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May 30, 2024 08:47
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- mr. nobody
- Sep 25, 2004
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Net contents 12 fluid oz.
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Cao Ni Ma posted:
Gotta keep those buffs up.
Holy poo poo that had me laughing so hard.
That picture I do not think could possibly be put into context to make any sense.
Brown Moses those picture posts organized by timeframe are great.
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Oct 12, 2011 00:51
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- farraday
- Jan 10, 2007
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Lower those eyebrows, young man. And the other one.
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Paradox Personified posted:
I love the guy but how come he's just strumming an open chord? Where's the fretting? That better not loving be an altered image. I swear.
Oh god dammit a new page. Moses, come quick, put some content.
http://www.channel4.com/news/libyas-guitar-hero-name-that-battle-song
Apparently not, but it's really too amazing to be real.
Overthrow, Overthrow, Overthrow, Overthrow the Nasty Dictator.
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Oct 12, 2011 00:57
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- Shageletic
- Jul 25, 2007
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Paradox Personified posted:
I love the guy but how come he's just strumming an open chord? Where's the fretting? That better not loving be an altered image. I swear.
Oh god dammit a new page. Moses, come quick, put some content.
Could be working a d chord.
Moses, those pictures are amazing. Ex: that one where the revolutionaries are about to storm that building.
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Oct 12, 2011 01:13
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- WHOLE DIK AND NUTS
- Aug 18, 2011
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by Duchess Gummybuns
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Man those mercenaries look like fearsome killers, glad the rebels got a hold of them before they could wreak havoc.
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Oct 12, 2011 05:33
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Maybe I'll team up with Caro to write a book based on his perspective of the conflict.
WSJ - Camels, Minority Rights Spur Battle in Libya, an excellent article about the problems between Arabs and Berbers near Zuwara we've been hearing reports of over the past couple of weeks, really worth a read if you want to know more than just who is winning in Bani Walid and Sirte.
quote:ZUWARA, Libya—Next to a pitted airport runway, more than 100 displaced victims of war forage on desert shrubs and poke their noses at a perimeter fence
They are camels, an unusual population of refugees caught up in deadly clashes in Zuwara, a coastal town near Libya's border with Tunisia. Far removed from the country's more closely watched battle—over Col. Moammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte, more than 300 miles to the east—the confrontation here in Zuwara stands to shape the new government's stance toward Libya's minority groups.
At least 10 people were killed and several others wounded in the past week in clashes here between Arab tribesmen and minority Berbers, residents say, following a spate of tit-for-tat kidnappings. Similar Arab-Berber clashes have claimed other lives in the area, including a clash that killed six people last month near Badr, in the Nafusa Mountains.
Caught up in the explosive mix of ancient ethnic animosities and land disputes are the camels of Zuwara.
Locals say the animals are the property of Arabs—Libya's majority ethnic group—who live in a crescent of settlements just outside Zuwara. The local Arab tribesmen include Gadhafi supporters who have been among the last holdouts against fighters loyal to the National Transitional Council, or NTC, which ousted Col. Gadhafi in August.
The camels are being held by Berbers, who consider themselves the indigenous people of Libya and North Africa. How the Berbers here came to get their Arab neighbors' animals—and their demands for returning them to their owners—mirrors the group's larger, thornier struggle to carve out an improved position in the new Libya.
WSJ - Minister in Tripoli Blasts Qatari Aid to Militia Groups
quote:Libya's governing National Transitional Council issued its sternest public rebuke of Qatar on Tuesday, warning the Gulf emirate to stop funneling arms, money and other support to Libyan factions without the approval of Libya's interim governing authority.
"It's time we publicly declare that anyone who wants to come to our house has to knock on our front door first," Ali Tarhouni, Libya's oil and finance minister and the deputy chief of the NTC's executive committee, told a news conference. "I hope this message will be received by all our friends, both our Arab brothers and Western powers."
Mr. Tarhouni didn't name Qatar, but his comments came in response to a journalist's question about recent allegations that Qatar has continued to ship weapons to militia leaders in Libya weeks after the capital's fall, and without the approval or knowledge the ruling NTC. An NTC official said afterward that Qatar was "without any doubt" the target of his comments.
Angelina Jolie visits Misurata to support aid agencies
quote:"I have come to Libya for a variety of reasons, to see a country in transition at every level and to witness efforts to fully realise the promise of the Arab Spring," Jolie said.
"The country faces a host of challenges, including internally displaced people, refugees, rule of law, security, sanitation, education, health and other humanitarian needs.
"All of these pieces must be delivered and coordinated properly in an environment of reconciliation and justice."
The two-day trip was Jolie's first to Libya, but she previously visited Libyan refugees in Malta and on the Italian island of Lampedusa in June, and went to Tunisia in April to appeal for international support for people fleeing the revolution there.
And now for some balance, here's the latest update from Mathaba.net:
quote:
Update on the struggle for the liberation of Libya and the unification of Africa - October 10th, 2011
Libya - Sirte is 100% under Green Resistance control. The NTC (TNC) Al Qaeda forces were kicked out of city after heavy NATO bombing stopped.
Tuareg fighters have said: "There will be no prisoners taken by Tuaregs."
Libya - The Libyan army neutralized rebel-rat (TNC) attacks in Sirte--500 rats killed. Libyan Army controls all Sirte.
SECRET ORGANIZATION OF FORMER MILITARY LEADERS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF NTC
Algeria ISP news reports: According to the site Zengtena, the organization of the Green Resistance in Tripoli is improving dramatically: 60 former Libyan military officers who have served Libya for a total of over (900) years decided to join the Green Resistance underground movement in Tripoli. This structure will operate in six areas of Tripoli, composed of 10 volunteers in each district, under a Lieutenant.
The organization issued an ultimatum to the rats demanding that that they disarm, and leave Tripoli by October 13, 2011. They demanded that they return to their homes.
The mission of this organization is to destroy all the rats who are heads of local councils and who hold military and administrative positions, as well as rats that are heads of companies, schools, banks and governmental offices. Weapons that will be used by the organization: pistols, rifles, silencers, grenades, mines, RPGs, etc.
The source said the mission will be used against the rats in their homes, on streets, in mosques, cafes, and wherever rats are found.
The organization is currently busy preparing 30 women volunteers to act in the homes of the rats.
ALGERIA ISP - The Libyan Army effected tactical retreats, under heavy bombardment, from the hospital, the University of Sirte and the Ouagadougou Center. Then, the Libyan Army counter-attacked, and trapped many rats, and re-took the hospital, the University, and the Center.
The Libyan Liberation Army killed and wounded more than 500 rebels, and the rest fled, leaving the bodies of their friends.
The Libyan army fully regained control over all areas of the city of Sirte.
Muatassim Gaddafi raised the morale of the Green Army
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn9SJWJ2QbM
Some Gaddafi supporters have way to much time on their hands:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx3-aknVrYw
I guess it's one way to distract themselves from all the bad news coming out of Libya.
