HeartBreak
JF-Expert Member
- Apr 21, 2008
- 346
- 28
Yametimia
The rise and fall of Colonel Muamar Gadaffi
The rise and fall of Colonel Muamar Gadaffi
Askari Kanzu
JF-Expert Member
- Jan 7, 2011
- 4,596
- 1,234
Yalioandikwa!
Proof is very difficult coz all means of communications have been blocked by the government agents
Mallaba
JF-Expert Member
- Jan 30, 2008
- 2,554
- 48
Gadhafi's son warns of civil war in Libya
TRIPOLI - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam said in a televised address early Monday that Libya was in danger of civil wars if the clashes escalate, according to Doha-based Al-Jazeera.
He said that Libyans and the army are with Gaddafi, and the army will play a huge role in future. "We will not give up any inch of the Libyan territory."
"We will have to lay down a constitution for the country," he said, pledging to make reforms in future.
He hinted that his father was still in Libya, saying that Gaddafi "was not a leader as (Zine El Abidine) Ben Ali or (Hosni) Mubarak." He also accused foreign media of manipulating information.
Dubai-based Al-Alabiya and Al-Jazeera reported earlier that Gaddafi has left for Brazil or Venezuela, and his son Seif al- Islam took over as the head of the country. But this was not confirmed by any Libyan official sources.
Al-Alabiya also reported that some of the troops in the eastern city of Benghazi have defected and have liberated the city.
Gaddafi's son said if the situation goes out of control, every Libyan has to carry arms to defend himself, because the country will have bloodshed. "Violence worse than Iraq" is possible if revolt continues.
Seif al-Islam said that it was a plot against Libya, as foreign elements were present in the country.
He said that some Islamic groups were behind the protests and turmoil, attempting to establish an "Islamic Emirate."
He said that Libya is different from Tunisia or Egypt. Any separation will make the country fall back to the situation 60 or 70 years ago. The clashes may cause civil wars in Libya.
Seif al-Islam said 84 protestors were killed in Benghazi, denying early reports of 250 deaths of protestors.
He said that protestors attacked the road-blocks in Benghazi because they were angry. Dozens of protestors were arrested, including some campaigners. Some tanks and heavy equipments were controlled by protestors.
He said that the army and the police did not prepare to battle people.
"What's happening in Libya is very dangerous," he said. "How will Libya feed its people if the country falls apart?"
Seif al-Islam said the country is composed of tribes and clans, and oil is the only source that keep the Libyans united.
He also denied the use of mercenaries, saying the reports about this were not true.
Protestors began to go on streets in Libya on Wednesday, calling for an end to Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year old rule, in an apparent attempt to emulate recent protests in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt, which forced the leaders of both countries to quit.
Libyan envoy to the Arab League resigned on Sunday and joined the protests in his country, Egypt's state-run MENA agency reported.
A total of 100 protesters have been killed in the Libyan city of Benghazi by the security forces on anti-government protests, the pan-Arab Al Arabiya TV reported on Sunday.
TRIPOLI - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam said in a televised address early Monday that Libya was in danger of civil wars if the clashes escalate, according to Doha-based Al-Jazeera.
He said that Libyans and the army are with Gaddafi, and the army will play a huge role in future. "We will not give up any inch of the Libyan territory."
"We will have to lay down a constitution for the country," he said, pledging to make reforms in future.
He hinted that his father was still in Libya, saying that Gaddafi "was not a leader as (Zine El Abidine) Ben Ali or (Hosni) Mubarak." He also accused foreign media of manipulating information.
Dubai-based Al-Alabiya and Al-Jazeera reported earlier that Gaddafi has left for Brazil or Venezuela, and his son Seif al- Islam took over as the head of the country. But this was not confirmed by any Libyan official sources.
Al-Alabiya also reported that some of the troops in the eastern city of Benghazi have defected and have liberated the city.
Gaddafi's son said if the situation goes out of control, every Libyan has to carry arms to defend himself, because the country will have bloodshed. "Violence worse than Iraq" is possible if revolt continues.
Seif al-Islam said that it was a plot against Libya, as foreign elements were present in the country.
He said that some Islamic groups were behind the protests and turmoil, attempting to establish an "Islamic Emirate."
He said that Libya is different from Tunisia or Egypt. Any separation will make the country fall back to the situation 60 or 70 years ago. The clashes may cause civil wars in Libya.
Seif al-Islam said 84 protestors were killed in Benghazi, denying early reports of 250 deaths of protestors.
He said that protestors attacked the road-blocks in Benghazi because they were angry. Dozens of protestors were arrested, including some campaigners. Some tanks and heavy equipments were controlled by protestors.
He said that the army and the police did not prepare to battle people.
"What's happening in Libya is very dangerous," he said. "How will Libya feed its people if the country falls apart?"
Seif al-Islam said the country is composed of tribes and clans, and oil is the only source that keep the Libyans united.
He also denied the use of mercenaries, saying the reports about this were not true.
Protestors began to go on streets in Libya on Wednesday, calling for an end to Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year old rule, in an apparent attempt to emulate recent protests in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt, which forced the leaders of both countries to quit.
Libyan envoy to the Arab League resigned on Sunday and joined the protests in his country, Egypt's state-run MENA agency reported.
A total of 100 protesters have been killed in the Libyan city of Benghazi by the security forces on anti-government protests, the pan-Arab Al Arabiya TV reported on Sunday.
Mwiba
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 23, 2007
- 7,607
- 1,750
- Thread starter
- #66
Colonel Gadafi ameshaingia machimboni mwanawe asema haondoki ntu madarakani na anahakikisha anafight back mpaka tone la mwisho la damu au kwa luga zingine mpaka last man,
Sasa hivi inasemwa sio nguvu za uma tena bali ni rebelioni uasi katika jeshi,kuna majemedari wawili ambao wameunganisha nguvu zao pamoja na wananchi ,hao ndio waliomfanya Gadafi aongeze pafu za bangi (ijulikane tu kuwa Gadafi anapuliza ganja) na hapo ndio alipotuma ndege za kivita kwenda kuharibu maghala ya silaha katika miji ambayo kumetokea uasi na viongozi inavyosemwa ni hao wawili, vyombo vya habari vinasema ametumia ndege za kivita kuharibu silaha zake mwenyewe ambazo anahisi zinetumika kusaidia uasi.
Jana ilivumishwa kuwa ameshakimbia nchi lakini wazee wa habari wamesema yupo ila ameondoka Tripoli na kuingia msituni akiwa na batalioni kamili, na huku mwanawe akitokeza kweny Luninga akitamba kuwa watu waweke au wasahau mambo ya mafuta gesi na hazina yote, yaani hayo yote sasa yawekwe kando mpaka kieleweke na ameonya kuwa hakuna msalia mtume kwa waasi, tega sikio mambo safari hii au waandamanaji safari hii wamekumbana na wavuta bangi.Unaweza kusema fagio la chuma limekutana na mwendawazimu.
Ieleweke tu huyu Gadafi ni mtu matata sana haswa anapokuwa keshawaka na tutegemee waandamanaji kuata kipigo ,yaani amesema atatoa fundisho cha nini kifanywe wanapotokea watu kujifanya wanauchungu na nchi.
Sasa hivi inasemwa sio nguvu za uma tena bali ni rebelioni uasi katika jeshi,kuna majemedari wawili ambao wameunganisha nguvu zao pamoja na wananchi ,hao ndio waliomfanya Gadafi aongeze pafu za bangi (ijulikane tu kuwa Gadafi anapuliza ganja) na hapo ndio alipotuma ndege za kivita kwenda kuharibu maghala ya silaha katika miji ambayo kumetokea uasi na viongozi inavyosemwa ni hao wawili, vyombo vya habari vinasema ametumia ndege za kivita kuharibu silaha zake mwenyewe ambazo anahisi zinetumika kusaidia uasi.
Jana ilivumishwa kuwa ameshakimbia nchi lakini wazee wa habari wamesema yupo ila ameondoka Tripoli na kuingia msituni akiwa na batalioni kamili, na huku mwanawe akitokeza kweny Luninga akitamba kuwa watu waweke au wasahau mambo ya mafuta gesi na hazina yote, yaani hayo yote sasa yawekwe kando mpaka kieleweke na ameonya kuwa hakuna msalia mtume kwa waasi, tega sikio mambo safari hii au waandamanaji safari hii wamekumbana na wavuta bangi.Unaweza kusema fagio la chuma limekutana na mwendawazimu.
Ieleweke tu huyu Gadafi ni mtu matata sana haswa anapokuwa keshawaka na tutegemee waandamanaji kuata kipigo ,yaani amesema atatoa fundisho cha nini kifanywe wanapotokea watu kujifanya wanauchungu na nchi.
