Libyan Revolution Day 24 (RIP Al Jazeera cameraman Ali Hassan Al Jaber)

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/2011312192359523376.html">Al Jazeera staffer killed in Libya
"Al Jazeera condemns the cowardly crime, which comes as part of the Libyan regime's malicious campaign targeting Al Jazeera and its staff," the network said in a statement.

"Al Jazeera reiterates the assault cannot dent its resolve to continue its mission, professionally enlightening the public of the unfolding events in Libya and elsewhere.

"Al Jazeera stresses it will relentlessly prosecute and bring to justice all perpetrators and their accomplices."

Al Jaber, a Qatari national, was born in 1955 and received his bachelor and master's degrees in cinematography from the Academy of Arts in Cairo. He was the director of CNBC Arabiya TV bureau in Qatar.

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2011/03/tears_for_a_jou/">Tears for a Journalist: Change in the Middle East Comes at High Cost
One of Al Jazeera's cameramen, a person whose name I wish I could post here because he deserves a salute from all of us but which I don't yet have (since writing this it has been made public that his name was Ali Hassaon Al Jaber), was ambushed and executed inside Libya.

Once most of the people in the private meeting left the room, I saw Khanfar turn to a corner of the room and start sobbing, tears running down his cheeks. I touched his shoulder and told him how sorry I was for the member of his team who had been lost. What I didn't say was murdered.

He cried. He took a deep breath. He sat down -- and then I could see that his resolve to keeping this story going was strengthened.

To do any less would dishonor his colleague and those risking so much in the field not only in North Africa now but in many rough spots around the world.

"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://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/video/europe/2011/03/2011310193023263578.html">France recognises Libya opposition: France has now officially recognised the National Council, the alternative government set up by the Libyan opposition in Benghazi, and has severed ties with Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

Reports from France, meanwhile, indicate that Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, is also considering lobbying the EU to back air strikes against specific targets in Libya.

Al Jazeera's Tim Friend reports from Paris.

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- The Arab League voted Saturday to back a no-fly zone in Libya and is asking that the U.N. Security Council impose the measure, officials of the regional body told reporters.

"It has one goal: To protect the civilian population," Amre Moussa, the body's secretary-general said.

"We will inform the U.N. Security Council of our request to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya," Moussa said. "The U.N. Security Council should decide how it will be enforced."

Youssef bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Oman's foreign minister who joined Moussa to answer questions, said the no-fly zone would be a preventive measure and would have to be stopped immediately when the Libyan crisis ends.

BENGHAZI, Libya -- The burnt-out waterfront building was once the local branch of Libya's hated high court. In the past three weeks, it has been transformed into a bustling hub of civic society, home to a daily newspaper, a recording studio and a press center.

The dramatic shift highlights one of the main challenges facing the rebels seeking to topple Moammar Gadhafi, who for more than four decades has snuffed out any sign of independent action by his people. With his rule shattered in the east, activists led by lawyers, doctors and local businessmen are trying to fill the void.

Libya is not like Egypt, where ousted President Hosni Mubarak tolerated political parties, trade unions, rights groups and an increasingly vibrant independent press. Under Gadhafi, there were no independent non-governmental organizations, free trade unions or political parties. The press was - and in the territory under the regime's control still is - tightly muzzled.

But since the revolt erupted Feb. 15 in eastern Libya against Gadhafi's rule, the first impromptu institutions have begun popping up, with Libya's intellectual class largely leading the way.

"In the morning, there was a gathering of pro-Gaddafi forces with the apparent aim of attacking the city but God protected this city. There was some dissent within the Khamis Brigade," he said from Misrata.

"We knew from soldiers who defected after the dispute. They joined the rebels and said that dozens of the battalion members expressed reluctance to kill innocent civilians.

"Some of them ran away. More would have joined us but they were shot by the pro-Gaddafi men."

The events could not be confirmed independently. Journalists have been prevented from reaching the city by the authorities.

(CNN) -- Security forces in restive Yemen fired live ammunition during protests Saturday in Change Square outside Sanaa University, witnesses claimed.

But a government source knocked down those accounts, asserting that the police used only water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds, and that third-party provocateurs fired at the people.

This was one of at least five cities where protesters assembled to demand the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled Yemen since 1978.

One person died from a gunshot wound to the head at the square in Sanaa, according to Waseem Al-Qurashi, a doctor and head of the field medical team that was set up outside the college. Opposition medical officials in Mukalla said a protester was shot and killed there.

We received this distress email a short while ago, and we relay the contents to you as we received it:

Qaddafi’s forces shot and wounded my cousin in the foot, leg and shoulder. Qaddafi’s forces took him to the hospital in Al-Jamil. The family spoke to the hospital. The nurses confirmed that they removed the bullets and that Qaddafi’s forces took him away. The forces are holding him hostage. The terms of release: Zuara has to raise the green flag and come out for demonstrations in support of Qaddafi. Zuara is surrounded by tanks. No one is going in or out. The people are expecting a big attack tonight. They are basically unarmed civilians.

Libya’s leader Muammar Gaddafi mercenaries are believed to be committing atrocities against rebels, raping captured men before chopping off their hands and feet in the town of Bin Jawad.

According to rebels who escaped Bin Jawad, “a massacre” had occurred in the eastern town where Gaddafi unleashed his African mercenaries and heavy artillery on the rebels.

“Gaddafi’s African mercenaries raped the young men they captured in a mosque before chopping off their hands and feet,” said a 36-year-old rebel who declined to be named.

“I saw it with my own eyes,” he said before breaking down in tears.

A strategic town is lost in the east with another expected to follow soon. In the west, a symbolic centre of resistance is about to suffer an onslaught that it is unlikely to survive. With no international action to stop Muammar Gaddafi's fierce offensive, the survival of Libya's revolution hangs in a precarious balance.


Just four days ago the picture was very different: the rebel fighters were seemingly on a march to the capital, Tripoli, and the enemy was in disarray and retreat. But a series of misjudgements, and chronic lack of planning and organisation, have resulted in a dramatic reversal. The regime's troops are poised to strike at Benghazi, the capital of "Free Libya''.

By yesterday afternoon, the opposition had abandoned Ras Lanuf, an oil port on the key coastal route. They withdrew to Aghala, outside Brega, another petrochemical complex. Control of the two locations would provide the regime with the reserves of fuel needed for the tanks and armoured cars arriving in increasing numbers on the frontline. It would also put Tripoli in a position to shut down power supplies to Benghazi.

1:33am Steve Clemons from the New America foundation tells Al Jazeera that is against a no fly zone because it doesn't change the military equation much.
"We don't want to rob the folks working on their own narratives, I want to help them by providing them with intelligence, arms and others ways without foreign intervention."

BUDAPEST ( HUNGARY): Military intervention in Libya, at present, was not an option, the president of the European Council has said.

Hermann Von Rompuy told the press in Budapest: "We don't live in a colonial era any more where foreign powers intervene where they like."

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-13">8:19am Our correspondent, Nick Clark also reported that the Libyan people want the no-fly zone to be imposed.

"There was a funeral of a fighter here yesterday and there were children in attendance as well. They were holding posters asking for Mama Clinton to come and help."

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-13">8:13am Al Jazeera's Nick Clark reports from Tobruk that the situation is very unpredictable, "UYou could drive through an area which would be very friendly one hour but not so friendly the next hour.

"The frontline is just 30km outside Brega and now there are unconfirmed reports that Ajdabiya has received some air threats.

"If Ajdabiya is taken, Benghazi will be next and the whole area can be cut off but the morale here is high."

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-13">7:37am Hillary Clinton , US Secretary of State will meet with Mahmoud Jibril, a leading member of the Libyan opposition in Paris on Monday, according to the Libyan ambassador to the United Nations who defected.

The chief US diplomat will hold talks with Jibril, who is in charge of foreign affairs for the opposition National Council.

US has also agreed to name an envoy tasked with dealing specially with the opposition.

Speaking in Washington beside Ali Aujali, the Libyan ambassador to the United States who has also defected, Jibril said: "We are not diplomats now, we are freedom fighters."

When asked to elaborate on what kind of US military aid the opposition was seeking, Aujali replied: "Anything but physical presence on our soil.

"Our main priority is the no-fly zone," Aujali added.

