"See....My People Love Me!"
Gunshots in Tripoli as Gaddafi's regime claims to have taken back several cities that are still under opposition control
Peter Beaumont in Tripoli
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 6 March 2011
"In Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's Libya, when the little lies aren't working anymore, then it is time to roll out the bigger untruths. On Sunday, the regime effectively claimed to have won the war against the rebels trying to dislodge it.
For those who remain loyal to Gaddafi it was the signal to swamp the streets of Libya's capital Tripoli firing their weapons in the morning air.
Zawiyah, to the west of the capital, and Misrata, down the coast to the east, had fallen, said state television. Ras Lanuf was under government control. A government minder told the Guardian that Tobruk had fallen to forces loyal to Gaddafi....
But on Sunday, parts of Zawiyah, 30 miles west of Tripoli and the most vulnerable of the opposition-held cities, were still under opposition control. Neither had Ras Lanuf, Misrata or Tobruk been taken....
The reality is that the government had not retaken Zawiyah at the time of writing – areas of the city are still in the hands of the opposition forces, who have held off better armed and more numerous opponents.
All of which begs the question of the purpose of Sunday's display.
One theory is that it was designed to bolster the morale of the security forces who are being asked to fire on fellow Libyans – to show them, ahead of any real victories, what victory might look like and how grateful the regime and its supporters will be."
Peter Beaumont in Tripoli
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 6 March 2011
"In Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's Libya, when the little lies aren't working anymore, then it is time to roll out the bigger untruths. On Sunday, the regime effectively claimed to have won the war against the rebels trying to dislodge it.
For those who remain loyal to Gaddafi it was the signal to swamp the streets of Libya's capital Tripoli firing their weapons in the morning air.
Zawiyah, to the west of the capital, and Misrata, down the coast to the east, had fallen, said state television. Ras Lanuf was under government control. A government minder told the Guardian that Tobruk had fallen to forces loyal to Gaddafi....
But on Sunday, parts of Zawiyah, 30 miles west of Tripoli and the most vulnerable of the opposition-held cities, were still under opposition control. Neither had Ras Lanuf, Misrata or Tobruk been taken....
The reality is that the government had not retaken Zawiyah at the time of writing – areas of the city are still in the hands of the opposition forces, who have held off better armed and more numerous opponents.
All of which begs the question of the purpose of Sunday's display.
One theory is that it was designed to bolster the morale of the security forces who are being asked to fire on fellow Libyans – to show them, ahead of any real victories, what victory might look like and how grateful the regime and its supporters will be."
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