Libya - The War of a Crumbling Regime

COMMENT by Ulysses
based on the latest news report
of Al-Jazeera on April 2, 2011

During the last days, Libyan rebels have lost ground. However, this is not a decisive point in the development of their battle for Libya.

Lots of overexcited volunteer fighters, shooting in the air when nobody is around, have now been banned from the frontline together with all nosy correspondents from the international media. Such, there is nobody left to stand in the way of military operations by, both, allied forces and freedom fighters. It is estimated that some civilian casualties of allied bombardment should have been due to unauthorized persons on the battlefield.

From now on, only trained military personnel is holding the line. One of their commanders, a former colonel of the Gadafi army and one of the first who defected to the freedom fighters, put it that way: "The Gadafi officers have fled in the wake of high-ranking defections, and there are only 50 soldiers left on the other side in Brega." A senior U.S. analyst, questioned by Al-Jazeera, had another explanation for the volunteers he described as " the gang that could not shoot straight ". He said that such rebel fighters were undergoing a kind of " Darwinian experience ". Those who are unskilled and unintelligent will die soon. Others who learn will stay alive a little longer, and those who stick to experienced fighters will learn even more. However, " there is still a long way to go ".

Meanwhile, different contacts between the rebels and government authorities have been established on different levels. Mainly, a former Jordanian foreign minister is acting as a special envoy for both sides. However, a ceasefire recently offered by the rebels has been rejected by the Gadafi government. In any case, that decision is expected to deliver further discord within the inner circle of power in Tripolis. As could be heard from Britain, even more high-ranking followers of Gadafi or members of his clan are now looking for a safe place outside of Libya. That is why the Foreign Office in London felt obliged to remember the Libyan leadership of their final goal in the Libyan affair which is the resignation of Colonel Gadafi from power.

نصيب كل دولة من النشاط العسكري	Proportion of all nations [engaged] in military activity:
U.S.A. 90 France 33 Britain 17 Italy 16 Canada 11 Turkey 7.6 Netherl. 7.1 Spain 6.2	Belgium 6 Norway 6 Denmark 4 Greece 2 Romania 1 Bulgaria 1 [Germany is missing.]

التطورات الميدانية في ليبيا
Development of the [military] campaign in Libya.

Libya - Defection of Gadafi's Staff

Libyan foreign minister Mousa Kousa
defected to Britain the day before:


انشقاق مزيد من الشخصيات الرفيعة القريبة من العقيد القذافي بمن فيهم عبد السلام التريكي
Discord rising between high-ranking persons near to Colonel Gadafi including Abd al-Salam al-Tiriki (*).

* = Ali Abdul Salaam Al-Tiriki, Col. Gadaffi’s personal envoy whose brief in his office is the African Union. [Name written as it is spoken and text cited from an African source]

شخصيات ليبية من بينها شكري غانم و عبد العاطي العبيد تغادر ليبيا لتونس
Several persons from Libya, including Shakri Ranam and Abd al-Hadi al-Abid, defected from Libya to Tunisia.

For more information onشكري غانم و عبد العاطي العبيد refer to another website in Arabic related to "Kol Israel", the national broadcasting service of Israel. [April 1, 2011]


عبد الرحمن شلقم
مندوب المجلس الوطني الانتقالي الليبي لدى الأمم المتحدة
Abd al-Rahman Shaliqam, delegate of the national
council of transition in Libya at the United Nations:


Mr. Shaliqam is the envoy of the provisional administration of transition in Benghazi. From New York he participated in a late-night TV broadcast by Al-Jazeera on Gadafi's personal staff.

The following link in Arabic is leading to a website of Al-Arabiya TV that present their video on defection of high-ranking personnel of the Gadafi staff. [March 31, 2011]

وزير الخارجية الليبيا موسى كوسا
Libyan foreign minister Mousa Kousa:



An earlier news report on the defection of the Libyan interior minister, dating back to February 22,2011, has been added below:

Nuclear Energy - China vs. Germany

CHINA

This year, China is launching another four nuclear energy units. The recently built units are expected to reduce at least by 60% China's long-term plannings of an additional 10 Gigawatt (GW) or more. Those four nuclear reactors cited are namely unit 4, 5 and 6 of a Guangdong energy plant and one unit at a Fujian energy plant. It is impossible to China to abstain from its huge efforts to develop nuclear energy and rely on coal as an alternative energy source. .....

Original source: Dong Fang Early (Newspaper) on March 29, 2011

During the late 1950s, China already introduced nuclear technology made in the Soviet Union, its purpose obviously being the production of nuclear weapons. Much later, in the 1970s i.e. namely in the aftermath of the so-called Cultural Revolution, China began official nuclear plannings to ensure its increasing need of electric energy. It signed treaties with Germany and France and showed itself interested in nuclear technology developed in the United States of America. At that time, one of two French nuclear reactors using U.S. technology from Westinghouse was planned to be erected north of Shanghai to provide electricity for the gigantic steel production facility there. Until now, nuclear energy plants have been installed in different parts of the country.

As the Chinese learned their "nuclear lesson" almost from scratch, it was inevitable that one or another "incident" occured in their energy plants or research facilities. The best known example is referring to the research reactor shown below that had been heavily contaminated during the 1970s. The Chinese found a pragmatic solution to deal with that problem: They closed the facility and did not mention this place any more. By the way, my visitors are requested to enjoy the modern architecture of the building with its many windows to ventilate the whole thing.

"Let the sunshine in !"

"We are the masters of science !"


The industrial region near Shanghai - A potential target to earthquakes:


Looking at China from the Japanese center of disaster:


Recent map of nuclear energy units in PR China:
Green = existing; Red = in construction; White = in state of planning

GERMANY

The most debated providers for 22% of Germany's energy:

Marked by a red cross:
The reactors to be switched off immediately because of public pressure on the federal government and the suppliers of nuclear energy.


The power of public opinion after the Fukushima incident .....

..... accounted for the ruling party's heavy losses in two regional elections last weekend.


The federal government's deal with the atomic energy industry, shortly before the elections, has inspired a German artist to create the following picture that could be used as an election poster for the ruling party. - My visitors from Western Europe and the U.S.A. will surely recognize that greedy boss of TV hero Homer Simpson and who is owning Springfield's dangerous nuclear shack:

Libya - Front Report

Places actually held by the rebels are marked in white color. As can be seen, the rebels' army is now approaching the town of Sirt, Gadafi's birthplace. All places marked in red color are battle zones, either subject to allied bombing or endangered by the rebels.

Front line at the strategic town of Misrata, north of Sirt on the road to Tripolis, where clouds of exploding anti-aircraft grenades can be observed in the sky:


"According to an eyewitness, the barracks of Gadafi's units at Bab al-Aziziya in Tripolis have been evacuated." [Al-Jazeera, Arabic TV].
It was here that Gadafi delivered an aggressive speech to his followers shortly after the uprising began.

Now, as we are hearing so much about U.S., French and British support for the Libyan rebels, it should be mentioned that Turkey as well plays an important role within the international military action against colonel Gadafi:

دور تركي في ليبيا
The role of Turkey in Libya.

رجب طيب أردوغان: تركيا لها ثلاث مهام هي إدارة مطار بنغازي و مراقبة المجال الجوي الليبي و نشر قوات بحرية في الممر البحري بين كريت و بنغازي
[According to Al-Jazeera online, Turkey's prime minister] Rajab Daib Erdogan [said]:
"Turkey has three responsibilities which are the administration of Benghazi airport, the surveillance of Libyan airspace and the deployment of naval forces in the sea corridor between Kreta and Benghazi."

Libya and Egypt - Chaos and Consolidation

LIBYA:

ثوار ليبيا يدخلون راس لانوف بعد سيطرتهم على العقيلة و البريقة و اجدابيا و كتائب القذافي تنسحب
Libyan rebels enter Ras Lanuf after having gained control over al-Aquila, al-Brega and Ajdabia while Gadafi's units are retreating.

مراسل الجزيرة: الثوار يستولون على أسلحة خلفتها الكتائب في راس لانوف
A correspondent of Al-Jazeera [says] that rebels captured weapons left back by [enemy] units in Ras Lanuf.

مراسل الجزيرة: الثوار يأسرون 40 مرتزقا في راس لانوف
According to a correspondent of Al-Jazeera, the rebels captured 40 mercenaries at Ras Lanuf.

Captured: A relative of Gadafi ?


مراسل الجزيرة: ثوار ليبيا يستعيدون السيطرة على مدينة راس لانوف
A correspondent of Al-Jazeera [says] that Libyan rebels are gaining back al-Sidra near the town of Ras Lanuf.

متحدث باسم الثوار: الثوار يسيطرون على ميناء مصراتة الليبي و 7500 أجنبي عالقون فيه
[A speaker] of the rebels [says] that they have gained control over the port of Misrata al-Libia where 7500 foreigners are being [stranded].

Foreign refugees at a Misrata camp:


Report from Karthoum:

EGYPT:

رئيس الوزراء المصري عصام شرف يصل إلى الخرطوم في أول زيارة خارجية لأرفع مسؤول مصري منذ نجاح ثورة 25 يناير
The Egyptian prime minister Asam Sharif arrives in [the Sudanese capital of] Karthoum on his first foreign visit as a [high-ranking] Egyptian official since the successful revolution on January 25.

البورصة المصرية: وقف التداول مؤقتا جراء ارتفاع أسهم للحد الأقص
The Egyptian stock market: Ending of the temporary circulation of a risky hausse of short-term titles.

Egyptian stock market in Kairo:

Japan - Dangerous Leakage

Due to a dangerous leakage in, at least, one reactor radioactive iodine gained access to seawater. The actual iodine intensity is now 1.250 times higher than normal. The day before it was only 100 times higher.
On Wednesday, three rescue workers had already received a dangerous dose of radioactivity while they had to pass a pumping room that is still partly flooded with water leaked from one of the reactors.





Decontamination of the world's greatest aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan which participated in rescue operations during the first days after the earthquake and tsunami impact when a nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima energy plant was already in sight.

Violence in Syria العنف في سوريا

العنف في سوريا
إدانات و ردود فعل دولية
Violence in Syria
Condemnation and Nationwide Reaction

وكالة الأنباء الفرنسية نقلأ عن مسؤول سوري: مقتل 10 متظاهرين في مدينة الصنمين جنوب البلاد
The French news agency [AFP] informed that a Syrian official told them about 10 protesters who died in the town of al-Sanamin in the southern part of the country.

قتلى و جرحى برصاص قوات الأمن السورية خلال تفريق مظاهرات في عدد من المدن و القرى تطالب بالإصلاح
Dead and wounded left by bullets from Syrian security forces during the dispersal of demonstrations in many townships and villages and that are demanding a reformation [of the state].

ردود فعل دولية منددة بأعمال العنف ضد المتظاهرين في سوريا
Nationwide reaction invoking the violent [security] operations against protesters in Syria.


Supporters of the Regime of Basher Assad:


International Voices:

المتحدث باسم البيت الأبيض: ندين بشدة أعمال الغنف في سوريا و نحث الحكومة على التقيد بالسبل السلمية
A spokesman of the White House [said]: "We are intensely taking notice of the violent [police] operations in Syria, and we are urging the government to stick to peaceful measures."

وزير الدولة البريطاني لشؤون الشرق الأوسط و شمال أفريقيا: أشعر بالقلق الشديدد إزاء استخدام العنف ضد المتظاهرين, لجميع السوريين الحق في التعبير عن رأيهم بطريقة سلمية
The British minister of state in charge of Middle Eastern and North-African affairs [said] : "I [heard] about the intensifying disorder [confronting] the use of violence against protesters. For all Syrian citizens, [there is] the right to express their opinion in a peaceful way."

Algier - Uprising of the Citizens

يوم ثان من المواجهات بين قوات الأمن الجزائري و مواطنين يحتجون على هدم منازلهم في أحد الأحياء بالعاصمة الجزائر
Second day of confrontation between Algerian security forces and citizens who are confronting the demolition of their houses in one municipal district of the Algerian capital.


Algerian president Bouteflica:



Additional Information:
There have been clashes as well between protesters and security forces in the Syrian town of Daraa. Up to now, reliable photos of the Syrian uprising are rare.

Japan - Radiation Report

It's like getting a stomach X-ray every hour and free of charge
(above).

Damage done by tsunami to the Fukushima nuclear plant no.1.
This should be part of the pumping facility that failed when it
was needed afterwards. Photo was taken from a helicopter
shortly after the tsunami came in (below).

Libya - Gadafi's Air Force Destroyed

NATO Jet going to be Refuelled in the Air.

إطلاق نار كثيف و قذائف دبابات من كتائب القذافي على المجمع الصحي بمصراتة و سقوط قتلى
Concentrated shooting and tank granades from Gadafi units on a [hospital] compound at Misrata left [many] dead.


The International Alliance - Targets and Combat Zones

قائد بريطاني: دمرنا سلاح الجو الليبي
A British commander [says]: "We destroyed the Libyan air force."

قائد بريطاني: نتابع قوات القذافي عن كثب و نهاجمها متى هددت المدنيين
A Brish commander [says]: "We are following Gadafi's troops from close and we attack them whenever they are endangering civilians."


Wrecked Rocket Launcher

Libya - German Inconsequence

"What did the foreign minister of Germany have in mind all the time ? First, he acclaimed Arabic freedom fighters in their revolutions and made himself acclaimed on Tahrir square in Cairo. Then he demanded the overthrow of Gadafi - only to shrink back in the security council afterwards. This has not much in common with a foreign policy based on values."

