22.02.11 – 11:30
Tripoli – PNN – As Colonel Muammar Qaddafi of Libya defiantly delivered a televised speech saying he was “in Tripoli, not in Venezuela” and the Libyan regime looked poised to collapse, Palestinian Deputy Foreign Minister Tayseer Jaradat said that Palestinians in the North African state were “unharmed and not in any danger.”
In a telephone call to Palestinian state-run news agency Wafa, Jaradat said that the Foreign Ministry continued to be in contact with “our family in Libya” and that the Palestinian embassy in Tripoli was still serving students and the community. There are about 70,000 Palestinians in Libya, most from the Gaza Strip.
However, Jaradat said the embassy would soon begin the process of bringing Palestinian students home from universities in Tripoli, Benghazi, and Misurata.
Hussein Sheikh of the Palestinian Civil Affairs Directorate said they continued to monitor the situation in Libya closely. He said the situation called for “international pressure on Israel to allow Palestinians to come home from Libya at once, even though most of them don’t carry Palestinian IDs.”
The situation in Libya has devolved quickly over the last few days, with Human Rights Watch reporting at hundreds dead in various Libyan cities. Col. Qaddafi, who has ruled the country for 41 years, informally and without a title, appeared on state TV on early Tuesday morning to say, “I want to show that I’m in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs.”
He appeared to be leaning out a van outside his residence in Tripoli, but the video was barely 22 seconds, rare for Qaddafi, who often rambles for hours in televised appearances.
“I wanted to say something to the youths at Green Square [in Tripoli] and stay up late with them but it started raining,” he said, carrying an umbrella. “Thank God, it’s a good thing.”
The Arab League promised hold an emergency meeting on Libya, which has become bloodier than the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions in less than half the time. Protesters took to the streets in Benghazi, Libya’s eastern second city, on February 17’s “Day of Anger” and in the ensuing five days, at least 400 people have been killed.
The UN Security Council said it will discuss the matter in an emergency meeting on Tuesday. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said he was “outraged” at reports that Libyan state troops had been firing from helicopters and war planes at unarmed civilians.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released a press statement saying, “We join the international community in strongly condemning the violence in Libya…The government of Libya has a responsibility to respect the universal rights of the people, including the right to free expression and assembly.”
For his part, however, Palestinian Presidential Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said that the chaos in Libya was merely “internal affairs” and he called on Palestinians in Libya “not to interfere.”
“We wish the Libyan people stability and prosperity,” said Rudeineh.

February 22, 2011 
































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