The rise and fall of Colonel Muamar Gadaffi

[kilimasera]

Ufaransa imethibitisha kuwa inatuma idadi ndogo ya maofisa wake wa ushauri wa kijeshi kushirikiana na waasi wanaompinga Kanali Gaddafi nchini Libya. Hapo jana Uingereza ilisema kuwa inatuma kikundi cha wataalamu wa masuala ya kijeshi huko mashariki mwa nchi mjini Benghazi kutoa mafunzo na mpangilio wa mafunzo ya kijeshi.

Bila shaka huu ni mpango ulioandaliwa na serikali za nchi hizo mbili. Ufaransa sasa imethibitisha kuwa kama Uingereza inatuma kikundi kidogo cha wataalamu wa kijeshi nchini Libya wasaidie kuwafunza waasi mbinu za kijeshi.

Kwa mujibu wa msemaji wa serikali Francois Baroin, idadi ya washauri hao haizidi watu kumi sawa na kikundi cha Uingereza, lengo lao ni kuwadokezea juu ya mpangilio wa jeshi, usimamizi wa ugavi wa askari na mawasiliano baina yao upungufu uliojitokeza.

Mara tena Bw.Baroin alirudia kauli ya serikali ya Uingereza kwamba bila shaka wanajeshi wa Ufaransa hawatoshiriki mapigano.

Hilo aliongezea ni kukiuka azimio la Umoja wa Mataifa namba 1973 ingawa kutuma kikundi cha wataalamu kutaonekana kuzingatia kifungu cha azimio hilo cha kulinda maisha ya wananchi wa Libya.

Kama ilivyo nchini Ufaransa, nchini Uingereza kuna wanaohoji kampeni inayofanywa nchini Libya ambayo inaweza ikageuka na kuwa jukumu la kudumu ikibainika kuwa serikali hizi mbili zinazidi kulishinikiza azimio la Umoja wa Mataifa hadi kikomo chake katika juhudi zao za kuona waasi wakifaidi zaidi.

 

[kilimasera]

Libya imeghadhabishwa na tangazo la Uingereza, kuwa itatuma maafisa wa kijeshi kutoa ushauri wa kiufundi kwa waasi katika mji wa Benghazi unaodhibitiwa na upinzani.

Waziri wa mashauri ya nchi za kigeni wa Libya, Abdelati Al-Obeidi, ameambia BBC kuwa hatua hiyo itaathiri vibaya juhudi za amani na kuendeleza uhasama uliopo.

Waziri wa mashauri ya nchi za kigeni wa Uingereza, William Hague, alisema kuwa maafisa hao wa kijeshi wa Uingereza, hawatahusika katika kutoa mafunzo ya kijeshi au kuwapa silaha wapinzani wa Kanali Gaddafi, lakini watatoa ushauri kuhusu jinsi ya kuimarisha jeshi lao na njia ya mawasiliano.

Uingereza inasema itatuma washauri kumi na wawili wa kijeshi watakaosaidia wapinzani wa Kanali Gadaffi, kwa kutoa mwongozo, mpangilio, mawasiliano na kusambaza misaada kwa raia.

Hatua hii imekosolewa vikali na baadhi ya watu wanaoiona kuwa njama dhidi ya serikali ya Libya.

Wengine wamefananisha hatua hiyo ya Uingereza na uamuzi wa Marekani, wa kuingilia mzozo wa Somalia katika miaka ya tisini.

Mwanzoni, Marekani ilisema inafanya operesheni ya kutoa misaada kwa raia lakini baada ya muda wanajeshi hao walikabiliana na wale wa Somalia kwenye mitaa ya Mogadishu.

Machoni mwa umma, Uingereza inasisitiza kuwa shughuli hii itasaidia hasa katika kutoa misaada nchini Libya lakini malengo ya Uingereza na mataifa mengine hayajabadilika, kumuondoa madarakani Kanali Muammar Gadaffi.

