Libyan Revolution Week 34 part 2

[joshcryer]

[joshcryer]

1. Libyan Revolution Day 235 updates below, current time in Libya, 12:25pm Monday, October 10

[joshcryer]

2. Libyan fighters seize Gaddafi's luxury cars in Sirte - video

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/libya-video/8817542/Libyan-fighters-seize-Gaddafis-luxury-cars-in-Sirte.html">Libyan fighters seize Gaddafi's luxury cars in Sirte
NTC fighters claim they found the white two-seat open top vehicles during the push into Col Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte.

"They used to use these cars to travel with African presidents that he used to buy with his money. Thank God we defeated him and we took the cars and God willing we'll be able to get his head," an NTC fighter said.

On Sunday, the Libyan government's forces seized several landmark targets inside Gaddafi's hometown, including the main hospital, university and the ousted leader's showpiece hotel.

Taking Sirte would bring Libya's new government a big step closer to establishing control of the whole country almost two months after they seized the capital Tripoli. However, sniper fire and street battles have so far prevented the new regime from capturing the town centre from Gaddafi loyalists.

[joshcryer]

3. Libya government forces attack Gaddafi security HQ in Sirte

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/10/us-libya-idUSL5E7KT4YC20111010">Libya government forces attack Gaddafi security HQ in Sirte
Libyan transitional government forces attacked deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi's security headquarters in the center of his hometown of Sirte, hoping that once the buildings had been captured the fight for the city would be won.

The protracted battle for Sirte, a showpiece Mediterranean coastal city largely loyal to Gaddafi, has led to concerns the many civilian casualties will breed long-term hostility that will make it very hard for the National Transitional Council (NTC) to unite the country once the fighting is over.

NTC forces have repeatedly claimed to be on the point of victory in Sirte, only to suffer sudden reversals at the hands of a tenacious enemy fighting for its life, surrounded on three sides and with its back to the sea.

But as night fell on Sunday, pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns pounded the white security buildings on a tree-lined square with a fountain in the center while infantry blasted away with AK-47s from behind a high concrete wall, Reuters witnesses said.

[pinboy3niner]

4. Libya govt forces corner Gaddafi loyalists in Sirte

Mon Oct 10, 2011 12:31pm GMT

• Civilians still trying to flee to the fighting

• Gaddafi forces putting up fierce resistance

• Protracted battle risks bitterness, national divisions


By Rania El Gamal and Tim Gaynor


SIRTE, Libya, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Libyan transitional government forces said they had cornered Muammar Gaddafi loyalists in a small area in the centre of the deposed leader's hometown on Monday, but many desperate civilians were still trying to flee the fierce street clashes.

The protracted battle for Sirte, a showpiece Mediterranean coastal city largely loyal to Gaddafi, has raised concerns about many civilian casualties that could breed long-term hostility making it very hard for the National Transitional Council (NTC) to unite the vast North African state once the fighting is over.

"Gaddafi's forces are cornered in two neighbourhoods near the sea, an area of about 2-km square, but there is still resistance," Abdul Salam Javallah, commander of NTC units from eastern Libya, told Reuters on the front line of their attack.

"We are dealing with them now with light weapons because there are still families inside," he said.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7L90MN20111010?sp=true

[al bupp]

5. BBC: Libya conflict: Pro-Gaddafi troops 'cornered' in Sirte

10 October 2011 Last updated at 10:24 ET

Libya's interim government forces say they have pro-Gaddafi troops "cornered" in two small areas of Sirte.

One commander told Reuters they had backed the loyalists into about 2 sq km (0.7 sq mile) of land near the sea.

But heavy fighting continues in Sirte, the home town of fugitive former leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, as the loyalists put up fierce resistance.

"Gaddafi's forces are cornered in two neighbourhoods near the sea, an area of about 2km sq, but there is still resistance," Abdul Salam Javallah, commander of NTC units from eastern Libya, told Reuters.

A video of the Red Cross visiting the Ibn Sina hospital is also at the following link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15242235

[al bupp]

6. AJE Live Blog: Gunmen attack Tripoli Mosque

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya

A group of more than 200 gunmen have attacked a mosque in Tripoli and ransacked the tombs of two imams, the AFP news agency reports, citing witnesses.

"They arrived shortly after 10pm (2000 GMT, Sunday night), between 200 and 300 of them, in pickup trucks fitted with heavy machineguns. They took off at about 1am," said Mahmud Rahman, a resident of Tripoli's northeastern Al-Masri district.

"They forced open the mosque's door and then started to dig up the tombs of imams Abdel Rahman el-Masri and Salem Abu Seif, and made off with their relics," said Rahman.

The http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15242235">BBC adds:

Another resident said the men had beards and were in military uniform and speculated that they were Islamist extremists. "They were very well organised. Men sealed off the perimeter of the mosque and were communicating with walkie-talkies," he said.

[pinboy3niner]

7. NATO airstrikes conducted Sunday, October 9 (Bani Walid, 3; Sirte, 0)

(NATO reported no airstrikes in Libya on Saturday, October 8)

Key Hits 9 OCTOBER:


3 Armed Vehicles were struck in Bani Walid.


...


International Humanitarian Assistance Movements as recorded by NATO


Total of Humanitarian Movements**: 1747 (air, ground, maritime)


Ships delivering Humanitarian Assistance 9 OCTOBER: 0


Aircrafts delivering Humanitarian Assistance 9 OCTOBER: 11


**Some humanitarian movements cover several days.


http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_10/20111010_111010-oup-update.pdf

[pinboy3niner]

8. Anti-Gadhafi fighters celebrate gains in Libya

By CHRISTOPHER GILLETTE - Associated Press | AP – 20 mins ago.


SIRTE, Libya (AP) — Jubilant revolutionary forces raised their tricolor flag Monday over a convention center in Sirte that served as a base for Moammar Gadhafi's loyalists there, but fighting surged elsewhere in the fugitive leader's hometown.

Col. Younis al-Abdally, a commander in Sirte, said his troops have surrounded pro-Gadhafi fighters in a small area in the upscale Dollar Street. He conceded the final battle is likely to be a fierce one, saying he has information one of Gadhafi's sons and a number of top officials from the ousted leader's regime are holed up in villas in Sirte.

...


The capture of the walled complex was a symbolic victory because Gadhafi fighters have used it as a base and stronghold throughout a weekslong siege of the Mediterranean coastal city by forces of the new government.

...


A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross entered Sirte's Ibn Sina Hospital Monday to evacuate wounded people left behind after three weeks of fighting.

...


http://news.yahoo.com/anti-gadhafi-fighters-celebrate-gains-libya-124613280.html

[Iterate]

9. Audio: Peter Beaumont from Sirte, near the TV station

The Guardian's Peter Beaumont in #Sirte amidst the battle for control of the TV station
about 2 hours ago

http://audioboo.fm/boos/499961-the-guardian-s-peter-beaumont-in-sirte-amidst-the-battle-for-control-of-the-tv-station?utm_campaign=detailpage&utm_content=retweet&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter#t=1m56s

[Iterate]

10. 'Dogfight' For Heart Of Gaddafi Stronghold

'Dogfight' For Heart Of Gaddafi Stronghold
3:05pm UK, Monday October 10, 2011
Alex Rossi, on the outskirts of Sirte, Libya

Libya's interim government forces are preparing to push into the heart of Colonel Gaddafi's home town where 1,000 loyalists may be holed up.

...

We found a building that leads down into a maze of reinforced tunnels.

The tunnel network is large, with conference rooms and air conditioning.

One has to wonder how much more of that kind of infrastructure is further into the city.

Report, with video: http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16086215

This is at the edge of the Hay Dollar district, a residential area for the Libyan 1%'ers. As reported before in tweets and media, most of them bugged out when Tripoli fell. Somehow appropriate that this is where it will end.

[pinboy3niner]

11. Libya: rebel fighters push on as final battle for Sirte looms

Source: The Telegraph

Revolutionary forces swept several hundred yards further into Col Muammar Gaddafi's birthplace of Sirte, but remain unable to secure a final victory as fierce fighting continued on Monday night.


By Ben Farmer, Sirte

5:59PM BST 10 Oct 2011



Around four hundred yards north of the landmark Ouagadougou convention centre which was captured on Sunday, a brigade of fighters from Misurata became pinned down in street fighting between more densely built town houses.


At least three significant residential neighbourhoods remained to clear they said.


To the west a television and radio station occupied by fighters loyal to Col Gaddafi changed hands at least once during the day.

...


A convoy of deserters passing alongside the Ouagadougou centre under revolutionary guard were huddled in two cars, with some sitting in the boot. All appeared gaunt and sullen.

Civilian patients had all been removed from the civilian hospital by Monday morning, but on the ground floor corridors remained around 30 young wounded men, apparently abandoned by medical staff.

...


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8818762/Libya-rebel-fighters-push-on-as-final-battle-for-Sirte-looms.html

[pinboy3niner]

12. Libya's Transitional Government Faces Human Rights Challenges

October 10, 2011

Scott Bobb | Tripoli


Libya's new leaders are forming a transitional government as they consolidate control and battle the remaining forces loyal to deposed leader Moammar Gadhafi. They face numerous challenges - perhaps one of the greatest being in the area of human rights.

...


Libyans are also uncovering the excesses of Mr. Gadhafi's 42-year rule. Human rights activists say the society has yet to address severe human rights abuses during the Gadhafi era as well as during the struggle to remove him.

...


Doctors and nurses in his group are also documenting cases of abuse of prisoners and civilians during the months of fighting. They say both sides committed abuses, although they say, Gadhafi loyalists were responsible for most of them.


The head of the National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, is urging Libyans to refrain from acts of revenge and is calling on Libyans to build a state that respects the rule of law.

...


http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/in-transition/Libyas-Transitional-Government-Faces-Human-Rights-Challenges-131452833.html

[Iterate]

18. It might be the toughest challenge they face.

About 500m from where I'm sitting is a wheat field and orchard that was a Allied POW and transit camp at the end of WWII. At its peak about 40,000 German soldiers and some German civilians were held there until they could be treated, vetted, and released. It's now long forgotten -none of the locals I talked to even knew it had been there. It took about a year and a half to clear everyone, and that was with the organization of the allies and with a mostly intact German legal system.

Libyans have none of that. Unlike other civil institutions such as schools, road, or water system maintenance, the Gaddafi legal system can't just be restarted and reused. It seems that many of the judges and lawyers -Gaddafi favorites -are not inclined to show up for work. I haven't even seen where the NTC has finished writing a temporary legal code or set of procedures yet. It's not like the former Gaddafi security police can be called back into service either.

As Bouckaert said, "once they get detained...there is really no process in place to get them released. There is no investigative authority, no judicial authority in place right now." The east has had some time to get organized, and as we know Benghazi is safer than ever, but that number of retrained judges, lawyers, and investigators will be stretched pretty thin in dealing with Tripoli and the western cities.

I looked for an authoritative blog/report/analysis on the topic -and there isn't one that I could find.

