Note: Current Liveblog is here for up to date commentary on events in Libya.
The Libyan Transitional National Council (TNC), a thirty member group formed to represent Libyans throughout the country who are fighting to remove the Gaddafi regime, publicly requests international aid in the form of a no-fly zone and airstrikes.
Please join me in supporting the TNC and the Libyans who have put their lives on the line by calling the U.N., the White House, the State Department, and your Congressional representatives to urge them to move quickly to respond to the Libyan's request for a no-fly zone and airstrikes.
Ask them to stand strong and protect the Libyan people by supporting UN sanctioned no-fly zones and air strikes and to formally recognize the Libyan Transitional National Council as the legitimate representatives of the country.
In a statement faxed to Al Jazeera on the 6th, the Libyan TNC asked the international community to "protect the Libyan people from any further genocide and crimes against humanity without any direct military intervention on Libyan soil." The specifics of this request are outlined below.
Lifting from a comment by peraspera citing a report by the French intellectual, philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, who is on the ground in Libya and attended the March 5th meeting of the TNC, the consensus of the council included the following points:
1. All of them request the institution of a no-fly zone that would prevent Tripoli's Mirages and MIGs from coming to try to bomb the terminals at Braydah, a hundred kilometres from Benghazi, in hopes of provoking this viva la muerte of oil the author of the Green Book dreams of. It would also prevent Gaddafi's aircraft from committing a crime unprecedented in the history of contemporary counter-revolutions, that of making strafing runs against the crowds of civilians demonstrating peacefully in the streets of Tripoli or elsewhere.
2. If that is not possible, they request surgical air strikes on the main military airfield planes take off from at the airport of Sirte, 500 kms to the east of the capital, and other strikes on another military airport located at Sebah, in the south of the country, near the Chadian border. The latter serves as a beach head for the shuttling of mercenaries, such as those of Alabrag, whom Gaddafi recruits for a small fortune, having never trusted his army and, more than ever, having no choice but to pay the dogs of war. And last, they request strikes on the infamous Bab El-Azizia at Tripoli, the guide's command center and bunker as well as, no doubt, a house of torture like the one the people of Benghazi besieged and set fire to -- their own storming of the Bastille!
3. Failing that, again, they request the destruction or in any case the long-distance jamming of transmission systems that alone, as in all modern warfare, make it possible for the Libyan military to operate, even if it's falling to pieces....
The one thing that the Libyan national council does not want is foreign military intervention on the ground. Speaking at a news conference, the head of the national council, ex-Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel Jalil, said the body did not want foreign troops on Libyan soil and had sufficient forces to liberate the country.
Our people have the numbers and the determination to liberate all of Libya, but we will ask for air strikes to help us do this in the shortest possible time.
Call today NOW
Please call the White House, the State Department, your Congressional representatives, and the UN to urge them to take action to stop the horrific bloodshed and repression. Most important, call today NOW. The Libyan people have been under brutal attack for days. Thousands have been murdered, tens of thousands wounded, hospitals are overwhelmed, medical supplies have been depleted. We haven't a moment to waste.
Contact info follows below
Contact info for the WH, State Department, Congress, UN, and humanitarian aid organizations is listed below If you have additional or better information please share it and I will edit the diary. Please also leave a comment telling us what happened when you made your calls. If you aren't able to call and instead sent an email, please consider sharing what you wrote with us; your words may embolden another.
ACTION TO SUPPORT THE LIBYAN REVOLUTIONARIES
THE UNITED NATIONS
Please email the United Nations Special Advisers on the Prevention of Genocide and tell them you support the UN intervening in the massacre happening in Libya with a No Fly Zone and air strikes. Please tell them to act quickly, thousands of lives have already been lost. I have been in contact with this office and know that they will be open to hearing from us. Our emails are read and may help to spur the UN to move quickly.
Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 600
New York, NY 10017 USA
Tel: 1 917 367 2589
E-mail: osapg@un.org
email form: http://www.un.org/...
Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide
Francis Deng
Special Adviser of the Secretary-General
Edward Luck
United Nations Human Rights Council
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay
General Inquiries:
Telephone: +41 22 917 9220
THE WHITE HOUSE
Please call the White House and urge President Obama to commit US resources to help the Libyan people with additional humanitarian aid and a UN sanctioned No Fly Zone and airstrikes. Please tell him to act quickly, thousands of lives have already been lost.
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Phone Numbers
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
Webform for email: www.whitehouse.gov/contact
You can also comment on the WH FaceBook page.
Phone calls are more effective than emails.
CONGRESS
Contact your elected representatives, tell them you are a constituent and you’d like them to act on your behalf and urge the President and Secretary Clinton urge President Obama to commit US resources to help the Libyan people with additional humanitarian aid and a UN sanctioned No Fly Zone and air strikes.
Senators: You can find contact information for your senators here
Representatives: You can look up your representatives here
Or simply call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
Senator John Kerry and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Senator Kerry, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has spoken up on national news supporting a No Fly Zone (with international agreement). Libyan tweeps are suggesting we thank him for speaking up on their behalf:
@HafedAlGhwell
#libya #feb17 send a thank you to Sen. http://kerry.senate.gov/... for pushing for a no-fly zone in Libya
You can also call his office: (202) 224-2742.
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Contact the State Department and urge Hillary Clinton to commit US resources to help the Libyan people with additional humanitarian aid and a UN sanctioned No Fly Zone and airstrikes. Please tell her to act quickly, thousands of lives have already been lost.
