Thread: The Libyan Crisis

Libyan embassy files on Gaddafi regime to be handed over to British authorities - Telegraph



"The documents were discovered in the Libyan Embassy in London, which was formally taken over by the rebels on Tuesday amid chaotic scenes of celebration.
Many are now expected to be shown to British intelligence agencies and police.
The Daily Telegraph has seen some of the Gaddafi-era files, which contain details of how the embassy - described as a "spy centre" by its new occupants - made payments to British individuals and companies.
Several of the files appear to relate to payments to private British medical specialists who treated members of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime and their families.
Other files in the Knightsbridge building show how the embassy arranged and paid for trips to Libya for members of the Libyan diaspora and British nationals.

As hundreds of Libyan exiles swarmed into the building, Guma el-Gamaty, UK co-ordinator for the rebel Transitional National Council, described the handover of the embassy as a "momentous day" for the Libyan people.
The Daily Telegraph has seen a room in the basement of the building containing hundreds of files setting out the old diplomatic mission's financial affairs.
The rebels believe that those documents will reveal details of intelligence operations conducted in the UK by the Gaddafi regime over several decades.
"The embassy has been used as a spy centre for the last 30 or 40 years," said Mr el-Gamaty, promising to disclose any secrets uncovered in the building or the regime's other diplomatic sites in London.
"We will definitely reveal it and hand it over to a future Libyan government," he said.
Mr el-Gamaty said that the files will be examined to see if they contain evidence of collusion with the Gaddafi regime.
"We are not going to hold it against any British national or company who wanted to do genuine business with the Libyan people," he said.
"But if we find that there were British nationals or companies who have been used to work against the Libyan people, we will be glad to pass that information to the British government."
The files came to light as hundreds of Libyans surged into the embassy. The UK is said to be home to the largest population of Libyans outside the country.
Amid cheers of "Free Libya", the green flag of the Gaddafi regime was pulled down.
Copies of the dictator's "Green Book" of political philosophy were torn up, scattered around the embassy and thrown from windows like confetti.
In the basement, a large poster of Col Gaddafi was also torn to shreds.
Many of the Libyans celebrating the handover brought children with them. The youngsters happily swarmed around the five-story building, with several taking turns to sit in the ambassador's chair in the office on the third floor.
Others found their way into a security control room in the basement, playing with the controls of CCTV cameras outside the building before they were shooed out by TNC officials and the room locked.
The TNC says it represents the Libyans fighting to remove Col Gaddafi, and has been recognised by more than 20 countries as the legitimate government of Libya.
In a significant change of policy, Britain formally recognised the TNC last month and said invited the rebels to form an official diplomatic mission in London.
Despite almost five months of Western airstrikes and rebel attacks, Col Gaddafi remains in power in Tripoli, and there are reports that his regime will mount a legal challenge to the TNC's occupation of the London embassy.
William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, insisted that the rebels were entitled to use the Knightsbridge embassy.
He said: "The National Transitional Council is the sole legitimate governmental authority in Libya. It is therefore right that their representatives are now staffing the Libyan Embassy.""


The UK government has now established the following:

that a puppet administration can be "announced",

that the stealing of government documents by a third party is legal,

that regime change is legal,

that the murder of unarmed civilians is legal,

the arming of one side in a civil war is legal.

Access to any of a countries embassies around the world can be determined by a third party government.

I wonder if anyone at the UN and in the UK parliament has anything to say about this at all?

Has HM government issued advice to all of it's embassys to shred every incriminating evidence held?

what the rebels did is an act of treason, no matter the regime change

disclosing diplomatic documents to spying agencies just to make a statement is beyond stupid

looks like a bunch of monkey taking over a zoo

all this sounds like what European colonialists did before the war, creating new countries out of nowhere

One to watch....

Libya interior minister arrives in Egypt

Secrecy surrounding Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah's arrival in Cairo raises suspicions of possible defection

Associated Press in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Monday 15 August 2011 12.39 BST
Article history
Libya leader Muammar Gaddafi.

No one from the Libyan embassy in Cairo, which is loyal to Gaddafi, was at the airport to meet Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah, raising suspicions of a defection.

