(Ghi vội vài cảm nghĩ nhân ngày đầu Tháng Tư cùng các anh chị ..)
Hôm nay nhân ngày đầu tháng tư, conbenho ngậm ngùi nhớ Tháng Tư Mất Nước, nhiều người VN vẫn gọi là Tháng Tư Đen, để nhắc nhớ ngày 30-4-1975 là Ngày Quốc Hận .
Đã 36 năm qua, sau ngày tập đòan Việt gian đảng phỉ csVN CƯỚP cả Miền Nam, Quốc Gia VNCH bị xóa tên trên bản đồ thế giới với sự ngỏanh mặt quay lưng của những quốc gia đứng đầu thế giới quyền lực, những kẻ mồm luôn ngợi ca tự do dân chủ và quyền làm người, họ quay mặt đi để che những bộ mặt đầy đạo đức nhớp nhúa đểu cán, để chúc mừng một bầy ác quỷ rừng rú bắt đầu đội lốt người . Và bầy ác quỷ đó đã nghiễm nhiên thành "người" với những quyền quy cao cả, với cái gọi là chính nghĩa tuyệt vời đặt trên đầu người dân bị trị: chúng đã "thống nhất" đất nước .
Không lâu sau đó thì những cái mặt người kia đã rơi xuống, chúng đã hiện nguyên hình là loài quỷ dữ với bản chất bạo tàn khát máu, bán nước giết dân , buôn nòi bán giống, lọc lừa giả dối, gớm ghiếc bẩn thỉu, bản chất của những con thú chuyên đội lốt người .
Ấy thế, hằng ngày conbenho vẫn nghe thấy trên các diễn đàn Internet, có những ông những bà, những cô những cậu rỉ rả rồm rang rểnh ràng ỏm hành ỏm tỏi chống cái lũ ác quỷ mặt người là cái đảng csVN, cái đảng Việt cộng, cái đảng bán nước có văn tự, cái đảng buôn dân bằng quốc sách, cái đảng diệt chủng bằng chủ thuyết ngoại lai, cái đảng tàn mạt giống nòi bằng miếng cơm manh áo .., nhất định phải .. "giải thể" cho bằng được cái đảng mất dạy vô lọai này . Nói tới nói lui nói xuôi nói ngược rồi thì cũng chỉ là "dễ thải", vì nói cho lắm mà chỉ là nói suông thì cũng chỉ dễ thải theo ngày tháng .
Những ai còn biết đau nỗi đau của quê hương nòi giống, còn biết NHỤC cái NHỤC của người dân mất nước, có thể nhận biết dễ dàng cái điều "dễ thải" này .
Một trong những nguyên nhân khiến những lời hô hào kêu gọi đấu tranh "giải thể" csVN đã trở thành dễ thải là vì có những kẻ tự phong hay được cò mồi tung hô giàn dựng lên làm tủ lạnh, cái chứng bệnh đã trở thành nan y hết thuốc chữa, họ đánh trâu mà sợ trâu đau, họ đánh giặc mà lo giặc chết, họ nhìn dân lê lết dưới gót chân giặc thì họ cho là giặc đã "tốt" lắm rồi, đã "tiến bộ" lắm rồi vì nhờ tiếng đánh trâu đó của họ mà giặc chỉ chà đạp dân chứ không "dám" giết dân như xưa nữa !..
Những kẻ này họ vẫn thường rền rỉ râm rang là tuy csVN nó ngu dốt như thế, nó đã phạm nhiều "sai lầm" như thế, nó đã làm đất nước lạc hậu như thế, .. nhưng dẫu sao nó cũng "có công" "thống nhất" đất nước ! .
Hôm nay nhân ngày đầu Tháng Tư Đen, Tháng Tư Mất Nước 36 năm, các anh chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog", vui lòng góp ý kiến cho conbenho được học hỏi, theo các anh chị, những kẻ "chống cộng" nhưng vẫn nói rằng csVN "có công" "thống nhất" đất nước họ NGU giả hay NGU thiệt ?
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog"
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
01042011
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Động Đất Khủng Khiếp Ở Nhật (55)_Crews 'facing 100-year battle' at Fukushima
Crews 'facing 100-year battle' at Fukushima
By David Mark, Mark Willacy, staff
Updated 2 hours 53 minutes ago
High levels of radioactive iodine-131 have been recorded in the Pacific off the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. (AFP: Air Photo Service)
A nuclear expert has warned that it might be 100 years before melting fuel rods can be safely removed from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant.
The warning came as levels of radioactive iodine flushed into the sea near the plant spiked to a new high and the Wall Street Journal said it had obtained disaster response blueprints which said the plant's operators were woefully unprepared for the scale of the disaster.
Water is still being poured into the damaged reactors to cool melting fuel rods.
But one expert says the radiation leaks will be ongoing and it could take 50 to 100 years before the nuclear fuel rods have completely cooled and been removed.
"As the water leaks out, you keep on pouring water in, so this leak will go on for ever," said Dr John Price, a former member of the Safety Policy Unit at the UK's National Nuclear Corporation.
"There has to be some way of dealing with it. The water is connecting in tunnels and concrete-lined pits at the moment and the question is whether they can pump it back.
"The final thing is that the reactors will have to be closed and the fuel removed, and that is 50 to 100 years away.
"It means that the workers and the site will have to be intensely controlled for a very long period of time."
But Laurence Williams, Professor of Nuclear Safety at England's University of Central Lancashire and the former head nuclear regulator for the UK, is relatively comfortable with the situation.
"I have been monitoring it for the last couple of weeks and [the] three reactors seem to be more or less unchanged from initially when they got into the seawater flowing into them," he said.
"We don't know exactly the state of the fuel in those reactors but looking at the data, the pressures and temperatures look fairly stable over the last couple of weeks.
"My view is that as there hasn't been any sort of major catastrophic release of radioactivity, if they can continue to get the fresh water into the reactors and cool them, the decay heat is now fairly stabilising.
"It will take some time before it disappears but so far, so good. But it will take some time to bring under control."
Both experts agree capping the damaged reactors with concrete is not an option.
Meanwhile the Wall Street Journal says it has obtained disaster-readiness plans which show the facility only had one satellite phone and a single stretcher in case of an accident.
The blueprints also provided no detail about the possibility of using firefighters from Tokyo or national troops - both of which have been part of the response to the Fukushima crisis - to deal with any disaster.
Levels of radioactive iodine-131 in the Pacific off the plant have been recorded at a new high of 4,385 times the legal limit.
In 2002, the plant's operator TEPCO admitted to falsifying safety reports, leading to all of its 17 boiling water reactors being shut down for inspection.
TEPCO has already vowed to dismantle the four reactors at the centre of the world's worst atomic accident in 25 years, but now Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan says the Fukushima plant must be scrapped.
First posted 3 hours 14 minutes ago
By David Mark, Mark Willacy, staff
Updated 2 hours 53 minutes ago
High levels of radioactive iodine-131 have been recorded in the Pacific off the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. (AFP: Air Photo Service) A nuclear expert has warned that it might be 100 years before melting fuel rods can be safely removed from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant.
The warning came as levels of radioactive iodine flushed into the sea near the plant spiked to a new high and the Wall Street Journal said it had obtained disaster response blueprints which said the plant's operators were woefully unprepared for the scale of the disaster.
Water is still being poured into the damaged reactors to cool melting fuel rods.
But one expert says the radiation leaks will be ongoing and it could take 50 to 100 years before the nuclear fuel rods have completely cooled and been removed.
"As the water leaks out, you keep on pouring water in, so this leak will go on for ever," said Dr John Price, a former member of the Safety Policy Unit at the UK's National Nuclear Corporation.
"There has to be some way of dealing with it. The water is connecting in tunnels and concrete-lined pits at the moment and the question is whether they can pump it back.
"The final thing is that the reactors will have to be closed and the fuel removed, and that is 50 to 100 years away.
"It means that the workers and the site will have to be intensely controlled for a very long period of time."
But Laurence Williams, Professor of Nuclear Safety at England's University of Central Lancashire and the former head nuclear regulator for the UK, is relatively comfortable with the situation.
"I have been monitoring it for the last couple of weeks and [the] three reactors seem to be more or less unchanged from initially when they got into the seawater flowing into them," he said.
"We don't know exactly the state of the fuel in those reactors but looking at the data, the pressures and temperatures look fairly stable over the last couple of weeks.
"My view is that as there hasn't been any sort of major catastrophic release of radioactivity, if they can continue to get the fresh water into the reactors and cool them, the decay heat is now fairly stabilising.
"It will take some time before it disappears but so far, so good. But it will take some time to bring under control."
Both experts agree capping the damaged reactors with concrete is not an option.
Meanwhile the Wall Street Journal says it has obtained disaster-readiness plans which show the facility only had one satellite phone and a single stretcher in case of an accident.
The blueprints also provided no detail about the possibility of using firefighters from Tokyo or national troops - both of which have been part of the response to the Fukushima crisis - to deal with any disaster.
Levels of radioactive iodine-131 in the Pacific off the plant have been recorded at a new high of 4,385 times the legal limit.
In 2002, the plant's operator TEPCO admitted to falsifying safety reports, leading to all of its 17 boiling water reactors being shut down for inspection.
TEPCO has already vowed to dismantle the four reactors at the centre of the world's worst atomic accident in 25 years, but now Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan says the Fukushima plant must be scrapped.
First posted 3 hours 14 minutes ago
Libya News_Libya: Scottish prosecutors seek Moussa Koussa interview
Libya: Scottish prosecutors seek Moussa Koussa interview Scottish prosecutors have requested an interview with Moussa Koussa over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, following the Libyan foreign minister's apparent defection to Britain.
Mr Koussa flew from Tunisia, where he had been on a diplomatic mission, to Farnborough airport Photo: REUTERS
4:26PM BST 31 Mar 2011
21 Comments
"We have notified the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that the Scottish prosecuting and investigating authorities wish to interview Mr Kussa in connection with the Lockerbie bombing," a Crown Office spokesman said.
"The investigation into the Lockerbie bombing remains open and we will pursue all relevant lines of inquiry."
Mr Koussa, a former head of Libyan intelligence and one-time member of leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's inner circle, arrived unexpectedly in Britain on Wednesday and said he was resigning as foreign minister, the Foreign Office said.
His arrival was welcomed by relatives of those killed in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988, which killed 270 people and which Kussa has been suspected of involvement.
Libyan agent Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi was convicted of the bombing in 2001 and sent to a Scottish jail, although he was released on compassionate grounds in August 2009 because he was suffering from terminal cancer.
But relatives of the dead have long been calling for an investigation to reveal who ordered and planned the crime.
Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was among those killed, said Koussa's arrival in Britain was an opportunity to finally shed some light on the atrocity.
"Koussa was at the centre of Gaddafi's inner circle. This is a guy who knows everything," he said.
"I think this is a fantastic day for those who seek the truth about Lockerbie. He could tell us everything the Kadhafi regime knows."
Mr Swire added: "Today those relatives who seek the truth about why their families were murdered should be rejoicing."
Mr Koussa flew from Tunisia, where he had been on a diplomatic mission, to Farnborough airport Photo: REUTERS4:26PM BST 31 Mar 2011
21 Comments
"We have notified the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that the Scottish prosecuting and investigating authorities wish to interview Mr Kussa in connection with the Lockerbie bombing," a Crown Office spokesman said.
"The investigation into the Lockerbie bombing remains open and we will pursue all relevant lines of inquiry."
Mr Koussa, a former head of Libyan intelligence and one-time member of leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's inner circle, arrived unexpectedly in Britain on Wednesday and said he was resigning as foreign minister, the Foreign Office said.
His arrival was welcomed by relatives of those killed in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988, which killed 270 people and which Kussa has been suspected of involvement.
Libyan agent Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi was convicted of the bombing in 2001 and sent to a Scottish jail, although he was released on compassionate grounds in August 2009 because he was suffering from terminal cancer.
But relatives of the dead have long been calling for an investigation to reveal who ordered and planned the crime.
Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was among those killed, said Koussa's arrival in Britain was an opportunity to finally shed some light on the atrocity.
"Koussa was at the centre of Gaddafi's inner circle. This is a guy who knows everything," he said.
"I think this is a fantastic day for those who seek the truth about Lockerbie. He could tell us everything the Kadhafi regime knows."
Mr Swire added: "Today those relatives who seek the truth about why their families were murdered should be rejoicing."
PROSECUTED or NOT? (1)_Libya_Koussa's defection poses a dilemma for Cameron
Koussa's defection poses a dilemma for Cameron
Telegraph View: Should Moussa Koussa be welcomed as an enlightened turncoat, or investigated and, if necessary, prosecuted?
7:20PM BST 31 Mar 2011
3 Comments
The arrival in Britain of Moussa Koussa, Libya's erstwhile foreign minister, has been likened by some to the defection of Rudolf Hess from Nazi Germany in 1941. And while we should avoid getting the conflict in North Africa out of proportion, there are some similarities. Mr Koussa was the right-hand man of the Libyan dictator, Col Muammar Gaddafi, and party to many of the regime's appalling excesses, from arming the IRA and other terrorist organisations, to blowing up a PanAm airliner over Lockerbie in 1988. He does, therefore, present the Government with a similar dilemma to that provided by Hess: should he be greeted as an enlightened turncoat whose example will encourage other Gaddafi lieutenants to follow suit; or should he be investigated and, if necessary, prosecuted for his alleged role in the regime's crimes?
By making an early statement that Mr Koussa will not be offered immunity from prosecution, David Cameron has properly kept open the option of a possible trial should the evidence warrant one, either in this country or before the International Criminal Court. Already, Dumfries and Galloway police have said they wish to interview Mr Koussa about the Lockerbie atrocity (though it is somewhat ironic that this has been welcomed by Alex Salmond, whose SNP administration released Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted of actually planting the bomb). As a past head of Libyan state security, Mr Koussa is well placed to help answer many outstanding questions about who planned and ordered the bombing in which 270 people died. By rights, he should be tried in Libya – but our human rights laws will now prevent his deportation.
However, there are aspects of this defection about which we are not yet – and may never be – aware. Sir George Young, the Leader of the Commons, told MPs yesterday that Britain had been in "regular contact" with Mr Koussa before he fled Libya. For how long and to what end? Should it transpire that the former minister – who brokered the deal under which Col Gaddafi gave up his weapons of mass destruction – has been an agent of the West all along, would it not be considered churlish to put him on trial or indict him for crimes against humanity?
Mr Cameron said yesterday he hoped that Mr Koussa's desertion would encourage others of Gaddafi's entourage to abandon him – but that is hardly likely if they think they will end up in prison. So far, the Prime Minister has scrupulously set out his case for intervention in Libya on grounds of high principle. But where Mr Koussa is concerned, his desire to do what is right is about to collide with the requirements of a foreign policy in which it might be more important to do what is necessary.
Telegraph View: Should Moussa Koussa be welcomed as an enlightened turncoat, or investigated and, if necessary, prosecuted?
7:20PM BST 31 Mar 2011
3 Comments
The arrival in Britain of Moussa Koussa, Libya's erstwhile foreign minister, has been likened by some to the defection of Rudolf Hess from Nazi Germany in 1941. And while we should avoid getting the conflict in North Africa out of proportion, there are some similarities. Mr Koussa was the right-hand man of the Libyan dictator, Col Muammar Gaddafi, and party to many of the regime's appalling excesses, from arming the IRA and other terrorist organisations, to blowing up a PanAm airliner over Lockerbie in 1988. He does, therefore, present the Government with a similar dilemma to that provided by Hess: should he be greeted as an enlightened turncoat whose example will encourage other Gaddafi lieutenants to follow suit; or should he be investigated and, if necessary, prosecuted for his alleged role in the regime's crimes?
By making an early statement that Mr Koussa will not be offered immunity from prosecution, David Cameron has properly kept open the option of a possible trial should the evidence warrant one, either in this country or before the International Criminal Court. Already, Dumfries and Galloway police have said they wish to interview Mr Koussa about the Lockerbie atrocity (though it is somewhat ironic that this has been welcomed by Alex Salmond, whose SNP administration released Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted of actually planting the bomb). As a past head of Libyan state security, Mr Koussa is well placed to help answer many outstanding questions about who planned and ordered the bombing in which 270 people died. By rights, he should be tried in Libya – but our human rights laws will now prevent his deportation.
However, there are aspects of this defection about which we are not yet – and may never be – aware. Sir George Young, the Leader of the Commons, told MPs yesterday that Britain had been in "regular contact" with Mr Koussa before he fled Libya. For how long and to what end? Should it transpire that the former minister – who brokered the deal under which Col Gaddafi gave up his weapons of mass destruction – has been an agent of the West all along, would it not be considered churlish to put him on trial or indict him for crimes against humanity?
Mr Cameron said yesterday he hoped that Mr Koussa's desertion would encourage others of Gaddafi's entourage to abandon him – but that is hardly likely if they think they will end up in prison. So far, the Prime Minister has scrupulously set out his case for intervention in Libya on grounds of high principle. But where Mr Koussa is concerned, his desire to do what is right is about to collide with the requirements of a foreign policy in which it might be more important to do what is necessary.
Libya News_Analysis: we must thank Koussa for disarming Libya
Analysis: we must thank Koussa for disarming Libya
At first glance, the charge sheet against Moussa Koussa, Libya's most high-profile defector, appears to be overwhelming: the murder of Pc Yvonne Fletcher, the Lockerbie bombing and sending shipments of Semtex explosives to the IRA.
Moussa Koussa with Col Gaddafi and Tony Blair in 2004 Photo: BBCBy Con Coughlin, Executive Foreign Editor 10:25PM BST 31 Mar 2011
All of these criminal acts took place when Mr Koussa was one of Col Gaddafi's most trusted confidants. After William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, yesterday insisted that the Government was not offering immunity from prosecution to any Libyan defector, most prosecutors would relish the opportunity to make a prima facie case against Mr Koussa. But if we find that the Government is proving reluctant to bring charges it may well be due to the intriguing relationship the former Libyan intelligence chief has formed with his opposite numbers in British intelligence.
Yesterday, speculation about Mr Koussa's true affiliation intensified after Sir George Young, the Commons leader, told the House that Mr Hague had been in ''regular contact'' with Mr Koussa shortly before his dramatic defection to London. Among his many other duties, Mr Hague is responsible for MI6.
Earlier in the day, the former Labour foreign secretary Jack Straw put the Whitehall rumour mill into overdrive by declaring that Mr Koussa was a "key contact" for Britain. Mr Straw was referring to the delicate negotiations that took place between 2002-2003 to persuade Col Gaddafi to give up his nuclear and chemical weapons programmes. Mr Koussa was a key member of the Libyan negotiating team.
Given the impenetrable wall of secrecy that is generally constructed around MI6's most sensitive operations, Mr Koussa's precise role in the disarmament negotiations may never be known.
But the outcome was very much to Britain's advantage, particularly now that RAF jets are playing a lead role in the attempts to impose a no-fly zone over Libyan air space. The task would be made far more difficult if Col Gaddafi had a nuclear weapons arsenal at his disposal.
Reports from Libya suggest that Mr Koussa's role in the negotiations is the reason he fell out with the Col Gaddafi clan shortly before he fled into exile. The Libyan dictator openly questioned the wisdom of surrendering his weapons of mass destruction to a country that is now launching daily bombing raids against his regime.
Irrespective of whose side Mr Koussa has been on all these years, at the very least we owe him our thanks for helping to disarm one of the world's most violent and irrational dictators.
Libya News_Libya: Moussa Koussa, the intelligence chief who was an enemy of the West and then its friend
Libya: Moussa Koussa, the intelligence chief who was an enemy of the West and then its friend
The former Libyan intelligence chief who has defected to Britain has been implicated in the Lockerbie bombing and a number of other atrocities conducted by the regime of Col Muammar Gaddafi.
Moussa Koussa in close attendance as his former boss gives out at an Arab League leaders summit Photo: Abd Rabbo Ammar
Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent, and Christopher Hope 8:07PM
BST 31 Mar 2011
However, in recent years he has also become an important contact for both MI6 and the CIA as they attempted to rehabilitate the regime, according to sources and leaked US diplomatic cables.
The Daily Telegraph understands that MI6 had discussed his desire to leave Libya in recent days but was not expecting his escape.
Moussa Muhammad Koussa is the man closest to Col Muammar Gaddafi to have defected, arriving in Britain a week after his 65th birthday.
Western educated, he attended Michigan State University, earning a degree in sociology in 1978 before working in various Libyan embassies across Europe, probably as an intelligence officer.
He was appointed as Libya's Ambassador to Britain in 1980 but soon afterwards he was expelled from the country after claiming, on the steps of the embassy, that the Gaddafi regime had decided the night before to kill two dissidents in Britain, apparently adding: "I approve of this."
Related Articles
Cameron: 'Koussa could face Lockerbie prosecution' 31 Mar 2011
Koussa's defection poses a dilemma for Cameron 31 Mar 2011
Will Moussa Koussa regret his decision? 31 Mar 2011
Back in Libya he became director of the World Centre for Resistance to Imperialism, in charge of attempting to propagate the Gaddafi revolution worldwide, but it is unlikely he ever left the Libyan intelligence agency, Jamahiriya el-Mukhabarat, and by the late 1980s he was deputy head of the service.
Western intelligence agencies have claimed Mr Koussa was involved in the planning of the attack on Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 over Lockerbie which killed 270 people.
He has also been accused of complicity in the destruction of a French airliner over Niger in 1989, the bombing of a disco in Germany, and supplying arms to the IRA as Gaddafi’s regime wrought havoc across the world.
Always involved in secret intelligence, he served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 1994 and then as the head of the Libyan intelligence agency from 1994 to 2009.
However, a few weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Mr Koussa led a delegation to London for talks with MI6 and CIA officials.
He went on to become a key figure in the normalisation of relations between Libya, Britain and the US as Libya abandoned its chemical weapons and paid compensation to the victims of their attacks. In that role and as head of Libyan intelligence, he also became well-known to his counterparts.
He was also central to securing the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Libyan intelligence officer found guilty of the Lockerbie bombing, after meeting officials from the government and Scottish executive in October 2008 and January 2009.
US diplomatic cables published by the WikiLeaks website and seen by the Daily Telegraph, reveal that Mr Koussa told the British Ambassador Sir Vincent Fean that the bomber of Flight 103 was a “a very ill man, too ill for anything but a quiet return to his family”, days before he was released.
Mr Koussa also promised that the bomber’s reception would be low key – later admitting it was a “big mistake” when he was given a hero’s welcome.
A communiqué sent in late May 2009, relates how Mr Koussa boasted to a visiting US general of his connections with the CIA.
In another cable from May 2009, a US diplomat said: “Kusa [sic] is one of the most influential figures in the regime and has been a proponent of improved ties with the United States…
“Kusa is the rare Libyan official who embodies a combination of intellectual acumen, operational ability and political weight. Promoting specific areas of cooperation with him is an opportunity to have him cast that message in terms palatable to Libya’s leadership.”
He is credited in the secret cables as being a member of Gaddafi’s “inner circle” and a “mentor” to Gaddafi’s son Mutassim, who became the country’s National Security Adviser, serving as his “minder” during a visit to the US in September 2007, in the cables.
On 4 March 2009, Mr Koussa was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in a ministerial reshuffle announced by the Libyan parliament.
Despite his influence, there have been rumours that he has been pushed to edge of Gaddafi’s inner circle.
According to one leaked cable, he privately expressed exasperation with Mutassim and late last year unconfirmed rumours circulated in Tripoli that another of Gaddafi's sons had had an argument with the minister and punched him in the face in front of several other people.
At an international summit in Tripoli in December, he was described as a “forlorn figure, alone and smoking heavily in the public areas of the summit venue while Gaddafi's intimates were cloistered in a private room.”
Nevertheless in the past month he has appeared on Libyan state television accusing the United States and Britain of "yearning for the colonial era" and seeking to divide the country.
Mr Koussa has done well to escape, with Gaddafi drawing many of his circle closely around him at his compound in Tripoli.
He left Tripoli by car on Monday and arrived in Tunis via the Ras Ejder border crossing, where TAP, the official news agency said he was on a "private visit."
Two days later, he left from Djerba airport on a Swiss-registered private jet, arriving at Farnborough Airfield.
The Libyans initially said he was on a diplomatic mission but yesterday they admitted he had abandoned the regime.
Asked whether Gaddafi and his children were still in Libya, a spokesman, Mussa Ibrahim, said: "Be assured, we are all here. We will all be here until the end. It is our country. We are strong on all fronts."
The former Libyan intelligence chief who has defected to Britain has been implicated in the Lockerbie bombing and a number of other atrocities conducted by the regime of Col Muammar Gaddafi.
Moussa Koussa in close attendance as his former boss gives out at an Arab League leaders summit Photo: Abd Rabbo Ammar Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent, and Christopher Hope 8:07PM
BST 31 Mar 2011
However, in recent years he has also become an important contact for both MI6 and the CIA as they attempted to rehabilitate the regime, according to sources and leaked US diplomatic cables.
The Daily Telegraph understands that MI6 had discussed his desire to leave Libya in recent days but was not expecting his escape.
Moussa Muhammad Koussa is the man closest to Col Muammar Gaddafi to have defected, arriving in Britain a week after his 65th birthday.
Western educated, he attended Michigan State University, earning a degree in sociology in 1978 before working in various Libyan embassies across Europe, probably as an intelligence officer.
He was appointed as Libya's Ambassador to Britain in 1980 but soon afterwards he was expelled from the country after claiming, on the steps of the embassy, that the Gaddafi regime had decided the night before to kill two dissidents in Britain, apparently adding: "I approve of this."
Related Articles
Cameron: 'Koussa could face Lockerbie prosecution' 31 Mar 2011
Koussa's defection poses a dilemma for Cameron 31 Mar 2011
Will Moussa Koussa regret his decision? 31 Mar 2011
Back in Libya he became director of the World Centre for Resistance to Imperialism, in charge of attempting to propagate the Gaddafi revolution worldwide, but it is unlikely he ever left the Libyan intelligence agency, Jamahiriya el-Mukhabarat, and by the late 1980s he was deputy head of the service.
Western intelligence agencies have claimed Mr Koussa was involved in the planning of the attack on Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 over Lockerbie which killed 270 people.
He has also been accused of complicity in the destruction of a French airliner over Niger in 1989, the bombing of a disco in Germany, and supplying arms to the IRA as Gaddafi’s regime wrought havoc across the world.
Always involved in secret intelligence, he served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 1994 and then as the head of the Libyan intelligence agency from 1994 to 2009.
However, a few weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Mr Koussa led a delegation to London for talks with MI6 and CIA officials.
He went on to become a key figure in the normalisation of relations between Libya, Britain and the US as Libya abandoned its chemical weapons and paid compensation to the victims of their attacks. In that role and as head of Libyan intelligence, he also became well-known to his counterparts.
He was also central to securing the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Libyan intelligence officer found guilty of the Lockerbie bombing, after meeting officials from the government and Scottish executive in October 2008 and January 2009.
US diplomatic cables published by the WikiLeaks website and seen by the Daily Telegraph, reveal that Mr Koussa told the British Ambassador Sir Vincent Fean that the bomber of Flight 103 was a “a very ill man, too ill for anything but a quiet return to his family”, days before he was released.
Mr Koussa also promised that the bomber’s reception would be low key – later admitting it was a “big mistake” when he was given a hero’s welcome.
A communiqué sent in late May 2009, relates how Mr Koussa boasted to a visiting US general of his connections with the CIA.
In another cable from May 2009, a US diplomat said: “Kusa [sic] is one of the most influential figures in the regime and has been a proponent of improved ties with the United States…
“Kusa is the rare Libyan official who embodies a combination of intellectual acumen, operational ability and political weight. Promoting specific areas of cooperation with him is an opportunity to have him cast that message in terms palatable to Libya’s leadership.”
He is credited in the secret cables as being a member of Gaddafi’s “inner circle” and a “mentor” to Gaddafi’s son Mutassim, who became the country’s National Security Adviser, serving as his “minder” during a visit to the US in September 2007, in the cables.
On 4 March 2009, Mr Koussa was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in a ministerial reshuffle announced by the Libyan parliament.
Despite his influence, there have been rumours that he has been pushed to edge of Gaddafi’s inner circle.
According to one leaked cable, he privately expressed exasperation with Mutassim and late last year unconfirmed rumours circulated in Tripoli that another of Gaddafi's sons had had an argument with the minister and punched him in the face in front of several other people.
At an international summit in Tripoli in December, he was described as a “forlorn figure, alone and smoking heavily in the public areas of the summit venue while Gaddafi's intimates were cloistered in a private room.”
Nevertheless in the past month he has appeared on Libyan state television accusing the United States and Britain of "yearning for the colonial era" and seeking to divide the country.
Mr Koussa has done well to escape, with Gaddafi drawing many of his circle closely around him at his compound in Tripoli.
He left Tripoli by car on Monday and arrived in Tunis via the Ras Ejder border crossing, where TAP, the official news agency said he was on a "private visit."
Two days later, he left from Djerba airport on a Swiss-registered private jet, arriving at Farnborough Airfield.
The Libyans initially said he was on a diplomatic mission but yesterday they admitted he had abandoned the regime.
Asked whether Gaddafi and his children were still in Libya, a spokesman, Mussa Ibrahim, said: "Be assured, we are all here. We will all be here until the end. It is our country. We are strong on all fronts."
Libya News_Libya as it happened: March 30
Libya as it happened: March 30
Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa defected to Britain as international attention focused on whether to arm the rebels fighting against Colonel Gaddafi.
By Nick Collins, Laura Roberts and Andy Bloxham 6:18AM BST 31 Mar 2011 Latest
That's it for tonight, visit the Telegraph's website for more updates on the latest fascinating developments from around 6am on Thursday 31 March.
23:44 Tunisia's prime minister has frozen Col Gaddafi's assets in his country.
23:08 Both the Foreign Office and the Metropolitan Police are refusing to comment on whether Mr Koussa is under armed guard, despite the Daily Telegraph pointing out that the Libyan diplomats expelled earlier today were sent home on the grounds that they were dangerous and they might not be happy with their old chum.
23.00 A senior US official has told AFP that Mr Koussa's resignation was "very significant".
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This is a very significant defection and an indication that people around Gaddafi think the writing's on the wall.
22.30 Damien McElroy, the Telegraph's man in Tripoli, has more on the Koussa resignation. A British official said Mr Koussa's decision to resign represented a significant blow to the Gaddafi regime but warned that there were delicate issues to be worked through in talks with the foreign minister. Late last night it was said to be impossible to predict the outcome of the negotiations.
As head of Libya external intelligence, Mr Koussa was an MI6 asset for almost two decades. He was charged with conducting negotiations to bring Libya in from the cold and giving up its weapons of mass destruction in 2003.
He was notably uncomfortable in making public statements on behalf of the regime in recent weeks. One Libyan official said that Mr Koussa deliberately timed his statements to present a "rational" argument in the immediate aftermath of Col Muammar Gaddafi's rambling statements on national television.
Officials in Tripoli refused to comment on the defection. "I will have something to say later. Right now I am too busy in meetings," said Moussa Ibrahim, the government spokesman.
22.15 The Foreign Office has confirmed that Moussa Koussa has arrived in Britain, resigned his post and is travelling to London for negotiations. A spokesman said: “We can confirm that Moussa Koussa arrived at Farnborough Airport on 30 March from Tunisia. 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 detail in due course.
"Moussa Koussa is one of the most senior figures in Gaddafi’s government and his role was to represent the regime internationally – something that he is no longer willing to do.
"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”.
21:53 Foreign Office expected to release statement imminently on whether Libyan foreign minister has actually defected. FCO spokesman says Moussa Koussa was "no longer willing" to serve the regime.
Libya as it happened: March 30
Moussa Koussa, the (former) Libyan foreign minister.
21:42 Moussa Koussa has defected, according to "friends" quoted by Reuters, because he wanted to seek refuge.
21:15 The CIA has been authorised to covertly support the rebels by Barack Obama, according to four sources, Reuters has reported.
21:11 The Libyan government insists its foreign minister is on a diplomatic mission and has not defected.
20:09 The influential chairman of the US House of Representatives' intelligence committee has just said he opposes supplying arms to the rebels. Republican Mike Rogers said:
As we publicly debate next steps on Libya, I do not support arming the Libyan rebels at this time. We need to understand more about the opposition before I would support passing out guns and advanced weapons to them.
19:52 News agency reports in Tunisia claim Libya's foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, has flown from a Tunisian resort straight to London.
An RAF Tornado patrolling Libyan skies, armed with bunker-busting Storm Shadow missiles on its fuselage.
18:28 Thousands of migrants from North Africa who have landed on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa are to moved to "reception centres" on the mainland, Silvio Berlusconi says.
17.14 Hundreds of people took to the streets in the port city of Latakia in Syria today chanting "freedom" after President Bashar al-Assad made a speech playing down unprecedented protests against his rule. Several residents said they heard shots fired in the al-Sleibeh old district of the city, where one of at least two demonstrations took place, as security forces confronted the demonstrators.
Assad's speech dashed the hopes of his people after it failed to unveil the major reforms expected and left the country in a state of uncertainty, analysts said.
17.06 Foreign secretary William Hague has said apparent differences over whether arms could be supplied were "academic". Mr Cameron and UK ministers were setting out the position "based on the legal advice to our own Government", he told a conference at thinktank Chatham House. He said:
There may be different legal interpretations of that (the UN resolution) around the world. I don't think that would be wholly surprising.
But of course at the moment it is rather an academic point, because at the moment, the Prime Minister made this clear and I've made it clear, we are not engaged in delivering arms to the opposition or rebel groups in Libya and nor is anyone else we are aware of.
17.03 The Netherlands has said that it has frozen more than three billion euros ($4 billion) of assets as part of EU sanctions against Gaddafi's regime.
UK expels five Libyan diplomats
17.00 Libya's foreign ministry has said a French suggestion that Western powers could arm Libyan rebels violated United Nations resolutions and was tantamount to aiding "terorrists". A foreign ministry statement carried by Libya's official Jana news agency said:
Providing military assistance to armed gangs is contrary to Security Council resolutions, and is in support of terrorism as it has been proven that the armed gangs in Benghazi belong to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
16.45 Obama is speaking in Washington: he says "this is a tumultuous time for the world". As a result he is announcing a "new goal" of cutting American's oil dependence by a third in a decade. This will be achieved by boosting domestic energy production and reducing consumption. The country currently imports 11m barrels a day. Fighting in Libya, accompanied by unrest elsewhere in the Arab world, has helped push U.S. gasoline prices toward $4 a gallon. He said:
There are no quick fixes. And we will keep on being a victim to shifts in the oil market until we get serious about a long-term policy for secure, affordable energy.
16.44 An air strike was carried out on Gaddafi's forces near Ajdabiyah, where rebels are sheltering after having been routed from their front lines, an AFP reporter witnessed. The strike, about 10 kilometres (6.5 miles) west of Ajdabiyah, sent a huge plume of smoke rising into the sky and brought cries of jubilation from the rebel fighters, who had earlier called for air support by coalition jets. The air raid was the first in two days in eastern Libya, where rebel forces were pushed back some 200 kilometres on Wednesday by Gaddafi's forces who blazed through town after town with tanks and heavy artillery.
Two French Air Force Mirage jets, one of them being refueled, police the no-fly zone over Libya (Picture: EPA).
16.15: Anders Fogh Rasmussen has warned of the danger that Libya might disintegrate as a state and become a haven for terrorists. The NATO Secretary General told a student conference in Rotterdam:
The worst-case scenario would be to see a failed state that would fuel extremism and terrorism.
The ideal outcome would be to see a peaceful outcome and a peaceful transition to a sustainable democracy.
It is up to the Libyans to shape the future of their country. I really hope that we will see a cease-fire soon.
16.00: The Libyan government has expelled a Reuters correspondent.
It gave no reason for ordering out Michael Georgy, who had been in Tripoli since February.
He was among a small group of foreign journalists allowed in to report under government restrictions.
Georgy, an American currently based in Pakistan, was notified late on Tuesday that he must leave Libya. He arrived in neighbouring Tunisia on Wednesday.
Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler said:
We regret the decision of the Libyan authorities to expel our correspondent and we regret the fact that no reason has been given for his expulsion.
We are committed to continuing our accurate and impartial coverage of events in Libya.
Iman al-Obeidi made allegations after storming into a Tripoli hotel full of foreign journalists (Picture: EPA)
15.45: The case of a Libyan lawyer who burst into a Tripoli hotel claiming to have been gang raped by Muammar Gaddafi's troops was "shocking to the whole world", according to William Hague.
The Foreign Secretary said sexual violence in Libya was reportedly "much more widespread" and demonstrated the Gaddafi regime's "absolute disregard for any understanding of human rights".
Iman al-Obeidi rushed distraught into the Rixos hotel on Saturday to tell foreign journalists she had been raped by 15 soldiers manning a Tripoli checkpoint.
As she began to tell her story, she was dragged away by government minders and has since been missing. Her parents claim she is being held hostage at Gaddafi's compound.
A government official yesterday said the men she accused of rape had brought criminal charges against her because it was a "very grave offence to accuse someone of a sexual crime".
Following a statement on the international conference held in London, Mr Hague was asked about the plight of women in Libya by Liberal Democrat Jo Swinson (E Dunbartonshire).
She asked:
"In the light of reports that rape is being used by Gaddafi's forces as a weapon of war and the appalling arrest of a rape victim who dared to speak out, can you give us more information on the political programme announced by the INC (Interim National Council) on how the voices of Libyan women will be heard as active participants?"
Mr Hague replied:
You draw attention to one very well-publicised case in recent days which has been shocking to the whole world about the treatment of women by the Gaddafi regime.
There are reports that that treatment is much more widespread. It is another indication of the absolute disregard for any understanding of human rights by that Gaddafi regime.
It is a good sign that that commitment to the involvement of women and to women's rights is there in the vision of a democratic Libya that has been set out by the INC.
This is in a culture that doesn't have that strong tradition of women in a leadership role but let us hope that that will be a characteristic of a future, freer Libya.
15.30: There are signs that some associates of Col gaddafi are abandoning him, the French government have said.
Alain Juppe, the French Foreign Minister, told Parliament:
On the political front one can see the first defections around Qaddafi in Tripoli.
He no longer has his place in Libya’s future, but it’s up to the Libyan people to decide and that’s what we are tying to help them do.
15.25: World stocks have hit near three-week highs as Wall Street was up European stocks advanced for a sixth day, the longest winning streak since December.
National benchmark indexes rose in all of the 18 western European markets, except Spain and Greece. The FTSE 100 gained 0.4 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.9 per cent. Germany’s DAX climbed 1.6 per cent.
Melted metal that has hardened from a tank belonging to Gaddafi's army along the road from Ras Lanf to Brega (Picture: REX FEATURES)
15.15: Divisions within the African Union prevented the pan-African body from attending an international conference on Libya in London, William Hague said.
Jean Ping, the AU head, did not attend Tuesday's meeting of 36 countries, the United Nations, the Arab League and NATO despite being earlier announced as a participant by the British hosts.
The Foreign Secretary told parliament:
It is true of course that the African Union did not attend.
There were divisions within the African Union as to whether they should do so. We are in constant touch with the African Union.
15.00: Forces loyal to Col killed 18 civilians in the city of Misrata earlier this week and troops are still shelling and fighting skirmishes with rebels, it was claimed.
14.45: Libya's government whas threatened to sue any international company that concluded energy deals with rebels who control some of the country's oil infrastructure,
The state news agency reported that a government communique said:
The National Oil Corporation ... is the entity authorised by law to deal with external parties. Because of the strategic importance of these goods - oil and gas - at the global level, no country can leave their management to armed gangs.
The Libyan state will sue any party that seals deals regarding Libyan oil with parties other than the National Oil Corporation.
14.30: Rebels have beaten a rapid retreat east after forces loyal to Col Gaddafi bombarded them with rockets and artillery, ceding oil towns as the Libyan leader's troops advanced.
Rebels said Gaddafi's forces, which have overrun Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, were headed to another oil town of Brega.
Witnesses said many rebels were fleeing in pick ups and other vehicles pulling out of Brega all the way to Ajdabiyah, dashing back over territory as quickly as they had taken it.
A rebel fighter Mohamed al-Abreigi told Reuters:
We are going to Ajdabiyah. We will gather there and, God willing, we will head back to Brega today.
14.00: Douglas Alexander, the Shadow foreign secretary, has said he welcomed the progress made at the London conference but asked Mr Hague to clarify the Government's position when it came to arming rebel forces.
The shadow foreign secretary questioned how much support military action had among Arab League countries as Saudi Arabia did not send a representative to yesterday's conference, which was not attended by a member of the African Union.
Mr Alexander asked the Foreign Secretary in the Commons: "Of course we would all prefer Libya without Gaddafi but given our lack of knowledge about some elements of the rebel forces, would you agree we must proceed with very real caution on the question of armaments?"
In reply, Mr Hague said that while the current arms embargo prevented weapons being provided to the whole of Libya, Resolution 1973 allowed "for all necessary measures to protect civilians" to be taken.
He said the view of the British Government, which was not necessarily shared internationally, was that this meant rebels protecting civilians could be armed although ministers had "not yet taken a decision".
There needed to be a "genuine ceasefire" to fulfil the UN resolution, he added.
13.40: Col Gaddaf's daughter, Aisha Gaddafi, has been out on the streets of Libya trying to conjure up support for her embattled father.
Aisha Gaddafi, daughter of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (Picture: REX FEATURES)
13.10: Col Gaddafi would be welcome to live in asylum in Uganda, a presidential spokesman has said.
Henry Okello Oryem, a junior Minister for Foreign Affairs, said:
Those are rumours. I have just been in a cabinet meeting with all the ministers and yes we discussed Libya but there was nothing on asylum that we discussed.
However, if Gaddafi does apply for asylum in Uganda, we'll consider his application like we do for all those who seek refuge in Uganda.
13.00: The Government has expelled five diplomats from the Libyan embassy in London because they "could pose a threat" to national security.
Updating the Commons on the London conference on Libya, Foreign Secretary William Hague told MPs:
To underline our grave concern at the (Gaddafi) regime's behaviour, I can announce to the House that we have today taken steps to expel five diplomats at the Libyan embassy in London, including the military attache.
The Government also judged that were these individuals to remain in Britain, they could pose a threat to our security."
12.40: The UK has repatriated more than 12,500 migrant workers from Libya, the International Development Secretary said as he claimed British efforts had helped prevent "a logistical crisis developing into a humanitarian emergency".
Andrew Mitchell said the Government had funded three medical teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross which has supplies to treat 3,000 people affected by the fighting.
So far 350,000 people had crossed the borders out of Libya, he told the Commons, adding that Britain had provided emergency relief items, such as tents and blankets, for 100,000.
Mr Mitchell said: "Early action by Britain and others has ensured that a logistical crisis has not so far, at least, developed into a humanitarian emergency."
Foreign Secretary William Hague makes a statement to the House of Commons (Picture: PA)
12.15: Britain has not ruled out providing arms to rebels in Libya, but has not yet taken the decision to do so, Prime Minister David Cameron told the House of Commons.
His comment to MPs came as opposition forces appeared to be on the back foot in their struggle with the far better-equipped troops of dictator Col Muammar Gaddafi.
Representatives of the opposition Interim National Council, who met Mr Cameron in Downing Street on Tuesday, have appealed for foreign help with arms, including permission to use frozen Libyan assets and proceeds from oil sales to buy weapons.
Asked at Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons whether Britain was considering supplying arms to the rebels, Mr Cameron said that United Nations resolutions "would not necessarily rule out the provision of assistance to those protecting civilians in certain circumstances".
He added: "We do not rule it out but we have not taken the decision to do so.
Mr Cameron said any decision to supply arms would have to be considered with "due care" as there were some "very strong arguments" on both sides.
He was responding to a warning from Liberal Democrat Sir Menzies Campbell that the Government should exercise "extreme caution" on the issue.
"The legal position is by no means clear, as your previous answer made eloquently obvious," the QC told the Prime Minister.
"In addition to that, the political consequences of doing so, particularly among those nearly 40 countries that were represented at the successful conference in London yesterday, is very difficult to predict."
Mr Cameron said he was "absolutely right to be cautious and sceptical".
"This is a decision we must consider with due care. While the legal position I think is clearer, there are some very strong arguments ... we have to listen to," he said.
He added that in his talks with the INC's special envoy yesterday, he had been "reassured" that the group wanted its role to be transitional.
"They are democrats. they are not tribal, and they want to see a future for the whole of Libya where the people have a choice over how they are governed."
11:39 A new poll finds that nearly half of Americans are against their country's military involvement in Libya. Voters polled opposed America's involvement in Libya by 47 to 41 percent. However, 62 percent of voters were very or somewhat confident the mission to protect Libyan civilians would succeed.
Melted metal that has hardened from a tank belonging to Gaddafi's army along the road from Ras Lanf to Brega (REUTERS)
11.20 Russia's foreign minister has warned the military coalition off arming the Libyan rebels. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told AFP:
Recently, the French foreign minister said France was prepared to discuss with its coalition partners the supply of arms for the Libyan opposition. Immediately thereafter, the NATO Secretary General Fogh Rasmussen declared that the operation in Libya was being staged to protect the population and not to arm it - and here, we completely agree with the NATO Secretary General.
11.16 Reuters reports that blasts and the sound of aircraft have been heard near Ras Lanuf. Their correspondent Alexander Dziadosz says:
I heard the sound of jet engines overhead three times and then a series of booms. There are more booms right now but its unclear if it's from the jets or other types of bombardment.
09.48 The AFP press agency is reporting that forces loyal to Col Gaddafi have recaptured the oil town of Ras Lanuf, forcing rebels to flee east. The rebels only took the town a few days ago, when the regime's troops retreated.
09.15 Arming Libyan rebels would be an "extreme" measure likely to divide the international community, according to the Italian foreign ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari. He was speaking in a radio interview with Radioanch'io.
07.44 Sky News's Niall Paterson tweets:
Bit perplexed as to why USA leading the charge to arm insurgents. After all, they don't have a great track record in that department...
07.36 Nicaragua has claimed it will represent Libya at the United Nations after a Libyan delegate was denied a visa, in a move to "support our Libyan brothers in their diplomatic battle to enforce respect for its sovereignty''.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has written to the UN informing them former foreign minister Miguel D'Escoto, an outspoken critic of America, will replace Libyan diplomat Ali Abdussalam Treki.
The South American state has been identified as a potential safe haven for Gaddafi should he seek exile from Libya.
07.25 In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad will make a speech today in which he could concede to the demands of protesters by lifting the "emergency law" that has been in place since 1963, when his Baath party took power in a coup.
It comes a day after he accepted the resignation of his cabinet and mobilised tens of thousands of Syrians in mass rallies across the country.
07.14 In an interview with NBC last night Barack Obama expressed confidence that pressure on Gaddafi to step down would eventually tell. Here are some of the best quotes:
Our expectation is that as we continue to apply steady pressure, not only militarily but also through these other means, that Gaddafi will ultimately step down.
I think what we're seeing is that the circle around Gaddafi understands that the noose is tightening, that their days are probably numbered, and they are going to have to think through what their next steps are.
On the prospect of arming rebels, he said:
We are examining all options to support the opposition...I'm not ruling it out. But I'm also not ruling it in.
On suggestions of al-Qaeda activity among rebels, he said:
That's why I think it's important for us not to jump in with both feet. But to carefully consider what are the goals of the opposition.
07.05 Here's a quick round-up of some of the best stories from this morning's newspapers.
The Telegraph's executive foreign editor Con Coughlin analyses the claims that al-Qaeda activity has been detected among Libyan rebels, while Adrian Blomfield has been following events in Syria where President Assad fired his entire cabinet yesterday.
The Guardian was the only national paper to lead with a Libya story, claiming America and Britain are ready to arm Libya's rebels if Col Gaddafi continues to cling on to power.
The Times claims anger is growing among Gaddafi's supporters over continued air strikes on Tripoli, while in contrast The Independent reports how a backlash by loyalist forces has provided a wake-up call for rebels.
06.45 Good morning and welcome to Wednesday's live blog, bringing you rolling updates from Libya and across the Middle East throughout the day.
Last night Barack Obama said he believed the "noose is tightening" around the Libyan leader and that he would "ultimately" step down, but echoed Hillary Clinton and other international delegates in refusing to rule out supplying arms to rebel forces.
Meanwhile a senior American Nato commander warned that there were "flickers" of Al-Qaeda activity among rebel groups, an admission described as "very disturbing" by senior British government figures.
We can expect reaction from across the world to a landmark summit in London yesterday, at which international powers moved closer to an exile plan for Col Gaddafi.
There is no sign of an end to the conflict on the ground or in the air, with attention likely to be focused on yesterday's flashopints of Misurata and Bin Jawad as well as the capital, Tripoli.
23.39 The Libyan capital appeared quiet on Tuesday night, despite an Al Arabiya television report that two explosions shook the Aziziyah Gate area.
"We didn't hear any blasts," a Reuters correspondent said from central Tripoli. "It's possible there was an explosion but there was not the usual noise that accompanies air raids."
23.32 President Obama has said in an NBC interview that the goal for the allies is to apply steady pressure to Gaddafi's regime so that he will "ultimately step down". He also stressed that the use of military force in Libya did not indicate that the US would intervene in other conflicts.
22.48 Al Arabiya television reported late this evening that two explosions had shaken the Aziziyah Gate area of Tripoli.
A series of powerful explosions also rocked Tripoli earlier today which Libyan state television said were dropped by "colonial, crusader aggressors".
22.18 President Evo Morales of Bolivia called for human rights abuses in Libya to be "judged" as he appeared to step back from his support for Gaddafi. Morales, who until now had reserved his harshest words for the coalition intervening in Libya, said:
I do not support repression in the face of criticism.
Morales said he still "condemns" the international intervention in the north African nation but also maintained that "those who violate human rights to defend their government must be judged (and) condemned."
22.09 According to BBC Monitoring, Libyan state TV is showing pictures of more pro-Gaddafi supporters people joining a sit-in at his base in Tripoli, shouting slogans and waving pictures of the Libyan leader.
Our team in Libya:
Rob Crilly
Damien McElroy
Richard Spencer
Colin Freeman
Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa defected to Britain as international attention focused on whether to arm the rebels fighting against Colonel Gaddafi.
By Nick Collins, Laura Roberts and Andy Bloxham 6:18AM BST 31 Mar 2011 Latest
That's it for tonight, visit the Telegraph's website for more updates on the latest fascinating developments from around 6am on Thursday 31 March.
23:44 Tunisia's prime minister has frozen Col Gaddafi's assets in his country.
23:08 Both the Foreign Office and the Metropolitan Police are refusing to comment on whether Mr Koussa is under armed guard, despite the Daily Telegraph pointing out that the Libyan diplomats expelled earlier today were sent home on the grounds that they were dangerous and they might not be happy with their old chum.
23.00 A senior US official has told AFP that Mr Koussa's resignation was "very significant".
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This is a very significant defection and an indication that people around Gaddafi think the writing's on the wall.
22.30 Damien McElroy, the Telegraph's man in Tripoli, has more on the Koussa resignation. A British official said Mr Koussa's decision to resign represented a significant blow to the Gaddafi regime but warned that there were delicate issues to be worked through in talks with the foreign minister. Late last night it was said to be impossible to predict the outcome of the negotiations.
As head of Libya external intelligence, Mr Koussa was an MI6 asset for almost two decades. He was charged with conducting negotiations to bring Libya in from the cold and giving up its weapons of mass destruction in 2003.
He was notably uncomfortable in making public statements on behalf of the regime in recent weeks. One Libyan official said that Mr Koussa deliberately timed his statements to present a "rational" argument in the immediate aftermath of Col Muammar Gaddafi's rambling statements on national television.
Officials in Tripoli refused to comment on the defection. "I will have something to say later. Right now I am too busy in meetings," said Moussa Ibrahim, the government spokesman.
22.15 The Foreign Office has confirmed that Moussa Koussa has arrived in Britain, resigned his post and is travelling to London for negotiations. A spokesman said: “We can confirm that Moussa Koussa arrived at Farnborough Airport on 30 March from Tunisia. 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 detail in due course.
"Moussa Koussa is one of the most senior figures in Gaddafi’s government and his role was to represent the regime internationally – something that he is no longer willing to do.
"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”.
21:53 Foreign Office expected to release statement imminently on whether Libyan foreign minister has actually defected. FCO spokesman says Moussa Koussa was "no longer willing" to serve the regime.
Libya as it happened: March 30
Moussa Koussa, the (former) Libyan foreign minister.
21:42 Moussa Koussa has defected, according to "friends" quoted by Reuters, because he wanted to seek refuge.
21:15 The CIA has been authorised to covertly support the rebels by Barack Obama, according to four sources, Reuters has reported.
21:11 The Libyan government insists its foreign minister is on a diplomatic mission and has not defected.
20:09 The influential chairman of the US House of Representatives' intelligence committee has just said he opposes supplying arms to the rebels. Republican Mike Rogers said:
As we publicly debate next steps on Libya, I do not support arming the Libyan rebels at this time. We need to understand more about the opposition before I would support passing out guns and advanced weapons to them.
19:52 News agency reports in Tunisia claim Libya's foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, has flown from a Tunisian resort straight to London.
An RAF Tornado patrolling Libyan skies, armed with bunker-busting Storm Shadow missiles on its fuselage.
18:28 Thousands of migrants from North Africa who have landed on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa are to moved to "reception centres" on the mainland, Silvio Berlusconi says.
17.14 Hundreds of people took to the streets in the port city of Latakia in Syria today chanting "freedom" after President Bashar al-Assad made a speech playing down unprecedented protests against his rule. Several residents said they heard shots fired in the al-Sleibeh old district of the city, where one of at least two demonstrations took place, as security forces confronted the demonstrators.
Assad's speech dashed the hopes of his people after it failed to unveil the major reforms expected and left the country in a state of uncertainty, analysts said.
17.06 Foreign secretary William Hague has said apparent differences over whether arms could be supplied were "academic". Mr Cameron and UK ministers were setting out the position "based on the legal advice to our own Government", he told a conference at thinktank Chatham House. He said:
There may be different legal interpretations of that (the UN resolution) around the world. I don't think that would be wholly surprising.
But of course at the moment it is rather an academic point, because at the moment, the Prime Minister made this clear and I've made it clear, we are not engaged in delivering arms to the opposition or rebel groups in Libya and nor is anyone else we are aware of.
17.03 The Netherlands has said that it has frozen more than three billion euros ($4 billion) of assets as part of EU sanctions against Gaddafi's regime.
UK expels five Libyan diplomats
17.00 Libya's foreign ministry has said a French suggestion that Western powers could arm Libyan rebels violated United Nations resolutions and was tantamount to aiding "terorrists". A foreign ministry statement carried by Libya's official Jana news agency said:
Providing military assistance to armed gangs is contrary to Security Council resolutions, and is in support of terrorism as it has been proven that the armed gangs in Benghazi belong to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
16.45 Obama is speaking in Washington: he says "this is a tumultuous time for the world". As a result he is announcing a "new goal" of cutting American's oil dependence by a third in a decade. This will be achieved by boosting domestic energy production and reducing consumption. The country currently imports 11m barrels a day. Fighting in Libya, accompanied by unrest elsewhere in the Arab world, has helped push U.S. gasoline prices toward $4 a gallon. He said:
There are no quick fixes. And we will keep on being a victim to shifts in the oil market until we get serious about a long-term policy for secure, affordable energy.
16.44 An air strike was carried out on Gaddafi's forces near Ajdabiyah, where rebels are sheltering after having been routed from their front lines, an AFP reporter witnessed. The strike, about 10 kilometres (6.5 miles) west of Ajdabiyah, sent a huge plume of smoke rising into the sky and brought cries of jubilation from the rebel fighters, who had earlier called for air support by coalition jets. The air raid was the first in two days in eastern Libya, where rebel forces were pushed back some 200 kilometres on Wednesday by Gaddafi's forces who blazed through town after town with tanks and heavy artillery.
Two French Air Force Mirage jets, one of them being refueled, police the no-fly zone over Libya (Picture: EPA).
16.15: Anders Fogh Rasmussen has warned of the danger that Libya might disintegrate as a state and become a haven for terrorists. The NATO Secretary General told a student conference in Rotterdam:
The worst-case scenario would be to see a failed state that would fuel extremism and terrorism.
The ideal outcome would be to see a peaceful outcome and a peaceful transition to a sustainable democracy.
It is up to the Libyans to shape the future of their country. I really hope that we will see a cease-fire soon.
16.00: The Libyan government has expelled a Reuters correspondent.
It gave no reason for ordering out Michael Georgy, who had been in Tripoli since February.
He was among a small group of foreign journalists allowed in to report under government restrictions.
Georgy, an American currently based in Pakistan, was notified late on Tuesday that he must leave Libya. He arrived in neighbouring Tunisia on Wednesday.
Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler said:
We regret the decision of the Libyan authorities to expel our correspondent and we regret the fact that no reason has been given for his expulsion.
We are committed to continuing our accurate and impartial coverage of events in Libya.
Iman al-Obeidi made allegations after storming into a Tripoli hotel full of foreign journalists (Picture: EPA)
15.45: The case of a Libyan lawyer who burst into a Tripoli hotel claiming to have been gang raped by Muammar Gaddafi's troops was "shocking to the whole world", according to William Hague.
The Foreign Secretary said sexual violence in Libya was reportedly "much more widespread" and demonstrated the Gaddafi regime's "absolute disregard for any understanding of human rights".
Iman al-Obeidi rushed distraught into the Rixos hotel on Saturday to tell foreign journalists she had been raped by 15 soldiers manning a Tripoli checkpoint.
As she began to tell her story, she was dragged away by government minders and has since been missing. Her parents claim she is being held hostage at Gaddafi's compound.
A government official yesterday said the men she accused of rape had brought criminal charges against her because it was a "very grave offence to accuse someone of a sexual crime".
Following a statement on the international conference held in London, Mr Hague was asked about the plight of women in Libya by Liberal Democrat Jo Swinson (E Dunbartonshire).
She asked:
"In the light of reports that rape is being used by Gaddafi's forces as a weapon of war and the appalling arrest of a rape victim who dared to speak out, can you give us more information on the political programme announced by the INC (Interim National Council) on how the voices of Libyan women will be heard as active participants?"
Mr Hague replied:
You draw attention to one very well-publicised case in recent days which has been shocking to the whole world about the treatment of women by the Gaddafi regime.
There are reports that that treatment is much more widespread. It is another indication of the absolute disregard for any understanding of human rights by that Gaddafi regime.
It is a good sign that that commitment to the involvement of women and to women's rights is there in the vision of a democratic Libya that has been set out by the INC.
This is in a culture that doesn't have that strong tradition of women in a leadership role but let us hope that that will be a characteristic of a future, freer Libya.
15.30: There are signs that some associates of Col gaddafi are abandoning him, the French government have said.
Alain Juppe, the French Foreign Minister, told Parliament:
On the political front one can see the first defections around Qaddafi in Tripoli.
He no longer has his place in Libya’s future, but it’s up to the Libyan people to decide and that’s what we are tying to help them do.
15.25: World stocks have hit near three-week highs as Wall Street was up European stocks advanced for a sixth day, the longest winning streak since December.
National benchmark indexes rose in all of the 18 western European markets, except Spain and Greece. The FTSE 100 gained 0.4 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.9 per cent. Germany’s DAX climbed 1.6 per cent.
Melted metal that has hardened from a tank belonging to Gaddafi's army along the road from Ras Lanf to Brega (Picture: REX FEATURES)
15.15: Divisions within the African Union prevented the pan-African body from attending an international conference on Libya in London, William Hague said.
Jean Ping, the AU head, did not attend Tuesday's meeting of 36 countries, the United Nations, the Arab League and NATO despite being earlier announced as a participant by the British hosts.
The Foreign Secretary told parliament:
It is true of course that the African Union did not attend.
There were divisions within the African Union as to whether they should do so. We are in constant touch with the African Union.
15.00: Forces loyal to Col killed 18 civilians in the city of Misrata earlier this week and troops are still shelling and fighting skirmishes with rebels, it was claimed.
14.45: Libya's government whas threatened to sue any international company that concluded energy deals with rebels who control some of the country's oil infrastructure,
The state news agency reported that a government communique said:
The National Oil Corporation ... is the entity authorised by law to deal with external parties. Because of the strategic importance of these goods - oil and gas - at the global level, no country can leave their management to armed gangs.
The Libyan state will sue any party that seals deals regarding Libyan oil with parties other than the National Oil Corporation.
14.30: Rebels have beaten a rapid retreat east after forces loyal to Col Gaddafi bombarded them with rockets and artillery, ceding oil towns as the Libyan leader's troops advanced.
Rebels said Gaddafi's forces, which have overrun Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, were headed to another oil town of Brega.
Witnesses said many rebels were fleeing in pick ups and other vehicles pulling out of Brega all the way to Ajdabiyah, dashing back over territory as quickly as they had taken it.
A rebel fighter Mohamed al-Abreigi told Reuters:
We are going to Ajdabiyah. We will gather there and, God willing, we will head back to Brega today.
14.00: Douglas Alexander, the Shadow foreign secretary, has said he welcomed the progress made at the London conference but asked Mr Hague to clarify the Government's position when it came to arming rebel forces.
The shadow foreign secretary questioned how much support military action had among Arab League countries as Saudi Arabia did not send a representative to yesterday's conference, which was not attended by a member of the African Union.
Mr Alexander asked the Foreign Secretary in the Commons: "Of course we would all prefer Libya without Gaddafi but given our lack of knowledge about some elements of the rebel forces, would you agree we must proceed with very real caution on the question of armaments?"
In reply, Mr Hague said that while the current arms embargo prevented weapons being provided to the whole of Libya, Resolution 1973 allowed "for all necessary measures to protect civilians" to be taken.
He said the view of the British Government, which was not necessarily shared internationally, was that this meant rebels protecting civilians could be armed although ministers had "not yet taken a decision".
There needed to be a "genuine ceasefire" to fulfil the UN resolution, he added.
13.40: Col Gaddaf's daughter, Aisha Gaddafi, has been out on the streets of Libya trying to conjure up support for her embattled father.
Aisha Gaddafi, daughter of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (Picture: REX FEATURES)
13.10: Col Gaddafi would be welcome to live in asylum in Uganda, a presidential spokesman has said.
Henry Okello Oryem, a junior Minister for Foreign Affairs, said:
Those are rumours. I have just been in a cabinet meeting with all the ministers and yes we discussed Libya but there was nothing on asylum that we discussed.
However, if Gaddafi does apply for asylum in Uganda, we'll consider his application like we do for all those who seek refuge in Uganda.
13.00: The Government has expelled five diplomats from the Libyan embassy in London because they "could pose a threat" to national security.
Updating the Commons on the London conference on Libya, Foreign Secretary William Hague told MPs:
To underline our grave concern at the (Gaddafi) regime's behaviour, I can announce to the House that we have today taken steps to expel five diplomats at the Libyan embassy in London, including the military attache.
The Government also judged that were these individuals to remain in Britain, they could pose a threat to our security."
12.40: The UK has repatriated more than 12,500 migrant workers from Libya, the International Development Secretary said as he claimed British efforts had helped prevent "a logistical crisis developing into a humanitarian emergency".
Andrew Mitchell said the Government had funded three medical teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross which has supplies to treat 3,000 people affected by the fighting.
So far 350,000 people had crossed the borders out of Libya, he told the Commons, adding that Britain had provided emergency relief items, such as tents and blankets, for 100,000.
Mr Mitchell said: "Early action by Britain and others has ensured that a logistical crisis has not so far, at least, developed into a humanitarian emergency."
Foreign Secretary William Hague makes a statement to the House of Commons (Picture: PA)
12.15: Britain has not ruled out providing arms to rebels in Libya, but has not yet taken the decision to do so, Prime Minister David Cameron told the House of Commons.
His comment to MPs came as opposition forces appeared to be on the back foot in their struggle with the far better-equipped troops of dictator Col Muammar Gaddafi.
Representatives of the opposition Interim National Council, who met Mr Cameron in Downing Street on Tuesday, have appealed for foreign help with arms, including permission to use frozen Libyan assets and proceeds from oil sales to buy weapons.
Asked at Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons whether Britain was considering supplying arms to the rebels, Mr Cameron said that United Nations resolutions "would not necessarily rule out the provision of assistance to those protecting civilians in certain circumstances".
He added: "We do not rule it out but we have not taken the decision to do so.
Mr Cameron said any decision to supply arms would have to be considered with "due care" as there were some "very strong arguments" on both sides.
He was responding to a warning from Liberal Democrat Sir Menzies Campbell that the Government should exercise "extreme caution" on the issue.
"The legal position is by no means clear, as your previous answer made eloquently obvious," the QC told the Prime Minister.
"In addition to that, the political consequences of doing so, particularly among those nearly 40 countries that were represented at the successful conference in London yesterday, is very difficult to predict."
Mr Cameron said he was "absolutely right to be cautious and sceptical".
"This is a decision we must consider with due care. While the legal position I think is clearer, there are some very strong arguments ... we have to listen to," he said.
He added that in his talks with the INC's special envoy yesterday, he had been "reassured" that the group wanted its role to be transitional.
"They are democrats. they are not tribal, and they want to see a future for the whole of Libya where the people have a choice over how they are governed."
11:39 A new poll finds that nearly half of Americans are against their country's military involvement in Libya. Voters polled opposed America's involvement in Libya by 47 to 41 percent. However, 62 percent of voters were very or somewhat confident the mission to protect Libyan civilians would succeed.
Melted metal that has hardened from a tank belonging to Gaddafi's army along the road from Ras Lanf to Brega (REUTERS)
11.20 Russia's foreign minister has warned the military coalition off arming the Libyan rebels. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told AFP:
Recently, the French foreign minister said France was prepared to discuss with its coalition partners the supply of arms for the Libyan opposition. Immediately thereafter, the NATO Secretary General Fogh Rasmussen declared that the operation in Libya was being staged to protect the population and not to arm it - and here, we completely agree with the NATO Secretary General.
11.16 Reuters reports that blasts and the sound of aircraft have been heard near Ras Lanuf. Their correspondent Alexander Dziadosz says:
I heard the sound of jet engines overhead three times and then a series of booms. There are more booms right now but its unclear if it's from the jets or other types of bombardment.
09.48 The AFP press agency is reporting that forces loyal to Col Gaddafi have recaptured the oil town of Ras Lanuf, forcing rebels to flee east. The rebels only took the town a few days ago, when the regime's troops retreated.
09.15 Arming Libyan rebels would be an "extreme" measure likely to divide the international community, according to the Italian foreign ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari. He was speaking in a radio interview with Radioanch'io.
07.44 Sky News's Niall Paterson tweets:
Bit perplexed as to why USA leading the charge to arm insurgents. After all, they don't have a great track record in that department...
07.36 Nicaragua has claimed it will represent Libya at the United Nations after a Libyan delegate was denied a visa, in a move to "support our Libyan brothers in their diplomatic battle to enforce respect for its sovereignty''.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has written to the UN informing them former foreign minister Miguel D'Escoto, an outspoken critic of America, will replace Libyan diplomat Ali Abdussalam Treki.
The South American state has been identified as a potential safe haven for Gaddafi should he seek exile from Libya.
07.25 In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad will make a speech today in which he could concede to the demands of protesters by lifting the "emergency law" that has been in place since 1963, when his Baath party took power in a coup.
It comes a day after he accepted the resignation of his cabinet and mobilised tens of thousands of Syrians in mass rallies across the country.
07.14 In an interview with NBC last night Barack Obama expressed confidence that pressure on Gaddafi to step down would eventually tell. Here are some of the best quotes:
Our expectation is that as we continue to apply steady pressure, not only militarily but also through these other means, that Gaddafi will ultimately step down.
I think what we're seeing is that the circle around Gaddafi understands that the noose is tightening, that their days are probably numbered, and they are going to have to think through what their next steps are.
On the prospect of arming rebels, he said:
We are examining all options to support the opposition...I'm not ruling it out. But I'm also not ruling it in.
On suggestions of al-Qaeda activity among rebels, he said:
That's why I think it's important for us not to jump in with both feet. But to carefully consider what are the goals of the opposition.
07.05 Here's a quick round-up of some of the best stories from this morning's newspapers.
The Telegraph's executive foreign editor Con Coughlin analyses the claims that al-Qaeda activity has been detected among Libyan rebels, while Adrian Blomfield has been following events in Syria where President Assad fired his entire cabinet yesterday.
The Guardian was the only national paper to lead with a Libya story, claiming America and Britain are ready to arm Libya's rebels if Col Gaddafi continues to cling on to power.
The Times claims anger is growing among Gaddafi's supporters over continued air strikes on Tripoli, while in contrast The Independent reports how a backlash by loyalist forces has provided a wake-up call for rebels.
06.45 Good morning and welcome to Wednesday's live blog, bringing you rolling updates from Libya and across the Middle East throughout the day.
Last night Barack Obama said he believed the "noose is tightening" around the Libyan leader and that he would "ultimately" step down, but echoed Hillary Clinton and other international delegates in refusing to rule out supplying arms to rebel forces.
Meanwhile a senior American Nato commander warned that there were "flickers" of Al-Qaeda activity among rebel groups, an admission described as "very disturbing" by senior British government figures.
We can expect reaction from across the world to a landmark summit in London yesterday, at which international powers moved closer to an exile plan for Col Gaddafi.
There is no sign of an end to the conflict on the ground or in the air, with attention likely to be focused on yesterday's flashopints of Misurata and Bin Jawad as well as the capital, Tripoli.
23.39 The Libyan capital appeared quiet on Tuesday night, despite an Al Arabiya television report that two explosions shook the Aziziyah Gate area.
"We didn't hear any blasts," a Reuters correspondent said from central Tripoli. "It's possible there was an explosion but there was not the usual noise that accompanies air raids."
23.32 President Obama has said in an NBC interview that the goal for the allies is to apply steady pressure to Gaddafi's regime so that he will "ultimately step down". He also stressed that the use of military force in Libya did not indicate that the US would intervene in other conflicts.
22.48 Al Arabiya television reported late this evening that two explosions had shaken the Aziziyah Gate area of Tripoli.
A series of powerful explosions also rocked Tripoli earlier today which Libyan state television said were dropped by "colonial, crusader aggressors".
22.18 President Evo Morales of Bolivia called for human rights abuses in Libya to be "judged" as he appeared to step back from his support for Gaddafi. Morales, who until now had reserved his harshest words for the coalition intervening in Libya, said:
I do not support repression in the face of criticism.
Morales said he still "condemns" the international intervention in the north African nation but also maintained that "those who violate human rights to defend their government must be judged (and) condemned."
22.09 According to BBC Monitoring, Libyan state TV is showing pictures of more pro-Gaddafi supporters people joining a sit-in at his base in Tripoli, shouting slogans and waving pictures of the Libyan leader.
Our team in Libya:
Rob Crilly
Damien McElroy
Richard Spencer
Colin Freeman
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Ngu giả hay Ngu thiệt mà "cả quyết" Việt cộng cũng "biết" yêu nước ?!
Hằng ngày trên các diễn đàn Internet, viết cũng như nói, conbenho vẫn thường nghe không ít người lập đi lập lại cái điệp khúc vừa buồn , vừa hề, vừa tếu, vừa giả, vừa thiệt, vừa .. tùm lum rằng thì là vì bởi tại .. trong cái đảng "cộng sản Việt Nam", trong cái đảng Việt cộng cũng có thằng "yêu nước" !!
Hôm nay trời âm u, đọc tin về Fukushima và Libya cảm thấy buồn, nhớ lại cái "điệp khúc" vừa vừa đó mà viết vài câu, các anh chị ghé vào thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog" đọc cho đỡ "tẻ" !
Bọn trí ngủ sâu dân mọt nước của cái đảng phản quốc diệt chủng bán nước csVN
Theo các anh chị, những kẻ hàng ngày lải nhải cái "điệp khúc" trên họ NGU giả hay NGU thiệt ?
(còn tiếp .. )
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog"
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
31032011
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Hôm nay trời âm u, đọc tin về Fukushima và Libya cảm thấy buồn, nhớ lại cái "điệp khúc" vừa vừa đó mà viết vài câu, các anh chị ghé vào thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog" đọc cho đỡ "tẻ" !
Bọn trí ngủ sâu dân mọt nước của cái đảng phản quốc diệt chủng bán nước csVN Theo các anh chị, những kẻ hàng ngày lải nhải cái "điệp khúc" trên họ NGU giả hay NGU thiệt ?
(còn tiếp .. )
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog"
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
31032011
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Động Đất Khủng Khiếp Ở Nhật (54)_Fukushima warning: US has 'utterly failed' to address risk of spent fuel
Fukushima warning: US has 'utterly failed' to address risk of spent fuel
Nuclear experts told Congress Wednesday that spent-fuel pools at US nuclear power plants are fuller than safety suggests they should be. They say the entire US spent-fuel policy should be overhauled in light of the nuclear crisis at Japan's Fukushima plant.
An aerial view of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station is seen in Fukushima Prefecture in this photo taken by Air Photo Service on March 24, 2011. Air Photo Service/Reuters
By Mark Clayton, Staff writer / March 30, 2011
The travails of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan are highlighting a key question for the US: Why are America's nuclear power plants allowed to store tons of used but still highly radioactive fuel in pools for as many as 100 years – despite the fact that those pools are far more vulnerable to terrorist attack than the reactors themselves?
In Japan, a relatively small amount of used-up fuel was sitting in Fukushima's seven spent-fuel pools when disaster occurred. Yet after just days without a cooling system, most water in at least one pool had apparently boiled away, a fire was reported, and radiation levels soared.
By contrast, nuclear utilities in the US have over decades accumulated some 71,862 tons of spent fuel in more than 30 states – the vast majority of it sitting today in pools that are mostly full, according to a recent state-by-state tally by the Associated Press. It's a huge quantity of highly radioactive material equal to a great many Chernobyls' worth of radioactivity, nuclear experts say.
RELATED: How dangerous is nuclear power? Three lessons from Japan.
The reason is the lack of a national repository for spent fuel – meaning it must be stored on site – as well as the lack of a coherent nationwide policy, experts told Congress Wednesday.
"From the history of our nuclear power program, storage of spent fuel – between the reactor and the presumed repository – has been an afterthought," said Ernest Moniz, a nuclear expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at a Senate hearing. "It has not really been part of our serious policy discussion about fuel cycle design."
"What we need to do is to stand back and say: What is our whole integrated system?" he added. "We should really start thinking hard about that view."
Warnings years ago
The risks posed by spent fuel held in such pools are hardly new or unknown. A 2006 study by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) warned Congress and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that spent fuel pools were vulnerable to terrorist attack, with some nuclear plant designs more than others. With water gone from the pools, the spent fuel could easily catch fire and see "the release of large quantities of radioactive materials to the environment," the study found.
The NAS report found that another method of storing spent fuel, called "dry cask" storage, did not require on complex power systems. Dry-cask storage involves putting older spent fuel into concrete- and steel-lined cylinders to allow natural air circulation for cooling. Dividing up spent fuel among a large number of such cylinders also makes "it more difficult to attack a large amount of spent fuel at one time" and also reduces "the consequences of such attacks," the report found.
RELATED: Five recent 'near miss' incidents at US nuclear power plants
Echoes of that report could be heard in Congress Wednesday, with several experts testifying that finding a new way to deal with spent fuel was a key takeaway from Fukushima.
For instance, the Fukushima General Electric Mark 1 Boiling Water Reactor design, which has a spent-fuel pool near the top of the building where it's easy for loading cranes to access, is one of the most vulnerable reactor designs, some experts say. At least 28 of America's 104 reactors are of that type.
The Fukushima problems of spent-fuel pools located on the same site with the reactors "will undoubtedly lead to a reevaluation of spent nuclear fuel management strategy," said Professor Moniz.
_____
Related Stories
Japan considers unusual fixes to contain radioactive leak
Meltdown 101: What are spent-fuel pools and why are they a threat?
Japan nuclear crisis: Why are the spent-fuel pools so hard to control?
Nuclear experts told Congress Wednesday that spent-fuel pools at US nuclear power plants are fuller than safety suggests they should be. They say the entire US spent-fuel policy should be overhauled in light of the nuclear crisis at Japan's Fukushima plant.
An aerial view of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station is seen in Fukushima Prefecture in this photo taken by Air Photo Service on March 24, 2011. Air Photo Service/Reuters
By Mark Clayton, Staff writer / March 30, 2011
The travails of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan are highlighting a key question for the US: Why are America's nuclear power plants allowed to store tons of used but still highly radioactive fuel in pools for as many as 100 years – despite the fact that those pools are far more vulnerable to terrorist attack than the reactors themselves?
In Japan, a relatively small amount of used-up fuel was sitting in Fukushima's seven spent-fuel pools when disaster occurred. Yet after just days without a cooling system, most water in at least one pool had apparently boiled away, a fire was reported, and radiation levels soared.
By contrast, nuclear utilities in the US have over decades accumulated some 71,862 tons of spent fuel in more than 30 states – the vast majority of it sitting today in pools that are mostly full, according to a recent state-by-state tally by the Associated Press. It's a huge quantity of highly radioactive material equal to a great many Chernobyls' worth of radioactivity, nuclear experts say.
RELATED: How dangerous is nuclear power? Three lessons from Japan.
The reason is the lack of a national repository for spent fuel – meaning it must be stored on site – as well as the lack of a coherent nationwide policy, experts told Congress Wednesday.
"From the history of our nuclear power program, storage of spent fuel – between the reactor and the presumed repository – has been an afterthought," said Ernest Moniz, a nuclear expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at a Senate hearing. "It has not really been part of our serious policy discussion about fuel cycle design."
"What we need to do is to stand back and say: What is our whole integrated system?" he added. "We should really start thinking hard about that view."
Warnings years ago
The risks posed by spent fuel held in such pools are hardly new or unknown. A 2006 study by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) warned Congress and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that spent fuel pools were vulnerable to terrorist attack, with some nuclear plant designs more than others. With water gone from the pools, the spent fuel could easily catch fire and see "the release of large quantities of radioactive materials to the environment," the study found.
The NAS report found that another method of storing spent fuel, called "dry cask" storage, did not require on complex power systems. Dry-cask storage involves putting older spent fuel into concrete- and steel-lined cylinders to allow natural air circulation for cooling. Dividing up spent fuel among a large number of such cylinders also makes "it more difficult to attack a large amount of spent fuel at one time" and also reduces "the consequences of such attacks," the report found.
RELATED: Five recent 'near miss' incidents at US nuclear power plants
Echoes of that report could be heard in Congress Wednesday, with several experts testifying that finding a new way to deal with spent fuel was a key takeaway from Fukushima.
For instance, the Fukushima General Electric Mark 1 Boiling Water Reactor design, which has a spent-fuel pool near the top of the building where it's easy for loading cranes to access, is one of the most vulnerable reactor designs, some experts say. At least 28 of America's 104 reactors are of that type.
The Fukushima problems of spent-fuel pools located on the same site with the reactors "will undoubtedly lead to a reevaluation of spent nuclear fuel management strategy," said Professor Moniz.
_____
Related Stories
Japan considers unusual fixes to contain radioactive leak
Meltdown 101: What are spent-fuel pools and why are they a threat?
Japan nuclear crisis: Why are the spent-fuel pools so hard to control?
"SECRET" (!)_Exclusive: Obama authorizes secret support for Libya rebels
Exclusive: Obama authorizes secret support for Libya rebels
Mark Hosenball, Reuters March 31, 2011, 8:08 am
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, government officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
Obama signed the order, known as a presidential "finding", within the last two or three weeks, according to four U.S. government sources familiar with the matter.
Such findings are a principal form of presidential directive used to authorize secret operations by the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA and the White House declined immediate comment.
News that Obama had given the authorization surfaced as the President and other U.S. and allied officials spoke openly about the possibility of sending arms supplies to Gaddafi's opponents, who are fighting better-equipped government forces.
The United States is part of a coalition, with NATO members and some Arab states, which is conducting air strikes on Libyan government forces under a U.N. mandate aimed at protecting civilians opposing Gaddafi.
In interviews with American TV networks on Tuesday, Obama said the objective was for Gaddafi to "ultimately step down" from power. He spoke of applying "steady pressure, not only militarily but also through these other means" to force Gaddafi out.
Obama said the U.S. had not ruled out providing military hardware to rebels. "It's fair to say that if we wanted to get weapons into Libya, we probably could. We're looking at all our options at this point," the President told ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer.
U.S. officials monitoring events in Libya say that at present, neither Gaddafi's forces nor the rebels, who have asked the West for heavy weapons, appear able to make decisive gains.
While U.S. and allied airstrikes have seriously damaged Gaddafi's military forces and disrupted his chain of command, officials say, rebel forces remain disorganized and unable to take full advantage of western military support.
SPECIFIC OPERATIONS
People familiar with U.S. intelligence procedures said that Presidential covert action "findings" are normally crafted to provide broad authorization for a range of potential U.S. government actions to support a particular covert objective.
In order for specific operations to be carried out under the provisions of such a broad authorization -- for example the delivery of cash or weapons to anti-Gaddafi forces -- the White House also would have to give additional "permission" allowing such activities to proceed.
Former officials say these follow-up authorizations are known in the intelligence world as "'Mother may I' findings."
In 2009 Obama gave a similar authorization for the expansion of covert U.S. counter-terrorism actions by the CIA in Yemen. The White House does not normally confirm such orders have been issued.
Because U.S. and allied intelligence agencies still have many questions about the identities and leadership of anti-Gaddafi forces, any covert U.S. activities are likely to proceed cautiously until more information about the rebels can be collected and analyzed, officials said.
"The whole issue on (providing rebels with) training and equipment requires knowing who the rebels are," said Bruce Riedel, a former senior CIA Middle East expert who has advised the Obama White House.
Riedel said that helping the rebels to organize themselves and training them how use weapons effectively would be more urgent then shipping them arms.
According to an article speculating on possible U.S. covert actions in Libya published early in March on the website of the Voice of America, the U.S. government's broadcasting service, a covert action is "any U.S. government effort to change the economic, military, or political situation overseas in a hidden way."
ARMS SUPPLIES
The article, by VOA intelligence correspondent Gary Thomas, said covert action "can encompass many things, including propaganda, covert funding, electoral manipulation, arming and training insurgents, and even encouraging a coup."
U.S. officials also have said that Saudi Arabia and Qatar, whose leaders despise Gaddafi, have indicated a willingness to supply Libyan rebels with weapons.
Members of Congress have expressed anxiety about U.S. government activities in Libya. Some have recalled that weapons provided by the U.S. and Saudis to mujahedeen fighting Soviet occupation forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s later ended up in the hands of anti-American militants.
There are fears that the same thing could happen in Libya unless the U.S. is sure who it is dealing with. The chairman of the House intelligence committee, Rep. Mike Rogers, said on Wednesday he opposed supplying arms to the Libyan rebels fighting Gaddafi "at this time."
"We need to understand more about the opposition before I would support passing out guns and advanced weapons to them," Rogers said in a statement.
(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by David Storey)
Mark Hosenball, Reuters March 31, 2011, 8:08 am
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, government officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
Obama signed the order, known as a presidential "finding", within the last two or three weeks, according to four U.S. government sources familiar with the matter.
Such findings are a principal form of presidential directive used to authorize secret operations by the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA and the White House declined immediate comment.
News that Obama had given the authorization surfaced as the President and other U.S. and allied officials spoke openly about the possibility of sending arms supplies to Gaddafi's opponents, who are fighting better-equipped government forces.
The United States is part of a coalition, with NATO members and some Arab states, which is conducting air strikes on Libyan government forces under a U.N. mandate aimed at protecting civilians opposing Gaddafi.
In interviews with American TV networks on Tuesday, Obama said the objective was for Gaddafi to "ultimately step down" from power. He spoke of applying "steady pressure, not only militarily but also through these other means" to force Gaddafi out.
Obama said the U.S. had not ruled out providing military hardware to rebels. "It's fair to say that if we wanted to get weapons into Libya, we probably could. We're looking at all our options at this point," the President told ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer.
U.S. officials monitoring events in Libya say that at present, neither Gaddafi's forces nor the rebels, who have asked the West for heavy weapons, appear able to make decisive gains.
While U.S. and allied airstrikes have seriously damaged Gaddafi's military forces and disrupted his chain of command, officials say, rebel forces remain disorganized and unable to take full advantage of western military support.
SPECIFIC OPERATIONS
People familiar with U.S. intelligence procedures said that Presidential covert action "findings" are normally crafted to provide broad authorization for a range of potential U.S. government actions to support a particular covert objective.
In order for specific operations to be carried out under the provisions of such a broad authorization -- for example the delivery of cash or weapons to anti-Gaddafi forces -- the White House also would have to give additional "permission" allowing such activities to proceed.
Former officials say these follow-up authorizations are known in the intelligence world as "'Mother may I' findings."
In 2009 Obama gave a similar authorization for the expansion of covert U.S. counter-terrorism actions by the CIA in Yemen. The White House does not normally confirm such orders have been issued.
Because U.S. and allied intelligence agencies still have many questions about the identities and leadership of anti-Gaddafi forces, any covert U.S. activities are likely to proceed cautiously until more information about the rebels can be collected and analyzed, officials said.
"The whole issue on (providing rebels with) training and equipment requires knowing who the rebels are," said Bruce Riedel, a former senior CIA Middle East expert who has advised the Obama White House.
Riedel said that helping the rebels to organize themselves and training them how use weapons effectively would be more urgent then shipping them arms.
According to an article speculating on possible U.S. covert actions in Libya published early in March on the website of the Voice of America, the U.S. government's broadcasting service, a covert action is "any U.S. government effort to change the economic, military, or political situation overseas in a hidden way."
ARMS SUPPLIES
The article, by VOA intelligence correspondent Gary Thomas, said covert action "can encompass many things, including propaganda, covert funding, electoral manipulation, arming and training insurgents, and even encouraging a coup."
U.S. officials also have said that Saudi Arabia and Qatar, whose leaders despise Gaddafi, have indicated a willingness to supply Libyan rebels with weapons.
Members of Congress have expressed anxiety about U.S. government activities in Libya. Some have recalled that weapons provided by the U.S. and Saudis to mujahedeen fighting Soviet occupation forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s later ended up in the hands of anti-American militants.
There are fears that the same thing could happen in Libya unless the U.S. is sure who it is dealing with. The chairman of the House intelligence committee, Rep. Mike Rogers, said on Wednesday he opposed supplying arms to the Libyan rebels fighting Gaddafi "at this time."
"We need to understand more about the opposition before I would support passing out guns and advanced weapons to them," Rogers said in a statement.
(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by David Storey)
Libya News_Libya's Foreign Minister 'Defects To UK'
Breaking News10:02pm UK, Wednesday March 30, 2011
Libya's Foreign Minister 'Defects To UK'
Libya's foreign minister has arrived in the UK after defecting from Colonel Gaddafi's regime, according to reports.
Questions were earlier raised about the whereabouts of Musa Kusa after he was reported by a Tunisian news agency to have headed to London on a flight from the country.
A Libyan government spokesman later said he had not defected and was on a "diplomatic mission", but declined to say where he was going.
Another report said one of his closest allies had confirmed he was in Britain seeking refuge.
Noman Benotman, a friend and analyst at Britain's Quilliam think-tank, told Reuters news agency: "He has defected from the regime.
"He wasn't happy at all. He doesn't support the Government attacks on civilians."
The British Foreign Office has declined to say whether it was aware of the development and Libya's deputy foreign minister dismissed the reports as "nonsense".
Meanwhile, there are reports CIA agents were authorised to carry out covert missions to help rebel forces keen to oust Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi.
President Barack Obama is said to have signed an order - known as a "finding" - for the secret operations in the past two or three weeks.
It came to light after US officials spoke to reporters following a briefing with senior members of the Obama administration, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The CIA and the White House have declined to comment.
However, it emerged after Libya's rebel forces were forced out of the key oil town of Ras Lanuf by a barrage of tank and artillery fire from troops loyal to Colonel Gaddafi.
Anti-government fighters retreated by 100 miles in just a few hours as Nato planes bombarded Col Gaddafi's forces.
In the latest blow to morale for the outgunned insurgents, they have have been driven back from positions they had occupied in the past few days, including Bin Jawad.
Some fighters, mostly armed with light weapons and riding on 4x4 pick-ups, said they had been overwhelmed by the superior firepower and range of Gaddafi's weaponry.
Sky's security editor Sam Kiley said the rebels lost Ras Lanuf because the coalition was reluctant to carry out airstrikes on troops loyal to Col Gaddafi.
In Tripoli, Sky's Jeremy Thompson said Gaddafi supporters had been heard celebrating the dramatic reversal of fortune.
It came as UK Prime Minister David Cameron joined the US President in refusing to rule out the possibility of supplying arms to opposition fighters.
US Secretary of State has said no decision has been made about giving them weapons.
Vehicles packed with rebels have been seen racing east on Wednesday, just days after their push west - towards the capital Tripoli and Col Gaddafi's stronghold of Sirte - gathered pace thanks to coalition airstrikes.
Meanwhile, five Libyan diplomats have been expelled from the UK.
Foreign Secretary William Haguesaid if the diplomats remained in the country they could "pose a threat" to security.
Sky sources say the five are regarded as the strongest supporters of the Libyan regime within the embassy.
Speaking in the House of Commons during Prime Minister's Questions earlier, Mr Cameron said a decision had not yet been made on supplying anti-regime forces with weapons.
However, he added that United Nations resolutions "would not necessarily rule out the provision of assistance to those protecting civilians in certain circumstances".
His announcement comes after Barack Obama made similar comments in a series of TV interviews.
The president earlier said he had already agreed to provide non-lethal aid like communications equipment, medical supplies and perhaps transportation to the opposition.
However, Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Sky News he does not believe the resolution will allow the coalition to arm rebels.
"The Security Council Resolution is very clear in my opinion," he said.
"It requests the enforcement of an arms embargo and actually Nato has decided to participate in the enforcement of the arms embargo. We are there to protect people not to arm people."
(The progress of the rebel front line, and the latest target of allied air strikes are key indicators of how this crisis is developing - but so too are the eyes and the quiet comments of the Gaddafi minders as they weigh up the potential consequences of their loyalties.
Read Sky producer Tom Rayner's blog from Tripoli)
On Tuesday the US officer in charge of the mission in Libya, Admiral James Stavridis, claimed there were "flickers" of al Qaeda and Hizbollah within the rebel opposition.
However, David Cameron's spokesman disagreed with this and said: "We are in the process of speaking to these people and learning more about their intentions.
"They set out their position very clearly and it did not suggest an extremist agenda."
Libya's Foreign Minister 'Defects To UK'
Libya's foreign minister has arrived in the UK after defecting from Colonel Gaddafi's regime, according to reports.
Questions were earlier raised about the whereabouts of Musa Kusa after he was reported by a Tunisian news agency to have headed to London on a flight from the country.
A Libyan government spokesman later said he had not defected and was on a "diplomatic mission", but declined to say where he was going.
Another report said one of his closest allies had confirmed he was in Britain seeking refuge.
Noman Benotman, a friend and analyst at Britain's Quilliam think-tank, told Reuters news agency: "He has defected from the regime.
"He wasn't happy at all. He doesn't support the Government attacks on civilians."
The British Foreign Office has declined to say whether it was aware of the development and Libya's deputy foreign minister dismissed the reports as "nonsense".
Meanwhile, there are reports CIA agents were authorised to carry out covert missions to help rebel forces keen to oust Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi.
President Barack Obama is said to have signed an order - known as a "finding" - for the secret operations in the past two or three weeks.
It came to light after US officials spoke to reporters following a briefing with senior members of the Obama administration, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The CIA and the White House have declined to comment.
However, it emerged after Libya's rebel forces were forced out of the key oil town of Ras Lanuf by a barrage of tank and artillery fire from troops loyal to Colonel Gaddafi.
Anti-government fighters retreated by 100 miles in just a few hours as Nato planes bombarded Col Gaddafi's forces.
In the latest blow to morale for the outgunned insurgents, they have have been driven back from positions they had occupied in the past few days, including Bin Jawad.
Some fighters, mostly armed with light weapons and riding on 4x4 pick-ups, said they had been overwhelmed by the superior firepower and range of Gaddafi's weaponry.
Sky's security editor Sam Kiley said the rebels lost Ras Lanuf because the coalition was reluctant to carry out airstrikes on troops loyal to Col Gaddafi.
In Tripoli, Sky's Jeremy Thompson said Gaddafi supporters had been heard celebrating the dramatic reversal of fortune.
It came as UK Prime Minister David Cameron joined the US President in refusing to rule out the possibility of supplying arms to opposition fighters.
US Secretary of State has said no decision has been made about giving them weapons.
Vehicles packed with rebels have been seen racing east on Wednesday, just days after their push west - towards the capital Tripoli and Col Gaddafi's stronghold of Sirte - gathered pace thanks to coalition airstrikes.
Meanwhile, five Libyan diplomats have been expelled from the UK.
Foreign Secretary William Haguesaid if the diplomats remained in the country they could "pose a threat" to security.
Sky sources say the five are regarded as the strongest supporters of the Libyan regime within the embassy.
Speaking in the House of Commons during Prime Minister's Questions earlier, Mr Cameron said a decision had not yet been made on supplying anti-regime forces with weapons.
However, he added that United Nations resolutions "would not necessarily rule out the provision of assistance to those protecting civilians in certain circumstances".
His announcement comes after Barack Obama made similar comments in a series of TV interviews.
The president earlier said he had already agreed to provide non-lethal aid like communications equipment, medical supplies and perhaps transportation to the opposition.
However, Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Sky News he does not believe the resolution will allow the coalition to arm rebels.
"The Security Council Resolution is very clear in my opinion," he said.
"It requests the enforcement of an arms embargo and actually Nato has decided to participate in the enforcement of the arms embargo. We are there to protect people not to arm people."
(The progress of the rebel front line, and the latest target of allied air strikes are key indicators of how this crisis is developing - but so too are the eyes and the quiet comments of the Gaddafi minders as they weigh up the potential consequences of their loyalties.
Read Sky producer Tom Rayner's blog from Tripoli)
On Tuesday the US officer in charge of the mission in Libya, Admiral James Stavridis, claimed there were "flickers" of al Qaeda and Hizbollah within the rebel opposition.
However, David Cameron's spokesman disagreed with this and said: "We are in the process of speaking to these people and learning more about their intentions.
"They set out their position very clearly and it did not suggest an extremist agenda."
Động Đất Khủng Khiếp Ở Nhật (53)_IAEA worried about radiation in Japan village
IAEA worried about radiation in Japan village
AFP) – 4 hours ago
A Greenpeace team member holding a Geiger counter displaying radiation levels
VIENNA — Radiation levels recorded at a village outside the evacuation zone around the quake-striken Fukushima nuclear plant are above safe levels, the UN atomic watchdog said Wednesday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said safe limits had been exceeded at Iitate village, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Fukushima, well outside the government-imposed 20 kilometre exclusion zone and the 30-kilometre "stay indoors" zone.