Secretary Hillary Clinton 202-647-5291
You will only be able to leave a message at 202-647-5291, but Monday - Friday you can reach a live human being at the office of the Deputy Secretary of State.
Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg 202-647-8636
Ask Mr. Steinberg to relay the message to Secretary Clinton.
Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA)
Assistant Secretary Jeffrey D. Feltman 202-647-7209
Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs
Philip J. Crowley 202-647-6607 @PJCrowley
PJ Crowley tweets regularly. You can tweet him to support humanitarian aid and a NFZ in 140 characters or less.
HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE FOR LIBYA
So you've made phone calls and want to do more. The revolutionaries are in danger of running out of fuel and food in the next five to seven days. The hospital in Misrata is in dire need of medical supplies after pro-Gaddafi forces bombed a hospital and pharmaceutical supply warehouse. The following is a compilation of international aid organizations recommended via friends, articles, and tweets.
Libyan Doctors for Hospitals in Libya
Kossack StepLeftStepForward is working around the clock with the international organization Libyan Doctors for Hospitals in Libya. You can learn more about what she is doing in the diary she wrote a few days ago. Libyan Doctors for Hospitals in Libya has a FB page and a website, and to save you the clicks:
Libyan Doctors for Hospitals in Libya
Founded 22 February, 2011
About
We are a network of Libyan doctors abroad and in Libya, striving to come together in aid of Libyan hospitals.
Description
Our vast network enables us to support the Libyan people and supply Libyan medical facilities and personnel, efficiently and quickly.
This is a non-political and non-secular organisation.
The funds are handled by:
Dr Nagi Idris PhD in Psychopharmacology
School of Pharmacy
University of Bradford
Dr Idris has daily updates on the needs of the hospitals in Libya and their needs.
...
Mission
We collect donations and arrange purchase, shipment and distribution of medical supplies and equipment to hospitals in Libya with our partner, Medeor.org.
Email medical.relief.libya@gmail.com
Twitter @DrsForLibya - Please follow us!
5 Ways To Help Libyan Refugees
HuffPost article provides info re aid agencies.
LibAid
Regular Libyan tweep Tripolitanian has been tweeting asking for support of LibAid:
@Tripolitanian Libyan
If anyone works with any aid organization, please contact #Libaid, they are in desperate need of help: http://www.libaid.net/ #Libya
Libyan Aid Org. in need of food, medical supplies, ambulances, insulin, water filters, comm eq., fuel -contact: http://www.libaid.net/
Surgeons Needed
@sumyasalem
For all you surgery hungry #doctors out there #Libya needs your help! Help save lives! #feb17 PM me for details.
March 13 Santa Clara, California Fundraiser for Libyan Aid
ShababLibya LibyanYouthMovement
#Libya Humanitarian Relief Fundraiser March 13 5:30 pm MCA Banquet Hall. 3003 Scott Blv Santa Clara, CA. 15$/person babysitting available
Donate Unused Medical Supplies
Help the #Libyan Revolution! Donate unused Medical Supplies!: http://bit.ly/... via @KimmyBZ
Support Humanitarian Aid Work in Libya
@IbnOmar2005 REACHING OUT LIBYA http://bit.ly/... Supporting Humanitarian Aid Work in #Libya
Muslims Without Borders
Ummustafa78 Mariam
by monaeltahawy
@KimmyBZ @Raafatology @monaeltahawy http://mwbrelief.org/... this organization has already sent 6 envoys and 3 more will go 2day.
UNHCR
@burhanco Burhan Gharaibeh
by monaeltahawy
@KimmyBZ @Raafatology @monaeltahawy please see link here for donations http://www.unhcr.org/...
The Libyan Relief Fund
The February 17th Libyan Youth Movement hosts a donation link to the Libyan Relief Fund on the right on its homepage.
The British Red Cross
@Tripolitanian Libyan
So far, this has been the most clear and reliable site for donations to Eastern #Libya: http://bit.ly/...
International Medical Corps
@SultanAlQassemiDonate to the International Medical Corps for Medical Support to #Libya specify “EARMARK LIBYA”. Call 001 800 481 4462 http://bit.ly/...
Islamic Relief Org
asmalatte Asma Latte
@EnoughGaddafi Donate to #Islamic-Relief for #Libya: http://www.islamic-relief.org.uk/... Please Share.
World Medical Camp Libya
Update - 25th Feb
We are now working under the umbrella of Arab Medics Union to maximise the utility of our resources.
Aside from our work in the eastern region of Libya, we have now established a base camp on the Tunisian Libyan border. Working in cooperation with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Tunisian Red Crescent and Qatari Red Crescent as well as the Tunisian Ministry of Health and the Tunisian Ministry of Tourism.
...
About Us
Dear all
We are a group of Libyans based in the UK and abroad who have established a charitable organisation called the World Medical Camp for Libya (WMCL) to respond to the urgent and immediate medical needs in Libya.
...
Your donations will allow us to deliver aid directly to hospitals in Benghazi as well as to other eastern towns including Derna, Bayda, and Tobruk, where reports have been received of a greater number of injuries. We will use a wide network of well-established local contacts in Marsa Matrouh (near the Egyptian-Libyan border) and Tobruk who are experienced in the logistics of transporting cargo across the Egyptian border into Libya.
Representatives on the ground are receiving the medical supplies in Egypt and coordinating the transportation arrangements so the supplies can be delivered as soon as possible. The representatives will also lead the convoy to its final delivery points in Libya and identify additional needs.
...
World Medical Camp for Libya (WMCL)
THANK YOU for all that you do. There are lives in the balance.