Libye : Kadhafi promet "des milliers de morts" en cas d'intervention étrangère
LE POINT: Le dirigeant libyen s'est exprimé publiquement lors d'une cérémonie à Tripoli retransmise par la télévision libyenne.

Le dirigeant libyen Muammar Kadhafi a mis en garde mercredi contre une intervention militaire étrangère en Libye, menaçant de "milliers de morts", après avoir de nouveau rejeté les appels à quitter le pouvoir et accusé al-Qaida de l'insurrection. "Des milliers de Libyens mourront en cas d'intervention de l'Amérique ou de l'Otan" en Libye, a-t-il lancé devant ses partisans réunis dans une salle pour une cérémonie publique à Tripoli, retransmise par la télévision officielle.

"Kadhafi n'a pas de fonction officielle pour en démissionner. Kadhafi est un symbole", a-t-il ajouté lors de cette cérémonie marquant le 34e anniversaire de l'établissement du "pouvoir des masses" en Libye. "Depuis 1977, moi-même et les officiers (qui ont orchestré la révolution de 1969) avons remis le pouvoir au peuple", a dit le leader libyen devant l'audience qui criait des slogans à sa gloire. Il a en outre déclaré que le gel des avoirs de l'État libyen était une "usurpation et un vol de l'argent du peuple libyen". >>> Source AFP | Mercredi 02 Mars 2011

ZEIT ONLINE: Gadhafi droht Tausende zu töten: Die Kämpfe in Libyen halten an. Machthaber Gadhafi lässt sich mit einem weiteren bizarren Auftritt feiern. Die Revolte leugnet er glattweg und droht den USA und der Nato. >>> Reuters, AFP, dpa | Mittwoch, 02 März 2011

Gadhafis Regime löst sich auf
ZEIT ONLINE: Der libysche Staatschef verliert die Kontrolle über sein Land. Immer mehr seiner Offiziere desertieren. Die Opposition hat bereits eine Übergangsregierung gebildet.

Die Machtbasis des libyschen Staatschefs Muammar al-Gadhafi bröckelt. Bereits die Hälfte der Offiziere habe die Geheimdienste und Militärkomitees verlassen, berichtet die arabische Tageszeitung Asharq al-Awsat unter Berufung auf einen Mitarbeiter der libyschen Sicherheitskräfte.

Die Oppositionellen bildeten mittlerweile eine Übergangsregierung, wie der arabische Fernsehsender Al-Arabiya berichtete. Demnach hatte sich der ehemalige Justizminister Mustafa Abdul Dschalil zuvor mit Stammesführern geeinigt. Dschalil ließ verbreiten, dass die Übergangsregierung für drei Monate im Amt bleiben solle. Danach werde sie durch eine gewählte Regierung ersetzt. Die Übergangsregierung soll in Bengasi sitzen, der zweitgrößten Stadt Libyens. >>> dpa, AFP, Reuters | Sonntag, 27. Februar 2011

Gadhafi Flails as Libya Splinters
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Forces loyal to strongman Col. Moammar Gadhafi imposed rough order in Libya's increasingly fearful capital Wednesday, witnesses said, that stood in sharp contrast to rebel gains in much of the oil-rich country.

Gunshots echoed through the night in Tripoli as Col. Gadhafi clung to power even as the international community discussed ways to isolate him with sanctions. More territory slipped from his control, and rebels began to set up rudimentary governments in outlying areas under their sway. "No-one should count him out, but momentum isn't going his way," a U.S. official said.

The chaos that has consumed Libya since protesters last week began pushing for Col. Gadhafi's ouster has spawned an array of security concerns—over oil supplies, the safety of tens of thousands of foreign workers there and the risks posed by the weapons in Col. Gadhafi's remaining arsenal.

Oil prices surged over fears about the security of supplies from Libya, a major oil producer. Prices for light, sweet crude for April delivery—the main U.S. oil contract—at one point in the trading day hit $100 a barrel for the first time in more than two years.

The U.S., China, Turkey and several European nations struggled to bring home citizens stranded in Libya, where an estimated 100,000 foreigners work in industries including oil and construction. Airplanes sent from France and the Netherlands circled Tripoli's airport but had no clearance to land and turned back.

Fears also arose in Washington that Libya's regime hasn't destroyed significant stockpiles of mustard gas and other chemical-weapons agents. Tripoli also has stocks of aging Scud B missiles. Read on and comment >>> Angus McDowall in Dubai, Margaret Coker in Cairo and Charles Levinson in Baida, Libya | Thursday, February 24, 2011

U.S. Fears Tripoli May Deploy Gas As Chaos Mounts
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: WASHINGTON—The government of Col. Moammar Gadhafi hasn't destroyed significant stockpiles of mustard gas and other chemical-weapons agents, raising fears in Washington about what could happen to them—and whether they may be used—as Libya slides further into chaos.

Tripoli also maintains control of aging Scud B missiles, U.S. officials said, as well as 1,000 metric tons of uranium yellowcake and vast amounts of conventional weapons that Col. Gadhafi has channeled in the past to militants operating in countries like Sudan and Chad.

Current and former U.S. officials said in interviews that Washington's counterproliferation operations against Libya over the past decade have scored gains, in particular the dismantling of Tripoli's nascent nuclear-weapons program and its Scud C missile stockpiles. But the level of instability in Libya, and Col. Gadhafi's history of brutality, continues to make the U.S. focus on the arms and chemical agents that remain, they said.

"When you have a guy who's as irrational as Gadhafi with some serious weapons at his disposal, it's always a concern," said a U.S. official. "But we haven't yet seen him move to use any kind of mustard gas or chemical weapon" during the unrest. >>> Jay Solomon | Thursday, February 24, 2011

Gunfire Continues in Tripoli After Gadhafi Vows to Die a 'Martyr'

Read the article >>>

Go, Gaddafi! Go!
THE GUARDIAN: UNITED NATIONS – Libya's deputy ambassador at the United Nations, surrounded by fellow diplomats, called Monday for Moammar Gadhafi to step down as the country's ruler.

"If he doesn't," deputy ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi warned, "the Libyan people will get rid of him."

Dabbashi spoke as deep cracks appeared in Gadhafi's regime after more than 40 years in power, with a fire raging at the main government hall in the capital, Tripoli, and protesters calling for more demonstrations despite the government's deadly crackdown.

Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, went on state TV in the early hours Monday, vowing to fight and warning in a sometimes confused speech that if protests continue, a civil war will erupt in which Libya's oil wealth "will be burned."

Some diplomats abroad and the justice minister at home resigned.

But Dabbashi said the U.N. diplomats were not resigning because they served the people of Libya and not the regime. Libyan UN diplomats say Gadhafi should step down >>> Edith M. Lederer, AP foreign | Monday, February 21, 2011

Libya Braces for 'Day of Anger' as Protests Continue throughout Middle East
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Libya is to be hit by a "Day of Anger" on Thursday as protests mount against the rule of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the latest leader to be engulfed by a wave of unrest spreading across the Middle East.

Security forces in Libya's second city, Benghazi, were confirmed to have clashed with protesters who staged a sit-in to highlight the arrest of a lawyer. One hospital said 38 people were injured, none seriously.

The lawyer, Fethi Tarbel, represented some of the families of inmates killed in a notorious prison massacre in which more than 1,000 men died 15 years ago.

But the protest came shortly before a demonstration already announced on Facebook to commemorate the fifth anniversary of another incident, when 14 people were killed in a rally by Islamists, also in Benghazi.

According to one page, the day has been named "The February 17 Intifada: A Day of Strikes in Libya". According to another, it is a "Day of Anger" akin to ones which have already convulsed Egypt and Bahrain.

It is being publicised inside and outside the country, including by an internet rapper known as Ibn Thabit, whose YouTube video calls for an end to the "ignorant colonel". >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Four decades of Gaddafi >>>

Libyans Clash with Police over Detained Lawyer, Source Says
CNN: Libyan police clashed with protesters chanting anti-government slogans and demanding the release of a human rights activist early Wednesday, an independent source in the country told CNN.

Up to 200 protesters in the coastal city of Benghazi were supporting human rights activist and lawyer Fathi Terbil, who had been detained earlier, the source said.

Several people were arrested after police confronted the protesters, the source added.

However, a highly placed Libyan source close to the government sought to downplay the reports of unrest. The source asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to talk to the media. >>> Tim Lister, CNN | CNN's Zain Verjee contributed to this report | Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Österreich: Gadhafi-Clan soll Haiders geheime Konten gefüllt haben
ZEIT ONLINE: Neue Enthüllungen um den verstorbenen Rechtspopulisten Haider: Er soll über Geheimkonten in Liechtenstein Millionen verschoben haben. Geld kam angeblich auch aus Libyen.

46 Geheimkonten, 45 Millionen Euro: Jörg Haider soll ein Netzwerk von Briefkastenfirmen in Liechtenstein betrieben haben. Bild: Zeit Online
"Das dreckige Dutzend": So fasst das österreichische Nachrichtenmagazin profil die neuen Enthüllungen über den verstorbenen Rechtspopulisten und früheren Kärntner Landeshauptmann Jörg Haider zusammen. Es geht um Geld "aus dunklen Kanälen", um ein "dichtes Netz aus Treuhandkonstruktionen", das Staatsanwälte in drei Ländern beschäftigt. Haider soll in Liechtenstein mehr als ein Dutzend Briefkastenfirmen unterhalten und über diese Geheimkonten rund 45 Millionen Euro am Fiskus vorbei geschleust haben.

Wie das Magazin berichtet, stießen Sonderermittler aus Österreich, Deutschland und der Schweiz auf die Konten, als sie in zwei anderen Fällen gegen Haider ermittelt hatten: den Kauf der Hypo Group Alpe Adria Bank (HGAA) durch die deutsche BayernLB im Jahr 2007 sowie die Privatisierung der österreichischen Wohnungsbaugesellschaft Buwog im Jahr 2004. Insgesamt seien 46 von Treuhändern eingerichtete Briefkastengesellschaften gefunden worden, von denen ein Dutzend Haider zugerechnet werden.

Von den einst 45 Millionen seien inzwischen aber nur noch rund fünf Millionen Euro übrig. Der Rest wurde dem Magazin zufolge bereits vor Jahren verspekuliert. Vieles deute darauf hin, dass die Mittel weder der Freiheitlichen Partei (FPÖ) noch dem Bündnis Zukunft Österreich (BZÖ), sondern ausschließlich Haider zur Verfügung gestanden hätten. Schon als der Politiker im Jahr 2000 die Führung der FPÖ abgab, sei die vermeintlich prall gefüllte Parteikasse bis auf die staatliche Parteienfinanzierung leer gewesen. >>> Zeit online, dpa, Reuters, AFP | Montag, 02. August 2010

Verbunden: Das dreckige Dutzend >>> Von Michael Nikbakhsh und Ulla Schmid | Samstag, 31. Juli 2010

Nach der Ölkatastrophe: Großbritannien fürchtet BP-Zusammenbruch
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Der Börsenwert hat sich halbiert, die Kosten der Ölpest summieren sich bislang auf 3,12 Milliarden Dollar: BP ist angeschlagen. Die britische Regierung fürchtet angeblich einen Zusammenbruch des Konzerns - ein Risiko, weil viele Rentenfonds betroffen wären. Derweil prüfen arabische Staatsfonds einen Einstieg.

Investoren aus dem Nahen Osten erwägen Medienberichten zufolge, dem angeschlagenen britischen Energiekonzern BP mit einer Kapitalspritze zur Seite zu springen. Die Londoner Zeitungen „Daily Telegraph“ und „Guardian“ berichteten am Montag übereinstimmend, der Golfstaat Kuweit prüfe, seine Beteiligung an dem britischen Energiekonzern von bislang 1,75 Prozent auf 10 Prozent aufzustocken. >>> | Dienstag, 06. Juli 2010

Libya Eyes Stake in 'Bargain BP'
THE TELEGRAPH: Libya has expressed an interest in building a stake in BP, describing the oil company as a bargain following its Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The Libyan Government, headed by President Gaddafi, may not be welcomed as an investor in BP by the White House. Photograph: The Telegraph
Share[s] in BP rose 3.5pc to 333.3p in London, following weekend speculation that the company had been in contact with sovereign wealth funds about them buying stakes.

Shokri Ghanem, the chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation, told a newswire that: "BP is interesting now with the price lower by half and I still have trust in BP. I will recommend it to the Libyan Investment Authority."

He later added: "I think that BP shares are good value for bargain hunters,"

BP denied that it was planning to issue any new equity, but a weighty shareholder buying up stock on the open market could still help provide a floor on the company's plummeting share price. It declined to comment on any talks with sovereign wealth funds.

The oil giant has lost half of its market value since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank on April 20, triggering a catastrophic leak. Qatar, Abu Dhabi and the Kuwait Investment Authority, which already holds 1.8pc of BP, have also been linked to the company as possible investors. >>> Rowena Mason | Monday, July 05, 2010

Gadhafi Says He 'Comprehends' Lockerbie Anger
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said he could "comprehend" the anger directed at him by Americans who lost relatives in the Lockerbie bombing, trying to strike a conciliatory tone a day after calling the United Nations Security Council a "terror council."

In an hour-long interview, Col. Gadhafi said he hoped to build a new era of relations with U.S. President Barack Obama -- whom he called "my son" during the same U.N. address -- and said he wanted to place his nation's decades-long conflict with Washington in the past.

The Libyan strongman denied his government had purposefully stoked nationalist sentiment surrounding the return home of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet that blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland. Mr. al-Megrahi, who has cancer, was released by Scottish authorities last month on humanitarian grounds.

Lockerbie families have particularly criticized the British and Scottish governments for the release of Mr. al-Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence officer. Legislators in the U.S. and U.K. have called for inquiries into whether the move was tied to lucrative Libyan oil deals. Libyan and U.K. leaders have denied this.

Col. Gadhafi also said Mr. al-Megrahi's release came through proper legal channels. But he added that British companies have benefited in the past from the absence of U.S. firms inside Libya. Sanctions imposed on Libya after the Lockerbie bombing barred American oil companies from operating in the North African country until 2004.

"You see, Britain, even though it makes it look like it's in alliance with America, and being America's ally, kept its companies in Libya and they were doing business when the American companies left the Libyan market," Col. Gadhafi said.

He said he believed Mr. al-Megrahi's release, and the billions of dollars paid out by his government to the Lockerbie victims' families, could now allow U.S.-Libyan relations to move forward. "As a case, the Lockerbie question: I would say it's come to an end, legally, politically, financially, it is all over," Col. Gadhafi, wearing black boots and an ankle-length cape, said. "I would say, thank Allah that this problem has been solved to the satisfaction of all parties. We all feel the pain for such a tragedy."

Family members of the Lockerbie victims voiced outrage Thursday that Col. Gadhafi was allowed to visit New York this week, in the Libyan leader's first trip to the U.S. following decades of conflict with Washington. >>> Jay Solomon | Friday, September 25, 2009