EDITORIAL:Daily Times
Libya is in a state of anarchy as the revolt in the Arab world now turns dangerous. Civil war has broken out in the country with pro-Gaddafi loyalists fiercely taking up arms against the protesters who have seized control of the eastern city of Benghazi — Libya’s second largest and most important after the capital Tripoli — and the towns of Misurata and Zuara. Gaddafi’s power base is coming under increasing threat and the dictator is being reduced to little more than an isolated, hated warmonger bent on destroying his country before almost inevitably being shown the door. The situation has become such that the army is being ordered to take on the protesters by conducting a large-scale genocide. Two fighter jets defected to neighbouring Malta a few days back because they refused to bomb protesting civilians on the orders of the vehement dictator. Reports are now coming in that defying Gaddafi has its own price: troops who do not obey Gaddafi’s orders are being executed en masse. Militiamen and Gaddafi loyalists are reported to be roaming the streets on utility trucks firing at anyone who is deemed as being an opponent of the dictator. So far, the death toll has reached an alarming 650 plus with fears that the violence is only just beginning.
Muammar Gaddafi is turning out to be the most hateful of all the Arab dictators recently facing protests. He rather arrogantly declared in a televised address recently that he would “crush the revolt”. He referred to the protesters — his people — as being little more than “cockroaches” and promised that he would die a martyr instead of bowing down to the rebellion. It looks like he intends to make good on his word.
In a bizarre twist, Gaddafi blames a very unlikely instigator of the whole Libyan revolt: Osama bin Laden. Now the terrorist leader can be blamed for many things but in the words of Muammar Gaddafi, fuelling the protesters with “milk and Nescafe spiked with hallucinogens” really does not seem like al Qaeda’s cup of tea (pun intended).
In the meanwhile, the international community is sending out a strong message: curb the violence now or face tough US and EU sanctions. NATO held an emergency meeting in Brussels on Friday and discussed deploying aircraft and ships out to the Mediterranean. The UN Human Rights Council is even considering expelling the North African country. These are harsh measures but the international community is shocked at just how far one man can go to perpetuate his rule.
Somebody needs to knock some sense into the old dictator whose every move is now oozing the stench of desperation. Libya has been overtaken by the fever of dissent, a new wave of defiance in the Middle East where young, passionate citizens will no longer stand for undemocratic, dynastic governments. This internal revolt and the loud external condemnation have collided to bring the country and its dictator to a death rattle where Gaddafi is doing anything and everything left in his power to fend off the ‘martyrdom’ he so defiantly professed. Before more blood is shed and before the rebellion turns into all out genocide, Muammar Gaddafi must go the Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak way and step down. He has had his moment of glory. It is time now that he leaves the stage for the sake of his countrymen.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Libya bleeds
EDITORIAL:Daily Times
Libya is in a state of anarchy as the revolt in the Arab world now turns dangerous. Civil war has broken out in the country with pro-Gaddafi loyalists fiercely taking up arms against the protesters who have seized control of the eastern city of Benghazi — Libya’s second largest and most important after the capital Tripoli — and the towns of Misurata and Zuara. Gaddafi’s power base is coming under increasing threat and the dictator is being reduced to little more than an isolated, hated warmonger bent on destroying his country before almost inevitably being shown the door. The situation has become such that the army is being ordered to take on the protesters by conducting a large-scale genocide. Two fighter jets defected to neighbouring Malta a few days back because they refused to bomb protesting civilians on the orders of the vehement dictator. Reports are now coming in that defying Gaddafi has its own price: troops who do not obey Gaddafi’s orders are being executed en masse. Militiamen and Gaddafi loyalists are reported to be roaming the streets on utility trucks firing at anyone who is deemed as being an opponent of the dictator. So far, the death toll has reached an alarming 650 plus with fears that the violence is only just beginning.
Muammar Gaddafi is turning out to be the most hateful of all the Arab dictators recently facing protests. He rather arrogantly declared in a televised address recently that he would “crush the revolt”. He referred to the protesters — his people — as being little more than “cockroaches” and promised that he would die a martyr instead of bowing down to the rebellion. It looks like he intends to make good on his word.
In a bizarre twist, Gaddafi blames a very unlikely instigator of the whole Libyan revolt: Osama bin Laden. Now the terrorist leader can be blamed for many things but in the words of Muammar Gaddafi, fuelling the protesters with “milk and Nescafe spiked with hallucinogens” really does not seem like al Qaeda’s cup of tea (pun intended).
In the meanwhile, the international community is sending out a strong message: curb the violence now or face tough US and EU sanctions. NATO held an emergency meeting in Brussels on Friday and discussed deploying aircraft and ships out to the Mediterranean. The UN Human Rights Council is even considering expelling the North African country. These are harsh measures but the international community is shocked at just how far one man can go to perpetuate his rule.
Somebody needs to knock some sense into the old dictator whose every move is now oozing the stench of desperation. Libya has been overtaken by the fever of dissent, a new wave of defiance in the Middle East where young, passionate citizens will no longer stand for undemocratic, dynastic governments. This internal revolt and the loud external condemnation have collided to bring the country and its dictator to a death rattle where Gaddafi is doing anything and everything left in his power to fend off the ‘martyrdom’ he so defiantly professed. Before more blood is shed and before the rebellion turns into all out genocide, Muammar Gaddafi must go the Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak way and step down. He has had his moment of glory. It is time now that he leaves the stage for the sake of his countrymen.
Libya is in a state of anarchy as the revolt in the Arab world now turns dangerous. Civil war has broken out in the country with pro-Gaddafi loyalists fiercely taking up arms against the protesters who have seized control of the eastern city of Benghazi — Libya’s second largest and most important after the capital Tripoli — and the towns of Misurata and Zuara. Gaddafi’s power base is coming under increasing threat and the dictator is being reduced to little more than an isolated, hated warmonger bent on destroying his country before almost inevitably being shown the door. The situation has become such that the army is being ordered to take on the protesters by conducting a large-scale genocide. Two fighter jets defected to neighbouring Malta a few days back because they refused to bomb protesting civilians on the orders of the vehement dictator. Reports are now coming in that defying Gaddafi has its own price: troops who do not obey Gaddafi’s orders are being executed en masse. Militiamen and Gaddafi loyalists are reported to be roaming the streets on utility trucks firing at anyone who is deemed as being an opponent of the dictator. So far, the death toll has reached an alarming 650 plus with fears that the violence is only just beginning.
Muammar Gaddafi is turning out to be the most hateful of all the Arab dictators recently facing protests. He rather arrogantly declared in a televised address recently that he would “crush the revolt”. He referred to the protesters — his people — as being little more than “cockroaches” and promised that he would die a martyr instead of bowing down to the rebellion. It looks like he intends to make good on his word.
In a bizarre twist, Gaddafi blames a very unlikely instigator of the whole Libyan revolt: Osama bin Laden. Now the terrorist leader can be blamed for many things but in the words of Muammar Gaddafi, fuelling the protesters with “milk and Nescafe spiked with hallucinogens” really does not seem like al Qaeda’s cup of tea (pun intended).
In the meanwhile, the international community is sending out a strong message: curb the violence now or face tough US and EU sanctions. NATO held an emergency meeting in Brussels on Friday and discussed deploying aircraft and ships out to the Mediterranean. The UN Human Rights Council is even considering expelling the North African country. These are harsh measures but the international community is shocked at just how far one man can go to perpetuate his rule.
Somebody needs to knock some sense into the old dictator whose every move is now oozing the stench of desperation. Libya has been overtaken by the fever of dissent, a new wave of defiance in the Middle East where young, passionate citizens will no longer stand for undemocratic, dynastic governments. This internal revolt and the loud external condemnation have collided to bring the country and its dictator to a death rattle where Gaddafi is doing anything and everything left in his power to fend off the ‘martyrdom’ he so defiantly professed. Before more blood is shed and before the rebellion turns into all out genocide, Muammar Gaddafi must go the Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak way and step down. He has had his moment of glory. It is time now that he leaves the stage for the sake of his countrymen.
Libya bleeds
EDITORIAL:Daily Times
Libya is in a state of anarchy as the revolt in the Arab world now turns dangerous. Civil war has broken out in the country with pro-Gaddafi loyalists fiercely taking up arms against the protesters who have seized control of the eastern city of Benghazi — Libya’s second largest and most important after the capital Tripoli — and the towns of Misurata and Zuara. Gaddafi’s power base is coming under increasing threat and the dictator is being reduced to little more than an isolated, hated warmonger bent on destroying his country before almost inevitably being shown the door. The situation has become such that the army is being ordered to take on the protesters by conducting a large-scale genocide. Two fighter jets defected to neighbouring Malta a few days back because they refused to bomb protesting civilians on the orders of the vehement dictator. Reports are now coming in that defying Gaddafi has its own price: troops who do not obey Gaddafi’s orders are being executed en masse. Militiamen and Gaddafi loyalists are reported to be roaming the streets on utility trucks firing at anyone who is deemed as being an opponent of the dictator. So far, the death toll has reached an alarming 650 plus with fears that the violence is only just beginning.
Muammar Gaddafi is turning out to be the most hateful of all the Arab dictators recently facing protests. He rather arrogantly declared in a televised address recently that he would “crush the revolt”. He referred to the protesters — his people — as being little more than “cockroaches” and promised that he would die a martyr instead of bowing down to the rebellion. It looks like he intends to make good on his word.
In a bizarre twist, Gaddafi blames a very unlikely instigator of the whole Libyan revolt: Osama bin Laden. Now the terrorist leader can be blamed for many things but in the words of Muammar Gaddafi, fuelling the protesters with “milk and Nescafe spiked with hallucinogens” really does not seem like al Qaeda’s cup of tea (pun intended).
In the meanwhile, the international community is sending out a strong message: curb the violence now or face tough US and EU sanctions. NATO held an emergency meeting in Brussels on Friday and discussed deploying aircraft and ships out to the Mediterranean. The UN Human Rights Council is even considering expelling the North African country. These are harsh measures but the international community is shocked at just how far one man can go to perpetuate his rule.
Somebody needs to knock some sense into the old dictator whose every move is now oozing the stench of desperation. Libya has been overtaken by the fever of dissent, a new wave of defiance in the Middle East where young, passionate citizens will no longer stand for undemocratic, dynastic governments. This internal revolt and the loud external condemnation have collided to bring the country and its dictator to a death rattle where Gaddafi is doing anything and everything left in his power to fend off the ‘martyrdom’ he so defiantly professed. Before more blood is shed and before the rebellion turns into all out genocide, Muammar Gaddafi must go the Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak way and step down. He has had his moment of glory. It is time now that he leaves the stage for the sake of his countrymen.
Libya is in a state of anarchy as the revolt in the Arab world now turns dangerous. Civil war has broken out in the country with pro-Gaddafi loyalists fiercely taking up arms against the protesters who have seized control of the eastern city of Benghazi — Libya’s second largest and most important after the capital Tripoli — and the towns of Misurata and Zuara. Gaddafi’s power base is coming under increasing threat and the dictator is being reduced to little more than an isolated, hated warmonger bent on destroying his country before almost inevitably being shown the door. The situation has become such that the army is being ordered to take on the protesters by conducting a large-scale genocide. Two fighter jets defected to neighbouring Malta a few days back because they refused to bomb protesting civilians on the orders of the vehement dictator. Reports are now coming in that defying Gaddafi has its own price: troops who do not obey Gaddafi’s orders are being executed en masse. Militiamen and Gaddafi loyalists are reported to be roaming the streets on utility trucks firing at anyone who is deemed as being an opponent of the dictator. So far, the death toll has reached an alarming 650 plus with fears that the violence is only just beginning.
Muammar Gaddafi is turning out to be the most hateful of all the Arab dictators recently facing protests. He rather arrogantly declared in a televised address recently that he would “crush the revolt”. He referred to the protesters — his people — as being little more than “cockroaches” and promised that he would die a martyr instead of bowing down to the rebellion. It looks like he intends to make good on his word.
In a bizarre twist, Gaddafi blames a very unlikely instigator of the whole Libyan revolt: Osama bin Laden. Now the terrorist leader can be blamed for many things but in the words of Muammar Gaddafi, fuelling the protesters with “milk and Nescafe spiked with hallucinogens” really does not seem like al Qaeda’s cup of tea (pun intended).
In the meanwhile, the international community is sending out a strong message: curb the violence now or face tough US and EU sanctions. NATO held an emergency meeting in Brussels on Friday and discussed deploying aircraft and ships out to the Mediterranean. The UN Human Rights Council is even considering expelling the North African country. These are harsh measures but the international community is shocked at just how far one man can go to perpetuate his rule.
Somebody needs to knock some sense into the old dictator whose every move is now oozing the stench of desperation. Libya has been overtaken by the fever of dissent, a new wave of defiance in the Middle East where young, passionate citizens will no longer stand for undemocratic, dynastic governments. This internal revolt and the loud external condemnation have collided to bring the country and its dictator to a death rattle where Gaddafi is doing anything and everything left in his power to fend off the ‘martyrdom’ he so defiantly professed. Before more blood is shed and before the rebellion turns into all out genocide, Muammar Gaddafi must go the Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak way and step down. He has had his moment of glory. It is time now that he leaves the stage for the sake of his countrymen.
Libya revolution: Future scenarios and the West's role
By Dr Omar Ashour Middle East analyst
Col Muammar Gaddafi's continuing defiance limits his options as well as the future scenarios for the crisis. How far will he go and how will the West respond?
"I am a glory that will not be abandoned by Libya, the Arabs, the United States, and Latin America... revolution, revolution, let the attack begin," Col Gaddafi said on Tuesday.
The rhetoric was typical of the self-declared King of African Kings, Dean of Arab leaders and Imam of all Muslims, who has ruled Libya for 42 years.
But Gaddafi's tactics have boxed him in. Should he be defeated, finding refuge abroad, as Tunisia's former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali did, will be difficult. And internal exile, such as that currently afforded Hosni Mubarak, will be impossible.
Chemical war
Libyan protesters burn pictures of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi during a demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on 25 February 2011. It would be difficult to find a country willing to take an exiled Col Gaddafi if he is defeated
Although the capacity of the regime to commit wide-scale massacres has shrunk, the cost of Col Gaddafi's defeat would be quite high in human lives.
In an extreme scenario, he might use chemical weapons - as Saddam Hussein did to the Kurds of Halabja in 1988 - or order an intensive aerial bombardment campaign - as Syria's Hafez al-Assad did to the people of Hama in 1982. Both are possible.
At that point, international intervention would be more likely than ever. One-and-a-half million Egyptians and many other nationalities, including British citizens, are present and in an extremely vulnerable position in Libya.
In his first speech, Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi mentioned an international conspiracy involving Egyptians, Tunisians and other foreign agents - hence inciting violence against foreigners.
Military coup
Another possible scenario is a move by the army, or a significant part of it, against the colonel and his sons.
An opposition militiaman stands guard in front of the charred national security building on 24 February 2011 in Benghazi, Libya Anti-Gaddafi activists in Benghazi have been very organised
The problem with that scenario is that the Libyan army has not acted as one unit since the beginning of the protest, in contrast to the Egyptian and Tunisian armed forces.
Senior and junior members of the army defected and joined the protesters. Two air force pilots landed with their fighter jets in Malta; they were followed by a navy warship - all in defiance of Gaddafi's orders to bomb Benghazi.
Still, there are no reported splits among the Revolutionary Committees, the die-hards of Gaddafi's regime estimated to be around 20,000 fighters.
The same can be said about Brigade 32. Headed by Khamis al-Gaddafi, the brigade is in charge of protecting the Bab al-Aziziya area in Tripoli where the colonel camps.
Military Intelligence headed by Abdullah al-Senussi, the Internal Security Forces headed by al-Tuhami Khaled, and the Jamahiriya Security Apparatus are all still intact with no reported splits.
However, the deep rivalry and mistrust between the military and security apparatuses has to be taken account of. It could be a key factor in undermining the colonel's regime.
But overall the tribal nature and tribal allegiances of the Libyan army still prevent it from functioning as one unit.
Tribal war
The tribal issue may also be critical if Col Gaddafi is defeated in the coming days.
Historical rivalries, vendettas and arms are widespread among Libya's tribesmen. This may suggest that an inter-tribal war in the post-Gaddafi era is highly likely.
However, some signs from the East, a 'Gaddafi-free' area now, suggest otherwise.
Tribal rivalries are intense in eastern Libya. Despite that, the level of organisation and co-ordination has been quite impressive.
Security, medical and other committees were rapidly set up, reminiscent of the reactions of Egyptian protesters when the Mubarak regime withdrew the police force on 28 January and concurrently released thousands of convicts.
Ahmed Qadhaf al-Dam and Said Rashwan, two leading figures in the regime, have already visited Egypt and attempted to recruit tribes - with Libyan connections - to attack the Gaddafi-free East from Egypt's western desert.
The attempt failed when Awlad Ali and other tribes refused a generous offer.
Libyan civil society is not as developed as its Egyptian and Tunisian counterparts. This, however, does not mean tribal warfare is the ultimate consequence of Col Gaddafi's removal.
The lessons of Iraq were learned across the Arab-majority world and the dedication and maturity of the Tunisian and Egyptian youth became inspirational models for other Arabs claiming their freedom and dignity back from the ruling dictators.
The Libyan people may be more politically mature and sophisticated than they are given credit for.
International intervention
The international community has a major legal duty towards Libya. Well-known names head the coercive institutions responsible for the killings that occurred in the last few days.
If generals and colonels such as Abdullah al-Senussi, Abdullah Mansour, al-Tuhami Khaled, as well as Gaddafi and his sons, were placed on international watch-lists or if arrest warrants were issued against them, many of their subordinates would think twice before ordering their troops to shoot or bomb.
The West has known about crimes against humanity and terrorist plots committed by Col Gaddafi's regime for decades now, most notably the June 1996 Abu Salim massacre in which more than 1,200 political prisoners were gunned down after protesting against prison conditions.
Still there was no international inquiry, mainly due to oil interests.
The West owes it to Libya's people to protect them from another massacre. So far, the Obama administration and the Cameron cabinet have said all the right words.
Now it is time for concrete actions.
Dr Omar Ashour is a Lecturer in Middle East Politics and the Director of the Middle East Graduate Studies Program at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter (UK). He is the author of The De-Radicalization of Jihadists: Transforming Armed Islamist Movements (London, New York: Routledge, 2009).
Col Muammar Gaddafi's continuing defiance limits his options as well as the future scenarios for the crisis. How far will he go and how will the West respond?
"I am a glory that will not be abandoned by Libya, the Arabs, the United States, and Latin America... revolution, revolution, let the attack begin," Col Gaddafi said on Tuesday.
The rhetoric was typical of the self-declared King of African Kings, Dean of Arab leaders and Imam of all Muslims, who has ruled Libya for 42 years.
But Gaddafi's tactics have boxed him in. Should he be defeated, finding refuge abroad, as Tunisia's former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali did, will be difficult. And internal exile, such as that currently afforded Hosni Mubarak, will be impossible.
Chemical war
Libyan protesters burn pictures of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi during a demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on 25 February 2011. It would be difficult to find a country willing to take an exiled Col Gaddafi if he is defeated
Although the capacity of the regime to commit wide-scale massacres has shrunk, the cost of Col Gaddafi's defeat would be quite high in human lives.
In an extreme scenario, he might use chemical weapons - as Saddam Hussein did to the Kurds of Halabja in 1988 - or order an intensive aerial bombardment campaign - as Syria's Hafez al-Assad did to the people of Hama in 1982. Both are possible.
At that point, international intervention would be more likely than ever. One-and-a-half million Egyptians and many other nationalities, including British citizens, are present and in an extremely vulnerable position in Libya.
In his first speech, Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi mentioned an international conspiracy involving Egyptians, Tunisians and other foreign agents - hence inciting violence against foreigners.
Military coup
Another possible scenario is a move by the army, or a significant part of it, against the colonel and his sons.
An opposition militiaman stands guard in front of the charred national security building on 24 February 2011 in Benghazi, Libya Anti-Gaddafi activists in Benghazi have been very organised
The problem with that scenario is that the Libyan army has not acted as one unit since the beginning of the protest, in contrast to the Egyptian and Tunisian armed forces.
Senior and junior members of the army defected and joined the protesters. Two air force pilots landed with their fighter jets in Malta; they were followed by a navy warship - all in defiance of Gaddafi's orders to bomb Benghazi.
Still, there are no reported splits among the Revolutionary Committees, the die-hards of Gaddafi's regime estimated to be around 20,000 fighters.
The same can be said about Brigade 32. Headed by Khamis al-Gaddafi, the brigade is in charge of protecting the Bab al-Aziziya area in Tripoli where the colonel camps.
Military Intelligence headed by Abdullah al-Senussi, the Internal Security Forces headed by al-Tuhami Khaled, and the Jamahiriya Security Apparatus are all still intact with no reported splits.
However, the deep rivalry and mistrust between the military and security apparatuses has to be taken account of. It could be a key factor in undermining the colonel's regime.
But overall the tribal nature and tribal allegiances of the Libyan army still prevent it from functioning as one unit.
Tribal war
The tribal issue may also be critical if Col Gaddafi is defeated in the coming days.
Historical rivalries, vendettas and arms are widespread among Libya's tribesmen. This may suggest that an inter-tribal war in the post-Gaddafi era is highly likely.
However, some signs from the East, a 'Gaddafi-free' area now, suggest otherwise.
Tribal rivalries are intense in eastern Libya. Despite that, the level of organisation and co-ordination has been quite impressive.
Security, medical and other committees were rapidly set up, reminiscent of the reactions of Egyptian protesters when the Mubarak regime withdrew the police force on 28 January and concurrently released thousands of convicts.
Ahmed Qadhaf al-Dam and Said Rashwan, two leading figures in the regime, have already visited Egypt and attempted to recruit tribes - with Libyan connections - to attack the Gaddafi-free East from Egypt's western desert.
The attempt failed when Awlad Ali and other tribes refused a generous offer.
Libyan civil society is not as developed as its Egyptian and Tunisian counterparts. This, however, does not mean tribal warfare is the ultimate consequence of Col Gaddafi's removal.
The lessons of Iraq were learned across the Arab-majority world and the dedication and maturity of the Tunisian and Egyptian youth became inspirational models for other Arabs claiming their freedom and dignity back from the ruling dictators.
The Libyan people may be more politically mature and sophisticated than they are given credit for.
International intervention
The international community has a major legal duty towards Libya. Well-known names head the coercive institutions responsible for the killings that occurred in the last few days.
If generals and colonels such as Abdullah al-Senussi, Abdullah Mansour, al-Tuhami Khaled, as well as Gaddafi and his sons, were placed on international watch-lists or if arrest warrants were issued against them, many of their subordinates would think twice before ordering their troops to shoot or bomb.
The West has known about crimes against humanity and terrorist plots committed by Col Gaddafi's regime for decades now, most notably the June 1996 Abu Salim massacre in which more than 1,200 political prisoners were gunned down after protesting against prison conditions.
Still there was no international inquiry, mainly due to oil interests.
The West owes it to Libya's people to protect them from another massacre. So far, the Obama administration and the Cameron cabinet have said all the right words.
Now it is time for concrete actions.
Dr Omar Ashour is a Lecturer in Middle East Politics and the Director of the Middle East Graduate Studies Program at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter (UK). He is the author of The De-Radicalization of Jihadists: Transforming Armed Islamist Movements (London, New York: Routledge, 2009).
Libya braced for battle as protests continue throughout region
Terrified Libyans braced for battles on Saturday after Colonel Gaddafi said he was ready to arm civilian supporters and a Yemen crackdown on protesters killed four more people. 
The escalating revolt against Gaddafi, which his deputy envoy to the United Nations said has killed thousands, emboldened tens of thousands of protesters across the Arab world to step up demands for historic reforms.
After protests in Tunisia and Egypt forced the resignations of longtime leaders Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak, Libya's ruler of four decades appeared to dig in for a bitter fight to the end.
"We could still hear gunfire all night," one Tripoli resident said, saying that electricity had been cut overnight.
"We were terrified. We thought that meant they were preparing for attacks. We grabbed whatever we could use as weapons and stayed by the door in case anyone broke in."
In a rabble-rousing speech that presaged a bloody battle for the capital, Gaddafi told frenzied supporters in Tripoli's Green Square on Friday that the rebels would be defeated. "We will fight them and we will beat them," he told a crowd of hundreds.
"Sing, dance and prepare yourselves," the 68-year-old leader said. "If needs be, we will open all the arsenals."
Almost the entire east of the oil-rich North African nation has slipped from Gaddafi's control since the popular uprising began in the port city of Benghazi on February 15, inspired by revolutions in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia.
US President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Gaddafi and four of his sons in a clear attempt to weaken his teetering regime and the UN Security Council was to hold a special meeting later Saturday to consider sanctions.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that any delay would add to a death toll, which he said had already topped 1,000.
Protests sweeping the Middle East have railed against poor public infrastructure and demanded broader political reforms in some of the most corrupt and tightly censored countries in the world.
In Yemen, 19 people have died in almost daily clashes between police and anti-regime protesters since February 16, according to an AFP tally based on reports by medics and witnesses.
On Saturday, four more people were reported dead after security forces used live ammunition against a demonstration in the city of Aden, which some residents fear has become the front line in a state-sponsored war.
"Our neighbourhood has witnessed real scenes of war waged by forces of the Republican Guard, who have been targeting our innocent young who want to protest peacefully," one Aden resident said.
Friday saw the biggest protests yet in what is the poorest Arab country. Tens of thousands took to the streets, demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down after three decades in power.
In Iraq, which saw its first significant protests in a "Day of Rage" that left 15 people dead on Friday, the country's top Shiite Muslim cleric called on politicians to slash their benefits and improve public services.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said that the government had made progress but called on leaders to "cancel unacceptable benefits" given to politicians and said they must "not invent unnecessary government positions".
In Tunisia, former political prisoners are coming forward to denounce the torture and ill-treatment they endured when jailed for long periods under the toppled regime.
Egypt's ruling military council on Saturday apologised after military police beat protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square overnight, saying that "all measures will be taken to ensure this will not happen again."
In Bahrain, tens of thousands of protesters have also been thronging the capital Manama to demand the end of the Sunni royal family's centuries-old rule over the Gulf state's Shiite majority.
Jordan saw 25 people camp out in the capital Amman overnight calling for political reforms after a "Day of Anger" organised by the powerful Islamist opposition and other parties.
The escalating revolt against Gaddafi, which his deputy envoy to the United Nations said has killed thousands, emboldened tens of thousands of protesters across the Arab world to step up demands for historic reforms.
After protests in Tunisia and Egypt forced the resignations of longtime leaders Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak, Libya's ruler of four decades appeared to dig in for a bitter fight to the end.
"We could still hear gunfire all night," one Tripoli resident said, saying that electricity had been cut overnight.
"We were terrified. We thought that meant they were preparing for attacks. We grabbed whatever we could use as weapons and stayed by the door in case anyone broke in."
In a rabble-rousing speech that presaged a bloody battle for the capital, Gaddafi told frenzied supporters in Tripoli's Green Square on Friday that the rebels would be defeated. "We will fight them and we will beat them," he told a crowd of hundreds.
"Sing, dance and prepare yourselves," the 68-year-old leader said. "If needs be, we will open all the arsenals."
Almost the entire east of the oil-rich North African nation has slipped from Gaddafi's control since the popular uprising began in the port city of Benghazi on February 15, inspired by revolutions in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia.
US President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Gaddafi and four of his sons in a clear attempt to weaken his teetering regime and the UN Security Council was to hold a special meeting later Saturday to consider sanctions.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that any delay would add to a death toll, which he said had already topped 1,000.
Protests sweeping the Middle East have railed against poor public infrastructure and demanded broader political reforms in some of the most corrupt and tightly censored countries in the world.
In Yemen, 19 people have died in almost daily clashes between police and anti-regime protesters since February 16, according to an AFP tally based on reports by medics and witnesses.
On Saturday, four more people were reported dead after security forces used live ammunition against a demonstration in the city of Aden, which some residents fear has become the front line in a state-sponsored war.
"Our neighbourhood has witnessed real scenes of war waged by forces of the Republican Guard, who have been targeting our innocent young who want to protest peacefully," one Aden resident said.
Friday saw the biggest protests yet in what is the poorest Arab country. Tens of thousands took to the streets, demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down after three decades in power.
In Iraq, which saw its first significant protests in a "Day of Rage" that left 15 people dead on Friday, the country's top Shiite Muslim cleric called on politicians to slash their benefits and improve public services.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said that the government had made progress but called on leaders to "cancel unacceptable benefits" given to politicians and said they must "not invent unnecessary government positions".
In Tunisia, former political prisoners are coming forward to denounce the torture and ill-treatment they endured when jailed for long periods under the toppled regime.
Egypt's ruling military council on Saturday apologised after military police beat protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square overnight, saying that "all measures will be taken to ensure this will not happen again."
In Bahrain, tens of thousands of protesters have also been thronging the capital Manama to demand the end of the Sunni royal family's centuries-old rule over the Gulf state's Shiite majority.
Jordan saw 25 people camp out in the capital Amman overnight calling for political reforms after a "Day of Anger" organised by the powerful Islamist opposition and other parties.
Protesters in Bahrain Demand More Changes
In by far the largest protest yet here, tens of thousands of demonstrators packed the city’s streets on Friday and closed a stretch of highway as they demanded that their king dissolve the government and agree to a transition to a true constitutional monarchy.
The protest — which appeared to be twice as large as one on Tuesday that drew about 100,000 people — cut through Manama, the capital, with staggering numbers for a population of just 500,000. They marched in two huge, roaring crowds from the south and from the west, converging at Pearl Square.
“This is another great day for our movement,” said Abbas al-Mawali, 30, a security guard who joined the march. “We won’t stop until our demands are met. We will have a march like this every day if we have to.”
But after 11 days of protests, King Hamad ibn Isa al-Khalifa has slowly moved to meet protesters’ demands, taking incremental steps. Late Friday, he fired three cabinet ministers, but not the prime minister — one of the opposition’s top demands. He also has not addressed the issue of democratic change.
His emphasis appears to have been on defusing the protests and repairing the damage to Bahrain’s international reputation after the army fired on protesters last week, as well as on limiting concessions to ones that do not affect the government’s power.
“The government released prisoners and said it will investigate what happened; it will make some small changes in the government,” said a rights worker who is not being identified to protect him from potential reprisals by the government. “The whole region is changing. Now is our chance. I am saying, If we don’t do this now, we never will.”
The protesters, meanwhile, have not articulated a strategy for bringing about change, beyond new protests and camping out in the square.
The unrest has been led by members of the nation’s Shiite majority, who have long been politically marginalized and who have accused the Sunni king and his government of discrimination.
In a shift on Friday, it was the Shiite religious leaders who called for protests, rather than the political opposition. Although some of the chants on Friday had a religious cast — with some people shouting “victory comes from God” — the protesters’ demands remained the same, emphasizing a nonsectarian call for democracy and the downfall of the government.
Since the start of the crisis, the government’s response has evolved. First the king unleashed his armed forces, who killed seven protesters and wounded dozens. Then, under international pressure, he withdrew the police and military from the capital, called for a national dialogue, released 300 political prisoners and pointed to the protests as evidence of his government’s tolerance.
His government is also working with a public relations agency based in Britain, the Bell Pottinger Group, which says on its Web site that “we understand how to create, build and protect reputations in the modern age.”
On Friday, Bell Pottinger staff members distributed a statement from the government’s spokeswoman, Maysoon Sabkar, saying in part, “The Crown Prince has called on all parts of society to engage in the national dialogue to progress reform.”
On Thursday, Ms. Sabkar read a statement referring to the killings by government forces as “regrettable incidents” and announced that the king’s son, the crown prince, had called for Friday to be a national day of mourning, and that the king “extended condolences to the families” of the dead.
Ms. Sabkar also said there were no shots fired from a helicopter or from a building last Friday. But she said she was not authorized to say who ordered the army to fire at all or where the shots came from that killed one man and wounded dozens of others. Witnesses said they had seen shots fired from a helicopter and a nearby building.
The statement also said that large crowds at the hospital prevented emergency workers from doing their jobs. But witnesses said they had seen soldiers fire weapons at ambulances as they tried to pick up the wounded, and doctors in the ambulances said the security forces had prevented them from picking up wounded people.
The government’s message inflamed some people in the square.
“These were not ‘incidents,’ ” Said Shamlouh, 37, an accountant, said, referring to last week’s protests, including one in which security forces shot at protesters sleeping in Pearl Square. “This was a massacre. It was people sleeping, families, children. And they opened fire on them. That’s not an incident.”
Egypt military angers protesters with show of force
Soldiers used force on Saturday to break up a protest demanding more political reform in Egypt, demonstrators said, in the toughest move yet against opposition activists who accused the country's military rulers of "betraying the people."
Protesters said the soldiers had moved against them after midnight, firing in the air and using sticks to break up the remnants of a demonstration urging the military to enact deeper reforms including a complete overhaul of the cabinet. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which has been governing Egypt since President Hosni Mubarak stepped down in the face of a mass uprising, said there had been no order "to assault" the protesters and it was not intentional.
"What happened last night was ... the result of unintentional altercations between the military police and the children of the revolution," the council said, according to state news agency MENA.
Ashraf Omar, a demonstrator, said soldiers had used tasers and batons against the protesters. "I thought things would change. I wanted to give the government a chance but there is no hope with this regime," he said.
The military council has promised constitutional changes leading to free and fair elections within six months. The judicial council tasked with drafting the constitutional reforms is expected to announce its proposals soon.
As it manages domestic affairs for the first time in decades, the military also wants Egyptians to get back to work to revive an economy drained by weeks of turmoil unleashed by the mass uprising that toppled Mubarak on February 11.
Thousands of Egyptians had gathered in Tahrir Square on Friday to press broader demands including the replacement of the prime minister, who was appointed by the ousted president in the last weeks of his rule and had long served his administration.
As day broke, a few dozen protesters left in the square flagged down motorists, telling them that the army had attacked the protest. A number of the activists held aloft signs declaring "the army betrayed the people."
One taxi driver remonstrated with a protester, telling him: "The people can't find food to eat." His view reflected the feelings of those Egyptians who believe continued protests are obstructing a return to normality.
FOR NOW, MILITARY APPEARS HESITANT ON FURTHER REFORM
Witnesses said they saw several protesters fall to the ground but it was not clear if they were wounded and if so, how seriously. Protesters were heard yelling and shouting as they were chased down side streets surrounding Tahrir Square.
The protesters want the resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq as well as other ministers and the immediate release of remaining political detainees.
A partial reshuffle of the government announced this week did not satisfy opposition forces. Besides the post of prime minister, they are concerned that the portfolios of defense, foreign affairs, justice and the interior were left unchanged.
Opposition groups want a complete break with the past in the run up to democratic elections promised by the military. The military council has promised "no return to the past" and said it will prevent any "counter revolution" by Mubarak associates.
But having committed to constitutional changes and democratic elections, the military appears reluctant to enact further reforms, a Western diplomat said.
