No surprise, either.
"US reopens its embassy in Libya; Tunisia captures Khadafy’s former prime minister" September 23, 2011|By Kim Gamel, Associated Press
TRIPOLI, Libya - The US ambassador to Libya expressed confidence in the country’s new rulers yesterday as the American embassy reopened in the capital months after it closed down during the fighting to oust Moammar Khadafy.
Ambassador Gene Cretz acknowledged the North African nation faces many challenges as Khadafy remains on the run and fighting with his loyalists continues on three fronts.
“The next few months will be critical as Libyans lay the groundwork for a pluralistic democracy that respects the rights of all of its citizens,’’ he said in remarks before the flag was raised in front of his residence in Tripoli, which will serve as the interim embassy. “The United States and the international community are ready to help in any way we can.’’
Haven't they done enough?
**********************
Cretz said Khadafy and his supporters would eventually be routed, but the National Transitional Council would not wait to move forward with efforts to form a new government.
“It’s a question of time before Khadafy and his remaining loyalists are finished off,’’ he said....
For Cretz, it was a personal victory to be back in Libya.
Cretz, a native of Albany, N.Y., had left the country for consultations in Washington in January after WikiLeaks posted his opinions of Khadafy’s personal life and habits, such as his love of flamenco dancing and his reliance on a Ukrainian nurse, in a classified 2009 diplomatic cable.
The ambassador, who returned to the country Wednesday, said he had been physically threatened because of outrage over the document.
“At that time, I could not imagine that I would be returning to a new, free Libya that is brimming with joy, optimism and newfound freedoms,’’ he said.
Despite the optimism, he expressed concern about the influence of Islamists in the country but said that so far, they had expressed a moderate platform.
You know, the ones that are not ours.
Cretz also said the Americans were worried about the proliferation of weapons that were missing from Khadafy’s arsenal.
This REALLY IS STARTING to READ LIKE the INVASION and OCCUPATION of IRAQ!
Khadafy agreed to dismantle his weapons of mass destruction research and production programs as part of efforts to normalize relations with the international community as he faced intense economic pressure from international sanctions.
Probably regretting that now given the examples set by Iraq (no bomb, invaded) and Korea (bomb, not invaded).
Who could really blame Iran if they were building one even though they are not?
But he never completed the process....
Then why did Bush welcome him back in? So Goldman Sachs could steal his money? Or was he prevented from completing it by the coup?
The ceremony occurred on the same day that Tunisian authorities jailed Libya’s former prime minister, Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, on charges of illegal entry after he was found without a visa as he was trying to flee across the border to Algeria....
Looks like the Tunisian revolution has faltered.
Also yesterday, fighters from Misrata said in a statement that they are in control of chemical weapons near Khadafy’s hometown of Sirte - one of the three areas where loyalists continue to put up stiff resistance.
--more--"
But we are always winning.
"Fighters renew attack on Khadafy stronghold; Libyan leaders closer to forming new government" by Ben Hubbard and Hadeel al-Shalchi, Associated Press / September 25, 2011
SURT, Libya - With NATO jets roaring overhead, revolutionary forces fought their way into Moammar Khadafy’s hometown yesterday in the first significant push into the stubborn stronghold in about a week.
Libya’s new leaders also tried to move on the political front, promising to announce in the coming week a new interim government that it hopes will help unite the country. However, disagreements remain about what the Cabinet should look like.
The National Transitional Council led the rebellion that forced Khadafy into hiding and has taken over the leadership of the North African nation even as it continues to fight forces still loyal to the fugitive leader.
The council-appointed prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, sought support from leaders at the United Nations yesterday, telling them that “a new Libya is coming to life’’ as a nation committed to democracy, equality, and reintegration into the international community. He said the council was committed to drafting a constitution that would be put to the Libyans for a referendum.
But the council members have been struggling to form a new interim government amid political infighting over everything from which cities should be represented and how many Cabinet ministers there should be. That has raised concerns that the former rebels will splinter into rival factions now that they no longer have the ouster of Khadafy as a common cause....
This really is reading like Iraq!!
Revolutionary forces also have been unable to rout well-armed Khadafy loyalists from strongholds in his hometown of Surt, Bani Walid, and several southern enclaves.
Hundreds of revolutionary fighters launched a new assault on Surt yesterday, a week after heavy fighting forced them to pull back to the city’s outskirts. Explosions rocked the city and smoke rose into the sky as Khadafy’s forces fired mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades at the fighters.
Ambulances sped from the direction of the front line, and a doctor said at least one fighter was killed and 25 others wounded in the battle.
Osama Nuttawa al-Swehli, who was helping coordinate the advance, said fighters moved on the city from four different areas, meeting heavy resistance. He said NATO airstrikes took out some of the loyalists’ tanks, although that could not be confirmed.
He said the intent wasn’t to capture Surt but to increase pressure on forces inside, saying they had intercepted radio signals suggesting high-ranking former regime officials were in the city.
The two sides have been locked in a standoff since former rebels tried to advance on the city a week ago but were repelled by strong resistance.
--more--"
"Mass grave of prisoners found in Libya; More than 1,200 were killed after 1996 uprising" September 26, 2011|By Kim Gamel, Associated Press
And how many have been filled with corpses supplied by NATO?
In a separate development yesterday, officials said gunmen loyal to Khadafy have crossed the Libyan border from Algeria and attacked revolutionary forces in Ghadamis, a town near the frontier, killing six people.
The cross-border attack on Saturday shows loyalist forces have managed to escape Libya and regroup and collect arms, bolstering fears the North African nation could face a protracted insurgency....
Looking more like Iraq every day.
--more--"
"Civilians flee fighting in Khadafy’s hometown; Former rebels enter Surt after 3-day assault" September 27, 2011|By Ben Hubbard, Associated Press
SURT, Libya - Hundreds of civilians fled Moammar Khadafy’s hometown yesterday to escape growing shortages of food and supplies, as fighting escalated between revolutionary forces and regime loyalists.
The anti-Khadafy fighters, who launched an offensive against Surt nearly two weeks ago, reentered the city from the east after a three-day assault that began over the weekend. They advanced to about a mile from the city center yesterday, but said they were holding back to give civilians more time to flee.
NATO kept up its air campaign on Surt, which began after the fall of Tripoli last month. Alliance warplanes struck several military targets over the last two days, including an ammunition and vehicle storage facility and rocket launcher.
Civilians fleeing the city of about 120,000 people described grave shortages of food, drinking water, fuel, and medicine.
Even as the fighting continues and the ousted dictator’s whereabouts remained unknown, the new Libyan leaders are pressing forward with efforts to do away with some of the most hated remnants of the former regime.
Yesterday, the country’s transitional justice minister said he has approved a measure to abolish Khadafy’s state security prosecutor’s office and courts, which sentenced many of the dictator’s opponents to prison.
At a press conference in Tripoli, Mohammed al-Alagi, part of Libya’s new leadership, said he has signed a document to disband the bodies. The step still requires approval by the National Transitional Council, which now runs the country.
Hundreds of opposition members were sentenced to life terms in prisons such as Abu Salim near Tripoli, where inmates were massacred by Khadafy’s forces.
Surt is one of the last remaining bastions of Khadafy loyalists since revolutionary fighters stormed into the capital last month, ending Khadafy’s nearly 42-year rule and sending him into hiding. The fugitive leader’s supporters also remain in control of the town of Bani Walid, southeast of Tripoli, and pockets of territory in the country’s south.
Libyans have been working to restore a sense of normalcy in the North African nation of some six million people.
How in the world is that possible now?
In a boost to the economy, Italian energy company Eni said yesterday it has resumed oil production in Libya after months of interruption by the civil war, tapping 15 wells and producing some 31,900 barrels of oil per day.
That is what is really important to the invaders.
Libya’s economic future could hinge on the performance of its lucrative oil and gas sectors, whose production ground to a halt during this year’s insurgency against Khadafy.
The $AME WA$ $AID about IRAQ and you $EE HOW THAT TURNED OUT!
Libya sits atop Africa’s largest proven reserves of conventional crude, and raked in $40 billion last year from oil and gas exports. Still, analysts say it could take about a year or more to get Libya back to its prewar production of 1.6 million barrels a day.
It really, really is reading like Iraq!!!
British Trade Minister Stephen Green also visited Tripoli and said his country’s businesses are eager to take part in the rebuilding of Libya and will also assist with British expertise. But he said no strategic decisions would be made in Libya until the country has completed writing a new constitution and an elected government is in place....
Readers?!?!
Eman Mohammed, a 30-year-old doctor at central Ibn Sina Hospital in Surt, said many recent injuries appear to be caused by revolutionary forces.
Forces of the transitional government have been firing tank shells, Grad rockets, and mortar rounds toward the city daily with little more than a general idea of what they are targeting.
But it's OKAY because they are OUR GUYS! That's why this information is at the end of the article!
Mohammed, who is from the Warfala tribe that has traditionally supported Khadafy, said most of the loyalist fighters in the city are armed volunteers fighting for personal reasons.
“There is a bloody aspect to it,’’ she said, standing at a rebel checkpoint outside the city. “Many people died in the battlefield as martyrs, so their relatives are angry. It doesn’t have to do with Khadafy anymore. It’s more about revenge than about anything else.’’
It's called liberation.
--more--"
"Meanwhile, a Tunisian judicial official said Libya’s former prime minister has been freed from jail after an appeals court overturned his conviction for illegally entering Tunisia....
I guess they were just making a show of it for the West.
--more--"
Related: Sirte Civilians: NATO Committing Genocide
Libya's City of Bani Walid Crushes Rebel Advance
"Khadafy probably with nomads; Loyalists still resisting calls for surrender" September 29, 2011|By Kareem Fahim and Rick Gladstone, New York Times
TRIPOLI - Despite days of bombardment by NATO warplanes, the colonel’s loyalists, with a seemingly plentiful supply of ammunition, have repelled repeated advances....
Libyan fighters pounded regime positions in Surt with rocket and artillery fire yesterday, sending a black cloud of smoke over Surt’s low-slung skyline.
Dozens of trucks mounted with missiles, anti-aircraft guns. and anti-tank weapons streamed toward the front lines on the western edge of Surt and NATO warplanes roared overhead.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Royal Air Force and NATO aircraft “were very active’’ over Surt on Tuesday.
The alliance usually only gives details about strikes the next day.
Major General Nick Pope said Tornado GR4s twice conducted precision strikes on a large ammunition and vehicle storage depot that has been serving as one of the main bases for Khadafy’s garrison within the city.
He said six laser and GPS guided Paveway bombs were dropped, scoring direct hits that destroyed multiple military facilities within the depot, including storage bunkers.
Yeah, sure.
--more--"
Related: Failure in Libya: The War Party strikes out
"Fleeing Libyan family dies as rebels, loyalists clash" by Hadeel Al-Shalchi and Maggie Michael
Associated Press / October 2, 2011
TRIPOLI, Libya - Two children and their parents were killed by machine-gun fire yesterday while trying to flee Moammar Khadafy’s hometown along with hundreds of other residents, as forces loyal to the ousted regime engaged in heavy clashes with revolutionary fighters surrounding the city.
Their bodies were brought to a makeshift hospital outside Surt, according to Nuri Naari, a doctor at the hospital. They were hit by machine-gun fire as they drove toward the positions of revolutionary forces on the edges of the city, he said. It was unclear who killed them.
Surt is one of the last cities to remain in loyalist hands. After months of stalemate in Libya’s civil war, anti-Khadafy forces swept into the capital in August, and their leaders set up a transitional government. But the continued fighting in holdout cities, and the failure to find and capture Gadhafi, has kept Libya’s new leaders from being able to declare victory....
Khadafy spokesman Moussa Ibrahim, meanwhile, denied reports that he had been captured, telling the Syrian-based TV station Al Rai that he was traveling with 23 fighters in Surt. There was no way to verify the identity of the man speaking in the audio recording, but it sounded like his voice and the TV station has become the mouthpiece for Khadafy’s resistance.
Speaking of mouthpiece media....
Many of those fleeing Surt said conditions in the city continue to deteriorate, with food in short supply and no water or electricity.
“We couldn’t leave our homes because of the shelling; we had to leave the city,’’ said Ahmed Hussein as his wife, mother-in-law, and two children watched the fighters search their car.
Cars, buses, and trucks loaded with families and heaped with household goods lined up at the first checkpoint about half a mile from the front lines. Volunteers gave the families food and water while fighters checked documents and cars.
A small contingent from the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders attempted to enter Surt yesterday to deliver medical supplies but turned back because of heavy shelling and no guarantees that the Khadafy loyalists would hold their fire.
In between the bouts of shooting, Libyan fighters prayed.
--more--"
"Saadi Khadafy is under house arrest in Libya’s neighbor, Niger, where he fled after Tripoli fell to revolutionary forces. His father and two of his brothers are in hiding, presumably inside Libya, as fighting between revolutionary forces and Khadafy’s loyalists continues on three fronts....
Saddam had sons, didn't he?
--more--"
"Libyan leaders reshape Cabinet" by Kim Gamel Associated Press / October 4, 2011
BENGHAZI, Libya - Libya’s transitional leaders named a new Cabinet yesterday and vowed to step down after the country is secured, a move designed to show that the North African nation is moving on even though fighting persists and Moammar Khadafy remains at large...
In the end, the Cabinet lineup did not contain many changes, prompting many Libyans to question why it took so long....
Revolutionary fighters yesterday launched what their commanders said was their final assault on Surt, Khadafy’s hometown and one of the last remaining areas of loyalist resistance. They directed rocket and tank fire toward the city center, ending a two-day slowdown in the fighting as civilians fled.
De facto Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril remains in his position but also takes over as foreign minister....
The new leaders said they would remain in place until the country is secured and liberation is declared, then a new transitional government would be formed within a month.
“We have signed a pledge to the Libyan people that we will not be part of the future government not in any way,’’ said Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, the head of the National Transitional Council who graduated from and taught strategic planning at the University of Pittsburgh for several years.
The pledge was intended to reassure the public they will not suffer under another dictatorship.
Revolutionary forces are still battling loyalists of Khadafy on two major fronts - Surt and Bani Walid - as well as pockets deep in the southern desert. But Jibril said he had asked that liberation be declared after Surt is captured because that would ensure that all sea, land and air entry ports are secure.
He acknowledged fighting would continue in Bani Walid, where the terrain and the harboring of suspected high-level regime figures - possibly including Khadafy’s son Seif al-Islam - has led to a weeks-long standoff. But he said it was important to declare victory and begin rebuilding the country....
--more--"
"Fleeing Gadhafi bastion, bitter at the new Libya" by Hadeel Al-Shalchi Associated Press / October 4, 2011
SIRTE, Libya—Families flowed out of Moammar Gadhafi's besieged hometown Tuesday, exhausted and battered by weeks of hiding from shelling and gunbattles with no meat or vegetables or electricity -- but unbowed in their deep distrust of the revolutionaries trying to crush this bastion of the old regime.
The fleeing residents were a sign of how resistance to Libya's new rulers remains entrenched among those who benefited from Gadhafi's nearly 42-year rule. Many of those fleeing Sirte said that the stiff defense against revolutionary fighters who have been trying to battle their way into Sirte for three weeks is coming not from Gadhafi's military units but from residents themselves, volunteering to take up arms.
"This so-called revolution is not worth it," said Moussa Ahmed, 31, who sat in a line of cars waiting to go through a checkpoint of fighters searching those exiting the city. "But we can't say anything now; when we meet the revolutionaries we have to hide our feelings."
The battle for Sirte, on the Mediterranean coast 250 miles southeast of Tripoli, has become the focal point of the campaign by Libya's new rulers to break the last remnants of Gadhafi's rule. More than six weeks after the then-rebels swept into Tripoli and ousted the longtime leader, Gadhafi remains on the run, his whereabouts unknown.
That's where the printed Globe cut it.
His supporters remain in control not only of Sirte but also the city of Bani Walid and parts of the desert south.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday that the NATO air mission over Libya can't end and the political process can't begin until Sirte is taken. Libya's de facto Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said Monday that Sirte must fall before the transitional leadership can declare victory and set a timeline for elections.
The fight has been grueling. After three weeks, revolutionary forces have managed to get just over a mile into the city. Heavily armed Gadhafi loyalists are holed up in the Ouagadougou Conference Center, a grandiose hall built by Gadhafi in the city center for international summits, and in the city hospital, revolutionary commanders said.
On Tuesday, fighters eased shelling to allow residents to escape, and hundreds of cars filled with men, women and children lined up at checkpoints at Sirte's eastern exit. Mothers carrying babies in blankets stood by the side of the road, their children clutching their robes, as revolutionary fighters rifled through their cars, searching through mattresses, clothes and other belongings for hidden weapons.
"We haven't had vegetables or meat to eat for over a month," said one of the mothers, Attiya Mohammed. "The water is polluted, and forget about electricity -- it's been out since the middle of August."
The city was a war zone, she said, buildings pockmarked with bullet holes and parts of the main hospital demolished.
Like many, she had been afraid to step outside her home. "The city was our prison," she said. "If you left your house you risked being shot and killed."
There was a palpable dislike between those fleeing and the fighters searching through their belongings, though there was no visible harassment and families said they were well treated, some given food and water. During his rule, Gadhafi turned Sirte into virtually a second capital, pouring in investments and giving residents prominent positions. As a result, support for the regime ran high -- and many of those fleeing were dismayed at the fall of the old order.
Many of the fighters besieging Sirte are from the neighboring city of Misrata, which rose up against Gadhafi early and was brutalized under a bloody, weekslong siege by his forces during the revolt that began in mid-February. As a result, there is little love lost between the two cities.
One Misrata revolutionary at the checkpoint, al-Hussein al-Sireiti, said they find four or five cars a day with hidden weapons.
"We also check for people with bullet injuries, because that means they likely were fighting for Gadhafi," he said. They also search for those on a list of known Gadhafi loyalists wanted for interrogation, he said.
Among those fleeing, Fatima al-Gadhafi -- from the same tribe the ousted leader -- bent her head over her five-month old baby girl and sobbed softly.
"They wanted a revolution -- so do it in Misrata and leave the rest of us alone," she said.
Wearing a black headscarf, her face freckled from the sun, she said she had never met revolutionary forces before Tuesday as she exited Sirte. She told one fighter to stop shooting his rifle so near her family's car, but he refused.
"He said Moammar used to do worse than this, but I never saw anything bad from the old regime. We lived in safety and peace always," she said.
Halima Salem, 44, sat patiently in her son's pickup truck while he showed their papers to fighters at the checkpoint. The truck bed was filled with blankets, appliances and clothes. In the seat behind her, four birdcages were filled with colorful love birds and canaries chirping away oblivious of sound of shelling.
"I couldn't leave them behind, they're like one of the family," she exclaimed, smiling at her birds.
She said she had been reluctant to abandon her home because gangs have been looting houses -- she wasn't sure what side they were loyal to, if either. During shelling, she hid under the bed in her master bedroom, clutching the youngest children. Finally, after bad shelling the night before, her sons forced her to pack up.
"How can it be that Libyans are doing this to us? Aren't we the same people?" she lamented, shaking her head. "I feel bad for our (former Gadhafi) army ... They were honorable men with high morals. And now this chaos."
She and many others on the way out said volunteer residents were fighting in the city's defense. "They are all normal men," said Moussa Ahmed, who was leaving to undergo treatment for a kidney stone, but said he would return to Sirte as soon as his could.
"This so-called revolution is just not worth anything, not worth the blood of Libyans that has been spilled," said a friend who was driving Ahmed. He refused to give his name for fear of reprisals.
Staffers from the International Committee of the Red Cross crossed the front lines into Sirte and delivered urgently needed oxygen and other medical supplies to the hospital Monday. Aid workers were providing food for thousands who fled.
At the checkpoint out of Sirte, fighters propped up hoods to look around the engines for hidden weapons or ammunition. They piled mattresses, blankets, food and children's toys by the side of the road.
Fighters passed around a bottle of colorless liquid pulled from one pile of blankets.
"Is it alcohol?" one fighter asked.
It turned out to be eau de toilette, and the fighters gave it back to the family.
"I don't really care if they drink," said al-Sireiti. "As long as there is no weapons in the car, the drinking is between him and his God."
--more--"
"NATO prepared to keep up Libya fight" October 07, 2011|Globe Wire Services
BRUSSELS - NATO is not ready to halt its combat operations in Libya even though the war is winding down, the US defense secretary, Leon Panetta, said yesterday, pointing to prolonged fighting around the town of Surt, the birthplace of Moammar Khadafy.
After two days of meetings, the consensus among NATO defense ministers is that a significant threat remains from forces loyal to Khadafy, the ousted Libyan leader, and that civilians remain at risk, although the hope and expectation is that the military operations can end soon, a senior NATO diplomat said.
Panetta said NATO’s commanders would continue to analyze the security situation in Libya and recommend when the operations should end to political leaders, who have the final say. “It is very important that we make the right decisions,’’ Panetta said at a news conference.
He laid out guidelines for ending NATO’s involvement, which was authorized by the UN Security Council to protect Libyan civilians.
Meanwhile, Khadafy called on Libyans yesterday to take to the streets and wage a campaign of civil disobedience against the country’s new leaders - the first word from the fugitive leader in just over two weeks.
Khadafy said the National Transitional Council, which has assumed leadership of the country since then-rebel forces swept into Tripoli in late August, has no legitimacy because it was not nominated or appointed by the Libyan people.
Khadafy made the appeal in an poor quality audio recording, and it was not possible to verify his identity, but it was broadcast on Syrian-based Al Rai TV, which has become the mouthpiece of his resistance.
I'm tired of the pot-hollering-kettle media, aren't you?
Revolutionary forces, aided by NATO airstrikes, have gained control over most of the North African nation and forced the leader and two of his sons into hiding.
Panetta said the fighting over Surt, the main vestige of Khadafy’s support, needs to end, and an assessment must be made as to whether organized armed units loyal to Khadafy still exist and, if so, whether they represent a threat to civilians.
Panetta also said NATO must determine whether the National Transitional Council has the capacity to protect civilians.
“There is eagerness to end the mission but also concern than we don’t end it too soon and give inspiration to the pro-Khadafy forces,’’ said another senior NATO diplomat.
A third diplomat quoted the Canadian defense minister, Peter MacKay, as saying, “We shouldn’t go before having put out the fire.’’
Why did you start it then?
--more--"
"Libyan Revolutionary Fighters Surround Surt" by Christopher Gillette and Hadeel Al-Shalchi, Associated Press
SURT, Libya - Revolutionary fighters assaulted Moammar Khadafy's hometown from all sides yesterday in what they hope will be a final all-out offensive to crush resistance in the most important bastion of regime loyalists.
How many of these are they going to have fer Christ's sake?
Libya’s new leaders say Surt’s fall is critical to formally declaring liberation and setting a timeline for elections - even if fighting persists elsewhere and the ousted leader is nowhere to be found....
It reads like Iraq because that is the template.
Smoke drifted over the skyline and explosions thundered throughout the besieged city, as long lines of civilians fleeing by car formed at checkpoints manned by revolutionary forces.
Anti-Khadafy fighters pushed into the Mediterranean coastal city from the west, east, and south in heavy fighting, trying to squeeze his supporters into a smaller and smaller perimeter. The two sides battered each other with rockets, mortar shells, and tank fire, as Khadafy snipers fired down on fighters advancing through housing complexes. Yesterday’s push marked the largest new assault on the city in weeks. The former rebels had said they were delaying a final push to allow civilians to escape.
A US administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said that 80 percent of the city was now pacified or under the control of the transitional government. The official said the remaining area might take a little more time as forces move methodically to eliminate the resistance.
NATO airstrikes have been critical to the rebels’ successes....
--more--"
After a while you just get sick of reading the shit.
"Libyan fighters cite gains in battle for Surt" by Christopher Gillette and Kim Gamel Associated Press / October 9, 2011
SURT, Libya - Libyan revolutionary forces yesterday claimed to have captured parts of a convention center that loyalists of Moammar Khadafy have used as their main base in Surt and were shelling the city to rout snipers from rooftops in their new drive to crush this bastion of the old regime.
With NATO warplanes circling overhead, the Libyan fighters battled block by block in the ousted leader’s hometown as snipers rained fire on them.
The battle for Surt is crucial because Libya’s new leaders have promised to declare liberation after it is captured even though fighting continues elsewhere and Khadafy remains on the run. That will allow them to move forward with setting a timetable for elections and establishing normalcy in the oil-rich North African nation....
It's all about the image!
British Defense Secretary Liam Fox pledged to keep up NATO airstrikes even after Surt’s fall, saying the international military action would continue as long as the remnants of the regime pose a risk to the people of Libya.
“We have a message for those who are still fighting for Khadafy that the game is over,’’ he told reporters yesterday in Tripoli....
It is for you, too, Fox!
See: Fox + Werritty + Mossad = ?
Pro-Israel donors are at the heart of Defence Ministry scandal in Britain
Related: Around the U.K.
Haven't seen a word in the Globe since.
--more--"
"Libyan fighters capture key site" October 10, 2011|By Christopher Gillette, Associated Press
SURT, Libya - Libya’s revolutionary forces seized a convention center yesterday that had served as a key base for fighters loyal to Moammar Khadafy in the fugitive leader’s hometown, as they squeezed remaining regime loyalists in the besieged coastal city.
So we are being told.
Khadafy loyalists in Surt are now fighting in an ever-shrinking defensive perimeter consisting only of a Khadafy palace complex, some residential buildings, and a hotel in the city center. The revolutionary forces now control the University of Surt on the southern outskirts....
Khadafy supporters also hold the inland enclave of Bani Walid, where revolutionary forces also reported key gains after weeks of faltering advances that resulted in part from the challenging terrain of desert hills and steep valleys. Bani Walid is believed to be harboring high-level figures in the old regime.
The transitional leadership has said it will declare liberation after Surt’s capture because that will mean it holds all of the seaports and harbors in the oil-rich Mediterranean coastal country.
Libya’s de facto leader, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, head of the governing National Transitional Council, said yesterday that anti-Khadafy fighters have made huge gains in Surt and Bani Walid.
“I do believe, God willing, that the liberation of these cities will happen within this week,’’ Abdul-Jalil told reporters in Tripoli.
