InfoAnda - Anger, chaos but no revolt after Libya violence |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

WRAPUP 2-South Korea c.bank rushes to give banks more help | 4 December 2008
Drunken driver kills seven at Moscow bus stop | | 23 September 2012
Dell shows ultra-thin laptop, 10-inch netbook at CES | 10 January 2009

GOME chairman saga reflects China equity risks | 26 November 2008

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Anger, chaos but no revolt after Libya violence |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Davos 2012 Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Summits Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Geraldine Fabrikant Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Slideshow Full Focus Editor's choice A selection of our best photos from the last 24 hours. Full Article Images of December Best photos of the year Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Subculture of Americans prepares for civilization's collapse 21 Jan 2012 Gingrich wants to hear his debate fans roar 24 Jan 2012 UPDATE 2-Megaupload founder refused bail in New Zealand 24 Jan 2012 U.S. Marine spared from jail time in Iraq killings 24 Jan 2012 Obama doubles down on taxing the rich | 1:29am EST Discussed 326 Subculture of Americans prepares for civilization’s collapse 205 Abortion safer than giving birth: study 160 Romney reports tax bill of $6.2 million for 2010-11 Watched Angelina Jolie fascinated by "bizarre" Republican presidential race Sun, Jan 22 2012 Obama: U.S. has "huge stake" in outcome of Arab Spring Tue, Jan 24 2012 "Smart E-book" turns the page on reading technology Sun, Jan 22 2012 Anger, chaos but no revolt after Libya violence Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Former Gaddafi stronghold revolts against Tripoli Tue, Jan 24 2012 Gaddafi supporters seize control of Libyan town Mon, Jan 23 2012 ICC accepts Gaddafi son to be tried in Libya: minister Mon, Jan 23 2012 Deputy head of Libya's NTC quits after protests Sun, Jan 22 2012 Syrian blasts kill 14, Arab monitors may stay Sat, Jan 21 2012 Analysis & Opinion Yemen needs an insurgent democracy Libyan Islamists rally to demand sharia-based law Related Topics World » Libya » 1 of 3. A damaged tank is seen after an attack by armed Gaddafi loyalists in Bani Walid, a town about 200 km (120 miles) from Tripoli, in this still image taken from video January 24, 2012. A bullet-scarred barracks, scorched and abandoned like the ageing tanks guarding its shattered gateway, was all that remained on Tuesday of what passed for the Libyan government's grip on Bani Walid. Credit: Reuters/via Reuters TV By Oliver Holmes BANI WALID, Libya | Wed Jan 25, 2012 2:26am EST BANI WALID, Libya (Reuters) - A bullet-scarred barracks, scorched and abandoned like the ageing tanks guarding its shattered gateway, was all that remained on Tuesday of what passed for the Libyan government's grip on Bani Walid. But a day after townsmen put to flight a force loyal to the Western-backed interim administration in Tripoli, elders in the desert city, once a bastion of support for Muammar Gaddafi, dismissed accusations they wanted to restore the late dictator's family to power or had any ambitions beyond their local area. "Allegations of pro-Gaddafi elements in Bani Walid, this is not true," said Miftah Jubarra, who was among dozens of leading citizens gathered at a local mosque to form a municipal council now that nominal representatives from the capital have fled. "In the Libyan revolution, we have all become brothers," Jubarra told Reuters. "We will not be an obstacle to progress." That might reassure the National Transitional Council, the body which won NATO backing to oust Gaddafi last year but which is now struggling to restore services and impose order on myriad armed groups. An official of the NTC's government in Tripoli insisted it saw no threat from the "limited local incident." Yet the violence, 150 km (90 miles) south of the capital, was also symptomatic of major obstacles to Libyan hopes of a rapid transition to peace, democracy and oil-fueled prosperity. Residents heard warplanes overhead late on Monday as NTC forces hastily drove south from Tripoli to take up positions 50 km from Bani Walid. But those troops had, as yet, no orders to move on the town, where Gaddafi loyalists fought rebel forces to a standstill before negotiating a surrender in October. Interior Minister Fawzi Abd al-All told a news conference in Tripoli would "strike with an iron fist" anyone who posed a threat to Libyan security - but he also said there would be no NTC move against Bani Walid until it was clear what happened. People in Bani Walid urged the NTC to keep back and the government official in Tripoli, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the interim administration was in no hurry to get mired in a dispute he characterized as a spat between local factions, rather than a counter-revolution. "GREEN FLAGS" ABSENT Though pro-government militiamen who fled on Monday spoke of their barracks being overrun by fighters flying the green flag of the old regime, Reuters journalists who toured the town of 75,000 on Tuesday saw little overt sign of such allegiances to Gaddafi, whose now captive son Saif al-Islam staged a last stand in Bani Walid before fleeing into the Sahara three months ago. Rather than green flags, the most common banners flying were the red, green and black tricolor of the NTC. Some graffiti spoke of lingering nostalgia