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Oct 12, 2011 08:41
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- Young Freud
- Nov 26, 2006
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I wonder what the hell Mathaba is going to be like a year from now, after Qaddafi has been killed or captured.
BTW, does anyone think the Turaegs' possible revolution in Mali may be used to create a safe zone for Qaddafi? Not that he's behind it or anything, just that it seems pretty convenient that the Turaegs are talking about this right now. There's really nowhere he can go now, so might as well go with the guys who still love you.
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Oct 12, 2011 08:49
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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I think it'll depend on how much gold he managed to steal before he fled.
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Oct 12, 2011 08:55
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- Nckdictator
- Sep 8, 2006
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Just..someone
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That seems so over the top I would have thought it was a parody.
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Oct 12, 2011 09:41
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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HRW - Libya: Protect Civilians in Sirte Fighting
quote:Forces on both sides fighting in the Libyan city of Sirte should minimize harm to civilians and treat all prisoners humanely, Human Rights Watch said today. Fighters aligned with the National Transitional Council (NTC) have reached the center of the city, after attacking Sirte for more than three weeks.
NTC-aligned forces that capture pro-Gaddafi fighters and civilians suspected of actively supporting Gaddafi forces should promptly transfer their detainees to NTC facilities in Tripoli or Benghazi to minimize the danger of abuse from forces that were engaged in combat, Human Rights Watch said.
“Commanders on the ground in Sirte need to make sure that their forces protect civilians and allow them to flee the combat zone,” said Fred Abrahams, special advisor at Human Rights Watch. “All prisoners should be treated humanely and transferred to the NTC authorities who can better ensure their safety.”
The NTC political leadership has repeatedly called on fighters not to loot or commit revenge attacks, but forces on the ground do not always heed those calls, Human Rights Watch said.
There's more details of specific events later on in the article.
quote:Fighters from Misrata have also reportedly been looting private property in Abu Hadi, a suburb of Sirte. They have reportedly burned the homes of families suspected of supporting Gaddafi.
Between September 24 and October 8, 2011, Human Rights Watch interviewed 28 families who had recently fled Sirte. They described fierce fighting, a lack of electricity since late August, and dangerously low supplies of food and medicine.
Fleeing residents said that NTC-aligned forces had repeatedly shelled some residential neighborhoods over the past two weeks. The residents had mostly huddled in their homes for safety during the attacks and were unable to say where pro-Gaddafi forces were positioned at the time.
Three families said shells from NTC-aligned forces in the south and west had hit their homes. One family said its home was hit by a NATO airstrike. No civilian casualties resulted from these attacks, the families said. Without access to Sirte, Human Rights Watch could not verify the claims.
The laws of war require warring forces to attack only military targets. Attacks that do not discriminate between combatants and civilians, or that can be expected to cause harm to civilians disproportionate to the expected military gain, are unlawful. Forces must take all feasible steps to protect civilians under their control from attacks and avoid deploying in densely populated areas.
Two Sirte residents said they had seen Grad rockets strike the city from areas controlled by NTC-aligned fighters, but this could not be confirmed. News media outside Sirte have reported that Gaddafi forces also fired Grads from inside the city.
Grad rockets, with a range of 4 to 40 kilometers, have no guidance system and are inherently indiscriminate when fired into populated areas. When fired in groups, they have an impact over a wide area and can inflict extensive casualties in civilian-inhabited areas.
“Indiscriminate Grad rockets should not be fired into Sirte so long as civilians inhabit the city,” Abrahams said.
While some families reported no problems leaving Sirte, others alleged that Gaddafi forces had tried to block their exit from the city by firing at them or above their vehicles. These families said they took circuitous routes to escape, sometimes through agricultural fields. Deliberate attacks on civilians are war crimes, Human Rights Watch said.
Several families said that NATO bombing had caused civilian casualties. One displaced resident said that around September 22 at 10 p.m., NATO struck the Imartameen building on Dubai Street, killing and wounding a large number of residents. At the time of the attack, about 10 pro-Gaddafi snipers were positioned on the roof, the resident said. The man said he was part of the crew who spent two days using heavy equipment to remove the bodies. Among the dead, he said, was Sadik Abuazoum, 43, a secondary school teacher, and Sadik’s wife.
If snipers were deployed on the roof, that would have made the building a legitimate military target, Human Rights Watch said. It would raise concerns over whether pro-Gaddafi forces had taken all feasible steps to remove civilians from the building and whether NATO conducted an attack that caused disproportionate civilian harm.
Several fleeing residents said that NATO bombs had struck schools. One resident identified those schools as Ibn Khaldoun, Al-Merkezia, Al-Bayan al-Awal, and Al-Majed. He and the others knew of no civilian casualties in those attacks. It is not known whether Gaddafi forces were using the schools at the time, which would have made them military targets.
CNN - Libya's NTC fighters stage final advance in Sirte holdout
quote:Forces loyal to the new Libyan government were staging a final advance into the last area in Sirte still controlled by pro-Moammar Gadhafi fighters.
National Transitional Council field commander Ibrahim Ashour said Wednesday that his forces control 90% of the city, but are encountering stiff resistance in securing the rest of it.
On Tuesday, seven NTC fighters were killed and 15 wounded in clashes with Gadhafi loyalists there, Ashour said.
Sky News - Fall Of Gaddafi's Home Town 'Hours Away'
quote:Anti-Gaddafi forces will today attack part of Colonel Gaddafi's home town where loyalists remain holed up - amid signs the battle is nearly over.
Sky's Alex Rossi, reporting from the front line, said fighters loyal to the National Transitional Council (NTC) have advanced deep into the city taking the university, conference centre, hospital and main police station.
They claim supporters of Col Gaddafi remain in just one area, known as district 2, in the northwest of the city.
Rossi said: "The fall of Sirte is inevitable - most likely today.
"The big question is who is inside this city and why have they put up such a resistance.
"It is believed senior members of the Gaddafi regime have been here and were resisting so much because they know what fate awaits them."
Qaddafi Forces Give Ground in Surt
quote:"For two days, a loyalist fighter, possibly a sniper, had used the apartment as a base. One room was filled with mattresses, covered in a floral-patterned cloth, stacked a few feet high. Across the hallway, in a bathroom, the charred body of a man was on the floor, on his back, still smoldering. A long piece of wire was tied to his right wrist. A stream of water from a ruptured pipe sprayed the bathroom walls.
A group of former rebels said the man had been firing at their comrades during the battle for the neighborhood early Tuesday, which centered on a nearby thoroughfare called Omar el-Mukhtar. A fighter from the eastern city of Ajdabiya, Abdulwahab Mohamed, said he had been among the group that tried to capture the man, bursting into the third-floor apartment on Tuesday afternoon.
“He was wounded. He was crying. He was crying, a lot.” Mr. Mohamed said. It was not clear why his hand was tied to the wire: the former rebels said they thought it meant he was prepared to fight until death. As the group approached him, the man, armed with a Kalashnikov, started firing and threw a grenade.
Then he threw two more, on the ground near his feet. A former rebel fighter was killed, and two were badly injured. Mr. Mohamed said, “He loved Muammar.”
Over the course of the fighting on Tuesday, at least two dozen men, suspected of being Qaddafi loyalists, were taken alive.
Late in the afternoon, the rebels ferried five of them on the back of a pickup truck from the Omar el-Mukhtar thoroughfare, towards the former rebel lines. The truck stopped at an intersection, and angry men gathered. Two anti-Qaddafi fighters started attacking the men with the butts of their rifles, knocking one of the prisoners unconscious".
A man intervened, pushing one of the assailants away. “We’re better than these dogs,” he told the fighter.
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Oct 12, 2011 09:53
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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quote:The fighting in Sirte could be over by the end of today, Peter Beaumont reports from the centre of the city.
Gaddafi loyalists are not returning fire from one of the pockets of the city that they still occupy, he says.
quote: The fighting that seems to be going on, in what maybe the last pocket, is about a kilometre to the west of me, in district two. The whole east of the city is under government control. The centre of the city nearly all the way down to the beach; the police station; and I understand the main square fell in fighting last night. From the east I'm just not hearing anything. The biggest danger to us today was friendly fire.
Mutassim Gaddafi is still believed to be in the Dollar area of the city between districts one and two. District three on east of the town is now occupied by new government forces, Peter said.
quote: Some of the [Gaddafi] fighters have been seen coming out with Qur'ans. We walked down a street where there had been pro-Gaddafi fighters. And there were a couple of houses where uniforms were strewn on the floor, where they had taken uniforms off to change into civilian clothes.
On Jalil's claim that Sirte could fall within two days, Peter said: "It is not an idle boast. It could easily be over by the end of today. We are hearing no out going fire at all."
Peter also described coming across the mobile phone of one of Mutassim Gaddafi's friends. It had Mutassim's phone number together with pictures of white stretched limos. "He's thrown his phone away probably because it had the phone number [Mutassim's] on it when he left," he said.
quote:Flushed with freedom, Libyan university awaits student rebels
In the lobby of the University of Tripoli’s engineering department, Abdo Raouf was painting a mural in honour of a “free Libya”, nodding his head to the rhythm of hard rock music.
“We can finally speak freely,” said the 23-year-old geophysics major, who sported a bandana around his head. “We can finally be ourselves instead of being afraid.”
Home to some 80,000 students, this campus in the heart of the Libyan capital has been radically altered by former strongman Muammar Gaddafi’s ouster from Tripoli in August.
Named Al-Fateh University under Col Gaddafi, the newly-dubbed University of Tripoli is now free of the all-green flags of the former regime and instead flies the red, black and green rebel flag.
Posted on bulletin boards across campus are cartoons of the “brother leader” Gaddafi fleeing for his life. Other, more sombre posters commemorate students killed in the eight-month uprising.
While students and faculty are largely jubilant over the toppling of Col Gaddafi, a major problem remains.
Missing from roll call are student rebels fighting for control over the last pro-Gaddafi cities in their country.
“We should resume classes in a week, but many of our students are still at the front lines” in the cities of Sirte and Bani Walid, said architecture professor Mohamed Ali Wafa.
Students have started a petition calling for classes to be suspended until the conflict is over and student fighters return. The petition has already garnered some 1,000 signatures on campus.
“We won’t go back to school before the return of all the teachers and students who went to fight and before the whole of Libya is free,” said Surur Ekari, a 19-year-old student with heavily-lined eyes and a pink headscarf.
Perhaps the most significant change at the University of Tripoli is in the syllabus which no longer features the Green Book, a text spelling out Col Gaddafi philosophy which was mandatory in curricula across the country.
Reflecting on his years as an educator under Col Gaddafi, economics professor Hatim Gweri for the first time feels he can speak candidly. “We had to teach Jamahiriya things, like Col Gaddafi is the best in the world, he is the king of kings of Africa, and so on,” Prof Gweri said, adding: “This is no longer in the programme ...I am so happy.”
A spirit of solidarity to support young Libyan rebels has washed over the University of Tripoli campus, where students have found different ways to support their peers on the battlefield.
One group of young women blew colourful balloons in preparation for a festival they are organising to help raise funds for injured student fighters.
Others, meanwhile, are preparing for careers they believe will help them play an active role in future of their country.
“I want to become a judge in order to help build the new Libya,” said 20-year-old law student Asma al-Jabri. Many students also voice concern over the psychological and emotional health of their colleagues once they return from the battlefield.
“When the rebels come back, they will be tired,” said 22-year-old Sara Rashid.
“They will have to give up their weapons. They will have to adapt.”
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Oct 12, 2011 10:18
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- Young Freud
- Nov 26, 2006
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quote:Peter also described coming across the mobile phone of one of Mutassim Gaddafi's friends. It had Mutassim's phone number together with pictures of white stretched limos. "He's thrown his phone away probably because it had the phone number [Mutassim's] on it when he left," he said.
What a missed opportunity to prank call him.
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Oct 12, 2011 10:22
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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LibyanProud tweeted last night that he had brought on of the Gaddafi's mobile off a looter, and given everything on it to the NTC.
It's worth watching the video on the Sky News link, there's plenty of frontline combat footage.
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Oct 12, 2011 10:23
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- Young Freud
- Nov 26, 2006
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Brown Moses posted:
LibyanProud tweeted last night that he had brought on of the Gaddafi's mobile off a looter, and given everything on it to the NTC.
It's worth watching the video on the Sky News link, there's plenty of frontline combat footage.
Yeah, I had thought that it was very likely that's how they found out he's in the Dollars area. Someone probably called or texted him and actually got his location from him or a close adviser or assistant. By the time he realized what was going on, he was trapped.
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Oct 12, 2011 10:27
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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The liberation battle of Sirte "Ouagadougou complex battle"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxOI40jg5ck
Skynews : Intense street battle in Sirte
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5dLl4VnmpY
quote:"It's nearly all over now," Peter Beaumont reports from Sirte.
NTC forces are bogged down in sewage from an damaged pipe and face more risk from friendly fire than Gaddafi forces, he says.
quote:The main problem in the area we are in, where district one and district two meet, [is that it is] flooded knee deep in sewage. The clearing operations that have been going on have been plodding through this fetid water.
There are guys coming out surrendering. One of the fighters I spoke to today said, the people he was with, had captured about seven people. They are going in to the houses looking for weapons. It is still noisy but there is very very little incoming fire. It looks as though, if not today then tomorrow, the battle for Sirte will be over and the government will declare the full liberation of Libya.
It doesn't feel as if there is a concentration [of Gaddafi] forces anywhere at all. We were told that there was a concentration in district two. But we have just been in district two and there don't seem to be a lot. I'm told there are a few snipers still left in district three and the main area by the square, but almost by the hour the last defenders are getting rolled up.