Or we will at least be told such.
He said that revolutionary forces in Surt have punched their way into the city center in fierce fighting and are now cleaning out pockets of resistance.
In Bani Walid, advancing fighters drove Khadafy forces out of the airport, said Abdullah Kenshil, who led failed talks for the revolutionaries in search of a peaceful surrender of the city.
“The takeover of Bani Walid is imminent,’’ he said....
Located 250 miles southeast of Tripoli, Surt is key to the physical unity of the nation of some 6 million people, since it lies roughly in the center of the coastal plain where most Libyans live, blocking the easiest routes between east and west.
After a three-week siege from the outskirts, revolutionary forces launched an all-out assault on Surt on Friday, pounding the city with tank shells, field cannons, rockets, and heavy machine guns. Loyalists have put up fierce resistance, and fired back with sniper rifles, mortars, and rocket-propelled grenades.
At Ibn Sina Hospital, scores of wounded civilians crowded the corridors, lying on gurneys and floors to protect them from the shelling and gunfire. There was no electricity or water, and a handful of medical students and nurses were the only medical staff.
????
Also yesterday, Nuri Berruien, chairman of the state-run National Oil Corp., said Libya’s oil production stands at about 25 percent of its prewar levels but could return to an output of 1.6 million barrels per day in about 15 months.
Yeah, who cares about all those dead people?
Oil officials have struggled to get operation back on line to earn much-needed revenues as the country tries to rebuild.
Iraq.
--more--"
"Libyan leader hopes for victory within week" October 13, 2011|Associated Press
BENGHAZI, Libya - Libya’s de facto leader said yesterday that he is optimistic that the former rebels will declare total victory over forces loyal to Moammar Khadafy in less than a week, opening the way for a new transitional government.
Despite heavy resistance, revolutionary forces are closing in on Khadafy’s forces in the ousted dictator’s hometown of Surt, the most important of two major cities yet to be cleared of Khadafy’s armed supporters.
“I hope that liberation will be declared in less than a week, after we free Surt,’’ said Mustafa Abdul-Jalil. “And within less than a month we will form a transitional government, and the youth and women will have a role in that.’’
Libya’s new rulers have promised to name a new government that will guide the oil-rich North African nation to elections within eight months.
Abdul-Jalil made his assertion at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Caid Essebsi of Tunisia, who is visiting Benghazi to restore the two countries’ once-extensive trade.
Before Libya’s uprising broke out in mid-February, Libya and Tunisia had close ties, with some $2 billion in trade and tens of thousands of Tunisians working in Libya.
During the civil war that ensued, Tunisia hosted close to a million refugees from Libya.
And like Iraq, you never read or hear much about them. The article makes it sound like they have all returned, too.
--more--"
Related: Major Media Liars Report Fake NATO Victories
Why am I NOT SURPRISED in the LEAST?
"Khadafy loyalists, foes exchange fire in Tripoli" October 15, 2011|By Mary Beth Sheridan, Washington Post
MISURATA, Libya - A gun battle broke out yesterday between supporters and opponents of ousted leader Moammar Khadafy in some of the worst political violence in the Libyan capital since his government was toppled two months ago.
Truckloads of revolutionary gunmen clutching automatic rifles roared off to the Tripoli neighborhood of Abu Salim after reports emerged of a group of armed people there waving the green flag of Khadafy’s government.
Tripoli? Tripoli was declared taken and liberated!! WTF?
Although authorities said the clash proved relatively minor, it unnerved residents still fearful of Khadafy, whose repressive rule lasted 42 years and who remains at large. The sound of semiautomatic fire echoed across the city, and reports spread of gunfights in other areas of the city.
Yeah, pooh-pooh it, shit media.
Pffffft!
Officials and witnesses offered varying versions of how the conflict began.
Well, you know whom I'm prone to believe.
Colonel Ahmed Barati, head of the country’s military police, said authorities had received intelligence on Thursday of a planned attack by Khadafy loyalists in Abu Salim, one of the last neighborhoods to fall to the rebels in August. He said a group of Khadafy supporters was waving green flags and firing weapons when forces supporting the new government arrived. The Associated Press quoted a witness who gave a somewhat different version, saying snipers opened fire on revolutionary forces after they arrived at the protest, triggering the battle. The anti-Khadafy forces discovered weapons on the rooftops of buildings on the street, the news service said.
Barati said six Khadafy loyalists had been arrested. He had no reports of casualties. But Reuters news service said a revolutionary soldier plunged a knife into the back of one man dragged out of an apartment building in Abu Salim, who had been captured holding a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
--more--"
"Libyan forces tear down Khadafy compound" October 17, 2011|By Kim Gamel, Associated Press
TRIPOLI, Libya - Libyan revolutionary forces bulldozed the green walls surrounding Moammar Khadafy’s main Tripoli compound yesterday, saying it was time to tear down the leading symbol of his tyranny.
What took 'em so long?
The sprawling, fortress-like compound known as Bab al-Aziziya has long been hated by Libyans who feared to even walk nearby during Khadafy’s more than four decades in power, and its capture was seen as a turning point in the civil war as revolutionaries overran the capital in late August.
Ahmad Ghargory, commander of a revolutionary brigade, said the area will be turned into a public park accessible to all Libyans.
“It’s the revolutionary decision to tear down this symbol of tyranny,’’ Ghargory said. “We were busy with the war, but now we have the space to do this.’’
