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| Africa North | |
| Gaddafi set to arm civilians | |
| 2011-02-27 | |
[Bangla Daily Star] Terrified residents braced for bloody battles in Tripoli yesterday as Muammar Qadaffy offered to arm civilians to defeat a popular revolt that poses the worst threat to his four-decade rule.
...back at the ranch... the UN Security Council called a special session to consider a sanctions resolution against the Libyan leader on top of those from President Barack B.O.Obama and the European Union in a clear attempt to weaken his teetering regime. The escalating revolt to overthrow Qadaffy, which a Libyan diplomat to the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society said has killed thousands, has seen opponents grab almost the entire east and loyalists embark on shooting sprees in the capital. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose country is the former colonial power in Libya, became the first Western leader to spell out that Qadaffy appeared to have lost control of the situation. "If we can all come to an agreement, we can end this bloodbath and support the Libyan people," he said. Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Obama issued an executive order, seizing assets and blocking any property in the United States belonging to Qadaffy or four of his sons, saying the measures were not targeting the wealth of the Libyan people themselves. The US president condemned the Libyan government's violation of human rights ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... , "brutalisation of its people and outrageous threats". In Tripoli, witnesses said two of the three five-star hotels were closed and the third, the Corinthia, had started to evacuate. With banks closed, the dollar was trading for two Libyan dinars on the black market, compared to 1.3 10 days ago, and the euro at 2.5 Libyan dinars compared to 1.7 10 days ago. Libya's ambassador to the United Nations, a childhood friend of Qadaffy, delivered an emotional speech to the Security Council, raising the spectre of Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot, asking for his country to be saved. After Mohammed Shalgham's speech, one Tripoli resident told AFP by telephone that 'people shouted with joy' but that just a few minutes later the electricity was cut and has not come back since. "We were terrified. We thought that meant they were preparing for attacks. We grabbed whatever we could use as weapons and stayed by the door in case anyone broke in," the resident said. "We could still hear gunfire all night." Security forces opened fire indiscriminately on worshippers leaving prayers in the Libyan capital on Friday, witnesses said. Almost the entire east of Libya has slipped from Qadaffy's control since the popular uprising began in the port city of Benghazi on February 15, inspired by the revolutions in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia. In Benghazi, a front man for the revolution told AFP yesterday they were drawing up plans for a transitional government to take power. "We are all waiting for Tripoli to end Qadaffy and his sons' rule," said Abdelhafiz Ghoqa. In the nearby town of Ajdabiya, the main square has been named 'Hurriya' or Liberty Square, but local residents said conditions were miserable. "The situation is bad. The bakeries are closed. Finding food is very hard. I have never seen a happy day in all of my years," said Idriss Mohamed, who at 42 is as old as the regime. The UN's World Food Programme warned on Friday that the food distribution system was "at risk of collapsing" in the mainly desert North African nation which is heavily dependent on imports. "They do have limited production of wheat, barley and olives mainly in a small area around Benghazi, but that is not enough to meet the population's needs," spokeswoman Emilia Casella said. Foreign governments have scrambled to evacuate thousands of expatriates who told of scenes of hell since the crisis broke out 12 days ago. After massive protests in Tunisia and Egypt forced the resignations of longtime leaders Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak, Libya's ruler of four decades appeared to dig in for a bitter fight to the end. In a brief but chilling address that presaged a bloody battle for the capital, the army colonel who grabbed power in 1969 told frenzied supporters in Tripoli's Green Square on Friday that the rebels would be defeated. "We will fight them and we will beat them," he told a crowd of hundreds. "If needs be, we will open all the arsenals." UN chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon has demanded decisive action by the Security Council, warning that any delay would add to the growing corpse count, which he said came to more than 1,000. Britain, La Belle France, Germany and the United States have drawn up a resolution which says the attacks on civilians could amount to crimes against humanity. It calls for an arms embargo and a travel ban and assets freeze against Qadaffy and his entourage. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 "Ban Ki-moon has demanded decisive action by the Security Council......." 2nd question usually asked, "Are you taking any medication? " |
| Posted by: Steven 2011-02-27 22:57 |