The speculation is that quite a lot of people have just tried to slip away from the battle in the last couple of days.
Most of the deaths now seem to be coming from friendly fire incidents.
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Oct 12, 2011 11:46
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Reuters confirms Gaddafi resistance has evaporated in Sirte.
quote:Gaddafi resistance crumbling in Libya's Sirte
Resistance from fighters loyal to ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi crumbled in his home town overnight, government commanders said on Wednesday, and just two small pockets still held out.
Fighters from the interim Libyan government's volunteer army walked slowly up the same battle-scarred streets strewn with empty ammunition cases where they had fought fierce clashes a day before. Other fighters searched the partly destroyed houses as a few dazed civilians emerged from their basements.
"It looks as though there is no resistance from Gaddafi's men. There are no clashes today," said government field commander Mustah Hamza.
"More than 80 percent of Sirte is now under our control. Gaddafi's men are still in parts of neighbourhood Number Two and the 'Dollar' neighbourhood," he said.
A few shots rang out in the distance, then a burst of heavy machine gun fire closer by. Some green flags, the banner of Gaddafi's 42 years in power, still flew above many of the buildings, indicating how recently they had changed hands.
National Transitional Council forces said they believed Gaddafi's son Mo'tassim, his father's national security adviser, was still holed up in Sirte.
NTC fighters manoeuvred a tank into a small side street flooded with sewage from a burst pipe. It fired a few rounds at a large building up ahead, then infantrymen moved in, letting off bursts from their AK-47s as they advanced up the street. But there was very little return fire from the pro-Gaddafi side.
"TWO MORE DAYS"
The NTC has said it will start the process of rebuilding Libya as a democracy only after the capture of Sirte, a former fishing village transformed by Gaddafi largesse into a showpiece for his rule replete with lavish conference halls and hotels.
NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on a visit to Sirte on Tuesday that it would take two more days to take the town, which was the last major holdout for Gaddafi loyalists. Gaddafi himself is believed to be hiding somewhere far to the south in the vast Libyan desert.
But the remnants of Gaddafi's forces, surrounded on three sides in Sirte and with their backs to the sea, have so far fought tenaciously, perhaps believing they face mistreatment or worse at the hands of their ill-disciplined foe.
Back from the front line, fighters from the National Transitional Council jostled with one another as one man tried to punch a wounded prisoner and others struggled to keep him off. The prisoner repeatedly shouted out that he was a civilian.
"But you had a gun," his captors said.
"I never used it," he said, fear in his eyes.
Any male of fighting age still in Sirte was under suspicion.
"We were staying in a basement," one man, Gamal Ammar, said alongside family members. "Some of us were hit. If we had died it would have been better. We had no water and no food. We couldn't get out." As NTC fighters drew near, he fell silent.
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Oct 12, 2011 12:07
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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May
The stalemate on the Benghazi front continued, while Misrata continued to push Gaddafi's forces further and further away from Misrata. In early May Gaddafi's forces shelled the port area of Misrata, killing a number of stranded migrant workers and using a cropdusting plane to bomb 4 fuel tanks in the port, and at the same time the Royal Navy worked to keep Misrata port clear from Gaddafi mines. Later on in the month the Misrata rebels captured the airport, and with the help of Zlitan rebels pushed Gaddafi forces to outside of rocket range.
In Nafusa the rebel continued to slowly capture more towns and cities, and across the country NATO intensified their bombing campaign, attacking Libyan Naval vessels in harbours across the country.
Benghazi, Rebel fighters rallied in Benghazi. May 2nd
Misrata, Ms. Ayeni, who is one month pregnant, in the intensive-care unit of a hospital in Misurata. Ms.Ayeni and her husband, Mr Ezeh, both migrant workers from Nigeria, had moved themselves and their two young children to a migrant tent camp near the port just two days earlier when a volley of rockets killed both children -- Debtin, 1, and Suzis, 8 months -- and severed Ms. Ayeni's leg. May 5th.
Misrata, Mr. Ezeh returned to the tent camp Thursday afternoon to find that many of the family's belongings had been looted in their absence, leaving no passports or money. May 4th
Misrata, Mr. Ezeh walked away from the tent where his children were killed, carrying a folder with family documents and a favorite blanket.
Benghazi, A man played with his son along the seafront in Benghazi. May 6th
Benghazi, Rebel fighters attended a funeral in Benghazi of a colleague killed by loyalist forces. May 7th
Misrata, The main oil storage facility in Misurata burned after a rocket attack by pro-Qaddafi forces. May 7th.
Misrata, Capturing the airport in Misurata, which has been under siege for nearly two months, represented one of the most significant rebel victories in the Libyan conflict. The rebels seized this pro-government jet. May 11th
Nafusa, A rebel fighter stands guard outside Kabaw in the Western Mountain region of Libya. Fighting in the Western Mountain region, home to the Berber ethnic minority, has intensified since the rebels seized the Dehiba border crossing into Tunisia last month, opening a key artery for supplies. May 11th.
Benghazi, Libyan teenagers control the traffic at a busy junction in Benghazi. May 12th
Benghazi, Ali Selim, 10, stands at a busy traffic junction, where he directs traffic. May 12th
Benghazi, A Libyan man browses in a bookstore in Benghazi. The revolution that swept Moammar Khadafy from power in east Libya has been a bonanza for bookstores as curious readers stock up on titles banned during his decades-long rule. May 12th.
Benghazi, Artist Salhen Obaidi cleans his hands after painting a mural in downtown Benghazi. Hundreds of new paintings and graffiti decorate the city of Benghazi since the rebels took control of the city. May 15th
Tripoli, NATO planes attacked eight Libyan ships in three coastal locations, including the port of Tripoli, expanding the air campaign against what allied officials said was an increasing seaborne threat from Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces. May 20th.
Tripoli, Women rallied outside a hotel where foreign journalists stay in Tripoli. The women were showing their support for Colonel Qaddafi as the Libyan police looked on. May 22nd
Misrata, A family walked on Tripoli Street, the center of fighting between rebels and Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's forces in Misurata. May 22nd
Misrata, A rebel fighter stood in an abandoned Roman Catholic church used by Qaddafi forces as a military camp near Misurata. May 24th.
Benghazi, Women practiced applying a splint during first aid training classes given to the public in Benghazi. May 24th.
Ajdabiya, A rebel soldier and a scavenger looked for useful parts in an abandoned tank at a Libyan Army base that had been destroyed by NATO airstrikes in Ajdabiya. May 26th.
Benghazi, A young Libyan volunteer emerged from a tunnel during a military training course before going to the front line in Benghazi. May 28th.
Nafusa, A Libyan family in a cave they used for shelter when rockets fired by Colonel Qaddafi's forces landed near their home southwest of Tripoli. May 29th
Misrata, Picture of a tank hidden inside Misrata vegetable market destroyed by NATO
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Oct 12, 2011 12:38
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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quote:The battle for Sirte has become focused on fort-like high rise building in district two, Peter Beaumont reports in his latest phone update near the front line.
quote:We are about 800m from an enormous fort-like building that I haven't seen before. We have just seen one of the pro-Gaddafi fighters running along the skyline. It [the building] has got blocks at two ends and occasionally you can see muzzle flashes coming from the left hand end. It literally is like a castle. This seems to be where the fighting is concentrated.
