Reuters, WELLINGTON: A strong quake killed and trapped people beneath rubble and sparked fires and toppled buildings in New Zealand's second-biggest city of Christchurch on Tuesday.
It was the second quake to hit the city in five months.
Local TV showed bodies being pulled out of rubble strewn around the city center, though it was unclear whether any of them were alive. But police reported multiple fatalities after the 6.3 magnitude quake struck during the busy lunchtime.
"I was in the square right outside the cathedral -- the whole front has fallen down and there were people running from there. There were people inside as well," said John Gurr, a camera technician who was in the city center when the quake hit.
Authorities ordered major hospitals up and down the country to make room for quake victims but there was no word on how many might have been killed or were trapped beneath collapsed buildings. There were reports of a shortage of ambulances.
Christchurch's mayor described the city of almost 400,000 people as a war zone. Emergency crews picked through the rubble, including a multi-storey office building whose floors appeared to have pancaked on top of each other.
"A lady grabbed hold of me to stop falling over...We just got blown apart. Colombo Street, the main street, is just a mess...There's lots of water everywhere, pouring out of the ground," Gurr said.
SILT, SAND AND GRAVEL
Christchurch is built on silt, sand and gravel, with a water table beneath. In an earthquake, the water rises, mixing with the sand and turning the ground into a swamp and swallowing up sections of road and entire cars.
TV footage showed sections of road that had collapsed into a milky, sand-colored river running right beneath the surface. One witness described the footpaths as like "walking on sand."
Unlike last year's even stronger tremor, which struck early in the morning when streets were virtually empty, the streets, shops and offices were thronged with people when the shallow tremor hit.
It hit at 12:51 pm (2351 GMT Monday) at a depth of only 4 km (2.5 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Survey's Web site.
"It's huge, it's just huge," a priest told a TV reporter outside the remains of the city's stone cathedral, part of which had been reduced to a pile of large sandstone blocks.
"I just don't know whether there are people under this rubble," he said, before he appeared to add in a quiet voice: "I think so."
Prime Minister John Key, who called an emergency cabinet meeting for later in the day, told parliament he could not rule out casualties: "We are aware of significant damage to buildings that had people in them at the time."
The quake helped knock the New Zealand dollar down to $0.7541, 1.2 percent off late U.S. levels, on fears the damage could dent confidence in the already fragile economy.
Shares in Australian banks and insurers, which typically have large operations in New Zealand, fell after the quake. But credit rating agency Fitch said the tremor would not of itself trigger a downgrade of New Zealand sovereign rating.
The tremor was centered about 10 km (six miles) southwest of Christchurch, which had suffered widespread damage during last September's 7.1 magnitude quake but no deaths.
"There has been a lot of damage, our TVs have been smashed and there are big cracks in the house. Neighbors have lost brick fences," Nicholas Hextall, who lives in central Christchurch, said by phone. Power and water had been cut.
The region has been struck by thousands of aftershocks since the original quake.
New Zealand, which sits between the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates, records on average more than 14,000 earthquakes a year, of which about 20 would normally top magnitude 5.0.
(Additional reporting by Bruce Hextall in Sydney; Editing by Mark Bendeich and Jonathan Thatcher)
Monday, February 21, 2011
Gaddafi defiant in face of mounting revolt
Reuters, TRIPOLI: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi appeared briefly on state television on Tuesday signaling his defiance in the face of a mounting revolt against his 41-year rule.
Gaddafi's forces have fought an increasingly bloody battle to keep him in power, with fighting spreading to the capital Tripoli and local residents saying warplanes had bombed the city.
In his first address since the protests started last week, he made a 22-second statement in front of his house to deny the reports he had fled to Venezuela, ruled by his friend President Hugo Chavez.
"I want to show that I'm in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs," Gaddafi said, under a large umbrella and leaning out of a van.
"I wanted to say something to the youths at Green Square (in Tripoli) and stay up late with them but it started raining. Thank God, it's a good thing," added Gaddafi, who took power in a military coup in 1969 when he toppled King Idriss.
Security forces have killed dozens of protesters across the vast, thinly populated nation stretching from the Mediterranean deep into the Sahara desert, human rights groups and witnesses said, prompting widespread condemnation from world leaders.
Demonstrations spread to Tripoli after several cities in the east -- including Benghazi where the protests had first erupted -- appeared to fall to the opposition, according to residents.
Cracks were beginning to appear among Gaddafi's supporters, with a group of army officers calling on soldiers to "join the people" and two senior fighter pilots defecting to nearby Malta.
The U.N. Security Council will hold a closed-door meeting on Tuesday to discuss the crisis, diplomats said.
Tripoli, a Mediterranean coastal city, appeared calm in the early hours of Tuesday. "There is heavy rain at the moment, so people are at home," one resident said. "I am in the east of the city and have not heard clashes."
Earlier, residents reported gunfire in parts of Tripoli and one political activist said warplanes had bombed the city.
"What we are witnessing today is unimaginable. Warplanes and helicopters are indiscriminately bombing one area after another. There are many, many dead," Adel Mohamed Saleh said in a live broadcast on al Jazeera television. "Anyone who moves, even if they are in their car, they will hit you."
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said at least 233 people had been killed in five days of violence. Opposition groups put the figure much higher. No independent verification was available and communications with Libya from outside was difficult.
WORLD CONDEMNATION
Revolutions which deposed the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt have shaken the Arab world and inspired protests across the Middle East and North Africa, threatening the grip of long-entrenched autocratic leaders.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it was "time to stop this unacceptable bloodshed." EU foreign ministers condemned the killing of protesters and pledged to support democratic transition resulting from the unrest.
U.N. diplomats said the closed-door meeting, known as consultations, had been requested by Libyan deputy ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi and would start at 9 a.m. EST (1400 GMT).
Dabbashi and other diplomats at Libya's mission to the United Nations announced on Monday they had sided with protesters and were calling for Gaddafi's overthrow.
Earlier, a group of army officers issued a statement urging fellow soldiers to "join the people" and help remove Gaddafi, Al Arabiya television said. The justice minister has also resigned in protest at the use of force.
Two Libyan fighter jets landed in Malta, their pilots defecting after they said they had been ordered to bomb protesters, Maltese government officials said.
Libyan guards have withdrawn from their side of the border with Egypt and people's committees were now in control of the crossing, the Egyptian army said, without making it clear if the groups now in control of the border were loyal to Gaddafi.
Ninety percent of Libyan oil exports come from the eastern region of Cyrenaica, epicenter of the revolt. Brent crude prices hit $108 a barrel on fears the violence could disrupt supplies from the OPEC member.
Output at one of Libya's oil fields was reported to have been stopped by a workers' strike and some European oil companies withdrew expatriate workers and suspended operations.
A flamboyant figure with his flowing robes and a penchant for female bodyguards, the long-serving Gaddafi is one of the most recognizable figures on the world stage.
He has shunned by the West for much of his rule which accused him of links to terrorism and revolutionary movements. U.S. President Ronald Reagan called him a "mad dog" and sent planes to bomb Libya in 1986.
Gaddafi was particularly reviled after the 1988 Pan Am airliner bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, by Libyan agents in which 270 people were killed.
(Reporting by Tarek Amara, Christian Lowe, Tarek Amara, Marie-Louise Gumuchian, Souhail Karam; Brian Love, Daren Butler; Writing by Maria Golovnina, editing by Jonathan Thatcher)
Gaddafi's forces have fought an increasingly bloody battle to keep him in power, with fighting spreading to the capital Tripoli and local residents saying warplanes had bombed the city.
In his first address since the protests started last week, he made a 22-second statement in front of his house to deny the reports he had fled to Venezuela, ruled by his friend President Hugo Chavez.
"I want to show that I'm in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs," Gaddafi said, under a large umbrella and leaning out of a van.
"I wanted to say something to the youths at Green Square (in Tripoli) and stay up late with them but it started raining. Thank God, it's a good thing," added Gaddafi, who took power in a military coup in 1969 when he toppled King Idriss.
Security forces have killed dozens of protesters across the vast, thinly populated nation stretching from the Mediterranean deep into the Sahara desert, human rights groups and witnesses said, prompting widespread condemnation from world leaders.
Demonstrations spread to Tripoli after several cities in the east -- including Benghazi where the protests had first erupted -- appeared to fall to the opposition, according to residents.
Cracks were beginning to appear among Gaddafi's supporters, with a group of army officers calling on soldiers to "join the people" and two senior fighter pilots defecting to nearby Malta.
The U.N. Security Council will hold a closed-door meeting on Tuesday to discuss the crisis, diplomats said.
Tripoli, a Mediterranean coastal city, appeared calm in the early hours of Tuesday. "There is heavy rain at the moment, so people are at home," one resident said. "I am in the east of the city and have not heard clashes."
Earlier, residents reported gunfire in parts of Tripoli and one political activist said warplanes had bombed the city.
"What we are witnessing today is unimaginable. Warplanes and helicopters are indiscriminately bombing one area after another. There are many, many dead," Adel Mohamed Saleh said in a live broadcast on al Jazeera television. "Anyone who moves, even if they are in their car, they will hit you."
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said at least 233 people had been killed in five days of violence. Opposition groups put the figure much higher. No independent verification was available and communications with Libya from outside was difficult.
WORLD CONDEMNATION
Revolutions which deposed the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt have shaken the Arab world and inspired protests across the Middle East and North Africa, threatening the grip of long-entrenched autocratic leaders.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it was "time to stop this unacceptable bloodshed." EU foreign ministers condemned the killing of protesters and pledged to support democratic transition resulting from the unrest.
U.N. diplomats said the closed-door meeting, known as consultations, had been requested by Libyan deputy ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi and would start at 9 a.m. EST (1400 GMT).