Mwiba
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 23, 2007
- 7,607
- 1,750
- Thread starter
- #67
1996 Gadafi aliuwa watu elfumoja kwa mpigo katika gereza la Abu silim,mauaji ambayo hadi hii leo huwa yanawasha moto na kuzimwa.
Mtoto amlinda babaye kwa kusema :- His father is in the country and backed by the army. "We will fight to the last minute, until the last bullet," Seif al-Islam Gaddafi said, warning that if the unrest continues, the country could become engulfed in civil war and Libya's oil wealth "will be burned."
Mtoto amlinda babaye kwa kusema :- His father is in the country and backed by the army. "We will fight to the last minute, until the last bullet," Seif al-Islam Gaddafi said, warning that if the unrest continues, the country could become engulfed in civil war and Libya's oil wealth "will be burned."
Webabu
JF-Expert Member
- Apr 29, 2010
- 8,870
- 14,258
Wakristo kupitia CHADEMA watapenda waamshe hasira zao kushindwa uchaguzi mkuu kwa kutaka watu waandamane kumpindua Kikwete.
Waislamu kwa upande wao wataamsha hasira zao kwa mlolongo wa kunyimwa haki zao kama ilivyotajwa kwenye tamko la Diamond jubilee,kuonesha kuwa tatizo ni mfumo kristo.Hawana silaha kama wakristo lakini dua kama za waislamu wa Benghazi-Libya zinaweza kuwapa nguvu na kuteka kila kitu cha Wakristo.
Wakati mchakato wa kupatiwa mahakama ya kadhi na maaaengine wanayoyadai waislamu unaendelea nisingependa hayo ya Libya yaje kwetu muda huu.Wacha yaishie huko huko.
Askari Kanzu
JF-Expert Member
- Jan 7, 2011
- 4,596
- 1,234
Europe plans for Libya evacuation
EU foreign ministers discuss plans to transport citizens out of Libya, as violent unrest spreads.
Last Modified: 21 Feb 2011 13:34 GMT
William Hague, Britain's foreign minister, has summoned the Libyan ambassador in London [GALLO/GETTY]
European governments and companies are moving to evacuate citizens living in Libya as violent unrest in the country spreads.
France on Monday urged its nationals to return home and began closing French-run schools in the north African country, the European Affairs minister said. Laurent Wauquiez said around 30 French nationals had been taken out of the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, where a tough crackdown on pro-democracy protesters has left possibly hundreds dead.
Portugal also said it had sent a military plane to the capital, Tripoli to begin evacuating European Union citizens from strife-torn Libya, as the bloc's foreign ministers meet in Brussels, the Belgian capital, to discuss their response to the crisis.
"We want to see proper protection for foreign nationals in Libya and in particular assistance for them as they are trying to leave the country," William Hague, Britain's foreign minister said, as he urged Britons to leave.
"Those who are able to leave safely should leave by commercial means. That situation is constantly under review. We will assess the needs for evacuations as things progress," he said.
Turkish evacuation
The British government has also summoned the Libyan ambassador to London over a deadly crackdown blamed for the deaths of at least 200 people, he said. "We have summoned the Libyan ambassador in London to the foreign office today to register our absolute condemnation of the use of lethal force against demonstrators."
The foreign office added separately that dependents of British embassy staff in the country would be flown home, but that the embassy would remain open. Oil giant BP, which employs a number of foreign nationals in Libya, is also drawing up plans for evacuating staff "in the next couple of days", a spokesman said.
Around 600 Turkish citizens were evacuated over the weekend, after rioters stormed construction sites in Benghazi and authorities used force against protesters. "The experience that we had in Libya cannot be told, it could only be lived," one of the Turkish passengers on board said.
Turkey is planning to send four planes and two ferries to evacuate more of its 25,000 nationals living in Libya, the NTV news channel said on Monday. There are around 200 Turkish construction companies in the African nation, working on projects said to be worth around $15.3bn. Some Turks could be also transported to neighbouring Egypt by road and then flown home, it added.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
EU foreign ministers discuss plans to transport citizens out of Libya, as violent unrest spreads.
Last Modified: 21 Feb 2011 13:34 GMT
William Hague, Britain's foreign minister, has summoned the Libyan ambassador in London [GALLO/GETTY]
European governments and companies are moving to evacuate citizens living in Libya as violent unrest in the country spreads.
France on Monday urged its nationals to return home and began closing French-run schools in the north African country, the European Affairs minister said. Laurent Wauquiez said around 30 French nationals had been taken out of the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, where a tough crackdown on pro-democracy protesters has left possibly hundreds dead.
Portugal also said it had sent a military plane to the capital, Tripoli to begin evacuating European Union citizens from strife-torn Libya, as the bloc's foreign ministers meet in Brussels, the Belgian capital, to discuss their response to the crisis.
"We want to see proper protection for foreign nationals in Libya and in particular assistance for them as they are trying to leave the country," William Hague, Britain's foreign minister said, as he urged Britons to leave.
"Those who are able to leave safely should leave by commercial means. That situation is constantly under review. We will assess the needs for evacuations as things progress," he said.
Turkish evacuation
The British government has also summoned the Libyan ambassador to London over a deadly crackdown blamed for the deaths of at least 200 people, he said. "We have summoned the Libyan ambassador in London to the foreign office today to register our absolute condemnation of the use of lethal force against demonstrators."
The foreign office added separately that dependents of British embassy staff in the country would be flown home, but that the embassy would remain open. Oil giant BP, which employs a number of foreign nationals in Libya, is also drawing up plans for evacuating staff "in the next couple of days", a spokesman said.
Around 600 Turkish citizens were evacuated over the weekend, after rioters stormed construction sites in Benghazi and authorities used force against protesters. "The experience that we had in Libya cannot be told, it could only be lived," one of the Turkish passengers on board said.
Turkey is planning to send four planes and two ferries to evacuate more of its 25,000 nationals living in Libya, the NTV news channel said on Monday. There are around 200 Turkish construction companies in the African nation, working on projects said to be worth around $15.3bn. Some Turks could be also transported to neighbouring Egypt by road and then flown home, it added.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
Ngongo
Platinum Member
- Sep 20, 2008
- 20,654
- 35,887
CAIRO – Libyan protesters celebrated in the streets of Benghazi on Monday, claiming control of the country's second largest city after bloody fighting, and anti-government unrest spread to the capital with clashes in Tripoli's main square for the first time. Moammar Gadhafi's son vowed that his father and security forces would fight "until the last bullet."
Protesters demanding Gadhafi's ouster planed new marches in the capital's main Green Square and at the leader's residence for Monday evening. That was likely to bring a new round of violence after a similar march the night before prompted clashes that lasted till dawn, with witnesses reporting snipers opening fire on protesters and Gadhafi supporters racing through crowds in trucks and cars, firing automatic weapons and running people over.
During the day Monday, a fire was raging at the People's Hall, the main hall for government gatherings where the country's equivalent of a parliament holds its sessions several times a year, the pro-government news web site Qureyna said. It also reported the first major sign of discontent in Gadhafi's government, saying justice minister Mustafa Abdel-Jalil resigned from his post to protest the "excessive use of force against unarmed protesters."
The capital was largely shut down, with schools, government offices and most stores closed, as armed members of pro-government organizations called "Revolutionary Committees" circulated in the streets hunting for protesters in Tripoli's old city, said one protester, named Fathi.
The protests and violence were the heaviest yet in the capital of 2 million people, a sign of how unrest was spreading after six days of demonstrations in eastern cities demanding the end of the elder Gadhafi's rule.
Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, went on state TV late Sunday night, warning civil war will break out if protests continue, a theme continued Monday on Libyan state TV, where a pro-regime commentator spoke of chaos and "rivers of blood" turning Libya into "another Somalia" if security is not restored.
Gadhafi's regime has unleashed the bloodiest crackdown of any Arab country against the wave of protests sweeping the region, which toppled the leaders of Egypt and [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Tunisia[/COLOR][/COLOR]. More than 200 have been killed in Libya, according to medical officials, human rights groups and exiled dissidents.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, visiting neighboring Egypt, called the Libyan government's crackdown "appalling."
"We can see what is happening in Libya which is completely appalling and unacceptable as the regime is using the most vicious forms of repression against people who want to see that country - which is one of the most closed and one of the most autocratic - make progress. The response they have shown has been quite appalling," he told reporters in Cairo.
Fragmentation is a real danger in Libya, a country of deep tribal divisions and a historic rivalry between Tripoli and Benghazi. The Arab world's longest ruling leader in power for nearly 42 years, Moammar Gadhafi has held an unquestioned grip over the highly decentralized system of government he created, called the "Jamahiriya," or "rule by masses."
Libya's former ambassador to the Arab League in Cairo, Abdel-Moneim al-Houni, who a day earlier resigned from his post to side with protesters, issued a statement demanding Gadhafi "be put on trial along with his aides, security and military commanders over the mass killings in Libya."
"Gadhafi's regime is now in the trash of history because he betrayed his nation and his people," al-Houni said.
The spiraling turmoil in Libya, an OPEC country that is a significant oil supplier to Europe, was raising international alarm. Oil prices jumped $1.67 to nearly $88 a barrel Monday amid investor concern.
Two leading oil companies, Statoil and BP, said they were pulling some employees out of Libya or preparing to do so. Portugal sent plane to pick up its citizens and other EU nationals and [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Turkey[/COLOR][/COLOR] sent two ferries to pick up construction workers stranded in the unrest-hit country. EU foreign ministers were discussing on Monday the possible evacuation of European citizens. Mobs attacked South Korean, Turkish and Serbian construction workers at various sites around the country, officials from each country said.
The Internet has been largely shut down in Libya, residents can no longer make international calls from land lines and journalists cannot work freely, but eyewitness reports trickling out of the country suggested that protesters were fighting back more forcefully. Most witnesses and residents spoke on condition they be indentified by first name only or not at all, out of fear of retaliation.
In Libya's second largest city, Benghazi, protesters were in control of the streets Monday and took over the main security headquarters, known as the Katiba, after bloody clashes Sunday that killed at least 60 people, according to a doctor at the main hospital.
Cars honked their horns in celebration and protesters in the streets chanted "Long live Libya." Protesters took down the Libyan flag from above Benghazi's main courthouse and raised the flag of the country's old monarchy, which was toppled in 1969 by the military coup that brought Moammar Gadhafi to power, according to witnesses and video footage posted on the Internet.
Benghazi's airport was closed, according to an airport official in Cairo. A Turkish Airlines flight trying to land in Benghazi to evacuate Turkish citizens Monday was turned away, told by ground control to circle over the airport then to return to [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Istanbul[/COLOR][/COLOR].
There were fears of chaos as young men - including regime supporters - seized weapons from the Katiba and other captured security buildings. "The youths now have arms and that's worrying," said Iman, a doctor at the main hospital. "We are appealing to the wise men of every neighborhood to rein in the youths."
[COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Youth [COLOR=#366388 !important]volunteers[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] were directing traffic and guarding homes and public facilities, said Najla, a lawyer and university lecturer in Benghazi. She and other residents said police had disappeared from the streets.
Benghazi has seen a cycle of bloody clashes over the past week, as security forces kill protesters, followed by funerals that turn into new protests, sparking new bloody shootings. After funerals Sunday, protesters fanned out, burning government buildings and police stations and besieging the Katiba.
Security forces battled back, at times using heavy-caliber machine guns and anti-aircraft guns, according to residents. One witness said she saw bodies torn apart and that makeshift clinics were set up in the streets to treat the wounded. [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Ahmed [COLOR=#366388 !important]Hassan[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], a doctor at the main Al-Jalaa hospital, said funerals were expected Monday for 20 of those killed the day before, but that families of 40 others were still trying to identify their loved ones because their bodies were too damaged.
In some cases, army units reportedly sided with protesters against security forces and pro-Gadhafi militias. Mohamed Abdul-Rahman, a 42-year-old Benghazi merchant, said he saw an army battalion chasing militiamen from a security compound.
After seizing the Katiba, protesters found the bodies of 13 uniformed security officers inside who had been handcuffed and shot in the head, then set on fire, said Hassan, the doctor. He said protesters believed the 13 had been executed by fellow security forces for refusing to attack protesters.
Protest leaders and army units that sided with them were working to keep order in the streets Monday, directing traffic and guarding homes and official buildings, several residents said.
On Sunday night, Gadhafi's son Seif el-Islam - long seen as his likely successor - took to state TV, trying to take a tough line in a rambling and sometimes confused speech of nearly 40 minutes.
"We are not Tunisia and Egypt," he said. "Moammar Gadhafi, our leader, is leading the battle in Tripoli, and we are with him."
"The armed forces are with him. Tens of thousands are heading here to be with him. We will fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet," he said.
He warned the protesters that they risked igniting a civil war in which Libya's oil wealth "will be burned." He also promised "historic" reforms in Libya if protests stop.
Seif has often been put forward as the regime's face of reform. Several of the elder Gadhafi's sons have powerful positions in the regime and in past years have competed for influence. Seif's younger brother Mutassim is the national security adviser, with a strong role in the military and security forces, and another brother Khamis heads the army's 32nd Brigade, which according to U.S. diplomats is the best trained and best equipped force in the military.
Even as Seif spoke, major clashes had broken out for the first time in Tripoli.
Sunday afternoon, protesters from various parts of the city began to stream toward central Green Square, chanting "God is great," said one 28-year-old man who was among the marchers.
In the square, they found groups of Gadhafi supporters, but the larger number of protesters appeared to be taking over the square and surrounding streets, he and two other witnesses said. That was when the backlash began, with snipers firing down from rooftops and militiamen attacking the crowds, shooting and chasing people down [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]side [COLOR=#366388 !important]streets[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]. they said.
Gadhafi supporters in pickup trucks and cars raced through the suqare, shooting automatic weapons. "They were driving like mad men searching for someone to kill. ... It was total chaos, shooting and shouting," said the 28-year-old.
The witnesses reported seeing casualties, but the number could not be confirmed. One witness, named Fathi, said he saw at least two he believed were dead and many more wounded. After midnight, protesters took over the main Tripoli offices of two state-run satellite stations, Al-Jamahiriya-1 and Al-Shebabiya, one witness said.
Protesters demanding Gadhafi's ouster planed new marches in the capital's main Green Square and at the leader's residence for Monday evening. That was likely to bring a new round of violence after a similar march the night before prompted clashes that lasted till dawn, with witnesses reporting snipers opening fire on protesters and Gadhafi supporters racing through crowds in trucks and cars, firing automatic weapons and running people over.
During the day Monday, a fire was raging at the People's Hall, the main hall for government gatherings where the country's equivalent of a parliament holds its sessions several times a year, the pro-government news web site Qureyna said. It also reported the first major sign of discontent in Gadhafi's government, saying justice minister Mustafa Abdel-Jalil resigned from his post to protest the "excessive use of force against unarmed protesters."
The capital was largely shut down, with schools, government offices and most stores closed, as armed members of pro-government organizations called "Revolutionary Committees" circulated in the streets hunting for protesters in Tripoli's old city, said one protester, named Fathi.
The protests and violence were the heaviest yet in the capital of 2 million people, a sign of how unrest was spreading after six days of demonstrations in eastern cities demanding the end of the elder Gadhafi's rule.
Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, went on state TV late Sunday night, warning civil war will break out if protests continue, a theme continued Monday on Libyan state TV, where a pro-regime commentator spoke of chaos and "rivers of blood" turning Libya into "another Somalia" if security is not restored.
Gadhafi's regime has unleashed the bloodiest crackdown of any Arab country against the wave of protests sweeping the region, which toppled the leaders of Egypt and [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Tunisia[/COLOR][/COLOR]. More than 200 have been killed in Libya, according to medical officials, human rights groups and exiled dissidents.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, visiting neighboring Egypt, called the Libyan government's crackdown "appalling."
"We can see what is happening in Libya which is completely appalling and unacceptable as the regime is using the most vicious forms of repression against people who want to see that country - which is one of the most closed and one of the most autocratic - make progress. The response they have shown has been quite appalling," he told reporters in Cairo.
Fragmentation is a real danger in Libya, a country of deep tribal divisions and a historic rivalry between Tripoli and Benghazi. The Arab world's longest ruling leader in power for nearly 42 years, Moammar Gadhafi has held an unquestioned grip over the highly decentralized system of government he created, called the "Jamahiriya," or "rule by masses."
Libya's former ambassador to the Arab League in Cairo, Abdel-Moneim al-Houni, who a day earlier resigned from his post to side with protesters, issued a statement demanding Gadhafi "be put on trial along with his aides, security and military commanders over the mass killings in Libya."
"Gadhafi's regime is now in the trash of history because he betrayed his nation and his people," al-Houni said.
The spiraling turmoil in Libya, an OPEC country that is a significant oil supplier to Europe, was raising international alarm. Oil prices jumped $1.67 to nearly $88 a barrel Monday amid investor concern.
Two leading oil companies, Statoil and BP, said they were pulling some employees out of Libya or preparing to do so. Portugal sent plane to pick up its citizens and other EU nationals and [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Turkey[/COLOR][/COLOR] sent two ferries to pick up construction workers stranded in the unrest-hit country. EU foreign ministers were discussing on Monday the possible evacuation of European citizens. Mobs attacked South Korean, Turkish and Serbian construction workers at various sites around the country, officials from each country said.
The Internet has been largely shut down in Libya, residents can no longer make international calls from land lines and journalists cannot work freely, but eyewitness reports trickling out of the country suggested that protesters were fighting back more forcefully. Most witnesses and residents spoke on condition they be indentified by first name only or not at all, out of fear of retaliation.
