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| Africa North | |
| Anxiety mounts in Tripoli as rebels advance | |
| 2011-08-19 | |
| TRIPOLI: LibyaÂ’s encircled capital is being painfully squeezed as rebel forces fight their way closer and battles along the coastal highway block the cityÂ’s chief link to the outside world. The road to Tunisia, for months TripoliÂ’s main conduit for smuggled petrol, food and other necessities, has been essentially cut off since Saturday, when rebels entered the coastal city of Zawiyah, just 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli. Rebels have also captured areas to the south, leaving Tripoli hemmed in on three sides on land and by the Mediterranean to the north. The cityÂ’s growing isolation promises to intensify already severe shortages of petrol and electricity caused in large part by sanctions imposed after LibyaÂ’s uprising began in February. While some sea commerce continues at ports under QaddafiÂ’s control, the road closure is a psychological blow to a city that has been pounded by NATO warplanes for months and had seen the Tunisian border a few hoursÂ’ drive away as an escape valve. Now, Tripoli residents are calling off trips abroad to visit relatives or to undergo medical treatment; even diplomats have been turned back on TripoliÂ’s western outskirts.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 If I was a citizen in tripoli I would get me a ballcap with the appropriate colors and maybe a little flag or two of the appropriate kind to hang from my window and put on my door. But I would wait until the Rebels were in the city and coming down my street first. After that best fill the bathtub with water while its still turned on and lay in a supply of rice and beans( about ninety pounds of each) just in case the market is shut down for a few days while downtown is burning. If you are young and hardy you might make a date with the neighbor who supports Khadaffy and coincidentally is your Landlord. He may need some "discipline" and all that when the time is right. Make sure he can't come back to haunt you. Be thorough. |
| Posted by: de Medici 2011-08-19 08:24 |