Dabbashi and other diplomats at Libya's mission to the United Nations announced on Monday they had sided with protesters and were calling for Gaddafi's overthrow.
Earlier, a group of army officers issued a statement urging fellow soldiers to "join the people" and help remove Gaddafi, Al Arabiya television said. The justice minister has also resigned in protest at the use of force.
Two Libyan fighter jets landed in Malta, their pilots defecting after they said they had been ordered to bomb protesters, Maltese government officials said.
Libyan guards have withdrawn from their side of the border with Egypt and people's committees were now in control of the crossing, the Egyptian army said, without making it clear if the groups now in control of the border were loyal to Gaddafi.
Ninety percent of Libyan oil exports come from the eastern region of Cyrenaica, epicenter of the revolt. Brent crude prices hit $108 a barrel on fears the violence could disrupt supplies from the OPEC member.
Output at one of Libya's oil fields was reported to have been stopped by a workers' strike and some European oil companies withdrew expatriate workers and suspended operations.
A flamboyant figure with his flowing robes and a penchant for female bodyguards, the long-serving Gaddafi is one of the most recognizable figures on the world stage.
He has shunned by the West for much of his rule which accused him of links to terrorism and revolutionary movements. U.S. President Ronald Reagan called him a "mad dog" and sent planes to bomb Libya in 1986.
Gaddafi was particularly reviled after the 1988 Pan Am airliner bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, by Libyan agents in which 270 people were killed.
(Reporting by Tarek Amara, Christian Lowe, Tarek Amara, Marie-Louise Gumuchian, Souhail Karam; Brian Love, Daren Butler; Writing by Maria Golovnina, editing by Jonathan Thatcher)
Arrested US official is actually CIA contractor
AP, WASHINGTON: An American jailed in Pakistan for the fatal shooting of two armed men was secretly working for the CIA and scouting a neighborhood when he was arrested, a disclosure likely to further frustrate U.S. government efforts to free the man and strain relations between two countries partnered in a fragile alliance in the war on terror.
Raymond Allen Davis, 36, had been working as a CIA security contractor and living in a Lahore safe house, according to former and current U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk publicly about the incident.
Davis, a former Special Forces soldier who left the military in 2003, shot the men in what he described as an attempted armed robbery in the eastern city of Lahore as they approached him on a motorcycle. A third Pakistani, a bystander, died when a car rushing to help Davis struck him. Davis was carrying a Glock handgun, a pocket telescope and papers with different identifications.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration insisted anew Monday that Davis had diplomatic immunity and must be set free. i
In a hastily arranged conference call with reporters shortly after details of Davis' employment were reported, senior State Department officials repeated the administration's stance that he is an accredited member of the technical and administrative staff of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. They said the Pakistani government had been informed of his status in January 2010 and that Pakistan is violating its international obligations by continuing to hold him.
The officials would not comment on Davis' employment but said it was irrelevant to the case because Pakistan had not rejected his status The officials spoke only on grounds of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
The revelation that Davis was an employee of the CIA comes amid a tumultuous dispute over whether he is immune from criminal prosecution under international rules enacted to protect diplomats overseas. New protests in Pakistan erupted after The Guardian newspaper in London decided to publish details about Davis' relationship with the CIA.
The U.S. had repeatedly asserted that Davis had diplomatic immunity and should have been released immediately. The State Department claimed Davis was "entitled to full criminal immunity in accordance with the Vienna Convention" and was a member of the "technical and administrative staff" at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
The Associated Press learned about Davis working for the CIA last month, immediately after the shootings, but withheld publication of the information because it could endanger his life while he was jailed overseas, with at least some protesters there calling for his execution as a spy.
The AP had intended to report Davis' CIA employment after he was out of harm's way, but the story was broken Sunday by The Guardian. The CIA asked The AP and several other U.S. media outlets to hold their stories as the U.S. tried to improve Davis' security situation.
A U.S. official says Davis is being held at a jail on the outskirts of Lahore where there are serious doubts about whether the Pakistanis can truly protect him. The official says the Pakistanis have expressed similar concerns to the U.S.
A senior Pakistani intelligence official said the government had taken measures to ensure the safety of Davis, stepping up security at the facility, removing certain inmates from the prison and sending a contingent of well-trained paramilitaries known as the Rangers.
The State Department said the Pakistani government was informed that Davis was a diplomat and entitled to immunity when he was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
"We are very mindful of the difficulty that the government of Pakistan faces with public opinion in this case," department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "We remain concerned about him and our message to Pakistan remains that he should be released as soon as possible."
Davis identified himself as a diplomat to police when he was arrested and "has repeatedly requested immunity" to no avail, Crowley said. The U.S. Embassy said he has a diplomatic passport and a visa valid through June 2012. It also said in a recent statement the U.S. had notified the Pakistani government of Davis' assignment more than a year ago. However, the senior Pakistani intelligence official says that Davis' visa application contained bogus U.S. contact information.
Since Pakistani authorities took the ex-Special Forces soldier into custody Jan. 27, U.S. officials said, the situation has slowly escalated into a crisis, threatening the CIA's ability to wage a dangerous war against al-Qaida and militants. Some members of Congress have threatened to cut off the billions in funding to Pakistan if Davis isn't released.
Davis was attached to the CIA's Global Response Staff, which provides security overseas to agency bases and stations, former and current U.S. officials told the AP. In that role, he was assigned to protect CIA personnel. One of their duties includes protecting case officers when they meet with sources. On the day he was captured, he was familiarizing himself with the area.
"Davis is a protective officer, someone who provides security to U.S. officials in Pakistan," the U.S official said. "Rumors to the contrary are simply wrong."
In a YouTube video of local police interrogating him, Davis says he's a consultant and he's with the "RAO," a reference to the American Regional Affairs Office. Davis also said at one point he was attached to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
Working for the agency's GRS comes with risks — sometimes fatal ones. The head of security at the CIA's base in Khost, Afghanistan, was killed with six others in December 2009 after a suicide bomber detonated a powerful explosive under his belt.
The CIA has a major presence in Pakistan, where it runs the drone program in Islamabad and offensive operations against militants, al-Qaida and Pakistan's spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence.
Former and current U.S. officials say the Pakistanis might have been stalling to release Davis so he could be extensively questioned, hoping he could provide more information about CIA activities in the troubled country or possibly even identify other agency officers.
The senior Pakistani intelligence official told the AP the two men in the response vehicle that went to aid Davis, killing the bystander, have left the country. The official said the Pakistani government's decision to let them leave was a concession to the U.S.
The U.S.-Pakistani partnership had begun to fray in recent months. In late 2010, a pair of civil lawsuits filed in the U.S. accused Pakistan's spy chief of nurturing terrorists involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Shortly after the lawsuits were filed, the name of the CIA's top spy in Pakistan was publicly disclosed and his life threatened. He was eventually pulled out of the country in December, a month before the scheduled end of his tour.
A former CIA officer said militants have also threatened the children of ISI officers. And the CIA in recent years has become increasingly concerned about the safety of its officers in outlying areas like Lahore and Peshawar, a former senior U.S. intelligence source said. But the danger was more pronounced in Lahore, where the CIA learned there might be government elements willing to harm agency officers.
Former CIA officials said the agency officers could have been killed in 2009 when terrorists attacked an ISI compound in Lahore. CIA officers regularly met their counterparts at the compound but didn't have a meeting scheduled the day of the attack.
Further inflaming tensions, the wife of one of the men Davis shot committed suicide. She had said she feared her husband's killer would be freed without trial.
Military records show Davis, a Virginia native, served a decade in the Army, including five years with the 3rd Special Forces Group in Fort Bragg, N.C., home to the Green Berets.
Davis also worked for security contractor Blackwater Worldwide, now known as Xe Services.
Davis and his wife run a Las Vegas-registered company called Hyperion Protective Services. The address for its headquarters is a mailbox at a UPS store in a strip mall. The truth about Davis' true employer briefly slipped out after a local television reporter in Colorado called his wife.
In a story posted on the website of Denver's 9News, the wife provided the name and number of a "CIA spokesperson" in Washington, D.C. But the story was quickly taken down, edited and then reposted with new language eliminating any reference to the CIA.
The incident in Pakistan also raises serious questions about how an armed CIA employee could become involved in a fatal shooting with street bandits and allow himself to be captured. Former CIA officers say they were taught to make their way back to the safety of the embassy or consulate in potentially dangerous situations, but the circumstances could have made that impossible in Davis' case.
Former CIA officials say this is not the first time an agency employee was detained in a foreign country. In the 1980s, a CIA officer with diplomatic immunity was abducted in Ethiopia after he was suspected of spying. The case was quietly resolved and the officer was eventually released.
Raymond Allen Davis, 36, had been working as a CIA security contractor and living in a Lahore safe house, according to former and current U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk publicly about the incident.
Davis, a former Special Forces soldier who left the military in 2003, shot the men in what he described as an attempted armed robbery in the eastern city of Lahore as they approached him on a motorcycle. A third Pakistani, a bystander, died when a car rushing to help Davis struck him. Davis was carrying a Glock handgun, a pocket telescope and papers with different identifications.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration insisted anew Monday that Davis had diplomatic immunity and must be set free. i
In a hastily arranged conference call with reporters shortly after details of Davis' employment were reported, senior State Department officials repeated the administration's stance that he is an accredited member of the technical and administrative staff of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. They said the Pakistani government had been informed of his status in January 2010 and that Pakistan is violating its international obligations by continuing to hold him.
