The Libyan Children are crying! – The work of NORTH ATLANTIC TERROR ORGANIZATION – NATO propaganda machine would never broad cast these pictures of terror.
Tag: Libyan operation
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U.S. presses ‘full NATO member’ Turkey to join air attacks on Libya
WASHINGTON — The United States is urging Turkey to join NATO attacks missions on Libya.
Officials said the administration of President Barack Obama has sent messages that urged Turkey to join combat air missions against the regime of Col. Moammar Gadhafi. They said the messages have come from the Defense Department and State Department as part of a U.S.-led drive to intensify military pressure on Gadhafi.“Turkey is a full member of NATO and must assume such obligations,” an official said. “It wants to be a leader in the Middle East, and this is a test of leadership.”
On June 8, NATO and Arab League representatives met in the United Arab Emirates to discuss the future of the war against Gadhafi. Officials said the representatives agreed that the NATO mission, begun in March and joined by at least two Arab states, could not continue indefinitely and must end with Gadhafi’s ouster.
Officials said Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have been pressing Turkey to join air combat operations over Libya. So far, the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has kept Turkey in a support role, including allowing NATO to plan operations from its base in Izmir.
“Turkey could begin air operations under the NATO umbrella almost immediately,” another official said. “It has the assets and means of coordination.”
At the same time, NATO has intensified bombing of the Libyan capital of Tripoli, the command and control headquarters of the Gadhafi regime. Officials said NATO was employing a mix of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft to destroy regime facilities.
via U.S. presses ‘full NATO member’ Turkey to join air attacks on Libya.
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Gaddafi should step down
Turkey wants Moammar Gaddafi to step down as the ruler of Libya, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, in the wake of discussions with both Libyan government officials and representatives of the opposition.
* (Photo: Reuters)<br>Libyan doctors attend a demonstration in front of Turkish embassy in Benghazi
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(Photo: Reuters)
Libyan doctors attend a demonstration in front of Turkish embassy in Benghazi
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“We are not in favor of the Gaddafi family’s rule continuing in Libya. A new administration should be set up in line with the Libyan people’s demands,” an official from the Turkish Foreign Ministry told the Hürriyet Daily News, a Turkish newspaper based in Ankara.
On Tuesday, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met Mahmoud Jibril, a leader of Libyan opposition member, in Qatar to discuss a possible ceasefire in Libya.
“We are looking for common ground, a starting point but both sides [in the Libyan conflict] have lots of objections,” a Turkish official said. “Our efforts aim to achieve an immediate truce, then a political negotiation between the parties and a new administration that will take power following an election.”
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The prior day, Davutoglu met with Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi, with a message that Gaddafi wanted to end the civil war,
Separately, Turkish officials told Jibril that they were dismayed by anti-Turkish protests in Benghazi, Libya.
Rebel forces attacked the Turkish consulate in that city, and demanded the lowering of the Turkish flag. Protesters also blasted Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a “persona non grata.”
Last week, Erdogan insisted that Libyan rebels should not be armed by NATO.
Protesters in Benghazi chanted, “The revolutionaries want arms,” “Erdoğan don’t be blithe, look at Misrata” and “Erdoğan, don’t talk to Gaddafi.”
“The protestors are saying that Erdogan disappointed them and are urging him to take his place alongside the Libyan revolutionaries,” said Turkish Consul Ali Davutoğlu.
Turkey’s former ambassador to Libya, Ömer Şölendil, was sent to Benghazi by Erdoğan to consult with Mustafa Abdul Jalil, head of the rebel group Transitional National Council.
“Jibril also expressed regret over the protests and said they could not control all the groups in Benghazi,” a Turkish official said.
Meanwhile, Turkey has taken control of the Benghazi airport in order to facilitate conduct humanitarian relief missions in Libya.
On Tuesday, two Turkish airplanes carried more than 500 wounded Libyans to Turkey for medical treatment.
via Gaddafi should step down: Turkey – International Business Times.
