20 May 2011 Stop NATO
- Russia Condemns NATO Strikes, Urges Peacekeeping Force In Libya
- NATO Warplanes Attack Libyan Ships In Three Ports
- NATO Bombs Eight Libyan Naval Vessels
- Libya: Under Western Military, Media Siege
- NATO Targets Libyan Telecommunications: $1.2 Billion In Damages
Russia Condemns NATO Strikes, Urges Peacekeeping Force In Libya
Bloomberg News
May 20, 2011
Russia Urges Peacekeeping Force in Libya, Condemns NATO Strikes
By Henry Meyer
Russia called for peacekeepers to be deployed in Libya and condemned NATO strikes for violating the United Nations Security Council resolution that authorized military action in the North African state.
“We are increasingly concerned about the unfolding situation in Libya, the continued bloodshed as well as the actions of the coalition, which don’t respect UN Security Council resolution No. 1973,” Alexander Lukashevich, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, told reporters today in Moscow.
Russia will make the “maximum” political and diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis by “activating the peacekeeping potential of the UN and African Union,” Lukashevich said.
Russia has been a vocal critic of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led air campaign that helped the rebels regain the initiative against Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s forces. It accused the U.S. and its allies of violating the Security Council vote in March that allowed them to enforce a no-fly zone to protect civilians. Russia abstained from the vote.
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english.ruvr.ru/2011/05/20/50567761.html
Voice of Russia
May 20, 2011
Moscow increasingly concerned about Libya
Moscow is growing increasingly concerned about the coalition’s moves in Libya that are clearly in excess of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Russia urges maximally galvanizing political and diplomatic efforts to settle the crisis, and using the UN and African Union’s peacekeeping potential to that end, says a Russian Foreign Ministry official, Alexander Lukashevich.
He said that Moscow is already making moves to that end. He meant specifically Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s recent meeting with the UN Secretary General’s special envoy to Libya Abdul Ilah Khatib.
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NATO Warplanes Attack Libyan Ships In Three Ports
www.nytimes.com/2011/05/20/world/africa/20libya.html
New York Times
May 19, 2011
NATO Warplanes Attack Libyan Ships in 3 Ports
By Eric Schmitt
NAPLES, Italy: NATO warplanes attacked eight Libyan ships on Thursday night in three coastal locations, including the port of Tripoli, expanding the air campaign…
The allied attacks late Thursday against Libyan vessels in the ports of Tripoli, Al Khums and Surt were the first time in the two-month-old air campaign that the alliance had carried out planned airstrikes against Libyan ships, military officials said…
The airstrikes came as the alliance has tried to increase pressure on Colonel Qaddafi and loyalist troops by stepping up attacks against “command and control” centers in and around Tripoli that allied officials say allow the Libyan leader to direct his forces. So far, however, Colonel Qaddafi has remained defiant.
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A total of 21 NATO ships are patrolling the Mediterranean as part of an arms embargo against Libya.
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NATO Bombs Eight Libyan Naval Vessels
news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-05/20/c_13885394.htm
Xinhua News Agency
May 20, 2011
NATO planes attack eight Libyan warships
BRUSSELS: NATO fighter jets attacked eight warships of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s forces, NATO said on Friday.
NATO continued its airstrikes against the Libyan government troops with a coordinated strike against Gaddafi’s forces in the ports of Tripoli, Al Khums and Sirte, NATO said in a statement.
“Overnight, NATO aircraft hit pro-Gaddafi warships, striking eight vessels,” said Rear Admiral Russell Harding, deputy commander of NATO’s Libya operations.
NATO said Gaddafi’s forces have been laying mines at ports and trying to disrupt humanitarian aid.
Meanwhile, the building of Libya’s intelligence agency in Tripoli was bombed early Friday.
Four loud explosions were heard and a Xinhua reporter saw the building of the External Security agency was on fire in the eastern Tajoura district.
Casualties from the latest bombing were not immediately known.
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Libya: Under Western Military, Media Siege
Prensa Latina
May 19, 2011
Libya: Under Western Military, Media Seige
Tripoli: Pro-Gaddafi forces clashed Thursday with armed rebels, backed by NATO air raids, in different areas of the country, while the government denied reports of desertions by officials and relatives of the Libyan leader.
Gadaffi’s supporters claimed to control strategic territories in the western highlands after intensifying their counteroffensive against opposition militias that attempted to establish another rebel stronghold near Yafrin and Zintan.
While Tripoli’s armed forces dominate most of the western territories, the rebels are trying to reinforce their side with links to Berber tribes and prevent pro-Gadaffi forces from taking over the Nafusa Mountains.
According to contradictory reports from regional television networks, government forces attacked a road in the Nafusa Mountains area to cut off the flow of goods and military supplies from Tunisia to rebels through the so-called Wazen border crossing.
Along with civilians seeking refuge in Tunisia, rebel groups have established bases there, leading Tunisia to carry out occasional military air raids, but without firing shots.
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NATO Targets Libyan Telecommunications: $1.2 Billion In Damages
TeleGeography
May 20, 2011
Telco claims NATO air-strikes have caused USD1.2bn infrastructure damage
-NATO forces had systematically destroyed Libya’s telecoms infrastructure in order to create a lucrative opportunity for foreign companies to rebuild what has been damaged; he alleged that the lion’s share of the reconstruction process will fall to companies from countries currently participating in the military action against Libya.
According to a story reported by the Pan-African News Agency, PANA, Libya’s telecommunications sector has suffered around LYD1.5 billion (USD1.22 billion) worth of damage as a result of coordinated NATO air-strikes targeting the country’s telecoms infrastructure.
The information was disclosed at a press briefing held in Tripoli by Mohamed Ben Ayad, the president of state-owned ISP Libya Telecom & Technology (LTT) and mobile operator Libyana.
Ayad described the methodical targeting of the country’s telecoms infrastructure as a ‘crime against humanity in the broadest sense’, adding that the lack of communications has interfered with the disbursement of medical aid to the wounded and disrupted fire fighters’ activities and other humanitarian efforts.
He claimed that Libya intends to file a complaint with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), asserting that the sites targeted are of no military use. Telecoms sites alleged to have been destroyed include: one west of Sirte (central Libya), stations in Al-Hisha, Al-Wachka and Al-Qaddahiya, Al-Jil Al-Jadeed equipment, base stations belonging to cellcos Al-Madar and Libyana in Brega, base stations in Al-Ghardabia, Al-H’nioua, Nouflia and parts of the Ras Lanouf Maritime cable.
Ayad went on to complain that NATO forces had systematically destroyed Libya’s telecoms infrastructure in order to create a lucrative opportunity for foreign companies to rebuild what has been damaged; he alleged that the lion’s share of the reconstruction process will fall to companies from countries currently participating in the military action against Libya.
The announcement follows this week’s revelation that tens of thousands of telecoms workers have been pressed into service to act as ‘human shields’ to deter further NATO air raids on the country’s telecoms infrastructure. At a government press conference on Monday, a man claiming to represent more than 20,000 workers read out a statement indicating that the workers have vowed to guard telecoms base stations with their lives. The statement concluded: ‘We, the telecoms workers, are present with our families and children around the clock, and in shifts, to protect this utility. We will be human shields to confront any aggression or bombing aimed at continuing destruction of the communications infrastructure’.
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