Live Blog - Libya Feb 23

(All times are local in Libya GMT+2)

February 23, 2011

11:58am French president Nicolas Sarkozy has echoed statements made earlier by his top diplomatic adviser. He has called for the European Union to adopt "swift and concrete sanctions" and suspend economic and financial relations with Libya, according to the AFP news agency.

11:40am @iyad_elbaghdadi, who has been tweeting often about Libya, says state television there is reporting that Gaddafi called Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday.

11:30am WikiLeaks has released at least three US diplomatic cables relating to Libya in the past 24 hours. Two appear on the WikiLeaks website:

LIBYA'S SUCCESSION MUDDLED AS THE AL-QADHAFI CHILDREN CONDUCT INTERNECINE WARFARE (March 9, 2009)

BLACK SHEEP MADE GOOD? SAADI AL-QADHAFI'S EXPORT FREE ZONE IN WESTERN LIBYA (March 3, 2009)

One was released only to the Norwegian Aftenposten newspaper:

SAIF AL-ISLAM'S STAFF REACHES OUT ON POL-MIL ISSUES (December 14, 2009)

11:26am Franco Frattini, the Italian foreign minister, has described reports that 1,000 civilians have died over the past 10 days of revolt as "credible," according to the Reuters news agency. He also said that the eastern province of Cyrenaica, as we've heard for days on Twitter, is no longer in Gaddafi's control.

11:14am Jean-David Levitte, the top diplomatic adviser to French president Nicolas Sarkozy, said today that European nations should consider imposing sanctions on Libya, including travel bans and asset freezes, according to the Reuters news agency. Many nations have been reticent to discuss sanctioning Libya while Gaddafi remains in control of armed forces, fearing for the safety of citizens still in the country, analyst have said.

11:12am Al Jazeera has learned that two Serbian Boeing 737 jets have just taken off from Tripoli to evacuate around 300 Serbian citizens from Libya. They will land in Belgrade around 1 pm local time.

10:58am Recently posted videos give a sense of what it's like in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, during recent nights. Protesters attempt to mass in small groups in disparate neighbourhoods around the city and march toward Green Square, where they're confronted by armed security forces using live fire. In the first video, the protesters chant "The Libyans are here! Here, here, here!" and then "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his prophet!"

10:46am Al Jazeera's Jane Dutton interviewed Ali Ojli, the Libyan ambassador to the United States. He said that he and his staff had decided to condemn the "massacres" of innocent civilians occurring in his country, but he declined to call Gaddafi's response a "genocide" and said he had not resigned:

10:30am The Network of Free Ulema in Libya, a group of religious scholars, say that they endorse and fully support the "new Libyan government" - this refers to a "Declarations of the Revolution of February 17, that was announced on Al Jazeera by Dr al-Tarhuni, a spokesperson for the group.

They say that the "new government" has been endorsed by all the judges and lawyers in the eastern region, and they are calling for a "sovereign, independant Libya with a capital in Tripoli." Al Jazeera is trying to get more details on these statements.

10:14am Youssef Sawani, a senior aide to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, a son of the Libyan leader, has resigned to protest against the violence sweeping the country, the aide said.

I resigned from the Gaddafi Foundation on Sunday to express dismay against violence.

10:06am Kharey, a guest speaking from the Libyan city of Benghazi, speaks now to Al Jazeera:

Credit must go to the youth of Libya who are leading this revolution.

9:31am Libya's vast oil wealth (it exports 1.54 million barrels a day) has enabled the country's state-owned Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company SA, or Lafico, to put large sums into a variety of international businesses, including Italy's famed, 114-year-old football club Juventus.

Libya owns 7.5 per cent of the club - worth $17.5 million, the second-largest stake - according to the Bloomberg news agency.

Lafico has owned a stake in Juventus since the club floated in 2001. (Spokesman Marco) Re said it was partly for financial reasons and also because one of the Libyan leader’s sons, Al-Saadi Qaddafi, is a fan of the Turin-based team.

Perhaps predictably, calls to Lafico's Tripoli office went unanswered.

9:20am As of last count, there are at least four satirical Gaddafi Twitter accounts in operation: @MuammarLGaddafi, @MuammarGaddafi1, @AlQathafy and @TheRealColonel. If making fun of the situation in Libya strikes you as cold-hearted, keep in mind that Egyptians have used dark humour before, during and after their revolt both to undermine the country's repressive leadership and to buoy their own spirits.

Some selections from Gaddafi's Twitter doppelgangers:

@TheRealColonel: #neverwilli quit! Never! I don't care how long the queue is for Space Mountain, I'm not going to miss this ride!

@MuammarLGaddafi: I have multiple positions open! Send resume to (jobs@alghtafi.org)

@MuammarGaddafi1: keeping you updated of my tweets in Libya. Beautiful day in the streets minus these nagging people

@AlQathafy: Give me 42 more years & I'll prove you all wrong #Lybia #Libia #Feb17 #Gadafi #Kadhafi

URL du billet: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/africa/2011/02/22/live-blog-libya-feb-23