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The Libyan Relief Fund is a Non-Profit Organization established for the advancement of Relief and educational services for Libya
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Video: Libyan rebels make western gains
Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr reports from the western Libyan town of Az-Zawiyah, where rebel forces say they have taken control of a key coastal highway that links Tripoli, the capital, to Tunisia… Read More
Advancing Libyan rebels turn sights on Tripoli
By: Michael Georgy
For Issam Legun, the fact that he and his fellow rebels were standing inside this town near Tripoli on Sunday felt like a turning point in the six month conflict with Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.
“I hope we can go and attack Tripoli in a few days,” said Legun, a taxi driver turned anti-Gaddafi fighter who was wearing a T-shirt with the word “Raw” written across it. “Now that we have Zawiyah, we can free Libya,” he said.
Rebels from the Western Mountains region, about 100 km south of here, poured into Zawiyah on Saturday and by early on Sunday controlled most of the town, though pro-Gaddafi forcers were still holding out in northern districts.
Taking the capital is still a long way off: Gaddafi is likely to have withdrawn his best-trained forces to save them for the defence of Tripoli. And rebels have said before their victory is imminent, only for Gaddafi to fight back.
Nevertheless, entering Zawiyah was a major development in a conflict which for months now has been close to deadlock, with the rebels advancing small distances at great cost in lives.
“I’m 1,000 percent sure we’re going to take over Zawiyah today and then move on to Tripoli,” said Bin Jaffin Ali, 34, a rebel fighter who used to be a shopkeeper.
Some 50 rebels, armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, gathered near Zawiyah’s main produce market.… Read More
NATO bombs captured Libyan tank, ‘killing 4′
NATO warplanes mistakenly destroyed a tank captured from Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi’s forces in the western port town of Zawiyah, killing four rebels, an AFP photographer said on Sunday.
The tank was captured on Saturday when the rebels launched an assault on the town, overrunning the western sector but encountering fierce resistance from Kadhafi’s troops who took up positions in the east, the photographer said.
Rebels on the ground said they were driving the tank out of Zawiyah when the NATO warplanes struck, destroying the vehicle.
A Libyan walks past a destroyed tank, mistakenly bombed by NATO forces, killing four rebels (AFP, Marc Hofer)
The photographer saw pools of blood in front of the tank and was told four insurgents had been killed in the air strike.
NATO said in its daily update that its warplanes struck two tanks in Zawiyah on Saturday, out of 13 hits around the country.
UN Security Council Resolution 1973 authorised NATO in March to defend Libya’s civilian population from attacks by Kadhafi’s regime, which faces a popular revolt after 42 years in power.
Under the mandate, NATO planes regularly attack Kadhafi’s military assets, including tanks, armoured vehicles, rocket launchers, army bases and munitions dumps.… Read More
Gaddafi could fall ‘by end of month’
By: Eddie Barnes
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s regime will topple quickly and may even be gone by the end of August, the UK head of Libya’s transitional council has claimed on the eve of a visit to Scotland today.
Dr Guma el-Gamaty said he believed that the impact of Ramadan, which would see the people of the country “spiritually and emotionally highly charged” could be the catalyst for the dictator’s fall from power.
Predicting that a tipping point will soon be reached, where Libyans realise that the regime has lost authority and power, el-Gamaty said the end could come within the next two weeks.
The impact of Britain’s recognition of the country had been a “huge boost” to the rebel cause, he said, demonstrating that Gaddafi was no longer someone with whom to do business.
He also said that the option for Gaddafi to leave the country with immunity for another Arab nation was still open.
“My only guess for the end game is that once Gaddafi realises he has lost control of every city outside Tripoli and that he is surrounded, then I think he will make a run for it,” he said.
“I think then the situation will be very, very rapid.”
El-Gamaty was speaking ahead of his visit to Glasgow this afternoon, when he will address Scotland’s Libyan community on the progress being made by the rebel forces.
Organised by the Middle East and North Africa Forum in Scotland, the meeting is expected to raise funds for the refugees caught up in turmoil both inside and outside Libya.… Read More
Video: Libya map: Loyalists battle rebels for oil terminal
Fighting is ongoing in the centre of the Libyan city of Az-Zawiyah and around its oil refinery.
Hundreds of opposition fighters entered the city, which is just 50kms west of the capital Tripoli.
Controlling the Az-Zawiyah would cut off Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s only remaining supply routes from Tunisia.
The government, however, says it still has control of… Read More
Libyan Teen’s News Site Hears The Rebel Yell
A Libyan teen is fast becoming a media star in rebel-held Benghazi. The 14-year-old has established his own online news outlet. His father drives him to press conferences in Benghazi, and he is increasingly well-known among rebel leaders. NPR’s Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports.
Listen to Interview here. [audio:http://feb17.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20110813_wesat_18.mp3|titles=20110813_wesat_18]
JACKI LYDEN, host: In Libya, freedom of the press and the rebel-held East has a new face, in its 14 years old. Malik Mohammed started his own Facebook-based news agency and he’s become a regular presence in press conferences in the rebel capital of Benghazi. He met up with our Lourdes Garcia-Navarro who has this report.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Perhaps it was had to do with security breach.
LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO: The subject matter couldn’t have been more serious – a news conference on the mysterious murder of the army chief of staff here. The man at the podium was the rebel army spokesman. Kind of an intimidating environment.
(SOUNDBITE OF TALKING)
GARCIA-NAVARRO: But 14-year-old Malik Mohammed – who looks more like he’s 10 – raised his hand and asked one the most pointed questions of the event. Malik has become something of a pint-sized celebrity here. He goes to every press conference and he gets chosen when he raises his hand because he’s actually a good reporter. He caught the journalism bug right after he happened to come to the main hotel where international journalists stay in Benghazi.
MALIK MOHAMMED: (Foreign language spoken)
TRANSLATOR: I came to use the internet and I was amazed by all the foreign journalists. I spoke to one TV channel and they didn’t help me out but then another Arab channel made me a trainee and that’s how I got started.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Malik’s huge white teeth split his thin brown face when he smiles – which isn’t often when he’s talking shop. He takes what he does very seriously, carrying around a backpack almost as big as he is on his thin shoulders. He’s the eldest of seven children but says he doesn’t have time to hang out with kids his own age.… Read More
LIVE Libyan Unrest: Revolutionaries say battle under way for town south of Tripoli
We are tracking the latest developments to keep you updated on the situation on the ground. There are interactive maps located in the Protest map page to keep up with the latest movements. Also check out the featured twitters on the sidebar. On the Go? Follow us on Twitter @Feb17Libya for the Live updates and discussion. All updates are in Libyan local time (GMT +2)
1:00am: Libyan rebels and representatives of Muammar Gaddafi’s government held negotiations late on Sunday in a hotel in southern Tunisia, a source with direct knowledge of the talks told Reuters.
There was no immediate confirmation that any talks were taking place from the government in Tripoli or the rebel movement.
The talks were being conducted behind closed doors at a hotel on the Tunisian island of Djerba near the border with Libya, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He did not identify any of those involved in the negotiations.
“Representatives of the rebels and Gaddafi representatives are having a meeting now,” said the source.
Here is a quick wrap up of today’s events:
- Libyan revolutionaries hoisted their flag in the centre of Zawiyah, 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, on Sunday after the most dramatic advance in months cut off Muammar Gaddafi’s capital from its main link to the outside world.
- Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are clashing with revolutionaries a few kilometres from the main border crossing into neighbouring Tunisia, Tunisians close to the border told Reuters on Saturday.
- Gaddafi government says it is still in control
- Revolutionaries say battle under way for town south of Tripoli
- NATO said it conducted 110 air sorties on Saturday, 47 of them strike sorties to identify and hit targets.
- NATO said key targets hit on Friday included:
– Seven military vehicles and one multiple rocket launcher in the vicinity of Brega
– One military vehicle in the vicinity of Tripoli
– One ammunition storage facility in the vicinity of Waddan
– Two military vehicles in the vicinity of Zlitan
– One military vehicle in the vicinity of Bir Al Ghanam
– Four anti-aircraft guns in the vicinity of Misratah
– Two tanks in the vicinity of Zawiyah
– Two military vehicles and one anti-aircraft gun in the vicinity of Tawurgah
- Since NATO took command of air strikes on March 31, its aircraft have conducted 18,884 sorties including 7,174 strike sorties. NATO members participating in air strikes include France, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Belgium, Italy and the United States.
- Seventeen ships under NATO command are patrolling the central Mediterranean Sea to enforce a U.N. arms embargo. On Friday, 17 vessels were hailed to determine destination and cargo. None were boarded or diverted.
- A total of 2,173 vessels have been hailed, 217 boarded and nine diverted since the start of the arms embargo. (Reporting by Christopher Le Coq)
10:40pm: A member of Libya’s Interim National Transitional Council, Abdul Monem al-Houni, arrived in Tehran on Sunday to hold meetings with senior Iranian officials.
7:37pm: Some 1,600 North African migrants arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa this weekend, with the majority of them coming from war-torn Libya. The island’s port authority said just 10 boats had carried the hundreds of migrants, which included about 100 women and 40 children.
6:10pm:Satellite Map: Bridge under #FF control in #Zawiyah and main highway that leads #Tripoli to #Tunisia http://t.co/DvTA2rx #Libya
6:00pm: Bashir Ahmed Ali, the rebel battalion commander in Az-Zawiyah, says that government snipers are posted in some residential areas, making “some families … virtual hostages in their own homes”. The representative for Az-Zawiyah on the rebel’s National Transitional Council says that there are fears that the government will send in reinforcements to crush the rebel assault.
“We fear the arrival of reinforcements from Tripoli,” particularly by sea, he said from the rebel capital of Benghazi in the east.”But if Zawiyah falls [to the rebels], we will be able to control everything east of Tripoli to the Tunisian border. This is the beginning of the end for Gaddafi,” he said.… Read More
Posted in Articles & News, Live: Libya Unrest
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Video: Libyan rebels target city on the road to Tripoli
Libyan rebels are targeting another key prize as they close in on the capital.
Having captured Nasser City, they are now advancing on Zawiyah, just 50 kilometres from Tripoli.While… Read More
