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

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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 Libië, en dan ook nog van de kant van khadaffi.
En je gaat ook niet zomaar even naar Libië vliegen, om er daar achter te komen dat ze je net niet kunnen gebruiken.

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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}

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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?

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1000 evacués per schip uit Misurata vandaan

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

De meeste evacués 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 evacués 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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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.

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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."

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Gaddafi plaatst mijnen bij Misrata, Tunesië 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 Libiërs het strijdgewoel ontvlucht en de grens met Tunesië 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 Libië 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.

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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."