Egyptian airport officials say the Libyan interior minister has arrived in Cairo with family members.

The officials say the minister, Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah, landed just before midday on Monday at Cairo international airport, with nine members of his family.

They say he arrived on a special plane from Tunisia and told Egyptian officials that he was "on a tourist visit".

The airport officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to talk to the media.

The secrecy surrounding the arrival and the fact that no official from the Libyan embassy, which is loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, was at the airport to greet Abdullah, raised suspicions of a possible defection.

Link

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

The airport officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to talk to the media

Very reliable source that, a baggage handler no doubt.

Originally Posted by OhOh

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

The airport officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to talk to the media

Very reliable source that, a baggage handler no doubt.

You really think the Egyptians would want this in the public domain? You don't think they have enough on their plate?

Surprise Surprise:

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's interior minister has flown to the Egyptian capital with nine family members in the latest apparent defection from the Libyan government.

Egyptian airport officials say Libyan Interior Minister Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah and his relatives arrived in Cairo early Monday on a private jet from the Tunisian resort island of Djerba. They say the minister entered Egypt on a tourist visa and was not greeted by any officials from Gadhafi's embassy in Cairo.

Actually a Libyan baggage handler might have recognised him if he was the Interior Minister.....

I have no doubt he's in Cairo. The big question is whether or not he's defected.

Taking 9 family members with him suggests it may be so.

The good thing about Scuds is that they are woefully inaccurate.

Col Gaddafi fires scud missile at rebel territory as Nato braces itself for final violent showdown

Col Muammar Gaddafi's Libyan government appeared to be preparing for a last violent final showdown after it emerged that his beleaguered regime had fired a Scud missile at rebel territory as opposition forces closed in on Tripoli.
Col Gaddafi fires scud missile at rebel territory as Nato braces itself for final violent showdown: Libyan rebels manage a check point at the entrance of the residential area of Brega, on August 15, 2011
Libyan rebels manage a check point near the town of Brega Photo: AFP
Damien McElroy

By Damien McElroy, Zintan, Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent

9:00PM BST 15 Aug 2011

The rebels were attempting to identify the trajectory of the missile which was fired from Col Gaddafi's stronghold of Sirte even as his envoys headed for new talks with the opposition and a United Nations special envoy in Tunisia.

Despite rumours that he is preparing to flee, the opposition fear Col Gaddafi is preparing a desperate last stand in Tripoli and towns still loyal to him in the face of recent rebel advances on two fronts which has cut off his crucial supply routes.

In the early hours of Monday morning, the defiant Libyan leader addressed his people, calling on them to take up arms and "defend their fatherland" and predicting a swift end for "the rats" and the "coloniser" - the rebels and Nato.

But in a further sign of his weakening position, his deputy interior minister, said to be a long-time devoted loyalist, then apparently defected. Nasser al-Mabrouk Abdullah arrived in the Egyptian capital Cairo with nine members of his family claiming he was taking a holiday.

The launch of the ballistic Scud missile, which has a range of more than 200 miles, was detected by a US Aegis destroyer in the Mediterranean on Sunday, officials told The Daily Telegraph.

The regime is thought to possess more than 100 of the Scud B variant missiles. It agreed to destroy them in a deal to end sanctions a decade ago, but rows over their replacement mean the systems remain intact.

Although military planners believe that the majority of the missiles were taken out in recent air strikes, several mobile brigades are thought still to exist.

The missile fired may have been targeting rebel troop formations around Ajdabiyah, a key junction town seized from the regime earlier this year and home to the advance military headquarters of the rebels. It is believed the missile landed in the desert.

"That it didn't hit anything or kill anyone is not the point. It's a weapon of mass destruction that Col Gaddafi is willing to train on his own people," said one Western official.

Sirte, which was Col Gaddafi's birthplace and lies between Misurata and the rebels' eastern front line in Brega, is a potential site for a last stand if Tripoli comes under attack. While consolidating their hold on most residential parts of Brega, the rebels are also now just 30 miles from Tripoli to the west, having taken part of the town of Zawiyah, and 50 miles to the south, after claiming to have taken the garrison town of Gharyan.

From Sirte, the regime could still move Scuds through the desert to target the main rebel strongholds such as Misurata and Zintan. Col Gaddafi has a history of using Scud missiles to lash back at attacks.

The missiles were fired at the southern Italian island of Lampedusa after the 1986 bombing of Tripoli by President Ronald Reagan.

Western officials pointed to the seizure by rebels of much of Zawiyah at the weekend and the apparent defection of Nasser al-Mabrouk Abdullah as a sign of Col Gaddafi's weakening position.

Mr Abdullah was appointed a minister in June, part of a reshuffle following earlier defections.

He had been director of intelligence and was interior minister until 2006, when the shooting dead of 11 Islamist protesters outside the Italian embassy was deemed "disproportionate use of force" even for Libya and he was sacked.

Nevertheless, he remained among the most hardline loyalists of the Gaddafi apparatus.

Meanwhile, Libyan loyalists and rebels met yesterday as efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict intensified.

They was also some confusion about the presence of a UN envoy holding a meeting in Tunis over the coming days. Libyan government and opposition representatives have reportedly been meeting in a Tunisian hotel, but a regime spokesman continued to rule out any negotiated departure for the Libyan leader.

Col Gaddafi himself gave a live broadcast in the early hours of yesterday morning by telephone, defiantly predicting victory over the "rats".

"The Libyan people will remain and the revolution will remain," he shouted.

"Be prepared, go forth, get your weapons, to liberate Libya inch by inch from the traitors and from NATO."

His troops continued to put up resistance in Zawiyah after the attack that dislodged them from the south of the town, including the main road from Tripoli to the western border with Tunisia, on Saturday. Rebels claimed to have control of 80 per cent of the city of 300,000 people, but admitted that government snipers were still inflicting serious casualties.

Doctors in the rebel garrison town of Zintan said that they had treated dozens of men injured in the fighting. Fourteen men were killed on Sunday alone.

"We are treating many wounded in the battle, they have gunshot wounds from snipers mainly," said a urologist who had flown in from Qatar to treat casualties.

Link

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

a Nato spokesman, described the use of Scud missiles as "irresponsible" because of the threat of civilian casualties but in practical terms as much use as "throwing dishes against a wall". "It makes a lot of noise, but that's all," he said.

Strangely we don't hear that when a Palestinian resister fires a considerably more primitive Katyusha rocket into the Negev.

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Nato also confirmed reports that the regime had fired a Scud missile at rebel positions behind the front line in the east. It missed and did no damage.

Col Roland Lavoie, a Nato spokesman, described the use of Scud missiles as "irresponsible" because of the threat of civilian casualties but in practical terms as much use as "throwing dishes against a wall". "It makes a lot of noise, but that's all," he said.

It would lend some credence to this report if they published the recorded radar tracks, the fragments of the SCUD and the hole in the desert it created. All of which can be "created" at will.

Not like the irresponsible "humanitarian aid" NATO has been dropping from the skies, firing from submarines or firing from navy warships. They have killed 1,000's of innocent civilians.

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Mr Khatib said he met "separately" with both sides of the conflict, adding that he was not part of rumoured, but heavily denied, direct talks between the two sides in the Tunisian resort of Djerba.

The UN has taken a singularly back seat position in this illegal murderous war so far, so dont expect anything dramatic.

Gaddafi is on the run!
Another arab country in turmoil.
Mission accomplished.

Great Plan U.S. & NATO


unless....they let the free market inside Libya.
There is lots of work to be done there and lots of money to be earned for everybody.
But what will happen? The big oil companies go inside and make sure that there is never any REAL peace inside the country.

^ link ?

Libya rebels say they control parts of Tripoli | Reuters

Libya rebels say they control parts of Tripoli



By Missy Ryan
TRIPOLI | Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:24am EDT

(Reuters) - Libyan rebels said they had seized control of pockets of Tripoli after a night of fighting, while allied forces advanced on the capital on Sunday, predicting a final showdown with Muammar Gaddafi.

The Libyan leader dismissed the rebels, fighting since February to topple him, as "rats" and said he would not yield.

In a coordinated revolt that rebels have been secretly planning for months to end Gaddafi's 41-year rule, shooting started on Saturday night across Tripoli moments after Muslim clerics, using the loudspeakers on mosque minarets, called people on to the streets.

The fighting inside Tripoli, combined with rebel advances to the outskirts of the city, appeared to signal the decisive phase in a six month conflict that has become the bloodiest of the "Arab Spring" uprisings and embroiled NATO powers.

But Gaddafi's fall is far from certain. His security forces did not buckle as some rebels had predicted. The uprising appeared to be isolated to a few neighborhoods, and had not spread to the whole city.

If the Libyan leader is forced from power, there are question marks over whether the opposition can restore stability in this oil exporting country. The rebels' own ranks have been wracked by disputes and rivalry.

But at daybreak, more than 12 hours after the fighting first broke out, shooting could still be heard in the capital, though it was less heavy and sustained than during the night.

A Reuters reporter at a hotel in the city center said she could hear bursts of machine gun fire about every few minutes, and occasional booms from heavy weapons.

"Our revolutionaries are controlling several neighborhoods and others are coming in from outside the city to join their brothers at this time," Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice-chairman of the rebel National Transition Council, told Reuters in the eastern city of Benghazi.

TRIPOLI ENCIRCLED

Rebel advances outside Libya in the past week tipped the balance of the conflict against Gaddafi, and their ability to march into the city could now decide the outcome of the battle for Tripoli.

"Gaddafi's chances for a safe exit are diminishing by the hour. The more he stays the narrower his base, and the easier it will be for him to be caught or killed," Ashour Shamis, UK-based opposition editor and activist, said. "I think he's not being told the whole picture. (His son) Saif al-Islam is the one who is leading the fight for him."

Gaddafi's whereabouts have been kept secret.

Rebel forces were gathering south of Tripoli, where they told a Reuters reporter they were preparing to attack Al-Aziziyah, a town about 45 km (27 miles) from the city. Another rebel force was trying to advance from Zlitan, about 150 km to the east.

The closest rebel contingent was in Zawiyah, half an hour's drive to the west of Tripoli. Doctors at a clinic on the outskirts said rebels has pushed 10 km east toward Tripoli and were fighting for control of a town called Jaddaim.

"It was very bloody in Jaddaim today. There are many more casualties at other hospitals," said a doctor at the clinic, where three dead rebels had been brought by mid-morning on Sunday. The sound of artillery fire could be heard coming from the direction of the front line.

In Tripoli itself, the two sides appeared to be jockeying for control of rooftop terraces where they could place firing positions, possibly in preparation for a new burst of fighting after nightfall.

A rebel activist in Tripoli said pro-Gaddafi forces had put snipers on the rooftops of buildings around Bab al-Aziziyah, Gaddafi's compound, and on the top of a nearby water tower.

As he spoke, single gunshots could be heard in the background, at intervals of a few seconds.

"Gaddafi's forces are getting reinforcements to comb the capital," said the activist, who spoke to a Reuters reporter outside Libya.

"Residents are crying, seeking help. One resident was martyred, many were wounded," he said. It was not immediately possible to verify his account independently.

State television flashed up a message on the screen urging residents not to allow rebel gunmen to hide out on their rooftops.

"Agents and al Qaeda members are trying to destabilize and sabotage the city. You should prevent them from exploiting your houses and buildings, confront them and cooperate with counter-terrorism units, to capture them," it said.

"RATS ELIMINATED"

In an audio recording broadcast soon after midnight, Gaddafi sought to show residents he was still in control.

"Those rats ... were attacked by the masses tonight and we eliminated them," Gaddafi said. "I know that there are air bombardments but the fireworks were louder than the sound of the bombs thrown by the aircraft."

A senior British official said Gaddafi did not grasp the pressure that he was under.

"It's been clear that Gaddafi has not had a firm grip on reality -- as we heard from his comments last night -- and has not been interested personally in leaving or negotiating," said Alastair Burt, a foreign office minister.

"But those around him have continued to defect."

"That pressure indicates that those around Gaddafi know what's going on. One can only hope that they're getting messages through to him," Burt told the BBC.

Originally Posted by Butterfly

^ link ?

Link ? What do you mean ?
He has been on the run all his life. Except that now he has to run even faster with his tent under his arms.
Like all Arabs he will not fight until the end. With his tail between his legs he will run like all of his brothers. Hiding behind women and children, blowing up mosques, being rounded up like a camel herd, is a muslim/arab thing.





Allahu Akbar (is just plain Bullshit)

...and this should be on the top list "Of the 10 worst predictions for Mankind"

the problem is without Gaddafi, the situation will be much worse

the CIA/Obama game of Arab uprising might turn deadly and could eventually backfire

Libyan rebels capture major base defending capital - Boston.com

Libyan rebels clash with regime forces in Tripoli


A wounded rebel fighter seen in the hospital in Zawiya, LIbya, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011. Libyan rebels said they were less than 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Moammar Gadhafi's main stronghold of Tripoli on Sunday, a day after opposition fighters launched their first attack on the capital itself. Fighters said a 600-strong rebel force that set out from Zawiya has reached the outskirts of the village of Jedaim and was coming under heavy fire from regime forces on the eastern side of the town. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)

By Dario Lopez and Karin Laub Associated Press / August 21, 2011

TRIPOLI, Libya—Rebels clashed with regime loyalists and staged large anti-government protests around Tripoli on Sunday, residents said. Heavy machine gun fire and explosions rang out across the capital on the second day of attacks by what the opposition called "sleeping cells" inside the city that has been Moammar Gadhafi's stronghold throughout the 6-month-old civil war.

At the same time, hundreds of rebel forces were rapidly closing in on Tripoli, advancing to within 15 miles west of the capital and rushing forward at full speed in pickup trucks and on foot.

"We are scared and staying in our houses, but the younger boys are going out to protect our homes," said a woman who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone from the pro-rebel Tripoli neighborhood of Bin Ashour. She spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. She said a neighbor's son was shot dead on Saturday night by Gadhafi troops as he tried to protect his street with a group of rebel youth.

Nuri al-Zawi, another resident of Bin Ashour, told the AP by phone that the rebels were using light arms to protect their streets, and in some cases were using only their bodies to fend off the Gadhafi troops riding in pickup trucks.

"We are used to this situation now. We are a city that is cut off from the world now," he said.

Libyan rebels said Saturday that they had launched their first attack on Tripoli in coordination with NATO and gunbattles and mortar rounds rocked the city. NATO aircraft also made heavier than usual bombing runs after nightfall, with loud explosions booming across the city.

The residents reported clashes in neighborhoods all over Tripoli as well as the city's Mitiga military airport. They said they heard loud explosions and exchanges in of gunfire in the Fashloum, Tajoura and Bin Ashour neighborhoods. Residents and opposition fighters also reported large anti-regime protests in those same neighborhoods. In some of them, thousands braved the bullets of snipers perched atop high buildings.

Mukhtar Lahab, a rebel commander closing in on Tripoli and a former captain in Gadhafi's army, said his relatives inside the capital reported mass protests in four neighborhoods known as sympathetic to the opposition: Fashloum, Souk al-Jouma, Tajoura and Janzour. He said mosques there were rallying residents with chants of "Allahu Akbar" or "God is great," broadcast on loudspeakers.

Hundreds of rebels were also advancing rapidly toward Tripoli from the west and the south.

Those in the west moved beyond the village of Jedaim to within 15 miles of Tripoli, according to an Associated Press reporter with them at the front. The AP saw hundreds of rebels at the front line streaming toward the capital, some in pickup trucks and others on foot trying to hitch rides.

The mood was euphoric, with some shouting: "We are getting to Tripoli tonight." They were shooting in the air, honking horns and yelling "Allahu Akbar."

Rebel Murad Dabdoub told the AP that Gadhafi's forces were pounding rebel positions west of the city with rockets, mortars and anti-aircraft fire.

"We are not going back. God willing, this evening we will enter Tripoli," said Issam Wallani, another rebel. He spoke from Jedaim, which has been turned into the staging area for fighters moving toward the capital. He spoke as pickup trucks loaded with fighters headed to the front and the thud of mortar shells was heard at two-minute intervals.

A Tripoli resident said the capital was virtually deserted on Sunday, with stores shuttered and no cars or pedestrians out on the streets. Some areas suffered power outages, according to the resident, who was reached by telephone and would only identify himself by one name, al-Tarhouni.

An AP reporter in Tripoli, meanwhile, said many of the staff at the Tripoli hotel where foreign journalists are staying did not show up for work on Sunday, a development that suggests residents were too frightened to venture out.

"There are thousands and thousands of soldiers who are willing to defend the city," Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told a news conference in Tripoli. He accused the rebels of committing atrocities in areas under their control and appealed for a cease-fire.

He warned of "disasters" if Gadhafi's regime falls.

NATO said the shifting battle lines and concentration of fighting in towns and villages are making it more difficult to identify and engage targets for airstrikes.

"It's much tougher to do in an urban area," he said. "This requires very precise and deep intelligence to achieve without endangering the civilian population."

In Dubai, Libya's new rebel-allied ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, urged for stepped up NATO air attacks over Tripoli, including the use of helicopter gunships.

"We are asking for more Apache action" to counter Gadhafi forces clashing with rebels, said Aref Ali Nayed, who is also spokesman for a rebel transition team.

The United Arab Emirates is among the Arab states that have strongly backed the rebellion against Gadhafi and could provide critical assistance if the Libyan leader is ousted.

Bangkok Post : Tripoli's fall 'imminent'

Tripoli's fall 'imminent'

• Published: 21/08/2011 at 10:08 PM
• Online news:

A Libyan rebel official said victory in Tripoli was imminent on Sunday and urged NATO to join the final battle with Apache assault helicopters.

``We expect victory tonight,'' Aref Ali Nayad, the rebel National Transitional Council's envoy to the United Arab Emirates, told reporters in Dubai.

The battle for Tripoli, which is the stronghold of Kadhafi's regime, has left ``hundreds dead and thousands wounded,'' he said.

Insurgents, he added, have formally requested that NATO deploy more assault Apache helicopters to assist them in combat.

``The Apaches are very precise and we are in great need of their intervention. We made a formal request last night,'' he said.

Going, going......

Libya Live Blog | Al Jazeera Blogs


Rebels raise their guns in celebration as they drive through Zawiyah, around 40km from Tripoli. [AFP]

The representative of the National Transitional Council, New Libyan Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Aref Ali Nayed (L), speaks during a news conference next to Libyan Stabilization Minister Ahmed Jehani (R) at Libyan consulate, in Dubai August 21, 2011. [image | reuters]


Tags Dubai, Libya in Images, Libyan National Transitional Council,

22 min 27 sec ago

Libya's defected ex-prime minister Abdes Salam Jalloud said Sunday he believed it was too late for his former ally Muammar Gaddafi to strike a deal to leave power and he would likely be killed. In an interview with Italian media he said:

I believe the regime has a week left, 10 days at most. And maybe even less.

He has no way of leaving Tripoli. All the roads are blocked. He can only leave with an international agreement and I think that door is closed.

I think it would be difficult for Gaddafi to give himself up. And he is not like Hitler who had the courage to kill himself... I don't think the evolution of the situation in Tripoli will allow him to survive.

24 min 28 sec ago

Abdullah Al-Senussi, head of the Libyan Intelligence Service speaks to the media in Tripoli August 21, 2011. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Sunday he will stay in Tripoli "until the end" and called on his supporters around the country to help liberate the capital from a rebel offensive. [image | reuters]


Tags Abdullah Al-Senussi Libya spy chief, Tripoli

27 min 28 sec ago

Germany, and France urge Libya's Gaddafi to step down as rebels advance on Tripoli.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in an interview with ZDF television that it would be "good if he would give up as quickly as possible" to avoid further bloodshed.

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said: "We hope this is the turning point; we hope that the last days of this unjust regime have begun."