This is what Germany's former minister of foreign affairs Josef Oskar "Joschka" Fischer said after the actual foreign minister Guido Westerwelle (Liberal Party) defended the position of the Merkel government that had come to the decision not to take part directly in the military action against Gadafi. Such leaving all activity within the European Union to France who then shared the international military action on its own.

"Was hat sich der deutsche Außenminister dabei gedacht? Erst schlug er sich auf die Seite der arabischen Freiheitsrevolutionen, ließ sich auf dem Tahrir-Platz in Kairo feiern, dann forderte er den Sturz Gaddafis - nur um schließlich im Sicherheitsrat den Schwanz einzuziehen. Mit einer an Werte gebundenen Außenpolitik hat das nicht viel zu tun gehabt."

News of the Day:

Libyan radar facilities destroyed near Benghazi during nightly attacks by the international alliance. CNN reporting. March 22, 2011.

Japan - Danger to the Public - Part II

In order to complete my earlier comment on danger to
the people of Japan by radioactivity emerging from that
damaged plant of Fukushima, I have to stress again the
importance of photon energy when it comes to the impact
on human health.

Any radiation characterized by a low energy of photons
(which is comparable to a high wavelength) is especially
hazardous to human health. That will mean a very high
risk of developing different types of cancer for all those
who get in direct contact with or incorporate particles
emitting low-energy beta-radiation. This is the case for
some most important nuclids of Iodine and Caesium now
emitted from the power plant.

It should be noted that biological effects are triggered off
rather by the exposure to such "soft" beta-radiation which
is very common in the reaction chain of nuclear fission than
by short-time exposure to "hard" gamma-radiation or X-
rays. This might be due to a greater absorbance efficiency
for low-energy particles or X-rays with a rather long wave-
length while any high-energy radiation like fast neutron
bombardment or gamma-rays simply passes through the
human body without being absorbed by human tissue if the
time of exposure remains relatively short and the intensity
of such radiation within certain bounds.

Therefore, the Japanese government recently launched
restrictions for the shipping of raw milk and vegetables
like spinach from Fukushima prefecture to other parts of
the country.

Libya - Punishing the Tyrant

After the Paris Summit for Support of the Libyan People, yesterday March 19, 2011, about 112 U.S. and British missiles have hit special targets in Tripolis and Misrata. The U.S. are using their Tomahawk cruise missiles to be launched by navy vessels while the British have fired Polaris missiles from submarine. Furthermore, British and French air force are prepared to enter Libyan territory whenever they want. According to German radio news, the coordination of all military action of the allied forces should be located on a U.S. base in Germany, even though Germany is not directly involved in any combat mission.


U.S. navy ship launching a cruise missile (above)

البنتاغون: 112 صاروخا أطلقت من بوارج و غواصات أمريكية و بريطانية
According to the Pentagon, 112 missiles were launched from U.S. and British [navy] ships and submarines.

دوي انفجارات و انطلاق المضادات الأرضية في العاصمة الليبية طرابلس
Sounds of explosions and of [responding fire i.e. anti-aircraft fire] in the Libyan capital of Tripolis.

Polaris missile launched from submarine (below)




French Mirage jets taking off (above)

مصادر للجزيرة: الطائرات الفرنسية دمرت 4 دبابات تابعة للقذافي في قصف جنوب غرب بنغازي
[Different] sources told Al-Jazeera that French planes destroyed 4 tanks
[of the Gadafi forces] in a bombardment South West of Benghazi.

French air force jet ready to take off (below)





Late evening news of Al-Jazeera:

شهود عيان: تجدد القصف في طرابلس ودوي مضادات تطلق من محيط منزل القذافي
Eyewitnesses report on a resume of bombardment in Tripolis and the noise of [responding fire] spreading from the residential area of Gadafi.

شهود عيان: تجدد القصف في طرابلس و إطلاق مضادات قرب مقر إقامة القذافي
Eyewitnesses report on a resume of bombardment in Tripolis and [responding fire] near the residence of Gadafi.


Eyewitness report from Misrata township (marked on the below map)



مصادر للجزيرة: قصف عشوائي في شارع طرابلس بوسط مصراته
[Different] sources informed Al-Jazeera of a risky bombardment of the center of Misrata on the road to Tripolis.

موسى: قصف القوات الدولية لليبيا يختلف عن الهدف من فرض حظر الطيران الذي أقرته الجامعة
[The secretary-general of the Arab League] Moussa said that the bombardment of Libya by international forces is different from the aim of an obligation to prohibit any flight as has been declared by the League.

Secretary-general of the Arab League (below)