THE DOMINO EFFECT IN THE MIDDLE EAST
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Re: THE DOMINO EFFECT IN THE MIDDLE EAST
SHELLING IN YAFRAN AND ZINTAN
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Re: THE DOMINO EFFECT IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Badboy wrote:SHELLING IN YAFRAN AND ZINTAN
Yes, Badboy - and this has just been tweeted by a C4News journo
@jrug
Sustained bursts of gunfire heard in Tripoli
11 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®
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Re: THE DOMINO EFFECT IN THE MIDDLE EAST
carmen wrote:Badboy wrote:SHELLING IN YAFRAN AND ZINTAN
Yes, Badboy - and this has just been tweeted by a C4News journo@jrug
Sustained bursts of gunfire heard in Tripoli
11 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®
interesting last bit because of a report that snipers in tripoli have opened fire
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Re: THE DOMINO EFFECT IN THE MIDDLE EAST
@ksnavarra
#Guardian reports 'contacts' between #Gaddafi and former #UN sec gen Kofi Annan as envoy to travel to #Malta today
4 minutes ago via TweetDeck
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@ksnavarra
#Libya Transitional Council envoy Ali Al Isawi in #Rome for talks with #Frattini
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2 Qaddafi Sons Are Said to Offer Plan to Push Father Out
Moises Saman for The New York Times
Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi has offered to preside over his country as it moves to a democracy.
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: April 3, 2011
TRIPOLI, Libya — At least two sons of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi are proposing a resolution to the Libyan conflict that would entail pushing their father aside to make way for a transition to a constitutional democracy under the direction of his son Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, a diplomat and a Libyan official briefed on the plan said Sunday.
The rebels challenging Colonel Qaddafi as well as the American and European powers supporting them with air strikes have so far insisted on a more radical break with his 40 years of rule. And it is not clear whether Colonel Qaddafi, 68, has signed on to the reported proposal backed by his sons, Seif and Saadi el-Qaddafi, although one person close to the sons said the father appeared willing to go along.
But the proposal offers a new window into the dynamics of the Qaddafi family at a time when the colonel, who has seven sons, is relying heavily on them. Stripped of one of his closest confidantes by the defection of Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa and isolated by decades of attempted coups and internal purges, he is leaning on his sons as trusted aides and military commanders.
The idea also touches on longstanding differences among his sons. While Seif and Saadi have leaned toward Western-style economic and political openings, Colonel Qaddafi’s sons Khamis and Mutuassim are considered hard-liners. Khamis leads a fearsome militia focused on repressing internal unrest.
And Mutuassim, a national security adviser who also commands his own militia, has been considered a rival to Seif in the competition to succeed their father. But Saadi, who has drifted through careers as a professional soccer player, a military officer and a businessman, firmly backs the plan, an associate said.
The two sons “want to move toward change for the country” without their father, one person close to the Seif and Saadi camp said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. “They have hit so many brick walls with the old guard, and if they have the go-ahead, they will bring the country up quickly.” One son, this person said, has said many times that “the wishes of the rebellion were his own.”
The proposals are the latest turn in a drama between Seif and his father that has played out for years on the stage of Libyan public life as the son has alternately pushed forward with calls for political reforms and then pulled back. During the recent revolt, he appeared to march in lockstep with his father in vowing to stamp out the rebels. “We are coming,” he declared to a crowd of supporters who chanted, “Seif al-Islam, step on the rats.”
The proposals are also the latest sign that the Qaddafi government may be feeling the pressure from two weeks of allied airstrikes that have severely diminished the advantage in equipment of the Qaddafi militias. A senior Libyan official arrived in Athens for talks about a potential resolution to the conflict, the Reuters news service reported. And Mohamed Ismail, a top aide to Seif, is returning from a trip to London, where, a Libyan official said, he presented the proposal for Seif to take over from his father.
Mutuassim may be particularly resistant because of his longstanding rivalry with Seif.
After Seif made a high-profile trip to Washington to meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2008, a WikiLeaks cable reported, the attention paid “exacerbated tension with his siblings.”
