Libya, Syria and Middle East unrest – Thursday 28 July 2011

• Libyan rebels plan major offensive in the Nafusa mountains • Libya: embassy expulsions ‘stain on the forehead of UK’ • Activists say 2,918 ‘forcibly disappeared’ in Syria • Read the latest summary 4.22pm: Here’s a summary of today’s events: • Libyan rebels launched a major offensive in the Nafusa mountains. Early indications were the campaign was going well, but Gaddafi’s forces later pushed the fighter out of the town of Al-Jawsh. Amateur footage of the campaign showed a rag tag army of scores of fighters moving to the front in pick-up trucks. • Confusion surrounds the fate of Libyan rebels military commander Abdel Fatah Younis. According to some reports he was arrested after an investigation into unauthorised trips to Tripoli, but Younis himself has dismissed the story as a rumour spread by the Gaddafi regime. • In a new video message Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri praise protesters in Syria hailing them as of an Islamic jihad. It is feared president Assad’s regime will use the video to give credence to its claim that violence in the Syria is work of armed terrorist groups. Britain’s foreign office Zawahiri’s statement highlighted al-Qaida’s desperation and increasing irrelevance. Syrian activists also condemned the statement. • Egypt’s ousted president Hosni Mubarak is healthy enough to stand trial next week, the justice ministry announced. 4.17pm: Rebel commander Abdel Fatah Younis AP has been arrested, according to AP. The rebels said they had detained their own top military commander for questioning on suspicion his family might still have ties to regime. Rebel military spokesman Mohammed al-Rijali said the commander, Abdel Fatah Younes, was taken from his operations room near the front to the main rebel stronghold, the eastern city of Benghazi, for interrogation. Younes, who served as Gadhafi’s interior minister but defected at the beginning of the fighting, was being questioned about suspected secret ties of his family to the Libyan regime, said two rebel security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue with the media. On today’s fighting in the Nafusa mountains, AP said the rebels had seized three small towns and advancing on others to secure a major supply route near the Tunisian border. Four rebel fighters were killed and several wounded in what the spokesmen described as the biggest push in the area since the start of Libya’s civil war five months ago. They said rebels captured 18 government soldiers, as well as weapons and ammunition. In Thursday’s fighting, hundreds of rebels descended from their stronghold in the Nafusa mountains at dawn and advanced in several areas along a stretch of more than 100km, said Badees Fessato, a rebel spokesman. 4.11pm: The Local Coordination Committees in Syria have condemned al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri for praising for the protest movement in Syria as part of Islamic jihad. Mohammad Al-Abdallah, the spokesman of Local Coordination Committees in Syria, said: Zawahiri is trying to convince the world that he has supporters in Syria, which will provoke the international public opinion against us and give the regime the right to commit crimes against our people. We condemn such statements that are irrelevant to the revolution, Syrians chose the non-violent way for their revolution and they won’t change it, they refuse any practices or speeches containing sectarian or violent properties. 4.01pm: Bell Pottinger, the British public relations firm, is working for the government of Yemen, the company’s chairman Lord Bell confirmed to Robert Booth. The PR firm is carrying out communications work for an unnamed special entity that has been created within the Yemen government to ensure a transition to newly elected government. It is unclear which part of the government the firm, but the goal of the communications campaign appears to be in line with a proposal by the Saudi-led Gulf Co-operation Council for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to stand down in return immunity from prosecution. The firm is understood not to be working for Saleh, who is recovering in Saudi Arabia following a bomb attack on his compound last month. Bell stressed that the objective of his firm’s contract is to assist the government through negotiations and within the Yemeni constitution to achieve a peaceful transition to a new government. Bell Pottinger recently worked with US PR firm Qorvis to handle a visit by Yemen’s finance minister to the US. “All appropriate authorities are aware of the work we are doing in Yemen,” said Lord Bell, who declined to comment further. Bell denied reports that the firm was involved in producing recent televised appearances by Saleh , or that it was involved in helping arrange pro-government demonstrations. 3.48pm: Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is healthy enough to stand trial next week, Egypt’s justice minister announced today, AP reports. Earlier this week hospital official said Mubarak was frail and refusing food. 3.37pm: Confusion reigns on Younis. A source in Benghazi claims he has been arrested and that special forces loyal to him are threatening to use guns to get him out of jail. Again this is unconfirmed. 3.02pm: Hold fire on that Younis story for now. Younis told the rebel site Thawralibya.com [Arabic] that reports of his arrest are false rumours being spread by Gaddafi’s forces. “They are trying to falsify the truth… the Libyan people will not be fooled by such nonsense,” he said in a telephone call. 2.33pm: The commander of the rebel Libyan forces, Abdel Fatah Younis, has been arrested, according to unconfirmed reports by al-Jazeera’s James Bays and Ali Hashem . It is unclear why, but is reported to have followed an investigation into unauthorized trips by Younis to Tripoli. Younis is a former interior minister in the Gaddafi regime who defected at the beginning of the uprising. Hashem provided these Twitter updates: Btw when i was in Benghazi i was told by a senior military source that Gen. Younis is under suspition. i made a tweet then #libya #feb17 Military source in Benghazi told us the story i tweeted about Gen. Younis #libya #feb17 He was arrested today morning by a military force headed by Gen. Jala Dogheili in benghazi. #libya #feb17 Gen. Abdulfatah Yunis is under arrest, i dont know why but this piece of news was confirmed to me by sources in Benghazi. #libya 2.19pm: Attitudes to gender equality are radically shifting amid the fighting in Misrata, Chris Stephen discovered from nurses at the city’s main hospital. For parallels, think of England on the outbreak of the first world war. With the men at the front women were pressed into service, earning status they fought to keep after the guns went silent. Something of the same is happening in Misrata. Before the war, the city was prosperous enough to have foreign nurses, mostly from the Philippines. When Gaddafi sent in the tanks they fled, along with local nurses who lived in nearby towns. The authorities scrambled to fill the gaps, offering an undreamed of chance for female medical students. The result has been a mini-revolution. Normally, female medical students are not allowed near a patient for the first three years of study, unlike their male counterparts. All that has now changed. “When I came here I didn’t know anything, not the names of the instruments, nothing,” said Hannin Mohammed, 21. “Now I know so much. I am working with the patients.” War has brought other benefits. “Before the war we could not go to a café. Big trouble,” explains 21-year-old student Faten Abd. “If you went to a café there would be too many eyes looking at you. They would be talking bad things. Now we can do it, nobody minds.” 1.57pm: Syrian activists are preparing a response to al-Qaida’s praise for anti-government protests against the Assad regime. In a video message, the terrorist network’s new leader Ayman al-Zawahiri claimed protesters were part of an Islamic jihad. Syrian activists, who have been keen to stress the secular and peaceful nature of the protests, say they fear the video will be used by the regime both to justify its crackdown and blame more of its own violence on activists. Assad’s government has repeatedly accused “terrorist groups” of causing the bloodshed. A spokeswoman for the Local Co-ordination Committee of Syria, which is publicising the protests, said a statement would be issued within the next two hours. Earlier the Foreign Office said Zawahiri’s message highlighted al-Qaida’s desperation and increasing irrelevance ( see 12.01pm ). 1.42pm: Lawyers have filed papers in Belgium accusing Nato of killing 13 civilians, including 3 children, by bombing a residence in Libya, AP reports. Marcel Ceccaldi, a Paris-based lawyer, said Thursday he also has asked the Brussels District Court to send two experts to Libya to assess the physical and psychological damages of the attack near Tripoli in June so that he can determine what monetary compensation to seek from Nato. Nato is based in Brussels, and its spokeswoman, Carmen Romero, said that all Nato air strikes in Libya are aimed at military targets and that great care is taken to avoid civilian casualties. 12.55pm: Rebels fighters in the Nafusa mountains appear to have been forced out of the town of al-Jawsh by Gaddafi’s rockets and snipers, according to the latest battle tweets from al-Jazeera’s James Bays . LIBYA opp fighters say they did not retreat from Al Jawsh. It was “a strategic withdrawal” #LIBYA opp fighters now in a position close to Al Jawsh, but Grads landing nearby. #LIBYA Fighters say in the town they were prevented from fighting back because of “human shields” #LIBYA opp fighters have all pulled out of Al Jawsh. They say they were targeted by snipers. 