Libya Live Blog - March 13

Libya Live Blog - March 13

• Timestamp: 

  10:36pm

  Pro-Gaddafi forces are besieging the western Libyan towns of Misurata and Az-Zawiyah and heavily bombarding the eastern city of Brega after rebels entered it.

• Timestamp: 

  10:33pm

  Sources tell Al Jazeera that rebels have taken over Brega and arrested tens of pro-Gaddafi forces in a trap set by them.

• Timestamp: 

  9:28pm

  AFP reports: The commander of Libya's rebel  forces, who were forced to retreat from the coastal town of Brega on Sunday, has vowed to defend the next town of Ajdabiya, describing it as vitally important.
• Timestamp: 

  8:24pm

  An anti-Gaddafi protester has managed to get on the roof of the Libyan embassy in London and replaced the official flag with the pro-revolution one.

  The embassy had previously removed the flag from the front of the building and placed it five stories up at the very top to stop protesters from attempting this.

  

• Timestamp: 

  7:45pm

  Reporters Without Borders said it was "outraged" by the  killing Al Jazeera cameraman - Ali Hassan Al Jabr.

  "Even if those responsible have not yet been identified, this appalling act is clearly not a random event," the press freedom watchdog said.
• Timestamp: 

  7:10pm

  Libyans mourn slain Al Jazeera cameraman: 

• Timestamp: 

  6:37pm

  Libyan state TV said the Arab League resolution calling on the UN Security Council to impose a no-fly zone over Libya was "an unacceptable departure" from the body's charter.
• Timestamp: 

  5:22pm

  Reuters reports: The United Nations has asked Libya's authorities to give it access to areas on both sides of its conflict to assess the impact of the violence on civilians, a UN envoy said.

  "We have asked permission for unimpeded access," Rashid Khalikov said: "Our task is to try to negotiate with the government of Libya ... on the arrangements for a proper humanitarian needs assessment in the country."

  Some UN officials say the conflict in Libya has become a full-scale civil war and that it was becoming difficult to get information on the humanitarian impact of the heavy fighting.

• Timestamp: 

  5:00pm

  Amnesty International has condemned the killing of Al Jazeera cameraman Ali Hassan Al Jaber in Libya and warned of a campaign of attacks and harassment on journalists.
   
  "It appears that the Al Jazeera team was brutally and deliberately targeted," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Director.
  
  "Coming so soon after the detention and torture by Colonel Gaddafi's forces of three BBC staff -- who were subjected to beatings and mock executions -- and the detention of other journalists, this killing is most disturbing."
   
  "It is essential that this killing and the other abuses against journalists are investigated as part of the UN Human Rights Council's investigation into the situation in Libya. Those responsible for the killing of Ali Hassan Al Jaber must be held accountable for their actions."

• Timestamp: 

  4:46pm

  AFP reports: France is pushing to "speed up" multilateral efforts for a no-fly zone over Libya to curb the civil conflict there, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said in a statement.

• Timestamp: 

  4:18pm

  Aid group Doctors Without Borders warned that Libyan rebels are being denied medical help and urged access to treatment for the wounded regardless of political divisions.

  "We are deeply concerned with the denial of access to medical care and the plight of patients in public health facilities within government-controlled areas," said Bruno Jochum, the group's director of operations, in a statement.

• Timestamp: 

  1:14pm

  Discussing the imposition of  no-fly zone over Libya, Yousef Bouandel of Qatar University, told Al Jazeera, "Now that the Arab League has supported the no-fly zone, I think that within the next 72 hours or so the Security Council will meet and decide.
  
  "Given what happened in Iraq, they want the no-fly zone but do not want any military intervention.
  
  "In the last 72 hours, Gaddafi forces have been gaining momentum, obviously he wanted to gain as much as possible before the imposition of the no-fly zone.

  "And in the long run, it's obvious that Gaddafi's government in Libya will win the war if it continues for another two months or so."

• Timestamp: 

  12:51pm

  Al Jazeera's Birtley says that people here have welcomed the fact that the no-fly zone option has been supported by the Arab League.

  "The air exclusion zone is essential to the people here (in Libya), they know that at the end of the day they have to fight this themselves but if the international community did not help, they are talking about means of arming themselves.

  
  "There are a lot of brave words going around but on the ground different things are happening.
  
  "We have to remember that this is not an organised army, this is a group of teachers, engineers, street cleaners, people who have had no association with weapons, whatsoever.

  "And now they are coming up against very strong, well-equipped forces. And we are seeing a lot of casualties, basically if it is not sorted out soon then those casualty figures are going to go up and up and up.
  
  "It's not a very good situation at the moment, it is not looking very positive, quite the reverse."

• Timestamp: 

  12:47pm

  Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reports from Benghazi that, " There is a lot of concern here, a lot going on, a lot of misinformation, a lot of rumours, a lot of speculation, and a lot of worried people at the moment.

  "As far as the national transitional council is concerned, they are saying that they are still fighting and they  they are still in control.
  
  "However, they say that they need international help. I think they  admit openly that this is the only way out for them - international intervention of some kind, is the only way that they are going to win.
  
  "Ten days ago, they were on the advance but now they are on the retreat."

• Timestamp: 

  12:25pm

  So are Gaddafi forces gaining control? Watch our report to find out who is in control of what in Libya.

• Timestamp: 

  12:16pm

  The Reuters news agency reports that the Libyan armed forces, loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, have cleared "armed gangs" from the oil town of Brega in the east, an army source said on Sunday on Libyan state TV.
  
  "Brega has been cleansed of armed gangs," the military source was quoted on Libyan state TV as saying.

• Timestamp: 

  12:08pm

  Our correspondent from Tripoli shared the interesting accounts of the battle, that she heard from the journalists who were taken on this trip to Ras Lanuf.

  
  "It doesn't appear that the army has been engaged in Ras Lanuf, the soldiers that the journalists met when they were there, introduced themselves as volunteers.
  
  "Although, it's a given that Colonel Gaddafi has access to superior forces but it seems he is not deploying everything in hand. He may not even have deployed the supposedly best armed, best trained Khamis brigade, on the Ras Lanuf effort.
  
  "He (Gaddafi) has for him, fighting, enough people who are volunteers from other parts of the country, a lot of them to have come from an area which has tribal ties to Gaddafi to overwhelm the untrained, poorly supplied, poorly prepared rebel forces.
  
  "On the ground, there is no evidence of big weapons, large-scale military equipment, now that being said, they had an awful lot of time to clear the area before they brought foreign journalists to this trip, which was not a free trip."

• Timestamp: 

  12:06pm

  According to Al Jazeera's Anit McNaught, "Yesterday, after waiting for most of the day, and after night had fallen, a foreign media contingent was escorted to Ras Lanuf to see for themselves what
  the government wanted them to see.

  "And it would appear, from people who I have spoken to who were on that trip, the residents that they were allowed to speak to were expressing their great support and loyalty to Colonel Gaddafi."

• Timestamp: 

  12:02pm

  Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reports from Tripoli that, "The Syrian foreign ministry has had to issue a denial that it has offered any military support to Colonel Gaddafi.

  "There were rumours here that a Syrian fighter pilot had been shot down in a jet.

  "So Syrian foreign ministry has said that it is offering neither seaborne nor airborne nor any other form of
  military assistance to the Gaddafi regime."

• Timestamp: 

  10:17am

  Al Jazeera's Nick Clark reports from Tobruk that, "The frontline is moving eastwards in favour of Gaddafi.

  "But there is huge amount of resilience still, they (rebel forces) still think they can see Gaddafi off without a doubt. They are all proclaiming that ultimately they will win.

  "East of the country is hugely anti-Gaddafi, the reason for that is that they have been deprived by Gaddafi of the infrastructure and teh oil wealth that has been coming into Libya for years."

• Timestamp: 

  9:59am

  Speaking about the Arab League's support for the imposition of no-fly zone over Libya, Shadi Hamid, deputy director Brookings Centre Doha, told Al Jazeera that, "This is a big step as the Arab world has reached some consensus on it.
  
  "Gaddafi has been trying to use the narrative that the west is against him but now Arabs have come in support of the west's proposal for a no-fly zone.
  
  "And it was a pre-condition that the Arab countries support it so the coast is clear to move forward on it."

• Timestamp: 

  8:19am

  Our correspondent, Nick Clark also reported that the Libyan people want the no-fly zone to be imposed.

  "There was a funeral of a fighter here yesterday and there were children in attendance as well. They were holding posters asking for Mama Clinton to come and help."

• Timestamp: 

  8:13am

  Al Jazeera's Nick Clark reports from Tobruk that the situation is very unpredictable, "You could drive through an area which would be very friendly one hour but not so friendly the next hour.

  "The frontline is just 30km outside Brega and now there are unconfirmed reports that Ajdabiya has received some air threats.

  "If Ajdabiya is taken, Benghazi will be next and the whole area can be cut off but the morale here is high."

• Timestamp: 

  7:37am

  Hillary Clinton , US Secretary of State will meet with Mahmoud Jibril, a leading member of the Libyan opposition in Paris on Monday, according to the Libyan ambassador to the United Nations who defected.
  
  The chief US diplomat will hold talks with Jibril, who is in charge of foreign affairs for the opposition National Council.
  
  US has also agreed to name an envoy tasked with dealing specially with the opposition.
  
  Speaking in Washington beside Ali Aujali, the Libyan ambassador to the United States who has also defected, Jibril said: "We are not diplomats now, we are freedom fighters."
  
  When asked to elaborate on what kind of US military aid the opposition was seeking, Aujali replied: "Anything but physical presence on our soil.
  
  "Our main priority is the no-fly zone," Aujali added.

• Timestamp: 

  7:27am

  The Reuters news agency reports that the United States has backed a call by the Arab League for a United Nations no-fly zone over Libya.

  The call comes as government troops backed by warplanes fought to drive rebels from remaining strongholds in western Libya.

• Timestamp: 

  4:44am

  Al Jazeera's online producer Evan Hill footage from slain Al Jazeera camerman Ali Hassan al-Jaber's funeral in Benghazi.
  
  

• Timestamp: 

  03:05am

  Al Jazeera's James Bays has this package on the Arab League asking the UN Security Council to take the necessary steps to impose the no-fly zone over Libya.
  
  

• Timestamp: 

  1:33am

  Steve Clemons from the New America foundation tells Al Jazeera that is against a no fly zone because it doesn't change the military equation much.
  "We don't want to rob the folks working on their own narratives, I want to help them by providing them with intelligence, arms and others ways without foreign intervention."
  
  
  
  

• Timestamp: 

  1:30am

  Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin tweets: body of #aljazeera cameraman ali Jaber draped in #Libyas flag taken thru crowds in benghazi http://twitpic.com/48wron
  
  

• Timestamp: 

  00:30am

  Ali Hassan Al Jaber's death marks the first instance of a journalist killed in the line of duty in Libya: