? Gaddafi 'heading south towards Sabha'
? Army in Sirte has until Saturday to surrender ? NTC
? Gaddafi troops 'used civilians as human shields'
? Algeria to close border with Libya
? Syria: seven dead in demonstrations after morning prayers
? Read a summary of today's key events
The Wall Street Journal has unearthed evidence of the extent of foreign companies' co-operation with Gaddafi regime and the help they offered to provide surveillance against his opponents.
It reports:
Spying became a top priority for Libya as the region's Arab Spring revolutions blossomed in recent months. Earlier this year, Libyan officials held talks with [the French company] Amesys and several other companies including Boeing Corporation Narus, a maker of high-tech Internet traffic-monitoring products, as they looked to add sophisticated Internet-filtering capabilities to Libya's existing monitoring operation, people familiar with the matter said.
Libya sought advanced tools to control the encrypted online-phone service Skype, censor YouTube videos and block Libyans from disguising their online activities by using "proxy" servers, according to documents reviewed by the Journal and people familiar with the matter.
A Narus spokeswoman said in a statement no sales of Narus equipment had been made to Libya. Bull, which owns Amesys, declined to comment.
Algeria would hand over Gaddafi to the international criminal court if he followed his family across the border, according to sources quoted in the the Algerian paper Echorouk.
The Arabic paper said the Algerian president had told his council of minister that his country would respect international law.
The Chinese state news agency Xinhuan carries this reportt:
Local Arabic-language daily Echorouk quoted well-informed sources as saying that the government made the decision according to the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court for Gaddafi, his son Seif al-Islam Gaddafi and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi.
People in the rebel stronghold of Misrata today expressed anger at Algeria for harbouring members of Gaddafi family as they continue to speculate on the whereabouts of the fugitive leader, writes David Smith.
Dr Giuma Atigha, a lawyer and human rights activist, said: "It is an aggression against the Libyan people because this family is not a normal family. Most of them are wanted for crimes and they have a very bad history with the Libyan people. The Algerian government will harm the Libyan people and their hopes of creating a new state."
"While they are escaping across the country, maybe the Gaddafis will form an aggression against the Libyan people. They stole the country's money and they might form small terrorist groups and enter through the border to make trouble for Libya."
He added: "I'd like Algeria to hand them back, especially those who are wanted. I am afraid Colonel Gaddafi escaped with them. Or he might be in Sirte."
Ahmed Baaiu, an engineer, said: "It's very bad for Algeria to do something like this. It's bad for all the people who died here in Libya. It should give them back. It's not good to have relations like this because we are neighbours. Something like this not help relations in the future.
"There are some reports that Colonel Gaddafi is up in Ban Walid with some close relatives. It's very important to find him and get Libya back to a stable state. He has money and is able to do anything. He will try to manipulate everybody to try to destabilise Libya. He will
use some pretence like al-Qaida."Ferras Mustafa, a student, said: "The Algerian government is wrong to help the Gaddafi family because the people of Algeria helped the revolution here. It may be bad for relations. I think we will find Gaddafi in Sirte or Ben Walid. I think he has run away but our people will catch him."
Syrian TV has broadcast footage of the US ambassador, Robert Ford, getting jostled by a small group pro-Assad loyalists in Damascus last week.
Foreign Policy magazine said the assault took place before Ford's unannounced trip to the restive town of Jaseem.
It says:
Ford was present at a gathering of demonstrators who support the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad outside the Cham Palace Hotel in Damascus when one demonstrator ran up to Ford and tried to wrap him in a poster that featured Assad's face.
Ford's security intervened quickly and rushed Ford to his car. The incident was then replayed in a highly produced segment on a Syrian television station owned by Mohamed Hamsho, a businessman is the brother-in-law of the president's brother, Maher al-Assad.
In July Ford infuriated the Assad regime when he visited Friday protests in the city of Hama accompanied by the French ambassador. Days later loyalist mobs attacked the US embassy and French embassies in Damascus.
As promised more from our diplomatic editor Julian Borger on the movements of the Gaddafi clan.
The NTC's UK coordinator, Guma el-Gamaty says the Gaddafi family convoy, which crossed the border to Algeria, consisted of a total of 32 people in six armoured Mercedes limousines.
He said the motorcade set off from Bani Walid, which has become a Gaddafi stronghold.
Gamaty said NTC thought it probable that the ousted leader himself is there, seeking the protection of Libya's largest tribe, the Warfallah, for whom Bani Walid is a stronghold.
The local radio there is still pouring out pro-Gaddafi broadcasts. The departure of the convoy from Bani Walid also strengthened the case for saying Gaddafi is
there.Gamaty also said NTC was seeking Interpol's help in extraditing Gaddafi family members in the convoy, particularly Hannibal and Muhammad, who are both wanted for large-scale embezzlement in the shipping and telecoms industries respectively.
Algeria has put itself on the wrong side of history by providing refuge to the Gaddafi family, writes Brian Whitaker on Comment is Free.
The fact that the Algerian regime survived almost unscathed while others fell is due partly to the country's history ? many Algerians still have bitter memories of the internal conflict in the 1990s that cost 100,000 or more lives ? as well as some smart handling of the situation by the authorities. Unlike Mubarak in Egypt, they lifted the 19-year-old state of emergency and, cushioned by oil and gas revenues, were able to offer economic concessions.
But time is running out the country's aged leadership, Brian says.
It's only a matter of time before the regime follows its neighbours into oblivion. Possibly Algerian leaders are hoping to keep revolutionary fervour at bay by creating difficulties for the transitional government in Libya next door but, if so, they could be making a big mistake.
The NTC's London spokesman Guma el-Gamaty told my colleague Julian Borger that the Gaddafi family left for Algeria from the town on Bani Walid.
Julian will provide more details soon. In the meantime, the Guardian's interactive map of the Nato bombing campaign has been update to include the latest strikes include three against Bani Walid on Monday.
Screengrab of Libya map showing the location of targets hit by Nato on Monday
David Cameron chaired a national security council meeting on Libya on Tuesday prior to an international conference, taking place in Paris, which he will co-host later this week, writes H�l�ne Mulholland.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said the meeting had "discussed developments on the ground, the humanitarian situation and the unfreezing of assets and they looked ahead to the Paris conference"
Nato says its bombardment of Sirte will continue while Gaddafi's forces remain a threat to the Libyan people.
Speaking at a Nato press conference from a videolink in Naples, spokesman Colonel Roland Lavoie said: "We will continue until the civilian population is no longer under threat by Gaddafi's forces." He insisted that military vehicles targeted in the town were assessed as such a threat.
"Generally speaking we have to recognise that Gaddafi represents a threat globally, where ever he is," Lavoie. He cited the firing of Scud missiles from the town.
Lavoie refused to speculate about the whereabouts of Gaddafi and his sons. He said reports about the death of Gaddafi's son Khamis should be treated as a "rumour".
He played down British defence minister Liam Fox's confirmation that special forces were helping to target Gaddafi. Lavoie said: "Nato is pursuing its mission. We are not engaged in direct coordination with troops on the ground."
Europe is to slap an oil embargo on Syria later this week, writes Ian Traynor in Brussels.
The measures are currently grinding their way through the relevant committees in Brussels, to be rubber-stamped by EU foreign ministers meeting in Poland on Friday. The sanction might even hurt.
The EU is Syria's biggest trade partner and its exports to the EU are made up almost totally of oil and energy products, worth more than ?3bn a year.
The embargo will virtually end Syria's commerce with Europe although it is not expected to stop European energy giants such as Shell or France's Total doing business with Damascus.
"This trying to hit the oil that is a critical financial lifeline tothe regime," said an EU official.
Activists in Syria claim 551 people were killed in the government's crackdown against protests during Ramadan.
The Syrian Revolution Coordination Union said the the bloodiest day in the Islamic holy month was 8 August when 76 people were killed in Deir Ezzor and al-Holeh.
Here is a lunchtime summary:
Libya
? According to a former bodyguard for one of Muammar Gaddafi's sons, the Libyan leader is heading south via Bani Walid towards Sabha, the route also said to have been used by the members of his family who have escaped to Algeria (see 12.20pm). Gaddafi was in Tripoli as late as Friday, having a 1.30pm meeting with his son Khamis and daughter Aisha, and then headed towards Sabha, 500 miles (800km) south in the desert, according to Khamis's 17-year-old bodyguard. An Italian news agency had earlier speculated Gaddafi and another son, Saif al-Islam, had fled to Bani Walid (see 10.54am). Sabha is one of the last remaining major holdouts for Gaddafi's forces. There are reports Khamis and intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi were killed over the weekend, the third time Khamis has been reported dead during the conflict (see 8.55am).