Speaking on a bad Satellite connection that gives out in the middle of the call but improves by the end, Peter adds:
quote:All of the top of it has been hit by either tank shells or anti-air craft fire. It is somewhere in district two. It looks like it overlooks the sea. We were pointed out this last area of high rises that they [the NTC forces] were worried about. This appears to be the high rise that they are talking about. It is very imposing and towers over the rest of the city.
The sound of a rocket can be heard being fired at the building during the call. Apologies for the quality of the line. Brown Moses fucked around with this message at 13:25 on Oct 12, 2011
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Oct 12, 2011 13:05
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Worst excuse ever:
quote:Egypt's military rulers have also responded at their press conference to allegations, seemingly backed up by video evidence, that armoured personnel carriers ran over protesters.
Youseff Taha tweets:
quote:#SCAF: APC driver hit by big stone, badly injured, drives off, tried to avoid crowds, MAY have hit some but NOT deliberately #Maspero #Copts
According to Wikipedia
quote: The hull of the Fahd is of all-welded steel armor construction giving complete protection against attack by 7.62 mm caliber AP rounds and shell splinters. The vehicle is equipped with air conditioning. The driver sits at the front of the vehicle on the left side with the commander to the right. Both have forward observation via large bulletproof windows, which can be rapidly covered by an armored shutter hinged at the top, and a side door that opens to the front, featuring a window in its upper part that can also be covered by a shutter as well.
You can see on the video the windscreen and left side window is clearly undamaged.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps0cZESV-ec
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Oct 12, 2011 13:31
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- DropsySufferer
- Nov 9, 2008
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Impractical practicality
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The pictures are fantastic thanks. Looks like Libya would be a terrible place to be black at the moment. Although it's curious that some rebels are black. Are the rebels basing who they beat up and capture on who's from chad/southern Africa or something else? Accent and Arabic language ability maybe?
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Oct 12, 2011 13:45
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- Ham
- Apr 30, 2009
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You're BALD!
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Finally some progress on the parliamentary elections in Egypt. The judicial committee responsible for organizing the elections has opened the door for election applications. Any person wishing to be elected in their district must apply. Thousands of people have applied so far, many of them from the former NDP. Two thirds of the electees must be elected through closed party-list proportional representation, with the last third being chosen individually through a plurality voting system. The former NDP members can only apply for that one third of parliament seats. This third is also contested by many independents and many party members not registered on party lists.
This means that in Cairo governorate, which is represented by 54 seats in the people's assembly (lower house, only important one), 36 seats will be elected through closed party-list proportional representation, with the remaining 18 elected through plurality voting. In Giza gov. it's going to be 20 to 10. Each governorate is alotted a number of seats in accordance with its population, number of districts and other elements. Elections for the people's assembly will be held last week of November, with the Shura council (upper house, advisory only) to be held some time in December.
This official website (only in Arabic) has lots of info about the election process, including an accessible database of all Egyptians eligible to vote, with info about their voting districts:
http://www.elections2011.eg/
Sadly, Egyptians living abroad will not be able to participate in these elections as there is no legal framework to organize voting abroad/they don't live in any Egyptian districts anymore so they wouldn't be able to vote for anyone.
EDIT: Google translate does work though!
Ham fucked around with this message at 13:58 on Oct 12, 2011
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Oct 12, 2011 13:48
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Fangz posted:
There's a top hatch though. Maybe he could have been sitting or standing up top?
Only the commander side is open, from what it says on Wikipedia the hatch on the driver side might not even open, and there's no suggestion you could drive the vehicle with it opened.
DropsySufferer posted:
The pictures are fantastic thanks. Looks like Libya would be a terrible place to be black at the moment. Although it's curious that some rebels are black. Are the rebels basing who they beat up and capture on who's from chad/southern Africa or something else? Accent and Arabic language ability maybe?
The one thing to consider is it's not a black and white situation. There's different groups that make up the rebels, who have different reasons to go after black people from different groups. The main problem relates to Tuaregs from Tawergha and their treatment by the Misratans.
Tawergha was heavily funded by the Gaddafi regime as a counterbalance to Misrata's power in the area, and he moved a large number of ethnic Tauregs into the town and recruited them into the army. Misrata's long distrusted Tawerghans and combined with straight up racism they had a pretty bad relationship with Tawergha even before the conflict. When the conflict started a large number of troops were rallied from Tawergha and sent to Misrata, and according to the PHR report on Misrata poo poo like this happened:
quote:PHR investigators conducted in-depth interviews with six Libyan civilians, including two obstetricians/gynecologists, who gave credible reports of military-sanctioned rape as well as of honor killings that occurred in response to these rapes. One 20-year resident of Tomina reported to PHR that Qaddafi forces from Tawergha transformed a Tomina elementary school into a detention site where they reportedly raped women and girls as young as 14 years old:
quote:Mohamed remained in and around his village while his family fled to Misrata for safety. He reported that as of mid-March he served as a rebel fighter. He wore a green armband to visibly identify himself as a Qaddafi supporter, which enabled him to fight regularly on the front line without being detained or captured.Mohamed regularly passed Alwadi Alahdar elementary school on one of Tomina’s rural roads en route to the front line. Mohamed reported that he heard the cries of women and girls on several occasions while passing the school. He reported seeing tanks and other military vehicles at this school in April 2011. On one occasion, in the quiet of the night, he heard drunken laughter through the open windows of the school building. He heard women cry out in pain and a man yell, “Shut up you dogs!”
Mohamed is convinced that Qaddafi troops forcibly detained these women and girls and gang raped them. He said he heard directly from five separate male heads of nearby households and close friends that some of their daughters and wives had been raped by Qaddafi forces.
One father confided in Mohamed that his three daughters aged 15, 17, and 18 had gone missing after Qaddafi troops arrived in Tomina. They returned to the family in late April and told their father that they had been raped in the Alwadi Alahdar elementary school for three consecutive days. In what is known as an “honor killing,” Mohamed related to PHR investigators, this father slit each of his daughters’ throats with a knife that day and killed them. Mohamed also noted that some in Tomina have stood up against this practice, including a well-known Sheik who has publicly advocated for raped women and girls to be seen as brave and bringing honor to their families. Another long-time Tomina resident and mother of three corroborated these “honor killings” and estimated that Qaddafi forces had raped at least 50 women and girls from the small village of Tomina.
