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A Palestinian source reported y'day the following about the ongoing and increasing TERROR CAMPAIGN led by the dictator Muammar "The Butcher" Gaddafi against his own people:

As many as six thousand Libyans, mostly innocent civilians, are believed to have been murdered and many other thousands wounded in killings perpetrated by the regime's thugs, mercenaries and henchmen.

 
Men were summarily executed in their homes, in  full  view of their wives and children, worshipers killed in their mosques and innocent, peaceful protesters were riddled with bullets rather indiscriminately.
 

Soldiers refusing to obey orders to kill innocent civilians were summarily executed.
 

Raving and ranting as usual,  Qaddafi calls all opponents rodents, stray-dogs and al-Qaeda terrorists who he said ought to be exterminated. His words are simply a call for genocide...

And today's Guardian(UK) published the following (sort of) depressing frontline coverage:

Libyan rebels' mood darkens amid fears revolution has stalled

Hopes that Gaddafi would be deposed quickly have been replaced by fears of a drawn-out military conflict

When the shooting died down in Benghazi and Zenab Gebril took to the streets to join the revolution, she looked to Libya's neighbours as examples.

"We all saw Egypt and Tunisia and we thought it was going to be a piece of cake," said Gebril, a student who joined the hordes of volunteers around the revolutionary administration in Benghazi. "It's not so easy."

Nearly three weeks after Libyans surprised themselves by revolting against Muammar Gaddafi's brutal 42-year rule, euphoria at the prospect of swiftly deposing the dictator has given way in the rebel capital, Benghazi, to the grim prospect of a popular uprising evolving into a drawn-out military conflict.

That is stoking fears about the consequences of losing, as Gaddafi's forces use tanks and artillery to crush the revolutionaries' takeover of the city of Zawiyah, near Tripoli, and stall the rebel advance from Benghazi hundreds of miles short of the Libyan capital.

Concern at the shaky military situation is in turn contributing to frustration in Benghazi at the lack of a visible leadership to give direction to the revolution and take proper control of a city where gun-toting young men contribute to the air of insecurity by firing weapons at random through the night.

On Wednesday, Gaddafi's forces bombed the rebel frontline in the east, at Ras Lanuf. In hours of rocket fire between the two sides and raids by Gaddafi's air force, oil tanks at nearby Es Sider were hit, causing a large explosion and sending towering plumes of smoke into the air as the fuel burned through the day.

Fears are growing that if Gaddafi wins in Zawiyah, he will then redirect the scores of tanks and armoured vehicles used there against the rebels in the east.

Some in Benghazi have fallen back on a grim fatalism. Gebril, whose parents have both served time in Gaddafi's prisons for opposing his regime, says that excitement at the prospect of the dictator's downfall has given way to a realisation that she may be forced to flee the country.

"If he wins, we're dead. He will kill us. Before is nothing compared to what he would do now. The whole of the east side of the country is dead. I would get out. I'm still young. I've got to live."

The fear of losing has strengthened the determination of others to fight on.

"It's him or us," said Tahar Salen, a Benghazian who has taken up arms against Gaddafi. "By supporting the revolution we have signed our own death warrants, so now we have no choice but to fight until it is over."

Gaddafi is still a long way from winning back control of his country. But that this is now considered a possibility has caused Gebril, like many young Libyans, to direct some of her frustration at the nearly invisible revolutionary council installed to run the liberated areas. "People are getting more angry because there's no one in charge," she said. "The people in the committee are acting like they're in charge, but they're not. We know more about what's going on than they do."

Part of the strength of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions was that they were popular uprisings, not dominated by individual leaders. That was an attraction in countries so long controlled by one man, and the same approach appealed to Libyans keen to rid themselves of a leader who had regarded himself as a cult figure for the past 42 years.

But as Libya's uprising has evolved into what looks like civil war, many in Benghazi see an urgent need for someone to take charge. The revolutionary leadership is made up of 30 representatives headed by Gaddafi's former justice minister, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil. He is perhaps the only member with nationwide recognition. The others represent areas under rebel control as well as the military and youth. There are also lawyers and long-standing opposition activists. But almost no one has any political or government administrative experience.

The revolutionary council continues to proclaim that victory is certain, on the grounds that almost every Libyan wants rid of Gaddafi. But Iman Bugaighis, a member of the revolutionary administration, acknowledges that as the conflict grows, the prospect of a popular uprising in Tripoli overthrowing Gaddafi is dimming.

"Do people in Tripoli want him? No. But it's very, very hard for them. People are afraid," she said.

"We know we face a very big challenge. I'm not denying that. We are not organised. Our fighters are not trained. It's hard to find someone who has authority from the people. It's not enough, but it's only three weeks."

However, Bugaighis said there was no possibility of failure: "Never. When you've seen what's happened here, how can anyone think we will fail? We started with nothing. In three weeks we have all this," she said. "I don't say we won't pay a very high price with the blood of our youth. That's why we have to have international intervention."

The revolutionary council is looking for foreign help. It has called for the imposition of a no-fly zone to give protection against air attacks. Bugaighis said that diplomatic approaches "include requests for everything", including a plea for weapons supplies. But the council does not want a foreign army on its soil.

"The youth don't want military intervention. The revolutionary council took that on board. As Arabs, we have a very bad history of enduring foreign military intervention," she said. "People think of it as an invasion. So we want a no-fly zone and air strikes against Gaddafi under the UN."

In an attempt to improve the military situation, the revolutionary council has appointed a former officer in Gaddafi's army who took part in the 1969 coup that brought him to power, Omar Hariri, as commander of the rebel forces. It is also trying to stop young men with guns but no training from pouring towards the front line.

"We pleaded with the youth not to go because it may be a plot by Gaddafi to empty Benghazi of its youth. They don't have any experience of fighting. We have called on them to come back," said Bugaighis. "We don't know how long it will last but we don't have any choice but to continue. I'm determined to win. I don't intend to die but if this is the price ... "

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/09/libyan-rebels-mood-darkens

Latest updated "frontline" news:
☞ Libya Live Blog - March 10 (Al-Jazeera)
☞ Libya uprising - live updates (Guardian)

Related article:
☞ Why no-fly won't fly (Asia Times, 3.10)