of death.
And I broke all my fingernails fighting them off at the ramparts. And Bonny was trying hard not to wreck the board in her incitement, sorry, excitement.

Sabot wrote:
We've been keeping them Trolls at bay, LL. And we never told them nuffink about where you were, even on pain of death.
And I broke all my fingernails fighting them off at the ramparts. And Bonny was trying hard not to wreck the board in her incitement, sorry, excitement.

Bonsoir, ma petite! I trust you have been having much fun with the nutters and trolls - and knowing you, I think the answer to that is a resounding yes!! LL

Lamplighter wrote:

Sabot wrote:
We've been keeping them Trolls at bay, LL. And we never told them nuffink about where you were, even on pain of death.
And I broke all my fingernails fighting them off at the ramparts. And Bonny was trying hard not to wreck the board in her incitement, sorry, excitement.

Bonsoir, ma petite! I trust you have been having much fun with the nutters and trolls - and knowing you, I think the answer to that is a resounding yes!! LL

Actually, I am gobsmacked, LL. Again. Too, too funny. But we all missed you. xx

Sabot wrote:

Lamplighter wrote:

Sabot wrote:
We've been keeping them Trolls at bay, LL. And we never told them nuffink about where you were, even on pain of death.
And I broke all my fingernails fighting them off at the ramparts. And Bonny was trying hard not to wreck the board in her incitement, sorry, excitement.

Bonsoir, ma petite! I trust you have been having much fun with the nutters and trolls - and knowing you, I think the answer to that is a resounding yes!! LL

Actually, I am gobsmacked, LL. Again. Too, too funny. But we all missed you. xx

I missed you all too, but it is my rule that when I'm away I don't go near the internet! It does seem to have been quite an active and uproariously funny seven days!! LL

Glad to see you back LL, , hope you had a nice holiday

More on Cameron and Sarkozy visiting Libya:

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16069947

Glad to see medical aid is getting on, and the most severly injured will recieve specialist treatment.

Good morning!

Al Jazeera:


Libyan fighters battle for Sirte
Casualties reported as NTC fighters push towards the coastal city amid heavy fire from loyalists of the deposed leader.
Last Modified: 16 Sep 2011 05:18

Fighters loyal to the interim Libyan National Transitional Council have reached the outskirts of Sirte from three fronts in an assault on Muammar Gaddafi's hometown and last strongholds.

NTC leaders described the offensive as a co-ordinated push to take Sirte - a city of about 100,000 people - from the south, east, west and along the coast.

But reports say their advance has been hindered by snipers among the loyalists of the toppled Libyan leader.

At least 11 NTC fighters have been killed and 34 wounded in the assualt, according to a statement by the Misrata Military Council.

"The fighters entered the Sirte area on Thursday but did not reach the city," Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid reported from Ajdabiya, in northeastern Libya.

"They pushed from the west to al-Gharbiyat bridge and then retreated to Wadi Jarif, a valley about 36km away from the city centre."

Referring to the continuing crackdown by Gaddafi loyalists on the rest of the population, she said: "There is a growing concern about the fate of civilians."

A convoy of fighters had set out from Misrata, a port city, early on Thursday before splitting at the crossroads town of Abu Qurin, and a commander said they would approach Sirte in a pincer movement.

"We are turning the tables on Gaddafi. We were attacked in Misrata on three fronts, and now we're going to attack Sirte on three fronts," Fawzy Sawawy, commander of the Mountains Brigade, said.

Stiff resistance

The anti-Gaddafi forces were facing rocket fire, according to a member of the NTC's military council.

Ali Gliwan said fighters who crossed a major highway overpass at the southwestern entrance of Sirte, were met by rocket fire from Gaddafi loyalists.

Jalal el-Gallal, a spokesman for Libya's new leaders, said several thousand fighters were involved, backed with tanks and mechanised vehicles.

The fighters advanced into the city centre, clashing with snipers holed up in a high-rise office tower - and with members of an elite unit of Gaddafi troops barricaded in a residence of the leader on the beach, Gliwan said.

He said four fighters on his side had been killed and seven wounded.

It was unclear how decisive the entry into Sirte was, however.

Last week, fighters claimed to have fought their way into another loyalist stronghold, Bani Walid, west of Sirte, but they were driven back by powerful resistance and their movement there has stalled.

Gaddafi's whereabouts remain a mystery, but his loyalists hold those two cities, the city of Sabha and other pockets in central and southern Libya.

Thursday's assault came as the French and British leaders travelled to Libya to congratulate the country's new rulers, the first visit by Western leaders since Gaddafi was ousted from power last month.

Gaddafi's spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, criticised the joint visit to Tripoli by Nicolas Sarkozy and David Cameron, calling the aid provided by the two countries to the NTC a ploy "to get the oil and investments of Libya under the guise of reconstruction".

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, is scheduled to visit Libya on Friday as part of his North African tour.

Al Jazeera: (3 days ago - the taking of Bani Walid)

Anti-Gaddafi Forces Enter Regime Stronghold
Uploaded on 12 Sep 2011

Anti-Gaddafi fighters have entered the Libyan town of Bani Walid, one of the last strongholds of the former regime.

Earlier hundreds of anti-Gaddafi fighters moved into the outskirts of the city where they faced a barrage of rocket fire and bullets from snipers.

It is believed they finally entered the city through its northern gate on Monday night.

The advance came after the Niger government confirmed that 32 members of Gaddafi's inner circle - including his son Saadi and three generals - have now crossed into the country.

Rebel commanders have said the resistance in Bani Walid is much stiffer than expected with an estimated 600 pro-Gaddafi fighters holed up in the residential areas of the city.

At least seven anti-Gaddafi fighters have been killed and several dozen injured in the latest phase of the assault that began late on Saturday.

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has remained defiant - and issued a message on Syria's al Rai TV, where he described the opposition forces as traitors and willing to turn over Libya's oil riches to foreign interests.

A few miles outside the city, where journalists are being held at a rebel checkpoint, Nato jets were heard overhead.

As pick-up trucks carrying fighters clutching semi-automatic weapons head towards the frontline, a few cars carrying families fleeing the city speed in the opposite direction along the desert road.

In one car with a wheelchair strapped to the roof, a disabled man was driving his wife, three young girls and two-week-old baby boy to safety.

"We could hear the rockets being fired all around us, we had to leave to be safe," he said.

Those escaping Bani Walid, a city of 100,000 people, say that food and fuel supplies are running short.

Large numbers of residents are reported to be trapped between the opposing forces as the anti-government fighters try to advance.

The pro-Gaddafi fighters still seem to be firing heavy weapons despite several days of Nato airstrikes.

There is speculation that they are protecting senior figures in the regime, including Saif al Islam, Col Gaddafi's son, who was seen in the city last week.

Libya's interim rulers, the National Transitional Council, (NTC) believe that the battle for Bani Walid could be the last stand of the ousted Gaddafi regime.

They believe that victory there will convince other remaining regime strongholds, including the leader's hometown of Sirte, to surrender.

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

39 min 9 sec ago

Officials say the US is taking an increasingly active role to secure thousands of rocket launchers, mines and small arms from Gaddafi's once vast arsenal in Libya.

The fear is that the loose weapons could either fuel an insurgency or fall into the hands of al-Qaeda or other extremists operating across North Africa.

US officials say the Obama administration is sending several additional weapons experts to Libya to help train local units to locate and destroy weapons. The US has two such contractors there already.

The focus is on the estimated 20,000 shoulder-launched missiles called MANPADs which Gadhafi assembled during his four-decade rule. The weapon can be used to shoot down helicopters or civil jetliners.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential plans.

51 min 9 sec ago

US President Barack Obama will meet with Libya's interim leader, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, the White House said.

The meeting with the leader of the National Transitional Council will come as Western nations pledge to stand by Libya's rebels as they build up their government after overthrowing Muammar Gaddafi.

1 hour 11 min ago

The UN General Assembly credentials committee has recommended that the GA accept the NTC representative, Abdurrahman Mohamed Shelgham, as the ambassador of Libya.

But it is expected that Venezuela will force a vote on the issue, which if passed, would allow for the NTC representatives to regain the Libyan seat at the UN, and would also allow will interim PM Mahmoud Jibril to speak at the General Assembly next week.

1 hour 56 min ago

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from Libya, said, "[Erdogan] talked about how the age of tyranny and dictatorship is over".

"Basically, Erdogan said to the people of Sirte, 'Come and join the party, since there is no reason why you'd stand outside of this. Join your brothers in Tripoli and Benghazi'."

"He's watching what we are watching, the final conclusive battles for Libya," our correspondent said.

2 hours 6 min ago

Erdogan's speech continues: "I believe in their hearts. The people of Sirte also have this support for their movement. They're just hoping and asking that there is no more delay and no more need for any more blood to be shed so we can hold kind of meetings that we are holding here in Sirte as well .. The NTC may encounter difficultes. But Libya belongs to the people of Libya and must remain continue to blong to the people of Libya and never turn into an Iraq."

2 hours 14 min ago

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, at an event in Tripoli with Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said:
We are looking forward to a democratic Islamic country that will make use of the experiments of the Turkish. Islam is really able to boost and support the economy and tackle the main elements for the good of the people.

4 hours 22 min ago

Our correspondent, Hoda Abdel Hamid, sent this update from Om Gandi, 90km from Sirte:

"One fighter who claims he came out of Sirte last night says revolutionary forces are controlling some areas inside Sirte. But the situation is quite dire for civilians there, he says. They are missing absolutely everything.

"He says they have been under siege by Gaddafi forces for at least three months."

