NATO Strikes Near Gadhafi Compound

NATO Strikes Near Gadhafi Compound

Saturday, April 23rd, 2011 at 10:35 am UTC

 

NATO forces have bombed an area close to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli, hitting what reporters described as a military installation.
The strike early Saturday set off alarms in the capital, but caused no injuries.
Libyan officials described the site that was hit as a parking lot. But reporters on the scene say two bomb craters exposed a layer of reinforced concrete covering what appeared to be a bunker. They said ammunition crates also lay close by.
Also Saturday, the Italian Foreign Ministry said Libyan authorities have released an Italian ship detained in the port of Tripoli last month along with its 11 crewmembers.
The ship, which was working for an Italian oil company, was seized shortly before an international coalition began imposing a no-fly zone over Libya.
On Friday, Libyan officials said the military will withdraw from the city of Misrata, which has been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting between pro-Gadhafi forces and opposition rebels.
Libya's deputy foreign minister said the fate of the city will be left to the “tribes around Misrata and the Misrata people.”
He did not say when or under what circumstances the army would leave.
Earlier Friday, U.S. Senator John McCain toured the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi and called on the U.S. and other world powers to recognize the rebels' transitional council.
The Republican lawmaker said he will demand the Obama administration provide more funds for rebels to, in his words, “get this thing over with” and remove Mr. Gadhafi from power.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said it is up to the “people of Libya to decide” who should run their country.

Thousands Mourn Protesters Killed in Syria

Thousands Mourn Protesters Killed in Syria

Saturday, April 23rd, 2011 at 10:55 am UTC

 

Tens of thousands of people are attending funerals in Syria for those killed Friday during the deadliest government crackdown to date against opposition protesters.
Mourners gathered in the southern town of Izraa Saturday to bury at least 15 people killed during demonstrations a day earlier.
Rights groups say more than 75 people were killed across the nation Friday after security forces opened fire on protesters calling for President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
U.S. President Barack Obama condemned Syria for what he called an “outrageous use of violence” and accused Mr. Assad of seeking Iranian assistance in the brutal crackdown.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined Mr. Obama in calling for an immediate stop to the crackdown in Syria.
Syria's state news agency SANA reports only 10 people were killed across the country Friday, attributing the violence to armed criminal groups. Syrian authorities have blamed much of the violence over the past month on unidentified lawless gangs.
Friday's rallies against President Assad's government came one day after the president signed a decree ending almost 50 years of emergency rule. The decree was part of his effort to end anti-government unrest.

Thailand and Cambodia clash again along border Thousands of villagers have been evacuated from the area around the latest fighting

Thailand and Cambodia clash again along border

Thousands of villagers have been evacuated from the area around the latest fighting

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At least one soldier has been killed in fighting along the border between Thailand and Cambodia, raising the death toll to seven in two days.

Troops exchanged artillery and gunfire in jungle around Ta Krabey temple, which both sides claim.
The area is about 200km (125 miles) west of the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, the scene of deadly clashes in February.
Thousands of civilians have been evacuated from the area.
The BBC's Rachel Harvey in Bangkok says it is not immediately clear what sparked the most recent violence.
"Fresh fighting started at around 0600 (2300 GMT Friday) with rifles and mortar shelling," said Thai army spokesman Col Prawit Hookaew.
"We are negotiating to stop the fighting," he added.
Thai officials said one Thai soldier had been killed and more than four injured. There were also unconfirmed reports that a Cambodian soldier had died.

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Analysis

Rachel Harvey BBC News, Bangkok

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Villagers had been evacuated February - some had moved back, some were still in evacuation centres and temporary accommodation.
But now we're hearing that between 7,000 and 10,000 villagers on the Thai side alone have been moved away from their homes, packing up their stuff as quickly as they can into the back of vehicles, with no knowledge of course of when it's going to be safe to go back again.
With munitions flying across the border in this jungle area it is a worry even if these villagers do then go back because there could then be unexploded ordinance in that area. So there's a short-term problem for villagers and a potential long-term threat as well.

Cambodia said artillery shelling had also taken place.

