March 31st Updates

New York: London: Tripoli:

00:39 Reuters U.S. intelligence operatives were on the ground in Libya before President Barack Obama signed a secret order authorizing covert support for anti-Gaddafi rebels, U.S. government sources told Reuters.

The CIA personnel were sent in to contact opponents of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and assess their capabilities, two U.S. officials said.

“They’re trying to sort out who could be turned into a military unit and who couldn’t,” said Bob Baer, a former CIA case officer whose memoirs were turned into the Hollywood thriller “Syriana.”

AFP23:36 AFP US Adm Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the weather has been hampering international air strikes over the past “three or four days”

“We have not been able to see through the weather or get through the weather to be able to do this kind of identification” of targets, he says. “And that has more than anything else reduced the impact… reduced the effectiveness, and has allowed the regime forces to move back to the east.”

23:22 BBC Libya’s most senior oil official, Shukri Ghanim, who is among those rumoured to have defected, has told Reuters he is still in place. “I am in my office and I will be on TV in a few minutes,” he told the news agency by phone.

23:09 DIRECT from Misratah Wefaq Libya confirm that 9 Gaddafi snipers were killed today by revolutionary snipers. The same source also confirms that battles today claimed the lives of 7 martyrs in Misratah.

22:12 Al Jazeera Arabic Mustafa Abdul Jalil, head of Interim National Council has said that revolutionaries lack organisation and he doesn’t exclude the possibility of a change in military leadership very soon.

22:12 Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent reported that he saw a convoy of Grad missile launchers leaving Benghazi and headed towards Ajdabiya

Almanara Media21:49 Almanara Media A force composed of 20 trucks and Grad missile launchers are stationed under trees and date palms in the Teejee area at the western entrance of Nalut

Almanara Media21:20 Almanara Media sources have reported to Almanara Media that 10 tanks are stationed near the gas factory which is 10km east of Zwarah

20:30 DIRECT from Misratah Coalition fighter jets are air striking Gaddafi’s tanks stationed in Misratah right now

AFP17:27 AFP A fishing trawler packed with food and medical equipment has docked in rebel-held Misrata, bringing one of the first aid shipments to the besieged Libyan city since it came under attack by Col Gaddafi’s forces 10 days ago.

Sky News16:18 Sky News Scottish prosecutors say they want to interview defected Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa in connection with the Lockerbie bombing.

16:14 Al Arabiya reports that chief of Libyan intelligence Abu-Zayd Durda has fled to Tunisia. Yesterday, Al Manara Media reported that he and several other diplomats were making plans to defect.

BBC15:20 BBC A former Libyan foreign minister whom Col Gaddafi had appointed as his UN ambassador, Ali Abdussalm Treki, has refused to take up any official position and condemned the “spilling of blood”, Reuters reports. Mr Treki made the remarks in a statement sent to Reuters by his nephew, Soufian Treki, a Libyan diplomat at the Arab League in Cairo. He said his uncle was in Cairo now. Mr Treki said in a statement: “I have decided not to continue work or to accept any duty. I pray to God to help me participate in saving this precious nation.” He called for a national dialogue to discuss Libyan aspirations.

BBC14:40 BBC Coalition forces have bombed pro-Gaddafi forces near Brega, and they have been pushed back to the village of Bishr, west of the city, BBC Monitoring reports, quoting privately-owned online newspaper Libya al-Yawm. “Brega: Alliance forces bomb the hardware of Gaddafi’s brigades near the village of al-Urqub to the south of Brega… Brega: Gaddafi brigades driven back to the area of the village of Bishr west of Brega,” the paper said.

Reuters14:05 Reuters Gaddafi forces are using artillery to bombard Misrata, according to a spokesman for the revolutionaries. He adds that 20 civilians were killed in the city on Wednesday when houses were hit by shells. The shelling is still going on today, as Gaddafi’s forces have surrounded the city.

13:45 Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent has just reported that Gaddafi’s forces are bombarding the eastern entrance of the city of Brega

13:39 DIRECT from Misratah Wefaq Media confirm Gaddafi’s forces are still shelling and bombarding the city specifically in the eastern entrance near the Medical Technology College and in Tripoli Street. Eyewitness confirm that Gaddafi’s forces are using civilian cars to bring in supplies and mercenaries in an attempt to avoid being targets for air strikes.

13:31 Ny Tid Norwegian newspaper Ny Tid reports that Al Jazeera’s/Ny Tid’s journalist Ammar Al-Hamdan has been freed. He was released in Tripoli at 12:30 local time. Ammar is now back on the streets reporting, they say.

BBC13:12 The BBC‘s Ben Brown in Ajdabiya says the rebels are still coming under ferocious fire from tanks and artillery. They appear to be losing ground quickly, he says, as the regime troops slowly but surely move eastwards.

Guardian12:19 The Guardian has been told that General Khouildi Hamidi, Muammar Gaddafi’s intelligence coordinator, is defecting from the Gaddafi regime. They’re trying to confirm this.

Reuters12:43 Reuters Nato has said it is investigating reports of civilian casualties during coalition strikes on Tripoli. “We are making inquiries to the chain of command to see if there is any substance, but don’t have information to corroborate [them],” an official was quoted by Reuters as saying. “We will do everything we can to determine if anything did happen.” A top Vatican official in Tripoli cited what they called reliable witnesses as saying at least 40 civilians have been killed in air strikes on the city.

AFP11:56 AFP Nato’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said he is opposed to the idea of arming Libyan rebels, stressing Nato is in the country to protect and not to arm Libyans, AFP reports.

BBC11:17 BBC‘s Nick Springate is between Ajdabiya and Brega, he says: “In the last few minutes, opposition forces who were travelling down the coastal road have been hit by artillery. One round landed on their lead vehicle, destroying their vehicle, and without doubt killing those inside.”

BBC11:08 BBC Former UK foreign secretary Jack Straw says it’s important to ensure that members of the Gaddafi regime feel they can defect without facing immediate charges. “You accept certain political realities in the interests of a wider benefit – which is, in the Libyan case, the prospect of earlier stability in that country and fewer killings – and you start to embrace these individuals,” he said.

Guardian10:50 The Guardian Gaddafi’s regime has been ordered to appear before Africa’s highest court to face charges of “massive violations of human rights” for killing peaceful demonstrators. The court declares the regime must immediately stop any action that would result in loss of life or breach of human rights. The announcement from the court in Arusha, Tanzania, is likely to be welcomed by Nato.

NATO10:15 NATO Secretary General Rasmussen has confirmed that the alliance has taken over international air operations over Libya this morning at 0600 GMT.

Reuters09:12 Reuters Revolutionaries have massed outside Brega and say their forces are still fighting Col Gaddafi’s troops for control of the east Libyan oil town.

BBC10:06 BBC For Libyan author Hisham Mattar, Moussa Koussa is not somebody who should be feted by the UK Foreign Office (FCO): “Moussa Koussa has been called many things; the most colourful are ‘the envoy of death’ and ‘the father of Lockerbie’,” he told the BBC World Service. “Very few of Col Gaddafi’s men are associated more strongly or more directly with macabre violence than the man who now enjoys the hospitality of the FCO.”

Almanara Media01:26 Almanara Media Reports that coalition air strikes have targeted the source of Satellite Signal Scrambling located in Salahuddin area in Tripoli

01:13 Reuters A Reuters photographer says Mr Koussa crossed into Tunisia in a convoy of armoured limousines.

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15 Responses to March 31st Updates

  1. Brooster says:

    Please be extreamly careful if dealing with the French. Back-stabbers. Undependable. They will sell you a dollar for 5 dollars.

