Lillym, also note that if you look at the Times website which is supposedly showing a picture of one of the German Vessels just entered the harbour, however THIS IS INCORRECT.
That vessel in the picture is really the French Frigate that came earlier this week. I know for a fact as I went down to the harbour yesterday to check and I have pictures of that same ship on my mobile.
While I'm at this I would also like to clarify that NO deserted Libyan Ships were in the harbour as had previously been reported around Monday by Al Jazeera. I went round the whole harbour and I can assure you that no such ships were around.
An unconfirmed report from PressTV states that Gaddafi’s youngest son Saif al-Arab has joined the pro-democracy protesters in Benghazi.
According to the same source, Saif, widely regarded as the most low-profile of Gaddafi's sons, also hinted that his father would commit suicide or flee to Latin America in the face of rising public outcry over his tyrannical rule.
Yes you're right some did say so and even workers from some other nationalities. Though the ones that said so were generally ones located in remote areas, some even in oil-rigs hours flight away into the desert so as far as they were concerned nothing particular was happening. Those that were in or around Tripoli or Benghazi had a very different story to tell. A personal friend of mine who reached here Monday was visibly shaken and he had actually acquired a firearm to risk making it to the airport. I suppose that explains what the situation was like there.
Mood here is mixed feelings; on the one hand I would say most are rather happy to see our next door rather-unbalanced neighbor being toppled, but being so near this critical situation creates a certain uneasiness in everyone.
As for the coming evacuees, the Maltese people are reknowned for their hospitality and will actually look forward to host anyone coming here en-route to reach his homeland. I'm sure that some Maltese would even be willing to take some people in their own homes if need be as they have done in past situations, notably in both world wars. As a nation Malta has always risen up to any occasion and will surely not back out of this challenge.
That said, the situation for possible Libyans or north africans escaping en-masse to our borders does not go down well here as we have already gotten more than our fair share of such illegal immigration and European countries have not helped much there. But in this particular situation I firmly believe that our European brothers will come in to give us hand if the situation arises.
In the mean time there is still no news about the two Maltese catamarans at Al-Shahab port in Tripoli. However weather conditions have improved drastically and I would assume that the vessels ought to be in a position to start their trip to Valletta, Malta. It is understood that aboard the two vessels are around 600 persons the majority of which are American citizens.
Even if the vessels may leave (or have left) sometime this morning, the trip back will take a considerable number of hours as while the vessels are high-speed Catamarans, the sea conditions are still somewhat rough.
According to Xinhua news agency, over 2,000 Chinese workers in Libya are expected to be brought to Malta today on a Maltese ship chartered by the Chinese authorities. Previously the ship which left Benghazi yesterday was to head to Crete but for perhaps logistic reasons seems to have been redirected to Valletta Harbour, Malta.
I tis understood that they will remain on board the ship until aircraft come to pick them up, according to the .
Eleven Maltese are understood to be on board the same ship.
In view of the expected influx of escaping evacuees, local authorities are in discussions with local hotels and are even considering pitching tents as a temporary accommodation to handle the expected emergency.
HMS Cumberland, the British frigate, is reported to have left Benghazi and is heading for Malta. On board are around 79 britons and 2 Maltese evacuated from there. However over a hundred other britons are still stranded at Tripoli airport and even more are still at remote inland locations.
again you're probably right but once foreign troops step into a country however justified and however expected by the peoples oppressed there, history has showed us that it is never quite so easy to withdraw as this leaves a gaping hole of an imbalance of power which could leave a country worse off than before. I feel it would be best for all sides if the Libyan people were to take control and settle this on their own as is happening in Egypt.
Great tips ttom, though it certainly seems a complicated process. Also I'm not sure about the status of the pilots. I have come across sources which stated that they cannot request political asylum since they are members of the military. What do you think?
UNBELIEVABLE! According to AFP reports, 105 Canadians have been left stranded at Tripoli airport for a ridiculous reason. Seems that a chartered flight arranged by the Canadian foreign ministry was refused cover by a private insurance company on the grounds of increasing lack of security and escalations. Due to this the flight could not be operated.
Lynn Meahan, spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, told AFP "we're now looking to work with our partners on other options" which apparently include plans to send a Canadian military C-17 transport aircraft which is now in Germany.
You may be right Chris but we should not underestimate the impact that the U.S. armed strike on Tripoli way back in 1986 may have had on the population. Sometimes grudges take quite some time to pass especially when they hit the pride of a nation.
From Paris: French President Nicolas Sarkozy and US President Barack Obama have released a joint statement on the Libyan Crisis. The statement now published by the French presidency says: "In the face of the continuing brutal and bloody repression, and to the threatening statements of the Libyan leadership, the two presidents reiterated their demand for an immediate halt to the use of force against the civilian population." It adds that the presidents will "demand a new urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in Libya".
