THE DOMINO EFFECT IN THE MIDDLE EAST

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5:58pm UK, Monday April 25, 2011
Rocket attacks by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's forces are still killing dozens
in Misratah despite claims the army had withdrawn from the city.










:: Defence Secretary Liam Fox to discuss Libya crisis with US
counterparts
Reports said shelling in residential areas has killed as many as 30 people
and injured up to 60 more in the latest attacks.
Rebel fighters are thought to have taken more than 80% of Libya's third
largest city and pushed Gaddafi's forces out of the centre.
Sky sources have reported that mortars, thought to belong to the army, have
been heard on the outskirts of the city.
There has also been intense fighting near the former government hospital.
Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford, who has travelled into
Misratah, said the rebels claim it is no longer "a rebellion, but a battle for
survival".

Nato airstikes, the ongoing turmoil in Misratah and growing
discontent in the Nafusa mountains are having an impact on the way Gaddafi's
minders are thinking.

Sky's Tom Rayner blogs from
Tripoli



In the latest fighting, the rebels attempted to drive Col Gaddafi's troops
out of city buildings by using grenades, machine guns and small arms.
Crawford also visited a hospital in the besieged city where she saw huge
numbers of casualties, including young teenage boys who had been fighting with
the government's army.
She said the rebels were "on the verge of a crushing battlefield
victory".
Misrata, 132 miles (215km) east of Tripoli, has been the scene of some of the
worst fighting since rebel forces began their struggle to overthrow the
regime.
In the capital Tripoli, a Nato airstrike has badly damaged buildings inside Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's compound.
Reports said at least two missiles struck the Bab al Aziziya district of the
capital, reducing parts of the compound to rubble.






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i saw on sky news,the damage internal of gaddhafi compound,door ways? blown off

Badboy wrote:i saw on sky news,the damage internal of gaddhafi compound,door ways? blown off

Hi Badboy,

yes, but the damage to the ordinary citizens of Misrata is much worse. How can anyone trust Gaddafi? The no fly zone
was a ridiculous idea, how can a Pilot from the air distinguish between Citizens and rebels. ? I can see troops from
Nato being sent in.......yet another Country Britain invades.!!!

3 LOUD BLASTS HEARD IN TRIPOLI A FEW MINUTES AGO,SUPPOSEDLY

Badboy wrote:3 LOUD BLASTS HEARD IN TRIPOLI A FEW MINUTES AGO,SUPPOSEDLY

Iv"e just been reading the Report about NATO planes bombing Gaddafi"s Compound on sky News, peripheral damage
was done, chandeliers and suchlike.

It's good that Gaddafi's military capability is being bombed and eroded but unless African/Arab leaders consent to send in their troops to defeat his regime on the ground all the bombing in the world wont drive him from power. IMO

PERHAPS IF THOSE FIGHTERS IN MISRATA REACHED TRIPOLI,IT COULD BE GAME OVER,THERE IS ALSO FIGHTING IN ZINTAN AND YAFRAN TO THE SOUTH OF TRIPOLI.

FIGHTING IN KABAW(CABAO ON GOOGLE MAPS?)NORTHEAST OF GHADARMES?

Thanks Badboy for the update, Misrata is by no means secure though and as malena says, unless the Arab league get involved on the ground, Gaddafi will not be toppled. He"s crafty enough to leave the Country too if he feels that he
is losing the battle., after blowing up the Oil Refineries of course.!!!

GADDHAFI TOOK A BORDER CROSSING WITH TUNISIS,REBELS TRYING TO RETAKE.
ZINTAN UNDER ATTACK
KUFRA(SE LIBYA) SUPPOSEDLY TAKEN BY GADDHAFI FORCES
REBELS TRYING TO TAKE MISRATA AIRPORT(HOPE THEY SUCCEED)

Badboy wrote:GADDHAFI TOOK A BORDER CROSSING WITH TUNISIS,REBELS TRYING TO RETAKE.
ZINTAN UNDER ATTACK
KUFRA(SE LIBYA) SUPPOSEDLY TAKEN BY GADDHAFI FORCES
REBELS TRYING TO TAKE MISRATA AIRPORT(HOPE THEY SUCCEED)

Sadly, it looks as though the Rebels will not succeed.......what happens then is anyone"s guess.

REBELS ARE IN TOWN 8 MILES WEST OF MISRATA(GUARDIAN)

Badboy wrote:REBELS ARE IN TOWN 8 MILES WEST OF MISRATA(GUARDIAN)

It"s like a game of ping pong, one day the rebels are in control, the next day Gaddafi"s soldiers.

I GET THE IMPRESSION THAT THE REBELS IN MISRATA ARE MAKING PROGRESS AND IF THEY CAN REACH TRIPOLI,THE OUTER SUBURBS WOULD REVOLT,WOULD BE INTERESTING IF THAT HAPPENED.

Badboy wrote:I GET THE IMPRESSION THAT THE REBELS IN MISRATA ARE MAKING PROGRESS AND IF THEY CAN REACH TRIPOLI,THE OUTER SUBURBS WOULD REVOLT,WOULD BE INTERESTING IF THAT HAPPENED.