Libya: Benghazi's rebels know it is now them or Gaddafi

Dream of freedom threatened by advancing government forces, the city's people recognise the price they could pay for revolution

Chris McGreal in Benghazi guardian.co.uk
Saturday 12 March 2011 18.51 GMT


Ask people in Benghazi what awaits them if Muammar Gaddafi's army fights its way back into the rebel capital and the chances are they will talk about Huda Ben Amer.

Today she is one of the Libyan dictator's most closely trusted lieutenants, but nearly three decades ago Ben Amer was a young woman in Benghazi keen to earn a name with the regime. Her moment came at the public hanging of one of Gaddafi's opponents in 1984. Ben Amer rushed forward as the unfortunate man dangled from the rope, wrapped her arms around his body and used her weight to pull down until he was dead.

That stomach-churning performance won her Gaddafi's attention, and Ben Amer rose to become powerful, rich and twice mayor of Benghazi. It also earned her the enduring hatred of many in a city long viewed by the regime as riddled with subversion, where she is spoken of with the same depth of loathing and fear as the dictator.

...


"If we lose, Huda Ben Amer will hang all of us," said Walid Malak, an engineer turned revolutionary who has armed himself with a Kalashnikov plundered from a military base abandoned by Gaddafi's forces. "Everyone in Benghazi knows it's them or us."


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/12/libya-benghazi-gaddafi-revolution

White House hails Arab League no-fly zone request

– Sat Mar 12, 5:40 pm ET

WASHINGTON – The White House says the Arab League has taken an "important step" by asking the U.N. Security Council to impose a no-fly zone over Libya and increasing international pressure on Moammar Gadhafi.

A statement from the White House says there's a clear international message that the violence in Libya must stop.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110312/ap_on_re_us/us_us_libya

Libyan rebels' ragtag army left in disarray


All that stands between Kadafi and opposition headquarters in Benghazi are disorganized volunteers and army defectors spread thinly along the coastal highway.


By David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times
March 13, 2011


Reporting from Ajdabiya--


Nabil Mustafa Kharraz rushed to the front without a weapon. He ended up in a grimy provincial hospital with rocket shrapnel in his brain and a bloodied bandage wrapped around his head like a turban.

...


In his rumpled bed a day after fleeing a withering assault by government forces in the oil city of Ras Lanuf, Nabil promised his father that he would fight again, though he still doesn't know how to fire a gun.

Armed only with intense devotion to the revolution in eastern Libya, the chemical engineering student epitomizes the madly courageous but wildly incompetent rebel force that has taken on canny strongman Moammar Kadafi. Made up of students and clerks and accountants, the "people's army" has proved supremely vulnerable and, in some cases, helpless.

...

That resurgent army is now relentlessly pushing eastward, scattering the outgunned rebels. All that stands between Kadafi and rebel headquarters in Benghazi are disorganized volunteers and army defectors spread thinly along the coastal highway.

...

He laid it beside his bed until a friend took it for safekeeping. When his wounds heal, Ali vowed, he will retrieve the grenade and return to the front, even as it grinds east toward the hospital itself.


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-rebels-20110313,0,1893818,full.story

Libyan rebel medics learn fast on bloody front line


By Mohammed Abbas and Alexander Dziadosz
Reuters--updated 23 minutes ago 2011-03-13T09:31:29


BREGA, Libya — Two corpses, spilled intestines and severed limbs; medic Osama Jazwi is no longer fazed by his daily routine on the front line of fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

"Yesterday we also had a rocket attack, burns, broken bones, shrapnel wounds," said 33-year-old anaesthesiologist Jazwi on Saturday, in a tiny rural clinic which has become the first stop for rebels wounded after fighting Gaddafi warplanes and tanks.

...


"I'm only a dentistry student, but I'm doing my best. The difficulty is the wounds, I'm just not used to it. I've seen a head in pieces," said fresh-faced Ahmed al-Dersi, 18, after borrowing a reporter's satellite telephone to call his mother.

...


"The magnitude of the injuries has been difficult to adjust to. One guy had half his brains falling out of the back of his head," he said.

...




http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41923335/ns/world_news-africa

"It doesn't appear that the army has been engaged in Ras Lanuf, the soldiers that the journalists met when they were there, introduced themselves as volunteers.

