Monday, August 22, 2011
Lybia Update
From Global Research, August 21, 2011
Tripoli, Libya, Aug. 22, 2011, 1 AM CET– On Saturday evening, at 8pm, when the hour of Iftar marked the breaking of the Ramadan fast, the NATO command launched its “Operation Mermaid Dawn” against Libya.
The Sirens were the loudspeakers of the mosques, which were used to launch Al Qaeda’s call to revolt against the Qaddafi government. Immediately the sleeper cells of the Benghazi rebels went into action. These were small groups with great mobility, which carried out multiple attacks. The overnight fighting caused 350 deaths and 3,000 wounded.
The situation calmed somewhat on Sunday during the course of the day.
Then, a NATO warship sailed up and anchored just off the shore at Tripoli, delivering heavy weapons and debarking Al Qaeda jihadi forces, which were led by NATO officers.
Fighting stared again during the night. There were intense firefights. NATO drones and aircraft kept bombing in all directions. NATO helicopters strafed civilians in the streets with machine guns to open the way for the jihadis.
In the evening, a motorcade of official cars carrying top government figures came under attack. The convoy fled to the Hotel Rixos, where the foreign press is based. NATO did not dare to bomb the hotel because they wanted to avoid killing the journalists. Nevertheless the hotel, which is where I am staying, is now under heavy fire.
At 11:30pm, the Health Minister had to announce that the hospitals were full to overflowing. On Sunday evening, there had been 1300 additional dead and 5,000 wounded.
NATO had been charged by the UN Security Council with protecting civilians in Libya. In reality, France and Great Britain have just re-started their colonial massacres.
At 1am, Khamis Qaddafi came to the Rixos Hotel personally to deliver weapons for the defense of the hotel. He then left. There is now heavy fighting all around the hotel.
FURTHER UPDATE FROM RT
Rebel forces are gathering on the outskirts of Tripoli after intensive fighting inside the city. But with rumors of Gaddafi’s son Khamis leading a counter-offensive against them, the outcome of Monday’s struggle for the city remains unclear.
Early on Monday morning, tanks rolled out of Muammar Gaddafi’s Tripoli residence and began shelling the rebels who had gathered near the compound as sustained heavy gunfire was heard in the Libyan capital.
The tanks are being supported by pick-up trucks with heavy machineguns mounted on them, used by government forces to suppress rebel fire on Assarin Street and in al-Khalifa area.
More government tanks have been reported in the port of Tripoli.
Muammar Gaddafi’s whereabouts remain unknown.
It is possible that Libyan leader might still be in his compound in Bab al-Aziziya as he earlier promised not to leave the capital. However, Al Arabiya TV channel reports that Muammar Gaddafi is now in a hospital in the town of Tajura.
According to Libyan government representative Musa Ibrahim, there are 65,000 troops protecting the ruling regime. Earlier the rebels claimed that some of the troops had surrendered to them – a remarkable statement, in view of the numerous reports about rebels torturing, beheading and murdering prisoners of war.
Meanwhile, Libyan state TV went off air mid-Monday, reports Reuters. The rebels say the state broadcaster’s headquarters are now under their control.
Rebels now admit that from 15 to 20 per cent of Tripoli remains under the control of loyalist troops, contradicting earlier claims that the city was practically under their full control, with the exception of government buildings.
On Sunday night, the rebels advanced through the Libyan capital from three directions – east, south and west – without meeting any significant resistance from the loyalist troops until arriving to the city’s Green Square where they rallied, renaming the area Martyrs’ Square.
A convoy of 22 military vehicles full of government soldiers have arrived in the center and are erecting a barricade near a hotel where Dr. Franklin Lamb, the director of Americans for Middle East Peace, is staying right now.
“I have a feeling that the government is luring the rebels in, allowing them to have fun on Green Square and then very well counter-attacking them,” Dr Lamb told RT, adding that it looks like the end is near.
AND ANOTHER - THIS FROM METHABA
Source in Tripoli says that world media is telling lies about the situation in Tripoli
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
Right now I can see dead Qatari soldiers in front of my eyes, big beards, and on my hands right now I'm holding a Qatari passport... there are a lot of them but Tripoli is under control, it's all secure, everything is fine. Libyan army, the volunteers are everywhere, families, I can see now women having the green flag...[indistinct] these Qatari people who are trying to come inside Tripoli and make it unsettled. But Tripoli is safe, the situation is under control.