More Updates: Following an earlier post that Tripoli airport was redericting flights due to congestion, it has now become official that Tripoli has closed its airport and is currently closed to all flights. In view of this a planned Air Malta flight (the 3rd for today) had to be cancelled. Maltese sources said it was not clear if the closure was temporary or permanent.
Also a strong sandstorm over the Sahara desert is hampering any attempts at reaching persons in remote locations. Malta had previously acquired permission to operate a private flight into one such remote location in order to pick up some Maltese workers trapped there but this has had to be postponed.
Another development is that the Libyan government has formally requested the return of two Mirage F1 fighter jets from Malta. The two jets were flown to Malta by defecting pilots on Monday.
The aircraft are under armed guard at the airport while the pilots are still under custody by the Maltese Military. Their position has however been unofficially described more as their 'guests of honour' rather than prisoners. Both pilots have requested political asylum and their case is being considered.
On an interesting note on Monday's incident which I may not have clarified at the time, is that the two fighters were not alone at the time of the mission (where they were specifically instucted to attack civilian targets in Benghazi which had at the time been taken over by the people). Rather the two jets were simply forming part of a squadron and at a last minute the pilots broke formation turned northwards and flew at very low altitudes to avoid radar. Once over the sea the pilots fired on their afterburners to quickly make it across the channel to Malta. Also given that both pilots are colonels, they were most likely leading the squadron.
Just out: Switzerland freezes Gaddafi assets. Switzerland has ordered an immediate freeze on any assets that may belong to defiant Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi and his entourage, the Swiss foreign ministry said in a statement.
"The Federal Council (government) condemns the violence used by the Libyan strongman against the people in the strongest terms," the ministry said in a statement.
Leigh, I'm not sure I'm getting you on this one since there's two different topics on daughters but if I understand correctly that bit refers to Nuri el-Mismari's daughters and not Gaddafi's. They abducted them and forced them to make public statements to get back at their father who is currently exiled in France. The other bit about Aisha Gaddafi, she was most likely being sent out of the country for fear of her life should things get worse for the 'royal' family...
Typically the name is spelled as 'Gaddafi' but that is really the western version, the real name in arabic is more like 'Qatthafi' with the 'Q' being a gutteral sound often found difficult to pronounce for non-arabic speaking people thus finding it easier to replace it with a 'G'.
The name is also similar to the his tribe which also carries the same name or a similar variation of 'Qadhadfa' (Libya is controlled by a complex balance of various tribal factions)
Some more news: I'm refraining from most updates re fighting as some of you have already done a good job of that, so I'm just adding a few titbits you may have missed...
For one it appears that following various anti-Gaddafi declarations in France by one his top ex-aide and protocol chief, Nuri el-Mismari, Gaddafi’s men have abducted his two daughters and forced them to publicly denounce their father and his declarations on Libyan public TV. The 2 daughters ae reportedly still in the hands of Muammar Gaddafi’s men.
In a press release this morning Aisha Gaddafi (Gaddafi's daughter) has categorically denied having been aboard the Libyan plane turned away from Malta after being refused landing yesterday afternoon. For that matter so did the Maltese authorities. Frankly I tend to disbelieve both...
Traveller's reaching Malta from Tripoli today have reported that soldiers and police are stopping and searching outgoing passengers in search of any printed or electronic evidence of violence and happenings in these days. Camera's aand mobile phones are being particularly targeted. Notwithstanding this I am just now watching horrendous scenes of extreme violence and fighting with fires, shooting and explosions clearly heard on Italian TV News channels.
Following this evening's Gaddafi's televised second speech which he delivered telphonically, two basic things have been pointed out: one that his tone is less drastic and more conciliatory than the previous rant (coming from him), and secondly a comparison of both recordings is raising doubts as to whether it was actually his voice, if not this could mean a lot of things. However I'm not giving the last news much weight as this is pretty normal and expected as nearly always happens on each of Obama's recorded messages - presumably such doubts are more due to wishful thinking than actual reality!
Another important update comes now from Malta International Airport. It appears that Tripoli airport is over congested and is turning away flights heading there which flights are being redirected towards Malta. Since Malta airport is already quite busy with all the evacuation crisis over and above the usual traffic this is stretching local resources to the limits.
Aircraft reportedly turned away this evening include two Air Afrikiyah flights – one from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, and another from London Gatwick.
The sources said that if this situation continues for much longer, Malta International Airport will be in a similar situation soon.
Hi all, i've been quiet for the last couple of hours as I went to both the airport and harbour to personally confirm some updates I have been posting.