4 hours 53 min ago

Reuters: Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) is insisting on vetting 3,000 mainly sub-Saharan migrants stranded in the southern town of Sabha before they are evacuated abroad because it wants to ensure that none were mercenaries fighting for deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi, an aid agency said on Friday.

5 hours 19 min ago

Libya's Arabian Gulf Oil Company (Agoco) has said that it expects output from the eastern oilfield in Sarir to rise steadily to 200,000 barrels per day by the end of September, Reuters reports.

At that rate of output, one export cargo will be possible every ten days.

"We are producing 150,000 bpd from 100 wells. We will try to get to 200,000 bpd by the end of the month," said Abdeljalil Mayuf, spokesman for Agoco.

Agoco is the only company known to be pumping oil in Libya at the moment.

5 hours 22 min ago

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid has just been reporting live from Om Gandil, about 90km outside Sirte. She has just spoken to Makhlouf al-Firjan, a man identifying himself as a spokesman for the opposition fighters inside Sirte.

Firjan said that western, northern and southern parts of Sirte are already under the control of the opposition. He said that the situation for civilians inside the city was dire, with no water or electricity, and barely any food. The town has been under blockade from opposition forces over the last two weeks, and Firjan said it had been under siege by pro-Gaddafi forces for several months before that.

The opposition spokesman said that they were confident that Sirte would fall very soon.

The difficulty facing the opposition in Sirte is the eastern flank, on which there are many towns and villages inhabited by Gaddafi supporters.

Meanwhile, in Bani Walid, fighters from Misrata are in the process of carrying out an attack on the city, with some reports suggesting that there are opposition fighters inside the town.

Looks like Gaddafi's snipers are causing problems again, LL:

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16071474

quote:

One doctor who's been treating the ever-increasing number of casualties told us the front ranks of the revolutionary fighters are being outflanked by snipers.
As they move in between the houses, they're finding themselves completely surrounded - left with no way out as the bullets rain down.

Good morning:

Al Jazeera:

Libyan fighters meet stiff resistance
Casualties reported as NTC fighters take on pro-Gaddafi forces in bid to capture strongholds of Sirte and Bani Walid.
Last Modified: 16 Sep 2011 23:21

Supporters of Muammar Gaddafi have put up fierce resistance against offensives trying to storm two of the deposed Libyan leader's last strongholds.

Loyalists forced the National Transitional Council's fighters into retreat in the mountains on Friday, and turned Sirte into an urban battlefield.

In the mountain enclave of Bani Walid, about 140km southeast of Tripoli, NTC forces pulled back after a day of intense fighting that failed to dislodge pro-Gaddafi sharpshooters in strategic positions.

In Sirte, Gaddafi's birthplace on the Mediterranean coast, his backers rained gunfire down high-rise buildings on fighters pushing into the city from the west, while in the streets the two sides battered each other with high-caliber machine guns, rockets and rocket-propelled grenades.

The tough defence displayed the firepower and resolve of the Gaddafi followers and suggested Libya's new rulers may not easily push aside the remnants of the old regime.

"They had to retreat [from Bani Walid] because they came under heavy shelling by Gaddafi forces," Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Ras Lanuf, said.

"The fighters also had to retreat from Sirte due to fierce retaliation by Gaddafi forces."

Gaddafi's spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, in hiding like his leader, spoke after the fighting on Friday, telling the Syria-based Arrai TV channel about the NTC retreat and again warning that pro-Gaddafi forces were gathering arms and equipment in preparation for a "long war".

"The battle is far from over," he said. "We assure everybody that the Sirte and Bani Walid fronts are strong, despite the heavy, unbelievable and merciless NATO bombardment on hospitals, families and schools."

Regime holdouts

The twin assaults appeared to be a co-ordinated attempt to break the back of regime holdouts, who still control territory along the central coast and into the southern deserts, more than three weeks after NTC fighters swept into Tripoli and drove out Gaddafi.

The whereabouts of Gaddafi and at least two of his sons remain unknown.

The new leadership has been gaining international support in their campaign to root out the rest of Gaddafi's regime and establish their authority, with high-profile visits on Thursday by the French president and British prime minister, and on Friday by the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan joined Friday prayers in Tripoli's Martyrs' Square, the heart of the city once known as Green Square, where Gaddafi's regime threw rallies of supporters before his fall.

The NTC forces have been looming over the two cities for weeks, and last week they attempted a significant assault on Bani Walid, only to be repelled by unexpectedly strong loyalist counterattacks.

The fighters made their first big foray into Sirte on Thursday, also meeting a heavy backlash.

Smoke rose above the city from heavy street fighting on Friday, much of it along the main First of September Street running into the city from the west.

The fighters let loose with machine guns fixed on the back of pick-up lorries. Nearby buildings were pockmarked with bullet holes.

Commanders said they had captured the city's old airport on its western edge.

NATO fighter jets swept overhead, but is was unclear whether there were new air strikes to help the anti-Gaddafi advance. The alliance said it struck multiple rocket launchers, air missile systems, armoured vehicles and a military storage facility in Sirte on Thursday.

On the political front on Friday, the UN gave Libya's seat to the transitional authorities, bringing the recognition of Gaddafi's government to a formal end.

The UN also passed a resolution easing sanctions on the country, allowing Libya's national oil company and central bank to resume operations. It means Libya's national oil company and central bank can resume operations following the conflict.

Good morning!

Al Jazeera:

Gaddafi forces offer stiff Libya resistance

Fighting comes as NTC offers last chance to loyalists of deposed leader to join its ranks or be accused of treason.
Last Modified: 17 Sep 2011 17:43

Forces loyal to Libya's Muammar Gaddafi have launched a fierce counter-attack in the fugitive leader's stronghold of Bani Walid while putting up resistance in his hometown of Sirte.

Despite the heavy fighting, Ahmed Bani, the interim government's military spokesman, said on Saturday that it was only a "matter of days" before the two towns are captured.

He also gave army personnel still loyal to Gaddafi a last chance to join the ranks of former rebel fighters.

"The soldiers and officers who will not heed this last call will be accused of high treason," Bani said in Tripoli. Their integration was part of efforts to rebuild the national army in a post-Gaddafi Libya, he said.

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from Wishtata about 50km from the centre of Bani Walid, said there had been no fighting planned for Saturday on that front.

"But forces loyal to Gaddafi attacked from within and took potshots at the [NTC fighters] ... Their artillery aim is pretty good these days," our correspondent said, after receiving reports of numerous casualties.

"Today was for consolidation and lessons learned from yesterday, which ultimately achieved little more than getting people killed and demonstrating the strength of pro-Gaddafi forces."

In Bani Walid, medical and NTC sources said six NTC fighters were killed on Friday and 20 wounded.

The NTC said its fighters had entered the oasis town, 180km southeast of the capital Tripoli, but they made a "tactical withdrawal" on Friday evening due to sniper fire.

"It is useless to hold on to positions overnight in a hostile environment," a commander said.

Fighters regrouping

In Sirte, NTC forces swept further into the city before retreating under heavy artillery fire after two hours of clashes.

At least 6,000 fighters battled in and around one of Gaddafi's final strongholds.

"The situation at the roundabout is pitiful," Saleb Abu Shaala, the Al-Dhahira brigade commander, said. "There is no central command, we are retreating to regroup and re-enter again from three fronts."

Abu Shaala said the clashes erupted in mid-morning and that Gaddafi's forces used heavy artillery and rockets against them.

Doctors at a field hospital reported at least 10 killed and 40 wounded in the fighting in Sirte.

Front-line fighters and commanders gave contrasting reports of progress in Sirte, with men on the ground acknowledging they were facing a tough enemy and those in charge downplaying the pockets of resistance.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Ras Lanuf near Sirte, said it had been very difficult for some NTC fighters to get inside the town.

"In the east, they have not been able to even get close to town. The fighters here have heavy weaponry - tanks, heavy artillery - but they are still not able to advance," she said.

"We don't even have five per cent of Sirte because we just go in and out," Abdul Rauf al-Mansuri, an NTC fighter, said.

Deaths in NATO air raids

Moussa Ibrahim, Gaddafi's spokesman, claimed NATO had carried out extensive air strikes on Sirte, killing 354 people overnight. He said Gaddafi was personally leading "all aspects of the struggle".

In a call to the Reuters news agency on Saturday, Ibrahim said: "NATO attacked the city of Sirte last night with more than 30 rockets directed at the city's main hotel and the Tamin building, which consists of more than 90 residential flats.

"In the last 17 days, more than 2,000 residents of the city of Sirte were killed in NATO air strikes."

The claims could not be verified independently, as Sirte has been largely cut off from communication since the fall of Tripoli last month.

"We are aware of these allegations," Colonel Roland Lavoie, spokesman for the Western military alliance, said in Brussels."It is not the first time such allegations have been made. Most often, they are revealed to be unfounded or inconclusive."

Fighters backing the NTC on Saturday seized Hirawa, a small town 60km from Sirte.

They danced in the streets singing "Gaddafi, we will burn you" and ripped down posters of the fugitive former strongman, stamping on his face in the dirt.

The anti-Gaddafi fighters, who had hurtled into Hirawa on scores of machine gun-mounted pickup trucks and tanks, said they had taken power with very little difficulty.

"We advanced into Hirawa after about five days of heavy fighting and NATO bombing," fighter Nouri al-Fanoussi said. "We managed to save the town very smoothly this morning without any resistance."

The armed forces of the new Libyan leadership are also consolidating their control over southern desert towns near the pro-Gaddafi stronghold of Sabha, the main southern urban centre about 650km south of Tripoli.

Upon reaching Mahruqa about 100km from Sabha on Friday, former rebel forces encountered resistance from pro-Gaddafi holdouts after being invited into the town by elders.

Telegraph:

8:26am: Documents show former British prime minister Tony Blair made two private trips to see Muammer Gaddafi in the run-up to the release of the Lockerbie bomber, The Sunday Telegraph revealed.

Blair, who left office in June 2007, used a Libyan regime jet to visit Gaddafi in June 2008 and April 2009, the newspaper said, citing documents discovered in Tripoli since Gaddafi was ousted from power.

Blair played a major role in trying to bring Gaddafi in from the cold in exchange for giving up his nuclear weapons programme and first visited him in March 2004 in what was dubbed the “deal in the desert”.

A spokesman for Blair acknowledged that the visits took place and that the Libyans had raised the issue of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi but the former premier simply told them that it was a matter for the Scottish authorities.

Good morning:

Al Jazeera:

Libyans fail to form new cabinet
Setback in bid to streamline government even as NTC fighters are bogged down by battles for Gaddafi strongholds.
Last Modified: 19 Sep 2011 02:53

Libya's interim leaders have failed to agree on a new cabinet even as battles raged with pro-Muammar Gaddafi forces.

The cabinet -- or executive committee -- was dissolved last month after procedural errors in the handling of the unexplained shooting dead of the newly ruling National Transitional Council's (NTC) military chief.

A new executive committee, to include officials responsible for defence and interior affairs, was supposed to be appointed by Mahmoud Jibril, the interim prime minister, on Sunday. But the talks broke down when his proposals did not receive full backing from all current members.

"We had an advisory meeting with the NTC in order to form a new cabinet. We have agreed on a number of portfolios. We still have more portfolios to be discussed," Jibril told reporters at a news conference on Sunday.

NTC officials, including the head of the committee for political affairs, Fathi Baja, told the Reuters news agency that Jibril proposed a "transitional government" which would rule until at least the official liberation of the country.

It is not clear what liberation entails but it is likely to be conditional upon the capture of Gaddafi and the defeat of his loyalists who still hold three key towns in the country.

"The meeting was to form a transitional government. (The NTC) reduced the number of portfolios from 36 in the original proposal to around 24 but no names are confirmed," NTC spokesman, Jalal el-Gallal, told Reuters.

A list of the approved ministries was not available, though sources familiar with the negotiations said that the position of Jibril himself was a sticking point during the talks.

Jibril, a former Gaddafi regime official, stands accused by some of his colleagues of failing to consult enough with groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, an NTC official said.

However, Jibril is expected to retain his post as interim prime minister, while Ali Tarhuni was touted to be named vice president in charge of economic affairs.

The defence portfolio was expected to go to Osama al-Juwili and oil to Abdel Rahman bin Yezza.

"What we know for sure is that it will be 36 people representing different parts of Libya," Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra said earlier from Tripoli.

"They would like to ensure a representation that takes into account all different ethnic groups and all different cities.

"We know that they have offered five to six ministries to the Islamists. And there are attempts to combine the prime minister post with the minister of foreign affairs.

"They do understand that the stakes ahead and the challenges facing this post-Gaddafi Libya are going to be incredibly high, and for this they want people who have no affiliations with the Gaddafi time."

There was also disagreement about whether it is necessary to form a transitional government before the declaration of liberation.

The NTC has drawn up a roadmap, setting out plans for a new constitution and elections over a 20-month period, which should start once that declaration is made.

In other developments on Sunday, two Libyan fighter jet pilots who had defected to Malta in February returned home to a hero's welcome.

The men told reporters they were ordered to bomb protesters in Beghazi, but diverted their planes at the last minute.

'Mercenaries captured'

On the battle front, NTC fighters were pushing closer to Sirte, one of the final stronghold of Gaddafi's loyalist troops. There has been no progress in the other battle to take Bani Walid.

The NTC forces said they had suffered many casualties in Sunday's fighting, with at least five dead, and 14 injured.

The injured were being treated in Harawa field hospital, close to Amrah, with the more seriously wounded being transferred by ambulance to the hospital in Ras Lanouf in eastern Libya.

"We have won several battles against the NATO collaborators and managed to push them out of Bani Walid and Sirte", Mussa Ibrahim, Gaddafi's spokesman told Syria-based Arrai television channel by telephone.

Ibrahim said the Gaddafi forces have captured a group of 17 "mercenaries" in Bani Walid.

"They are technical experts and they include consultative officers. Most of them are French, one of them is from an Asian country that has not been identified, two English people and one Qatari," he said.

He said they would be shown on television at a later time, but did not give more details.

It was not immediately possible to verify Ibrahim's claims. The French foreign ministry said it had no information regarding the report.

NATO, French and British officials had on Saturday denied a report by Arrai TV that some NATO troops had been captured by Gaddafi loyalists.

