Libyan military launches air strike on protesters: Report

[Whiplash]

Wow airstrike on civilians? I cannot even imagine what kind of a pilot would agree to do such a thing.

 

[hembo]

Malta turns back 'Gaddafi kin jet'
Plane carrying Ayse Gaddafi attempts to land but is forced to turn back after being denied permission.
Last Modified: 23 Feb 2011 17:45 GMT

The plane reportedly carrying Gaddafi's daughter circled overhead Malta before being turned back​

A Libyan plane reportedly carrying the daughter of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's leader, has been turned back from Malta after it was denied permission to land.

"The [crew] initially said they had 14 people on board. They were circling overhead saying they were running low on fuel," Cal Perry, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Malta, said.

"At that point the ambassador from Libya who was here in Malta was called in to take part in the negotiations on whether or not they were going to allow this plane to land.

"As he entered the talks it became clear from the pilots that Ayse Gaddhafi, Muammar Gaddhafi's only daughter, was aboard the plane. The government said it was an unscheduled flight, it doesn't matter who is on board; they said it cannot land and diverted the plane back to Libya."

Libya has been in turmoil since mass protests broke out against Gaddafi's 42-year-old rule in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi more than a week ago.

The protests, which have spread to other cities despite the authorities cracking down on the protesters, is the biggest challenge that Gaddafi has faced during his long rule. The protesters now control much of the country and many senior officials have deserted Gaddafi.

Relatives fleeing?

Wednesday's attempted landing on Malta is certain to fuel speculation over whether family members of Gaddafi are seeking to flee.

The attempted landing came a day after a private Libyan jet carrying the Lebanese wife of one of Gaddhafi's sons was prevented from landing at Beirut airport in Lebanon, the Voice of Lebanon radio reported on Wednesday.

It said Hannibal Gadhafi's wife and several members of the Libyan ruling family were aboard the jet that was denied permission to land at Rafik Hariri international airport on Tuesday.

Several Libyan regime figures could have been among the plane's passengers, the radio station said.

Lebanon's Safir daily said that the plane was due to take off from the Libyan capital before midnight but Lebanese authorities asked Libya to unveil the identity of the 10 people on board before allowing the jet to land.

When the Libyans ignored the Lebanese request, authorities in Beirut ordered airport officials to ask the pilot to divert the plane to a nearby country, either Syria or Cyprus.

 

[hembo]

Kadhafi ordered Lockerbie bombing: ex-minister tells paper
(AFP) – 3 hours ago

STOCKHOLM — Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi personally ordered the Lockerbie bombing in 1988, former justice minister Mustapha Abdeljalil told Swedish daily Expressen, the paper reported on its website Wednesday.

"I have proof that Kadhafi gave the order on Lockerbie," said the minister, who stepped down Monday to protest the ongoing violence in Libya.

Libyan national Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi was in 2001 convicted of the bombing of Pan AM Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on December 21, 1988 that killed 270 people, most of them Americans.

But Scottish authorities, who have power over their own judicial affairs, released Megrahi, 58, on compassionate grounds in August 2009 after doctors said he was suffering from terminal cancer and had three months to live.

His release and subsequent hero's return to Tripoli drew a furious response from many, and outrage in the United States has been stoked by the fact that he remains alive almost a year and a half after his release.

According to Abdeljalil, Kadhafi "ordered Megrahi to do it (the bombing)," and had worked hard to secure his release to ensure that his role in the plot remained secret.

"To hide it, he did everything in his power to get Megrahi back from Scotland," the former minister said.

Expressen said its reporter Kassem Hamade, who is currently in Libya, had conducted a 40-minute interview with Abdeljalil at "the local parliament in a large city."

 

[hembo]

 

[hembo]

Libyan army abandon Tobruk base in face of protests
The Libyan army has abandoned the secretive anti-aircraft missile base at Tobruk base as anti-government protesters seize control of the city.


7:22PM GMT 23 Feb 2011
Outside the town of Tobruk near the Egyptian border, a defence committee of local residents is guardeding one of Gadhafi's once highly secretive anti-aircraft missile bases which the army had abandoned.

Protesters who gathered in the square chanting anti-government slogans,carrying banners reading "Free Libya" vowed to fight on for their freedom.

"We will continue until, even if we have to confront you with our bare hands. Yes, there is no retreat. Gadhafi, go away, we don't want you, neither you, or your family, or your tribe, nothing," said Fathi Faraj. "We don't want you anymore."

 

[KS]

What is the 'defender-of-human-rights' NATO and EU doing ??

Establish a No-fly zone over entire Libya in support of the people so that none of the Libyan Airforce plane takes off.

Send some destroyers from the US 6 th fleet to blast the Libyan warships which are firing on its own citizens.

 

[StingRoy]

Libyan aircraft crashes after troops refuse bombing orders
Tobruk, Libya (CNN) -- Even as Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi called on the military to crack down on anti-government protesters, reports came in Wednesday that a military aircraft had crashed because the crew refused to carry out bombing orders.

An opposition figure told CNN the pilot had been ordered to bomb oil fields southwest of Benghazi but refused and instead ejected from the plane.

The Libyan newspaper Quryna reported that two people were on board, and that both -- the pilot and co-pilot -- parachuted out, allowing the plane to crash into an uninhabited area west of Ajdabiya, 160 kilometers (100 miles) southwest of Benghazi. The newspaper cited military sources.

Quryna itself is a sign of the changes sweeping through Libya. When protests began last week, it carried regime propaganda. But it later reported on the protests and casualty figures.

CNN could not confirm reports for many areas in Libya. The Libyan government maintains tight control on communications and has not responded to repeated requests from CNN for access to the country. CNN has interviewed numerous witnesses by phone.

A Libyan Arab Airlines plane was denied permission to land in Malta on Wednesday, Maltese government sources said. Permission was denied for "clearance reasons," because officials did not know who was on board, the sources said.

 

[A1Kaid]

Oil prices are sure to sharply rise. Take a note of this. Just today oil price per barrel has risen.

Oil at two-year high as Libya on edge of civil war - Yahoo! News

In a matter of months I wouldn't be surprised if the sustained destabilization and sabotage caused by foreign hands in ME and NA, result in oil price per barrel rising up to $150 if not beyond, the impact will be crippling. Sounds crazy I know. Crazy is the name of the game.

 

[farhan_9909]

Libyan aircraft crashes after troops refuse bombing orders
Tobruk, Libya (CNN) -- Even as Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi called on the military to crack down on anti-government protesters, reports came in Wednesday that a military aircraft had crashed because the crew refused to carry out bombing orders.

An opposition figure told CNN the pilot had been ordered to bomb oil fields southwest of Benghazi but refused and instead ejected from the plane.

The Libyan newspaper Quryna reported that two people were on board, and that both -- the pilot and co-pilot -- parachuted out, allowing the plane to crash into an uninhabited area west of Ajdabiya, 160 kilometers (100 miles) southwest of Benghazi. The newspaper cited military sources.

Quryna itself is a sign of the changes sweeping through Libya. When protests began last week, it carried regime propaganda. But it later reported on the protests and casualty figures.

CNN could not confirm reports for many areas in Libya. The Libyan government maintains tight control on communications and has not responded to repeated requests from CNN for access to the country. CNN has interviewed numerous witnesses by phone.

A Libyan Arab Airlines plane was denied permission to land in Malta on Wednesday, Maltese government sources said. Permission was denied for "clearance reasons," because officials did not know who was on board, the sources said.

wonderfull

they did this for their country

 

[StingRoy]

Oil prices are sure to sharply rise. Take a note of this. Just today oil price per barrel has risen.

Oil at two-year high as Libya on edge of civil war - Yahoo! News

In a matter of months I wouldn't be surprised if the sustained destabilization and sabotage caused by foreign hands in ME and NA, result in oil price per barrel rising up to $150 if not beyond, the impact will be crippling. Sounds crazy I know. Crazy is the name of the game.

Pure speculative inflation by the traders handling oil futures. Libya supplies around 2% of world's oil and these people are minting money by speculating the price rise. Hope this madness ends soon.

 

[Solomon2]

Pure speculative inflation by the traders handling oil futures. Libya supplies around 2% of world's oil -

Ah, but Libya sells its oil via long-term arrangements, not the market. Political disruptions means these companies that aren't usually active buyers now have to turn to the market for supplies. Hence disruptions to Libya's oil flow affect the oil market more severely than, say, an equivalent disruption from Venezuela or Mexico.

 

[Solomon2]

wonderfull they did this for their country

Doubtless they would bomb Gadafi if they could. The U.S. did try doing so back in 1986. Doubtless a lot of Libyans, living and dead, wish we had succeeded.

Now Gaddafi is a "good boy" for giving up his nuclear weapons program and ratting on Pakistan. That made him untouchable by the U.S. and Britain. So it looks like the Libyans are going to have to do this revolution without U.S. help.

 

[StingRoy]

Ah, but Libya sells its oil via long-term arrangements, not the market. Political disruptions means these companies that aren't usually active buyers now have to turn to the market for supplies. Hence disruptions to Libya's oil flow affect the oil market more severely than, say, an equivalent disruption from Venezuela or Mexico.

I wasn't aware of that. That could be a possible reason.
But at the moment the Saudi production is almost half its capacity. The OPEC should step in to increase the production for stabilizing the market. The prices have risen too much too quickly.

 

[oceanx]

Now Gaddafi is a "good boy" for giving up his nuclear weapons program and ratting on Pakistan. That made him untouchable by the U.S. and Britain. So it looks like the Libyans are going to have to do this revolution without U.S. help.

As tragic as how things are unfolding ... "whose boy" was this Gaddafi? Was he a "useful" boy?

 

[Solomon2]

"whose boy" was this Gaddafi?

People have been asking that since Gaddafi came to power. Probably his own. We know he wasn't America's, as this CIA document from 1969 discusses: link