Attacks On Embassies In Libya

August 25, 2011

Armed gangs in Libya have ransacked the residence of the South Korean ambassador, broke into the embassy of Bulgaria and looted the Venezuelan embassy.

The folks at Intelnews have some suspicions:

[C]ould it be that these attacks are not led by the rebels themselves, but by some of their embedded American and Western European intelligence operatives, who may be taking advantage of the chaotic situation in the Libyan capital to collect valuable documents from selected foreign embassies?

Maybe, maybe not. It is weird that some embassies get protection by the rebels while others do not. One could explain this with regards to the Venezuelan embassy as Venezuela supports Gaddhafi's position, but why attacking the embassies of Bulgaria or South Korea?

It shows that the new puppet dictatorship of the Transitional National Council is either incapable of keeping foreign embassies safe or is deliberately leaving some unprotected. On who's advice?

Posted by b on August 25, 2011 at 10:16 UTC | Permalink

Comments

look this is silly, the whole of Tripoli is not safe
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=130958
I believe Tripoli is secured, when the TNC take up residence there.
Any group with guns, cars and flags can say they are the rebels now. I do not now anything about Libya, so maybe young guys there are angels, but if Tripoli is like London …
Either the family or the mosque has to control this, if for some reason these institutions are week it will be complete anarchy.

Posted by: somebody | Aug 25 2011 12:12 utc | 1

this is the – now outdated – US travel information on crime in Libya
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_951.html#crime
Crime against foreigners is a growing problem in Libya. The most common types of crime are property crimes of opportunity, including vehicle burglaries. Pick-pocketing and residential burglaries are also on the increase. Women routinely face verbal harassment. While physical violence is not common, there have been instances of assault against women, ranging from sexual groping or assault and battery to attempted rape.
Don’t buy counterfeit and pirated goods, even if they are widely available. Not only are the bootlegs illegal in the United States, you may be breaking local law too.

Posted by: somebody | Aug 25 2011 12:17 utc | 2

and this – completely uncommented video – from Russia Today speaks for itself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uchLT0Gkgl0

Posted by: somebody | Aug 25 2011 12:57 utc | 3

Good article that talks to a lot of Libyans (both rebel fighters and Gaddaffi supporters) in The Independent today.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/terror-in-tripoli-as-loyalists-fight-to-the-death-2343458.html
Some quotes:
A Rebel Fighter:
“We keep on hearing that Gaddafi’s sons are leading the attacks,” complained Ahmed Jawad Ibadullah, a volunteer fighter, from Zawiyah. “What happened there? We were told by the people in Benghazi that the whole family of bastards has been finished. Now we get this. I am a pharmacist. I have been away from my home, from my job for five months now. Even now we are not getting proper direction and leadership.”
Resident of the Abu Salim district of Tripoli:
“In the corner of a street, a man who was shot in the crossfire, the back of his blue shirt soaked in blood, was being carried away by three others. “I know that man, he is a shopkeeper,” said Sama Abdessalam Bashti, who had just run across the road to reach his home. “The rebels are attacking our homes. This should not be happening.”
A 38-Year old Engineer from Tripoli:
“I did not get any money, but I was given a gun. It was an AK-47, made in Ukraine. I have kept it for the protection of my family; we do not know what is going to happen. They say Muammar is defeated, but if that is the case, why is he not in prison?”
Another rebel fighter:
“Ashraf Zain Ali, loading ammunition boxes into a truck, nodded. “We have been doing all the fighting,” he said. “Our leaders are flying around the world. We have been told for days that the leadership is coming over from Benghazi. Where are they?”

Posted by: Colm O’ Toole | Aug 25 2011 14:37 utc | 4

They are not even pretending anymore.
In the Guardian blog.

