Libya Video: Eman Al-Obeidi Tells Her Story (with Help of Qaddafi's Son)

On Wednesday, Eman Al-Obeidi, the woman who attempted to tell foreign journalists of her abuse and rape by regime forces but was taken away by security, appeared on camera in a CNN interview.

The interview was arranged by Saadi Qaddafi, the son of the Libyan leader, but transmission was held up for 18 hours by Libyan officials who wanted to review the tape. The video --- unaltered, according to CNN --- was finally transmitted yesterday afternoon.

Saadi Qaddafi later told CNN, "The people responsible for raping her should face charges. She is a strong woman." No one has been arrested in the incident.

Libya, Yemen (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Just Another Day of Many Thousand Protesters

2020 GMT: Der Spiegel reports on a possible shift in the German position on Libya, with Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle saying military support of humanitarian action, such as relief operations, is possible.

Germany abstained on the UN Security Council resolution for a no-fly zone and measures to protect civilians.

1755 GMT: Four journalists --- James Foley of Global Post, Claire Morgana Gillis, an American freelance journalist; Manu Brabo, a Spanish photographer, and Anton Hammerl, a South African photographer -- have been seized by regime forces near Brega in east Libya.

1750 GMT: Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan has said Ankara is holding talks with both sides in Libya, seeking a "roadmap" to achieve a cease-fire.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Coalition Too Slow?

2025 GMT: Opposition forces say that there was fighting on three fronts in Misurata, Libya's third-largest city, with shelling by regime troops and at least one resident killed.

2020 GMT: Egypt's Health Ministry has raised the death toll in the uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak to more than 800, well over double the previous estimate of 384.

The ministry said another 6400 people had been injured.

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Libya Video: Eman Al-Obeidi Talks About Her Ordeal

On Monday, Eman Al Obeidi spoke with CNN. She talked about how she was abused and raped by regime forces, how she was taken away by security forces when she went into a Tripoli hotel to tell foreign journalists, and how she is still threatened.

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Settling Into Conflict

2020 GMT: Abdel Fatah Younis, the head of the pro-democracy opposition's army, addressed a press conference in Benghazi. He said there are no divisions in the rebel army. He continued:

NATO has disappointed us. My staff have been in contact with the NATO envoys to direct them to targets that should protect civilians, but until now, NATO has not given us what we need...

Civilians are dying daily in Misurata because of lack of food or milk, even children are dying. Even by bombing. If NATo waits for another week, it will be a crime that NATO will have to carry. What is NATO doing? It is shelling some defined areas only.

2010 GMT: Two civilians were killed and six others were wounded when two roadside bombs exploded outside a shiite mosque in western Baghdad. 

2000 GMT: Video showing Libyan rebels modifying rockets/missile launchers in an unknown place. 

1955 GMT: Qaddafi forces have razed a mosque in Az Zawiyah that had been used by rebels as a base.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: How Far with the Opposition?

1915 GMT: An update on the violence today in Taiz, south of the Yemeni capital Sanaa (see 1350 GMT)....

Officials at a field hospital say one person died and at least 830 people were injured by security forces who charged the square where people were demonstrating. Nine people suffered gunshot wounds, including the person who died. More than 60 were injured in the beatings, and the rest were injured from tear gas inhalation.

The Governor of Taiz, Hamoud al-Soufi denied any deaths and said that clashes did not occur in the square but on the main street> He claimed "infiltrators and some young hotheads" threw stones at soldiers, wounding eight, one seriously.

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Libya, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Getting Organised?

2110 GMT: Bahrain State TV is reporting that the Bahraini regime has shut down Al-Wasat, the only independent newspaper in the country.

In preparation for the move, State television has been broadcasting all night on the supposed plagiarism and distortions of Al-Wasat.

2005 GMT: In Libya, the opposition National Transitional Council has named a "crisis team" to political and military positions.

On the political side, Mahmoud Jebril will head the group taking its direction from the NTC. Omar Hariri is in charge of the military department, with General Abdel Fattah Younes al Abidi, Muammar Qaddafi's former ally and Minister of Interior, as Chief of Staff.

The economics and finance portfolio is held by Ali Tarhouni, a U.S.-based academic who returned to Libya to help the uprising. Appointments were also announced for a new National Oil company and a Central Bank.

Other positions filled included foreign affairs, infrastructure, information, and justice.

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Reading Libya Amidst the Defections: Scott Lucas on the BBC

This morning, I chatted with BBC Coventry and Warwickshire about the latest developments in Libya, including the defection of former Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa and the possibility that the Qaddafi regime would soon fall.

The discussion starts at the 1:07.00 mark.

And on Thursday afternoon, I spoke with BBC Radio WM about similar political and military matters.

The interview begins just before the 1:34.00 mark.

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Defections v. A Military Push

2030 GMT: Al Jazeera English's Hoda Abdel-Hamid reports from her position with opposition forces at the western gate of Ajdabiya --- she was stopped by the insurgents from going further towards the front-line near Brega. She notes that Libya's opposition has appointed Abdel Fatah Yunis, the former Minister of Interior who defected in the early days of protests, as the head of military forces.

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Libya: The CIA Operations Inside the Country (Mazzetti/Schmitt)

Lots of flutter this morning about this story in The New York Times by Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt over US covert operations inside Libya.

Personally, I'm shrugging my shoulders about some of this. Air operations often require "spotters" on the ground --- consider Pakistan, for example, where this type of assistance to drone strikes has been going on for years. Far more interesting are the US attempt at a bit of psychological warfare --- "[Information from covert operations] might help weaken Libya’s military enough to encourage defections within its ranks" --- and this political nugget: "The American spies are meeting with rebels to try to fill in gaps in understanding who their leaders are and the allegiances of the groups opposed to Colonel Qaddafi."

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