NATO jets target Libyan capital - Aids on army vehicles and ammunition depots in Tripoli follow announcement of extension of alliance's Libyan mission.

Fresh attacks have taken place in central Tripoli, with a series of explosions reported as Nato continues sporadic bombing of the Libyan capital.

A series of explosions and and gunfire was heard across Tripoli in the early hours of Friday morning, according to witnesses.

Footage captured by AP Television showed smoke rising from the city skyline following at least one large explosion.

A Libyan government official, speaking on condition of anonymity to the AP news agency, said that at least 10 NATO raids hit targets in and around Tripoli.

NATO earlier confirmed that it carried out attacks on Thursday, which it said hit military vehicles and ammunition depots, a surface-to-air missile launcher and a fire-control radar.

The attacks took place just hours after NATO and its partners said it would extend the Libyan mission for 90 more days in support of the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi's four-decade rule.

"This decision sends a clear message to the Gaddafi regime: We are determined to continue our operation to protect the people of Libya," Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary-general, said.

Now in its fourth month, the Libyan conflict is deadlocked, with the opposition forces unable to break out of their strongholds and advance towards Tripoli, where Gaddafi appears to be firmly entrenched.

Opposition forces control the east of Libya around Benghazi, the third-biggest city, Misurata, and a mountain range stretching from the town of Zintan, 150km south of Tripoli, towards the border with Tunisia.

On Wednesday, opposition fighters in the country's west said they had managed to force Gaddafi troops out of the towns of Qasr el-Haj and Shakchuk.The towns had been under attack since February.

Residents and opposition forces in the west celebrated on the streets after a battle that lasted for nearly 12 hours.

By liberating the two towns, the opposition says it will now be able restore electricity to three other areas, one of which is Zintan, which has been heavily bombarded in recent days.

Misurata fighting

In the city of Misurata, opposition fighters have pushed forces loyal to Gaddafi out of the centre of the city and pushed westwards towards the neighbouring town of Zlitan, where they are exchanging artillery fire.

"They [pro-Gaddafi forces] are randomly bombarding from an area near Zlitan," Youssef, an opposition spokesman, told the Reuters news agency from Misurata.

Zlitan could become the next battleground, opposition forces said.

Residents there said pro-Gaddafi forces have been moving into the town and mounting a crackdown to prevent regime opponents from rising up and joining the opposition.

"Gaddafi has tightened security here. His brigades have been getting reinforcement every day. They have stepped up their campaign to arrest, terrify and frighten residents," an opposition spokesman in Zlitan, who identified himself as Mabrouk, said.

"The humanitarian situation is very bad. There are shortages of foodstuffs, baby milk and medicine. There has been no fuel for almost two months."

In another development, UN and US officials said that Qatar deported Iman al-Obeidi, a Libyan woman who accused Gaddafi's soldiers of raping her on March 26, back to Libya.

Vincent Cochetel, the UNHCR representative in Washington, told the AFP news agency that a Qatari military jet flew al-Obeidi to the port city of Benghazi, which is held by rebels, and she was now staying there in a hotel.

A Libyan rebel official told AFP last month that al-Obeidi had escaped from Libya to Qatar with the help of rebels.

She attracted international media attention when she stormed into the Rixos hotel on March 26, threw open her coat to reveal scars and bruises on her body to expose her ordeal.

A UN inquiry accused Gaddafi's government on Wednesday of carrying out systematic attacks on the population, saying it committed war crimes and also crimes against humanity.

While it noted fewer reports of violations by the opposition, the commission of inquiry set up by the UN Human Rights Council also found that rebel forces committed acts that constituted war crimes.


Libyan attendance

Separately, the Libyan government announced it will send a representative to the meeting of the international oil-exporting countries' group, OPEC, a day after Shokri Ghanem, the country's oil minister, confirmed his defection.

Mussa Ibrahim, the Libyan government spokesperson, said on Thursday that the government would be represented at the meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna on June 8.

"I don't have a name yet, but we'll have somebody," he said.

The announcement came a day after Ghanem announced in Rome that he now supports the Libyan opposition, making him the second most senior official to quit the Gaddafi government.

However, Ibrahim played down the significance of Ghanem's departure. "This is a country, a state, a government, not just one person," Ibrahim told the Reuters news agency.

Up to now, oil and gas has accounted for 95 per cent of Libya's export income, 25 per cent of its gross domestic product and 80 per cent of government revenue, according to US government statistics.

US president Barrack Obama authorises the use of Predator drones - To carry out air strikes against Dictator Gaddafi's brutal ground forces !

US president Barack Obama has approved the use of armed drones in Libya, authorising US airstrikes against ground forces for the first time since America turned control of the military operation over to NATO.


The first armed drone mission since Obama's go-ahead was flown on Thursday, but the aircraft, armed with Hellfire missiles, turned back due to poor weather conditions without firing any of its munitions.


Pradator drones have routinely been flying surveillance missions in Libya, Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, told reporters at a Pentagon briefing on Thursday.


He said the US will provide up to two 24-hour combat air patrols each day by the unmanned Predators.


Marine General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the drones can help counteract the Dictator Muammar Gaddafi forces' tactic of traveling in civilian vehicles that make it difficult to distinguish them from pro democractic forces.


"What they will bring that is unique to the conflict is their ability to get down lower, therefore to be able to get better visibility on targets that have started to dig themselves into defensive positions," Cartwright said.


"They are uniquely suited for urban areas."


He added, "It's very difficult to pick friend from foe. So a vehicle like the Predator that can get down lower and can get IDs better, helps us." He further Said.


What are USA Predator drones (RQ-1 / MQ-1 Predator) ?

Role/type	Remote controlled, UAV
Manufacturer	General Atomics Aeronautical Systems
First flight	January 1994
Introduction	1995
Status	Active
Primary user	United States Air Force
Produced	1995–Present
Number built	360 (285 RQ-1, 75 MQ-1)[1]
Unit cost	~ $4.5 million[2]
Developed from	General Atomics GNAT
Variants	MQ-1C Grey Eagle
Developed into	MQ-9 Reaper

Libyan Freedom Figter's manage to regain ground near Brega - Libya Uprise Latest

Freedom Figter's claim regaining new ground in port town as Gaddafi's forces cripple oil production in eastern Libya

Pro-democracy fighters have regained ground in a new advance on the oil port of Brega in eastern Libya.

Rebels said the loss of ground early this week to forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi is a normal occurrence in fluid desert wars, and will not prevent them from ousting the Libyan leader.

Meanwhile, NATO stepped up the pace of its air campaign over Libya on Wednesday, a day after facing fierce criticism of not doing enough to protect civilians in Misurata.

The alliance dismissed opposition criticisms saying the safety of civilians is its top priority and pledged to do everything it can to ensure that.

t accused Gaddafi's troops of hiding tanks, troops and heavy weapons among civilians to stop NATO aircrafts from air strikes.

On Tuesday Gaddafi's forces pushed back rebels from Brega in the pro-democracy movement's first significant loss of territory in almost a week.

"This kind of desert fight is very fluid; advancing 20 kilometres and then retreating 20 kilometres is normal in a desert war," Mustafa Gheriani, a rebel spokesman, said.

"Look at the desert war during the Second World War, around [the eastern Libyan town of] Tobruk: they were moving by 50 kilometres every day."

Gheriani said "our forces are at the eastern border of the city, the [Gaddafi] militias are inside the city and the fight is going on".

He said Gaddafi's army "has a lot of weapons left" and can threaten Ajdabiya, about 80 kilometres further east, "but we hope our resolve and most of all the resolve of NATO will prevent them to do that".

Dictator Gadhafi asks Obama to end NATO bombing

As freedom fighters and pro-government forces in Libya maneuvered on the battlefield Wednesday, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi urged U.S. President Barack Obama to end the NATO bombing of his war-torn country.


Gadhafi made the appeal in a letter to the American president, a senior administration official said.



But the official said there was "nothing new" in the letter, the thrust of which was an appeal for an end to the alliance's air operations. It contained no offers to negotiate or step down, and the official said the administration isn't taking the note seriously.


Gadhafi asked Obama to stop the "unjust war against a small people of a developing country" and said those in the opposition are terrorists and members of al Qaeda, the official said.


"We have been hurt more morally than physically because of what had happened against us in both deeds and words by you," Gadhafi wrote, according to the official. "Despite all this you will always remain our son."


The strongman expressed hope that Obama wins re-election next year, the official added. And he wrote that a democratic society cannot be built through missiles and aircraft.


"You are a man who has enough courage to annul a wrong and mistaken action," the leader wrote to the president.


Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the NATO strikes will stop when Gadhafi steps down and leaves the country.


"I don't think there is any mystery about what is expected from Mr. Gadhafi at this time," Clinton said.


The letter came amid diplomatic, economic and military developments in Libya, which remains in a deadly stalemate as pro-Gadhafi forces battle opposition fighters demanding democracy and an end to Gadhafi's nearly 42-year-rule.


A British airstrike hit an oil field in the eastern Libyan town of Sarir on Wednesday, causing damage to a main pipeline, Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim told reporters.


A tanker carrying crude oil left the eastern Libyan port of Tobruk on Wednesday in what was the first known export of oil by the fledgling opposition during the conflict, a sign of optimism for them.


