Post: #1

My defunct Libya threads have received thousands of hits since the last update, so I thought it would be a good idea to post some occasional updates.

Any content is welcome as long as it's recent, please.

Post: #2

Witnesses: Tribal clashes in Libya kill scores

Associated Press – 5 days ago

Scores of civilians have been killed in the past 24 hours in tribal warfare in a remote region of southern Libya, witnesses said on Tuesday.

Moussa Bazama, an ambulance worker driving north taking the injured to treatment, said 50 people had been killed by the rockets, mortars and gunfire rocking residential areas in the desert town of Kufra.

Lines of trucks and cars carrying hundreds of families were streaming out of Kufra on the highway leading towards the populated areas of the coast, some 500 miles (800 kilometers) away.

"The situation is extremely bad," said Abdel-Rehim al-Shewih, an engineer in Kufra contacted by phone. "It is about who kills the most every day."

He said that shops were closed, no one could walk in the street, and if one tribe takes over one square, the other opens fire and drives it out.

For more than a week, the powerful Arab tribe of al-Zwia has clashed with the African Tabu tribe near Kufra, a border area where Libya, Chad and Sudan meet. The region is a hub for the smuggling of African migrants, goods and drugs.

The two groups are old rivals. The Tabu had long complained of discrimination under former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Since Feb. 11, the fight has descended into an all-out confrontation with other smaller Arab tribes joining al-Zwia against the Tabu, residents of the area say.

On Tuesday, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, the leader of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council said that Gadhafi's regime loyalists are "seeding sedition" in Kufra but declined to elaborate on which of the tribes are connected to the former regime.

Salem Samadi, who heads a revolutionary militia and has tried to mediate a truce between the two sides, blamed the outbreak of violence on a fight over smuggling.

He said the NTC appointed a leading member of the Tabu named Eissa Abdel-Majed to combat illegal trafficking.

Six Tabu tried to stop and search a smuggler from the al-Zwia, he said. The smuggler shot at them, killing five of members of the rival tribe. The Tabu chased the smuggler, killing him inside a shop, Samadi added.

The fighting spread from there, he said, speaking by phone from an area near Kufra last week.

Abdel-Jalil said that al-Zwia have taken control of the airport, preventing the injured from Tabu to be transferred to the northern cities to be treated.

Members of the al-Zwia for their part accused the Tabu of trying to get control of the city by recruiting forces from Chad, setting up a training camp, and taking over security headquarters last week.

"We discovered they are forming an army to invade the city, and they are receiving thousands of fighters and weapons," said pharmacist Taher Bin Taher,

He said there is no electricity, water or fuel in the town.

Al-Shewih. who is from the al-Zwia, said that his tribe fears that the Tabu is planning to "wipe out" his tribe and establish a separate state.

"People are saying the Tabu wants to take over, but no one knows the truth," he said.


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/arti...7b1f1e2935

Post: #3

Siege city Misrata in first Libya poll in 40 years

(AFP) – 6 days ago

Residents of the battle-scarred town of Misrata voted on Monday to elect their local council, in Libya's first poll in more than 40 years and held four months after the killing of Moamer Kadhafi.

"This is an historic event. We hope these elections will be an example" for the rest of Libya, the president of the port city's electoral commission, Mohammed Balrouin, told AFP.

He said it was "a dress rehearsal for the upcoming vote" to be held nationwide in June to elect a constituent assembly.

Misrata residents were electing 28 council members from a field of 242 candidates. Some 101,486 people were registered to cast their ballots, from 156,000 eligible voters in a city with a population of 281,000, Balrouin said.

By midday, he put the turnout at between 30 and 60 percent. "Our goal was to have a turnout of more than 30 percent. I believe we're almost there," he said.

Balrouin also said that the participation of women voters had "exceeded expectations."

Monday had been declared a public holiday in Misrata, both for the election and to commemorate the date, exactly a year ago, when the city rose up against the regime of Kadhafi who had banned elections as an "invention of the West."

"Today we are tasting freedom and democracy. Thank God, the blood of the martyrs was not spilt in vain," said Fama al-Shawesh, a 19-year-old student, waving blue ink on a finger to show she had voted.

At a polling station in the city centre, voters entered a private cubicle to select their candidate. After casting their ballot, they were made to dip a finger in indelible blue ink, in a bid to prevent people from voting twice.

"I can't describe this feeling. Freedom, democracy, no fear, no repression. I can see the pride in the eyes of women who come to vote here," said Jamila Touhami, director of a girls' secondary school which also housed a polling station.

She said she was surprised by the "maturity" shown by voters.

"Most of them, including the illiterate, seem to know what they are doing. I think the awareness campaign by the local media had the expected result," she said.

Misrata's former rebels and police monitored the entrance to the first polling station on the city's main Tripoli Avenue, scene of the fiercest clashes with pro-Kadhafi fighters during last year's conflict.

The ballot boxes have been imported from neighbouring Tunisia and the special indelible ink from Britain.

"This is an initiative of the city. It is an initiative of our youth. Several other cities have sent their delegates to observe and gain experience," said Mohammed Korman, head of another city centre polling station.

"We lived in a coma for 40 years. These elections are an accomplishment. Unlike other countries, we have no institutions. Organising a ballot involving tens of thousands of people is not an easy task," he said.

The count began after voting closed as scheduled at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT), with the results to be announced on Tuesday.


http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/art...3b11b3.191

Post: #4

Libya will hold its first election for a constituent assembly on schedule in June

AFP, Monday 20 Feb 2012

"The elections will be held on schedule as set by the constitutional declaration" of the ruling National Transitional Council, Othman al-Kajiji, the election commission head was quoted as saying by the official news agency on Sunday.

