The Bani Walid Situation

January 24, 2012
last update Jan. 26

I'm woefully uninformed on the situation in Bani Walid, even before the reported takeover by Green/Jamahiriya/Loyalist forces the other day. It seems the rebels sort of went around it to wallop Sirte, and then implicitly must've taken control sometime after. Now, the Bani Walid local (NTC) council says they were driven out and the green flag was raised, at least temporarily.

Such things have been reported before in Green news sources, almost all unverifiable and not carried by the mainstream media, suggesting a pitched civil war the loyalists were winning. This is the first time I know of where mainstream media-al Arabiya, the Guardian, BBC, CBS, everyone now, reports this as news.

Later, I'll bring more links. For now I'll start with the BBC, who "helpfully" pass on the doubts about the "competing claims" of what's going on there.

Confusion surrounds events in the Libyan town of Bani Walid after fighting broke out between armed groups on Monday, leaving four people dead.

The head of the local council has said a local militia was attacked by remnants of forces supporting late Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.

But the post-Gaddafi government has denied pro-Gaddafi forces were involved, saying instead the fighting was between rival militias.

The town is now reported to be calm.

I suspect the claim from Tripoli is bullshit. Loyalists are the ones who've been so good at re-taking Bani Walid at will. But then, that was back in the late summer last year. Is the city calm, or just reported so? By which set of competing authorities? Is it calm under green or red-black-and-green (or just black) control?

The state-run Libyan news agency WAL quotes the head of Bani Walid's council, Mubarak al-Fatamni, as saying that forces loyal to the new government were attacked on 23 January in a "barbaric manner" by members of the "remnants of the Gaddafi regime".

Mr Fatamni said pro-Gaddafi forces raised their green flag over the town for a short time on Monday afternoon, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Why briefly? They took their own flags right back down? Someone forced them to? Who? How?

But spokesmen for the prime minister and defence ministry have told the BBC the dispute is a local one.

I'm sure it was local. The Greens live inside Libya and always have, and recently center themselves around a few places like Bani Walid. Is this an acknowledgement from Tripoli it wasn't one of their own brigades made up of mixed Libyans, Qatari, Irish, American, Canadian, and Australian foreign adventurers?

The government's claim, explained:

A source within the Libyan government, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the BBC the fighting broke out after a group of former rebel fighters, the 28 May Brigade, arrested one person.

The fighting was "more a clash between local people regarding a difference of who this [arrested] person was," the source said. "But of course now other people seem to be involved as well. The situation is not very clear who is who. It's still confused."

See, they know just what they're talking about. The Green Flags must have been imagined. All is under control in Libya, the fake-out takeover has still unquestionably won.
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Update Jan. 25:
Anger, chaos but no revolt after Libya violence
Oliver Holmes, Reuters, Jan. 24

...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."
[...]
People in Bani Walid urged the NTC to keep back...

But they kicked out the government. They insist on staying there, outside NTC control, but not as an obstacle. It seems they did take down any green flags that may have been (were) displayed on first conquest. It also seems it did start as a dispute over one arrest among the many they've been dealing with there.

...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."
[...]
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 woollen blankets.

The government response - military - was swift to set itself up and then wait.

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.

It's been like one day, and they're proud of the lack of "iron fist" activity that sounds eerily reminiscent of something Gaddafi, or any world leader faced with an insurgecy, would say. Time for humanitarian intervention? Better proof already that Tripoli is bombing people (jets overhead) than we ever had last year when Gaddafi was in charge.

I'm for calling this a local decision, perhaps assisted by a hidden green strike force. That could also be pure propaganda by the driven out May 28 ruffians, to ensure some "iron fist"revenge. But the sudden overwhelming strike by purely local (under occupation) fighting men takes a little explaining.

