Owner59
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To the chagrin of many cons,things are looking up in Libya.
http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7KE24B20110914
TRIPOLI, Sept 14 (Reuters) - A senior U.S. diplomat visiting Tripoli on Wednesday said Washington was encouraged by the increasing control Libya's interim government was exercising over security forces and would reopen its embassy in the capital as soon as possible.
In a statement, Jeffrey Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, also said the United States was committed to continuing military operations with NATO as long as they were needed to protect Libyan civilians.
"The United States and our international partners have an enduring commitment to supporting the Libyan people as they chart their country's future," Feltman said after meeting the head of the National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil.
"This includes working with NATO and our coalition partners to continue operations to protect Libyan civilians until they are no longer under threat.
"We remain encouraged by growing command and control over security and police forces. We understand that this is a difficult task. Libya's interim leadership is solidifying the steps and integrating militias under one civilian authority."
http://tripolipost.com/articledetail.asp?c=1&i=6905
Residents Fleeing Bani Walid Taking NTC Fighters Advice
14/09/2011 13:47:00
Residents of Bani Walid, 140 kilometres southeast of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, are taking the advice of the NTC fighters and leaving the town with their families to avoid being in the midst of the fighting that could become very fierce.
The residents have been given two days to leave before the anti-Al Qathafi fighters make an all-out assault to take the town, one of the last remaining bastions loyal to the fugitive leader who has now been shorn of any power after 42 years ruling with an iron fist.
The NTC fighters don't want innocent civilians in Bani Walid to become victims trapped inside the 'war zone'. Many are heeding the advice and hoping to be liberated. A few, reportedly some 10 per cent are Al Qathafi loyalists who appear to be willing to sacrifice themselves for nothing.
Al Qathafi has no future. By fighting and risking their lives and also putting the lives of others at risk would achieve nothing. There's is a lost cause. Resisting because Al Qathafi or his son Seif is telling them so, to fight to the death, could only lead to one thing, death. Else caught and imprisoned.
After the fall of Tripoli, many would have thought that the worst was over. But now the three towns known as Al Qathafi strongholds are making a last-ditch effort to resist. They have surprisingly offered stiff resistance and after fighting for over five days, the town has not yet been liberated.
With the backing of air strikes from NATO warplanes on Al Qathafi rocket positions, the NTC fighters battle on, and fleeing residents who had been trapped inside for weeks, have reported having fighting inside the city.
NTC military spokesman Ahmed Bani, told reporters the plan for Bani Walid for now was to wait. He added: "When our forces entered Bani Walid they found the Al Qathafi brigades using citizens as shields."
Bani added that they found out that missile launchers had been placed on the roofs of homes, making it difficult for NTC forces or NATO warplanes to strike.
NTC commanders say they are close to taking control of the town and are close to the centre. There's no doubt that they will tae it, though with some costs. After that they will tackle Al Qathafi's hometown of Sirte on the Mediterranean coast and the remote desert city of Sabha.
Apparently they are taking the commander`s advice.
Certainly doesn`t sound like the brutes and murderers our extrem-o-cons have described the rebels as.
And...
http://tripolipost.com/articledetail.asp?c=1&i=6906
US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman (left) in a Reuters photo seen greeted by Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, the chairman of Libya's interim government in Tripoli
Senior U.S. State Department official Jeffrey Feltman Wednesday arrived in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, to show support for the country's new leaders, and for talks with Libya's new leaders, Libya's National Transitional Council NTC. After meeting with Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, the head of the NTC, said the US would reopen its embassy in Tripoli.
Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, is the highest ranking U.S. official to visit Tripoli since the NTC fighters freed it from the control of the Muammar Al Qathafi regime on August 23. According to a senior envoy, Washington is encouraged by the increasing control Libya's interim rulers are exercising over security forces in the country.
Pledging US support for the National Transitional Council, Mr Feldman said: "We remain encouraged by growing command and control over security and police forces.”
In his statement after his meeting with the NTC chief Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the American politician went on to say: "We understand that this is a difficult task,” adding: "Libya's interim leadership is solidifying the steps and integrating militias under one civilian authority."
"Libya's interim leadership is solidifying the steps and integrating militias under one civilian authority."
Answering journalists about the strength of Islamist groups in the NTC that overthrew the former dictator, he said: "We are not concerned that one group will be able to dominate the aftermath of what has been a shared struggle."
Feltman added that he expected the new rulers in Tripoli to "share concerns about terrorism" with Washington.
Mr Feltman said that the US and its international partners have an enduring commitment to supporting the Libyan people as they chart their country's future. “This,” he said, includes working with NATO and our coalition partners to continue operations to protect Libyan civilians until they are no longer under threat."
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"As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals"
President Obama
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US envoy in Tripoli praises NTC over security - 
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