In Libya's second largest city, Benghazi, protesters were in control of the streets Monday and took over the main security headquarters, known as the Katiba, after bloody clashes Sunday that killed at least 60 people, according to a doctor at the main hospital.
Cars honked their horns in celebration and protesters in the streets chanted "Long live Libya." Protesters took down the Libyan flag from above Benghazi's main courthouse and raised the flag of the country's old monarchy, which was toppled in 1969 by the military coup that brought Moammar Gadhafi to power, according to witnesses and video footage posted on the Internet.
Benghazi's airport was closed, according to an airport official in Cairo. A Turkish Airlines flight trying to land in Benghazi to evacuate Turkish citizens Monday was turned away, told by ground control to circle over the airport then to return to [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Istanbul[/COLOR][/COLOR].
There were fears of chaos as young men - including regime supporters - seized weapons from the Katiba and other captured security buildings. "The youths now have arms and that's worrying," said Iman, a doctor at the main hospital. "We are appealing to the wise men of every neighborhood to rein in the youths."
[COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Youth [COLOR=#366388 !important]volunteers[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] were directing traffic and guarding homes and public facilities, said Najla, a lawyer and university lecturer in Benghazi. She and other residents said police had disappeared from the streets.
Benghazi has seen a cycle of bloody clashes over the past week, as security forces kill protesters, followed by funerals that turn into new protests, sparking new bloody shootings. After funerals Sunday, protesters fanned out, burning government buildings and police stations and besieging the Katiba.
Security forces battled back, at times using heavy-caliber machine guns and anti-aircraft guns, according to residents. One witness said she saw bodies torn apart and that makeshift clinics were set up in the streets to treat the wounded. [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]Ahmed [COLOR=#366388 !important]Hassan[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], a doctor at the main Al-Jalaa hospital, said funerals were expected Monday for 20 of those killed the day before, but that families of 40 others were still trying to identify their loved ones because their bodies were too damaged.
In some cases, army units reportedly sided with protesters against security forces and pro-Gadhafi militias. Mohamed Abdul-Rahman, a 42-year-old Benghazi merchant, said he saw an army battalion chasing militiamen from a security compound.
After seizing the Katiba, protesters found the bodies of 13 uniformed security officers inside who had been handcuffed and shot in the head, then set on fire, said Hassan, the doctor. He said protesters believed the 13 had been executed by fellow security forces for refusing to attack protesters.
Protest leaders and army units that sided with them were working to keep order in the streets Monday, directing traffic and guarding homes and official buildings, several residents said.
On Sunday night, Gadhafi's son Seif el-Islam - long seen as his likely successor - took to state TV, trying to take a tough line in a rambling and sometimes confused speech of nearly 40 minutes.
"We are not Tunisia and Egypt," he said. "Moammar Gadhafi, our leader, is leading the battle in Tripoli, and we are with him."
"The armed forces are with him. Tens of thousands are heading here to be with him. We will fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet," he said.
He warned the protesters that they risked igniting a civil war in which Libya's oil wealth "will be burned." He also promised "historic" reforms in Libya if protests stop.
Seif has often been put forward as the regime's face of reform. Several of the elder Gadhafi's sons have powerful positions in the regime and in past years have competed for influence. Seif's younger brother Mutassim is the national security adviser, with a strong role in the military and security forces, and another brother Khamis heads the army's 32nd Brigade, which according to U.S. diplomats is the best trained and best equipped force in the military.
Even as Seif spoke, major clashes had broken out for the first time in Tripoli.
Sunday afternoon, protesters from various parts of the city began to stream toward central Green Square, chanting "God is great," said one 28-year-old man who was among the marchers.
In the square, they found groups of Gadhafi supporters, but the larger number of protesters appeared to be taking over the square and surrounding streets, he and two other witnesses said. That was when the backlash began, with snipers firing down from rooftops and militiamen attacking the crowds, shooting and chasing people down [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]side [COLOR=#366388 !important]streets[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]. they said.
Gadhafi supporters in pickup trucks and cars raced through the suqare, shooting automatic weapons. "They were driving like mad men searching for someone to kill. ... It was total chaos, shooting and shouting," said the 28-year-old.
The witnesses reported seeing casualties, but the number could not be confirmed. One witness, named Fathi, said he saw at least two he believed were dead and many more wounded. After midnight, protesters took over the main Tripoli offices of two state-run satellite stations, Al-Jamahiriya-1 and Al-Shebabiya, one witness said.
Askari Kanzu
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- Jan 7, 2011
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Breaking News: Libya's justice minister resigns!
3:46pm UK, Monday February 21, 2011
Libya: Violent Protests Paralyse Tripoli
Alex Rossi, in Cairo, and Natalie Fahy
Violent protests have paralysed Libya's capital city Tripoli, as cracks begin to emerge from within the ruling elite.
The country's justice minister, Mustapha Abdel Jalil, has resigned in protest at "excessive use of violence against protesters", according to the Quryna newspaper.
Other figures close to the ruling elite have also spoken of their discontent, weakening leader Colonel Moammar Gaddafi's position.
In Tripoli, anti-government protesters have reportedly ransacked the state television headquarters and set the central government building and a police station on fire.
Several other public buildings are also ablaze according to unverified reports coming from the city. Snipers opened fire on protesters overnight, according to witnesses, while supporters of Gaddafi shot from speeding vehicles, apparently also running over pedestrians.
Other witnesses said protesters moved into Tripoli's Green Square last night, and were then attacked by plainclothes security forces and militiamen in clashes that lasted until dawn.
Protests have also hit Benghazi, the country's second largest city, where dozens have been killed.
Witnesses have reported seeing police fleeing the city of al-Zawiya and described the situation there as "chaos".
In the central town of Ras Lanuf, protests were also said to be breaking out. The town is the site of an oil refinery and petrochemical complex.
Source:
3:46pm UK, Monday February 21, 2011
Libya: Violent Protests Paralyse Tripoli
Alex Rossi, in Cairo, and Natalie Fahy
Violent protests have paralysed Libya's capital city Tripoli, as cracks begin to emerge from within the ruling elite.
The country's justice minister, Mustapha Abdel Jalil, has resigned in protest at "excessive use of violence against protesters", according to the Quryna newspaper.
Other figures close to the ruling elite have also spoken of their discontent, weakening leader Colonel Moammar Gaddafi's position.
In Tripoli, anti-government protesters have reportedly ransacked the state television headquarters and set the central government building and a police station on fire.
Several other public buildings are also ablaze according to unverified reports coming from the city. Snipers opened fire on protesters overnight, according to witnesses, while supporters of Gaddafi shot from speeding vehicles, apparently also running over pedestrians.
Other witnesses said protesters moved into Tripoli's Green Square last night, and were then attacked by plainclothes security forces and militiamen in clashes that lasted until dawn.
Protests have also hit Benghazi, the country's second largest city, where dozens have been killed.
Witnesses have reported seeing police fleeing the city of al-Zawiya and described the situation there as "chaos".
In the central town of Ras Lanuf, protests were also said to be breaking out. The town is the site of an oil refinery and petrochemical complex.
Source:
EMT
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- Jan 13, 2010
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Two civilian helicopters, followed by two Libyan fighter jets, have landed in Malta. Only one of at least seven passengers are reported to be carrying passports. All passengers are currently being held by immigration officials. Al Jazeera's Karl Stagno-Novarra, reporting from Malta, says the Mediterranean island is preparing to be used as a base for evacuation of European citizens from Libya, one hour's flight away.
Source: Live Blog - Libya | Al Jazeera Blogs#
Source: Live Blog - Libya | Al Jazeera Blogs#
EMT
Platinum Member
- Jan 13, 2010
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Reuters has filed more on William Hague's comments that Muammar Gaddafi may have gone to Venezuela:
Senior source in president Hugo Chavez's government denies Libya's Gaddafi coming to Venezuela.
British foreign secretary William Hague said on Monday he had seen some information to suggest Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi had fled the country and was on his way to Venezuela.
"You asked me earlier about whether Colonel Gaddafi is in Venezuela," he told reporters on the sidelines of a European Union foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels.
"I have no information that says he is, but I have seen some information that suggests he is on his way there at the moment."
Diplomats said Hague was not referring to rumours circulating in the media about Gaddafi's whereabouts, but to separate sources for the information.
But the news agency also sent this:Senior source in president Hugo Chavez's government denies Libya's Gaddafi coming to Venezuela.
Uwezo Tunao
JF-Expert Member
- Nov 14, 2010
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BAADA YA MADIKTETA BEN ALI NA HOSNI MUBARAK KUONYESHWA
MLANGO, 'NGUVU YA UMMA' SASA WAJICHIMBIA LIBYA
KUMUONDOA MUAMMAR GADDAFI MADARAKANI
2100 GMT: Al Jazeera is reporting from Libyan sources that there are clashes in Tripoli's Green Square between thousands of protesters and Gaddafi supporters.
