NEWS FROM LIBYA FRAGMEMNTED
by L. S. Carbonell
The news blackout in Tripoli is continuing, with private citizens making contact with the outside world the only source of information. Foreign journalists are slowly making their way towards Tripoli from the Egyptian border, passing through town after town in the hands of the Libyan rebels. Though some journalists have met “hard stares” from some of the rebels, the reception for them has been mostly enthusiastic. The Libyans want the outside world to know what is going on.
The few reports getting out of Tripoli are indicating a death toll in the hundreds, if not thousands from Col. Qaddafi’s crackdown on the rebels. Two Air Force pilots are alleged to have parachuted from their planes after being told to bomb the city, allowing their planes to crash on the outskirts.
The rebels have taken the country’s third-largest city, Misrata, 120 miles east of Tripoli and the city of al Zawiya, less than 30 miles to the west, There have been no verified reports of casualties in either battle.
Foreign journalists who have entered Libya “without permission” have been accused of being al Qaida collaborators by the Libyan regime, while various al Qaida groups are divided about support for the rebels and the regime.
President Obama is taking a cautious position in this because there are so many foreigners still stranded in Libya and if foreign leaders become too vocal in their support of the rebels, there is a real possibility that Qaddafi could order his mercenaries to attack the Tripoli airport and port where they are awaiting evacuation. It could turn into a hostage situation. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has pleaded with the international community not to impose sanctions against Libya because they would hurt the Libyan people.
Qaddafi has placed a phone call to Libyan state television on Thursday evening, claiming that the rebellion is being incited by both al Qaida and the United States and is the work of “trigger-happy, drug-addled youths.” He also accused Egypt of fomenting the rebellion. He continues to insist that he will not be removed except by death. Many of his ministers have defected. Much of the army has defected. He is relying on paid sub-Saharan mercenaries and local thugs to carry out his orders for the total destruction of the rebellion in Tripoli.
One of Qaddafi’s private pilots, Norwegian Odd Birger Johansen, flew with his wife and daughter to Vienna. Qaddafi had four private planes and pilots. There are reports that Qaddafi’s only daughter has also been flown out of the Libya. His adopted daughter was killed in the 1980’s air strike by American bombers. The only member of Qaddafi’s family that might oppose him is younger son Seif al-Islam, who had been trying to implement economic reforms in the country before the rebellion began. The rest of his sons have been characterized by Western journalists and diplomats as being just as crazy as Daddy.
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