Oorlog in Libi� #98: Waar Gaddafi nog altijd op de troon zit...

quote:

Op vrijdag 22 april 2011 00:13 schreef Slayage het volgende:

[..]

das mooi, maar waar zijn die dingen dan gestationeerd?

quote:

http://www.volkskrant.nl/(...)n-uit-Misurata.dhtml

Het Libische leger gaat de westelijke stad Misurata mogelijk verlaten om de strijd daar tegen de opstandelingen over te laten aan stammen uit het gebied. Dat heeft de Libische onderminister van Buitenlandse Zaken, Khaled Kaim, vrijdag gezegd.

Volgens Kaim hebben de stammen gezegd dat zij zelf de opstandelingen uit Misurata zullen verdrijven als het leger van Muammar Kaddafi daar niet in slaagt. Kaim zei dat de stammen klagen dat door de strijd in Misurata het leven van de mensen is ontregeld en de handel stil is komen te liggen.

Ook een gevangen genomen soldaat uit het Kadaffi-getrouwe leger heeft gezegd dat zij gisteren het bevel hebben gekregen de stad te verlaten.

Troepen van Kaddafi belegeren al wekenlang Misurata, het belangrijkste bolwerk van de rebellen in het westen van Libi�. Volgens mensenrechtenorganisaties heeft de strijd om Misurata al zeker duizend levens ge�ist.

quote:

Misrata rebels strike back against Gaddafi snipers

Libya rebels seize tallest buildings, favoured by pro-Gaddafi snipers


Rebel fighters in the besieged city of Misrata have won a significant victory by retaking key buildings that had been occupied by Muammar Gaddafi's forces for more than a month.

The Tameen office block, the city's tallest building, with a view across Misrata, was captured after bombardment by rebel forces. Numerous snipers were either killed or captured. Several other buildings nearby were also cleared, leaving the rebels in control of the northern end of Tripoli Street, the city's main thoroughfare, which Gaddafi's forces have been desperate to capture. Snipers had caused havoc in the city after they were sent in on 19 March, picking off civilians and rebels at will, as well as firing missiles from the roof of the buildings into civilian areas.

On Friday morning, rebel forces were moving freely around the area near the Tameen building, which is littered with abandoned tanks. Firefighters were cleaning the streets.

"In this area, all the families had to leave because of the threat of the snipers," said Hadi Tantoun, a journalist and rebel. "Capturing this building was very important."

The snipers had been cut off from the rest of Gaddafi's forces for a week or more, unable to receive supplies. Entering the Tameen building through the reception, strewn with debris, it was possible to get a glimpse of how they had been living.

Mattresses and blankets indicated that several snipers had been sleeping in the stairwell on the first floor, relatively safe in the centre of the building. Their cooking pots still stood in the atrium area nearby. The once-smart offices on the sides of the building, whose tenants were mostly insurance agents, had been trashed by the snipers, with files on the floor and upturned sofas. In some offices, cabinets had been pushed against windows for protection. Many glass panes had been shattered by rebel fire.

"Every night we attacked them with our RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] and Kalashnikovs," said Abdullah Hafiz, 24, a member of the "City Centre" rebel cell that finally liberated the building. "They killed a lot of civilians." On higher floors there were empty tins of tuna and tomato paste, blankets, mattresses and sandals, and a few discarded green uniforms.

According to rebel fighters, the few dozen snipers that still occupied the building this week had changed into civilian clothes before trying to escape down Tripoli Street on Thursday, towards their main base in the vegetable market. A sniper's chair had been placed under a small window, which offered a view down the main street. Dozens of spent bullet shells and cigarette butts littered the floor around the chair.

In an office that had belonged to an architect there were graffiti written in green ink-– Gaddafi's colour – in Arabic. It read: "If we survive, we are warning you gays and dogs. We will not forgive anybody from Misrata. We will fuck your daughters and your wives." One of the rebels had already penned a riposte: "Misrata is strong. We will win in the end."

On the top floor, several Gaddafi soldiers had been sleeping on dirty mattresses next to the elevator works. A torn photograph of a woman – a wife of one of the snipers perhaps – lay on the floor. On the roof there were thousands of spent bullet shells, and numerous discarded cases of anti-tank missiles that had been fired into the city.

Up here the snipers would have had a clear view of the city, and everything that moved down below. They would have seen the destruction in the area nearby – buildings pockmarked by gunfire, featuring gaping holes where shells had struck, blackened by smoke. Glass and tyres and twisted metal on the streets.

At the foot of the building lay the body of a sniper, covered with a blanket. It had been burned. One of the rebels said that if Gaddafi's forces could not get their dead back to base, they set them on fire.

A few civilians ventured cautiously on to Tripoli Street, which housed some of the city's best coffee shops, several banks and the Italian-built hotel where Mussolini once stayed.

A rebel with a loudhailer warned them not to try to enter any of the shops: "This is not your property. Even if it is government property, it is for all the people."

He then cleared the area, saying it was still dangerous. The rebels had learned their lesson on Thursday night.

After taking over the Tameen building, they dropped their guard while celebrating.

Several fighters were killed, prompting scenes of grief at the main hospital, where brothers, fathers and colleagues of the victims wept and swore to avenge them.

In a sign that the regime was giving up on Misrata, the Libyan deputy foreign minister, Abdul Ati al-Obeidi, said yesterday that the army may withdraw and let surrounding tribes deal with the rebels. He also said the use of Predator drones – announced by US defence secretary, Robert Gates, on Thursday – would be a crime against humanity.

John McCain, the US senator who arrived in Benghazi yesterday to meet rebels, called for increased military support for the opposition, including weapons, training and stepped-up airstrikes, in a full-throated endorsement of the opposition in its fight to oust Gaddafi. A day after the US began flying armed drones to bolster Nato firepower, the top Republican on the Senate armed services committee said the US and other countries should recognise the opposition's political leadership as the "legitimate voice of the Libyan people".

The White House disagrees, saying it is for the Libyan people to decide who their leaders are.

quote:

Libyan forces loyal to Gaddafi attacked on retreat from Misrata

Rebels fight back in besieged city as Nato targets Muammar Gaddafi's Tripoli compound

Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi claim to have come under fierce attack as they tried to retreat from the rebel-held city of Misrata.

The Libyan government earlier said Nato air strikes may force it to withdraw from the port city, 120 miles east of Tripoli, and let tribes loyal to Gaddafi deal with rebels.

Early this morning, Nato bombs hit what appeared to be a bunker in Gaddafi's Tripoli compound. Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said three people were killed by the "very powerful explosion" in a car park.

Reuters reporters said they saw two large holes in the ground where the bombs had penetrated what appeared to be an underground bunker.

The strike came after the most senior American military officer admitted the conflict was heading towards a "stalemate" despite more than a month of allied strikes against Gaddafi's forces.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US military's joint chiefs of staff, said Gaddafi's ground forces had been degraded by 30% to 40%.

But he warned that Nato forces faced a protracted military engagement in the civil war-torn country.

"It's certainly moving towards a stalemate," Mullen told American troops during a visit to Iraq's capital, Baghdad, yesterday. "At the same time, we've attrited somewhere between 30% and 40% of his main ground forces, his ground force capabilities. Those will continue to go away over time."