Libyan Justice Minister Resigns Over Clampdown On Protesters
2/21/2011 12:07 PM ET (RTTNews) -
In yet another major setback to Libya's embattled leader, Muammar Gaddafi, the country's Justice Minister Mustafa Mohamed Abud Al Jeleil on Monday stepped down in protest over the massive clampdown on anti-government protesters.
Al Jeleil's resignation was announced by the the privately-owned Quryna daily although there has been no immediate official confirmation of the Minister's exit. However, the Quryna website claimed that its correspondent had spoken to Al Jeleil over the phone.
He is the highest ranking Libyan official yet to leave office over the past 24 hours. Already Tripoli's envoys to the Arab League, Beijing and New Delhi have resigned from their posts.
Over 200 people are believed to have died in the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters by Libyan security forces with protests entering the seventh day on Monday.
Clashes between demonstrators and pro-Gaddafi forces raged in the eastern city of Benghazi where upto 50 people were reportedly killed in a single day. However, by late Sunday the protesters had taken control of Benghazi.
Following the statement made on Libyan state television by Col. Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, at the weekend that the regime would "fight to the last bullet" against "seditious elements, the protests spread to the capital Tripoli.
The orgy of violence that ravaged Tripoli on Monday was reportedly among the heaviest yet witnessed there and barring a few eateries which remained open normal life remained paralyzed.
The pro-democracy protests sweeping the region which have already led to the ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak have witnessed the most violent reprisals in Libya.
According to New York-based rights group, Human Rights Watch, some 233 people have died in the political uprising which broke out on Thursday.
by RTT Staff Writer
UJUMBE HUMU
Waziri Wa Sheria na Utawala Bora nchini Libya, Ndg Mustapa Mohamed Aboud Al Jaleel ajiuzulu wadhifa wake serikalini hapo jana kabla ya kufuatwa na msururu mkubwa sana wa maofisa wengine nao kujiondoa serikalini.
Ilikua ni hatua yake ya kupinga bosi wake Kanali Gaddafi kutumia Jeshi la Anga na za nchi kavu kuua kwa makusudi mamia ya wazalendo waandamanaji nchini humo.
Mtikisiko wa Nguvu ya Umma sasa waitikisa vilivyo serikali 'kiziki nyingine cha mpingo' cha Kanali Muammar Gaddafi kule Libya. Maafisa kaadha wajiuzulu na serikali kuanza kusambaratika ovyo mbele ya 'jeshi la wananchi wasiokua na silaha yoyote bmikononi.
MLANGO, 'NGUVU YA UMMA' SASA WAJICHIMBIA LIBYA
KUMUONDOA MUAMMAR GADDAFI MADARAKANI
2100 GMT: Al Jazeera is reporting from Libyan sources that there are clashes in Tripoli's Green Square between thousands of protesters and Gaddafi supporters.
Libyan Justice Minister Resigns Over Clampdown On Protesters
2/21/2011 12:07 PM ET (RTTNews) -
In yet another major setback to Libya's embattled leader, Muammar Gaddafi, the country's Justice Minister Mustafa Mohamed Abud Al Jeleil on Monday stepped down in protest over the massive clampdown on anti-government protesters.
Al Jeleil's resignation was announced by the the privately-owned Quryna daily although there has been no immediate official confirmation of the Minister's exit. However, the Quryna website claimed that its correspondent had spoken to Al Jeleil over the phone.
He is the highest ranking Libyan official yet to leave office over the past 24 hours. Already Tripoli's envoys to the Arab League, Beijing and New Delhi have resigned from their posts.
Over 200 people are believed to have died in the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters by Libyan security forces with protests entering the seventh day on Monday.
Clashes between demonstrators and pro-Gaddafi forces raged in the eastern city of Benghazi where upto 50 people were reportedly killed in a single day. However, by late Sunday the protesters had taken control of Benghazi.
Following the statement made on Libyan state television by Col. Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, at the weekend that the regime would "fight to the last bullet" against "seditious elements, the protests spread to the capital Tripoli.
The orgy of violence that ravaged Tripoli on Monday was reportedly among the heaviest yet witnessed there and barring a few eateries which remained open normal life remained paralyzed.
The pro-democracy protests sweeping the region which have already led to the ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak have witnessed the most violent reprisals in Libya.
According to New York-based rights group, Human Rights Watch, some 233 people have died in the political uprising which broke out on Thursday.
by RTT Staff Writer
UJUMBE HUMU
Waziri Wa Sheria na Utawala Bora nchini Libya, Ndg Mustapa Mohamed Aboud Al Jaleel ajiuzulu wadhifa wake serikalini hapo jana kabla ya kufuatwa na msururu mkubwa sana wa maofisa wengine nao kujiondoa serikalini.
Ilikua ni hatua yake ya kupinga bosi wake Kanali Gaddafi kutumia Jeshi la Anga na za nchi kavu kuua kwa makusudi mamia ya wazalendo waandamanaji nchini humo.
Mtikisiko wa Nguvu ya Umma sasa waitikisa vilivyo serikali 'kiziki nyingine cha mpingo' cha Kanali Muammar Gaddafi kule Libya. Maafisa kaadha wajiuzulu na serikali kuanza kusambaratika ovyo mbele ya 'jeshi la wananchi wasiokua na silaha yoyote bmikononi.
Uwezo Tunao
JF-Expert Member
- Nov 14, 2010
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Pro-Gadhafi supporters gather in Green Square after traditional Friday prayers in Tripoli, Libya, Friday, Feb. 18, 2011. Protesters battled with security forces for control of neighborhoods Friday in eastern Libya where dozens have reportedly been killed in two days of clashes, as a leadership congress controlled by Moammar Gadhafi pledged a change in government adminstrators, trying to ease demonstrations demanding the longtime leader's ouster.
Photo: Abdel Meguid Al-Fergany / AP
Read more: http://www.newstimes.com/news/artic...crackdown-on-unrest-1019419.php#ixzz1Eea7IVnp
UJUMBE HUMU:
UK Foreign Minister William Hauge: Colonel Gaddafi is nolonger in Libya to this hour, he may be on his way to land in Venevuela. Hapo juu ni picha iliochukuliwa wiki iliopita.
Nia na madhumu ya Gaddafi kwenye picha hiyo ilikua ni zile kampeni zetu chafu za kutaka kuonyesha ulimwengu kwamba wapendwa sana kumbe hamna kitu. Leo hii wananchi wote wanaporomoshewa mabomu toka angani bila hata kupewa nafasi kujieleza kama wanamuunga mkono huyu Dikteta au laa.
Askari Kanzu
JF-Expert Member
- Jan 7, 2011
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On the run: Gaddafi flees Tripoli as protesters set the Libyan parliament building alight and crowds celebrate victory in Benghazi
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 5:00 PM on 21st February 2011
Protesters appear to have gained a foothold in Tripoli as banks and government buildings were looted while demonstrators have claimed they have taken control of the second city Benghazi.
It is thought up to 400 people may have died in the unrest with dozens more reported killed in Tripoli overnight as protests reached the capital for the first time and army units were said to have defected to the opposition.
Scroll down to watch a video report of the unrest in Libya
Popular fury: Government buildings have been set ablaze by anti-regime protesters in Tripoli
Taking power: Benghazi residents stand on a task inside a security forces compound
Wounded: A Libyan carries away partial remains of a man's body at Al-Jalaa hospital in Benghazi
The Libyan justice minister has now resigned in protest at the 'excessive use of violence' against the protesters, according to the Quryna newspaper, while the Maltese Foreign Ministry said it is trying to establish why two Libyan fighter jets landed on the island today.
A coalition of Libyan Islamic leaders has issued a fatwa telling all Muslims it is their duty to rebel against the Libyan leadership and demanding the release of all jailed protesters.
The Network of Free Ulema of Libya also demanded the release of fellow Islamic scholar Sadiq al-Ghriani, who was arrested after criticising the government, and 'all imprisoned demonstrators, including many of our young students'.
As Europe and the U.S. condemned the regime's handling of the unrest, Gaddafi's son Saif said his family would 'fight until the last bullet'.
Colonel Gaddafi was today said to have left Tripoli to prepare for a last stand in Sebha, the small desert town where he grew up.
A source at Tripolis Mitiga Airport said he saw three planes leaving early this morning.
Gaddafi was on one, said the source. The planes were heading down south - to Sebha.
The claim was supported by at least two pro-democracy campaigners who said they had also seen the aircraft leaving.
More than 300 victims were massacred – many by foreign mercenaries – during the government crackdown in Libya's second city, Benghazi.
The state TV headquarters in the capital Tripoli were also damaged during protests on Sunday while the AFP news agency reported several public buildings had been set alight.
