Gaddafi Using African Mercenaries to Battle Protesters
February 21, 2011 in News
Gaddafi recruits “African mercenaries” to quell protests (Al Arabiyah):
Libya recruited hundreds of mercenaries from Sub-Saharan Africa to help quell a popular uprising that is threatening to unseat veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi after more than 41 years in office, witness told Al Arabiya from the eastern city of Benghazi on Sunday.
The witnesses said protesters in Benghazi caught some “African mercenaries” who spoke French and who admitted that they were ordered by Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Khamis Gaddafi, to fire live ammunition at demonstrators.
The witnesses, who refused to be named for security reasons, added that they saw four airplanes carrying “African mercenaries” land in Benina International Airport near the city of Benghazi, the second largest city in the country.
UK-based Libyan website www.jeel-libya.net (Libya’s generation) reported earlier that a number of airplanes carrying “African mercenaries” had landed in Mitiga military airport, 11 km east of the capital Tripoli, and they were dressed in Libyan army uniform. The website added that some of those “mercenaries” were sent to hot spots in the eastern region were deployed in Tripoli.
Twenty-four people were killed during anti-government protests in the eastern city of Benghazi, a medical source and a newspaper said, after Human Rights Watch reported security forces killed at least 84 people over three days, including 35 in Benghazi on Friday.
Gadhafi’s regime has been cracking down on protesters demanding he step down and implement democratic reforms following similar uprisings that led to the ouster of the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.
Libya protests: ‘foreign mercenaries using heavy weapons against at demonstrators’ (Telegraph.co.uk):
There were also reports of bystanders, including women and children, leaping to their deaths from high bridges as they tried to escape battle-hardened mercenaries from neighbouring countries like Chad.
Meanwhile, the government in Tripoli has shut down a range of media, including internet providers, social networking sites and the signals of western news channels.
Facebook and the website of Al-Jazeera, the international Arab TV network, were among the first to go, with journalists were also being refused entry into the country.
As he suffered the most serious threat to his rule since coming to power in 1969, Gaddafi made it clear that he did not want a repeat of the so-called Facebook Revolutions which ended the rule of despots in Egypt and Tunisia this year.
“Gaddafi’s fear is that eastern cities will fall, and the revolt a full-scale will reach Tripol’”, said Omar, a 24-year-old civil servant in Benghazi, who asked for his surname to be withheld for security reasons.
There have been sporadic demonstrations in the Libyan capital, with crowds of youths setting fire to cars, but any serious trouble has soon been stamped out by the army.
Omar added: “Tanks are being used in Benghazi, but there are already soldiers joining the demonstrators. They are on the side of the people.” While low-paid Libyan army recruits are always likely to desert, the dictator’s third son, Saadi Gaddafi, was said to be coordinating African mercenaries to act as shock troops against the protesters.
A Libyan journalist who is currently banned from writing about the trouble because of a news black-out imposed by Gaddafi said: “Some of these mercenary shock troops have been killed or captured, and some of them are said to on the equivalent of around 500 dollars a day.
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If he needs to order foreign troops to fight his own people it means that his relationship with the military is not good at all and this could be a great opportunity for the Libyan people to seize power in Libya and force Gaddafi to step down.
If Gaddafi is allegedly using mercenaries, then what should we call the U.S. Britain, France, Germany, and Italy since they are arming the rebels and carrying out strategic air strikes against Gaddafi – See how they use negative words to shape your opinion – there is a word for that – oh yeah, Propaganda.