When Mutuassim visited Washington the next year, the American ambassador to Libya wrote, “Mutuassim’s desire to visit Washington this spring and his seemingly overweening focus on having meetings with senior U.S. government officials and signing a number of agreements are driven at least in part by a strong sense of competition with Saif al-Islam.”
In a recent interview with the pan-Arab news channel Al-Arabiya, Saadi suggested that before the revolt Seif was already “the person who used to run the show every day in Libya.” The defection last week of Mr. Koussa, the former top aide to Colonel Qaddafi, removes a figure who had been considered a leader of the old guard distrustful of Seif and opposed to reform.
A diplomat familiar with the proposal, however, said discussions remained in the initial stages. Despite the evidence of deep internal discontent, Colonel Qaddafi appears to believe that rebellion against him is a foreign conspiracy of Islamist radicals and oil-hungry Western powers attempting to take over Libya, the diplomat said. And the rebels, who have set up their own provisional government, continue to insist on the exit from power of Colonel Qaddafi and his sons.
“This is the beginning position of the opposition, and this is the beginning position of the Libyan government,” this diplomat said. “But the bargaining has yet to commence.”
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Militarily, the rebellion remained locked in a stalemate on Sunday. On the eastern front, near the oil town of Brega, the two sides fired rockets, mortars and artillery against each other in a contest for the northern entrance of town. But the battle lines changed only slightly, and neither side appeared to have a clear upper hand.
The fighting intensified in the late afternoon and evening during a three-hour exchange in which rebels launched salvo after salvo of rockets toward the town, and loyalist artillery or mortars replied. The shells landed and exploded across an expanse of desert north of the town.
At least two rebels were killed and others wounded. The fight for Brega continued at the university, where the rebels, who have at times since Friday managed to gain a toehold, withdrew under fire. But the main body of rebels crept closer to the town, and seized two ridges that provided a vantage point for firing on the loyalists holding the town.
At the hospital in Ajdabiya, where casualties are first taken, a team of doctors rushed to help a wounded government soldier who had been shot through the left calf, the right arm, and twice through his right chest and out his back. The soldier, whose documents listed him as Akhmed Awad Omar, from Surt, died on the table, his blood pooled on the floor.
The attendants covered him with a cloth. “He is a Libyan, and we are sorry for him,” said Dr. Habib Mohammed el-Obeidy, before the body was wheeled to the morgue. “Qaddafi is using Libyans against Libyans.”
In Tripoli, armed checkpoints throughout the streets have kept the capital in an anxious lockdown with no signs of any renewed uprising since the revolt that shook the city six weeks ago. Noting that the United Nations resolution authorizing the air strikes also precludes the deployment of ground troops, the diplomat familiar with the proposal backed by the two sons said he wondered how the fighting could end without a negotiated solution.
“They will continue until the ammunition is finished, this stupid fighting along the highway,” the diplomat said.
Proposals and counterproposals for a cease-fire exchanged between the Qaddafi forces and the rebels appeared deadlocked as well, the diplomat noted. “For Qaddafi a cease-fire means everyone should cease firing but the Qaddafi forces should stay where they are,” the diplomat said. “But for the rebels it means that the Qaddafi forces should withdraw.”
Rebels said Sunday that the Western airstrikes had begun hitting the heavy weapons of the Qaddafi forces even within cities. A spokesman for the rebels controlling the besieged city of Misurata said that on Friday night the airstrikes had hit two tanks and three armored vehicles of the Qaddafi forces that had entered the city.
But on Sunday morning Qaddafi forces outside the city continued shelling an area near the port, while Qaddafi gunmen occupied rooftops along the central Tripoli Street, said the spokesman, Mohamed, whose last name was withheld for the protection of his family.
In an interview in Tripoli, Levent Sahinkaya, the Turkish ambassador, said a Turkish hospital ship had left the Misurata port loaded with 250 patients seriously injured in the fighting. The Qaddafi government had sought to direct the ship first to Tripoli or to postpone its trip, Mr. Sahinkaya said, but instead the Turkish government sent it directly to Misurata with the escort of 10 F-16 fighters and a warship.
