dagblog - Comments for "In Ras Lanaf, Libya, an important strategic battle for the oil is raging"

Qaddafi's son vows to re-take

artappraiser — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 00:56:09 +0000

In reply to In Ras Lanaf, Libya, an important strategic battle for the oil is raging

Qaddafi's son vows to re-take Libya from rebels
By Mark Phillips, CBS News, March 10, 2011

Saif al-Islam Qaddafi tells CBS News that Libyan regime loyalists have broken the back of pro-democracy resistance

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/10/eveningnews/main20041879.shtml

more here--U.S. "victory" for

artappraiser — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 22:30:40 +0000

In reply to iIt's Gates/Obama admin and

more here--U.S. "victory" for non-intervention over Britain and France for intervention:

Libya: Nato defence ministers agree on minimal intervention

Victory for US as agreement to move warships closer to Libya falls far short of measures called for by Britain and France

By Ewen MacAskill in Washington and Ian Traynor in Brussels , guardian.co.uk, Thursday 10 March 2011 20.33 GMT

http://dagblog.com/link/nato-libya-mimimal-intervention-victory-us-9351

I will continue anything else I might find on the intervention topic there rather than here.

iIt's Gates/Obama admin and

artappraiser — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 22:10:47 +0000

In reply to Gaddafi takes key towns as

iIt's Gates/Obama admin and Germany VS. Britain and France, from the above:

• Nato was left paralysed as the US joined Germany in blocking the imposition of a no-fly zone supported by Britain and France. Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said at a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels that contingency planning for a no-fly zone would continue, before adding "that's the extent of it".

A bit more in this short AP report by Robert Burns and Slobodan Lekic :

Gates told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels, following a meeting of alliance defense ministers, that unspecified NATO ships will be moved closer to Libya to be in position in case urgent humanitarian aid to Libyan civilians is required.
But he made clear that NATO is not interested in direct military intervention in Libya unless the U.N. Security Council passes a further resolution granting such authority.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made much the same point in Washington, telling Congress that unilateral military action would have unintended consequences.

Gaddafi takes key towns as

artappraiser — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 22:00:27 +0000

In reply to In Ras Lanaf, Libya, an important strategic battle for the oil is raging

Gaddafi takes key towns as Nato squabbles over Libya action

• Rebels retreat from Ras Lanuf and Zawiya
• Regime warns of full-scale military action
• Nato in paralysis as US blocks no-fly zone
• Navy chief says Britain ready to send more ships

By Peter Beaumont in Tripoli, Ian Traynor in Brussels and Nicholas Watt, Guardian.co.uk, March 10, 2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/10/gaddafi-libya-nato

Libya's war intensifies but

artappraiser — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 05:45:51 +0000

In reply to In Ras Lanaf, Libya, an important strategic battle for the oil is raging

Libya's war intensifies but Nato shows no sign of intervening
Heavy fighting as Gaddafi's forces push back rebels in Zawiya and bomb oil town Ras Lanuf

By Ian Black, Middle East editor, Ewen MacAskill in Brussels and Nicholas Watt, Guardian.co.uk, 9 March 2011 21.02 GMT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/09/libya-gaddafi-ras-lanuf-zawiya

Hoard of Cash Lets Qaddafi

artappraiser — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 05:22:40 +0000

In reply to In Ras Lanaf, Libya, an important strategic battle for the oil is raging

Hoard of Cash Lets Qaddafi Extend Fight Against Rebels
By James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, New York Times, March 9/10, 2011

WASHINGTON — The Libyan leader Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi has “tens of billions” in cash secretly hidden away in Tripoli, allowing him to prolong his fight against rebel forces despite an international freeze on many of the Libyan government’s assets, according to American and other intelligence officials.

Colonel Qaddafi has control over the huge cash deposits, which have been stored at the Libyan Central Bank and other banks around the Libyan capital in recent years, the officials said....
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/world/africa/10qaddafi.html

The Lede had this on that in

artappraiser — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:17:27 +0000

In reply to Is Gaddafi hitting oil

The Lede had this on that in their 10:22am post:

Though loyalist forces are using air power daily against the rebels, Colonel Qaddafi seemed in an interview with Turkish television on Wednesday to invite the imposition of a no-flight zone on the country that would ground his air force. He said it would galvanize his support in Libya by making clear that the West wanted to recolonize the country.

"Such a move would be very useful in a way that all Libyan people would then realize that their real intention is to take Libya under control, take people's freedoms away and seize their oil," he said. "Therefore, all Libyan people would take up arms and fight."

But I'd say your guess about a madman's intent is as good as anyone else's.

I'd say the main thing is that he's just trying to keep control of the oil. If he's got that, he's got something real important the rebels have to have. He really believes that he can stay there and rule that country, even with all his money frozen. And as his son said "plan A: live and die in Libya; plan B: live and die in Libya; plan C: live and die in Libya."

I think what we do doesn't matter that much to him. If there's a no fly zone, great, he can use that for propaganda. If not, great too, he'll just keep on keeping on.

There's something else going on that might be related. First, If you go to the full Lede entry for today, you'll see they have rounded up some stuff from allover the web in a couple of posts on a supposed flight of an important messenger from Gaddafi to Egypt today. I also caught this single line at the end of this Arab News article which may be related: Prince Saud also said a decision on a no-fly zone in Libya would be taken by an Arab League meeting on Saturday. I copied the article on notepad a hour or two ago (was collecting a general bunch of Saudi news, thinking of making an entire post of it.) Arab News has changed that article since, it was a lot shorter when I first looked at it, they added a lot more to it, and they took that line out, added things refuting the Fisk allegations, etc. It may be government censoring, it may not. In any case, the UN could be waiting for that Arab League input, and of course would also be watching what happens in Libya until then.

Is Gaddafi hitting oil

Donal — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:45:26 +0000

In reply to In Ras Lanaf, Libya, an important strategic battle for the oil is raging

Is Gaddafi hitting oil facilities to try to get us involved, or to scare us away?

Gadhafi forces hit oil

artappraiser — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:43:40 +0000

In reply to In Ras Lanaf, Libya, an important strategic battle for the oil is raging

Gadhafi forces hit oil facilities in central Libya
By Paul Schemm and Maggie Michael - Associated Press, 19 minutes ago‎

RAS LANOUF, Libya --

Forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi struck an oil pipeline and oil storage facility Wednesday, sending a giant yellow fireball into the sky as they pounded rebels with artillery and gunfire in at least two major cities....

Read more: http://www.heraldonline.com/2011/03/09/2896692/gadhafi-forces-hit-oil-fa...

Also see the twitter feed of Ben Wedeman with CNN, he is out and about in Ras Lanouf. A current copy and paste of the most recent tweets:

# The anti-Qaddafi hold over Ras Lanouf looking tenuous. Saw large reinforcements heading to the front. #Libya half a minute ago via web

# At least one oil storage tank in the western town of As-sidr is on fire now, causing a massive black plume over the surrounding area #Libya about 3 hours ago via web

# At checkpoint to Ras Lanouf opposition fighters ask for press pass. The Revolution is becoming bureaucratic. #Libya" about 3 hours ago via web

# Incoming artillery rounds or rockets landing on western outskirts of Ras Lanouf now. #Libya about 3 hours ago via web

# Large plume of black smoke rising from western edge of Ras Lanouf. #Libya about 3 hours ago via web

# By size of black smoke plume it appears one of the oil storage tanks at al-Sidre has been hit. #Libya about 4 hours ago via web

# Steady artillery barrage on western outskirts of Ras Lanouf. Ambulances heading toward opposition front lines. #Libya. about 4 hours ago via web

U.N. Blessing Needed for

artappraiser — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:27:08 +0000

In reply to In Ras Lanaf, Libya, an important strategic battle for the oil is raging

U.N. Blessing Needed for No-Flight Zone, U.S. Says

The Lede, New York Times, March 9, 1:57 P.M.

The American stance on imposing a no-flight zone in Libya remains that the United Nations must make the decision to do it, a view laid out by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and reaffirmed on Wednesday in the city where the NATO alliance has its headquarters, my colleague Stephen Castle reports....

On the Obama administration and other DC views, also see the Sanger/Shanker NYT piece from yesterday's print edition that I excerpted here on another thread.