Showing posts with label Misurata. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Misurata. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Back in the MASR

Dear readers

I have been gone for ten days for some much needed rest and relaxation. The last few months have been completely exhilarating, and also completely exhausting. I spent some time in the US, tending to my garden, sipping on mint juleps, and enjoying time with my husband.

Back here in Egypt, the weather is perfect, 75 degrees farenheit, sunny and perfectly dry. The grass is green, and I awoke to birdsong. The sky is not quite blue, it has a tinge of grey in it, and the clouds are not distinct, but wispily intermingled in the background.

The weather has an edge to it, as if the sky is saying "enjoy this bout of spring, it won't last long." The coming months will be fiercely hot.

In my neighborhood I noticed for the first time that some of the palm trees in El Rehab are fake. Large metal contraptions with artificial palm fronds, topped by radio transmitters of some sort. I wonder what their function is?

Things are fairly quiet in Egypt politically, compared to weeks gone by. There is discussion of transferring Mubarak to a military hospital. The Libyan civil war rages on, with heavy fighting in Misurata and Libya's western mountains. Muslim Brotherhood members believe they are under attack by Islamophobes.  Mohammed Hassan argues that "He said the media is spiralling out of control, adding that there should be a kind of media freedom that respects the teachings of Islam." A 3400 year old statue of Amenhotep of King Amenhotep III has been discovered  in Luxor, as well as a black granite statue of the goddess Sekmet. Popular committees from around Egypt met in a demonstration in Tahrir Square on Friday afternoon in an attempt to inaugurate a prolonged coordinated effort.

While I was in the US, my husband remarked that I was spending money like there was no tomorrow. Perhaps because in the past few months, it has often felt that way. WMB


Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Updated Facts on Libyan Crisis: Week of April 11, 2011

Dear readers

This update is culled from Al Jazeera, the New York Times, the Washington Post and Democracy Now. WMB

Gaddafi accepted the African Union's road map for peace, which calls for an immediate cease fire, and a dialogue with the opposition about the reform. The rebels said that the only thing that will satisfy them is the ouster of Gaddafi and his family. The African Union is not thought to be neutral because it is packed with Gaddaffi allies. (Washington Post, 4.10.11)

The Libya contact group has met in Qatar. The Libyan rebels are seeking international recognition. They are to tell world powers at a meeting in the Qatari capital Doha that Gadadafi's removal from power is the only way out of their country's deepening crisis. (Al Jazeera 4.12.11) Libyan rebels offensives on Misurata. Widespread fighting continues as NATO comes under pressure to step up its military campaign against Gaddafi's forces.  Qatar has delivered oil products to Benghazi. The gulf state also confirms it has marketed one million barrels of Libyan crude oil on behalf of rebels. (Al Jazeera 4.12.11)  Misurata is under siege by Gaddafi's forces. (Al Jazeera 4.12.11) France and Britain want NATO to fight harder against Gaddafi's forces (Washington Post, 4.12.11)

A truce plan for Libya is rejected by the rebels (NYT, 4.13.11)  Rebel groups in Libya have rejected an African poposal to end the fighting unless leaders Muammar Gaddafi agreed to leave office immediately. Ali Suleiman Aujali, the former Libyan ambassador to the US argues that Libyans cannot accept Gaddaffi or his family. (Democracy Now, 4.12.12)

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Updated Post on Facts of Libyan Crisis: Week of March 29, 2011

Dear readers


This post will pull together material on the Libyan crisis. (Libya is next door to Egypt, so it is relevant to this blog.) I am providing a chronology, not an analysis, although arguably my choice of what to read is a form of interpretation. I will pull from Al Jazeera, The Washington Post, and the New York Times. I will also add in information from the Egyptian paper Al Masry Al Youm. I will put up a new post on a weekly basis, or as needed. If you want more detail than I can give you here, check this out Al Jazeera Libya Live Blog WMB

Latest News (Updated Friday, April 1, 2011 12:00 p.m.)

On March 31, the Washington Post broke a story that the CIA gathering intelligence on Libyan rebels. The CIA is gathering intelligence on the identities and capabilities of Libyan Rebels. The Obama Administration has pledged that no Ground troops will be committed to Libya. However, the Obama Administration has not ruled out providing arms or other support to the rebels. There is mixed progress on the ground in Libya. Democracy Now reports that Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa has resigned his post and arrived in Britain. The rebels have lost control of Ras Lanuf, and Gadhafi's forces have taken Brega and Jawwad. Democracy Now also reports that a "former Nicaraguan foreign minister has been tapped as Libya’s new envoy to the United Nations. The Nicaraguan government claims to have sent a letter declaring Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann’s new role on Libya’s behalf. The 78-year-old D’Escoto has been an outspoken critic of the United States." An 18 month old civilian infant was killed in Libya by debris from Western shelling on an arms depot.

On April 1st, US Defense Secretary Gates stated in testimony to Congress that continuing coalition attacks should encourage top Libyan government officials to break with Ghadafi. According to the Washington Post, a senior European diplomat argues that what is happening in Libya is no longer a no-fly zone, it has gone beyond that. Gates stated that the Obama Administration aims to use military force to aid the Libyan opposition. A fledgling government has been formed in Libya named the Transitional National Council.


Detailed summary of February 15, 2011 until today on "read more."