#libyaupdates: April 25th Report on #Libya prepared by Stanford Graduate Teaching Assistants.

(Remember Thuwwar means freedom fighter.)



Libya, Apr 25, 2011
by Hussein Al-Omari on Sunday, April 24, 2011 at 11:30pm

1. NATO planes hit closer and closer to the epicenter of evil in Libya. They leveled a whole building inside Bab Al-Aziziyah. As usual, Gaddafi government spokesperson claimed that 45 civilians were injured; they always put out a number of civilians killed or injured after every NATO bombing anywhere without showing pictures of the dead or injured.



2. Gaddafi's son Saif appeared on Libyan state TV saying that it is cowardice to attack his father's office and that NATO is fighting a losing war against his father. He said all Libyans will be defending him and will defeat NATO.



3. After the three huge explosions heard in Tripoli last night, the three Libyan state TV stations went off the air for 30 minutes according to Reuters and Aljazeera.



4. The bombing of Misrata continued albeit claims by Gaddafi's deputy foreign minister that the military operations were put on hold for 48 hours.



5. According to Aljazeera, Gaddafi loyalists are gathering by force some 3000 civilians from around Libya under the leadership of Gaddafis son Elsaidi in Zilaitin in order to attack Misrata from there pretending to be the neighboring tribes. Around 48 military cars left Tripoli to participate in this attack.



6. Aljazeera reported that Pro Gaddafi forces continued its tight siege of Yefrin and Qalah (the castle) in the west while shelling these two cities continued.



7. The people of Yefrin and Qalah sent out calls for urgent help because their situation is worsened a lot because of the combined siege and bombing.



8. According to Aljazeera sources in Zintan, the shelling of the city continued and resulted today in killing 4 civilians and injuring 9. Around 6-9 Grad missiles were launched on the city that was one of the first to rise up against Gaddafi in March.



9. NATO planes targetted around 200 armed vehicles that was in its way to attack Ras Lanut.



10. In Yefrin, Gaddafi forces were forced back in to the western side of the city by the Thuwwar.



11. In Zawiya, the pro-democracy rebels banned Gaddafi forces from advancing inside the town by the rebels. Gaddafi forces may get help from Al-Mahdi Al-Arabi militias and Al-Khuweildi armed units.



12. Gaddafi forces are intensifying their troops and increasing their weaponry near the Tunisian border in preparation to retake the border town of Wazin and its entry gate of Zuheiba that the pro-democracy rebels captured few days ago. The rebels are also entrenching their forces in the area in preparation for such a prospective battle.



13. The head of the Libyan National Council, Abdu-Jalil Mustafa Abdul-Jalil announced from Kuwait that they have evidences that Gaddafi's cousin Ahmad Gaddaf Addam and some of his loyalists in Egypt are liquidating huge amouns of Libyan assets in Egypt to finance Gaddafi government and to recruit loyalists in Egypt to send them in military missions to destabilize the liberated part of Libya.



14. Kuwait pledged $180 million to the Libyan National Council. "It will help us pay part of the salaries of employees," Abdul-Jalil told reporters after talks with Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah. "We are in need of urgent assistance." Kuwait will also provide large and urgent humanitarian aid through the Libyan National Council.

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