Rebel fighters and pro-Gadhafi forces have been pushing back and forth between al-Brega and Ajdabiya, while residents in the western city of Misrata are spending their days in fear.


Also Wednesday, ex-U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, who met with Gadhafi within the past decade, paid a visit to the Libyan capital with a cease-fire plan and a clear message to the embattled ruler that he must step down.

Libya Dictators regimes Foreign Minister quits and Flees to Britain !

Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister, has defected to the United Kingdom, the British foreign ministry has confirmed.


The ministry said in a statement that Koussa had arrived at Farnborough Airport, in the south of England, on a flight from Tunisia on Wednesday.


"He travelled here under his own free will. He has told us that he is resigning his post. We are discussing this with him and we will release further details in due course," the statement said.


"We encourage those around Gaddafi to abandon him and embrace a better future for Libya that allows political transition and real reform that meets the aspirations of the Libyan people."



It added that Koussa was one of the most senior officials in Gaddafi's Brutal Regime with a role to represent it internationally, which is "something that he is no longer willing to do".


Tunisia's TAP news agency said on Monday that Koussa had crossed over into Tunisia from Libya.


A Libyan Regime spokesman in the Libyan capital Tripoli had earlier denied speculation that he had defected.


"He is on a diplomatic mission," Mussa Ibrahim, the spokesman, said. He gave no further details.


Earlier on Wednesday, the British government announced the expulsion of Libya's military attache and four other diplomats in protest and for intimidating opposition groups in London.


A government source quoted by Reuters said the diplomats, believed to be supporters of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, have been given seven days to leave.


William Hague, the British foreign minister, told legislators the move was to "underline our grave concern at the regime's behaviour".


"... we have today taken steps to expel five diplomats at the Libyan embassy in London, including the military attache," he said in parliament on Wednesday.


"The government also judged that, were those individuals to remain in Britain, they could pose a threat to our security."


Hague also announced that a British diplomatic mission led by senior diplomat Christopher Prentice had visited the freedom fighter-held city of Benghazi earlier this week, and met key opposition groups including Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the head of the pro democracy Libyan National Council.

Libyan rebels fend off air assault - Libya Uprise

  - 10 civilians were killed in the fighting -

Some of the fiercest fighting since the uprising in Libya began last month has taken place in Brega, one of many towns controlled by the opposition in the east of the country. About 300 men loyal to Muammar Gaddafi attacked Brega early on Wednesday morning. Residents said 10 civilians were killed in the fighting. Later, an air force bomber circled the town, and Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley was about 70 metres from where a missile hit without causing any casualties.

source ; al jazeera

"Libya dignity under attack" - Dictator Gaddafi Screams !

Libyan Dictaor says he is just a symbol and power is in the hands of the people during televised address to supporters.


Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has said that he is not a president and so cannot resign his position, and that power is in the hands of the people, during a televised public rally in the capital, Tripoli.


"Muammar Gaddafi is not a president to resign, he does not even have a parliament to dissolve," Gaddafi said on Wednesday, his third pu8blic appearance since the uprising, surrounded by dozens of supporters in a large ballroom for a ceremony to mark 34 years of "people power".


"Attacks on me are seen by Libyan people as attacks on their symbol and dignity.


"The foreigners want Gaddafi to step down, to step down from what? Gaddafi is just a symbol for the Libyan people... This is how the Libyan people understood it."





He said that the world did not understand the Libyan system that puts power in the hands of the people.


"The people are free to chose the authority they see fit," he said.


 "We put our fingers in the eyes of those who doubt that Libya is ruled by anyone other than its people," he said, referring to his system of "direct democracy" which he outlined in his Green Book political manifesto, launched in 1977.


"I have always said that the Libyan people are free [in managing their own business]."


He did however announce that he was willing to discuss constitutional and legal change without armed conflict or chaos.


Gaddafi added there were no protests in the second largest city, Benghazi, Derna, or the eastern town of al-Baida ... that it all started with sleeper cells taking over weapons and security stations.


He said that terrorists released prisioners from jails and included them in their forces.


"These are criminals not political prisioners ... there are no political prisioners in Libya ... We had to destroy the weapons storages to prevent them from falling into the hands of the terrorists.


He repeated his claim that al-Qaeda was behind the popular uprising against his 41-year rule and promised to fight to the last man and woman.


"Sleeper cells from al-Qaeda, its elements, infiltrated gradually ... Suddenly it started in al-Baida... The sleeping cell was told to attack the battalion ... and it took arms from police stations.




According to the reliable reports, he is continuing to loose support locally as well as internationally.. Internationally he has very few friends, they too work just like dictator ( Chavez, Nepal Dictator, Percy Mahinda etc...)