Misrata resident says snipers fire on hospital, Posted by Meosha Eaton

BEIRUT, March 23 (Reuters) - Snipers are firing at the clinic in Libya's rebel-held Misrata where people wounded in fighting over the city are being treated, and three people have been killed, a resident told Reuters by telephone.

The report could not be verified independently and Libyan officials made no immediate comment.

"It started half an hour ago. The snipers are ... shooting at the hospital and its two entrances are under heavy attack. No one can get in or out," said the resident, called Saadoun. "We have lost all communication with people inside. The last thing we knew is that three are killed and three are critically wounded." (Reporting by Mariam Karouny; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Louise Ireland)

MACTV News: World grapples for response as battles divide Libya, Posted by Menelik Zeleke

 February 24, 2011 2:24:45 AM

 

* Obama, world leaders condemn violence, seek response

* Libya divided as east celebrates, capital seems calm

* Foreigners in difficulty, oil prices push up

By Alexander Dziadosz
BENGHAZI, Libya, Feb 24 (Reuters) - World leaders condemned Mummar Gaddafi's bloody crackdown on a revolt that has split Libya, but took little action to halt the bloodshed from the latest upheaval reshaping the Arab world.

U.S. President Barack Obama made his first public comments, condemning as "outrageous" and "unacceptable" attacks on protesters that have killed hundreds in 10 days and helped drive oil prices to levels that threaten global economic recovery.

Yet, there seemed little cohesion and urgency in a global response, even as Washington and Brussels spoke of possible sanctions against a man whose 41 years in power have been marked by idiosyncratic defiance of the West.
"It is imperative that the nations and peoples of the world speak with one voice," Obama said. "The suffering and bloodshed is outrageous."

The oil exports which Gaddafi used to help end his isolation in the past decade have given him means to resist the fate of his immediate neighbours, the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt, who were brought down by popular unrest in the past few weeks.

As many as 1,000 people may have been killed in Libya, the Italian foreign minister said. Unconfirmed reports speak of troops and African mercenaries firing on demonstrators in the desert nation pumping nearly two percent of world oil output.


Gaddafi's defiance has been backed by deeds, with the deployment of aircraft on bombing runs.
Yet eastern areas where much of the oil is concentrated, have slipped from his control and with security forces defecting to join the protesters, it was unclear just how long Gaddafi could hang onto power.
In cities like Benghazi and Tobruk, troops and police have either withdrawn or have joined with diffuse and disparate opposition groups to start providing some order and services.

That wave may have reached as far west as Misrata, a city some 200 km (120 miles) east of Tripoli where a statement which purported to be from lawyers and judges said "honest" military officers had helped remove agents of the "oppressive regime".

In Tripoli, which remains largely closed to foreign media, locals said streets were calm after days of sporadic violence but fear gripped people's households.

"I haven't heard gun shots, unlike in the last few days," said one resident living close to Green Square in the city centre which is a focus for gatherings.

Marwan Mohammed, a Tunisian crossing the border home after leaving Tripoli, said: "Lots of people are afraid to leave their homes in Tripoli and pro-Gaddafi gunmen are roaming around threatening any people who gather in groups."

Oil wealth has made Libya an important investor in Western economies, as well as the sponsor of a host of projects in Africa and elsewhere, winning Gaddafi potential allies in forums like the United Nations.

Differences among world powers over how to proceed, some driven by concern not to jeopardise the safety of foreigners caught up in the trouble, appear to limit prospects for immediate international action.

The Security Council agreed a statement on Tuesday calling for an end to violence. But diplomats said a formal resolution requiring U.N. action was not immediately likely.

France and Germany have pushed EU states to consider sanctions and have won agreement to look into the matter. Some governments, including Italy, warn of economic problems if oil and gas supplies are disrupted.
 

BENGHAZI REJOICES
Gaddafi, who has ruled Libya with a mixture of populism and tight control since taking power in a military coup in 1969, has promised to "cleanse Libya house by house" to crush the revolt.

He has deployed troops to the west of the capital to stop the revolt that started in the east from spreading. In the east, many soldiers have withdrawn from active service.

In Benghazi, cradle of the uprising and home to tribes long hostile to Gaddafi, thousands filled the streets, lighting fireworks and waving the red, black and green flag of the king Colonel Gaddafi overthrew in 1969.
"We have been suffering for 41 years," said 45-year-old Hamida Muftah. "Gaddafi has killed people ... We are a very rich country, but most of the people are poorer than poor".

A medical official said some 320 had died in Benghazi alone since protests against oppression and poverty began last week.

Libya's Quryna newspaper quoted a military source as saying a bomber crew bailed out and left their aircraft to crash rather than bomb Benghazi. Earlier in the week, two pilots flew their jets to Malta to avoid, they said, attacking their own people.

The newspaper said rebels in Benghazi started their own publication with the slogan "We don't surrender, we either win or die" -- the last words of anti-Italian independence leader Omar al-Mukhtar before his execution by the Italian authorities.

Gaddafi's children have spoken up in his defence and accused foreign media of misreporting the week's events in Libya.

"Libyans are the victims of the biggest joke," his son Saif al-Islam told state TV. Gaddafi's daughter Aisha appeared on state television, denying a report she tried to flee to Malta.

An estimated 1.5 million foreign nationals are working or travelling in Libya and a third of the population of seven million are immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa.

Witnesses described scenes of chaos as people tried to leave. . "It's a Biblical exodus," said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.

Countries with strong business ties to Libya scrambled to evacuate thousands of citizens. A Turkish worker was shot dead at a building site near the capital, Turkish officials said.

A British oil worker said 300 people were stranded at a camp in the east of Libya, where he said local people had looted oil installations. He told the BBC: "We are living every day in fear of our lives as the local people are armed." (Reporting by Tarek Amara, Christian Lowe, Marie-Louise Gumuchian, Souhail Karam, Firouz Sedarat, Tom Pfeiffer; Brian Love, Daren Butler; Dina Zayed, Sarah Mikhail and Tom Perry; writing by Alastair Macdonald and Maria Golovnina, Editing by Miral Fahmy)

Obama breaks silence on Libya, Posted by Meosha Eaton

UN News: SC President Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti on Libya - Security Council Media Stakeout , Posted by Menelik Zeleke

22 February 2011 Press Statement on the situation in Libya. Informal comments to the media by H.E. Mrs. Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, Permanent Representative of Brazil and President of the Security Council on the situation in Libya.

Libya separatists seen posing oil supply threat, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* Nigeria-like risk from secessionists

    * Nationalisation longer-term problem

    * Regime change could make investment climate more stable

    * European oil stocks slide, Eni, OMV among top losers

    (Updating with further analyst comment)

    By Stephen Jewkes

    MILAN, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Political turmoil in Libya could

    threaten energy exports to Europe if separatists in the

    oil-rich east of the country target infrastructure and look 

    for a bigger slice of revenues, analysts said on Monday.

    Libya is Africa's fourth-biggest oil producer and a key

    supplier for Europe. Italy, home to Libya's biggest foreign

    oil operator Eni, gets around one fifth of its     

    energy consumption from the North African country.

    Ninety percent of Libyan oil exports come from the eastern

    region of Cyrenaica, epicentre of the revolt against 

    strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

    "There's a real threat of instability as secessionists in

    the Cyrenaica area move," said Stefano Casertano, senior    

    fellow at German think-tank BIGS-Potsdam.org.

    "In 2009 there was an attempt to redistribute oil wealth to

    the Libyan people, but the reform was blocked and now it's

    going to explode in their faces."different from the popular

    revolts that toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia, which are

    not top oil exporters.

    Operators in Libya include Eni, BP, Royal Dutch Shell,

    Repsol, OMV and Statoil. Many are repatriating staff.

    "I have been following oil issues for 30 years and had not

    seen anything like what is happening now since the 1970s," 

    said Davide Tabarelli, head of energy think-tank Nomisma

    energie.

    "In the 1970s, it was all concentrated in a few countries,

    we had the war with Israel. Now it's worse."

    Oil prices on Monday climbed above $106 as energy firms

    recalled international staff from Libya and unrest shut down

    some 100,000 barrels per day of production.

    It was the first output disruption since popular unrest

    erupted in Tunisia, ousting its president, before spreading 

    to Egypt, where it unseated Hosni Mubarak after 30 years of 

    rule.

    NIGERIA-LIKE THREAT?

    The leader of the eastern Al-Zuwayya tribe in Libya has

    threatened to cut oil exports unless authorities halted what 

    he called the "oppression of protestors."

    "Libya is a significant producer and exporter of good

    quality crude oil, and threats by the tribal leader to stop

    production are worrisome," said Christophe Barret, an oil

    analyst at Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank.

    Sabotage of oil facilities has been a threat to supplies in

    Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, where rebel movements

    have struck plant belonging to Shell and Eni.

    Christyan Malek, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said Libyan

    secessionist groups could pose trouble but lacked critical

    mass.

    "The military has run things with such an iron fist. It's

    very difficult to see how this could suddenly gather momentum

    and ultimately end with nationalisation of the country's

    reserves," he said.

    Fears that foreign operations could be nationalised is a

    longer-term concern, with infrastructure damage    

    more immediate.

    "Nationalisation is probably a long-term risk, but in the

    short term it's not a question. Near term, it's  

    destruction, as simple as that, along with disruption of

    supply," said an oil analyst who declined to be named.

    Eni, the biggest operator in Libya with some 252,000

    barrels of oil equivalent per day, said on Monday it was

    repatriating non-essential staff but added its operations are

    unaffected.

    But oil is a major driver for the Libyan economy and

    whoever wins out foreign oil firms will be needed to pump

    crude. A change of government could even play out favourably

    given the fact that Gadaffi is such a capricious and  

    mercurial leader.

    "(The international oil companies) have had to follow his

    whims. It's one of the few places where democracy could make

    the investment climate more stable," said Holly 

    Pattenden, head oil and gas analyst at Business Monitor  

    International.

(Additional reporting by Ian Simpson and Lisa Jucca in

Milan, Emma Farge in London; Editing by David Cowell and Andrew

Hay)

Libya, Bahrain violence deep US concern-ambassador, Posted by Meosha Eaton

WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The United States is deeply concerned by reports that Libyan and Bahraini security forces have attacked peaceful pro-democracy protesters, U.S. Ambassador the United Nations Susan Rice said on Sunday.

Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, Rice rebutted accusations that the response of President Barack Obama's administration to a wave of pro-democracy protests in the Middle East and North Africa has been inconsistent. She stopped short of calling for regime change in either Libya or Bahrain, two countries with vital security importance for the United States where protests -- and reports of violence -- have been gathering momentum in recent days.

"There's no place for violence against peaceful protesters," she said. "What we're encouraging Bahrain and other governments in the region to do is to recognize that this is a yearning for change and reform that is not going to go away, that it needs to be respected and that they need to get ahead of it by leading rather than being pushed." Protests have flared across the region as pro-democracy activists are emboldened by the overthrow of long-standing dictatorships in Egypt and Tunisia. Security forces in the Libyan city of Benghazi killed dozens of people as they fought to crush an uprising against leader Muammar Gaddafi's four-decade rule, the bloodiest of multiple revolts now rocking the Arab world.

In the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet's naval base has helped America project military power across the Middle East and South Asia since 1958, thousands of anti-government protesters camped over Saturday night in a Manama square. But after days of violence in the Sunni-ruled island state, the mood appeared to be more conciliatory, with talks due to take place on Sunday between the opposition and crown prince. Unrest has also hit Yemen, Morocco, Oman, Kuwait, Algeria and Djibouti over the weekend as people took to the streets demanding political and economic change.

(Reporting by Pedro Nicolaci da Costa; editing by Todd Eastham)

Bloodshed in Libya, moves for talks in Bahrain, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* More than 100 killed in Libya
* Protesters said to take over town
* Bahrain focuses on talks led by prince


TRIPOLI/MANAMA, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Security forces in the Libyan city of Benghazi killed dozens of people as they fought to crush an uprising against leader Muammar Gaddafi's rule, the bloodiest of multiple revolts now rocking the Arab world. Witnesses said Benghazi was in a state of chaos, with government buildings ransacked and troops and police forced to retreat to a fortified compound, from where snipers picked off demonstrators.

In the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, thousands of anti-government protesters camped over Saturday night in a Manama square. But after days of violence in the Sunni-ruled island state, the mood appeared to be more conciliatory with talks due to take place on Sunday between the opposition and the crown prince.
Unrest also hit Yemen, Morocco, Oman, Kuwait, Algeria and Djibouti over the weekend as people took to the streets demanding political and economic change. Authorities in Saudi Arabia detained activists trying to set up the kingdom's first political party.

The clamour for reform across a region of huge strategic importance to the West and the source of much of its oil began in Tunisia in December. The overthrow of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali then inspired Egyptians to rise up against strongman Hosni Mubarak, sending him packing on Feb. 11. The tide has challenged leaders of countries long backed by the West as well as erstwhile enemies. While each has its own dynamics, from religion to tribalism, all seem united by frustration over economic hardship and a lack of political freedom.

