Muammar Gaddafi and Libyan crisis

[londontsi]

Re: Muammar Gaddafi and Libyan crisis

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12944905

Libya: Coalition air strike near Brega kills rebels

At least 10 Libyan rebels are reported to have been killed when a coalition plane
enforcing the no-fly zone fired on their convoy between Brega and Ajdabiya late on Friday night....

This operation is meant to be all about no fly zone.

Why are the striking tanks and jeeps.
Don't they know tanks and jeeps do not fly??

As for killing "friends" ......

[retro]

Re: Muammar Gaddafi and Libyan crisis

Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister, who fled to Britain on Wednesday, is described as having "electrifying" information on Col Muammar Gaddafi's role in terrorist atrocities across Europe.

The Prime Minister said he would not block any attempts by the police to question Mr Koussa.

Mr Cameron stressed that Mr Koussa had not been offered a deal in return for fleeing to Britain and had not been granted immunity from prosecution. But if the defector is arrested and charged with crimes, it may undermine attempts by Western governments to encourage others in Col Gaddafi's inner circle to flee from Libya, a key aim of current diplomatic efforts.

Mr Koussa may also be reluctant to co-operate fully with British officials if he is not given guarantees about his future.

Last night, the Scottish prosecuting authorities investigating the Lockerbie bombing formally requested access to Mr Koussa, a right-hand man to Col Gaddafi for more than 30 years.

International prosecutors investigating war crimes in Libya are also expected to seek interviews with the defector. Yesterday, the Libyan rebel leadership demanded he be returned to the country to face war-crime charges.

Mr Koussa, who was likened yesterday to Rudolf Hess by a Conservative MP, is being interrogated by MI6 at an unknown location. It is not clear whether information obtained by MI6 will be made public.

Senior Whitehall sources indicated that Scotland Yard was unlikely to get involved "at the moment".

The Libyan foreign minister was identified yesterday by Jack Straw, the former Labour foreign secretary, as a key source for British and American intelligence for more than a decade.

Last night Ali Abdessalam Treki, a Libyan former foreign minister and UN General Assembly president, also defected. Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya's deputy UN ambassador, said that most high-level Libyan officials were trying to defect but were having trouble leaving due to tight security. A senior figure at the Libyan Embassy in London also defected.

In other developments yesterday:

• The head of Nato ruled out arming the Libyan rebels less than 24 hours after Mr Cameron admitted that the plan was under consideration. The US defence secretary said that another country, rather than America, should be take charge of "assisting" the rebels.

• America warned that Col Gaddafi was "not about to break", citing reports that regime troops were laying landmines around rebel-held areas.

• British special forces were said to be operating beside the CIA on the ground in Libya despite official denials that land troops were in action.

• The Vatican claimed to have evidence that coalition air strikes had killed dozens of civilians in Tripoli.

• The Libyan government said that Col Gaddafi and his family would remain in Libya "until the end" despite growing speculation they would seek exile.

Last night, details of Mr Koussa's dramatic escape from Libya began to emerge. According to Foreign Office sources, Mr Koussa's arrival was in doubt up until the final few hours before he touched down at Farnborough Airfield in a private jet chartered by the British military.

He told the regime that he was travelling to Tunisia to seek medical treatment for high blood pressure. The British Government was informed that he wished to head to this country but there was concern that he would instead fly on to Italy, another destination he was said to have favoured.

One government source said: "We absolutely did not want to lose him. It was vital that he did not go to Italy."

While Mr Koussa was airborne, Mr Cameron is said to have spoken to American officials and secured their backing for allowing him into Britain.

As well as Lockerbie, officials are keen to question Mr Koussa about links to the IRA. Col Gaddafi is widely suspected of supplying arms to the terrorists at the height of IRA's bombing campaign in the 1980s.

Mr Koussa, who was previously in charge of the Libyan intelligence service has been described as the “master of terror” who was previously expelled from Britain for endorsing the assassination of dissidents in London. Western intelligence has linked him to planning the Lockerbie bombing.

Over the past few months, Mr Cameron has played a leading role in calling for key Gaddafi regime figures to face war-crime trials. The Prime Minister has also spoken of his disgust at the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Libyan intelligence officer convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

Last night Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, the former Lord Advocate who initiated and oversaw the Lockerbie case, suggested that a “snatch squad” should be sent to Tripoli to try to secure any Libyan papers on the atrocity. He said it was unlikely Mr Koussa had brought documents with him but added that he had always had “dark suspicions” that the bomb plot came from the “heart of government”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8420558/Libya-senior-aide-of-Saif-Gaddafi-sent-to-London-for-talks-on-exit-strategy.html

[KanadaHye]

Re: Muammar Gaddafi and Libyan crisis

Libya's Gadhafi defiant after 2 allies resign

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has issued a defiant statement after two high-profile departures from his regime, and is calling on leaders of countries attacking his forces to resign.

The Libyan news agency said Thursday Gadhafi accused Western leaders of being "affected by power madness" and wanting to create another war between Muslims and Christians.

The Libyan government earlier confirmed the resignation of Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, who had defected a day earlier. Ali Abdessalam Treki, a former foreign minister and UN General Assembly president, also announced his resignation on Thursday.

Libya conceded that Koussa resigned due to health problems, not a sign the embattled regime is cracking at the highest levels. Koussa flew to England from Tunisia on Wednesday and the British government said he had resigned.

Koussa, a trusted Gadhafi adviser who has been blamed for some of Libya's brutality and credited for some of its diplomatic successes, has been privy to all the inner workings of the regime. His departure could open the door for some hard intelligence, though Britain refused to offer him immunity from prosecution.

Scottish prosecutors say they've asked Britain's Foreign office to speak with Moussa Koussa about the Lockerbie bombing.Scottish prosecutors say they've asked Britain's Foreign office to speak with Moussa Koussa about the Lockerbie bombing. Chris Helgren/Reuters

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said Koussa was given permission to go to Tunisia because he was sick with diabetes and high blood pressure, but the regime was surprised to learn he had flown to London.

"I talked to many people and this is not a happy piece of news, but people are saying, 'So what? If someone wants to step down that's his decision,"' Ibrahim said.

"Yes, Mr. Moussa Koussa worked in high-ranking positions of the government, but we don't think he will sacrifice the safety of the country," Ibrahim said. "He is tired and exhausted. He is an old man. His heart and body cannot take the pressure."

Koussa's departure heartened Gadhafi's opponents, who suffered their third straight day of battlefield losses Thursday to better armed, trained and organized government forces.


Rebel calls Gadhafi 'injured wolf'

"We believe that the regime is crumbling from within," opposition spokesman Mustafa Gheriani said in Benghazi, the rebel's de facto capital.

Gheriani said Gadhafi is "an injured wolf and an injured wolf is much more dangerous than a healthy wolf. But we hope the defections continue and I think he'll find himself with no one around him."

Nations behind the campaign of international airstrikes that have hobbled Libya's military also consider Koussa's resignation a sign of weakness in Gadhafi's regime.

Koussa "can help provide critical intelligence about Gadhafi's current state of mind and military plans," said Tommy Vietor, U.S. National Security Council spokesman. He added that the defection "demonstrates that the people around Gadhafi understand his regime is in disarray."

"As the president said the other night, 'It should be clear to those around Gadhafi, and to every Libyan, that history is not on his side."

In another blow to the regime, U.S. officials revealed Wednesday that the CIA has sent small teams of operatives into rebel-held eastern Libya while the White House debates whether to arm the opposition.

Despite the setbacks and continuing airstrikes — now led by NATO — Gadhafi loyalists have retaken much of the territory the rebels had captured since airstrikes began March 19.

The U.S. has ruled out using ground troops in Libya but it is considering providing arms to the rebels. Still, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday that no decision has been made.

Koussa is not the first high-ranking member of the regime to quit — the justice and interior ministers resigned early in the conflict and joined the rebellion based in the east.

Koussa was Libya's chief of intelligence for more than a decade. The opposition blames him for the assassinations of dissidents in Western capitals and for orchestrating the 1988 Lockerbie bombing over Scotland and the bombing of another jet over Niger a year later. The links have never been confirmed.

In later years, however, Koussa played an important role in persuading Western nations to lift sanctions on Libya and remove its name from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. He led settlements of Lockerbie, offered all information about Libya's nuclear program and gave London and Washington information about Islamic militants after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Scottish prosecutors say they've asked Britain's Foreign office to speak with Koussa about the Lockerbie bombing, which killed 270 people.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2...nister-uk.html

"CIA Operatives" aka Al Qaeda

[KanadaHye]

Re: Muammar Gaddafi and Libyan crisis

I'm convinced the U.S. military and NATO is run like a business rather than a military force. The objective of their missions is to occupy as much time and resources in conflict zones with no clear goals in sight. WTF are they doing in Libya?

[KanadaHye]

Re: Muammar Gaddafi and Libyan crisis

I just watched Mansour O El-Kikhia on the Daily Show. He's been known to be anti-Bush, "anti-semetic" but seems to have a leading role in the opposition to Gaddafi and supports the "rebels" and the current intervention. He looks like a Libyan J3w to me



Mr. El-Kikhia said this in a column (2005) in the San Antonio Express-News:

I am fed up with the ceaseless requests by columnists, religious personalities and other American public figures for Arabs and Muslims to apologize for terrorist acts committed by thugs and murderers in the name of Islam.

As far as I am concerned, the final straw came a couple of weeks ago when the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, paid for a national advertisement repudiating terrorism in the name of Islam.

As soon as the advertisement was broadcast on America's media, I read a column by one of the nation's most ardent Islam-phobic columnists, Cal Thomas, now also a FOX News personality, which plowed into CAIR's reconciliation efforts. Long before 9-11, Thomas' writings were full of venom for Arabs and Muslims. He represents a despicable and ignorant attitude that, unfortunately, a sizable segment of America has come to share. There is nothing American Muslims can do to satisfy this group short of packing up and leaving the United States.

I disagree with what CAIR did, and I also disagree with this groveling and begging for forgiveness, as though American Arabs and Muslims are responsible for those atrocities. CAIR knows better, and those running it know that Islam rejects all acts of violence outside self-defense. Arab and Muslim Americans are responsible for neither the twin towers nor the London subway bombings, and as Americans they should never accept responsibility for actions they did not instigate, commit or condone.

It is rejection of U.S. and British policies in the Middle East, not Islam, that has promoted terrorism against America. And for the benefits of those who do not know, 95 percent of Middle Easterners are Muslims. Hence, it is only natural that those opposing the United States and Britain in the region would be Muslims. In India, they would have been Hindu; in Latin America or Northern Ireland, they would have been Catholic.

More important, it was the British and the United States that drew first blood. The Middle East didn't come to America or go to Britain; rather, America and Britain went to the Middle East. Both powers used and abused regimes, toppling some and keeping others in power. They never thought that the people they were helping suppress were human beings with needs, beliefs and emotions. They didn't care as long as their interests were served.
__________________________________________________ _____

Looking Back to Libya's Constitution

Mansour O. El-Kikhia is chairman of the department of political science and geography at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He is the author of "Libya's Qaddafi: The Politics of Contradiction."

Libyans in exile have been vindicated. Decent people around the world have finally recognized Qaddafi as an ogre who needs to be put out his misery. His brutal actions in Libya since the popular uprising began last week is minuscule compared with the atrocities he committed over his 40-year reign.

"Contrary to what Qaddafi has long predicted, all have called for a free, united Libya under a democracy, not a theocracy."

It is not a matter of if Qaddafi will go, but when. In a very short time his regime will be relegated to the dustbin of history and his legacy will be one of shame and dishonor.

Yet, removing him will be the easy part of all this. The difficult one will be what do in the post-Qaddafi era. The ogre has ensured that no effective or viable institutional governing structure remains in Libya because he believed that he, his children and their descendants would be there forever.

It was pleasantly surprising to see Libya’s youth in the liberated areas assume responsibility and develop local committees to maintain peace and necessary services. And contrary to what Qaddafi has long predicted, no one has called for fragmentation or tribalism or separation. All have called for a free, united Libya with a democracy, not a theocracy.

It should not come as a surprise that Libyans have adopted the pre-Qaddafi national symbols, including the flag and 1951 Libyan Constitution that Qaddafi suspended in 1969; that era was the last sane period many remember. The majority of Libyans were born during his dictatorship but many are yearning for those days of stability and constitutional order and a semblance of civil society.

Rebuilding Libya will require wisdom and tolerance, which will stretch Libyan society to its limits. But I think those people who stood up unarmed to tanks and artillery shells will manage. Just as they have surprised the world with their heroism and self-sacrifice Libyans will also surprise the world with their good sense.

What can the U.S. and the rest of the free world do? They should at least offer moral support and tell Qaddafi that he will be held accountable as a war criminal for every Libyan life he has taken. If Western society really wants to help Libya, it can provide badly needed medical supplies and non-military goods to the people as they try to pry their country from the grip of this dictator.

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate...er-for-qaddafi
__________________________________________________ __

Benghazi under serious threat

LIZABETH JACKSON: Earlier this morning, exiled Libyan opposition leader Dr Mansour El-Kikhia spoke to Radio National's Mark Bannerman.

He said he could confirm that Colonel Gaddafi's troops were advancing on Benghazi this morning.

MANSOUR EL-KIKHIA: Yes, actually I have. I was talking about two, three hours ago and there were submissions that there were actually at the southern gate of Ajdabiya, and they have these rocket launchers with the minimum range of 23 miles, 20 kilometres and they were moving very fast towards the city.

And we have been since then talking to a variety of people in the United States, called the White House, the state department the news media and informing them about this, because it seems to me what is happening right now is that Mr Gaddafi, it's about time the West started believing that this man cannot be trusted.

What's his following today, is the policy that (inaudible) to lose, I mean he knows he's losing either way and so it's not going to go peacefully, he's going to go and take away as many people with him as he can.

MARK BANNERMAN: For those of us who do not understand precisely the terrain and the area that you are talking about, what's the implication of that kind of hardware being put in place, what's it intended to do?

MANSOUR EL-KIKHIA: Believe me, there's nothing, that type of hardware has only one application. That application is causing as much destruction possible to civilian areas. There are no military forces waiting for him right there and it's going to be basically, what will happen will be a battle between civilians and Gaddafi's forces.

MARK BANNERMAN: But you are saying, so I understand this, he is using in effect this pause, and the pause before the no-fly zone or any hits are made by the Coalition forces that, to set up for a further attack, that's your belief?

MANSOUR EL-KIKHIA: Exactly, I think so and ultimately what he's trying to do trying to create is a fait accompli, by saying now I've got Benghazi, I have Tripoli and I have the large, big cities and therefore there's no need any more for the United Nation's sanctions, United Nations operations.

You know, he thinks he can do it but he's not going to do it. But the cost will be very, very heavy in civilian populations. Benghazi, I know Benghazi is getting ready for his attack, I know that the army is trying to defence as best as they can, and they are waiting for him to come.

But he's moving very, very fast indeed. They're taking use of this lull and taking use of some extent if I may say the gullibility of Western society in believing that this man can be trusted to follow through with any of what he says.

MARK BANNERMAN: I don't want you to name the people concerned, but what type of people are telling you this? Are they reliable sources? Are you absolutely confident of this?

MANSOUR EL-KIKHIA: I am really confident of this, I'm talking to people actually in the council itself, I'm talking to people, I'm telling you, first of all, my house, my family, will be one of the first to be hit in the way.

And so I ask my mother, I asked my family to move backwards into the, closer to the coast, I mean, her property can be replaced but lives cannot be.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: That's the exiled Libyan opposition leader Dr Mansour El-Kikhia speaking with Radio National's Mark Bannerman.

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2011/s3168297.htm

[Federate]

Re: Muammar Gaddafi and Libyan crisis

[KanadaHye]

Re: Muammar Gaddafi and Libyan crisis

Gadaffi Speaks about the Kennedy Assassination & Obama

[londontsi]

Re: Muammar Gaddafi and Libyan crisis

Russia is just warming up with West/NATO.

That is exactly what Gadaffi thought he was doing.


.

[KanadaHye]

Re: Muammar Gaddafi and Libyan crisis

The Jabroni that the west have planned to replace Gaddafi:







Mahmoud Jebril (born 1952) is a Libyan politician who is currently head of the Executive Team of the National Transitional Council, a body formed during the 2011 Libyan uprising to be the "sole representative of the Libyan people".

Educated at the University of Pittsburgh, he led the team who drafted and formed the Unified Arab Training manual. He was also responsible for organizing and administering the first two Training conferences in the Arab world in the years 1987 and 1988. He later took over the management and administration of many of the leaders’ training programs for senior management in Arab countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Libya, UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey and Britain.

[londontsi]

Re: Muammar Gaddafi and Libyan crisis

.

The UN resolution

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/sc10200.doc.htm