Libya - Latest Updates Part III ( Archived) (526)

Malta will be added to the list of prayers going up now...

No you didn't but as the 'air-space' in question happens to be above my head, I thought I'd mention it...

Earlier this morning, Malta withdrew its last Maltese citizen from the Maltese Embassy in Tripoli and has leftt the country.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the embassy is now manned solely by locally engaged staff.

In a speech delivered earlier, US President Barack Obama described events unfolding in Libya and explained the position of the United States. Regarding the Libyan leader, Obama said "Once again, Gaddafi chose to ignore the will of his people and the international community."

Towards the end of his speech, the president emphasized his country's role:

"But I want to be clear: the change in the region will not and cannot be imposed by the United States or any foreign power. Ultimately it will be driven by the people of the Arab world. It is their right and their responsibility to determine their own destiny."

""Summary

By offering a cease-fire and inviting nongovernmental groups to conduct fact-finding missions, however, Gadhafi is betting that the European nations will lose the political justification for an attack and that political disagreements over military action within European nations can further weaken their already weak resolve. Europeans in general are war-weary from their involvement in NATO’s operations in Afghanistan. They only will support an intervention in Libya if Gadhafi clearly is committing gross violations of human rights. It will be difficult for Paris and London to prove that Gadhafi is indeed committing such acts or to ignore the cease-fire announcement or the invitation to verify it. The immediate reply from France was that it would deal with the cease-fire declaration with caution and that the threat on the ground was unchanged. But the backlash at home against an intervention in light of Gadhafi’s comments is not something European governments can overlook easily, especially since the most powerful EU member state, Germany, already has buckled under the domestic political strain and expressed skepticism toward a military operation.

Assuming Gadhafi follows through with the cease-fire, how it will affect his operations against the rebels remains in question. Gadhafi may feel the rebels have been suppressed such that he can mop up the remainder through police actions in urban settings. Alternatively, he may feel the rebels are so thoroughly entrenched in their stronghold of Benghazi that he cannot dislodge them under the threat of Western airstrikes — and is therefore cutting his losses and preserving the integrity of his forces from potential Franco-British-American air attacks. Ultimately, the cease-fire could be a delaying action while Gadhafi builds a stronger position around Benghazi. This would not be without risks, however, as it will give French and British air assets time to deploy in air bases in the Mediterranean, better positioning them to enforce a no-fly zone.

That said, the Security Council has authorized a no-fly zone, which means that while assaulting Gadhafi’s ground forces directly may be stalled by the cease-fire statement, establishing a no-fly zone is not. It is also likely that Europeans will respond to the statement with further demands on Gadhafi, such as that he must resign as leader of the country or that he must withdraw his troops from eastern Libya and possibly even other cities in the west that have seen fierce resistance, like Misurata and Zawiya. Both of these demands would be difficult for Gadhafi to accept. The establishment and enforcement of the no-fly zone may still go ahead, but attacking Gadhafi’s forces directly will become difficult in the immediate term.

Read more: Libya Crisis: Implications of the Cease-Fire | STRATFOR""

Conditions were also given effective immediately to cease fire, allow food and supplies across their borders, and added the conditions were non negotiable.....

Al Jazeera reports indicate that pro-Gaddafi forces could be advancing towards Benghazi, and be as little as 50km away.

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2000: Julian Borger, writing in his Guardian blog, says the time pressure on the UN coalition is intense. "If Benghazi falls before the air operation gets off the ground, it would be the worst of all worlds," he writes. "Gaddafi will have defied the UN, and any subsequent air strikes against his forces could simply worsen the reprisals against the rebels and the people of Benghazi."

Gadaffi and son need to sent to the Fletcher Memorial Home !!
It is a home for incurable tyrants and kings.......
Is everyone in ?........Now the final solution can be applied !!

Taken From Pink Floyd's last album " The Final Cut ""