From: chifu_wa_malindi <chifu2222@gmail.com>
Date: 23 February 2011 19:30
Subject: [Mwananchi] Latest Updates on the Uprising in Libya
To: Mwananchi@yahoogroups.com
Latest Updates on the Uprising in Libya
February 23, 2011, 9:11 am
Latest Updates on the Uprising in Libya
By ROBERT MACKEY
On Wednesday, The Lede is following the uprising in Libya and protest movements in Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Morocco and Iran. Updates below mix alerts on breaking news with reports from bloggers and journalists on the ground. A stream of Twitter messages from the region is in this blog's right column.
r
1:50 P.M. |Israel Clears Palestinians to Flee Libya for West Bank
Among the foreign nationals looking for a way out of Libya at the moment are hundreds of Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that "Israel will enable 300 Palestinians to enter the West Bank," after they leave Libya.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Mr. Netanyahu said that he was responding to "a personal request" from President Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinain leader
12:47 P.M. |Images of Tripoli Appear Online
It remains difficult to get a clear sense of what is happening in Tripoli, Libya's capital, apparently due to efforts by the forces still loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
Nic Robertson, a CNN correspondent in Tunisia, reports that he spoke to a man who drove there from Libya on Wednesday who said that he was forced to go through about 20 checkpoints along the road.
At the checkpoints, the man said, members of the Libyan security forces were confiscating and destroying the SIM cards and memory cards from the phones of anyone leaving the country, perhaps to keep more video and photographs of the security crackdown from getting to the outside world.
A witness in Tripoli described an eerie calm in the city to BBC Arabic.
Eyewitness in Tripoli tells BBC Arabic - "city is ghost town, African mercenaries roaming streets."Wed Feb 23 16:34:29 via webKim Ghattas
BBCKimGhattas
Despite what a few bloggers in Tripoli have described as severe restrictions on the Internet, some images of life there in recent days have been posted online.
One blogger uploaded this image, said to show fresh paint covering anti-Qaddafi graffiti on a Tripoli street on Wednesday to a photo-sharing Web site:
The same blogger, whose name we will not use, reported on Wednesday: "I went out this morning. fear is everywhere." This video, posted online by the blogger, seems to show how quiet the city was:
Another blogger who has managed to find a way to update his Twitter feed from inside Tripoli (and will also remain nameless here) wrote on Wednesday afternoon that, despite text messages from the Libyan government encouraging people to go back to work, "roads are nearly empty from cars." He added that anti-Qaddafi graffiti had been painted over and images of the leader destroyed by protesters had been replaced.
On its live blog, Al Jazeera pointed to this video, said to show mercenaries patrolling the streets of Tripoli on a recent night:
The blogger who posted that clip on YouTube claimed that it showed "African mercenaries" patrolling Tripoli's streets. There remains no hard evidence that the forces loyal to the Qadaffi regime are, in fact, mercenaries from other parts of Africa. In a Guardian article on the rumors of mercenary forces, David Smith reported:
some analysts urged against jumping to conclusions in Libya, noting that the country has a significant black population who may simply be serving in the regular army and could be mistaken for mercenaries. These include Chadians who sided with Qaddafi in his past conflicts with Chad and were rewarded with houses, jobs and Libyan citizenship.
More images of protesters apparently coming under fire on the streets of Tripoli over the weekend can be seen in these three YouTube clips, uploaded by opposition activists, who said they show protesters being shot at in the capital:
(A warning: this video is said to have been filmed, on a dark street, at the moment a man was shot.)
11:34 A.M. |Qaddafi Family Members Reportedly Try to Flee
An Al Jazeera correspondent in Malta reports that government sources there said that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's daughter, Ayesha, "was on board the National Libyan Airlines plane that tried to land in Malta on Thursday."
The NBC Breaking News Twitter feed adds: "Malta Foreign Affairs Ministry confirms to CNBC that it refused to let the plane land."
Al Jazeera also reports on its live blog that "a private Libyan jet that was prevented from landing at Beirut's airport was carrying on board the wife of one of Gaddafi's sons, Voice of Lebanon radio reported Wednesday."
For some background on the Qaddafi family, see my colleague Scott Shane's report on what American diplomats wrote about them in cables obtained and distributed by WikiLeaks.
10:58 A.M. |Ahmadinejad Critical of Qaddafi's Response to Protests
Press TV, Iran's state-financed satellite channel, reported on Wednesday that "Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has criticized Libyan rule Muammar Qaddafi, for threatening his own people. Ahmadinejad referred to universal human rights, saying leaders should hear the voice of their people. He went on to say resistance against the demands of a nation is futile."
