Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Qadhafi Making His Cast Lead Dreams Come True

His Loyalists and Mercenaries Attack Men, Women and Children

By SEHAM
On MARCH 9, 2011
Courtesy Of "MondoWeiss"

"The Battle For Zawiyah"


(Long Version)




And more news from Libya:
Qadhafi's Crimes
1552 BREAKING: Al Jazeera Huge explosion a few seconds ago near Sidra port. Flames hundreds of meters in the air!
1548 BREAKING: Al Jazeera Revolutionaries have entered Ben Jwad and are now in control of it
1534 Al Jazeera The town of Ban Jwad is approximately 20km away from where the smoke is rising (watch Al Jazeera online)
1529 Al Jazeera Gaddafi forces have attempted to enter Sidra port from the west side but were warded off by the revolutionaries who have been firing heavily at them. Despite this, they are still moving forward and trying to make ground
1512 Gaddafi planes are bombarding Ras Lanouf right now. You can watch live online at Al Jazeera
http://www.libyafeb17.com/2011/03/breaking-gaddafi-planes-bombarding-ras-lanouf/

New air raids hit Libyan oil city
Concern that gas facilities have been struck as Ras Lanuf, a strategic city, comes under shelling by Gaddafi's forces.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/201139138156335.html

Gaddafi forces hit oil store in bombardment-rebels
RAS LANUF, Libya, March 9 (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi hit storage tanks in the oil terminal of Es Sider in east Libya on Wednesday during a heavy bombardment of rebels in the area, rebel fighters said.  Big, black plumes of smoke rose above the terminal. It was not immediately possible to independently confirm the report that the storage tanks were hit or to ascertain if the cause was the bombardment by Gaddafi's forces or a stray rebel rocket. "We were standing over there in the direction of Es Sider. It was a fierce, random bombardment on us and then it hit the storage tanks," rebel figther Abdel Salam Mohamed told Reuters.
The oil producing town of Ras Lanuf has seen some of the worst fighting in the last few hours. Oil workers fear one wrong move from either side could see an oil or gas tank hit, causing a catastrophe. They spoke to Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley.
A Gaddafi Military Tank crushes car with a family inside it. The video description says this happened in Benghazi. No mention of date of incident. May god rest their souls
As NATO and UN powers debate whether to impose a no-fly zone on Libya, rebels on the eastern front in Ras Lanuf are feeling the pressure from stepped-up air strikes.
The city of Ras Lanouf is semi-deserted. Many of the families have left their homes fearing for their safety. Al Jazeera correspondent has just reported that two rockets landed in a reidental area in Ras Lanouf. The rocket heads look huge!
Abdul Adheem Mohamed is a correspondent with our sister channel Al Jazeera Arabic. He's seen first hand the damage caused by Tuesday's fighting in Ras Lanuf.
NEAR ES SIDER, Libya, March 9 (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi launched a bombardment near rebel positions around the east Libyan oil terminal of Es Sider on Wednesday, blowing up storage tanks at the facility.  Rebels retaliated by firing back with rockets as a fireball exploded from one of the oil tanks and the sky above the terminal filled with black smoke. A witness said one of the smoke plumes was the biggest he had seen in the conflict so far.
Pro-regime forces strike rebels with heavy onslaught of rockets as they try to retake Zawiya, closest rebel-held city to Tripoli.
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s forces are reportedly using tanks and warplanes to attack the rebel-held town of Zawiyah in western Libya.  One eyewitness, who wished to remain anonymous, compared the town to “a city of ghosts” because of the violence and bloodshed. 
 He told Sky News: “Here, it is chaos. Buildings completely crumbled, mosques brought down to ashes, blood flowing through the streets.
This is a transcript of a radio interview of Ahmed Sewehli, whose father and 3 brothers were kidnapped by Gaddafi forces last week in Tripoli.
The BBC’s Paul Danahar in Tripoli says: “There is much speculation that Col Gaddafi is about to turn up at the Rixos Hotel in the capital, where the foreign media are based. Whether it will be for a press conference or something else, we do not yet know.” He added that “the speculation is largely based on a long red carpet, all the cars being towed out of the car park, and a warning from the media centre that journalists trying to shoot pictures from the upper floors run a risk of being shot themselves!”
An investigative report from Albania sheds more light on the routes by which weapons from cold war stockpiles have found their way to Libya and how the arms that have helped destabilize Africa reached African soil.
Rather than the euphoric victories in Tunisia and Egypt, Libya's conflict now evokes another uprising: Iraqis' 1991 failed bid to overthrow Saddam Hussein, who ruled for another 12 years.
"The enemy of yesterday is the friend of today - it was a real war, but those brothers are free men now." Thus spoke Seif al-Islam Gadhafi in March 2010, referring to the leaders of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), an armed organization that had attempted to assassinate his father, Moammar Gadhafi, three times in the mid-1990s.
Rebels will not pursue Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi over crimes they say he has committed if he steps down from his post in the next 72 hours, the head of the rebel National Libyan Council has told Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera speaks to Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the opposition National Council, about the deadline he has set Libya's embattled leader.
Al Jazeera is joined on the line by Mohammad Ali, from the Civil Committee for Misurata Affairs -- which is also part of the Opposition National Council. Misurata is around 200 kilometres east of Tripoli - and has been the scene of heavy fighting in recent days.
Opponents of Libya leader Gadhafi invited by large political grouping in the European Parliament, to speak at a debate on Libya on Wednesday. 
Tue Mar 8, 2011 6:55pm GMT TRIPOLI, March 8 (Reuters) – Some Libyan troops besieging the rebel-held city of Misrata left on Tuesday driving east towards Sirte with other pro-Gaddafi troops coming from Tripoli, a resident told Reuters by telephone.
State TV reports that Maj. Gen. Khalid Shahmah has switched sides. Meanwhile, government officials deny rumors that Moammar Kadafi will resign. A Libyan general has switched sides in one of two fiercely contested western cities that remain strongholds of the opposition to Moammar Kadafi, state television said Tuesday.
The sustained strikes on Ras Lanuf create an impasse on the eastern front. Combined with tanks and artillery backing government forces 30 miles west, the warplanes halt the rebels' advance. The day dawned with the shrill whine of a warplane. Then there was a rough growl as a jet fighter, heard but not seen, swooped low on another bombing run.
Libyan rebels are facing a great and perhaps fatal obstacle: the need to forge a substitute to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in a state that he embodied.
World Food ProgrammeThe first delivery of food aid to Libya since the start of the fighting is due to arrive in Benghazi some time tonight. A convoy of trucks carrying 70 metric tonnes of high-energy, fortified date bars entered the country from the Egyptian border last night.  
Preparations are under way for the delivery of another 70 metric tons of the locally-produced date bars, and 150 metric tons of wheat flour. A shipment of 1,182 metric tons of wheat flour which turned back from Benghazi last Thursday due to security concerns, set sail for Libya again today. Read the overview of the UN World Food Programme here.
This is the official White House memorandum from President Obama to the Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, authorizing  $15,000,000 in aid from the U.S. Emergency and Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund to address the unexpected and urgent situation in Libya.
Gaddafi envoy lands in Cairo
Plane taking off from Tripoli lands in Cairo, carrying the Libyan deputy defence minister.  Abdelrahman al-Zawi, the Libyan deputy defence minister has arrived in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. A private jet carrying al-Zawi, who is also an army general in charge of logistics and supplies, landed in Cairo after three planes belonging to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi took off from a military airstrip near Tripoli on Wednesday morning.  There were reports that al-Zawi was carrying a message from Gaddafi and was to meet with Amr Moussa, head of the Arab league.  The state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper said the official was to meet with the military council which is ruling Egypt.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/20113911921436551.html

Libya emissaries fly to Belgium,Portugal-Malta official
VALLETTA, March 9 (Reuters) - Libyan government emissaries met Maltese officials on the Mediterranean island on Wednesday and then flew to Portugal, while another Libyan aircraft was on its way to Brussels via France, a Maltese official said.  European leaders will meet in Brussels on Friday to discuss the uprisings in North Africa.

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libya-emissaries-fly-to-belgiumportugal-malta-official

Gaddafi blames unrest on foreigners
Rebel-held towns continue to be under attack as defiant Libyan leader alleges plot to colonise his country.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/20113944216568348.html

UN opens probe into allegations of torture by Gadhafi forces
Investigation is focusing on Gadhafi regime's alleged executions of patients pulled from hospitals, shots fired at crowds of protesters and other uses of disproportionate force.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/un-opens-probe-into-allegations-of-torture-by-gadhafi-forces-1.348151?localLinksEnabled=false

Gaddafi can't be forgiven after "massacres": ex-min
Former Libyan interior minister General Abdul Fattah Yunis, who resigned from his post and joined the revolutionaries in Benghazi, announced his rejection of granting Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi amnesty if he leaves power.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/03/09/140799.html

Obama: Libya Leader Gaddafi Must Leave Power Quickly
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed on Tuesday that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi must leave power quickly and weighed steps to stop the bloodshed, including a no-fly zone. As Obama faces growing calls at home to help Libyan rebels seeking Gaddafi's ouster, he and Cameron discussed a "full spectrum of possible responses" during their telephone call, the White House said in a statement.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/08/obama-gaddafi-libya_n_833170.html

Obama administration taking cautious approach on Libya
The U.S. has downplayed prospects for military intervention against Moammar Kadafi's forces, which could deepen its rift with the Muslim world and tax an already overextended American military. The Obama administration is drawing careful limits on its potential military involvement in the increasingly bloody struggle between the Libyan government and rebel forces, despite growing calls for Western intervention.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/8HNK1oNumS4/la-fg-us-libya-20110309,0,7874719.story

Helicopters top Libyan air threat -US Marine chief
WASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) - Libya's helicopter forces, as opposed to its fixed wing aircraft, represent the country's strongest air power threat, the head of the U.S. Marines said on Tuesday, as U.S. officials debate a possible no-fly zone.  Asked about Libya's air capabilities, General James Amos said: "I think it's modest. I think probably the greatest threat are their helicopter-type forces."
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/helicopters-top-libyan-air-threat--us-marine-chief

Gadhafi: U.S., Britain, France conspiring to control Libya oil
Spokesman for rebel National Libyan Council says victory against Libya's longtime leader will only come when rebels get a no-fly zone, an issue that Western nations are seriously debating. 
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/gadhafi-u-s-britain-france-conspiring-to-control-libya-oil-1.348104?localLinksEnabled=false

Libyans to fight if West imposes no-fly zone-Gaddafi
ISTANBUL, March 9 (Reuters) - The Libyan people will take up arms against Western powers if they seek to enforce a no-fly zone in their country's airspace, Muammar Gaddafi said in an interview with Turkish state-run television.  "If they take such a decision it will be useful for Libya, because the Libyan people will see the truth, that what they want is to take control of Libya and to steal their oil," Gaddafi said in the interview by broadcast by TRT news channel on Wednesday. "Then the Libyan people will take up arms against them," Gaddafi said. The interview was conducted in Arabic and aired with Turkish subtitles. 
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libyans-to-fight-if-west-imposes-no-fly-zone-gaddafi

Libya no-fly zone a UN decision, says Hillary Clinton
Any decision to impose a no-fly zone over Libya should be made by the UN and not by Washington, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12683952

FACTBOX-Who wants a no-fly zone over Libya?
March 8 (Reuters) - Western allies remain divided over whether to impose a no-fly zone over Libya to support rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi's forces and prevent air attacks on civilians.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/factbox-world-powers-weigh-no-fly-zone-for-libya

Lebanon FM calls for air embargo on Libya
Caretaker Foreign Minister Ali Shami requested Lebanon’s ambassador to the U.N. Nawwaf Salam to call for an emergency meeting for the Arab envoys in New York to advise it to adopt a Security Council resolution to impose an air embargo on Libya.  Shami is a member of the Amal movement which is headed by Speaker Nabih Berri.
http://www.yalibnan.com/2011/03/08/lebanon-fm-calls-for-air-embargo-on-libya/

NATO launches 24-hour air surveillance of Libya
Obama says U.S., NATO still mulling military options, warns Gadhafi-loyalists will be 'held accountable' if violence continues; Gates: Military action would need international backing.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/u-s-mulls-arming-rebels-against-gadhafi-as-nato-launches-24-hour-air-surveillance-of-libya-1.347723

U.K., France draft resolution to impose 'no-fly zone' over Libya
A British diplomat at the U.N. stressed Monday that the resolution is being prepared as a contingency in case it is needed, but no decision has been made to introduce it at the U.N. Security Council.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41952726/ns/world_news-mideast/n_africa/

Libya unrest: Nato military strength in the Mediterranean
As the alliance considers establishing a no-fly zone over Libya, we look at Nato military capability in the area, and what they might be up against ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/mar/08/libya-nato-no-fly-zone-interactive-map

Muslim state must join Libya no-fly plan -German MP
BERLIN, March 8 (Reuters) - At least one Muslim nation must take part in imposing any no-fly zone over Libya, a senior German politician said on Tuesday.  Ruprecht Polenz, who chairs the German parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, told Reuters that the Arab League would also have to back a move to prevent Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi unleashing air raids on rebel fighters.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/muslim-state-must-join-libya-no-fly-plan--german-mp

BREAKINGVIEWS-Libyan no-fly zone could create more oil havoc
LONDON, March 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - A Libyan no-fly zone could create more oil havoc. The consensus among traders of the black gold is that foreign intervention could bring down Brent crude prices from current heights of around $113 by hastening the exit of Muammar Gaddafi. But that ignores the possibility that protesters stirring elsewhere in the region might be emboldened by yet another successful revolution.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/breakingviews-libyan-no-fly-zone-could-create-more-oil-havoc

EU adds Libyan investment fund to sanctions list
BRUSSELS, March 8 (Reuters) - European Union member states agreed to add the Libyan Investment Authority to a sanctions list on Tuesday, with the restrictions expected to come into force on Friday.  Diplomats said the EU's 27 countries had agreed to impose sanctions on the $70 billion Libyan Investment Authority and four other organisations. The embargo already covers 26 Libyans including Muammar Gaddafi and his family.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/eu-adds-libyan-investment-fund-to-sanctions-list

State Department: Arming Libyan opposition would be 'illegal'
The State Department believes that supplying any arms to the Libyan opposition to support its struggle against Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi would be illegal at the current time. "It's very simple. In the U.N. Security Council resolution passed on Libya, there is an arms embargo that affects Libya, which means it's a violation for any country to provide arms to anyone in Libya," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said on Monday.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/08/state_department_arming_libyan_opposition_would_be_illegal

Trouble for Libya's oil industry
As the battle for Libya intensifies, oil production in the country has plummeted. In the rebel-held east it's down by as much as 90 percent. Now OPEC is considering boosting output for the first time in two years. Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2-3ERwBiWI&feature=youtube_gdata

Media Repression/Suppression
Libya keeps foreign journalists on tight leash
Foreign journalists seeking to visit neighborhoods in Tripoli at the urging of Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi are in for a rude awakening. They are going nowhere unless government minders say it is OK. A burst of gunfire and squealing tires kicked off what was scheduled to be a day of anti-government protests in Tripoli, Libya's capital. The foreign journalists in town, all watched by minders, struggled to find out what was happening.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/D6uW037ugqs/la-fg-libya-journalists-20110309,0,4310604.story

Libya increasingly difficult for news crews - INSI
LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - The situation for news crews in Libya is becoming increasingly precarious and there is a strong sense that antipathy towards foreign journalists is mounting, a London-based media watchdog said on Tuesday.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libya-increasingly-difficult-for-news-crews-insi

Libya regime treating journalists like idiots – but ones who are useful to them
At surreal press conferences in Tripoli reporters hear scripted praise for Muammar Gaddafi while being told black is white, attack is retreat and 'the colonial English' are fomenting conspiracy.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/08/libya-regime-ill-treats-foreign-journalists

Other News
UN Rally in NYC
Monday March 7th a Large group Rallied outside the UN in New York City. Here are some videos and Photos of this great turnout. Video one For more videos Video two Video three.
http://feb17.info/general/un-rally-in-nyc-2/

Libya's First Lady owns airline company, 20 tonnes of gold: Report
Dubai, March 8 : Libya's First Lady Safia Farkash al-Baraasi has amassed enormous wealth, including the airline company Buraq Air and 20 tonnes of gold, a media report said.  Although the First Lady has not been in the limelight unlike her Tunisian and Egyptian counterparts, she wields considerable influence, the Al Arabiya channel reported. She operates the airline with the approval of her husband even though it rivals the Libyan national carrier.
http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-163744.html

Chavez loses Libya stadium honour
Opposition groups in eastern Libya rename a stadium that had been named in honour of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-latin-america-12682846

