The regime of Col Muammar Gaddafi of Libya was on the verge of collapse on Monday night, but the dictator hit out at the “dogs” who claimed he had fled the country.
In his brief appearance on Libyan television, where he was filmed leaning out of the back of a car holding an umbrella, Gaddafi claimed he was still in Tripoli.
By Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent, James Kirkup in Kuwait City and Nabila Ramdani in Cairo12:48AM GMT 22 Feb 2011
As the violence intensified and indiscriminate shootings were reported in Tripoli, Gaddafi appeared on state television early on Tuesday to deny “malicious reports” he had fled after several cities fell to opposition forces.
Libyan air force jets launched bombing raids on military bases and, it was claimed, rebel areas in a final attempt to reassert control. .
Two colonels in the air force flew their jets to Malta, saying they had refused orders to fire on protesters in the second city Benghazi and wanted to seek asylum. .
Senior regime figures, including his public security minister, justice minister and seven ambassadors around the world, also deserted Col Gaddafi. Libya’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim Omar al-Dabashi, described his leader’s actions as “genocide” and pleaded for international intervention. .
In his brief appearance on Libyan television, where he was filmed leaning out of the back of a car holding an umbrella, Gaddafi claimed he was still in Tripoli.
Brendan Burns, MP for Christchurch Central: "The situation is pretty desperat
BBC., 22 February 2011Last updated at 04:03 GMT
Multiple fatalities have been reported after a powerful -magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island, police say.
The tremor, which hit at 1251 (2351 GMT on Monday) only 10km (6.2 miles) south-east of the city at a depth of 5km (3.1 miles), caused widespread destruction.
The fire service said numerous people were trapped in buildings, and a state of emergency has been declared.
The damage is said to be far worse than after September's 7.1-magnitude quake.
Two people were seriously injured by the tremor, whose epicentre was further away and deeper. It caused an estimated $3bn in damage.
There have been several aftershocks since last September's quake, with a 4.9 magnitude tremor hitting just after Christmas.
'Very black day'
The Pyne Gould Guinness building in central Christchurch suffered severe damage
TV pictures of the aftermath of Tuesday's earthquake showed several collapsed buildings in the centre of Christchurch.
People could be seen wandering the rubble-filled streets in distress.
Local police said there were reports of multiple fatalities, including that two buses had been crushed by falling buildings.
There were also reports of fires and of numerous people being trapped in collapsed buildings, they added. Witnesses said up to 150 people were feared trapped inside the Pyne Gould Guinness building alone.
Local television showed bodies being pulled out of rubble strewn around the city centre. It was not known if they were alive.
Christchurch Cathedral, an iconic stone building in the centre of the city, was partly destroyed, its spire toppling into the square below.
"I was in the square right outside the cathedral - the whole front has fallen down and there were people running from there - there were people inside as well," John Gurr, a camera technician, told the Reuters news agency. "Colombo Street, the main street, is just a mess."
Radio New Zealand reported that its staff had to cling to their desks during the tremor, and that a church near its offices had collapsed.
Concrete in Victoria Square had risen at least a metre in some places and there are signs of liquefaction around the Avon river, RNZ added.
"When the shaking had stopped I looked out of the window, which gives a great view onto Christchurch, and there was just dust"
Power and telephone lines were knocked out, and pipes burst, flooding the streets with water.
There is also a shortage of ambulances, so private vehicles are being used to ferry the injured to triage centres. Initial reports said the main hospital had been evacuated, but this was later denied by the police.
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said he was on the top floor of the city council building when the quake hit, throwing him across the room.
"I got down onto the street and there were scenes of great confusion, a lot of very upset people," he said. "What I can see from where I am in the central city is that there are significant amounts of additional damage."
"Make no mistake - this is going to be a very black day for this shaken city," he added.
Christopher Stent said Christchurch's roads were gridlocked with people trying to flee the city as the authorities have instructed.
"The whole house shook... it looks a bit like a bombsite," he told the BBC. "My whole body felt like it was out of control."
Prime Minister John Key told parliament that the reports from Christchurch had spoken of "significant damage".
"The worrying fear, of course, is that this earthquake has taken place at a time when people were going about their business - it is a very populated time, with people at work, children at school. Sadly, I cannot rule out that there have been fatalities."
Mr Key is due to arrive in Christchurch shortly.
The military was later called in by the government to assist the rescue effort.
National Civil Defence Controller David Coetzee said "significant" aftershocks should now be expected.
New Zealand lies at the southern end of the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, and above an area of the Earth's crust where the Pacific Plate converges with the Indo-Australian Plate.
The country experiences more than 14,000 earthquakes a year, of which only around 20 have a magnitude in excess of 5.0.
The last fatal earthquake was in 1968, when a 7.1-magnitude tremor killed three people on the South Island's western coast.
2nd-largest city ‘is free’ from Gadhafi, protesters say
This photograph, taken by a person not employed by AP, shows people gathering during unrest in Benghazi, the second-largest city in Libya. Residents of the city told reporters by telephone that it was liberated Sunday after soldiers threw their lot with protesters. The claim could not be immediately confirmed. (Associated Press)
8:47 p.m., Sunday, February 20, 2011 Posted Monday ,February 21, 2011.,, 17:07 Local
The United States is “gravely concerned” about the widespread violence in Libya, as reports Sunday said the country’s second-largest city, Benghazi, was in the hands of rebel soldiers and anti-government protesters who had occupied the official residence of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
.
“In Benghazi and in the coastal areas, we are very concerned about reports of security forces firing on peaceful protesters,” said U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan E. Rice.
“We’ve condemned that violence,” she told NBC‘s “Meet the Press.” “Our view is that in Libya, as throughout the region, the peaceful protests need to be respected.”
.
A statement from the U.S. State Department later Sunday added that officials are “gravely concerned with disturbing reports and images coming out of Libya,” where human-rights groups say as many as 200 protesters have been killed in clashes with security forces in recent days.
“We are working to ascertain the facts,” said the statement from spokesman P.J. Crowley.
.
ACROSS AFRICA: Protesters march during unrest in Rabat, Morocco, on Sunday as pro-democracy protests intensify across the Arab world, with demonstrators continuing to demand an end to decades of despotic rule. The protests were the first to break out in Morocco. (Associated Press)
He said the U.S. has raised concerns with “a number of Libyan officials, including Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kasa, our strong objections to the use of lethal force against peaceful demonstrators.”
.
Residents of Benghazi in eastern Libya told reporters by telephone that the city was liberated after soldiers threw their lot with the protesters about 8 p.m. local time.
“Benghazi is free,” a resident named only as Maari told Al Jazeera English TV. “Now it is all over. The whole system has just collapsed,” he added.
He said members of pro-Gadhafi security forces had left the city.
“They had no choice. We had them surrounded for three days,” he said, noting that the protesters had taken heavy casualties in the past 48 hours but had fought back with “homemade bombs.”
Feb. 20: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waves to the media as he leaves the parliament in Tehran.
Published February 21, 2011
| The Wall Street Journal
BEIRUT—For a second time in a week, Iran's opposition drew tens of thousands of supporters to the streets across the nation on Sunday calling for the end to the Islamic Republic's rule.
In response, the government unleashed what witnesses said was an extraordinary number of security forces to violently battle the crowds.
.
Witnesses said mobs of anti-riot police and plainclothes Basij militia lined the streets and on several occasions fired directly into the crowd and beat protesters with steel batons. In one neighborhood, the Basij took over a commercial building and dropped tear gas canisters from the roof onto the protesters, witnesses said.
.
Basij militia dressed in black shot and killed two young men in Tehran's Vanak and Vali Asr squares, according to witness accounts posted on opposition websites. The victims haven't been identified. Dozens have been injured and arrested, according to witnesses.
.
"This was the most violent protest we've had by far, and people were also really angry and fearless," said one witness from Tehran, adding that the public seemed resolved to stay on the street.
