# Libya 17 TH / 23/03

Entretien avec Othman Bensasi - une vidéo Actu et Politique. Libya crisis: Gaddafi's air force defeated, says RAF. 23 March 2011Last updated at 22:06 Air Vice Marshall Greg Bagwell: "Their air force no longer exists as a fighting force" Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's air force "no longer exists as a fighting force", the commander of British aircraft operating over Libya has said.

Air Vice Marshal Greg Bagwell said the allies could now operate "with near impunity" over the skies of Libya. He said they were now applying unrelenting pressure on the Libyan armed forces. Latest reports say government tanks are shelling the hospital in the rebel-held western city of Misrata. Witnesses had earlier said the tanks encircling the city had pulled back from their positions under air assault from international forces. And there are also reports of fierce fighting between rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces in the strategic eastern town of Ajdabiya. Wednesday night also saw reports of a huge explosion at a military base in the Tajura region 32km (20 miles) east of the Libyan capital Tripoli. Continue reading the main story Analysis.

Libya: Allied air strikes secure Misrata for rebels. Nearly 12 hours of allied air strikes have broken the Libyan regime's five-day bloody assault on the key rebel-held town of Misrata.

Residents said the aerial bombardment destroyed tanks and artillery and sent many of Muammar Gaddafi's forces fleeing from Misrata, ending a siege and attack by the regime that cost nearly 100 lives from random shelling, snipers and bitter street fighting. Mohammed Ali, an IT engineer at Misrata's main hospital, said that waves of air strikes began shortly after midnight on Wednesday. "They bombed a lot of sites of the Gaddafi army. Qaddafi Exile Unlikely. Hillary Clinton claims that Moammar Qaddafi may be exploring exit options.

Count me as skeptical. The problem is that we don’t have a whole lot to offer a dictator in exile. Once upon a time, an autocrat could step down and live out his days securely in the south of France or some other plush locale. That option still exists for some; for instance Tunisia’s deposed strongman, Ben Ali, is now in Saudi Arabia. Maybe he’s even taken over Idi Amin’s old villa. But Qaddafi is a special case because he has committed war crimes such as the bombing of Pan Am flight 103. The ability of the international coalition or the Libyan opposition to make a deal for his abdication has been complicated by the Charles Taylor precedent.

I have generally been supportive of the ICC as a tool for holding war criminals to account but incidents such as this are clearly an example of proceduralism run amok: in return for getting Taylor into court, we are making it more difficult to depose other dictators. Libyan air force 'no longer exists' - Africa. Interview {in arabic} with Mahmoud Jabril of the #Libya Interim Transitional Government. Paris accusé de vouloir dépecer la Libye. La coalition bombarde des forces pro-Kadhafi. Le colonel Mouammar Kadhafi, dont les forces résistent aux insurgés malgré quatre jours de raids aériens, est apparu mardi soir à Tripoli en promettant la défaite aux forces internationales engagées en Libye. La coalition internationale a continué ses bombardements dans la nuit tandis que la question du commandement des opérations par l'Otan reste en suspens. . La première réunion du groupe de contact sur la Libye, réunissant Etats-Unis, France, Grande-Bretagne et pays participant aux opérations contre les troupes de Mouammar Kadhafi, se tiendra mardi à Londres, annonce Alain Juppé. .

L'opposition libyenne demande à la coalition de continuer son intervention, et de bombarder "les avions, les chars, toutes les armes lourdes de Kadhafi", déclare un porte-parole de l'opposition à Paris, au micro d'Europe 1. . . . . . . . . Russia's Vladimir Putin denies Libya rift with Medvedev.

22 March 2011Last updated at 19:26 Mr Putin's remarks were seen as evidence of a split with the president Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has firmly rejected suggestions of a split over Libya with President Dmitry Medvedev, insisting they are "close".

Mr Putin was criticised by Mr Medvedev on Monday, after condemning the UN resolution on Libya and comparing it to "medieval calls for crusades". In a rare rebuke, the Russian president said his language was unacceptable. On a visit to Slovenia on Tuesday, Mr Putin insisted there could be no division over Russia's foreign policy. Lukewarm? "If you are interested in whether there is any difference in the way Mr Medvedev and I approach these events, let me assure you: we are very close, and we understand each other," he told reporters in Ljubljana. But he went on to say that the president should "formulate the country's position in appropriate terms", comments which correspondents say still appear lukewarm regarding the president. Libye : Kadhafi chercherait "une porte de sortie" - Monde.

Libye: nouvelles rassurantes pour un photographe français qui était porté disparu. Libye. Juppé prédit une « opération de courte durée » [En direct] - Conflits. Mouammar Kadhafi défie toujours la coalition internationale, ce mercredi 23 mars, au cinquième jour de l'intervention occidentale en Libye.

Des affrontement sanglants opposent les forces gouvernementales aux rebelles. La puissance de feu des armées occidentales a cloué au sol les avions libyens et stoppé l’avancée des troupes kadhafistes vers Benghazi, fief du soulèvement de la mi-février, mais les insurgés ne parviennent pas à regagner du terrain. Sur le plan diplomatique, la coalition est engagée dans un vif débat sur le bien-fondé de transférer le commandement des opérations à l’Otan et les critiques des frappes aériennes se poursuivent, en particulier dans les pays émergents. 0 h 35.