Sudan university revokes honorary doctorate it gave to Gadhafi
KHARTOUM: Khartoum University has decided to revoke the honorary doctorate that it awarded to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and condemned the actions of his regime against the Libyan people.  “The Khartoum University Council decided, at its meeting held on March 7, to withdraw an honorary doctorate from Colonel Moammar Gadhafi,” it said in a statement issued late Monday. “The proposal, made by the director of education Professor Alaa al-Din Zaki … won the overwhelming endorsement of the council, which registered its condemnation of the Libyan regime’s actions against the Libyan people,” the statement said.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=125757#axzz1FxweMNQU

International Women's Day
Honoring the Women of the Libyan Revolution
To the mothers who have sacrificed their children for their country… To the wives who encouraged their husbands to go out and fight for their freedom… To the protesting girls who refuse to be silent… To the women who built this country and raised the Libyan people to be fearless and righteous: Your sacrifice is our freedom. The women of the revolution stand shoulder to shoulder with their men and will fight until the end.
http://feb17.info/general/honoring-the-women-of-the-libyan-revolution/

To The Brave Women of Libya
http://feb17.info/general/to-the-brave-women-of-libya/

Women refugees flee Libyan violence
As the world marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, euronews went to the Libyan-Tunisian border to meet some of the female migrants who are fleeing the violence in Libya.  The al-Choucha camp is seven kilometres inside Tunisia. Its residents quit their jobs to escape the unrest, missing out on a valuable source of income which they send home to their families.
http://feb17.info/general/women-refugees-flee-libyan-violence/

Analysis/Op-ed
Qaddafi’s Scorched Earth Policy, at Home and Abroad, Juan Cole
Muammar Qaddafi is still trying to play the al-Qaeda card, arguing that his murderous regime is what stands between Europe and the emigration to it of thousands of Muslim extremists. He told Turkish television that his regime is a key element of stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, and its fall would bring chaos there, including to Israel.
http://www.juancole.com/2011/03/qaddafis-scorched-earth-policy-at-home-and-abroad.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29

Libya oil tanks seen as 'time bomb'
Desperate Gaddafi might hit oil facilities in an attempt to fend off encroaching rebels, sparking a human catastrophe.
http://english.aljazeera.net//video/middleeast/2011/03/20113912019839325.html

ANALYSIS-Conflict dividing Libya along old faultlines
LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - A frontline in Libya's civil war looked to be consolidating on Tuesday, dividing the country in two along a historic provincial boundary, leaving key oil facilities stuck in the middle of the emerging conflict. The eastern city of Benghazi looks to have firmly thrown off control by Muammar Gaddafi, but the veteran leader looks to have managed to clamp down on unrest in the capital Tripoli and is besieging and battling to cement his control in nearby towns.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/analysis-conflict-dividing-libya-along-old-faultlines

Families find terror on road out of Libyan town
AJDABIA, Libya: They were trying to flee to safety but were lucky to escape with their lives. As cars loaded with people and possessions streamed down the desert road east from the Libyan oil town of Ras Lanouf, government jets targeted Salim Hussein Attia's young family in their pickup truck.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=125756

Gadhafi lays waste to Libya
Libyan government forces attacked rebels with rockets, tanks and warplanes on western and eastern fronts, intensifying their offensive to crush the revolt against Moammar Gadhdafi as the world wrestles with the thorny question of how deeply to intervene. U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed Tuesday to plan for the "full spectrum of possible responses" on Libya.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=125779

Baristas and bombs -- a day on Libya's frontline
RAS LANUF, Libya, March 8 (Reuters) - The waiter who served us coffee was a rebel fighter in military fatigues and a rifle on his back. The hotel staff, with bow ties and waistcoats, had fled a barrage of shelling and air strikes a few hours earlier.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/baristas-and-bombs----a-day-on-libyas-frontline

Qadhdhafi's minister of Justice
One of the problems of the Libyan opposition today is that lousy leader they have.  He is none other than the former Minister of Justice by Qadhdhafi's regime.  He has been on Aljazeera and is everything you don't want to have in a leader.  I mean, if Libyan watch him, they won't be inspired.  They will certainly be demoralized.  Get him off the screen now.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/03/qadhdhafis-minister-of-justice.html

Gaddafi Cartoons over the years
A collection of some of the best we have come across. If you have any you would like to add please provide link in the comment box. For better viewing experience view with PicLens 
http://feb17.info/media/gaddafi-cartoons-over-the-years-2/
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