    • Patricia says:

      As far as I know, without the French the revolution would have been over more than one week ago, I am not French but I have lived in France for 10 years now and have not yet been back-stabbed despite my free speaking and acting… on the contrary, I came here in search of respect and freedom and found it… although it is not Wonderworld either. There are some people like yourself, Brooster, who have narrow minds and think based on stereotypes. It’s a pity!

  2. Patricia says:

    Good, Americans will be heraing this, some still doubt about legitimacy of rebels, etc. these journalists’ experience may be more effective in changing their opinion than images of massacrated rebels…

    http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/03/30/world/africa/100000000752052/captured-by-qaddafis-forces.html

    Everybody thinks of western economic interests as being the driving force for coalition member countries, ok, but it is also true that Obama, Sarkozy and Gordon Brown are risking their own political careers by expressing this support…

  3. Adnalya says:

    How can i access the posts from 30 March? I am searching an update that was yesterday evening and can’t do it.

  4. Rick K says:

    Martin L King marched on Selma 2Xs without guns. He lost some battles but won a peaceful change. Peace march to Tripoli From Bengazi for Eman Go around the fighting across the desert 5 to 7 days of peace march will bring NATO air suport and the world.5000 volunteers with support. Across open area so Air support can protect. There is an end game at Tripoli also. I will proud to be invited

  5. Rick K says:

    You in Libya started this in peace . that is the good side ; now the dark side is in control . sounds funny but peace brings peacefull change ; but guns bring new vilent leaders. Be a peaceful leader and bring peace to Libya. It is not easy ; people die for peace just like people die to take a town or brige . How many were killed to change civel rights in the USA. the anger of the BLACK PANTHER MOVEMENT DID NOT DO IT. The peacefull march of Martin L. King DID. What about Gundi and Mandelia Why war at Zirt walk around it . NATO is commited to protect PEACEFULL people . Use that help. Don’t get boged down fighting town to town . Let your fighters set a line to stop Q’s trups and peacefully walk around them with NATO cover. Yours in Peace Rick

  6. Henrie Eduozor says:

    I think it’s possible that Moussa Koussa tricked the regime into believing he was going on a diplomatic mission to cut deals for Gadaffi’s government.

  7. Kieran E says:

    I’m not sure what to make of all this talk of fresh defections; Gaddafi is winning, fairly comfortably given he has effectively subdued most of the west from poking their heads out, so why would they try to defect now ?

    Libyans protested for change in peace but were killed for it, but they are unable to fight for change either because Gaddafi seems too strong for them. With NATO unwilling/unable to act against new tactics against the east in as decisive a manner as before, one has to wonder where things will go from here.

    Arming the rebels won’t do any good as they won’t be trained to use the weapons and in all probability the weapons would end up in Gaddafi hands eventually after a panicky withdrawl.

    Still, there is hope right? No-one saw Koussa turning up in London coming apparently, so maybe there is time for the free libyans to have things turn in their favour yet.

  8. Rick K says:

    WE must stop the be at war mind set and get a peacefull plan. That dosen’t mean safe plan But a plan that could overcome viloance with the same people power that started this cry for peace and freedom…I was around when Martin L King marched on Selma 2Xs without guns. He lost some battles but won a peaceful change. One idia is a Peace march From the east to Tripoli for Eman . Go around the fighting across the desert 5 to 7 days of peace march will bring NATO and the world.5000 volunteers with support. Across open area so Air support from Nato can and WILL have to protect the peacefull marchers. There is a Peacefull end game at Tripoli also . I will proud to be invited . Please some peacefull positive thoughts not endless war

    • Peter Higgins says:

      @Rick It is charming that you believe so, but one reason that those peace movement worked was because they worked against a power that was afraid of hypocrisy and the violence it unleashes. Not so with Gaddafi – he is quite happy with unlimited violence, and is unafraid of the backlash. Unfortunately, he would bury the peace march in the desert, and then move on.

  9. milan1975 says:

    Support for Muammar al Gaddafi from the people of Serbia

    Podrska Pukovniku Muammar al Gaddafiju od naroda Srbije