I read that the Americans were sending "Special advisors" to work with the Rebels on tactics etc, but Gaffafi has no
qualms about using his own people as human shields and the situation with regard to deaths and injuries is serious.

gaddhafi forces went into tunisia while battling for the dehila/wazin border crossing,tunisian forces fought back,crossing supposedly back in rebel hands.
gaddhafi forces tried to mine misrata harbour,nato intervened.

Badboy wrote:gaddhafi forces went into tunisia while battling for the dehila/wazin border crossing,tunisian forces fought back,crossing supposedly back in rebel hands.
gaddhafi forces tried to mine misrata harbour,nato intervened.

I tell you what Badboy, if Gaddafi starts losing bigtime, he"s mad enough to blow up a couple of Refineries, he"s
hardly likely to get all his money sequestered by Countries .

IT IS ALSO SAID HE HAS MUSTARD GAS WHICH HE MIGHT USE.

there is a fuel shortage in tripoli which has led to 2 kilometer queues and fights etc

Mustard Gas eh? On his own people? the cluster bombs were indiscriminately used as well with dreadful injuries
to innocent people I hope he is eventually tried for War crimes. Don"t know why there is an oil shortage in Tripoli
.

There is properbly a oil shortage because no movements of oil have taken place with the civil war.

Badboy wrote:There is properbly a oil shortage because no movements of oil have taken place with the civil war.

I didn"t think the Oil supply had been affected. I know Misrata has an Oil Refinery but didn"t think the Rebels had
control to stop movement. After all , it will affect them as well.

FIGHTING IN ZAWIYAT AL MAHJOUB

ABOUT 19.15(GMT) 3 EXPLOSIONS WERE HEARD IN TRIPOLI

:39pm UK, Saturday April 30, 2011

Mark Stone, Sky News reporter, in Tripoli
Nato has rejected an offer by Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi to enter a
ceasefire if the organisation "stops its planes".





Damage at the Ministry for Women and Children following a
Nato airstrike

Appearing on state television at 3am local time, Col Gaddafi said the
ceasefire must involve all sides and not just his forces.
Col Gaddafi said he did not intend to step down or leave the country and that
Libyans could solve their own problems if the Nato strikes are stopped.
"(Libya) is ready until now to enter a ceasefire ... but a ceasefire cannot
be from one side," he said.
"We were the first to welcome a ceasefire and we were the first to accept a
ceasefire ... but the crusader Nato attack has not stopped. The gate to peace is
open.



Refugees fleeing the besieged town of Misratah


"You are the aggressors. We will negotiate with you. Come, France, Italy, UK,
America, come, we will negotiate with you. Why are you attacking us?"
But Nato rejected the call, saying it needed "actions not words". It comes as
three loud explosions were heard as jets flew over the capital Tripoli on
Saturday evening.
Foreign journalists in Tripoli, who are forced to stay in one hotel and
adhere to severe government reporting restrictions, were alerted to Gaddafi's TV
appearance through a bizarre but now familiar tannoy announcement in their rooms
shortly before 3am.
"To all journalists…. to all journalists…. the leader is speaking live on
state television now," the announcement said.



A rebel fighter in Misratah


Shortly after he started speaking, the sound of explosions could be heard in
the city. Nato warplanes bombed two sites close to the television building.
The Libyan government claimed it was another attempt to kill the colonel.
Nato has not commented on the intended target.
Following the explosions, another tannoy announcement invited the media to
visit the site of the strikes.
Sky News was taken to the bomb site. We were told that the damaged building
was the Ministry of Women and Children. It had a school for disabled children
attached to it which was also damaged.

There was also evidence of communications aerials at the site. The government
claimed these were simply for internet access. We have no way of independently
verifying their use.
Previous calls for a ceasefire by the Gaddafi regime have either not been
implemented or have been broken within hours.
But Colonel Gaddafi’s tone in this latest speech was less hardline.
He called for the rebels to lay down their weapons and said that Libyans
should not be fighting each other. In previous speeches he had promised that the
rebel "rats" would be hunted down "street-to-street".



A Nato attack on the capital Tripoli earlier in the
month


Poorly armed and trained opposition groups have been fighting since
mid-February to end Gaddafi's 41-year rule. Their attempts to push westwards
from their eastern stronghold of Benghazi have repeatedly failed.
Intense but isolated fighting has continued in Misratah,
Libya’s third city, for more than two months. Yesterday, a government spokesman
claimed that the city was now "almost completely under our control".
The spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, would not comment on Nato claims that the
Libyan military has laid sea mines in the port but, he said, no ships would be
allowed entry without first coordinating with the government.
The port is used to evacuate wounded to the eastern rebel capital of
Benghazi.
Ibrahim echoed the words of Colonel Gaddafi, calling for rebels across the
country to surrender. He offered a pardon to all those who lay down their
weapons and surrender by Tuesday.
He said that anyone who surrenders will be "forgiven, reintegrated into
society, offered physical and psychological help if they need it".