The soldiers have taken a leading role not just in bringing in bombers to blast a path for the rebels, but in planning offensives that over the past fortnight broke the city’s six-month siege, said Mohammed Subka, a communications specialist in the Al Watum (My Home) brigade.
Now they are helping prepare what may be the final attack of the war, advising rebel units on the assault on Sirte, the last coastal stronghold still in the hands of pro-Gaddafi forces. “We are with the England team,” said Subka. “They advise us.”
In recent weeks there have been occasional sightings of soldiers in western military dress, but no confirmation that these soldiers were Nato special forces, and the western alliance and rebel leaders have refused to comment on the reports.
Subka said the two teams have been operating in the besieged city for several weeks.
And the Nato team helped to plan the first breakout of the rebels two weeks ago when they crashed through the government ring around the city, capturing the town of Tawarega.
The British and French officers, believed to be from the special forces, operate from a base in a secret location near the city’s sprawling port, Kasa Ahmed. They took a leading role in masterminding not just the capture of Tawarga but the attack on Zlitan to the west at the weekend which allowed rebel units to race to Tripoli.

Posted by: ThePaper | Aug 25 2011 15:19 utc | 5

Chris is at the new rebel frontline, Kilometer 60, where he can see clear evidence of Nato’s bombing to form a path for the rebel forces.
Bombs have pancaked concrete buildings that Gaddafi’s forces had modified as bunkers, while tanks lie ripped apart, their turrets and tracks strewn across the road. Further south, all that remains of an ammunition truck is a blackened carpet of splinters.
Kilometer 60 lies in the flat empty desert, no more than a sand-coloured mosque and a wrecked diner sitting at a traffic intersection. Ahead, past big earth berms, the highway is a shimmering tarmac ribbon running away into the desert and Sirte, still 80 miles distant.
Subka says the advance on the city cannot begin until government units sited along the south of the road ahead are cleared from their positions. On his computer he shows plots, apparently provided for him from Nato reconnaissance, showing the locations of artillery that threatens the road. “We don’t worry about those units, they are Nato’s concern,” he said.
The opposition National Transitional Council would rather avoid an attack on Sirte, hoping that the fall of Tripoli will persuade pro-Gaddafi soldiers in the town to lay down their arms without a fight. But a spate of attacks from Sirte on Misrata by Scud missiles, the heaviest weapon in Gadafi’s armoury, have added urgency to the task. The Scuds have been intercepted by US navy missiles, but Misratans fear that sooner or later one will get through, and the attacks have provoked the one source of tension between Nato and its rebel liaison officers.

Posted by: ThePaper | Aug 25 2011 15:20 utc | 6

War Crimes by Rebels?
“More than 30 men believed to be fighters loyal to Muammar Gaddafi have been killed at a military encampment in central Tripoli and at least two were bound with plastic handcuffs, indicating they had been executed. A Reuters correspondent counted 30 bodies riddled with bullets in an area of the Libyan capital where there had been fighting between Gaddafi forces and rebels.”
Al Jaazera Live Blog: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-aug-25-2011-1958

Posted by: Colm O’ Toole | Aug 25 2011 17:21 utc | 7

This from the Economist – sounds like real life to me:
“Tripolitans are snakes,” says a Berber rebel fighter heading home with a cache of stolen weapons. “We fought for six months in the mountains, while they stayed in Tripoli and partied.” So self-serving are the capital’s people, he declared, that they carry a Qaddafi flag in one pocket and a rebel one in the other.”
http://www.economist.com/node/21526959

