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Posts Tagged ‘Tripoli’

Nato takes over Libya no-fly zone

March 25, 2011 Comments off

www.bbc.co.uk

Nato has agreed to take command of enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya from the US.

But Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen made clear that other aspects of the operation would remain in the hands of the current coalition for now.

Nato has been locked in dispute about whether to take charge of the mission to enforce a UN resolution.

It is believed there are differences of opinion whether attacks on ground troops should form part of the action.

Coalition raids on Libya are meanwhile continuing for a sixth consecutive night.

Mr Rasmussen has insisted there is no split on the military handover, saying Nato is still considering whether to take on the “broader responsibility”.

The handover of the no-fly mission could come as early as this weekend.

Mr Rasmussen said all Nato members had agreed to the move, including Turkey, which had expressed Read more…

Categories: Libya, NATO Tags: , , , , , , ,

Libya: missile destroys Gaddafi building

March 21, 2011 Comments off

Telegraph.co.uk

Libya: missile destroys Gaddafi building

Tracer fire fills the sky from anti-aircraft fire above the hotel where foreign media and government officials are staying in Tripoli Photo: AP

Libyan officials claimed that the strike on his Bab al-Azizia leadership compound amounted to an attempt to assassinate the long serving leader.

A huge plume of smoke rose from the site of an three-storey administrative building just 100 yards from the tent in the compound used by Col Gaddafi for media interviews and high level visits.

There were no reported casualties but the front of the building had collasped.

A crowd of loyalists gathered near the collapsed building to denounce the first attack on the Libyan leader’s personal citadel

Officials said the building was an administrative bloc not connected with the military. Shrapnel was Read more…

Categories: Libya Tags: , , , , , , ,

As UN debates Libya, Kadhafi vows to crush rebels

March 16, 2011 Comments off

(AFP)

TRIPOLI — Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi said he was determined to crush the month-old uprising against him, while at the UN, proposals for a no-fly zone to ground his warplanes met stiff resistance.

And as Kadhafi’s army announced it would soon move against the rebel bastion of Benghazi, anti-aircraft batteries and heavy artillery opened up in the rebel stronghold.

“If this is a foreign plot, we will crush it; if it is a domestic plot, we will crush it,” said Kadhafi, who has repeatedly blamed Al-Qaeda and Western powers for the revolt against his four decades of rule.

Late Tuesday, Kadhafi’s army said it would soon move on the opposition stronghold of Benghazi, 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) east of Tripoli, Libya’s second city.

A statement addressed to its residents said: “The armed forces are arriving to ensure your security, undo the injustice done to you, protect you, restore calm and bring life back to normal.

“This is a humanitarian operation being undertaken in your interests, and is not aimed at Read more…

Categories: Libya, Protests Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Arab League urges no-fly zone for Libya

March 13, 2011 Comments off

 

 

In a stark rebuke to one of its members, the Arab League urged the United Nations on Saturday to impose a no-fly zone over Libya.

The move came even as forces loyal to Moammar Kadafi advanced eastward toward the strategic city of Port Brega in an intensifying onslaught against out-gunned rebels, who retreated from airstrikes and rocket barrages that thundered across deserts and coastal highways.

The Libyan army has made substantial gains in recent attacks, driving insurgents from the country’s largest petrochemical refinery near Uqaylah on Saturday and routing them earlier from Ras Lanuf, about 25 miles west, and Zawiya in the west of the country. The opposition has Read more…

Categories: Libya Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Gaddafi Strikes At Oil Refinery, Escalating the War

March 10, 2011 Comments off

bigpeace.com

Libyan government warplanes have struck an oil facility near the rebel-held eastern town of Ras Lanuf during a heavy bombardment aimed at driving out opposition forces trying to topple Libya’s leader Moammar Gadhafi.

The warplanes bombed the As Sidr oil facility Wednesday, causing a fire and sending huge plumes of smoke into the sky. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Forces loyal to Gadhafi also shelled rebel positions west of Ras Lanuf, forcing the rebels to retreat. The oil port represents the front line of the rebels’ advance out of their stronghold of eastern Libya.

Libyan government forces also were tightening their siege of the western town of Zawiya, the closest rebel-held area to Gadhafi’s power base in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Residents said Gadhafi loyalists were surrounding rebels holding out in Zawiya’s central square, using snipers and tanks in the assault.