She told PHR investigators that military wearing green uniforms “took men and women away and did bad things to them.” One of her neighbors reported that while her husband was away fighting on the front line, she was alone with her 15-year-old daughter. A group of military in green uniforms forcibly moved in to her home and made her cook for them. They took her daughter into the front room of the house and repeatedly raped her for days. When rebel forces took control of Tomina on 12 May 2011, the daughter was found mute and nearly dead. The mother reported that she suffered recurrent nightmares, insomnia, and flashbacks. She exhibited pressured speech and hypervigilance while recounting these recent events.
Unfortuantly for the Tawerghans the Misrata rebels won, and are now hunting down anyone they think has any chance of being responsible for what happened in Misrata, and if you are black and from Tawergha, there's a chance. They are even tracking down families in Tripoli and other areas and arrested men they find from Tawergha, something I expect to continue when Sirte is captured.
Alot of the other racial problems come from mass of rumours about Gaddafi using foreign mercenaries, which while true has ended up meaning rebels are very suspicious of black people, especially if they come from countries where it was rumoured Gaddafi was hiring African mercenaries, which is a lot of countries. Again, a lot of it comes down to straight forward racism as well.
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Oct 12, 2011 14:08
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Latest video update from the BBC, Libya: Sirte 'pummelled into submission'.
quote:"One fighter I walked passed said 'Sirte is free'," Peter Beaumont reports from the city.
"That's not quite true," he says. Gaddafi forces occupy an area of about 1km square, which includes a fort-like structure where the fighting is concentrated today (see 12.40pm) Peter says.
"They have bought out rockets and tanks and they are really shelling this at moment. Every couple of minutes a salvo of rockets goes over into these buildings," he says as rocket was launched.
"It appears that this is where the majority of the Gaddafi forces are holed up," he says.
A detailed satellite map of the area, shared by reader BrownMoses, shows some of the locations mentioned by Peter.
The area occupied by Gaddafi loyalist is between 500m and 1km south of the coast, Peter says.
quote:I can't see that many residential houses, it is just big square buildings that look like office buildings ... What I'm seeing right now is one of the pro-government katibas units driving down the road in front of me, towards this area with pick-ups and anti-aircraft guns. When they tried to do this a bit earlier they had to retreat. It looks as if they going to have another go at try to enter this area.
Some captured Gaddafi fighters are being treated well, but others have been beaten, Peter says. Not for the first time he witnessed one man being beaten in a pick-up truck with truncheons today.
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Oct 12, 2011 14:43
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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quote:Libyan forces make chaotic advance into Sirte
Obaid pulled up in his pick-up truck keen to fire the multiple rocket launcher mounted on the back at Gaddafi loyalists holding out in the Libyan city of Sirte, but just as he was about to shoot, he stopped to ask which way to aim.
His comrades standing nearby loudly conferred with one another then pointed him to what they agreed was the right direction and Obaid fired four Grad missiles at the city.
They all cheered him and shouted "Allahu Akbar." Smoke rose above the already wrecked city, but no one could say if the Grad rockets hit the target, or even what the target was.
As National Transitional Council fighters advance into Sirte, Muammar Gaddafi's home town, the fighting has become street-to-street and house-to-house.
Anyone with a gun is welcome to join the battle for Sirte.
Some scout the ground ahead by walking down the middle of the street. Others instead run down the street holding their AK47s above their heads while squeezing the trigger. Some spray bullets at empty plots of land, or lines of trees.
The fighters frequently have to dive for cover to avoid so-called "friendly fire."
One man on a wheelchair had his friend roll him out into the firing line where he emptied a magazine of bullets at the street ahead and was then rolled away.
Two days ago, fighters brought back a dead comrade shot in the heart. They said he was killed mistakenly by a young fighter who did not know how to use his gun.
The inexperience and naivety of many of the NTC fighters is one of the reasons why the battle for Sirte has been dragging on for weeks.
Most of the government fighters are from elsewhere in Libya and do not know Sirte, where they are in it, or often what it is they are attacking. Every now and then they shout at each other to stop shooting because their own fighters are up ahead.
Meanwhile, various Che Guevara lookalikes with long black hair and beards pose for the cameras, flashing V-for-victory signs and shooting whatever they have in hand and hoping to achieve their 15 minutes of fame.
One young NTC fighter went to the top of a residential building and began firing his AK47 from a hole in the damaged wall.
"What is he firing at? There is nothing there," barked an angry older comrade. "What kind of war is this? He just wants to be on Al Jazeera."
NTC fighters swept into Tripoli two months ago and were able to take control of the capital in few days because they had help from within. But in Sirte, the bastion of Gaddafi's own tribe, it is not that easy.
"It is their city, but we don't know it ... the people inside think the revolutionaries are monsters who will kill them and steal their stuff. We are not," said Colonel Habib Mohammed Habib, a field commander.
"The problem is that they (Gaddafi forces) know the city well and move from one house to the other," said Hassan al-Fatouri, a brigade commander.
Weeks of bombardment followed by street fighting have killed an unknown number of civilians. That has led to fears that reconciliation between Libyans after the war may prove to be very difficult.
"They are families inside fighting for their houses and their children who have died," said Mohammed, 23, who fled Sirte a few days ago.
"You know who is still fighting inside Sirte? Who is fighting is the person who has lost his brother, who has lost his mother, who has lost his sister ... The revolutionaries have brought us destruction."
All reports suggest the remaining Gaddafi forces are trapped in a small area, and are being pounded by artillery and rockets, so I don't think they'll last out much longer.
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Oct 12, 2011 15:41
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- Nuclear Spoon
- Aug 18, 2010
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I want to cry out
but I don’t scream and I don’t shout
And I feel so proud
to be alive
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So where's left after Sirte?
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Oct 12, 2011 15:44
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Nuclear Spoon posted:
So where's left after Sirte?
The NTC will declare liberation, then clean up Bani Walid and the various small groups of trouble makers left in various areas. How long they'll resist for after Sirte falls is hard to answer, but I'm guessing not long.
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Oct 12, 2011 15:48
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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ThePutty posted:
Is there any pictures of the "fort" in the middle of Sirte? I'd love to see what it looks like.
I think he's talking about this area, which look like solid concrete office buildings or flats, and it looks like some sides are windowless, so it could be them.
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Oct 12, 2011 15:52
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- Ham
- Apr 30, 2009
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You're BALD!
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Lots of rumors about the government in Egyptian media right now about Essam Sharaf and his cabinet resigning over the events last Sunday. Same rumor says Mohamed El Baradei is a strong contender for Prime Minister, but I really doubt this.
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Oct 12, 2011 15:55
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Ham, can you confirm Hussein Salem and his two children were just given 7 years in prison, and a 4 billion Egyptian pound fine (about £400 million) for corruption by an Egyptian court?
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Oct 12, 2011 15:57
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- Ham
- Apr 30, 2009
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You're BALD!
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Brown Moses posted:
Ham, can you confirm Hussein Salem and his two children were just given 7 years in prison, and a 4 billion Egyptian pound fine (about £400 million) for corruption by an Egyptian court?
Yes, but it's actually a 4 billion dollar fine. Which is about £2.5 billion.