[pinboy3niner]

13. Syria opposition gets new boost despite regime threats

By Claire Rosemberg | AFP – 19 mins ago.


Support grew for Syria's opposition Monday despite threats by Damascus to act against any country that recognises a new grouping aimed at toppling President Bashar al-Assad's repressive regime.

European Union foreign ministers said the bloc "welcomes the efforts of the political opposition to establish a united platform," and hailed the creation of the Syrian National Council (SNC) "as a positive step forward."

"It calls on the international community also to welcome these efforts," added a statement approved by the EU's 27 ministers in Luxembourg.

While short of outright recognition, the statement comes a day after Syria threatened retaliation should nations recognise the SNC.

"It is not on the same lines as our recognition of Libya's National Transitional Council," a European diplomat said. "But we needed to make a gesture to the SNC to counter the regime's bid to create puppet groups."

...


http://news.yahoo.com/more-30-killed-syria-violence-activists-090835573.html

[pinboy3niner]

14. Libyan NTC recognises Syrian opposition

Source: Sky News (Australia)

Updated: 07:09, Tuesday October 11, 2011


Libya's ruling National Transitional Council says it recognises the Syrian National Council grouping of opponents of President Bashar al-Assad as the country's government.

'The National Transitional Council has decided after a meeting today to recognise the Syrian National Council as the sole legitimate government in Syria,' NTC member Mussa al-Koni told a news conference in Tripoli on Monday.

Koni, who represents Libya's Tuareg minority in the NTC, said the council has 'also decided to close the Syrian embassy in Libya'.

The decision makes Libya the first country to recognise the SNC as Syria's legitimate government, although the former is still only run by an interim council and still battling pockets of loyalists to the ousted Muammar Gaddafi.

...


http://www.skynews.com.au/politics/article.aspx?id=671823&vId=

The rats of Libya salute the germs of Syria.

[pinboy3niner]

15. Militia hands over Tripoli airport to government

Mon Oct 10, 2011 8:29pm GMT


TRIPOLI Oct 10 (Reuters) - Libya's interim government took over the country's main international airport from a group of regional fighters on Monday as part of its efforts to consolidate control over strategic infrastructure.

The head of the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC), Mustafa Abdel Jalil, told journalists other militia groups would soon follow suit and start handing over control of key installations to civilian authorities.

The airport had been under the command of Mukhtar al-Akhdar, commander of a unit of fighters from the western town of Zintan, which converged on Tripoli to help drive Muammar Gaddafi from power in August.

"After they liberated this important location, they are handing it over to the technical people who will take care of organising flights from this important place," said Jalil at the airport, which has not restarted handling flights.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LA3QV20111010

[Iterate]

16. The picture of the day-10.10.11

Libya's new regime forces fire their weapons at fighters loyal to fugitive strongman Moammar Gadhafi as a comrade plays a guitar during a battle in Sirte on Oct. 10, in a drive to control Gadhafi's hometown after a month-long siege.

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/10/8255789-libyan-fighter-brings-guitar-not-gun-to-firefight

[Iterate]

17. Militia hands over Tripoli airport to government

Militia hands over Tripoli airport to government
TRIPOLI | Mon Oct 10, 2011 4:29pm EDT

Oct 10 (Reuters) - Libya's interim government took over the country's main international airport from a group of regional fighters on Monday as part of its efforts to consolidate control over strategic infrastructure.

The head of the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC), Mustafa Abdel Jalil, told journalists other militia groups would soon follow suit and start handing over control of key installations to civilian authorities.

The airport had been under the command of Mukhtar al-Akhdar, commander of a unit of fighters from the western town of Zintan, which converged on Tripoli to help drive Muammar Gaddafi from power in August.

"After they liberated this important location, they are handing it over to the technical people who will take care of organising flights from this important place," said Jalil at the airport, which has not restarted handling flights.

more... http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/10/libya-tripoli-airport-idAFL5E7LA3QV20111010

[pinboy3niner]

19. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 236: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11

Libya time = EDT +6 hours, PDT +9 hours, UTC +1 hour, GMT +2 hours

[pinboy3niner]

20. Mountainous terrain hampering Gaddafi hunt: NTC

Mon Oct 10, 2011 9:05pm GMT


By Barry Malone

TRIPOLI Oct 10 (Reuters) - Fugitive Muammar Gaddafi may be hiding in a remote and thinly-populated area surrounded by mountains in an attempt to frustrate efforts to track him, a representative of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) said on Monday.

Gaddafi has been on the run since NTC forces surged into Tripoli on August 23 and has eluded capture along with two prominent sons.

Mousa Alkoni, NTC representative for the nomadic Tuareg tribe, said the ousted leader might be moving around a "prism" of the country's vast southern deserts that straddles Libya, Algeria and Niger.

"We fear that they may have taken refuge in this area as it's well secured by the surrounding mountains and it used to be a refuge for Gaddafi troops in the past," Alkoni said, speaking to reporters in Arabic through a translator.

"They can even build up a small city -- or a small country -- in this area without anybody really realizing ... I do recommend sending out choppers to these areas or unmanned jets."


More: http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LA3YT20111010?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

21. Flushed with freedom, Libya university awaits student rebels

By Daphne Benoit | AFP News – 1 hour 7 minutes ago.


In the lobby of the University of Tripoli's engineering department, Abdo Raouf was painting a mural in honour of a "free Libya," nodding his head to the rhythm of hard rock music.

"We can finally speak freely," said the 23-year-old geophysics major, who sported a bandana around his head. "We can finally be ourselves instead of being afraid."

...


Missing from roll call are student rebels fighting for control over the last pro-Kadhafi cities in their country.

"We should resume classes in a week, but many of our students are still at the front lines" in the cities of Sirte and Bani Walid, said architecture professor Mohamed Ali Wafa.

Students have started a petition calling for classes to be suspended until the conflict is over and student fighters return. The petition has already garnered some 1,000 signatures on campus.

More: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/flushed-freedom-libya-university-awaits-student-rebels-223407383.html

[ellisonz]

22. Reuters: British military experts disarm surface-to-air-missiles.

Tags hospital, Sirte
6 hours 46 min ago - Libya

British military experts have helped disarm a number of surface-to-air-missiles in Libya previously held by the former regime, British Defence Secretary Liam Fox said on Monday, according to the Reuters news agency.

The military staff had also identified a number of other places in the north African country where the weapons may be sited, said Fox, who visited Tripoli, the capital, at the weekend.

There have been concerns the weapons could fall into the hands of al Qaeda militants and be used to attack civilian airlines.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya

[pinboy3niner]

23. Libyan hospital under pressure as battles rage

Libyan hospitals near the frontline are struggling to treat an ever-increasing number of patients.

Ibn Sina hospital in Sirte - a town that is now almost entirely in the hands of anti-Gaddafi fighters - has even become part of the battleground as fighting continues between the two sides.

Wounded patients line the corridors and halls; on one side injured anti Gadaffi fighters, and on the other, supporters of the former Libyan leader. Fighters who faced each other in combat just hours before, are now being treated in the same barely-functioning medical facility.

Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reports from Sirte (2:31):

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-oct-11-2011-0409

[ellisonz]

24. Libya football team indebted to keeper Aboud

Libya football team indebted to keeper Aboud
AFPBy David Legge | AFP – Sun, Oct 9, 2011

The national football team of the 'new' Libya was indebted to long-serving goalkeeper Samir Aboud as they defied the odds again at the weekend to reach the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

Aboud, who turns 40 next year but boasts the cat-like agility of someone half his age, pulled off several superb saves as the North Africans forced a 0-0 draw away to Group C winners Zambia and clinched one of two slots reserved for the best second-place sides.

"My team-mates and I dedicate our qualification to all Libyans -- to our revolution," Aboud told reporters in mining town Chingola while the rest of the team danced and sang to celebrate what will be only a third appearance at the biennial African football showcase.

------

At the height of the struggle against Kadhafi, the squad risked their lives driving along the Mediterranean coast from Tripoli to Tunisia where they teamed up with Paqueta, who last received a salary six months ago.

http://news.yahoo.com/libya-football-team-indebted-keeper-aboud-143529995.html

[pinboy3niner]

25. NATO Commander Says Resilience of Qaddafi Loyalists Is Surprising

Source: New York Times

By ERIC SCHMITT

Published: October 10, 2011


WASHINGTON — The commander of NATO’s air campaign in Libya has said that hundreds of organized fighters loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi pose a “resilient and fierce” threat in the two remaining pro-Qaddafi strongholds, and are exploiting the urban settings to complicate the alliance’s mission to protect civilians.

...


NATO’s mandate to protect civilians who are threatened or have come under attack is complicated by the alliance’s caution in striking targets — like buildings where snipers are hiding — that could result in the death or injury of civilians.

“The ability of NATO to affect the fighting inside the city is small,” said a senior NATO diplomat on Monday who was not authorized to speak on the record. “The fight now is really between the forces on the ground.”

...


Strike missions have dropped to about two dozen a day from 50 missions daily, and allied warplanes rarely drop their precision-guided bombs these days, allied officials say. Take the three-day period from last Friday through Sunday, for example.

On Friday, one vehicle staging area was attacked and destroyed in Surt, according to a NATO statement. On Saturday, there were no strikes. And on Sunday, three armed vehicles in Bani Walid were hit.

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/world/africa/nato-commander-says-resilience-of-qaddafi-loyalists-is-surprising.html?_r=1

[pinboy3niner]

26. Despite heavy losses, NTC fighters determined to capture Bani Walid 'at any cost'

After what is being described as "a fierce battle", National Transitional Council fighters have advanced to the southern gate of Bani Walid, the stronghold of Muammar Gaddafi loyalists.

However, a lack of co-ordination led to a heavy toll, as many of the fighters were killed or seriously injured by those still loyal to deposed Libyan leader.

Now based out of the nearby town of Shameekh, the anti-Gaddafi forces say they will capture the northern Libyan city at any cost.

Al Jazeera's Anu Nathan explains (1:00):

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-oct-11-2011-0745

[tabatha]

27. Arab bloggers meet in post-revolution Tunisia

Last year, none of these bloggers would have believed that social media would lead to the events of the Arab Spring.

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/10/2011107125350996122.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[Prometheus Bound]

28. You say one of the videos you list shows African mercs. How do you know this?

It's in the video section, just below the map.

"Video of the convoy sent to take Misrata, clearly shows African mercenaries exploited by Gaddafi to fight his own people"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-gxYIT3ytc

I saw a handful of black people in the video, but they could just as easily be from Libya as other countries in Africa. I'm wondering what led you to make your comment on the video.

[pinboy3niner]

29. Libyan Rebels' Books Detail Their Fighters' Pay

Source: Wall Street Journal

OCTOBER 11, 2011

War on Gadhafi Wasn't Funded by Benghazi Council

By CHARLES LEVINSON


TRIPOLI—Libya's ruling rebel National Transitional Council, opening its books to try to fight questions over its legitimacy and allegations of corruption, revealed how little funding passed through its hands to the militia forces that helped depose Col. Moammar Gadhafi.