Western special forces are known to have been in Libya and to have liaised with anti-Gaddafi officials during the conflict. Private security firms have also been helping anti-Gaddafi forces, according to Western media reports.

Link as there are videos not yet on you tube: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/201191822432628810.html

In other developments on Sunday, two Libyan fighter jet pilots who had defected to Malta in February returned home to a hero's welcome.

The men told reporters they were ordered to bomb protesters in Beghazi, but diverted their planes at the last minute.

I was glad to read that, it must have taken real backbone to disobey the order. They earned their heros' welcome, they saved countless lives.

I think I read somewhere that two other pilots who defected to Algeria were handed back to Gaddafi and publically executed?

Good morning!

Al Jazeera:

NTC fighters capture parts of Libya's Sabha
Fighters make major advances in southern city of Sabha, as NTC says "human tragedy" is unfolding in beseiged Bani Walid.
Last Modified: 19 Sep 2011 16:18

Tens of thousands of civilians trapped in areas still held by the forces of Muammar Gaddafi are in increasing danger from heavy fighting and siege-like shortages of food, water and medical care, Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) has said.

Hundreds of families fled "unbearable" conditions in the Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte on Monday, while the NTC said it had captured the airport and other strategic parts of the southern town of Sabha.

During a news conference in Tripoli, Colonel Ahmed Bani, military spokesman of the NTC, said a "human tragedy" is unfolding in Bani Walid where Gaddafi's forces have put up fierce resistance for nearly a week.

"They have stolen all supplies from the residents of the town and they are shooting everyone who is showing support for the revolutionaries. They show no mercy, not even for woman and children," Bani said.

"For us, this is proof that the Gaddafi forces are trying to destroy the city before it will be liberated."

Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Tripoli, said NTC fighters in Sabha, located 770km south of the capital, were "confident that in a matter of hours they would control the centre of the city".

"In the punch into Sabha, the anti-Gaddafi forces targeted strategic areas, including the airport, which is some 10km from the city centre," said Ahelbarra.

"[Gaddafi loyalists] have been using similar tactics as in Sirte and Bani Walid. They have taken up positions in urban areas and are using snipers in the very centre of the city to repel the forces."

'Saving lives'

Al Jazeera's David Poort, reporting from Tripoli, said that the NTC had said that its army had not yet taken Bani Walid because of concern for civilians, difficult terrain and disagreements over battle tactics.

"There are certain tactics and procedures we need to follow to take this town. But Bani Walid is completely surrounded. We are also focussed on saving lives, especially civilians," Bani said.

"Sources tell us that many people in Bani Walid do not know what is going on in the rest of Libya. It is surprising how well Gaddafi's forces managed to cut communications with the outside world."

Bani promised that his fighters would not abandon the people of Bani Walid and that the city would be "liberated" shortly.

"The revolutionaries came to Bani Walid this morning and engaged in a hard battle," Abdullah Kenshil, a senior official in the NTC, told the AFP news agency on Monday.

Kenshil added that negotiations were underway for the evacuation of about 50,000 civilians from the town.

Residents stranded

NTC fighters also prepared for another battle to wrest Gaddafi's birthplace of Sirte from his loyalists on Monday as humanitarian groups voiced alarm at the reported conditions within the besieged city.

Residents flooding out of the coastal city said the situation is unbearable, with no electricity or water.

Escaping locals told Al Jazeera that hundreds of people were still trapped in Sirte as fighters sent by Libya's new rulers amassed a number of huge rocket launchers and artillery guns to pound the area.

"There's no electricity, no phone coverage, nothing," resident Ibrahim Ramadan told the Reuters news agency, standing by a car packed with his family as he fled the fighting.

Ramadan, who acts as a community leader, estimated that about two-thirds of Sirte's roughly 70,000 population were still inside the city and an all-out NTC assault was expected.

Residents of Sirte said homes had been destroyed and cars smashed to pieces as disorder spread across the city in the recent days of fighting.

"People are fed up. There are explosions going off everywhere and you don't know where the bullets will come from next," resident Abubakr said as he made his way out of the city.

NTC fighters, who were forced into retreat on Saturday after storming the city, said they were holding off advancing deeper into Sirte or firing heavy artillery for now because they wanted to give residents a chance to leave.

"The problem is that there are some [Gaddafi] brigades preventing them from leaving," NTC fighter Sadiq Atman said as his fellow fighters pieced together an anti-aircraft machine gun on the back of a pickup truck.

"If these families were able to get out, this would be a proper war," he said.

Sirte, 450 km east of Tripoli, along with Bani Walid and Sabha, are the last significant strongholds of pro-Gaddafi forces

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Al Jazeera:

Gaddafi forces resist NTC push for Sirte
Fighters seeking to seize toppled leader's hometown prepare for another push after being forced to retreat day earlier.
Last Modified: 20 Sep 2011 10:11

Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters are regrouping for another push towards Sirte, the birthplace of toppled leader Muammar Gaddafi.