Reports of torture, killing in Libya
(CNN) -- As clashes in the Libyan capital continued Friday between government security forces and anti-regime protesters, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters unequivocally: "The violence must stop."
His remarks came as state television was airing images of the embattled but defiant strongman urging viewers to defend the nation.
A man CNN will identify only as Reda to protect his identity said in a telephone interview that armed men dressed in plainclothes fatally shot his two brothers Friday as they were demonstrating against the government. Also killed were his two neighbors, he said.
"The bodies have been kidnapped from the street," Reda said. "My other neighbors told me they kidnapped the injured people in the hospital to somewhere, nobody knows (where). This is the perfect crime. He's hiding all evidence for every crime he has. This is the horrible situation that nobody knows."More than 1,000 people have been killed, according to estimates cited Friday by Ban. He noted that the eastern part of the country "is reported to be under the control of opposition elements, who have taken over arms and ammunition from weapon depots."
At least three cities near Tripoli have been the site of daily clashes, and the streets of the capital are largely deserted because people are afraid of being shot by government forces or militias, he said.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's supporters "are reportedly conducting house-by-house searches and arrests. According to some reports, they have even gone into hospitals to kill wounded opponents," Ban said.
Accounts from the news media and human rights groups and witnesses "raise grave concerns about the nature and scale of the conflict," he said. He said they include reports of indiscriminate killings, shooting of peaceful demonstrators, torture of the opposition and use of foreign mercenaries.
The victims have included women and children and "indiscriminate attacks on foreigners believed to be mercenaries," he said, referring to reports.
Ban called on the international community "to do everything possible" to protect civilians at demonstrable risk.
Ban said there appeared to be a growing crisis of refugees, with some 22,000 people having fled to Tunisia and a reported 15,000 to Egypt in the past few days. For many, the trip has been a harrowing one.
"There are widespread reports of refugees being harassed and threatened with guns and knives," Ban said.
"The violence must stop," he said. "Those responsible for so brutally shedding the blood of innocents must be punished. Fundamental human rights must be respected."
Ban said he will travel Monday to Washington to speak with U.S. President Barack Obama. Also at the United Nations, Libyan Ambassador Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgham told reporters that he hoped Gadhafi and his sons would end the rampage "against our people" within hours.
Asked why he had continued to support Gadhafi until just a few days ago, the diplomat said, "I couldn't imagine in the beginning that it was going to be (this bad)."
But he now supports the protesters. "It's not a crime to say, 'I want to be free,' " he said.
The Libyan ambassador to the United States, Ali Suleiman Aujali, told CNN that he too has joined the opposition.
"When I see the mercenaries killing our peoples, and we see our women screaming in the street, and I see there is no distinguishing between who they are target, I can't take this," said the diplomat, who served the Libyan government's foreign service for more than 40 years.
He said his fellow diplomats and many of the country's police had also turned against Gadhafi in his quest to retain control of Libya. "The problem now is western part," he said, speaking in Washington.
"Unfortunately, they've been confronted with mercenaries."
Asked whether he would want to see his former boss dead, he said, "I want him to be out of my country. I want him to be out of the Libyan life."
As he spoke, reports emerged of sniper and artillery fire in Tripoli, said Mohammed Ali Abdallah of the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, which opposes Gadhafi's regime. He based his account on reports that he said he received from witnesses.
Another witness told CNN that protesters in western Tripoli were met by plainclothes security forces who fired guns at them and later tear gas to disperse the crowds.
Prior to the clashes on Friday morning, security forces had removed barricades, disposed of bodies and painted over graffiti in Tripoli, witnesses said.
On state television, Gadhafi -- wearing a fur trooper's hat and addressing a crowd of supporters -- threatened to escalate the violence. "We can destroy any assault with the people's will, with the armed people," he said. "And when it is necessary, the weapons depots will be open to all the Libyan people to be armed."
At that time, he continued, "Libya will become a red fire, Libya will become an ember."
He vowed to overcome what he described as external forces attempting to take down his nation.
"We will defeat any foreign attempt like we defeated them before, like we did with the Italian colonization, like we did with American airstrikes."
But he presented a carrot with his stick, offering to increase state salaries by 150% and to give $400 to each family.
Earlier, Gadhafi's son said his father has no intention of stepping down.
Asked if Gadhafi has a "Plan B" to leave Libya, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi told CNN Turk: "We have Plan A, Plan B, Plan C. Plan A is to live and die in Libya. Plan B is to live and die in Libya. Plan C is to live and die in Libya."
He said he hoped Libya would emerge from the crisis united.
"I am sure Libya will have a better future," he said. "However, such a strong state as we are, we will never allow our people to be controlled by a handful of terrorists. This will never happen." But global leaders were meeting Friday to talk about what kind of pressure can be brought on Gadhafi to surrender control and limit the humanitarian consequences.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Washington was suspending embassy operations in Tripoli and pursuing sanctions. "It has been shuttered," he told reporters about the embassy. But State Department officials said they still have channels through which they can still communicate with the Libyan government.
Libyan employees were remaining at the embassy, said Under Secretary ofState for Management Patrick Kennedy. "The flag is still flying. The embassy is not closed. Operations are suspended," he said. "Relations are not broken."
The charge d'affaires at the embassy, Joan Polaschik, expressed relief that she and other Americans had left. "It's a very dangerous and fluid situation," she told CNN in a telephone interview from Istanbul, Turkey.
But she praised the Libyan forces who were charged with providing security for the embassy. "They stayed with me till the bitter end," she said.
The United Nations Security Council discussed a proposed draft resolution that would impose new sanctions on Libya. They include an arms embargo, asset freeze and a travel ban. The draft also refers Libya to the International Criminal Court.
An Obama administration official involved in deliberations regarding sanctions told CNN that the Libyan government has said it has as much as $130 billion in reserves and another $70 billion in foreign assets held abroad.
The legally binding resolution is backed by the possible threat of force but approval of such measures could be stalled by Russia and China, both unlikely to support military intervention. A vote on the resolution could occur Saturday.NATO Secretary-General Anders Rasmussen said the alliance has assets that can be used in this crisis and that it could "act as an enabler and coordinator, if and when, individual member states want to take action."
Meanwhile, foreign nationals faced a "massive challenge," Rasmussen said, as they braved rough seas to escape the violence in the north African nation. A British ship left Benghazi -- the nation's second-largest city -- with 207 people on board. A ferry carrying 338 people -- 183 of them Americans -- departed Tripoli Friday and arrived in Malta at night.
"I feel for the people who are still there and didn't get a chance to get out, because it's chaos," said Yusra Tekbalim, one of the passengers. She said she had remained hunkered down in her house for four days, during which she heard what sounded like machine-gun fire.
"I think that the Libyans know what this regime is capable of, but I think for the first time the world is actually seeing it," she said.
Another ferry arrived in Malta from Tripoli carrying more than 300 people, including 200 employees of Schlumberger, the oil and gas technology, and their families, a company spokeswoman said.
Libya's uprising, after four decades of Gadhafi's iron rule, took root first in the nation's eastern province. Benghazi and other smaller eastern towns are no longer within Gadhafi's control.
But closer to Tripoli, where the dictator maintains some support, protesters were still being met with brute force.
The city of Zawiya -- about 55 kilometers (35 miles) west of Tripoli -- was the epicenter of violent protests Thursday. Doctors at a field hospital said early Friday that 17 people were killed and 150 more wounded when government forces attacked.
CNN could not confirm reports for many areas in Libya. The Libyan government maintains tight control of communications and has not responded to repeated requests for access to the country. CNN has interviewed numerous witnesses by phone.
Anti-government forces said they had gained control of Zawiya as Gadhafi accused followers of Osama bin Laden of adding hallucinogenic drugs to residents' drinks to spark the unrest.
"They put it with milk or with other drinks, spiked drinks," he said Thursday in a telephone call to state television.
The international fallout, like the protests, has also spread. Switzerland ordered Gadhafi's assets frozen, the foreign ministry said.
His remarks came as state television was airing images of the embattled but defiant strongman urging viewers to defend the nation.
A man CNN will identify only as Reda to protect his identity said in a telephone interview that armed men dressed in plainclothes fatally shot his two brothers Friday as they were demonstrating against the government. Also killed were his two neighbors, he said.
"The bodies have been kidnapped from the street," Reda said. "My other neighbors told me they kidnapped the injured people in the hospital to somewhere, nobody knows (where). This is the perfect crime. He's hiding all evidence for every crime he has. This is the horrible situation that nobody knows."More than 1,000 people have been killed, according to estimates cited Friday by Ban. He noted that the eastern part of the country "is reported to be under the control of opposition elements, who have taken over arms and ammunition from weapon depots."
At least three cities near Tripoli have been the site of daily clashes, and the streets of the capital are largely deserted because people are afraid of being shot by government forces or militias, he said.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's supporters "are reportedly conducting house-by-house searches and arrests. According to some reports, they have even gone into hospitals to kill wounded opponents," Ban said.
Accounts from the news media and human rights groups and witnesses "raise grave concerns about the nature and scale of the conflict," he said. He said they include reports of indiscriminate killings, shooting of peaceful demonstrators, torture of the opposition and use of foreign mercenaries.
The victims have included women and children and "indiscriminate attacks on foreigners believed to be mercenaries," he said, referring to reports.
Ban called on the international community "to do everything possible" to protect civilians at demonstrable risk.
Ban said there appeared to be a growing crisis of refugees, with some 22,000 people having fled to Tunisia and a reported 15,000 to Egypt in the past few days. For many, the trip has been a harrowing one.
"There are widespread reports of refugees being harassed and threatened with guns and knives," Ban said.
"The violence must stop," he said. "Those responsible for so brutally shedding the blood of innocents must be punished. Fundamental human rights must be respected."
Ban said he will travel Monday to Washington to speak with U.S. President Barack Obama. Also at the United Nations, Libyan Ambassador Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgham told reporters that he hoped Gadhafi and his sons would end the rampage "against our people" within hours.
Asked why he had continued to support Gadhafi until just a few days ago, the diplomat said, "I couldn't imagine in the beginning that it was going to be (this bad)."
But he now supports the protesters. "It's not a crime to say, 'I want to be free,' " he said.
The Libyan ambassador to the United States, Ali Suleiman Aujali, told CNN that he too has joined the opposition.
"When I see the mercenaries killing our peoples, and we see our women screaming in the street, and I see there is no distinguishing between who they are target, I can't take this," said the diplomat, who served the Libyan government's foreign service for more than 40 years.
He said his fellow diplomats and many of the country's police had also turned against Gadhafi in his quest to retain control of Libya. "The problem now is western part," he said, speaking in Washington.
"Unfortunately, they've been confronted with mercenaries."
Asked whether he would want to see his former boss dead, he said, "I want him to be out of my country. I want him to be out of the Libyan life."
As he spoke, reports emerged of sniper and artillery fire in Tripoli, said Mohammed Ali Abdallah of the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, which opposes Gadhafi's regime. He based his account on reports that he said he received from witnesses.
Another witness told CNN that protesters in western Tripoli were met by plainclothes security forces who fired guns at them and later tear gas to disperse the crowds.
Prior to the clashes on Friday morning, security forces had removed barricades, disposed of bodies and painted over graffiti in Tripoli, witnesses said.
On state television, Gadhafi -- wearing a fur trooper's hat and addressing a crowd of supporters -- threatened to escalate the violence. "We can destroy any assault with the people's will, with the armed people," he said. "And when it is necessary, the weapons depots will be open to all the Libyan people to be armed."
At that time, he continued, "Libya will become a red fire, Libya will become an ember."
He vowed to overcome what he described as external forces attempting to take down his nation.
"We will defeat any foreign attempt like we defeated them before, like we did with the Italian colonization, like we did with American airstrikes."
But he presented a carrot with his stick, offering to increase state salaries by 150% and to give $400 to each family.
Earlier, Gadhafi's son said his father has no intention of stepping down.
Asked if Gadhafi has a "Plan B" to leave Libya, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi told CNN Turk: "We have Plan A, Plan B, Plan C. Plan A is to live and die in Libya. Plan B is to live and die in Libya. Plan C is to live and die in Libya."
He said he hoped Libya would emerge from the crisis united.
"I am sure Libya will have a better future," he said. "However, such a strong state as we are, we will never allow our people to be controlled by a handful of terrorists. This will never happen." But global leaders were meeting Friday to talk about what kind of pressure can be brought on Gadhafi to surrender control and limit the humanitarian consequences.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Washington was suspending embassy operations in Tripoli and pursuing sanctions. "It has been shuttered," he told reporters about the embassy. But State Department officials said they still have channels through which they can still communicate with the Libyan government.
Libyan employees were remaining at the embassy, said Under Secretary ofState for Management Patrick Kennedy. "The flag is still flying. The embassy is not closed. Operations are suspended," he said. "Relations are not broken."
The charge d'affaires at the embassy, Joan Polaschik, expressed relief that she and other Americans had left. "It's a very dangerous and fluid situation," she told CNN in a telephone interview from Istanbul, Turkey.
But she praised the Libyan forces who were charged with providing security for the embassy. "They stayed with me till the bitter end," she said.
The United Nations Security Council discussed a proposed draft resolution that would impose new sanctions on Libya. They include an arms embargo, asset freeze and a travel ban. The draft also refers Libya to the International Criminal Court.
An Obama administration official involved in deliberations regarding sanctions told CNN that the Libyan government has said it has as much as $130 billion in reserves and another $70 billion in foreign assets held abroad.
The legally binding resolution is backed by the possible threat of force but approval of such measures could be stalled by Russia and China, both unlikely to support military intervention. A vote on the resolution could occur Saturday.NATO Secretary-General Anders Rasmussen said the alliance has assets that can be used in this crisis and that it could "act as an enabler and coordinator, if and when, individual member states want to take action."
Meanwhile, foreign nationals faced a "massive challenge," Rasmussen said, as they braved rough seas to escape the violence in the north African nation. A British ship left Benghazi -- the nation's second-largest city -- with 207 people on board. A ferry carrying 338 people -- 183 of them Americans -- departed Tripoli Friday and arrived in Malta at night.
"I feel for the people who are still there and didn't get a chance to get out, because it's chaos," said Yusra Tekbalim, one of the passengers. She said she had remained hunkered down in her house for four days, during which she heard what sounded like machine-gun fire.
"I think that the Libyans know what this regime is capable of, but I think for the first time the world is actually seeing it," she said.
Another ferry arrived in Malta from Tripoli carrying more than 300 people, including 200 employees of Schlumberger, the oil and gas technology, and their families, a company spokeswoman said.
Libya's uprising, after four decades of Gadhafi's iron rule, took root first in the nation's eastern province. Benghazi and other smaller eastern towns are no longer within Gadhafi's control.
But closer to Tripoli, where the dictator maintains some support, protesters were still being met with brute force.
The city of Zawiya -- about 55 kilometers (35 miles) west of Tripoli -- was the epicenter of violent protests Thursday. Doctors at a field hospital said early Friday that 17 people were killed and 150 more wounded when government forces attacked.
CNN could not confirm reports for many areas in Libya. The Libyan government maintains tight control of communications and has not responded to repeated requests for access to the country. CNN has interviewed numerous witnesses by phone.
Anti-government forces said they had gained control of Zawiya as Gadhafi accused followers of Osama bin Laden of adding hallucinogenic drugs to residents' drinks to spark the unrest.
"They put it with milk or with other drinks, spiked drinks," he said Thursday in a telephone call to state television.
The international fallout, like the protests, has also spread. Switzerland ordered Gadhafi's assets frozen, the foreign ministry said.
Gates warns against Iraq, Afghanistan-style wars
Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned against committing the US military to big land wars in Asia or the Middle East, saying anyone proposing otherwise "should have his head examined."
Gates offered the blunt advice -- hard won after a decade of bitter conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq -- in what he said would be his last speech to cadets at West Point, the US Army's premier school for training future officers.
"The odds of repeating another Afghanistan or Iraq -- invading, pacifying, and administering a large third world country -- may be low," Gates said.
"In my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should 'have his head examined,' as General MacArthur so delicately put it," Gates said.
Douglas MacArthur, the World War II hero of the Pacific campaign, made the comment at a meeting with then-president John F. Kennedy in 1961 regarding US military intervention in mainland Asia.
Gates, a former CIA director, replaced Donald Rumsfeld in the defense job in 2006 as Iraq was spiraling into civil war and the US military appeared to be facing a historic failure.
The change in leadership and a new strategy executed by General David Petraeus helped salvage the situation, and US forces now appear on schedule to leave the country at the end of this year.
But nearly 100,000 US troops are still deeply engaged in another difficult conflict in Afghanistan, once again under Petraeus' command, with no exit seen before 2014.
Gates said he was not suggesting that the US army "will -- or should -- turn into a Victorian nation-building constabulary designed to chase guerrillas, build schools, or sip tea.
"But as the prospects for another head-on clash of large mechanized land armies seem less likely, the Army will be increasingly challenged to justify the number, size, and cost of its heavy formations," he said.
Future US military interventions abroad will likely take the form of "swift-moving expeditionary forces, be they Army or Marines, airborne infantry or special operations," which Gates said "is self-evident given the likelihood of counterterrorism, rapid reaction, disaster response, or stability or security force assistance missions."
Gates is set to leave his job this year, and his presentation was a farewell speech to the West Point students.
"We can?t know with absolute certainty what the future of warfare will hold," Gates said, "but we do know it will be exceedingly complex, unpredictable, and -- as they say in the staff colleges -- unstructured."
The United States also has a poor track record at predicting the next conflict, Gates said.
"We have never once gotten it right, from the Mayaguez to Grenada, Panama, Somalia, the Balkans, Haiti, Kuwait, Iraq, and more -- we had no idea a year before any of these missions that we would be so engaged," he said.
Gates praised the army?s "ability to learn and adapt," which in recent years "allowed us to pull Iraq back from the brink of chaos in 2007 and, over the past year, to roll back the Taliban from their strongholds in Afghanistan."
Gates offered the blunt advice -- hard won after a decade of bitter conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq -- in what he said would be his last speech to cadets at West Point, the US Army's premier school for training future officers.
"The odds of repeating another Afghanistan or Iraq -- invading, pacifying, and administering a large third world country -- may be low," Gates said.
"In my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should 'have his head examined,' as General MacArthur so delicately put it," Gates said.
Douglas MacArthur, the World War II hero of the Pacific campaign, made the comment at a meeting with then-president John F. Kennedy in 1961 regarding US military intervention in mainland Asia.
Gates, a former CIA director, replaced Donald Rumsfeld in the defense job in 2006 as Iraq was spiraling into civil war and the US military appeared to be facing a historic failure.
The change in leadership and a new strategy executed by General David Petraeus helped salvage the situation, and US forces now appear on schedule to leave the country at the end of this year.
But nearly 100,000 US troops are still deeply engaged in another difficult conflict in Afghanistan, once again under Petraeus' command, with no exit seen before 2014.
Gates said he was not suggesting that the US army "will -- or should -- turn into a Victorian nation-building constabulary designed to chase guerrillas, build schools, or sip tea.
"But as the prospects for another head-on clash of large mechanized land armies seem less likely, the Army will be increasingly challenged to justify the number, size, and cost of its heavy formations," he said.
Future US military interventions abroad will likely take the form of "swift-moving expeditionary forces, be they Army or Marines, airborne infantry or special operations," which Gates said "is self-evident given the likelihood of counterterrorism, rapid reaction, disaster response, or stability or security force assistance missions."
Gates is set to leave his job this year, and his presentation was a farewell speech to the West Point students.
"We can?t know with absolute certainty what the future of warfare will hold," Gates said, "but we do know it will be exceedingly complex, unpredictable, and -- as they say in the staff colleges -- unstructured."
The United States also has a poor track record at predicting the next conflict, Gates said.
"We have never once gotten it right, from the Mayaguez to Grenada, Panama, Somalia, the Balkans, Haiti, Kuwait, Iraq, and more -- we had no idea a year before any of these missions that we would be so engaged," he said.
Gates praised the army?s "ability to learn and adapt," which in recent years "allowed us to pull Iraq back from the brink of chaos in 2007 and, over the past year, to roll back the Taliban from their strongholds in Afghanistan."
Afghan repatriation to begin March 1
PESHAWAR – The UN High Commissioner for Refugees will start a voluntary repatriation programme for Afghans March 1, it announced in a February 25 press release.
The UN refugee agency will facilitate repatriation for registered Afghan nationals from centres in Quetta and Peshawar. The agency increased a cash assistance grant for Afghans opting to repatriate by 50%, to an average of US $150 per person, depending on the family’s return distance.
Afghans approaching the repatriation centres are asked to bring valid Proof of Registration cards.
The UN refugee agency will facilitate repatriation for registered Afghan nationals from centres in Quetta and Peshawar. The agency increased a cash assistance grant for Afghans opting to repatriate by 50%, to an average of US $150 per person, depending on the family’s return distance.
Afghans approaching the repatriation centres are asked to bring valid Proof of Registration cards.
Gaddafi: Follow me or I will burn all of Libya
Muammar Gaddafi addresses his supporters in Tripoli's Green Square in this still image taken from a video broadcast. Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has warned to "burn all of Libya" if the citizens do not cease protests against him.
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