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From mishima‘s Ignoring Asia: Libyan Uprising Live Blog
This is The Guardian Live Blog from Libya.
It is early morning in North Africa and the Middle East, the main news focus is on Libya and much has happened since yesterday. During the day Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, made a 15 minute appearance on state TV denying he had not fled the country to Venezuela and called exiles and expatriates attacking him as al-kelab eddalla, “lost dogs.” Charming.
Let me say here the difference between Egypt and Libya is where Mubarak went fairly quietly into the night, Gaddafi is a psychopathic madman who will spill the blood of every Libyan man, woman and child to the last bullet. I believe him.
One last point, we should not forget what started this, Wikileaks and Anonymous. When it was revealed through leaked diplomatic cables just how corrupt the Tunisian regime under Ben Ali was, the Tunisian youth took to the streets. It was a revolution that sprang from the cyber-age of texting, Twitter and Facebook. The youth were joined by the unemployed and under paid that took down a government and it spread to Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain and more. Now the repressive dictatorship of Libya is on the brink of extinction. These are not Islamic radicals that so many in the West fear to the point of irrationality. No, they are not religious. They want what the same thing that the youth of Europe and America want, education, jobs and most of all a say in the way they are governed. Yes, Democracy.
Up Date 1430 hrs EST:Gaddafi again took to TV giving an hour long, defiant speech stating that he would not step down and would die in Libya. Pounding his fists and shouting the US was to blame and drugged had caused the violence. He called for called on supporters to take to the streets to attack protesters.
“You men and women who love Gaddafi …get out of your homes and fill the streets,” he said. “Leave your homes and attack them in their lairs … Starting tomorrow the cordons will be lifted, go out and fight them.”
Gaddafi said “peaceful protests is one thing, but armed rebellion is another”.
“From tonight to tomorrow, all the young men should form local committees for popular security,” he said, telling them to wear a green armband to identify themselves. “The Libyan people and the popular revolution will control Libya.”
The UN Security Council met behind closed doors this morning at the request of Libyan Deputy Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi, who along with most of the UN mission had denounced Gaddafi and called for his resignation. Dabbahi requested a “no-fly” zone over Libya but that would require a formal resolution. There was some confusion when the Ambassador Abdurrahman Shalgham arrived at the end of the meeting stating he stood with Gaddafi and would appeal for the end of the violence against the demonstrators. Shalgham was not in NYC on Monday and did not sign onto the anti-Gaddafi statement issued by Dabbashi and others.
A popular Egyptian Imam, the Muslim version of a televangelist, Sheik Yusuf Qaradawi, has called for a Fatwah against Gaddafi. Along with a group of Islamic scholars, he called for the Libyan army to kill Gaddafi.
The price of a barrel of oil rose and stocks fell as the unrest continued. There were also fears of increased food prices as the revolts that started in Tunisia spread.
This may be a problem.
Two Iranian warships ‘enter Suez Canal’
Two Iranian warships have entered the Suez Canal to make a passage to the Mediterranean Sea, canal officials say.
Iranian officials have said the warships are headed to Syria for training, a mission Israel has described as a “provocation”.
“They entered the canal at 0545 (0345 GMT),” Suez Canal officials said.
It is believed to be the first time since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution that Iranian warships have passed through the Suez Canal.
Iran’s request stated the vessels would have no military equipment, nuclear materials or chemicals on board, the Egyptian defence ministry is quoted as saying.
The ships involved are the frigate Alvand and a supply vessel, the Kharg.
Muammar Gaddafi lashes out as power slips away
Muammar Gaddafi lashes out as power slips away
Libyan security forces fired on crowds of protesters in Tripoli as Muammar Gaddafi struggled desperately to hold on to power in what has become the bloodiest crackdown yet on pro-democracy protesters in the Arab world.
With diplomats resigning en masse and two senior fighter pilots defecting to Malta after refusing to attack demonstrators, the Libyan leader looked beleaguered at home and unwelcome anywhere abroad.
“What’s going on in Libya is a real genocide,” said the country’s deputy UN ambassador, Ibrahim al-Dabashi.
One Tripoli resident told al-Jazeera TV: “Death is everywhere,” as he described air attacks on the terrified city. “Why is the world silent?”
Gaddafi appeared briefly on Libyan state TV to deny reports that he had fled the country. “I want to show that I’m in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs,” he said, reported by the station as speaking outside his house. He was holding an umbrella in the rain and leaning out of a vehicle.
“I wanted to say something to the youths at the Green Square [in Tripoli] and stay up late with them but it started raining. Thank God, it’s a good thing,” Gaddafi said in a 22-second appearance.