Al Jazeera television quoted medical sources as saying 61 people had been killed in the latest protests in Tripoli.
It said security forces were looting banks and other government institutions in Tripoli, and protesters had broken into several police stations and wrecked them - pictures of the clashes in the capital are yet to emerge, however.
Victory: A young Libyan girl celebrates after protesters took control of Benghazi
As the dust settles: Libyan protesters celebrated in the streets of Benghazi on Monday, claiming control of the country's second largest city after bloody fighting
Uprising: Libyans brandish a pre-Gadhafi era national flag after fighting in Benghazi
United in opposition: Protesters chant against the regime in Benghazi
The building where the General People's Congress, or parliament, meets when it is in session in Tripoli was on fire on Monday morning while demonstrators also set light to the headquarters of the Olympic committee.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the dictator's son, gave a defiant address on state television last night saying his family's 'spirits are high' and warning: 'We will eradicate them [enemies] all'.
He said Libya's oil reserves would be 'burned by thugs, criminals, gangs and tribes' and said the populace would be left in poverty.
Libyan protesters and security forces battled for control of Tripoli's city centre overnight, with snipers opening fire and Muammar Gaddafi supporters shooting from speeding vehicles, witnesses have said.
The protests appear to be the heaviest in Libya's capital after days of deadly clashes in eastern cities.
'FIGHT UNTIL THE LAST BULLET'
The son of Colonel Gaddafi warned that continued anti-government protests could lead to a civil war that could send Libya's oil wells up in flames.
Appearing on Libyan state television after midnight on Sunday, Saif Gaddafi said the army still backed his father, although he added that some military bases, tanks and weapons had been seized.
'We are not Tunisia and Egypt,' the son said.
'We will fight to the last minute, until the last bullet.
'We will keep fighting until the last man standing, even to the last woman standing...We will not leave Libya to the Italians or the Turks.'
He acknowledged that the army made mistakes during protests because it was not trained to deal with demonstrators.
But he added that the number of dead had been exaggerated, giving a death toll of 84.
Saif Gadhafi offered to put forward reforms within days that he described as a 'historic national initiative' and said the regime was willing to remove some restrictions and begin discussions for a constitution.
He offered to change a number of laws, including those covering the media and the penal code.
Three witnesses say protesters moved into Tripoli's central Green Square and nearby squares last night. Plain-clothes security forces and militiamen attacked in clashes that lasted until dawn.
One witness said snipers opened fire from rooftops. Two others said gunmen in vehicles with photos of Col Gaddafi sped through, opening fire and running people over. The witnesses reported seeing casualties, but the number could not be confirmed.
It has also been reported that 17 were wounded when Libyans stormed a South Korean-operated construction site 18 miles from the capital, with two Bangladeshi workers stabbed.
Output at one of the country's oil fields was reported to have been stopped by a workers' strike and some European oil companies withdrew expatriate workers and suspended operations.
With autocratic governments already toppled by popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, there was a sense that Gaddafi's iron grip was being severely tested.
'Libya is the most likely candidate for civil war because the government has lost control over part of its own territory,' said Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Centre in Qatar.
In the eastern city of Benghazi, protesters appeared to be largely in control after forcing troops and police to retreat to a compound. Government buildings were set ablaze and ransacked.
'People here in Benghazi are laughing at what he is saying. It is the same old story (on promised reform) and nobody believes what he says,' a lawyer in Libya's second city told the BBC after watching Saif al-Islam's speech.
'Youths with weapons are in charge of the city. There are no security forces anywhere,' University of Benghazi professor Hanaa Elgallal told Al Jazeera International television.
Salahuddin Abdullah, a self-described protest organiser, said: 'In Benghazi there is celebration and euphoria ... The city is no longer under military control. It is completely under demonstrators' control.'
In Al Bayda, a town about 200 km (125 miles) from Benghazi, which was the scene of deadly clashes last week between protesters and security forces, a resident told Reuters protesters were also in command.
As BP suspended operations in Libya and planned to evacuate its expattriate staff, oil prices rocketed to two-year highs on Monday due to the ongoing turmoil in Libya - a key global oil producing region. London Brent oil jumped to £64 a barrel.
A nation in flux: An undated image from the recent protests in Benghazi
Firepower: Libyan hold aloft guns and rocket grenades believed to have been taken from foreign mercenaries in Benghazi yesterday
Iron fist: Colonel Gaddafi, appearing yesterday on state television, is accused of ordering the slaughter of his own people
British Prime Minister David Cameron, as he flew into Egypt on a surprise visit, launched an angry attack on the treatment of protesters in Libya.
BAHRAIN PROTESTERS CALL FOR OUSTING OF MONARCHY
A group of protesters on Monday called for the removal of Bahrain's entire ruling monarchy as part of sweeping demands to call off the week-long uprising in the tiny, but strategically important Gulf nation.
Tensions are still running high in Bahrain after seesaw battles that saw riot police open fire on protesters trying to reclaim landmark Pearl Square last week.
The manifesto Monday from a group calling itself 'Youth of Feb. 14' - after the day of the first marches - stated: 'We demand the overthrow of the oppressive Al Khalifa regime.
'The people will choose the system they will be subjected to.'
It is unclear how much weight the group, made up mostly of the hundreds of youth camped out on Pearl Square, carries.
Nor is it clear what their relationship is with the official Shiite opposition that includes 18 members of the 40-member parliament who resigned in protest on Thursday.
‘Our message, as it has been throughout this - I think we have been extremely consistent in saying that the response to the aspirations people are showing on the streets of these countries must be one of reform not repression,' he said.
‘We can see what is happening in Libya which completely appalling and unacceptable as the regime is using the most vicious forms of repression against people who want to see that country - which is one of the most closed and one of the most autocratic - make progress.
‘The response they have shown has been quite appalling.'
The worst unrest of Gaddafi's 41-year rule comes seven years after Tony Blair's controversial Deal in the Desert, when the Labour Prime Minister ushered Libya in from the cold in exchange for billions in British business deals.
Britain has faced growing condemnation over its courting of Gaddafi after the Libyan dictator ordered the slaughter of hundreds of his own people.
The United Nations and the U.S. Ambassador to London questioned the UK's cosy trade links with Tripoli yesterday.
City on fire: Al-Bayda local council building ablaze in Libya's third biggest city Al-Bayda
Call for change: Placards in Arabic read at top left 'Strike, strike until the fall of the regime', and at top right 'The people want to topple the regime'
Massacre: More than 300 pro-democracy demonstrators have been killed in Libya
The aftermath: A damaged vehicle lies beside the roadside in Benghazi, where protesters are believed to have seized control
British weapons are believed to have been used to murder more than 300 Libyan pro-democracy demonstrators.
Relatives of those killed during the Lockerbie massacre condemned the ‘shameful' British dealings with Gaddafi.
And Mona Rishmawi, legal adviser for the UN High Commission on Human Rights, warned that Britain might be guilty of ‘complicity' in the killings.
Since sanctions were lifted in 2004, UK firms have sold sniper rifles, tear gas, wall-breaching projectile launchers and crowd control ammunition to a regime found guilty of ordering the Lockerbie bombing, Britain's worst terrorist atrocity.
It paved the way for the near doubling of exports to Libya, worth almost £500million in 2009 alone.
Mr Blair's deal is widely seen as having paved the way for the controversial release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.
SILVER PRICES SOAR TO 30-YEAR HIGH AFTER MIDDLE EAST UNREST
Silver has risen to its highest price for more than 30 years as investors exploited the growing upheaval in the Middle East.
Cash silver rose by 1.5 per cent to $33.1425 an oz, its highest price since March 1980, while gold bullion was up its highest level in seven weeks.
'Gold, silver, platinum and palladium are all riding on investor interest against the backdrop of intensifying violence in the Middle East,' said KEB Futures Co trader Hwang Il Doo told Bloomberg.
'I wouldn't be surprised to see gold rising above $1,500 in the coming month.'
The price rises follow a warning from Gaddafi's son that civil war would jeopardise Libya's oil wealth.
But critics point out that the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher, shot dead in London by a Libyan diplomat in 1984, has still gone unpunished.
Foreign Secretary William Hague revoked all trade licences to the regime on Saturday.
Today he said the Libyan ambassador would be summoned to the Foreign Office to be told 'in the strongest terms our absolute condemnation of the use of lethal force against demonstrators'.
He said that Britain was calling an immediate immediate end to the violence and the killing of protesters, and for all parties to act in 'a restrained and humane manner'.
There should be a full investigation into the events in Benghazi and eastern Libya with a commitment that those responsible will be held accountable.
'The world is watching Libya, with mounting concern,' Mr Hague added.
'The Libyan government should be in no doubt that it will be held accountable by the international community for its actions.
