24/08/2011 World News Today


24/08/2011

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 24/08/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

This is BBC World News Today with me Philippa Thomas.

:00:12.:00:15.

Tripoli is filled with gun fire. Thousands celebrate, but Gaddafi

:00:15.:00:24.

loyalists remain in control in some neighbourhoods.

:00:24.:00:30.

They are now firing rockets. You can hear one going in now.

:00:30.:00:34.

Wanted. Dead or alive. Rebels offer rewards to anyone who captures or

:00:34.:00:37.

kills Colonel Gaddafi. The leader pledges martyrdom or victory.

:00:37.:00:40.

More than 30 foreign journalists trapped in Tripoli's Rixos Hotel in

:00:40.:00:45.

recent days are now free to leave. The rebels are taking the upper

:00:45.:00:49.

hand in the fighting, but who will take political control? We look at

:00:49.:00:59.
:00:59.:01:07.

in-fighting that could dominate Good evening.

:01:07.:01:10.

Libyan rebels have offered an amnesty and around $1.5 million for

:01:10.:01:12.

anyone who captures or kills Colonel Gaddafi. They have

:01:12.:01:15.

consolidated their grip on the capital Tripoli. Last night they

:01:15.:01:17.

managed to overrun Colonel Gaddafi's compound, but the

:01:17.:01:22.

embattled leader was not there. He has since broadcast a defiant

:01:22.:01:25.

speech, saying his decision to leave the compound was a "tactical

:01:25.:01:35.
:01:35.:01:56.

retreat" and vowing to return victorious or die a martyr. For all

:01:56.:02:01.

the very latest let's cross live to Lyse Doucet in Tripoli. There had

:02:01.:02:10.

been intense clashes. However, there were some intense

:02:10.:02:20.
:02:20.:02:26.

celebrations. We were in Martyr Square, a place where many had

:02:26.:02:34.

gathered. We are expecting families together there again to proclaim

:02:34.:02:39.

this is a free Libya. But last night saw one of the most decisive

:02:39.:02:43.

battles in what has been a six- month long battle for the control

:02:43.:02:53.
:02:53.:02:56.

of Libya. As we enter Gaddafi's compound, it

:02:56.:03:03.

is obvious there is still fighting going on. Yesterday's liberation

:03:03.:03:11.

has not cleared all the diehard loyalists out. And this is about to

:03:11.:03:19.

get a lot more intense. So the rebels were driven back out of the

:03:19.:03:22.

centre of the compound this morning, back out to the outer wall. They

:03:22.:03:27.

have just stormed back in. They are now firing rockets into the middle

:03:27.:03:37.
:03:37.:03:51.

of the compound. You can hear one To the left. This day! Stay! Once

:03:51.:03:55.

again, the assumption that the fighting is over is premature.

:03:55.:04:03.

Gaddafi's compound is a fortress with lots of tunnels and bunkers.

:04:03.:04:07.

This man believes Gaddafi is hiding underground. Do you think he is

:04:07.:04:14.

still in there? If you asked me about what I think, I do not think

:04:14.:04:22.

he is here. However, there are a lot of tunnels. He built the

:04:22.:04:30.

compound for this day, to stay running away from people. A but

:04:30.:04:35.

until Gaddafi is found, some here still won't dare to believe his

:04:35.:04:42.

dictatorship is really over. So when will you feel free? When I see

:04:42.:04:52.
:04:52.:04:53.

the blood of Gaddafi on the road. Then I will be Frene! -- free!

:04:53.:04:59.

by the seat, we got a prince inside the life of the Gaddafi clan. This

:04:59.:05:04.

is the summer house of one of his sons. In one bedroom alone we found

:05:04.:05:08.

tens of thousands of pounds worth of designer clothing and shoes.

:05:08.:05:12.

When you see all these expensive things here, this is the problem.

:05:12.:05:16.

This is why the revolution has happened. Seen this will confirm

:05:16.:05:21.

what most Libyans have already expected - that the Gaddafi clan

:05:21.:05:26.

led alight of bulk or luxury and until they are called, this

:05:26.:05:36.
:05:36.:05:41.

revolution will not be over. -- led a life of vulgar luxury.

:05:41.:05:46.

There was an audio message from Gaddafi this morning. Now there is

:05:46.:05:52.

a bounty on offer - more than �1 million for killing of capturing

:05:52.:05:57.

the man who imposed his politics on this country. Held by the fact that

:05:57.:06:07.
:06:07.:06:21.

it is an oil-rich state. The hunt is on for the colonel. The rebels

:06:21.:06:27.

say the battle is not over until Gaddafi is found. I will do all I

:06:27.:06:35.

can to put him in a cage. The pro- Gaddafi TV channel was still trying

:06:35.:06:43.

to rally his troops, even as rebels took over his compound. From the

:06:43.:06:49.

man himself another audio message for of defiance and delusion.

:06:49.:06:59.
:06:59.:07:00.

TRANSLATION: I walk through Tripoli by incognito. Nobody recognised me.

:07:00.:07:05.

The City is not in danger. He even claimed to have walked incognito in

:07:05.:07:10.

the capital where today we found many areas deserted and lifeless.

:07:10.:07:16.

Some believe he made be below ground in a bunker. Others believe

:07:16.:07:22.

he fled Tripoli for his home town. It is clear that Colonel Gaddafi

:07:22.:07:26.

can never have ruled the streets again, but he had an iron grip on

:07:26.:07:31.

this city and this country for more than 40 years and that has left its

:07:31.:07:36.

mark. Even now after everything that has happened, some are still

:07:36.:07:42.

afraid to speak about him. By the sea shore, some were escaping

:07:42.:07:46.

detention. We approached three families here. None were prepared

:07:46.:07:52.

to be interviewed. Then we met this family - professionals who spend

:07:52.:07:57.

half their time in Britain and were not afraid to wear for in Libya's

:07:57.:08:04.

new day. I am celebrating and I am happy because I am thinking about

:08:04.:08:09.

my children. I think about their future and the future of Libya.

:08:09.:08:15.

Everybody's future. There was no future before. The children of the

:08:15.:08:21.

Gaddafi era of finding a new voice. We could speak freely to each other

:08:21.:08:25.

on the phone and we could mention Gaddafi and took against him. It

:08:25.:08:34.

was the first time. Other than that, we have all been talking before in

:08:34.:08:40.

a coded way and not that directly. We evening, Martyr Square downtown

:08:41.:08:47.

becomes a place of celebration. Where ever Colonel Gaddafi may be

:08:47.:08:57.
:08:57.:08:58.

hiding, he cannot undo this. -- wherever. Another building that

:08:58.:09:08.
:09:08.:09:16.

came under rebel control was the luxury Rixos Hotel.

:09:16.:09:21.

We seem to have lost contact. We will try to go back to that report

:09:21.:09:31.
:09:31.:09:32.

to give you the latest from Tripoli. We will try again now. We lost

:09:32.:09:37.

power here. This whole area has been plunged into darkness. There

:09:37.:09:43.

is no electricity. We are being powered by a generator. It is an

:09:44.:09:50.

extraordinary day here in the capital.

:09:50.:09:53.

More than 30 foreign journalists who had been trapped by pro-Gaddafi

:09:53.:09:56.

fighters in a Tripoli hotel since Sunday have been freed. The Rixos

:09:56.:10:06.
:10:06.:10:08.

Hotel is just a couple of miles from Colonel Gaddafi's compound.

:10:08.:10:11.

Amongst them was a BBC team of five, including our correspondent Matthew

:10:11.:10:14.

Price. He's been speaking to his BBC colleague Wyre Davies about the

:10:14.:10:18.

ordeal. We had no idea this was going on. The TV has been of

:10:18.:10:23.

because of the electricity. We had no idea Tripoli was like this. We

:10:24.:10:27.

even had some newspaper journalist come into the hotel asking why we

:10:27.:10:32.

were still there. The reason we were still there is because we had

:10:32.:10:36.

two gunmen, loyal to Colonel Gaddafi, who still believe the City

:10:36.:10:41.

could be won by a Colonel Gaddafi's forces. They said they had been

:10:41.:10:45.

ordered to keep us inside to keep a safe. I mean, it was remarkable

:10:45.:10:49.

that they still believed all of that, despite what was happening

:10:50.:10:59.
:11:00.:11:04.

around them. Has the net closed on Gaddafi? Were there are times --

:11:04.:11:12.

were there times with the armed guards where you felt -- Fiat for

:11:12.:11:22.
:11:22.:11:32.

the words? Yes. -- feared for the worst. The next day was more

:11:32.:11:35.

frightening. On Monday morning we were cut and there were gunmen in

:11:35.:11:45.
:11:45.:11:47.

the hotel that we had not seen before. -- we were Cup. They mainly

:11:47.:11:57.
:11:57.:12:01.

left alone. We had to start stockpiling suppliers. We did

:12:01.:12:11.
:12:11.:12:11.

wonder how safe we were. Organisations like the media, the

:12:11.:12:20.