12.42pm: Guma el-Gamaty, the UK coordinator of the national transitional council [NTC], hit out this morning at what he called the “silly” idea that Muammar Gaddafi might be able to stay in Libya, writes Lizzy Davies. “I think we are coming to the end of all these silly political initiatives and all this talk about Gaddafi staying in Libya,” he said at a briefing for reporters. He added: “Will he be allowed to stay in Libya, will he not be allowed, will he resign, will he not resign? All these political initiatives, if they are not based on Gaddafi and all his sons leaving power and leaving Libya, these are political initiatives that are not even worth talking about.” El-Gamaty said the idea of Gaddafi staying in Libya and willingly giving up power was a “contradiction in terms”. On Monday the British foreign secretary William Hague suggested that Britain was prepared to agree to a settlement that would allow Gaddafi to stay in the countr y after giving up power. But, he added, it was “ultimately” a question for Libyan people to decide. El-Gamaty said that Hague had recognised correctly that such a question should not be “dictated” by another country. “You know if a foreign minister of a foreign country starts saying that ‘Gaddafi cannot stay in Libya’ or ‘Gaddafi can stay in Libya’ it will sound like dictating to another country, to another people, and I think even in diplomatic talk, in political talk that doesn’t sound right…So what he said was that it was up to the Libyan people.” He did acknowledge that there were possibly differences of opinion within the NTC on the thorny issue of Gaddafi’s fate. Earlier this week the Libyan rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil told the Wall Street Journal that Gaddafi and his family could stay in the country if they gave up power. But he appeared to withdraw the offer on Wednesday, saying the deadline for acceptance had passed. El-Gamaty said the offer was valid “only for a limited period” and would only be workable under strict conditions akin to house arrest. But he added that Jalil and he might disagree on the subject. “He might say it’s conceivable, I say it’s not conceivable that Gaddafi would accept that. And that would be a difference of opinion which happens in any political organisation. It’s healthy. That’s what democracy’s all about.” 12.21pm: The NTC UK spokesman Guma el-Gamaty has repeated his opposition to allowing Gaddafi to remain in Libya as part of a negotiated settlement. Speaking to journalists in London he said the idea was silly and unworkable, according to AP. El-Gamaty says he and rebel leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the head of the rebels’ council, probably disagreed on whether it was realistic to expect that Gaddafi would take up an offer to stay in the country after stepping down. But he says such differences were a part of any healthy democracy. Jalil, appeared to withdrawn his offer to allow Gaddafi to stay in Libya by saying on Wednesday that the deadline for acceptance had now passed . 12.01pm: The Foreign Office has accused the new head of al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahri, of desperation by claiming anti-government protesters in Syria were part of an Islamic jihad. Syrian activist have repeatedly stressed the secular nature of the protests, but in his first video message since the death of Osama bin Laden, Zawahri praised Syria protesters as “the sons of the Levant, the front for jihad and martyrdom” . A spokesman for the Foreign Office told the Guardian that said Zawahri was “clutching at straws”. He said: This is yet another example of how al-Qaida is grasping to remain relevant in light of the Arab Spring. We have seen al-Qaida struggle to show that its message of violent jihad is relevant to the Arab Spring where people have found a different voice and a different way to bring about change they desire. People are demonstrating that there is no place for al-Qaida’s brand of violence and murder of people of any faith. 11.40am: New amateur footage from Nalut gives an idea of the scale of the rebel offensive in the Nafusa mountain , but also how poorly equipped the fighters are. NTC spokesman Guma el-Gamaty said this was the biggest offensive in two months ( see 9.50am ) and he claimed the rebels were armed with tanks and cannon. There’s is no sign of such weapons in this five minute clip – it shows scores of casually-dressed fighters making their way to the front line in trucks and on quod bikes. The nearest thing to a tank is a gun turret welded on to a pick-up. _ 11.18am: Gaddafi’s forces in the Nafusa mountains appeared to have launched a counter offensive in Al-Jawsh , according to the latest update from al-Jazeera’s James Bays. But the rebels claim grad missile are being fired as Gaddafi’s forces retreat from the area, Bays reports. _ Reuters has more on the battle: At a checkpoint outside the nearby rebel-held town of Nalut, they sounded optimistic as the fighting began. “We are confident we can beat Gaddafi now, we have captured more weapons from the Libyan army, mostly AK-47s,” said Mohammed Ahmed, 20, a market trader turned fighter. Basim Ahmed, a fighter coming back from the front, said rebels had taken control of parts of three villages and many government troops had fled, but this was not possible to verify. As sustained bombardments could be heard in the distance, an ambulance raced to Nalut hospital. A rebel with a gunshot wound to the shoulder was brought into the emergency room, where he lay semi-conscious. Minutes later a commotion could be heard in the parking lot. A government soldier who had been captured was led to a hospital bed a few feet away from the rebel. He was missing a hand and was barefoot. The soldier, who gave his name as Hassan, told Reuters that the army was losing the will to fight. “We don’t want to keep fighting. Everybody is against us.” he said. Blood seeped through the bandage bound around the stump of his missing hand but a rebel nonetheless tried to interrogate him, asking him his unit and where he was from. Eight wounded combatants lay in the hospital in total – four rebels and four Gaddafi soldiers. Six other Gaddafi soldiers had been taken prisoner, witnesses said. _ 10.48am: China’s ambassador to Damascus took a parting swipe at his US counterpart as he was garlanded by Assad’s regime at the end of his term in Syria . Li Huaxin didn’t mention US ambassador Robert Ford by name, but the diplomatic dig was clear. Ford infuriated the Assad regime by travelling to the rebellious city of Hama to show solidarity with the protesters. Ambassador Li has sided firmly with the regime. He is quoted by the Syrian state news agency Sana as saying: What is happening in Syria is an internal affair, and it has been one of our principles in foreign relations not to interfere in the internal affairs of countries, which is also a primary principle in the international law.” We believe that the Syrian people are the most capable of addressing these events without foreign interference. Hence, we disapprove of foreign interference or imposing anything on Syria…We hope that security and stability will return to Syria as soon as possible. Such sentiments earned him the “Syrian Order of Merit”. Ford won’t get the same treatment when he leaves, but he seems to have become something of a hero in the US. Bloomberg praised his “creative diplomacy ” and use of the US Embassy’s Facebook page to criticise the regime. Ford has doggedly reached out to the Syrian opposition. Although his recall would demonstrate US disapproval of Assad’s crackdown, it would prevent using him as a symbol of US support for the Syrian people. To get his message out, Ford has bypassed the government-controlled news media, using his Facebook page to condemn the government’s killing of prisoners, expose its lies and endorse what he describes as “the right of all Syrians — and people of all countries — to express their opinions freely and in a climate of mutual respect. Ford’s creative diplomacy and bravery have become symbols of US opposition to Assad. 10.19am: Gaddafi’s intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi, who is wanted for war crimes , appeared on Libyan state TV on Wednesday . _ Last week some Libyan opposition figures claimed Senussi had been killed . His TV appearance is a reminder to treat claims from Libyan activists with caution. 10.13am: More war reporting on Twitter from al-Jazeera’s James Bays in the Nafusa mountains. Here are his last five updates on the battle from the last 50 minutes: #LIBYA opp forces are on edge of Badr, but still battles in al Jawsh. They say they are “cleaning it” #LIBYA Just seen four Gaddafi prisoners captured – all Libyans – not injured. Taken on edge of Badr. #LIBYA Grads came in close to our truck. Temporarily retreated, but mainly to catch our breath. #LIBYA Just seen a body of opposition fighter on back of truck leaving Al Jawsh. But no idea yet of overall casualty figures. #LIBYA Grads being fired back by Gaddafi forces. 9.50am: The rebel offensive in the Nafusa mountains is aimed at taking out Gaddafi’s missile launchers as well as opening up supply routes, the UK’s spokesman for national transitional council ,Guma el-Gamaty, said in an Audioboo interview . “If the freedom fighters make victory today and take over all these towns and villages then it will be a significant strategic shift,” he said. It is the biggest offensive in the last two months el-Gamaty claimed, but he declined to say how many fighters were involved. The attack started around five hours ago, and the earlier reports bode well for the rebels, el-Gamaty claimed. It is going very well, they have already captured one or two of these villages … by the end of the day we could see a major victory for the freedom fighters … It is not wishful thinking, the freedom fighters have put together a massive force in terms of numbers of fighters and arms. They have multi-rocket launchers, they have tanks, they have heavy cannon and they are well prepared and have put together a very detailed plan. _ 9.30am: The Libyan rebel offensive today is the largest so far in the Nafusa mountains , according to al-Jazeera. It has footage of hundreds troops gathering for what it reports to be a wave of attacks from Yifrin in the east to Nalut in the west. The aim is to open up a supply route from Ghezai near the Tunisia border to al-Jawash, the TV network says. _ 9.11am: More on that offensive in the Nafusa mountains. • Reuters reports: Libyan rebels launched on Thursday an offensive against a strategic government-held town near the Tunisian border, a spokesman said. “We have started attacking Ghezaia with rockets and tanks,” Mohammed Maylud told Reuters, adding that rebels had also hit four other villages along Libya’s western mountains. • NTC UK spokesman Guma el-Gamaty tweeted: Breaking news Libya heavy fighting now by FF 2 liberate AlGazaya & Tkut towns near Nalut west mountain if FF win they get closer 2 tripoli! • Al-Jazeera’s James Bays photographed a group rebel fighters heading towards the frontline in vans and pick-ups . • This Google Map (via @FromJoanne ) marks the positions of Nalut (A), Takut (B) and Ghezaia (C). _ 8.21am: Welcome to Middle East Live. Here’s a round-up of the latest developments: Libya •  Libyan rebels fighting in the western mountains are preparing a major offensive in the Nafusa mountains. “We are reinforcing the position around Nalut and we will attack Ghezaia [on Thursday] or the next day for sure. We plan to take it,” Omar Fakkan, a rebel commander, told Reuters. Al-Jazeera’s James Bays recorded this AudioBoo on the way to the frontline of the battle . _ • Mahmoud al-Nakou, the man being lined up as the new Libyan ambassador to London talked to the Guardian following the expulsion of Muammar Gaddafi’s eight remaining diplomats. “They all knew me … I think they chose me because of my history (as an anti-Gaddafi dissident) and because … of what I offer to my country,” he said. He was ready, he said, to see “a new stage in the history of Libya” marked by “freedom of thinking, freedom of political parties and freedom for journalists.” • Libyan government spokesman Khaled Kaim condemned the UK for recognising the NTC as the “sole governmental authority” in Libya. He said the decision was “unprecedented in diplomatic history” and that he considered it “a stain on the forehead of Britain” . •  News of the diplomatic expulsions spread fast through the networks of radio stations in the besieged city of Misrata, Chris Stephen reports from the besieged port. “When I heard about London I was screaming in my house, I felt so good,” said rebel fighter Ahmed Laga. • NTC president, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, appears to have withdrawn his offer to allow Gaddafi to stay in Libya as a free man if he agreed to leave power. Jalil issued a new statement on Wednesday, saying that his offer of what amounted to immunity had come with a timeline, and that the deadline for acceptance had now passed. Syria • A sweep by government forces has seized one person every hour during the five-month Syrian uprising and detained them in secret, leaving their families no way to locate them, says a human rights group. The group, Avaaz, claims 2,918 people have been “forcibly disappeared” since anti-government demonstrations began in Syria on 15 March. Most are accused of being involved in the rebellion that continues to undermine a regime long renowned as the Middle East’s most formidable police state. • Around 20 people were killed in a a series of raids against suspected anti-government protesters in and around the capital Damascus . The renewed clampdown came just days before the start of Ramadan on Monday when protests are expected to intensify. Two 10-year-olds were among those killed. • A rare coalition of Republican and Democratic members of a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee criticised the US State Department for failing to call for Bashar al-Assad to go, the LA Times reports. “How many must die before we have the courage to stand up and say that Assad is illegitimate and he must go?” asked Republican Steve Chabot the subcommittee’s chairman. Iran A senior commander of Iran’s revolutionary guards, who is subject to comprehensive international sanctions, has been nominated as the country’s oil minister, a position that currently includes the presidency of Opec . Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, sent a list of four ministers, including Rostam Ghasemi, commander of the revolutionary guards’ Khatam al-Anbia military and industrial base, to the parliament for approval, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Libya Muammar Gaddafi Syria Bashar Al-Assad Egypt Bahrain Yemen Nato US foreign policy Iran Matthew Weaver guardian.co.uk

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