 

[Somoche]

Hawa wana lao jambo wameshindwa kumtoa ghadaff ili waibe mafuta sasa wanasaidia vibaraka ambao hawajui kwamba hata wao siku moja wanaweza kugeukwa hivi hivi...Afrika lazima ikatae ujinga wa aina hii..mbona haisaidii jeshi la Uganda linapambana na waasi kule mda woote huo!!! I HATE THESE UK MORONS..

 

[NICK2275]

Jamaa wanamfanyia kama marathon sio, hawataki an all out war kama walivyofanya Iraq.

washaona wakideploy ground troops watapata lawana sana na wao watapata casualities wengi sana

 

[Tall]

Mbona hawawasaidii wale wa somalia??????

 

[Askari Kanzu]

Yetu macho!

New Libya constitution ready: Gaddafi son

Posted on Apr 21, 2011 at 12:16am IST

Cairo: The son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said the government would prevail over rebels trying to oust his father and a new constitution was ready for when the insurgency was defeated, Al Arabiya TV reported on Wednesday. The Dubai-based satellite channel said Saif al-Islam, speaking on Libyan state television, accused the Benghazi-based rebel national council as being motivated by "power and oil wealth".

"Libya will not go back to what it was," Al Arabiya quoted Saif al-Islam as saying. "The era of the first Jamahiriya (people's republic) is gone and a new draft constitution has been prepared".

Saif al-Islam has the highest profile among Gaddafi's sons although, like his father, he has no official government position.

The rebels have been trying since mid-February to end Gaddafi's 41-year-old rule but have struggled against his more experienced and better equipped forces.

Despite NATO air strikes mandated under a UN Security Council resolution to protect civilians, they have made little advance towards Gaddafi's stronghold of Tripoli.

Saif al-Islam said the situation was changing in favour of the Libyan system, Al Arabiya reported. He said his father "will prevail" against the rebels.

Reuters

 

[EMT]

British journalist Tim Hetherington dies in Libya

An award-winning British photographer has been killed while covering the conflict in the Libyan city of Misrata. Liverpool-born Tim Hetherington, 40, is said to have been killed by a rocket-propelled grenade. His family said he would be forever missed. US photographer Chris Hondros, 41, was also killed, and two others, including Briton Guy Martin, were injured.

Mr Hetherington, who co-directed Oscar-nominated war documentary Restrepo, was working for Vanity Fair magazine. In a statement on the magazine's website, his family said: "It is with great sadness we learned that our son and brother, photographer and filmmaker, Tim Hetherington was killed in Misrata, Libya, by a rocket-propelled grenade.

"Tim will be remembered for his amazing images and his Academy Award-nominated documentary Restrepo." They added: "Tim was in Libya to continue his ongoing multimedia project to highlight humanitarian issues during time of war and conflict."

In a recent entry on Twitter, Mr Hetherington described "indiscriminate shelling" by pro-Gaddafi forces, who have been battling rebels trying to end the rule of long-time leader Col Muammar Gaddafi. The company's director of photography, Pancho Bernasconi, said Mr Hondros had covered conflict zones since the late 1990s including Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Photographer Guy Martin, who was working with Panos Pictures agency, was hit by shrapnel and is being treated at a hospital in the city. New York-based photographer Michael Christopher Brown was also treated for shrapnel injuries.

A survivor told the BBC that a group of journalists had been pulling back from near the front line during a lull in the fighting in Misrata when they were attacked. Doctors at a Misrata hospital say they have treated more than 100 casualties, mostly civilians injured by mortar and sniper fire.

Libyan government forces have been battling rebels in Misrata, which is in western Libya, since late February and an estimated 300 civilians have died. The Foreign Office confirmed Mr Hetherington's death and said it was offering consular assistance to his family.

'Leading light'

Mr Hetherington, who had dual UK and US nationality, studied Literature at Oxford University. The New York-based journalist was best known for his work in Afghanistan, and the film Restrepo followed US troops on an outpost in the country. He won the World Press Photo of the Year Award in 2007.

