You are in the 244th Witness Revolution diary, bearing witness to pro-democracy movements in North Africa, the Middle East and beyond. This is a special edition to cover the unfolding events in Tripoli, the last stand againstof the Gaddafi Forces. (see links to previous diaries for this event at the bottom of the diary.) (h/t Athenian for pointing out that the grammatical error.)
UPDATE:
(h/t Phil S 33)
feb17libya Feb17Libya
Reuters Breaking: #Gaddafi's deputy chief of intelligence quits, declares allegiance to rebels - #Libya #Feb17
2 minutes ago
The journalists are free!
(h/t downsouth)
mchancecnn Matthew Chance
436pm local time: BBC has left the hotel
12 seconds ago
Quick update from what I know: There was renewed fighting in Bab Alzizya (the compound is quite large, so it may take a while to secure it all.) The journalists are still being held as hostages/human shields at the Rixos hotel (is this site so key to G's men because he's in the underground tunnels there?) and they have run out of food. Fighting continues in pockets around the country, where some grad rockets and SCUD missiles have been launched by G's forces. Also this:
(h/t amk for obama)May be can add this update
The rebel National Transitional Councilwill move its base to Tripoli "very, very soon", Aref Ali Nayed, a senior NTC official, tells the BBC World Service. "It will be symbolically extremely important for the leadership to show up in downtown Tripoli." But he adds: "For security reasons I cannot disclose the exact date and timing."
We can't talk about Libya today without celebrating the takeover of Bab Alziziya, Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli. The symbolism and sense of triumph is inestimable. The freedom fighters rejoiced by climbing on the iconic statue of a defiant fist holding a US warplane, of course, but it was the more intimate items which really confirmed how broken Gadaffi's regime is. That they could go into his private quarters and take his hat:
@feb17libya
This is the Freedom Fighter wearing the hat taken from Gaddafi's bedroom. #Libya #Feb17 #Tripoli http://pic.twitter.com/...
I just went inside his room, Gaddafi's bedroom, and I was really, I was like 'Oh my God'. I am in Gaddafi's room. Oh my God. Then this thing happened. I found this, oh my goodness ... I am going to give this to my dad as a present because he has suffered a lot from Gaddafi and from Gaddafi followers ... I am really proud for this moment that the Libyans have waited for 42 years.
and there was this humorous tweet: (h/t annettek)
LIBYA_WIN Hayat Libya #GaddafiHat is so happy to have defected on time and honored to be worn on a true genuine sane #Libyan head full of hope for the future.3 minutes ago
Flag
(h/t evergreen2) Libyan Youth Movement's Photos - Journalists at the Rixos hotel, August 23.
A member of the media waits in a corridor of the Rixos hotel beside a sign in Arabic which reads "Don't shoot we are press" in Tripoli August 23, 2011.
(h/t pico)
so this may explain a lot
@WilliamsJon
Jon Williams
NATO respected #Rixos as no-fire zone. NTC must do same. 35 friends & colleagues inside. We hold Gaddafi forces & NTC responsible for safety
18 minutes ago
and
@mchancecnn
Matthew Chance
Everyone frightened & concerned - doesn't feel like a 5 star hotel. Some water left but food at risk of ruin. #rixos4 #rixos #cnn #libya
2 minutes ago via web
Some inspirational messages from Libyans:
(h/t petral)
@taimur_ly تيمور عبد العزيز
Benghazi taught us courage, Misrata resistance, Nafousa determination, Zawiya perseverance, Tripoli patience. This is Libya @tripolicouncil
54 minutes ago via Echofon
(h/t downsouth ) Good Tweet
hishamjmatar Hisham Matar, Author
We've defeated Qaddafi in the battlefield, now we must defeat him in our imagination. We mustn't allow his legacy to corrupt our dream.
6 minutes ago
The Libyans tell us who they are and what they fight for
A Vision of a Democratic Libya - the guiding document of the revolution
Their newer, flashier web site is NTCLibya.com
Who are the libyan 'rebels'?
Opposition fighters against Gaddafi's regime are sometimes referred to as 'rebels'. This can be viewed negatively and so the correct term for the 'rebels' is freedom fighters.
(h/t angry marmot ) TNC comments on post-Q role for NATO
AFP via Al-Ahram
Libya's rebel government envoy to the Cairo-based Arab League said Monday that his country will not allow NATO bases in Libya after Muammar Gaddafi's ouster, official MENA news agency said.
"Libya is an Arab and Islamic nation before NATO and after NATO," he said, adding, "the Libyans revolted from the 1970s against Western bases and there will be no non-Libyan bases."
They've also decided not to take international loans:
(h/t greenbird ) Bloomberg news:
“We don’t need loans,” former Libyan Central Bank Governor Farhat Bengdara, who broke with Qaddafi’s regime in February, said in an interview in Dubai. “Libya has huge financial resources and oil reserves. What it needs is the cooperation of the international community to lift the freeze on Libya’s assets aboard.”
Good reporting sources:
Al Jazeera English live TV
Al Jazeera English liveblog
Guardian Middle East liveblog
Feb17.info news aggregator and local reporting (live video feed), excellent resources such as maps and reliable Twitter streams to follow
BBC live coverage (video and text)
Follow on Twitter:
Feb 17 voices
Al Jazeera English
LibyanYouthMovement
Sultan Al Qassemi
Twitter tags #feb17 #libya #tripoli #mermaiddawn
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