Libya Feb21

February 21

6:49 am Shortly after Seif Gaddafi, the son of Libya's longtime leader, warned in a Sunday-night speech that the country would descend into "civil war" if protests continued, a Libyan American spoke with his brother in Tripoli, who described - over the sound of heavy gunfire - the intense combat that has broken out in the capital, where anti-government protesters were attacked after taking the main square.

6:46 am A caller from Libya describes the forces that have shot at protesters in Tripoli's "Green Square" as "the special militia that is guarding Gaddafi".

2:00 am Picture from the streets shows Libyans watching Seif Gaddafi address the nation via @ammr




1:50 am Najla Abdurahman, a Libyan dissident, dissected Saif El Islam Gadaffi's address: 

He's threatening Libya and trying to play up on their fears. I don't think anyone in Libya who isn't close to the Gaddafi regime would buy anything he said. And even if there is any truth to what he said, I don't think it's any better than what the people of Libya have already been living with for the past 40 years. He promised that the country would spiral into civil war for the next 30 to 40 years, that the country's infrastructure would be ruined, hospitals and schools would no longer be functioning - but schools are already terrible, hospitals are already in bad condition.

1:00 am: Seif El Islam Gaddafi, the Libyan leader's son, is speaking live on Libyan state television. He says he will address the nation without a written speech, in the Libyan dialect.

He says the media has greatly exaggerated the events in Libya and claimed 14 people have died in Tripoli and 84 in Benghazi. Gaddafi said he regretted the deaths of civilians. He also said unions and Islamic groups are behind the protests and they are benefiting from the situation.

Translated snippets of his speech as he gives it are below:

"Citizens tried to attack the army and they were in a situation that was difficult. The army was not used to dealing with riots," he says.

"Libyan citizens died and this was a tragedy.

"There is a plot against Libya. People want to create a government in Benghazi and others want to have an Islamic emirate in Bayda. All these [people] have their own plots. Of course Arab media hyped this. The fault of the Libyan media is that it did not cover this.

Libya is not like Egypt, it is tribes and clans, it is not a society with parties. Everyone knows their duties and this may cause civil wars. 

Libya is not Tunisia and Egypt. Libya has oil - that has united the whole of Libya.

"I have to be honest with you. We are all armed, even the thugs and the unemployed. At this moment in time, tanks are driven about with civilians. In Bayda you have machine huns right in the middle of the city. Many arms have been stolen.

"No one will come to Libya or do any business with Libya.

"We will call for new media laws, civil rights, lift the stupid punishments, we will have a constitution... We will tomorrow create a new Libya. We can agree on a new national anthem, new flag, new Libya. Or be prepared for civil war. Forget about oil.

"The country will be divided like North and South Korea, we will see each other through a fence. You will wait in line for months for a visa.

"The Libyans who live in Europe and USA, their children go to school and they want you to fight. They are comfortable. They then want to come and rule us and Libya. They want us to kill each other then come, like in Iraq."

12:47 am: As the protests in Libya appear to be spreading to the capital, Tripoli, Libyans abroad are making their voices heard as well. Twitter users @shihabeldin  and @abuzaakouk posted this video from a solidarity rally in front of the White House in the US capital:

12:11 am: Libya's ambassador to China, Hussein Sadiq al Musrati, has just resigned on air with Al Jazeera Arabic. He called on the army to intervene, and has called all diplomatic staff to resign.

He made claims about a gunfight between Gaddafi's sons and also claimed that Gaddafi may have left Libya. Al Jazeera has no confirmation of these claims.

12:01 am: The European Union calls on Libya's government to refrain from using force against peaceful demonstrators and address its people's demands for reform.

February 20

11:59 pm: Lebanese officials say Libya is jamming Lebanese TV stations because of their reporting on the crackdown on protesters in the North African country.

11:54 pm: Further reports suggest the 500,000-strong Tuareg tribe in south Libya has heeded the call from the million-strong Warfala tribe to join the uprising.  Protesters in Ghat and Ubary, home to Libyan Tuareg clans are reportedly attacking government buildings and police stations.

11:25 pm Online reports claim remaining pro-Gaddafi militia in Benghazi, around the Elfedeel Bu Omar compound, "are being butchered by angry mobs".  It is impossible to verify the claims, though Al Jazeera has spoken with several people in the city who say protesters control the city, as security forces flee to the airport.

11:30 pm Al Jazeera spoke to one protester on the phone, amid noisy crowds, who summarised the scene in the capital, Tripoli:

About one hour ago, 1500 to 2,000 people gathered and they blocked all roads and they burned anything owned by the government on the way. They are now burning a picture of the president, which is why the noise is so loud and everybody's happy - there's a woman on the balcony singing and screaming and loving it. 

"We are in Tripoli, there are chants [directed at Gaddafi]: 'Where are you? Where are you? Come out if you're a man.' I believe we are heading toward Green Square, but to be honest, nobody controls these people and we are just going where we want.

"There are no police, no army, no security forces. Everything is blocked off by protesters - and, as we cross the town - where apartment buildings are filled with people who live here - we are picking people up on the way. Everybody has been waiting for this - and it's finally happening.

Al Jazeera asked if Gaddafi was trying to impose a curfew in the city.

"To be honest with you, no-one is listening to anything he says any more. Apparently, the son was meant to come out and give a speech - and everybody said, you know: '42 years too late, mate. It's not going to happen now, we're not going to listen to you, you better make your move.'

Among the crowd, we obviously have people here who are pro-government who are trying to spread rumours. Somebody will say: 'Al Jazeera just said that Gaddafi has run away from Libya,' and so everybody thinks: 'Okay, let's go home,' and then they make some calls and find it's just a marketing campaign or something just to make us go home.

But I don't think anyone's ready to go home. To be honest with you now, I don't think these people are after Gaddafi. More than anything else now, they're after blood."

Al Jazeera: How are protesters co-ordinating? Do you have access to social media networks or the internet?

There is no internet whatsoever - email can be downloaded to offline inboxes, but internet access is down. Skype was working earlier, but I think that has stopped working now.

"As I'm talking to you now, looking left and right, I can see someone is holding a sword, someone else a baseball bat, pieces of wood with nails in it...  People now are coming from the other side. I can see a lot of running right now. I'm not sure where they're headed. Wait, now I can see they are surrounding a car.  We have seen a lot of cars full of Gaddafi supporters driving round in recent days and shooting at random. Now the crowd of people is attacking the car, beating it."

10:30 pm Doctor tells Al Jazeera that mercenaries have reached Tripoli. He says that mercenaries opened fire on protesters, killing four people. He estimates that around 2000 people were demonstrating. He managed to escape.

10:05 pm Libya TV says that Seif el Islam will address the nation tonight . Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, a commentator on Arab affairs and a prolific tweeter, will be tweeting throughout the address. Follow Sultan on twitter.

9:55 pm Libyan envoy to Arab League quits and 'joins revolution' according to Al Jazeera Arabic. It is reported that he has resigned in protests in what he calls a massacre against the Libyan people

9:40 pm  Mohamed, a doctor from Al Jalaa hospital in Benghazi, confirmed to Al Jazeera that members of the military had sided with the protesters.

We are still receiving serious injuries, I can confirm 13 deaths in our hospital. However, the good news is that people are cheering and celebrating outside after receiving news that the army is siding with the people ... but there is still a brigade that is against the demonstrators. For the past three days demonstrators have been shot at by this brigade, called Al-Sibyl brigade.

 
8:15 pm British foreign minister William Hague has spoken to Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the head of the "Gaddafi Human Rights Society".

Hague told Saif Gaddafi the Libyan government's actions "were unacceptable and would result in world-wide condemnation".  He added that the government should "embark on dialogue and implement reforms".

British foreign office also issued updated travel advice, recommending against all but essential travel to Libya, and called on all British nationals "without a pressing need to remain in the country" to leave - by commercial means.

8:05 pm Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker takes a look at the scale of the unrest in the country.


7:55 pm "Anti-government protesters in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi have reportedly seized army vehicles and weapons amid worsening turmoil in the African nation" - Read more here

7:34pm The Libyan appears to have blocked the Al Jazeera signal across the Arab Sat network. But both Al Jazeera English and Arabic appear to have been affected. If so, you can access Al Jazeera English by fixing the following settings:

Nilesat 7W :
Frequency: 12015 Vertical
FEC: 5/6
Symbol rate: 27500

or

Hotbird 13E:
Frequency: 11034 Vertical
FEC: 3/4
Symbol rate: 27500

6:55 pm The cyber activist group/internet hacker group - Anonymous - released press statement that continues to circulate widely on the internet. The group issued a statement of solidarity with the Libyan people. "You are not alone. The world is once again watching. Your brothers and sisters are watching. Anonymous extends its arms to you in solidarity at your time of struggle. Together, we will achieve what you are fighting for and Mankind will be free at last"  

6:40 pm The Libyan Youth Movement post this image (below) on the group's facebook page. The caption reads: "this is the al birka barracks in benghazi, the current last stand and scene of a massacre yesterday"