Libya rebel fighter groups to merge under one command
Updated: 2011-08-27 08:15
(chinadaily.com.cn)
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Welcome to our live rolling coverage of the continuing events in Libya as the battle for Tripoli enters day six. Disparate rebel fighter groups in the Libyan capital will be brought under one command after an interim period.?The NATO bombed diehard loyalists in?Gadhafi's tribal bastion, but there was no sign of an end to the war, or to international wrangling over Libya's riches. Here we will bring you the latest developments as they happen.
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10:50 pm
British International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell announced on Saturday that Britain would provide urgent humanitarian support including medical help, food and other basic supplies for thousands of people affected by the conflict in Libya.?
9:44 pm
Head of National Transitional Council (NTC) Mostafa Abdel Jalil on Saturday vowed fair trials for those worked with fallen leader Gadhafi.
9:10 pm
The bodies of around 53 people have been found in a warehouse in the Libyan capital Tripoli after apparently being executed earlier this week, Britain's Sky News reported on Saturday.
8:40 pm
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was quoted telling a newspaper on Saturday that she would like to see Libya's fallen leader Muammar Gadhafi put on trial -- even though he never gave his opponents a chance to defend themselves in court.
8:01 pm
Tripoli struggled with collapsing water and power supplies on Saturday as rebels now in control of most of the Libyan capital battled for a city still held by Muammar Gadhafi's forces.
6:24 pm
The Cairo Group, which includes the Arab League and European Union representatives, has asserted its intentions to support the Libyan people, not only in the current period but on the long run as well, Egypt's official news agency MENA reported Saturday.
5:50 pm
Six vehicles which thought to have important Libyan officials crossed the Libyan-Algerian borders Friday, Egypt's official news agency MENA reported on Saturday. The source pointed out that those vehicles may have important Libyan officials, including Gadhafi and his sons.
4:25 pm
A report saying that Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi may have fled his country and entered neighboring Algeria by land cannot be confirmed by Algerian authorities on Saturday.
1:19 pm
The UK is to provide urgent humanitarian support for those affected by the conflict in Libya, the government has announced. Britain will provide medical assistance and food supplies via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
It will also support efforts to reunite families separated during the uprising against Col Muammar Gaddafi's regime.
10:24 am
Libyan Ambassador to Brazil Salem Al Zubaidi announced his "support and loyalty" to the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) of his home country. The announcement marked an about-turn by the ambassador, who reaffirmed his loyalty to embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as lately as earlier this week.
8:34 am
The Netherlands recognizes the National Transition Council (NTC) of Libya as the representative of the Libyan people, the Dutch government said on Friday. In a statement, the Netherlands said the NTC should "ensure a stable and secure future for the Libyan people, this should now lead the way forward, the post-conflict reconstruction phase and an inclusive political process shape."
According to Dutch media, Libya's frozen assets in the country can be released to the NTC, because "now that Muammar Gaddafi no longer appears in control of the country."
7:04 am
After a meeting with heads of regional organizations on Friday afternoon, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters that the international community, including the UN, stands prepared to provide support to Libya in the aftermath of its violent, months-long conflict.
"In our meeting this afternoon, all those present agreed: at this moment of great transition, the international community must come together with an effective, well-coordinated program of action," said Ban.
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Armed rebels fighters stand guard as people attend Friday prayers near the court house in Benghazi August 26, 2011. [Photo/Agencies] |
5:57 am
Disparate rebel fighter groups in the Libyan capital will be ?brought under one command after an interim period and the formation of a new national army, the rebel commander in?Tripoli said.
Abdel Hakim Belhadj also told a news conference in Tripoli that rebel groups in the capital, now under a unified military council, were preparing a strategy to secure all state institutions and diplomatic missions while mopping up remaining pockets of resistance.
"The Military Council announces its intention to dissolve all rebel formations and merge them into state institutions," Belhadj said.
5:46 am
Libyan rebels claimed to be close to capturing Muammar Gaddafi on Friday as their NATO backers bombed diehard loyalists in his tribal bastion, but there was no sign of an end to the war, or to international wrangling over Libya's riches.
5:43 am
BBC reporter Wyre Davies said it was one of the most distressing and appalling things he has ever seen when he entered a hospital in the surburb of Libyan capital Tripoli. He said bodies, mainly men, also some women and children were lying incorridors, on trolleys in wards and even piled up at the hospital entrance.
5:14 am
The African Union called on Friday for the formation of an inclusive transitional government in Libya, saying it could not recognise the rebels as sole legitimate representatives of the nation while fighting continued.
4:44?am
Rebels took control of the Ras Jdir border post on Libya's frontier with Tunisia on Friday after clashes with soldiers loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, witnesses said. Fighters hoisted the green, red and black rebel flag over official buildings at the crossing, which lies along a key coastal resupply route from Tunisia to Tripoli. "We can see the flag," local resident Fathi Chandol said. A second witness said he could also see the flag and added it was clear the rebels had taken the post.
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Prisoners from Abu Salim prison arrive in the city of Benghazi August 26, 2011. [Photo/Agencies] |
3:14 am
Libyan rebels stormed Tripoli's Abu Salim district, one of the main holdouts of forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi in the capital, after NATO air strikes on a building in the area on Thursday.
Some of the rebels in the area near the notorious Abu Salim prison had earlier said they hoped the fugitive strongman was hiding in the buildings with some of his sons. Thousands of rebel fighters swept through houses and side streets to flush out snipers and were emerging with dozens of prisoners and gunfights were going on.
1:44 am
Algeria said it has adopted " strict neutrality" towards the Libyan crisis, stressing that it respects the choices made by peoples. Spokesman for Algeria's Foreign Ministry, Amar Belani, indicated in a statement issued on Friday that Algeria has, since the spark of the crisis in Libya, adopted strict neutrality, by refusing to interfere in the internal affairs of this neighboring country, and yet respecting the decision that peoples make on the basis of their national sovereignty.
1:02 am
Swiss-based trading house Gunvor, co-founded by Russian businessman Guennady Timchenko, would supply a cargo of gasoil loading at the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk and bound for rebels in Benghazi, Reuters reported. The 30,000 tonne cargo loaded aboard the Norient Star, which was expected to reach the Libyan port from Russia on Aug 31.
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Libyan girls look through a shattered glass door at Aisha Gaddafi's house in Bin Ashour in Tripoli August 26, 2011. Aisha Gaddafi is the daughter of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. [Photo/Agencies] |