Oorlog in Libië #96. Met collateral damage.

Tripoli
Libya govt spox just left the hotel in a hurry. 10 minutes later we're hearing reports of another big defection.

Reporting from Tripoli, chafing on Gadhafi's leash

TRIPOLI, Libya - At the Rixos Hotel, Moammar Gadhafi's gilded cage for foreign journalists, fistfights break out. Paranoia is high. And the Libyan government is on unblinking watch for any deviation in the official script.

Waitresses who serve coffee with smiles on their faces act more like trained intelligence agents hours later, when a woman bursts in claiming that militiamen had raped her. They expertly wrestle her to the ground.

Government minders feed reporters the narrative of a nation united behind its longtime leader, then arrest or even expel those who sneak away to find out for themselves. Government-led trips dubbed "magical mystery tours" by the press corps sometimes turn perilous.

And then there's the noise, the pro-Gadhafi music blaring on the bus with state journalists singing along and pumping their fists in time and even in journalists' rooms as housekeepers clean them.

The psychological stress is much different from that faced by reporters on the front line in eastern Libya, where bullets, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades are the threats.

The Rixos, by contrast, is a five-star hotel, though it has rapidly declined as journalists and minders have taken over the building and some staff have fled. Still, for Western journalists accustomed to press freedoms, working in Tripoli under Gadhafi's rules has in some ways been tougher than reporting from a battlefield.

One reporter muses about whether his dinner is being drugged. An Italian journalist punched a government minder and had to be pulled off the man by a couple of British reporters.

A French journalist threw his coffee at his cameraman during an argument, but it landed on the back of a government spokesman, who had to change his clothes. Another punching fight ensued.

"It has become a competition to see who gets kicked out first," one American journalist has a habit of saying.

Some journalists already have been deported most of them Arabic speakers. They are more tightly controlled than the rest of the corps because they understand the culture better, and have many times caught discrepancies in the government-paid translators who try to control the interviews and information.

When Iman al-Obeidi barged into the hotel to tell her story of being gang-raped, it was the Arab journalists who were harassed the most for trying to interview her. Government minders called them traitors of their own culture and said they should understand why the other Libyans were unhappy with her dramatic entrance.

Al-Obeidi now faces criminal charges.

Reporters are lectured at press conferences, accused of not doing their job, of not "asking the hard questions" or "asking the wrong questions."

When an Associated Press reporter was trying to decipher the exact story of how a missile allegedly hit a farm in Tripoli, the minders called her unprofessional and said she was trying to skew the story.

Journalists have to put up with the government control if they want to report from Tripoli. Even though they see little Gadhafi does not want them to see, they have a unique window on the conflict quite possibly the most important window if his regime falls.

For now, however, the experience can be disorienting and excruciating.

"Good moooorning all jooournalists!" Moussa Ibrahim's call booms over the hotel's public address system every day, the hint of a British accent in his perfect English betrays the 15 years he lived in the United Kingdom.

The hotel itself has lost some of its sheen. Hotel management has canceled room service and laundry service, and has taken all the pictures and decorations off the walls. Chairs and tables have been removed from a pretty terrace where some journalists used to drink coffee and work it's now a desolate hall people use as a smoking room.

Each day sees a "magical mystery tour" a government-run bus trip to see a location around Tripoli. It usually turns out to be nothing like what the minders described.

At their worst, the trips leave the press corps in fear of their lives. There was the night the bus ran out of gas outside the Gadhafi stronghold of Sirte, almost stranding journalists in the desert as rocket fire pounded nearby.

On another trip, unhappy locals opened gunfire at the bus and journalists had to run for cover.

The trips usually end with at least one very loud staged rally: Gadhafi supporters waving green flags and dancing around for the benefit of the television cameras. The print reporters will try to sidle to the sidelines to talk to anyone who seems like they're not part of the rally, only to be ushered back to the main crowd by the government minders.

Reporters are so tired of the staged rallies they now stand listless during the events, smoking cigarettes and wincing at the loud pro-Gadhafi shouting.

The hotel lobby has become a meeting point to share information, rumors and gossip for the reporters.

Sometimes a couple will attempt to sneak out of the hotel, minderless, but it has become increasingly difficult to do this with taxi drivers getting in trouble for driving foreigners around town.

If on the off chance, journalists are able to slip away and get one or two precious quotes of dissent in the capital, they walk around with the sense of pride that comes with beating the system, and brag to their colleagues and competitors about their work.

Usually the sneaking trips have ended badly some reporters were arrested, cuffed, detained for a day, disappeared for a few hours, or kept in a parking lot to get berated by Gadhafi militiamen.

Sometimes just being arrested feels like work has been done that day.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/42402856

Net buiten Brega zondag 3 april

The new Libyan Satellite channel broadcasting from Doha in Qatar has conducted a telephone interview with Eman Al Obeidi in Tripoli in which it is confirmed that Eman has been set free but is yet unable to go back to her family in Tobruk. No other news sources have confirmed this, but we have simply translated the telephone interview for you.

Translation:

Anchor So, Eman Al Obeidi that was tortured and assaulted by Gaddafis security forces and then imprisoned after she exposed Gaddafis actions, here she is now outside the prison bars once again and she joins us now via Telephone from Tripoli. Eman, Good evening. Eman? Can you hear me?

Eman Hello, may peace be upon you

Anchor May peace be upon you too. Firstly, praise be to God for your safety. Eman to begin with, the first step was in the way that came out to expose Gaddafis regime. What happened so that you came out this ways?

Eman First of all, I want to congratulate the people of Benghazi and eastern Libya and tell them that we are with you in our hearts and completely in every other way. I want to congratulate our brave revolutionaries, and our families for their resolute stance, and that we are not afraid of them (Gaddafis regime). I am here in Tripoli and I am not scared of them or their battalions

Anchor Eman I ask you about the way you came out in the way you did in front of the cameras to expose Gaddafis regime. What happened exactly?

Eman Gaddafis security forces kidnapped me from a taxi. They have set up checkpoints all over Tripoli, its entrances and exits. They have checkpoints stopping people. Amongst the people manning the checkpoints are volunteers, but there are also army officers. They steal from the foreigners and they subject people to thorough checks. On the day I was leaving my friends house, a security car stopped me and took me out the taxi and kidnapped me. They raped me and held me captive for 2 days

Anchor Eman, after your detention. The government spokesman came out and confirmed that Eman suffers from mental disorders. How do you respond to him?

Eman I mean you can see the Libyan regime spokesman which does not represent all the Libyans, that when people go out to demonstrate they say they they are taking hallucinogenic pills. When people go out asking for freedom and dignity, they say they are drunk. ANd when I came out to ask for my rights, they said I was mentally retarded. I do not know how to respond to this regime Sir

Anchor Yes, after they arrested you while they were dragging you to the car, you said they were taking you to prison. Where did they take you?

Eman They did not take me to the doctor or a hospital. They did not take me to a health or psychological. Rather, they kept me in custody for 3 days. For 3 whole days I was kept in custody for investigation purposes with all the different branches. The Intelligence Agency, the External Security, the Internal Security, The Criminal Investigation Department, The Directorate of Securitythere wasnt a single security branch that did not question me. For 72 hours and I was being questioned

Anchor Right, Eman can you confirm to us that there are many Eman Al Obeidys in Libyan prisons right now?

Eman Sorry?

Anchor I mean, are there other women with you in Libyan prisons asking for freedom who have also been arrested

Eman I did not hear the question

Anchor Eman, you hear me now?

Eman Yes

Anchor I mean, are there are women with you who were being questioned?

Eman When they were questioning me where there any other women?

Anchor Yes

Eman Arrested women or women who work in the security forces?

Anchor Arrested and then question

Eman Sir, I did not see anyone, I was placed in a room in isolation. During the my entire arrest period, I was being asked one thing: To come out on the Liban state channel and say that those who kidnapped me were not from Gaddafis security forces, rather they were from the revolutionaries and armed gangs. That was their only request and I kept refusing

Anchor- Eman, how did they set you free?

Eman They were saying that I was refusing to go to the medical examiner. But I DID go to the medical examiner and he proved that I was raped and subjected to forced sexual intercourse. But after 3 days and pressure from the media, they transferred me to the Attorney General in Tripoli. And after they received confirmation from the Medical examiner they told me that they will take all necessary measures to arrest those who were responsible, but till now till this hour, I was at the Attorney Generals office and they have not done anything so far.

Anchor Eman, right now as they say the ball is in your court. There are many cases, will you be raising a case against Gaddafis regime for example, for their illegitimate action of arresting you. The main reason for their arresting you is yet unknown

Eman Sir, sir, raise a case against who? If this regime is the one that judges, arrests and sets free. If the Libyan State TV.Sir, I was a victim for the Libyan regime twice. The first time a victim to his security forces, and the second time a victim to his satellite channels. These channels that I cannot describe with a single word

Anchor Eman, did they guarantee you that you will be with your family in Benghazi and Tobruk in a day or two?

Eman Sorry?

Anchor Did you take a guarantee from them that will allow you to go to Benghazi and Tobruk, to your family I mean

Eman I told the Attorney General that i want to go to my family in Toburk, but they declined my request

Anchor Another question regarding those who were detaining you. Were they pressured, especially by the huge demonstrations that were organised by our sisters in Benghazi and Tobruk. Thousands of women came out asking for the freedom of Eman Al Obeidy. Did these demonstrations help to pressure the regime to set you free?

Eman- Yes, if these demonstrations did not come out and had the media not take care of my case, I would have never seen daylight again. You know very well that Gaddafis regime is not understanding in these situations

Anchor Eman Al Obeidy, the women of Freedom, we thank you greatly. And in my name and the name of all the new Libyan channel, we congratulate you for your release and praise God for your safety.

22:47 Al Jazeera Arabic an eyewitness from Al Qalaa has reported the following:

1. Revolutionaries attacked Gaddafis forces that were stationed in an area called Taghma. Their attacks began at 5am and continued attacking till 10am which resulted in Gaddafis forces suffering losses in men and weaponry. Gaddafis forces retreated to the area of Jfara where they began indiscriminately firing Grad missiles into the town of Al Qalaa. This random bombardment caused the residents to flee to an area called Thaahir Al Qalaa.

Gaddafis forces were bombarding Al Qalaa from 20km. They bombed schools, homes and mosques.