Video of terrorist who blew up bus full of Israeli tourists, photos of aftermath

Below is a video of the suspected terrorist who ripped apart the families of dozens of Israelis, half of the wounded having been teenagers.

The suspect looks like a typical Leftist nutjob creep; but, hey, that’s just me. The unholy alliance between the radical Left and Islam is a well-documented fact that is on display every day around the world.

*Weasel Zippers makes the interesting observation about the apparently fake Michigan driver’s license that the terrorist used:

Connecting the dots here, Michigan (Dearborn in particular) has a huge population of Shia Muslims from Iraq and Lebanon, many or whom are sympathetic to the Shia terror group Hezbollah, and it’s Hezbollah who Israel believes is behind the attack.

video h/t algemeiner

Here are some photos of Israel’s ZAKA combing through the rubble and carnage.

(h/t algemeiner) – Bulgarian authorities allowed members of Israelis ZAKA voluntary emergency response team that specialize in disaster victim identification, to board the bombed out bus, following the brutal terror attack on Israeli tourists that left 8 dead yesterday afternoon.

The ZAKA team will prepare the bodies of the victims for burial in Israel and search the bus for body parts that are to be buried with the dead according to Jewish law.

Shimi Grossman, a member of the ZAKA team said,”From the moment we landed in Burgas we have been working at the scene and the hospitals, we have full cooperation with local police.”

“We are working to bring all bodies to Israel as soon as possible,” said Matti Goldstein, the leader of the ZAKA team.

ZAKA team begins the search for body parts of victims. Photo: Dano Mantkovich.

ZAKA workers cover the body of a victim. Photo: Dano Mantkovich.

Mayhem from the terror attack. Photo: Dano Mantkovich.

A ZAKA volunteer covers the body of a victim. Photo: Dano Mantkovich.

A ZAKA worker inspects the body of a victim. Photo: Dano Mantkovich.

A ZAKA team member inspects the body of a victim. Photo: Dano Mantkovich.

ZAKA members scour the scene for body parts. Photo: Dano Mantkovich.

D.C. crime rises as cops shifted from neighborhoods to patrol Occupiers

The “99%” has caused crime to increase by 17%.

Washington Examiner – The union representing District police said Wednesday that officers are being pulled from neighborhood patrols and reassigned to monitor the Occupy DC protests and that crime has increased in the city since the Occupiers arrived three months ago.

The Fraternal Order of Police’s Metropolitan Police Department Labor Committee wrote to Mayor Vincent Gray Wednesday demanding that he correct statements he’s made about the Occupy movement, specifically that he “wasn’t sure” crime was up in the District and that he “didn’t know of a situation” where a neighborhood had been neglected during Occupy protests. Gray made the statements during a Dec. 15 interview with NewsChannel 8.

The union contends that violent crime increased by 17 percent in the District and overall crime by 14 percent in the 30 days prior to Dec. 15. The union also attached to its letter to Gray a series of “deployment accountability logs,” which show that officers from other districts or shifts were redeployed to McPherson Square to deal with the Occupiers.

It’s not clear whether the increase in crime in the District can be attributed to Occupy DC. But union Chairman Kris Baumann says he believes the mayor has downplayed rising crime rates.

“We know that if there’s no police officers on the street, crime increases. What we haven’t done is been honest with the public – this is a problem,” he said. “I don’t want to blame First Amendment protesters for poor decisions that were made by local officials. But we’ve now reached a level that the crime rates are increasing.”

Gray’s spokeswoman, Doxie McCoy, said the mayor’s office is reviewing the union’s 40-page letter.

Baumann says police want local officials to explain how they plan to move forward with the Occupy protest, which is entering its fourth month with no end in sight.  (more >>>)

Video: 14 coordinated bombings rip across Iraq, at least 60 dead, hundreds wounded

It begins.

Everyone but the Obama Administration knew this would happen. (They knew, but could care less, of course.) This occurs just days after the Obama Administration finished boasting of its complete retreat withdrawal from Iraq. This is just the beginning of horrendous bloodshead to come. Civil war is inevitable.

Below is said to be raw video of one of the explosions. The huge blast comes at around 29 seconds in.

CBS (via Gateway Pundit) – A wave of at least 14 bombings ripped across Baghdad Thursday morning, killing at least 60 people in the worst violence in Iraq for months. The apparently coordinated attacks struck days after the last American forces left the country and in the midst of a major government crisis between Shiite and Sunni politicians that has sent sectarian tensions soaring.

The bombings may be linked more to the U.S. withdrawal than the political crisis, but all together, the developments heighten fears of a new round of Shiite-Sunni sectarian bloodshed like the one a few years back that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But the bombings bore all the hallmarks of al Qaeda’s Sunni insurgents. Most appeared to hit Shiite neighborhoods, although some Sunni areas were also targeted. In all, 11 neighborhoods were hit by either car bombs, roadside blasts or sticky bombs attached to cars. There was at least one suicide bombing and the blasts went off over several hours.

50-man strong ‘flash mob’ storms, rips off Silver Spring, MD 7-Eleven

Another mob of youths descended upon a convenience store. This is all ‘quite normal’ in the Obama new normal. Can the youths really be blamed? They are just emulating what the Obama Administration does to the country every single day.

Once again, the youths all have something in common, but I just can’t put my finger on what it is…

Inside

NBC (via Drudge) – About 50 people simultaneously shoplifted from a Silver Spring, Md., 7-Eleven Saturday night.

Officers arriving at the store in the 12200 block of Tech Road after 11:20 p.m. saw several people gathered in surrounding parking lots and on side streets, police said. They began to disperse when police arrived.

The shoplifters — described as teens and young adults — took items including snacks and drinks, police said

Police stopped a group of six people ages 16-18 near Tech Road and Broadbirch Drive. Each had items from the 7-Eleven but no receipts, police said.

Detectives are investigating whether the shoplifters had attended a birthday party in the area, police said.

A few previous Obama-inspired flash mobs

• Flash robbing gang go violent in Dallas, attack clerk
• Flash mobsters strike Maryland 7-Eleven
• ‘Flash Mob’ hits Philly Sears, steals thousands in merchandise

Major anti-Semitic attack hits Brooklyn

On the anniversary of Germany’s notorious 1938 “Kristallnacht,” anti-Semites struck at the Jewish neighborhood of Midwood in Brooklyn, New York.

Vandals toasted 3 vehicles parked on Ocean Parkway – a BMW, a Jaguar and an Audi. “KKK” was spray-painted across a van and benches were marred by references to the “SS” and scrawled with swastikas.

“F–k Jews” was spray-painted on the sidewalk.

Ynet – Three cars were torched and anti-Semitic graffiti was spray-painted at the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Midwood in Brooklyn, New York.

Residents were woken up by fire engines early on Friday and were horrified to find three vehicles that were parked on Ocean Parkway – a BMW, a Jaguar and an Audi – burnt to a crisp.

Swastikas, references to the SS and the KKK and the slogan “F*** the Jews” were daubed on nearby vehicles, benches and the sidewalk.

“It’s a hate crime – I think it’s a jealously of wealth, and then the use of anti-Semitism as a way to express that jealously,” said Bobby Tebele, whose mother’s car was one of the ones set on fire, the New York Post reported.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement that the city’s police were trying to identify those who “attacked cars, benches and a sidewalk.”

“The fact that this most recent attack came on the heels of the 73rd anniversary of Kristallnacht may or may not be a coincidence,” he said, referring to the series of state-sanctioned anti-Jewish attacks in Nazi Germany.

“Either way, this kind of hateful act has no place in the freest city in the freest country in the world.”

‘Anti-Semitism unacceptable’

A Jewish New York City Councilman, David Greenfield, has offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the assailants.

“We will not accept anti-Semitism in our community. There is zero tolerance for such acts of hatred and ignorance,” Greenfield said.

The Anti-Defamation League, in turn, offered a $4,000 reward. A poll conducted by the group recently found that there were 133 anti-Jewish incidents reported across New York, 53 of which took place in Brooklyn.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who lives two blocks away from the scene of the crime, told The New York Times that the area of Brooklyn, including the Midwood and Borough Park neighborhoods, contains one of the largest concentrations of Holocaust survivors outside of Israel.

“The violence – I’m calling it violence when you blow up three cars – adds a sickening dimension to this type of anti-Semitism,” he said.

“All I could think about was my mother sitting on a bench with a swastika. She survived Auschwitz,” he added.

Related post about anti-Semitism in America:

• Anti-Semitism among Occupiers continues to spread
• Video: Anti-semitism and the socialist-Islamist-fascist axis of “Occupy Wall Street”
• U.S. of Anti-Semitism? – 35 million adults hold deeply anti-Semitic views, up from 2009 poll
• Video: ‘Occupy Wall Street’ anti-Semitism breaking out (updated)
• Glenn Beck exposes anti-Semitism on U.S. campuses, and the return of the 1930s

Number of occupier arrests leaps to 4000

An impressive weekend of mayhem for the Obama-backed ‘Occupiers’. The mob of “peaceful” malcontents upped their number of arrested to 4000. Democrats and the mainstream media are no doubt very proud of their 5th column. The vile and violent Tea Party maintains their abysmal score of zero arrests.

(h/t Weasel Zippers)

Arab Springtime for Hitler: All hell breaks out as Egyptians riot, attack, invade Israeli embassy, ambassador flees to Israel…

The Arab maniacs just can’t help themselves. At least three people died and more than 1,000 were hurt. (Video below)

Meet Mohammed Jefferson, Abdul Adams, Yasir Madison, and Abu Franklin. Here is your ‘Arab Spring,’ Hillary. Here is what you called for, Barack Hussein Obama and media apparatchiks.

All the media experts and politicos praised the phony Arab Spring. Those who saw it for what it was were roundly criticized. Will the media apologize to Glenn Beck now? How many times does he have to be proven right? Just sayin’…

The Egyptian economy depends on tourism. Tourism is already way down. Between the regular attacks on Coptic Christians, the crazed utterings of so many influential clerics, and actions like this attack on the Israeli embassy, people are going to avoid Egypt like the plague. Brilliant.

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Jerusalem Post – Israel’s ambassador to Egypt and senior staff were evacuated on Saturday following a mass demonstration in Cairo Friday night in which hundreds of Egyptians stormed the building housing Israel’s mission and threw embassy documents and its national flag from windows. (more >>>)

A diplomat was left behind to maintain the embassy, an Israeli official said. The diplomat, identified as the consul for state affairs and Ambassador Yitzhak Levanon’s deputy, will remain in Egypt while Israel weighs a response to the overnight demonstrations, the official said.

Ynet – Mustafa al-Sayyid, 28, said he was one of the 20 protestors who infiltrated the embassy building. He showed the press a clip he took with his cellular phone, in which protestors are seen raiding the embassy and going through documents.

According to Sayyid, he and his friends managed to beat up an Israeli worker before Egyptian soldiers intervened. He said the soldiers removed the protestors from the building but failed to arrest them. (more >>>)

Ynet – Friday’s violent clashes at the Israeli Embassy in Cairo continued into the night, leading to a particularly dramatic decision. Israel’s Ambassador to Egypt Yitzhak Levanon, some 80 diplomats, their family members and other Israeli staying in Cairo were transferred to the Egyptian capital’s airport in a secret operation, under tight security.

A special Israel Air Force flight returned the Israeli representatives to the Jewish state, where they landed early Saturday.

Another plane, carrying six security guards and embassy staff who were stranded in the embassy, landed in Israel several hours later. The evacuation of the six Israelis by an Egyptian commando force took place early Saturday with a live broadcast to the Foreign Ministry’s situation room in Jerusalem.
The six reportedly maintained their composure throughout the incident. (more >>>)

Star Tribune – A senior Egyptian official says at least three people died and more than 1,000 were hurt during street clashes with police and army troops after an angry mob attacked the Israeli embassy in Cairo.

Deputy Health Minister Hamid Abaza say one of the three fatalities in the violence late Friday was a man who died of a heart attack.

Abaza told The Associated Press on Saturday he doesn’t know the cause of the other two deaths. He says at least 1,093 people were injured in the clashes.

Hotair’s Allahpundit – Nothing says “Middle East revolution” like attacking an embassy owned by one of the two Satans. This time the Little Satan was targeted. Next time, us? (more >>>)

Professor Jacobson at Legalinsurrection: ‘What is going on in Egypt was all foreseeable to those of us who did not harbor the romantic view of the Arab Spring, which in many places was just a venting of anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel which had been suppressed by dictatorial rulers.  Just ask Lara Logan, who was sexually abused in public as the crowd shouted “Jew” and “Israeli.”’  (more >>>)

Here is some video of the action:

Flash robbing gang go violent in Dallas, attack clerk

How many does this make since peacemaker and uniter Barack Obama became president? It’s in the dozens. Yet, other than local news stations, and occasionally on Fox, few get much if any attention.

Again, like all the other flash mobs, all these youths have something in common, but I still can’t put my finger on it. Have a look at more of Obama’s hope and change.

“At first, I thought I would be able to get back into the store, and once they got me on the ground, I thought they were going to kill me.”

WFAA, via GWP – It was an ordinary night, August 26, at the Exxon Tiger Mart at South Polk Street and Interstate 20 in Dallas.

C.J. Thomas, the store’s clerk, was behind the counter when a rush of customers came through the door at 10:12 p.m.

“There was more coming in than going out,” Thomas said. “Once they realized how many were in there, one of the students started throwing stuff and screamed out. Everything after that went crazy.”

Store surveillance cameras from different angles show bottles being thrown.

Seconds later, Thomas ran to the front door. He tried to close it, but he couldn’t hold back the crowd.

Some of them grabbed drinks, chips, and other items and began pushing their way out. Thomas said he tried to stop some people from stealing.

“In the process of them walking out, tried to stop a student with a lot of things in his hands and when I tried to do that, he shoved me out into the parking lot and swung at me,” Thomas said.

Thomas then says several men then pulled him to the ground and started kicking and punching him.

“I was terrified,” he said. “At first, I thought I would be able to get back into the store, and once they got me on the ground, I thought they were going to kill me.”

Deadly Russian-made shoulder-launched missiles disappearing all across Libya

“In every city we arrive, the first thing to disappear are the surface-to-air missiles.”

History, if there will be any civilization left to record it, will refer to Barack Hussein Obama and Hillary Clinton as Dr. and Mrs. Frankenstein for all the monsters they were instrumental in creating.

( Click foto to watch )

CNN (h/t Weasel Zippers) — A potent stash of Russian-made surface-to-air missiles is missing from a huge Tripoli weapons warehouse amid reports of weapons looting across war-torn Libya.

They are Grinch SA-24 shoulder-launched missiles, also known as Igla-S missiles, the equivalent of U.S.-made Stinger missiles.

A CNN team and Human Rights Watch found dozens of empty crates marked with packing lists and inventory numbers that identified the items as Igla-S surface-to-air missiles.

The list for one box, for example, written in English and Russian, said it had contained two missiles, with inventory number “Missile 9M342,” and a power source, inventory number “Article 9B238.”

Grinch SA-24s are designed to target front-line aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles and drones. They can shoot down a plane flying as high as 11,000 feet and can travel 19,000 feet straight out.

Peter Bouckaert, Human Rights Watch emergencies director, told CNN he has seen the same pattern in armories looted elsewhere in Libya, noting that “in every city we arrive, the first thing to disappear are the surface-to-air missiles.”

He said such missiles can fetch many thousands of dollars on the black market.

“We are talking about some 20,000 surface-to-air missiles in all of Libya, and I’ve seen cars packed with them.” he said. “They could turn all of North Africa into a no-fly zone.”

Kabul 5-star hotel reduced to 1 star after Taliban attack

It seems the Taliban didn’t get the message that Nakba-in-Chief Obama has announced that he is retreating from Afghanistan. It also appears that his negotiations with the Taliban have fared no better than they did with Iran.

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NY Post - A standoff at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul ended tonight after some five hours of violence which saw as many as half a dozen suicide bombers storming the building and setting off explosions amid heavy gunfire.

Two NATO helicopters circling the luxury hotel identified three insurgents on the rooftop and an exchange of fire took place, FOX News Channel reported, citing International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) spokesman Tim James.

Explosions were seen on the roof and the trio were killed. All three insurgents were wearing suicide vests and it was not immediately clear if they were killed by their vests or by gunfire from the helicopters.

An interior ministry spokesman told AFP that six suicide bombers in total had been killed by security forces.

“The operation has just ended, all of them [the attackers] have been killed,” Siddiq Siddiqi said. “We believe at this stage it was six suicide bombers.”

A standoff at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul ended early Wednesday after some five hours of violence which saw as many as half a dozen suicide bombers storming the building and setting off explosions amid heavy gunfire.

Two NATO helicopters circling the luxury hotel identified three insurgents on the rooftop and an exchange of fire took place, FOX News Channel reported, citing International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) spokesman Tim James.

Explosions were seen on the roof and the trio were killed. All three insurgents were wearing suicide vests and it was not immediately clear if they were killed by their vests or by gunfire from the helicopters.

An interior ministry spokesman told AFP that six suicide bombers in total had been killed by security forces.

“The operation has just ended, all of them [the attackers] have been killed,” Siddiq Siddiqi said. “We believe at this stage it was six suicide bombers.” (more >>>)

Greeks riot again over austerity and stuff

Greek youths are tearing up the city, again. The socialists, communists, anarchists, unionists, and other riffraff are have a blast battling police.

It’s only a matter of time before it spreads to the U.S.. All those ‘flash mobs’ will be giddy over the chance to really let loose. The Leftists, anarchists, and unionists are just awaiting their marching orders.

 MSNBC - Riot police fired tear gas at youths hurling rocks and setting trash bins on fire near the Greek finance ministry Tuesday, trying to quell the anger unleashed by a general strike as parliament debated new cost-cutting measures.

The latest austerity plan must pass in two parliamentary votes Wednesday and Thursday if Greece is to receive bailout funds from the EU and the IMF that will keep it from becoming the first eurozone nation to default on its debts.

The clashes with police came at the start of a two-day general strike called by unions furious that the government’s new euro28 billion ($40 billion) austerity program will slap taxes on minimum wage earners and other struggling Greeks.

The measures come on top of other spending cuts and tax hikes that have sent the Greek unemployment rate soaring to over 16 percent.

More than 5,000 police were deployed to the centre of the capital to deal with expected trouble, as a crowd officials estimated at some 20,000 rallied in Syntagma Square, in front of the parliament building.

The rally was initially peaceful but by early afternoon, smaller groups of youths numbering in the hundreds set trash bins on fire and hurled rock chipped off buildings in the square at riot police who responded with tear gas.

Seven people hurt
Three police officers were injured by flying stones and one person was stabbed during fights between rival groups of young demonstrators.

Police also said three people were treated for breathing difficulties.

Protesters set fire to a communications truck equipped with a mobile telecoms transmitter which they had apparently mistaken for a TV truck and sprayed with slogans attacking the media and banks.

Clouds of white smoke swirled above the square and police with shields and riot helmets stood by ready to move but a peaceful demonstration continued alongside the violence and some protest leaders appealed to the crowd not to disperse. (more >>>)

Muslim husband-wife team detonate themselves in Pakistan, kill 10

The couple that blows up together stays together!

Yes, this is the same Taliban with whom White flag waver-in-Chief Obama is negotiating ‘peace talks’.

AP (h/t Gateway Pundit) - The Pakistani Taliban said Sunday the group had sent a husband and wife suicide squad to carry out an attack on a police station in northwestern Pakistan that killed 10 people, a rare instance of militants using a woman as a bomber.

The pair entered the police station in Kolachi on Saturday and said they were there to lodge a complaint, said Imtiaz Shah, a senior police official. Once inside, the two attacked with grenades and machine guns, triggering a five-hour standoff with police.

Both attackers, including the woman wearing an all-covering robe known as a burqa, eventually blew themselves up. They killed eight police officers and two civilians, said Mohammad Hussain, another police official.

“This shows how much we hate Pakistani security institutions,” Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Ahsan claimed it was the first time the militant group had used a female suicide bomber.

However, Pakistani officials said a female suicide bomber wearing a burqa attacked a World Food Program food distribution center in northwestern Pakistan late last year, killing 45 people.

Greece: Athens roils with more anti-austerity riots

Strikes, violence, and arrrests, oh my. More Greek riots.

Unionists, Marxists, Socialists, Leftists, anarchists… The base of the Democrat party. Coming to a town near you, circa 2012. It’s what they do.

UK Daily Mail - Protesters have hurled stones and yoghurt at Greek riot police during angry protests in the capital Athens.

A 24-hour general strike saw thousands of anti-austerity protesters descend on Syntagma Square, Athens, to demonstrate against potential tax hikes and cuts.

It comes after the European Commission revealed Britain and other eurozone governments could be forced to bail out the country again with an extra £17.6billion to avert economic meltdown.

The European Commission briefing paper has warned that the extra money is needed to recapitalise Greek banks to allow Athens time to cope with debt crisis.

The news comes after Greece was given the lowest sovereign debt rating in the world, ‘CCC’, by rating agency Standard & Poor’s.

A further cash reserve could also be needed for emergency bank liquidity if the European Central Bank refuses to accept downgraded government bonds as collateral.

But critics, led by Europe’s central bankers, have warned the German debt exchange plan could provoke a risk of default.

Christian Noyer, Bank of France governor, told CNN: ‘If despite everything you try to reduce the debt and you provoke a risk of default, you’ll have to finance the entire Greek economy.’

Mario Draghi, incoming European Central Bank president, said: ‘All in all, the costs seem to outweigh the benefits.’

Any decision to fund another bail out will prove very unpopular across the rest of Europe.

The average age of retirement in Greece is just 53, compared to 65 in Britain, and ministers are said to be keen on the Greek government imposing industrial changes to help it deal with its debt.

Britain, along with other eurozone countries and the IMF, funded a €110bn bail out in May 2010 to avoid financial meltdown.

But just a year later it emerged that Greece was unable to meet the terms of its rescue and would have to renegotiate the deal.

A second bailout is currently being negotiated within the EU.

European ministers are looking at three options to involve private creditors in any rescue programme.

These include a voluntary debt exchange, involving a possible seven-year extension of maturities on Greek government bonds.

Officials believe a debt exchange with 100 per cent participation would ‘virtually eliminate the need for official financing’ on top of the second wave of €57bn from the initial bail out programme.

The second and third options involve a voluntary ‘roll over’ of bonds, which are less likely to trigger a downgrade in value.  (more >>>)

Yemen president burned over 40% of his body

A mere six months ago. Happier times. Little did they know...

It’s a rough time to be an Arab despot. All the other Arab would-be despots are out to get ‘cha.

And if you had the misfortune of being an American ally, all the worse. If Obama and Hillary don’t screw you, they’ll make sure that the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran, or al-Qaeda will.

Welcome to Hillary and Barack’s “reset diplomacy”.

Asia News via ROP: The condition of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Yemeni leader in hospital in Saudi Arabia, is worsening. Saleh has burns on 40% of the body, and only one functioning lung. The news was reported by non-official U.S. diplomatic sources, who added that his eventual return to Yemen is very uncertain.

Saleh was injured Friday, June 3 while he was praying in the mosque of the presidential complex. It is not clear what happened inside the mosque. Some sources speak of an attack with mortar shells. But Saudi diplomatic sources, support the hypothesis of a grenade. Saleh was injured and was rushed to Saudi Arabia to remove a seven inches splinter from his chest. Saleh has undergone two operations.

In the south of the country 15 people died yesterday and last night in clashes between security forces and elements which are said to be linked to al Qaeida. In Sanaa, a truce between supporters of Saleh, tribal and democratic opposition forces mediated by Saudi Arabia is still in force. But in the early hours of today in Taiz in the south of the country, gun battles erupted between opponents and significant quantities of Saleh followers.

Syrian boy, 13, burned, kneecapped, tortured, castrated, shot by Assad regime

Hamza Ali al-Khateeb, 13

Bashir Assad, whom Hillary Clinton famously called “a reformer” just as the Syrian people were beginning their protests seven weeks ago, continues his brutal crackdown on this people.

Meet 13 year old Hamza Ali al-Khateeb. He was snatched by Assad goons and tortured for weeks before being returned to his family with bullet holes, broken bones, covered in cigarette burns, and minus his genitals. He is now a martyr to the Syrian people, but to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Cameron and Sarkozy, he is inconsequential, just as those protestors who died in Iran were.

         “For an agonising month, his desperate family waited for him to go home, terrified of what had become of him.

And when his broken body was finally returned, the injuries which disfigured almost every part of his flesh told the horrific story that he could not.