Journalist and film-maker James Brabazon, a close friend of Mr Hetherington, told BBC Two's Newsnight: "Tim was a leading light of his generation - it's really not an exaggeration to say that his eye and his ability, what he did, was unique. "The main thing about Tim to understand is that he was fundamentally a humanitarian. A lot of the work that he did wasn't just for the news or for magazines but was for human rights organisations as well."

Another friend Peter Bouckaert, from the campaign group Human Rights Watch, said he had a "tremendous reputation and a giant heart". He told BBC News the journalist had been planning to "slow down" and start a family with his partner. "I was just with Tim two weeks ago in Benghazi, the rebel capital. At our last lunch together, he told me about the wonderful relationship he was in with this Somali woman and how he wanted to slow down and spend more time making kids," he said.

Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter said Mr Hetherington was "about as perfect a model of a war photographer as you're going to find these days". In an editorial for the magazine, he described him as a "rangy, charming workhorse of a photographer. Devilishly good-looking and impossibly brave, he was both a ladies' man and a man's man," he said. "There were few like Tim, and there will be fewer like him."

Tributes have started to appear on his Facebook page. One from film director Jean Manuel said: "Tim Hetherington, I love you. Thank you for everything. I will help make sure our work continues."

BBC News - British journalist Tim Hetherington dies in Libya

 

[Askari Kanzu]

Breaking News

8:24pm UK, Thursday April 21, 2011

Armed US Drones To Start Libya Missions

Armed US Predator drones are set to start missions in Libya after Barack Obama gave the go-ahead,The Associated Press reports, adding that Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the news at a Pentagon news conference.

According to the AP, "Marine Gen. James Cartwright, speaking alongside Gates, said the first Predator mission was scheduled for Thursday but it was scratched due to poor weather. Cartwright said the Predators allow low-level precision attacks on Libyan government forces."

"What they will bring that is unique to the conflict is their ability to get down lower, therefore to be able to get better visibility on targets that have started to dig themselves into defensive positions," Cartwright said. "They are uniquely suited for urban areas."

The first Predator mission since Obama's go-ahead was flown Thursday but the aircraft - armed with Hellfire missiles - turned back early due to poor weather conditions, Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a news conference with Gates.

Cartwright did not specify what targets the aborted Predator mission Thursday was intended to strike.
Source

The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator

 

[Eqlypz]

Jamani hivi mnaona kinachoendelea Misrata? Tuache ushabiki wananchi wa Misrata wana hali ngumu sana Mungu awalinde maana Pro Gaddafi fighters wanadondosha mabomu kama hawana akili. Hizi drones kiboko, waulizeni Hamas na Taliban hopefully zitasaidia kupunguza hizi shelling za majeshi ya Gaddafi.
Kitakachofuata baada ya hizi drone ni Apache (helicopter) gunship.

 

[Uwezo Tunao]

Edu kumbe na huku pia huwa unapita pita??? Karibu sana International Forum.

washaona wakideploy ground troops watapata lawana sana na wao watapata casualities wengi sana

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

US deploys armed drones over Libya

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Defence Secretary Robert Gates and General James Cartwright explained the drones' "unique capabilities"

Continue reading the main story Libya Crisis

• Bowen: No easy exit for Nato
• Misrata: City under siege
• Analysis: A new phase?
• Fearing massacre in Misrata

Armed US Predator drones are carrying out missions over Libya, Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said.
Mr Gates said their use had been authorised by President Barack Obama and would give "precision capability" to the military operation.
US drones are already used to target militants along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Libyan rebels have been battling Col Gaddafi's troops since February but have recently made little headway.
"President Obama has said that where we have some unique capabilities, he is willing to use those," Mr Gates told a news conference.
He said two armed, unmanned Predators were being made available to Nato as needed, and marked a "modest contribution" to the military operations.
Mr Gates denied that the drone deployment was evidence of "mission creep" in Libya and said there were still no plans to put US "boots on the ground" in Libya.
"There's no wiggle room in that," he said.
Continue reading the main story Analysis

Andrew North BBC News, Washington
Armed US Predator drones have been used to deadly effect against militants in Pakistan's tribal areas.
Now they will be employed in similar ways in Libya, where the Pentagon says they will be able to spot Col Gaddafi's forces if they are hiding in civilian vehicles or dug in to residential areas.
Some see this as a sign the US is getting more involved again.
But more than mission creep, it is creeping concern about how events in Libya are unfolding that seems to have prompted this move.
A month since military action began, it is looking like stalemate.
As many predicted, air power is not enough for Nato to win what has become a mainly urban conflict.
That is where the Predator is better suited than high-flying warplanes.
But still the best hope for Nato may be that Col Gaddafi's supporters move against him.

Gen James Cartwright, vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the first mission had taken place on Thursday but the drones had turned back due to bad weather.
He said the drones - which can fly at a lower altitude than conventional fighter jets - were "uniquely suited for urban areas", providing improved visibility of tanks and other potential targets.
Post captured Earlier on Thursday, Libyan rebels seized control of a border post on the Tunisian border after about 100 government soldiers fled, say reports.
The post is on the road between the Libyan town of Nalut and Dehiba in Tunisia.
The move marks a rare advance against government troops in the west of the country and followed intense fighting in the western mountain region.
Restrictions on journalists in remote areas of Libya mean it is hard to independently verify such reports.
Fierce fighting is also continuing in the besieged western city of Misrata, with at least seven people killed on Thursday.
Medics say more than 1,000 people have died in weeks of fighting.
Residents say they are being targeted in the streets by snipers firing indiscriminately.
Continue reading the main story

• Journalists' bodies leave Misrata
• Chris Hondros: The last pictures
• Photographer deaths 'sad' - Libya

Rebels in Misrata claim to have found remnants of cluster bombs but the Libyan government has so far denied the charge.
The BBC's Orla Guerin in Misrata says she has seen the bombs herself and that doctors have told her they are causing increasingly horrific injuries, with some civilians losing limbs.
On Wednesday, two journalists died in a mortar attack in the city - Tim Hetherington, a British-American filmmaker and Chris Hondros, an American photographer.
A Ukrainian doctor was also killed in a separate artillery blast in Misrata on Wednesday. His wife was reportedly seriously injured in the incident.
Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim has said that if foreign troops enter Misrata the government would "unleash hell".
"We will be a ball of fire. We will make it 10 times as bad as Iraq," he said, saying the government was arming people in preparation.
Hundreds of foreign workers, Libyans and injured people are being evacuated from Misrata by sea to the rebel-held city of Benghazi in the east.
'Vicious attacks' UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on the Libyan authorities to "stop fighting and stop killing people".

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Parents of missing US journalist Clare Gillis "want her home"

He said the UN's priority was to bring about "a verifiable and effective ceasefire" to enable humanitarian work and political dialogue to take place.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has condemned what she called the "vicious attacks" on Libyan civilians.
She also demanded that Libyan authorities immediately release US citizens they have "unjustly detained," including at least two reporters.
The parents of Clare Gillis, one of the missing journalists, said she was able to contact them on Thursday for the first time since she was detained on 5 April.
They told the Atlantic, one of the papers Ms Gillis was working for, that she was in good health but had not been allowed a visit by humanitarian or diplomatic officials.

 

[Yericko Nyerere]

Waziri wa Ulinzi wa Marekani, amesema ndege za kivita zisizokuwa na rubani ... http://bbc.in/gWkk4f

 

[boma2000]

mwisho wa Obama umefika

 

[Eqlypz]

Wacha kupotosha watu, eti wameingia vitani....kutuma drones ndio kuingia vitani?

Boma2000 mwisho wa Obama kwenye nini?

 

[Askari Kanzu]

McCain travels to Libya to meet with rebel forces
April 22, 2011 09:24 AM (Last updated: April 22, 2011 10:32 AM)
By Donna Cassata
Associated Press

WASHINGTON: Sen. John McCain, one of the strongest proponents in Congress of the U.S. military intervention in Libya, is heading to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi for a meeting with forces fighting to overthrow Moammar Gadhafi, an aide told the Associated Press.

McCain was scheduled to arrive in Benghazi Friday, said Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for the senator.

The visit by McCain was shrouded in secrecy due to heightened security for the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee in a country fiercely divided by the 2-month-old anti-Gadhafi rebellion.

McCain’s trip comes as Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Thursday that President Barack Obama has authorized armed Predator drones against forces loyal to Gadhafi. It is the first time that drones will be used for airstrikes since the United States turned over control of the operation to NATO on April 4.

The Daily Star

 

[NICK2275]

Edu kumbe na huku pia huwa unapita pita??? Karibu sana International Forum.

shukran sana-mimi hapa pia ni nyumbani-nipo sana pande hizi-nazan ukichek posts huku kwenye forum hii utanipata

 

[Mwendachofi]

Vuguvugu au tuseme vurugu zilianza Tunisia. Lakini chakushangaza ni kwamba baada ya Watunisia kufanikiwa kumfukuza rais wao sasa na wao wenyewe wanakimbilia ulaya.Jee kwa nini kwa nini waikimbie nchi yao baada ya kufanikisha mapinduzi?

 

[boma2000]

Wacha kupotosha watu, eti wameingia vitani....kutuma drones ndio kuingia vitani?

Boma2000 mwisho wa Obama kwenye nini?

Kwenye uongozi maana inaonekana Wamarekani wengi hawataki nchi yao ijiingize kwenye vita vya kusaidia waandamanaji/waasi/wanamapinduzi dhidi ya serikali ya Gaddafi.
Kwa vile 2012 ni mwaka wa uchaguzi Libya na baadhi ya ahadi ambazo hakutimiza zitakuwa ni mjumuisho wa kumkataa kwenye kupiga kura

 

[Eqlypz]

Kwenye uongozi maana inaonekana Wamarekani wengi hawataki nchi yao ijiingize kwenye vita vya kusaidia waandamanaji/waasi/wanamapinduzi dhidi ya serikali ya Gaddafi.
Kwa vile 2012 ni mwaka wa uchaguzi Libya na baadhi ya ahadi ambazo hakutimiza zitakuwa ni mjumuisho wa
kumkataa kwenye kupiga kura

Wamarekani wengi? Wako wamarekani kuanzia maseneta mpaka wananchi wa kawaida wanaosema marekani haijachukua hatua zaidi ili kulinda raia wasio na hatia.

Kitakachomuangusha Obama ni hali ya uchumi nchini kwake na sio hiyo vita ya Libya heck bush alishinda reelection pamoja na kuwa aliudanganya umma kuhusu vita.

 

[Askari Kanzu]

How things can change within a short space of time!
Sasa hivi Sen. J. McCain anaongea na TNC Benghazi. Miaka miwili iliyopita alikuwa anamshangilia Gaddafi. Kazi ipo!

Report: McCain praises Gaddafi for peacemaking

US senator says Congress would support expansion of US-Libya ties
Reuters Published: 08.14.09, 19:21 / Israel News

US Republican Senator John McCain praised Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi for his peacemaking role in Africa and said Congress would support expanding ties, Libyan state news agency Jana said on Friday.

US-Libyan relations have dramatically improved since Tripoli's decision in December 2003 to give up its weapons of mass destruction programs, with diplomatic ties resuming in June 2004 after a break of more than two decades.

"McCain and the delegation accompanying him confirmed the importance of expanding further the relations between Libya and the United States. The Congress would back the measures to be taken to achieve this aim," Jana said. It gave no details.

Since Washington ended its major sanctions on Libya, US energy companies including ExxonMobil and Chevron have been active in Libya.

​

McCain, heading a four-member Congressional delegation, held talks with Gaddafi's son Mouatassim, the powerful national security adviser, before meeting Gaddafi himself.

"Senator McCain and the delegation with him expressed their deep happiness to meet the leader and praised him for his wisdom and strategic vision to tackle issues of concern to the world and his efforts to sustain peace and stability in Africa," Jana said.

Gaddafi is the chairman of the African Union and attended the July G8 summit of world leaders in Italy, where he met and shook hands with Obama.

Ynetnews.com