He said the allies would "put the squeeze" on the Libyan dictator "until he's gone".

"Gaddafi's gotta go," he said.

A group of wounded Libyan soldiers captured by rebels in Misrata, the last large city held by rebels in the west of the country, said they had come under fierce attack from anti-Gaddafi forces as the army tried to retreat.

"We have been told to withdraw. We were told to withdraw yesterday," one soldier, Khaled Dorman, told Reuters.

Ayad Muhammad, another soldier, said: "The rebels attacked us while we were withdrawing from Misrata near a bridge this morning,"

Another serviceman told the news agency the Libyan government had lost control over Misrata, the country's third largest city.

Reuters reported that it was unclear how far out of Misrata the army had managed to withdraw.

Earlier, the Libyan deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaim, said the army had been given an "ultimatum" to stop the rebellion in Misrata, which has been under siege for nearly two months. Hundreds of people have died in shelling and fighting, petrol is scarce and thousands of migrant workers are trapped there.

quote:

Libya: 'If people in Misrata put down their guns, Gaddafi will kill all of us'

More than 1,000 people have died in Misrata since protests began in February, but its volunteer fighters remain defiant

The slight, smooth-cheeked young man sat patiently in the hospital reception as gurneys rushed by carrying the dead and wounded from the frontline. He had two crutches at his side. He had one leg.

His name was Hassan Ibrahim, he said. Born in 1992 in Misrata, Libya's third biggest city, home to more than 300,000 people. A first-year engineering student. What had happened? He flipped open a laptop, and called up a picture taken on 18 March, a month after the uprising began, and the day when Muammar Gaddafi sent in five brigades to crush it once and for all.

Ibrahim had been walking along a street near the city centre with several friends when a column of tanks suddenly advanced, firing. A shell exploded close to them. The photograph showed his torso, his right leg, and mangled flesh where his left thigh used to be. Bleeding heavily, he was brought to the private clinic that now serves as a trauma hospital. Doctors who just a few weeks earlier had barely even seen a bullet wound had to make a quick decision. They amputated his left leg just below the hip to save his life.

Ibrahim grimaced slightly as he stood up, and then said: "What happened to me is nothing compared to others who have given their lives."

This is the spirit of Misrata, a besieged city that has resisted everything that Gaddafi has thrown at it for more than two months, thanks to the solidarity and fierce determination of its people. On Friday night the Libyan government admitted that its military solution in Misrata was not working, with deputy foreign minister Khaled Kaim saying local pro-Gaddafi tribes might be sent into the city to end the rebellion.

The rebels even claimed that the tables had been turned on Gaddafi's forces. "Misrata is free, the rebels have won. Of Gaddafi's forces, some are killed and others are running away," rebel spokesman Gemal Salem said. But heavy fighting continued on Saturday, with street battles in the area around the technical college, close to where Gaddafi's forces have a base. By noon at least 14 rebel fighters had been killed.

But each day of anguish only appears to strengthen the people's resolve. Many thousands of men who had never held a gun before have taken up arms and fight street by street against an enemy with far superior firepower.

Other volunteers drive bulldozers or trucks, bringing sand from the beach to stop Gaddafi's tanks rolling down the streets. Families forced to flee from the outskirts of the city, or the city centre, where the fighting has been heaviest, have been welcomed into strangers' homes in safer areas. "People who never knew each other are now living together in the same home," said Ibrahim Amer, 21. "In a big house, you can find 50 or 60 people living together."

Committees have been set up to help the poor and the displaced, who collect free food from warehouses and $10 in cash daily. Women prepare meals, which are sent out to the hundreds of checkpoints manned by young volunteers.

The cost of the resistance has been huge. At least 1,000 people have died, picked off by Gaddafi's snipers, who set up base in the city's tallest buildings, or by indiscriminate shelling. Thousands more have been injured.

"We have done too many amputations here, arms, legs, both legs," said Dr Khalid Abu Falgha, a member of Misrata's medical committee. "When this is over we are going to need so many prosthetic limbs."

No one knows when that will be. But this much is certain: nobody in Misrata can contemplate life under Gaddafi again. They will win, or they will die.

"If people put their guns down, Gaddafi is going to kill us all," said Haythem Ibrahim, who runs a large company importing goods from China. He has a US passport, but has never contemplated leaving the city by boat, as he could have. Instead, he spends most days at the hospital with his brother Suleiman, archiving footage of the revolution – and the war.

The brothers' younger twin siblings, 24, a dentist and trainee doctor, are also at the hospital, working 18-hour days, sleeping on the premises.

"The people of Misrata are all in this together – this revolution has brought us together," said Haythem, 31. "I have lost so much of my business because of this. But it's only money. People are sacrificing much more."

The uprising began on 19 February, a small demonstration called in support of the people of Benghazi in the east, whose own protests had been crushed by the government. For 14 days the people of Misrata controlled the city. Some say it was the greatest time of their lives. People flooded the streets, crying with joy. But they knew Gaddafi's forces would come back. And they were prepared. When a large convoy of Gaddafi tanks and armoured vehicles reached the city on 6 March, they met no resistance and were drawn into the city centre.

Hundreds of young men were waiting on the roofs of buildings, armed with petrol bombs and "gelatinas", tiny bombs made with TNT, which they had been instructed to prepare.

The mobile network was still working then, and once the order was given the homemade bombs rained down on the convoy. Gaddafi's forces were humbled. Many died, others retreated. Inside some of the destroyed tanks rebels found cakes and juice; the troops had been so convinced that they would retake the city they had prepared for a party.

On 18 March, a day after Nato instituted the no-fly zone, Gaddafi's forces launched a furious attack on Misrata. For two days they pounded it, but again the rebels rode out the attack. Gaddafi's troops were unable to take control of the city, and remain on its southern side. Last week many of the snipers in the tallest buildings were killed, captured or chased away by the rebels.

But the shelling by Gaddafi's forces continued. On Wednesday night, Ibrahim was in the hospital again. He had an inch-long wound on his neck.

"I was sleeping at home with my family when I heard shells falling nearby," he said. "I went to wake up my brother and tell him to move. Then the shell came through the roof."

A piece of shrapnel nicked his neck. When he looked at the wall behind him, he saw a big piece of metal. If it had landed a few inches closer, he would have been dead.

He shrugged, and half-smiled. Then he excused himself, took hold of his crutches and hopped away towards his car, which he has already learned to drive with one leg. On the back of his jersey was sewn a small flag, black, red, and green, with a star and crescent in the middle – the Libyan flag before Gaddafi took over.

quote:

21:38 Al Jazeera

Abdelati Obeidi, the Libyan foreign minister, has crossed the border into Tunisia, according to Tunisias state TAP news agency.

TAP said Obeidi, who entered Tunisia through the main transit point of Ras Jdir on the Tunisian-Libyan border, was heading to Djerba airport. It said he was believed to be on his way to Cyprus, but a senior Cypriot government source said: We cannot confirm this report, he is not coming to Cyprus.