"The first assessment indicates that one of the IAEA operational criteria for evacuation is exceeded in Iitate village," the IAEA's head of nuclear safety and security, Denis Flory, told reporters here.
The watchdog had advised Japanese authorities to "carefully assess the situation and they have indicated that it is already under assessment," Flory said.
But he said the IAEA -- which does not have the mandate to order national authorities to act -- was not calling for a general widening of the exclusion zone.
Iitate lies 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which was crippled by a tsunami on March 11 and several explosions, leading to frantic efforts to prevent a catastrophic meltdown.
Advice had been given to "carefully assess the situation and they have indicated that it is already under assessment," he said.
The reading in Iitate was merely a spot reading, he said.
"Deposition of radioactivity is something which is not the same everywhere, it depends on wind, it depends on rain and also on profile of terrain," Flory said.
"Saying at one point that there is a need to assess further does not mean that all around that is a concern."
But he said that overall, the situation at Fukushima "remains very serious."
According to Elena Buglova, head of the IAEA's Incident and Emergency Centre, the reading in Iitate village was 2 megabecquerels per square metre.
That was a "ratio about two times higher than levels" at which the agency recommends evacuations, she explained.
AFP) – 4 hours ago
A Greenpeace team member holding a Geiger counter displaying radiation levels
VIENNA — Radiation levels recorded at a village outside the evacuation zone around the quake-striken Fukushima nuclear plant are above safe levels, the UN atomic watchdog said Wednesday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said safe limits had been exceeded at Iitate village, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Fukushima, well outside the government-imposed 20 kilometre exclusion zone and the 30-kilometre "stay indoors" zone.
"The first assessment indicates that one of the IAEA operational criteria for evacuation is exceeded in Iitate village," the IAEA's head of nuclear safety and security, Denis Flory, told reporters here.
The watchdog had advised Japanese authorities to "carefully assess the situation and they have indicated that it is already under assessment," Flory said.
But he said the IAEA -- which does not have the mandate to order national authorities to act -- was not calling for a general widening of the exclusion zone.
Iitate lies 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which was crippled by a tsunami on March 11 and several explosions, leading to frantic efforts to prevent a catastrophic meltdown.
Advice had been given to "carefully assess the situation and they have indicated that it is already under assessment," he said.
The reading in Iitate was merely a spot reading, he said.
"Deposition of radioactivity is something which is not the same everywhere, it depends on wind, it depends on rain and also on profile of terrain," Flory said.
"Saying at one point that there is a need to assess further does not mean that all around that is a concern."
But he said that overall, the situation at Fukushima "remains very serious."
According to Elena Buglova, head of the IAEA's Incident and Emergency Centre, the reading in Iitate village was 2 megabecquerels per square metre.
That was a "ratio about two times higher than levels" at which the agency recommends evacuations, she explained.
Động Đất Khủng Khiếp Ở Nhật (52)_URGENT: Edano suggests scrapping of all reactors at Fukushima Daiichi plant
URGENT: Edano suggests scrapping of all reactors at Fukushima Daiichi plant
TOKYO, March 30, Kyodo
Top government spokesman Yukio Edano suggested Wednesday that all of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant should be scrapped.
''It is very clear looking at the social circumstances. That is my perception,'' Edano said in a news conference when asked if all six reactors at the troubled nuclear plant should be decommissioned.
Earlier in the day, Tsunehisa Katsumata, chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Co., said the company sees decommissioning the Nos. 1-4 reactors at the plant as inevitable. ==Kyodo
_____________
Tokyo Electric to scrap 4 reactors at crippled nuclear plant
TOKYO, March 30, Kyodo
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday that it will scrap the four crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as the country struggles to bring the nuclear crisis under control weeks after a powerful earthquake and tsunami.
The utility said that while the cost of compensation in connection with the nuclear disaster will be daunting and will undermine it financially, the company will try hard to remain afloat and avoid nationalization.
''We have no choice but to scrap reactors 1 to 4 if we look at their conditions objectively,'' said Tsunehisa Katsumata, the company's chairman, at a news conference.
Since losing cooling functions following the deadly natural disaster on March 11, four of the six reactors at the nuclear power plant northeast of Tokyo have leaked radioactive materials into the air and sea.
While workers are continuing efforts to prevent the reactors from overheating and restore their cooling systems, all six reactors at the plant have been stabilized to some degree, Katsumata said.
But as the cooling systems have yet to be restored for the Nos. 1-4 reactors to bring them into a stable condition called ''cold shutdown,'' the company, known also as TEPCO, will make maximum efforts, Katsumata added.
The Nos. 5 and 6 reactors were already in a state of cold shutdown.
''We apologize for causing the public anxiety, worry and trouble due to the explosions at reactor buildings and the release of radioactive materials,'' Katsumata said at the news conference at the company's head office.
Earlier Wednesday, TEPCO said its president, Masataka Shimizu, was hospitalized Tuesday for hypertension and dizziness.
His hospitalization came after reports that Shimizu had fallen sick on March 16 and taken some days off from manning a liaison office set up between the government and the utility to regain control of the plant.
Katsumata has already taken over Shimizu's role temporarily in leading efforts to bring the crisis under control, the company said, adding that Shimizu would return to work as soon as he recovers.
It will not take long for Shimizu to return to work and resume taking the lead in handling the crisis, Katsumata said.
As to the managerial responsibilities he and Shimizu should bear, Katsumata said, ''Our greatest responsibility is to put everything into bringing the current situation to an end and under control.''
Shimizu has rarely appeared in public since attending a news conference on March 13, two days after the natural disaster wreaked havoc on northeastern Japan.
Reactors at the roughly 40-year-old plant built on the Pacific coast of Fukushima Prefecture lost cooling functions after the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami waves knocked out power, precipitating the nuclear crisis that has forced tens of thousands of local residents to evacuate.
==Kyodo
TOKYO, March 30, Kyodo
Top government spokesman Yukio Edano suggested Wednesday that all of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant should be scrapped.
''It is very clear looking at the social circumstances. That is my perception,'' Edano said in a news conference when asked if all six reactors at the troubled nuclear plant should be decommissioned.
Earlier in the day, Tsunehisa Katsumata, chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Co., said the company sees decommissioning the Nos. 1-4 reactors at the plant as inevitable. ==Kyodo
_____________
Tokyo Electric to scrap 4 reactors at crippled nuclear plant
TOKYO, March 30, Kyodo
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday that it will scrap the four crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as the country struggles to bring the nuclear crisis under control weeks after a powerful earthquake and tsunami.
The utility said that while the cost of compensation in connection with the nuclear disaster will be daunting and will undermine it financially, the company will try hard to remain afloat and avoid nationalization.
''We have no choice but to scrap reactors 1 to 4 if we look at their conditions objectively,'' said Tsunehisa Katsumata, the company's chairman, at a news conference.
Since losing cooling functions following the deadly natural disaster on March 11, four of the six reactors at the nuclear power plant northeast of Tokyo have leaked radioactive materials into the air and sea.
While workers are continuing efforts to prevent the reactors from overheating and restore their cooling systems, all six reactors at the plant have been stabilized to some degree, Katsumata said.
But as the cooling systems have yet to be restored for the Nos. 1-4 reactors to bring them into a stable condition called ''cold shutdown,'' the company, known also as TEPCO, will make maximum efforts, Katsumata added.
The Nos. 5 and 6 reactors were already in a state of cold shutdown.
''We apologize for causing the public anxiety, worry and trouble due to the explosions at reactor buildings and the release of radioactive materials,'' Katsumata said at the news conference at the company's head office.
Earlier Wednesday, TEPCO said its president, Masataka Shimizu, was hospitalized Tuesday for hypertension and dizziness.
His hospitalization came after reports that Shimizu had fallen sick on March 16 and taken some days off from manning a liaison office set up between the government and the utility to regain control of the plant.
Katsumata has already taken over Shimizu's role temporarily in leading efforts to bring the crisis under control, the company said, adding that Shimizu would return to work as soon as he recovers.
It will not take long for Shimizu to return to work and resume taking the lead in handling the crisis, Katsumata said.
As to the managerial responsibilities he and Shimizu should bear, Katsumata said, ''Our greatest responsibility is to put everything into bringing the current situation to an end and under control.''
Shimizu has rarely appeared in public since attending a news conference on March 13, two days after the natural disaster wreaked havoc on northeastern Japan.
Reactors at the roughly 40-year-old plant built on the Pacific coast of Fukushima Prefecture lost cooling functions after the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami waves knocked out power, precipitating the nuclear crisis that has forced tens of thousands of local residents to evacuate.
==Kyodo
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Chuyện Đời Tréo Cẳng Ngỗng (1)_Why I called Bradley Manning's treatment 'stupid'
Why I called Bradley Manning's treatment 'stupid'
The US should uphold the highest standards towards its citizens, including the WikiLeaks accused. I stand by what I said
Share418 Comments (241)
PJ Crowley
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 March 2011 16.00 BST
Article history
The way suspected WikiLeaks leaker Bradley Manning is being treated in the Marine Corps brig at Quantico, Virginia amounts to abuse, his lawyer has said. Photograph: AP
Earlier this month, I was asked by an MIT graduate student why the United States government was "torturing" Private First Class Bradley Manning, who is accused of being the source of the WikiLeaks cables that have been reported by the Guardian and other news outlets and posted online. The fact is the government is doing no such thing. But questions about his treatment have led to a review by the UN special rapporteur on torture, and challenged the legitimacy of his pending prosecution.
As a public diplomat and (until recently) spokesman of the department of state, I was responsible for explaining the national security policy of the United States to the American people and populations abroad. I am also a retired military officer who has long believed that our civilian power must balance our military power. Part of our strength comes from international recognition that the United States practises what we preach. Most of the time, we do. This strategic narrative has made us, broadly speaking, the most admired country in the world.
To be clear, Private Manning is rightly facing prosecution and, if convicted, should spend a long, long time in prison. Having been deeply engaged in the WikiLeaks issue for many months, I know that the 251,000 diplomatic cables included properly classified information directly connected to our national interest. The release placed the lives of activists around the world at risk.
Julian Assange and others have suggested that the release of the cables was to expose wrongdoing. Nonsense.
While everyone can point to an isolated cable, taken as a whole, the cables tell a compelling story of "rightdoing" – of US diplomats engaged in 189 countries around the world, working on behalf of the American people, and serving broader interests as well. As a nation, we are proud of the story the cables tell, even as we decry their release.
But I understood why the question was asked. Private Manning's family, joined by a number of human rights organisations, has questioned the extremely restrictive conditions he has experienced at the brig at Marine Corps base Quantico, Virginia. I focused on the fact that he was forced to sleep naked, which led to a circumstance where he stood naked for morning call.
Based on 30 years of government experience, if you have to explain why a guy is standing naked in the middle of a jail cell, you have a policy in need of urgent review. The Pentagon was quick to point out that no women were present when he did so, which is completely beside the point.
The issue is a loss of dignity, not modesty.
Our strategic narrative connects our policies to our interests, values and aspirations. While what we do, day in and day out, is broadly consistent with the universal principles we espouse, individual actions can become disconnected. Every once in a while, even a top-notch symphony strikes a discordant note. So it is in this instance.
The Pentagon has said that it is playing the Manning case by the book. The book tells us what actions we can take, but not always what we should do. Actions can be legal and still not smart. With the Manning case unfolding in a fishbowl-like environment, going strictly by the book is not good enough. Private Manning's overly restrictive and even petty treatment undermines what is otherwise a strong legal and ethical position.
When the United States leads by example, we are not trying to win a popularity contest. Rather, we are pursuing our long-term strategic interest. The United States cannot expect others to meet international standards if we are seen as falling short. Differences become strategic when magnified through the lens of today's relentless 24/7 global media environment.
So, when I was asked about the "elephant in the room," I said the treatment of Private Manning, while well-intentioned, was "ridiculous" and "counterproductive" and, yes, "stupid".
I stand by what I said. The United States should set the global standard for treatment of its citizens – and then exceed it. It is what the world expects of us. It is what we should expect of ourselves.
The US should uphold the highest standards towards its citizens, including the WikiLeaks accused. I stand by what I said
Share418 Comments (241)
PJ Crowley
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 March 2011 16.00 BST
Article history
The way suspected WikiLeaks leaker Bradley Manning is being treated in the Marine Corps brig at Quantico, Virginia amounts to abuse, his lawyer has said. Photograph: AP
Earlier this month, I was asked by an MIT graduate student why the United States government was "torturing" Private First Class Bradley Manning, who is accused of being the source of the WikiLeaks cables that have been reported by the Guardian and other news outlets and posted online. The fact is the government is doing no such thing. But questions about his treatment have led to a review by the UN special rapporteur on torture, and challenged the legitimacy of his pending prosecution.
As a public diplomat and (until recently) spokesman of the department of state, I was responsible for explaining the national security policy of the United States to the American people and populations abroad. I am also a retired military officer who has long believed that our civilian power must balance our military power. Part of our strength comes from international recognition that the United States practises what we preach. Most of the time, we do. This strategic narrative has made us, broadly speaking, the most admired country in the world.
To be clear, Private Manning is rightly facing prosecution and, if convicted, should spend a long, long time in prison. Having been deeply engaged in the WikiLeaks issue for many months, I know that the 251,000 diplomatic cables included properly classified information directly connected to our national interest. The release placed the lives of activists around the world at risk.
Julian Assange and others have suggested that the release of the cables was to expose wrongdoing. Nonsense.
While everyone can point to an isolated cable, taken as a whole, the cables tell a compelling story of "rightdoing" – of US diplomats engaged in 189 countries around the world, working on behalf of the American people, and serving broader interests as well. As a nation, we are proud of the story the cables tell, even as we decry their release.
But I understood why the question was asked. Private Manning's family, joined by a number of human rights organisations, has questioned the extremely restrictive conditions he has experienced at the brig at Marine Corps base Quantico, Virginia. I focused on the fact that he was forced to sleep naked, which led to a circumstance where he stood naked for morning call.
Based on 30 years of government experience, if you have to explain why a guy is standing naked in the middle of a jail cell, you have a policy in need of urgent review. The Pentagon was quick to point out that no women were present when he did so, which is completely beside the point.
The issue is a loss of dignity, not modesty.
Our strategic narrative connects our policies to our interests, values and aspirations. While what we do, day in and day out, is broadly consistent with the universal principles we espouse, individual actions can become disconnected. Every once in a while, even a top-notch symphony strikes a discordant note. So it is in this instance.
The Pentagon has said that it is playing the Manning case by the book. The book tells us what actions we can take, but not always what we should do. Actions can be legal and still not smart. With the Manning case unfolding in a fishbowl-like environment, going strictly by the book is not good enough. Private Manning's overly restrictive and even petty treatment undermines what is otherwise a strong legal and ethical position.
When the United States leads by example, we are not trying to win a popularity contest. Rather, we are pursuing our long-term strategic interest. The United States cannot expect others to meet international standards if we are seen as falling short. Differences become strategic when magnified through the lens of today's relentless 24/7 global media environment.
So, when I was asked about the "elephant in the room," I said the treatment of Private Manning, while well-intentioned, was "ridiculous" and "counterproductive" and, yes, "stupid".
I stand by what I said. The United States should set the global standard for treatment of its citizens – and then exceed it. It is what the world expects of us. It is what we should expect of ourselves.
Tại Sao Cách Mạng Hoa Lài Tại Libya Phải Thành Công ?(1)_Gaddafi's survival could end the Arab revolt
Gaddafi issues defiant challenge to Libya conference in London
Libyan leader condemns 'crusader strategy' amid speculation that his foreign minister has defected
Share21
Ian Black in Tripoli
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 March 2011 21.18 BST
Article history
A rebel soldier in Bin Jawad urges people to flee shelling by Gaddafi’s forces. Photograph: Anja Niedringhaus/AP
Muammar Gaddafi told the London conference discussing Libya's future without him that there was no room for compromise with the Benghazi-based rebels, whom he described bluntly as al-Qaida terrorists supported by Nato and representing no one.
Far from showing any sign of bending to demands from Barack Obama, David Cameron and other world leaders that he step down, Gaddafi issued a characteristically defiant challenge to what he called a "new crusader strategy or imperialist plan".
But three powerful explosions that shook Tripoli in mid-afternoon – apparently the first daylight attack in 10 days of UN-mandated air strikes – seemed to presage a possible escalation of the conflict. Libyan officials made no comment.
In another dramatic development, there was speculation that Gaddafi's foreign minister, Mousa Kousa, might have defected during a visit to Tunisia.
The Libyan leader warned that the UN-imposed no-fly zone would turn north Africa into "a second Afghanistan" in an extraordinary letter sent to the European Parliament, the US Congress and "the Europeans" meeting in London.
"Stop your barbaric and unjust offensive against Libya," he wrote. "Leave Libya for the Libyans. You are carrying out an operation to exterminate a peaceful people and destroy a developing country. We are united behind the leadership of the revolution, facing the terrorism of al-Qaida on the one hand and on the other hand terrorism by Nato, which now directly supports al-Qaida."
The full text shows the Libyan leader to be baffled by the ingratitude of the world towards him after years of rapprochement and utterly dismissive of concerns about the use of violence against his own people.
Gaddafi argued that there was no need for foreign intervention, that Libya's "direct democracy" had no parallel and that its oil resources were the property of its people – a reference to the widespread perception among his supporters that the war is a conspiracy to divide the country and steal its natural resources.
Libya has made every effort to help solve global problems, abandoned its weapons of mass destruction, helped the international effort to fight "extremist terrorism", controlled illegal immigration to Europe and played a positive role in Africa. "There were no demonstrations in Libya or protests like in Tunisia and Egypt," he claimed.
"No one opened fire on demonstrators. No more than 150 people were killed and most of those were soldiers and policemen who were defending themselves." He attacked a "deliberately fabricated image" of Libya to justify the "second crusader war", accusing the coalition of committing "merciless massacres".
Kousa, intriguingly, chose the eve of the London conference to pay what was described as a private visit to neighbouring Tunisia, the country's nearest outlet to the outside world as the no-fly zone has closed all Libyan airports. Tunisian sources said Kousa had left later for an unknown destination. Kousa's status as veteran Gaddafi stalwart and former intelligence and security chief provoked immediate speculation that he may have followed diplomats who quit en masse in the first days of the uprising. If he has, it would be a grave blow to the regime – and vindication of claims in Washington and elsewhere that cracks are appearing in Gaddafi's inner circle.
Kousa's deputy, Khaled Kaim, accused the allies of seeking to partition Libya. "The tactic of the coalition is to lead to a stalemate to cut the country in two, which means the civil war is a continuous war, the start of a new Somalia, a very dangerous situation," he told Italy's Rai Uno TV channel.
"If we are led to a civil war, resolution 1973, which was meant to protect civilians, will on the contrary lead to the murder of civilians." UN resolution 1973, passed earlier this month, authorised "all necessary measures" to protect civilians.
State-run media are continuing to highlight the human toll of the allied attacks, including 12 the regime claims were killed in Sebha, on the edge of the Sahara, when Nato planes hit an ammunition dump. Airstrikes also hit what were described as "military and civilian targets" in the cities of Garyan and Mizda, 40 miles and 90 miles respectively from Tripoli.
Foreign journalists who were taken to Mizda were forced to flee when residents fired over their heads. It was unclear whether the violent protest was against the international media or their official government minders.
___________
Gaddafi's survival could end the Arab revolt
If the uprising in Libya is to succeed, then international effort, via the Arab League, must help the people to help themselves
Comments (99)
Simon Tisdall
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 March 2011 17.11 GMT
Article history
Mourners carry the body of a victim of the violence during a funeral procession in Benghazi, Libya. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images
The giddy prospect of a third "Facebook revolution" in the Middle East, with Libya swiftly following Tunisia and Egypt into a brave new post-autocratic era, is fading from view. The growing military and diplomatic stalemate, both inside and outside the country, suggests efforts to topple Muammar Gaddafi could fail, at least in the short term.
His survival may, in turn, mark the beginning of the end of the Arab world revolt.
Despite daily reports of aerial bombing and ground skirmishes, fighting between pro-Gaddafi forces and opposition groups remains sporadic and undirected. After the rebels' significant early successes in seizing control of Benghazi, most of eastern Libya and some towns closer to Tripoli, their uncoordinated advance has lost momentum and stalled. Talk of a grand march on the capital remains just that – talk.
Gaddafi is strengthening his grip on Tripoli, partly by terrorising its citizens. A new crackdown is expected after Friday prayers. But his efforts to take back opposition-held towns, notably Brega, have also been inconclusive. Regime air attacks, as reported by international media, appear curiously half-hearted and largely inaccurate. And thankfully, both sides' casualties in the most recent fighting seem to be relatively light, notwithstanding an emotive claim by Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, that Gaddafi is "slaughtering his people".
The military stand-off inside Libya is matched by paralysis outside the country over military intervention. The Americans are hesitant in the extreme. Defence secretary Robert Gates has repeatedly highlighted the risks inherent in any attempt to impose a no-fly zone, as mooted by David Cameron and others. Gates says, rightly, that in order to create such a zone, the US and its allies would first have to destroy Gaddafi's air force and air defences – in effect, declare war.
These defences are formidable, posing on paper at least a far greater challenge than that presented by Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, or the Serbian military in Bosnia – two recent cases where no-fly zones were imposed. They include an estimated 100 MiG-25s and 15 Mirage F-1s equipped with air-to-air missiles and numerous Russian-made Sam ground batteries. Gaddafi can also call on 30 or more Russian helicopter gunships and four Boeing Chinooks. Mostly these assets do not appear to have been deployed so far.
There's diplomatic stalemate, too. After keeping mum while the crisis unfolded, Barack Obama called on Thursday for Gaddafi to stand down. But the US president offered no clue as to whether he had a plan to force him out, or indeed any plan at all for Libya. At the same time, Washington is rubbishing efforts by its arch enemy, Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan leader, to set up an international commission to mediate a peace deal.
"You don't need an international commission to tell Colonel Gaddafi what he needs to do for the good of his country and the good of his people," said the state department spokesman, PJ Crowley. "He should step aside, and for the good of his people, he should stop attacking them."
It's not just the Americans. Neither the UN security council nor the EU has much to offer in the way of diplomatic initiatives. Having condemned Gaddafi, imposed largely symbolic sanctions, and agreed how awful the situation is, they have become spectators.
Individual states such as Britain, France and Italy have launched laudable humanitarian relief operations. But these are stop-gap measures, not solutions. Likewise the Arab League and the African Union, who should be leading the way given their close structural relationship with Libya, issue statements and effectively do nothing. Perhaps, one day, the international criminal court will bring Gaddafi to justice. But don't hold your breath.
International impotence and division in the face of fast-moving political crises is nothing new. Direct intervention, as in Iraq in 2003 or Kosovo in 1999, is the exception, not the rule, and usually counter-productive. But there is no reason why the international community, including emerging powers such as China, India and Brazil, should not do more to help the Arabs help themselves. The proper channel for such engagement is via the Arab League, which says, for example, that it may impose its own no-fly zone on Libya but lacks capability and expertise.
If Arab reform is to succeed, it needs more victories – and more scalps. Protesters in Bahrain, Algeria, Yemen, Oman and elsewhere who, like the opposition to Gaddafi, are pitted against intransigent and occasionally brutal regimes, must be watching Libya's developing internal stalemate and the disjointed international response with dismay.
The longer Gaddafi hangs on, the faster momentum behind the revolt across the rest of the Arab world may be lost. The overthrow of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak raised great hopes for all. Gaddafi's survival could break their hearts.
Libyan leader condemns 'crusader strategy' amid speculation that his foreign minister has defected
Share21
Ian Black in Tripoli
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 March 2011 21.18 BST
Article history
A rebel soldier in Bin Jawad urges people to flee shelling by Gaddafi’s forces. Photograph: Anja Niedringhaus/AP
Muammar Gaddafi told the London conference discussing Libya's future without him that there was no room for compromise with the Benghazi-based rebels, whom he described bluntly as al-Qaida terrorists supported by Nato and representing no one.
Far from showing any sign of bending to demands from Barack Obama, David Cameron and other world leaders that he step down, Gaddafi issued a characteristically defiant challenge to what he called a "new crusader strategy or imperialist plan".
But three powerful explosions that shook Tripoli in mid-afternoon – apparently the first daylight attack in 10 days of UN-mandated air strikes – seemed to presage a possible escalation of the conflict. Libyan officials made no comment.
In another dramatic development, there was speculation that Gaddafi's foreign minister, Mousa Kousa, might have defected during a visit to Tunisia.
The Libyan leader warned that the UN-imposed no-fly zone would turn north Africa into "a second Afghanistan" in an extraordinary letter sent to the European Parliament, the US Congress and "the Europeans" meeting in London.
"Stop your barbaric and unjust offensive against Libya," he wrote. "Leave Libya for the Libyans. You are carrying out an operation to exterminate a peaceful people and destroy a developing country. We are united behind the leadership of the revolution, facing the terrorism of al-Qaida on the one hand and on the other hand terrorism by Nato, which now directly supports al-Qaida."
The full text shows the Libyan leader to be baffled by the ingratitude of the world towards him after years of rapprochement and utterly dismissive of concerns about the use of violence against his own people.
Gaddafi argued that there was no need for foreign intervention, that Libya's "direct democracy" had no parallel and that its oil resources were the property of its people – a reference to the widespread perception among his supporters that the war is a conspiracy to divide the country and steal its natural resources.
Libya has made every effort to help solve global problems, abandoned its weapons of mass destruction, helped the international effort to fight "extremist terrorism", controlled illegal immigration to Europe and played a positive role in Africa. "There were no demonstrations in Libya or protests like in Tunisia and Egypt," he claimed.
"No one opened fire on demonstrators. No more than 150 people were killed and most of those were soldiers and policemen who were defending themselves." He attacked a "deliberately fabricated image" of Libya to justify the "second crusader war", accusing the coalition of committing "merciless massacres".
Kousa, intriguingly, chose the eve of the London conference to pay what was described as a private visit to neighbouring Tunisia, the country's nearest outlet to the outside world as the no-fly zone has closed all Libyan airports. Tunisian sources said Kousa had left later for an unknown destination. Kousa's status as veteran Gaddafi stalwart and former intelligence and security chief provoked immediate speculation that he may have followed diplomats who quit en masse in the first days of the uprising. If he has, it would be a grave blow to the regime – and vindication of claims in Washington and elsewhere that cracks are appearing in Gaddafi's inner circle.
Kousa's deputy, Khaled Kaim, accused the allies of seeking to partition Libya. "The tactic of the coalition is to lead to a stalemate to cut the country in two, which means the civil war is a continuous war, the start of a new Somalia, a very dangerous situation," he told Italy's Rai Uno TV channel.
"If we are led to a civil war, resolution 1973, which was meant to protect civilians, will on the contrary lead to the murder of civilians." UN resolution 1973, passed earlier this month, authorised "all necessary measures" to protect civilians.
State-run media are continuing to highlight the human toll of the allied attacks, including 12 the regime claims were killed in Sebha, on the edge of the Sahara, when Nato planes hit an ammunition dump. Airstrikes also hit what were described as "military and civilian targets" in the cities of Garyan and Mizda, 40 miles and 90 miles respectively from Tripoli.
Foreign journalists who were taken to Mizda were forced to flee when residents fired over their heads. It was unclear whether the violent protest was against the international media or their official government minders.
___________
Gaddafi's survival could end the Arab revolt
If the uprising in Libya is to succeed, then international effort, via the Arab League, must help the people to help themselves
Comments (99)
Simon Tisdall
guardian.co.uk, Friday 4 March 2011 17.11 GMT
Article history
Mourners carry the body of a victim of the violence during a funeral procession in Benghazi, Libya. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images
The giddy prospect of a third "Facebook revolution" in the Middle East, with Libya swiftly following Tunisia and Egypt into a brave new post-autocratic era, is fading from view. The growing military and diplomatic stalemate, both inside and outside the country, suggests efforts to topple Muammar Gaddafi could fail, at least in the short term.
His survival may, in turn, mark the beginning of the end of the Arab world revolt.
Despite daily reports of aerial bombing and ground skirmishes, fighting between pro-Gaddafi forces and opposition groups remains sporadic and undirected. After the rebels' significant early successes in seizing control of Benghazi, most of eastern Libya and some towns closer to Tripoli, their uncoordinated advance has lost momentum and stalled. Talk of a grand march on the capital remains just that – talk.
Gaddafi is strengthening his grip on Tripoli, partly by terrorising its citizens. A new crackdown is expected after Friday prayers. But his efforts to take back opposition-held towns, notably Brega, have also been inconclusive. Regime air attacks, as reported by international media, appear curiously half-hearted and largely inaccurate. And thankfully, both sides' casualties in the most recent fighting seem to be relatively light, notwithstanding an emotive claim by Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, that Gaddafi is "slaughtering his people".
The military stand-off inside Libya is matched by paralysis outside the country over military intervention. The Americans are hesitant in the extreme. Defence secretary Robert Gates has repeatedly highlighted the risks inherent in any attempt to impose a no-fly zone, as mooted by David Cameron and others. Gates says, rightly, that in order to create such a zone, the US and its allies would first have to destroy Gaddafi's air force and air defences – in effect, declare war.
These defences are formidable, posing on paper at least a far greater challenge than that presented by Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, or the Serbian military in Bosnia – two recent cases where no-fly zones were imposed. They include an estimated 100 MiG-25s and 15 Mirage F-1s equipped with air-to-air missiles and numerous Russian-made Sam ground batteries. Gaddafi can also call on 30 or more Russian helicopter gunships and four Boeing Chinooks. Mostly these assets do not appear to have been deployed so far.
There's diplomatic stalemate, too. After keeping mum while the crisis unfolded, Barack Obama called on Thursday for Gaddafi to stand down. But the US president offered no clue as to whether he had a plan to force him out, or indeed any plan at all for Libya. At the same time, Washington is rubbishing efforts by its arch enemy, Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan leader, to set up an international commission to mediate a peace deal.
"You don't need an international commission to tell Colonel Gaddafi what he needs to do for the good of his country and the good of his people," said the state department spokesman, PJ Crowley. "He should step aside, and for the good of his people, he should stop attacking them."
It's not just the Americans. Neither the UN security council nor the EU has much to offer in the way of diplomatic initiatives. Having condemned Gaddafi, imposed largely symbolic sanctions, and agreed how awful the situation is, they have become spectators.
Individual states such as Britain, France and Italy have launched laudable humanitarian relief operations. But these are stop-gap measures, not solutions. Likewise the Arab League and the African Union, who should be leading the way given their close structural relationship with Libya, issue statements and effectively do nothing. Perhaps, one day, the international criminal court will bring Gaddafi to justice. But don't hold your breath.
International impotence and division in the face of fast-moving political crises is nothing new. Direct intervention, as in Iraq in 2003 or Kosovo in 1999, is the exception, not the rule, and usually counter-productive. But there is no reason why the international community, including emerging powers such as China, India and Brazil, should not do more to help the Arabs help themselves. The proper channel for such engagement is via the Arab League, which says, for example, that it may impose its own no-fly zone on Libya but lacks capability and expertise.
If Arab reform is to succeed, it needs more victories – and more scalps. Protesters in Bahrain, Algeria, Yemen, Oman and elsewhere who, like the opposition to Gaddafi, are pitted against intransigent and occasionally brutal regimes, must be watching Libya's developing internal stalemate and the disjointed international response with dismay.
The longer Gaddafi hangs on, the faster momentum behind the revolt across the rest of the Arab world may be lost. The overthrow of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak raised great hopes for all. Gaddafi's survival could break their hearts.
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