The ruling pertains to the case of money laundering from the Egyptian-Israeli gas deal several years ago, where Egyptian gas was sold to Israel much cheaper than global market price, with Salem and several others (possibly Mubarak himself) profiting from the deal. The exact amount fined is $4,006,319,000
Ham fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Oct 12, 2011
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Oct 12, 2011 16:06
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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June
In June the Nafusa rebels gained more and more control of their region, even briefly attacking Zawiyah before being pushed out of the city. British and French attack helicopters were deployed in Libya, which allowed Gaddafi vehicles hidden in built up areas to be more easily targetted.
On June 19th NATO admitted they had accidently killed civilians due to a weapons malfunction during a strike on a missile base in Tripoli. This is the only time NATO apologised for any civilian deaths during the conflict. They continued to bomb Tripoli on a regular basis, as well as sites across the country.
Misrata continued to push towards Zliten, and life in Misrata changed dramatically for the people living their. Only occasional rocket attacks managed to hit the residential areas of Misrata, but otherwise it was peaceful.
Benghazi, In Benghazi, a rebel officer taught a group of Libyan women how to use a weapon. June 1st
Benghazi, Rebel soldiers and firefighters doused a car after a bomb exploded in the parking lot outside the Tibesti Hotel in Benghazi, Libya. The hotel is a central meeting place for Libyan rebel leaders, diplomats and journalists. June 1st
Misrata, Malak Al Shami, 6, who had a leg amputated after her house was hit by a rocket belonging to Qaddafi's forces, lies in a hospital in Misurata. Malak's house was hit on May 13, and she lost her sister Rodaina, 1, and her brother Mohamed, 3, on the same day. June 3rd.
Benghazi, A young boy with a weapon given to him by a rebel after Friday prayers in Benghazi. June 3rd
Misrata, A volunteer applied cement to the graves of soldiers of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's forces, who had been buried at a cemetery in Misurata. June 5th.
Misrata, A Libyan rebel fighter shows a weapon with a grenade launcher attachment which he said was taken from forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi at Misrata's western front line, some 25 km (16 miles) from the city center. June 7th
Tripoli, NATO warplanes intensified attacks on Tripoli, again hitting Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s command compound. June 8th
Tripoli, A photo of Colonel Qaddafi was displayed on a computer screen in the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli. June 8th
Misrata, Rebels prepared before attacking pro-Qaddafi troops on the front line in Dafnia, near Misurata. June 11th.
Misrata, Libyan rebel fighters read a leaflet dropped by NATO planes at the front line west of Misurata. The leaflet warned Qaddafi forces of helicopter airstrikes if they did not stop fighting, but were dropped on positions taken by rebels over the past several days, prompting some to pull back. June 14th
Surman, Rescue workers searched for survivors in the rubble of Khoweildi al-Hamidi's residential compound in Surman, 43 miles west of Tripoli, that was destroyed by what officials said was a NATO strike. June 21st.
Misrata, Rebel fighters fired mortars towards pro-Qaddafi forces on the front line of Dafniya near Misurata. June 21st.
Misrata, A Libyan man, next to sheep killed in a rocket strike, tried to find fragments of the rocket, fired by forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in Misurata. June 22nd.
Misrata, A Libyan rebel fighter, in a vehicle rigged with armor plating, flashes a victory sign at a territory taken from forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi, after rebels pushed several kilometers in the direction of Zlitan, west of the rebel-held port city of Misrata. June 13th
Tripoli, Supporters of Colonel Qaddafi rallied in Green Square in Tripoli. June 24th.
Zintan, Libyan rebel leaders met to discuss current operations in the city of Zintan. June 24th
Misrata, A car drove past war-damaged buildings on Tripoli Street in the rebel-held city of Misurata, Libya. June 24th
Benghazi, Students chanted slogans against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in Benghazi. June 25th.
Nafusa, Rebels and supporters celebrated the arrival of soccer players in Zintan. Several members of the Libyan national soccer team defected from Tripoli and entered the Nafusah Mountains to declare their support for the insurrection. June 25th.
Tripoli, A Libyan woman fired in the air during a graduation ceremony after a weapons training course in Tripoli. June 26th.
Tripoli, Female volunteer government fighters arrived to attend a women's forum in Tripoli. June 26th
Benghazi, News that an arrest warrant had been issued for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi prompted a celebration in Benghazi. June 27th
Tripoli, A supporter of Colonel Qaddafi walked in an empty square in Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli after the news. June 27th
Nafusa, A teenager carried a rocket launcher that was taken from Al Qaa depot near Nafusa. June 29th
Nafusa, A family who fled Tripoli in a refrigerator truck arrive at the Libyan western mountains. June 30th
Misrata, Anti-Gaddafi art
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Oct 12, 2011 16:07
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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I post all those pictures and you go and post the best one on the page.
Some investment news from Libya
quote:Libya tour operators eye post-war boom for neglected industry
A holiday in Libya may sound like an absurdity now, but many of the country's tour operators and officials are already starting to predict a bright future for the travel industry once the dust of war settles.
The coastal country has all the makings for a vibrant tourism business, they say: warm weather, beaches, antiquities and proximity to Europe -- all factors that helped the industry thrive in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia.
If developed, tourism could eventually help dent Libya's high jobless rate by creating work for tour guides, drivers, restaurant workers and hotel staff, as well as help it diversify its economy away from dependency on oil and gas.
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Oct 12, 2011 16:18
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- Xandu
- Feb 19, 2006
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It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am.
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Syrian-American arrested for spying on protesters in DC for Syrian government.
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/October/11-nsd-1347.html posted:
WASHINGTON – Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid, 47, a resident of Leesburg, Va., has been charged for his alleged role in a conspiracy to collect video and audio recordings and other information about individuals in the United States and Syria who were protesting the government of Syria and to provide these materials to Syrian intelligence agencies in order to silence, intimidate and potentially harm the protestors.
...
Soueid, aka “Alex Soueid” or “Anas Alswaid,” a Syrian-born naturalized U.S. citizen, was charged by a federal grand jury on Oct. 5, 2011, in a six-count indictment in the Eastern District of Virginia. Soueid is charged with conspiring to act and acting as an agent of the Syrian government in the United States without notifying the Attorney General as required by law; two counts of providing false statements on a firearms purchase form; and two counts of providing false statements to federal law enforcement.
Soueid was arrested on Oct. 11, 2011, and will make an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa C. Buchanan today at 2:00 p.m. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison on the conspiracy and foreign agent charges, 15 years in prison on the firearms purchase charges and 10 years in prison on the false statement charges.
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According to the indictment, since March 2011, Soueid has acted in the United States as an agent of the Syrian Mukhabarat, which refers to the intelligence agencies for the Government of Syria, including the Syrian Military Intelligence and General Intelligence Directorate. At no time while acting as an agent of the government of Syria in this country did Soueid provide prior notification to the Attorney General as required by law, the indictment alleges.