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Turkey pursues its Libya mediation efforts despite setbacks – The National
Thomas Seibert
Last Updated: Apr 7, 2011
ISTANBUL // Faced with anti-Turkish demonstrations in Benghazi and a stubbornness to enter talks from the warring sides in Libya, Turkey is soldiering on with mediation attempts to end the conflict in the north African nation. But the government in Ankara is showing signs of frustration with the lack of progress.
Turkey has invested much work and prestige into its efforts to find a political solution to the military confrontation between Colonel Muammar Qaddafi and the opposition in Libya, arguing that the use of soft power will prove to be more efficient than western air strikes.
Turkish officials, after weeks of trying to bring the Qaddafi camp and the opposition together, have expressed disappointment about the lack of common ground between the two sides.
Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, told reporters accompanying him on a trip through several Middle Eastern countries that Turkey is pursuing a three-fold strategy in Libya, according to news reports yesterday.
via Turkey pursues its Libya mediation efforts despite setbacks – The National.
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Turkey Plays Mediator in Libya Crisis
By MARC CHAMPION
ISTANBUL—The Libyan regime and leaders of the rebel opposition are each offering proposals on how to reach a cease-fire in the Arab nation’s conflict, a Turkish official said Monday, as an envoy from Col. Moammar Gadhafi arrived in Ankara for talks.
Libya’s rebel government in Benghazi has indicated it also will visit Ankara to discuss a possible cease-fire, in the wake of Monday’s visit by Deputy Foreign Minister Abdelati al-Obeidi, the Turkish official said. No date for the visit had been set, he said.
Mr. Obeidi, deputy to recently defected Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, wasn’t carrying any personal message from Col. Gadhafi, according to the official, countering speculation in Turkish media that terms for Col. Gadhafi’s exit from Libya might be under negotiation. Others have cautioned the visit by Libya’s official could be another delay tactic by Col. Gadhafi as he presses with an offensive against the rebels on the ground.
In a news conference following the decision by Italy to recognize the governing body of rebel forces as Libya’s sole “legitimate interlocutor,” the country’s foreign minister said the offer by Col. Gadhafi’s envoy was “not credible.”
Italy became the third country to recognize the rebel group, after France and Qatar, as Rome seeks a way to re-establish its access to Libyan oil and natural gas. Speaking at a news conference after meeting with Ali al-Essawi, the foreign envoy of the rebel-backed Libyan National Transitional Council, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Italy planned to send an envoy to Libya in the coming days. He also said Italy is also seeking to send medical supplies and other aid to the embattled Libyan city of Misrata.
Rome’s support is a boost to rebel forces, because Italy is Libya’s biggest trading partner and the biggest buyer of the North African country’s oil and natural-gas supplies.
Mr. Frattini said Paolo Scaroni, chief executive of Italian oil giant Eni Spa, recently traveled to Benghazi to meet with council members and discuss plans to revive the oil company’s operations in Libya. But a foreign ministry spokesman said Mr. Scaroni spoke to council members over the phone without traveling to Benghazi, adding that Mr. Frattini had misspoken. An Eni spokesman declined to comment.
U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague said Monday that the first meeting of the political ‘Contact Group’ on Libya that was agreed at the London Conference last week will take place next week in Doha, Qatar.
Mr. Hague told the U.K. Parliament that while Britain is not arming opposition forces it is prepared to supply “non-lethal equipment” and will be supplying the Interim Transitional National Council with telecommunications equipment.
Mr. Hague also said that since Thursday a total of 701 sorties and 276 strike sorties have been conducted over Libya.
Rebel forces on Monday took back much of Brega, a strategic oil town that has repeatedly changed hands over weeks of fighting with Col. Gadhafi’s forces, the Associated Press reported. Women and children were seen fleeing the coastal town as the battle raged.
In Turkey, Mr. Obeidi arrived by coincidence as North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen was in the capital. Mr. Rasmussen spent an hour each in talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
Turkey has been a reluctant supporter of Western military intervention in Libya, and its leaders were furious at being initially sidelined by the Western allies from decision-making. Turkish officials were tight-lipped about the content of Monday’s discussions. A spokesman for Mr. Erdogan said the talks with Mr. Rasmussen concerned “how to bring peace to Libya in line with United Nations Security Council resolutions 1970 and 1973.”
