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

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

6 hours 28 min ago - Libya
Libya's National Transitional Council fighters have reached the costal route in Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, cutting off the last escape route for loyalists.

Gaddafi combatants are now surrounded in the city and are said to number no more than 2,000. However, they are still putting up stiff resistance and inflicting casualties.

Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reports from Sirte.

It will be interesting to see if Gaddafi is in there; personally, I think he is long gone.

bb1 wrote:It will be interesting to see if Gaddafi is in there; personally, I think he is long gone.

He is rumored to be in the far south, but others say he just might be in Bani Wahlid as the pro-Gadaffi fighters are putting up one hell of a fight just for a small town. If it is his son they captured in Sirte that would also explain the pro-Gadaffi fighters' extreme resistance there. It also seems the people of Sirte were privileged far more than even those in Tripoli; he loaded the people there, mainly his own tribe, with honours, cash etc. He considered it the real capital of Libya. LL

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

3 min 4 sec ago

The Italian firm Eni oil has started transferring natural gas through the Greenstream pipeline connecting Libya and Italy for the first time in eight months.

Eni said on Thursday that it will run initial tests of 3 million cubic meters worth of gas a day during the preliminary phase.

The pipeline was shut down in February due to fighting in Libya. The gas is being produced by the Wafa field, around 500km southeast of Tripoli.

Eni said the field continued to produce gas during the conflict to make electricity for local consumption. The company called the restart of Greenstream "a milestone".


4 hours 20 min ago

A senior military commander inside Sirte said on Thursday that Motassim remained on the run, denying reports that he was in custody.

"It is not true that Motassim was captured," said Wesam Bin Hamid, brigade commander of the Martyrs of Free Libya Brigade, one of the new regime's main units inside Gaddafi's hometown.

"But some prisoners we have captured are saying that [Muammar] Gaddafi is in Sirte," Bin Hamid added.

7 hours 7 min ago

The National Transition Council says its forces have captured some fighters close to Motassim Gaddafi, one of the sons of the toppled Libyan leader, in Sirte.

But there are conflicting reports over the fate of Motassim himself, with some sources suggesting he has been captured.

Khaled al-Sayeh, an NTC member, said: "This news is still attributed to our fighters and our brigades on the frontline of Sirte. It cannot be attributed to the National Transitional Council or a member of the NTC because the national council has not come out with an official statement yet."

That's a bit of good news, anyway, that the pipeline is working again.

Loyalists Flee Villas In Gaddafi's Home Town

12:51pm UK, Thursday October 13, 2011
Alex Rossi, Sky News correspondent, in Sirte

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's home town is now at the mercy of the revolutionaries as they tighten their control of Sirte.

The streets are not secure but they are owned by fighters loyal to the interim government.
There may be a few loyalists still alive but most have fled or been blasted into submission.
Moving through the city is a dangerous occupation - you can hear bullets fizz over your head and ricochet off buildings.
It is hard to know what direction they are coming from as enthusiastic but badly trained National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters have moved in from three fronts backing the loyalists into a small area against the sea.

The biggest threat they face at the moment is probably friendly fire or 'negligent discharge' - a military term for shooting accidentally.
We made our way through the streets ducking for cover but found few traces of Gaddafi's army.
Uniforms discarded on the streets and in bins suggested they had run away after weeks of heavy bombing by NATO warplanes and NTC artillery.
As we arrived at the coast we found enormous opulent villas.

More at:

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16088308

A very early Good Morning (I am away until the evening)!

Al Jazeera:

Battle rages for Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte

Troops loyal to Libya's new rulers intensify military campaign to gain control over Muammar Gaddafi's stronghold.
Last Modified: 14 Oct 2011 04:29

National Transitional Council (NTC) commanders have moved up tanks into the ousted leader's hometown of Sirte to fire at buildings from close range to try to dislodge the remaining snipers loyal to Muammar Gaddafi who are now surrounded on all sides in one small part of the city.

Die-hard loyalists to the deposed leader have not given up the fight, answering NTC attacks in Sirte with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. An NTC commander said Gaddafi's besieged forces were no longer using heavier weapons.

"We have control of the whole of the city except neighbourhood 'Number Two' where the Gaddafi forces are surrounded," Khaled Alteir, a field commander in Sirte, said on Thursday.

"This operation is on its dying breath," said another commander, Colonel Mohammad Aghfeer.

The siege of Sirte, which began after the capital Tripoli fell to the NTC two months ago, has held up Libya's transition to normality as the country's new leaders say they will only start building a democratic system after the city is captured.

Gaddafi 'in Libya'

In other news, Abdul Hafeedh Ghoga, the vice-chairman of the NTC, told Al Jazeera that satellites are tracking the former Libyan leader in the desert south of Sabha and that it is only a matter of time before Gaddafi is captured.

"We have confirmed reports that Gaddafi is in the southern Libyan desert. He’s not staying in one place. He is moving around with a small convoy which consist of his closest aids and bodyguards."

Ghoga added that the fighters' priority now is to take full control of Sirte. "Once the liberation of Sirte has been achieved – our fighters will track down Gaddafi himself."

Green flags, the banner of Gaddafi's 42-year rule, still fly above many of the buildings in Sirte, but the commander said, the defending forces appeared to have lost their cohesion.

"We've noticed now they are fighting every man for himself," said Baloun Al Sharie, a field commander. "We tried to tell them it's enough and to give themselves up, but they would not." NTC officers say Gaddafi loyalists fear reprisals if they give themselves up.

NTC 'abuses'

Some captured fighters have been roughed up by NTC forces and Amnesty International issued a report on Wednesday saying Libya's new rulers were in danger of repeating human rights abuses commonplace during Gaddafi's rule. The NTC condemned practices highlighted in report.

"Such acts could have possibly been perceived as acceptable at the beginning [of this revolution], given the brutal crimes committed by Gaddafis merceneraies – however today – they are unjustifiable," Ghoga said.

Close to the centre of the fighting in Sirte, government forces found 25 corpses wrapped in plastic sheets. They accused Gaddafi militias of carrying out execution-style killings. Five corpses shown to a Reuters news agency team wore civilian clothes, had their hands tied behind their backs and gunshot wounds to the head.

As the tanks pounded the apartment blocks where Gaddafi's men are holed up, pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns moved in behind, then infantry armed with AK-47s began their assault.

One field hospital received two NTC dead and 23 wounded on Thursday. One of the dead men had been hit while taking food up to the fighters on the front line, doctors said.

In the skies, NATO aircraft have been carrying out reconnaissance missions and Britain said its jets had bombed and destroyed two pick-up trucks belonging to Gaddafi's forces in Sirte on Wednesday.

Air corridors

But as the battle for Libya draws towards what the NTC and NATO hope will be a close, both the new government and the Western alliance which helped topple Gaddafi are looking towards a return to normality.

The provisional Libyan government and NATO signed an agreement on Thursday to immediately open air corridors for international civilian flights from Benghazi, and domestic flights between the second city and Tripoli and Misrata.

This is one of the first steps toward NATO lifting its no-fly zone over Libya imposed after Gaddafi began a military assault on civilians protesting his one-man rule.

Philipp Roesler, Germany's economy minister, said 150 wounded Libyans would be treated in Germany. Berlin plans to support Libya with medical supplies and aid and help in training and educating young Libyans, he said.

"We are here because we see the most important raw material of Libya, it is not oil and gas...[it is] the younger people who started the revolution here. They need future and perspective after their victory," Roesler told a news conference in Tripoli.

Suspicious oil contracts

In another development, Ali Tarhuni, the NTC’s oil minister, vowed that Libya would investigate "every penny" of suspicious oil contracts signed under Gaddafi’s regime, which was responsible for what he called "unbelievable corruption".

"There will be specialised committees that will look into all these contracts and agreements starting with the oil sector," Tarhuni said, without giving details on contracts or companies.

Libya's oil production, which collapsed after the uprising in February, is expected to rise to nearly one million barrels per day by April from the current 400,000, Nuri Berruien, the head of the state-run National Oil Company, said.

Good morning!

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

16 hours 17 min ago

Terrorist groups have expressed interest in obtaining some of the thousands of shoulder-launched missiles that have gone missing in Libya and the issue has become a priority for the Obama administration, a senior US official said.