Under the direction and control of Syrian officials, Soueid is accused of recruiting individuals living in the United States to collect information on and make audio and video recordings of protests against the Syrian regime – including recordings of conversations with individual protestors – in the United States and Syria. He is also charged with providing the recordings and other information to individuals working for the Mukhabarat. According to the indictment, Soueid and others conspired to use this information to undermine, silence, intimidate and potentially harm those in the United States and Syria who engaged in the protests.
The indictment states that in late June 2011, the Syrian government paid for Soueid to travel to Syria, where he met with intelligence officials and spoke with President Bashar al-Assad in private.
He returned to the United States in early July 2011, and he was searched and questioned at Dulles International Airport upon his arrival. The indictment states that Soueid communicated with his “boss,” an unindicted co-conspirator (or UCC-1) who was working for the Mukhabarat, soon after to alert him of the search and questioning and to assure the individual that the airport encounter would not “stop the project.”
In addition to the recordings, Soueid is accused of providing the Mukhabarat contact information, including phone numbers and email addresses, for protestors in the United States. In a handwritten letter sent to UCC-1, Soueid allegedly expressed his belief that violence against protestors – including raiding their homes – was justified and that any method should be used to deal with the protestors. The indictment also alleges that Soueid provided information regarding U.S. protestors against the Syrian regime to an individual who worked at the Syrian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
On Aug. 3, 2011, FBI agents interviewed Soueid, and the indictment accuses him of lying to the agents when he denied that he had collected information on U.S. persons and transmitted that information to the government of Syria. In addition, Soueid allegedly made further false statements when he denied to FBI agents that he had directed someone to audio or videotape a conversation, meeting, rally or protest, or that he was aware of any individual taking photographs or videotaping people. He also allegedly made false statements when he denied that he had ever been an agent of the Syrian government or a foreign intelligence officer.
The indictment states that the day following the interview, Soueid asked UCC-1 to inform the Mukhabarat about his FBI interview.
In addition, the indictment alleges that, when purchasing a Beretta pistol on July 11, 2011, Soueid listed a false current residence address on a firearms purchase application and in records that were kept by a licensed firearms dealer.
This investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office with assistance from the Loudon County, Va., Sheriff’s Office. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dennis Fitzpatrick and Neil Hammerstrom of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Brandon L. Van Grack of the Counterespionage Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
The public is reminded that an indictment contains mere allegations and that a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Oct 12, 2011 16:31
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- Adbot
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ADBOT LOVES YOU
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May 30, 2024 08:47
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- Brown Moses
- Feb 22, 2002
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Quality article from the Sun:
quote:Saadi Gaddafi binged on drugs and hookers
ONE of Colonel Gaddafi’s vile sons went on a sex and drugs binge in London as his dad’s regime crumbled.
Saadi Gaddafi, 38, blew thousands on hookers, vodka, cocaine and cannabis while at the family’s £11million mansion.
Bodyguard Stefan Bell, paid £300 a day to protect Saadi, said: “He was intimidating and nasty and lived a bizarre life.
“He did like his hookers. He’d spend ages trawling the internet for Chinese escorts, they always had to be Chinese.
“He’d show me or my colleague a picture of the girl and we rang to book a visit. He wanted them to stay all night which was £1,500.
“Drugs were also common. Saadi asked me once if I could get him some cocaine, but I refused.
“A lot of cannabis was smoked by him and his entourage. They were high a lot of the time.
“There was masses of vodka too, bottles and bottles. Sometimes they hired a barman to pour their drinks for them.”
The beautiful mansion in Hampstead that was the base for his five-week binge has now been overrun by squatters.
And Saadi, the third of Gaddafi’s seven sons, was yesterday seeking refugee status in Niger after fleeing the Libyan rebels who overthrew his tyrant father.
It is a stark contrast to the arrogant figure he cut when he arrived in Britain in November.
Stefan, who met him at Stansted airport, said Saadi arrived with a couple of aides, his personal doctor, an America woman who was his PA and about eight friends. They went straight to the Hampstead home, which had just had a multi-million pound refurbishment.
Stefan, 33, said: “The house was amazing inside. But there were one or two teething problems with the stereo system which piped music into each room.
“They could easily have been fixed. But instead Saadi decided he wanted to buy a new house so we drove around looking for one.
“There was one he really liked in Surrey, a huge place for £50million. I’m not sure if he actually put an offer in by the time everything kicked off in Libya but he certainly planned to.
“Spending £50million just because he couldn’t get the stereo to work — that’s Saadi for you.”
Saadi, an ex-footballer who was on the books of three Italian clubs, spent hours hand-picking his hookers. But when they turned up he was not always happy.
House of stoned … £11million mansion where Saadi took cocaine and bedded hookers
Stefan said: “Sometimes he said he didn’t like the look of them and would send them away.
“We gave them a bit of money but they were furious for not earning the full amount. Saadi never booked girls for his friends, just for himself. He’d disappear to his room with them and we wouldn’t see him until morning.”
Rumours of Saadi’s homosexuality have been doing the rounds in Libya for years. When rebels raided his home in Tripoli they found piles of gay DVDs.
And in London he was clearly having a relationship with a man who was known as the Butler. Stefan said: “When the Butler arrived I was expecting an older bloke, but he was about 18.
“Saadi would shout for him in the night. We’d get up thinking he wanted us but he wanted the Butler to go to his room.
“Later on Saadi would come out of the room covered in sweat and wearing just a towel.”
Stefan, from Newcastle, said Saadi also blew thousands at a time on shopping trips. He added: “We visited Harrods a lot.
“One time he bought a set of 12 solid silver knives, forks and spoons with his initials on.
“It cost £70,000 and the entire bill for that trip was £120,000.
“Sometimes his card was declined which was quite embarrassing. But all he did was ring the Libyan embassy to put some more money into his account. Towards the end of the trip he sent one of the men out to Soho to buy loads of porn DVDs to take back to Libya. This bloke would come back with bags of DVDs — he got hundreds of them.”
Saadi, who reportedly once blew £170million in just 12 months on private jets, jewels, cars, clothes and women, was in his father’s inner-circle and commander of Libya’s special forces.
But Stefan said he never once mentioned his father. He added: “He never came across as a politician or as a representative of the Libyan government.”
Saadi left Britain in late December. He planned to return a week later but never came back.
Stefan said: “We took him to Luton airport and he flew to Tripoli on a private jet. Despite working with him so intimately for five weeks he did not have the courtesy to say goodbye.”
Fed-room
GREEDY Saadi Gaddafi loved to gorge himself on shawarmas — the Libyan version of a doner kebab.
Bodyguard Stefan said: “He liked eating shawarmas and demanded them at all times of the day or night. It might be 4am, but it didn’t stop him. He would just lie in his room and shout ‘Shawarma!’
“That was it, just one word. No please or thank you. He’d just yell the word and we’d have to get up out of bed and get him one from a shop.”
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Oct 12, 2011 16:35
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Oct 11, 2011 22:40
SoroScrew 
