Tag: Evening Edition

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned Libya is verging on civil war while Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez proposed international mediation to quell the violence raging in the North African nation.

And a day after Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi warned the West to stay out of the fray, the Dutch defence ministry said three of its marines helping to evacuate civilians had been captured by government soldiers.

The chilling warning came as western powers dampened expectations of any early imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya, amid a clamour from western states for action to prevent Kadhafi’s warplanes from attacking his own people.

The United States is a “long way” from deciding on whether to impose a no-fly zone, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said as two US Navy ships steamed into position off Libya.

US and European leaders weighed the use of NATO air power to impose a no-fly zone, with the aim of stopping Kadhafi using air power against his own people to crush the insurrection against his four decades of iron rule.

Meanwhile, Kadhafi loyalists, who have lost control of much of the country to the rebellion that started on February 15, tried to retake the key western city of Zawiyah but were repulsed.

World powers ramped up the pressure on his regime, as the United States urged the international community at a meeting in Geneva to work together on further steps to end a brutal crackdown that has cost more than 1,000 lives.

Faced with the threat of massacres or a wave of refugees on their Mediterranean flank, senior Western officials openly weighed military options.

Protest leaders meanwhile established a transitional “national council” in mainly eastern cities seized from the Kadhafi regime and called on the army to help them take the capital Tripoli.

The chaos engulfing the oil-rich North African state of 6.3 million has fanned fears that Kadhafi’s hold on power could descend into civil war as the United Nations said nearly 100,000 people have streamed out of the country.

UN Security Council envoys began tough negotiations on how to sanction the Libyan leader for a deadly crackdown that Tripoli’s mission to the United Nations said had killed thousands of protesters.

Kadhafi’s son Seif al-Islam called late Saturday on the UN to send a “fact-finding” mission to Libya before taking any sanctions decision.

In a brief but chilling address in Tripoli’s Green Square, Kadhafi told hundreds of cheering supporters to prepare themselves for a fight to defend the city.

His loyalists had earlier killed several people in shooting that spread through the capital and French President Nicolas Sarkozy became the first world leader to openly demand the Libyan leader’s ouster.

Speaking on state television, the embattled Kadhafi insisted the uprising against his 41-year rule was not a people’s revolt but driven by “trigger-happy” youths “stoned with drugs” inspired by Osama bin Laden.

“These are the ones who are under Bin Laden’s influence and authority, under the influence of drugs.”

As condemnation of the brutal crackdown grew and foreigners fled the oil-rich country, Kadhafi appeared to be increasingly isolated after reports that hundreds of civilians were killed in the backlash by his forces.

Kadhafi opponents appeared firmly in control of Libya’s coastal east, from the Egyptian border through to the cities of Tobruk and Benghazi, with government soldiers switching sides to join the uprising.

In a defiant, sometimes rambling speech on television, Kadhafi vowed to remain in Libya as head of its revolution, saying he would die as a martyr in the land of his ancestors and fight to the “last drop” of his blood.

Proclaiming the support of the people, Kadhafi ordered the army and police to crush the popular uprising against his iron-fisted four-decade rule that has already left hundreds dead in the past eight days.