BLOODSHED IN BENGHAZI

Libyan forces fight Benghazi protesters, 100 dead, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* Benghazi men says security forces withdraw from streets
* Witnesses say snipers using high-velocity rounds
* "Stop the massacre now!" say Muslim leaders
(Updates with fresh witness accounts)

TRIPOLI, Feb 20 (Reuters) - At least 20 protesters were killed overnight in the Libyan city of Benghazi, a rights watchdog said on Sunday, after witnesses said security forces fired heavy weapons at civilians from a fortified compound.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the latest night of violence took the death toll from four days of clashes centred on Benghazi and surrounding towns beyond 100. The unrest, the worst in Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's four decades in power, started as a series of protests inspired by popular revolts in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia, but was met by a fierce response. A picture pieced together from witness accounts suggested that the city is in a cycle of violence, where people are killed and then, after funeral processions to bury the dead the next day, security forces shoot more protesters.

Conflicting accounts were given over poor phone lines but it appeared the streets were under the control of protesters while security forces had pulled back to a high-walled compound, known as the Command Centre, from where they shot at people. "A massacre took place here last night," one Benghazi resident, who did not want to be named, told Reuters by telephone on Sunday. He said security forces were using heavy weapons, adding: "Many soldiers and policemen have joined the protesters."
A Benghazi hospital doctor said victims had suffered severe wounds from high-velocity rifles.


"CIVIL MUTINY"
Another witness, a leading tribal figure who requested anonymity, suggested the security forces remained confined to their control centre. "The state's official presence is absent in the city and the security forces are in their barracks and the city is in a state of civil mutiny," he told Reuters. "People are running their own affairs." He said that, as on previous days, thousands of people were gathered near the northern Benghazi courthouse. He said they were chanting: "We want to bring down the regime ... Allahu Akbar!"

Human Rights Watch said at least 20 more people had been killed in Benghazi on Saturday, taking the overall toll, compiled from interviews with witnesses and hospital officials, to a "conservative" 104. The Libyan government has not released any casualty figures or made any official comment on the violence. Libyan analysts say it is unlikely for the moment that Gaddafi will be overthrown because the unrest is largely confined to the eastern Cyrenaica region where his support has traditionally been weaker than in the capital Tripoli, 1,000 km (600 miles) to the west, and the rest of the country.

The crackdown prompted about 50 Libyan Muslim religious leaders to issue an appeal, sent to Reuters, for the security forces, as Muslims, to stop the killing. "We appeal to every Muslim, within the regime or assisting it in any way, to recognise that the killing of innocent human beings is forbidden by our Creator and by His beloved Prophet of Compassion (peace be upon him) ... Do NOT kill your brothers and sisters. STOP the massacre NOW!" the appeal said. Foreign reaction to the unrest in Libya, a major energy producer with significant foreign investment, has so far been muted, but Britain called for a stronger response.

"The world should not hesitate to condemn those actions," Hague told Sky News. "What Colonel Gaddafi should be doing is respecting basic human rights, and there is no sign of that in the dreadful response, the horrifying response, of the Libyan authorities to these protests."


TEXT APPEAL
Some analysts have said there may be negotiations between Gaddafi and eastern tribal leaders, and an SMS message sent late on Saturday to Libyan mobile phone subscribers hinted at a more conciliatory approach.

"All citizens and youth of Benghazi, those who died among the civilians and police are all sons of our country. Enough of what has happened and stop the bloodshed." In Tripoli, several thousand Gaddafi supporters rallied in the city's Green Square until the early hours of Sunday morning, a Reuters reporter said.
They chanted "God, Libya and Muammar!" and "Muammar is the pioneer of Arab nationalism!".
Libya's state news agency said some cities had seen acts of arson and vandalism, and blamed "a foreign network trained in creating clashes and chaos so as to destabilise Libya".

Sir Richard Dalton, a former British ambassador to Libya, told the Independent on Sunday newspaper that Gaddafi would find it hard to make concessions in order to survive. "I think the attitude of the Libyan regime is that it's all or nothing," he said. Witness accounts have been hard to verify independently because Libyan authorities have not allowed foreign journalists into the country since the protests erupted and local reporters have been barred from travelling to Benghazi.

Mobile phone connections have often been out of service and Internet service in Libya has been cut off, according to a U.S. company that monitors web traffic. People in Tripoli said they had Internet access late on Saturday.

(Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman, Tom Heneghan in Paris, Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Kevin Liffey)