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| Africa North |
| Support for revolt 'has started to crack' in Benghazi |
| 2011-03-17 |
| Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the London-educated son of Muammar Gaddafi, has vowed that as forces loyal to the Libyan strongman advance toward the rebel-held eastern city of Benghazi, "everything will be finished in 48 hours". In an interview with the France-based TV station Euronews Wednesday, Saif ridiculed French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s decision to recognise the opposition Transitional National Council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. "The military operations are finished,” he said. “In 48 hours everything will be over. Our forces are close to Benghazi.” FRANCE 24’s Cyril Vanier returned to Paris on Monday after two weeks of reporting in and around the rebel bastion of Benghazi. He believes that while the Gaddafi regime has long warned that there would be a crackdown on any opposition, this time, the Libyan strongman’s threats seemed convincing. Benghazi, he said, could fall in a matter of weeks or even days. The country’s second largest city, Benghazi has been held by the anti-Gaddafi rebels since February 20. "The pro-Gaddafi forces have been advancing for a week,” said Vanier. “They are at the gates of Adjabiya (to the west of Benghazi). If Adjabiya falls, there’s nothing to prevent pro-Gaddafi troops from taking Benghazi." During the two weeks he was in the region, Vanier said he detected a gradual erosion of popular support for the insurgency. “What has changed between the time of our arrival and our departure is that within the population, the support for the resistance movement began to crack. In the early days of the revolt, there was a feeling that there was no stopping the revolution. Every single Libyan sensed it and officially everyone supported the revolution." But 14 days after he arrived, that support began to crack. “When we left, we began to see that this homogeneity was cracking and some people began telling us that they were pro-Gaddafi," he said. According to Vanier, many Benghazi residents began considering a post-revolution scenario led by Gaddafi, in which they had to be "prepared to make concessions with the 'new' Gaddafi regime.” |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #8 The only forces I see that can act in time are the French, so it is up to them. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2011-03-17 21:38 |
| #7 Napalm. And cluster bombs. But NOW dammit. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2011-03-17 14:22 |
| #6 many of these soldiers are low-skill foreign mercenaries. In this case, that's all that's needed. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2011-03-17 12:23 |
| #5 Things ain't over until they're over. It's been pointed out that Qaddafi only has about 2,000-3,000 soldiers in this advance, and that Benghazi has over a million people. And that many of these soldiers are low-skill foreign mercenaries. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-03-17 09:16 |
| #4 Another victory for SlObama. His decisiveness is awesome to behold. /sarc |
| Posted by: AlanC 2011-03-17 08:51 |
| #3 All is well that ends well. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2011-03-17 04:48 |
| #2 "Concessions to the 'new' Gadaffi Regime" Few iff any believe that Muammar is the kind whom will willingly share power - iff he repor doesn't delegate or share wid his own blood, i.e. his own Kidz + other Relations, Close Circle, etc. what makes 'em think he's gonna share wid "the little people". In the absence of any UNSC-approved NFZ, or direct US-NATO mil intervention, the Rebels will be lucky they end up wid THEIR LIVES INTACT + "GAZA/WEST-BANK-IN-LIBYUH" FAILED STATE? + perhaps CONTROL OF A COUPLE OF [minor]OIL WELLS [NOT enuff to threaten Uncle Muammar]. * HURRIYET NEWS > MORE [Libyan Refugees] FLEE TO EGYPT AS GADHAFI FORCES ADVANCE [towards Benghazi]. ARTIC : > Civilian-Refugee ABDEL LATIF KHALED >"The Ueorpeans refuse to help. We are in need of European + American help. We want them to rpovide weapons". > ALVARO DE VASCONCUELOS, of Brussels-based IESS = BENGHAZI COULD BECOME ANOTHER "DUBROVNIK". > JEAN DOMINIQUE GUILIANI, of the Robert Schumann Foundation think-tank = DEFEAT OF THE REBEL INSURGENTS BY GADDAFI WILL BE A FAILURE FOR EUROPE + INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, as it was France whom imprudently gave [premature] recognition to the Libyan Rebels. [1990's post-DESERT SHIELD KURDS here]. Iff he had a choice, Muammar will NOT allow the Rebs to divide Libya - and even iff by chance they did, to make sure that the Rebs NOT dev their newly sovereign State(s) into a POTENT ECON RIVAL TO HIS REGIME. HE'LL KEEP 'EM BROKE-N-POOR AMAP ALAP - he will put the econ burden on the International Community + UNO to keep this new Rebel State(s) from collapse. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-03-17 00:54 |
| #1 we began to see that this homogeneity was cracking and some people began telling us that they |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-03-17 00:08 |