The officials would not comment on Davis' employment but said it was irrelevant to the case because Pakistan had not rejected his status The officials spoke only on grounds of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
The revelation that Davis was an employee of the CIA comes amid a tumultuous dispute over whether he is immune from criminal prosecution under international rules enacted to protect diplomats overseas. New protests in Pakistan erupted after The Guardian newspaper in London decided to publish details about Davis' relationship with the CIA.
The U.S. had repeatedly asserted that Davis had diplomatic immunity and should have been released immediately. The State Department claimed Davis was "entitled to full criminal immunity in accordance with the Vienna Convention" and was a member of the "technical and administrative staff" at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
The Associated Press learned about Davis working for the CIA last month, immediately after the shootings, but withheld publication of the information because it could endanger his life while he was jailed overseas, with at least some protesters there calling for his execution as a spy.
The AP had intended to report Davis' CIA employment after he was out of harm's way, but the story was broken Sunday by The Guardian. The CIA asked The AP and several other U.S. media outlets to hold their stories as the U.S. tried to improve Davis' security situation.
A U.S. official says Davis is being held at a jail on the outskirts of Lahore where there are serious doubts about whether the Pakistanis can truly protect him. The official says the Pakistanis have expressed similar concerns to the U.S.
A senior Pakistani intelligence official said the government had taken measures to ensure the safety of Davis, stepping up security at the facility, removing certain inmates from the prison and sending a contingent of well-trained paramilitaries known as the Rangers.
The State Department said the Pakistani government was informed that Davis was a diplomat and entitled to immunity when he was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
"We are very mindful of the difficulty that the government of Pakistan faces with public opinion in this case," department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "We remain concerned about him and our message to Pakistan remains that he should be released as soon as possible."
Davis identified himself as a diplomat to police when he was arrested and "has repeatedly requested immunity" to no avail, Crowley said. The U.S. Embassy said he has a diplomatic passport and a visa valid through June 2012. It also said in a recent statement the U.S. had notified the Pakistani government of Davis' assignment more than a year ago. However, the senior Pakistani intelligence official says that Davis' visa application contained bogus U.S. contact information.
Since Pakistani authorities took the ex-Special Forces soldier into custody Jan. 27, U.S. officials said, the situation has slowly escalated into a crisis, threatening the CIA's ability to wage a dangerous war against al-Qaida and militants. Some members of Congress have threatened to cut off the billions in funding to Pakistan if Davis isn't released.
Davis was attached to the CIA's Global Response Staff, which provides security overseas to agency bases and stations, former and current U.S. officials told the AP. In that role, he was assigned to protect CIA personnel. One of their duties includes protecting case officers when they meet with sources. On the day he was captured, he was familiarizing himself with the area.
"Davis is a protective officer, someone who provides security to U.S. officials in Pakistan," the U.S official said. "Rumors to the contrary are simply wrong."
In a YouTube video of local police interrogating him, Davis says he's a consultant and he's with the "RAO," a reference to the American Regional Affairs Office. Davis also said at one point he was attached to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
Working for the agency's GRS comes with risks — sometimes fatal ones. The head of security at the CIA's base in Khost, Afghanistan, was killed with six others in December 2009 after a suicide bomber detonated a powerful explosive under his belt.
The CIA has a major presence in Pakistan, where it runs the drone program in Islamabad and offensive operations against militants, al-Qaida and Pakistan's spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence.
Former and current U.S. officials say the Pakistanis might have been stalling to release Davis so he could be extensively questioned, hoping he could provide more information about CIA activities in the troubled country or possibly even identify other agency officers.
The senior Pakistani intelligence official told the AP the two men in the response vehicle that went to aid Davis, killing the bystander, have left the country. The official said the Pakistani government's decision to let them leave was a concession to the U.S.
The U.S.-Pakistani partnership had begun to fray in recent months. In late 2010, a pair of civil lawsuits filed in the U.S. accused Pakistan's spy chief of nurturing terrorists involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Shortly after the lawsuits were filed, the name of the CIA's top spy in Pakistan was publicly disclosed and his life threatened. He was eventually pulled out of the country in December, a month before the scheduled end of his tour.
A former CIA officer said militants have also threatened the children of ISI officers. And the CIA in recent years has become increasingly concerned about the safety of its officers in outlying areas like Lahore and Peshawar, a former senior U.S. intelligence source said. But the danger was more pronounced in Lahore, where the CIA learned there might be government elements willing to harm agency officers.
Former CIA officials said the agency officers could have been killed in 2009 when terrorists attacked an ISI compound in Lahore. CIA officers regularly met their counterparts at the compound but didn't have a meeting scheduled the day of the attack.
Further inflaming tensions, the wife of one of the men Davis shot committed suicide. She had said she feared her husband's killer would be freed without trial.
Military records show Davis, a Virginia native, served a decade in the Army, including five years with the 3rd Special Forces Group in Fort Bragg, N.C., home to the Green Berets.
Davis also worked for security contractor Blackwater Worldwide, now known as Xe Services.
Davis and his wife run a Las Vegas-registered company called Hyperion Protective Services. The address for its headquarters is a mailbox at a UPS store in a strip mall. The truth about Davis' true employer briefly slipped out after a local television reporter in Colorado called his wife.
In a story posted on the website of Denver's 9News, the wife provided the name and number of a "CIA spokesperson" in Washington, D.C. But the story was quickly taken down, edited and then reposted with new language eliminating any reference to the CIA.
The incident in Pakistan also raises serious questions about how an armed CIA employee could become involved in a fatal shooting with street bandits and allow himself to be captured. Former CIA officers say they were taught to make their way back to the safety of the embassy or consulate in potentially dangerous situations, but the circumstances could have made that impossible in Davis' case.
Former CIA officials say this is not the first time an agency employee was detained in a foreign country. In the 1980s, a CIA officer with diplomatic immunity was abducted in Ethiopia after he was suspected of spying. The case was quietly resolved and the officer was eventually released.
Work starts on China-backed Bahamas resort project
AP, NASSAU, Bahamas: Chinese and Bahamian dignitaries celebrated Monday as workers broke ground on what is being billed as the largest project of its kind in the Caribbean — a megaresort that will be financed and largely built by Beijing.
Baha Mar, a $3.4 billion complex on Nassau's Cable Beach, will employ some 8,000 workers and is projected to generate a 10 percent boost to the Bahamas gross domestic product, according to development company Baha Mar Ltd.
The development plan calls for four hotels with a total of about 2,250 rooms, as well as a golf course, retail space, a convention center and what the developer says will be the largest casino in the Caribbean.
It is scheduled to open in December 2014 and is aimed largely at North American consumers, who make up the vast majority of tourist visitors to the Bahamas, said Don Robinson, president of Baha Mar Ltd.
In overall size, it will be comparable to the Atlantis resort on nearby Paradise Island. But that project was built in stages over a number of years, not all at once like Baha Mar. Robinson said the resort's ambitious scope is part of its marketing plan, an effort to capture the public's imagination and attract tourists who have abandoned the Bahamas for other destinations.
"The vision was a large destination resort that would drive visitation," he said in an interview with The Associated Press before the ceremony. "Anything smaller became less of an ability to increase the market. It needed to be large enough on the world stage that it could significantly drive demand."
Caribbean tourism took a steep dive with the global economic downturn, but there have been signs of life: Hotel room revenue in the region rose about 3 percent and occupancy edged up nearly 1 percent last year, compared with 2009, according to travel industry watcher STR of Nashville, Tennessee.
The crisis forced some developers to scale back plans made in rosier times, but Baha Mar appears to be wagering that it can create a destination resort and keep people spending money at stores and shops within the walls of the complex, said Jan Freitag, vice president for global development at STR.
"The question is: Is that a good enough driver in this economic environment?" Freitag said.
For the resort's concrete and steel main structure, Baha Mar hired China State Construction Engineering Co. Ltd., which brought in the Export-Import Bank of China to finance the project when a previous partner dropped out. This is the first tourism project outside China for either of the state-owned enterprises, Robinson said.
As part of its agreement with the Bahamian government, Baha Mar will import about 7,000 Chinese construction workers in stages. The project is also expected to create about 4,000 construction jobs for local workers, the developer said.
"The great geographical distance between our two countries has not impeded our friendship," Chinese Ambassador Hu Dingxian said at the groundbreaking ceremony. "This project is evidence.
Baha Mar, a $3.4 billion complex on Nassau's Cable Beach, will employ some 8,000 workers and is projected to generate a 10 percent boost to the Bahamas gross domestic product, according to development company Baha Mar Ltd.
The development plan calls for four hotels with a total of about 2,250 rooms, as well as a golf course, retail space, a convention center and what the developer says will be the largest casino in the Caribbean.
It is scheduled to open in December 2014 and is aimed largely at North American consumers, who make up the vast majority of tourist visitors to the Bahamas, said Don Robinson, president of Baha Mar Ltd.
In overall size, it will be comparable to the Atlantis resort on nearby Paradise Island. But that project was built in stages over a number of years, not all at once like Baha Mar. Robinson said the resort's ambitious scope is part of its marketing plan, an effort to capture the public's imagination and attract tourists who have abandoned the Bahamas for other destinations.
"The vision was a large destination resort that would drive visitation," he said in an interview with The Associated Press before the ceremony. "Anything smaller became less of an ability to increase the market. It needed to be large enough on the world stage that it could significantly drive demand."
Caribbean tourism took a steep dive with the global economic downturn, but there have been signs of life: Hotel room revenue in the region rose about 3 percent and occupancy edged up nearly 1 percent last year, compared with 2009, according to travel industry watcher STR of Nashville, Tennessee.
The crisis forced some developers to scale back plans made in rosier times, but Baha Mar appears to be wagering that it can create a destination resort and keep people spending money at stores and shops within the walls of the complex, said Jan Freitag, vice president for global development at STR.