In remarks broadcast on state television Wednesday, Gadhafi called on Read more…

Categories: age of rage, Libya, Oil, Protests Tags: , , , , , , ,

Questions Remain on Libyan Mustard Agent Stockpile

March 4, 2011 Comments off

globalsecuritynewswire.org

(Mar. 3) – Antigovernment activists in Libya march today in a funeral procession for one of five people killed yesterday in fighting with dictator Muammar Qadhafi’s forces (Gianluigi Guercia/Getty Images).


The U.S. intelligence community is uncertain of the exact location of Libya’s remaining chemical warfare materials, though officials say besieged dictator Muammar Qadhafi has moved to bolster the security surrounding the primary cache of mustard blister agent, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, March 2).

(Mar. 3) – Antigovernment activists in Libya march today in a funeral procession for one of five people killed yesterday in fighting with dictator Muammar Qadhafi’s forces (Gianluigi Guercia/Getty Images).

Before fighting began last month, Libya had been making Read more…

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Gaddafi warns of bloodbath if West intervenes

March 3, 2011 Comments off

economictimes.indiatimes.com

TRIPOLI: Libyan strongman Moamer Gaddafi warned on Wednesday “thousands” would die if the West intervened to support the uprising against him, as rebels drove back an attack by his forces on an eastern town.

The chilling warning came as western powers dampened expectations of any early imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya, amid a clamour from western states for action to prevent Kadhafi’s warplanes from attacking his own people.

The United States is a “long way” from deciding on whether to impose a no-fly zone, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said as two US Navy ships steamed into position off Libya.

The 22-member Arab League appeared to offer an Arab and Read more…

Categories: Libya, Protests Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Gadhafi’s $30 Billion In US Assets Blocked By Treasury

March 1, 2011 Comments off

forbes.com

By AGUSTINO FONTEVECCHIA
BENGHAZI, LIBYA - FEBRUARY 26: Mothers mourn ...Libya’s people have taken most of the country, Gadhafi still controls Tripoli – Getty Images via @daylife

In addition to having his assets frozen by the Swiss and British governments, Colonel Muammar al-Gadhafi’s holdings in the United States have been blocked by the Department of the Treasury, which claims to have located at least $30 billion in Libyan assets.

After an executive order signed by President Barack Obama on Friday declared the “actions of Colonel Muammar Qadhafi [sic], his government, and close associates, […] an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the U.S. Treasury began to track down Libyan assets in Read more…

Categories: Libya Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Libya: West ready to use force against Col Gaddafi amid chemical weapon fears

March 1, 2011 1 comment

telegraph.co.uk

The Prime Minister disclosed that he would not rule out “the use of military assets” as Britain “must not tolerate this regime using military forces against its own people”. Britain and America are also thought to be considering arming rebel forces in Libya.

Adding to growing concern about the crumbling regime’s ability to commit last desperate acts of mass murder, British sources have disclosed that Libya still has stocks of mustard gas chemicals.

Mr Cameron told MPs that Britain and its allies were considering using fighter jets to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, patrolling and shooting down Libyan aircraft ordered to attack protesters.

The Pentagon announced that the Americans had begun “repositioning forces” around Libya to provide “flexibility”. The French also announced that they would back a possible military intervention with Nato partners.

The warnings were sounded after Gaddafi was accused of ordering Libyan aircraft to attack a Read more…

Categories: Libya, WMD Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Zawiyah: 30 miles from Tripoli, the city on the frontline of Libya’s revolt

February 28, 2011 Comments off
A man stands on a Libyan tank

guardian.co.uk

A man stands on a Libyan army tank manned by soldiers opposed to leader Muammar Gaddafi in the city of Zawiyah, holding a sign that reads in Arabic ‘Our demand: freedom.’ Photograph: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters

“If you go down there you will meet young men with guns,” said one of the Libyan government minders. “Please be careful,” he warned.

The crossing from the territory controlled by the regime of Colonel Gaddafi to rebel-held land was a short walk, as unexpected as it was bizarre.

Bizarre, because we had been delivered to the edge of the city of Zawiyah by Gaddafi’s men, who were supposed to be showing us how far their leader’s writ still extended. Instead they let us out of our cars and made no effort to prevent us crossing to the other side.

The “down there” mentioned by the minder was a broad boulevard with barricades across the street. A man with a machine gun came out of a door, ammunition belt across his shoulder. A half hour’s drive from the centre of Tripoli and Gaddafi’s control had Read more…

Categories: age of rage, Libya, Protests Tags: , , , , , , , ,