Libyan Revolution Day 78

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iFQ7WVihRwDe_kq_wfG6HYpITyZQ?docId=ffd66633b5784461b1fbe1c266b4ac0b">Men search shattered Libyan city for unburied dead
MISRATA, Libya (AP) — Flies flickered through flashlight beams and a foul odor filled the air as the men tromped down the stairs to a basement. Their rubber boots splashed in ankle-deep putrid water as they scanned the darkness for the bodies they'd come to retrieve.

"Here's one," someone said. Then another. And another. And another.

The men are all volunteers for the particularly morbid task of combing Misrata's war-shattered streets for the unburied dead from two months of urban combat.

Since the uprising against Moammar Gadhafi began in mid-February, Libya's third-largest city has endured some of the country's most violent battles. Gadhafi's troops have surrounded the coastal city from three sides and subjected it to daily shelling.

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/US-wants-to-free-frozen-Libyan-assets-for-rebels-1364809.php">US wants to give frozen Libyan assets to rebels
ROME (AP) — New money pipelines are opening up to help Libyan rebels determined to topple Moammar Gadhafi, with the United States saying it will move to free up part of the $30 billion it has frozen in Libyan assets and a score of nations pledging Thursday to start a new fund to supply civilians with food, medicine and even paychecks.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's announcement marked the first time Washington has indicated it would release some of the frozen Gadhafi funds to help the rebels, who say they need up to $3 billion for military salaries, food, medicine and other basic supplies.

Clinton said the Obama administration, working with Congress, wants "to tap some portion of those assets owned by Gadhafi and the Libyan government in the United States, so we can make those funds available to help the Libyan people."

The U.S. has already pledged $53 million in humanitarian aid and authorized up to $25 million in non-lethal assistance to the rebels, including medical supplies, boots, tents, rations and protective gear. The first shipment is to arrive in the western, rebel-held city of Benghazi in the coming days.

http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/update/2011/libya-update-2011-05-04.htm">Libya: clearance of unexploded weapons has started
Libyan civilians are exposed to the dangers of unexploded or abandoned explosive devices in many places, such as Ajdabiya, Misrata and Benghazi, where intense fighting has taken place. Injuries, mainly to children, have been reported in the past few days.

In Ajdabiya, in addition to facing uncertainty about the evolution of the fighting, many people are not able to return to their homes because of the threat posed by unexploded munitions. Such devices include rockets, shells and mortars. They can be found anywhere in residential areas, even in gardens, or inside houses or public buildings.

"On 3 May we started clearing dangerous devices in parts of Ajdabiya," said Herby Elmazi, the ICRC delegate in charge of the clearance operation. "This is the beginning of a sustained effort to reduce the weapon contamination hazard for the civilian population. The effort will hopefully be extended to conflict-torn Misrata in the near future." ICRC experts mark the most affected areas before proceeding with the safe removal or deactivation of dangerous devices. "The ICRC is the only organization with a fully operational team currently able to clear these kinds of devices in Libya," added Mr Elmazi.

The ICRC clearance team is working in close cooperation with Libyan Red Crescent volunteers, who are playing an essential role in determining which areas in Ajdabiya have been contaminated. They convey the information to the ICRC team so that it can proceed with the clearance operation.

http://www.juancole.com/2011/05/libyan-opposition-extremely-happy-at-bin-ladens-death-combatting-al-qaeda.html">Juan Cole: Libyan Opposition: ‘Extremely Happy’ at Bin Laden’s Death, Combatting al-Qaeda
The Qaddafis have repeatedly accused the Free Libya forces to the east and south of Tripoli of being Muslim radicals and even al-Qaeda sympathizers. On Tuesday, the Libyan opposition responded in the Saudi-owned al-Sharq al-Awsat to these charges, denouncing them as lies. They said that in fact, they have had to fight pro-al-Qaeda bands (implying that they were among Qaddafi’s mercenaries?). Excerpts below, translation by the USG Open Source Center:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/05/libya-fuel-crisis-oil-supplies">Libya faces fuel crisis as oil supplies dwindle
Police officers in riot gear and armed with wooden staves have been manning fuel pumps at a petrol station in Tripoli as long queues of cars caused traffic chaos in western Libya, amid fears that the Gaddafi regime is running out of its most precious commodity.

Queues of vehicles, sometimes five or six deep, stretched up to half a kilometre from some petrol stations last week, most of which are shut behind makeshift barriers. Two men in a queue near the city of Zuwara said they had been waiting for five days in the hope of a fresh delivery.

At the few stations around the capital, where cars were inching forward, armed soldiers and police attempted to keep order as motorists and pedestrians carrying containers jostled to get served. Fights sometimes break out, according to locals.

http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/05/05/feature-02">Libyan revolutionaries lay foundation for new state
As the Deputy Chairman of Libya's Transitional National Council, Abdelhafed Ghoga has the uneasy task of governing a country wrecked by civil strife. Magharebia sat down with the rebel spokesman in Benghazi where he described how the rebels were working to re-establish order and rebuild basic functions of a democratic state. He also described how Libyans view the UN intervention and the antipathy some feel towards countries that opposed the no-fly zone.

Magharebia: With the outbreak of the February 17th uprising, many state institutions in Libya were destroyed. How are you working to rebuild law enforcement capacity and protect citizens?

Abdelhafed Ghoga: In fact, right after the start of the February 17th revolution, the first thing we did – even before the formation of the Transitional Council itself – was to form local councils in all the cities that had been liberated, such as Tobruk, Derna, Al Marj, Ajdabiya, and Misrata, aiming at the administration of affairs of the citizens. This measure marked an important step. The other sectors were already there and running.