Opposition called for a mass demonstration on Sunday to commemorate the seventh day of mourning for two slain students, Sanah Jaleh, 26 years old, and Mohamad Mokhtari, 22, who were shot dead on Monday when security forces attacked a crowd.
.
The opposition movement is banking on momentum created by a wave of antigovernment uprisings across the Middle East, as well as public uproar at the killing of the two students and the government's attempt to exploit their deaths by claiming falsely they supported the regime.
"Freedom is near, join us in the streets," said one posting on the Facebook group created for Sunday's demonstrations.
.
"Step outside your door, every street is Freedom Square," said another.
In Tehran, protesters targeted government buildings such as the national broadcast company Seda va Sima—seen as a mouthpiece for the regime— chanting "God is great" and "Death to the dictator," witnesses reported on opposition websites.
Israel monitoring Suez-bound Iran ships, but sees no real threat
IDF source says that as long as the ships, as expected, stay outside Israel's territorial waters and make no aggressive moves, there will be no confrontation.
The Israel Navy is monitoring the two Iranian naval ships that are expected to transit the Suez Canal and enter the Mediterranean Sea late Monday afternoon, but no special preparations are being made amid intelligence assessments that the ships pose no threat to Israel.
After the Alvand and its supply ship, the Kharq, left the Persian Gulf port of Bandar Abbas more than three weeks ago, the frigate, its crew augmented by naval cadets, conducted maneuvers in the Gulf of Aden and in the Red Sea.
The Iranian warship Alvand docked in the Persian Gulf in 2009.
Photo by: AFP
According to the information available to Israel's defense establishment, the ships are due to enter the Suez Canal Monday, after Iran requested and received approval from Egypt's canal authority. Canal authorities can deny passage only if they decide ships pose a safety risk. The ships are headed for the Syrian port of Latakia.
Despite the media and diplomatic fuss surrounding what will be the first voyage by an Iranian warship to the Mediterranean in more than three decades, the Israel Navy and the Israel Defense Forces are not taking any special measures. An IDF source yesterday said that as long as the ships, as expected, stay outside Israel's territorial waters and make no aggressive moves, there will be no confrontation.
.
The ships are not thought to be carrying arms shipments for Syria or Hezbollah, as was another Latakia-bound cargo ship stopped by the Israel Navy in November 2009, which turned out to be carrying hundreds of tons of weapons destined for Hezbollah warehouses.
.
Notwithstanding the reassuring remarks by security officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at yesterday's weekly cabinet meeting that in sending the warships through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean, Iran was trying to exploit the recent instability in Egypt. He did not suggest there would be an Israeli response.
"I think we see today what kind of unstable area we live in, an area where Iran is trying to exploit the situation that's been created to try to expand its influence by sending two warships through the Suez Canal," Netanyahu said.
"Israel views this Iranian move with gravity, and this move, along with other moves and developments, reinforces what I've been saying in recent years - that Israel's defense needs will increase and the defense budget will grow accordingly," Netanyahu said.
In a weekend press release, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel is monitoring the ships' movements and has briefed friendly nations on the matter.
.
Although the British-built Alvand is the Iranian navy's flagship and is armed with Chinese-made missiles, Israeli military officials were confident yesterday that in the event of a confrontation the Israel Navy could sink it without advance preparation. "If the navy were to make a positive identification, it could be sunk almost immediately," one senior official said last night. "We're not even dealing with it, because [the Iranians] are only creating a provocation. From the military and marine perspective, the moment the ships enter the Mediterranean, they're entering a trap."
.
According to Ephraim Kam of Israel's Institute for National Security Studies: "Iran wants to say to the world, to the United States, Israel and other countries in the Mideast that it has reach not only in areas close to it but also farther away, including in the Mediterranean."
.
He said Iran is also signaling to Israel that it is prepared to protect its allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon on Israel's northern and southern flanks.
Israeli warships have traversed the Suez Canal in the past, and in at least one case, an Israeli Dolphin-class submarine also passed through what appeared to be a message to Iran. Some foreign media reports say that Dolphins can fire nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.