Posted by: somebody | Aug 25 2011 17:48 utc | 8

From Dom Debar:
I just did a bit on RT.com where I reported that a.) “the rebels” – actually, Qatari regulars dressed as paramilitary and run by their commanders in uniform – are trying to flee by water (with NATO transport waiting for them in the harbor) but are under heavy fire by the people of Tripoli and government troops; b.) that the current attempt to pay $500+M of funds belonging to the people of Libya to the NTC (actually, to Mustafa Jalil, who is now exposed not as a rebel, but a coupster) explains why the NTC general was killed last week, enabling the seizure of the office of NTC’s Finance Ministry by Jalil, making him the sole payee and raising the question of who, precisely, would be the maker of that check (the US) and the authority under which that would happen; c.) that there was a mass execution of handcuffed loyalists by the Qataris/rebels.
Here are two more interviews I did since last night. The first – the 8/24/11 Fight Back podcast at http://www.talktainmentradio.com/pages/9504490.php?date=2011_08 – is an hour-long interview by journalist Bob Fitrakis, who was on the October, 2009 trip to Libya, led by Cynthia McKinney, with me. The second – at http://www.nccmc.com/index.php?option=com_jvideo&view=watch&id=391 – was taped yesterday afternoon at the public access TV studio in Chappaqua, NY (less than a mile from the home of Chappaqua residents Bill and Hillary Clinton). That one was a half hour and, unfortunately, in my exhaustion, I spent too much time setting up the situation for viewers and ran out of time before I was done, but it contains, I think, a lot of information that will be useful to those you are educating about the situation in terms of contextual facts.
I will forward the link to the RT.com piece when it comes on line.
Don DeBar
87 Ferris Pl
Ossining, NY 10562
914 374-2475
dondebar@optonline.net
http://www.WBAIX.org

Posted by: brian | Aug 25 2011 21:35 utc | 9

How ironic as Bulgaria has recognised the TNC murderers! The got what they deserved

Posted by: brian | Aug 25 2011 21:43 utc | 10

‘somebody’ contiues his work at defending the war on Libya….how you enjoy your 30 pieces of silver..they may not have the buying power they once did!
The Economist does not deal on real life..and theres no such thing as a qadaffi flag! lets take a look at Somebodies friends:
LibyanLiberal LibyanLiberal
I saw a rebel raping a 10 yo girl. another holdng the girl. both rebels were shot, they dont deserve life.
39 minutes ago
LibyanLiberal LibyanLiberal
We killed 2 rapists and saved a girl last night behing enemy lines. A lot of not Libyans in the ranks of rebels. White like norvegian.
41 minutes ago
===============

Posted by: brian | Aug 25 2011 21:56 utc | 11

Ana Tsivdari
Take a look at this…I wonder hhow many more black people need to get killed by the rebels, for some journos to stop the “african mercenaries” label? Although, if they were in military uniforms, hands tied shows how the prisoners of war are treated there.
“danieljerivers Dan Rivers
Been wandering through Bab al Azizya compound lots of bodies of what looked like African mercenaries hands bound, On intersection nearby”
=======================
what does an african mercenary look like?…well hes usually black!
Note that the insurgents have brought to Tripoli their brutal genocidical practices in Benghzai thus confirming the accounts we heard are true! This is what will happen thruout Liya if the wretched europens and americas thru NATO win. These rapist genocidical rebels have put out a $ 2million bounty on Gadaff ..but using whose money?

Posted by: brian | Aug 25 2011 21:56 utc | 12

brian @ 9: That second link is an eye-opener. The Don Debar interview is incredible. Thanks.

Posted by: ben | Aug 25 2011 23:21 utc | 13

Listen, all sides in this conflict deal this in the most negative, inhuman hard core fashion, civilians seem to be of no concern for any side. Must be greed for money involved. To enter Tripoli this way with a few thousand rebels plus special forces not really knowing either place nor people was completely irresponsible to say the least … to let it come to that not getting a deal (which will have to come in the end between Libyans, so the conflict now is completely futile) is worse.
There is this here now
borzou Borzou Daragahi
Food becoming problem in Tripoli. Residents scrambling 2 stock up from dwindling supplies. Vital resupply line 2 Tunisia cut. #lbya #feb17
vor 3 Stunden
BBCDanielS Daniel Sandford
Tripoli update: fierce fighting in one area near Rixos, law and order maintained by 1000s of checkpoints. Power, water becoming a problem
vor 4 Stunden
»
Daniel Sandford
BBCDanielS Daniel Sandford
Tripoli starting to feel like a city that is starting to fail. We moved into a hotel because water had run out. Now it has run out here too.