As for the public institutions, we established new ones such as the National Oil Company, the Central Bank, and the Marine Authority, which is in charge of the entire Libyan territory with Tripoli as its capital.

"One month ago (Western countries) were sooo nice, so nice like pussycats," Saif says in a contemptuous sing-song tone."Now they want to be really aggressive like tigers. (But) soon they will come back, and cut oil deals, contracts. We know this game." - http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2058389,00.html">Saif Gaddafi

http://english.libya.tv/2011/04/25/eastern-libyans-believe-in-national-unity-distrust-au-and-turkish-mediation-survey-reveals/">The first free public opinion poll ever conducted in Libya reveals clues to Eastern Libyan sentiments
* 98 percent of the respondents do not support the division of Libya as a part of the political solution for the current conflict with the Gaddafi regime. Around 95 percent also don’t see any role for Gaddafi or his sons in a transitional period, and think it is impossible to implement any political reform in Libya if Gaddafi or one of his sons stays in power

* Around 96 percent of those polled, believe that the 17th of February revolution can consolidate the national unity of Libya and support the model of a democratic Libya based on a constitution which respects human rights

* Al-Qaeda has not played any role in the 17th of February revolution, say 94 percent of the Eastern Libyans, and 91 percent thinks it’s impossible for Al-Qaeda to play any political role in the new Libya

* The National Transitional Council is seen by 92 percent of those surveyed as “expressing the views and wishes of Libyans for change”

http://jenkinsear.com/2011/03/19/a-legal-war-the-united-nations-participation-act-and-libya/">A Legal War: The United Nations Participation Act and Libya
The above link is to an overview of why Obama's implementation of the NFZ and R2P is perfectly legal under the law. I will not post it entirely here, however, all objections come down to the misinformed position that Obama, by using forces in Libya, was invoking Article 43 of the United Nations. This is wrong. Obama invoked Article 42, which does not require congressional approval to implement. Proof of this is that Article 43 has http://www.un.org/en/sc/repertoire/actions.shtml#rel5">never been used.

It goes like this: The US law (Title 22, Chap. 7, Subchap. XIV § 287d) grants the President the right to invoke UN Article 42 http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode22/usc_sec_22_00000287---d000-.html">without authorization, the War Powers Act (Title 50, Chap. 33 § 1541) grants the President permission to act without authorization under http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/50/1541–1548.html">"specific statutory authorization" which, by definition, is what 287d does. § 1543 of the War Powers Act requires the President to report to Congress, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/obama_explains_libya_mission_to_congress/2011/03/03/ABU9377_blog.html">which he did. One can argue all day and night about the legality of the War Powers Act, doesn't change the fact that under the law as it is written, the President acted within the law.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-10-0">March 10 7:28pm Saif al Islam Gaddafi says "the time has come for full-scale military action" against Libyan rebels. He goes on to say that Libyan forces loyal to his family "will never surrender, even if western powers intervene".

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/2011/03/2011328194855872276.html">Libyan Karzai? Chalabi? Forget it
Fortunately, the Council wasn't made-in-the-USA or manufactured by another foreign power. Rather it came into existence, a month ago, at Libyans' own initiative, soon after the winds of revolutionary change blew Libya's way, and after its people rose to the occasion with pride and courage.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/03/31/getting_libyas_rebels_wrong">Getting Libya's Rebels Wrong
Don't buy Qaddafi's line: The rebels aren't al Qaeda.

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2011/04/04/110404taco_talk_anderson#ixzz1HvS7iW22">Who Are the Rebels?
During weeks of reporting in Benghazi and along the chaotic, shifting front line, I’ve spent a great deal of time with these volunteers. The hard core of the fighters has been the shabab—the young people whose protests in mid-February sparked the uprising. They range from street toughs to university students (many in computer science, engineering, or medicine), and have been joined by unemployed hipsters and middle-aged mechanics, merchants, and storekeepers. There is a contingent of workers for foreign companies: oil and maritime engineers, construction supervisors, translators. There are former soldiers, their gunstocks painted red, green, and black—the suddenly ubiquitous colors of the pre-Qaddafi Libyan flag.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/29/vision-democratic-libya-interim-national-council">A vision of a democratic Libya
The interim national council, formed by opposition groups in Libya, has said it will hold free and fair elections and draft a national constitution. Here is its eight-point plan in full.

http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2011/04/20/left-slipping-towards-qaddafi">The left: slipping towards Qaddafi?
When the revolt against Qaddafi started in Libya, hardly anyone on the left — however broadly defined — could say anything in defence of Qaddafi.

With the start of the "no-fly zone", many on the left started to sideline the issues within Libya and focus their efforts on denouncing NATO.

Now the denunciation of NATO, in turn, is acting as a lever to introduce defence of Qaddafi and denunciation of the rebels into broad-left discourse.

...

Everything is done by insinuation and sarcasm, just as old-style Stalinists used to deflect criticism of the USSR by studied wondering whether the regime was quite as bad as extreme Western right-wingers used to say, or whether the right-wingers' motives for criticism might be suspect.

http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/is-qaddafi-an-anti-racist/">Is Qaddafi an anti-racist?

...

One of the signs that you are dealing with a cruder form of propaganda is if the author does not bother to address evidence that contradicts his or her own. To be taken seriously on the question of Qaddafi’s commitment to pan-African values, you have to take a close look at his overall record, something that does not interest Forte who is so anxious to tilt the scales in favor of Qaddafi that he does not bother to conceal the fact that his hand rests upon the scale.

...