"Although, it's a given that Colonel Gaddafi has access to superior forces but it seems he is not deploying everything in hand. He may not even have deployed the supposedly best armed, best trained Khamis brigade, on the Ras Lanuf effort.

"He (Gaddafi) has for him, fighting, enough people who are volunteers from other parts of the country, a lot of them to have come from an area which has tribal ties to Gaddafi to overwhelm the untrained, poorly supplied, poorly prepared rebel forces.

"On the ground, there is no evidence of big weapons, large-scale military equipment, now that being said, they had an awful lot of time to clear the area before they brought foreign journalists to this trip, which was not a free trip."

Libya: The west can't let Gaddafi destroy his people

The millions who began this revolution won't be much impressed by a democracy defined only by inertia


Editorial
The Observer, Sunday 13 March 2011

...


It won't be too long, at this rate, before Benghazi itself is threatened. And be equally clear what will happen when it is: there will be another bloodbath, this time a slaughter of men and women who dared to stand against a vile regime. Who'll sit comfortably through what will doubtless be dubbed another Srebenica?

The trouble for those of us who see human freedom as a human right and who therefore believe that we have a duty to support people who demand democratic government for themselves is that the choices involved can be damnably hard.

...


The millions who began this revolution won't be much impressed by a democracy defined only by inertia. They won't thank the west – or China, India, Russia, the African Union – for letting this Arab spring die in a field of flowery promises. They won't buy the kind of freedom that sells them out at first test. Tripoli isn't Kabul or Baghdad. Libya – in population, terrain and tribal divisions – makes quite different solutions possible.

But the only response that matters now is a common position which brooks no more argument: not to say in divisive detail what may or may not happen just down the road, but to pledge, with the honest passion we affect to feel that, whether repulsed in time or not, this particular tyranny will not be allowed to stand. Libya is part of freedom's future: it must not be buried by a quavering past.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/13/observer-editorial-libya

Libyan rebels 'cleared of Brega'


State TV says forces loyal to Gaddafi "purged" rebels out of Brega, a major oil town as heavy shelling pounds the city.


Last Modified: 13 Mar 2011 10:36 GMT


The Libyan armed forces, loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, have cleared "armed gangs" from the oil-rich town of Brega in the east, an army source said on Sunday on state TV.

...


The report could not immediately be verified. Libyan TV has in the past issued faulty reports claiming territory.

...

Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, said: "We have to remember that this is not an organised army. This is a group of teachers, engineers, street cleaners - people who have had no association with weapons whatsoever.

"And now they're coming up against very strong, well-equipped forces. And we are seeing a lot of casualties. Basically if it is not sorted out soon, then those casualty figures are going to go up and up and up.



http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/2011313101739903833.html

Killing of Al Jazeera journalist condemned

13 March 2011


Amnesty International has today condemned the killing of Al Jazeera cameraman Ali Hassan Al Jaber in Libya and warned of a campaign of attacks and harassment against journalists.

"It appears that the Al Jazeera team was brutally and deliberately targeted" said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Director.

"Coming so soon after the detention and torture by Colonel Gaddafi's forces of three BBC staff - who were subjected to beatings and mock executions - and the detention of other journalists, this killing is most disturbing."

"It is essential that this killing and the other abuses against journalists are investigated as part of the UN Human Rights Council's investigation into the situation in Libya. Those responsible for the killing of Ali Hassan Al Jaber must be held accountable for their actions."

Ali Hassan Al Jaber, a Qatari national born in 1955, was killed after being ambushed near Benghazi. A colleague travelling with him was also injured. An Al Jazeera reporter Benghazi said Ali Hassan Al Jaber was hit by three shots and was wounded through the heart.

Ghaith Abdul Ahad, a journalist working with the British newspaper The Guardian, has not been heard from since 6 March. A Brazilian journalist travelling with him was released from detention in Tripoli on 10 March. It is believed Ghaith Abdul Ahad is in detention.

"Ghaith Abdul Ahad and all those detained like him simply for reporting the facts must be released immediately and unconditionally," said Malcolm Smart.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/killing-al-jazeera-journalist-condemned-2011-03-13