? Algeria is to close part of its border with Libya, reports say (see 11.16am). The rebel National Transitional Council called Algera's decision to host Gaddafi's wife Safiya, daughter Aisha and sons Hannibal and Muhammed an "act of agression" and said they would try to extradite them. Aisha reportedly gave birth this morning.
? Gaddafi loyalists in Sirte, Gaddafi's hometown and a remaining stronghold for his troops, have until Saturday to surrender, the head of the rebel National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, has announced (see 11.46am). Nato jets have been seen over the town again, according to reports (see 11.34am). Anti-Gaddafi forces have converged on the city from east and west but stopped short of an all-out attack in the hope of negotiating the town's surrender.
? A human rights group has found evidence that Gaddafi's troops used civilians as human shields, and committed war crimes such as rape and summary killings (see 12.25pm).
Syria
? Seven people have been reported shot dead today, six in the southern province of Deraa, including a 13-year-old boy, and one in Homs, following demonstrations after morning prayers (see 9.30am).
Muammar Gaddafi's troops forced civilians to act as human shields, perching children on tanks to deter Nato attacks, human rights investigators Physicians for Human Rights said in a new report published today. It was part of a pattern of rapes, killings, "disappearances" and other war crimes that they said they found.
PHR was able to get a team of interviewers into the embattled city of Misrata from 5-12 June, just after Libyan rebel forces expelled Gaddafi's loyalists. Interviewing dozens of survivors of the two-month siege, the Boston-based group found widespread evidence of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including summary killings, hostage-taking, rapes, beatings, and use of mosques, schools and marketplaces as weapons depots.
Sky News is reporting that a former bodyguard of one of Muammar Gaddafi's sons says Gaddafi is heading south towards Sabha, a route also said to have been used by the members of Gaddafi's family who made it to Algeria. Gaddafi is said to have gone via Bani Walid. Gaddafi held a meeting in Tripoli on Friday before heading off, the bodyguard claims.
This map (above) shows the possible route he may have taken.
Gaddafi loyalists in Sirte must surrender peacefully by Saturday or face an invasion of the town, the rebels have just announced.
The deadline was given at a press conference in Benghazi, by Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the National Transitional Council.
He said there will be a pause in the fighting during the Eid celebration, which begins tonight.
But speaking through a translator he added:
From next Saturday if there are no clear indications [of surrender], we can act decisively to end this situation in a military manner. We don't wish to do so, but we can't wait longer than that.
Nato jets have been seen over Sirte again, according to Sky News' Neal Mann who is providing a Twitter commentary on the rebel operation against the town.
Here are his three most recent updates in reverse order.
Pulled back slightly after advice from rebel recon party - then watched from a distance as number of shells landed close to where we were.
There appears to now be no formal front line between our location and Sirte, small number of rebel forces moving down the road #Libya
Have heard NATO planes over head again, rebels will probably have to wait for them to do their job before moving forward... #Libya
Algeria is to close the southern part of its border with Libya, al-Watan newspaper reported, just hours after Algeria announced the arrival of members of Gaddafi's family.
Reuters has this update based on the report.
Algeria's El Watan newspaper, quoting diplomatic sources, said an instruction had gone out to security services to close the southern part of the border with Libya, because of the "precarious situation" in Libya.
The Algerian government could not immediately be reached for comment. Algeria's border with Libya is hundreds of kilometres long and stretches through vast expanses of empty desert.
Algerian officials say they are concerned that Islamist militants have infiltrated Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), and that al-Qaida North African wing will exploit the chaos in Libya to acquire weapons and explosives.
The NTC has angrily denied those charges and in turn accuses Algeria of siding with Gaddafi during Libya's civil war, something the Algerian authorities deny.
Predicting where Gaddafi is hiding is a mug's game, Luke Harding in Tripoli warned yesterday. But the speculation goes on. The Italian news agency, Ansa, reckons Gaddafi and his son Saif al-Islam have fled to Bani Walid, 60 miles south-east of Tripoli. It cites "authoritative sources" but has few other details.