A security source at Djerba airport said Obeidi later took a flight to the capital Tunis.

quote:

Opnieuw zware gevechten in Misurata

De West-Libische stad Misurata is vandaag opnieuw zwaar onder vuur komen te liggen van troepen die loyaal zijn aan Muammar Kaddafi, ondanks een eerdere aankondiging van de regering dat haar troepen hier de strijd hadden gestaakt.

'De situatie is hier zeer gevaarlijk', zei een zegsman van de rebellen in Misurata, dat al twee maanden wordt bestookt door de troepen van Kaddafi. Volgens de woordvoerder werden het centrum en drie woonwijken beschoten.

Over slachtoffers is niets bekend. Volgens mensenrechtenorganisaties zijn in de havenstad, die voor de oorlog 300.000 mensen telde, al zeker duizend doden gevallen.

Onderminister van Buitenlandse Zaken, Khaled Kaim, verklaarde vrijdag dat de regeringstroepen zich zouden terugtrekken om de strijd over te laten aan stammen.

quote:

Libyan troops easing Misrata siege to allow tribal talks, regime claims

Deputy foreign minister says frustrated tribal leaders will attack rebels themselves if deal not done by Monday night

Libyan forces have pulled back from their siege of Misrata to let tribal leaders in the area attempt to negotiate a political resolution, according to the Libyan government.

In an acknowledgement that loyalist troops had failed to take control of the city after two months of the siege, the deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaim, said: "The tactic of the army was to have a surgical strike but, with the [Nato] air strikes, that doesn't work."

He said tribal leaders had set a 48-hour deadline – due to expire on Monday night – to strike a deal with the rebels, who hold the port area of Misrata and have made gains in the centre of the city in recent days.

If the talks failed, the tribal leaders would launch a military assault on the rebel strongholds, Kaim said. He warned that could be "very bloody".

Tribal leaders have not confirmed any intervention, and rebel leaders in Misrata are sceptical about the government's statements. Kaim said the tribes were "trying to get in contact with the rebels".

Gaddafi's forces have faced setbacks both in Misrata and the western mountain region, close to the Tunisian border.

The government's assertion that tribal leaders are ready to intervene politically and militarily may be an attempt to pressure rebels after the killing and capture of rebel troops, and to deflect attention from rebel gains.

"The armed forces have ceased operations [in Misrata]," Kaim said in Tripoli. "The leaders of the tribes decided to do something to bring normal life back [to the city].

"Their main demand is that foreign fighters leave the town or surrender themselves to the army."

The regime maintains that rebel fighting in Misrata and the east of the country is being driven by al-Qaida and Hezbollah militants – a claim rejected by the opposition.

Kaim said the tribal leaders wanted to reopen access to the port, which has been under the control of rebel forces since the siege began. The port served all Libyans, he said, but was of particular interest to tribes in the region south of Misrata.

"The leaders of the tribes are determined to find a solution to this problem within 48 hours," he added. "The other option is military intervention."

He claimed the six tribes in the region could muster a force of 60,000 men to "liberate" the city. Any assault by the tribal forces would be ruthless, he claimed.

"The tribal leaders are pushing to intervene militarily," he said. "We have to do our utmost to stop this. If the tribes move into the city, it will be very bloody and I hope to God we will avoid this."

Despite the Libyan government's claim to have suspended military operations, residents and journalists in Misrata reported continued shelling on Saturday. Twenty-four people were killed and about 75 wounded, according to doctors.

US Predator drones have begun flying sorties over Libya and hit a government rocket launcher in Misrata on Saturday.

Last week, Nato air strikes took out three command and control centres around the city of Sirte, between Tripoli and Misrata, which is thought to have affected government military communications.

Kaim said the deployment of Predator drones would result in more civilian deaths. "When President Obama was elected, I was one of those who celebrated in the hope of a more peaceful world, he said. "But now I'm losing faith with him."

He said 18 warships from Nato countries were blockading the port of Tripoli, in violation of UN security council resolution 1973, which authorised military action to protect civilians.

"They are preventing civilian materials reaching the Libyan people," he said.

quote:

6:05pm

Fearing a stalemate in Libya, three members of the Senate Armed Services Committee want immediate military aid for the rebels fighting Gaddafi's forces, stepped up NATO airstrikes and more direct US involvement.

They said they interpreted the UN Security Council resolution - authorizing military action to protect Libyan civilians and imposing a no-fly zone - as also allowing moves necessary to drive Gaddafi from power

quote:

Op zaterdag 23 april 2011 22:45 schreef Hans_van_Baalen het volgende:
Verder vanmiddag bevestigd dat de eerste strikes door drones zijn uitgevoerd. MQ-9 Reapers neem ik aan? MQ-1 Predator.

quote:

Documenting Conflict in Misurata, Libya
Using High-Resolution Satellite Imagery

The conflict in Misurata has led to reports of heavy fighting, widespread indiscriminate shelling, and numerous civilian casualties. To investigate the veracity and details of these reports, Amnesty International-USA requested the assistance of the Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Project of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Satellietfoto's en toelichting.

quote:

Berber Rebels in Libyas West Face Long Odds Against Qaddafi

It came as a shock, then, when they captured a border crossing near Wazen last week, a strategic victory for the beleaguered rebel forces that thrust the desert region under the worlds gaze.
Colonel Qaddafi has also turned his attention to the region, escalating a low-grade war of attrition into what may prove an important battlefront.

Having put down more serious challenges to his rule in Zawiyah and Zawarah, on the northern coast between Tripoli and Tunisia, and pulled troops out of Misurata, the second largest western city, on Saturday, Colonel Qaddafi has massed troops along the mountains and launched missiles on its towns, according to residents and rebel fighters.

The fighting has driven about 30,000 Libyans into Tunisia, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Libyans there said they had been under siege weeks before the recent escalation.
Government troops have held the desert plains below the mountains since mid-March, they said, cutting off supplies of food, gasoline and medicine, and, several witnesses said, poisoning the wells of at least one town.

SPOILER: Het hele artikel.

Om spoilers te kunnen lezen moet je zijn ingelogd. Je moet je daarvoor eerst gratis Registreren. Ook kun je spoilers niet lezen als je een ban hebt.

quote:

Op zaterdag 16 april 2011 13:21 schreef remlof het volgende:
En er gaat natuurlijk een signaalwerking uit van die aanvallen van het westen. Dat dictators zich maar niet zomaar tegen hun eigen bevolking kunnen richten.

Ik sta er nog steeds achter.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 09:55 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Dus hoe vind je die signaalwerking werken op het moment, met tanks en sluipschutters in Syrie, martelingen en doden in Bahrein, geweld in Jemen? Niet erg succesvol, me dunkt. En in dat geval is zelfs dit allerzwakste excuus voor de oorlog niet geldig gebleken.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 10:21 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Het is ook niet makkelijk om 60 jaar Real-politik terug te draaien.

quote:

Een van de gevaarlijke ex-gevangenen is Abu Sufian bin Qumu, tegenwoordig een kopstuk van de opstand in Libi�. Zes jaar lang zat hij vast in Guantanamo Bay.

Volgens de Amerikaanse publieke omroep NPR volgde hij trainingskampen bij terreurnetwerk al-Qaeda, vocht hij met de Taliban tegen de Sovjet-Unie en was hij chauffeur van terreurleider Osama bin Laden toen die in Sudan woonde.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 10:25 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

De Realpolitik richting Libie bestond onder meer uit sancties en bombardementen, dus er wordt weinig teruggedraaid.

quote:

Maar het gaat erom dat een van de weinige nog staande excuses voor deze agressie de zogenaamde signaalwerking is. Dit lijkt nu een bijzonder slap excuus. Met de consequentie, me dunkt, de overtuiging dat de oorlog tegen Libie dom, ondoordacht en hypocriet is. Een fout kortom.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 11:42 schreef rakotto het volgende:
Misschien een late reactie, maar jullie weten dat de Libische zenders uit de lucht zijn?

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 11:42 schreef rakotto het volgende:
Misschien een late reactie, maar jullie weten dat de Libische zenders uit de lucht zijn?

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 12:27 schreef franske19 het volgende:
Als je de beelden van de rebellen ziet dan weet je dat die het never nooit niet gaan redden, zooitje ongeregeld. De Afghaanse politie is een goed georganiseerde security force vergeleken met deze lui. Wil de VN hier echt iets bewerkstelligen dan zal ze grondtroepen moeten inzetten.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 12:34 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

De VN doet hier niets, he. Dit is een NAVO-, of eerder Westerse oorlog -beter nog: Amerika, Frankrijk en Engeland- met een aantal excuus-Arabieren erbij, die Khaddafi sowieso al haatten en die nu ongestoord Bahrein kunnen bezetten. Het is een Westerse oorlog en het Westen is hier, weer eens, in de minderheid, als het gaat om populaire instemming. De VN wil in deze niets, kan in deze niets, behalve dan nipt een gelimiteerde resolutie gedogen die echter reeds overschreden is door de Europese en Amerikaanse agressors.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 12:40 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

[..]

Nee hoor: 1973: alles mag om de bevolking te beschermen behalve een bezettingsmacht.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 12:42 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Ja, precies, . Maar even serieus: nee.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 12:42 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Ja, precies, . Maar even serieus: nee.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 13:24 schreef HiZ het volgende:

[..]

Papierversnipperaar heeft gelijk. Ik weet niet precies wat jouw motieven precies zijn, maar je bent gewoon keihard aan het liegen over de feiten.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 13:31 schreef Monidique het volgende:

[..]

Ik erken dat je letterlijk "all possible means" kunt opvatten als doen wat je maar wilt, en dat dat zou gebeuren was te verwachten, zoals ik weken geleden al zei, maar het is een feit dat een no-fly-zone niet inhoudt dat je vliegvelden en radarinstallaties bombardeert,

quote:

Op deze wijze zou je zelfs een inval a la Irak kunnen rechtvaardigen.

quote:

Het moge duidelijk zijn dat de resolutie reeds lang geschonden is door de agressors, vanaf dag een, en als we heel formalistisch gaan doen dan wil ik het nog wel afzwakken tot de geest van de letter.

quote:

Mijn motieven? Waar gaat dit over. Mijn enige motieven zijn dat ik verbaasd kijk naar hoe een oorlog wordt bejubeld, dat ik er graag -zeer graag- op wijs dat dit geheel voorspelbaar was en dat we er misschien eens een keertje lering uit trekken en ons niet meer begeven in oorlogen gebaseerd op leugens.

quote:

Maar misschien is het gemakkelijker mij een "smerige leugenaar" te noemen, dat schijnt in te zijn.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 13:39 schreef Monidique het volgende:
Ja, het is goed met je, Papierversnipperaar.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 12:27 schreef franske19 het volgende:
Als je de beelden van de rebellen ziet dan weet je dat die het never nooit niet gaan redden, zooitje ongeregeld. De Afghaanse politie is een goed georganiseerde security force vergeleken met deze lui. Wil de VN hier echt iets bewerkstelligen dan zal ze grondtroepen moeten inzetten.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 11:42 schreef rakotto het volgende:
Misschien een late reactie, maar jullie weten dat de Libische zenders uit de lucht zijn?

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 13:48 schreef Monidique het volgende:
Nou, nou, leugenaar en neo-godwin. Het wordt eerlijk gezegd, ik meen dat serieus, steeds minder aantrekkelijk om deze topicreeks te volgen en eraan deel te nemen als criticus van de Amerikaans-Britse-Franse agressie. Het is zonde, want het begon goed, we konden het erover eens zijn dat kritiek en scepsis niet een reden zijn om iemand te ostraceren, maar het gaat gewoon de verkeerde kant op en het verpest het topic.

Helaas.

Ik denk dat ik er verder genoeg over gezegd heb. Misschien als er normaal gediscussieerd of in ieder geval gereageerd kan worden, dat ik het weer eens probeer.

quote:

10:10 Al Arabiya
Witnesses say that rocket attacks on Misrata killed at least 30 and wounded 60 on Monday.
There is very intense and random shelling on residential areas.
Burned bodies are being brought into the hospital, Ahmed al-Qadi, an engineer who works for a dissident radio station in Misrata said.
The number of wounded is 60 and the there were 30 martyrs.
This is the toll for the past 12 hours, he added.

quote:

12:55 AFP
4 people were killed today as Gaddafi forces attacked Zintan with Grad rockets, according to residents.
9 people were wounded in the attack which happened late on Sunday evening.
Gaddafi forces fired between 6 and 9 rockets, which crashed into homes.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 16:19 schreef Lagrinta het volgende:
Zo Gaddafi heeft de Paasdagen gehaald. Hij zit flink aan de Whisky op dit moment.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 16:22 schreef remlof het volgende:

[..]

Ik denk echter wel dat het z'n laatste paasdagen als alleenheerser van Libi� waren

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 15:33 schreef svann het volgende:

[..]

Gelieve je eeuwige zuigende discussie over de zinloze Nato-agressie in Libi� tegen die tijd in het daarvoor bestemde topic voort te zetten.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 13:41 schreef Papierversnipperaar het volgende:

Dit ingrijpen gaat over mensenrechten, niet over Amerikaanse belangen, en we moeten er alles aan doen om dat zo te houden.

quote:

ik begrijp dat misrata geheel in handen is van de rebellen nu?

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 15:33 schreef svann het volgende:

[..]

Gelieve je eeuwige zuigende discussie over de zinloze Nato-agressie in Libi� tegen die tijd in het daarvoor bestemde topic voort te zetten.
Waarom grijpen we in in Libi�? #2
 

quote:

Ik zie w�l graag dat er een einde wordt gemaakt aan dit soort situaties:

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 20:19 schreef Renaldo het volgende:

تحرير عائلة مغربية محاصرة في مصراته

heftig, vooral het 2e gedeelte van het filmpje.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 21:14 schreef zoefbust het volgende:
Tegengeluiden laten horen ? Pro Gaddafi freaks hier ?

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 22:00 schreef Politicoloog het volgende:

[..]

Je doet me denken aan George W. Bush. You're either with us, or against us!

