Libya erupts as Gaddafi clings on - live updates
If you check this link periodically you can get live updates on the situation, courtesy of The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/feb/22/libya-gaddafi-speech-reaction-live-updates
6.32pm: We're having some difficulty this evening contacting some of the people we spoke to yesterday in Libya, while relatives here in London also say that phone lines to loved ones in Tripoli and Benghazi also seem to be down.
Al Jazeera has meanwhile said that the widespread disruptions of its signal have been traced to Libya.
The Associated Press news agency filed this:
A statement by the Doha-based network says it has pinpointed the disruption of its Arabic-language service to a building south of the Libyan capital Tripoli.
It notes that the disruptions have hit "the whole Arab region," but the network did not say whether it could be linked to Muammar Gaddafi's regime or another group.
Al-Jazeera also says its main website has been blocked inside Libya, where an uprising poses unprecedented challenges to Gaddafi's 42-year rule.
Earlier this month, Egyptian authorities tried to cut off satellite access to Al-Jazeera during the height of the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
6.17pm: The earthquake in New Zealand led the BBC six o'clock news this evening ahead of Libya - although it had a sizeable package on the uprising, Gaddafi's speech and David Cameron's ongoing tour of the middle east.
In the continuing absence of a team on the ground, the BBC used new footage sent out of Libya using the internet which showed protesters coming under fire on the streets of Tripoli, and images of troops in heavily patrolled residential neighbourhoods.
It cut to a segment from a phone interview with one anguished woman in the city who told of seeing one of her neighbours being shot dead.
"She was a woman who just went out on to the balcony of her house, but they shot her dead," she said
"They are not human."
Protesters in neighbouring Tunisia were shown ripping down the Libyan flag and replacing it with a pre-Gaddafi era one, which the BBC's Ian Pannell said was fast becoming a symbol of the uprising.
The BBC said it had received a large number of emails from Britons who were still in Libya and were worried about how they were going to leave.
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5.22pm: My colleague Simon Rogers has posted this graphic representation of what people are saying about Libya.
5.19pm: The White House has condemned the "appalling" violence in Libya. Spokesman Jay Carney said: "We offer our condolences to families of the victims in Libya of this appalling violence."
Live blog: recap
5.06pm: Muammar Gaddafi has now finished his speech. A few people seem to be congratulating him – but not many. Here were the key points:
• Gaddafi is not standing down or leaving the country. He said he would die in Libya "as a martyr".
• He called upon his supporters to take back the streets from those who have been rebelling against his rule. He said they should go out tonight and "chase them".
• He railed against the rebels, threatening them with the death penalty and calling them "rats" and drug addicts. He hinted that he had not yet used the type of violence he could do, pointing to China's massacre in Tiananmen Square and the FBI's infamous siege in Waco. At times he would change tack and say he did not blame the young people for rebelling, saying they had been unduly influenced by their counterparts in Tunisia and Egypt.
• He announced vague reforms to local government, reforms in which his son Saif will have some kind of role. Saif will also address ambassadors and the media.
5.03pm: Al-Jazeera just pointed out a line Gaddafi used in comparing his reaction to unrest to the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989: "The unity of China was more important than the people of Tiananmen Square."
Sky News and BBC News cut away from the speech – which is still going on – some time ago. Al-Jazeera has now cut away too.
5.00pm: Gaddafi claims: "It's impossible for the youth to follow anyone else. If not Gaddafi, who else would they follow? Somebody with a beard?"
4.53pm: He says satellite channels are claiming he has called for arrests of the rebels – I haven't, he says. It sounds as though he is responding to coverage of the first part of his speech.
4.49pm: Al-Jazeera just pointed out that we don't know if this is a live or recorded message – the footage is coming from Libyan state TV.
