Amerika Syarikat Telah Melancarkan Perang Terhadap Libya

MISI SELESAI...jet Tornado milik Britain mendarat di pangkalan tentera di Marham, selatan England, selepas menyertai operasi ke atas Libya, semalam.

TRIPOLI: Tentera Eropah dan Amerika Syarikat melancarkan serangan peluru berpandu dari pesawat pejuang dan kapal selam terhadap tentera Libya, semalam, dalam campur tangan terbesar Barat di dunia Arab sejak pencerobohan ke atas Iraq pada 2003.

Televisyen Libya berkata, 48 orang terbunuh dan 150 cedera akibat serangan itu. Stesen penyiaran CBS dalam laman sesawangnya melaporkan, tiga pesawat pengebom Stealth B-2 AS menggugurkan kira-kira 40 bom di sebuah lapangan terbang utama Libya. Bagaimanapun, lapangan terbang berkenaan tidak dinamakan dalam laporan itu.

Pesawat tentera Perancis melancarkan serangan pertama pada awal pagi dalam kempen memaksa tentera Gaddafi menghentikan serangan terhadap orang awam. Serangan itu memusnahkan kereta kebal dan kereta perisai berhampiran Benghazi, kubu kuat pemberontak.

Pegawai tentera AS berkata, AS dan Britain melancarkan lebih 110 peluru berpandu sepanjang malam dengan menjadikan sistem pertahanan udara di sekitar Tripoli dan Misrata di barat Libya sebagai sasaran.

Menurutnya, AS bekerjasama dengan Britain, Perancis, Kanada dan Itali dalam operasi Odyssey Dawn.

Denmark pula berkata, empat jet pengebomnya bersedia menyertai serangan dan menanti arahan daripada AS.

Sementara itu, Gaddafi menyifatkan serangan itu sebagai ‘penjajahan dan Perang Salib.’

“Kini tiba masanya untuk membuka simpanan dan melengkapkan rakyat dengan semua jenis senjata bagi mempertahankan kemerdekaan, perpaduan dan kehormatan Libya,” katanya dalam mesej disiarkan menerusi televisyen, beberapa jam selepas serangan bermula.

China dan Russia - yang berkecuali dalam pengundian Majlis Keselamatan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) untuk meluluskan serangan berkenaan - menyuarakan rasa kesal terhadap operasi ketenteraan itu.

Kementerian Luar China berkata, Beijing berharap konflik itu tidak menyebabkan kematian lebih ramai orang awam.

Ketika letupan dan bunyi tembakan antipesawat menggegarkan Tripoli pada awal pagi semalam, ia disusuli laungan takbir yang bergema di sekitar pusat bandar raya itu.

Penduduk Tripoli berkata, mereka mendengar letupan kuat di daerah Tajoura sementara di Misrata, serangan itu mensasarkan sebuah pangkalan tentera udara digunakan tentera Gaddafi.

Seorang saksi di Benghazi melaporkan, empat letupan kuat kedengaran berserta dengan tembakan meriam antipesawat pada sebelah malam tetapi tidak pasti siapa melepaskannya.

Katanya, serangan itu disambut baik penduduk daerah itu.

“Ini akan menamatkan pemerintahan Gaddafi.
“Libya tidak akan melupakan bantuan Perancis. Jika tidak kerana serangan itu, Benghazi pasti ditawan oleh Gaddafi.” katanya.

Khalid al-GGurfaly, 38, berkata mereka terhutang budi kepada Perancis, Britain dan AS serta negara Arab kerana menyokong rakyat Libya.
“Kami menjangka Gaddafi akan melepaskan kemarahannya terhadap orang awam. Justeru, Barat perlu menyerangnya habis-habisan,” katanya.
Presiden Perancis, Nicolas Sarkozy, berkata negara terbabit bersetuju menggunakan semua semua cara yang ada, khususnya tentera, untuk menguatkuasakan ketetapan Majlis Keselamatan PBB. - Reuters

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Egypt condemned for blocking media

Al Jazeera's license to broadcast from Egypt was revoked on Sunday as authorities cracked down on the media

International press institutes have come out strongly against Egyptian authorities’ suppression of the media, following the withdrawal of Al Jazeera’s license to broadcast from the North African country.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned on Sunday the information ministry’s move to shutdown Al Jazeera’s bureau in the country.

The CPJ described the move as an attempt to “disrupt media coverage by Al-Jazeera and calls on them to reverse the decision immediately”.

The official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported that the order was to take effect on Sunday, and transmissions originating from Egypt ceased within an hour of the announcement. Nilesat, the satellite transmission company owned by Egyptian radio and television stopped the transmission of Al Jazeera’s primary channel and others.

Reporters without borders added to the condemnation of Egyptian authorities attempt to quell the media.

“By banning Al Jazeera, the government is trying to limit the circulation of TV footage of the six-day-old wave of protests,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said.

“Thus totally archaic decision is in completely contradiction with President Hosni Mubarak’s promise of ‘democratic’ measures on 28 January. It is also the exact opposite of the increase in freedom sought by the Egyptian population.”

'Press freedom violation'

The Doha Centre for Media Freedom also criticised the move, saying it was following with major concern the Egyptian authorities’ obstruction of local and foreign journalists from performing their duties in covering the unusual events currently taking place in the North African country.

"The DCMF considers the harassment a severe press freedom violation and urges the Egyptian authorities to respect international laws on freedom of expression and to allow Egyptian and foreign journalists to freely cover the current events there." DCMF said in a press released issued on Sunday.

The withdrawal of Al Jazeera’s license came on the fifth day of protests that gripped the country and follows the authorities’ attempts to control the flow of information after the internet and mobile phone services were suspended on Thursday.

Mobile services were partly restored on Saturday, though the CPJ says that 90% of internet connections in the country remain disconnected.

On Friday, Reporters without Borders condemned the arrest of four French journalists and around a dozen Egyptian journalists who had been arrested by authorities