This might be entirely coincidental but on Monday Nato carried out air strikes against Bani Walid. As noted earlier it hit two "command and control nodes" and a "military ammo storage facility" in the town.
Below the line in the comments section BrownMoses does a great job of rounding overnight tweets and blogs from journalists in Libya. Subjects include: celebrations to mark the departure of Gaddafi's family to Algeria, the continuing loyalty of some to Gaddafi, and an update on the road between Tripoli and Tunisia.
Derek Stoffel, from the Canadian broadcaster CBC, described the scene in Martyrs' Square.
Video has also emerged of the celebrations in the square.
Fireworks replaced gunfire in Tripoli's Martyrs Square last night.
The end of Ramadan in Libya will be marked by "Eid of victory" celebrations. Supporters of the Libyan revolutions prepared a Eid al-Fitr cake decorated with an icing Gaddafi being chased off by rebel rats.
This Eid will live in Libyans' memory, despite the shortages of basic services in Tripoli, Reuters reports. Tripoli resident Adel Kashad said:
Every year we celebrate Eid with new clothes, big meals and home-made sweets. There are shortages this year. But we have managed so far. Thank God this Eid has a special flavour. This Eid we have freedom.
Guma el-Gamaty, the London spokesman for the National Transitional Council, tweeted this:
I should say, this eid is bitter sweet. We will never forget the loved ones we lost whom we owe our freedom for all eternity. #Libya
Eid al-Fitr celebrations in Syria have been marred by the shooting dead of at least seven people this morning, writes Nour Ali.
Four people were shot dead in the southern province of Deraa and another in Homs following demonstrations which came out across the country after morning prayers, activists from the Local Coordination Committees say.
Meanwhile, diplomatic machinations continue. A Russian envoy was in Damascus yesterday hours before ambassadors to the UN Security Council met in New York to discuss a new draft introduced by Russia.
The Russian draft resolution calls for a halt to violence but does not mention sanctions favoured by a US and EU sponsored draft circulated earlier this month. So far the security council has issued a statement but has been unable to agree on a resolution due to Russian and Chinese objections.
Protesters are beginning to turn on the opposition. Frustration on the streets is being vented against the fragmented groups who have come up with myriad conferences and statements but have not yet offered any form of authoritative alternative to the Assad regime.
Yesterday a list of 94 names for a new national council was released from an unknown source. Those on the list were not consulted and members of a conference on 23 August in Turkey who proposed setting up a national council have said this initiative is not linked to theirs.
But there are some signs that the figures on the list, which is roughly equally divided between people inside and outside the country, may coalesce and consent to the initiative. Burhan Ghalioun, a professor at the Sorbonne has been proposed as head of the council.
Meanwhile, activists are warning against growing calls by some protesters to pick up arms or for international intervention such as a no-fly zone, an increase of which was seen in protests on Friday.
The Local Coordination Committees is one group that has rejected the calls. "Militarising the revolution would minimize popular support and participation," it said in a statement.
Nour Ali is the pseudonym for a journalist based in Damascus
While the rebels insists they are trying to negotiate a surrender of Gaddafi's stronghold of Sirte, Nato jets have continued to bombard the town.
In its latest update on the bombing campaign, Nato said it hit 35 targets in the town on Monday [pdf].
It also said it hit targets in Bani Walid and Hun.
Here are the details:
Key Hits 29 August:In the vicinity of Sirte: 3 Command and Control Nodes, 4 Radars, 1 Surface to Air Missile System, 22 Armed Vehicles, 2 Military Supply Vehicles, 1 Command Post, 1 Anti Aircraft Missile System, 1 Military Facility.
In the vicinity of Bani Walid: 2 Command and Control Node, 1 Military Ammo Storage Facility.
In the vicinity of Hun: 5 Anti Aircraft Artillery, 1 Multiple Rocket Launcher, 1 Radar, 1 Anti Aircraft Gun.
Nato has now given details of 115 targets hit in Sirte in the last five days. On Sunday, Nato said it hit 30 targets in Sirte. On Saturday just one surface to supply vehicle was hit in the town, but the day before 19 targets were hit, including two military shelters. On Thursday 25 August, the bombardment of the town appeared to began in earnest, when 30 targets were hit.
Rebels say they have "almost certain" information that Gaddafi's son Khamis, and his intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi, were killed in fighting over the weekend.
Similar reports in the past turned out to be unfounded.
Reuters treats the claim with caution:
If true, their deaths would mark the highest-profile casualties on the Gaddafi side since an uprising began six months ago aimed at ending Muammar Gaddafi's 42-years in power.
"We have almost certain information that Khamis Gaddafi and Abdullah al-Senussi were killed on Saturday by a unit of the national liberation army during clashes in Tarhouna (90 km southeast of Tripoli)," spokesman Ahmed Bani told Al Arabiya television.
"Khamis Gaddafi was buried in Bani Walid," Bani told the pan-Arab channel.
However, Khamis has been reported dead twice before during the uprising, only to reappear, and Mustafa Abdel Jalil, who heads the rebel National Transitional Council, told Al Jazeera television on Monday that he did not have any official information about Khamis's death.
Human Rights Watch has evidence that a force commanded by Khamis Gaddafi carried out summary executions of prisoners in a warehouse in Tripoli.
Welcome to Middle East Live. Here's a round up of the latest developments.
Libya
? Gaddafi's wife Safiya, daughter Aisha and sons Hannibal and Mohammed and their children have fled to Algeria. They were received on "humanitarian grounds" Algeria's ambassador to the UN told the BBC World Service. The NTC accused Algeria of an "act of aggression" against the Libyan people. There were reports on Monday night that another of Gaddafi's sons, Khamis, had been killed in an airstrike south of Tripoli, but this could not be immediately confirmed.
? The National Transitional Council said it will seek to extradite Gaddafi's family from Algeria. "We have promised to provide a just trial to all those criminals and therefore we consider this an act of aggression," spokesman Mahmoud Shamman told Reuters. "We are warning anybody not to shelter Gaddafi and his sons. We are going after them ... to find them and arrest them."
? The rebels claim they are seeking a negotiated surrender of Gaddafi's two remaining urban strongholds of Sirte, his coastal birthplace, and Sabha in the south. Mahmood Shammam, the NTC's information minister, dismissed claims that major military offensives against the towns were about to start. "We don't know that these two cities are revolting against us. We are negotiating to enter these cities peacefully. We will continue to do so," he said. Over the weekend Gaddafi's spokesman Moussa Ibrahim suggested the fugitive leader was willing to discuss a transitional government.
? The UN is prepared to send police, military observers and elections monitors to Libya, according to a leaked memo. The document, unearthed by Inner City Press, provides a broadly upbeat assessment of Libyans' ability to restore order.
? Abdelbasset al Megrahi, the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, has been falling in and out of a coma for up to three months, according to his family. Speaking outside Megrahi's Tripoli home, Abdelnasser Megrahi, described his brother's condition. He said: "He is very sick. The coma came two or three months ago. Sometimes he speaks to his wife or mother, sometimes he is in a coma. His life is in danger now." He refused journalists access to the home, after CNN had filmed Megraphi attached to a drip and oxygen mask. He also insisted his brother was not responsible for the bombing. "From day one I believed he was innocent. The case was more political than a crime. There is no actual evidence. The world knows my brother is innocent."
? Libyan rebels may be indiscriminately killing black people because they have confused innocent migrant workers with mercenaries, according to the chairman of the African Union Jean Ping. According to an AP report published by the Washington Post, he said: "NTC seems to confuse black people with mercenaries. If you do that, it means (that the) one-third of the population of Libya, which is black, is also mercenaries. They are killing people, normal workers, mistreating them."
? American journalist and filmmaker Matthew VanDyck has recounted the horror of spending six months in solitary confinement in Gaddafi's jails, after being freed by rebels last week from the notorious Abu Salim prison. He told the Guardian:
I would rather they had just taken me out and beat me, even every day, than go through the solitary confinement, because what it does psychologically is astonishing. I had no idea that the brain could work in the ways that it did in my case.
Syria
Dozens of soldiers, possibly encouraged by events in Libya, defected to the opposition near the central city of Homs, activists claim, according to the New York Times. The claim coincided with a government assault on Rastan, near Homs. A resident told the paper: "Gunfire and explosion rang across the town early this morning, and we heard that tanks are surrounding the town. We are so scared, too scared to leave the house. We don't know what they are preparing for us."
The FA Rape Chamonix Restaurants Dimitar Berbatov South Korea
Walang komento:
Mag-post ng isang Komento