Libyan rebels use drone against Gaddafi

In a dramatic illustration of the spread of drone technology, a Canadian company said this week that it sold a small military surveillance craft to Libyan rebels who have been using it since July for the frontline monitoring of forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi.

“It has been used in active war fighting and they have had spectacular results,” said David Kroetsch, chief executive of Aeryon Labs Inc. in Waterloo, Canada, which manufactures the Aeryon Scout. The 3-pound helicopter-like drone carries both day-time and night-time cameras and flies almost soundlessly at 500 feet.

“Even in the quiet of the desert, you could not hear it or see it, it’s a speck in the sky, especially at night,” said Kroetsch, noting that the drone is all-electric and has no engine noise.

The United States and its NATO allies have also been flying both weaponized and surveillance drones over Libya, but it was not known that the rebels had also acquired the technology. The New York Times first reported on the drone being used by Libya’s rebels on Wednesday.

The Canadian government, which has recognized Transitional National Council as the legitimate government of Libya, approved the sale. And it is the first time that a Western government has allowed the transfer of drone technology to an insurgency.

Kroetsch said the rebels had experimented unsuccessfully with putting a camera on a remote-controlled helicopter before looking to purchase a proven drone. “They realized this was not time for a science experiment,” Kroetsch said.

He said the sale was brokered through the TNC’s representative in Canada. He declined to say how much the rebels paid, but the base price of the scout is $120,000. The drone, which can be packed in a small suitcase, was delivered to the rebels by a Canadian security company, Zariba Security Corp. Charles Barlow, the president of Zariba, took the drone on a ferry from Malta to the besieged city of Misurata.

Barlow then instructed the rebels in the use of the micro-drone, and they began to use it themselves after only a day.

Libyan Rebels capture Gaddafi compound in Tripoli

Rebel fighters captured Moammer Gaddafi's heavily fortified Bab al-Aziziya compound and headquarters in Tripoli on Tuesday after a day of fierce fighting, a correspondent witnessed.

The defenders had fled, and there was no immediate word on the whereabouts of Gaddafi or his family after the insurgents breached the defences as part of a massive assault that began in the morning.

"Rebels breached the surrounding cement walls and entered inside. They have taken Bab al-Azizya. Completely. It is finished," the correspondent said.

"It is an incredible sight," he said, adding that the bodies of a number of apparent Gaddafi fighters were lying inside, as well as wounded.

Only minutes earlier, rebel spokesman Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani said from Benghazi: "Our forces are surrounding Bab al-Azizya. There is a fierce battle going on there. We are now controlling one of the gates, the western entrance."

The correspondent said rebels found an armoury in one of the buildings and were seizing quantities of ammunition, pistols and assault rifles.

There was no immediate comment from the rebel leadership in the eastern city of Bengazi, but an official in the western city of Misrata said that "at the same house used by Gaddafi before to describe the Libyan people as rats, today the independence flag flying on its roof."

On Tuesday morning, Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam, who was reportedly under arrest, made a surprise appearance in Tripoli and announced that his father and family were still in the capital.

However, he declined to say where.
"Gaddafi and the entire family are in Tripoli," Seif told reporters at the Rixos Hotel where many foreign journalists are housed.

Seif also said the regime's forces had deliberately not tried to prevent the rebels from entering the capital.

"Allowing the rebels to enter Tripoli was a trick," he said, without elaborating.
NATO, meanwhile, said Gaddafi was "not a target" for the military alliance.
"NATO does not target individuals," said Operation Unified Protector spokesman, Colonel Roland Lavoie.

"Gaddafi does not constitute a target," he told reporters in Brussels via video-conference from the mission's Naples headquarters.
In the hours that led up to the storming of the compound in central Tripoli, the sound of the fighting was the most intense heard in the city since rebels arrived three days ago.

The correspondent said that rebel forces coming from the western city of Misrata had reinforced the offensive during the afternoon.
The rebel official in Misrata said one of their commanders had been killed in the assault on the compound.

The sky was filled with the sound of heavy and light machine guns as well as mortars, with the overhead roar of NATO jets that had been carrying intensive over flights though it was unclear if there were any air strikes.

Even two kilometres (about a mile) from the fighting, the almost constant whistle of falling bullets could be hear from the rooftops, as the city's mosques chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest).

Libyan Rebels Push to Take Town of Tawarga as Conflict Enters Sixth Month

Libyan rebels in the besieged city of Misrata launched an offensive to try and break through the eastern frontline and take the government-held town of Tawarga.

The attack began in the early morning and three rebel fighters were killed and 44 wounded by 3 p.m. local time, according to officials at Misrata’s Mujamma Aliadat hospital. There were no immediate reports on government casualties.

