The latest report from Voices of Feb 17 from on the ground in Az Zawiya indicates that while there are "plenty of Gaddafi troops" holding positions outside the city, the main square is still under the control of anti-government forces. The activist who left this audio message called Libyan state media reports that Gaddafi loyalists had taken the city as "the biggest lie".
Muammar Gaddafi's government has requested that senior diplomat Ali Abdussalam Treki be recognised as Libya's new ambassador to the United Nations. A letter has been sent regarding the request to Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general. The government has also asked for the diplomatic credentials of Mohamed Shalgham, the current ambassador, and Ibrahim Dabbashi, the deputy ambassador, to be revoked. Martin Nesirky, a spokesman for Ban, said that any UN member state had the right to name its permanent representative, and that the UN would respect that right.Treki has earlier served in the post three times, and was also president of the UN general assembly session which ended last August.