Associated Press - Andrew J. Shapiro, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, said on Friday the missiles "could pose a threat to civil aviation".

"We know that terrorist groups have expressed interest in obtaining these weapons," he said, adding that the issue of securing the weapons was a priority for President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Libya was believed to have about 20,000 such missiles in its arsenals before civil war began in March, Shapiro said.

Although many were destroyed by NATO air strikes, thousands are missing.

"The possibility that these weapons may cross borders is an area of considerable concern," Shapiro said.

"That's why US has been working with countries bordering Libya to prevent (proliferation)."

17 hours 5 min ago

A gun battle has broken out in the Libyan capital Tripoli between 20 to 50 armed supporters of deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi and forces of the National Transitional Council (NTC), a witness and residents have said.

NTC fighters mounted on pick-up trucks raced towards the scene in the Abu Salim neighbourhood, a centre of support for Gaddafi.

The two sides exchanged automatic and heavy machine gun fire, the witness told the Reuters news agency.

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from Tripoli, said he could see smoke over the Abu Salim area in the capital.

"The sound of gunfire and heavy weapons being fired also was heard in the neighbourhood," he said.

Local residents said a group of armed men had appeared in Abu Salim earlier and had begun chanting pro-Gaddafi slogans. That rally was followed by clashes, Bays said.

17 hours 10 min ago

Fighting breaks out in Tripoli's Abu Salim neighbourhood.

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from Tripoli, said he can see smoke coming from the Abu Salim area in the capital. The sound of gunfire and heavy weapon being fired was heard in the neighbourhood.

There was a pro-Gaddafi rally held in Abu Salim earlier on Friday. The rally was followed by clashes, Bays said.

17 hours 18 min ago

A senior UN human rights official says there is a risk of serious abuses occurring when the last strongholds of ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi fall to revolutionary forces.

Mona Rishmawi, the head of the UN human right's office's rule of law section, says perceived Gaddafi loyalists face persecution when fighting in the towns of Sirte and Bani Walid ends.

Rishmawi says Libya's transitional government is trying to ensure the rights of captured Gadhafi fighters are protected but "the system that is currently in place is not adequate".

She said in Geneva on Friday that "there is a lot of room for abuse" of the estimated 7,000 people detained in sometimes makeshift prisons throughout Libya.

Rishmawi recently visited Libya as part of a UN delegation.

17 hours 45 min ago
Fighting breaks out in Libyan capital Tripoli, a witness tells Reuters news agency. Our team in Tripoli is urgently checking these reports.

18 hours 22 min ago

A Libyan citizen was arrested in Sousse on Wednesday evening for possession of a kalashnikov and 25 bullets, the Tunisian Press Agency (TAP) reports.

The head of the anti-terrorist agency in Sousse told TAP that a foreign arms dealer had been travelling back and forth to Tunisia regularly.

Sources in the city of Sfax told Al Jazeera that there is a busy black market trade in weapons from Libya in the south of the country, and that the going price of a kalashnikov is 500 Tunisian Dinars. In Ben Gharden, closer to the border, the price is 300 TND.

1 day 2 hours ago

Al Jazeera Arabic reports that Tunisia will extradite a key figure under the fugitive leader Muammar Gaddafis regime to Tripoli shortly.

Mustafa Abdul Jalil, head of the Libyan National Transitional Council said that al-Baghdadi al-Mahmudi, the former Libyan prime minister will be extradited.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Tunisian prime minister al-Baji Qaed al-Sabsi in Benghazi, Abdul Jalil cited an agreement signed by the two countries authorising the extradition of fugitives and criminals, which applies to al-Mahmudi’s case.

Abdul Jalil, has expressed gratitude to Tunisia’s stance in supporting the Libyan revolution, saying the Tunisian revolution was a source of inspiration to the Arab people in their uprising against dictators.

For his part, al-Sabsi, who arrived in Libya in a short visit on Wednesday, has reaffirmed that the two countries were linked by historical connections. The two countries would be working to maintain bilateral relations in line with the Tunisian people’s support to the just cause of the Libyan people, he added.