'The Libyan government's refusal to recognise the extent of their people's concerns and disregard for their safety undermines their credibility. The Libyan government must take responsibility for the safety of its people.'
French government spokesman Francois Baroin said today the international community must do everything it can do prevent Libya sinking into civil war.
'We're extremely worried and shocked and we strongly condemn what's happening, this unprecedented violence, which could descend into an extremely violent and lengthy civil war,' Mr Baroin said in an interview on Europe 1 radio.
'The repression has begun and everything must be done at diplomatic level to coordinate the American and European positions to prevent something drastic happening.'
France's European Affairs Minister Laurent Wauquiez said French nationals in Libya are urged to leave the country and added French schools there would be closed immediately.
The United States said it was weighing 'all appropriate actions' in response to the unrest.
'We are analysing the speech ... to see what possibilities it contains for meaningful reform,' a U.S. official told Reuters.
Today in Brussels Mr Hague will urge other European leaders to voice their condemnation.
Murderer: Gaddafi's orders to shoot those who rise up against him has been chastised all over the world
Game over: Protesters demanded that Gaddafi stop the bloodshed and relinquish his position
At least 150 British firms operate in Libya, including British Airways, Bhs, Marks & Spencer, Monsoon Accessorize, HSBC, Corus International, KPMG, GSK, AstraZeneca, JCB, Rentokil, Ernst & Young, PWC, Land Rover, Mott MacDonald, AMEC and Biwater.
BP landed a £1.3billion gas and oil deal and a further £545million project to drill for oil.
Risky ally: Former British prime minister Tony Blair did a deal with Colonel Gaddafi back in 2004
Shell is also a huge investor in the country and British imports of Libyan oil have topped £1billion in recent years.
The UN's Mona Rishmawi said there was a ‘real question mark' over selling weapons to regimes such as Gaddafi's.
‘We are very concerned about any possibility of complicity in human rights violations,' she said.
Louis Susman, the U.S. Ambassador to London, told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: ‘I would suggest that to deal with [Gaddafi] to give him greater stature, greater ability on the world front to look like he is a good citizen is a mistake.'
Susan Cohen, whose student daughter Theodora died in the Lockerbie bombing, said Britain must share some of the blame for the massacre in Libya.
‘This is what you get for appeasement,' she said. ‘The dreadful bloodshed we are seeing on the streets of Libya is in part due to the disgusting behaviour of the British government.'
Lucinda Lavelle, secretary of the British Libyan Solidarity Campaign, said Britain's whole process of rapprochement with Libya was based on a false premise.
‘Now we have all the evidence we need – Gaddafi has not changed one iota,' she said. ‘He is still a vicious, brutal dictator who will murder anybody who stands in his way.'
A spokesman for Tony Blair said he was ‘shocked and appalled' by the violence in Libya and ‘continues to urge a political process of change'.
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 5:00 PM on 21st February 2011
- Protesters appear to have taken control of second city Benghazi
- Up to 400 feared dead after dozens killed in overnight clashes
- Justice minister resigns over 'excessive use of violence'
- Mystery as two Libyan fighter jets land in Malta
- David Cameron declares regime response is 'appalling and unacceptable'
- Gaddafi's son says: 'We will fight to the last minute, until the last bullet'
- UN warns that British Government could be guilty of 'complicity' in killings
Protesters appear to have gained a foothold in Tripoli as banks and government buildings were looted while demonstrators have claimed they have taken control of the second city Benghazi.
It is thought up to 400 people may have died in the unrest with dozens more reported killed in Tripoli overnight as protests reached the capital for the first time and army units were said to have defected to the opposition.
Scroll down to watch a video report of the unrest in Libya
Popular fury: Government buildings have been set ablaze by anti-regime protesters in Tripoli
Taking power: Benghazi residents stand on a task inside a security forces compound
Wounded: A Libyan carries away partial remains of a man's body at Al-Jalaa hospital in Benghazi
The Libyan justice minister has now resigned in protest at the 'excessive use of violence' against the protesters, according to the Quryna newspaper, while the Maltese Foreign Ministry said it is trying to establish why two Libyan fighter jets landed on the island today.
A coalition of Libyan Islamic leaders has issued a fatwa telling all Muslims it is their duty to rebel against the Libyan leadership and demanding the release of all jailed protesters.
The Network of Free Ulema of Libya also demanded the release of fellow Islamic scholar Sadiq al-Ghriani, who was arrested after criticising the government, and 'all imprisoned demonstrators, including many of our young students'.
As Europe and the U.S. condemned the regime's handling of the unrest, Gaddafi's son Saif said his family would 'fight until the last bullet'.
Colonel Gaddafi was today said to have left Tripoli to prepare for a last stand in Sebha, the small desert town where he grew up.
A source at Tripolis Mitiga Airport said he saw three planes leaving early this morning.
Gaddafi was on one, said the source. The planes were heading down south - to Sebha.
The claim was supported by at least two pro-democracy campaigners who said they had also seen the aircraft leaving.
More than 300 victims were massacred – many by foreign mercenaries – during the government crackdown in Libya's second city, Benghazi.
The state TV headquarters in the capital Tripoli were also damaged during protests on Sunday while the AFP news agency reported several public buildings had been set alight.
Al Jazeera television quoted medical sources as saying 61 people had been killed in the latest protests in Tripoli.
It said security forces were looting banks and other government institutions in Tripoli, and protesters had broken into several police stations and wrecked them - pictures of the clashes in the capital are yet to emerge, however.
Victory: A young Libyan girl celebrates after protesters took control of Benghazi
As the dust settles: Libyan protesters celebrated in the streets of Benghazi on Monday, claiming control of the country's second largest city after bloody fighting
Uprising: Libyans brandish a pre-Gadhafi era national flag after fighting in Benghazi
United in opposition: Protesters chant against the regime in Benghazi
The building where the General People's Congress, or parliament, meets when it is in session in Tripoli was on fire on Monday morning while demonstrators also set light to the headquarters of the Olympic committee.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the dictator's son, gave a defiant address on state television last night saying his family's 'spirits are high' and warning: 'We will eradicate them [enemies] all'.
He said Libya's oil reserves would be 'burned by thugs, criminals, gangs and tribes' and said the populace would be left in poverty.
Libyan protesters and security forces battled for control of Tripoli's city centre overnight, with snipers opening fire and Muammar Gaddafi supporters shooting from speeding vehicles, witnesses have said.
The protests appear to be the heaviest in Libya's capital after days of deadly clashes in eastern cities.
'FIGHT UNTIL THE LAST BULLET'
The son of Colonel Gaddafi warned that continued anti-government protests could lead to a civil war that could send Libya's oil wells up in flames.
Appearing on Libyan state television after midnight on Sunday, Saif Gaddafi said the army still backed his father, although he added that some military bases, tanks and weapons had been seized.
'We are not Tunisia and Egypt,' the son said.
'We will fight to the last minute, until the last bullet.
'We will keep fighting until the last man standing, even to the last woman standing...We will not leave Libya to the Italians or the Turks.'
He acknowledged that the army made mistakes during protests because it was not trained to deal with demonstrators.
But he added that the number of dead had been exaggerated, giving a death toll of 84.
Saif Gadhafi offered to put forward reforms within days that he described as a 'historic national initiative' and said the regime was willing to remove some restrictions and begin discussions for a constitution.
He offered to change a number of laws, including those covering the media and the penal code.
Three witnesses say protesters moved into Tripoli's central Green Square and nearby squares last night. Plain-clothes security forces and militiamen attacked in clashes that lasted until dawn.
One witness said snipers opened fire from rooftops. Two others said gunmen in vehicles with photos of Col Gaddafi sped through, opening fire and running people over. The witnesses reported seeing casualties, but the number could not be confirmed.
It has also been reported that 17 were wounded when Libyans stormed a South Korean-operated construction site 18 miles from the capital, with two Bangladeshi workers stabbed.
Output at one of the country's oil fields was reported to have been stopped by a workers' strike and some European oil companies withdrew expatriate workers and suspended operations.
With autocratic governments already toppled by popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, there was a sense that Gaddafi's iron grip was being severely tested.
'Libya is the most likely candidate for civil war because the government has lost control over part of its own territory,' said Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Centre in Qatar.
In the eastern city of Benghazi, protesters appeared to be largely in control after forcing troops and police to retreat to a compound. Government buildings were set ablaze and ransacked.
'People here in Benghazi are laughing at what he is saying. It is the same old story (on promised reform) and nobody believes what he says,' a lawyer in Libya's second city told the BBC after watching Saif al-Islam's speech.
'Youths with weapons are in charge of the city. There are no security forces anywhere,' University of Benghazi professor Hanaa Elgallal told Al Jazeera International television.
Salahuddin Abdullah, a self-described protest organiser, said: 'In Benghazi there is celebration and euphoria ... The city is no longer under military control. It is completely under demonstrators' control.'