“The humanitarian side is so important to us,” the ambassador said.
“We are the only country able to speak with both sides,” he said, referring to both the rebels and the Qaddafi government.
“We think a cease-fire should be reached, and after a cease-fire a political solution can be discussed,” Mr. Sahinkaya said. “This is the Turkish position.” He declined to address the details of any cease-fire talks.
About 50 foreign embassies remain open in Tripoli, including those of Turkey, Russia, Bulgaria, Ukraine and China as well as sub-Saharan African countries.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/world/africa/04libya.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
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@AlanFisher
Libyan rebels' Transitional National Council reject any transition under Muammar Gaddafi's sons
less than a minute ago via web
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@ksnavarra
#NATO reports 58 'strikes' on #Libya military during last 48 hours
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#UK media reports that #Gaddafi troops are being led by former #Guantanamo detainee
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Re: THE DOMINO EFFECT IN THE MIDDLE EAST
@ChangeInLibya
BREAKING AJA: Reports that the Gaddafi militias in Brega ran out of Grad/Mortar ammo & are surrounded from all sides #libya #feb17
25 minutes ago via web
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Re: THE DOMINO EFFECT IN THE MIDDLE EAST
@NicRobertsonCNN
#Eman tells CNN that govt security took her, beat her some & then took her to detention place where questioned & later released.
less than 5 seconds ago via web
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@NicRobertsonCNN
#EmanAlObeidi tried to see journalsts yday. She told CNN’s Khalil Abdallah by phone she got as far as hotel before being detaind in taxi.
less than a minute ago via web
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Re: THE DOMINO EFFECT IN THE MIDDLE EAST
So she is still alive.
TBH, I was worried she may not be!
TBH, I was worried she may not be!
wjk- Platinum Poster
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Re: THE DOMINO EFFECT IN THE MIDDLE EAST
wjk wrote:So she is still alive.
TBH, I was worried she may not be!
Yes, wjk, it was good to hear that she's still alive!
@ksnavarra
#Benghazi transmits first anti-#Gaddafi broadcast to 'Free Libya'
6 minutes ago via TweetDeck
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Re: THE DOMINO EFFECT IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Iman Al-Obeidi: 'Every Day I Am Beaten'
Categories: War, Foreign News
03:25 pm
April 4, 2011
by MARK MEMMOTT, SORAYA SARHADDI NELSON and LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO
Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approx. 7:00 p.m. ET
Transcript
Iman al-Obeidi, who last month told reporters in Tripoli that she had been beaten and raped by men loyal to Moammar Gadhafi, tells NPR she is no longer in custody.
But, she says, "every day I am beaten."
And she fears for her life: "They threaten us with murder," she said by telephone from Libya to our colleague Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson's translator in Cairo. Her sister, Obeidi said, is also in danger.
Obeidi burst into a Tripoli hotel on March 26. As she tried to tell reporters about what she says had been done to her, she was dragged away by authorities in a dramatic scene played out in front of dozens of cameras.
"They took me to a prison" for 72 hours after that, she told NPR today. When she was allowed to go home, "they stopped me again and they stopped me three times, the last time was yesterday" — when, she says, she was "beaten very hard [so] that I can't even leave my bed today."
NPR cannot at this time independently verify her accounts. The Gadhafi government has threatened to press criminal charges against her for allegedly making false accusations. Today, a government spokesman was not immediately available to comment on her latest claims, NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports from Tripoli.
Now, Obeidi says, she is talking to reporters "because we are suffocated and we are kidnapped and beaten. ... They distorted my image in front of the world and the Libyans. And they slandered my reputation."
Among the accusations were questions about her claim of having been raped multiple times by Gadhafi loyalists before her first attempt to speak with the news media. She now says that a doctor has confirmed that "I was raped violently."
As far as she knows, the men who allegedly raped her have not been arrested. The "public prosecutor refuses to meet with me," she told Soraya.
There will be much more about her conversation with NPR on today's All Things Considered. Click here to find an NPR station that broadcasts or streams the show.
Obeidi also spoke with CNN today, which says it will broadcast an interview with her tonight at 10 p.m. ET on AC360.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/04/04/135114911/iman-al-obeidi-every-day-i-am-beaten
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Libya: diplomatic initiative opens up rift between Gaddafi sons
A rift in the Gaddafi family has emerged as two hardline sons of the Libyan leader have dismissed efforts to implement a ceasefire as part of a diplomatic initiative to end the Nato bombing campaign.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has reportedly argued with his more hardline brothers after outlining proposals for a ceasefire Photo: REUTERS
By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent 9:30PM BST 04 Apr 2011
Mutassim Gaddafi, the National Security Adviser and Khamis Gaddafi, the commander of elite forces, have confronted supporters of a peace plan that has circulated in diplomatic circles in Tripoli.
Diplomats have said that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, another son, had offered to act as interim president to oversee a transition to a democratic system. The offer would mean Col Muammar Gaddafi's withdrawal from power and the end of the family's tyrannical hold on power.
But one family aide said there had been arguments over Saif's initiative, which is supported by Saadi, another brother with power in the armed forces. He said: "It is not in the military interest of the government to have a ceasefire now. While we have the momentum, Mutassim wants to keep going." The official said that the brothers had argued over a ceasefire.
While Saif believes that talks would be impossible without a ceasefire, Mutassim wants to ensure the regime cannot be beaten. He is reported to have said: "People get sick of dying, we have to keep fighting until we've beaten the opposition."
Mutassim and Saif have been rivals for almost a decade. A US diplomatic cable said that Saif's overseas reputation – he cultivated British and US leaders while living in London as a PhD student – had made Mutassim jealous.
All four brothers are known to enjoy glamorous social events. The singer Beyoncé performed for Mutassim in the Caribbean at the New Year.
A Libyan official claimed that the crisis represented an opportunity for Saif to achieve reforms that were blocked by his father's oldest allies. He said: "They have hit so many brick walls with the old guard, and if they have the go-ahead, they will bring the country up quickly."
Meanwhile Libya's opposition on Monday rejected attempts by the regime to kick-start diplomatic talks, saying Col Gaddafi could not remain in Tripoli.
Col Gaddafi's acting foreign minister flew into Ankara with proposals that Tripoli has described as a road map to a ceasefire and eventual peace.
Abdulati al-Obeidi met Ahmed Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, but European diplomats had already dismissed his proposals as unacceptable. Mr Obeidi told the Greek government on Sunday that Tripoli was ready to negotiate.
"Gaddafi and his sons have to leave before any diplomatic negotiations can take place," Shamseddin Abdulmelah, a spokesman for the rebel Interim Transitional National Council. "How can you negotiate at the point of a gun?"
The rebels warned that the talks were buying time for the Gaddafi regime's onslaught on the rebel held city of Misurata, where government forces were targeting residential enclaves with artillery shelling.
But Mr Davutoglu said he would attempt to broker a ceasefire if the opportunity arose. He has invited the rebel council to Turkey for discussions in the wake of Mr Obeidi's trip.
Italy announced it would be the first country to set up a representative office in Benghazi, the rebels' base city. Kuwait also recognised the opposition as the sole voice of Libya.
William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, meanwhile told the Commons that Britain was willing to call for any defector who had clearly broken with Col Gaddafi to be removed from United Nations sanctions lists.
Downing St said a ceasefire – not talks about Col Gaddafi's position – was the vital first step. "There have been lots of reports of envoys and of the regime reaching out in a number of ways," a spokesman said. "The next step ... needs to be a genuine ceasefire and an end to violence. An exit strategy for Gaddafi is not something we are involved in pursuing."
Oliver Miles, the former British ambassador in Tripoli, said that proposals to send Col Gaddafi into internal exile while his sons introduced democracy were based on a fantasy. "It can't be done," he said. "As soon as Gaddafi steps down, his sons are dead in the water politically. In theory, according to Gaddafi, he's already a figurehead and holds no official role, so it should not matter if he stays or goes. The reality, however, is otherwise."
While the rebels are winning diplomatic acceptance, internal disputes are hampering their fight. A rebel insider described a squabble between the three top leaders at the weekend that resembled a childish spat. Fatah Younis, the rebels' commander-in-chief, Khalifa Heftar, a former general and Omar al-Hariri, the defence minister, were no longer on speaking terms after the heated dispute.
Notwithstanding the fractious command structure, the rebel's ragtag forces advanced into the oil town of Brega on Monday. Col Gaddafi's troops were reported to be laying landmines as they pulled back.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8427646/Libya-diplomatic-initiative-opens-up-rift-between-Gaddafi-sons.html
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Libyan leaders talk exit strategies
By Alan Fisher in
Africa
on April 4th, 2011.
The surprise arrival of a top envoy to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Greece late on Sunday night is an indication of the two sides of the colonel.
In public and on state TV, he is belligerent, bullish and aggressive. Yet in private, it is becoming clear, Gaddafi believes he has options for an exit strategy from the trouble currently ripping his country apart.
Abdul Fattah Younis knows Gaddafi well. He is a former interior minister, but defected in the early days of the revolution and is now the commander of the rebel forces.
He says Gaddafi is very intelligent, listens to lots of advice and then goes off to make his decision:
He is stubborn, when the decision is made, that's it."
He has watched the appearances on state TV from the bizarre 15-second appearance under an umbrella to the long, unfocused rants to crowds of loyalists.
He is scared. You can see that. He is now acting out of panic."
It is that panic that has perhaps driven him to seek a diplomatic end, heartened by those who have objected to the continuing bloodshed. But as his envoy dots around the capitals of the Mediterranean, he may find his options very limited.
A report in a US newspaper suggests the mission has been sanctioned by Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam. It's thought he is keen to take over a transitional government until new elections are held. What happens to his father is perhaps not entirely clear, but the idea is regarded as a non-starter by many.
The smart and savvy Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini knew he was speaking for many when he said: "Any solution for the future of Libya has a precondition, that Gaddafi's regime leaves, and is out, and Gaddafi himself and the family leaves the country. This is the only political precondition."
Another option which has been bandied about half seriously, which would allow Gaddafi to remain in power, is the partition of the country. To the east, the current regime would keep Tripoli and Misurata and probably all the towns towards Brega. The new rebel state would have Benghazi as its capital and some of the oil producing and export power it would need to survive. Such an idea alarms many Libyans.
For 40 years they have listened to the Gaddafi lectures about one Libya, one people, and how a united country fought off the colonial powers and defied America. But the greater concern would be to keep a wounded Gaddafi anywhere near the levers of power.
Certainly for the transitional government in waiting, the rebel-led national council, the idea is a no go.
"The unity of Libya ... it's not acceptable to have any action or any process [that] can lead to dividing Libya. Libya is one unity and we will keep it united," says Ali al-Essawi, a senior member of that committee.
Exile has been suggested as perhaps the best hope for Gaddafi and for Libya. The former British foreign minister, David Owen, was one of those who called for a no-fly zone over Libya at the very beginning of the trouble. He is convinced it didn't arrive a moment too soon: "Without it, within hours, Benghazi would have fallen, and Gaddafi would have won."
Now he thinks Colonel Gaddafi's departure could bring the country together: "It may be that we arrange for some mechanism where they leave Libya. There are the purists who will say this can only be done ultimately by an international court, but that takes months or even years. If we get them out of the country, the forces in Benghazi and Tripoli will find it fairly easy to form a transitional government and then there will be elections."
Gaddafi has always openly boasted, he will fight to the death, he will remain in Libya and he will "join the martyrs" if necessary. If that is his true position, then a negotiated departure is out of the question. And the uprising in Libya will be bloody and long.
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/africa/2011/04/04/libyan-leaders-talk-exit-strategies
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Unfortunately, and I sorry to say this, NATO has disappointed us. My staff have been in contact with the NATO envoys to direct them to targets that should protect civilians, but until now, NATO has not given us what we need...
Civilians are dying daily in Misurata because of lack of food or milk, even children are dying. Even by bombing. If NATo waits for another week, it will be a crime that NATO will have to carry. What is NATO doing? It is shelling some defined areas only."
8:59pm
Responding to a question on Misurata:
Misurata gentlemen is under the complete annihilation. It is extreme meaning of annihilation. There is no water, no electricty, no food, even children's milk this has been going on for 40 days, and daily bombing of buildings, hospitals and mosques. Heavy artillery is bombing civilian targets and when the Misurata people went to the wells that contain a lot of salt in them for drinking water, the Libyan regime closed down the black water or the sewage, and that's what led to the flooding of sewage into these wells.
"Who is talking about helping Misurata? Whether it is NATO, or even from the devil's alliance, this is Muslim people who are being annihilated, exterminated, and no population has been subjected to this since the early days.
"Who has been subjected to this treatment. These people were drinking water from wells that have been contaminated.
"These weapons [on board a ship] are for self-defence, and the international media should defend the people of Misurata. NATO which is sometimes bombing some areas and at the same time leaving Misurata's people to die under these conditions."
8:54pm
Responding to a question on whether there are divisions on the front line in the rebel army, Younis says:
"I don't know why the journalists these days are picking up on these rumours. These rumours, whether right or wrong, do not influence the position of the armed forces. There is no disagreement, no problems, between the rebel forces.
"The front line is OK, and there is opportunity for every citizen to join us at the front line."
8:51pm
Abdel Fatah Younis, the head of the pro-democracy opposition's army, is addressing a press conference in Benghazi now. Watch on AJE live!
8:19pm
Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi have razed a mosque in Az Zawiyah that had been used by rebels as a base, as well as a graveyard in a central square where opposition fighters are buried in that city.
Gaddafi's forces are now in firm control of the city, which for weeks had fought back against siege by government troops.
8:17pm
Geoff Morell, the Pentagon' spokesman, says that no decision has yet been made on whether or not the US will be helping to arm rebels. At the moment the topic of "non-lethal" aid is being discussed, he says.
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-april-5
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@helenamerriman
Met a young Libyan from Manchester today in Ajdabiya who had come to join the fight - after buying his uniform from e-bay. #libya
9 minutes ago via web
@helenamerriman
Just back from Ajdabiya - where rebels are being pushed back from Brega. Not looking good for the revolutionary forces. #Libya
14 minutes ago via web
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NATO vows to protect Misurata amid criticism
Military alliance says besieged town is now its top priority after rebels accuse bloc of failing to protect civilians.
Last Modified: 06 Apr 2011 10:30
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Opposition forces in Libya are fighting to end the 42-year rule of Muammar Gaddafi and his government [AFP]
NATO has vowed to protect Libya's civilian population and give priority to the besieged city of Misurata, a day after rebel fighters accused the military alliance of acting too slowly.
"We have a clear mandate and we will do everything to protect the civilians of Misurata," Carmen Romero, deputy spokeswoman for NATO, said on Wednesday, adding "Misurata is our number one priority".
Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, said he would discuss with NATO the situation in the city, where residents have been under siege from forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for the last 40 days.
"Misurata is in a situation which cannot continue and I am going to discuss it in a few hours time with the secretary general of NATO," he told France Info radio.
But he also said that military operations in the country were becoming more complicated as pro-Gaddafi forces adopted tactics that raised the risk of civilian casualties.
Click here to follow our Libya live blog
"We've formally requested that there be no collateral damage for the civilian population," he said. "That obviously makes operations more difficult."
Brigadier General Mark van Uhm, NATO's chief of allied operations, previously said that human shields were being used in Misurata to prevent the coalition from identifying targets.
He added that Gaddafi's troops have been adjusting their tactics to deal with the threat from coalition airstrikes, travelling in trucks and light vehicles to the front line and hiding their tanks and armoured vehicles from sight.
'More airstrikes needed'
Admiral Edouard Guillard, the head of France's armed forces, said the slow pace of NATO operations was frustrating, but that "protecting civilians means not firing anywhere near them".
On Tuesday Abdul Fatah Younis, the head of the Libyan opposition's armed forces, said the military alliance had "disappointed" them by being too slow to hit targets, such as pro-Gaddafi convoys, that would help protect civilians.
"Civilians are dying daily because of lack of food or milk, even children are dying. Even by bombing. If NATO waits for another week, it will be a crime that NATO will have to carry. What is NATO doing? It is shelling some defined areas only," he said.
"When a large force of tanks, and even artillery, is on its way to Benghazi, Ajdabiya or Brega, we always inform NATO straight away. Because we don't have such weapons. NATO's reaction is very slow. By the time the information reaches from one official to another until it reaches the field commander, it takes hours.
Hoda Abdel Hamid, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Benghazi, said rebels were expecting more airstrikes.
"They say that when France and the US were in charge there were more airstrikes, they say especially on the frontline that when those airstrikes happened it helped them to make their push towards the west.
"Now they've been retreating badly towards the east, nearly at their starting point," she said.
"They say the NATO airstrikes are needed in the west of the country because there's an understanding here in the east that they can't continue this uprising alone."
She added that there were fears that if the situation continued the country could be divided between the east and the west.
Supply lines reopened
Doctors said last week that 200 people had been killed in Misurata since the uprising began on February 17, a figure that is likely to have risen in recent days.
Meanwhile, Gerard Longuet, the French defence minister, said on Wednesday that Libyan rebels would now be able to supply the city by sea.
"We are going to ensure that... aid comes from [the rebel stronghold] Benghazi and that at no moment Gaddafi's military forces will be able to stop this," he told France Inter radio.
"Previously, the interpretation of the embargo meant that no boats could supply any towns," he said.
"Today, we have reopened [marine] traffic at Tobruk and Benghazi, and so boats from Benghazi will be able ... to supply Misrata, because the coalition will prevent any action by the Gaddafi navy," he said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/04/201146821269546.html
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NicRobertsonCNN
More pix from our interview today with #EmanAlObeidy http://twitpic.com/4hrvnn
about 4 hours ago via Twitpic
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NicRobertsonCNN
Pix of #EmanAlObeidy from our interview today. http://twitpic.com/4hro8p
about 4 hours ago via web
NicRobertsonCNN
I askd #Eman what ppl shld knw abt her. Reply:"I'm an ordinary Libyan citizn, Moslem, conservative. Evrythng the govt said abt me is a lie.
about 4 hours ago via web
NicRobertsonCNN
However her ordeal continues: she is unable to leave Tripoli to be w/her family & she is harassed whenever she leaves her house
about 5 hours ago via web
NicRobertsonCNN
#EmanAlObeidy is recovering physically from her rape.. she showed me the bruising & rope burn marks on her wrists are fading however...
about 5 hours ago via web
NicRobertsonCNN
#Eman says she wants humanitarian organizations come to Tripoli and see how life really is here.
about 5 hours ago via web
NicRobertsonCNN
#EmanAlObeidy is a very strong woman who asked me to thank all people around the world who have stopped her case from disappearing
about 5 hours ago via web
NicRobertsonCNN
We believe we are the first international journalists to see her since she was so brutally bundled out of our hotel on March 26th
about 5 hours ago via web
Guest- Guest
Re: THE DOMINO EFFECT IN THE MIDDLE EAST
@ksnavarra
Former #Libya Minister Shatwan: 'Misurata is destroyed, many have been killed, under seige for 48 days and where is #NATO?'
5 minutes ago via TweetDeck
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@ksnavarra
Former #Libya Minister #Shatwan: '#NATO is a disappointment, it is letting so many Libyans die. It was better with #US #UK #France'
6 minutes ago via TweetDeck
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Re: THE DOMINO EFFECT IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Bloomberg reported that one of Gaddafi"s Sons sat beside Iman at the interview, she could speak freely but could not mention the conflict in Libya.
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Re: THE DOMINO EFFECT IN THE MIDDLE EAST
@BBCBreaking
Nato not apologising for #Libya rebel air strike deaths, saying situation on ground was 'extremely fluid'
1 minute ago via TweetDeck
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@channel4news
U.N. human rights investigators will go to Libya this month to probe alleged violations committed by both Gaddafi forces and rebels #c4news
16 minutes ago via web
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