Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Africa North

Italian Minister: Purging Libya Ex-officials Would be Mistake

2011-09-05

[Tripoli Post] Italia's foreign minister Franco Frattini said on Sunday, that the West must not repeat the same mistake in Libya as it did in Iraq, and warned against a full-scale purging of military officials and bureaucrats from Muammar Al Qadaffy's
...a reminder that a single man with an idea can screw up an entire nation...
authoritarian regime.

"Why destroy all the structure, all the apparatus in Libya like we have done in Iraq, making a big mistake," AP reported the Italian minister telling journalists at an economics forum in the Lake Como resort town of Cernobbio. "We shouldn't multiply, we shouldn't double this mistake,"
he said.
"Besides, we bought these guys and we want what we paid for," he added softly.
Referring to the wide-scale purging of Iraqi soldiers and bureaucrats Frattini suggested that lessons be learned from the period in Iraq after the US-led war drove Saddam Hussein from power. He said that thug Orcs and similar vermin quickly capitalised on the resulting discontent and power vacuum.
Perhaps disbanding the Iraqi army in 2003 was a mistake, though their Saddam-selected officer corps was pretty vile. I'm guessing the Qaddhafi-selected officer corps for the former Libyan army is just as bad, and it would be a big mistake to keep them around in any official capacity. Start over, and when the Italians, French and Spanish squeal, remind them who has the oil.

Link

Africa North

Talks Fail for Gadhafi Bastion Surrender, Rebels Poised to Attack

2011-09-05

[An Nahar] Negotiations for the surrender of Moammar

Qadaffy's
...a proud Arab institution for 42 years...
forces in the Libyan town of Bani Walid have failed and will not resume, the chief negotiator for the National Transitional Council said Sunday.

"I am leaving the military commander to resolve the problem," Abdullah Kenshil said when asked if an attack would now be launched on the town southeast of Tripoli where at least one of Qadaffy's sons is reputed to be hiding.

Kenshil said the pro-Qadaffy fighters wanted to come out with their weapons but were refused.

"They demanded that the revolutionaries enter Bani Walid without their weapons," he added, charging that it was a pretext for an ambush.

Kenshil also said Qadaffy himself, his sons and many of his family had been in Bani Walid, without specifying when.

Two of Qadaffy's sons, Al-Saadi and Mutassim, are suspected of being still in Bani Walid.

Negotiations through the intermediary of tribal leaders began several days ago with the hope of taking Bani Walid without bloodshed.

Kenshil said earlier that the pro-Qadaffy forces numbered between 30 and 50 men, "very well-armed, with machine-guns, rocket-launchers and snipers."

Anti-Qadaffy fighters have moved to within 15 to 20 kilometers of the town with a view to launching an assault if the talks broke down.

Earlier on Sunday, a commander of the fighters said talks aimed at securing the peaceful surrender of Qadaffy's forces in Bani Walid had been abandoned and an assault on the oasis town was imminent.

"We are getting ready," said Mohammed al-Fassi, checkpoint commander in the village of Shishan, 70 kilometers north of Bani Walid.

"Negotiations between Qadaffy's men and our forces have ended. These people aren't serious. Twice they promised to surrender only to go back on their word," he said.

A local front man for the National Transitional Council (NTC) now governing Libya said the frontline stood 15 to 20 kilometers north of Bani Walid and that troops were poised for an advance.

"We are waiting for orders to go into the city," Mahmoud Abdul Aziz said.

"Last night the Qadaffy forces tried to move out. Our fighters responded and there were some festivities lasting a few minutes."

The new government's interim interior minister Ahmed Darrat told Agence La Belle France Presse he was confident the town's capture was imminent. "We expect Bani Walid to be freed today or tomorrow," he said.

On Saturday, the deputy chief of the military council in the town of Tarhuna, north of Bani Walid, said Qadaffy's son Al-Saadi was still in Bani Walid, along with other senior figures of the fallen regime, while prominent son Seif al-Islam had decamped the town.

Preparations for the offensive appeared to be well underway even though NTC chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil said in Benghazi on Saturday that a truce declared until September 10 remained in force.

"We are in a position of strength to enter any city but we want to avoid any bloodshed, especially in sensitive areas such as tribal areas," he said, adding military deployments would continue during the ceasefire.

Civilians who managed to flee Bani Walid said that most of Qadaffy's forces had now decamped taking their heavy weaponry with them into the surrounding mountains.

NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
said its warplanes had hit an ammunition storage facility near Bani Walid on Saturday.

Alliance aircraft also hit a barracks, a military police camp and 11 other targets in Qadaffy's hometown Sirte on the Mediterranean coast and carried out bombing raids on two other towns that remain in the hands of Qadaffy forces -- Buwayrat west of Sirte and Hun in the al-Jufra oasis.

NTC forces east of Sirte on Sunday moved to disarm members of the Hussnia tribe suspected of loyalty to the ousted strongman, an AFP correspondent reported.

The NTC front man in London Guma al-Gamaty said that when captured, Qadaffy should stand trial in Libya not before the

International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
(ICC) in The Hague that has issued an arrest warrant for suspected crimes against humanity committed during the Libyan uprising.

"The ICC will only put Qadaffy on trial for crimes committed over the last six months," Gamaty told BBC television.

"Qadaffy is responsible for a horrific catalogue of crimes committed over the last 42 years, which he should stand trial for and answer for and he can only answer for those in a proper trial in Libya itself."

Gamaty said it would be up to the court to determine whether a death sentence was appropriate for Qadaffy, but added: "The court will be fair and just and will meet all international standards.

"It will be a fair trial -- something that Qadaffy has never offered any Libyans who criticized him over the last 42 years."

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini warned against too thorough a purge of Qadaffy appointees in the Libyan apparatus, pointing to the chaos that had ensued in Iraq when even low-ranking officials of Saddam Hussein's Baath party were stripped of their jobs after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

"If somebody used to work for the regime but has no blood on his hands, why destroy all the structure, all the apparatus of Libya like we've done in Iraq, making a big mistake?" he said.

In Iraq, U.S. administrator Paul Bremer's policy of sidelining all Baath party members and dismantling the army put hundreds of thousands of Iraqis on the streets, swelling the ranks of the insurgency.

In fresh revelations from documents obtained by media and rights groups in Tripoli, Britannia's Sunday Times said London invited two of Qadaffy's sons to the headquarters of the SAS special forces unit in 2006 as former premier Tony Blair tried to build ties with the Libyan regime.

Link

Africa North

Qadhafi stronghold fate hinges on talks

2011-09-05

[Dawn] The fate of one of Muammar

Qadaffy's
...a proud Arab institution for 42 years...
last bastions hung on negotiations Sunday, as Libya's new leaders called for the ousted strongman to stand trial in his homeland when captured.

"We are negotiating through the intermediary of tribal leaders who hope to convince the gangs (loyal to Qadaffy) to surrender," Abdullah Kenshil, the chief of the National Transitional Council's negotiating team, said.

"We will protect them, we won't do anything to them, we only want to try them, and they will have a fair trial." A military commander had earlier said talks aimed at securing the peaceful surrender of Qadaffy's forces in Bani Walid had been abandoned and an assault on the oasis town southeast of Tripoli was imminent.

But Kenshil said he was awaiting a response from the pro-Qadaffy forces, who he said numbered between 30 and 50 men, "very well-armed, with machine-guns, rocket-launchers and snipers."

He said the talks had been going on for several days. "At the beginning they said no, but now we are assuring them that we will protect them against any act of reprisal."

A local front man for the NTC now holding most of Libya said the front line was 15 to 20 kilometres (10 to 12 miles) north of Bani Walid and that troops were just awaiting orders to advance.

"Last night the Qadaffy forces tried to move out. Our fighters responded and there were some festivities lasting a few minutes," Mahmud Abdelaziz said.

The new government's interim interior minister Ahmed Darrat told AFP he was confident the town's capture was imminent. "We expect Bani Walid to be freed today or tomorrow," he said.

The deputy chief of the military council in Tarhuna, north of Bani Walid, Abdulrazzak Naduri, said, "Everything depends on the negotiations.

"If they refuse (to surrender), we will advance, if the negotiations go well, we will enter and hoist the flag without a fight. It's the last chance, we can't extend our ultimatum again."

On Saturday, Naduri said Qadaffy's son Saadi was still in Bani Walid, along with other senior figures of the fallen regime, while prominent son Seif al-Islam had decamped the town.

Civilians coming from Bani Walid said that most of Qadaffy's forces had now decamped, taking their heavy weaponry with them into the surrounding mountains.

NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
said its warplanes had hit an ammunition store near Bani Walid on Saturday, as well as military targets in Qadaffy's coastal hometown of Sirte, Buwayrat west of Sirte and Hun in the Al-Jufra oasis.

NTC forces east of Sirte meanwhile moved to disarm members of the Hussnia tribe suspected of loyalty to the ousted strongman on Sunday.

The NTC front man in London, Guma al-Gamaty, said that when captured Qadaffy should stand trial in Libya and not at the

International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
(ICC) in The Hague that has issued an arrest warrant for suspected crimes against humanity committed during the Libyan uprising.

"The ICC will only put Qadaffy on trial for crimes committed over the last six months," Gamaty told BBC television.

"Qadaffy is responsible for a horrific catalogue of crimes committed over the last 42 years, which he should stand trial for and answer for and he can only answer for those in a proper trial in Libya itself."

Gamaty said it would be up to the court to determine whether a death sentence was appropriate for Qadaffy, but added: "The court will be fair and just and will meet all international standards.

"It will be a fair trial -- something that Qadaffy has never offered any Libyans who criticised him over the last 42 years."

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini warned against too thorough a purge of Qadaffy appointees in the Libyan apparatus, pointing to the chaos that had ensued in Iraq when even low-ranking officials of Saddam Hussein's Baath party were stripped of their jobs after the 2003 US-led invasion.

In fresh revelations from documents obtained by media and rights groups in Tripoli, Britannia's Sunday Times said London invited two of Qadaffy's sons to the headquarters of the SAS special forces unit in 2006 as then premier Tony Blair tried to build ties with the Libyan regime.

The Mail on Sunday said Qadaffy's regime warned of "dire consequences" for relations between Libya and Britannia if the cancer-stricken convicted Lockerbie bomber died in a Scottish jail.

Senior British officials feared Qadaffy "might seek to extract vengeance" if he was not released, it said.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi is the only man convicted of the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103, which killed 270 people when it went kaboom! over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.

He was said to be only three months from death when he was freed on compassionate grounds by the Scottish government on August 20, 2009, but he was found to be still alive, though very feeble in Tripoli, last week.

Interim defence minister Jallal Dghaili arrived in Tripoli from Benghazi on Sunday with a large following as the NTC gradually transfers from its eastern base to the capital.

Link

Africa North

Libyan Rebels Chief Says Gahafi's End 'Very Near'

2011-08-21

[An Nahar] Libyan rebel chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on Saturday "the end is very near" for Moammar

Qadaffy
...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years...
and that it will be "catastrophic," as rebels pushing on the capital claimed to have seized a third key town in 24 hours.

"We have contacts with people from the inner circle of Qadaffy," said the chairman of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC). "All evidence (shows) that the end is very near, with God's grace."

Abdel Jalil was speaking to news hounds as a flurry of rumors suggested that Qadaffy was preparing to flee Libya.

"I expect a catastrophic end for him and his inner circle, and I expect that he will create a situation within Tripoli. I hope my expectation is wrong," Abdel Jalil said.

"That would be a good thing that will end the bloodshed and help us avoid material costs. But I do not expect that he will do that," Abdel Jalil added.

Earlier, rebels claimed to have captured the strategic eastern oil hub of Brega, a day after saying they had seized two other key towns.

In another blow to Qadaffy, the rebels also said former premier Abdessalam Jalloud, who fell out of favor with the Libyan strongman in the mid-1990s but remains a highly popular figure, had defected and joined their ranks.

Jalloud "has gone to Benghazi yesterday night (Friday)," rebel front man Juma Ibrahim told news hounds Saturday. "I don't know who he met there. He left by car," he added.

Overnight, rebel military commander Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani told Agence La Belle France Presse the ex-premier had managed to flee Tripoli and "has joined the rebels." Another source said his family accompanied him and they stopped first in Zintan.

And a senior Tunisian official said he had flown to Italia with his family from Tunisia aboard a Maltese plane before dawn on Saturday.

Jalloud's defection comes amid rumors that the Libyan strongman himself was preparing to flee as rebels appear to be closing in on the capital.

He was among the officers who grabbed power with Qadaffy in 1969 and was long considered the regime's second-in-command before being gradually sidelined in the 1990s.

Prime minister during the 1970s, he retired from politics following his dispute with Qadaffy and lived under hour arrest.

Libya's Awalam television channel quoted the former premier on its news ticker as saying: "Qadaffy's regime is finished."

On the ground, a top-ranking rebel official said of Brega, "the industrial zone is under our control; all Brega is now under our control."

On Friday they claimed the western refinery town of Zawiyah to be free, the last major barrier as they try to advance on Tripoli from the west.

The refinery is the only source of fuel to the capital, and could leave it without critical supplies.

Insurgents also said they seized Zliten from Qadaffy's forces, hours after saying they were in the town's centre, 150 kilometers east of Tripoli.

Rebels have been seeking to sever Tripoli's supply lines from Tunisia to the west and to Qadaffy's home town of Sirte in the east, hoping to cut off the capital, prompt defections and spark an uprising inside Tripoli.

Meanwhile,
...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck and Manuel's rivalry was entering a new and more dangerous phase...
a Tunisian defense official said Tunisian troops clashed with a group of armed Libyans overnight in the country's southwest.

An army patrol came under fire from men travelling in several 4X4 vehicles with Libyan registration plates in the Douz region, the official said.

No one was caught and the attackers were still being hunted Saturday by ground and air forces, the official said, adding there were no casualties on the Tunisian side.

With the rebels vowing to take Tripoli before the Mohammedan holy fasting month of Ramadan ends in late August, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini urged the population of the capital to rise up against Qadaffy.

"We hope the people of Tripoli... understand the regime has harmed its own people and will therefore join a process of political change to cut off room for maneuver for Qadaffy's regime," Frattini said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Senate, Odius Sepulcher called for war against the Visigoths...
the International Organization for Migration said it was drawing up plans to evacuate thousands of migrants stranded in Tripoli because exit points have been cut off after a spate of rebel successes.

"There are already thousands of Egyptians who are ready for evacuation now, and what we are hearing is that every day there are more and more requests," IOM spokeswoman Jemini Pandya said.

For its part, the International Committee of the Red Thingy reported a "rapid deterioration in the humanitarian situation" in several Libyan towns.

Meanwhile NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization....
, in its operational update for Friday, said it had hit targets in the vicinity of Tripoli, Zawiyah and Zliten, including nine military facilities around the capital.

Elsewhere, reports from Brasilia said festivities broke out late Friday at the Libyan embassy in the Brazilian capital between supporters of Qadaffy and his opponents.

And Human Rights Watch
... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world...
announced it had sent a "four-person team" to Tripoli and other sites in western Libya under government control, where "they engaged senior Libyan officials on human rights
...which often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
in the conflict and visited sites of NATO air strikes where civilians are alleged to have died."

Link

Africa North

Tripoli Bombed, Gadhafi Lashes 'Colonial Plot'

2011-07-25

[An Nahar] NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
warplanes blitzed a string of military targets in Tripoli on Sunday, an official said, as embattled Libyan leader Moammar

Qadaffy
...dictator of Libya since 1969. From 1972, when he relinquished the title of prime minister, he has been accorded the honorifics Guide of the First of September Great Revolution of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya or Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution. With the death of Omar Bongo of Gabon on 8 June 2009, he became the longest serving of all current non-royal national leaders. He is also the longest-serving ruler of Libya since Tripoli became an Ottoman province in 1551. When Chairman Mao was all the rage and millions of people were flashing his Little Red Book, Qadaffy came out with his own Little Green Book, which didn't do as well. Qadaffy's instability has been an inspiration to the Arab world and to Africa, which he would like to rule...
blamed a "colonial plot" for the conflict engulfing his country.

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

An Agence La Belle France Presse news hound said two blasts occurred at 00:50 am (2250 GMT) in the area housing Qadaffy's residence in the heart of the capital, followed by others in the city's eastern and southeastern suburbs.

A column of smoke was seen over Qadaffy's residential complex, which had been targeted by NATO warplanes on Saturday, when the transatlantic military alliance confirmed seven strikes and said they hit a military command node.

Qadaffy meanwhile late Saturday said in an audio message broadcast on state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
that the unrest that has swept his country since a popular uprising erupted mid-February was a "colonial plot." He did not elaborate.

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

"They lie to you and say, 'Libya kills its people with bullets, that is why we have come to protect civilians'," Qadaffy said, referring to the NATO air campaign which was mandated by the United Nations
...what started out as a a diplomatic initiative, now trying to edge its way into legislative, judicial, and executive areas...
with the aim of protecting civilians in Libya.