Als er ��n iemand is geweest die jarenlang consistent tegen de Arabische dictators heeft gepreekt, dan ben ik het wel. Terwijl ik dat deed, werd Qaddafi nog warm ontvangen door de westerse leiders die hem nu aan het bombarderen zijn.

Je mag best vraagtekens plaatsen bij waarom de NAVO zo graag wil ingrijpen in Libi� en waarom ze geholpen worden door de Verenigde Arabische Emiraten terwijl deze Golfstaat op hetzelfde moment de pro-democratie demonstranten in Bahrein aan het onderdrukken is.

Wees toch niet zo simplistisch. Ik weet heus wel dat Qaddafi geen lieverdje is, dat Saddam een barbaar was en dat Mubarak een klootzak is. Maar als je niet oppast, en blind achter de imperialisten aanloopt dan zit je voordat je het weet weer opgescheept met een nieuwe puppet die je weer voor 40 jaar zal onderdrukken.

quote:

Het wordt tijd dat je naar naar het grotere plaatje gaat kijken i.p.v. je blind staren op ��n conflict: "kijk hoe erg Qaddafi is, go Obama, pak hem aan!" Mag ik dan vragen waarom je de Amerikaanse drone-aanvallen in Pakistan negeert?

April 21, 2011: At least 25 people, including 4 women and 5 children, were killed and about 10 other wounded in drone attacks in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan.

quote:

Wat is het verschil tussen Qaddafi en Obama? De ��n moet worden gestraft voor zijn misdaden terwijl de ander een nobelprijs voor de vrede krijgt? Kan het nog krommer?

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 22:37 schreef Mr_Memory het volgende:

Die tijd is gelukkig voorbij.

quote:

Op dinsdag 26 april 2011 02:23 schreef Lagrinta het volgende:

Colonel Gaddafi 'parades through Tripoli in a jeep to delight of supporters

Het is echt een cowboy.

Hard in da Libya

quote:

BRUSSEL/PARIJS - Tussen drie- tot vijfhonderd Europese huurlingen werken in Libi� voor het Kaddafi-regime. Onder de huursoldaten zijn Belgen, Polen, Britten, Fransen en Grieken.

Dat meldde de website EUObserver dinsdag. De nieuwssite over de Europese Unie baseert zich op een gerenommeerde Griekse criminoloog die twee maanden in Noord-Afrika doorbracht.

Bij de Europeanen gaat het vooral om specialisten voor zware wapens en helikopterdeskundigen. Zij strijken verscheidene duizenden dollars per dag op. De meerderheid komt uit Wit-Rusland, Servi� en Oekra�ne.

Afrikanen

De meeste huursoldaten die voor Kaddafi vechten, zijn echter Afrikanen uit onder meer de Centraal-Afrikaanse Republiek, Tsjaad en Somali�. Zij verdienen tot 2000 dollar per dag.

Kaddafi zou huurlingen inschakelen, omdat hij een groot deel van de Libische militairen niet vertrouwt en een deel van hen is gedeserteerd.

De mannen komen en gaan via militaire vliegvelden in het zuiden van de land. Volgens de opstandelingen tegen het regime zouden ook Russen, Syri�rs en Algerijnen in Libi� actief zijn.

Gastarbeiders

De mensenrechtenorganisatie Human Rights Watch betwijfelt de aanwezigheid van grotere aantallen huurlingen. Volgens de instantie bestempelen de rebellen alle Afrikanen van onder de Sahara als huursoldaten, hoewel het vooral om gastarbeiders zou gaan.

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 22:00 schreef Politicoloog het volgende:

[..]

Je doet me denken aan George W. Bush. You're either with us, or against us!

Als er ��n iemand is geweest die jarenlang consistent tegen de Arabische dictators heeft gepreekt, dan ben ik het wel. Terwijl ik dat deed, werd Qaddafi nog warm ontvangen door de westerse leiders die hem nu aan het bombarderen zijn.

Je mag best vraagtekens plaatsen bij waarom de NAVO zo graag wil ingrijpen in Libi� en waarom ze geholpen worden door de Verenigde Arabische Emiraten terwijl deze Golfstaat op hetzelfde moment de pro-democratie demonstranten in Bahrein aan het onderdrukken is.

Wees toch niet zo simplistisch. Ik weet heus wel dat Qaddafi geen lieverdje is, dat Saddam een barbaar was en dat Mubarak een klootzak is. Maar als je niet oppast, en blind achter de imperialisten aanloopt dan zit je voordat je het weet weer opgescheept met een nieuwe puppet die je weer voor 40 jaar zal onderdrukken.

Het wordt tijd dat je naar naar het grotere plaatje gaat kijken i.p.v. je blind staren op ��n conflict: "kijk hoe erg Qaddafi is, go Obama, pak hem aan!" Mag ik dan vragen waarom je de Amerikaanse drone-aanvallen in Pakistan negeert?

April 21, 2011: At least 25 people, including 4 women and 5 children, were killed and about 10 other wounded in drone attacks in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan.

Wat is het verschil tussen Qaddafi en Obama? De ��n moet worden gestraft voor zijn misdaden terwijl de ander een nobelprijs voor de vrede krijgt? Kan het nog krommer?

quote:

Op dinsdag 26 april 2011 12:29 schreef Augustus_Thijs het volgende:
Oohw, er vechten al Europeanen mee op de grond. Misschien aan de verkeerde kant, maar dat is natuurlijk afhankelijk van welke partij je aanhangt

Europese huurlingen actief voor Kaddafi

[..]

quote:

Op maandag 25 april 2011 22:00 schreef Politicoloog het volgende:



Wees toch niet zo simplistisch.

quote:

Op dinsdag 26 april 2011 15:03 schreef Renaldo het volgende:

[..]

vele honderden Europeanen..... kan me haast niet voorstellen....

quote:

Op dinsdag 26 april 2011 17:48 schreef Augustus_Thijs het volgende:
Vraag me dan altijd af hoe die mensen daar komen. En dan bedoel ik niet fysiek.

Het is niet alsof er sollicitatiebriefjes hangen hier in Europa_{(of Afrika for that matter).}
Je zal toch eerst in contact moeten komen met mensen uit Libi�, en dan ook nog van de kant van khadaffi.
En je gaat ook niet zomaar even naar Libi� vliegen, om er daar achter te komen dat ze je net niet kunnen gebruiken.

quote:

Op dinsdag 26 april 2011 17:48 schreef Augustus_Thijs het volgende:
Vraag me dan altijd af hoe die mensen daar komen. En dan bedoel ik niet fysiek.

Het is niet alsof er sollicitatiebriefjes hangen hier in Europa_{(of Afrika for that matter).}
Je zal toch eerst in contact moeten komen met mensen uit Libi�, en dan ook nog van de kant van khadaffi.
En je gaat ook niet zomaar even naar Libi� vliegen, om er daar achter te komen dat ze je net niet kunnen gebruiken.

quote:

Op dinsdag 26 april 2011 17:48 schreef Augustus_Thijs het volgende:
Vraag me dan altijd af hoe die mensen daar komen. En dan bedoel ik niet fysiek.

Het is niet alsof er sollicitatiebriefjes hangen hier in Europa_{(of Afrika for that matter).}
Je zal toch eerst in contact moeten komen met mensen uit Libi�, en dan ook nog van de kant van khadaffi.
En je gaat ook niet zomaar even naar Libi� vliegen, om er daar achter te komen dat ze je net niet kunnen gebruiken.

quote:

Op dinsdag 26 april 2011 17:48 schreef Augustus_Thijs het volgende:
Vraag me dan altijd af hoe die mensen daar komen. En dan bedoel ik niet fysiek.

Het is niet alsof er sollicitatiebriefjes hangen hier in Europa_{(of Afrika for that matter).}
Je zal toch eerst in contact moeten komen met mensen uit Libi�, en dan ook nog van de kant van khadaffi.
En je gaat ook niet zomaar even naar Libi� vliegen, om er daar achter te komen dat ze je net niet kunnen gebruiken.

quote:

UN investigates Libya human rights violations

Inquiry team to press Libyan officials for access to prisons and hospitals as it probes alleged civilian killings by Gaddafi's forces

A team of United Nations investigators is seeking answers from Libyan officials about allegations that forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi have committed human rights violations.

The three-member commission of inquiry met Libyan officials and said it would be pressing for access to prisons, hospitals and areas of the country where it suspects rights abuses are taking place.

"We have a number of questions dealing with indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, civilian casualties, torture and the use of mercenaries and other questions," said Cherif Bassiouni, an Egyptian legal expert and member of the commission.

"The commission of inquiry is here to inquire and find out from the Libyan government side what its position is with respect to several types of violations which ... [we] discovered during our field investigation," he told reporters after talks with officials.

Asked what access the UN team was expected to be given by the Libyan authorities, Bassiouni said: "We don't know that yet. We have put it all in writing and stated it verbally and we intend to push for it."

The UN, western governments and some Arab states accuse Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, of ordering his security forces to kill hundreds of civilians who rose up in protest against his four-decade rule. Libyan officials deny killing civilians, saying security forces were forced to act against armed gangs and al-Qaida sympathisers who, they say, are trying to seize control of the oil exporting country.

Bassiouni said he would also use the delegation's visit to Tripoli to raise the issue of foreign journalists being held in Libya. The authorities are holding two US journalists, one Spaniard, a South African and a Canadian, according to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Officials say they hold journalists only if they are in the country illegally.

"I have ... given them [the Libyan government] a list of all the foreign journalists who are in detention," Bassiouni said. "We have asked for an opportunity to visit them and to ask why they are not being released."

The commission of inquiry was set up in February by the UN Human Rights Council and is due to submit its report by June.

Bassiouni said the commission had already carried out field investigations in rebel-controlled eastern Libya, as well as on the country's borders, and was planning further trips to Tripoli.

quote:

Op woensdag 27 april 2011 19:46 schreef Chooselife het volgende:
Het wordt steeds fraaier met de propaganda h�. Nu zouden de troepen van Khadaffi onder het genot van viagra op grote schaal kinderen verkrachten. De kinderen zouden het niet letterlijk zo zeggen, wat weer zou duiden op traumatische gevolgen. Daar rept het AD althans over. Via, via via berichten op basis van geruchten.

Ik vind het allemaal erg ongeloofwaardig. Er wordt met losse flodders stront geschoten, om de publieke opinie zoveel mogelijk richting nog meer geweld te praten.

quote:

NATO jets stop attack on rebel-held port in Libya

Associated Press= MISRATA, Libya (AP) — NATO warplanes pounded forces loyal to Libyan leader Moaamar Gadhafi attacking the rebel-held city of Misrata, blasting fighting vehicles advancing on the port that serves as the besieged city's sole lifeline, a NATO spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

The battle for Misrata has become the focal point of the uprising against Gadhafi's regime, and the near-constant shelling of the city by government troops over the past two months has spurred calls for more forceful international intervention to stop the bloodshed.

The alliance airstrike, which took place Tuesday night and sent giant plumes of smoke into the air, helped repulse Gadhafi's forces attack on the city's vital port complex, alliance spokeswoman Carmen Romero said.

"NATO forces moved quickly to break up a force advancing on Misrata port," Romero said. "Several NATO aircraft were directed to the area, and following careful assessment of the risk to civilians, our pilots struck."

Damage assessments showed that six military vehicles and seven "technicals" — civilian trucks equipped with machine guns or rocket launchers — were hit. One surface-to-air missile site near Misrata was also destroyed, she said.

On Wednesday, the port bore signs of the ferocity of the shelling.

Rockets had blasted gapping holes in the roofs of two warehouses, and blown out the windows of another building. A pillar of black smoke from a burning heap of tires ignited by the bombardment billowed over the port, and nearby the charred shells of some 250 brand new cars, all torched in the shelling, smoldered.

With Gadhafi's troops besieging the city on all sides by land, the port has become a key point in the battle for Misrata, and the assault by pro-Gadhafi forces Tuesday temporarily suspended the flow of aid and people.

The Albanian passenger ferry Red Star 1 carrying aid and two ambulances was forced to spend the night at sea, and only docked late Wednesday morning. Workers unloaded its 10 containers of aid and prepared to take on refugees looking to flee the battered city.

The Libyan government has denied that it engages in indiscriminate shelling of civilian population centers.

The United Nations Security Council used evidence of attacks on civilians as grounds for its resolution authorizing an international campaign of airstrikes against Gadhafi's forces which has neutralized much of their heavy weapons and staved off total rebel defeat in the east.

British Defense Minister Liam Fox said Tuesday that the airstrikes have helped put the regime on its "back foot" and aided the rebels in making progress, though for the past weeks, there has been little movement on any of the war's fronts.

"There is little doubt across the alliance that this key contribution has proven to be of immense value protecting civilians in Misrata and have helped opposition forces to defend themselves against this brutal regime there," he said.

Maj. Gen. John Lorimer, British military spokesman, said British fighter jets destroyed a battle tank, eight support vehicles and a surface-to-air missile facility in airstrikes around Misrata on Saturday and Sunday. Eight rocket launcher vehicles were also damaged and three armored personal carriers targeted.

British jets also flew sorties on Monday around Brega and Ajdabiya, and Yafran, firing on a tank near Mizda and a self-propelled gun close to Yafran, Lorimer said.

---

Associated Press writers Robert Burns in Washington, David Stringer in London and Slobodan Lekic in Brussels contributed to this report.

quote:

Op dinsdag 26 april 2011 17:48 schreef Augustus_Thijs het volgende:
Vraag me dan altijd af hoe die mensen daar komen. En dan bedoel ik niet fysiek.

Het is niet alsof er sollicitatiebriefjes hangen hier in Europa_{(of Afrika for that matter).}
Je zal toch eerst in contact moeten komen met mensen uit Libi�, en dan ook nog van de kant van khadaffi.
En je gaat ook niet zomaar even naar Libi� vliegen, om er daar achter te komen dat ze je net niet kunnen gebruiken.

quote:

TheLibyanRebel - kidnap and release story of my brother in Law

• Exclusive kidnap and release story of my brother in Law who disappeared 40 days ago in Tripoli and returned back home last night
• He went out with three of his friends to have coffee in Mdina but one of his friends asked to pass by his home in their way to pick up somt
• Somthing he forgot. While they were waiting for him in the car they were attacked by Gaddafi melecia, arrested and eye vision blocked
• They were taken in a 20 minutes trip to a prison where day were seperated and put in seperate cells. and no news about their 4th friend who
• Who their waiting for him in the car. My brother in law remained under invistigation for few days and told that they would release him soon
• Soon if nothing found against him. But they kept him but put him in a cell with other prisoners. Food was bread, water, arabic coffee, and
• And sometimes terrible-made mbakbka. They didn't question him from the 7th day until yesterday when apologised for him and releasesd him
• In the fifth day of his arrest he knew that he is in Ain Zara prison. The prison is full of Tripoli youth. No news is allowed to enter from
• From outside into the prison. However, he got reached many times by some officers sent by his family. The sudden news is when he was re
• Is when he was released when he knew dat thier 4th friend who they were waiting for him in the car is a security forces spy. He farmet fehom
• His other two friends not released yet. And their 4th friend who is a spy came to visit him today morning congratulating him for bis release
• But one of his relatives who works as a police officer confirmed to him that this 4th friend is the one who told melecia about his 3 friends
• End of the tragic story.
^{about 3 hours ago via TweetCaster}

quote:

Op donderdag 28 april 2011 00:22 schreef svann het volgende:
Gaddafi is populair in bijna heel (sub-Sahara) Afrika door het sponseren van projecten en heersers.
De meeste landen van de Afrikaanse Unie zien hem liever aanblijven, alleen al vanwege zijn investeringen.

Van allafrica.com:   Libya: What If Colonel Gaddafi Loses the Battle for Tripoli?

quote:

1000 evacu�s per schip uit Misurata vandaan

Een schip met meer dan 1000 evacu�s uit de belegerde Libische westelijke stad Misurata is vandaag in het oostelijke rebellenbolwerk Benghazi aangekomen.

De meeste evacu�s zijn Afrikaanse arbeidsmigranten die in Misurata vastzaten. Ook enkele tientallen gewonden werden meegenomen, onder wie een Franse blogger die in zijn hals was geraakt door een kogel.

Het hulpschip was gecharterd door de Internationale Organisatie voor Migratie. Het schip zou dinsdag al voedsel brengen en evacu�s ophalen, maar het moest tot gisteren buitengaats blijven omdat de haven onder vuur lag van troepen van de Libische leider Muammar Kaddafi.

Misurata, dat voortdurend onder vuur ligt, is alleen nog bereikbaar via de haven, zo'n 12 kilometer ten oosten van de stad.

quote:

Op vrijdag 29 april 2011 10:24 schreef Augustus_Thijs het volgende:
En dan?
Zou tunesi"e nog wat terugschieten, of willen ze zich daar niet aan wagen als klein landje?
Ze hebben natuurlijk al genoeg problemen.

quote:

Op vrijdag 29 april 2011 10:24 schreef Augustus_Thijs het volgende:
En dan?
Zou tunesi"e nog wat terugschieten, of willen ze zich daar niet aan wagen als klein landje?
Ze hebben natuurlijk al genoeg problemen.

quote:

Op vrijdag 29 april 2011 14:06 schreef theNull het volgende:
Eigenlijk is dit een regelrechte oorlogsverklaring van Libie aan Tunesie, of zie ik dat verkeerd?

quote:

Op vrijdag 29 april 2011 14:06 schreef theNull het volgende:
Eigenlijk is dit een regelrechte oorlogsverklaring van Libie aan Tunesie, of zie ik dat verkeerd?

quote:

Op vrijdag 29 april 2011 14:06 schreef theNull het volgende:
Eigenlijk is dit een regelrechte oorlogsverklaring van Libie aan Tunesie, of zie ik dat verkeerd?

quote:

Op vrijdag 29 april 2011 16:56 schreef partyman26 het volgende:
Zou dit nu eindelijk een totale all-out war ontketenen in midden-oosten? Dit kan Tunesie toch niet zomaar accepteren.

quote:

Radio Free Libya shakes up Gaddafi regime from Misrata


Rebel radio station offering mix of information, uncensored debate and revolutionary songs is a thorn in loyalists' side

It's not Saigon, it's 40 years on, and there's desert rather than jungle all around. But there is a war and there is a radio station and a breakfast show with a familiar name. Instead of Good Morning Vietnam, it's Good Morning Libya, broadcast from rebel-controlled Misrata every day.

It's the flagship programme of Radio Free Libya, a station seized in February from Muammar Gaddafi, who has permitted no dissenting voice on the airwaves since taking power in 1969. The station, staffed by volunteers, symbolises the defiance of the people of Misrata – and is an object of fury for Gaddafi. His forces shot up the studio, forcing the presenters to move. They also made three unsuccessful attacks, including one by helicopter, on the broadcast tower.

"It's driving Gaddafi crazy that we are still on air," says Ahmed Hadia, the station's general manager. "We want to make him even crazier."

Unlike Vietnam, there are no Beach Boys or James Brown on the morning programme. "When we took over my first challenge was to find a song in the library that did not mention Gaddafi," says Hadia, 37. "That was not easy."

The hour-long show kicks off not with a Robin Williams-style holler but a singsong jingle offering a "good morning to the mothers and the fathers and the sisters and the brothers, from the desert to the sea, from the mountains to the mountains".

There's a weather report (17C in Misrata), a summary of what the world's newspapers are saying about Libya, and a few traditional Arabic songs. Then follows a discussion on nationalism, hosted by two university students who read out listeners' emails or Facebook messages and offer wise words from Socrates.

Still, considering how Radio Misrata – as it was called – operated before February, it marks a radical change. Then, everything revolved around Gaddafi, from the content to the green studio curtains and windowsills.

On the first day, 21 February, Hadia broadcast for 10 hours non-stop, starting with the message: "This is Free Misrata and we now own the radio."

Almost immediately came knocks on the studio doors from city elders and ordinary civilians, desperate to speak openly after 42 years of holding their tongues, Haida says. Around the same time, the city's newspaper al-Jamahir, The People, published its first – and only – uncensored edition, featuring pictures of the revolution and of the civilian dead, as well as a crude cartoon of Gaddafi.

"Before, that would have put us in jail," says Mohamud Mloda, the paper's editor.

Then the Egyptian print workers fled the country, and the presses were unreachable due to heavy fighting in the city centre. Soon the mobile networks were cut, leaving the radio station as the only reliable source of information in Misrata.

To warn civilians and help rebel fighters, Hadia and his team broadcast alerts of where Gaddafi's forces have been attacking. They also direct messages at government soldiers, saying that they have been lied to, and that there are no al-Qaida terrorists in the city.

In a move designed to antagonise Gaddafi as well as inspire Libyans across the country, one of the engineers has added an AM channel alongside the FM signal, so that on clear days the station can be heard as far away as Lebanon and southern Europe.

It is dangerous work. Snipers have the studio entrance in their sights, so the Radio Free Libya volunteers have cut a small hole in a side wall to allow them to enter secretly.

"Gaddafi called those who oppose him rats, and for 10 days we were rats," says Hadia.

With interview guests afraid to visit the studio, the presenters set up in a shipping container. Shells started landing nearby – live programmes frequently feature gunfire in the background – forcing another relocation, to an empty girl's school.

The station operates 24 hours a day. As well as the morning show, there are also live religious programmes and a segment aimed at young people. Reporters send in clips from rebel checkpoints, the frontline and the hospital. Special requests are aired, such as a plea from the rebels for people not to return to the heart of the city, now free of Gaddafi forces, until unexploded ordinance has been cleared. There is also advice. On a night of heavy shelling over the weekend, one of the presenters quickly consulted the internet before offering tips on the best places in a house to seek shelter.

There have been tensions about content, with the younger people – the generation leading the revolution and the fighting – objecting to attempts by older, more religious, men to make the station programming more conservative. The youth appear to have won the debate, with the station broadcasting some hip-hop style songs about the revolution.

The producer, Ali Almani, who worked for the old radio station for 10 years, is revelling in the freedom of no longer having to get permission for every song he plays.

"We would have to break our programming every time Gaddafi made a speech," he says. "No more. This is a taste of freedom." The downside is the danger, with Almani arriving at work every day carrying a gun.

Just how free is Radio Free Libya? In the early days, one or two people called in support of Gaddafi, and were allowed their say. Much innocent blood has been spilled since then.

"To be honest, nobody has really criticised the revolution, but if they did I am not sure if we would allow them on air now," says Hadia. "After Gaddafi goes, that's when we can be really democratic."

quote:

Gaddafi plaatst mijnen bij Misrata, Tunesi� pakt troepen op

Troepen van Moammar Gaddafi zijn vandaag met zwaar geschut de Tunesische grens overgestoken. De Libische soldaten zijn volgens persbureau AP aangehouden door het Tunesische leger. In Misrata probeerden regeringstroepen zeemijnen te plaatsen.

Bij het plaatsje Dhuheiba staken de troepen de grens over met meer dan tien trucks met daarop luchtafweergeschut en raketwerpers. Ze leken volgens de ooggetuigen willekeurig in het rond te schieten, wat leidde tot verzet bij de inwoners van het Tunesische stadje.

De grensovergang bij Dhuheiba is nu eens in handen van de opstandelingen, dan weer in die van de regeringstroepen. De afgelopen twee dagen zijn zo’n vijfduizend Libi�rs het strijdgewoel ontvlucht en de grens met Tunesi� overgestoken.

‘Humanitaire crisis in Misrata’

Libische regeringstroepen namen vandaag ook weer de westelijke stad Misrata onder vuur. Volgens een arts in het belangrijkste ziekenhuis in de stad kwamen twee mensen om het leven en raakten er zeventien gewond.

Marineschepen van de NAVO hebben meerdere boten van Gaddafi tegengehouden die buiten de haven van Misrata zeemijnen plaatsten. “Het toont opnieuw Gaddafi’s totale gebrek aan respect aan voor het internationale recht en zijn bereidheid humanitaire hulpkonvooien aan te vallen”, aldus de NAVO.

Misrata is het brandpunt van de strijd in Libi� geworden, nu in het oosten van het land de strijd is vastgelopen. De reeds twee maanden durende gevechten in Misrata hebben al honderden mensen het leven gekost. De internationale gemeenschap heeft al gewaarschuwd voor een humanitaire crisis in de stad.

quote:

Misrata rebel leader pleads for help to topple Gaddafi

Khalifa al-Zwawi asks international community for weapons to help push Libyan leader's forces out of the city

The leader of the rebellion in Misrata has made an urgent plea to the international community for weapons that would allow his fighters not just to defend the besieged city, but to topple the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

Khalifa al-Zwawi, an appeal court judge who heads Misrata's transitional council, said that after weeks of fierce fighting, rebel forces would eject the last of Gaddafi's troops from the city "very soon".

"Once we have done that our target is to eliminate the Gaddafi regime," he told the Guardian in an interview. "We want to go to Tripoli and set it free, and Libya free. We want to move from defence to attack."

Until now, the rebels in Misrata have relied solely on small arms and weapons captured from loyalist troops, or sent by sea from Benghazi, the rebel capital in the east. But Zwawi said help was required if his forces were to go on the offensive.

"The most important thing for us now is arms. We need weapons that are suitable to take on Gaddafi. As soon as our freedom fighters reach people in other cities they will join our revolt," he said.

Misrata, which is Libya's third largest city and just 130 miles (210km) east of Tripoli, has been under siege since 20 February, when its people staged an uprising. Two months of street-by-street fighting has left much of the city centre in ruins. While the rebels – ordinary citizens with no previous military experience – appear have won the battle to defend the city, it has come at a high cost.

Zwawi, 53, said the number of dead in Misrata – excluding Gaddafi's forces – exceeded 1,000. More than 4,000 people have injured, with hundreds more kidnapped by loyalist troops and taken to other cities.

By keeping control of the port, the rebels have been able to receive supplies by sea, allowing the city to keep functioning. But there is still an urgent need for humanitarian supplies, including medicine and food, Zwawi said.

Cash is also required. Since the start of the uprising, most business has ground to a halt, and few people have continued working as normal. Civil servants' salaries have not been paid, although small cash disbursements have been made to poorer families.

"We recently received some funding from Benghazi but it is not enough to keep us going for long," he said.

Zwawi also appealed for technical support to maintain the city's emergency electricity, and to re-establish the mobile network. Gaddafi's forces destroyed the city's power station, cut the main water supply and disabled the telecommunications networks in the early days of the conflict.

Unlike the national transitional council in Benghazi, which has been able to operate partly in the open since February, when the city was liberated, Misrata's leadership council has had to open largely in secret due to the fighting. Until this week, few people here even knew who was on the council, though the evidence of its organisation was clear to see – from the food distribution points to the carefully co-ordinated guerrilla war.

Zwawi said the council had initially been established as a judicial committee in the days after the revolution, but now includes doctors, engineers, businessmen and military leaders. It has 20 members and meets at secret locations every other day.

Zwawi said that during the week after the uprising Gaddafi had sent local intermediaries to negotiate with them. They offered concessions to the rebels, but only if Gaddafi remained in power.

"That was immediately rejected. Our position is that he and his companions must leave power for good. They know that they are not appreciated by anyone in Libya. Since then there has been no contact between us and the regime."

Some residents of Misrata are deeply fearful of Gaddafi's next move, and believe that he will do whatever it takes to crush the city. But Zwawi said he was not concerned.

"If we were thinking about Gaddafi's arsenal, we would never have started this revolution. We went into it with naked chests, with no weapons. We have two choices: we die or we get our freedom."

He also dismissed the claim from Tripoli that local tribes around Misrata could be sent in to fight instead of the army.

"This is simply one of Gaddafi's plots to save time. He is not dealing with tribes, but individuals within tribes. His popular base does not exist."

Zwawi acknowledged it could be difficult to for outside countries to supply weapons, given that UN security council resolution 1973 only authorised the use of force to defend civilians, not to remove Gaddafi.

"We know that Russia and China will block a stronger resolution that could help us. But we are still grateful to the international community. Without them we would be ash."