@doekenburgMichiel Norp
@FromJoanne :"Sudanese move north of border had not encountered resistance from TROOPS LOYAL TO ..GADDAFI" So the #kufra story is wrong!
FromJoanne JoanneBorn in Indonesia Spent best years in Sultanate of Oman Lost my heart to Egypt and not too long ago my home was on The Hadbah Road Tripoli Libya
PeterClifford1 Peter Clifford
#Libya #Sudan army in #Kufra, SE Libya, intentions not clear but maybe oil support for NTC against #Gaddafi. http://bit.ly/PCOLibya
GADDAFI THREATENS TO ATTACK EUROPE:
SUDANESE IN SOUTHERN OIL TOWN:
In a telephone message yesterday relayed through loudspeakers, Colonel Gaddafi addressed a large number of his supporters, numbering several thousand, who had assembled in an organised demonstration in Green Square, Tripoli.
The true size of the demonstation is not clear but the organisers attempted to emulate scenes of pro- Assad demonstrations in Syria by carrying a very long green flag.
With his usual defiance and inflated rhetoric, Gaddafi threatened European countries with attack unless they stopped bombing Libya.
“We advise you to retreat before you face a catastrophe…If we decide to, we are able to move to Europe like locusts, like bees….We can also move [the war] to Europe, to target your homes, offices, families, which would be legitimate military targets, like you targeted our homes.”
Pro-Gaddafi Demonstrators in Green Square
Repeating his warnings that Libya would “take revenge” he advised NATO and Europe to “ground your planes … and to hold discussions with the Libyan people.”
He also told his supporters to march on Misrata and on to the Nafusa mountain range to “seize the weapons that the French have supplied.”
As if underlying Gaddafi’s resilience, the Opposition advance around Bir al-Ghanam has been met with a barrage of Grad missiles, forcing the freedom fighters to retreat to earlier positons at Bir-Ayyad, a major cross roads in the foothills of the Nafusa range.
NATO’s response was an attack on Tripoli in the area of Gaddafi’s compound just 2 hours after Gaddafi’s speech.
NATO also issued a statement saying that it has intensified its strikes on Libya, hitting 50 military targets in the area between Misrata, Nafusa and the Tunisian border since 27th June.
In the fighting around Gharyan NATO has hit 8 miltary targets in the last 4 days, including a military complex used to resupply Gaddafi’s forces. This is in addtion to the underground bunker complex destroyed previously at Wadi Turghut.
At an African Union meeting in Equatorial Guinea African leaders decided that their members will not execute the ICC warrant issued for Gaddafi’s arrest on the grounds that it “seriously complicates” attempts to find a negotiated settlement in Libya.
Interesting report and video from Al Jazeera about a man that has escaped from Tripoli and returned to his damaged home (and brave cat!) in Misrata.
The man recorded NATO raids on Gaddafi’s compound and attacks on anti-Gaddafi demonstrators in Tripoli, on his mobile phone.
He says that it took him 3 attempts to escape Tripoli as men between the ages of 20 to 40 are not allowed to leave. To view the report click HERE:
There is also a report in yesterday’s London Telegraph that the Sudanese army has crossed its border with Libya and taken control of the town of Kufra and the military base there.
This area is strategically important to the NTC as it contains large oil reserves and an oil field infrastructure.
It is not clear what Sudan’s intentions are, as they are currently making a grab for oil territory on the boders of South Sudan which is due to become fully independent from the north this month.
Gaddafi’s forces regularly attack the oil fields in this area in order to prevent the NTC pumping oil toTobruk, oil which they desperately need to earn revenue to support Benghazi and their war against Gaddafi.
Kufra's Irrigated Fields Can Be Seen from Space
Some reports therefore suggest the Sudanese intervention is in support of the NTC in order to prevent the Libyan Government attacks but this is as yet unclear and unconfirmed.
As far as is known the desert town remains firmly in the hands of the NTC Opposition. Satellite survellance reports that so far no attempt has been made to remove oil across the border to Sudan.