According to Iran's Fars news agency, which is close to the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mr. Ahmadinejad also offered this advice to the leaders of Arab nations experiencing unrest: "Serve your people and stand beside the people so that people do not revolt against you."
In response to protests in Iran last week, Mr. Ahmadinejad's government used force to suppress dissent, leading to the death of at least two protesters.
Fars also reported that a senior Iranian diplomat said that an Iranian-born Shiite cleric, Imam Musa al-Sadr, who disappeared on a visit to Libya in 1978, is still alive.
Al Arabiya, a Saudi-owned satellite channel, also reported on Wednesday that the cleric, who was a leader of Lebanon's Shiite community when he vanished, could be alive: "Sources close of the family of Iranian-born Lebanese Islamic thinker and religious leader Sadr told AlArabiya.net they received information that he is alive and detained in a Libyan prison."
10:33 A.M. |More Libyan Pilots Reportedly Refuse to Bomb Protesters
According to the Libyan newspaper Quryna, a Libyan air force plane crashed near the eastern city of Benghazi on Wednesday after its crew refused to carry out orders to bomb the city, which is in opposition hands, Reuters reports.
The newspaper, which has now reportedly taken the side of the opposition, reported on its Web site that a colonel at an air base near Benghazi, said the two pilots, Attia Abdel Salem al Abdali and Ali Omar Qaddafi, had bailed out of their Soviet-era fighter jet near the city of Ajdabiya rather than obey the order to strafe Benghazi.
The reported crash follows a decision by the pilots of two other Libyan air force jets to fly to Malta rather than take part in attacks on protesters. The Malta Independent reported on Wednesday:
The two Libyan colonels who defected to Malta in Mirage supersonic jets are still being interviewed by the security services.
It has also been learned that the fighters - not quite top-notch aircraft, but still potent weapons - remain the property of Libya. However, it is understood that they will remain impounded until the situation in North Africa settles, a high-ranking Army source told this newspaper.
The newspaper added that, according to a Maltese military source, "the jets, recently refurbished under an agreement signed by Qaddafi and Nikolas Sarkozy, broke out of formation when their squadron was ordered to attack Libyan civilians."
Before it switched sides, the Libyan newspaper Quryna was thought to be close to Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, the Libyan ruler's son and presumed heir. The paper is named for the ancient Greek colony of Cyrene, east of Benghazi.
As my colleague Elisabeth Rosenthal reported from Libya in 2007, Seif Qaddafi had hoped to make the eastern area into an ecotourism destination.
In 2007, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, a son of Libya's leader, spoke about tourism at the Greek ruins of Cyrene, in eastern Libya.Jehad Nga for The New York Times In 2007, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, a son of Libya's leader, spoke about tourism at the Greek ruins of Cyrene, in eastern Libya.
10:04 A.M. |Journalists Report From Eastern Libya on Twitter
Several Western reporters who have made it into eastern Libya are now filing vivid dispatches on what they are seeing on Twitter.
Ben Wedeman, a CNN correspondent, who writes as bencnn on the social network, reported in the past hour that all government buildings in the town of Derna, including a police station, the local headquarters of the intelligence service and a police academy had been "torched."
He added that there is also a battle for the control of Libya's airwaves between state radio and an opposition station: "Listening to Libya state radio. Libyan friend calls it LIES FM."
Anti-Gadhafi radio station, voice of free #Libya announces "countdown has begun to end of regime" #LibyaWed Feb 23 14:14:17 via webbenwedeman
bencnn
Mr. Wedeman also filed this video report from Tobruk, in eastern Libya, late on Tuesday:
Martin Chulov, a Guardian correspondent who writes as martinchulov, reports from Benghazi On Wednesday: "Mass defection of the military here. Beyond a critical mass." He adds that a Libyan Air Force major explained that he had defected to the rebels because the regime imported 4,000 African mercenaries just over a week ago to fight the protesters.
Protesters stole bull dozers to break into the army base. At least a dozen still wedged against walls. #libyaWed Feb 23 14:35:33 via txtMartin Chulov
martinchulov
In the past hour Mr. Chulov reported:
Intensive care unit in Benghazi still full of casualties from weekend govt crack down. At main army base in Benghazi. A slaughter house. Hundreds died here. Base destroyed. Blood still on the streets.