From the airport I can confirm that there sure is an abnormal hub of activity with various planes landing and taking off every few minutes. Amongst the civilian passenger airlines an unusual amount of small executive-style jets were both coming and going. One particular one had Italian markings but most others were unmarked, possibly carrying foreign high-ranking officials who are coming over to monitor or coordinate the evacuation process. Also noted one small military reconnaissance style craft landing.
The harbour visit proved this morning's update about the Italian and French navy frigates which are both still here. The fact that both ships are still at harbour is not very good news as they are most likely at port to shelter from the bad weather conditions I reported this morning. The good news is that the strong winds have now calmed down and the open sea beyond harbour looked decidedly less agitated than the over 2m high waves of this morning. However the sea swell takes much longer than the air currents to settle so it may still be difficult for the Catamarans with the American citizens aboard to leave Tripoli this evening.
While the Catamarans have reported that the situation in the Libyan harbour is relatively calm, one has to keep in mind that prolonged waiting can cause a food and water shortage for all aboard.
Surprisingly it seems like several airlines have decided to suspend flights to Tripoli.
German carrier Lufthansa said today it has suspending regular flights to Tripoli until at least Monday owing to unrest in the Libyan capital. The airline did however claim to have brought over "between 600 and 700 people" back to Germany in the past week.
Yesterday, Lufthansa's subsidiary Austrian Airlines also suspended its six weekly flights to the Libyan capital.
Earlier in the day, Italian carrier Alitalia announced that it would also suspend flights to the country.
All of these follow earlier decisions by British Airways and BMI to do likewise.
Air Malta has so far continued with one flight already landed this morning and another one planned later in the day.
CORRECTION: Another report states that the HMS Cumberland has in fact docked in Benghazi harbor to evacuate the 70 or so Britons around the area. It is expected to leave late afternoon and will transport passengers to Valletta, Malta. Britons are being urged to go to the coast to board.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he is "extremely sorry" about the problems British nationals faced as they tried to leave violence-hit Libya in an interview with Sky News.
The Prime Minister acknowledged the situation had not been ideal and there had been technical problems getting people back from the country.
"We've achieved a lot this morning but we need to do more and we need to do it quickly," he said. "There is nothing more important than getting British nationals, our own citizens, out of Libya and safely back home."
Apparently the Government was doing "everything possible" to get people home.
Considering the Royal Airforce Hercules Transport plane took off for Tripoli this morning following over 24 hours parked in our airfield, I suppose Mr. Cameron is right!!
In the mean time the British Frigate, the HMS Cumberland is said to be anchored around 20 nautical miles off the Libyan coast and cannot really proceed any further as it would be violating Libya's territorial waters.
Hi Buffy, I have been posting updates but the thread today took on a little chit-chat so you have to page back a bit to read my updates. Also i'm a little busy catching up on my work so I'm not posting as frequently!
In a new development, a number of Libyan men have gathered outside the a major Maltese Hotel (the 5 Star Corinthia San Gorg) saying they want to arrest a man who they hold responsible for the massacre of Libyan people.
The men are claiming that the unwelcome guest, Mr. Sabri El Shadli, is a manager of Afrique Airlines, which airline has apparently ferried mercenaries to Libya to back the Gaddafi regime.
They said that he intends to catch an Emirates flight to Dubai (which by the way leaves daily around 3:00pm)
"We want to show the Maltese government that this man is a criminal" one of the protesters was quoted as saying.
While the protestors have so far refrained from using force, a number of policemen are said to be guarding the building.
nothing much happening here except for the Italian frigate "Fenice", a French frigate "Tourville" are currently in Valletta harbor, the British Frigate "HMS Cumberland" is in the vicinity.
Also a Royal Air Force Hercules transport aircraft and a civilian Hellenic Imperial Boeing 747 left for Tripoli this morning while two more RAF planes are expected during the day, a Kuwaiti Air Force jet, a Swedish Air Force plane both arrived this morning and lastly the Swedish Foreign Minister dropped by on an undeclared visit.
Today the European Union is requesting countries to offer naval back-up in a bid to rescue up to 6,000 Europeans still trapped in Libya, a spokesman for the European Commission said today. Apparently many of which are in eastern Benghazi which is at this point unreachable by air.
The local government has accepted requests for Malta to be used as a transit point for nationals of the UK, Germany, Austria, Brazil, Thailand, Vietnam and, crucially, China, which is understood to have 35,000 workers in Libya.
The question is: where the hell are the Americans?
zeus911 Forum Posts (1,000)
Libya - Latest Updates
i have now identified the two German Navy ships as follows:The "FGS Berlin" which is a Berlin Class type Replenishment Ship and the "FGS Rheinland-Pfalz" which is a Bremen Class type Frigate.
It is expected that both ships are to leave harbour later.
In the mean time news of the "HMS Cumberland" report that it may arrive at the Grand Harbour early afternoon.