He told reporters that "every day earlier that Colonel Gadhafi leaves the country is a good day for Libya and the Libyan people."

Germany has not participated in NATO airstrikes in Libya but recognized the rebels' National Transitional Council in June as Libya's legitimate representative.

32 min 28 sec ago

Euphoric Libyan rebels have pushed to the western outskirts of Tripoli without meeting any resistance after they overran a major military base that defends the capital.

Associated Press reporters with the rebels said they reached the Tripoli suburb of Janzour around nightfall Sunday. They were greeted by civilians lining the streets and waving rebel flags.

Hours earlier, the same rebel force of hundreds drove out elite forces led by Muammar Gaddafi's son in a brief gunbattle. The fighters hauled off truckloads of weapons and advanced full speed toward the capital.

Inside Tripoli, there was a second day of widespread clashes between what the opposition called "sleeping cells" of rebels who are rising up and Gaddafi loyalists.

38 min 28 sec ago

The latest updates from NATO



42 min 28 sec ago

US leaders monitored the progress of Libyan rebel forces on Sunday as they pressed ahead toward Tripoli and pounded on the doorstep of leader Muammar Gaddafi's home base.

The White House said President Barack Obama was briefed Sunday morning on the latest developments by counterterrorism adviser John Brennan and heard reports from US teams on the ground in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also received an update on the rapidly unfolding situation.

46 min 28 sec ago

Quotes from Muammar Gaddafi's audio message via Libya TV:

March towards Tajourah in the thousands now -- now, now, you must march towards Tajourah in the thousands.

A quarter million must go there, or half a million from Tripoli must march towards Tajourah and the Friday Market to cleanse them of the agents of the colonial conspirators."

I am with you in this battle, I am among you now, I am there with my weapon. We shall not give up. We shall never give up Tripoli to the colonialists or traitors.

I am forced to say this because I am afraid that Tripoli will burn if you leave them -- Tripoli would fall in ruins and it would be destroyed. Tripoli would be left without water, electricity, no broadcast stations, without freedom and you would live in fear.

They will kill you and violate your households. I am afraid if you do not get rid of them in Tajourah, what is happening there will happen all over Tripoli. These people don't care if Libya burns or not.

You possess all sorts of weapons. Those of you without a weapon should come and receive a weapon. All the weapons depots must open and the masses must be armed. Thousands must receive weapons now. Open the depots. I give the order to open the depots to arm the masses.

I am with you now, I am with you in Tripoli. There shall be no retreat - we will not retreat until the last inch of land we want to liberate.

49 min 28 sec ago

Gunmen loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi run through the grounds of the Rixos hotel in Tripoli August 21, 2011. Heavy gunfire rang out near the Tripoli hotel where members of the foreign media are staying, a Reuters correspondent at the hotel said on Sunday. [image | reuters]


Tags journalists, Libya in Images

1 hour 1 min ago

A ship chartered by the International Organisation for Migration was to leave late Sunday for Tripoli from Benghazi in eastern Libya to evacuate about 300 foreigners, an IOM official said.

"The boat is due to leave tonight from Benghazi to evacuate around 300 foreigners from Tripoli if the security situation will allow it," Martin Jerrett told AFP.

He said most of the foreigners were "Egyptians, Bangladeshis, Filipinos ...

A Maltese ship which was due to evacuate foreign nationals from Tripoli early on Sunday came under fire and was forced to retreat to sea, Poland's foreign ministry said.

To think that the crusader coalition started this murderous, illegal war to stop attacks on civilian populated areas.

What a farce.

The Libyan Contact group has got it's illegal regime change.

Gaddafi's message being broadcast on [at]AJEnglish vows to fight til last drop of blood [at]Libya Watch Now - Al Jazeera English

Watch Now - Al Jazeera English

The live scenes at green square I'm getting now looks like the rebels have nailed it.

Reports of mass looting too

Originally Posted by OhOh

To think that the crusader coalition started this murderous, illegal war to stop attacks on civilian populated areas.

What a farce.

The Libyan Contact group has got it's illegal regime change.

and not a word from the international community,

quite shameful, cowards more likely