The resolutions, adopted in February and March, imposed sanctions on the Libyan regime and called for a cease-fire, while also imposing an arms embargo, a no-fly zone and a mandate to use “all necessary means” to protect civilians.
In a statement to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Davutoglu called he Libya talks with Mr. Rasmussen “extensive,” but focused his remarks on Turkey’s efforts to evacuate the wounded from Misrata and fromBenghazi.
According to Mr. Davutoglu, Turkey had been trying for a week to dock a ship in Misrata, but succeeded in getting security pledges from both sides only on Friday. The ship docked in Misrata on Saturday, and collected 250 wounded there before receiving more in Benghazi. It was expected to arrive in Turkey on Tuesday with a total of about 475 passengers, Mr. Davutoglu said.
Turkey is taking a leading role in the humanitarian side of the NATO operation and is active in enforcing a UN-imposed arms embargo, but not the no-fly zone. Turkey is a NATO member and has the alliance’s second largest military.
From makeshift beds inside the cruise-ship-turned-hospital, dozens of men, many nursing gunshot wounds and missing limbs, lay on thin mats in the ship’s hull, speaking of brutal government attacks and young rebels struggling to fend them off, according to the AP.
Mohammed Abu Libous, 37, said he and seven relatives were working in a bakery on the outskirts of Misrata, rebel forces’ last major stronghold in western Libya, when about 20 of Col. Gadhafi troops entered in three tanks and started harassing local residents, the AP reported.
They entered his shop and told him and his brother to surrender their weapons. When they said they had none, the troops took them out in the street. They shot his brother through the stomach and him once in each thigh, he said.
“While I was on the ground bleeding, they bound the others and took them away,” he said, adding that the troops stole all their money, cell phones and rings.
Misrata, 125 miles southeast of the capital Tripoli, was one of two western cities that rose up early in the revolt against Col. Gadhafi. His elite forces besieged Misrata for weeks, cutting off food and water supplies and power lines, but the rebels have stood their ground.
After initially dismissing the prospect of NATO military intervention as “nonsense,” Mr. Erdogan has since pushed for the alliance to take over control of the U.S.- and French-led no-fly zone, suggesting that some countries involved were more concerned about securing oil supplies than in the plight of Libyan civilians.
Mr. Obeidi visited Greece on Sunday, and will travel from Ankara to Malta, delivering the same ideas in each place, according to the Turkish official. He said Turkey would listen to what the Libyan had to say rather than entering into any immediate negotiation. All three countries have been traditionally friendly to the Libyan regime.
In Greece, Mr. Obeidi met with Prime Minister George Papandreou. The Turkish official said Mr. Obeidi wouldn’t meet with Mr. Erdogan but with the foreign ministry.
—Stacy Meichtry in Rome and Alistair MacDonald in London contributed to this article.
Write to Marc Champion at marc.champion@wsj.com
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Libya: Turkish ship rescues injured from Misrata
Misrata evacuees share their stories with the BBC’s Christian Fraser
4 April 2011 Last updated at 04:25 GMT
Libya: Turkish ship rescues injured from Misrata
Misrata evacuees share their stories with the BBC’s Christian Fraser
Continue reading the main storyLibya Crisis
- As it happened: Friday
- Frontline hospital
- How war is being funded
- Challenges facing coalition
A Turkish humanitarian ship carrying more than 250 injured people from the Libyan city of Misrata has arrived in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
Misrata, the only city in the west still controlled by the rebels, has been under siege by forces loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi for several weeks.
Doctors on board the ship said many people had extremely serious injuries.
Meanwhile, the eastern oil town of Brega has seen continued fighting between rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces.
A BBC correspondent says an uneasy stalemate is developing.
Continue reading the main story“Start Quote
We have no water, no electricity. We don’t have medicine. There are snipers everywhere”
End Quote Ibrahim al-Aradi Injured Misrata resident
Government troops are reported to be holding ground near its university, but are reluctant to engage rebels because of the risk of Nato air strikes.
The poorly armed and disorganised rebel forces are unable or unwilling to push on towards Brega and are calling for more help from the West.
Libya’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Abdul Ati al-Obeidi, has told the Greek prime minister that Col Gaddafi wants the fighting to end.
“From the Libyan envoy’s comments it appears that the regime is seeking a solution,” Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas told reporters.
Mr Droutsas said Athens had stressed the international community’s call for Libya to comply with UN Security Council resolution 1973, which authorised military intervention to protect civilians.
The Libyan envoy would be going on to Turkey on Monday and then Malta to continue his diplomatic contacts, he added.
Amputations
Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, ordered the Ankara, a car ferry that had been turned into a makeshift hospital, into Misrata on Sunday after it had spend four days waiting for permission to dock.
Twelve-year-old Muhammad was peppered with shrapnel when a rocket exploded near himThe ship, which was also carrying medical supplies for doctors in Misrata, arrived under cover from 10 Turkish F-16 fighter jets and two navy frigates, Turkish consular official Ali Akin told the Reuters news agency.
With heavily armed Turkish police special forces standing by, the injured people were taken aboard and laid on mattresses on one of the car decks, above which saline drips were hung. Some were accompanied by their relatives.
Mr Akin said the ship had to leave early after a large crowd – including hundreds of Egyptians – pressed forward on the quayside hoping to escape.
The BBC’s Jon Leyne, who went on board the Ankara, says many of the patients have extremely serious injuries, including some amputations.
One man lost part of his leg in an explosion as he was taking his wife into hospital for treatment. A 13-year-old boy described how he was shot by a sniper. A 12 year old was peppered with shrapnel when a rocket exploded near him when he and his brother were on their way to the market.
Mohammed Muftah, who had shrapnel wounds on his legs, back and neck, said Col Gaddafi’s troops had “killed entire families”.
“I have a neighbour who lost his wife and his three children,” he told the AFP news agency. “They did it just to terrorise people.”
Our correspondent says everyone had stories of the ever worsening conditions in Misrata. They told him that much of the city had no water or electricity and no-one was safe from shelling or sniper-fire.
As the ship arrived in Benghazi several hundred rebel supporters waved and cheered on the quayside“It is very, very bad. In my street, Gaddafi bombed us,” Ibrahim al-Aradi, who had wounds in his groin, told Reuters. “We have no water, no electricity. We don’t have medicine. There are snipers everywhere.”
Doctors on board say medical care conditions Misrata were inadequate, and that more than 200 people had been killed and hundreds more wounded. One unconfirmed report said 160 may have died this week.
At least one person was killed and several wounded early on Sunday when government forces shelled a building in Misrata, a resident told Reuters.
As the ship arrived in Benghazi several hundred rebel supporters waiting on the quayside chanted: “The blood of martyrs is spilled for freedom.”
The Ankara would pick up about 100 more wounded before setting sail for the Turkish port of Cesme, where the casualties would be treated in a well-equipped, well-supplied, modern hospital, officials said.
Stalemate
To the east of Benghazi, government troops continued to hold ground near the university in Brega, trading rocket and artillery fire with the rebels.
The BBC’s Orla Guerin reports on the stalemate developing near Brega
The rebel Transitional National Council has appealed for new Nato air strikes, as well as weapons and military training to be provided by foreign governments.
They have acknowledged that rebel fighters firing in the air through lack of discipline could have provoked the Nato air strike on a rebel convoy on Friday, which left at least 13 people dead.
The rebel military commanders say they are trying to bring a new professionalism to its military campaign. Road blocks have been set up close to the frontline and only soldiers with at least some training are allowed through.
Iman Bugaighis, a spokeswoman for the rebel council, told the BBC: “We have reorganised our troops. Now the army is in the front and then followed by our volunteers who are fighting with the army.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa meanwhile called for a swift end to the conflict, even if it meant offering Col Gaddafi safe haven in another country.