Good morning!

Al Jazeera:

Tripoli gun battle leads to casualties

Libyan fighters battle Gaddafi supporters in first major violence in capital since NTC forces seized control in August.
Last Modified: 15 Oct 2011 06:39

Forces loyal to Libya's National Transitional Council converged on several neighbourhoods in the capital Tripoli on Friday, firing their weapons and confronting what they said were forces still loyal to ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Local residents said a group of a few dozen armed men had earlier appeared in the Abu Salim neighbourhood, a centre of support for Gaddafi, and had begun chanting pro-Gaddafi slogans. Other reports said that men had attempted to raise the green flag of the old regime.

Two Gaddafi supporters and one NTC fighter were killed in the violence, NTC official Abdel Razak al Oraidi said during a press conference in the capital. It was the worst incident in Tripoli since the city fell to the opposition in late August.

NTC fighters in pickups mounted with weapons opened fire at residential buildings, apparently fearing snipers were inside. They also set up checkpoints around the city

About 20 to 50 armed supporters of Gaddafi exchanged automatic and heavy machine gun fire with the NTC forces, one witness told the Reuters news agency.

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from Tripoli, said he could see smoke over the Abu Salim area in the capital.

"The sound of gunfire and heavy weapons being fired also was heard in the neighbourhood," he said.

Assem al-Bashir, a fighter with Tripoli's Eagle Brigade, said the shooting began after a man was spotted raising the green flag that symbolised Gaddafi's ousted regime.

NTC officials said 10 to 15 Gaddafi loyalists were captured.

NTC fighters said fighting had also broken out in the nearby Hadhba neighbourhood.

"Gaddafi told them in a message last night to rise up after Friday prayers," Abdullah, an NTC fighter, said. "That's why these few people have come out and are causing this problem.

Gaddafi has released a number of audio recordings calling on loyalists to fight the new interim government which ousted him from power when its forces captured Tripoli two months ago.

"I urge all Libyan people to go out and march in their millions in all the squares, in all the cities and villages and oases," he said in one such message earlier this month. "Go peacefully ... be courageous, rise up, go to the streets, raise our green flags to the skies."

Fear over loose weapons

As fighting also continued in Sirte, Gaddafi's coastal hometown, where loyalists have withstood an NTC siege for several weeks, the United States said it was growing increasingly concerned over unsecured weapons stockpiles.

The Washington Post newspaper reported on Friday that the State Department had dispatched 14 unarmed civilian contractors to survey and and secure the former regime's ammunition depots. They have so far done so for 20 of 36 such bases.

The United States and other governments are particularly concerned with the spread of surface-to-air missiles, many of them old but still-functioning Soviet-era SA-7s.

Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director for Human Rights Watch, who has been outspoken on the issue, has said there may have been as many as 20,000 surface-to-air missiles in Libya before the revolution and that they have disappeared by the hundreds, trucked off by victorious opposition fighters.

Several missiles have been intercepted by Egyptian officials while being transported from Libya, the Post said.

Good morning!

Al Jazeera:

NTC fighters keep up Sirte bombardment

Long sieges of Gaddafi's hometown and another stronghold frustrate new rulers' effort to control the whole of Libya.
Last Modified: 17 Oct 2011 08:02

Anti-Gaddafi fighters bulldozed the toppled leader's Bab al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli on Sunday.

Libyan government forces are battling to subdue pockets of resistance by Muammar Gaddafi loyalists, whose refusal to abandon the deposed leader’s hometown of Sirte is delaying Libya's move to democracy.

Ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) forces kept up their bombardment of a small area in the centre of Sirte on Sunday but there was no push under way from ground troops.

NTC fighters have besieged Sirte for weeks, slowly pushing Gaddafi loyalists into an area about 2sq km. Green flags, the symbol of Gaddafi's rule, still fly over the area.

Some fighters expressed irritation with their commanders for failing to order and advance and poor communication between brigades.

"There are no orders coming in even though we have the power to push them out," Hesham al-Dafani, an NTC fighter, told the Reuters news agency. "We don't know what's happening".

The failure to seize Sirte - and the other remaining Gaddafi holdout, Bani Walid - has delayed Libya's democratic transition.

The country's new rulers say the process will only begin once Sirte is captured.

Fighting also continued in Bani Walid on Sunday, reporters said, with sniper fire hindering an NTC advance into the city just as it has in Sirte.

Some fighters in Sirte said they suspected that the failure to order an advance was a result of NTC leaders not yet being ready to set out a roadmap for national elections.

Poor communication

Other fighters blamed the delay on a lack of communication between different NTC fighters in Sirte.

"We are civilians, we not military people," Mohammed al-Sabty, an NTC field commander, said. "We don't have a certain plan."

NTC fighters continued to fire on an area known as Neighbourhood Two and said they believed one of Gaddafi's sons, Motassim, a former national security adviser, could be holed up there.

"We know that Gaddafi's Motassim is inside, that's why they are fighting to the last drop of blood," Omar Abu Lifa, an NTC commander, said.

"We're surrounding that area. We are taking it slowly because we want to catch him alive."

Some NTC sources told Reuters last week that Motassim had been captured as he tried to escape Sirte. But the NTC has yet to officially confirm, or deny, the reports.

NTC officers say Gaddafi loyalists continue to hold out because they fear reprisals if they surrender.

Some captured fighters have been abused, rights groups say.

A doctor for the medical aid charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres, in Sirte has estimated 10,000 people remain trapped in the city of 75,000 residents. Many are women and children, some are sick or injured.

Gaddafi home bulldozed

Some political analysts say the long sieges of Sirte and Bani Walid risk undermining the NTC and frustrate its effort to control the whole country.

The often chaotic struggle for Sirte has killed scores of people, left thousands homeless and laid waste to much of what was once a showpiece Mediterranean city where Gaddafi enjoyed entertaining foreign leaders.

The dangers posed by the failure to capture Gaddafi were highlighted on Friday when fighting erupted in Tripoli between NTC forces and Gaddafi-loyalists for the first time since he fled the city in August.

Government forces set up more roadblocks across the city over the weekend, but especially in and around Abu Salim, an area of rundown apartment blocks where the clashes took place.

The area remained calm on Sunday amid the heavy security but, nearby, a group of armed men with two bulldozers began demolishing the walls around Gaddafi's former home.

As the bulldozers set about the Bab al-Azizyah compound, a heavily fortified construction spread over six sq-km that symbolised his repressive rule, men chanted: "God is greatest. This is for the blood of the martyrs."

Some fired machine guns into the air.

"We are destroying it because we want to demolish anything that belongs to Gaddafi," Essam Sarag, one of the men firing the guns, told Reuters.

People driving past stopped their cars and joined a crowd waving new Libyan flags.

"We will continue until we destroy everything that belongs to Gaddafi," said Etman Lelktah, who said he was in charge of the fighters at the scene.

"We ask that a peace organisation be built instead of Gaddafi's place."

BANI WALID HAS FALLEN!!!!!!

As soon as I have an update I will post it! LL

Here's a round-up of events so far in Libya:

• Forces loyal to Libya's interim authorities have forced their way into Bani Walid, as the fighters try to dislodge Gaddafi loyalists from the desert stronghold.

• National Transitional Council forces are also keeping up their siege of Sirte, Gaddafi's birthplace and his final coastal stronghold.

• A television station based in Syria that supports Gaddafi has confirmed that the deposed Libyan leader's son Khamis had died in fighting southeast of the capital Tripoli on August 29.

• A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Reuters news agency the United States could not yet independently confirm Khamis's death but said similar information was being received in Washington from "reliable sources".

In Libya, there is fierce fighting around Bani Walid - the desert stronghold of deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi.

National Transitional Council forces are also keeping up their siege of Sirte, Gaddafi's hometown.

Al Jazeera's Khadija Magardie has more.

Missed this one yesterday:

Uploaded on 16 Oct 2011

Rebels demolish Gaddafi's home

Rebels using two excavators guarded by armed men started to demolish the walls around the ousted leader's former home in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

Great news, LL - and you got the big story this time

BANI WALID UPDATE!!

