Sirte, Libya

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Libya Sees First High-Profile Assassination in Years

Deputy Cabinet minister killed while driving home from shopping

(Newser) - Since Moammar Gadhafi was ousted more than two years ago, assassinations have taken the lives of low-level government employees, activists, clerics, and security officials—but, as of two days ago, no top government officials. That ended Saturday, when Libyan Deputy Minister of Industry Hassan Drouai was shot numerous times as...

Gunmen Swipe $54M From Libya Central Bank Van

'A catastrophe for the whole of Libya'

(Newser) - Ten gunmen stole $54 million from a bank van as it entered the city of Sirte in Libya after departing the airport, the BBC reports. The cash had come from Libya's central bank in Tripoli. The van had a single security vehicle as protection, and guards "were unable...

Libya Rebels 'Executed' Gadhafi Loyalists

Report on dictator's final hours suggests he was executed, too

(Newser) - Libyan rebels appear to have "summarily executed at least 66 captured" fighters loyal to Moammar Gadhafi, and probably the dictator himself, when they overran his hometown a year ago, a human rights group said today. The report by Human Rights Watch on alleged rebel abuses that followed the October...

53 Gadhafi Supporters Apparently Executed: Human Rights Watch
53 Gadhafi Supporters Apparently Executed
says human rights watch

53 Gadhafi Supporters Apparently Executed

Bodies found in abandoned Sirte hotel on Friday

(Newser) - Troubling news out of Libya: Human Rights Watch discovered the bodies of 53 people yesterday—apparent Gadhafi loyalists who appear to have been executed in the garden of a Sirte hotel. The decomposing bodies, which looked to have been killed between Oct. 14 and 19, were found in an area...

Gadhafi Died of Shot to Head: Autopsy

Pathologist will release full report to attorney general

(Newser) - Little surprise here, but an autopsy has concluded that Moammar Gadhafi died of a gunshot to the head. The report was conducted today by Libya's chief pathologist amid international concern over the circumstances of the strongman's death, in light of widespread images of a bloodied but alive Gadhafi...

In His Final Days, Gadhafi Tired of Struggle

Aide describes dictator's end, hiding around Sirte

(Newser) - Long accustomed to luxury, Moammar Gadhafi spent his last days shuffling between safe houses in a residential section of Sirte, eking out an increasingly frustrated existence on pasta and rice his guards swiped from empty houses, reports the New York Times . “He would say: ‘Why is there...

Obama to Libya: 'You Have Won Your Revolution'

Death marks end of 'long and painful chapter,' he says

(Newser) - President Obama this afternoon praised the news of Moammar Gadhafi's death , calling it "the end of a long and painful chapter for the people of Libya," reports AP . "Today we can definitively say that the Gadhafi regime has come to an end." And to the...

Clinton Gets Gadhafi News on BlackBerry

And she says ... 'wow'

(Newser) - So how does a world leader react to big world news? Pretty much the way everyone else does, apparently. "Wow," says Hillary Clinton when she sees unconfirmed reports of Moammar Gadhafi's capture on her BlackBerry. "Huh." (See the CBS video below.) Then she tells...

Don't Shoot, Cried Gadhafi: Reports

Libya PM confirms death; White House expected to comment soon

(Newser) - The graphic photos have been making the rounds (if you've haven't seen them, and can stomach it, page through the gallery), as updates on the death of Moammar Gadhafi pour in. The news remains unconfirmed by US officials, but the AP reports that reaction from the White House...

Moammar Gadhafi Is Dead: NTC
 Moammar Gadhafi Is Dead: NTC 

Moammar Gadhafi Is Dead: NTC

Officials says he was wounded when NATO warplanes attacked his convoy

(Newser) - Moammar Gadhafi is dead, according to the National Transitional Council. Libyan revolutionary fighters took the city of Sirte today, and in the process captured the former strongman, who was wounded in both legs while trying to flee the city in a convoy that NATO planes attacked, a senior NTC official...

Clinton Makes Unannounced Visit to Libya

Secretary of State brings aid, support

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton arrived in Libya today on an unannounced visit, the first by a Cabinet-level US official since Moammar Gadhafi was driven from Tripoli almost two months ago. Clinton’s visit to the capital, which was kept secret for security reasons, is expected to last just hours, the BBC reports....

Gadhafi Son Sought as Fighting Rocks Sirte

NTC fighters on verge of taking Gadhafi's hometown

(Newser) - Forces fighting for Libya's new regime say they are on the verge of taking Sirte, Moammar Gadhafi's hometown and one of just two Libyan cities still held by pro-Gadhafi fighters. But a spokesman for the National Transitional Council says that contrary to earlier reports, there has been no...

Street Battles Begin in Gadhafi's Hometown

Last bastion of Sirte is poised to fall, finally

(Newser) - With NATO warplanes circling overhead, revolutionary fighters battled block by block today as snipers rained fire from rooftops in fierce street fighting in Moammar Gadhafi's hometown—the most important remaining bastion of support for the fugitive leader. Revolutionary forces launched a major attack yesterday, pushing into the Mediterranean coastal...

Libya's NTC Thinks Gadhafi Is Hiding in Desert

Latest NTC theory has him near the Algerian border

(Newser) - Moammar Gadhafi remains at large as the fight for his hometown of Sirte continues, but Libya's new leaders have a new theory on where he is: in the desert near the Algerian border. A leader of the National Transitional Council tells Reuters that Gadhafi is likely being protected by...

Rebels Arrest People Fleeing Gadhafi's Hometown

National Transitional Council troops pound the city; one elder calls for truce

(Newser) - Anti-Gadhafi forces, backed as ever by NATO air support, bore down on the loyalist-held city of Sirte today, pressing an assault that’s sent dozens of families fleeing from their homes. “The easterners are exterminating everything in front of them,” one man tells the Wall Street Journal . One...

Gadhafi Rep: French, British 'Mercenaries' Captured

Provisional authority continues to struggle for full control

(Newser) - As Libya’s revolutionary forces continue to fight Moammar Gadhafi for control, a spokesperson for Gadhafi said yesterday that 17 “mercenaries” have been captured in regime stronghold Bani Walid. That number includes what he called mostly French "technical experts" and "consultative officers." Two are English, one...

Anti-Gadhafi Forces Claim Control of His Hometown

Coastal stronghold of Sirte reportedly falls

(Newser) - Fighters for Libya’s interim government say they have captured Moammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte after heavy fighting, reports the Guardian . "Thwar Misrata (the Misrata revolution) now control the entrances to Sirte city," said a statement from the Misrata military council. If true, and the anti-Gadhafi forces...

Gadhafi Giving Out Chemical Weapons Suits, Gas Masks

Sparks renewed fears he'll use mustard gas

(Newser) - As Moammar Gadhafi appears to be entering his endgame, fears are increasing that the Libyan strongman might use chemical weapons against his own people. The Pentagon and other officials say Gadhafi’s remaining mustard gas, more than 11 tons, has been secured. But Libyan rebels are concerned because gas masks...

Libya Rebels at Bani Walid's Door
 Libya Rebels at 
 Bani Walid's Door 



UPDATED

Libya Rebels at Bani Walid's Door

Hoping for a surrender

(Newser) - Rebel reinforcements arrived outside one of Moammar Gadhafi's last strongholds in Bani Walid today, even as the forces arrayed against the toppled dictator gave the town a chance to surrender and avoid a fight. "We won't go inside Bani Walid unless the Warfala tribe invites us,"...

Gadhafi Son: Our Victory Is Near

Other son negotiating surrender

(Newser) - Moammar Gadhafi's most prominent—and possibly most deluded—son says his father is doing fine and Gadhafi loyalists are close to victory. "We would like to assure people that we are steadfast and the commander is doing well," Saif al-Islam told a Syrian radio station, claiming to...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Most Read on Newser