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

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

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

On Thursday, "there was an attack on an operations center of top regime officials, including Seif al-Islam Qadaffy,
...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland...
" National Transitional Council vice president Ali Essawy said after meeting Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini in Rome.

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

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

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

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

"There was no attack," government front man Moussa Ibrahim told news hounds of the rebels' claims that they had attacked a Tripoli command post.

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

Germany said Sunday meanwhile it was making available to the Libyan rebel National Transitional Council up to 100 million euros ($144 million) in loans for civilian and humanitarian purposes.

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

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

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

The bully boyz have been trying for weeks to take Zliten, 200 kilometers from Tripoli and 40 kilometers west of Misrata.

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

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

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

Link

Africa North

Rebels say Gadhafi must face trial as Tripoli hit

2011-07-24

[Emirates 24/7] A Libyan rebel front man insisted Friday that Moammar

Qadaffy
...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years...
stand trial at the international war crimes tribunal, despite growing Western consensus that the longtime dictator be allowed to stay in his homeland if he relinquishes power.

NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
jet planes, meanwhile, struck the capital Tripoli near Qadaffy's headquarters at Bab al-Aziziyah in the early hours of the morning Saturday.

Several bright flashes and loud kabooms split the night at around 2:30 a.m. local time while jets could be heard circling overhead.

NATO bombing raids and other military operations began this spring to protect civilians rebelling against the Libyan regime, but Qadaffy has managed to keep his grip on the capital, Tripoli, to the frustration of Western leaders.

NATO planes struck a factory near the embattled oil city of Brega on Friday killing six guards, Libyan officials said.

The plant, located six miles (10 kilometers) south of the strategic oil installation, builds the huge pipes that carry water from underground aquifers deep in the south to the coast as part of the Great Man Made River irrigation project.

"Major parts of the plant have been damaged," said Abdel-Hakim el-Shwehdy, head of the company running the project. "There could be major setback for the future projects."

At least 70 percent of Libyans survive on the water carried through the pipes to the coast in the project, according to government figures.

"Most Libyans drink from the Great Manmade River, most Libyan land is farmed from the water, so any harm against this vital project is a harm aginst all Libyans," warned government front man Moussa Ibrahim. "We believe this a very dangerous development in NATO'S attacks."

Washington, Gay Paree and Rome have all proclaimed their acceptance of the idea that Qadaffy remain in Libya on the condition that he give up power and the Libyan people grant their approval.

In Rome, rebel front man Ali al-Issawi met with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.

Asked how the so-called "leave Qadaffy in Libya option" squares with the warrant for his arrest by the

International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
, al-Issawi told news hounds that there was "no contradiction between the two."

"The first principle is that Qadaffy should step down," al-Issawi, a leader of the rebels' executive office said after a meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini. "After that you can talk about the details."

"We would like Qadaffy to be taken to the ICC," al-Issawi said, referring to the Hague-based tribunal.

Al-Issawi's office essentially serves as a Cabinet for the National Transitional Council, the Benghazi-based anti-Qadaffy front that was recently recognized by Washington as Libya's legitimate government.

Frattini noted that Libya isn't among the signatory countries to an agreement obligating arrest for such warrants, and he stressed that while "impunity (for Qadaffy) would be a mistake, it has to be the Libyans to decide" Qadaffy's fate. Whatever that decision is, "we'll respect it," the foreign minister added.

Whether Western support to allow Libyans to keep Qadaffy in his country once out of power indicates waning desire to drive him out of Tripoli is unclear. There have been fears the civil warfare could end in a kind of stalemate, with the rebels in charge mainly in eastern Libya and Qadaffy's forces entrenched in Tripoli.

Al-Issawi said that a blast at a Tripoli hotel Thursday where several top members of the regime, including Qadaffy's son Saif al-Islam, were meeting was caused by a rocket launched from within the city.

"This is a good signal that people inside Tripoli are organizing" against Qadaffy,
...whose instability has been an inspiration to dictators everywhere...
Frattini told news hounds.

The rebel front man said the attack "severely maimed" Abdullah Mansour, apparently a high official in Qadaffy's inner circle.

A Tripoli-based opposition group called the Free Generation Movement said in a statement that three rocket-propelled grenades were used to attack the hotel.

However,
man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them...
the government front man, Ibrahim, denied any attack had occurred, saying it was only an accident turned into a propaganda ploy by rebels.

"There was no attack yesterday whatsoever, there was an kaboom near the Sheraton caused by a (cooking) gas cylinder," said. "It was a kitchen kaboom that was immediately turned into an attack to boost (rebel) morale."

Libya, a major supplier of oil and natural gas to Italia, was Rome's biggest trading partner before the outbreak of civil war, and al-Issawi assured Frattini that Italia would regain that rank in Libya's future.

"We invite all the Italian companies in Libya to restart their activities," al-Issawi told news hounds.

Among those eager to return to full operations is Italian energy company Eni, which the Libyan government has banned from operating in Libya due to Italia's participation in the NATO attacks.

Frattini delivered some good news to the rebel's political arm. He said that within days, the first tranche of 350 million ($503 million) in cash and fuel would be transferred to Benghazi to help civilians there, while Italia and other countries wait for U.N. sanctions officials to free up billions of dollars in frozen Qadaffy regime assets.

Link

Africa North

United States recognises Libya rebels

2011-07-16

[Dawn] Rebel leaders won recognition as the legitimate government of Libya from the United States and other world powers on Friday in a major boost to the rebels' faltering campaign to oust Muammar Qadaffy.

Western nations said they also planned to increase the military pressure on Qadaffy's forces to press him to give up power after 41 years at the head of the North African state.

Recognition of the rebels, announced by Secretary of State

Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another John Quincy Adams ...
at a meeting in Turkey of the international contact group on Libya, is an important diplomatic step which could unlock billions of dollars in frozen Libyan funds.

The decision comes as reports are circulating that Qadaffy has sent out emissaries seeking a negotiated end to the conflict, although he himself has remained defiant in his public utterances.

The Istanbul conference attended by more than 30 countries and international bodies also agreed a road map whereby Qadaffy should relinquish power and plans for Libya's transition to democracy under the rebel National Transitional Council (TNC).

"Until an interim authority is in place, the United States will recognize the TNC as the legitimate governing authority for Libya, and we will deal with it on that basis," Clinton said.

The decision to recognise the rebels, who have been waging a five-month military campaign against Qadaffy, meant the Libyan leader had no option but to stand down, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said.

The contact group statement added: "... the formation of an interim government should be quickly followed by the convening of a National Congress with representatives from all parts of Libya."

The U.N. Secretary-General's special envoy to Libya, Abdul Elah al-Khatib, will be authorised to present terms for Qadaffy to leave power, but the British foreign minister said military action against Qadaffy would be stepped up at the same time.

The political package to be offered Qadaffy will include a ceasefire to halt fighting in the five-month-old war.

A rebel front man said he did not expect a ceasefire until Qadaffy had been defeated and rejected suggestions of a pause in the fighting during the Mohammedan holy month of Ramadan, which begins at the start of August.

Link

Africa North

Libyan Regime Accuses NATO of Killing 15 People in Brega

2011-06-26

[An Nahar] NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants...
came under verbal fire again on Saturday from Moammar Qadaffy's regime, which accused it of killing 15 more people in strikes on civilian sites in the eastern city of Brega, a claim promptly denied by the alliance.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Alamo, Davey was counting their remaining cannon balls and not liking the results...
three powerful kabooms struck the eastern Tripoli suburb of Tajura, where a number of military installations are located, and columns of smoke could be seen from the center of the capital.

It was not immediately known if the blasts were the result of an attack by NATO, which has repeatedly targeted the area in the past.

The report, which did not say when the alleged NATO attack took place, referred to a NATO "war of extermination" and "crimes against humanity" in Libya.

However,
we can't all be heroes Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
state news agency Jana said the attack was on Saturday and spoke of five more "citizens" killed a day earlier.

Following the Libyan television claim, the NATO front man said the alliance "did target buildings in an abandoned area of Brega. These were legitimate military targets that were hit.

"We took a long time to watch the area and make sure. Meticulous planning went into this."

As far as NATO is concerned, he said, "any people in that area at that time were legitimate military targets."

In its daily operations report, the alliance said that on Friday it had targeted 35 objectives, including military vehicles and installations, around Brega, a key refinery town some 800 kilometers east of Tripoli and 240 kilometers southwest of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

Earlier this week, after NATO admitted misfires that Tripoli says caused several deaths, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini called for a suspension in the campaign in the latest sign of dissent within NATO.

Alliance chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said more civilians would die if operations were not maintained under a U.N. mandate to protect Libyans from the exactions of the government of veteran leader Moammar Qadaffy.

"NATO will continue this mission because if we stop, countless more civilians could lose their lives," Rasmussen said in a video statement on the NATO website.

Link

Africa North

Kadhafi considering leaving capital

2011-06-25

[Emirates 24/7] Muammar

Qadaffy
... Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years ...
is considering leaving the capital Tripoli following a blistering series of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants...
air raids, a report said, as Britannia warned the "sands of time are running out" for the Libyan leader.

Libya's rebel forces meanwhile called on foreign allies to urgently provide them with weapons as NATO insisted there would be no let-up in its air war.

The Wall Street Journal Friday quoted a senior US national security official as saying American intelligence shows Qadaffy "doesn't feel safe anymore" in the capital where he has ruled for over four decades.

However,
nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits...
officials told the paper they did not see the move as imminent and did not believe Qadaffy would leave the country, a key demand of Libyan rebels who have been battling his forces in a month-old stalemate.

Qadaffy is believed to have numerous safe houses and other facilities both within the capital and outside of it to which he might relocate.

Rebel front man Mahmud Shamam told French daily Le Figaro the forces of Evil were in indirect contact with the regime and may be prepared to allow Qadaffy to stay in Libya, but that he and his family must agree to leave power.

"Our conditions remain the same. It is totally excluded that Qadaffy or members of his family take part in a future government. We are discussing with them the mechanism for Qadaffy's departure," he said.

In the rebels' capital Benghazi, however, the National Transitional Council deputy chairman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga told AFP: "There is no contact, direct or indirect, with the Qadaffy regime."

A senior US commander meanwhile said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and Libya's African allies had not adequately planned for the aftermath of Qadaffy's possible fall.

"We, the international community, could be in post-conflict Libya tomorrow and there isn't a plan, there is not a good plan," the senior US commander in Africa, General Carter Ham, told the Wall Street Journal.

He predicted that Qadaffy could fall quickly, and said there may be a need for substantial ground forces in the country to preserve order.

British Prime Minister

Link

Africa North

Libyan rebels plea for weapons

2011-06-24

[Emirates 24/7] Libya's rebel forces called on foreign allies to urgently provide them with weapons Thursday, amid a bloody stalemate on the ground and doubts about NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants...
's mission in the air.

Rebel colonel Ahmed Omar Bani made a plea for foreign allies to provide the arms, training and communications systems needed to defeat Muammar Qadaffy
... Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years ...
's better armed and better drilled army.

"Quick -- wave your magic wand and turn us into a proper army with strategy and tactics and counter marching and stuff -- my guys think holding a gun turns them into warriors!"

"It is so urgent" he said, "we will fight, just support us, just give us the equipment."

Suggestion: issue warrants for future oil production from the eastern half of the country, to be redeemed once the civil war is over. Sell those warrants abroad, and use the cash to finance your rebellion. You'll have to honor the warrants, of course, or find yourselves in another civil war financed by the people you stiffed...

Speaking at the Rajma military installation, 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, Bani said the rebels were up against vastly superior firepower.

The mostly volunteer force has, with the help of NATO air strikes, kept Qadaffy's forces at bay on several fronts across the country, but has made limited progress toward Tripoli -- allowing loyalist forces to dig in to key positions.

Much of the rebels' arsenal is comprised of Soviet-era tanks and artillery, which is up to 50 years old.

While the allied forces have supplied rebels with some non-lethal equipment, there has been a reluctance to transport large quantities of weapons after experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But Bani's comments came amid unease in Benghazi about statements from Washington and Rome, that hinted backing for the war had ebbed.

As some US Republicans sought to clobber President Barack B.O. Obama over US involvement in the conflict, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini called for "an immediate humanitarian suspension of hostilities" in Libya.

That suggestion was quickly shot down by officials in other European capitals and at NATO, but not before questions were raised about the durability of the coalition that has banded together to protect Libyan civilians and oust Qadaffy.

"It would be a shame if the world did not support us now, because everyone knows Qadaffy the tyrant is not our enemy only, he is the enemy of humanity," said Bani.

Link

Africa North

ICC to Decide Monday on Gadhafi Arrest Warrant

2011-06-23

[An Nahar]

International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
judges will on Monday decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Moammar Qadaffy for crimes against humanity, the court said on its website.

Call off the civil war, Carla del Ponte is on the case!

The ICC prosecution has requested three arrest warrants for Qadaffy, his son Seif al-Islam and the head of Libyan intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi, the court said. A public hearing will be held on Monday at 1100 GMT.

Meanwhile,
...back at the wrecked scow, a single surviver held tightly to the smashed prow...
British Prime Minister

David Cameron
... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ...
said on Thursday that time is running out for Qadaffy, after the strongman said he had his "back to the wall" but vowed to battle "to the beyond."

"Time is on our side, time is not on the side of Colonel Qadaffy who's losing his leading military commanders," Cameron told news hounds in Prague.

"The sands of time are running out for him, and so we need to be patient and persistent," he added.

Cameron insisted this week that Britannia can maintain the current level of operations in Libya -- a campaign the defense ministry in London said will cost around £260 million -- despite concerns raised by senior military figures.

Britannia deployed Apache attack helicopters over Libya this month in an attempt to use their formidable firepower to break the stalemate in the fight between rebels and Qadaffy's forces.

"We will resist and the battle will continue to the beyond, until you're wiped out. But we will not be finished," Qadaffy said in an audio message broadcast on Libyan television late on Wednesday.

"There's no longer any agreement after you killed our children and our grandchildren ... We have our backs to the wall. You (the West) can move back," Qadaffy said in homage to his comrade Khuwildi Hemidi, several members of whose family were killed on Monday in reported NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants...
raids on his residence.

NATO, meanwhile, insisted there would be no let-up in its air war despite Italian calls for "an immediate humanitarian suspension of hostilities" in Libya in order "to create effective humanitarian corridors."

NATO has acknowledged its warplanes early on Monday hit Sorman west of Tripoli but insisted that the target was military, a precision air strike against a "high-level" command and control node.

Libyan government front man Moussa Ibrahim said 15 people, including three children, were killed in the attack, which he slammed as a "cowardly terrorist act which cannot be justified."

NATO on Wednesday pledged to carry on bombing military targets in Libya, saying more civilians would die if operations were not maintained under a U.N. mandate to protect Libyans from the exactions of Qadaffy's regime.

"NATO will continue this mission because if we stop, countless more civilians could lose their lives," NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a video statement on the military alliance's website.

The secretary general did not directly refer to Italia, whose Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Wednesday called for "an immediate humanitarian suspension of hostilities" in Libya.

"We have seen the effects of the crisis and therefore also of NATO action not only in eastern and southwestern regions but also in Tripoli," Frattini told a parliamentary committee in Rome.

"I believe an immediate humanitarian suspension of hostilities is required in order to create effective humanitarian corridors," while negotiations should also continue on a more formal ceasefire and peace talks, he said.

The commander of the NATO operation, Canada's Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, said a ceasefire risked becoming "just an opportunity for both sides to reload and to engage in further violence down the road."

"We must continue to stay engaged to prevent that rearming," Bouchard said.

Frattini's comments had drawn a swift rebuff from NATO ally La Belle France which has played a leading role in the military intervention in Libya.

"The coalition and the countries that met as the Abu Dhabi contact group two weeks ago were unanimous on the strategy -- we must intensify the pressure on Qadaffy," foreign ministry front man Bernard Valero told news hounds.

The rebels fighting to end Qadaffy's four-decade rule were also dismissive of the Italian ceasefire proposal.

"Even if NATO halts operations, we will fight tooth and nail, we will fight until our country is freed, we don't fear (a NATO cessation)," rebel front man Mahmoud Shamam said.

The Libyan people have tasted freedom and will not accept anything less ... they will fight to the end, until victory."

In its latest operational update on Thursday, NATO said its warplanes struck, among other targets, a radar facility and a command and control node in the Tripoli area and two radar towers near the rebel-held city of Misrata.

Link

Africa North

Italy calls for a suspension of hostilities

2011-06-22

Italy called for a suspension of hostilities in Libya on Wednesday in the latest sign of dissent within NATO as the civilian death toll mounts and Moamer Kadhafi shows no signs of quitting power.

"We have seen the effects of the crisis and therefore also of NATO action not only in eastern and southwestern regions but also in Tripoli," Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told a parliamentary committee meeting.
Libya, the little mission that NATO couldn't.

Link

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