A Cambodian defence ministry spokesman described the fighting as more intense than that on Friday.
Until Friday, an informal truce had appeared to be holding.
Cambodia said three of its soldiers were killed on Friday and six wounded while a Thai spokesman told the BBC that three of its soldiers had been killed and 11 injured.
Both sides blamed each other for the fighting.
Indonesia, which has been negotiating peace talks between the two neighbours on behalf of the regional group Asean, has called for an immediate ceasefire.
Demarcation issue
Cambodia has made clear it wants international mediation, but Thailand insists the dispute can be resolved through existing bilateral channels.

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However, events on the ground appear to be moving faster than the diplomatic process, our correspondent says.

Preah Vihear temple was awarded to Cambodia in 1962 by an international court.
But both sides claim ownership of the surrounding area, and there have been several skirmishes there in recent years.
Other parts of the Thai-Cambodian border have not yet been formally demarcated, causing continuing tensions between the two countries.

Syria: Funerals held for dead protesters Protests took place across Syria after Friday prayers - and authorities cracked down

Syria: Funerals held for dead protesters

Protests took place across Syria after Friday prayers - and authorities cracked down

 

Funerals are being held in Syria for many of the scores of protesters killed during anti-government demonstrations on Friday.

Large crowds are expected to attend the funerals, raising fears of further bloody confrontations.
Unconfirmed reports say shots have been fired at some funerals.
Friday's bloodshed, a day after President Bashar al-Assad scrapped decades of emergency rule, brought strong international condemnation.
US President Barack Obama accused Syria of using "outrageous" force.
Syria's state news agency has reported a limited number of protests in some provinces and described the violence was the work of armed criminal gangs.
On Saturday, Reuters news agency quoted witnesses as saying tens of thousands of people turned out at funerals in Damascus and the southern village of Izraa, and shouted chants calling for the overthrow of the regime.
More than 150 buses had left the southern town of Deraa, an epicentre for demonstrations, to attend funerals for 18 victims, AFP news agency quoted an activist as saying.
Funerals were also expected in the Damascus neighbourhoods of Midan and Barzeh, as well as in Harasta, north of the capital.
'Brutal tactics'
Friday's death toll was the highest in a single day in five weeks of unrest.
Human rights groups and activists gave death tolls ranging from just over 70 to more than 90, and one group said the death toll could reach 100.
Many of the deaths were reported to have occurred in the central city of Homs, in Izraa in the south, and in a suburb of the capital, Damascus.

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Analysis

Owen Bennett Jones BBC News, Beirut

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The issue of the video footage has definitely rattled and upset the regime, and they are hitting back with allegations that the whole thing is a put-up job.
I think the protesters are getting quite organised and maybe distributing better cameras as well. Certainly it's very impressive that within half an hour of a protest beginning the pictures start flowing.
I think quite a few of them are using international SIM cards in their mobile phones so that they can get around any attempts locally to block communications.
The state is responding to that with statements coming on the official news agency saying that these are fake videos that the army found people carrying bottles of blood in order to make up fake incidents which they would then film and distribute pictures of.

Video footage showed protesters scattering as they apparently came under fire.

Amnesty International said two boys aged seven and 10 were among those killed in Izraa.
"This outrageous use of violence to quell protests must come to an end now," Mr Obama said in a statement.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an independent investigation into the killings, while France said it was "extremely concerned" and condemned the violence.
"Light should be shed on these crimes and those responsible must be identified, arrested and brought to justice," foreign ministry deputy spokeswoman Christine Fages said.
Growing confidence
The BBC's Kim Ghattas reports from neighbouring Lebanon that the crowds across Syria on Friday are proof, if any was needed, that Mr Assad's concessions were belated and too symbolic.
The persistence of the demonstrations shows the growing strength and confidence of the protest movement, she says.
With foreign journalists unable to get into Syria, much of the reporting of the country has depended on footage distributed by opposition activists.
The official Syrian news agency said security forces had used only tear gas and water cannon to prevent clashes on Friday.
It said the army had found digital cameras containing short, fabricated videos depicting fake repression, and that armed gangs were carrying bottles of blood to be used in making fake films

Libya crisis: Misrata tribes 'may fight rebels'

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Tribes loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have said that if the army cannot drive rebels from the besieged port city of Misrata, they will, a senior official says.

Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said the army had tried to keep civilian casualties low but the tribes would not show the same restraint.
Colonel Gaddafi's forces have been pounding Misrata for weeks.
Meanwhile, Nato forces carried out more air strikes on the capital, Tripoli.
The Libyan government says three people were killed by the strikes.
Journalists were shown a concrete bunker near Col Gaddafi's Bab al-Azizia compound that received two hits early on Saturday.
Ultimatum
Aid organisations say Misrata - the main rebel-held area in western Libya - faces a humanitarian crisis after weeks of fighting. Human rights groups say more than 1,000 people there have died.
The BBC's Jeremy Bowen reports from Tripoli that the regime says the reason Col Gaddafi has remained relatively secure in the west of Libya is that the principal tribes - which wield a lot of power and influence in the country - are on his side.
However, the government has previously used the prospect of tribal civil war as a warning against rebel leaders and Nato intervention, and it may well be that the minister was making more of a threat than expressing the reality of what is going to occur, our correspondent says.
The regime is feeling increasingly isolated and is hoping for some kind of a diplomatic solution, he adds.

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At the scene

Jeremy Bowen BBC Middle East editor, in Tripoli

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A big concrete bunker was hit twice. It wasn't right in the centre of Col Gaddafi's leadership compound, it was what appears to be in a subsidiary part.
The weapons cut through the sandy earth on top of the bunker, then penetrated the concrete and reinforced steel.
Officials said it was used for storing water but I didn't think that was credible. However, there is no evidence of a secondary explosion which suggests the bunker did not contain ammunition.
There are lots of pro-Gaddafi protesters in the area. There are lines of cars driving up and down the road beeping their horns and waving green flags.
Anti-aircraft guns are mounted on a few pick-up trucks in the area and on a roundabout nearby is an encampment of volunteer human shields. Jets continue to fly over the city.

The comments came in a meeting between tribal leaders and the military in the area of Misrata still controlled by the government, Mr Kaim said.

He said the tribes were angry that people's lives had been disrupted by weeks of fighting that had cut the main coastal road and stopped trade in the city.
Tribal leaders say the seaport is for all Libyans and not just the rebels, Mr Kaim said.
'Surgical' tactics
In normal times Misrata is a major commercial centre and its port is second only to Tripoli.
"Now there is an ultimatum before the Libyan army. If they can't resolve the problem in Misrata then the people from the region... will move in," he told reporters.
He said the tribes would first try to persuade the rebels to lay down their arms, but if that failed they would move in. The army would stay where it was, he added.
"The tactic of the army is to have a surgical solution but with the (Nato) air strikes it doesn't work," Mr Kaim said.
The comments came amid reports of setbacks for pro-Gaddafi forces.
A wounded government soldier captured by rebels told Reuters news agency that Col Gaddafi's forces had been told to withdraw from Misrata on Friday, and rebels captured an eight-story insurance building from which dozens of government snipers had been operating.

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Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid Kaim says tribes have given the Libyan army an ultimatum

Meanwhile, a fourth evacuation ship chartered by the International Organisation for Migration is planning to rescue more stranded migrant workers and wounded civilians from the besieged city.
Earlier, the most senior US soldier, Adm Mike Mullen, said the war in Libya was "moving towards stalemate", even though US and Nato air strikes have destroyed 30-40% of Libya's ground forces.
The US has authorised the use of armed, unmanned Predator drones over Libya to give "precision capabilities".
A popular revolt against Col Gaddafi - inspired by similar uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia - began in February and a UN mandate later sanctioned air strikes against Libyan state forces to protect civilians.
Nato took control of the operation on 31 March.

Chinese Communist police 'raid Tibetan monastery

Chinese police 'raid Tibetan monastery'

 

Chinese police have raided a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in western China, killing two people, rights campaigners have said.

The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) says two elderly men were killed trying to prevent police arresting monks at the Kirti monastery.
Tension has been high since a monk set himself on fire last month in an apparent anti-government protest.
Foreigners have been prevented from travelling to the region.
'Beaten'
The US-based ICT said paramilitary police raided the monastery in Aba, in the Sichuan province, on Thursday night and detained more than 300 monks.
As the monks were being driven away, the police beat a group of people who had been standing vigil outside Kirti, resulting in the deaths of two Tibetans aged in their sixties, ICT said, citing exile groups in contact with people in the area.
"People had their arms and legs broken, one old woman had her leg broken in three places, and cloth was stuffed in their mouths to stifle their screams," an exiled Kirti monk was quoted as saying by the rights group