BBC, they are seen as the enemy. However, we did feel that there

:12:20.:12:24.

might not be a threat... But the government was using the hotel as a

:12:24.:12:29.

cover. They were broadcasting state television from the hotel and

:12:30.:12:34.

monitoring your communications. Did you ever feel that you might be

:12:34.:12:41.

used as human shields as the last defence of a regime is desperate.

:12:41.:12:47.

Yes. The hotel is a B complex. I got a one. On Monday where I

:12:47.:12:51.

thought to have won a second, they are going to use this as a barracks

:12:51.:12:54.

for the Army for one last stand and if they do that, what will happen

:12:54.:13:00.

to Wells? That is when all be journalists started sleeping out in

:13:00.:13:04.

the same corridor, knowing that if we needed to, we could run into a

:13:04.:13:10.

save run. However, we found her we had no viable escape route. We did

:13:10.:13:15.

not know what was going on and that the majority of the streets were in

:13:15.:13:24.

rebel control. Well, Colonel Gaddafi's reign comes to were

:13:24.:13:30.

violent end and a new order has to be built from scratch. The National

:13:30.:13:36.

Transitional Council were meant to come here today, but they have

:13:36.:13:43.

decided to wait. We go to our Correspondent in Benghazi. What was

:13:43.:13:48.

the reason for the delay? opposite - that the obvious one. It

:13:49.:13:56.

is not secured. There has been cautioned from the leadership of

:13:56.:14:06.
:14:06.:14:09.

the opposition. That is in contrast to the celebrations on the street.

:14:09.:14:16.

In Gaddafi's birthplace, he has got a lot of resources. Many are still

:14:16.:14:25.

loyal to him and are not really under threat from the rebel army.

:14:25.:14:31.

There is a lot of work left to do and today has been an

:14:31.:14:36.

acknowledgement of the over exhilaration of the weekend. The

:14:36.:14:40.

opposition are not quite ready to be the four governments but this

:14:40.:14:50.
:14:50.:14:51.

country. We understand that there is a conference on September 1st.

:14:51.:14:54.

What will be a rebel leadership be looking for from the outside

:14:54.:15:04.
:15:04.:15:13.

community? The first thing is cash, frankly. It has been an ironic

:15:13.:15:23.

situation. They need money. In the long-term though, this country is

:15:23.:15:33.
:15:33.:15:44.

They will have enormous amounts of support and goodwill. They may need

:15:44.:15:47.

technical assistance, for example, the training of the police force

:15:47.:15:57.
:15:57.:15:58.

and things like that. We have not The sun has set on yet another

:15:58.:16:07.

extraordinary day here. Down in Green Square the rallying cry is

:16:07.:16:11.

free Libya. There have been shouting at Colonel Gaddafi is dead

:16:11.:16:17.

in Arabic. But where is he? There is now a bounty on his head of more

:16:17.:16:22.

than �1 million for capturing the man who has dominated, personalised

:16:22.:16:30.

and abused hip -- abused power here for 42 years. This is a city which

:16:30.:16:35.

is still uncertain and dangerous. The most intense clashes have been

:16:35.:16:41.

taking place -- place through the day. Libyans a weight something new

:16:41.:16:48.

and different now. They are telling us they will be patient. They will

:16:48.:16:58.
:16:58.:17:00.

clearly expect something different. Robert Hunter is former US

:17:01.:17:04.

ambassador to NATO, and Director of Middle East Affairs in the Carter

:17:04.:17:06.

administration. He's now at the National Defense University in

:17:06.:17:10.

Washington. I asked him if NATO's Libya mission can been called a

:17:10.:17:20.
:17:20.:17:22.

success. I think you have to say it has been because it did provide air

:17:22.:17:26.

support of the rebels under the guise of simply protecting

:17:26.:17:32.

civilians. But NATO where the air power. But the Libyans themselves

:17:32.:17:38.

on the ground made an effective combination. So this was something

:17:38.:17:43.

to be supported. There were no defections, nobody backed away from

:17:43.:17:51.

it. I think NATO made a definite critical difference. In the past

:17:51.:17:56.

you were critical of European powers within NATO, in Bosnia

:17:56.:17:59.

especially, for doing too little, too late. Have they redeem

:17:59.:18:05.

themselves with Britain and France at the forefront here? -- redeemed.

:18:05.:18:09.

I was critical of the US at the start when we held back and only

:18:09.:18:12.

provided a certain kind of support function rather than active

:18:13.:18:18.

military engagement and left it to the Europeans. But in retrospect I

:18:18.:18:22.

think this will increase the reputation of European allies in

:18:22.:18:26.

this country, including with the Congress and the administration.

:18:26.:18:35.

The Europeans took the lead. Everybody but Germany. They made a

:18:35.:18:40.

success of it and that was used for to the alliance. It is a useful

:18:40.:18:45.

precedent for Washington, isn't it? At a time were it is hard to make

:18:45.:18:50.

the case for intervention overseas. We are still fighting two was

:18:50.:18:56.

directly in Afghanistan, very unpopular. -- walls. It is coming

:18:56.:19:01.

up to the 10th anniversary of 9/11, everybody wants to get out of Iraq

:19:01.:19:06.

as soon as possible, we are still fighting there. The idea of going

:19:06.:19:10.

in with boots on the ground and Libya was very unpopular. So what

:19:10.:19:15.

the Europeans have done on this will go down well, I think.

:19:15.:19:18.

there a sense in which the Europeans have come to the rescue

:19:18.:19:23.

of President Obama? His hands are tied. He was the anti-war candidate,

:19:23.:19:30.

making the case for intervention in Libya, was not a popular one.

:19:30.:19:33.

not think it is very rescuing the President because he was prepared

:19:33.:19:38.

to do things even more than some of his administration. But the fact

:19:38.:19:42.

that the Europeans did this has helped to validate the

:19:42.:19:47.

transatlantic relationship, to validate the use of NATO and show

:19:47.:19:54.

that the US has partners on whom we can rely. To that extent it has

:19:54.:19:59.

been very good for the President. What do you think NATO's role

:19:59.:20:07.

should be post conflict? At this stage it is to continue with air

:20:07.:20:13.

power but the real challenge is when the fighting stops. I think

:20:13.:20:19.

everybody in Europe and the US have to understand that responsibility

:20:19.:20:29.
:20:29.:20:30.

for what happens in North Africa will go on for a long time. There

:20:30.:20:36.

are problems of immigration, potential violence, terrorism, of

:20:36.:20:44.

instability on the northern shores of North Africa. It means nobody

:20:44.:20:50.

can walk away from this. It will be expensive, time-consuming. We are

:20:50.:20:57.

in it for the long haul. We have no choice. Ghazi Gheblawi is a Libyan

:20:57.:21:00.

writer and blogger, living and working here in London. He joins me

:21:00.:21:07.

now. I can see how happy you are about the news that has come

:21:07.:21:11.

through. Are you now getting a flood of communication from people

:21:12.:21:18.

who were unable to speak? Quite a few. Some of them who have been

:21:18.:21:24.

detained for long periods of time and have been released. And also

:21:24.:21:28.

people we were speaking to but we were not speaking out loud, off

:21:28.:21:38.
:21:38.:21:40.

really. -- or with any freedom. We were speaking in code. People have

:21:40.:21:47.

started to communicate now. It is amazing that the new government is

:21:47.:21:51.

giving out credit for mobile services for people to contact

:21:51.:22:01.
:22:01.:22:03.

You get every sense from people you speak to that there is jubilation,

:22:03.:22:08.

a sense of freedom, they can speak out loud with no problem. There is

:22:08.:22:13.

also the psychological factor. You were saying yourself, you get used

:22:13.:22:21.

to having a double personality in this kind of situation. For example,

:22:21.:22:28.

for myself, and other writers, they would write and publish in the

:22:28.:22:34.

state media and sometimes they could not say what they really

:22:34.:22:40.

wanted. Sometimes they could not publish what they wanted so they

:22:40.:22:43.

needed to publish it in the outside world. Some of them would write

:22:43.:22:49.

something that is quite damning to the regime before, and they would

:22:49.:22:52.

publish it outside in a place that the regime could not reach. At

:22:52.:22:56.

least they could get it off their chest. But in the country itself,

:22:56.:23:02.

when you sit with your family there is complete opposition to the

:23:02.:23:12.
:23:12.:23:12.

regime. I speak from personal experience, we have a family, we

:23:12.:23:16.

are all in opposition for a long time. Libyan people have been

:23:16.:23:21.

unable to speak out and reach out, but there is also the fact that we

:23:21.:23:26.

have not been able to understand as much as we would like to, and now

:23:26.:23:32.

rising look at what the NTC my doing running Libya, there is this

:23:32.:23:41.

they're that be could oversimplify it? -- There is a fear we could

:23:41.:23:49.