Amid the mass of cigarette burns, the bullet wounds and bruises, it is impossible to know what finally killed him.”

The boy’s family was told not to speak of young Hamza. But they defied the regime and posted the footage of his corpse online. In response, the father was arrested and his whereabouts are unknown. No doubt he is receiving similar treatment as his son did.

The Western powers and mainstream media have all but ignored Assad’s weeks of brutality, but that is to be expected. Syria is allied with Iran, therefore beyond meaningful criticism by the Obama Administration or European elites.

Kudos to CNN for this report.

h/t Therightscoop

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UK Daily Mail - Devotedly washed and sprinkled with rose petals, Hamza Ali al-Khateeb lies prepared for burial.

But the rituals of death cannot wipe away the horrific injuries that have mutilated his body almost beyond recognition.

Nor do they blot out that Hamza – riddled with bullets, kneecapped and with neck broken and penis hacked off – has the rounded cheeks and gentle face of a child.

At 13, he is one of the youngest known victims of Syria’s ruthless crackdown on protesters who have tried to overthrow the government of  President Bashar al-Assad.

The teenager’s family were told not to speak of his terrible fate. But in a pitiful act of defiance, they posted the footage of his corpse online.

The action led to his father being arrested last week. His whereabouts are unknown.

Posted on YouTube, the video is accompanied by a chilling commentary which details the worst of Hamza’s dreadful wounds.

An unseen attendant tenderly shifts the scarred limbs and head so that the viewer can see each injury, including two bullets which were fired through each arm and then entered his chest.

‘Look at the evidence of his torture,’ the narrator urges. ‘Take a look at the bruises on his face and his neck that was broken. Take a look at the bruises on his right legs

‘In addition there is worse. They did not satisfy themselves with all the torturing so they cut off his genitals.’

At this point, the video is censored as the wounds are too horrific to show.

Hamza was picked up by security forces at a protest in Jiza, a village in the rebel province of Dar’a in Syria on April 29.

For an agonising month, his desperate family waited for him to go home, terrified of what had become of him.

And when his broken body was finally returned, the injuries which disfigured almost every part of his flesh told the horrific story that he could not.

Amid the mass of cigarette burns, the bullet wounds and bruises, it is impossible to know what finally killed him.

But it is perhaps unsuprising that Hamza, with his childish features and innocent smile, has become the most potent symbol of Syria’s uprising.

The video footage of his mutilated body posted online – and broadcast on Al Jazeera – has further fuelled the anger of Syria’s protesters.

Facebook group ‘We are all Hamza Ali al-Khateeb, the Child Martyr’ has attracted 58,000 people while the English version has 3,000 members.

Radwan Ziadeh, an exiled human rights activist told the Washington Post the boy had already become a symbol of the Syrian revolution.

‘(His death) is the sign of the sadism of the Assad regime and its security forces,’ he said.

‘Torture is usual in Syria. It’s not something new or strange. What is special about Hamza is that he was only 13 years old. He really is a child.’

The Syrian uprisnig against President Bashar al-Assad is now entering its seventh week.

Foreign journalists are banned from entering the country and the rebellion has been conducted amid a media blackout.

But stories of the brutality of Assad’s troops have still trickled out indicating that protests have been ruthlessly suppressed.

Thousands of protesters took to the country’s bloodied streets this weekend chanting his name.

Children demonstrated in Damascas while people clambered on the roofs in Aleppo to mark the ‘Day of Hamza’.

In the city of Hama, 116 miles from the capital, a huge crowd occupied the central square clutching copes of his photographs in their hands.

Police, protestors clash in Spain

Unrest continues to spread in Europe. This week’s main attraction was violent clashes in Spain between police and mainly young protestors.

The chaos started when police tried to clear the protesters from a main square in Barcelona so sanitation workers could clean it up before celebrations after a soccer match Saturday night. The protestors, angry about high unemployment, anti-austerity measures and politicians’ handling of the economy, refused to move. The protestors were allowed back after the square was cleaned.

Socialist Spain has a 21.3% unemployment rate, the highest in the eurozone, and major debt problems. The rate jumps to 35% for people ages 16-29. Spain has the fourth largest economy in the eurozone.

Europe’s protestors are a very different breed from America’s Tea Party. Tea Party people want smaller government, less spending, and less government interference. In Spain and the rest of Europe, they think their socialism just isn’t being done correctly.

Protestors are demanding a ‘real democracy,’ and improved living conditions. Placards displayed at the square spoke of a ‘defrauded generation.’

‘Capitalism cannot be reformed, but it destroys itself,’ one slogan read, while another urged politicians to: ‘Tell us the truth.’

Calls for similar rallies were also being launched in London, Paris, Rome and Dublin ahead of the Spanish local and regional elections on Sunday.

MonstersandCritics – Spanish pre-election protests demanding an overhaul of the country’s political system were Thursday spreading elsewhere in Europe, with Spanish demonstrators organizing a rally outside the German embassy in Berlin.

Young disenchanted Spaniards organized the protest via social networking sites Twitter and Facebook, and summoned people to take part in a mass protest in front of Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg gate on Friday evening.

The organizers demanded a ‘real democracy,’ and improved living conditions following the economic crisis.

Many young Spaniards left for Germany in the wake of the economic crisis and the huge unemployment it caused in their home country.

‘We have been contacted by people in Hamburg, Leipzig, Dusseldorf etc, who want to come. Everybody is invited,’ protest organizers posted on Facebook.

Calls for similar rallies were also being launched in London, Paris, Rome and Dublin ahead of the Spanish local and regional elections on Sunday.

Thousands of youths demonstrated overnight in Madrid, Barcelona and other Spanish cities, demanding a better future in the country with nearly 5 million unemployed – 20 per cent of the workforce. Among young people, the jobless rate exceeds 40 per cent.

The Madrid demonstrators defied a ban on the rally by the local elections board, which said it interfered with the electoral campaign. The city authorities deployed 500 police, who carried out security checks, but did not try to disperse the protestors.

[...] Growing numbers of older people joined the young protestors, who say the current political parties do not represent them.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s Socialists and the opposition conservatives were ‘just the same crap,’ said Victoria Espadas, 78.

The Socialists, who have come under criticism over their handling of Spain’s economic crisis, are expected to suffer a heavy defeat to the conservatives on Sunday. However, it was unclear how the growing protest movement would affect the election results.

Protestors were becoming increasingly organized at the Puerta del Sol, where seats and even computers were available, while many citizens came to discuss politics with the activists.

Placards displayed at the square spoke of a ‘defrauded generation.’

‘Capitalism cannot be reformed, but it destroys itself,’ one slogan read, while another urged politicians to: ‘Tell us the truth.’  (more >>>)

Eyewitnesses to Tel Aviv’s crazed truck driver: It was definitely a terrorist attack

Although most media accounts shy away from calling the mad Arab driver who killed 1 Israeli and injured 17 yesterday in Tel Aviv a terrorist, those who witnessed the action with their own eyes had no doubt that it was a terrorist act.

Dual suicide bombing kills 80 in Pakistan, revenge for OBL

Two suicide bombers took at least 80 Pakistanis with them, another 60 or more injured. Pakistan’s Taliban claimed credit, saying the attack was revenge for Osama bin Laden.

Although the young Pakistan recruits had nothing to do with the death of bin Laden, Muslims need little excuse to kill fellow Muslims.

Ynet - Pakistani Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 80 people at a paramilitary force academy in the northwest on Friday, and vowed further bloodshed in retaliation for the death of Osama bin Laden in a US raid in the country.

The first major bombing in Pakistan since bin Laden’s death on May 2, it will reinforce the common view that his elimination will not ease violence because al Qaeda is not centralized and will keep inspiring groups, like the Pakistani Taliban, which are scattered globally and loosely bound by ideology.

“It’s the first revenge for the martyrdom of … bin Laden. There will be more,” Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

The bomber struck soon after dawn as the recruits were on their way out of the gates of the Frontier Constabulary academy in the town of Charsadda on leave.

“It was a suicide bombing,” said Nisar Sarwat, police chief of Charsadda, a market town surrounded by wheat fields 135 km (85 miles) from the capital Islamabad.

One of the suicide bombers was on a motorcycle and police were investigating reports that the other attacker was too, he said.

Of the dead, 65 were recruits. Sixty people were wounded. (more >>>)

More Greek riots and a fire sale

Coming to a city near you.

Greek Leftists, unionists, anarchists, and other disgruntled persons took to the streets again and rioted up a storm.

This came as the Greek government announced that it having a fire sale, and putting up various assets, like the former Olympic stadia, to help it service its debt. Greece hopes to raise £44billion from the sale of government-owned land in the next four years.

This isn’t anything new for socialist-plagued Europe. Back in January I reported on how both England and France were also putting prime assets up for sale.

As America has more debt than the rest of the world combined, it is only a matter of time before the U.S. is forced to sell its assets. Isn’t the welfare state grand!

UK Daily Mail -

• Petrol bombs, stun grenades and tear gas thrown during clashes in Athens
• Government aims to sell off casinos, marinas and former Olympics venues to service debt
• Greece could require second bail out of 60billion euros
• Demonstrations against harsh austerity measure boil over into riots

Marinas, casinos and former Olympic venues could be up for grabs after Greece announced a massive fire sale to help service its debt.

The Greek government said it was putting vast areas of state-owned land on the market to raise £44billion in the next four years.

Nationalised companies could also be privatised to help raise the necessary capital to ensure it does not default on debt payments.

It comes after intense pressure from Britain and other creditors to act to prevent debt restructuring that could have widespread effects across Europe.

British Chancellor George Osborne told The Times: ‘The issue for Greece is whether it lives up to its commitments.’

Officials have said there is a political drive to ensure Greece can service its debt after a 110billion euro bailout by the EU and IMF last year.

A general strike held today has seen most public services grind to a halt across the country, while thousands marched through Athens to protest against harsh austerity measures.The socialist government is planning to pass further cutbacks aimed at saving an estimated 23billion euros.The strike suspended all train and ferry services, grounded flights for four hours and disrupted public transport in the capital.

Around 10,000 members of the communist-led PAME union marched peacefully through the centre of Athens.Greece’s two main unions are also planning another demonstration later today, expected to be closely monitored by police after previous protests degenerated into riots. (more >>>)

Japanese coast guard releases amazing new tsunami footage

The Japanese Coast Guard has released new footage of the tsunami as it roared into Sendai. So massive is the inrush of sea, the cars and planes being swept away look like little toys.

Whoah…

Greek riots resume, anarchists throw Molotov cocktails

Greeks are rioting over a proposed garbage dump. Or so the story goes. It’s symbolic of all of Europe. The whole continent is in the dumps.

UK Independent writes that by the end of the night, more than 20 people – including three riot policemen – had been treated in hospital. Just after midnight, a police officer’s home was attacked with firebombs, leaving three cars destroyed. The officer and his wife, who is also in the police force, and their four children were home at the time but unharmed, police said.

Sadly, it won’t be long before American Leftists and anarchists are rioting over the detritus the Obama regime has dumped on America.

AP - Greek riot police clashed with residents of a town outside Athens who were protesting plans to build a landfill to store the capital’s garbage. More than 20 were injured Thursday, officials said.

Three riot policemen and at least 20 suspected protesters were hospitalized after the clashes on the edge of the town of Keratea, police and public health officials said.

Protesters pelted riot police with rocks and firebombs. Officers responded with tear gas, which wafted through the town, sending residents scurrying for cover as a police helicopter flew overhead.

Earlier, another group of demonstrators cut a shoulder-high trench across a highway outside Keratea, which has been the scene of frequent riots and road blockades since December.

The planned garbage dump has prompted several months of violent protests from residents. Protest organizers argue the proposed landfill is too close to a residential area and would also damage an ancient site, which they say has not been properly excavated.   (the whole gyro >>)

New tsunami clip – “Hayaku!”

A new video has emerged of Japanese villagers in Iwaki City running for their lives, trying to escape a roiling wave of water that chases after them. The tsunami nips at their heals as they scramble desperately to make it to higher ground. People are screaming, “Hayaku! Hayaku!”, which means, “Hurry! Hurry!”

Ivory Coast in need of Obama “kinetic military action”

As the world has been focussed on Egypt and Libya, far more brutal things have been happening in the Ivory Coast for the past few months.

The violence and despair is reaching new heights now, however, and so the media – but not Peace Prize recipient Barack Obama – are beginning to give the dire situation a modicum of attention.

With as many as 1000 dead and a million people fleeing for their lives, the Associated Press reports on one example of the terror, noting a neighborhood that was filled with bodies of victims killed by gunshots and hacked to death with machetes.

One must wonder if the Ivory Coast qualifies as a beneficiary of the new, make-it-up-as-you-go ‘Obama Doctrine’ of humanitarian intervention.

The Ivory Coast has no oil, the Muslim Brotherhood has not weighed in, and al-Qaeda is not fighting on the side of the rebels, yet, and so of course the massacres are of no interest to the likes of Obama, Clinton, George Soros and Samantha Power, England, or France’s Sarkozy. One party in the conflict need only claim that the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaeda, or Iran is on their side, then Obama will rush to help them achieve victory.

Paint me cynical, but if the mainstream media is just now beginning to draw eyeballs to the carnage in the Ivory Coast, it is only to steer those same eyeballs away from the Obama Administration’s blundering in Libya, and to undercut the growing criticism of their hero.

LA Times - As forces loyal to Ivory Coast’s rival presidents fought pitched battles in the country’s biggest city, the Red Cross reported an ominous development in the increasingly brutal struggle for control: the massacre of up to 1,000 civilians in a western town.

The killings in Duekoue reportedly came over the course of three days last week after forces loyal to the internationally recognized winner of last fall’s presidential election, Alassane Ouattara, took control of the town.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it remained unclear who was responsible for the killings of an estimated 800 to 1,000 people, but a spokeswoman said the scene in Duekoue was horrific.

“We were shocked by the magnitude of the brutality of the event,” said Dorothea Krimitsas. “Our colleagues found a huge amount of bodies.”

A spokesman for Ouattara said Saturday that his loyalists killed only fighters in the town as they swept down from the north, taking vast swaths of the West African country in their bid to force Laurent Gbagbo to cede power. The capital, Yamoussoukro, fell last week with barely a shot fired.

The Red Cross and the Catholic charity Caritas, which sent teams to Duekoue last week, called for a thorough investigation.

The killings occurred in an area where ethnic and communal tensions over land have been deepened by the recent political crisis, which began when Gbagbo, the incumbent, refused to leave office after the international community declared Ouattara the winner in the U.N.-certified election in November.

African and world leaders have called on Gbagbo to relinquish power to end the bloodshed. But he has dug in as fighting spread across many districts of Abidjan, the commercial capital. The fiercest battles were near the presidential palace in the Cocody neighborhood, where many believe Gbagbo may be.

Four United Nations peacekeepers were badly hurt in an attack by forces loyal to Gbagbo, the U.N. reported Saturday. They were on a humanitarian mission, escorting civilians, according to the U.N.

The world organization condemned a “wave of targeted attacks” against its peacekeepers by Gbagbo loyalists. Throughout the crisis, the Gbagbo camp has accused the U.N. of genocide, illegal killings and partisanship.  (more >>)

See also:

UK Telegraph -‘Invisible commandos’ patrol Ivory Coast

Abidjan gunmen calling themselves the “invisible commandos” oppose Ivory Coast’s Laurent Gbagbo – but say they do not necessarily want his rival in power either.

Anarchists, squatters, student militants, communists, environmental activists and radical academics behind London riots, of course

Black-clad and masked Leftists attack police in Central London.

The UK Telegraph has more on the make up of the rioters that ripped up Central London yesterday.

You will be stunned to know that it was carried out by “anarchists, squatters, student militants, environmental activists and radical academics.”

That’s right, the same sort of riffraff who trashed Madison, WI.

So far, Sarah Palin has not been implicated in the unrest.

Telegraph – Disparate groups had been plotting for months to use the 400,000-strong March for the Alternative as cover for creating mayhem across London, with the stated ambition of shutting down the capital.

In January, anarchists from around Britain met in Manchester to form “Network X” to co-ordinate disparate radical groups mobilising for direct action yesterday.

The exact make-up of the network is not known, but its plans, widely publicised on websites such as Twitter and Facebook included occupying landmark buildings around Whitehall and the West End, shutting down major thoroughfares in the city and provoking police.

According to the UK Telegraph, the following groups were involved in yesterday’s protests:

BLACK BLOC

Followers of the anarchist “black bloc”, wear masks and black clothing to hinder identification.

RISEUP EAST GROUP

An east London anarchist group, made up of “worker-run co-operatives”. One of its posters showed an open bag of marbles under the heading “UK Street Marble Championships – the London decider”, an apparent reference to the tactic of rolling marbles beneath the hooves of police horses to cause them to slip over.

“THE PROFESSOR”

Chris Knight, a Marxist former professor of anthropology, urged protesters to bring smoke flares, foghorns, paint bombs and air raid sirens and, at the given time of 2.11pm yesterday, to “take over, strike, occupy, release all hell”.

He was sacked by the University of East London in March 2009 for “gross professional misconduct”, “insubordination” and “bringing the university into disrepute” by allegedly inciting criminal action, violence against police officers and damage to bank buildings in advance of the G20 protests.

UKUNCUT

A high-profile group that has organized non-violent sit-ins and occupations of high street banks and shops in protest at what it claims is the unfairly low amount of tax paid by certain large firms.

RADICAL WORKERS BLOC

A front organization for two anarchist groups, the South London Solidarity Federation and the Anarchist Federation, the Radical Workers Bloc set off yesterday from Kennington Park, in south London. Organizers said their aim was to force the TUC to organise more militant action, including a general strike. They said: “It is capitalism that has caused the crisis that has led to these cuts and in response to their class war we need to reciprocate: meeting cuts with direct action – strikes, occupations and civil disobedience.”

MAYFAIR SQUATTERS

This group of activists took over an empty multi-million pound building on Curzon Sreet, in Mayfair, central London, ahead of the protests.

Calling their base the Big Society HQ, the group draped anti-capitalist banners from the building and used social media to encourage other splinter groups to use the property to coordinate protests.

TRAFALGAR SQUARE OCCUPIERS

Mark Bergfeld, a leading student activist who is standing for election as president of the National Union of Students, is among several activists who organised the attempts to occupy Trafalgar Square.

Under the slogan “Turn Trafalgar Square into Tahrir Square”, in reference to the focal point for the recent anti-government protests in Cairo, Mr Bergfeld and fellow activists called on demonstrators to stay in the square for a peaceful 24-hour sit-in.

Others backing the occupation included two Labour backbenchers, John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn; Michael Chessum, of the National Campaign Against Cuts and Fees; Charlie Kimber, of the Socialist Workers Party, and several student union officials, including Ashok Kumar, the LSE’s education officer, James Haywood, president-elect of Goldsmiths College, and Louis Hartnoll, president of the University of Arts London Students Union.

For more on these different radical Leftist groups read the whole piece.

The Washington Times writes that Britain is facing 80 billion pounds ($130 billion) of public spending cuts from Prime Minister David Cameron’s coalition government as it struggles to slash the country’s deficit. The government has already raised sales tax, but Britons are bracing for big cuts to public spending that are expected next month.

Treasury chief George Osborne has staked the government’s future on tough economic remedies after Britain spent billions bailing out banks. Some half a million public sector jobs will likely be lost, about 18 billion ($28.5 billion) axed from welfare payments and the pension age raised to 66 by 2020.

Just wait until America is forced to face up to its economic Armageddon. What we witnessed in Madison, WI will look like a church picnic compared to the mayhem our own Leftist community organizers are planning. Madison was the equivalent of a terrorist dry run for them. They have been waiting for this day for decades, and are chomping at the bit for their moment of glory.

Anarchists run amuck in London

Coming soon to a city near you.

British unions, socialists, anarchists, and the usual suspects don’t want austerity measures.

Some 500,000 protest in London, mostly peacefully we’re told. But the anarchists find that way too boring, and so rampage and trash ‘the man’.

• Hooded anarchists throw paint and set off flares on Oxford Street
• Police targeted with missiles and light bulbs filled with ammonia
• Windows at The Ritz smashed as masked youths run wild
• Anti-capitalist smash banks and cash points in city centre rampage
• Five police officers injured in clashes, one seriously
• Labour leader Ed Miliband likens protest to anti-apartheid movement

UK Daily Mail - Anarchists today broke away from one of the largest protests Britain has ever seen to bring chaos to the streets of London.

The Ritz hotel and Fortnum & Mason were among the buildings targeted in the capital after groups of rampaging youths intent on spreading havoc left the mass anti-cuts demonstration.

Around 500,000 activists and campaigners descended on London this morning to protest at the Government’s drastic cuts programme.

But while the main march and rally in Hyde Park, which was addressed by Labour leader Ed Miliband, remained peaceful, splinter groups of anarchists went wild.  (more anarchy >>)

Police officers clash with demonstrators in Oxford Street, during a protest organised by the Trades Union Congress in central London.

More pictures here.

UPDATE – VIDEO ‘IF I ONLY HAD A BRAIN’

Earthquake liquefaction in a Tokyo park

Some astonishing footage that was taken during the Sendai earthquake. It shows in real time what is called ‘liquefaction’ in a Tokyo park. It is pretty freaky-looking. Watch beyond the first minute to see how the earth yawns open, gurgles up water, and fissures infiltrate the park turning it into a kind of marsh.

Al Qaida commander backs Libyan rebels

Gaddafi as Jew

As the ‘rebels’ in Libya seem to be back on their heels since Gaddafi began raining hell on them, a senior member of al Qaida has responded to the setbacks by releasing a video encouraging the Libyan rebels to continue their fight.

The message from Libya native, Abu Yahya al-Libi, marked the first time a top al Qaida commander has commented on the uprising. Gaddafi has repeatedly blamed al Qaida for inciting the unrest against him.

I’ve been skeptical from the get-go about this ‘revolution’, and asked early on who are these armed rebels, and what do they stand for? I have yet to have found a good answer to my questions. Without any answers, I don’t see any reason for America to intercede and just assume let them kill one another, as that is what they will do anyway.

I predicted civil war from the start and stick with this prediction. Let the Europeans deal with the mess. They are the ones who have been messing around with Libya over most of the past century anyway. Libya is their headache.

Jerusalem Post - A senior member of al Qaida urged Libyan rebels to continue their fight against Muammar Gaddafi and warned of the consequences of defeat, in a videotaped message posted on Jihadi websites, the Qatar-based Gulf News reported on Sunday.

The message from Libya native, Abu Yahya al-Libi, marked the first time a top ranked al Qaida commander had commented on the uprising in Libya. Gaddafi has repeatedly blamed al Qaida for inciting the unrest against him.

“The Libyan people have suffered at the hands of Gaddafi for more than 40 years … He used the Libyans as a testing ground for his violent, rambling and disgusting thoughts,” Abu Yahya stated.

He warned that “Retreating will mean decades of harsher oppression and greater injustices than what you have endured.”

Abu Yahya also accused the West, and the US in particular, of having supported oppresive Arab regimes at the expense of the people.

War of the flags.

The taped message could not be independently authenticated, according to the Gulf Times report.

An assault on Libya’s rebel-held city of Misrata was stalled on Sunday by renewed fighting between members of Muammar Gaddafi’s security forces, rebels said, but the government denied reports of a mutiny.

Residents said fighting broke out on Saturday after some units of the Libyan leader’s force refused to attack Misrata, Libya’s third-biggest city and the only place in the west of the country still openly defying Gaddafi’s rule.

The reports of a mutiny could not be verified because Libyan authorities have not allowed reporters access to the city of 300,000 which is 200 km (130 miles) east of the capital.

“From the early morning they (the security forces) are fighting among each other. We hear the fighting,” Mohammed, one of the rebel fighters, told Reuters by telephone on Sunday.

“This division between them came to us from God. Just when we thought the end was coming, this happened. Now we are waiting to see what will happen.”

MUTINY REPORTS “RUBBISH”

Asked about reports of a mutiny in Misrata, government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said: “This is rubbish. It is not true.”

“The army has surrounded the centre of Misrata. They are in the city. Tribal elders are talking to them (the rebels) to surrender,” he said in Tripoli.

Misrata residents said they could hear the sound of heavy fighting from a military airfield to the south of the town, where pro-Gaddafi forces have been based. They said there were no clashes between rebels and security forces on Sunday.

“They (Gaddafi’s forces) are still fighting each other. The shelling hit a house and a shop in southern Misrata, I don’t know whether there are any casualties,” said rebel spokesman Gemal.

He said shops in the city were open as normal, but added: “Of course there is tension as everybody is waiting to see what will happen.”