The Common Sense Conservative

The place for common sense conservative talk. Conservative way of thinking should not be looked upon by the masses and especially by the mainstream media as some evil. In fact most people still believe they are conservative in nature but do not align themselves with the far right agenda that has crept into our political systems. Nor do they feel they fall under the far left agenda, so a new way of thinking is emerging, called Common Sense Conservatism!

Showing posts with label Libya. Show all posts

Thursday, 25 August 2011

Gadhafi Done In Yet?

Libyan rebels ready knockout punch for Gadhafi

BY MISSY RYAN AND ULF LAESSING, REUTERS AUGUST 25, 2011 7:48 AM

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A Libyan rebel fighter helps his comrade who was injured by a sniper's bullet while fighting for the final push to flush out Maammar Gadhafi's forces in the Abu Slim area in Tripoli August 25, 2011.

Photograph by: Zohra Bensemra, Reuters

TRIPOLI - Hardened fighters streamed Thursday into Tripoli as Libya's rebels sought to deliver a knockout punch to Moammar Gadhafi's diehards and, backed by NATO, to flush out the elusive strongman.

Rebel commanders said they were also readying fresh attempts to advance against Gadhafi's forces defending his hometown Sirte, 360 kilometres east of Tripoli and to break a siege of Zuwarah, a town to the west.

They were being supported in their hunt for the wily Gadhafi by NATO, which according to Britain's Defence Minister Liam Fox is contributing intelligence and reconnaissance equipment.

An AFP reporter, meanwhile, discovered that French and British operatives are working with Libyan rebels as they press towards Sirte, amid reports British special forces SAS members were sent to Libya several weeks ago.

Leading the army of reinforcements into Tripoli were seasoned combatants from the city of Misrata, whose fellow fighters spearheaded the weekend assault that saw the Libyan capital swiftly overrun and Gadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound captured by Tuesday.

Rebel commanders said that while they control most of Tripoli, hot spots remain where sniper fire, rocket explosions and heavy weaponry make life dangerous.

The rebels are also hellbent on finding Gadhafi, so they can proclaim final victory in an uprising that began six months ago and was all but crushed by Gadhafi's forces before NATO warplanes gave crucial air support to the rebels.

Rebel leaders say they want to put Gadhafi on trial in Libya even though he also faces charges of crimes against humanity along with his son Seif al-Islam and spymaster Abdullah al-Senussi at the International Criminal Court.

The rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) on Wednesday offered a $1.7 million reward for the capture of the elusive strongman, dead or alive.

"The NTC supports the initiative of businessmen who are offering two million dinars for the capture of Moamer Gadhafi, dead or alive," NTC chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil said in the rebel capital Benghazi.

Jalil also offered amnesty to "members of (Gadhafi's) close circle who kill him or capture him."

The 69-year-old Gadhafi has not been seen in public for weeks and despite losing control of the oil-rich North African country he ruled with an iron first for 42 years is still managing to broadcast messages urging Libyans to drive out the "rats" — as he disparagingly calls the rebels.

He also claimed on Wednesday to have walked incognito on the streets of Tripoli without being recognized.

In the oil refinery town of Zuwaytina, the new eastern front about 150 kilometres southwest of the opposition's capital Benghazi, an AFP reporter saw French and British operatives working with Libyan rebels .

They are equipped with telecommunications equipment and housed in two shipping containers, within walking distance of the headquarters of Fawzi Bukatif, commander of the eastern front.

Britain's Defence Minister Liam Fox told Sky news on Thursday that NATO is providing "intelligence and reconnaissance assets to the NTC to help them track down Colonel Gadhafi and other remnants of the regime."

Fox however declined to comment on reports that Britain's SAS special forces were working with the Libyan rebels to track down Gadhafi.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper, quoting defence sources, said SAS members were sent to Libya several weeks ago and played a key role in co-ordinating the battle for Tripoli, which fell into rebel hands on Sunday.

In Tripoli's souk Al-Jumaa, the arrival of at least 60 Misrata rebels on Wednesday sparked joy among residents.

"We are very happy. Misrata's soldiers can win anything," said Taha Abu Zeid. "They could even win Afghanistan."

They were joined by rebels from as far west as the Nafusa mountains and as far east as Benghazi, as field commanders vowed to bring the capital under full rebel control.

Fighting is concentrated along the perimeters of Bab al-Aziziya and the neighbouring Abu Slim district, where Gadhafi reportedly released, armed and paid former prisoners to fight for his regime, although the streets were quiet Thursday after heavy fighting in the area the previous day.

Rebel commanders said Gadhafi forces were pounding insurgents holding the centre of Zuwarah, west of Tripoli, adding that they needed reinforcements to help them break the siege.

Rebels advancing towards Sirte were also blocked Wednesday in the town of Bin Jawad as loyalists kept up stiff resistance.

"Gadhafi's forces are still fighting, we are surprised. We thought they would surrender with the fall of Tripoli," rebel commander Fawzi Bukatif said.

Four Italian journalists kidnapped in Libya on Wednesday by forces loyal to Moamer Gadhafi, have been freed, the foreign ministry said in Rome.

The four were liberated around 9:30 a.m. GMT on Thursday, according to a ministry spokesman, who said the journalists "are now in a hotel with other Italian journalists" and "are well."

The NTC's number two leader, Mahmud Jibril, meanwhile called for "urgent" financial help at a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Milan on Thursday.

"This is an urgent call upon our friends," Jibril said , adding the "biggest disabling element" for the NTC "would be the failure to deliver services and salaries" in the post-Gadhafi period.

The NTC had in Doha on Wednesday sought five billion dollars in emergency aid from frozen assets at a meeting with foreign representatives from the Libya contact group.

The sum was twice that announced on Tuesday by Jibril.

But at the United Nations South Africa refused to lift a block on the United States unfreezing $1.5 billion of Libyan assets to buy humanitarian aid, setting up a diplomatic showdown at the Security Council.

South Africa insisted the council wait for the African Union to decide whether to recognize the NTC at a summit Thursday before approving the move.

Friday, 15 July 2011

U.S. Finally Acknowledges Libyan Rebels!

U.S. recognizes Libya rebels with eye on funds

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) and British Foreign Secretary William Hague attend the Libya contact group meeting in Istanbul July 15, 2011. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

By Andrew Quinn

ISTANBUL | Fri Jul 15, 2011 10:08am EDT

(Reuters) - The United States Friday recognized Libya's rebel National Transitional Council (TNC) as a legitimate government, a diplomatic boost which could unlock billions of dollars in frozen assets.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington would extend formal recognition to the Benghazi-based TNC until a fully representational interim government can be established.

"The TNC has offered important assurances today, including the promise to pursue a process of democratic reform that is inclusive both geographically and politically," Clinton said in prepared remarks.

"Until an interim authority is in place, the United States will recognize the TNC as the legitimate governing authority for Libya, and we will deal with it on that basis."

Clinton's announcement came as the Libya Contact Group, meeting in Istanbul, formally recognized the opposition as the representative of the Libyan people -- sealing its diplomatic status as the successor government to embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The contact group, made up of more than 30 governments and international and regional organizations, also authorized U.N. special envoy Abdul Elah Al-Khatib to present terms for Gaddafi to leave power in a political package that will include a ceasefire to halt fighting in the civil war.

Clinton said any deal "must involve Gaddafi's departure" from power and a halt to violence.

"Increasingly the people of Libya are looking past Gaddafi. They know, as we all know, that it is no longer a question of whether Gaddafi will leave power, but when," she said.

U.S. officials said the decision to extend formal diplomatic recognition marked an important step toward unblocking more than $34 billion in Libyan assets in the United States but cautioned it could still take time to get cash flowing.

U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order on February 25 freezing the assets of Gaddafi, his family and top officials, as well as the Libyan government, the country's central bank and sovereign wealth funds.

Most of the frozen assets are liquid in the form of cash and securities.

U.S. officials have pledged to find ways to free up some of the money for the TNC, which has run dangerously short of cash to pay for salaries and basic services even as it takes on more of the responsibilities of government.

NO CASH YET -- BUT SOON?

Discussions with Congress on mechanisms to free up the money run into complicated legalities -- some of which could be swept away by U.S. recognition of the TNC as Libya's legitimate government.

"Our hope is that in a relatively short time frame we will be able to make progress (on funds) but there's a lot of moving pieces here," one senior State Department official said.

The United States could direct banks to transfer frozen funds directly to the TNC, but this might run afoul of U.N. financial sanctions still in place on Libya.

A second option would be for the United States to establish a line of credit backed by the frozen assets as several other countries have done.

Clinton's announcement formally recognizing the TNC marked the end of a process which began in February when Obama declared that Gaddafi had lost his legitimacy as Libya's leader because of his brutal response to anti-government protesters.

"We wanted to send a very clear signal to Gaddafi and the people around him that we are looking past Gaddafi to a future without him," the senior U.S. official said.

"We felt that taking this step today sends that message loud and clear."

The United States closed its embassy in Tripoli in February and withdrew its diplomatic staff, but maintains embassy staff working in Washington to develop ties with the TNC.

The United States and Gaddafi's government have been estranged for most of the past four decades, and only resumed contacts in 2003 when Tripoli gave up its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and took responsibility for its role in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

(reporting by Andrew Quinn; editing by Simon Cameron-Moore))

Thursday, 14 July 2011

Just What is Gadhafi's Exit Strategy?

I have said this from the beginning, Gadhafi has always been mentally unstable and I think he will go out with a bang, unless our troops are able to bomb him dead before he pulls the trigger on something big. I can see blowing up refineries and other instalations but taking his own people/supporters would put him on a whole new level of crazy!

Canadian general plays down reports of Gadhafi suicide plan

CAMPBELL CLARK

OTTAWA— Globe and Mail Update

Published Thursday, Jul. 14, 2011 9:57AM EDT

Last updated Thursday, Jul. 14, 2011 10:50AM EDT

37 comments

With Russia warning that Moammar Gadhafi has a suicide plan to blow up Tripoli, NATO’s commander in Libya says he has heard no inkling of such a scorched-earth strategy.

Mikhail Margelov, the Russian envoy to Africa, said senior regime figures told him that if rebels seize the Libyan capital, the Gadhafi regime will “cover it with missiles and blow it up.” The Russian envoy indicated he believes it.

But Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, the Canadian in charge of NATO’s mission in Libya, said that while he knows that Col. Gadhafi issues orders to his retreating forces to blow up things like oil refineries, he’s heard nothing of a Tripoli suicide plan.

“I do not know of any plan of the magnitude that you’ve discussed,” he told reporters in a conference call from his headquarters in Italy.

“I can report that the Gadhafi regime has given direction to its forces to destroy certain facilities as they withdraw back, such as fuel refineries and other aspects. This is a leader that will not hesitate to kill his population to achieve his personal goal.”

Defence Minister Peter MacKay, visiting Canadian and NATO operations in Italy, where Lt.-Gen. Bouchard is based, said he was not aware of reports of such a suicide plan.

Lt.-Gen. Bouchard, who described Libya's east as near-normal but said Tripoli remains under the control of repressive security forces, suggested that Colonel Gadhafi might not have the power to issue such an order anymore.

“Let’s be clear. Just because Gadhafi has given a direction, that does not mean that that direction is being undertaken by his troops,” the Canadian officer said.

“We are seeing a fair bit of his troops, of his generals surrendering, of his troops abandoning their posts, and therefore one has to put all of these aspects into consideration when looking at the situation on the ground.”

It’s also not clear if the question will ever be tested. Most analysts believe that rebels do not have the capability to take Tripoli in an offensive, and NATO countries have said they won’t send ground forces. Hopes of ousting Col. Gadhafi still rest chiefly on his surrender, a coup from within his ranks or an uprising in Tripoli.

The question of whether NATO will continue the operation indefinitely, with squabbles over burden-sharing and the length of the bombing campaign, remains hotly debated – and Mr. Mackay warned that the mission is “a test for NATO.”

“It’s a conflict that is going to require a very persistent, determined, unified approach,” the Defence Minister said.