Libyan state TV earlier said military operations were under way against “terrorist nests” and there were predictions of a bloodbath by a desperate regime which feels the end approaching.
[http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/2011221222542234651.html Libyan pilots and diplomats defect
Group of army officers have also issued a statement urging fellow soldiers to “join the people” and help remove Gaddafi]
Diplomats resign and air force officers defect as Gaddafi government resorts to shooting and bombing to crush uprising.
Two Libyan air force jets landed in Malta on Monday and their pilots have asked for political asylum.
The pilots claimed to have defected after refusing to follow orders to attack civilians protesting in Benghazi in Libya.
The pilots, who said they were colonels in the Libyan air force, were being questioned by authorities in an attempt to verify their identities.
Meanwhile, a group of Libyan army officers have issued a statement urging fellow soldiers to “join the people” and help remove Muammar Gaddafi.
The officers urged the rest of the Libyan army to march to Tripoli.
Diplomats side with protesters
Libya’s ambassadors at several stations, including the US and the UN, have said that they are siding with protesters and have called for Gaddafi to quit.
Ali Aujali, the Libyan ambassador to the United States, became the latest diplomat to call for the Libyan leader’s resignation, telling the Associated Press news agency on Monday night that Gaddafi must step down and give Libyans a chance “to make their future”.
He said he was not resigning, as he worked for the Libyan people.
Also late on Monday, A.H. Elimam, Libya’s ambassador to Bangladesh, resigned to protest against the killing of his family members by government soldiers.
Earlier on Monday, diplomats at Libya’s mission to the United Nations sided with the revolt against their country’s leader and called on the Libyan army to help overthrow “the tyrant Muammar Gaddafi.”
In a statement issued as protests erupted across Libya, the mission’s deputy chief and other staff said they were serving the Libyan people, demanded “the removal of the regime immediately” and urged other Libyan embassies to follow suit.
An extraordinary meeting of the Arab League will also take place on Tuesday as leaders express alarm over crackdown.
The UN Security Council will hold a closed-door meeting on Tuesday to discuss the crisis in Libya, diplomats said.
They said the meeting, known as consultations, had been requested by Libyan deputy ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi and would start at 1400 GMT.
Dabbashi and other diplomats at Libya’s mission to the UN announced on Monday that they had sided with protesters in Libya and were calling for the overthrow of long-time Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, called for an extraordinary meeting of the Arab League to take place on Tuesday.
The aim is to discuss the current crisis in Libya and to put additional “pressure” on the government, Al-Thani told Al Jazeera.
With reports of a large-scale crackdown on protesters under way in Tripoli, a spokesperson for Ban Ki-moon said the UN chief held extensive discussions with Muammar Gaddafi on Monday.
Ban condemned the escalating violence in Libya and told Gaddafi that it “must stop immediately”.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her part said it was “time to stop this unnacceptable bloodshed” in Libya.
Egypt gears up to evacuate citizens
Army sets up field hospitals on Libyan border to receive returning Egyptians.
Egypt’s army has set up two field hospitals on the border with Libya near the Salloum border-crossing town to receive returning Egyptians.
Libyan guards have withdrawn from their side of the boundary following anti-government protests, the army said on its Facebook page on Monday.
Hossam Zaki, Egypt’s foreign ministry spokesman, said at least one million Egyptians reside in Libya where increasingly bloody battles between Libyan security forces and protesters have been taking place.
At least 100 buses carrying Egyptians are making their way to the Libya-Egyptian border, Zaki said.
Egypt’s Leaders Signal Commitment to Civilian Rule
CAIRO – The military and civilian leadership controlling Egypt in the wake of a popular revolution took several high-profile steps on Monday to reassure Egyptians that it shared their fervor for change and to signal to foreign leaders that the move to full civilian rule would be rapid.
The prime minister of Britain, David Cameron, held talks here with the leaders, becoming the highest-ranking foreign official to visit Egypt since the longtime president, Hosni Mubarak, was ousted after 18 days of widespread protests.
At the same time, the country’s top prosecutor, Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, said he would request that the Foreign Ministry ask governments to freeze any assets of Mr. Mubarak, his family and a handful of top associates. The Associated Press, citing unnamed security officials, said Mr. Mubarak’s local assets were frozen as soon as his government fell.
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When I was searching for the news on the Iranian ship in the Suez, I clicked on the article from VOA (Voice of America) News and found that it had been hacked by a group calling themselves the Iranian Cyber Army (warning: Washington Moonie Times link) and found this message: