Peti oktobar na bliskom istoku i arapskom svetu

[Roger Sanchez]

Escape from the RixosPosted by John Ray. 29 August, 2011It is hard to say which was the worst experience in Libya. Each episode seemed to vie with its predecessor to claim calamity’s top prize. Was it when my passport, cash and press credentials were stolen in Zhawiya? Or the moment a rebel fighter dropped right in front of me to a sniper’s bullet? Was it being caught in cross fire for an hour or the freak accident that felled our Libyan Mr Fixit?Or perhaps it was the slow burn horror of three days and nights in the infamous Rixos Hotel. We arrived as liberators in the pre-dawn euphoria of the rebel advance into Tripoli. I awoke two hours later to the dreadful realisation that we had driven into the Alamo.Much worse for the other journalists already resident (captive might be a better description): in one case for three months. Food, water and morale were running low. Electricity was off for a day. We were in the dark, literally and in terms of what we knew about our position: We could see Gaddafi’s goons with guns patrolling the lobby, but what about the rumours that loyalist elite units of his army were camped in the woods out back? Truth or creeping paranoia to which all but the stoutest heart were prone?One thing seemed clear enough: no one planned to come to our rescue any time soon.Quite a predicament. Completely isolated, the sense of dislocation amplified by colleagues broadcasting celebratory scenes from Green Square. Another country just a mile or so to our north.So there was a decision to be made. Like so many over the those few days, one with potentially life or death implications. Should stay or should we go? No right or wrong answer, just a calculation of the odds of survival. The prospect of being used as human shields, the fear of those soldiers in the woods set against the terror of bolting into the unknown.There was an added complication. Our drivers from Zawiya were also in the hotel. We had been doing our best to keep them hidden. It seemed too risky for them to run with us (the likely consequence of their capture was obvious) but equally there was no point in escaping if we couldn’t come back for them.At this point I have to praise the bravery and unflappability of Rob and Patrick, cameraman and editor respectively, and our excellent security advisor, Garry; a tower of sense and sanity, good humour and good judgment. First off, Garry set out to assess the strength of our guards. On Wednesday morning, we found it amounted to one very nervous man who seemed unlikely to shoot. To test his theory, Garry nipped out the front gate for a recce. Our guard made plenty of noise and even raised his rifle; but he didn’t pull the trigger.Next, we scouted the hotel roof for the snipers said to be stationed there. We found none. Finally, traffic moved along the near-by duel carriageway. Another good sign.So off we went. On foot; in body armour, running as fast as my pumping heart and crouching gait would allow. Out through a fire door, round the side of the hotel by the tennis court; a gate pushed open and up to the grass verge by the road: There, oh thank you whoever you were, a man in a van detoured and pulled up to a halt. He opened his door and we stumbled aboard.‘Go go go, ‘ I yelled, convinced my life now depended on this man reaching supersonic speeds…. but where to? He looked and sounded worried, pointing ahead and saying ‘Abu Salim, not good. ‘ Were we heading in the direction of Gaddafi’s troops? As if to make a nightmare real, at the side of the road, a car, badly parked. Only when we got close did I see it was riddled with bullet holes and there sprawled out in front lay a bloody corpse.On reflection, this was my worst moment.Happily, the rest is good news. Our saviour executed a rapid U turn and drove the wrong way up the duel carriageway to nearby streets guarded by a sort of neighbourhood watch committee with AK47s. They took us in and gave us food, coffee, and security.For several hours we contemplated a rescue plan for our colleagues. Eventually, with some rebels, two of our team drove back to the hotel. They found it deserted of guards and the Red Cross had just departed with the other trapped journalists.But hiding in our room were our two drivers. With their escape we were finished with the Rixos. One blissful moment that for an instant obliterated all the bad that had gone before.

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"We won't follow his [shkal's] orders, no," said Walid Tenasil, a Misratan fighter returning to garrison duty in Tripoli. "Our message to the NTC is: just remember the blood. That is it."

Edited August 29, 2011 by Roger Sanchez

[steins]

Zar je vec proshlo 7 meseci ? I nishta, Egipcani ne zive bolje ..... mudzahedini malinari izashli na proteste? Pa dobro, mislim da bi trebalo da im dash josh malo fore ..... evo u Srbiji 11 godina pa ..... chemu zurba?Preporuchio bih ti da malo sagledash neke zaista znachajne promene koje su se u svetu izdeshavale poslednjih 20-tak godina dok ste bili zaokupljeni svetskom pravdom, a josh vishe nepravdom. Geo-politichke, ekonomske, vojne, ma kakve sve ne, pa bogami i klimatske.Loshe vesti: novih 300 miliona Kineza se prevodi direktno iz 15. u 21. vek. Rade 2 puta vishe za 3 puta manje para od Libijaca, Egipcana i Srba, ne interesuje ih svetska pravda i nepravda, ne strajkuju, ne zale se na uslove rada.

rekoh, Ti još uvek istražuješ srBove.....

[angern]

Čuvajte mi Jugoslaviju

[Bane5]

Čuvajte mi JugoslavijuZbogom smesni skupe!

[angern]

Zarobljeni Srbi ispričali su ruskim novinarima da su u Libiju došli 12. avgusta, kako bi radili na popravci puteva, kao i da im je obećana odlična zarada, ali su, posle nedelju dana, ostavljeni na jednom kontrolnom punktu.

link12. avgusta je u Libiji sve vrvelo od popravki puteva i priprema za doček Nove godine. Edited August 29, 2011 by angern

[jimi]

Poznajem jednog od ovih likova i znam da se lozi na Rambo fore i ne cini mi se da bi isao u ratnu zonu da asfaltira ali ne verujem ni da je toliko lud da ide da ratuje za vec izvesno porazenu stranu. S obzirom koliko su preplaseni mozda su i mislsili da idu da sljakaju i mozda im i prodje prica ali su istovremeno i naleteli novim vlastima kao poruceni za siljenje patke i zato ih ne maltretitaju i redovno ih hrane.

[kapetanm]

Meni onaj u prednjem planu deluje malo škembavo za Ramba

[bergasa19]

foto

[Bane5]

Monday, August 29, 2011AFP Breaking news: Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi's wife, two sons and a daughter entered Algeria on Monday, the foreign ministry in Algiers announced."The wife of Moammar Gadhafi, Safiya, his daughter Aisha, and sons Hannibal and Mohammed, accompanied by their children, entered Algeria at 8:45 am through the Algeria-Libyan border," the ministry said in a statement published by APS news agency, giving no information on the whereabouts of Gadhafi himself.

Edited August 29, 2011 by Bane5

[jimi]

MOgu i skembavi da se loze na Ramba, nije zabranjeno.

[Roger Sanchez]

Opa, znači, neborački Gaddafiji su sklonuti. Mudro, Muammere!Sljedeći je Saadi, pa dva lava Saif i Khamis, pa ostarjeli buđavi kralj lavova.

[Borko]

Za Hamisa je danas po 4. put receno da je poginuo. Stvarno vec postaje tragikomicno.

[Roger Sanchez]

Za Hamisa je danas po 4. put receno da je poginuo. Stvarno vec postaje tragikomicno.

Treba uzet par Land Rovera i dovest se u Corinthiu pa da postane urnebesno.

[kapetanm]

foto

nevezano za temu - hvala na linku

[Caligula]

Poznajem jednog od ovih likova i znam da se lozi na Rambo fore i ne cini mi se da bi isao u ratnu zonu da asfaltira ali ne verujem ni da je toliko lud da ide da ratuje za vec izvesno porazenu stranu. S obzirom koliko su preplaseni mozda su i mislsili da idu da sljakaju i mozda im i prodje prica ali su istovremeno i naleteli novim vlastima kao poruceni za siljenje patke i zato ih ne maltretitaju i redovno ih hrane.

Jednom sam na zeleznickoj stanici video pijane dobrovoljce koji idu u Bosnu da ubijaju i pljackaju. Izgledali su manje profesionalno od ovih sa snimka.Moze biti da gresim, ali po usranosti u gace ovih likova ocigledno im nije cista savest.