Libyan fighters seize Bani Walid

NTC military commanders say 95 per cent of Gaddafi stronghold has fallen, despite some pockets of resistance.

Last Modified: 17 Oct 2011 13:58

NTC military commanders said they encountered heavy resistance from Gaddafi loyalists in Bani Walid.

Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) says its fighters have captured the town of Bani Walid, one of two last remaining strongholds of deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi.

NTC military commanders said on Monday that they were encountering pockets of resistance in the town, located about 170km southeast of Tripoli. But they said they had claimed about 95 per cent of it.

"We are very much in the centre of Bani Walid. They [Libyan fighters] came through here just over an hour ago and they are saying this is an almost complete liberation of the town," Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reported from inside Bani Walid.

"[There are] some pockets of resistance by pro-Gaddafi forces but by-and-large 95 per cent of the town is under [NTC] control."

Birtley said the fall came after three days of heavy fighting, using a lot of heavy weapons and tanks.

"The gunfire of celebration is ringing out and they are going completely crazy here because they know this is sending a very clear message to those pro-Gaddafi elements who are still holding out in Sirte. Basically, there is nowhere left to go," Birtley added.

"They hope that in the next few days, Sirte will go the same way."

'Sniper bullets'

In Sirte, Gaddafi's birthplace and his final coastal stronghold, fighting had eased on Sunday.

The city on the Mediterranean coast, has been a site of fierce clashes between NTC forces and those loyal to deposed leader Gaddafi for more than a month. Sunday saw a lull with only intermittent shelling and rocket-fire, AFP correspondents said.

"We are shelling with tanks and anti-aircraft weapons and then we will send our troops onto the streets," said Salem Ahmed, a tank commander from the eastern city of Benghazi.

Ahmed said the advance was being held up by pro-Gaddafi snipers: "A few snipers can stop an army. They are very professional. They shoot in the heart, the head, the chest."

The focus of the NTC operations are two seaside residential neighbourhoods, the Dollar and Number Two, where Gaddafi loyalists are holed up.

One NTC fighter told AFP there had been an exodus of civilians from the two areas on Sunday and that the besieging troops wanted to give others the chance to leave.

Sunday's lull contrasted sharply with the previous day when Gaddafi loyalists mounted a fierce counter-attack in Sirte, forcing back the NTC fighters under a barrage of rockets and shelling.

Khamis death 'unconfirmed'

In another development, a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Reuters news agency that Washington could not yet independently confirm reports that the deposed Libyan leader's son Khamis had died in fighting southeast of the capital Tripoli on August 29.

On Monday, a television station based in Syria that supports Gaddafi confirmed Khamis' death, along with that of his cousin Mohammed Abdullah al-Senousi, Gaddafi's intelligence chief's son, saying they were killed during a battle with NTC forces in the city of Tarhouna, 90km southeast of Tripoli.

The Arrai TV station said Khamis and Senousi died "while confronting the enemies of their homeland" on August 29.

The US official said similar information was being received in Washington from "reliable sources".

NTC military officials had said in August that Khamis was killed in Tarhouna and buried in the city of Bani Walid, but there was no confirmation at the time from Gaddafi loyalists.

Khamis had been reported dead twice during the uprising, only to reappear.

Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) says its fighters have captured the town of Bani Walid, one of two last remaining strongholds of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reports from the centre of Bani Walid.

Good morning!

Al Jazeera, more of the joy over Bani Walid:

17 Oct 2011
Fighters belonging to Libya's ruling National Transitional Council claim they have captured nearly all of Bani Walid, one of two last remaining strongholds of the country's deposed leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

NTC military commanders said on Monday that they were encountering pockets of resistance in the town, located about 170km southeast of Tripoli. But they said they had claimed about 95 per cent of it.

Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from inside Bani Walid, has said that "this is an almost complete liberation of the town".

Malta struggles to treat Libya war victims
Published 17 October 2011 19:50

Malta has received many medical casualties of the Libyan war. But despite assistance from Qatar, the island country's 800-bed general hospital cannot keep up with the soaring numbers of injured fighters. Malta is now calling on the US and the rest of the international community to send a hospital ship to meet the soaring medical needs. Al Jazeera's Karl Stagno-Navarra reports from the capital, Valletta.

I hope help gets there quickly, LL, I am sure the people of Malta will do their very best, as they always do, but it is bound to put a huge strain on their small island.

bb1 wrote:I hope help gets there quickly, LL, I am sure the people of Malta will do their very best, as they always do, but it is bound to put a huge strain on their small island.

I think they will get help, Bonny, there are quite a few countries with hospital ships that are close at hand, the UK for one as it has good ties with the island, France, Germany, and Italy of course, the original colonial power in Libya. Even the USA, though its ships would have further to come. LL

Good morning!

Al Jazeera:

Clinton pledges increased aid for Libya

Making an unannounced visit, US secretary of state praises those who "stood up against a dictator's aggression".
Last Modified: 18 Oct 2011 20:39

The US secretary of state has pledged increased support to Libya and and praised Libyans for demonstrating "bravery and determination" in removing Muammar Gaddafi's government.

Speaking in Tripoli on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton said the US was working with Libya to "return frozen assets" and that Washington would "stay focused on security".

"I am pleased to announce that we're going to put even more money into helping Libya secure and destroy dangerous stockpiles of weapons and the administration, working with congress, is going to provide $40m to support this effort," she said.

Clinton, who said she was "proud to stand on the soil of a free Libya", added that the US would work with Libya to destroy chemical weapons stocks.

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from Tripoli, said: "The US is concerned the weapons could get into wrong hands, and they want them dealt with."

Clinton arrived in Tripoli on an unannounced visit and is the first most senior US official to come to the north African nation since Gaddafi's 42-year rule ended in August.

Bani Walid 'captured'

Clinton's comments came as fighters belonging to the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) claimed they had captured nearly all of Bani Walid, one of two last remaining strongholds of Gaddafi.

"We are very much in the centre of Bani Walid. They [Libyan fighters] came through here just over an hour ago and they are saying this is an almost complete liberation of the town," Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from inside Bani Walid, said.

The visit was marked by tight security, reflecting worries that the new rulers have yet to establish full control over the country.

"We want to expand our economic co-operation with Libya to create new educational and cultural exchanges and deepen our engagement with civil society," she said, flanked by senior NTC officials.

"First, we'll launch this new partnership to provide care to the wounded. It deeply moves us that so many people dropped whatever they were doing to fight for their freedom.

"We plan to evacuate some of the most seriously injured to specialised medical facilities in the US. We want to help you care for your patients here in Libya and we'll work together to establish a modern medical management system."

Cementing partnership

Clinton said the US was also focused on young people whom she said had "the most to gain" from the new-found freedom.

She said the Fulbright programme would be resumed and its size doubled to permit more Libyan students to study and train in the US.

US officials said Clinton's visit was aimed at cementing a partnership with the new government and helping it steer towards democracy.

Clinton, they added, would encourage the NTC to fulfil pledges to move swiftly towards elections.

"The important thing is to be able to show the Libyan people that there is momentum," a senior administration official travelling with Clinton said.

The new US contribution will boost Washington's contribution to Libya since the uprising against Gaddafi began in February to roughly $135m.

In her opening remarks, Clinton praised Libyans for fighting Gaddafi's regime despite major obstacles.

"On behalf of the US, I congratulate all Libyans. It is a great privilege to see a new future for Libya being born," she said.

"And, indeed, the work ahead is quite challenging, but the Libyan people have demonstrated the determination and resolve necessary to achieve their goals.

"Libyans were called rats by their own leaders and were confronted by every tactic to break their spirit. But no threats dimmed the courage of the Libyan people. The US was proud to stand with you and we'll continue to stand with you."

Good morning!

Al Jazeera:

Intense fighting continues in Sirte

Battle rages on in Gaddafi's hometown as Libya's acting prime minister expresses fears of a strengthened insurgency.
Last Modified: 20 Oct 2011 00:21

Libyan interim government fighters have relaunched their offensive on the besieged town of Sirte after being pushed back by die-hard Muammar Gaddafi loyalists holed up in the deposed leader's hometown.

