Africa

In Libya, forces loyal to Col. Muammar Gaddafi are locked in intense fighting with the opposition forces for control of several cities and towns. The International Committee of the Red Cross says Libya has descended into civil war with increasing numbers of wounded civilians arriving in the hospitals in eastern cities.

Zimbabwe witnessed a fierce psychological battle at the beginning of March 2011. Inspired by their new models in the Arab world, political activists and civic society organizations tried to mobilize people for mass protests to demand change in government. But not a single demonstrator turned up on March 1 for the much-billed 1 million-man march against President Mugabe.

The United Nations warns that up to one million people are trapped in Libya and are in need of emergency aid as fighting intensifies between supporters of Col. Muammar Gaddafi and anti-government rebels. Earlier today, Gaddafi’s forces launched at least four air strikes against rebel-held areas in the oil town of Ras Lanuf.

Amidst rising concern about a seriously deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation in Cote d’Ivoire that a UN expert body perceives as a threat to international peace and security and an international think-tank says is dragging the strife-torn country to the verge of a civil war, a former Ghana president has faulted the international community’s behaviour.

The Libyan opposition fighting to overthrow Moamer Kadhafi announced its first formal meeting Saturday as it counted its dead from fighting for a key oil town and clashes raged in a city near the capital.
Kadhafi loyalists rained tank shells and machine gun fire on Zawiyah, 60 kilometres west of Tripoli, as they sought to wrest the city center back from opposition supporters.

In Libya, fighting between Gaddafi’s forces and rebels has broken out in the eastern oil export port of Ras Lanuf and the town of Zawiyah, west of Tripoli. Mass protests against Gaddafi’s rule were scheduled to begin after noon prayers across the country, but in Tripoli, Gaddafi supporters have set up checkpoints throughout the city to prevent protesters from moving about.

Forces aligned with Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi have launched new assaults to regain control of several towns captured in a popular uprising over the past two weeks. Meanwhile, two U.S. warships have moved through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea toward Libya under orders by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Amy Goodman’s interview to Horace Campbell.

The Libyan regime has launched today a new assault on the opposition amidst growing international pressure. Forces loyal to the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, tried to retake the now rebel-controlled towns of Zawiyah and the eastern city of Misrata overnight, but both attacks appear to have been repelled by now.

Strange as this may sound, there is a mainstream in the unsanctioned confederacy of dictators. Whether of the present times or from the distant past, the mainstream dictator is usually decidedly understated, more often than not a loner, eccentric in private habits, and almost as a trademark, lives in a complex world of paranoia.
By Eskinder Nega

Fears of a humanitarian crisis in Libya are growing amidst escalating violence between rebels and forces loyal to the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Anti-government groups have seized control of more areas as they close in on the capital city, Tripoli. On Sunday, protesters claimed the town of Zawiyah, just 30 miles from the capital.