Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Libya Uprising Live Blog

All times are Japanese Standard Time



Sunday March 6


23:14 Military intervention in Libya would have "negative" effects, the French foreign minister says according to AFP.

The Red Cross and the United Arab Emirates plan to build two new camps on Tunisia's border with Libya in anticipation of a fresh arrival of refugees, an aid official tells AFP.

23:12 Even though the Libyan government claims to control Ras Lanuf the Al Jazeera reporter Jacky Rowland who is in the city with rebel forces proves that to be wrong


23:08 1405: The Red Cross and the United Arab Emirates plan to build two new camps on Tunisia's border with Libya in anticipation of a fresh arrival of refugees, an aid official tells AFP.
1401: Libyan official media are continuing to paint a rosy picture of the support enjoyed by Col Gaddafi, reports BBC Monitoring, while denouncing the "conspiracy" hatched against Libya's stability and security, and intensifying their attacks against foreign media, particularly al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya TV channels.


Saturday March 5
0:51 An al-Jazeera correspondent in the eastern city of Ras Lanuf says pro-Gaddafi forces have retreated westwards to the area of Wadi al-Ahmar, 140km (87 miles) from Misrata. The rebels are regrouping and are preparing to move towards Wadi al-Ahmar and then the Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte, he adds.

0:29 A resident of Zawiya tells the AFP news agency: "The tanks are everywhere in the city and are opening fire on houses. I saw at least seven speed outside my house and the shelling does not stop. Pray for us."

0:21 Mohamed we haven't left the square many have been killed the pro Qaddafi forces are shooting anyone moving about in Az Zawiyah

0:16 Sky News correspondent Alex Crawford, at Zawiya's hospital, says that within the last 10 or 15 minutes government tanks loaded with soldiers have been rolling in and heading towards Martyrs Square in the centre of the city. She says there was a heavy artillery bombardment lasting about 10 minutes. Since then, the sound of gunfire has died down. Casualties have started arriving at the hospital - many with serious injuries, including a young boy of about 10 whose body peppered with bullets, she adds. There are also reports that government forces have been taking away bodies on the streets to minimise the number of known casualties. Clearly a battle is going on for Zawiya, she concludes.
0:09 Aboul says Az Zawaiyah is under attack from three sides many people have been killed and wounded. Those who have been wounded we are unable to reach because of indiscriminate firing by Qaddafi's forces.

0:03 Az Zawiyah is reporting heavy fighting but the Libyan army has been unable to retake the city.

an eyewitness in Zawiya has also just told Reuters by phone that Gaddafi tanks are shelling the centre: "The attack has started. I see more than 20 tanks." A second resident said Gaddafi's forces were using "tanks and mortars".

Confirmation of new attack on Zawiya: Al-Jazeera says 35 tanks are approaching from the east.

AFP correspondent on the coast reports seeing rebel forces inside Bin Jawad, which is a small locality 90km east of Sirte.

Hussein says that 30 people were killed and 150 were injured in the city this morning, before this new government assault. As he speaks, cannon fire can be heard over the phone.

1422: Hussein says that 30 people were killed and 150 were injured in the city this morning, before this new government assault. As he speaks, cannon fire can be heard over the phone.
1420: The tanks came into Zawiya from both the east and the west, along the main highway from Tripoli to the Tunisian border, Hussein says.

An urgent update from Zawiya: between 20 and 30 government tanks are firing indiscriminately into the centre of the city, according to an eyewitness called Hussein, who spoke to the BBC.
1413: "We pushed them past Bin Jawad and today we will pound them back to Sirte," one fighter, an officer who has defected from the military, tells AFP.
1411: Rebel forces are advancing west along the Mediterranean coast to Bin Jawad, ever closer to Col Gaddafi's home town Sirte, an AFP reporter says.
1408: The death toll in Zawiya may be much higher than reported. The Spanish news agency Efe is quoting rebels as saying at least 70 people died and 300 were wounded.

Hussein says the government forces are regrouping and that people there expect another attack at any time. "But we are standing here, we are burying our dead. We are prepared to defend ourselves to last minute. We are not frightened any more. It is too late to be frightened. A lot of our children have died. We are here to die. Most of us are civilians. We do not have any weapons. They are attacking us with machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, missiles, unbelievable. There are people dying everywhere. It is a disaster what is happening in Zawiya. We really need some help," he adds.
1009: Another resident of Zawiya, Hussein, tells BBC World News that about 30 people were killed and 150 injured in the attack by pro-Gaddafi forces on Saturday morning. "This morning at six o'clock the army came from three different directions - the north, east and west. They came with tanks, armoured cars, anti-aircraft guns and machine guns. There was a big fight between the rebels and the Gaddafi forces. There were a lot of civilian deaths, including women and children. But now the rebels have beaten them, and they have withdrawn to the outskirts of Zawiya."
1000: Libyan state television has accused the Netherlands of spying, following the capture by government militiamen on Sunday of a Dutch navy helicopter and its three crew, Radio Netherlands reports. Their mission was to drop off or pick up spies in the coastal city of Sirte, according to Libyan TV. Dutch Defence Minister Hans Hillen has said he cannot say any more about the case "in the interests of the safety of the crew". The man they were sent to rescue, who worked for the Dutch engineering company Royal Haskoning, was handed over to Dutch diplomats and is now back in the Netherlands.


0921: A resident of the city of Zawiya, 70km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, tells the BBC World Service: "There was heavy fighting until about 10 minutes ago. But Zawiya was never falling to Gaddafi's troops. Let me repeat: It was never falling to Gaddafi's troops. They came from the east and west, and they took up positions in high-rise buildings... and started shooting. Some tanks went to the main square and were captured and burnt. There are some casualties among Gaddafi's troops and our troops - but Zawiya was never captured."
0915: Rebels have captured the oil port town of Ras Lanouf from pro-Gaddafi forces, according to the Associated Press.
0911: A witness contacted by the BBC in the city of Zawiya says an attempt by government forces to regain control has been repelled. The sound of car horns and celebrations could be heard over the telephone. A number of buildings in Zawiya are on fire and there is heavy black smoke over parts of the city.
0902: Our correspondent adds: "In the country at large, eastern and some western areas are still under the control of anti-Gaddafi forces, with fighting reported on both fronts. The regime is in bullish mood, saying it is slowly winning back territory lost to the rebels. But Col Gaddafi's opponents are also confident, refusing to entre into dialogue until the man who has ruled this country for four decades steps down, something he is clearly not yet prepared to do."

0:30 Hillary Clinton speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said that no option is "off the table."

0:10 Tony Birtley is reporting that there were three bombing runs by Libyan air force jets over Brega. He is also saying that anti-government forces have pushed back Gaddafi's forces from the city but that is difficult to confirm

23:58 The chairman of the US Senate foreign relations committee, John Kerry, has said the international community should be ready to implement a military no-fly zone over Libya, according to the Reuters news agency.

From the BBC
23:40
A Libya expert for African Energy magazine, in London, tells BBC Focus on Africa that the situation is extremely confusing in the east of the country regarding the country's oil terminals, but that he believes Gaddafi's opponents are probably not yet in charge of oil exports in the region. "If you want to control Libya, you need to control its oil. So having control of these terminals must be a fundamental objective," he says. The expert warns that if Libya continues to export oil in the future, it might be a sign that Gaddafi is still receiving foreign payments.

1434: The Libyan online newspaper Yosberides - previously called Quryna - quotes a medical source as saying that that four people have been killed and three injured in the clashes in Brega. At dawn, forces loyal to Col Gaddafi attacked the town's industrial zone, about 20km from the centre, it says. But the protesters managed to repulse the attack using rocket-propelled grenades, but later fled, it adds. A witness said the fighting was "intense".
23:30 The BBC's John Simpson in Adjabiya says: "Fighting still seems to be going on in Brega, down the road from here. And people in Adjabiya itself are expecting an attack directly after Brega has fallen. Adjabiya's defences are pretty skimpy - three elderly Russian tanks, plus three mobile anti-aircraft guns, which failed to shoot down a Russian-made jet which flew low over the huge arms dump on the edge of town twice this morning and dropped a bomb each time. The plane failed both times to hit the ammunition stores which were its target."

1421: The Italian TV channel, Rai 24, has been showing footage of fighter planes flying over Brega, of shelling during the night of what appeared to be the local oil refinery, and of people fighting on the streets.
1419: Two US amphibious assault ships, the USS Kearsarge and the USS Ponce, have passed through Egypt's Suez Canal, arriving in the Mediterranean Sea, Egyptian officials say. The US has said it is moving military assets closer to Libya. The USS Kearsarge can carry 2,000 marines.

23:21 Al Jazeera is reporting that anti-government forces is asking for a No Fly Zone over Libya but they will not except any foreign military forces in the country.

23:19 the Egyptian government says it will evacuate by air refugees waiting to leave Tunisia

23:17 Tony Berkley of AL Jazeera has witnessed at least two bombs have been dropped by Libyan air force jets in the town of Brega. He also said that a large group of anti-government forces have massed outside the city its believed that somewhere between 200 and 300 pro Gaddafi supporters are hold-up in the cities university.

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