I imagine the NTC will demand authority back but will have to "acknowledge grievances," maybe charge someone, promise "reforms and oversight," maybe even "hold off until after elections" on implementing any of it (likely bumped back forward in short order). But then they'll get someone else in there who'll quietly show those little punks who's in charge - it ain't the Warfalla.
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Jan.26:
Reuters, via NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/world/africa/libya-government-yields-to-tribe-in-bani-walid.html

Libya on Wednesday recognized a government dominated by a powerful tribe in Bani Walid, a stronghold of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. The move occurred days after the tribe violently expelled pro-government forces and illustrated the power of tribal leaders over the fragile interim government. Salah al-Maayuf, a member of the Warfalla elders council in Bani Walid, said that on Tuesday, his body appointed a new local council that was recognized by the defense minister on Wednesday. The tribe long benefited from Colonel Qaddafi’s rule.

But the NTCis keeping its options open - militias from the Nafusah mountains are there to surround the town and "keep the peace," not to enter it, just yet.
BBC with video:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16734332

Russia Today Arabic video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hL-2UXG3AA&feature=youtu.be
Description, translated:

Gathered fighters loyal to the Transitional National Assembly in Libya at a checkpoint outside the Bani Walid on Tuesday after the pro-Muammar Gaddafi took control of the city and the green flag of the former regime.
Which is the largest operation since the formation of new government in Libya
Said Abdullah Mohammed, Chairman of the Board of Bani Walid military we are well equipped and highly trained

The War Continues

September 4, 2011
last updates Sept. 13

Even as Tripoli has apparently fallen for good and is suddenly racked with horrific "Gaddafi" atrocities, the green side fights on. The cities of Sirte, Bani Walad, and Sabha, at least, are still in the hands of Gaddafi loyalists, including tribal militias. They are still being bombed by NATO's warplanes and attacked by their helicopters, as they prepare for a September 10 surrender deadline or a September 11 assault by al Qaeda-linked rebel lynch mobs.

I have nothing much to add. News on the "fighting" is scarce, with most reportage being about the search for a negotiated settlement and analyses of how long this last mop-up will take before Libya is purged and purified for the forces of neo-Liberal freedom. The world is not likely to allow them to just stay there like an Indian reservation. They'd surely attack "civilians" (Libya's new government and army) all over again if left alone, even if they swore not to. Everyone knows you can't trust Gaddafi. So they must go if they don't abjectly surrender (and they probably won't).

My heart goes out to all those caught in the crossfire, as well as to those still holding to their oaths and prepared to die for what they feel is right. Once you are dead or locked up to die of sadness or torture, future Libya will be deprived of your input and guidance. But that was probably going to be the case anyway. This is not an exercise in sharing by NATO and its preferred leadership of "free-market" crusaders.

Sept 7: A video from a hospital in Sirte:

Euronews on Bani Walid, Moussa Ibrahim states refusal of negotiations:

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Update Sept. 12


No Adequate Surrender, Perhaps None Possible

The Telegraph reported:

Negotiations for Sirte have so far failed because residents insisted the former rebels could only enter if they came without weapons and they wanted an amnesty for anyone guilty of crimes committed under Gaddafi's regime. Many there fear a wave of revenge and looting [and rightly so - ed] on a city that is closely associated with Gaddafi and his inner circle.

On Saturday, the head of the transitional government, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, tried to convince them, along with residents of Bani Walid, that they had nothing to fear. "We try to extend our hands to show peace to our brothers there to let our troops enter these cities peacefully without fighting," he said. [they were unconvinced - ed] At the same, however, he added that the deadline for surrender had expired and an attack was imminent. "Now the situation is in the hands of our revolutionary fighters," he said.

Hold on - they agreed to surrender to NTC rule so long as no one is prosecuted, and no one is shot? They agreed to stop fighting and allow a peaceful transition, if I'm reading that right, but the rebels rejected it? They want only blood (via some kangaroo "trial," perhaps), and want to keep their wildly-brandished weapons for drawing blood, while promising to be peaceful for the first time once inside Sirte of all places? And the world is okay that the attacks is coming? I'll have to look into that...

One option open to someone presented with such an offer would be to take them up on it, have a peaceful transfer and play the good guys for once, and then deal with the alleged crimes Gaddafi and son were to stand trial for in one or another of ways. They could find a way to realize it was largely crap and noise, even apologize for their part in that, and agree to move on. They could try to coax Gaddafi to stand trial with promises of a fairness, made credible and eventually delivered on, and start a national healing process. Or they could just renege after the peace and try to arrest him, even at the risk of briefly opening the war again if necessary. At least there could be a breather in there and a cooling-down period, some time to catch up on sleep, get well-fed again, bury the dead, and grieve a bit.

But they've opted to say "no dice. If we're not forced to concede anything, we won't." While they've got the momentum and the bombers there, all loose ends will be tied up at once, in a totalitarian sense. Every demand must be met, and now.

Chaotic Attacks on Bani Walid
So, the promised deadline and promised date of attack has come and passed without adequate concessions from the Libyan government. Bani Walid, where Seif al-Islam and Saadi Gaddafi were thought to be holding out was attacked. The offensive there began a day ahead of schedule on September 9, after taking fire from loyalist Grads, it's said. Bloomberg reports some details:

The rebel Halbus brigade from Misrata entered the suburbs of Bani Walid along the Maldoon Valley, getting to within six miles from the town center, according to Khalid Abdula Salem, commander of the rebel Western Front, in an interview from his headquarters in the oasis Abdul Rauf.

They found some homes displaying the rebel tricolor and others the green flag of the Qaddafi regime, Salem said.

Bani Walid’s garrison is composed of the elite 32nd Brigade commanded by Qaddafi’s son Khamis, members of the Legion Thoria secret police, and units of mercenaries from Darfur, Salem said.

Khamis? Hasn't he been killed now like five times? As for the "African mercenaries," you know, by mid-September it might finally be true. Back in February, and through most of the war, however, it definitely was not true.

The assault was called "chaotic" by fighters there and by the Global Post, lacking in co-ordination. That means it failed. Where it's a chaotic winning fight, and they can slaughter freely, they don't complain. Indeed, a rebel fighter told the Post:

Monem said 10 revolutionaries died Sunday and 15 were injured, with most being hit from well-concealed or elevated positions. “There’s no clear target,” Monem said. “There’s no close snipers. They’re not shooting us with Kalashnikovs. The distance [they’re shooting from] is about a kilometer and a half, maybe two. With my gun [AK-47] I cannot shoot them. I did not fire one shot today because there is no clear target.” He said some rebels answer was to shoot randomly in the air.

I recall seeing the Libyan government do about the same, with anti-aircraft guns, when under the abuse of god-like NATO forces. But these guys are the aggressors here, not the defenders. The Global Post also has Rebel leaders reiterate their intentions to aggress further:

[The] National Transitional Council say they won't consider Libya fully "liberated" until these loyalist centers fall."
[...]
On Sunday, they went into the fringes of Bani Walid and were bloodied by long distance guns and locals shooting at them from house to house.

What the hell! Why don't these human shields want to be liberated? Are they shooting only out of fear? Their dang heads will come off soon either way! They just stuffed Abu Salim trauma hospital with some hundred examples of their handiwork. It's nothing new really, after dozens of taken cities and similar atrocities blamed on the crumbling regime. And now freedom and "sanity" are coming to the last few holdouts.

NATO War Crimes Alleged
NATO's air support for this surge of freedom of course continues. How on Earth could it turn back now? I can't confirm the following, but Leonore in Libya (good with rumors, not so much with details), a site called Ozyism, and something called Alrai TV (Syrian?), all report that, however they're delivering them, NATO's using cluster bombs and mustard gas. As Leonore put it (translated):

Bani Walid: NATO used cluster bombs and mustard gas against Bani Walid [...] during the heavy bombing of NATO. This is a crime against humanity and against international law and standards.

Ozyism reported it once (unconfirmed), then again, (confirmed). The last was partly because Alrai TV in an on-line osting, has what it says is a photograph of one of the victims' face, dead, burnt and ravished. I'm skeptical of this, but no expert either.

Towards a Bloodbath in Sirte
Saadi has slipped out of Bani Walid into Niger, it's been reported, and Seif, is he's there or ever was, is safe for the moment. They stopped that attack and now the rebels are advancing on Sirte, where their father is "hiding," as the Tripoli post recently said, "like some rat." They halted the Bani Walid offensive not because it was too tough, but because that was their clever plan. As Bloomberg reported:

“Our mission is not to capture Bani Walid, it is to block the town and attack Sirte,” said [rebel intelligence officer Noraldien] Elmaiel, who is based in the rebel-held town of Misrata.
[...]
The rebels pushed through the front line west of Sirte and were 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the town yesterday.

Protecting their flank was a large screening force of jeep- mounted infantry that moved from forward positions near Bani Walid to push eastward, south of the coastal highway, capturing the towns of Zem Zem and Wadi Bay against light resistance, said Elmaiel.

At Kilometer Sixty, 110 miles west of Sirte and the furthest point rebel forces allowed journalists to travel, columns of black pickup trucks mounting machine guns streamed to and from the front, stirring up clouds of dust that blew across the highway.

“They are hitting us with artillery, with mortars, with Grad rockets,” said sweat-soaked 20-year-old rebel fighter Ismail Katika. “We can’t hit the guns, we can’t see them.”

Same problem they had at Bani Walid. Try dealing with NATO bombers some day, you punk.

Human shields are feared again, the Telegraph reports, of the held-hostage in the face of rebel onslaught variant.

Fathi Baja, head of political affairs for the National Transitional Council (NTC), told McClatchy Newspapers that on Thursday as many as 300 hostages had been moved to the village – a stronghold of Gaddafi's Gaddafa tribe – to be used as "human shields" to prevent any advance on the city.

Decoded: Their "chaotic" forces are expected to kill about this many civilians they'll need to blame on Gaddafi. It was predicted for Tripoli, and it happened - the regime killed hundreds of men women and children, freedom-loving Libyans who nearly all, in photos, look like regime loyalists or rotting "African mercenaries." Photos from Sirte or Bani Walid: less likely.

My hunch is they know some majority of the country still supported Gaddafi openly up until armed rebel kids with awkward beards were on their streets. They know the tribes are solid and might resist the NTC takeover, and the hardcore loyalists - hundreds of thousands of them - will require too much de-programming. The free market future would greatly benefit from what the rebels are pushing here - head-on battles, after more massive air-power softening by NATO, with all the crimes buried silently inside, and every last scrap of Human flesh admitted to pinned on Gaddafi's account. He killed the whole town in a fit of madness the FFs were just too late to prevent, as usual.

It's hoped by some this will be the final and climactic demonization of the war, again justifying the war in spades, and will along the way kill as many problem people as possible (Islamists against loyalists?) and really humble those remaining into abject silence and possibly quiet self-implosions from grief.

It's time to ask world leaders an important question: "Hey, how's that operation to prevent a bloodbath in Benghazi coming along?"

Sept. 13: NATO airstrikes pound pro-Gadhafi targets

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — NATO says its warplanes have pounded targets in a number of key strongholds of support for fugitive dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

The alliance said Tuesday that airstrikes struck one radar system, eight surface-to-air missile systems, five surface-to-air missile trailers, one armed vehicle and two command vehicles a day earlier near Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte.

NATO also says it struck six tanks and two armored fighting vehicles in Sabha in the southern desert.

Jamahiriya counter-attack on Ras Lanuf reported by al Jazeera English
Hoda Abdel-Hamid on Ras Lanuf refinery attack
Vancouver Sun reports it too

The Independent reports on "Schisms" in the rebel ranks on the latest assaults. The local Warfalla tribe members working with the rebellion have let them down a couple times, and are becoming suspected of being "traitors," of putting tribal loyalties (and hence Gaddafi loyalties) over loyalties to NATO's one Libya. This may not go well for the Warfalla in the long run, true or not.

More on the Grinding Down of Sirte, up to Sept. 30:
Situation in Sirte: Neither Good Nor Great