BBC Journalists detained, tortured by Gaddafi's troops

The BBC strongly condemns this abusive treatment of our journalists and calls on the Libyan government to ensure all media are able to report freely and are protected from persecution. The safety of our staff is our primary concern especially when they are working in such difficult circumstances and it is essential that journalists working for the BBC, or any media organisation, are allowed to report on the situation in Libya without fear of attack.

2234: Ms Landor adds: "Despite these attacks, the BBC will continue to cover the evolving story in Libya for our audiences both inside and outside the country."

2232: Liliane Landor, Controller of Languages for BBC Global News, says: "The BBC strongly condemns this abusive treatment of our journalists and calls on the Libyan government to ensure all media are able to report freely and are protected from persecution. The safety of our staff is our primary concern especially when they are working in such difficult circumstances and it is essential that journalists working for the BBC, or any media organisation, are allowed to report on the situation in Libya without fear of attack."

2224: Feras Killani added: "When we arrived at the detention centre, one of the soldiers hit me in the back with his Kalashnikov. I dropped to the ground. They then asked me to put my hands behind my head. Then I started to hear the weapon being cocked. I thought I only had minutes to live, and that they would shoot me. I thought at that moment that if they had decided to do it, they would. I just closed my eyes and asked God to help me."

2222: BBC Arabic reporter Feras Killani said: "In one cell there were about 10 to 12 prisoners. Two of them were Egyptians, the others Libyans. The majority of them were from Zawiya. I understood from other guys that they were fighters, or that they were accused of fighting against Muammar Gaddafi's army. Four of them were in a very bad situation. There was evidence of torture on their faces and bodies. One of them said he had at least two broken ribs. I spent at least six hours helping them drink, sleep, urinate, and move from one side to another."

2214: BBC cameraman Goktay Koraltan said they saw other prisoners, mainly from Zawiya, in a much worse state than them were: "I cannot describe how bad it was. Most of them were hooded and handcuffed really tightly, all with swollen hands and broken ribs. They were in agony. They were screaming."

2209: One of the team, Chris Cobb-Smith, said: "We were lined up against the wall. I was the last in line - facing the wall. I looked and I saw a plain-clothes guy with a small sub-machine gun. He put it to everyone's neck. I saw him and he screamed at me. Then he walked up to me put the gun to my neck and pulled the trigger, twice, the bullets whisked past my ear. The soldiers just laughed."

2203: The BBC's Wyre Davies says: "Like many reporters seeking to get around Libyan government restrictions, the team from the BBC Arabic service was trying to get into the town of Zawiya, controlled earlier this week by anti-government rebels but under attack by Col Gaddafi's forces. After being detained at an army roadblock, the three men were taken to a military barracks in Tripoli where they were blindfolded, handcuffed and beaten. Reporter Feras Killani was singled out for repeated beatings and was repeatedly attacked because of his coverage of the Libyan uprising. After being released, all three team members told us that they had feared for their lives. There were at least two mock executions, with live bullets being fired past the head of one of them men. Although a senior Libyan government later apologised for their treatment at the hands of the army, the men have now left the country."

2200: Three members of a BBC News team have left Libya after being detained and mistreated by the Libyan military for 21 hours earlier this week. The team was among several reporters trying to get to the besieged town of Zawiya when they were detained.

Source: BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

Gaddafi forces attack, no-fly zone on table

Tanks closing in on Az-Zawiyah
March 9, 2011 by By Maria Golovnina and Mohammed Abbas

TRIPOLI/BREGA, Libya (Reuters) - Libyan forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, using tanks, rockets and warplanes, are stepping up a campaign to root out rebels as Britain and the United States discuss an internationally backed no-fly zone.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made it clear that Washington believes any decision to impose a no-fly zone over this African oil-producing desert state is a matter for the United Nations and should not be a U.S.-led initiative.
Gaddafi's aircraft and tanks pounded rebels in Zawiyah, the closest rebel-held city to the Libyan stronghold of Tripoli in the west. A relentless government barrage blocked rebels in the east from advancing west to his strategic hometown of Sirte.

"Zawiyah as you knew it no longer exists. They have been attacking the town from 10 in the morning until 11:30 in the evening," Zawiyah resident, Ibrahim, said early on Wednesday:

Only giving one name, he told Reuters by telephone that dozens of bodies were on the streets. "There is no electricity, no water and we are cut off from the outside world," he said.

No-Fly Zone on the table

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Rising casualties and threats of hunger and a refugee crisis have increased pressure on foreign governments to act, but many were fearful of moving from sanctions alone to military action. President Barack Obama has faced criticism for being cautious.

"We want to see the international community support it (a no-fly zone)," Clinton told Sky News. "I think it's very important that this not be a U.S.-led effort."

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who talked with Obama about a no-fly zone by telephone, said planning was vital in case Gaddafi refused to step down in response to the popular uprising that erupted mid-February.

"I think now we have got to prepare for what we might have to do if he goes on brutalising his own people," the prime minister told the BBC.

In the telephone call, the two leaders "agreed to press forward with planning, including at NATO, on the full spectrum of possible responses, including surveillance, humanitarian assistance, enforcement of the arms embargo, and a no-fly zone".

Britain and France are seeking a U.N. resolution to authorise such a zone to ground Gaddafi's aircraft and prevent him moving troops by air. Russia and China, which have veto power in the U.N. Security Council, are cool towards the idea, which would be likely to require bombing Libyan air defences.

Hafiz Ghoga, spokesman for the rebel National Libyan Council, said in the rebel base of Benghazi in eastern Libya:

"We will complete our victory when we are afforded a no-fly zone. If there was also action to stop him (Gaddafi) from recruiting mercenaries, his end would come within hours."

Source: Reuters
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE72800R20110309

Zawiya still standing. Gaddafi forces pushed back

← BREAKING: 8 British SAS soldiers and diplomat detained by revolutionaries

BREAKING: Zawiya still standing. Gaddafi forces pushed back

March 6, 2011 All times are in Libyan local time +2 GMT
12:48 Reuters A revolutionary spokesman in Zawiya says rebels are still in control of the town centre, as an attack by pro-Gaddafi forces has been pushed back.

12:32 BREAKING Eyewitness tells Al Jazeera that the city of Misratah is being heavily bombarded by Gaddafi’s forces right now

12:25 AFP reports that 15 people have been injured in clashes at Bin Jawad this morning

12:15 AP reports that revolutionaries say they have withdrawn from Bin Jawad after clashes this morning

12:01 Reuters reports that revolutionaries have shot down a helicopter, the report does not say where

11:57 BBC A huge explosion has been heard in the rebel-held oil town of Ras Lanuf, followed by the sound of anti-aircraft guns opening fire, an AFP reporter says.

11:52 BBC Libyan rebel forces are falling back to Ras Lanuf from positions further west, firing at a helicopter overhead, Reuters quotes a witness as saying. It follows reports that government forces had attacked rebels in Bin Jawad, west of Ras Lanuf.

11:11 Reuters reports that Gaddafi forces have attacked Bin Jawad. One injured fighter says they attacked with machine guns and RPGs. Another fighter said there were snipers. Ambulances rushed casualties back to Ras Lanuf

Source: http://www.libyafeb17.com/2011/03/breaking-revolutionaries-attacked-at-bin-jawad/

Libya: Fierce battle for Zawiyah amid claims Gaddafi's tanks fired on residential areas
Source: The Telegraph http://bit.ly/eVtzc4

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has sent in new forces towards the western town of Zawiyah after Libyan rebels repelled an attack by his soldiers on Saturday.

Protesters opposed to leader Muammar Gaddafi on a tank of Libyan army defectors, in the city of Zawiyah Photo: REUTERS

11:06AM GMT 05 Mar 2011

Gaddafi's forces were driven out of central Zawiyah on Saturday morning, but returned with reinforcements.

They also were reported to have erected road blocks preventing entry to the town.

Youssef Shagan, spokesman for the rebels, said that Gaddafi's forces had earlier been defeated.

"They entered Zawiyah at six in the morning with heavy forces, hundreds of soldiers with tanks. Our people fought back ... We have won for now and civilians are gathering in the square."

Mr Shagan said that earlier on Saturday, Gaddafi forces had fired high explosive rounds in the centre of the town, 30 miles west of the capital Tripoli, and rebel forces had captured two tanks.

"We see many people, many residents fleeing. There is heavy fighting right now," said Mr Shagan.

Rebel forces still controlled pockets of the city and captured two tanks from the army in a shoot-out on Saturday morning, he said.

"They (Gaddafi's security forces) are attacking people, civilians. There is a lot of shooting. They are taking people from their homes. People are escaping to nearby villages."

He said many people had been killed.

Mr Shagan said the military had driven tanks and heavy weapons into the centre of the town, where people opposed to Gaddafi's 41-year rule have been fighting his forces for more than a week, and closed all the roads.

Arabic satellite channels said pro-Gaddafi forces had fired from tanks at residential areas.

"Now with all the artillery, tanks and armoured vehicles, we're seeing battles and killings we haven't seen in Iraq. I consider it total genocide," said one witness who spoke to Al Arabiya television.

The man said more than 15 armoured vehicles and a tank had entered the town. Mosques have announced 'jihad' (struggle) against them, the man told Al Arabiya.

The channel cited witnesses saying several members of Gaddafi's forces had surrendered and said the rebels had blocked an attack by people they said were pro-Gaddafi mercenaries.

One witness told al-Arabiya he saw the corpses of members of the security forces killed in a battle in the central square.

"My own eyes saw the bodies of seven dead who have been brought in from the square and four others have been imprisoned."
Source: The Telegraph http://bit.ly/eVtzc4

Update on Az Zawiya via LibyaFeb17.com

16:23 Al Jazeera Eyewitness has just said that 35 tanks were surrounding Az Zawiya from the coastal road with cars loaded with 14.5mm anti-aircraft guns. The people of Zawiya was albe to push them away earlier today.

Freedom Fighter posted by @Zizzyphus http://yfrog.com/h7fjkqrj

This morning a full scale attack was made on Zawiya. From 7am till 10am. ALL forms of artillery was used. It is being surrounded right now from every direct.

This morning 3 tanks entered the heart of Tripoli, but the guys were able to disable the tanks. In the tanks were african mercenaries and Libyans. We captured some and killed some. The 6 captured came from the following locations: 1 from Al Khums, 1 from Werfalla, 1 from Zawiya, 1 from Zleetin and 2 from African countries.

Food stocks are ok, but people need IV solution(?) for drips. Medical supplies are needed.

Despite the tens of deaths and hundreds of injuries, the morale is extremely high and people have vowed not to leave the streets and to protect their city.

Snipers have taken to the high spots and have been killing people INSIDE their homes. Revolutionaries were able to capture a sniper and he has confessed to everything.

Source LibyaFeb17.com
http://www.libyafeb17.com/2011/03/breaking-gaddafis-forces-close-in-on-az-zawiya/

First footage from Az Zawiya today: - شبكة برق : من الزاوية فليشاهد العالم ليبيا

 First footage from Az Zawiya today:

BREAKING: First footage from Az Zawiya today

Posted on March 4, 2011

http://www.libyafeb17.com/2011/03/breaking-clashes-in-ras-lanuf-west-of-ajdabiya/