Reviewed exclusively by The Wall Street Journal ahead of their planned Tuesday release to the public, the books detail how the rebel government spent approximately 1.2 billion Libyan dinars ($975 million) from March to the end of September—a period spanning from around the time of its formation to the weeks after Col. Gadhafi's late-August flight from power.

About 80% went to salaries in the rebel-controlled areas, including 60 million dinars ($49 million) for defected personnel from Libya's regular armed forces. About 10% went to providing financial support to local governing councils and the remainder to mostly administrative costs of government.

Rebel militias were funded largely by other sources, such as sympathetic foreign government including Qatar, wealthy Libyans and anti-Ghadafi nonprofit organizations. Those contributions may have amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars in cash, weapons, uniforms, vehicles and other aid, said Muraja Gaith Soleiman, the deputy minister of oil and finance who signed off the budget documents.

More: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204450804576623260411623644.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[joshcryer]

30. Libya: Sirte battle flushes out pro-Gaddafi fighters

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/11/libya-sirte-battle-gaddafi-fighters">Libya: Sirte battle flushes out pro-Gaddafi fighters
Once-feared fighters are revealed as frightened ordinary men, who now want only to survive by surrendering, or hiding

The stories of some of those inside Ibn Sana hospital in Sirte do not add up. Hamad Ashrak Ali from Sudan is lying on a bed in the hospital's basement. He shows us his wound before explaining the circumstances of it. He has been shot through the side. The bullet exited through one buttock – the wound is becoming septic.

He says he came from Abyei in his own country to Sirte to earn money: "I thought I could earn money here by loading trucks."

He does not explain why he chose Gaddafi's hometown in particular and claims at first to have been in the hospital with his wound for 50 days.

[joshcryer]

31. Libya experiencing first steps of reconciliation

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=133489">Libya experiencing first steps of reconciliation
Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said that signs of reconciliation are emerging in Libya as the country strives to move forward after 42 years of dictatorship.

Addressing the Foreign Affairs Council of EU states, Dr Borg referred to reports by Maltese journalists in Libya on attempts of retrieval of weapons currently in the hands of rebels. The fact that no signs of dismantling of the police force have been observed, points to the fact that reconciliation efforts are bearing fruit. The process of the release of Libyan frozen assets is being implemented effectively, releasing the funds desperately needed by the TNC to stabilise the situation.

Dr Borg added that Malta has re-opened its embassy in Tripoli and that a number of visas to Libyans have been since granted. In his intervention, he reiterated Malta’s keen interest to contribute to border management control initiatives to be undertaken in the near future by the EU.

He described Tunisia as a success story in light of the EU-led Tunisia Task Force which agreed on a financial programme of €4 billion over a period of three years.

[joshcryer]

32. Libyan forces trap Gadhafi's loyalists, but fail to take town

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Libyan+forces+trap+Gadhafi+loyalists+fail+take+town/5530442/story.html">Libyan forces trap Gadhafi's loyalists, but fail to take town
Rebel forces swept several hundred yards further into Col. Moammar Gadhafi's birthplace of Sirte on Monday night, but were unable to secure final victory.

Libyan transitional government forces said they had "cornered" Gadhafi troops into an area of Sirte less than one square mile in size near the sea.

"Gadhafi's forces are cornered in two neighbourhoods near the sea, an area of about two square kilometres, but there is still resistance," said Abdul Salam Javallah, commander of NTC units from eastern Libya.

About 400 yards north of the Ouagadougou conference centre, which was captured on Sunday, a brigade of fighters from Misrata fought on the streets. To the west, a television and radio station occupied by fighters loyal to Col. Gadhafi changed hands at least once during the day.

[tabatha]

33. Libyan Street Art Inspired by the February 17th Revolution

http://libyanstreetart.blogspot.com/view/flipcard



More than 100 photos.

[Iterate]

34. Libya to probe Gaddafi-era oil deals

Libya to probe Gaddafi-era oil deals
Tue Oct 11, 2011 2:22pm GMT

* Probe to "provide view of the size of corrupt dealings"

* Follows protests in Tripoli by oil workers

* Analysts warns probe may spread panic among foreign firms (Adds background, detail)

TRIPOLI, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Libya pledged on Tuesday a probe of Gaddafi-era oil deals amid mounting pressure from the local industry in a move which analysts said could spread panic among foreign players and even delay the return to normal oil output.

Libya's oil and finance minister Ali Tarhouni told a news conference the country would set up a committee to probe the scale of corruption practised by the previous regime.

"The committee will scrutinise all contracts and projects to provide a view of the size of the corrupt dealing and all that emerges will be investigated and published," Tarhouni told a news conference.

During ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi's four decades of rule world oil many of the world's majors have either operated in Libya or signed oil deals with Tripoli.

more... http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LB29Y20111011?sp=true

[Iterate]

35. Ben Shatwan says billions stolen in Libya

Ben Shatwan says billions stolen in Libya
19/08 18:45 CET
One of its leading spokesmen is a man who for years was as close to Muammar Gaddafi as any non-family member, Dr. Fathi Ben Shatwan.

euronews:
“You were industry minister for several years and then Muammar Gaddafi’s energy minister for two years until 2006. You quit the regime and fled in the most spectacular manner, on a small boat to Malta and from there to France. What led you to escape in this way?”

...

Ben Shatwan:
“I don’t know the details, but through my responsibilities there my experience is that it is Saif Al-Islam who was in charge of transferring money and channelling funds abroad, that’s what I know.”

euronews:
“How much money was embezzled? Do you have a figure?”

Ben Shatwan:
“Frankly, people talk about it, they don’t give precise figures, but looking at oil production these last few years we reckon the sum of money embezzled varies between 200 and 250 billion dollars.”

http://www.euronews.net/2011/08/19/ben-shatwan-says-billions-stolen-in-libya/

This interview was upstaged by the events of the next day, but it can stand a bit of repetition.

[tabatha]

36. Exclusive: Angelina Jolie visits Libya to show solidarity

(Reuters) - Actress and U.N. goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie was in Libya on Tuesday for a visit to help agencies bringing aid to Libyans in Tripoli and Misrata, she said in a statement provided to Reuters.

"I have come to Libya for a variety of reasons, to see a country in transition at every level and to witness efforts to fully realize the promise of the Arab Spring," Jolie said.

"The country faces a host of challenges, including internally displaced people, refugees, rule of law, security, sanitation, education, health and other humanitarian needs. All of these pieces must be delivered and coordinated properly in an environment of reconciliation and justice."

The two-day trip was Jolie's first to Libya, but she previously visited Libyan refugees in Malta and on the Italian island of Lampedusa in June, and went to Tunisia in April to appeal for international support for people fleeing the revolution there.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/11/us-libya-jolie-idUSTRE79A3S820111011?feedType=RSS&feedName=entertainmentNews&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=340143

[pinboy3niner]

51. UN refugee agency says goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie visiting Libya in personal capacity

By Associated Press


GENEVA — The U.N. refugee agency says goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie is currently visiting Libya, though in a personal capacity.

A spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Adrian Edwards, said Tuesday that the U.S. actress nonetheless plans to meet with aid groups and UNHCR representatives in the country.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/un-refugee-agency-says-goodwill-ambassador-angelina-jolie-visiting-libya-in-personal-capacity/2011/10/11/gIQACVQocL_story.html?wprss=rss_celebrities

[pinboy3niner]

37. Libya forces say closing in on Gaddafi's son

Tue Oct 11, 2011 3:27pm GMT

• Mo'tassim Gaddafi is in Sirte neighbourhood: NTC commander

• Frightened civilians still fleeing the fighting

• Pro-Gaddafi forces putting up fierce resistance

• Government says to review Gaddafi-era oil deals


By Rania El Gamal and Tim Gaynor


SIRTE, Libya, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Libyan government forces said on Tuesday they believed they had one of Muammar Gaddafi's sons cornered in the centre of the deposed leader's home town, but determined resistance was keeping them at bay.

...


"There are a few (Gaddafi-held) pockets, mainly concentrated in the 'Dollar' neighbourhood," said Colonel Mohammed Ajhseer. "According to the information we have, this is where Mo'tassim is, with another group."

...


Tuesday's fighting focused on Omar al-Mokhtar street, a tree-lined thoroughfare in a well-heeled neighbourhood.

A Reuters reporter said NTC fighters took cover in side streets out of sight of loyalist snipers hidden in buildings further up the road. They took turns to dart out, shouting "Allahu Akbar (God is great)", fire a few shots and rush back.

More: http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LB1KL20111011?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

38. Anti-Kadhafi fighters seize Sirte police HQ

By Herve Bar and Rory Mulholland | AFP – 40 minutes ago


Fighters from Libya's new regime seized the police headquarters in the centre of Moamer Kadhafi's hometown Sirte on Tuesday as they moved in for the kill against the strongman's remaining diehards.

...


An advance force of about 30 fighters checked each house as they moved forward from the city's east, kicking in doors and covering each other against possible snipers hidden on rooftops.

Clothing abandoned by soldiers and remains of meals were found in some buildings.

...


"There are still some snipers. But our main worry are the families still in the city who are too afraid to leave their houses as the snipers are using them as firing posts," he said.

Yusef Sultan, a man in his 40s, was hit by a bullet in the leg as he tried to flee in a car.

"We were nine families in one house, 35 people, mostly women and children. We had water but no electricity for two months and survived on rice and bread. The Kadhafi forces prevented us from leaving, slashing the tyres of cars in garages and forcing us to turn back," he said.


More: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/libya-forces-drive-centre-kadhafi-hometown-060645624.html

[pinboy3niner]

39. Summary of main developments in Libya today

From The Guardian's Live Blog:

• A National Transitional Council commander claims Mutassim Gaddafi is among those surrounded in the besieged city of Sirte. Gaddafi loyalists are confined to just two neighbourhoods of the city - Dollar and al-Shabiya.


• Gaddafi loyalists are putting up less resistance and the city appears on the brink of falling, according to our correspondent in the city. Most of key buildings in the city have been seized by forces loyal to the new government, Peter Beaumont reports.


• Nato continues to play a minimal role in the role in the siege of Sirte. The organisation has not confirmed that its jets hit targets controlled by Gaddafi loyalist overnight. It has only confirmed one strike against Sirte in the last week. Nato jets have continue to target Gaddafi's only other stronghold of Bani Walid.


• Moussa Koussa, Gaddafi's former foreign minister, intelligence chief and high-level defector, could move to Jordan after being spurned by Libya's rebel government. He has been granted a Jordanian passport according to al-Arab al-Youm.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/11/libya-battle-for-sirte-continues-live-updates#block-20

[Iterate]

40. Head of Libya's NTC visits battle-torn Sirte

Head of Libya's NTC visits battle-torn Sirte
Tue Oct 11, 2011 4:20pm GMT

SIRTE, Libya Oct 11 (Reuters) - Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the chairman of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), visited the city of Sirte on Tuesday where government forces are trying to crush the last pockets of resistance from fighters loyal to deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi. A Reuters reporter in the city, which is Gaddafi's home town, said Abdel Jalil was standing on the back of a truck, and that NTC fighters were shouting "Libya, Libya!" and firing their weapons into the air in celebration. (Reporting By Tim Gaynor)

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LB3FA20111011

ETA update:

"All the victories are thanks to you, my revolutionary brothers," Abdel Jalil told the jubilant fighters, some of whom pushed and shoved to try to get close to him. "You have the support of all the members of the transitional council."

