The Libyan Protests Continue; Gaddafi Says He Is Still In Power **UPDATED**

The uprising in Libya continues and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is apparently using violence to subdue the protests, including air strikes.

A huge anti-government march in Tripoli on Monday afternoon came under attack by security forces using fighter jets and live ammunition, witnesses told Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera is reporting that 250 people have been killed today and according to the live blog there, much of the Libyan government has resigned in protest.

The Libyan ambassador to the US is pleading for Obama to say something…because we all know how much weight his words carry huh?

“It is the end of the game. We will soon see the fall of this regime,” said Ibrahim Dabbashi in New York, who quit as Libya’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations.

“This is a genocide,” he said. “Col. Khadafy is shooting his own people. He has to get out or the Libyan people will kick him out. I think he knows it.”

Two senior Libyan Air Force colonels made unauthorized landings on nearby Malta in two fighter jets. They said they had been ordered to bombard protesters from the air but did not have the stomach – choosing instead to defect.

Libya’s Justice Minister also reportedly stepped down.

Ali Ojli, who quit as Libya’s ambassador in Washington, called on President Obama to “take a strong position.”

“They have to stop this,” he said on al Jazeera – a positively surreal request from a Libyan diplomat.

The Obama administration, which has chilly relations with Tripoli and little leverage over the regime, made no public statement for most of the day.

Late Monday, Secretary of State Clinton condemned the violence, declaring that “now is the time to stop this unacceptable bloodshed.”

Gaddafi says he is still in Tripoli and his son says there will be civil war if this continues:

[Gaddafi will] “fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet.”

CNN’s Ben Wedeman is reporting the opposition is in control:

Groups of men in civilian clothing, armed with weapons ranging from shotguns to machine guns, guarded streets in eastern Libya on Monday as opposition leaders appeared to be in firm control of much of the region.

Opposition groups formed “popular committees” to maintain some sort of order after pushing out government forces in a spreading revolt against longtime strongman Moammar Gadhafi, who has led the north African country since 1969.

One man who identified himself as a resistance leader said he has been meeting with Libyan military commanders in the region, and that a large part of the army has joined the anti-government forces. An ammunition dump was burning in the nearby desert, apparently set afire by retreating government forces.

And the question now is…should we get involved to stop the attacks?

The Libyan ambassador is urging some kind of no-fly zone being instituted but I would ask if that wouldn’t be a declaration of war against another country? As far as we know Gaddafi is still the leader there, and is recognized as such by the UN and the rest of the world. If it is a declaration of war then should we still follow through with it?

If the answer to that is yes then why in the world would we only put a no-fly zone up? That wouldn’t stop much of the violence, which is on the ground. If your gonna declare war then GO TO WAR!

Rich Lowry:

Reports out of Libya are horrifying, but I think we want to be careful about stumbling into policing Libya. I’m guessing more people are being killed by machine guns on the ground than from the air. Are you going to bomb those machine guns and the ground forces wielding them, too? If not, you’ll look ineffectual. If so, you’re probably in for a full-blown humanitarian intervention. And remember: There will be accidents, and tribes aren’t good at forgiving and forgetting, no matter how pure your intentions.

When Saddam invaded Kuwait we went to war and drove him out. Boots were on the ground. You cannot accomplish anything with a no-fly zone, as the ensuing years demonstrated in Iraq.

Those 3am phone calls keep coming in and as we’ve seen for the past month, ain’t nobody in.

UPDATE

Updates from the live blog:

2:01pm (PST): Online reports say Darnah city now under attack from “mercenaries”.

2:30pm (PST): Further reports that Libyan border guards have abandoned the eastern border with Egypt

2:59pm (PST): Financial Times reports oil groups are preparing to shut down operations in Libya

3:20pm (PST): Al Jazeera Arabic reports that adverts appear in Guinea and Nigeria offering would-be mercenaries up to US $2000 dollars per day

4:00pm (PST): A group of Libyan army officers have reportedly issued a statement urging fellow soldiers to “join the people” and help remove Gaddafi from power

8:05pm (PST) Gaddafi spoke on Libyan state TV early on Tuesday, reportedly from outside his house on Tuesday: “I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs ”

8:22pm (PST) Khaled Al Ga’aeem, under-secretary of Libya’s foreign ministry, phoned Al Jazeera on Monday night. Here is a translation of the ensuing conversation.

8:55pm (PST) More than 1,000 Chinese construction workers in the eastern city of Ajdabiyah were forced to flee after gunmen stormed their compound, stealing computers and luggage, the company and state media said.

9:07pm (PST) Libya’s deputy UN ambassador has called on the longtime ruler to step down. The Libyan ambassador to the US says he can no longer support Gadhafi; the ambassador to India plans to resign, and the ambassador to Bangladesh has quit to protest the killing of family members by government troops.

11:26pm (PST) Reuters: Egypt will reinforce its border with Libya with “border guards” and will open the crossing at the northwestern town of Saloum for “sick and injured,” the country’s ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has announced.

11:43pm (PST) Here’s a newly established website to memorialize victims of Libya’s violence (similar to one set up for the uprising in Egypt): http://1000memories.com/libya. It counts 57 dead so far, almost all without photographs, some of them unknown.

1:17am (PST) 02-22-11 An intriguing story out of Bangladesh: A. H. Elimam, Libya’s ambassador to that country, has dropped out of sight following his resignation late last night. Nicolas Haque, our correspondent there, says that he last spoke to Elimam at around 9 am local time and that there was “a sense of panic” in his voice. Elimam told Haque that he might not be able to do an interview they had scheduled for later today and gave him an email address to use if he turned off his phone, which he has done.

The Bangladesh foreign ministry and other diplomats in the country say they can’t confirm Elimam’s whereabouts. Sources have told Haque that Elimam felt threatened by an intelligence officer in the Libyan embassy – one of the four staffers there and a man who apparently came from the same village as Muammar Gaddafi. Elimam was also concerned about the safety of his family in Libya, Haque said.

5.38am (PST) 02-22-11 Sources have told Al Jazeera that the bombing from warplanes on Monday had targeted ammunition depots in Libya. The aim was to apparently stop protesters getting hold of weapons.

Curt

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