Thursday, October 20, 2011

#gaddafi "The world is a better place." Gadhafi was holed up with the remnants of his forces in the last few buildings they held in # when Nato bombs hit him Sirte


Wall Street Journal 
Live updates on the capture of Sirte, Libya, and reports that Col. Moammar Gadhafi has been killed:

  • U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said the world should remember Col. Moammer Gadhafi’s victims and said that he was proud of the role Britain had played in bringing about the end of Colonel Gaddafi's regime.
    The U.K. has been one of the largest contributors to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Libyan campaign and Mr. Cameron one of the earliest flag wavers for it.
    Mr. Cameron said it was "a day to remember all of Colonel Gadhafi's victims" including those who died in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Mr. Cameron also talked of Yvonne Fletcher, a policewoman shot outside the Libyan Embassy in London in 1984 and those killed in Irish Republican Army bombings using Libyan-supplied Semtex.
    Mr. Cameron also said the "many, many people" who had died at the hands of "this brutal dictator and his regime" should be remembered.
    (Photo Credit: Reuters)
    • 11:02 am
    • Mitt Romney: ‘World Is a Better Place’
    • by Patrick O’Connor
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    SIOUX CITY, Iowa – GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney welcomed the news that deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi had been killed.

    "It's about time," he told reporters after a campaign stop here this morning. "The world is a better place."
  • Track day-by-day events in countries facing major popular unrest in North Africa and the Middle East.
  • Initial reports from fighters said Gadhafi was holed up with the remnants of his forces in the last few buildings they held in Sirte. At one point, a convoy tried to flee and was blasted by NATO airstrikes. It's not clear if Gadhafi died there or in the buildings.
    • 10:47 am
    • Libyan Prime Minister: Gadhafi Is Dead
    • by Associated Press
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    Libyan Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril saysMoammar Gadhafi has been killed.
    "We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Moammar Gadhafi has been killed," Jibril told a news conference in the capital Tripoli.
    (Photo shows Mr. Jibril on Oct. 19. Credit: Getty Images.)

    • 10:44 am
    • Sen. Mark Kirk: ‘A New Opportunity for Freedom’
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    Sen. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) said in a statement: "Today marks the end of Qadhafi's reign and a new opportunity for freedom, prosperity and a voice in the global community for Libyans. The Administration, especially Secretary Clinton, deserve our congratulations."
    Sen. Kirk, along with GOP Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida recently traveled to Libya to meet with Transitional National Council officials and rebel fighters.  Their Oct. 7 op-ed in the WSJ is here.

    • 10:27 am
    • Misrata Military Council: 'The World Should Rejoice'
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    Misrata Military Council spokesman Fathi Bashagha said, “Gadhafi is dead 100%. I saw his body with my own eyes.” Bashagha said Gadhafi was shot and wounded in Sirte and died in an ambulance on route to Misrata. "Gadhafi’s death is the best news for Libya. The whole world should rejoice.” Bashagha said Libyan officials are taking his body for DNA analysis to confirm identity.

    • 10:24 am
    • NATO Commander Likely to Call for End to Alliance's War
    • by Julian E. Barnes
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    With the end of resistance in the Libyan city of Sirte, the NATO supreme commander will likely recommend an end to the alliance’s air war over the country, according to an alliance official.
    Military officials said they still could not confirm the death of former Libyan leader Col.Moammar Gadhafi.
    But with the transitional government in control of Sirte, the path is open for Adm. James Stavridis, the Supreme Allied Commander, to recommend ending  the NATO campaign, said the alliance official.
    “Because Sirte has fallen and if it is true that Gadhafi has been killed then it is very likely he will make the recommendation,” the official said.
    At a NATO meeting earlier this month, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta outlined several criteria for ending the air war. Officials said killing or capturing Col. Gadhafi was not a war aim or a requirement before ending the air campaign. However, Mr. Panetta said ending the threat to civilians from Col. Gadhafi’s loyalists was important.
    The officials aid concerns still remain about the transitional government’s ability to provide security. Once those questions are answered the recommendation will go to the treaty organization.

  • U.S. official: Libyan leaders have informed the U.S. that Gadhafi is dead.

  • Al Jazeera says it has acquired exclusive footage of the body of Moammar Gadhafi after he was killed. A photograph taken on a mobile phone appeared to show Gadhafi heavily bloodied. The Journal cannot confirm the authenticity of the picture. (WARNING: this is a bloody, graphic photo.)

    • 10:06 am
    • Gadhafi Is 'Definitely Dead'
    • by Keith Johnson
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    Col. Gadhafi is "definitely" dead, said Noman Benotman, a former leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group who has closely followed the Libyan uprising. Mr. Benotman said he understood that Col. Gadhafi was tracked down by rebel forces in Sirte. He said Gadhafi was shot several times and apparently bled to death and that the killing was not a deliberate execution.

    • 10:03 am
    • EU Calls Gadhafi Death End of an Era
    • by Alessandro Torello
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    The reported death of Col. Moammar Gadhafi marks the end of an era of repression and despotism, and opens the way for a new democracy, the top European Union leaders said Thursday.
    "The reported death of Moammar Gadhafi marks the end of an era of despotism and repression from which the Libyan people have suffered for too long. Today, Libya can turn a page in its history and embrace a new democratic future," the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso said in a joint statement.

    • 9:58 am
    • McCain Calls for Support for Libyan People
    • by Siobhan Hughes
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    U.S. Sen. John McCain (R, Ariz.) on Thursday responded to reports that Libyan Col. Moammar Gadhafi had been killed by saying it marked "an end to the first phase of the Libyan revolution," and said the U.S. and other countries should now deepen support for the Libyan people.
    "Now the Libyan people can focus all of their immense talents on strengthening their national unity, rebuilding their economy, proceeding with their democratic transition, and safeguarding the dignity and human rights of all Libyans," McCain said in a statement.
    McCain had visited the rebel stronghold of Benghazi earlier in the conflict with Gadhafi. He has been one of the top Republicans to support U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to intervene in the uprising against the Libyan leader.

  • Libyan officials are calling a news conference in Tripoli with Mahmoud Jibril, the prime minister of the transitional government and the highest-ranking official in the capital now.

    • 9:51 am
    • British Officials Watching Reports
    • by Alistair MacDonald
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    Britain’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office said its officials are actively checking out the reports of Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s capture or death but have no information to give them the confidence to confirm.
    British officials have in the past expressed frustration at the running commentary kept up by the National Transitional Council and its military on Col. Gadhafi’s whereabouts, reports which often soon turned out to be incorrect. Foreign Secretary William Hague has had his fingers burnt on Col. Gadhafi announcements before. The minister once said that he had been told Col. Gadhafi was on his way to Venezuela, after a British diplomat passed on media reports about this supposed escape.
    “We need to be exactly hundred percent sure before we comment,” an FCO spokesman said.
    But we are “actively speaking to people and looking into,” he said.

  • The transitional government summoned journalists for an imminent news conference, but they haven't made an official announcement yet.


  • See more photos of Libyan rebels declaring victory over the last major resistance of the regime led by Moammar Gadhafi.


  • See a timeline of key dates in Col. Gadhafi's 42-year reign.

  • Syria-based Arrai television station, which broadcast a series of defiant audio messages recently by Col. Gadhafi urging his supporters to fight the country's new rulers, said nothing about the news of the ex-leader's possible death or capture. Instead it broadcast patriotic songs glorifying Col. Gadhafi and troops loyal to him.
Posted by Robby Ball at 8:17 AM