Ghaddafi's parade ground inside the base destroyed. Army defectors circling sts in pick-ups. Still in uniform. Ghaddafi's house in Benghazi ransacked by looters.
9:11 A.M. |Libyan Government Blames Al Jazeera for Violence
Just as Egypt's government did in the last days of the Mubarak regime, Libya has accused the Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera of inciting violence as part of a foreign plot against the rule of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
At a news conference in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, on Tuesday, a government spokesman said: "We used to respect our brothers in Qatar, but the brothers in Qatar directed Al Jazeera to incitement and to spread lies. They directed hired Libyan and Egyptian sheiks that have Qatari citizenship and high monthly salaries to start this conspiracy."
Video of the news conference is included in this report from Al Jazeera English:
On Wednesday, Al Jazeera's English-language channel broadcast this report from its correspondent in the Libyan city of Tobruk, who said the city is no longer in government control:
(Note: somewhat confusingly, it appears that the video in this new report from Al Jazeera English that shows people crossing Libya's eastern border with Egypt was mistakenly labeled Tobruk.)
My colleague Kareem Fahim, who also reached Tobruk on Tuesday, reports from there:
Tripoli remained under an information blackout, with no Internet access and limited and intermittent phone service. Colonel Qaddafi's government has sought to block all foreign journalists from entering the country or reporting on the revolt.
But the uprising in the east cracked open the country on Tuesday as the Libyan military retreated from the eastern border with Egypt and foreign journalists poured through. The road from the border to Tobruk appeared to be completely under the control of Colonel Qaddafi's opponents, and small, ragtag bands of men in worn fatigues ran easygoing checkpoints and flashed victory signs at visitors.
Except for those guards, there was little to suggest an uprising was under way. Shops were open along the road, which was full of traffic, mostly heading out of Libya.
Tobruk residents said neighboring cities - including Dernah, Al Qubaa, Bayda and El Marij - were also quiet, and effectively ruled by the opposition.
The government lost control of Tobruk almost immediately, according to Gamal Shallouf, a marine biologist who has become an informal press officer in the city.
Soldiers took off their uniforms on Friday and Saturday, taking the side of protesters, who burned the police station and another government building, smashing a large stone monument of Colonel Qaddafi's Green Book. Four people were killed during clashes here, residents said.
7
*
E-mail This
* Print
* Share Close
o Linkedin
o Digg
o Facebook
o Mixx
o My Space
o Permalink
o
* Twitter
* Recommend
Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Morocco, protests, Yemen
Related Posts
From The Lede
*
Feb. 22 Updates on Middle East Protests
*
Feb. 18 Updates on Middle East Protests
*
Feb. 17 Updates on Middle East Protests
*
Feb. 16 Updates on Middle East Protests
*
Feb. 19 Updates on Middle East Protests
* Previous Post Feb. 22 Updates on Middle East Protests
*
2 Readers' Comments
Post a Comment »
* All Comments
* Highlights
* Readers' Recommendations
* Replies
* Oldest
* Newest
1.
ValerieCourreges
Durham
February 23rd, 2011
11:17 am
The message is clear people can be oppressed so much before they will take to the streets to fight for their rights. The Libyans waited until there was a 30% percent unemployment. Where is the breaking point at which populations revolt is a guess the 1% who own 95% of the wealth would like to know so that they can keep stealing the savings of their employees to stay in power and to support their lavish lifestyles without prompting popular movements. But it is nice to know that people will eventually over throw abusive governments.
The revolutions in northern Africa and the Middle East are giving hopes to all workers and people because they show that unity brings real changes. But it also raises the question:why to Americans show more compassion for the protesters who have been killed,than for the hundred of thousands of Iraqis and Afghanis the US military and coalition forces have killed?
We praise the courage of the many who still take to the streets when they are met with gases, bullets, and helicopters gunning them down.
Recommend Recommended by 4 Readers
2.
JD
Kansas City, MO
February 23rd, 2011
11:17 am
"Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has criticized Libyan rule Muammar Qaddafi, for threatening his own people. Ahmadinejad referred to universal human rights, saying leaders should hear the voice of their people. He went on to say resistance against the demands of a nation is futile."
It is rich coming from the guy who had his thugs in the street and the parliamentarian calling for death of the opposition leaders.
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/latest-updates-on-the-uprising-in-libya/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Mwananchi is now on facebook join us at
http://www.facebook.com/groups.php#/group.php?gid=61997445929
This online initiative is part of an ongoing dialogue among Africans about how to address the challenges facing the continent.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment