Sunday, March 6, 2011

Map - Libya Mar7




Libya revolt as it happened: Sunday

  • The fighting between forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi and rebels continues, with reports of battles centring mainly on the coastal strip between the rebel-held oil town of Ras Lanuf and the Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte to the west.
  • Early on Sunday, Libyan state TV claimed that Col Gaddafi's forces had made big gains against rebel forces, taking back Zawiya, Ras Lanuf, Misrata and even Tobruk in the far east. It said gunfire ringing out across the capital Tripoli was celebratory
  • But correspondents on the ground questioned those claims, with BBC reporters confirming that Ras Lanuf and Tobruk remained in rebel hands
  • All times in GMT
2054 In a telephone interview with BBC World News, Misrata resident Mohammed says that rebel forces in the city defeated pro-Gaddafi troops in Sunday's fighting, and that those defending the city will fight "to the last man and the last bullet".
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2051 Shadi Hamid, Director of Research at the Brookings Doha Center tweets: "Rebels are also calling for no-fly zone so we agree on that. Foreign strikes may be needed to take out Qaddafi air defenses"
2047 The UN has demanded "urgent access" to the rebel city of Misrata, which has come under heavy shelling by government forces and where a UN envoy said the "injured and dying" needed immediate help, AFP reports. 
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2029 Ibn Omar tweets: "#tripoli: shootings starting up again. sounds of running and gunfire near #greensquare area. #libya"
2020 In the east, troops backed by helicopter gunships have attacked the coastal towns of Bin Jawad and Ras Lanuf, recently captured by the rebels. In the west, some of the heaviest fighting was in the city of Misrata, some 200km from the capital, Tripoli. Residents say government troops forced their way into the city centre using tanks and artillery, but were then pushed out again by the rebels
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2013 Libyan TNC, which describes itself as the account of the Libyan Interim Transitional National Counciltweets: "The Council asked the UN to acceptance of Mr Shalegm as libya's representative at the international organisation 
1956The rebels defending Bin Jawad would certainly welcome an international no-fly zone. "We only want planes, but we want nothing else," one told the Associated Press. "They should only come in with planes, but we don't want them to come into our country with troops on the ground." Another said: "We ask European countries for just one thing: to enforce a no-fly zone and block passage by sea. That's it. We only ask for this."
1952Nineteen people including a two-year-old girl were killed by Gaddafi forces at Misrata today, an eyewitness called Mohamed told the BBC. The fighting lasted nine hours, he said. Government forces finally "ran away like rats, leaving behind their jeeps and armoured vehicles"
1930One of the rebels fighting on the outskirts of Bin Jawad has this message for Col Gaddafi: "This dog, this tyrant, we want him to hear us, this tyrant. God willing, we will not leave him, we are going to kill him. We are coming for him."
1808 In the east, troops backed by helicopter gunships have attacked the coastal towns of Bin Jawad and Ras Lanuf, recently captured by the rebels. In the west, some of the heaviest fighting was in the city of Misrata, some 200km from the capital, Tripoli. Residents say government troops forced their way into the city centre using tanks and artillery, but were then pushed out again by the rebels.
1752The BBC's Jon Leyne in Benghazi says the British diplomatic incident is "an embarrassing miscalculation by the British government, obviously unaware of the reaction likely to be provoked in this tense situation by a group of armed men arriving on a helicopter in the dead of night".
1737 Libya's rebel council tells a news conference in Benghazi that all cities in the east of the country remain liberated, Reuters reports.
1716Libya's rebel-appointed council says its forces in Zawiya and Misrata have fought off Col Gaddafi's troops and that the cities are "liberated", Reuters reports.
1634A doctor at a hospital in Misrata tells Reuters that at least 18 people have been killed in fighting between rebels and government forces there, with many wounded.
1557A resident in Misrata gives more details to Reuters of the rebels' success in driving back government forces saying: "The revolutionaries captured 20 soldiers and seized a tank. The town is now fully in the control of the youths."
1553The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office says HMS Cumberland has now left Benghazi.
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e-mail sent in by reader
Ahmed in Zawiya writes: "We see Gaddafi forces here patrolling the city and are afraid to move out of the house. We can still hear some gunfire in the neighbourhood. Only God can help us."
1533 Now Reuters is quoting a resident of Misrata as saying the rebels have repelled an attack by regime forces on the town.
1522And LibyaInMe also tweets: "CONFIRMED: #Gaddafi's men backed out of Misrata. 10 killed incl. a 2 yr. 10 of Gaddafi's men have been detained. #feb17 #libya."
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1520 LibyanYouthMovement tweets: "We are getting reports from Misrata that the city is free and they have captured some of the pro gaddafi forces #Libya #Feb17."
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1432 Rebels in east Libya have regrouped and are moving back towards Bin Jawad after forces loyal to Col Gaddafi ambushed and ejected them from the town earlier in the day, a witness just outside Bin Jawad told Reuters. "There's a steady stream of rebels heading back west towards Bin Jawad."
1417 A Libyan expat who lives in Wales tells the BBC he spoke to his mother in Zawiya on Saturday night. The city was under rebel control but surrounded by pro-Gaddafi forces, he said, who were using heavy artillery and "shooting randomly at peaceful protesters and innocent people on the streets, in what they call daily 'hit and run' attacks. Two of my cousins were shot yesterday. One of them is OK but we remain worried about the other one. Two teenagers were also reportedly chased by pro-Gaddafi thugs and hanged in public - just as an example, to put fear into the hearts of the city's people."
1412 The White House says tapping into strategic oil reserves is one option being considered to ease soaring energy prices, reports Reuters.