Posted by: somebody | Aug 26 2011 10:10 utc | 14

Daniel Sandford
BBCDanielS Daniel Sandford
Tripoli starting to feel like a city that is starting to fail. We moved into a hotel because water had run out. Now it has run out here too.

Good on you bast*** what do you think the residents are suffering less then you?

Posted by: hans | Aug 26 2011 10:44 utc | 15

basically it is the same stalemate, before the rebels were stretching Gaddafi’s forces thin cutting supply lines to cities, making it impossible to govern, now Gaddafi’s forces stretch the rebels, cutting supply lines, making it impossible to govern.
Well done, Nato, bomb on.

Posted by: somebody | Aug 26 2011 10:57 utc | 16

Just wait for the slaughter of Sirte begins. Protecting ‘civilians’ has an interesting meaning for NATO that includes to put a whole city at the hand of a marauding bunch of weapon crazy uncontrolled ‘rebels’ with very few (if any) support in the area. Something similar is happening in Tripoli. The state supported middle class and non-islamic which likely make a large part of its population is not celebrating the ‘victory of democracy’. They may not support Gaddafi (or not enough to die for him) but I doubt they enjoy the invasion. Meanwhile the worse parts of the ex-Gaddafi governments official is already presenting themselves as the new ‘democrats’ at the service of NATO.

Posted by: ThePaper | Aug 26 2011 12:13 utc | 17

According to French newspaper Liberation (paywall), ‘Islamists’ (and al-Qaida) are controlling the military arm of the TNC, in particular those rebels that first marched on Tripoli. Le Monde has a synopsis: Libye : Al-Qaida derrière la victoire de Tripoli ?.
Given the reports in the British press about caucasian mercenaries and SAS involvement, that might have been a merry band … (/snark).

Posted by: philippe | Aug 26 2011 15:06 utc | 18

Targeted Individual reporters for Targeted Killings
The Réseau Voltaire, (Voltaire Network), an international non-profit organisation independent news group, based in Paris , released a brief statement late on Monday about its two journalists in Libya targeted for killings. (Also see: “Obama targeted killings lawsuit spotlights American civilians,” Dupré, D. Examiner, September 2, 2010)
“From the Rixos [Hotel], the order was given by so-called “journalists” from the U.S. to bring down Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya and Thierry Meyssan.”
The statement was released in an short newsletter by Voltaire news group saying that the individuals who gave the orders “have been identified and their names will be released in due course.”
Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya is a Research Associate with the Centre for Research on Globalization, and Thierry Meyssan, is president and founder of Voltaire Network and the Axis for Peace Conference.
http://m.examiner.com/examiner/db_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=KScgXRV2&full=true#display

Posted by: brian | Aug 27 2011 12:39 utc | 19

libyan liberal (he is in Tripoli)tells of plans to exterminate all who resist
by Bodhibrian Souter on Saturday, 27 August 2011 at 22:03
libyan liberal tells of plans to cut off water:
LibyanLiberal LibyanLiberal
NATO is planning to exterminate every resist in Tripoli by cutting the water and forcing us to starve and die.if we go out rebels snipes us.
1 minute ago
LibyanLiberal
LibyanLiberal LibyanLiberal
Why to surrender to rebels if you know they will kill you after the cameramen of CNN and BBC leave? this is pathetic.
3 minutes ago
LibyanLiberal
LibyanLiberal LibyanLiberal
tired and the supplies are cut, we will die all here.we are surrounded and ready to face martyrdom. nato will not get us. nor the rebels.
3 minutes ago
LibyanLiberal
LibyanLiberal LibyanLiberal
From 690 proisoners escaped buslim yesterday 540 were al qaeda members. bravo to obomber idiot. bush was better.
4 minutes ago

Posted by: brian | Aug 27 2011 12:42 utc | 20

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