Jet downed over Benghazi despite ceasefire

• Rebel jet shot down over Benghazi • Shelling of rebel stronghold continues • Leaders meeting to put no-fly zone into force • Read the latest summary of today’s events • Read our latest news story on Libya 11.29am: Pro-Gaddafi snipers have killed two people in Misrata, Reuters reports. A resident, called Saadoun, told the news agency: “We have two people dead this morning … because there are snipers on some houses and they are shooting people, they are shooting whoever they see.” 11.26am: More on the situation in Benghazi where Gaddafi’s troops have entered the city and are fighting rebel forces. One witness told Reuters they saw a blast near the rebel national council building that was barricaded by concrete blocks. Six 4×4 pick-ups mounted with machine guns were moved to the Benghazi seafront. But the relatively light arms of rebel forces have proved a poor match for Gaddafi’s heavy firepower. Standing next to his Benghazi home, Hassan Marouf, 58, said: “Europe and America have sold us out. We have been hearing bombing all night, and they have been doing nothing. Why?” “We have no one to help us but God. Us men are not afraid to die, but I have women and children inside and they are crying and in tears. help us,” he said. 11.00am: Pro-Gaddafi forces have fired four or five artillery shells at the Misrata but remain on the outskirts of the rebel-held city, a resident has told Reuters: “They [Gaddafi's forces] bombed the town with four or five artillery shells in the early hours today. The situation is relatively calm now. But they are still on the outskirts of the town, and water to Misrata is still cut off.” A doctor in the city, Libya’s third largest, earlier told AP that it came under sustained assault well after the announcement of a cease-fire by Gaddafi’s regime. The doctor said Gaddafi’s snipers were on rooftops and his forces were searching homes for rebels. He had counted 25 dead since Friday morning: “The shelling is continuing, and they are using flashlights to perform surgery. We don’t have anesthetic to put our patients down.” 10.51am: A rebel leader in Benghazi has appealed to the international community to stop the bombardment of the city by Gaddafi’s forces. Mustafa Abdul Jalil told Al Jazeera television: “Now there is a bombardment by artillery and rockets on all districts of Benghazi. There will be a catastrophe if the international community does not implement the resolutions of the UN security council. “We appeal to the international community, to the all the free world, to stop this tyranny from exterminating civilians.” Another rebel spokesman, Khalid al-Sayeh, told Reuters that Gaddafi’s forces had “entered Benghazi from the west”: “Where are the Western powers? They said they could strike within hours.” 10.35am: AP has more details of the letters Gaddafi has sent to the UN and the US. In the letter to France, the UK and the UN secretary general, he claimed the UN resolution authorising international military intervention in Libya was “invalid” and they would “regret” enforcing it. “Libya is not for you, Libya is for the Libyans,” he wrote. In the other letter, sent to US President Barack Obama, Gaddafi defended his decision to attack rebel cities: “If you found them taking over American cities by the force of arms, tell me what you would do.” 10.29am: Gaddafi has again warned against military intervention in Libya, describing any such act as “clear aggression”, Reuters reports. “This is injustice, this is clear aggression. You will regret it if you take a step towards interfering in our internal affairs,” Gaddafi wrote in a letter to France, Britain and the United Nations, according to a spokesman for his regime. The spokesman, Mussa Ibrahim, also said Gaddafi had warned the US in a separate letter that he and all Libyans were “prepared to die” to defend the country. 10.19am: Here’s an interview with Chris McGreal about the fighting in Benghazi, including the shooting down of a fighter jet, which “the rebels now concede it was their only plane”. He adds there is currently “sporadic but fairly intense fighting” in the south west of the city where Gaddafi’s forces have broken through. There are also reports of fighting in the north of the city. 9.45am: My colleague Chris McGreal has just called in from Benghazi about the plane shot down over the city: “Some of the rebels say it’s their plane. It might have been their only plane that was shot down by Gaddafi’s forces.” He has been down to the frontline of the fighting in the south west of the city where Gaddafi’s forces have seized control of the university. We’ll have more details on this soon. 9.30am: Gaddafi’s propaganda war continues on Saturday with the Libyan state news agency claiming his forces are under attack by “al-Qaida gangs” near Benghazi. The Jana news agency report, which contradicts other media reports showing pro-Gaddafi forces attacking the rebel stronghold, states: “Al-Qaida gangs are attacking units of the armed forces which are stationary west of Benghazi.” It is worth noting that pro-Gaddafi officials describe all the rebels as belonging to al-Qaida. 9.16am: This is David Batty, I’ll be taking over the live blog until Saturday evening. AP has more on the fighter plane shot down in Benghazi. One of its reporters saw the plane “go down in flames and heard the sound of artillery and crackling gunfire in the distance”: The fighting galvanized the people of Benghazi, with young men collecting bottles to make Molotov cocktails. Some residents dragged bed frames and metal scraps into the streets to make roadblocks. “Where is France, where is Nato?” cried a 50-year-old woman in Benghazi. “It’s too late.” Government spokesman Ibrahim Musa denied that a government plane had gone down. He also denied government forces shelled any Libyan towns on Saturday, saying the rebels are the ones breaking the cease fire by attacking military forces. “Our armed forces continue to retreat and hide, but the rebels keep shelling us and provoking us,” Musa told AP. 8.57am: Hello, this is Warren Murray opening our latest live blog coverage of Libya, where clashes are continuing despite the regime declaring a ceasefire under threat of a no-fly zone backed by the UN. Overnight there were patchy reports of shelling and explosions around Benghazi and the situation ramped up significantly with confirmation that a fighter plane has been shot down over the city. Here’s a summary of the latest developments: • A fighter plane has been shot down over Benghazi. Video and photos showed the jet flying over the city, then bursting into flames and plunging into the suburbs, with the pilot apparently ejecting. • Loud explosions have been heard in the opposition stronghold , with those on the ground saying government forces have been shelling the rebels. Rebels said they had been forced to pull back as Libyan jets bombed the road to Benghazi airport and the city’s outskirts. • In response the Libyan regime has denied any involvement , saying its entire air force has been grounded and it is respecting its self-imposed ceasefire. • The next stage of the international response is to be co-ordinated at an emergency conference in Paris within a few hours . David Cameron, Nicolas Sarkozy, Hillary Clinton and Arab leaders are among those gathering to give final approval for a no-fly zone. There is a sense that jets will be streaking out to Libya as soon as the group gives the nod. We’ll have all the latest news as it develops. Libya Muammar Gaddafi US foreign policy United Nations Arab and Middle East protests Middle East Warren Murray David Batty guardian.co.uk

Posted by on March 19, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.