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AJE Live Stream - Special Coverage: Libya Uprising - Twitter Audio - Tweeting revolutions
(All times are local in Libya GMT+2)
(All times are local in Libya GMT+2)
- Snipers loyal to Gaddafi have killed two people in Misurata, a resident told Reuters. \
"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," the resident, called Saadoun, told Reuters by telephone.
- The head of the Libyan National Council, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, just denied Libyan state TV reports that defected interior Minister Abdel Fatah Younis has defected the rebels and joined Gaddafi forces again.
It seems that there is a media war going on between Gaddafi and rebels.
- Libyan state TV says that interior minister Abdel Fatah Yunes, who defected to the rebels at the beginning of March, had returned to the Gaddafi camp and to his old job.
- Libyan forces loyal to Gaddafi fired artillery shells into the rebel-held city of Misurata and water supplies were still cut off, a resident said.
"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," the resident, called Mohammed, told Reuters by telephone from the city.
Libyan government officials deny attacking rebels and say they are observing a ceasefire.
Reports from Misrata could not be verified independently because authorities in Tripoli have prevented journalists from reaching the city.
- Libya's government announced an immediate ceasefire on Friday, but government forces were said to have entered the western edge of the city on Saturday. Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher reports.
- Here is revised text of the speeches that Gaddafi's spokesman read out:
The first letter to brother leader to Barack Obama:
"To our son, his excellency, Mr Baracka Hussein Obama. I have said to you before, that even if Libya and the United States of America enter into a war, god forbid, you will always remain a son. Your picture will not be changed. I want you to remain in the same image. I have all the people of Libya with me, and I'm prepared to die and we have all the men, children and women with me. Nothing more. Al Qaeda is an armed organisation, passing through Algeria, Mauritania and Mali. What would you do if you found them controlling American cities with the power of weapons? What would you do, so I can follow your example."
Letter to Ban Ki Moon, Sarkozy and Cameron:
"Libya is not yours, Libya is for the Libyans. The security council, their resolution is void because it is not according to the charter to interfere with the internal affairs of the country. … You have no right. You will regret if you get involved in this, our country. We can never shoot a single bullet on our people, it is Al Qaeda organisation."
- A spokesman for the rebel National Libyan Council reported a bombardment on the western town of Zintan by Gaddafi forces and said five shells had fallen on the outskirts.
The spokesman, who was named only as Adel, was speaking to Al Arabiya television.
- Gaddafi spokesman reads out letter to president Obama:
To Baracka Hussein Obama... I have all the Libyan people supporting me and they are prepared to die for me... I am facing al Qaeda here - what would you do?
The second letter is to Ban Ki-Moon, president Sarkozy of France and the UK's David Cameron:
Libya is not yours.. You have no right to intervene into our internal affairs. This is our country, it is not your country. We can never shoot a single bullet onto our people...
He also warns the world leaders of retaliation if they persist.
- Abdul Jalil, head of National Libyan Council, also said:
Now there is a bombardment by artillery and rockets on all districts of Benghazi
The international community is late in intervening to save civilians from Gaddafi's forces. Today in Benghazi there will be a catastrophe if the international community does not implement the resolutions of the U.N. Security Council.
We appeal to the international community, to the all the free world, to stop this tyranny from exterminating civilians. - Abdul Jalil also tells us that Benghazi hospitals are now being flooded with victims. He says that the pro-democracy fighters do not have enough weapons and numbers to confront Gaddafi:
"We only have light arms - Gaddafi seems to have new and powerful weapons."
- Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the head of the Libyan Interim Council, tells Al Jazeera that residential areas in Benghazi are under attack by artillery and tanks. He also said that the plane shot down belongs to the rebels.
- Al Jazeera's James Bays reporting live from Benghazi:
We are still hearing gunfire in the distance - I heard an explosion just moments ago from that direction...
We have seen anti-aircraft guns going along the road in that direction, we have also seen ambulances and medical staff making their way in that direction in the last half hour or so... - Blake Hounshell, Managing Editor of Foreign Policy magazine, sent us this footage from today's attack on Benghazi:
- The Security Council "has acted responsibly to protect and save the lives of defenceless civilians who are faced with brutal acts of violence carried out by the Libyan authorities," the South African foreign ministry says.
The decision "constitutes an important element for the protection of civilians and the safety of the delivery of humanitarian assistance to those most vulnerable and those desperately in need of such assistance," it said in a statement.
- The international community must act fast over the situation in Libya, a French government source says.
"Everything is ready (to act) but the decision is now a political one. It's clear we have to move quickly," the source said, hours before France was due to host an international meeting to discuss military intervention.
- Pro-democracy fighters have erected concrete barricades on the roads leading to the courthouse building where the rebel National Libyan Council has its base.
Khalid al-Sayeh, a rebel military spokesman, told Reuters:
They have entered Benghazi from the west. Where are the Western powers? They said they could strike within hours.
- Al Jazeera shows pictures of the fighter jet as it was shot down:
- Picture of the Al Jazeera vehicle that was hit in Benghazi:
- Artillery shells being shot into Benghazi from about 20km away, Al Jazeera's Tony Birtely reports.
- Libya's government says that its armed forces are under attack west of the rebel-held stronghold of Benghazi and have responded in self-defence.
This was issued in a statement carried by the official Jana news agency:
The gangs of Al-Qaeda attacked the units of the Libyan armed forces stationed to the west of Benghazi.
The statement accused the rebels of using "a helicopter and a fighter jet to bomb the Libyan armed forces in blatant violation of the no-fly zone imposed by the UN Security Council."
- Al Jazeera reporters in Benghazi say that their vehicle has been hit by a mortar round - the vehicle was not occupied at the time. Also reports of artillery attacks on Gamal Abdel Nasser street in central Benghazi.
- Al Jazeera's Tony Birtely says that a plane has been shot down in Benghazi. More details to follow.
- Reports from Al Jazeera reporter in Benghazi that pro-Gaddafi forces have entered the suburbs of the city.
- Al Jazeera reporter in Benghazi says some shelling happening now, with a jet just crossing over the town. Reports of some people being injured in the bombing, possibly some deaths.
- "The explosions started about 2 a.m. Gaddafi's forces are advancing, we hear they're 20kms from Benghazi," Faraj Ali, a local resident, said."It's land-based fire. We saw one aircraft," he added.
- Large explosions were heard in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, the rebel stronghold, early on Saturday, a Reuters witness said.
A fighter jet could be heard over the city, the witness said, adding that the explosions were strong enough to shake a building.
- Speaking after the response by Moussa Koussa, Libya's foreign minister, on Friday, Gaddafi said there was no justification for the UN resolution aimed at ending violence in Libya.
This is blatant colonialism. It does not have any justification. This will have serious consequences on the Mediterranean and on Europe.
In 2011 they are colonising us, massacring us, and imposing one no-fly zone after the other and one military attack after another. What is this racism? What is this hatred?
- Gerard Araud, the French envoy to the UN, said he expects military intervention in Libya within hours of a Paris summit on Saturday.
- Rebels in Benghazi braced amid rumours that pro-Gaddafi forces were within striking distance of the city and planning an evening assault. Hundreds of men, some on pick-up trucks mounted with machine-guns, flooded out of the city in response to a call from the rebel-run radio to man their posts.
- A US national security official on Friday said forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, continued to advance towards the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi despite the ceasefire proclamation.
- Welcome to Al Jazeera's live blog for March 19, covering unfolding events in Libya and providing you with up-to-the-minute updates. To catch up on everything that's happened over the last 24 hours, why not check out yesterday's live blog, or our news story, which wraps up developments?
