The Associated Press reports that two AFP journalists and one Getty photographer have been released today by Libyan authorities. Video footage shows the three men entering a hotel where other journalists are staying.
In an interview with photographer Joe Raedle's wife, she admitted, "It's been a very rough few days." She then said, "If he's watching this, I love you. I support you, and I will see you soon. hurry home."
WATCH:AFP reports that its two reporters captured over the weekend, along with a photographer for Getty Images, have been released.
According to CNN:
AFP reporters Dave Clark and Roberto Schmidt and Getty Images photographer Joe Raedle were arrested near the eastern town of Ajdabiya on Saturday. The three were released in Tripoli.
ABC News reports that despite coalition forces, Gaddafi refuses to relinquish control of his country and vows not to give up. In his first speech on state television, he said:
"We will be victorious in the end ? I do not fear storms that sweep the horizon, nor do I fear the planes that throw black destruction," the Libyan leader said. "This assault ... is by a bunch of fascists who will end up in the dustbin of history."
But officials say despite his defiance, Gaddafi is growing nervous. For more, take a look at Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comments on the dictator's state of mind in an excerpt from yesterday's interview with Diane Sawyer below.
Al Jazeera reports that the Libyan rebel council has appointed Mahmoud Jabril to lead its interim government and pick ministers:
The Libyan transitional council has taken the step of calling themselves an "interim government".They had been wary of using the words before, seemingly cautious of signifying a split in the country. ??"But they remain committed to one Libya," our correspondent says. "They want the people of Libya to remain united, just without Gaddafi."
Heading up the new government as an interim prime minister is Mahmoud Jibril, who had been working as a representative to foreign powers. He is best known on the international stage for meeting France's Nicolas Sarkozy - which led to France diplomatically recognising the transitional council as the sole representative of the Libyan people.
Read more here.
The AP is reporting that Sweden has seized $1.6 billion of Gaddafi's assets:
Sweden has frozen some 10 billion kronor ($1.6 billion) of assets belonging to Moammar Gadhafi's regime in Libya.
Jonatan Holst at The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority says "it's not impossible" there could be more hidden in the Scandinavian country.
The Telegraph reports:
?We will win this battle,? Gaddafi told a crowd of supporters. ?The most powerful air defence, the most powerful air defence is the people. Here are the people. Al-Gaddafi is in the middle of the people. This is the air defence.?
Full story and video here.
Reuters describes a speech delivered by Gaddafi on Tuesday.
Gaddafi reportedly spoke from his Tripoli compound as supporters formed a human shield around him. He said that he would stay in his tent, and reassured supporters, "I am here, I am here, I am here."
The Libyan leader also insisted he would not surrender, and was prepared for a long fight, stating, "We will be victorious in the end."
Regarding actions taken against his regime, he reportedly stated, "This assault ... is by a bunch of fascists who will end up in the dustbin of history."
Read the full article here.
HuffPost's Jack Mirkinson reports:
A Fox News correspondent who was singled out by an incensed CNN reporter spoke out on Tuesday about the attack?and was just as heated in his response.
In an interview with The Huffington Post, Steve Harrigan, who is in Libya for Fox News, called Nic Robertson?who tore into the network and Harrigan himself on Monday?"dull," said that Robertson would have talked to him in person "if he was a man," and said that his idea of news reporting was "bullshit."
Read the full report here.
The Daily Mail details claims that one of Gaddafi's sons has been killed, but the Gaddafi regime denies the report:
Khamis, 27, who runs the feared Khamis Brigade that has been prominent in its role of attacking rebel-held areas, is said to have died on Saturday night.A Libyan air force pilot crashed his jet into the Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli in a kamikaze attack, Algerian TV reported following an unsubstantiated claim by an anti-Gaddafi media organisation.
Khamis is alleged to have died of burns in hospital. The regime denied the reports.
Read more here.
ABC News' Diane Sawyer spoke with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this afternoon about the situation in Libya. It was Clinton?s first interview since the air strikes began on Saturday.
According to Clinton, there are unconfirmed reports that at least one of Gaddafi's sons has been killed.
She says that Gaddafi's behavior is unpredictable. "Some of it is theater. Some of it is, you know, kind of, shall we say game playing, to try to do one message to one group, another message to somebody else."
Clinton also tells Sawyer that people close to Gaddafi are seeking ways out of the situation.
Regarding NATO and the transition of the U.S. leadership role, Clinton states, "I'm very relaxed about it... I think it is proceeding."
Clinton also spoke about Gaddafi's role in the future of Libya. "Now obviously, if we want to see a stable, peaceful, hopefully someday democratic Libya, it is highly unlikely that can be accomplished if he stays in power as he is."
For more, visit ABC News.
WATCH:
HuffPost's Jason Linkins reports:
During his 2010 reelection campaign, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) frequently made great sport of his rival, J.D. Hayworth, for Hayworth's tendency to misstate basic facts about American military history. But now, McCain is in full-on "we are all Benghazians" mode, and on this morning's edition of CBS's "The Early Show," McCain made a big deal about how Muammar Gaddafi has "American blood on his hands." But over at Salon's War Room, Justin Elliott finds that there's ample opportunity for Hayworth to claw back a little bit of his lost pride.
Read the full report here.
AP reports:
PARIS ? France says it has agreed with the United States that NATO should have a role in coalition's military operations in Libya.
A statement issued in Paris said that French President Nicolas Sarkozy and President Barack Obama "agreed on the modalities of using the structures of the NATO command to support the coalition."
The statement says both leaders spoke on Tuesday.
Separately, British Prime Minister David Cameron's office said that he and Obama also agreed that NATO should play a key role in commanding the military campaign in Libya.
NATO members, meeting Tuesday in Brussels, agreed to have the alliance use sea power to enforce a U.N arms embargo on Libya.
But the organizations members continued to debate the much more difficult issue of whether the alliance would coordinate enforcement of a U.N. imposed no-fly zone over Libya.
More here.
Al Jazeera reveals a report from The Guardian last month, profiling Gaddafi's son, Saif.
Saif, 38 years old, is reportedly a trained architect who studied at the London School of Economics.
Saif reportedly told an interviewer in 2002 that Libya needed democracy. "It's policy number one for us. First thing democracy, second thing democracy, third thing democracy." But now, his stance has changed.
Saif's desire to act as a mouthpiece for his father has lent the tragic scenes unfolding in Libya a surreal, sometimes ridiculous dimension. His appearances in front of the television cameras suggest a man increasingly unhinged. Arms folded, jaw firmly out, Saif is a manifestation of defiance. It is clear he is very much his father's son, albeit, as one Twitter user wryly observed, someone who seems to have styled himself sartorially on Stringer Bell, the drug lord in the US cop show The Wire.The similarities may not stop there. A man who reportedly likes to keep tigers and falcons, "Saif is urbane, charming and psychotic", according to one person who has met him. This appraisal seemed to be confirmed last Sunday night when Saif appeared on domestic television to threaten a civil war in which his father's regime "will fight to the last minute, until the last bullet".
Read the full article here.
Aboard Air Force One, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes made statements to the press. He described three phone calls that President Obama made this morning, to his national team, President Sarkozy, and Prime Minister Cameron.
Rhodes stated that from Obama's discussions, "I think the agreement is that there are specific capabilities within NATO that would be important... to support the command and control of a no-fly zone."
Rhodes also said there appears to be progress made in fighting Gaddafi. "There?s been no indication that he?s had planes in the air or done anything in the air. So you have in essence the beginnings of a no-fly zone in the sense that we?ve removed that capability from him to date."
MSNBC reports that conditions in Misurata are deteriorating, with "unrelenting" shelling and sniper attacks.
Rights monitors such as the International Committee for the Red Cross are reportedly blocked from Misurata and Ajdabiya, making accounts from those cities difficult to confirm.
The U.S. military is reportedly "considering all options" due to the increasingly critical situation.
Read more here.
In recent days, Sen. John McCain has been a proponent of the intervention in Libya, even suggesting enlarging the mission. In an interview on CBS' The Early Show, he said that he hoped the U.S. or others would arm the rebels as it once armed insurgents in Afghanistan fighting Russia.
However, as Salon points out, McCain hasn't always been so hawkish on Gaddafi. As Justin Elliot notes:
Who else was involved in the effort to forge better ties with Gadhafi? John McCain. In August 2009 he led a delegation of senators including fellow hawks Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman on a trip to visit the Libyan leader in Tripoli. Discussed during the visit was delivery of -- get this -- American military equipment to Gadhafi (a man with American blood on his hands no less)."We discussed the possibility of moving ahead with the provision of non-lethal defense equipment to the government of Libya," the AP quoted McCain as saying at a press conference. McCain also noted that "ties between the United States and Libya have taken a remarkable and positive turn in recent years."
According to Reuters, Libyan rebels are united in their hatred for Gaddafi, but seem to lack leadership.
When asked who was in command, one fighter, Mohamed Bhreka, shrugged and said: "Nobody is. We are volunteers. We just come here. There is no plan."There was little sign of the soldiers who had defected from the government army in the early days of the uprising and joined forces with the volunteers.
But there were hundreds of unarmed bystanders, who raised cheers of "God is Greatest" when the occasional round of tank fire from Ajdabiyah thudded into the desert sand behind them.
They were a colorful crew, looking like extras in a "Mad Max" movie. Some had items of camouflage uniform, others wore leather jackets or soccer shirts. Headgear ranged from Arab scarves to motorcycle crash helmets. One man wore his grandfather's medals from serving alongside the British Army here in World War Two.
Reuters goes on to question whether this seemingly disorganized group can topple Gaddafi's government. There also may be a disconnect between the West's intentions and the wishes of rebel groups.
Read the full story here.
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