On Monday night battles raged around Sirte, as NTC fighters and Gaddafi forces traded gunfire and rockets.

An NTC commander on Tuesday told Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid that they had reached the eastern gate of Sirte on Monday evening, but had to pull back after intense clashes with Gaddafi loyalists.

"They [NTC fighters] say they are hoping to keep the momentum, over the past few days, they have advanced a good 40km towards Sirte but the closer they get, the tougher it gets," she said.

Sirte, about 400km southeast of the capital, Tripoli, is one of the last remaining strongholds of Gaddafi.

Most of the NTC fighters besieging Sirte are from Misrata, which survived a brutal weeks-long siege by Gaddafi forces during the early days of the revolution.

NATO radio announcements have been repeatedly urging Gaddafi supporters in Sirte to surrender.

"The world is watching you," the announcement said. "This is your opportunity to side with the Libyan people and choose the right side of history."

'Situation 'precarious'

Residents who have fled Sirte told Al Jazeera that hundreds of people were still trapped in the town.

"There's no electricity, no phone coverage, nothing," resident Ibrahim Ramadan told the Reuters news agency, as he fled the fighting.

An NTC commander told the AFP news agency that his forces were concerned about the town's civilians.

A number of people, including children, were seen taking refuge at a mosque on the outskirts of Sirte as continuous gunfire was heard in the distance.

"The situation in Sirte is very precarious," said one man fleeing Sirte with his family.

Audio message

Gaddafi's whereabouts are not known since NTC fighters took over Tripoli and much of the country, ending his more than 40-year-old rule.

But in a televised audio message on Tuesday, a voice purportedly of Gaddafi said it was impossible to overthrow the political system in Libya.

The message said claims that Gaddafi had been toppled were "ludicrous [and] a mockery".

"The political system of Libya is built on the authority of the people; it is a system exercised by all the Libyan people, men and women, in the people’s congresses and committees," said the message.

"It is impossible to topple his unique system. Do not believe that the regime is toppled by the sea and air bombardment. This is a farce, a charade; and the NATO bombardments will not last."

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Al Jazeera:

Libya NTC fighters struggle to capture Sirte

Loyalists in hometown of the former Libyan leader, put up fierce resistance against rebel fighters.
Last Modified: 22 Sep 2011 01:29

Libyan fighters have said they are waiting for civilians to escape from Sirte, the hometown and stronghold of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, before they start their final advance.

Several attempts by National Transitional Council's (NTC) fighters to take Sirte and Bani Walid, two of Gaddafi's remaining major strongholds, in the past week have ended in disarray and panicked retreat.

Fighters making their way back from the front line said they met fierce resistance at Khamseen, 50km east of Sirte, and that they lacked the firepower to respond.

"I'm 100 per cent sure that there is someone important in Sirte, either Gaddafi himself or one of his sons, because his forces have become suicidal in the Khamseen area," NTC fighter Hamed al-Hachy said on Wednesday.

In Bani Walid, NTC forces moved tanks towards the frontline on Wednesday in an attempt to capture the town.

"Of course it will certainly help us a lot in the final battle. You have seen these tanks. There are also Grads and we will use them by putting them in the front," Abdul Salaam Ganuna, an NTC commander, said.

Almost a month after armed rebels, backed by a NATO bombing campaign, seized control of Tripoli, Libya's new leaders are still trying to assert their authority over the desert town 56km southeast of the capital.

Key town taken

NTC fighters, however, claimed that they had overrun the key southern city of Sabha.

"We are in complete control of the city of Sabha. Everybody, including [those who were] pro-Gaddafi, are now with the revolution," Abdelmajid Seif Ennasr, an official for the NTC in Sabha, said on Wednesday.

He added that the NTC fighters were only encountering "resistance from some individuals here and there".

"Sabha is totally under the control of the revolutionaries," said Mohammed Wardugu, the Benghazi spokesman of the "Desert Shield Brigade" that is fighting in the region.

On Tuesday, Wardugu said the NTC forces had taken control of the airport and a garrison in Sabha and forced 300 pro-Gaddafi mercenaries to flee before capturing 150 of his loyalists.

Many residents of Sabha fear reprisals from the NTC because of a belief that many fought as Gaddafi mercenaries during the civil war.

Sabha, the largest city in the Libyan desert, is home to 100,000 people and an important military base, making it strategically vital.

There were reports earlier that Gaddafi himself may be hiding in the town, along with Saif al-Islam, his most politically prominent son, but NTC fighters in Sabha have reported no signs of them.

NATO extension

Meanwhile, NATO countries gave the NTC another boost by extending for three more months the air cover that helped anti-Gaddafi fighters to victory.

The decision was taken at a meeting of ambassadors of NATO's 28 member states in Brussels, a diplomat said. NATO took command of Libya's military mission on March 31 under a UN mandate to protect Libyan civilians. On the field, Britain said its planes had struck at pro-Gaddafi troops in three areas and destroyed bases in Sirte and Bani Walid.

A Syrian-based TV, which has broadcast several audio messages from Gaddafi, his sons and his aides, also reported NATO attacks on Sirte.

Arrai TV said NATO warships and planes had hit a hospital in Sirte on Wednesday, wounding a Ukrainian doctor and patients.

It was not immediately possible to verify the report. Previous allegations of NATO causing civilian deaths have rarely been backed up with evidence.

Clashes were also reported on the Tunisian border.

A Tunisian defence ministry spokesman said its troops had killed several infiltrators in clashes near the border with Algeria on Wednesday.

Helicopters destroyed seven vehicles mounted with anti-aircraft guns, which had been used to fire at a Tunisian army helicopter, the spokesman said.

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Libya's NTC captures three southern towns

Escape route for Muammar Gaddafi now cut off, but combat suspended in tough battles for Bani Walid and Sirte.
Last Modified: 22 Sep 2011 18:40

Government forces have struggled to capture Sirte, the biggest of the towns still in the hands of Gaddafi loyalists.

Commanders with the National Transitional Council (NTC) said their forces now controlled all three main towns in the Al-Jufra oasis, 24 hours after they announced the capture of Libya's largest desert city, Sabha, in the deep south.

"Al-Jufra - Hun, Waddan and Sokna - is liberated," a military spokesman in Libya's third-largest city Misrata said in a statement early on Thursday.

The defeat of Muammar Gaddafi loyalists in the Saharan oases left his remaining forces in his hometown of Sirte on the Mediterranean coast and the desert city of Bani Walid to its west effectively cut off from any line of escape to the south.

Several key Gaddafi supporters have fled to Niger from Sabha, an NTC spokesman said on Thursday.

NTC leaders said they were holding back from advancing on Gaddafi's last redoubts despite their capture of two key southern oases.

'Isolated pockets'

Also on Thursday, Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, the commander of NATO's Libya air campaign, told the AFP news agency he was confident the NATO mission could be completed "well within" three months after the alliance extended it for another 90 days.

In its operational update on Thursday, NATO said that its warplanes had hit four anti-aircraft guns and a vehicle storage depot around Hun.

The alliance said it had also struck a command and control node and five surface-to-air missile systems in and around Sirte.

NATO's operations commander said resistance among Kadhafi loyalists was now restricted to "only three isolated pockets", referring to Sirte, Bani Walid and Al-Fugaha in the Al-Jufra region.

Bouchard added that Gaddafi forces "are no longer able to conduct coordinated operations throughout Libya", while the number of people at risk from pro-Gaddafi military action had fallen to about 200,000.

He said he had no idea where Gaddafi was, but stressed that the fugitive strongman continues to "give orders" and "entice regime forces" to act.

Ex-PM jailed

Tunisia, meanwhile, on Thursday sentenced Baghdadi al-Mahmudi, Libya's former prime minister, to six months in prison for illegal entry.

Al-Mahmudi was arrested overnight in the southern town of Tameghza, near Tunisia's border with Algeria, according to ministry spokesman Hichem Meddeb.

Meddeb said Thursday two others were detained along with al-Mahmoudi after Tunisian officials found none had visas.

"[He] appeared before the state prosecutor in Tozeur [430km Tunis] and was sentenced to six months in prison with immediate effect," Kadhem Zine el Abidine said.

An NTC official said the manhunt for Gaddafi, in hiding for weeks though he occasionally issues defiant audio messages, was drawing closer to its target.

"There is no whole tribe or city on Gaddafi's side," Bani said.

"I'm asking everyone in the south who has any news about the tyrant or his loyalists ... to notify the legal bodies about them."

Battle of Sirte

Elsewhere in Libya, NTC forces have struggled to capture Sirte, the biggest of the towns still outside their control.

Gaddafi's spokesman told the Reuters news agency on Thursday that NATO air raids and interim government forces' shelling of Sirte were killing civilians.

"Between yesterday and this morning, 151 civilians were killed inside their homes as the Grad rockets and other explosives fell upon their heads," Moussa Ibrahim said from an undisclosed location.

His claims could not immediately be verified as journalists were unable to reach the city. NATO comment was also not immediately available.

One fighter said Gaddafi artillery batteries appeared to have found the range of the NTC tanks, and were targeting them.

"There has been heavy shelling from Gaddafi forces," said Adel al-Tarhouni, an anti-Gaddafi fighter in the village of Sultana, which came under artillery attack.

NTC commanders to the west of Sirte said they had been told to expect further NATO air strikes on Thursday and had orders not to advance.

East of Sirte, commanders said that they had postponed any offensive against the city for at least a week for want of ammunition after heavy fighting.

"Fighting has been stopped for a week. We are facing a shortage of ammunition," said Commander Mustafa bin Dardef of the Zintan Brigade, whose troops are some 25km east of Sirte.