Mohammed Nabbous, killed by Gaddafi's forces while trying to report on the massacre in Benghazi

"I'm not afraid to die, I'm afraid to lose the battle" -Mohammed Nabbous, a month ago when all this began

I'm struggling to come up with something to say about this man. I was not aware of the Libyan uprising until I saw Mo's first report, begging for help, posted here on DU. I was stricken. Here was a man giving everything he had to explain a situation that clearly terrified him, I would not call him a coward in that moment, but you could see the fear in his eyes, and desperation in his voice. For 30 days Nabbous would spend many hours covering the uprising in Benghazi. For many nights I would go to sleep with the webcast of Benghazi live on my computer screen, looking to it occasionally to be sure it was still 'there.' Mo treated the chat room as if we were his friends, and in some way, we were. I never signed up to LiveStream to thank him for all his work and it seems somewhat shallow to do so now, given that I was a lurker for so long. Ever since I took over posting these threads "Libya Alhurra" has been linked as a source of information. It wasn't until last night, when I posted, and twitter posted on Mo's adventures out into Benghazi to try to determine the truth of the situation, that Mo's webchannel became a hit, over 2000 people were watching him stream live. This was curious to him because he'd done many reports like this in the past but he appeared somewhat bemused that the view count exploded as it did. Last night Mo became a star. This is a man who first started out with a webcast replete with fear and desperation finally overcoming that aspect of himself and losing that fear, to become someone who was a fighter for the resistance just as much as those who held the guns. Reporting on the front lines of Benghazi became his final act, and for that he should never, ever be forgotten. I'm so sorry Mo that I never got to know you better.

Mo's first report, which many of you may remember, begging for help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38EXALI60hg

Mo's last report, a fallen hero trying to spread the word to the world: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecu_iWLn-rg

Mo leaves behind a wife who is with child, she had http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/23/a_bright_voice_from_libyas_darkness">this to say about the No Fly Zone and R2P UN resolution:

We started this in a pure way, but he turned it bloody. Thousands of our men, women, and children have died. We just wanted our freedom, that's all we wanted, we didn't want power. Before, we could not do a single thing if it was not the way he wanted it. All we wanted was freedom. All we wanted was to be free. We have paid with our blood, with our families, with our men, and we're not going to give up. We are still going to do that no matter what it takes, but we need help. We want to do this ourselves, but we don't have the weapons, the technology, the things we need. I don't want anyone to say that Libya got liberated by anybody else. If NATO didn't start moving when they did, I assure you, I assure you, half of Benghazi if not more would have been killed. If they stop helping us, we are going to be all killed because he has no mercy anymore.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/05/2011551910746739.html">Ivorian court confirms Ouattara as president
Ivory Coast's constitutional council has ratified the results of last year's presidential election showing that Alassane Ouattara won, reversing an earlier decision to reject them.

The court's initial rejection of electoral commission results from the November 2010 poll sparked a more than four-month power struggle between Ouattara and incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo.

Paul Yao N'Dre, the president of the constitutional council, said on Thursday that the top legal body now accepted Ouattara had won the election.

"The constitutional council ... proclaims Alassane Ouattara president, takes note of decisions made by and declares them all valid," N'Dre announced to journalists in Abidjan, the country's commercial capital.

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, ordered the explusion of two Libyan diplomats from its London embassy as he travelled to Rome to demand heavier military bombardment of Col Muammar Gaddafi's regime.


By Rosa Prince, and Nick Squires in Rome5:47PM BST 05 May 2011



The Foreign Office refused to comment on the behaviour which led to the expulsion of the two diplomats and their dependants, but it is understood that they are suspected of seeking to intimidate pro-opposition Libyans living in Britain.


In a statement, Mr Hague said that the expulsion was part of a move to step up the diplomatic pressure on Gaddafi, and that the diplomats and their families had until Wednesday to leave the country.

He added: "I ordered the expulsion of the two diplomats on the basis that their activities were contrary to the interests of the UK.

...


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8495889/Libya-William-Hague-expels-two-Libyan-diplomats.html

http://english.libya.tv/2011/05/05/transitional-council-to-expand-executive-committee/">Transitional Council to expand executive committee
The expansion of the Executive Committee of Libya has been approved following a series of meetings this week in Benghazi with the National Transitional Council, the representative body of the people of free Libya.

Heads of seven new portfolios will be announced this week, taking the total number of portfolios in the Executive Committee, headed by Mahmoud Jibril, to 15.

‘Ministers’ for International Affairs, Defense, Education, Environment, Works and Social Affairs, Public Works and Reconstruction, and Awqaf and Islamic Affairs will be announced in the coming days, following the ratification of nominations by the National Transitional Council.

The Executive Committee now includes Dr. Mohammed Allagi, in charge of Justice and Human Rights; Dr. Abdullah Shamia, head of Economy; Dr. Ali Tarhouni, managing the portfolio for Finance and Oil; Ahmed Al-Darat, in charge of the portfolio for Interior and Law Enforcement; Dr. Anwar Al-Feytouri, responsible for Transportation and Communications; Dr. Naji Barakat, head of the portfolio for HealthHealth; Attiya Al-Aujiri, in charge of Culture and Community Affairs; and Mahmud Shammam, head of the Council’s Media portfolio.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5ihC4kFhx_RiVlzfTi8Gp_JrIKsZA?docId=6761848">Libyan opposition outlines post-Gadhafi 'road map;' US frees up frozen assets for rebels
ROME — The Libyan opposition has outlined a political transition for the country if and when Moammar Gadhafi falls, telling an international conference of plans to install an interim government while a constitution is drafted and parliamentary elections held.

Mahmoud Jibril, head of the opposition's Transitional National Council, briefed representatives of two dozen countries and organizations involved in Libya about a political "road map" for a post-Gadhafi Libya at a conference in Rome designed to better co-ordinate assistance to rebels.

During Thursday's conference, the U.S. said it would move to free up at least some of the more than $30 billion it has frozen in Libyan assets, while other conference members agreed to start a new fund to supply civilians with food, medicine and even paychecks.

The move to bolster the rebels and plot a Gadhafi-free future for Libya came despite a virtual military stalemate on the ground. Since the uprising against Gadhafi broke out in mid-February, the two sides have largely been stalled: A U.S. and now NATO-led bombing campaign launched in mid-March has kept Gadhafi's forces from advancing to the east, but has failed to give the rebels a clear battlefield advantage.

http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidANA20110505T144733ZKJF65">Greece to send humanitarian aid to Libya rebels: official
ATHENS, May 05, 2011 (AFP) - Greece will send a ship carrying aid and a "small team" to establish contact with Libyan rebels fighting to oust Moamar Kadhafi's regime, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

"Greece will send to Benghazi a ship carrying humanitarian aid, a mobile medical unit and a small team to handle contacts with the opponents of the Libyan regime," foreign ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras told AFP.

The announcement was made earlier in the day at an international meeting in Rome on the Libyan conflict, Delavekouras said.

He declined to give more details but noted that Athens, which has also received envoys sent by Kadhafi in recent weeks, has not recognised Libya's rebel National Transitional Council (NTC).

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2011/05/06/syrian_army_continues_crackdown_amid_claims_of_withdrawal/">Syrian Army continues crackdown amid claims of withdrawal
BEIRUT — The Syrian Army said yesterday that it has begun withdrawing from a city at the heart of the country’s uprising, but the regime expanded its crackdown elsewhere by deploying soldiers and arresting hundreds ahead of a new wave of antigovernment protests.

The siege on Daraa — the southern city where Syria’s six-week-old uprising began — lasted 11 days with President Bashar Assad unleashing tanks and snipers to crush dissent there. Syria’s state-run media said the military had “carried out its mission in detaining terrorists’’ and restored calm in Daraa.

Still, an activist who has been giving the Associated Press updates from Daraa cast doubt on the army’s claim. The activist, who left Daraa early yesterday, said residents were reporting that tanks and troops were still in the city. The accounts could not be independently confirmed, and telephone calls to Daraa were not going through.

United Nations deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said a humanitarian team will be going to Daraa in the coming days following a phone appeal to Assad by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

People in #daraa say the army told them to protest in support of president Al Asad if they want to get the bodies of their relatives #Syria
less than a minute ago

Abdurahman Warsame
abdu

http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/teenagers-dramatic-escape-from-libya-38591.aspx">Teenager’s dramatic escape from Libya
More than a month after escaping the country and being reunited with his worried mother, Lynne, at their Belvedere Street home, no news has reached Idris Hamroush.

The former Sandown High pupil, who is taking a gap year before starting his A-levels at the IW College, travelled to see his airline pilot father on January 12.

More than a month later, Idris took the risk with a friend of driving to the huge military base at Rajma just outside Benghazi. Idris went to seek weapons and ammunition that could be used by fighters should Gadaffi’s forces march in to Benghazi.

MISRATA, Libya (AP) — Flies flickered through flashlight beams and a foul odor filled the air as the men tromped down the stairs to a basement. Their rubber boots splashed in ankle-deep putrid water as they scanned the darkness for the bodies they'd come to retrieve.

"Here's one," someone said. Then another. And another. And another.

The group has found well over 100 bodies, including 44 charred corpses in one house, said Dr. Faraj Ahmed, a veterinarian.

The group's members are not trained to deal with the dead, and no one asked them to do it. Instead, the laborers, businessmen and university students organized themselves, driven by the desire to clean up their city and follow the Islamic obligation to respect the dead.

"In the end, we are all sons of Adam and need to be treated like sons of Adam," said Bashir Ibrahim. "We all deserve a proper burial."

...


"When Gadhafi's forces pulled out, we found that they had left lots of bodies — 10 here, 25 there — and the dogs and the cats were eating them," Ibrahim said.


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iFQ7WVihRwDe_kq_wfG6HYpITyZQ?docId=ffd66633b5784461b1fbe1c266b4ac0b

Omar Mukhtar, a resistance fighter executed by Italian occupiers 80 years ago, has become the spiritual leader of the Libyan revolution.



By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times
May 6, 2011



Reporting from Benghazi, Libya— In eastern Libya, the spectral image of an elderly, bearded man in a skullcap or Bedouin cloak is everywhere — on bumper stickers and posters, military vehicles and checkpoints, even press IDs issued by the rebel government here.


"He is the godfather of all of us," said Salim Ismael, a retired army officer now training rebel recruits. "He is our inspiration, the spiritual leader of the Libyan revolution."


The figure is Omar Mukhtar, a 20th century resistance hero executed by Italian occupiers 80 years ago — and, improbably enough, depicted in a 1981 Hollywood all-star epic, "The Lion of the Desert," starring Anthony Quinn as Mukhtar. A box-office flop, the film has a devoted cult following here.


"General, bring me back Mukhtar!" Rod Steiger, playing Benito Mussolini, bellows to a subordinate before dispatching him across the Mediterranean. "Bribe him or break his neck."


Mukhtar is a kind of Libyan Che Guevara, another doomed revolutionary, but without the Cold War baggage and crass commercialization.


...



http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-hero-20110506,0,4249658,full.story

Most arriving in Benghazi, the Libyan rebels' stronghold, are migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa and other areas who were left stranded amid the siege by Kadafi's forces.



By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times
May 5, 2011, 7:06 p.m.



Reporting from Benghazi, Libya— A rescue ship packed with migrant workers from the besieged Libyan city of Misurata arrived Thursday at the opposition stronghold of Benghazi, even as rebels received assurances in Rome of a financial aid package from the United States and other international powers.


The chartered ferry Red Star One had been delayed for days from reaching Misurata because of fears about government shelling and mines planted in the sea by forces loyal to Moammar Kadafi.


The vessel, chartered by the International Organization for Migration, finally docked in Misurata on Wednesday amid shelling of a nearby camp, picked up evacuees and the wounded, then quickly headed out to the Mediterranean en route to Benghazi, the rebels' de facto capital.


On board the ferry were more than 800 people, most of them migrant laborers from sub-Saharan Africa, many of whom had spent a harrowing week or more in a makeshift camp in Misurata's port. Five migrant workers were killed Wednesday when shells hit the camp, witnesses said.


...


The migrants interviewed generally said they were neutral in Libya's upheaval, but some were clearly outraged that shells hit the refugee compound where they were staying in Misurata.


"I hate Kadafi because of our brothers who he has killed," said John Kwabea, 29, a plasterer from Ghana. "You can't be for someone who has taken the life of your brother."



http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-ship-20110506,0,120800.story

(AP) – 2 hours ago

PARIS (AP) — France on Friday ordered 14 diplomats loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to leave the country within 48 hours, the foreign ministry said.

The 14 "ex-diplomats" worked for Libya's embassy before it was shut about a month ago, said a ministry spokesman on condition of anonymity in line with the official protocol.

The 14 have been deemed "persona non grata," and that they have between 24 to 48 hours to leave France, the ministry said in a statement, without elaborating.

France has recognized Libya's opposition movement, and has been a major backer of a NATO-led military mission aimed to protect civilians from an onslaught by Gadhafi's forces.

...


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5isvgG_Xerhg7P_oTWXiPb7CuIBFQ?docId=781d313d38f24269bbf7686cb38f8f8d

Friday, May 6, 2011


PADDY AGNEW


THE INTERNATIONAL Contact Group meeting in Rome yesterday agreed to make $250 million (€172 million) available immediately to Libyan rebel groups while the two Arab countries Qatar and Kuwait will be making a further $580 million available in the near future.


Speaking after a meeting attended by France, Italy, the Netherlands, Qatar, Kuwait, the UK and the US as well as by representatives of Nato and the Benghazi-based Libyan Transitional National Council, Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini confirmed that the meeting would make the money available for “humanitarian purposes”.


After the meeting the council’s acting prime minister Mahmoud Jabril told reporters that he was very satisfied with the outcome.


Asked just what his temporary government would do with the money, he said that it was required not for arms but rather for a vast range of social services – health, education, housing – necessary to put in place as part of the “road map” for a post-Gadafy Libya.


...



http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0506/1224296280579.html

Fri May 6, 2011 7:09am GMT


By Charlie Dunmore

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Libya's food supplies could run out within six to eight weeks unless plans are put in place to avoid a full-scale humanitarian crisis, the head of the United Nation's World Food Programme (WFP) said on Thursday.


Supply concerns are particularly acute in the rebel-held east of the country, where the interim authorities are struggling to buy and distribute food, WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said in an interview.


"The challenge in Libya is that this is a centrally controlled food system that was run by the government, and it's not being restocked now. That whole system could run out of food in six to eight weeks," Sheeran told Reuters in Brussels.


"If we do not address the larger gaps in the food system in Libya -- particularly eastern Libya -- we'll have to envision a fairly massive humanitarian operation."

...


http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE74505020110506

Cambridge company will register as lobbyist


By Farah Stockman
Globe Staff / May 6, 2011


WASHINGTON — A Cambridge consulting firm’s controversial bid to bolster the image of Moammar Khadafy and Libya should have been registered with the US government as a lobbying effort, an internal company investigation found.


Company officials with Monitor Group, which enlisted prominent professors from Harvard University in the effort from 2006 to 2008, said the inquiry also concluded that public relations work for foreign governments is not part of its core mission and should be avoided.


“We are putting in place new systems to make sure we do not repeat a mistake we fully acknowledge we made here,’’ said Eamonn Kelly, a senior partner at Monitor. The company will retroactively register the Libya work today, as well as a separate contract with Jordan, he said.


...


The involvement of Harvard professors in the Libya work has sparked some soul-searching at the university, where some have called on president Drew Faust to warn professors that their outside work must adhere to standards of truthfulness.

...


http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/05/06/cambridge_firm_says_it_erred_on_libya_consulting/?page=2

6 May 2011

AI Index: PRE01/240/2011



Attacks by forces loyal to Colonel al-Gaddafi on civilian and residential areas of Misratah may amount to war crimes, Amnesty International said today in a new report on the bleak situation in the besieged city.


Misratah: Under Siege and Under Fire accuses al-Gaddafi forces of unlawful killing of civilians due to indiscriminate attacks, including use of heavy artillery, rockets and cluster bombs in civilian areas and sniper fire against residents.


It also documents systematic shooting at peaceful protesters and enforced disappearance of perceived opponents, which can amount to crimes against humanity.


"The scale of the relentless attacks that we have seen by al-Gaddafi forces to intimidate the residents of Misratah for more than two months is truly horrifying," said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International's senior adviser currently in Libya.


"It shows a total disregard for the lives of ordinary people and is in clear breach of international humanitarian law."


Amnesty International called on the Tripoli authorities to put an immediate end to indiscriminate attacks and direct attacks against civilians or civilian objects.


Since Misratah declared its allegiance to opposition forces in February, al-Gaddafi's forces have used their positions around the city and in the centre to launch relentless indiscriminate attacks into the city’s residential neighbourhoods.

Scores of residents not involved in armed confrontations have been killed and hundreds injured, many by indiscriminate 122mm Grad rockets fired from up to tens of kilometres away, and by mortars and 155mm artillery shells.

Rockets, mortars and artillery shells are designed for use against massed infantry or armour. Under international humanitarian law, none of these weapons should ever be used in populated residential areas.


Early in the morning of 14 April, a dozen residents were killed and many more were injured when several salvos of rockets rained down on the Qasr Ahmad neighbourhood of Misratah. Many of the victims were standing in a queue outside a bakery.


On 15 April, Amnesty International found evidence that mortars containing cluster submunitions were being used in residential areas, including in the city centre.


The organization said that cluster munitions, which cannot discriminate between civilians and soldiers, should never be used in any circumstances and that their use in residential areas was a flagrant violation of the international prohibition on indiscriminate attack.


Amnesty International also found that sniper fire was used by al-Gaddafi forces to target residents in areas under the control of opposition fighters, preventing them from moving around freely.


33 year-old father of three Ibrahim Ahmad al-Dernawi was shot and killed in his parents’ house, apparently by a sniper. His father told Amnesty International:


“He was holding his six-month-old son in his lap and we were talking. I suddenly heard the sound of the glass breaking but the window did not shatter. Then I saw blood pouring from my son’s face. He died instantly.”


Many residents remained trapped for weeks in areas near the front line particularly around Tripoli Street, unable to leave for fear of being shot at by snipers.


Amnesty International also found evidence suggesting the use of human shields by al-Gaddafi forces. In the Gheiran neighbourhood, south-west of the city centre, tanks were positioned next to civilian buildings, seemingly in a deliberate attempt to shield them from possible air strikes.


"Shielding" is a violation of international humanitarian law and constitutes a war crime.


Amnesty International also highlighted the plight of thousands of migrants who remain trapped at Misratah's port, now being increasingly targeted by forces loyal to Colonel al-Gaddafi as they attempt to deprive the city’s remaining residents of their last lifeline to the outside world.

On 4 May four members of a family from Niger, including two children under two years old and their aunt and uncle, were killed in a rocket attack as they waited for evacuation from Misratah.


Amnesty International called on the international community to support the international investigations into human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law in Libya, in particular the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Commission of Inquiry established by the UN Human Rights Council.


On 4 May, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told the UN Security Council that he will ask ICC judges to issue arrest warrants against three individuals for crimes against humanity committed in Libya.


"The people of Misratah have had nowhere to turn for safety or support in recent months," said Donatella Rovera.


"The international community must give all possible support - financial, legal and practical - to thosee bodies trying to bring to justice those responsible for possible war crimes and
crimes against humanity in Misratah and elsewhere in Libya."

Background


The findings of Misratah: Under Siege and Under Fire are based on an Amnesty International delegate's visit to Misratah between 14 and 20 April. The report also draws from an Amnesty International visit to Tunisia between 6 and 20 April, which interviewed injured residents from Misratah and their families who had been evacuated for treatment.


http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/libya-attacks-against-misratah-residents-point-war-crimes-2011-05-06

Security apparatus shooting live bullets in #Homs #Syria
less than a minute ago

wissamtarif

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — Many risked their lives to get here. Now they're putting their lives on the line to get out.

...


Bright Ighodero said only God and luck saved him when a rocket from Moammar Gadhafi's forces exploded into a Nigerian family he was chatting with as roughly 1,000 migrant workers waited to be evacuated this week from the besieged rebel port of Misrata in western Libya.


"They killed the whole family, except for the father. The mother, her sister, two children, maybe 1 year and 2 years old, and her husband's friend, they all were killed," he said Thursday after he docked safely in Benghazi, the rebel-held bastion in northeast Libya.


He held his head in his hands to fend off a reporter's questions, as if remembering was too painful.


"I've been running to save my head for three months. Running from soldiers, running from rockets. My head is messed up," said the 30-year-old welder from Benin City in southern Nigeria.


"I just want to go home. My mother doesn't even know I'm alive."

...


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h6oFolRJEoZmWm1zTOksZ07gZU7g?docId=ec4eac05ce964b0690edae723dfd8de5

"My father was shoved into a bus with other protesters who were detained during the demonstration near the al-Hassan mosque (in the Midan district)," Jumana Seif, his daughter and human rights campaigner, told Reuters.

"My father was shoved into a bus with other protesters who were detained during the demonstration near the al-Hassan mosque," she said.


Seif, 64, has prostate cancer. He spent a total of eight years as a political prisoner on charges of "weakening national morale", a charge regularly used by the Syrian authorities against opposition and independent figures critical of Syria's autocratic rule.


Seif was first jailed in 2001 after helping initiate a peaceful movement demanding political freedoms and democracy in Syria. He also criticised business monopolies tied to the ruling Assad family. He was released last year after completing a second sentence.

Radio Free Libya transmits live from Misurata
Despite death threats and bombs, Radio Free Libya continues its rebel broadcasts in support of the revolution.
Ruth Sherlock Last Modified: 05 May 2011 13:09

...

Gaddafi's forces react

Regime jets tried to bomb the station twice before the NATO no-fly zone was implemented. The building stood riddled with bullets from heavy machine gun fire, and parts of the walls crumbled from the impact of a rocket propelled grenade.

Despite all this, Hadia remains steadfast: "This is our land, it is part of us, we have to defend it - even if we pay with our bodies."

Loyalists still inside the rebel town tried to destroy the stations antenna with explosives. Worse, hit men were hired to assassinate the staff.

"The checkpoint guards caught a man armed with a gun, and 3500 Libyan dinar . He later confessed that he had been sent to kill Ahmed Hadia," says Betmal.

more...
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/05/2011559650634475.html

The Lives at the End of the Rockets’ Arc
By C. J. CHIVERS
Published: May 5, 2011

MISURATA, Libya — The four fresh corpses, the remains of people recently killed in the shelling of Misurata, rested on the floor of an office in a small clinic. Each was wrapped in a dirty blanket. No one knew what to do with them, just as no one present had any idea of their names.

They were a man, a woman, a boy about 2 and a girl perhaps half that age. The top of the girl’s head was gone, as were both of the woman’s lower legs.

Each day this city presents its residents with ghastly sights and reminders that there has been no shortage of ill fortune here. But even within the confines of a city besieged by its own nation’s army, there can be little luck crueler than theirs. They were migrants from Nigeria trapped in another country’s war. When they died, they had been minutes from escape.

It was Wednesday afternoon that they lay there motionless, almost exactly at the time the news included reports that a prosecutor with the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands intended to seek arrest warrants against three unnamed senior officials in the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

more, plus photo essay "Trapped in Another Country’s War"...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/06/world/africa/06misurata.html

5 May 2011 Last updated at 12:33 GMT
Tunisia's Ben Ali to face charges over deaths

Tunisia's ex-leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his wife are to face new charges linked to the killings of some protesters during January's uprising.

...

He already faces 18 different charges, including voluntary manslaughter and drug-trafficking.

These new charges include "instigating disorder, murder and looting" and "plotting against the internal security", the justice ministry said.

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The UN calculates 219 people died during the Tunisian uprising that began in mid-December.

more...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13294799

Five people were killed in the central city of Homs and one was killed in Hama, said a senior member of a human rights group that compiles death toll figures in Syria.

"We were chanting, peaceful, peaceful, and we didn't even throw a stone at the security forces," said a witness in Homs. "But they waited for us to reach the main square and then they opened fire on us."

Graphic footage from Hama...showed protesters frantically trying to resuscitate a man lying on the ground with a bloodied face and shirt, while people shouted "God is great!"

Wissam Tarif told the Guardian at 4pm (2pm BST) that he has counted protests in 68 towns and villages so far today. He says at this time last week they had 43. But he says this week's protests have not been in central areas.

"The security divided up the cities and prevented people gathering in central areas, so most people - spontaneously - protested in their neighbourhoods," he said, pointing to two separate protests in al-Tel as an example.

He says eyewitnesses have told him that snipers are on rooftops in several towns and that live ammunition has been used in al-Tel and Hajr al-Aswad, both close to Damascus. He says he is unable to get information from the outskirts of Homs, although tanks are confirmed as inside the city.

So far Tarif's organisation Insan has not confirmed any deaths, but has reports of four people being treated in the private Cham hospital in Damascus. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is counting five killed in Homs.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/may/06/syria-libya-middle-east-unrest-live#block-20

Dear Tripoli propagandists: Nothing compares 2 U and your surreal claims
Harriet Sherwood
guardian.co.uk, Friday 6 May 2011 15.19 BST

"It's been seven hours and 15 days," sings Sinead O'Connor in Nothing Compares 2 U, a ballad that will instantly transport me back to the lobby of the Rixos hotel in Tripoli.

In my case it was 16 hours and 27 days that I listened over and over to Sinead, Kool and the Gang, Chris de Burgh, Spandau Ballet and countless other 80s artists on an endless loop echoing around the vast ostentatious lobby, whose drooping glass centrepiece was memorably described by a well-known British broadcaster as "the used condom chandelier".

But the muzak and the decor were relatively benign backdrops to four weeks of exposure to the Libyan regime and the parallel universe it inhabits.

By the end, I was so accustomed to the black-is-white statements of officials that the dropped jaws of newcomers at declarations such as "there is no bombardment of Misrata" seemed naively comical.

more...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/06/libya-war-correspondents-fed-propaganda

By Sara Sidner (CNN)

May 6, 2011 -- Updated 1517 GMT (2317 HKT)



Benghazi, Libya (CNN) -- Wide-eyed youth watch as their commanders give step-by-step instruction on how to handle weapons -- most of the arms are twice as old as the young men who will use them.


It doesn't matter to these volunteer fighters. They are itching to learn so they can head to the front line.


University student Faisal Faraj had never used a gun before showing up at a rebel training camp in Benghazi. But after what he witnessed on the streets of this opposition stronghold in eastern Libya, he decided to learn the art of war instead of studying science.


"In the beginning we went out protesting peacefully carrying banners, demanding more freedom. They (the Gadhafi forces) responded with bullets and they were attacking us in a ruthless way using heavy weaponry, tanks and planes. So we got fed up." Faraj said.

...


Report w/ video:
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/05/06/libya.rebels.training.camps/

LibyaAlHurraTV EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: #Gaddafi forces violate @NATO #NFZ when 2 helicopters attack Misrata Port Yesterday http://bit.ly/ljsKoX

The killing of Osama bin Laden should serve as a warning to Libya’s Muammar al Gaddafi, the head of the Armed Forces has said.


By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent 6:02PM BST 06 May 2011



General Sir David Richards, the Chief of the Defence Staff, said the death of the al-Qaeda leader should have a “psychological impact” on the Libyan dictator and others because “one day their deeds will catch up with them.”


The general’s warning came as British officials revealed that weeks of allied attacks have now cost Col Gaddafi almost three-quarters of his military forces.


Gen Richards described the killing of bin Laden as “definitely a positive” in the context of political change in the Middle East.


“It will remind like-minded people wherever they are that one day their deeds will catch up with them,” he said.


“That is psychologically very important in the context of Libya and other crises in the Middle East, so I think it is a psychological impact rather than a short-term impact.”

...


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8498817/Libya-Osama-bin-Ladens-death-is-warning-to-Gaddafi.html

06 May 2011 18:20


LONDON (AlertNet) - A leading aid agency has lambasted Italy for its “wholly inadequate” response to thousands of Africans fleeing the war in Libya, including many who have suffered torture and other violence.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says Italy must “drastically improve … the appalling reception and living conditions” for migrants, who are reaching its shores in overcrowded boats, often in shock and suffering from hypothermia, dehydration and other ailments.

Nearly 30,000 people have made the often perilous sea journey to Italy’s tiny southern island of Lampedusa since the start of the uprisings that have swept the Arab world.

The vast majority have been Tunisians, but arrivals from Libya are increasing. Most of these people are sub-Saharan Africans from countries including Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Nigeria. Many had fled to Libya to escape violence in their homelands.

Last weekend alone, 12 boats carrying 2,665 people landed on Italian shores, while 715 people were rescued from an off-shore boat, MSF said

...


http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/italy-is-failing-desperate-migrants-fleeing-libyan-war-msf

More than 2,500 won't get scholarship funds next month unless a solution can be found


By Kirsty Whitmore
Murrow News Service
updated 1 hour 26 minutes ago


PULLMAN, Wa. — The civil war in Libya is about to inflict new casualties far from the battle zone – Libyan students studying abroad whose stipends are about to dry up as a result of the U.N. Security Council’s freezing of Libyan government assets.

More than 2,500 Libyan students studying in North America and Canada are facing an end to their funding next month.

...


The students say that if do not have enough money to stay in the US, they will face returning to a volatile political environment. Several of the students have publicly criticized the Gadhafi regime and fear retribution if they return. Last week, WSU students held a fundraiser for anti-Gadhafi rebels.

...


In the 1990s, Elcaatani was detained in a Libyan prison for two years after he and his brothers collected money for the poor in his hometown of Benghazi. He said Libyan officials were angry that the brothers had highlighted poverty in the region and arrested them in 1995. One brother died in prison, and a second suffered a brain injury from beatings by prison guards, he said.

...


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42933451/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa

– Thu May 5, 12:35 pm ET


TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — One of the makers of an Oscar-nominated war documentary says the death in Libya of his friend and co-director is making him rethink his future plans.

Sebastian Junger (YUNG'-gur) says he no longer wants to cover wars from the front lines.

He and British director Tim Hetherington worked together on the acclaimed 2010 documentary "Restrepo" about a U.S. platoon in Afghanistan.

Hetherington died two weeks ago while covering fighting in Libya.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110505/ap_on_en_mo/us_people_sebastian_junger

By C. J. CHIVERS
Published: May 6, 2011


MISURATA, Libya — Military forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi scattered antitank landmines on the port of this besieged city late Thursday night, threatening once more to close the city’s only route for evacuation and supplies, according to accounts of witnesses, photographs and physical evidence collected on the ground.


The landmines were delivered by a Chinese-made variant of Grad rocket that opens in flight and drops mines to the ground below, each slowed slightly and oriented for arming by a small green parachute, according to an identification of the sub-munitions by specialists who were provided photographs and dimensions of the weapons.


The mines hit the port at about 9 or 10 p.m. Thursday, after rockets were heard being fired on the city from the southeast. A short while later, a truck driven by rebels who were patrolling the harbor struck two of them, wounding both men inside, according to a port supervisor and one of the victims, Faisal el-Mahrougi, the driver.


Officials and guards said more than 20 mines were distributed in the attack, and at least 13 were observed first-hand. It was not possible to verify an exact number, as many had been destroyed by rebels who, to clear the mines, shot them with rifles, causing them to explode. By nightfall on Friday, the port appeared to have been cleared.


The use of mine-distributing rockets echoed its documented use of cluster bombs here, and underscored anew the Qaddafi governments’ efforts to deny the use of the port to the rebels and to international aid organizations. Regarded as highly indiscriminate weapons, landmines are widely banned by the international community, though several nations, including the United States and Libya, have not signed the international convention prohibiting their production and use, and retain landmines in their arsenals.

...


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/07/world/africa/07libya.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

by David Folkenflik



The journalists who cover war make up a tight-knit community. And they say they are still sifting through their emotions in the wake of the deaths last month of two experienced colleagues, Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington, who were killed documenting the uprising in eastern Libya.

...


"It starts out in the abstract and moves to the reality of the situation — which is confusing, messy, chaotic and very often humiliating," said Bob Nickelsberg, a legendary war photojournalist who spent a quarter-century as a contract shooter for Time magazine, largely in Central America and South Asia.

...


Meanwhile, combatants are no longer as likely to treat journalists as an irritant or simply a way to get out their message. Now, the journalists are being targeted. Journalists have been attacked in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain and other countries in recent months. Those with cameras swaying are particularly visible — and thus, particularly vulnerable.

...


"It's a very intimate thing," said Lyon. "What we're talking about here, in essence, is a relationship — a relationship with danger, a relationship with death, in some cases. A relationship with adrenaline. A relationship with intensity of experience.


"And like a lot of relationships, to those outside of them, they are a mystery of sorts."



Story and audio report (All Things Considered):
http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2011/05/06/136053477/the-perilous-job-of-conflict-photography#more