LIVE Libyan Unrest: October 3, 2011

Posted on October 3, 2011 by S050

We are tracking the latest developments to keep you updated on the situation on the ground. There are interactive maps located in the Protest map page to keep up with the latest movements. Also check out the featured twitters on the sidebar. On the Go? Follow us on Twitter @Feb17Libya for Live updates and discussion.
All updates are in Libyan local time (GMT +2)

4:25pm: Libyan interim government’s forces captured the district of Bouhadi in Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte on Monday, a Reuters reporter there said.

4:20pm: Oil and gas group OMV said on Monday that its first cargo of condensate from Libya since March had been delivered to the port of Trieste. Vienna-based OMV bought the 575,000 barrels of condensate two weeks ago from Libya`s Arabian Gulf Oil company (AGOCO). It will be used in OMV’s Schwechat refinery for fuel production.

4:15pm: After nearly three weeks of siege, residents of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s coastal hometown Sirte say their supplies are running low, while the sick and injured lack adequate medical care. One nurse said her injured brother could not reach the hospital because of the violence, and a Red Cross team was unable to get there on Saturday. Some fleeing families readily admit their loyalty to Gaddafi, though fighters for the National Transitional Council appear to be allowing them to leave after searching for weapons. They say loyalist volunteers are responsible for holding out against NTC forces.

2:05pm: Head of National Oil Company (NOC) told Petroleum Economist that oil production has already reached 350,000 barrels a day (b/d) and will jump in the next week as the Sharara oilfield in the country’s southwest comes back on stream, NOC chairman Nuri Berruien said in Tripoli.Swiftly rising production will also boost sales to foreign markets. Berruien said exports would reach 400,000 b/d by mid-October.

2:00pm: A Red Cross convoy trying to take medical supplies into Libya’s besieged city of Sirte had to turn back on Monday because forces seeking to capture the city from fighters loyal to Muammar Gaddafi opened fire on the town.

1:30pm: 6 injured Libyans were flown to Malta for treatment on Saturday night, including a dangerously critical three-year-old boy with a brain injury who is being cared for at the Intensive Therapy Unit at Mater Dei Hospital. The other five, including an eight-year-old boy, are recovering at Saint James Hospital, where other seriously injured but not critical patients are being treated.

1:00pm: Libyan fighters expect to launch a final assault on Sirte – one of the last bastions of Gaddafi resistance. A two-day ceasefire has come to an end, with large numbers of civilians fleeing the Gaddafi stronghold over the weekend. RAF jets struck a series of targets in Sirte to stop the former dictator’s forces targeting civilians trying to escape. formation of Tornado GR4s used Paveway guided bombs to destroy a supply base for some of Gaddafi’s anti-aircraft artillery weapons used to target civilian areas. An armed pick-up truck was also hit in a separate mission using Brimstone missiles.

12:30pm: The rebels’ Transitional National Council (TNC), with the help of its international supporters, ‘urgently needs to set up a justice system able to provide prompt judicial review of all detainees, a task that has not been given sufficiently high priority’, the New York-based group said.

12:00pm: Muammar Gaddafi’s son, al-Saadi, denied allegations of corruption and intimidation and called Interpol’s decision to put him on the equivalent of its most-wanted list political, according to an email. Al-Saadi Gaddafi is under house arrest in Libyan neighbour Niger, where he fled after Tripoli fell to revolutionary forces.

11:30am: A slate of Cabinet ministers for Libya’s emerging government was finalized Sunday, two spokesmen for the National Transitional Council said. The names of those in the new Cabinet are expected to be released soon, said the spokesmen, who declined to be named.

11:02am: At least three positions have now been assigned in Libya’s interim cabinet.