4.45pm: My colleagues Ian Black and James Meikle have filed a story on Gaddafi's speech, which has now been going on for almost an hour. Here's the first few paragraphs:
Ian Black
Muammar Gaddafi refused to step down as Libya's leader in a televised address on Tuesday afternoon saying "I am going to die here as a martyr" and accusing "forces affiliated to foreign forces" of seeking to "disfigure, undermine and tarnish the reputation of the country".
The dictator said he would not to give up power and attacked "the tyranny of the US" and other countries. "We shall remain here and defiant," he said, calling on supporters to take to the streets to back him on Wednesday.
Gaddafi, dressed in brown robes and pounding his fist, accused "sick people within the nation" of trying to seduce others into rebellion with money and drugs. "This is my country, watered by our blood and your blood," he said.
4.41pm: He is comparing his reaction to the uprising to the Russian coup of 1991, the Waco FBI siege in the US in 1993 and China's massacre of protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
4.36pm: Gaddafi's son Saif will meet ambassadors and media, the Libyan leader says.
4.35pm: Back to Gaddafi's speech. Tomorrow a new administration will be formed - new municipalities, new people's authorities, Gaddafi says. His son Saif will have some role in this, it seems.
4.32pm: US senator John Kerry is reportedly calling for oil companies to withdraw from Libya.
4.30pm: Back to Gaddafi's speech. We can rehabilitate the rebels and make them more effective members of the community, Gaddafi says.
All men and women should go out and take the streets back, he says.
I am the head of the people's revolution, he says.
4.29pm: William Hague, the British foreign secretary, has also been speaking. He announced that a British warship, HMS Cumberland, is heading to international waters near Libyan waters, in case it is needed to evacuate any of the 3,000 British nationals in Libya. A charter flight has been booked to head to Tripoli. Hague also called for the UN to issue a "very strong statement". He acknowledged that, despite his statement yesterday that he believed Gaddafi to have left Tripoli, he is "clearly" still there. But he added: "There are many indications that the structure of the state is collapsing."
4.28pm: He is now discussing the invasion of Iraq and attack on Baghdad.
Earlier entries can be found, also at this link http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/feb/22/libya-erupts-gaddafi-live-updates
If you check this link periodically you can get live updates on the situation, courtesy of The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/feb/22/libya-gaddafi-speech-reaction-live-updates
6.32pm: We're having some difficulty this evening contacting some of the people we spoke to yesterday in Libya, while relatives here in London also say that phone lines to loved ones in Tripoli and Benghazi also seem to be down.
Al Jazeera has meanwhile said that the widespread disruptions of its signal have been traced to Libya.
The Associated Press news agency filed this:
A statement by the Doha-based network says it has pinpointed the disruption of its Arabic-language service to a building south of the Libyan capital Tripoli.
It notes that the disruptions have hit "the whole Arab region," but the network did not say whether it could be linked to Muammar Gaddafi's regime or another group.
Al-Jazeera also says its main website has been blocked inside Libya, where an uprising poses unprecedented challenges to Gaddafi's 42-year rule.
Earlier this month, Egyptian authorities tried to cut off satellite access to Al-Jazeera during the height of the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
6.17pm: The earthquake in New Zealand led the BBC six o'clock news this evening ahead of Libya - although it had a sizeable package on the uprising, Gaddafi's speech and David Cameron's ongoing tour of the middle east.
In the continuing absence of a team on the ground, the BBC used new footage sent out of Libya using the internet which showed protesters coming under fire on the streets of Tripoli, and images of troops in heavily patrolled residential neighbourhoods.
It cut to a segment from a phone interview with one anguished woman in the city who told of seeing one of her neighbours being shot dead.
"She was a woman who just went out on to the balcony of her house, but they shot her dead," she said
"They are not human."
Protesters in neighbouring Tunisia were shown ripping down the Libyan flag and replacing it with a pre-Gaddafi era one, which the BBC's Ian Pannell said was fast becoming a symbol of the uprising.
The BBC said it had received a large number of emails from Britons who were still in Libya and were worried about how they were going to leave.
-------------------
5.22pm: My colleague Simon Rogers has posted this graphic representation of what people are saying about Libya.
5.19pm: The White House has condemned the "appalling" violence in Libya. Spokesman Jay Carney said: "We offer our condolences to families of the victims in Libya of this appalling violence."
Live blog: recap
5.06pm: Muammar Gaddafi has now finished his speech. A few people seem to be congratulating him – but not many. Here were the key points:
• Gaddafi is not standing down or leaving the country. He said he would die in Libya "as a martyr".
• He called upon his supporters to take back the streets from those who have been rebelling against his rule. He said they should go out tonight and "chase them".
• He railed against the rebels, threatening them with the death penalty and calling them "rats" and drug addicts. He hinted that he had not yet used the type of violence he could do, pointing to China's massacre in Tiananmen Square and the FBI's infamous siege in Waco. At times he would change tack and say he did not blame the young people for rebelling, saying they had been unduly influenced by their counterparts in Tunisia and Egypt.
• He announced vague reforms to local government, reforms in which his son Saif will have some kind of role. Saif will also address ambassadors and the media.
5.03pm: Al-Jazeera just pointed out a line Gaddafi used in comparing his reaction to unrest to the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989: "The unity of China was more important than the people of Tiananmen Square."
Sky News and BBC News cut away from the speech – which is still going on – some time ago. Al-Jazeera has now cut away too.
5.00pm: Gaddafi claims: "It's impossible for the youth to follow anyone else. If not Gaddafi, who else would they follow? Somebody with a beard?"
4.53pm: He says satellite channels are claiming he has called for arrests of the rebels – I haven't, he says. It sounds as though he is responding to coverage of the first part of his speech.
4.49pm: Al-Jazeera just pointed out that we don't know if this is a live or recorded message – the footage is coming from Libyan state TV.
4.45pm: My colleagues Ian Black and James Meikle have filed a story on Gaddafi's speech, which has now been going on for almost an hour. Here's the first few paragraphs:
Ian Black
Muammar Gaddafi refused to step down as Libya's leader in a televised address on Tuesday afternoon saying "I am going to die here as a martyr" and accusing "forces affiliated to foreign forces" of seeking to "disfigure, undermine and tarnish the reputation of the country".
The dictator said he would not to give up power and attacked "the tyranny of the US" and other countries. "We shall remain here and defiant," he said, calling on supporters to take to the streets to back him on Wednesday.
Gaddafi, dressed in brown robes and pounding his fist, accused "sick people within the nation" of trying to seduce others into rebellion with money and drugs. "This is my country, watered by our blood and your blood," he said.
4.41pm: He is comparing his reaction to the uprising to the Russian coup of 1991, the Waco FBI siege in the US in 1993 and China's massacre of protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
4.36pm: Gaddafi's son Saif will meet ambassadors and media, the Libyan leader says.
4.35pm: Back to Gaddafi's speech. Tomorrow a new administration will be formed - new municipalities, new people's authorities, Gaddafi says. His son Saif will have some role in this, it seems.
4.32pm: US senator John Kerry is reportedly calling for oil companies to withdraw from Libya.
4.30pm: Back to Gaddafi's speech. We can rehabilitate the rebels and make them more effective members of the community, Gaddafi says.
All men and women should go out and take the streets back, he says.
I am the head of the people's revolution, he says.
4.29pm: William Hague, the British foreign secretary, has also been speaking. He announced that a British warship, HMS Cumberland, is heading to international waters near Libyan waters, in case it is needed to evacuate any of the 3,000 British nationals in Libya. A charter flight has been booked to head to Tripoli. Hague also called for the UN to issue a "very strong statement". He acknowledged that, despite his statement yesterday that he believed Gaddafi to have left Tripoli, he is "clearly" still there. But he added: "There are many indications that the structure of the state is collapsing."
4.28pm: He is now discussing the invasion of Iraq and attack on Baghdad.
Earlier entries can be found, also at this link http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/feb/22/libya-erupts-gaddafi-live-updates
