Sunday, February 27, 2011
REUTERS: Omani police fired rubber bullets at stone-throwing protesters demanding political reform on Sunday, killing two people, and demonstrators set government buildings and cars ablaze, witnesses said.The trouble in the town of Sohar, Oman's main industrial center, was a rare sign of discontent in the normally sleepy Gulf Arab sultanate and followed a wave of pro-democracy protests across the Arab world.
Witnesses said more than 2,000 protesters had gathered for a second day in a square in Sohar demanding political reforms, more jobs and better pay before police tried to disperse them, first with tear gas and batons and then rubber bullets.
"Two people have died after police fired rubber bullets into the crowd," one witness, who declined to be named, told Reuters from Sohar. A third person was reported in critical condition after being shot.
Another witness said the police had used live ammunition, but that could not immediately be confirmed. Troops deployed in the area, but did not intervene, witnesses said.
Sultan Qaboos bin Said, trying to ease tensions in U.S. ally Oman, reshuffled his cabinet on Saturday, a week after a small protest in the capital Muscat. He has ruled for four decades, exercising absolute power. Political parties are banned.
Oman's state news agency said riots in Sohar had destroyed public and private property but did not mention any deaths. >>> Saleh Al-Shaibany, Muscat | Sunday, February 27, 2011
Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom >>> Mark Alexander
THE GUARDIAN: Colonel Gaddafi's son was educated in London and has friends in the City and Westminster. Or he did until last weekGeneva places a high premium on guarding secrets, but rumours are a different currency. Amid momentous scenes being played out across the Middle East last week, sources in the Swiss financial centre were privately gossiping about a visit to Geneva earlier this year by Farhat Bengdara, the governor of the Central Bank of Libya.
According to one popular rumour, Bengdara had visited Geneva with a purpose. He was there to make changes to key Swiss accounts, into which flow hundreds of millions of dollars of Libyan oil money that are then allocated to the Libyan Investment Authority and the Libyan Central Bank.
Financiers in Geneva gossip that, as far back as 17 January, Bengdara established that four new names would be added as signatories on three crucial accounts controlling much of the money. The signatories were Colonel Muammar Gaddafi; his son Khamis, who heads Libya's infamous martyrs' battalion; the Libyan leader's daughter Aisha; and his son Saif al-Islam.
Where Libya's petro-dollars may have been channelled in the weeks since tensions first erupted across the Arab world is hard to say. But those who know him would be surprised if Saif did not hold the answers.
The westernised 38-year-old, who studied at the London School of Economics and enjoys close friendships with senior British politicians and financiers, has become the focal point of the conflict now threatening to rip Libya apart.
Whereas Gaddafi senior has always been seen in the west as a dictator – albeit one brought back into the fold – Saif, a trained architect who established a medical charity and was considered his father's heir apparent, held out the promise of a new dawn.
As far back as 2002, Saif told an interviewer that Libya needed democracy. "It's policy number one for us. First thing democracy, second thing democracy, third thing democracy," Saif said, using a rhetorical technique he was to repeat last week to far more sinister effect. >>> Jamie Doward | Saturday, February 26, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: William Hague says Libyan leader and immediate family will receive no diplomatic safeguards in UK and says he should quit
Britain has revoked the diplomatic immunity of Muammar Gaddafi and his family, William Hague confirmed, as the foreign secretary called for the Libyan leader to step down.
Hague said the UK was "working intensively" to establish how many Britons remained in Libya as final evacuation missions were being planned.
Asked whether the Libyan leader could remain in power, Hague told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "We have here a country descending into civil war, with atrocious scenes of killing of protesters and a government actually making war on its own, so of course it is time for Colonel Gaddafi to go. That is the best hope for Libya.
"And last night, I signed a directive revoking his diplomatic immunity in the United Kingdom but also the diplomatic immunity of his sons, his family, his household. So it is very clear where we stand on his status as the head of state." >>> Press Association | Sunday, February 27, 2011
TAGESSPIEGEL: Unionsfraktionschef Kauder verlangt Stopp der EU-Beitrittsverhandlungen, das FDP-geführte Auswärtige Amt sieht es anders. Heute ist der türkische Minister-präsident Erdogan in Deutschland.
Vor fünf Wochen hat sich Tayyip Erdogan überaus selbstbewusst gegeben. Sein Land, so schrieb der türkische Premier im US-Magazin „Newsweek“, befinde sich inzwischen in einer Position, in der es die Europäische Union nicht mehr um eine Mitgliedschaft anflehe. Doch einen Tag vor seinem Deutschland-Besuch hat Erdogan die Verhandlungen wieder zum Thema gemacht. Deren Verlauf erwecke den Eindruck von Diskriminierung, klagte der Premier. Und forderte die Deutschen auf, „wie unter früheren CDU-Regierungen“, bei den Beitrittsverhandlungen eine „Vorreiterrolle“ einzunehmen.
Die Angesprochenen in der CDU aber tun das Gegenteil. Unionsfraktionschef Volker Kauder verlangte einen Stopp der Verhandlungen, „solange die Türkei nicht die volle Religionsfreiheit gewährleistet“.
Die Türkei müsse sich hier nicht mehr nur an Worten, sondern an klaren Zeichen messen lassen, sagte Kauder der „Rheinischen Post“. Dazu gehöre, dass griechisch-orthodoxe Christen „ihre Priester wieder in der Türkei ausbilden dürfen“. >>> Von Rainer Woratschka | Sonntag. 27. Februar 2011
DIE TAGESZEITUNG: Auch die neuen Proteste in Tunesien haben Erfolg: Der Chef der tunesischen Übergangsregierung, Mohammed Ghannouchi, hat seinen Rücktritt erklärt.
TUNIS | Der Chef der tunesischen Übergangsregierung, Mohammed Ghannouchi, hat seinen Rücktritt erklärt. Er werde das Amt niederlegen, sagte Ghannouchi am Sonntag bei einer Pressekonferenz in Tunis. Er zog damit die Konsequenzen aus den anhaltenden Protesten gegen ihn.
Seit Freitag hatten tausende Menschen gegen die Übergangsregierung demonstriert, wobei es zu Straßenschlachten mit der Polizei kam und mindestens drei Menschen getötet und zahlreiche verletzt wurden. Meist junge Demonstranten warfen in der Hauptstadt Tunis mit Steinen Fensterscheiben von Gebäuden ein und errichteten Barrikaden. >>> afp/dpa/dapd | Sonntag, 27. Februar 2011
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Tripolis/Berlin- Das Regime Muammar al-Gaddafis in Libyen gerät immer mehr in die Isolation und wehrt sich mit aller Brutalität gegen seinen Sturz. Trotz heftiger Angriffe auf Demonstranten verloren die Sicherheitskräfte offenbar die Kontrolle über weitere Landesteile. Bei dem Versuch, den Aufruhr militärisch niederzuschlagen, wurden nach UN-Angaben bisher mehrere Tausend Menschen getötet oder verletzt. Die Europäische Union will deshalb am Montag Sanktionen gegen Gaddafis Regime verhängen.
Wegen der Nachrichtensperre und der Ausweisung internationaler Medien sind Informationen über die Lage in dem nordafrikanischen Land spärlich und teils widersprüchlich. Nach Berichten aus Tripolis von gestern schossen aber in der Hauptstadt Truppen des Regimes auf Aufständische und töteten mindestens fünf Menschen. >>> Von Damir Fras, Julia Gerlach, Marten Hahn und Thorsten Knuf | Samstag, 26. Februar 2011
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Enfant terrible du nationalisme arabe, "sponsor" officiel du terrorisme, vieux lion du désert, roi et bouffon: le colonel Mouammar Kadhafi abreuve depuis quarante ans le monde de ses fulgurances, théories personnelles et remarques incongrues.Confronté depuis douze jours à une insurrection qu’il réprime dans le sang, le leader libyen a multiplié les déclarations menaçantes, promettant des "boucheries" aux manifestants accusés d’être des militants d’Al-Qaïda gavés de "pilules hallucinogènes".
En saharienne kaki, en uniforme militaire chamarré d’or, en gandoura (l’habit des Bédouins) ou en costume blanc, coiffé d’une chapka à la russe ou d’une casquette couvrant ses cheveux noirs et bouclés, le colonel Kadhafi est d’abord un choc visuel... Puis viennent les paroles.
"Shakespeare: ce grand dramaturge d’origine d’arabe", dit-il, en expliquant à une assistance peu informée que le nom de l’écrivain anglais est une déformation du nom arabe cheikh Zubayr.
Dans le dictionnaire tout personnel du guide de la révolution libyenne, les ancêtres des Indiens d’Amérique sont originaires d’Afrique du Nord. Et l’Amérique tire son nom d’un "émir Kâ" auquel le navigateur italien Amerigo Vespucci aurait tout volé.
Dans le registre économique, la Suisse est un pays "proche" de la Libye mais "moins développé". >>> AFP | Samedi 26 Février 2011
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Kadhafi fait un tabac sur YouTube grâce à un spot musical israélien : Un spot musical israélien incorporant des extraits d’un discours enflammé la semaine dernière du numéro un libyen Mouammar Kadhafi se taille un franc succès sur YouTub >>> AFP | Dimanche 27 Février 2011
leJDD.fr: Le départ du dirigeant libyen Mouammar Kadhafi est "inévitable", a estimé dimanche le ministre italien des Affaires étrangères Franco Frattini, ajoutant que la situation dans ce pays avait atteint "un point de non-retour". [Source: leJDD.fr] | Dimanche 27 Février 2011
LE POINT: La très contestée confrérie souhaite être un acteur incontournable du printemps arabe. La voici escortant des médecins. Reportage.
Empaquetés à la hâte, les cartons de fournitures médicales s'empilent sur le trottoir. Devant les locaux du syndicat des médecins au Caire, c'est l'effervescence ce mercredi après-midi : il faut charger le bus de l'Arab Medical Union, vérifier que tous les chirurgiens sont là, appeler les collègues à Benghazi, dans l'est de la Libye, changer la feuille de route en fonction des zones de combat... Soudain, le temps s'arrête : c'est l'heure de la prière. Le docteur Hesham Essa, responsable du convoi qui s'apprête à soutenir des médecins libyens, s'enferme dans son bureau. Dix minutes, et pas une de plus : "Il faut y aller, ils attendent notre aide", presse-t-il gentiment, "nous avons des milliers de gens à soigner". "On soignera tous les blessés", ajoute-t-il, "qu'ils soient révolutionnaires ou mercenaires de Khadafi". >>> D’envoyée spéciale du Point, Marie-Lys Lubrano | Samedi 26 Février 2011
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama has for the first time called on Col Muammar Gaddafi to step down, saying that the Libyan government must be held accountable for its brutal crackdown on dissenters.
Late on Saturday night, the UN Security Council unanimously approved international sanctions against the Libyan regime and voted unanimously to refer evidence of atrocities in Libya to the International Criminal Court.
The US administration earlier announced new unilateral sanctions against the country.
The White House said that in a conversation with Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, the president stated “that when a leader's only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against his own people, he has lost the legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now". >>> Alex Spillius, in Washington | Sunday, February 27, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Archbishop of Canterbury has vowed to defend the Church’s traditional stance on marriage against Government moves to introduce homosexual weddings in churches.Dr Rowan Williams has refused to be drawn on the issue publicly, but has broken his silence to tell MPs he is not prepared for the Coalition to tell the Church how to behave.
He told a private meeting of influential politicians that the Church of England would not bow to public pressure to allow its buildings to be used to conduct same-sex civil partnerships.
The comments are the first time he has spoken since the Coalition unveiled plans to allow religious buildings to be used to conduct homosexual partnership ceremonies.
While the Church has been bitterly divided over the role of its homosexual clergy, he said it held a clear position that marriage is between a man and a woman and would not consider changing this stance. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, February 26, 2011
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The British Government was brokering a secret deal worth up to £10 billion with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s regime before Libya descended into chaos, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.For the past 18 months a dedicated Foreign Office unit has been supporting lawyers fighting to win compensation for UK victims of IRA bombs built with Libyan-supplied explosives.
The team was in the advanced stages of discussing a “Victims’ Initiative” package with key members of Gaddafi’s regime.
The possible agreement would have included payouts for the 150 families of those killed and injured bringing the claim, as well as a huge “cultural and social” investment focusing on reconciliation projects, much of it in Northern Ireland.
Insiders said that since the Coalition came to power last May, Government efforts to secure a deal had been stepped up, with David Cameron and William Hague taking a personal interest in the talks.
Sources said the agreement would have seen Libya committing between £2 billion and £10 billion to the UK, as part of an effort to detoxify “Brand Libya”. >>> Rebecca Lefort | Saturday, Deptember 26, 2011
HT: Jetlagged >>>
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: Ex-PM phones Libyan despot – and urges him to quit, while SAS mounts daring rescue of oil workers stranded in desertTony Blair, widely criticised in recent days for offering Muammar Gaddafi "the hand of friendship" seven years ago, made an extraordinary personal intervention when he twice phoned the embattled Libyan dictator on Friday and asked him to stop killing protesters rising up against the regime.
Britain's former prime minister made two unannounced calls to Colonel Gaddafi on Friday – the day the Libyan President appeared in public and exhorted a crowd of his hardcore supporters to "defend the nation" against the uprising and "crush the enemy" behind it. That defiant call to arms suggests that Col Gaddafi – who has rapidly returned to the international pariah status he had before the "deal in the desert" he negotiated with Mr Blair in 2004 – simply ignored the man who pioneered the dictator's temporary rehabilitation by the West.
Reports from the Libyan capital yesterday suggested that the dictator was carrying out his threat to arm supporters to strike back against the uprising. As tensions rose, David Cameron ordered an SAS rescue mission to pick up 150 citizens stranded in the remote oil fields south of the port of Benghazi. Continue reading and comment >>> Donald Macintyre | Sunday, February 27, 2011
THE OBSERVER: Level of far-right support could outstrip that in France or Holland, says poll for SearchlightHuge numbers of Britons would support an anti-immigration English nationalist party if it was not associated with violence and fascist imagery, according to the largest survey into identity and extremism conducted in the UK.
A Populus poll found that 48% of the population would consider supporting a new anti-immigration party committed to challenging Islamist extremism, and would support policies to make it statutory for all public buildings to fly the flag of St George or the union flag.
Anti-racism campaigners said the findings suggested Britain's mainstream parties were losing touch with public opinion on issues of identity and race. >>> Mark Townsend, The Guardian | Saturday, February 26, 2011
THE OBSERVER: Doctors blame internet porn boom as more women seek 'designer vaginas' through genital surgery
Medical experts have sounded the alarm over soaring rates of labiaplasty, as the preliminary findings of a study show women are increasingly turning to private providers to pursue "designer vaginas".
NHS and private sector professionals have warned that some young women approaching cosmetic surgery companies are depressed or on medication, and are being sold operations without preliminary access to alternative psychological therapies.
Experts carrying out the research at King's College London also suggest that the so-called "pornification" of modern culture may be driving up surgery rates to unprecedented levels as both men and women have increased exposure to pornographic imagery via the internet. Recent studies have shown sharp rises in the numbers of young people accessing porn. >>> Rowenna Davis | Sunday, February 27, 2011
THE OBSERVER: The Huffington Post website made her the heroine of America's left, but critics say she failed to pay bloggers and used items generated by other news organisationsArianna Huffington has long reigned as the queen of America's chattering classes, using her Huffington Post website as a platform to transform herself into a darling of the United States' left-leaning media elite.
But no longer. Since she announced that the HuffPo was being sold to web giant AOL for $315m, Huffington has been accused of being a political sellout and someone who made a personal fortune from the labour of thousands of bloggers who write for no pay.
America's Newspaper Guild, the journalists' union, has started a campaign to target the Huffington Post as having a business model that has done great damage by not paying contributors. It has demanded that Huffington donate some of her AOL deal profits to investing in paid journalism. "After building a media empire based on unpaid writers and republishing the works of others... we are calling on Arianna Huffington to invest in quality journalism by sharing a portion of this fortune," said the guild's president, Bernie Lunzer.
That appeal is likely to fall on deaf ears. HuffPo spokesman Mario Ruiz denied the website was a problem for the industry, saying: "It's both wrong and offensive to insist that the HuffPo is exploiting journalists."
But since the AOL deal was announced this month, there has been an avalanche of criticism of the website and its smooth-talking founder. "To grasp its business model... you need to picture a galley rowed by slaves and commanded by pirates," blasted Los Angeles Times columnist Tim Rutten. >>> Paul Harris, New York | Sunday, February 27, 2011
FACEBOOK: "Hey Arianna, Can You Spare a Dime?" >>>
FACEBOOK: Info – Arianna – AOL deal >>>
GUILD FREELANCERS: Petition: Arianna got millions; we got bylines >>>
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Security Council unanimously orders travel and assets ban on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his inner circle
The UN Security Council has unanimously imposed travel bans and asset freezes on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, members of his family and inner circle.
Saturday's resolution adopted by the 15-nation council also called for the immediate referral of the deadly crackdown against anti-government demonstrators in Libya to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for investigation and possible prosecution of anyone responsible for killing civilians.
The council demanded an "immediate end to the violence and for steps to address the legitimate demands of the population" in Libya.
It called for Libyan authorities to act "with restraint, respect human rights and international humanitarian law," and facilitate immediate access for international human rights monitors.
The council called for an immediate lifting of restrictions "on all forms of media" and for the safety of foreign nationals to be assured and their departure facilitated. >>> Agencies | Sunday, February 27, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Libyan leader's son Saif al-Islam has said that the reports of casualties and mercenaries in Libya are "just a big joke" while restating his claim that Al Qaeda are behind the anti-government protests in the country.
LE POINT: Le président Barack Obama a décidé le gel des avoirs aux États-Unis du chef d'État libyen.
Décidé à faire plier le colonel Muammar Kadhafi et à mettre fin à sa "cruauté contre son peuple", le président des États-Unis, Barack Obama, a décidé vendredi le gel des avoirs aux États-Unis du chef d'État libyen et de ceux de sa famille, a annoncé la Maison-Blanche. Obama a signé un décret présidentiel gelant les avoirs et bloquant tous les biens aux États-Unis du colonel Kadhafi et de ses quatre fils, a-t-elle précisé. >>> Source AFP | Samedi 26 Février 2011
THE GUARDIAN: RAF Hercules fly more than 150 oil workers to Malta – but up to 500 still stranded in compoundsMore than 150 workers were dramatically rescued from the Libyan desert as two RAF Hercules aircraft – backed by the SAS – pulled off a high-risk evacuation of British and other citizens.
As world leaders united to demand that Muammar Gaddafi face the full consequences of what Barack Obama called the "brutalisation" of his people, the defence secretary, Liam Fox, confirmed that the rescue had been a success, so far.
It is believed that units of British special forces secured runways to allow the Hercules aircraft to land safely.
A statement from the Foreign Office said that the rescued workers had been met by consular officials and Red Cross staff when they landed in the Maltese capital, Valletta. "Once disembarked, the passengers will be given food and water and offered full consular assistance," a Foreign Office spokesman said. "This includes immigration processing and a medical. They will then be bussed to hotels, where they will stay overnight." >>> Toby Helm and Mark Townsend in London and Paul Harris in New York | Saturday, February 26, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: While Gaddafi makes a rousing speech to his followers, just streets away, his enemies are moving against him
He was meant to be hidden, hunted, done for, and with just a few hours left, shut away to rot in the underground bunker of Bab al-Azizia, a prisoner of his past and highly uncertain present. At one point on Friday, he was meant to be dead. But just before sunset on another dramatic day for Libya, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi reappeared, like an icon, high up on the wall of the great Arab fortress that looks on to Tripoli's Green Square. "Here I am among you," he shouted into the microphone. "Dance, sing, rejoice."
He was greeted by a roar from a crowd of several thousand people in the square. They had gathered there in the morning to shout to the world that Libya, or at least its capital, was still his.
Green flags fluttered beneath the palm trees. Horns were sounded. Bursts of machine gun fire were let off into the air – an indication that, all the same, this is a country at risk. The opposing factions are drawing ever closer to one another. The abyss of a civil war seems but a step away.
"Those who don't love me … It will be hell for them," Gaddafi warned, firing the hearts of his followers, but also sending a clear message to the entire international community.
Looking down on his adoring audience, he said: "Look, Europe. Look, United States. This is the Libyan people. This is the fruit of the revolution." >>> Fabrizio Caccia | Friday, February 25, 2011
THE NEW YORK TIMES: TRIPOLI, Libya — Mercenaries and army forces put down an attempt by protesters on Friday to break Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s hold on this capital city, opening fire on crowds who had taken to the streets after prayers to mount their first major challenge to the government’s crackdown, witnesses said.The bloodshed heightened a standoff that has pitted Colonel Qaddafi — who vowed Friday to turn Libya into “a hell” as he hunkered down in his stronghold — against a spreading rebel force and increasingly alarmed international community, which condemned the violence and promised sanctions in coming days.
A rebel officer who is coordinating an attack on Tripoli, Col. Tarek Saad Hussein, asserted in an interview that an armed volunteer force of about 2,000 men — including army defectors — was to arrive in Tripoli on Friday night. There was no way to confirm his claim.
He was especially angered at the reports of security forces’ firing on protesters after prayers. “They did not have weapons,” he said, speaking at an abandoned army base in the eastern city of Benghazi, which is firmly under rebel control. “They shot people outside the mosque.” >>> David D. Kirkpatrick and Kareem Fahim | Friday, February 25, 2011
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Noch sieht sich Marokko als stabile Oase im Maghreb. Doch auch hier werden Forderungen laut, die den König in Bedrängnis bringen könnten. Die Frage ist, ob er bereit ist, über seinen Schatten eines absoluten Monarchen zu springen.Die meisten Marokkaner, auch die jungen, sprechen gut über ihren König. „M 6“, wie sie Mohammed VI. nennen, ist im zwölften Jahr nach seiner Thronbesteigung zwar nicht mehr der „cool king“ auf dem Jetski, der seinen autoritären Vater Hassan II. ablöste. Er hat auch etwas von dem Glanz des experimentierfreudigen „Reformkönigs“ der ersten Phase eingebüßt. Aber wenn er zu seinen Untertanen spricht - in der Doppelrolle als Monarch und „Beherrscher der Gläubigen“ -, tut er es mit der Verheißung von mehr Modernisierung und wirtschaftlichem Aufschwung.
Doch auch in Marokko hatten in fast allen Großstädten arbeitslose jugendliche Akademiker über das Internetportal Facebook am vergangenen Sonntag zu Kundgebungen für mehr Demokratie, weniger Korruption, mehr Jobs und eine Verfassungsreform nach dem „spanischen Vorbild“ einer funktionierenden konstitutionellen Monarchie aufgerufen. Sie verliefen zunächst friedlich, bis sich in den Abendstunden, wie es offiziell heißt, sporadisch „kriminelle Elemente“ einmischten, Geschäfte plünderten, Drogen und Alkohol aus einer Zollstation raubten und unter den Augen einer zu strikter Zurückhaltung veranlassten Polizei als Straßenvandalen marodierten. In Tanger waren es Hooligans aus dem Fußballstadion, die sich nach einem Spiel der Menge anschlossen. In Al Hoceima wurden nach einem Brandanschlag auf eine Bankfiliale fünf noch nicht identifizierte verkohlte Leichname gefunden. Waren es Angestellte oder Bankräuber? Das verdüsterte das Bild eines „Tages der Würde“, der Marokko eigentlich von seiner liberalen Seite zeigen sollte. Weiter lesen und einen Beitrag abgeben >>> Von Leo Wieland, Tanger | Samstag, 26. Februar 2011
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Internal and international pressure is mounting on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to stand down from power as protests continue against his 42-year rule.
Within the country, anti-government protesters said the demonstrations were gaining support, and footage believed to be filmed on Friday appeared to show soldiers in uniform joining the protesters.
The footage showed soldiers being carried on the shoulders of demonstrators in the city of Az Zawiyah, after having reportedly turned against the government - a scene activists said is being repeated across the country.
Al Jazeera, however, is unable to independently verify the content of the video, which was obtained via social networking websites.
Our correspondent in Libya reported on Friday that army commanders in the east who had renounced Gaddafi's leadership had told her that military commanders in the country's west were also beginning to turn against him.
They warned, however, that the Khamis Brigade, an army special forces brigade that is loyal to the Gaddafi family and is equipped with sophisticated weaponry, is currently still fighting anti-government forces.
Our correspondent, who cannot be named for security reasons, said that despite the gains, people are anxious about what Gaddafi might do next, and the fact that his loyalists were still at large. (+ video) >>> Al Jazeera and agencies | Saturday, February 26, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain, France and the United Nations rallied together on Friday in an international push to punish the Gaddafi regime after reports that gunmen had fired into crowds of marching protesters.Shots were fired at demonstrators marching through the streets of Tripoli in a final push against their leader following Friday prayers.
According to one unconfirmed report by a resident five people were killed in the district of Janzour, where there has been a particularly heavy security presence.
Colonel Gaddafi appeared in Tripoli's Green Square shortly after the attacks pledging to arm civilian supporters and calling on Libyans to get ready to fight for "dignity" and for "petrol".UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that the ongoing attacks could amount to "crimes against humanity".
The UN Security Council in New York discussed a number of sanctions proposed by Britain and France including a total arms embargo, freezing of assets and travel bans on government figures. The plan would also see the International Criminal Court begin investigating the Libyan government's attacks on protesters and consider indicting senior figures for crimes against humanity.
British diplomats said they were hopeful that "the usual UN timetable would not prevail". One added: "The urgency of this situation will be brought to bear. Read on and comment >>> Jon Swaine, New York and Bruno Waterfield | Saturday, February 26, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: • SAS on standby to rescue trapped Britons • Leader says Libya will be 'red with fire'
British officials are contacting senior Libyan regime figures directly to persuade them to desert Muammar Gaddafi or face trial alongside him for crimes against humanity, the Guardian has learned.
With SAS troops and paratroopers on standby to rescue an estimated 150 Britons at workplaces in the Libyan desert, contingency measures were being drawn up to close the British embassy in Tripoli to pre-empt possible reprisals.
But the Foreign Office denied reports that the embassy would be closed as soon as this weekend. "We will react to the situation as it unfolds on the ground. If it gets too dangerous for our people to be there, of course we will pull them out of there. But are we planning to close the embassy down? No," a spokesman said. The US said it was closing its embassy in Tripoli as well as imposing limited unilateral sanctions on Libya.
The foreign secretary, William Hague, urged Britons still in Tripoli to board the last UK-sponsored chartered flight out of the capital at first light. He said HMS Cumberland would return to Benghazi on Sunday to pick up any remaining Britons there, but added that those in the desert remained Britain's biggest worry. All options were being considered, he said.
There were reports that two RAF helicopters had arrived in Malta in what may be the next stage of preparations to airlift some UK oil workers.
Britain's direct warnings to Libyan officials coincided with a joint British and French draft UN security council resolution the Libyan leadership to face war crimes prosecutions at the international criminal court for attacks on protesters. The resolution also called for travel bans and asset freezes for Libya's leaders.
Gaddafi showed no sign of heeding the warnings. Reports said that gunmen in cars in the capital, Tripoli, opened fire on protesters as they emerged from Friday prayers.
Nearby, in Green Square, the Libyan leader made another defiant televised appearance, promising to arm his supporters. "Retaliate against them, retaliate against them," he told a crowd of loyalists from the ramparts of a crusader fort overlooking the square. "Dance, sing and prepare. Prepare to defend Libya, to defend the oil, dignity and independence."
Wearing a fur-lined cap and sunglasses, and flanked by bodyguards, Gaddafi declared: "At the suitable time we will open the arms depot so all Libyans and tribes become armed, so that Libya becomes red with fire." >>> Patrick Wintour and Julian Borger | Friday, February 25, 2011
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