Under the NTC-adopted constitutional declaration in August, the election for a first constituent assembly are scheduled to be held eight months after the country declared its "liberation" from Muamer Gaddafi's regime.

The liberation was declared on October 23, meaning the election is to be held in the last week of June, although no date has yet been set.

Kajiji said his newly-formed election commission was in contact with the Libyan authorities and spoke of "fruitful collaboration" with some departments, while hoping the effort would be "free of bureaucracy."
The NTC in late January adopted an election law to regulate the vote for the 200-member constituent assembly.

The election law stipulates that 120 of the 200 assembly seats be reserved for independent candidates and the rest kept for political parties. Libya on Friday celebrated the first anniversary of the launch of its revolution which ousted and toppled its longtime leader Kadhafi after a brutal conflict.


http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/...-time.aspx

Post: #5

Libya tribe offers olive branch to Misrata

Libya's Tawarga tribe apologised to Misrata's people for damage caused in the coastal city during last year's war, according to a statement received by AFP on Friday.

"We the Tawarga tribes of Libya apologise to our brothers in Misrata for any action committed by any resident of Tawarga," tribal elders said in a joint statement issued after a meeting in the eastern city of Bengazhi late Thursday.

Tensions between the people of Tawarga and Misrata, who fought on opposite sides of the nine-month conflict that toppled the regime of Moamer Kadhafi, are widely viewed as a major obstacle to stability in Libya.

"We affirm that their honour is our honour, their blood our blood, and their fortune our fortune," the statement added.

The elders urged all of those accused of committing crimes, regardless of their tribal affiliation, to present themselves to judicial authorities to receive "punishment."

More than 1,000 people attended the meeting, including senior officials of the ruling National Transitional Council, tribal elders, and displaced people from Tawarga now living in Benghazi.

Absent from the gathering were representatives of Misrata, where officials accuse the Tawarga of playing a central role in a brutal siege by Kadhafi's regime against the port city.

"We extend our hands and our hearts in the interest of all of Libya and building together a prosperous future and brighter tomorrow," it read.

A senior official representing NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil at the meeting welcomed the gesture.

"The National Transitional Council welcomes these steps that will heal the rift between the disputing brothers," said Mohammed al-Mufti, who heads an advisory committee.

"The national reconciliation between the Tawarga and the people of Misrata concerns all Libyans and has their support," he said, adding it was a requirement for stability.

Tensions have been running high between people from Tawarga and militia-rich Misrata since October, when Kadhafi was killed in his hometown of Sirte.

Many fear the animosity between the two could spark more fighting.

Human Rights Watch said Tuesday that authorities in Misrata are barring thousands of displaced people, accused of being Kadhafi backers during the war, from returning home. It estimates 30,000 Tawargans were violently displaced.

Sheikh Bakr al-Mahdi, who heads a committee for national reconciliation, urged the people of Misrata to accept the olive branch on offer.

"The committee asks God for Misrata and its wise rulers to accept this great honour by agreeing to peace and tolerance," he said.

He added the National Transitional Council had a responsibility to "speed up the judicial process so that perpetrators of violence are punished and people calm down and the fires of sedition are put out."


http://www.africasia.com/services/news_m...609e32.9d1

Post: #6

Just an update on the liberation of Libya:
http://libyaagainstsuperpowermedia.com/2...b-16-2012/

Post: #7

Celebrations mark first anniversary of Libya uprising

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6TsuGj4R3M


Benghazi begins celebrating Libya revolution day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVtwnTLMiFw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6XUeg8TeVw

Post: #8

Martyrs' Square as never seen before,, Tripoli

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2LLZW-61gc

Post: #9

17km flag extending from Martyrs Sq, Tripoli to Tajoura

Libyans carry their new national flag, said to be 17 kilometres (10.5 miles) long and about three metres (nine feet) wide, from Tajura to Tripoli's Martyrs' Square on February 24, 2012 as Libyans continue to celebrate the first anniversary of the uprising that ousted Moamer Kadhafi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--CGRLszu...e=youtu.be

Post: #10

The war continues, slaughter and genocide...

Post: #11

But now in Libya the American puppet sits in the government.... On it there now democracy, it is possible to kill and cut.... Hillari Clinton won't tell any more on a puppet that it the dictator and kills the people.... The Whole world sees hypocrisy of the western ideology.... Soon fascist mode imposed by the West will fall...

Post: #12

Omg people are being killed lets bomb them

Post: #13

LoP Guest  Wrote:

But now in Libya the American puppet sits in the government.... On it there now democracy, it is possible to kill and cut.... Hillari Clinton won't tell any more on a puppet that it the dictator and kills the people.... The Whole world sees hypocrisy of the western ideology.... Soon fascist mode imposed by the West will fall...

Yay!

Post: #14

Defector  Wrote:

Omg people are being killed lets bomb them

And when the NTC itself likewise starts killing and bombing the new Rebels, those in rebellion against this 'new government' will the 'world' be crying for 'humanitarian relief' aka NATO bombing the crap out of the NTC? What goes around comes around.

Remember how it was that Quak Daffey became the leader in Libyan in the first place?

Post: #15

•REC  Wrote:

My defunct Libya threads have received thousands of hits since the last update, so I thought it would be a good idea to post some occasional updates.

Any content is welcome as long as it's recent, please.

REC, thanks for the updates, the MSM has been nearly silent on this, as has been much of the Alt-Media, and the Internet Media for the most part.