War is over, huh?
Already, the courtyard in front of Khadafy’s former house, which he used for many fiery speeches trying to rally supporters during the uprising, has been turned into a weekly pet market. Tripoli residents roam the premises as if at a museum, with vendors selling revolutionary flags and other souvenirs.
Libyans are eager to move on after decades of repression, even though fighting persists on two fronts and tensions between supporters of the former regime and revolutionary forces remain high - even in Tripoli. The continued instability has delayed efforts by the transitional leadership to move forward with efforts to hold elections and establish democracy....
--more--"
"Libyan forces control stronghold" October 18, 2011|By Kim Gamel, Associated Press
TRIPOLI, Libya - Libyan revolutionary forces have captured almost all of Bani Walid, one of Moammar Khadafy’s last remaining strongholds, but still face pockets of resistance as they try to end a weekslong standoff, officials said yesterday.
Fighters in Bani Walid, which has proven particularly hard to capture because of its difficult terrain, said they have entered the city center for the first time but still were fighting Khadafy supporters in surrounding villages.
“Now we are controlling more than 90 percent of Bani Walid,’’ military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Bani told reporters in Tripoli. He said revolutionary forces had suffered heavy casualties but declined to give a number.
Residents and fighters said that Khadafy forces retreated in the face of the advance over the past two days.
Fierce resistance in Bani Walid and Khadafy’s hometown of Surt has prevented Libya’s new leaders from declaring full victory and setting a timetable for elections. It has been more than two months since the former rebels gained control of the rest of the oil-rich North African nation.
In a step toward normalcy, the transitional leadership council confirmed it has signed an agreement with NATO that partly lifts the no-fly zone imposed in March over the country, allowing resumption of some flights without seeking NATO approval....
Anwar Elfeitori, the minister of transportation and communications, said the agreement signed Thursday in Malta will make it easier to transport wounded fighters from the front lines for treatment.
“The partial lifting of the air embargo will help with the transportation of the casualties, which is the number one priority at this time, as well as facilitate the movement of people between Libya and the rest of the world,’’ Elfeitori said.
--more--"
"Clinton vows backing for Libya" October 19, 2011|By Joby Warrick, Washington Post
TRIPOLI, Libya - In a historic visit punctuated by celebratory gunfire and cries of “God is great,’’ Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton toured the Libyan capital yesterday to pledge continued US support for a transitional government still struggling to consolidate control over the war-ravaged country.
Clinton, the highest-ranking US official to visit Libya since the ouster of autocratic leader Moammar Khadafy in August, offered Libyan leaders practical and financial help on a wide range of fronts, from rebuilding the economy to caring for the country’s war-wounded to rounding up thousands of anti-aircraft missiles that have gone missing amid recent fighting.
But she also warned of lingering dangers, including the risk of prolonged resistance by Khadafy loyalists as well as the possibility that democracy could be usurped before it has time to take root....
As she spoke, there were fresh reminders of the challenges facing the interim government as it seeks to bring normalcy and order to the battered country after decades of dictatorship. In the Khadafy stronghold city of Surt, pro-Khadafy forces repelled new assaults by revolutionary militias seeking to eliminate one of the last remaining holdouts of the former government.
We are being SO LIED TO by the DAMN AmeriKan media!!!
In Tripoli, control over parts of the city remained divided among rival militia groups, some of whom have resisted the idea of disarming and returning to civilian life.
Iraq.
Clinton said that the US and Libyan governments remain focused on restoring security and pledged that NATO warplanes would continue to back the interim government’s military while fighting continued. She acknowledged that US officials were concerned that Khadafy could cause significant problems as long as he is at large.
“We want to do everything we can to prevent him from causing trouble for the new Libya,’’ said Clinton. “We don’t know where he is, but we hope he can be captured or killed soon so you don’t have to fear him any longer.’’
And WITHIN a DAY or TWO he is DEAD? Cui bono?
A senior State Department official said later that Clinton’s “captured or killed’’ phrase was “not intended to signal a policy change.’’
As if that was not the policy!
Clinton arrived in a capital city that has been cleared of the rubble and burned-out vehicles from weeks of street battles over the summer, yet still resembles an armed camp. Gun-toting men in mismatched camouflage guarded intersections and government buildings, and the staccato of small-arms fire greeted Clinton’s motorcade as she arrived under an overcast sky....
At a town hall meeting, Clinton was greeted enthusiastically by university students, who took turns quizzing her on topics from women’s rights to US internships. Everywhere, Clinton offered encouragement and a promise of continued US backing.
“Libya is as well-positioned as any country in recent history to make this journey to democracy successfully,’’ she told the gathering. “But it will not be easy. You have to unify.’’
***********************
Unlike other Arab states that have overthrown dictatorships, Libya has vast resources, including one of the world’s largest petroleum reserves and billions of dollars in cash and assets locked away in Western accounts during Khadafy’s rule.
Iraq.
Citing those riches, Clinton offered only modest increases in US financial and other aid. She announced millions of dollars in additional funds and dozens of specialists to help Libyan officials recover and destroy conventional weapons from Khadafy’s arsenal.
--more--"
"Libyan PM says Gadhafi trying to recruit fighters" October 19, 2011|Rami Al-Shaheibi, Associated Press
Libya’s acting prime minister said Wednesday that ousted leader Moammar Gadhafi is believed to be recruiting fighters from other African countries and preparing for a possible insurgency, hoping to destabilize Libya’s new regime.
I guess that won't be happening with him dead, right?
The comments by Mahmoud Jibril reflected fears that Gadhafi will be able to use friendly relations with neighboring countries cultivated during his more than four decades in power to help him launch a bid to return to power....
I guess he won't be doing that now unless he is a ghost from the grave.
He said Gadhafi had made a deal with the Hamada tribe, which roams the borders between Chad, Sudan and Libya, to provide 12,000 fighters “to enter Libya and start the fight.’’
Suggesting that the U.S. also was concerned about the possibility, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said during a visit to Tripoli Tuesday that she hoped Gadhafi would be captured or killed.
And then, HE WAS!!
Gadhafi loyalists already have put up fierce resistance in several areas, preventing Libya’s new leaders from declaring full victory nearly two months after revolutionary forces seized Tripoli and have seized many other parts of the oil-rich North African nation....
But they CAN NOW, cui bono!
It is unclear whether Gadhafi loyalists who have escaped might continue the fight and attempt to organize an insurgency using the vast amount of weapons Gadhafi was believed to have stored in hideouts in the remote southern desert.
Wouldn't they NOW DO THAT for his MEMORY and MARTYRDOM?
Unlike Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Gadhafi had no well-organized political party that could form the basis of an insurgent leadership. However, regional and ethnic differences have already appeared among the ranks of the revolutionaries, possibly laying the foundation for civil strife.
Great! Another Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, whatever!
Gadhafi has issued several audio recordings trying to rally supporters. Jibril and other Libyan officials have said they believe he’s hiding somewhere in the vast southwestern desert near the borders with Niger and Algeria.
Jibril also addressed concerns about a rise in revenge attacks and lawlessness as thousands of young men with weapons have found themselves unemployed after waging months of brutal fighting.
He said authorities were considering plans to give them the option of joining private security companies that will be given priority for securing the borders, oil fields and public institutions, or the national army....
It really is the Iraq playbook all over again!!
--more--"
Related: Libya’s Moammar Khadafy killed
Gee, what a coincidence.
Related:
"Clinton’s Journey: Gaddafi Reported Killed in Sirte
by Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
October 20, 2011
In the wake of the wholesale destruction of the Libyan town of Sirte by al-Qaeda affiliated rebels and NATO, the National Transitional Council has announced it captured Moammar Gaddafi, who was supposedly wounded after a NATO attack. AFP provided a photograph that appeared to show him wounded or dead.
Reuters reported that the ousted Libyan leader had died of his wounds, citing a senior NTC military official. “He was also hit in his head,” the official said. “There was a lot of firing against his group and he died.”
Officials said Gaddafi was trying to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked.
Others say Gaddafi was found in a hole and begged not to be killed. Iraq’s toppled leader Saddam Hussein was also allegedly found in a hole by invading U.S. soldiers in December of 2003. Hussein was later executed.
Prior the announced and unconfirmed death of Gaddafi, Secretary of State Clinton ventured Libya and called for his murder. “We hope he can be captured or killed soon so that you don’t have to fear him any longer,” Clinton told an orchestrated gathering of students at a “town hall-style gathering” in Tripoli, the Detroit Free Press reported on October 19.
Clinton’s public call for assassination is described as unusual.
In 1986, then president Reagan attacked Libya and attempted to kill Gaddafi. The plan contrived by the CIA killed between 40 and 100 Libyan civilians and resulted in the destruction of the French embassy.
Assassination is hardly a new tactic for the United States. The CIA has plotted over the years the murder of dozens of people deemed politically unacceptable to the establishment, including president Nasser of Egypt, Costa Rican president Jose Figueres, Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic, French president Charles de Gaulle, and Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, among others.
“I am proud to stand here on the soil of a free Libya,” Clinton said. “The United States was proud to stand for you in your fight for freedom and we will continue to stand with you as you continue this journey.”
Libya’s “journey” includes a humanitarian crisis due to NATO’s bombing of the country. The Red Cross and others were overwhelmed with demands for food, hospital supplies, and other aid for the hundreds of thousands of Libya civilians affected by the conflict, ABC in Australia reported in August.
In September, NATO’s al-Qaeda rebels were accused of commiting unlawful killings and torture, Amnesty International said in a report. Numerous reports of racist attacks against black Libyans and foreign workers emerged, as did accusations of rape.
Now that Gaddafi is reportedly out of the way, the globalist plan to reduce one of the wealthiest nations in Africa to squalor and dependence on IMF and World Bank neoliberal loan sharks and the ravages of international bankers can move forward.
Prior to the invasion Libya was considered the Switzerland of the African continent with advanced health and education systems available to all citizens.
“The objective of the NATO bombings from the outset was to destroy the country’s standard of living, its health infrastructure, its schools and hospitals, its water distribution system,” Michel Chossudovsky wrote in September. “An entire nation has been bombed with the most advanced ordnance, including uranium coated ammunition.”
Clinton’s journey for Libya is one of misery and submission to the global dictates of the bankers. Libya can now share the fate of Iraq and other nations that dared go against the dictates of the globalists.
Now that the mission is finished in Libya, the elite can turn their attention on Iran.
--MORE w/VIDEO--"
Some have their doubts, and they are right.
The REAL STORY is NO ONE BELIEVES the US GOVERNMENT or its MOUTHPIECE MEDIA ANYMORE!