It is a normal country but it has a unique culture and history and

:23:49.:23:58.

background. And sometimes the media has been criticised that they

:23:58.:24:06.

sometimes look at things as superficial, as we saw in the

:24:06.:24:11.

tragedy of Rixos Hotel. Many people were fed propaganda from the regime.

:24:11.:24:18.

The media fell into it. We look at East and West with Libya, but it is

:24:18.:24:28.
:24:28.:24:29.

more than that, it is a mosaic of people. Of course. My father was

:24:29.:24:34.

born in the mountains, I was born in Tripoli, I know lots of families

:24:34.:24:40.

from the east and west. The mother is from Misrata, the father from

:24:40.:24:43.

Benghazi, someone else from Tripoli, but they live in the middle of this

:24:43.:24:48.

country. It is not about East and West, there is no division you can

:24:48.:24:54.

distinguish. For example, Tripoli is a metropolis. All the tribes are

:24:54.:25:00.

there, the people from every place. You're an optimist believe in one

:25:00.:25:05.

government can pull these people together? There is a big hope that

:25:05.:25:12.

will happen. What the regime did was not include all the Libyan

:25:12.:25:17.

people. There was a minority of the people of Libya who were involved

:25:17.:25:22.

in this regime. Now we are trying to make it more exclusive. It is a

:25:22.:25:31.

difficult task. It is a big challenge but at the same time

:25:31.:25:34.

people will be given positions because of their merit, not because

:25:34.:25:39.

of their loyalty to a regime, or a government. An opportunity but a

:25:39.:25:45.

challenge. Thank you for coming to speak with us. Now a look at some

:25:45.:25:48.

of the day's other news... Russian investigators have detained a

:25:48.:25:50.

former police officer on suspicion of organising the murder of Anna

:25:50.:25:53.

Politkovskaya. The reporter, who was renowned for her criticism of

:25:53.:25:56.

the Kremlin and her coverage of the Chechen conflict, was killed five

:25:56.:26:00.

years ago. The former officer was arrested on suspicion of hiring a

:26:00.:26:03.

contract killer. Russia says North Korea is ready to resume

:26:03.:26:05.

international talks on ending its nuclear programme. On his first

:26:05.:26:08.

visit to Russia in almost a decade, the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il

:26:08.:26:18.

The talks also covered Russia's plan to build a gas pipeline to

:26:18.:26:21.

South Korea through the North. American and European officials at

:26:21.:26:23.

the UN have drawn up a draft resolution calling for

:26:23.:26:25.

international sanctions against the Syrian government. It condemns

:26:25.:26:27.

human rights abuses by security forces against anti-government

:26:27.:26:37.

protesters. But Russia, which has a Council veto, said it was not the

:26:37.:26:40.

right time to target President Assad with sanctions. Hurricane

:26:40.:26:43.

Irene has strengthened to a major Category 3 storm as it approaches

:26:43.:26:47.

the US east coast. Irene brought torrential rain and strong winds to

:26:47.:26:57.
:26:57.:27:00.

the Dominican Republic, and cut Thank you for staying with us.

:27:00.:27:03.

After the showers today heavy rain spread up from south-west England

:27:04.:27:08.

through the Midlands, reaching Yorkshire and Lincolnshire later.

:27:08.:27:13.

Once that clears, some sunshine but also heavy showers. Low pressure is

:27:13.:27:17.

the driving force. This weather front is the troublemaker, the

:27:17.:27:22.

energy that runs along that overnight gives the heavy rain.

:27:22.:27:27.

Tomorrow, heavy and thundery bursts of rain. Eventually, by the end of

:27:27.:27:30.

the afternoon most of it has gone. A few lingering showers and

:27:30.:27:36.

thunderstorms. Most places should turn drier. Don't expected to be

:27:36.:27:44.

particularly warm. -- expect it to be. Good sunshine through Central

:27:44.:27:51.

England into the Midlands. But into Wales, slow-moving showers. You

:27:51.:27:54.

could get some storms after another, whereas just down the road you

:27:54.:27:59.

could stay dry. If you get caught in one of these showers you will

:27:59.:28:02.

know about it. A scattering of heavy showers in Northern Ireland,

:28:02.:28:09.

some showers with sunshine in between in Scotland. Thicker cloud

:28:09.:28:13.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS