Zuma: Gaddafi “accepts peace roadmap”

Muammar Gaddafi has accepted a roadmap for ending the conflict in Libya, South African President Jacob Zuma said after leading a delegation of African leaders at talks in Tripoli.

Presidents Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali, Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania and African Union president Jean Ping stand outside a tent erected at Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya residence in Tripoli 

‘I have some commitment which is compelling me to leave now but we have completed our mission with the brother leader (Gaddafi),’ Mr Zuma said after several hours of talks with the Libyan leader at his Bab al-Aziziyah compound.

‘The brother leader delegation has accepted the roadmap as presented by us. We have to give ceasefire a chance,’ he said, adding that the African delegation would now travel to the eastern city of Benghazi for talks with anti-Gaddafi rebels.

Libyan rebels beat off a new assault by Gaddafi’s forces on the besieged western city of Misrata, losing as many as 30 fighters but helped by more intense NATO air strikes.

As fighting raged on for the coastal town, where conditions are said to be desperate, a buoyant Muammar Gaddafi made his first television appearance for five days and his troops engaged rebels in more fighting on the eastern front of the civil war.

Misrata is the last major rebel outpost in the west of Libya. Gaddafi’s forces appear bent on seizing the city and crucially its port, which some analysts say Gaddafi needs if he is to survive a long conflict.

A rebel spokesman said that fighting centred on a road to Misrata port, where a Red Cross vessel brought in badly needed medical supplies earlier in the day.

The spokesman praised what he called a positive change from NATO, saying its aircraft carried out several air strikes on Gaddafi’s besieging forces.

Rebels have complained for days that NATO is too slow to respond to government attacks.
A government-organised trip to Misrata revealed deserted streets and many heavily shelled buildings in the city’s south.

An official there said a NATO strike hit the outskirts and a warplane could be seen sweeping across the sky.
NATO aircraft hit 15 tanks near Misrata and two south of Brega in the east of the country on Friday and early yesterday, an alliance official said.

NATO’s commander of Libyan operations said the alliance, which took command of air strikes against Gaddafi on 31 March, had destroyed ‘a significant percentage’ of his armoured forces and ammunition stockpiles east of Tripoli in the past 24 hours.

Canadian Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard also accused Gaddafi’s forces of using civilians as human shields.

‘We have observed horrific examples of regime forces deliberately placing their weapons systems close to civilians, their homes and even their places of worship,’ he said in a statement.

In Tripoli, Gaddafi, who was last seen on television on 4 April, was shown smiling and pumping his fists in the air at a school where he was welcomed ecstatically.

Wearing his trademark brown robes and dark glasses, Gaddafi looked confident and relaxed, confirming the impression among analysts that his administration has emerged from a period of paralysis and is hunkering down for a long campaign.

Gaddafi’s military have pushed back a rebel advance in the east, and inconclusive battles have been fought along the desert road between the Mediterranean oil port of Brega and Ajdabiyah, gateway to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, for over a week.

Rebels had said they had intended to take Brega and some had penetrated the outskirts. But their assault seemed to have petered out by nightfall, following a familiar pattern. RTE

Al Qaeda is exploiting Libya arms depots

Image via Wikipedia

Telegraph:<

The Libyan bombing campaign has allowed terrorist groups free access to some of Col Muammar Gaddafi's arms dumps and an Algerian official said that monitored shipments had made their way from Libya to al-Qaeda strongholds in the Sahara.

Eight Toyota pickup trucks crossed into Chad, across Niger and into northern Mali from desert armouries in eastern Libya. Algeria warned that al-Qaeda's North African wing, al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM), had seized shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles in Libya.

Intelligence reports said Russian-made anti-tank rocket-propelled grenades, Kalashnikov heavy machine guns, Kalashnikov rifles, explosives and ammunition were stacked on the pickups.

"A convoy of eight Toyotas full of weapons travelled a few days ago through Chad and Niger and reached northern Mali," the official said.

"We know that this is not the first convoy and that it is still ongoing. Several military barracks have been pillaged in this region [eastern Libya] with their arsenals and weapons stores and the elements of AQIM who were present could not have failed to profit from this opportunity."

...

It is not clear why we are not bombing these convoys of al Qaeda. One of the problems of the air only strategy is that there is no one on the ground to secure the weapons depots. Our commanders should have come up with a way to defend them, even with just air power.

 

Posted by Merv

Yemen police injure over 400 protesters

Thousands of demonstrators had planned a 2 a.m. march to protest Sunday’s crackdown on protesters in Taiz, south of capital Sana’a, that killed two people and injured over a hundred others.

Police fired live rounds and tear gas against the crowd that wounded at least 409 people.

The protesters are demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Salah who has often signaled that he has no intention of resigning soon.

“A successful revolution in Yemen could mean the whole Persian Gulf region erupting into revolution,” Chris Bambery, a Middle East expert, told Press TV on Sunday.

“Yemen has been an important staging post for the Americans … It is one of the major centers of the CIA in the region,” he said.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is an important ally for the US and the Saudis and they are trying to keep him in power to maintain their control over the Persian Gulf region, the analyst underlined.

Therefore, “There is no attempt [by the West] to reveal the realities of the Saleh regime: the torture, the repression, or the record of the Saudis constantly intervening in Yemen, carrying out bombing missions, etc.” he argued.

Inspired by the protests of Tunisia and Egypt, Yemen has witnessed daily anti-government protest rallies since mid-February, which demand crucial economic and political reforms, including an immediate end to President Saleh’s 33-year rule
Several opposition members argue that his long-promised political and economic reforms have not materialized.

PREPARE FOR THE LEFT TO DECLARE “VICTORY” IN LIBYA AND CROWN OBAMA A SAVIOR

by Vilmar
For all the grandstanding and fancy speeches Obama gave about Libya, it appears he does not have the intestinal fortitude to see it all through and so we’ve basically pulled out of Libyan military actions.

Two weeks after a dark-of-night barrage of mostly U.S. missiles and bombs opened the international air assault on Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi, the American combat role is ending, the rag-tag rebels are reeling and the Pentagon is betting its European allies can finish the job.
Gadhafi is still standing, with a few uncertain signs that his inner circle could crack. The Obama administration is hoping that if Gadhafi’s government doesn’t implode soon, a relentless campaign of airstrikes on his tanks, air defenses and most trusted army units will at least weaken his ability to survive a renewed uprising by a disjointed opposition. The rebels initially rattled Gadhafi but in recent days have given up most of their gains.

The bottom line, according to Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: “He’s still killing his people.”

So the mission remains incomplete, but the U.S. is following through on a pledge to shift the main combat burden to Britain, France and other NATO allies.

Starting Sunday, no U.S. combat aircraft are to fly strike missions in Libya. NATO’s on-scene commander can request American strikes in the days ahead, in which case they may have to be approved in Washington.

On Saturday, U.S. combat aircraft flew 24 strike missions in Libya, the Pentagon said.
Some in Congress, including Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, have criticized the decision to withdraw U.S. combat aircraft from the regular cycle of NATO strikes.

Also withdrawing from the combat mission on Sunday will be the initial workhorses of the military campaign: U.S. Navy destroyers and submarines that launched Tomahawk cruise missiles from their positions in the Mediterranean Sea. No Tomahawks were fired Saturday, the Pentagon said.

In a nutshell, expect the Kept-Whores to go orgasmic praising their Messiah as a hero with courage to see tough fights through.
And if Gaddafi stays in power, the media will still praise Obama for being “smaht” enough to get us out…all the while ignoring the reasons he said we needed to get in there…..without any Congressional approval or consultation.

Oil Prices Soar to Highest Price Since 2008 on Obama’s Libya War … Up 100% Under Obama

Welcome to Obama’s QUAGMIRE …

It is amateur hour in the White House and “We the People” are feeling the brunt of the inexperience. Obama truly is the worst President ever. 

Thanks to Barack Obama’s “Kinetic Military Operation” WAR in Libya oil prices have climbed to their highest level since 2008. Obama claimed that the military operation in Libya would last days not weeks. The community organizer and “Ditherer” in Chief could never have been so wrong. Who but an inexperienced and completed over-matched individual could ever have thought that a any military action would have ended so quickly.

Instead of a quick outcome and slam dunk in Libya as stated by Obama, fighters loyal to Moammar Gadhafi pushed back rebels from key areas in eastern Libya and have dealt the rebels a severe setback. Today, a spokesman for the Libyan leader said that Gaddafi will stay in Libya “until the end”.  The result … oil prices rose to a 30 month high and the pain at the gas pumps will be felt by American workers trying to get to work. More ‘Hope & Change’ from Obama … rising gas prices.

Battles between Gadhafi’s troops and rebels have seesawed back and forth in Libyan ports and towns since mid-February, with the price of oil rising more than $20 a barrel since then. Energy consultants Cameron Hanover said traders are beginning to view the Libya uprising as a standoff for now. ‘Without control of the air, Gadhafi’s troops have been unable to hammer home their gains. And, without strong and well-trained ground forces, the rebels seem incapable of holding onto their gains. Optimism that Libyan oil might return to the market, seen earlier this week, was dashed.”

Libya’s oil exports, which went mainly to Europe, are shut down. The rebels have said they plan to start shipping oil again, although how soon that could happen is unclear.

As per ABC News, the weekly national average gas price showed the highest price ever during the month of March and the seventh consecutive increase this week,
Under President Barack Obama, oil prices have doubled and are up 100%. THANKS BARACK. Not only has this President been a complete incompetent failure in creating a $787  billion stimulus plan that created no jobs, added a ridiculous amount to the federal debt with Obamacare and has hampered job creation by an over-reaching and over-regulative government … the “Not Ready for Prime Time” President has not got the US into a hornet’s nest in Libya as oil prices skyrocket.

According to the GasBuddy gasoline price tracking web site, the price of a gallon of regular gas was around $1.79 when Mr. Obama took office. Today the national average is $3.58. The lowest average price in the continental United States is $3.31 in Tulsa Oklahoma, the highest is $4.14 in Santa Barbara, CA.

Who would ever have thought that during the 2008 Democrat primaries in the run up to the 2008 Presidential election that Joe Biden would have been the sage of sages and stated the following regarding the rank amateur Barack Obama. Watch VIDEO.

Biden said that Obama was not ready for the job and the Presidency is not one that lends itself to on the job training. Biden’s reply, “I stand by that statement”. Looks like Joe was 100% correct. However, as we are reminded by the Gateway Pundit Jim Hoft, Peggy was wrong. Obama was not going to pay for our gas, he doubled it instead. I wonder what peggy has to say for herself today? Sadly, the Kool-Aide drinking Obamaite would blame it still on George W. Bush.

Britain, Italy hold out Gaddafi exile prospect

By taffy | Published: March 29, 2011

 

Apparently Gaddafi is a bad enough guy that the UN will bomb this piss out of him but his crimes are not bad enough for an arrest.

If Gaddafi is allowed to go into exile how much of Libyas weath will go with him and if this happens how much money from the taxpayers of the west be required to “rebuild” and “stabalize” Libya?

YAHOO NEWS
LONDON (Reuters) – More than 40 governments and international bodies gathered in London on Tuesday to plan for a Libya without Muammar Gaddafi, with Italy and Britain suggesting he might be allowed to go into exile.

With fighting raging between rebels and Gaddafi loyalists, Italy has put forward a proposal for a political deal to end Libya’s crisis, including a quick ceasefire, exile for Gaddafi and dialogue between rebels and tribal leaders.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague also implied exile might be a way to take Gaddafi out of the picture and settle the six-week-old uprising against his 40 years in power.

“We want him to leave power and that’s what we’ve consistently said to the Libyan regime. We are not in control, of course, of where he might go,” Hague told the BBC, adding he believed Gaddafi should face the International Criminal Court.


Britain and France led the push for a muscular intervention in the Libyan conflict and coalition air strikes have helped rebels in the east of the country to advance but questions remain about the end game in Libya.
Tuesday’s meeting, starting at 1300 GMT (9 a.m. ET) and due to end with a news conference at 1630 GMT, is expected to set up a high-level steering group, including Arab states, to provide political guidance for the international response to Libya.

Attendees include U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, NATO leader Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, as well as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and 40 other foreign ministers.

POLITICAL DIRECTION
The meeting will discuss stepping up humanitarian aid to war-torn areas and call for a political process to enable Libyans to choose their own future, British officials said.

Hague held talks before the start of the conference with Mahmoud Jebril, a member of the rebel Libyan National Council, whom he had invited to London.

Clinton was also scheduled to meet Jebril before the conference as U.S. officials gave a positive assessment of rebel advances on the battlefield.

“They’ve clearly recovered a lot of momentum, both militarily and politically. They’ve covered a lot of ground,” one senior U.S. administration official said.

The U.S. official said Clinton and Jebril may discuss further moves to release $33 billion in frozen Libyan assets to the opposition, although he gave no further details.

U.S. President Barack Obama vowed on Monday to work with allies to hasten the day when Gaddafi leaves power but said he would not use force to remove him. Hague also said Britain was not pursuing regime change.
However, French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet said Britain and France were demanding Gaddafi’s departure.
Asked what would be “Mission Accomplished,” Longuet told France Inter radio: “When the Libyan people are able to express themselves without being repressed.”

Coalition air strikes against Gaddafi’s forces have worried some countries, with Russia saying that the action goes beyond what was authorized by the United Nations. Russia will not be attending the London meeting, a British official said.

A ComRes poll for the Independent newspaper found seven out of 10 Britons were concerned action in Libya could result in forces being sucked into a long Iraq-style conflict.