Grad rockets, artillery and tank fire rained down on Gaddafi positions in the centre of the town on Wednesday as hundreds of National Transitional Council (NTC) troops, who have surrounded the Mediterranean coastal town for weeks, continued their chaotic struggle to snuff out the last pocket of resistance against the revolution that ended Gaddafi's 42-year rule.

Ali al-Rikabi, an NTC field commander, said fighting was raging in the outer streets of Sirte's Number Two neighbourhood.

"It is intense and we have exchanges of gunfire," he said.

Medics at a field hospital in east Sirte said seven fighters were killed and 74 wounded, the AFP news agency reported.

Two other fighters were reported wounded on the western side of the city.

The NTC's failure to seize Sirte, nearly two months since capturing Tripoli, has raised questions about its ability to exert its authority over the entire country and has postponed the launch of its promised democracy programme.

On Monday NTC forces captured the other main Gaddafi stronghold, the desert town of Bani Walid, where the ousted leader's loyalists had put up resistance for two months.

NTC forces were poised a few days ago to declare victory in Sirte, but on Tuesday they were forced to retreat in some places under intense fire.

Gaddafi insurgency?

Mahmoud Jibril, Libya's acting prime minister, said on Wednesday that Gaddafi is believed to be recruiting fighters from other African countries and preparing for a possible insurgency, hoping to destabilise Libya's new regime.

“Reports have shown that 68 vehicles with at least eight fighters each crossed the Libyan borders to Mali and Gaddafi is hiding in the southern desert,'' Jibril told reporters.

The comments reflected fears that Gaddafi will be able to use friendly relations with neighbouring countries cultivated during his more than four decades in power to help him launch a bid to return to power.

He said Gaddafi had made a deal with the Hamada tribe, which roams the borders between Chad, Sudan and Libya, to provide 12,000 fighters “to enter Libya and start the fight.''

Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, also echoed Jibril’s fear during a visit to Tripoli on Tuesday, saying she hoped Gaddafi would be captured or killed.

Sounds to me like an all-out effort is going to be made to nab Gaddafi, LL, and no-one is going to be too fussed if he doesn't surrender quickly enough.

A;l Jazeera:


Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte 'falls' to NTC

Libyan forces say they have taken full control of town, with loyalists of former leader fleeing after weeks of fighting.
Last Modified: 20 Oct 2011 10:02

Libyan National Transitional Council fighters say they have captured the last positions held by Muammar Gaddafi's loyalists in the deposed leader's hometown of Sirte.

"Sirte has been liberated. There are no Gaddafi forces any more," Colonel Yunus Al Abdali, head of operations in the eastern half of the city, said on Thursday.

"We are now chasing his fighters who are trying to run away."

Another front line commander confirmed the capture of the Mediterranean coastal city, which was the last remaining
significant bastion of pro-Gaddafi fighters almost three months after the former leader was overthrown by NTC forces.

The AP news agency reported that the final push to capture the final parts of the city began around 0800 local time and was over after about 90 minutes.

Just before the assault, about five carloads of loyalists tried to flee the enclave down the coastal highway but were killed by NTC fighters.

NTC forces have been searching homes and buildings looking for any Gaddafi fighters who may be hiding there.

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from Tripoli, said: "Some high level members [of the NTC] ... are aware of the pictures [of Sirte] being broadcast.

"They are on their phones right now to Sirte trying to confirm this. If it is true that Sirte has fallen, or is about to fall, then it is very very important news.

"Because all along the NTC has said that once Sirte falls, the war will be over."

Celebratory gunfire

At least 16 pro-Gaddafi fighters were captured, along with multiple cases of ammunition and trucks loaded with weapons. They were beaten up and later taken away in the back of trucks.

Celebratory gunfire echoed through the city, which fell into the hands of Libya's new rulers almost two full months after they overrun Tripoli and many other parts of the oil-rich North African nation.

Despite the fall of Tripoli on August 21, Gaddafi loyalists mounted fierce resistance in several areas, including Sirte, preventing Libya's new leaders from declaring full victory in the eight-month conflict.

Earlier this week, fighters gained control of one stronghold, Bani Walid, and by Tuesday said they had squeezed Gaddafi's forces in Sirte into a residential area of about 700 square meters.