for the Gaddafis in a town whose dominant Warfalla tribe fared well under him. But those willing to talk to reporters insisted the violence was no revanchist putsch but was provoked by local abuses allegedly committed by The May 28th Brigade, a militia loyal to the NTC. "When men from Tripoli come into your house and harass women, what are we to do?" said Fati Hassan, a 28-year-old Bani Walid resident who described the men of May 28th as a mixture of local men and outsiders, former anti-Gaddafi rebels who had turned into oppressors when given control over the town. "They were arresting people from the first day after liberation. People are still missing. I am a revolutionary and I have friends in The May 28th Brigade," said Hassan, who said he urged them to ease off. "The war is over now." A sleep-deprived doctor at the poorly supplied local hospital in Bani Walid, as well as other residents of the town, said at least seven people were killed on Monday when tempers boiled over, and an eighth died of wounds on Tuesday. It was unclear if this figure included four militiamen whose comrades in the NTC brigade said were killed. Jubarra, who sat at the meeting of elders, gave details of the incident which, he said, caused patience to snap among the people of the town. "On Friday, the May 28th Brigade arrested a man from Bani Walid. After Bani Walid residents lodged a protest, he was finally released. But he had been tortured. "This caused an argument that escalated to arms. "Bani Walid fighters took over the 28th May camp, confiscated weapons and pushed them out of the city," Jubarra explained to the elders, who sat in silence around him, many of them wrapped in traditional white woolen blankets. SIGNS OF BATTLE At the barracks once used by Gaddafi's army, which had been their headquarters, spent cartridge cases crunched under foot, testifying to an intense gunfight. A meter-wide hole in the perimeter wall showed where a rocket had blasted through. Local people said the two sides exchanged fire with anti-tank weapons. Clearly conscious of the risk that the NTC, keen to assert an authority that has been ebbing in recent weeks as memories fade of the victory over dictatorship, local people were anxious to send a message to Tripoli not to hit back: "We are asking the NTC not to escalate this issue by sending troops," Jubarra said, turning his from the assembled town elders gaze to address Reuters journalists directly. Another of those gathered at the mosque to form a local government, Ali Zargoun, said they would reject any attempt by NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil, Libya's de facto head of state, to impose an authority on them: "If Abdel Jalil is going to force anyone on us, we won't accept that by any means." Abdel Jalil was already having a bad week and has warned Libyans of a "bottomless pit" if trouble goes on in a country awash with guns. His deputy quit, bemoaning an "atmosphere of hatred" after being roughed up by disgruntled citizens. And Abdel Jalil found himself besieged in his office by protesters in Benghazi, the seat of the revolt. They were complaining about delays in providing services for people in a country impatient to see its oil riches shared out more widely. There is also growing dismay at progress toward an election due in June, with details still unclear on how the vote will be conducted and complaints of a lack of transparency from a body that includes many who held important positions under Gaddafi. TENSIONS NATIONWIDE While Bani Walid was and remains a particular headache for the NTC, it is not alone. Towns and cities across the country are being run with little reference to central authority and in a number of areas old scores and local frictions are being fought over by groups that were nominally allies in the revolt. "The civil war has produced new conflicts that are far from settled and that have yet to play out, namely power struggles at the local level, and conflicts between local centers of power for influence at the national level," said Wolfram Lacher of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs who has been in the country researching post-Gaddafi Libya. "Most of these are unlikely to develop into violent conflicts as in Bani Walid," Lacher said from Berlin. "But they will be playing out across the country in the coming months." The government official acknowledged the difficulties. Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, he said: "As we all know, some regions are fragile in view of the vastness of the country and the presence of huge quantities of arms." Among the issues being disputed is determining who will replace those who held power under Gaddafi, and who might be punished or otherwise held accountable for past abuses. Many Libya watchers urge caution, however, in branding any of those competing groups as "Gaddafi loyalists," and few see any real threat of the late leader's exiled sons, or Saif al-Islam who is being held captive by pro-NTC fighters in the town of Zintan, becoming a focus for a fight back by the old guard. Rather, the label "pro-Gaddafi" has tended to be applied to adversaries by groups keen to undermine their rivals' cause: "We should be cautious regarding reports of Gaddafi loyalists," Libya expert Lacher said. "This may be one local party to the conflict trying to get other forces to intervene by painting its adversaries as pro-Gaddafi." During clashes between rival militias since "liberation" was declared in October, Reuters journalists have often been told by both sides in various disputes that they are aligned with the NTC and are fighting the remnants of Gaddafi's troops. Though there are those among the six million Libyans who yearn for the old days, and there is pro-Gaddafi graffiti in Bani Walid, as well as boisterous children ready to yell "Only Gaddafi!" at foreign journalists, many regard that as largely evidence of irritation with the NTC than of a serious threat to turn the clock back on Libya's "Arab Spring" revolution. LOCAL PRIDE Mustafa Fetouri, an academic and writer who comes originally from Bani Walid, saw this week's violence there as a matter of local pride, notably among elders of the Warfalla tribe, who felt ill used by the incoming powers in Tripoli - even though many Warfalla clansmen fought for the NTC during the war. "It's tribal dignity not necessarily in support of the old regime," Fetouri told Reuters. "The (NTC's) goal is to teach the Warfalla a lesson ... It will be bloody and fruitless." Many townspeople were keeping indoors on Tuesday, although markets were being held and life seemed relatively normal. Handfuls of armed local men manned checkpoints out the edges of the town, which sits in a desert ravine that proved hard for NTC forces to take during the fighting last September and October. The fighters themselves were distinguishable from the motley forces loyal to the interim government only in that they did not wear the laminated identity badges distributed to NTC militiamen. They carried the same automatic rifles and drove the same pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns that became the emblem of the chaotic war against Gaddafi's army. Potential adversaries from men who describe themselves as part of the NTC's "national army" sat by the road closer to Tripoli. "We have received no orders to enter Bani Walid," said Mohammed al-Ajali, who said his unit had been sent there from eastern Libya on Monday to deal with the trouble in the town. He had little patience for the protestations of the townsfolk that they were not counter-revolutionaries: "The solution for Bani Walid is to disarm them," Ajali said. "I think 75 percent are Gaddafi supporters." A Libyan air official said warplanes were being mobilized to fly to Bani Walid. But it was not immediately clear what the government in Tripoli could do. It has yet to demonstrate that it has an effective fighting force under its command. (Additional reporting by Taha Zargoun in Bani Walid, Ali Shuaib and Hisham El-Dani in Tripoli, Alastair Macdonald in London and Christian Lowe in Algiers; Writing by Alastair Macdonald) World Libya Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Wednesday, 25 January 2012
U.N. envoys slam Russia for selling weapons to Syria |
Anger, chaos but no revolt after Libya violence |
Netanyahu cites Holocaust lesson in dealing with Iran |
Turkey warns Iraqi PM over sectarian conflict |
Analysis: New EU data laws command the tide but not the cost |
Entrepreneurs bring Internet coding skills to everyday users |
Time Warner leads funding for second social TV company |
ST-Ericsson CEO sees very difficult 2012 |
Oscar's big snub: Uggie the dog, a true Artist |
Downtown and all around New York with Petula Clark |
Jagger says UK's Cameron can't get what he wants |
Sony, Paramount and Weinstein Co. get Oscar boost |
U.S. raid frees two pirate hostages in Somalia |
Islamist militants quit captured Yemeni town |
One year on, Egypt will demonstrate and celebrate |
Blast destroys police station in north Nigeria |
Anger, chaos but no revolt after Libya violence |
Analysis: Myanmar shows little sign of economic miracle |
Apple returns to form, blows Street targets away |
Ericsson Q4 profit halves, sees challenges |
Facebook to stop honoring trades in shares for 3 days: source |
SAP sets sights on fresh profit record |
Google to unify privacy policy across products |
New Yahoo CEO says company needs to do better |
Chipmaker AMD expects lower revenue in weak PC market |
Megaupload founder faces lengthy extradition battle |
Nvidia cuts revenue forecast, shares drop |
Hollywood embraces hopeful tales with Oscar nominations |
Demi Moore seeks help for exhaustion, health issues |
Garth Brooks awarded $1 million in suit against hospital |
Country music great Haggard recovering from pneumonia |
Style author Charla Krupp dies of cancer at age 58 |
Garth Brooks awarded $1 million in suit against hospital |
France's Jean Dujardin plays down Hollywood success |
Documentary makers spur calls to action at Sundance |
Gulf monitors leave Syria, League seeks U.N. support |
Iran's Ahmadinejad ups rates to stem money crisis |
Even without Hormuz blockade, Iran has options |
Transcripts show Italy captain says was told to approach shore |
A year after uprising, Egyptians celebrate and protest |
Torture and lawlessness as Libya victory high ends |
Workers unearth suspected mass grave in southeast Turkey |
Afghan army's night raiders ready to take control |
Pakistan PM drops criticism of the military |
Come for coffee, don't forget the cocaine, Dotcom joked |
Breach of new EU online data rules to carry high fines |
Core suppliers savor bigger Apple pie |
A Minute With: Mary Tyler Moore on a life of achievement |
Abu Dhabi further delays Louvre, Guggenheim projects |
Irishman makes billion-euro home of shredded notes |
Saudi artists test limits of expression in rare show |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01