In Al Bayda, a town about 200 km (125 miles) from Benghazi, which was the scene of deadly clashes last week between protesters and security forces, a resident told Reuters protesters were also in command.
As BP suspended operations in Libya and planned to evacuate its expattriate staff, oil prices rocketed to two-year highs on Monday due to the ongoing turmoil in Libya - a key global oil producing region. London Brent oil jumped to £64 a barrel.
A nation in flux: An undated image from the recent protests in Benghazi
Firepower: Libyan hold aloft guns and rocket grenades believed to have been taken from foreign mercenaries in Benghazi yesterday
Iron fist: Colonel Gaddafi, appearing yesterday on state television, is accused of ordering the slaughter of his own people
British Prime Minister David Cameron, as he flew into Egypt on a surprise visit, launched an angry attack on the treatment of protesters in Libya.
BAHRAIN PROTESTERS CALL FOR OUSTING OF MONARCHY
A group of protesters on Monday called for the removal of Bahrain's entire ruling monarchy as part of sweeping demands to call off the week-long uprising in the tiny, but strategically important Gulf nation.
Tensions are still running high in Bahrain after seesaw battles that saw riot police open fire on protesters trying to reclaim landmark Pearl Square last week.
The manifesto Monday from a group calling itself 'Youth of Feb. 14' - after the day of the first marches - stated: 'We demand the overthrow of the oppressive Al Khalifa regime.
'The people will choose the system they will be subjected to.'
It is unclear how much weight the group, made up mostly of the hundreds of youth camped out on Pearl Square, carries.
Nor is it clear what their relationship is with the official Shiite opposition that includes 18 members of the 40-member parliament who resigned in protest on Thursday.
‘Our message, as it has been throughout this - I think we have been extremely consistent in saying that the response to the aspirations people are showing on the streets of these countries must be one of reform not repression,' he said.
‘We can see what is happening in Libya which completely appalling and unacceptable as the regime is using the most vicious forms of repression against people who want to see that country - which is one of the most closed and one of the most autocratic - make progress.
‘The response they have shown has been quite appalling.'
The worst unrest of Gaddafi's 41-year rule comes seven years after Tony Blair's controversial Deal in the Desert, when the Labour Prime Minister ushered Libya in from the cold in exchange for billions in British business deals.
Britain has faced growing condemnation over its courting of Gaddafi after the Libyan dictator ordered the slaughter of hundreds of his own people.
The United Nations and the U.S. Ambassador to London questioned the UK's cosy trade links with Tripoli yesterday.
City on fire: Al-Bayda local council building ablaze in Libya's third biggest city Al-Bayda
Call for change: Placards in Arabic read at top left 'Strike, strike until the fall of the regime', and at top right 'The people want to topple the regime'
Massacre: More than 300 pro-democracy demonstrators have been killed in Libya
The aftermath: A damaged vehicle lies beside the roadside in Benghazi, where protesters are believed to have seized control
British weapons are believed to have been used to murder more than 300 Libyan pro-democracy demonstrators.
Relatives of those killed during the Lockerbie massacre condemned the ‘shameful' British dealings with Gaddafi.
And Mona Rishmawi, legal adviser for the UN High Commission on Human Rights, warned that Britain might be guilty of ‘complicity' in the killings.
Since sanctions were lifted in 2004, UK firms have sold sniper rifles, tear gas, wall-breaching projectile launchers and crowd control ammunition to a regime found guilty of ordering the Lockerbie bombing, Britain's worst terrorist atrocity.
It paved the way for the near doubling of exports to Libya, worth almost £500million in 2009 alone.
Mr Blair's deal is widely seen as having paved the way for the controversial release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.
SILVER PRICES SOAR TO 30-YEAR HIGH AFTER MIDDLE EAST UNREST
Silver has risen to its highest price for more than 30 years as investors exploited the growing upheaval in the Middle East.
Cash silver rose by 1.5 per cent to $33.1425 an oz, its highest price since March 1980, while gold bullion was up its highest level in seven weeks.
'Gold, silver, platinum and palladium are all riding on investor interest against the backdrop of intensifying violence in the Middle East,' said KEB Futures Co trader Hwang Il Doo told Bloomberg.
'I wouldn't be surprised to see gold rising above $1,500 in the coming month.'
The price rises follow a warning from Gaddafi's son that civil war would jeopardise Libya's oil wealth.
But critics point out that the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher, shot dead in London by a Libyan diplomat in 1984, has still gone unpunished.
Foreign Secretary William Hague revoked all trade licences to the regime on Saturday.
Today he said the Libyan ambassador would be summoned to the Foreign Office to be told 'in the strongest terms our absolute condemnation of the use of lethal force against demonstrators'.
He said that Britain was calling an immediate immediate end to the violence and the killing of protesters, and for all parties to act in 'a restrained and humane manner'.
There should be a full investigation into the events in Benghazi and eastern Libya with a commitment that those responsible will be held accountable.
'The world is watching Libya, with mounting concern,' Mr Hague added.
'The Libyan government should be in no doubt that it will be held accountable by the international community for its actions.
'The Libyan government's refusal to recognise the extent of their people's concerns and disregard for their safety undermines their credibility. The Libyan government must take responsibility for the safety of its people.'
French government spokesman Francois Baroin said today the international community must do everything it can do prevent Libya sinking into civil war.
'We're extremely worried and shocked and we strongly condemn what's happening, this unprecedented violence, which could descend into an extremely violent and lengthy civil war,' Mr Baroin said in an interview on Europe 1 radio.
'The repression has begun and everything must be done at diplomatic level to coordinate the American and European positions to prevent something drastic happening.'
France's European Affairs Minister Laurent Wauquiez said French nationals in Libya are urged to leave the country and added French schools there would be closed immediately.
The United States said it was weighing 'all appropriate actions' in response to the unrest.
'We are analysing the speech ... to see what possibilities it contains for meaningful reform,' a U.S. official told Reuters.
Today in Brussels Mr Hague will urge other European leaders to voice their condemnation.
Murderer: Gaddafi's orders to shoot those who rise up against him has been chastised all over the world
Game over: Protesters demanded that Gaddafi stop the bloodshed and relinquish his position
At least 150 British firms operate in Libya, including British Airways, Bhs, Marks & Spencer, Monsoon Accessorize, HSBC, Corus International, KPMG, GSK, AstraZeneca, JCB, Rentokil, Ernst & Young, PWC, Land Rover, Mott MacDonald, AMEC and Biwater.
BP landed a £1.3billion gas and oil deal and a further £545million project to drill for oil.
Risky ally: Former British prime minister Tony Blair did a deal with Colonel Gaddafi back in 2004
Shell is also a huge investor in the country and British imports of Libyan oil have topped £1billion in recent years.
The UN's Mona Rishmawi said there was a ‘real question mark' over selling weapons to regimes such as Gaddafi's.
‘We are very concerned about any possibility of complicity in human rights violations,' she said.
Louis Susman, the U.S. Ambassador to London, told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: ‘I would suggest that to deal with [Gaddafi] to give him greater stature, greater ability on the world front to look like he is a good citizen is a mistake.'
Susan Cohen, whose student daughter Theodora died in the Lockerbie bombing, said Britain must share some of the blame for the massacre in Libya.
‘This is what you get for appeasement,' she said. ‘The dreadful bloodshed we are seeing on the streets of Libya is in part due to the disgusting behaviour of the British government.'
Lucinda Lavelle, secretary of the British Libyan Solidarity Campaign, said Britain's whole process of rapprochement with Libya was based on a false premise.
‘Now we have all the evidence we need – Gaddafi has not changed one iota,' she said. ‘He is still a vicious, brutal dictator who will murder anybody who stands in his way.'
A spokesman for Tony Blair said he was ‘shocked and appalled' by the violence in Libya and ‘continues to urge a political process of change'.
Uwezo Tunao
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- Nov 14, 2010
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Mideast_Libya_Protests.sff‑1ad615f9‑9918‑4fc2‑9bee‑4284489ab623.jpg
512 × 335 - ... Green Square after traditional Friday prayers in Tripoli, Libya, Friday, ...
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Col Muammar Gaddafi has been leading Libya for over 42 years now and without elections. Lakini sasa wananchi pale Green Square mjini Tripoli wamepiga kambi na kusema 'ondoka Gaddafi, hatukutaki tena'!!!
EMT
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The Libyan ambassador to Indonesia has also resigned, Al Jazeera Arabic reports.
The Libyan ambassador to the United Kingdom has resigned, alongside other embassy staff. They have joined demonstrators, Al Jazeera's correspondent reported.
Live Blog - Libya | Al Jazeera Blogs#
The Libyan ambassador to the United Kingdom has resigned, alongside other embassy staff. They have joined demonstrators, Al Jazeera's correspondent reported.
Live Blog - Libya | Al Jazeera Blogs#