Taking Sirte would bring Libya's new rulers a big step closer to establishing control of the whole country almost two months after they seized the capital Tripoli. The NTC has said it would start a process to rebuild Libya as a democracy once Sirte is captured.

Asked by Reuters TV whether Sirte was captured, Abdel Jalil said: "No. We need two more days."

Abdel Jalil called on the NTC fighters not to harm residents of the city, even if they suspect they are loyal to Gaddafi.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LB3GT20111011

[pinboy3niner]

41. NTC fighters break through Gaddafi forces' final defenses at Sirte (AJE Video - 3:39)

National Transitional Council (NTC) forces say they have cornered loyalists of Muammar Gaddafi in a small area in the centre of Sirte, the hometown of the deposed Libyan leader that has become the key battleground in their final push to control the country.

Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting metres away from the frontline on Tuesday afternoon, said that the "noose was tightening" around Gaddafi's remaining fighters, but that they were waging a fierce rearguard effort, and had "a lot of ammunition and a lot of resolve"

Video report (3:39):

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-oct-11-2011-2021

[pinboy3niner]

42. Egyptian minister resigns over protester deaths

By MAGGIE MICHAEL and TAREK EL-TABLAWY - Associated Press | AP – 10 mins ago.


CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's finance minister resigned Tuesday to protest the government's handling of protests that left 26 dead, most of them Coptic Christian demonstrators, an aide to the minister said.

Overnight, some 20,000 mourners chanted slogans denouncing the ruling military during a funeral procession overnight for 17 Christians killed in the protest on Sunday night in Cairo. They accused the army of bearing primary responsibility.

At times, the prayers were interrupted by chants of "Down with military rule" and "The people want to topple the Marshal," — a reference to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi who heads the ruling military council that took power after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February. No state official or military official were present at the funeral.

More: http://news.yahoo.com/egyptian-minister-resigns-over-protester-deaths-144955882.html

[pinboy3niner]

43. NTC fighters "may go ahead and take the city now"

Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley just reported live from Sirte that NTC fighters have resumed their advance into the Gaddaffi fighters' last stronghold in the center of the city.

Birtley reports that he's seen 50 prisoners captured by NTC fighters, many of them black Africans claiming to be civilians. But NTC fighters believe they were fighting for Gaddafi. They've been finding many discarded weapons and uniforms.

[pinboy3niner]

44. Libya's main airport to reopen within month: NTC

Tue Oct 11, 2011 5:15pm GMT

By Barry Malone


TRIPOLI Oct 11 (Reuters) - Libya's main international airport will reopen within a month and several international carriers have agreed to start flights again, the interim transport minister said on Tuesday.

Libya's provisional government took over Tripoli International Airport from a group of regional fighters on Monday as part of its efforts to consolidate control over strategic infrastructure.

Al Italia has agreed to restart flights on Nov. 2, interim minister for transport and communications, Anwar Alfituri, told Reuters.

He said the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) had also received requests to restart flights from Air France, Egypt Air, Royal Jordanian, Tunis Air and Austrian Airlines.

"I would say international flights will start up again within a month," he said. "I expect that all of them will start by November."

More: http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LB2Z420111011?sp=true

[ellisonz]

56. Good news.

[pinboy3niner]

45. Libya: Fierce street battles continue for control of Sirte

Source: The Telegraph

Fighters of Libya's National Transitional Council say that members of Muammar Gaddafi's tribe are beginning to flee Sirte, as heavy fighting continues in a residential neighbourhood near the centre of the deposed dictator's hometown.

Olivia Bolton

5:48PM BST 11 Oct 2011


National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters from Benghazi have been leading the charge on the areas in Sirte still controlled by pro-Gaddafi forces.

Speaking from the frontline Colonel Kamel El-Magrabi said: "We have them in two or three square kilometres, and the good news today is that the Gaddafi family is starting to flee Sirte."

He added that his forces had captured more than 20 Gaddafi tribe members as they attempted to flee the city, many of whom had been fighting them for control of Sirte.

More w/video of fighting (0:59):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/libya-video/8820657/Libya-Fierce-street-battles-continue-for-control-of-Sirte.html

[pinboy3niner]

46. Libyan forces gain momentum in Sirte assault

Big advances in centre of city, as Nato official says continued resistance by pro-Gaddafi fighters is 'surprising'

Peter Beaumont in Sirte

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 11 October 2011 13.20 EDT


Libyan government forces have made rapid advances in several parts of the besieged city of Sirte, capturing large areas and gaining a seemingly unstoppable momentum.

Pro-Gaddafi defenders of the city were pushed into an ever smaller pocket measuring about 6 sq km, which one advance threatened to cut in half.

Despite continued resistance in several areas, government forces from Benghazi and neighbouring towns broke through in the city centre and in the east of Sirte.

...


The successes came as more and more pro-Gaddafi fighters emerged from their positions to surrender. In the seafront third district, close to the university, the Guardian saw five loyalist fighters including a Sudanese and an elderly Moroccan who had been captured in a nearby house with six or seven weapons, according to the men who seized them.

Not all had given themselves up. A few blocks away a sniper detonated a grenade after laying down his weapon, killing himself and two anti-Gaddafi fighters.

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/11/libya-forces-momentum-sirte

[tabatha]

47. Evacuation of Mauritanian families from #Sirte

http://youtu.be/HTa6O-zqUQw

[pinboy3niner]

48. Libya fighters 'punch through Sirte defences'

Al Jazeera's frontline correspondent says NTC fighters have made a major breakthrough in battle for Gaddafi's hometown.

Last Modified: 11 Oct 2011 16:47

...


Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from close to the frontline on Tuesday afternoon, said that fighters had "punched through the last line of defence", a wall surrounding the heart of the city, and were within 200 metres of the centre.

The fighters had so far encountered light resistance and suffered no casualties but the fighting ahead was much more intense, our correspondent said.

The remaining Gaddafi loyalists were staging a fierce rearguard action and had "a lot of ammunition and a lot of resolve", Birtley said.

The advancing fighters had found a lot of discarded weapons and uniforms and had captured a number of black Libyans who said they were civilians. But NTC fighters believed they were Gaddafi soldiers, our correspondent said.

"This is a heartland of Gaddafi's support but that now is crumbling. The hold they have on Sirte is crumbling by the minute."

More: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/10/2011101013186280505.html

(Note: Video at link is the same video linked in Post #41.)

[pinboy3niner]

49. Gaddafi forces' radio traffic in Sirte suggests regime VIPs are there

The gains came as a revolutionary fighter who monitors the radio traffic of Gaddafi forces said he believed that a number of high-ranking figures of the former regime were directing the increasingly desperate last stand.

He said he believed that a series of radio call signs were used for these figures, including One for Muammar Gaddafi's son Moatissim and Three for General Mansour Dhou, who he believed was commanding the defences.

"There was another one – Two – who we had an inkling was for intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi, but we haven't heard that one mentioned for a while leading us to believe he has been either killed or escaped into the desert.

"We have also heard reference to a call sign referred to as "the asset" so we believe there is someone important who they are fighting to defend."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/11/libya-forces-momentum-sirte

[pinboy3niner]

50. NATO says extent of resistance in Libya surprising

By CHRISTOPHER GILLETTE and SLOBODAN LEKIC - Associated Press | AP – 11 mins ago.


SIRTE, Libya (AP) — NATO expressed surprise Tuesday at the determined resistance by forces defending Moammar Gadhafi's hometown as heavy fighting persisted more than two months after the fall of the capital, Tripoli.

The comments by Col. Roland Lavoie appeared aimed at pressuring the former strongman's troops to lay down their weapons and engage in talks with one-time rebels who now rule the country, thanks largely to NATO firepower.

Instead, in places such as Sirte, Gadhafi loyalists are still fighting, even though they can no longer be resupplied after the new government's units won control of key parts of the town's center, Lavoie said.

"So from that perspective, it just does not make sense to see what these few remaining forces are doing," he said. "This could certainly be qualified as surprising both from military and political point of view."

More: http://news.yahoo.com/nato-says-extent-resistance-libya-surprising-190755215.html

[pinboy3niner]

52. Libya: high ranking Gaddafi officials 'leading defence of Sirte'

Source: The Telegraph

A handful of high-ranking Gaddafi regime officials are trapped and leading the defence of Sirte, revolutionary forces said as they continued to make deep inroads into the city.

By Ben Farmer, Ruth Sherlock in Sirte

7:11PM BST 11 Oct 2011


Loyalist defences appeared to be crumbling in the eastern neighbourhoods as rebel brigades quickly pushed through bullet-scarred residential blocks.

...


Two (Gaddafi) first cousins, Mohammed and Rabiya Abu Menear, were spotted in the back seat of a family car as it tried to leave the city.

"We found them sitting in the back between two women, hiding their faces and without documents," said an eyewitness who declined to be named.

Rabiya Abu Menear had been heard on radio exhorting loyalists to continue fighting.

"On the enemy radio frequencies, we heard him tell his men that anyone that does not fight should 'get it in the teeth' – this means he wants those shot," said Abdul Basset Zaida, a 56-year-old fighter from Misurata.

Abdul Rahman Abdul Hamid, a nephew of Gaddafi and president of Sirte University, was captured on Saturday.

More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8820865/Libya-high-ranking-Gaddafi-officials-leading-defence-of-Sirte.html

[ellisonz]

62. Let's hope they get Mutassim.

He is scum.

[tabatha]

53. A look inside the Djeida prison in Tripoli

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/11/8273210-a-look-inside-the-djeida-prison-in-tripoli

Natalia Jimenez writes
A peek into the Djeida prison in Tripoli, Libya that currently houses about 1400 inmates, including Gadhafi loyalist fighters, criminals, former regime ministers and foreign immigrants.



Female inmates at the Tripoli's infamous Djeida prison walk about the courtyard on Oct. 11. Some 1400 inmates are detained in this facility, among them former regime ministers, loyalist fighters, ordinary criminals and foreign immigrants.

[pinboy3niner]

54. Libya: situation desperate in Sirte hospital

11-10-2011 News Release 11/211


Tripoli/Geneva (ICRC) – On 10 and 11 October, staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) evacuated a total of 25 war-wounded and other patients from Ibn Sina Hospital in Sirte. The patients had been left with only a few health-care personnel to care for them following fierce fighting in recent days..

...


On 11 October the ICRC evacuated 17 patients from Sirte hospital, most of them war casualties, accompanied by four close relatives and the baby of a patient. This morning, Libyan Red Crescent volunteers also brought seven patients who needed no further hospitalization, together with six family members, back to their homes on the eastern side of Sirte.

On 10 October the ICRC had evacuated eight wounded patients from the hospital.

The ICRC transferred the first group of evacuated patients to a hospital in Tripoli. The second group are being taken to a medical facility west of Sirte, for onward transport by helicopter to hospitals in Tripoli.

...


The Libyan Red Crescent is transferring a further group of 18 foreign nationals (Egyptians, Palestinians and Lebanese), who had gathered at the hospital and wanted to leave the city, to Harawa, some 50 kilometres east of Sirte. From there they will proceed to a camp for displaced people in Benghazi. The evacuated foreigners, as well as the remaining foreign staff at the hospital and other foreign nationals there, were given the opportunity to make satellite phone calls to their loved ones, who had had no news of them since the outbreak of heavy fighting in Sirte.

...


Three ICRC trucks and six lighter vehicles were used in the evacuations. An explosive ordnance disposal expert helped to make sure the road was safe. In total, 15 ICRC staff were involved in the two-day effort, which was carried out with the support of Libyan Red Crescent volunteers. This was the fourth time since the beginning of the month that the ICRC had entered Sirte to perform its humanitarian tasks.


http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/news-release/2011/libya-news-2011-10-11.htm

[pinboy3niner]

55. Libya: Gaddafi Former Minister Moussa Koussa to Settle In Jordan Capital

Source: International Business Times

By Anissa Haddadi | October 11, 2011 12:35 PM GMT


Libya's former foreign minister Moussa Koussa has obtained a Jordanian passport and is planning to move to Amman from Qatar, Arabic daily al-Arab al-Youm reports.

...


While not much has been known about his whereabouts, he had recently been located in Qatar, where he reportedly spent a few months.

Before becoming Gaddafi's foreign minister, Koussa previously headed the Libyan intelligence agency from 1994 to 2009.

A member of Gaddafi's inner circle, he was considered one of the country's most powerful figures and was accused of masterminding the Lockerbie bombing.

...


Officials from the new Libyan government...(warned) him he would be charged with crimes against humanity if he returned to Tripoli.

More: http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/228885/20111011/libya-gaddafi-former-minister-moussa-koussa-to-settle-in-jordan-capital.htm

[pinboy3niner]

57. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 237: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12

Libya time = EDT +6 hours, PDT +9 hours, UTC +1 hour, GMT +2 hours

[pinboy3niner]

58. Libya says it will restart oil field within days

Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:46pm GMT


TRIPOLI Oct 11 (Reuters) - Production from a Libyan oil field will restart within days and the country should be able to pump 1 million barrels per day (bpd) within a year, the interim oil and finance minister said on Tuesday.

In an interview with Reuters, Ali Tarhouni said he had received a phone call the previous evening saying the huge El Sharara oil field operated by Spanish firm Repsol was ready to restart and he expected it to resume pumping within days. It produces 200,000 bpd.


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LB42820111011

[pinboy3niner]

59. Libya: Angelina Jolie visits Misurata to support aid agencies

Source: The Telegraph

Actress and U.N. goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie was in Libya on Tuesday for a visit to help agencies bringing aid to Libyans in Tripoli and Misurata, she said in a statement.

12:58AM BST 12 Oct 2011

...



The two-day trip was Jolie's first to Libya, but she previously visited Libyan refugees in Malta and on the Italian island of Lampedusa in June, and went to Tunisia in April to appeal for international support for people fleeing the revolution there.


Jolie is an ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR and is expected to announce an expanded role soon.


On her Libya trip, she met representatives from UNHCR, Medecins Sans Frontieres and local non-governmental organisations delivering assistance to Libyans in Misurata and Tripoli.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8821368/Libya-Angelina-Jolie-visits-Misurata-to-support-aid-agencies.html

[ellisonz]

60. Once air travel is re-established to Tripoli...

...there will be more dignitaries visiting.

[tabatha]

61. Little girl tries to do her part to keep #Libya clean

http://twitter.com/#!/IbnOmar2005/status/123922151064612864/photo/1

[Swede]

63. Fear and Loathing in Christian Cairo

That, though, was before the news of the Army's attack on the protesters had come through. As the children played at the club, some of the adults followed news reports of the unfolding event on their cell phones. I had spent much of the evening engrossed in conversation with a cousin in his mid-20s, one of just a few of my relatives who had supported the revolution from the get-go and had visited Tahrir Square. He was attuned to the Coptic community's worries -- "terrified" is a word one hears a lot these days -- but he remained convinced that Egypt could emerge from its period of turmoil a better country.

By that point in the evening, everyone in our group had heard that live ammunition had been fired into the crowd of demonstrators; my cousin's mother sternly urged him to be careful going home and call her once he got there. He remained sanguine, nodding his assent, but there was no denying that tensions had risen perceptibly among our group.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15216875

[pinboy3niner]

64. Al-Qaida chief urges Islamic rule in Libya

AP – 5 mins ago.

CAIRO (AP) — Al-Qaida's new leader is calling on Libyan fighters who overthrew Moammar Gadhafi to set up an Islamic state and urges Algerians to revolt against their longtime leader in remarks in a new Internet video.

Ayman al-Zawahri warns Libyan revolutionaries to protect their gains against "Western plots," claiming NATO will demand that Libyans give up their Islamic faith.

http://news.yahoo.com/al-qaida-chief-urges-islamic-rule-libya-083139488.html

[pinboy3niner]

65. The fighting in Sirte could be over by the end of today--Guardian correspondent

Matthew Weaver posts on The Guardian's Live Blog:


The fighting in Sirte could be over by the end of today, Peter Beaumont reports from the centre of the city.

Gaddafi loyalists are not returning fire from one of the pockets of the city that they still occupy, he says.

The fighting that seems to be going on, in what maybe the last pocket, is about a kilometre to the west of me, in district two. The whole east of the city is under government control. The centre of the city nearly all the way down to the beach; the police station; and I understand the main square fell in fighting last night. From the east I'm just not hearing anything. The biggest danger to us today was friendly fire.

Mutassim Gaddafi is still believed to be in the Dollar area of the city between districts one and two. District three on east of the town is now occupied by new government forces, Peter said.

Some of the (Gaddafi) fighters have been seen coming out with Qur'ans. We walked down a street where there had been pro-Gaddafi fighters. And there were a couple of houses where uniforms were strewn on the floor, where they had taken uniforms off to change into civilian clothes.

On Jalil's claim that Sirte could fall within two days, Peter said: "It is not an idle boast. It could easily be over by the end of today. We are hearing no out going fire at all."

Peter also described coming across the mobile phone of one of Mutassim Gaddafi's friends. It had Mutassim's phone number together with pictures of white stretched limos. "He's thrown his phone away probably because it had the phone number (Mutassim's) on it when he left," he said.

Audio at link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/12/libya-battle-for-central-sirte-live-updates#block-3

[pinboy3niner]

66. Libya's NTC fighters stage final advance in Sirte holdout

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 5:08 AM EST, Wed October 12, 2011


(CNN) -- Forces loyal to the new Libyan government were staging a final advance into the last area in Sirte still controlled by pro-Moammar Gadhafi fighters.

National Transitional Council field commander Ibrahim Ashour said Wednesday that his forces control 90% of the city, but are encountering stiff resistance in securing the rest of it.

On Tuesday, seven NTC fighters were killed and 15 wounded in clashes with Gadhafi loyalists there, Ashour said.

More: http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/12/world/africa/libya-war/index.html?section=cnn_latest

[pinboy3niner]

67. Fall Of Gaddafi's Home Town 'Hours Away'--Sky News

10:14am UK, Wednesday October 12, 2011

Anti-Gaddafi forces will today attack part of Colonel Gaddafi's home town where loyalists remain holed up - amid signs that the battle is nearly over.

Sky's Alex Rossi, reporting from the front line, said fighters loyal to the National Transitional Council (NTC) have advanced deep into the city, taking the university, conference centre, hospital and main police station.

They claim supporters of Col Gaddafi remain in just one area, known as district 2, in the north-west of the city.

Rossi said: "The fall of Sirte is inevitable - most likely today.

"The big question is who is inside this city and why have they put up such a resistance.

More w/ video report (3:20):
http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16087088

[pinboy3niner]

68. Angelina Jolie praises Libya's revolutionaries

Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:14am GMT

By Tim Gaynor


MISRATA, Libya Oct 12 (Reuters) - Actress and UN Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie on Wednesday praised Libyans' "extraordinary" participation in their homegrown revolution, and said she stood in solidarity with the country as it sought to become a nation of laws.

...


"What's extraordinary ... is that a lot of the people who are part of the solution and are working in positions of even military, and you find that just before the revolution they had retired, or were running restaurants or were selling baby clothes and they've all quit their jobs and they are all working here now on behalf of their country," Jolie told Reuters.

"They have all lost family members ... they've suffered casualties themselves, they've lost limbs themselves and yet they're all really fighting for something they believe in, and for the future of the country for their children, so it's quite moving," she added.

...


"I'm also here on behalf of the Libyan people to show them solidarity. I think this revolution on behalf of human rights, which is what I feel these people really have been doing and what they have pushed for, and to help them to implement these new laws and help them with the future of their country."


More: http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LC1HD20111012?sp=true

[inna]

72. Huge fan of Angelina's... Boy, did she get it wrong this time.

[tabatha]

78. Wow, the sage of the universe speaks and issues a judgment.

No one knows the truth better.

Sorry, Angelina is a woman of compassion for all human beings, especially children.
She not only talks, but she walks the walk a lot more.

[pinboy3niner]

69. NATO airstrikes conducted Tuesday, October 11

Key Hits 11 OCTOBER:


In vicinity of Bani Walid: 6 military vehicles.


...


International Humanitarian Assistance Movements as recorded by NATO


Total of Humanitarian Movements**: 1825 (air, maritime)


Ships delivering Humanitarian Assistance 11 OCTOBER: 0


Aircrafts delivering Humanitarian Assistance 11 OCTOBER: 39


**Some humanitarian movements cover several days.


http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/pdf/pdf_2011_10/20111012_111012-oup-update.pdf

[pinboy3niner]

70. NATO conducting only reconnaissance over Sirte

From The Guardian's Live Blog:

There was speculation from the BBC yesterday that Nato jets hit Sirte in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Nato says it has conducted only reconnaissance over Sirte.

It has hit only one target (last Friday) in the city in the last ten days.

In its latest update Nato said it hit six military vehicles in Bani Walid on Tuesday.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/12/libya-battle-for-central-sirte-live-updates#block-5

[pinboy3niner]

71. Libya - the battle for Sirte: interactive map

The Gurdian's new interactive map shows the dwindling area still controlled by Gaddafi's forces:



http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/oct/11/libya-sirte-gaddafi-map-interactive

[pinboy3niner]

73. "It's nearly all over now," The Guardian's Peter Beaumont reports from Sirte

The main problem in the area we are in, where district one and district two meet, (is that it is) flooded knee deep in sewage. The clearing operations that have been going on have been plodding through this fetid water.

There are guys coming out surrendering. One of the fighters I spoke to today said, the people he was with, had captured about seven people. They are going in to the houses looking for weapons. It is still noisy but there is very very little incoming fire. It looks as though, if not today then tomorrow, the battle for Sirte will be over and the government will declare the full liberation of Libya.

It doesn't feel as if there is a concentration (of Gaddafi) forces anywhere at all. We were told that there was a concentration in district two. But we have just been in district two and there don't seem to be a lot. I'm told there are a few snipers still left in district three and the main area by the square, but almost by the hour the last defenders are getting rolled up.

The speculation is that quite a lot of people have just tried to slip away from the battle in the last couple of days.

Most of the deaths now seem to be coming from friendly fire incidents.

11.23am:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/12/libya-battle-for-central-sirte-live-updates

[pinboy3niner]

74. Spain withdraws F-18 planes from NATO Libya mission

...

Two refuelling planes, a frigate and a sea patrol plane will remain as part of Spain's contribution, (Defence Minister Carme Chacon) said.

The decision to withdraw the F-18 planes has been agreed with the leaders of the NATO mission in Libya, and is based on the fact that airports which were closed there are now operational and the number of civilian flights are increasing, Chacon said.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LC1OG20111012

[pinboy3niner]

75. Gaddafi resistance crumbling in Libya's Sirte--Reuters

Wed Oct 12, 2011 10:41am GMT

• Only light resistance seen so far from two small pockets

• Gaddafi's son Mo'tassim believed to be in Sirte

• Civilians still emerging from the ruins of the town


By Rania El Gamal and Tim Gaynor


SIRTE, Libya, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Resistance from fighters loyal to ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi crumbled in his home town overnight, government commanders said on Wednesday, and just two small pockets still held out.

Fighters from the interim Libyan government's volunteer army walked slowly up the same battle-scarred streets strewn with empty ammunition cases where they had fought fierce clashes a day before. Other fighters searched the partly destroyed houses as a few dazed civilians emerged from their basements.

"It looks as though there is no resistance from Gaddafi's men. There are no clashes today," said government field commander Mustah Hamza.

...


NTC fighters manoeuvred a tank into a small side street flooded with sewage from a burst pipe. It fired a few rounds at a large building up ahead, then infantrymen moved in, letting off bursts from their AK-47s as they advanced up the street. But there was very little return fire from the pro-Gaddafi side.


More: http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LC1H920111012?sp=true

[inna]

76. question - why such relentless fixation on these threads?

seriously, i have *never*, *never* seen anything like this, on DU or any other forums (fori?)

[tabatha]

77. Have you tried AJE?

They are the same or more.

Have you followed Peter Clifford?

The thousands of tweets by non-Libyans following this, hoping that Libyans get the freedom that you enjoy?

ON EDIT

Some of the people on the AJE blog are considering plans to visit Libya to meet the Libyans they have gotten to know on the AJE blog. Social media. The more people from different parts of the world learn to cooperate and know each other, the better. The chances for war will be greatly diminished.

[inna]

79. i think we're supposed to ignore each other

:D

[ellisonz]

81. Have you considered that maybe your judgment on this issue has been incorrect?

It's never to late to learn something new.

[tabatha]

84. You must be joking. Blinkered is the only description.

Even if thousands of people are harmed for the enrichment of a few.

[ellisonz]

88. Give peace a chance.

She keeps coming back ;)

[inna]

92. LOL, LOL! Only because your threads are *always* (and I mean, ALWAYS!) here!!

that was re. your "She keeps coming back" comment;



no comment on the "Give peace a chance" comment for a couple of reasons I'm not going to go in to.

[tabatha]

93. Free will means the right to make one's own choices.

Just because something is there, does not mean one cannot ignore it.

[joshcryer]

127. These threads will be gone soon, only Bani Waled needs to be liberated.

And then we'll go into a wrapup mode.

The Libyan Revolution is an ongoing process, though, it would be remiss for progressives to overlook it and to throw the Libyan people under the bus due to preconceived notions about them generally perpetuated by islamaphobic neocons.

[inna]

86. yep, i have; used/trained to do exactly that on daily basis by virtue of an occupation

- have you, on the other hand? :) ('considered that maybe your judgment on this issue has been incorrect?')

[ellisonz]

91. I'm very well read. My personal family history...

...is not unlike that of the Libyans i.e. I can relate to oppressed peoples.

I stand for human rights and democracy. I stand against dictatorship and those that murder civilians in cold blood in order to terrorize a populace for selfish ends.

There is an overwhelming mound of evidence that Gaddafi is one of the most conniving and murderous tyrants of the late-modern era. Up there with Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Milosevic, and Kim Jong-Il. That's the company he keeps. You're entitled to your own beliefs; but not your own facts.

:shrug:

[ellisonz]

80. It's good news in a dark world.

The people of Libya are free from a murderous tyrant and his cohort.

[tabatha]

82. Not only Libya.

But all of those nations in Africa where he inflicted harm. e.g.Sudan.

A supporter of Charles Taylor, Mugabe, Assad and a supplier of weapons to the IRA.

What a piece of shiiiite (Gaddafi)

[ellisonz]

85. Internationally too..

Gaddafi was moving into the world-wide pro-dictatorship sphere - China, North Korea, Myanmar, Cuba, etc. They've now lost an ally and set an example for what could happen to dictatorships. That is why China and Russia vetoed the resolution on Syria. The one thing they all have in common - murdering their own people for expressing dissatisfaction with the political situation in their country.

Truman Doctrine

At the present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose between alternative ways of life. The choice is too often not a free one.
One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished by free institutions, representative government, free elections, guarantees of individual liberty, freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from political oppression.

The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled press and radio; fixed elections, and the suppression of personal freedoms.

I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.

I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truman_Doctrine

[joshcryer]

129. I'm still amused by the people championing Gaddafi's "telecommunications network" for Africa.

As if such a telecommunications network would not utilized Gaddafi's oppressive security infrastructure to crush any and all dissidents in all of the other countries in Africa. It would have been the oppressive dictators' wet dream.

[inna]

83. thanks for your answer; it's quite educational (no sarcasm)

[mark7sys]

112. Question: Why should a clearinghouse of info on Libya be offensive to anyone?

I have asked this numerous times, but cannot locate any reply.

“question - why such relentless fixation on these threads? ”

I can't even attempt to formulate a response to your question because I really don't understand it. Every day when I can find the time I consult various news sources, AJE, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, PBS, etc. But it has saved me an enormous amount of time to be able to scan the Libya news here, and I appreciate it enormously. Thus, the question might just as well be asked, “Why do you have such a relentless fixation on keeping abreast of the news?” This question is equivalent to yours, as best as I can tell.

Perhaps there would be a better use of my time. Howsoever that might be, how is my tracking the news a problem for you? Why should this be offensive to you?

People might also ask, “Why this relentless fixation on Universal Health Care?”

If I happened not to be interested in Universal Health Care, does that mean I should scan for every thread on the subject I can find and unrec them all just as soon as I see them? To what end?


Did you reply to this, inna?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1923083&mesg_id=1931175

I'd also like to add this question:

Do you consider France's intervention in the revolution in America to be inappropriate and officious? If so, why?

“unrec in complete disgust and strong protest” ?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1960179&mesg_id=1961420

Sadly, I am late on the scene and so I am unfamiliar with the nature of your protest, inna. I am eager to read anything you have written regarding what you (I gather) would consider to be the nefarious nature of the intentions of NATO countries with respect to Libya. Would you be so kind as to provide links to your previously posted thoughts here? Thanks.

[joshcryer]

126. Only fixation I see is one by relentlessly hateful people continually bashing the Libyan revolution.

Thought I was on ignore, but I suppose I am not allowed a moments peace.

[tabatha]

87. Humor on AJE blog

Breaking
News # After the fall of Sirt, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi declares the hole
where he is hiding as Libya’s new Capital. Right now millions of rats are
waving 1 inch green flags #

[pinboy3niner]

89. Egyptian army must answer for deadly toll at Coptic protest--Amnesty

11 October 2011


Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) must urgently explain how a protest against religious discrimination turned into a bloodbath, Amnesty International said today after deadly protests in Cairo on Sunday left at least 25 dead.

More than 200 people – including many protesters and reportedly members of the security forces – were also wounded in the incident, the worst violence Egypt has seen since former President Hosni Mubarak stepped down in February.

Video footage showed military vehicles running over protesters while driving through crowded streets.

“One can only wonder what orders were given that could have led to military vehicles running down protesters on the streets. If the military police and other security forces were not acting under orders, it raises questions about their ability to police demonstrations in the first place,” said Amnesty International.

...


http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/deadly-clashes-coptic-protest-egypt-show-urgent-need-reform-2011-10-11

[tabatha]

90. Thank God for Amnesty International.

[tabatha]

94. Libyans find voice in new era of press freedom

Libyans find voice in new era of press freedom
Posted on October 12, 2011 by KLN1
By Catriona Davies

Before the start of Libya’s civil war, you could count the number of newspapers in the country on one hand and all were heavily controlled by the government. Now there are 120 independent newspapers in the city of Benghazi alone, according to local journalists.

These newspapers are mostly run and staffed by engineers, doctors and students, said International Media Support, one of several foreign organizations that is helping train journalists in Libya.

One, called “Sowt” — “Voice” in Arabic — was launched by five medical, engineering and economics students in their early 20s in February.

It began as an eight-page magazine, now increased to 12 pages and selling 3,000 copies a week across eastern Libya and beyond.


A well-stocked newspaper stand in Benghazi, Libya.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/12/world/meast/libya-new-newspapers/

[pinboy3niner]

95. Battle for Sirte focused on fort-like building in District 2

Matthew Weaver and Haroon Siddique post at The Guardian's Live Blog:


The battle for Sirte has become focused on fort-like high rise building in district two, Peter Beaumont reports in his latest phone update near the front line.

We are about 800m from an enormous fort-like building that I haven't seen before. We have just seen one of the pro-Gaddafi fighters running along the skyline. It has got blocks at two ends and occasionally you can see muzzle flashes coming from the left hand end. It literally is like a castle. This seems to be where the fighting is concentrated.

Speaking on a bad Satellite connection that gives out in the middle of the call but improves by the end, Peter adds:

All of the top of it has been hit by either tank shells or anti-air craft fire. It is somewhere in district two. It looks like it overlooks the sea. We were pointed out this last area of high rises that they were worried about. This appears to be the high rise that they are talking about. It is very imposing and towers over the rest of the city.

The sound of a rocket can be heard being fired at the building during the call. Apologies for the quality of the line.

Audio at link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/12/libya-battle-for-central-sirte-live-updates#block-16

[pinboy3niner]

96. Libya's Revolution TV

Source: The Atlantic

Oct 12 2011, 6:30 AM ET

The Qatar-based station that began in support of the Libyan uprising now faces, like the nation it covers, large and difficult questions about what comes after Qaddafi

by Haley Sweetland Edwards


DOHA, Qatar -- When I first visited the offices of the Libyan rebels' television channel, tucked into a corner of the old souk in Doha, Qatar, I expected a ramshackle operation run by a scrappy young crew with jerry-rigged equipment.

Instead, what I found was a small but state-of-the-art TV studio surrounded by a series of bustling offices, littered, like any good newsroom, with doodled-on rough drafts, rattling Blackberries, and cartons of leftover fries from Hardee's.

In the glassed-in main editing room, a woman in a black hijab and matching abaya scooted around in a rolling chair, monitoring a floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall panel of television screens, switches, dials, and knobs. Downstairs, in the one-room studio, someone shouted a countdown as music for the five o'clock news hour erupted into the black, sound-proof space. Cameras swooped from dollies and images of Libyan children, their faces painted the green and red of Libya's pre-Qaddafi flag, filled the screen behind the anchor's sparkling desk.

The scene at Libya TV -- efficient, professional, lively -- was just business as usual at Libya's first and only independent satellite channel, which launched last March as the revolution began to gain steam. The operation is funded and hosted by the government of Qatar - the tiny, energy rich state that has made itself an ally to the Libyan rebels -- and began in the Radio Free Europe model, broadcasting both tactical and humanitarian messages to aid the rebels on the ground in ousting Muammar Qaddafi.


More: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/10/libyas-revolution-tv/246486/

[pinboy3niner]

97. Fighters step up assault on Kadhafi town--AFP

By Rory Mulholland and Herve Bar | AFP – 32 mins ago

...


An AFP correspondent said Sirte's main square and entire waterfront was under NTC control, along with its fortress-like conference centre, university campus and main hospital, which the fighters all seized on Sunday.

...


"There are snipers in the buildings up there," fighter Basit Divas told AFP, pointing to a neighbourhood of pock-marked villas, before hundreds of NTC troops advanced on the area backed by a barrage of heavy weapons fire.

Within a few hours, the new regime forces had advanced another two kilometres (1.2 miles) and were only encountering small pockets of resistance, with most of the fire power going one direction only, at the Kadhafi loyalists.

NTC soldiers went house to house, clearing each one of them, and sometimes arresting prisoners.

In the kitchen of one large villa, there were half-finished cups of tea on a tray. Outside another, a man was on his knees in the courtyard, his hands tied behind his back, pleaded with his captors.

"This man had a gun, and two AK-47s. We think he may be from Kadhafi's operation room," said Ayub Basina, a man who identified himself as an NTC doctor.

...


Medics at a field hospital in western Sirte reported five killed and 42 wounded on Tuesday, while medics in the east reported 11 dead -- including six Kadhafi loyalists -- and 52 wounded.

More: http://news.yahoo.com/fighters-move-kill-kadhafi-town-100253266.html

[pinboy3niner]

98. NTC forces continue assault on 'fort-like' structure in Sirte

Update from The Guardian's Live Blog:

"One fighter I walked passed said 'Sirte is free'," Peter Beaumont reports from the city.

"That's not quite true," he says. Gaddafi forces occupy an area of about 1km square, which includes a fort-like structure where the fighting is concentrated today (see 12.40pm) Peter says.

"They have bought out rockets and tanks and they are really shelling this at moment. Every couple of minutes a salvo of rockets goes over into these buildings," he says as rocket was launched.

"It appears that this is where the majority of the Gaddafi forces are holed up," he says.

A detailed satellite map of the area, shared by reader BrownMoses, shows some of the locations mentioned by Peter.

...


More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/12/libya-battle-for-central-sirte-live-updates#block-21

[pinboy3niner]

99. Libya tour operators eye post-war boom for neglected industry

Wed Oct 12, 2011 2:00pm GMT


By Alexander Dziadosz


TRIPOLI Oct 12 (Reuters) - A holiday in Libya may sound like an absurdity now, but many of the country's tour operators and officials are already starting to predict a bright future for the travel industry once the dust of war settles.

The coastal country has all the makings for a vibrant tourism business, they say: warm weather, beaches, antiquities and proximity to Europe -- all factors that helped the industry thrive in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia.

If developed, tourism could eventually help dent Libya's high jobless rate by creating work for tour guides, drivers, restaurant workers and hotel staff, as well as help it diversify its economy away from dependency on oil and gas.

The fact that operators are thinking about resuming business at all -- some predicted tourists would start arriving again within a year -- testifies to the relative peace that has prevailed in Tripoli and other parts of Libya since the former rebels ousted Muammar Gaddafi's forces from the capital in August.

One company, Sherwes Travel, already advertises a three-day, 295-euro tour of "post-war Libya" on its website, featuring visits to sites in Tripoli and to the Roman ruins of Leptis Magna. Employees admit it may be a bit optimistic.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LA14G20111012?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

100. Libya's NTC fighters find 25 corpses in Sirte

Wed Oct 12, 2011 4:05pm GMT

SIRTE, Libya Oct 12 (Reuters) -

...


A Reuters team counted 25 corpses in plastic bags in a southern area of Sirte called "Neighbourhood 2". Five corpses shown to the team had their hands tied behind their backs and gunshot wounds to the head. They wore civilian clothes.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LC3NG20111012

[pinboy3niner]

101. Libyan leader hopes to declare victory within week

By RAMI AL-SHAHEIBI - Associated Press | AP – 53 mins ago


BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) —

...


"I hope that liberation will be declared in less than a week, after we free Sirte, and within less than a month we will form a transitional government and the youth and women will have a role in that," said Mustafa Abdul-Jalil.

...


Abdul-Jalil made his assertion at a joint news conference with Tunisian Prime Minister Caid Essebsi, who is visiting the eastern city of Benghazi to restore the two countries' once-lucrative trade ties.

...


During the civil war that ensued, Tunisia hosted close to a million refugees from Libya, including tens of thousands of Libyan citizens, many of whom were housed by Tunisian families.


In recognition of that, Libyan officials have said Tunisian workers will be given priority for any reconstruction projects — a boon to the nation of 10 million that has at least 700,000 unemployed.

...


More: http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-leader-hopes-declare-victory-within-week-143354674.html

[tabatha]

102. Libyan civilians attest to the positives and negatives of the NATO bombing campaign

6:20pm: Libyan civilians attest to the positives and negatives of the NATO bombing campaign, which was carried out in their area due to Qadhafi military targets.

http://youtu.be/479a2X_jfe4

[tabatha]

103. Angelina Jolie video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI0BIUHzCMQ&feature=share

[pinboy3niner]

117. Gallery: Angelina Jolie visits Libya

Six photos at link:

http://www.canada.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Gallery+Angelina+Jolie+visits+Libya/5539497/story.html

[pinboy3niner]

104. Prominent Libyan Islamist joins NTC-linked group

Wed Oct 12, 2011 5:48pm GMT


TRIPOLI Oct 12 (Reuters) - An influential Libyan Islamist cleric who has criticised the country's new leaders joined a group affiliated with the interim ruling National Transitional Council on Wednesday, in what could be a sign of the growing clout of religious figures.

"I joined the National Group for Work to cooperate with them ... as I think that all political forces should be involved in building the nation," Ali al-Sallabi told Reuters.

The National Group for Work is a branch of the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) charged with building bridges between Libya's political groups.

Since the fall of Tripoli two months ago, Sallabi has emerged as a prominent spokesman for groups of Islamists unhappy about what they see as attempts by secular NTC leaders to exclude them from political life.


More: http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LC2QD20111012

[tabatha]

105. First ever Amazigh conference in Libya

http://youtu.be/29gcyW5_tg0

[tabatha]

106. Another brilliant graffiti in #Tripoli, #Libya

http://twitpic.com/6zc5wn

[pinboy3niner]

107. Swiss say trying to release dictators' stashed loot

Wed Oct 12, 2011 6:12pm GMT

• Some 770 million Swiss francs linked to Gaddafi, Mubarak and Ben Ali

• Swiss have also frozen 45 million francs in sanctions on Syria

• Switzerland is world 'leader' in restoring assets, foreign ministry official says


By Stephanie Nebehay


GENEVA, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Switzerland is trying to help the new authorities of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya recover 770 million Swiss francs ($850 million) in frozen assets linked to their ousted leaders, but the process could take years, a senior Swiss official said on Wednesday.

Separately, the neutral Alpine country, aligning itself with European Union sanctions on Syria, has blocked 45 million francs tied to President Bashar al-Assad and his regime, said Valentin Zellweger, head of international law at the foreign ministry.

The Swiss federal cabinet moved swiftly at the start of the Arab spring in January and February, blocking suspicious funds stashed in Swiss coffers to ensure they were not moved or used to fund Muammar Gaddafi's armed attacks on his people, he said.

Seized assets currently include 300 million francs linked to the deposed Libyan leader, 410 million Swiss francs tied to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and 60 million francs to former Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, he said.

Switzerland has already unfrozen 385 million francs and made them available to the new Libyan authorities for the Libyan National Oil Company and Libya Investment Authority, he added.

...


More: http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LC2MY20111012?sp=true

[tabatha]

108. Libya's Fighting Guitar Heroes

URI FRIEDMAN 12:38 PM ET192

There's a steady stream of dramatic photos and videos emerging as National Transitional Council forces move ever closer to seizing Muammar Qaddafi's hometown of Sirte and scoring a definitive victory over the ousted Libyan leader's remaining loyalists. But one photo in particular has captivated the international press: a shot--or series of shots--by Aris Messinis of Agence France-Presse showing an unnamed anti-Qaddafi fighter strumming a guitar on Monday in Sirte while bullet casings fly and his fellow soldiers fire their guns around him.

Something about the guitar player's equanimity amid chaotic warfare and the bright orange acoustic guitar drowning out drab green uniforms and bullet-pocked gray walls has resonated with people. "It shows pure human spirit and proves war doesn't help!!!" one commenter at the Facebook page of the U.K.'s Channel 4 News declares. The mystery of the moment is also intriguing. "Nothing is yet known about the musician," Australia's Nine News observes. Channel 4, which reports that its "technical wizards assure us has not been Photoshopped," asks its viewers to suggest songs the fighter may have been playing (some criticize the question or argue that the photo is staged, but others take the bait). Here's another angle on the stunning scene, in which you can literally see smoke spewing from one of the guns:



http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/10/libyas-fighting-guitar-heroes/43584/

[pinboy3niner]

109. Libya fighters take last Sirte escape route

Source: Al Jazeera

NTC fighters reach the coast and isolate remaining loyalists in two pockets of Muammar Gaddafi's hometown.

Last Modified: 12 Oct 2011 17:27


National Transitional Council (NTC) forces have reached the coast near the city of Sirte, cutting off the last remaining land escape route for forces loyal to deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and isolating them in two remaining pockets inside the city.

...


Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from close to the frontline, said that fighters had "punched through the last line of defence", a wall surrounding the heart of the city, and were within 200 metres of the centre.

...


"This is a heartland of Gaddafi's support but that now is crumbling. The hold they have on Sirte is crumbling by the minute."


VIDEO report at link (2:52):
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/10/2011101013186280505.html

[Iterate]

110. Photos from Feb17Sirte

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=176727435742338&set=a.124692290945853.31380.124369534311462&type=3&theater



Posted from Sirte on 11.10.11.



The fetid water flooding the street that Peter Beaumont from the Guardian reported earlier.

[pinboy3niner]

111. Libya: Gaddafi loyalists forced into tiny pocket in last stand

Source: The Telegraph

Gaddafi loyalists have been forced back into two small pockets of Sirte as revolutionary forces pounded the buildings where they were making a last desperate stand.


By Ben Farmer, Ruth Sherlock in Sirte

7:53PM BST 12 Oct 2011



By nightfall some rebel brigades had begun to gather in the city's Green Square and prematurely celebrated the fall of the coastal birthplace of Col Muammar Gaddafi.


However further west, loyalists were still fighting in the area estimated to be 1,000 yards by 500 yards, close to the seafront, against an onslaught which has already devastated large sections of the city.


With Sirte clear of loyalist forces apart from the pocket inside a neighbourhood known as "district two", the revolutionary forces were able to mass overwhelming firepower on the area.

...


As the front advanced, reporters were shown evidence of the execution of captured revolutionary fighters by retreating loyalists. The several-days-old bodies of thirty males, some just boys, bound and shot, were found across three locations.


More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8823087/Libya-Gaddafi-loyalists-forced-into-tiny-pocket-in-last-stand.html

[tabatha]

113. Mutassim caught in Sirte and transported to Benghazi.

Reuters and AJE


TRIPOLI Oct 12 (Reuters) - Three officials representing Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) told Reuters on Wednesday that Muammar Gaddafi's son Mo'tassim was captured in Sirte on Tuesday, trying to escape the town in a car with a family.

He was taken to Benghazi on Wednesday morning where he was questioned, they said. They gave no further details.

The NTC officials, based in Sirte and Benghazi, declined to be named but have provided accurate information to Reuters before. (Reporting by Barry Malone; Editing by Louise Ireland)

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LC4KM20111012

[al bupp]

114. AJA Confirmation

@NEWSDRMUS DR MUS
AJA reporter Tamer Mishal: Confirmed: Muatassim Gaddafi captured in the Dollar neighbourhood & now in Benghazi. Allahu Akbar. #feb17 #libya
8 minutes ago

[al bupp]

115. Thanku4theAnger Tweet: Ahrar TV Confirmation

@Thanku4theAnger
THANKU4THEANGER Ahrar TV reporter Mohamed Zidane: 100% confirmed Mutassim Gaddafi is now under heavy security in Benghazi #Feb17 #Libya
5 minutes ago via TweetDeck

[pinboy3niner]

119. AJE's James Bays says a number of high-level NTC officials...cannot confirm Mutassim captured

@evanchill

AJE's James Bays says a number of high-level NTC officials in Tripoli say they've heard news but cannot confirm Mutassim captured. #Libya

[pinboy3niner]

120. UPDATE 1-Gaddafi son Mo'tassim caught in Sirte

Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:56pm GMT


By Ahmed Seif


TRIPOLI Oct 12 (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's son Mo'tassim was captured in Sirte on Wednesday while trying to escape the town, the head of the Tripoli Revolutionary Council said.

"He was arrested today in Sirte," Colonel Abdullah Naker told Reuters.

...


NTC sources had earlier told Reuters that Mo'tassim, formerly Libya's national security adviser, had been captured on Tuesday.

...


Military sources said he was being held in the Boatneh military camp in Benghazi and that he was "exhausted" but uninjured.

Another senior NTC military official told Reuters that Gaddafi's son had cropped short his usually longer hair in an attempt to disguise himself. He is so far the only member of Gaddafi's immediate family to be captured by the NTC forces who have led the successful rebellion.

...


MORE: http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LC4LG20111012?sp=true

[pinboy3niner]

116. New Libya ’stained’ by detainee abuse--Amnesty

13 October 2011


The new authorities in Libya must stamp out arbitrary detention and widespread abuse of detainees, Amnesty International said today in a new briefing paper.

In Detention Abuses Staining the New Libya the organization reveals a pattern of beatings and ill-treatment of captured al-Gaddafi soldiers, suspected loyalists and alleged mercenaries in western Libya. In some cases there is clear evidence of torture in order to extract confessions or as a punishment.

"There is a real risk that without firm and immediate action, some patterns of the past might be repeated. Arbitrary arrest and torture were a hallmark of Colonel al-Gaddafi's rule," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

"We understand that the transitional authorities are facing many challenges, but if they do not make a clear break with the past now, they will effectively be sending out a message that treating detainees like this is to be tolerated in the new Libya."

...


The organization said detainees were almost always held without legal orders and mostly without the involvement of the General Prosecution. They were held by local councils, local military council or armed brigades – far from the oversight of the Ministry of Justice.

...


http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/new-libya-%E2%80%99stained%E2%80%99-detainee-abuse-2011-10-13

[pinboy3niner]

118. LIBYAN REVOLUTION DAY 238: CURRENT TIME IN LIBYA = 12:01 AM THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13

Libya time = EDT +6 hours, PDT +9 hours, UTC +1 hour, GMT +2 hours

[tabatha]

121. Zawiya celebration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy_c-kPzhOQ&feature=youtu.be

[pinboy3niner]

122. Libyan city of Sirte on the brink of falling

Fighters celebrate capture of Gaddafi's son Mutassim and tighten grip on troops loyal to former leader

Peter Beaumont in Sirte guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 12 October 2011 18.07 EDT


The Libyan coastal city of Sirte was on the brink of falling to government forces as fighters loyal to the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were trapped in a tightening pocket 500 metres wide and twice as long.

The latest gains for the forces of the National Transitional Council (NTC) came as its officials said Gaddafi's son Mutassim, who had been commanding the city's defences, had been captured in a car trying to flee with his family on Tuesday evening and taken to Benghazi for questioning.

...


The arrest of Mutassim – referred to as "Number 1" on pro-Gaddafi forces radio traffic – underlined the depth of the collapse of Sirte's loyalist defenders in the past week. Mutassim is the first major figure in Gaddafi's inner circle to have been captured by the NTC.

...


By afternoon, it appeared that barely 5% of the city remained under the control of those fighting for Gaddafi, who is still on the run after ruling Libya for 42 years. As government forces completed the clearing of the city's east, rumours began to circulate that it had finally capitulated. "Sirte is free!" said one man heading to join the fighting in the city centre.

...


The already angry mood towards the loyalists hardened with the discovery, in three locations in the city, of 30 captured men who had been cuffed and executed. According to government commanders, the men had been killed on Tuesday.

...


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/12/libya-sirte-falling-government-forces?newsfeed=true

[tabatha]

123. Edit the families of Libyan and foreign in Sirte - scenes very impressive

Uploaded by Freemisrata on Oct 12, 2011
Misurata Free: Private: Monitoring the correspondent Misurata Free first moments for the Liberation of the families of Libyan and foreign in the city of Sirte, and revealed the extent of the tragedy that was experienced during the applicable period of the siege of al-Gaddafi ... Moments and footage is very impressive ..

http://youtu.be/bGCmnZa3IP4

[pinboy3niner]

124. 'Scuse me while I whip this out...

The jimmypic!

"The number of posts in this thread is too damn high!"



:evilgrin:

[joshcryer]

125. Workin' on it!

Have to eat, be an hour or so yet. :(

Didn't expect another hateful screed to be posted (would be closer to 100 posts otherwise).

[pinboy3niner]

130. You're going to stop to EAT first?

But...but...no sacrifice is too great for the Revolution (threads)! :evilgrin:

Enjoy your dinner and put up the new thread when you get a chance. At this hour in Libya, there won't be a whole lot of fresh news reports to post. And even the media correspondents in Sirte have to sleep sometime. :)

[pinboy3niner]

131. P.S.--I don't THINK I'll try to get the jump on you on the date/time post in the new thread

It just depends on which angel (on which shoulder) I'm listening to at the time.

But no pressure, Josh. I wouldn't want you to think that when you post the new thread you have to RACE back to post the link in this thread and then have to RACE back to make the Libya date/time post. We could make you think that...but that would be wrong. (And I am not a crook--or am I?) :evilgrin:

[pinboy3niner]

128. UPDATE 2-Gaddafi's son Mo'tassim caught in Sirte

Thu Oct 13, 2011 12:10am GMT

• Gaddafi's son being held in Benghazi, sources say

• Celebrations erupt in capital Tripoli

• Muammar Gaddafi and son Saif still on the run (Adds Tripoli celebrations, another NTC quote)


By Ahmed Seif and Barry Malone


TRIPOLI, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's son Mo'tassim was captured in Sirte on Wednesday while trying to escape the town, the head of the Tripoli Revolutionary Council said.

...


"I can confirm there is an important figure who was arrested and is being transferred to Benghazi," Mohammed Bouker of the National Working Group, an NTC committee, told Reuters.

"The name will be announced tomorrow for security reasons."

NTC sources had earlier told Reuters that Mo'tassim, formerly Libya's national security adviser, had been captured on Tuesday. He is so far the only member of Gaddafi's immediate family to be captured by the NTC forces who led the rebellion.

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7LC4LG20111013?sp=true

I've left in the Reuters notes to clients that I normally delete because here they help us follow the evolution of the story as we await solid confirmation of these reports. From what I can see, we don't have that yet.

[ellisonz]

132. Yahtzee.

:sarcasm:

[joshcryer]

133. Week 34 part 3 here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2107178

[pinboy3niner]

134. Kudos to Josh for doing these OPs

When we took this on post-Catherina, we conferred and decided Josh would do the OPs and I would do updating (though, obviously, I'd have a lot of help).

Y'all don't know how lucky you are that I didn't end up with Josh's job. :)

I never expected so many useful links and so many graphics to enhance the visual 'look' of the the thread. Way to go, Josh! :patriot:

[inna]

135. it's highly doubtful (to say the least) that Catherina would approve any of this;

why even bring up her good name in this unfortunate context :shrug:


I miss Catherina, for the record, as, I'm sure, do many others.

[pinboy3niner]

139. I miss Catherina, too

She did a wondeful job in creating the Egyptian threads, first, and then these Libyan Revolution threads.

She changed her mind, and decided to opt out--leaving others to continue what she started.

My mention of her was less than an aside, merely a minor factual reference to the origin of these threads.

You might consider why you ask, 'Why?' about these Libya threads when you never asked that question about Catherina's news update threads on the Egyptian uprising or even on Libya in the beginning. Is it that news update threads are okay only if you agree with the popular uprising, but not okay if you disagreee with it? That's the way it appears--that some news update threads are more equal than others, in your eyes.

Catherina may now disagree on the main issue, but I doubt she'd disagree on the value of having continuing news update threads on a significant developing issue.

[inna]

136. "Y'all don't know how lucky you are that I didn't end up with Josh's job."

I think you're underestimating yourself, badly, in this particular case. Meant as a sort of compliment.

[pinboy3niner]

137. Thankyou

But I'm still learning my way around posting graphics. I never could have done what Josh has done.

Now cutting and pasting news, that I can do. :)

[inna]

138. and i do not flatter, ever