“We are in the town, we made a big attack this morning,” wounded rebel fighter Loie Mohammed, 19, said from his hospital bed, referring to Tawarga. “Our guys went in a circle to get around the town and attack from behind it.”

The conflict between the rebels and forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi is in its sixth month, with little recent progress on either side. Qaddafi retains control of the capital, Tripoli, while the rebels are holding on to Benghazi in the east and Misrata in the west. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has supported the rebel fighters with an air campaign that began in March.

Misrata’s eastern front has been comparatively quiet for the past two months with most rebel offensives focused on pushing west toward the town of Zlitan. Government forces hit the center of Misrata with missiles on Aug. 9 for the first time since May, injuring one man.

Heavy shelling could be heard from the direction of Tawarga throughout the day and a stream of ambulances arrived in the city from the front line 30 miles (50 kilometers) to the east.

Mohammed said he was wounded by shrapnel as he was manning a mortar. He had bandages over a wound on his side and lay covered in a green sheet with drip feeds in both arms.

“When they tell me it’s OK, I am going back,” he said, referring to the front line.

Libyan Attempt To Bring Back Oil Cos Fails To Ignite Interest

A new attempt by Libya's government to bring back foreign oil companies to the war-torn country has failed to ignite interest, people familiar with the contacts said in recent days.

The government of Col. Moammar Gadhafi is battling a rebellion by the rebel Transitional National Council which, surfing on recent international recognition, has also got in touch with international oil giants.

According to industry officials, which include Libyan oil sources, Eni SpA (E), Total SA (TOT), Repsol SA (REP.MC) and OMV AG (OMV.VI) as well as U.S. companies were recently contacted by Tripoli to return to Libya.

Last month, the country's National Oil Corp., or NOC, "sent a circular to U.S. and European companies asking them to resume operations" and also sent one of its executives to Europe for this purpose.

A manager at a foreign company with interests in Libya said Omran Abukraa, the recently-appointed head of the National Oil Corp., "is trying to convince them to come back and do business in Libya, but he got nothing."

Both sides also appear to disagree on the significance of the approach.

Abukraa said they were part of "continuous contacts with our [foreign companies] partners.

"They were very positive with us because of their keenness to maintain their interests in Libya," he said.

But without commenting on whether it had received any letters from Abukraa, OMV said it "isn't in talks with the Libyan government nor with the transitional government." Total and Eni declined to comment and a Repsol spokesman couldn't immediately comment.

OMV said that "production has been stopped; we are waiting to see how the situation develops."

Foreign oil companies pulled out of Libya late February when civil war erupted there, triggering the shut down of most of its oil production. They are also unable to conduct financial transactions with NOC due to sanctions.

Abukraa said that: "Because of the so-called force majeure state, these companies aren't returning back. But according to the contracts signed with these companies such force majeure should be discussed with the NOC."

However, he said: "Any of our foreign partners who would like to return back to work in Libya is welcome. Libyan oil fields are fine and the security situation in Libya is well."

Germany to lend €100m to Libyan rebels

International Medical Corps medics treat injured rebel fighters at a field hospital near Misrata's frontline. The rebel city is struggling to pay for essentials.

Germany has announced that it will lend €100m to the Libyan opposition to ease a growing humanitarian crisis in rebel-controlled parts of the country.

The £88m loan to the national transitional council (NTC) was secured against frozen Libyan government funds. The money comes as the rebels struggle to pay for essentials, a fact that was exacerbated on Sunday when government missiles struck the oil tanks that fuel the besieged city of Misrata's power generators.

"We have decided to provide the NTC with urgently needed funding for civil and humanitarian measures," said the German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, in a statement. "People are suffering more and more from this, particularly in eastern Libya."

Five months into the war, cash is running low and the rebels have tried and failed to get access to billions of dollars held in Libyan government accounts.

The situation is most acute in Misrata, Libya's third largest city, whose only route to the outside world is by sea. The normally affluent city was well stocked with supplies when war broke out, with petrol tanks and grain silos full. But supplies are running low, along with the cash to pay for them.

Prices for goods ranging from clothes to fruit have skyrocketed in recent weeks. "You cannot pay for everything you need in Misrata now, you cannot pay for juice, the children must have fruit and we cannot pay for it," said Bashir Al Zawawi, a lecturer in business administration at Misrata University.

On Sunday, one of the four giant tanks holding the city's oil supplies was hit by three grad rockets fired from government lines, leaving a huge pall of smoke over the city.

The most acute shortages are felt in Misrata's battered hospitals. "We have a shortage of everything," Dr Khalid Abufalgha, head of the city's health council, told the Guardian. "We are receiving humanitarian aid but it is never enough."

The rebels say Qatar, one of their key backers, has offered an "air bridge" to fly in food and medical supplies fly out wounded, but only when it is safe to land at the airport. Engineers have cleared the runway of debris and cannibalised wrecked machinery to provide fuel and power for landing planes, but the government frontlines are too near to make landings safe.

"We need this airport," said the airport's director, Abdul Hamid Garwash. "From our side we're ready, but permission is needed from Nato."

Earlier this month the NTC spokesman, Abdul Hafiz Ghoga, complained that promises of payments from western donors in May remained unfulfilled. Western officials counter that payments are being held up because the NTC is unable to present a fully transparent accountancy system to allow funds to be checked, and to guarantee that money earmarked for aid is not used for weapons.

Nato remains outwardly confident that however bad things are for the rebels, they were worse for government forces, saying that weeks of bombing had inflicted significant damage on Muammar Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli, where bombs reportedly hit early on Sunday morning.

"Gaddafi has for decades hidden from the Libyan people behind these walls," said Major General Nick Pope, spokesman for Britain's chief of the defence staff.

The Gaddafi government insists it remains open to a negotiated solution to the war, with spokesman Moussa Ibrahim saying Libyan officials had a "productive dialogue" with US officials last week.

Informal peace proposals will be canvassed this week by special UN envoy to Libya, Abdul Elah al-Khatib, a Jordanian senator. But the sticking point in any negotiations is likely to be the insistence of the US, UK, France and Russia that Gaddafi steps down as a precondition to talks, which Ibrahim said would be rejected.

Rebels Want Qaddafi to Face ICC

On July 22, the deputy head of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), Ali Essawi said that he wanted to see Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi stand trial at the International Criminal Court in Hague.

Deputy head of Libyan NTC Ali Essawi said, "We would like to have Gaddafi taken to the ICC, we would like justice to play its role and we would like to see the crimes paid also. There is no contradictory between the two. No-one can forgive him, even if he left the country. His crimes have touched all over the world, not only the Libyans, even other people and other countries and his terrorist actions, and we cannot forgive him on behalf of the others also."

Ali Essawi added, "Negotiations will be only on the departure of Gaddafi. We will not negotiate on his staying in Libya or ruling the Libyans, this is in principle. His statement belongs to him, as far as we know that Gaddafi will not step down. He is insisting on the killing of the Libyans, he is insisting on the revenge from the Libyans and he will not leave the country or the power"

Last month, the Hague-based ICC issued warrants for the arrest of Gaddafi, his son Saif Al-Islam and Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah Al-Senussi on charges that they ordered the killing of protestors.
Meanwhile, on July 21, Gaddafi addressed thousands of supporters in an audio message saying that he would never negotiate with the rebels. NTC officials rejected his statement.

Libyan rebels desperately short of funds

Even as rebel commanders predict victory is near, the rebel leadership is short of cash to fight the rebellion and run civilian affairs.
The lucrative oil industry has been shut down by the fighting.

In early April, Mazin Ramadan left his American wife and two children in Seattle and flew to this Libyan rebel stronghold to help the opposition sort out its shaky finances.

Three months later, things are looking as bleak as ever. "We're broke," said Ramadan, a Libyan American who founded a software tech company in Seattle and advises the rebel Transitional National Council on finances and oil. Even as rebel commanders predict that victory over Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi is near, the rebel leadership is desperately short of cash to fight the rebellion and run civilian affairs.

The lucrative Libyan oil industry, which normally earns billions of dollars in hard currency, has been shut down by the fighting. Salaries for the rebel government's workers haven't been paid in two months. There is precious little cash to buy the imported fuel needed for the war effort and for the economy in eastern Libya, which the rebels control.

The council is beseeching Arab and Western nations to offer cash or credit. "We're getting decimated on the financial front lines," Ramadan said this week. As he spoke, the lights flickered and died in the conference room at a villa dating to the Italian colonial era that serves as a council office in downtown Benghazi. Fuel shortages have forced daily six-hour brownouts.

The council has been buying fuel in Europe on credit. But last week, a European financial company that had provided $500 million in loans told the council that it could no longer shoulder the risk and shut down the credit line. About $100 million donated by Qatar has nearly been spent, Ramadan said, and $200 million promised by Turkey has yet to arrive.

Several tankers loaded with fuel from Europe have left the Benghazi port without unloading after the council couldn't pay cash, he said. The vast petrochemical complexes at Port Brega and Ras Lanuf, seized from the rebels by government forces this spring, have been shut down. Also closed is the natural gas pipeline that normally fuels electricity production in Benghazi and other eastern cities. That means that rebel leaders in the country that is the world's 17th-largest producer of oil must import all their fuel.

Several nations have promised to provide cash, Ramadan said, but only Qatar has delivered. "We hear a lot of promises, but it's a lot easier to promise than to deliver," he said. "We don't count on it unless it's sitting in our account." Ramadan said he is pursuing new credit lines. His two cellphones rang constantly as he spoke. The council has sought loan guarantees backed by billions of dollars in frozen Libyan government assets overseas. But weeks of negotiations have failed to pry loose guarantees,

Ramadan said. In a July 7 letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, four U.S. senators led by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) asked Clinton to help unlock the assets for Libyan humanitarian aid. The letter reminded Clinton of her recent promise to help put the rebel council "on firmer financial footing." Rebel finances "are in a perilous state," the letter said. The United States has authorized $25 million in nonlethal military assistance to the rebels and $53 million in humanitarian aid.

But Ramadan said loan guarantees backed by frozen Libyan assets would have a much bigger effect on the effort to topple Kadafi, a declared U.S. policy goal. The main crisis in the east is financial, not humanitarian. Thanks to unusually heavy winter rains, eastern Libya is flush with grains, fruits and vegetables.

Libyan rebels boost firepower with homemade weapons

Sadiq Mubakar Krain's blue overalls are soaked with sweat as he works on an improvised rocket launcher for the rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi.

"This is the first time I make one of these," said Krain, 52, pointing to a launcher that consists of 16 rocket tubes scavenged from a military helicopter. A bespectacled former foreman at an oil company, Krain has fixed the tubes in a welded frame and is working on the electronics that will allow rebel fighters to fire individual rockets at will.

"I have learned to make other things and to weld, so God willing, I have got this one right," Krain said at workshop where he and his colleagues build weapons out of whatever they can lay their hands on. The ingenuity on display is a product of necessity. The Misrata rebels have captured some weapons and others are shipped to them via the city's port.

But heavy arms are in short supply and those the rebels have obtained need to be adapted to match the firepower and mobility of the government forces they are fighting. The rebels in Misrata, Libya's third largest city about 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli, have been fighting for the past four months to end Gaddafi's 41-year rule.

They have moved the front line from inside this city to the outskirts of Zlitan, a neighboring town now blocking the rebels' advance toward Tripoli. The intense pace of the workers in this shop near the center of Misrata -- who include former teachers, engineers and a truck driver -- suggests the rebels are preparing the munitions for the next push toward Zlitan. MEND AND MAKE DO Until now, the workshop has been focused on repairing equipment.

When the front line moved forward last week, most of the workers here were transferred to a new repair shop closer to Zlitan so that gun crews did not have to drive 36 km (20 miles) each way to have their weapons fixed. The shop in Misrata still handles major repairs, but is now concentrating on preparing new weapons and the trucks on which to mount them.

The pace is intense -- work goes on from early in the morning to late at night seven days a week. The main job is to build new housings for heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft guns that will be mounted on the back of pickup trucks. The weapons are placed facing backwards so the vehicles reverse into position to open fire.

There are about 10 new welded steel mounts nearly ready for 14.5 mm machine guns taken from tanks or helicopters to be attached, while one is ready to go. Instead of an electronic system to move it, the gun can be adjusted manually up and down or side to side. The trigger works using the brake line from a small car and there is a rudimentary safety catch.

LOADING BULLETS Salah Mohammed, 45, proudly shows off the new gun, plus a homemade round for it made using used scavenged casings. The workshop has also devised a basic welded tool with a handle to push the rounds into the links that will feed the ammunition into the machine gun, something that cannot be done by hand. "One press of the trigger," Mohammed says, pressing the trigger for a second to demonstrate, "is nine bullets." "So we need many bullets." In the corner, workers attach steel plates to an ancient pickup truck.

Mohammed, a former engineer at an oil company, says the truck was an old wreck but its engine has been rebuilt. By far the most feverish activity among the 35 workers in the workshop is centered on a small group working to finish rebuilding an anti-aircraft gun. The workers have stripped the gun, which has a seat for the gunner, of its four 14.5 mm machine guns and replaced them with two 23 mm anti-aircraft guns.

Krain says the change of caliber is partly because the bigger guns have a range of 6 km compared with the 4 km of the 14.5 mm guns. But he says it also because the gun has a psychological impact on the pro-Gaddafi troops. "When they hear the sound the gun makes," he pauses to make a long, deep 'doof, doof, doof' sound to mimic the gun, "they run away." Krain, his hands coated in oil, returns to work on his rocket launcher.

"I want to help finish the war by Ramadan," he says. Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting and prayer, starts in early August. "Our work will not be over then, we have much to do. But I want the fighting to stop by then."