"The question is: Is that a good enough driver in this economic environment?" Freitag said.
For the resort's concrete and steel main structure, Baha Mar hired China State Construction Engineering Co. Ltd., which brought in the Export-Import Bank of China to finance the project when a previous partner dropped out. This is the first tourism project outside China for either of the state-owned enterprises, Robinson said.
As part of its agreement with the Bahamian government, Baha Mar will import about 7,000 Chinese construction workers in stages. The project is also expected to create about 4,000 construction jobs for local workers, the developer said.
"The great geographical distance between our two countries has not impeded our friendship," Chinese Ambassador Hu Dingxian said at the groundbreaking ceremony. "This project is evidence.
Key Libyan diplomats disown Gadhafi's regime
AP, UNITED NATIONS: Key Libyan diplomats disowned Moammar Gadhafi's regime on Monday and the country's deputy U.N. ambassador called on the longtime ruler to step down because of its bloody crackdown on protesters.
The Libyan ambassador to the United States also said he could no longer support Gadhafi, and the ambassador to India said that he planned to resign. Almost all Libyan diplomats at the United Nations backed deputy ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi's pleas to Gadhafi to end his 40-year rule and to the international community to intervene.
The U.N. spokesperson's office said late Monday that the Security Council had scheduled consultations on the situation in Libya for Tuesday morning. Earlier, Dabbashi had called for an urgent meeting of the Security Council to take action to stop the bloodshed.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he hopes that "the Security Council will take this matter on an urgent basis," according to a transcript of his remarks at a Los Angeles news conference released by the U.N. spokesperson's office.
Ban said it was up to the Security Council to decide whether to call for some sort of "no-fly zone" over Libya to protect protesters from attacks by Libyan aircraft.
As diplomatic support for Gadhafi began to crumble, Dabbashi warned that if he doesn't leave, "the Libyan people will get rid of him."
Gadhafi's security forces unleashed the most deadly crackdown of any Arab country against the wave of protests sweeping the region, with reports Monday that demonstrators were being fired at from helicopters and warplanes. After seven days of protests and deadly clashes in Libya's eastern cities, the eruption of turmoil in the capital, Tripoli, sharply escalated the challenge to Gadhafi.
Ban expressed outrage late Monday at the reported aerial attacks and said the "violence against demonstrators must immediately stop."
"I have seen very disturbing and shocking scenes, where Libyan authorities have been firing at demonstrators from warplanes and helicopters," Ban told reporters in Los Angeles. "This is unacceptable. This must stop immediately. This is a serious violation of international humanitarian law."
Ban said he had spoken to Gadhafi earlier Monday to urge him to end the violence and respect the human rights of demonstrators.
Libya's ambassador in Washington, Ali Adjali, told BBC World that the reports of firing from warplanes spurred his decision not to support the government any more.
"To me it is a very sad moment seeing Libyans killing other Libyans," he said. "I'm not supporting the government killing its people. ... I'm (not) resigning Moammar Gadhafi's government, but I am with the people. I am representing the people in the street, the people who've been killed, the people who've been destroyed. Their life is in danger."
Dabbashi, the deputy U.N. ambassador, also said he and the U.N. diplomats were not resigning because they served the people of Libya and not the regime.
"This is in fact a declaration of war against the Libyan people," he told reporters, surrounded by a dozen Libyan diplomats. "The regime of Gadhafi has already started the genocide against the Libyan people."
Libya's U.N. Ambassador Mohamed Shalgham was not present at Dabbashi's press conference. He told the U.N. correspondent for the pan-Arab newspaper, Al-Hayat, that all diplomats at Libya's mission supported Dabbashi "excluding me." Shalgham said he was in touch with the Gadhafi government and was trying "to persuade them to stop these acts."
In New Delhi, an Indian diplomatic official told the AP that the Libyan ambassador to India intends to resign. However, as of Tuesday morning the ambassador, Ali al-Essawi, had not officially met with the foreign ministry to turn in his credentials.
Earlier, al-Essawi told the BBC he was resigning because of "massive violence against Libyan civilians." Abdel-Moneim al-Houni, who resigned Sunday as Libya's ambassador to the Arab League in Cairo, demanded that Gadhafi and his commanders and aides be put on trial for "the mass killings in Libya."
"Gadhafi's regime is now in the trash of history because he betrayed his nation and his people," al-Houni said in a statement.
A Libyan diplomat in China, Hussein el-Sadek el-Mesrati, told Al-Jazeera, "I resigned from representing the government of Mussolini and Hitler."
Gadhafi appeared very briefly on Libyan state television early Tuesday to attempt to show he was still in charge and dispel rumors that he had fled.
Gadhafi is reportedly using mercenaries against the protesters and Dabbashi urged the international community to impose a no-flight zone "on the cities of Libya so no mercenaries, no supplies of arms will arrive to the regime."
Dabbashi also urged the international community to establish safe passage for medical supplies from neighboring Tunisia and Egypt to get across the borders to Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city, which was the scene of the heaviest fighting. By Monday, protesters had claimed control of the city, overrunning its main security headquarters.
"We also call on the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to investigate the crimes against humanity committed by Gadhafi against the Libyan people," Dabbashi told the Associated Press.
The best scenario, he said, "is to have him before the court, to prosecute him and to know from him everything about the crimes he committed before, whether it is ... the genocide he is committing now or the disappearance of certain important personalities... and all the other crimes he has committed during the 42 years in power."
Dabbashi also called on all countries to refuse entry to Gadhafi if he tries to escape and to monitor financial transactions if he tries to send money outside Libya.
Some 70 human rights groups called for immediate international action "to halt the mass atrocities now being perpetrated by the Libyan government against its own people."
The groups urged the U.N. Security Council to meet and take action to protect Libyan civilians from "crimes against humanity," and they urged the U.N. General Assembly to suspend Libya from membership on the Geneva-based Human Rights Council.
The signatories included the U.S.-based National Endowment for Democracy, Physicians for Human Rights, Geneva-based UN Watch, and groups from many other countries including South Africa, Switzerland, India, Nigeria, Germany, Pakistan, Venezuela and Britain.
The Libyan ambassador to the United States also said he could no longer support Gadhafi, and the ambassador to India said that he planned to resign. Almost all Libyan diplomats at the United Nations backed deputy ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi's pleas to Gadhafi to end his 40-year rule and to the international community to intervene.
The U.N. spokesperson's office said late Monday that the Security Council had scheduled consultations on the situation in Libya for Tuesday morning. Earlier, Dabbashi had called for an urgent meeting of the Security Council to take action to stop the bloodshed.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he hopes that "the Security Council will take this matter on an urgent basis," according to a transcript of his remarks at a Los Angeles news conference released by the U.N. spokesperson's office.
Ban said it was up to the Security Council to decide whether to call for some sort of "no-fly zone" over Libya to protect protesters from attacks by Libyan aircraft.
As diplomatic support for Gadhafi began to crumble, Dabbashi warned that if he doesn't leave, "the Libyan people will get rid of him."
Gadhafi's security forces unleashed the most deadly crackdown of any Arab country against the wave of protests sweeping the region, with reports Monday that demonstrators were being fired at from helicopters and warplanes. After seven days of protests and deadly clashes in Libya's eastern cities, the eruption of turmoil in the capital, Tripoli, sharply escalated the challenge to Gadhafi.
Ban expressed outrage late Monday at the reported aerial attacks and said the "violence against demonstrators must immediately stop."
"I have seen very disturbing and shocking scenes, where Libyan authorities have been firing at demonstrators from warplanes and helicopters," Ban told reporters in Los Angeles. "This is unacceptable. This must stop immediately. This is a serious violation of international humanitarian law."
Ban said he had spoken to Gadhafi earlier Monday to urge him to end the violence and respect the human rights of demonstrators.
Libya's ambassador in Washington, Ali Adjali, told BBC World that the reports of firing from warplanes spurred his decision not to support the government any more.
"To me it is a very sad moment seeing Libyans killing other Libyans," he said. "I'm not supporting the government killing its people. ... I'm (not) resigning Moammar Gadhafi's government, but I am with the people. I am representing the people in the street, the people who've been killed, the people who've been destroyed. Their life is in danger."
Dabbashi, the deputy U.N. ambassador, also said he and the U.N. diplomats were not resigning because they served the people of Libya and not the regime.
"This is in fact a declaration of war against the Libyan people," he told reporters, surrounded by a dozen Libyan diplomats. "The regime of Gadhafi has already started the genocide against the Libyan people."
Libya's U.N. Ambassador Mohamed Shalgham was not present at Dabbashi's press conference. He told the U.N. correspondent for the pan-Arab newspaper, Al-Hayat, that all diplomats at Libya's mission supported Dabbashi "excluding me." Shalgham said he was in touch with the Gadhafi government and was trying "to persuade them to stop these acts."
In New Delhi, an Indian diplomatic official told the AP that the Libyan ambassador to India intends to resign. However, as of Tuesday morning the ambassador, Ali al-Essawi, had not officially met with the foreign ministry to turn in his credentials.
Earlier, al-Essawi told the BBC he was resigning because of "massive violence against Libyan civilians." Abdel-Moneim al-Houni, who resigned Sunday as Libya's ambassador to the Arab League in Cairo, demanded that Gadhafi and his commanders and aides be put on trial for "the mass killings in Libya."
"Gadhafi's regime is now in the trash of history because he betrayed his nation and his people," al-Houni said in a statement.
A Libyan diplomat in China, Hussein el-Sadek el-Mesrati, told Al-Jazeera, "I resigned from representing the government of Mussolini and Hitler."
Gadhafi appeared very briefly on Libyan state television early Tuesday to attempt to show he was still in charge and dispel rumors that he had fled.
Gadhafi is reportedly using mercenaries against the protesters and Dabbashi urged the international community to impose a no-flight zone "on the cities of Libya so no mercenaries, no supplies of arms will arrive to the regime."
Dabbashi also urged the international community to establish safe passage for medical supplies from neighboring Tunisia and Egypt to get across the borders to Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city, which was the scene of the heaviest fighting. By Monday, protesters had claimed control of the city, overrunning its main security headquarters.
"We also call on the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to investigate the crimes against humanity committed by Gadhafi against the Libyan people," Dabbashi told the Associated Press.
The best scenario, he said, "is to have him before the court, to prosecute him and to know from him everything about the crimes he committed before, whether it is ... the genocide he is committing now or the disappearance of certain important personalities... and all the other crimes he has committed during the 42 years in power."
Dabbashi also called on all countries to refuse entry to Gadhafi if he tries to escape and to monitor financial transactions if he tries to send money outside Libya.
Some 70 human rights groups called for immediate international action "to halt the mass atrocities now being perpetrated by the Libyan government against its own people."
The groups urged the U.N. Security Council to meet and take action to protect Libyan civilians from "crimes against humanity," and they urged the U.N. General Assembly to suspend Libya from membership on the Geneva-based Human Rights Council.
The signatories included the U.S.-based National Endowment for Democracy, Physicians for Human Rights, Geneva-based UN Watch, and groups from many other countries including South Africa, Switzerland, India, Nigeria, Germany, Pakistan, Venezuela and Britain.
Gadhafi's hold on power is suddenly under threat
AP, CAIRO: For more than four decades, Moammar Gadhafi was the face of Libya. He withstood international isolation and U.S. airstrikes, managing to claw his way back to a degree of acceptance by the global community.
Now, the ultimate survivor is confronted by the biggest threat to his rule from a popular rebellion.
The anti-government battles that have reportedly left more than 200 people dead in the past week will indelibly alter Libya's political landscape. If Gadhafi is toppled, like the leaders of neighboring Egypt and Tunisia, the lack of a clear institutional system in Libya thanks to the very system he set up, and the absence of any kind of established opposition bloc, leaves open the question of who could fill the vacuum.
Egypt and Tunisia had well-established — but corruption-plagued — governing institutions that allowed for a smoother transition and rebuilding of the nation.
Not so in Libya, where Gadhafi holds no official role in government. The so-called "jamahiriya" system that he set up is designed to give the appearance of a government, with a series of People's Committees and People's Congresses.
In reality, it's a system whose sole purpose is to ensure that power stays in the hands of the Arab world's longest-serving leader.
While former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak "was playing tennis in Sharm el-Sheik, Gadhafi .... spent his time building up his power base," said Jon Marks, a Libya expert with London-based Cross-border Information.
"Every time you look at the different strands of Libyan society ... you see that there's one puppetmaster, and it's Gadhafi," he said.
Amid the protests, Gadhafi wend on state-run television early Tuesday in an attempt to show the country he was still in charge and to dispel some media reports he had fled.
"I am here to show that I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Don't believe those misleading dog stations," he said, sitting in a car in front of what appeared to be his residence and holding an umbrella out of the passenger side door in the rain. The video clip and comments lasted less than a minute — unusual for Gadhafi, who is known for rambling speeches that often last hours.
Gadhafi turns 69 sometime this year — the month and day of his birth in 1942 is uncertain — and he came to power in a coup that ousted King Idris in 1969. One of the foundations of the revolution was a rejection of communism and capitalism — shunning anything linked to Libya's colonial history, and a determination to chart his own course.
With no constitution, the blueprint for governance was his "Green Book" — a slim volume of his philosophies that inspired an entire research department at one of Libya's main universities. Plaster representations of the book have been erected in cities across Libya.
In addition, no one branch of Libya's feared security apparatus has a monopoly on power.
One son — Mutassim — was picked to head one branch, while another son, Khamis, headed what analysts say is a British-trained unit. A third son, Seif al-Islam, has become the Western face of the regime and was put forth as the reformer, heading a variety of youth organizations.
All three were left to jockey for power while Gadhafi was depicted on billboards across Tripoli gazing into the distance.
Occasionally, he weighed in. For example, he once issued calls to dismantle the government because of corruption and distribute oil wealth directly to the people.
Each statement left observers scrambling for clues as to which son was more in favor.
All the while, Gadhafi watched, careful to remain firmly in control and ready to act in those rare occasions when the fear inspired by the security forces was not enough to maintain order.
The image of a leader unafraid to use force is one Libyans know well.
Seif al-Islam, in what many see as a thinly veiled warning of a possible escalation of the crackdown, said on state television early Monday that the country could be headed for civil war and that Libya's army, which fully backed his father, was unlike the armed forces of Tunisia or Egypt.
The son's comments "showed that Gadhafi, or those close to him, want to fight it out and create a situation like in Somalia where they will leave behind them a broken society," said Saad Djebbar, a Libya expert with Cambridge University's North African Institute.
It's as if he were saying, "If I lose, you lose the country," Djebbar said.
Instead of a country with one of Africa's highest per capita incomes — about $13,800, according to the CIA — Libyans could find their vast oil wealth being fought over by various tribal groups.
Over the years, Gadhafi used his country's vast oil wealth to support militant movements and their leaders — from Abu Nidal and other Palestinian factions to Venezuelan terrorist Carlos the Jackal and the Irish Republican Army.
After the United States decided that Libya was behind a 1986 bombing of a West Berlin disco, killing two American servicemen, a Turkish woman and wounding 200 others, it unleashed airstrikes on targets in Tripoli and Benghazi killed 41 people, including Gadhafi's adopted daughter.
But the man President Ronald Reagan famously dubbed the "mad dog of the Middle East" was undaunted, launching in 1988 an operation that led to the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed all 269 people on board and 11 on the ground.
The incident may have cast Gadhafi — and Libya — as a pariah, but that ostracism only served to harden his resolve.
Gadhafi was also said to have had Mansour Kikhia, a former foreign minister and dissident, kidnapped while he was in Cairo for a human rights conference in 1993. Kikhia was said to have later been killed and his body melted down in a steel plant.
Much of his energy went into opposing Israel. In 1987, at an Arab summit in Algiers, he wore a white glove on his right hand to avoid contact with those who dealt with Israel. He also heaped scorn on his fellow Arab leaders. In one instance, he sat contemptuously at an Arab League meeting in the center of the room smoking a cigar.
The outbursts abroad were for domestic consumption. At home, he continued refining the revolution, drawing attention to perceived injustices in Libya with little concern that he and his family may be guilty of some of them.
He decried the corruption that allowed a limited number of Libyans to accumulate tremendous wealth. But Gadhafi and his family is believed to have amassed a fortune — often siphoned directly from the wealth accumulated from sitting atop Africa's largest proven reserves or crude or from a share in business ventures.
"Gadhafi's sort of joke jamahiriya system has mutated into some kind of crony capitalism," Marks said.
Libya's sovereign wealth fund, meanwhile, has almost $70 billion — putting it in the realm of other oil giants like the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia. The country, a member of OPEC, produces almost 1.6 million barrels per day of crude. About 80 percent of its exports go to Europe.
Even with its oil wealth, Libya, with a population of slightly over 6.4 million, was far from reaching the levels of Norway, another major oil producer with a slightly smaller population. The difference stemmed, in part, from Libya's ostracism for so long.
While extolling the egalitarian nature of his country, Gadhafi went to great lengths to ensure that regions directly in his domain — such as Tripoli — got most of the benefits, while the east faced the harshest conditions and crackdowns.
The heaviest fighting and unrest has been around Benghazi, a city of about 700,000 where anti-Gadhafi animosity runs deep, especially after Libyan forces killed 1,200 inmates — most of them political prisoners — during prison riots in 1996.
Economic reforms that began to take shape after Libya renounced its weapons of mass destruction program and claimed responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing have reshaped Tripoli.
Foreign oil companies moved in, with giant BP PLC drawing tremendous ire amid often-denied accusations that it was instrumental — directly or indirectly — in helping bring about Scotland's compassionate release of the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. But others, from Exxon Mobil and Occidental Petroleum, to Italy's Eni, Royal Dutch Shell and Russia's Gazprom, are also hard at work.
International banks began to move in as well, and other Western companies were quick to set up shop in a country that had, until around 2005, been a sanction-decreed investment no-fly zone.
Against that backdrop, Gadhafi endured. More recently, he has been known as much for his eccentricities — his female Ethiopian bodyguards and a Ukrainian nurse, wearing Bedouin-style robes or bringing his own Bedouin-style tent on trips abroad — as for defying the West.
While Britain's government scrambled with a public relations nightmare after the jailed Lockerbie bomber it sent back to Libya was released, Gadhafi was unfazed, apparently confident in the knowledge that after paying about $2.7 billion in compensation to the families of the bombing victims, the money was ready to flow back.
Change may have come in the form of an economic opening, but the country's political structure was unaltered, as was its attitude toward dissent.
Even if Gadhafi emerges from the current crisis still in power, the impact will reverberate in Libya. Analysts say that some oil production has already been affected as companies either pull or consider withdrawing their foreign employees.
Gadhafi "has lived with international isolation before. He's going to be tough nut to crack," Marks said. "They're going to have to take him out feet first."
Now, the ultimate survivor is confronted by the biggest threat to his rule from a popular rebellion.
The anti-government battles that have reportedly left more than 200 people dead in the past week will indelibly alter Libya's political landscape. If Gadhafi is toppled, like the leaders of neighboring Egypt and Tunisia, the lack of a clear institutional system in Libya thanks to the very system he set up, and the absence of any kind of established opposition bloc, leaves open the question of who could fill the vacuum.
Egypt and Tunisia had well-established — but corruption-plagued — governing institutions that allowed for a smoother transition and rebuilding of the nation.
Not so in Libya, where Gadhafi holds no official role in government. The so-called "jamahiriya" system that he set up is designed to give the appearance of a government, with a series of People's Committees and People's Congresses.
In reality, it's a system whose sole purpose is to ensure that power stays in the hands of the Arab world's longest-serving leader.
While former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak "was playing tennis in Sharm el-Sheik, Gadhafi .... spent his time building up his power base," said Jon Marks, a Libya expert with London-based Cross-border Information.
"Every time you look at the different strands of Libyan society ... you see that there's one puppetmaster, and it's Gadhafi," he said.
Amid the protests, Gadhafi wend on state-run television early Tuesday in an attempt to show the country he was still in charge and to dispel some media reports he had fled.
"I am here to show that I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Don't believe those misleading dog stations," he said, sitting in a car in front of what appeared to be his residence and holding an umbrella out of the passenger side door in the rain. The video clip and comments lasted less than a minute — unusual for Gadhafi, who is known for rambling speeches that often last hours.
Gadhafi turns 69 sometime this year — the month and day of his birth in 1942 is uncertain — and he came to power in a coup that ousted King Idris in 1969. One of the foundations of the revolution was a rejection of communism and capitalism — shunning anything linked to Libya's colonial history, and a determination to chart his own course.
With no constitution, the blueprint for governance was his "Green Book" — a slim volume of his philosophies that inspired an entire research department at one of Libya's main universities. Plaster representations of the book have been erected in cities across Libya.
In addition, no one branch of Libya's feared security apparatus has a monopoly on power.
One son — Mutassim — was picked to head one branch, while another son, Khamis, headed what analysts say is a British-trained unit. A third son, Seif al-Islam, has become the Western face of the regime and was put forth as the reformer, heading a variety of youth organizations.
All three were left to jockey for power while Gadhafi was depicted on billboards across Tripoli gazing into the distance.
Occasionally, he weighed in. For example, he once issued calls to dismantle the government because of corruption and distribute oil wealth directly to the people.
Each statement left observers scrambling for clues as to which son was more in favor.
All the while, Gadhafi watched, careful to remain firmly in control and ready to act in those rare occasions when the fear inspired by the security forces was not enough to maintain order.
The image of a leader unafraid to use force is one Libyans know well.
Seif al-Islam, in what many see as a thinly veiled warning of a possible escalation of the crackdown, said on state television early Monday that the country could be headed for civil war and that Libya's army, which fully backed his father, was unlike the armed forces of Tunisia or Egypt.
The son's comments "showed that Gadhafi, or those close to him, want to fight it out and create a situation like in Somalia where they will leave behind them a broken society," said Saad Djebbar, a Libya expert with Cambridge University's North African Institute.
It's as if he were saying, "If I lose, you lose the country," Djebbar said.
Instead of a country with one of Africa's highest per capita incomes — about $13,800, according to the CIA — Libyans could find their vast oil wealth being fought over by various tribal groups.
Over the years, Gadhafi used his country's vast oil wealth to support militant movements and their leaders — from Abu Nidal and other Palestinian factions to Venezuelan terrorist Carlos the Jackal and the Irish Republican Army.
After the United States decided that Libya was behind a 1986 bombing of a West Berlin disco, killing two American servicemen, a Turkish woman and wounding 200 others, it unleashed airstrikes on targets in Tripoli and Benghazi killed 41 people, including Gadhafi's adopted daughter.
But the man President Ronald Reagan famously dubbed the "mad dog of the Middle East" was undaunted, launching in 1988 an operation that led to the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed all 269 people on board and 11 on the ground.
The incident may have cast Gadhafi — and Libya — as a pariah, but that ostracism only served to harden his resolve.
Gadhafi was also said to have had Mansour Kikhia, a former foreign minister and dissident, kidnapped while he was in Cairo for a human rights conference in 1993. Kikhia was said to have later been killed and his body melted down in a steel plant.
Much of his energy went into opposing Israel. In 1987, at an Arab summit in Algiers, he wore a white glove on his right hand to avoid contact with those who dealt with Israel. He also heaped scorn on his fellow Arab leaders. In one instance, he sat contemptuously at an Arab League meeting in the center of the room smoking a cigar.
The outbursts abroad were for domestic consumption. At home, he continued refining the revolution, drawing attention to perceived injustices in Libya with little concern that he and his family may be guilty of some of them.
He decried the corruption that allowed a limited number of Libyans to accumulate tremendous wealth. But Gadhafi and his family is believed to have amassed a fortune — often siphoned directly from the wealth accumulated from sitting atop Africa's largest proven reserves or crude or from a share in business ventures.
"Gadhafi's sort of joke jamahiriya system has mutated into some kind of crony capitalism," Marks said.
Libya's sovereign wealth fund, meanwhile, has almost $70 billion — putting it in the realm of other oil giants like the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia. The country, a member of OPEC, produces almost 1.6 million barrels per day of crude. About 80 percent of its exports go to Europe.
Even with its oil wealth, Libya, with a population of slightly over 6.4 million, was far from reaching the levels of Norway, another major oil producer with a slightly smaller population. The difference stemmed, in part, from Libya's ostracism for so long.
While extolling the egalitarian nature of his country, Gadhafi went to great lengths to ensure that regions directly in his domain — such as Tripoli — got most of the benefits, while the east faced the harshest conditions and crackdowns.
The heaviest fighting and unrest has been around Benghazi, a city of about 700,000 where anti-Gadhafi animosity runs deep, especially after Libyan forces killed 1,200 inmates — most of them political prisoners — during prison riots in 1996.
Economic reforms that began to take shape after Libya renounced its weapons of mass destruction program and claimed responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing have reshaped Tripoli.
Foreign oil companies moved in, with giant BP PLC drawing tremendous ire amid often-denied accusations that it was instrumental — directly or indirectly — in helping bring about Scotland's compassionate release of the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. But others, from Exxon Mobil and Occidental Petroleum, to Italy's Eni, Royal Dutch Shell and Russia's Gazprom, are also hard at work.
International banks began to move in as well, and other Western companies were quick to set up shop in a country that had, until around 2005, been a sanction-decreed investment no-fly zone.
Against that backdrop, Gadhafi endured. More recently, he has been known as much for his eccentricities — his female Ethiopian bodyguards and a Ukrainian nurse, wearing Bedouin-style robes or bringing his own Bedouin-style tent on trips abroad — as for defying the West.
While Britain's government scrambled with a public relations nightmare after the jailed Lockerbie bomber it sent back to Libya was released, Gadhafi was unfazed, apparently confident in the knowledge that after paying about $2.7 billion in compensation to the families of the bombing victims, the money was ready to flow back.
Change may have come in the form of an economic opening, but the country's political structure was unaltered, as was its attitude toward dissent.
Even if Gadhafi emerges from the current crisis still in power, the impact will reverberate in Libya. Analysts say that some oil production has already been affected as companies either pull or consider withdrawing their foreign employees.
Gadhafi "has lived with international isolation before. He's going to be tough nut to crack," Marks said. "They're going to have to take him out feet first."
36 killed in Mali stampede
AP, BAMAKO, Mali: At least 36 people were killed in a stampede Monday when a crowd surged against a metal barrier after a Muslim ceremony, Mali's minister of interior security and civil protection said.
Sadio Gassame said the stampede at Bamako's Modibo Keita Stadium took place during a ceremony marking the Muslim holy period of Maouloud. The incident occurred as tens of thousands of people were attempting to leave through a metallic enclosure.
Anguished families gathered outside the capital's Gabriel Toure Hospital where the staff was preparing to post a list of the dead. At least 64 others were wounded.
Sidiki Coulibaly was visibly shaken as he waited for the dreaded news. "I've already had it confirmed that my aunt died. We are now trying to find out what happened to her daughter. She's just 10 years old. They go to this event together every year," he said.
At the place where people had been crushed, security personnel were collecting piles of shoes to put into a waiting van. A young girl sat on a bucket at the edge of the scene, crying. She had lost both parents and didn't know her way home.
Sadio Gassame said the stampede at Bamako's Modibo Keita Stadium took place during a ceremony marking the Muslim holy period of Maouloud. The incident occurred as tens of thousands of people were attempting to leave through a metallic enclosure.
Anguished families gathered outside the capital's Gabriel Toure Hospital where the staff was preparing to post a list of the dead. At least 64 others were wounded.
Sidiki Coulibaly was visibly shaken as he waited for the dreaded news. "I've already had it confirmed that my aunt died. We are now trying to find out what happened to her daughter. She's just 10 years old. They go to this event together every year," he said.
At the place where people had been crushed, security personnel were collecting piles of shoes to put into a waiting van. A young girl sat on a bucket at the edge of the scene, crying. She had lost both parents and didn't know her way home.
Strong quake in New Zealand collapses buildings
AP, WELLINGTON, New Zealand: A powerful earthquake struck New Zealand's already-bruised city of Christchurch on Tuesday, collapsing buildings, burying vehicles under debris and sending rescuers scrambling to help trapped people amid reports of multiple deaths.
The 6.3-magnitude quake struck the country's second-largest city on a busy weekday afternoon, in contrast to a major quake that damaged Christchurch last September but caused no deaths when it struck before dawn on a weekend. Police said there were reports of multiple fatalities from the latest temblor, while Prime Minister John Key told Parliament details of the deaths still were too shaky to confirm.
Witnesses said the quake destroyed the iconic stone Christchurch Cathedral, its spire toppled into a central city square, and police said there was a report of two buses crushed under falling buildings.
Live video footage showed sections of buildings collapsed into the streets, strewn with bricks and shattered concrete. Sidewalks and roads were cracked and split, and thousands of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens blared.
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city center.
"Make no mistake — this is going to be a very black day for this shaken city," he said when asked about possible deaths.
The airport was closed and Christchurch Hospital was evacuated. Power and telephone lines were knocked out, and pipes burst, flooding the streets with water. Some cars apparently parked on the street were buried under rubble.
Some people were stuck in office towers and firefighters climbed ladders to pluck people trapped on roofs to safety.
"The details we have are extremely sketchy," the prime minister told Parliament. "The worrying fear, of course, is that this earthquake has taken place at a time when people were going about their business — it is a very populated time, with people at work, children at school. Sadly, I cannot rule out that there have been fatalities.
"But we are aware of significant damage to buildings that had people in them at the time," he said.
Key said people were being told to get out of the city for their safety.
New Zealand police said in a statement that there were reports of multiple fatalities in the city, including a report that two buses had been crushed by falling buildings. The police statement said there were other reports of fires burning.
Gary Moore said he and 19 other colleagues were trapped in their twelfth floor office after the stairwell collapsed in the quake. He did not know if people on other floors were trapped.
"We watched the cathedral collapse out our window while we were holding onto the walls," Moore said. "Every aftershock sends us rushing under the desks. It's very unnerving but we can clearly see there are other priorities out the window. There has been a lot of damage and I guess people are attending to that before they come and get us."
The multistory Pyne Gould Guinness Building, housing more than 200 workers, has collapsed and an unknown number of people are trapped inside. Television pictures showed rescuers, many of them office workers, dragging severely injured people from the rubble. Many had blood streaming down their faces. Screams could be heard from those still trapped.
Parker, the mayor, said he was on the top floor of the city council building when the quake hit just before 1 p.m. local time, throwing him across the room.
"I got down onto the street and there were scenes of great confusion, a lot of very upset people," he said. "I know of people in our building who are injured and I've had some reports of serious injuries throughout the city."
New Zealand's TV3 said 24 people were trapped on the 17th floor of the 19-story Forsyth Barr office building, near the cathedral. The building was intact but a stairwell had collapsed, it said.
The network broadcast live pictures of rescuers accessing the building's top story in gondola lifted by a crane and pulling people out one by one.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the temblor was centered 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the city at a depth of 2.5 miles (4 kilometers). A 5.6-magnitude aftershock hit shortly after 7 miles (11 kilometers) east of the city at a depth of 3.7 miles (6 kilometers).
"When the shaking had stopped I looked out of the window, which gives a great view onto Christchurch, and there was just dust," said city councilman Barry Corbett, who was on one of the top floors of the city council building when the quake struck. "It was evident straight away that a lot of buildings had gone."
Christchurch has been hit by hundreds of aftershocks since a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Sept. 4, which wrecked hundreds of buildings, and caused an estimated 4 billion New Zealand dollars ($3 billion) in damage, but caused no deaths.
A strong aftershock in December caused further damage to buildings.The city was still rebuilding from those quakes when Tuesday's temblor hit.
Christchurch is home to about 350,000 people and is considered a tourist center and gateway to the South Island.
New Zealand sits on the Pacific "ring of fire" — an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching from Chile in South America through Alaska and down through the South Pacific. It records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year — but only about 150 are felt by residents, and fewer than 10 a year do any damage.
The 6.3-magnitude quake struck the country's second-largest city on a busy weekday afternoon, in contrast to a major quake that damaged Christchurch last September but caused no deaths when it struck before dawn on a weekend. Police said there were reports of multiple fatalities from the latest temblor, while Prime Minister John Key told Parliament details of the deaths still were too shaky to confirm.
Witnesses said the quake destroyed the iconic stone Christchurch Cathedral, its spire toppled into a central city square, and police said there was a report of two buses crushed under falling buildings.
Live video footage showed sections of buildings collapsed into the streets, strewn with bricks and shattered concrete. Sidewalks and roads were cracked and split, and thousands of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens blared.
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city center.
"Make no mistake — this is going to be a very black day for this shaken city," he said when asked about possible deaths.
The airport was closed and Christchurch Hospital was evacuated. Power and telephone lines were knocked out, and pipes burst, flooding the streets with water. Some cars apparently parked on the street were buried under rubble.
Some people were stuck in office towers and firefighters climbed ladders to pluck people trapped on roofs to safety.
"The details we have are extremely sketchy," the prime minister told Parliament. "The worrying fear, of course, is that this earthquake has taken place at a time when people were going about their business — it is a very populated time, with people at work, children at school. Sadly, I cannot rule out that there have been fatalities.
"But we are aware of significant damage to buildings that had people in them at the time," he said.
Key said people were being told to get out of the city for their safety.
New Zealand police said in a statement that there were reports of multiple fatalities in the city, including a report that two buses had been crushed by falling buildings. The police statement said there were other reports of fires burning.
Gary Moore said he and 19 other colleagues were trapped in their twelfth floor office after the stairwell collapsed in the quake. He did not know if people on other floors were trapped.
"We watched the cathedral collapse out our window while we were holding onto the walls," Moore said. "Every aftershock sends us rushing under the desks. It's very unnerving but we can clearly see there are other priorities out the window. There has been a lot of damage and I guess people are attending to that before they come and get us."
The multistory Pyne Gould Guinness Building, housing more than 200 workers, has collapsed and an unknown number of people are trapped inside. Television pictures showed rescuers, many of them office workers, dragging severely injured people from the rubble. Many had blood streaming down their faces. Screams could be heard from those still trapped.
Parker, the mayor, said he was on the top floor of the city council building when the quake hit just before 1 p.m. local time, throwing him across the room.
"I got down onto the street and there were scenes of great confusion, a lot of very upset people," he said. "I know of people in our building who are injured and I've had some reports of serious injuries throughout the city."
New Zealand's TV3 said 24 people were trapped on the 17th floor of the 19-story Forsyth Barr office building, near the cathedral. The building was intact but a stairwell had collapsed, it said.
The network broadcast live pictures of rescuers accessing the building's top story in gondola lifted by a crane and pulling people out one by one.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the temblor was centered 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the city at a depth of 2.5 miles (4 kilometers). A 5.6-magnitude aftershock hit shortly after 7 miles (11 kilometers) east of the city at a depth of 3.7 miles (6 kilometers).
"When the shaking had stopped I looked out of the window, which gives a great view onto Christchurch, and there was just dust," said city councilman Barry Corbett, who was on one of the top floors of the city council building when the quake struck. "It was evident straight away that a lot of buildings had gone."
Christchurch has been hit by hundreds of aftershocks since a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Sept. 4, which wrecked hundreds of buildings, and caused an estimated 4 billion New Zealand dollars ($3 billion) in damage, but caused no deaths.
A strong aftershock in December caused further damage to buildings.The city was still rebuilding from those quakes when Tuesday's temblor hit.
Christchurch is home to about 350,000 people and is considered a tourist center and gateway to the South Island.
New Zealand sits on the Pacific "ring of fire" — an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching from Chile in South America through Alaska and down through the South Pacific. It records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year — but only about 150 are felt by residents, and fewer than 10 a year do any damage.
Gadhafi goes on Libyan TV amid wave of protests
AP, CAIRO: Deep rifts opened in Moammar Gadhafi's regime, with Libyan government officials at home and abroad resigning, air force pilots defecting and a bloody crackdown on protest in the capital of Tripoli, where cars and buildings were burned. Gadhafi went on state TV early Tuesday to attempt to show he was still in charge.
World leaders expressed outrage Monday at the "vicious forms of repression" used against the demonstrators.
The longest serving Arab leader appeared briefly on TV to dispel rumors that he had fled. Sitting in a car in front of what appeared to be his residence and holding an umbrella out of the passenger side door, he told an interviewer that he had wanted to go to the capital's Green Square to talk to his supporters, but the rain stopped him.
"I am here to show that I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Don't believe those misleading dog stations," Gadhafi said, referring to the media reports that he had left the country. The video clip and comments lasted less than a minute — unusual for the mercurial leader, who is known for rambling speeches that often last hours.
Pro-Gadhafi militia drove through Tripoli with loudspeakers and told people not to leave their homes, witnesses said, as security forces sought to keep the unrest that swept eastern parts of the country — leaving the second-largest city of Benghazi in protesters' control — from overwhelming the capital of 2 million people.
State TV said the military had "stormed the hideouts of saboteurs" and urged the public to back security forces. Protesters called for a demonstration in Tripoli's central Green Square and in front of Gadhafi's residence, but witnesses in various neighborhoods described a scene of intimidation: helicopters hovering above the main seaside boulevard and pro-Gadhafi gunmen firing from moving cars and even shooting at the facades of homes to terrify the population.
Youths trying to gather in the streets scattered and ran for cover amid gunfire, according to several witnesses, who like many reached in Tripoli by The Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. They said people wept over bodies of the dead left in the street.
Warplanes swooped low over Tripoli in the evening and snipers took up position on roofs, apparently to stop people outside the capital from joining protests, according to Mohammed Abdul-Malek, a London-based opposition activist in touch with residents.
Gadhafi appeared to have lost the support of at least one major tribe, several military units and his own diplomats, including Libya's ambassador in Washington, Ali Adjali. Deputy U.N. Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi accused the longest-serving Arab leader of committing genocide against his own people in the current crisis.
The eruption of turmoil in the capital after seven days of protests and bloody clashes in Libya's eastern cities sharply escalated the challenge to Gadhafi. His security forces have unleashed the bloodiest crackdown of any Arab country against the wave of protests sweeping the region, which toppled leaders of Egypt and Tunisia. At least 233 people have been killed so far, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch. The difficulty in getting information from Libya made obtaining a precise death toll impossible.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called on Gadhafi to "stop this unacceptable bloodshed" and said the world was watching the events "with alarm."
British Prime Minister David Cameron, visiting neighboring Egypt, called the crackdown "appalling."
"The regime is using the most vicious forms of repression against people who want to see that country — which is one of the most closed and one of the most autocratic — make progress," he said.
Communications to Tripoli appeared to have been cut, and residents could not be reached by phone from outside the country. State TV showed video of hundreds of Gadhafi supporters rallying in Green Square, waving palm fronds and pictures of him.
State TV quoted Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, as saying the military conducted airstrikes on remote areas, away from residential neighborhoods, on munitions warehouses, denying reports that warplanes attacked Tripoli and Benghazi.
Jordanians who fled Libya gave horrific accounts of a "bloodbath" in Tripoli, saying they saw people shot, scores of burned cars and shops, and what appeared to be armed mercenaries who looked as if they were from other African countries.
Many billboards and posters of Gadhafi were smashed or burned along a road to downtown Tripoli, "emboldening" protesters, said a man who lives on the western outskirts of the capital.
The first major protests to hit an OPEC country — and major supplier to Europe — sent oil prices jumping, and the industry has begun eyeing reserves touched only after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the first Gulf War in 1991.
Tripoli was largely shut down Monday, with schools, government offices and most stores closed, except for a few bakeries, said residents, who hunkered down in their homes. Armed members of pro-government organizations called "Revolutionary Committees" hunted for protesters in Tripoli's old city, said one protester named Fathi.
Members of the militia occupied the city center and no one was able to walk in the street, said one resident who lived near Green Square and described a "very, very violent" situation.
"We know that the regime is reaching its end and Libyans are not retreating," the resident said. "People have a strange determination after all that happened."
The heaviest fighting so far has been in the east. Security forces in Benghazi opened fire Sunday on protesters storming police stations and government buildings. But in several instances, units of the military sided with protesters.
By Monday, protesters had claimed control of the city, overrunning its main security headquarters, called the Katiba.
Celebrating protesters raised the flag of Libya's old monarchy, toppled in 1969 in a Gadhafi-led military coup, over Benghazi's main courthouse and on tanks around the city.
"Gadhafi needs one more push and he is gone," said lawyer Amal Roqaqie.
Gadhafi's son went on state TV early Monday with a sometimes confused speech of nearly 40 minutes, vowing to fight and warning that if protests continue, a civil war will erupt in which Libya's oil wealth "will be burned."
"Moammar Gadhafi, our leader, is leading the battle in Tripoli, and we are with him," he said. "The armed forces are with him. Tens of thousands are heading here to be with him. We will fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet," Seif al-Islam Gadhafi said.
He also promised "historic" reforms if protests stop. State TV said Monday he had formed a commission to investigate deaths during the unrest. Protesters ignored the vague gestures. Even as he spoke, the first clashes between demonstrators and security forces in the heart of Tripoli were still raging, lasting until dawn.
Fire raged Monday at the People's Hall, the main building for government gatherings where the country's equivalent of a parliament holds sessions several times a year, the pro-government news website Qureyna said.
It also reported the first major sign of discontent in Gadhafi's government, saying Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel-Jalil resigned to protest the "excessive use of force" against unarmed demonstrators.
There were reports of ambassadors abroad defecting. Libya's former ambassador to the Arab League in Cairo, Abdel-Moneim al-Houni, who resigned his post Sunday to side with protesters, demanded Gadhafi and his commanders and aides be put on trial for "the mass killings in Libya."
"Gadhafi's regime is now in the trash of history because he betrayed his nation and his people," al-Houni said in a statement.
A Libyan diplomat in China, Hussein el-Sadek el-Mesrati, told Al-Jazeera, "I resigned from representing the government of Mussolini and Hitler."
Two Mirage warplanes from the Libyan air force fled a Tripoli air base and landed on the nearby island of Malta, and their pilots — two colonels — asked for political asylum, Maltese military officials said.
A protest march Sunday night sparked scenes of mayhem in the heavily secured capital. Protesters had streamed into Green Square, all but taking over the plaza and surrounding streets in the area between Tripoli's Ottoman-era old city and its Italian-style downtown.
That was when the backlash began, with snipers firing from rooftops and militiamen attacking the crowds, shooting and chasing people down side streets, according to witnesses and protesters.
Gadhafi supporters in pickup trucks and cars raced through the square, shooting automatic weapons. "They were driving like madmen searching for someone to kill. ... It was total chaos, shooting and shouting," said a 28-year-old protester.
The witnesses reported seeing casualties, but the number could not be confirmed. The witness named Fathi said he saw at least two he believed were dead and many more wounded. After midnight, protesters took over the main Tripoli offices of state-run satellite stations Al-Jamahiriya-1 and Al-Shebabiya, a witness said.
"Gunfire was echoing across the capital all night last night," said Adel Suleiman, a Jordanian adviser to the Libyan Central Bank governor.
"I saw scores of burned cars and shops in the capital," said Suleiman, who was among about 260 Jordanians evacuated from Tripoli.
Mahmoud Shawkat, a 28-year-old computer engineer, said his Libyan neighbor was shot in the head during a protest in Green Square. "I'm not sure if he died," Shawkat said. "I had to flee to the airport."
A Jordanian engineer who identified himself as Abu Saleh, 30, said armed militias were in Green Square on Monday morning, and many of them appeared to be foreigners from other parts of Africa "who were shooting randomly at people and in the air. Some of them were carrying swords."
He said he also saw bloodstains on the road on my way to the airport and "pictures of Gadhafi were also torched."
Fragmentation is a real danger in Libya, a country of deep tribal divisions and a historic rivalry between Tripoli and Benghazi. The system of rule created by Gadhafi — the "Jamahiriya," or "rule by masses" — is highly decentralized, run by "popular committees" in a complicated hierarchy that effectively means there is no real center of decision-making except Gadhafi, his sons and their top aides.
An expert on Libya said she believed the regime was collapsing.
"Unlike the fall of the regime in Tunisia and Egypt, this is going to be a collapse into a civil war," said Lisa Anderson, president of the American University in Cairo, and a Libya expert.
Seif has often been put forward as the regime's face of reform and is often cited as a likely successor. His younger brother, Mutassim, is the national security adviser, with a strong role in the military and security forces. Another brother, Khamis, heads the army's 32nd Brigade, which according to U.S. diplomats is the best-trained and best-equipped force in the military.
In Benghazi, cars honked their horns in celebration and protesters in the streets chanted "Long live Libya" on Monday, a day after bloody clashes that killed at least 60 people.
Benghazi's airport was closed, according to an airport official in Cairo. A Turkish Airlines flight trying to land in Benghazi to evacuate Turkish citizens was turned away Monday, told by ground control to circle over the airport, then to return to Istanbul.
There were fears of chaos as young men — including regime supporters — seized weapons from the Katiba and other captured security buildings. "The youths now have arms and that's worrying," said Iman, a doctor at the main hospital. "We are appealing to the wise men of every neighborhood to rein in the youths."
Youth volunteers directed traffic and guarded homes and public facilities, said Najla, a lawyer and university lecturer in Benghazi. She and other residents said police had disappeared from the streets.
After seizing the Katiba, protesters found the bodies of 13 uniformed security officers inside who had been handcuffed and shot in the head, then set on fire, said a doctor named Hassan, who asked not to be identified further for fear of reprisals. He said protesters believed the 13 had been executed by fellow security forces for refusing to attack protesters.
Tunisia's official news agency said at least 2,300 Tunisians fled neighboring Libya on Sunday and Monday out of concerns over the unrest, crossing at the border post of Ras Jedir. Other reports suggest the figure was much higher.
World leaders expressed outrage Monday at the "vicious forms of repression" used against the demonstrators.
The longest serving Arab leader appeared briefly on TV to dispel rumors that he had fled. Sitting in a car in front of what appeared to be his residence and holding an umbrella out of the passenger side door, he told an interviewer that he had wanted to go to the capital's Green Square to talk to his supporters, but the rain stopped him.
"I am here to show that I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Don't believe those misleading dog stations," Gadhafi said, referring to the media reports that he had left the country. The video clip and comments lasted less than a minute — unusual for the mercurial leader, who is known for rambling speeches that often last hours.
Pro-Gadhafi militia drove through Tripoli with loudspeakers and told people not to leave their homes, witnesses said, as security forces sought to keep the unrest that swept eastern parts of the country — leaving the second-largest city of Benghazi in protesters' control — from overwhelming the capital of 2 million people.
State TV said the military had "stormed the hideouts of saboteurs" and urged the public to back security forces. Protesters called for a demonstration in Tripoli's central Green Square and in front of Gadhafi's residence, but witnesses in various neighborhoods described a scene of intimidation: helicopters hovering above the main seaside boulevard and pro-Gadhafi gunmen firing from moving cars and even shooting at the facades of homes to terrify the population.
Youths trying to gather in the streets scattered and ran for cover amid gunfire, according to several witnesses, who like many reached in Tripoli by The Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. They said people wept over bodies of the dead left in the street.
Warplanes swooped low over Tripoli in the evening and snipers took up position on roofs, apparently to stop people outside the capital from joining protests, according to Mohammed Abdul-Malek, a London-based opposition activist in touch with residents.
Gadhafi appeared to have lost the support of at least one major tribe, several military units and his own diplomats, including Libya's ambassador in Washington, Ali Adjali. Deputy U.N. Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi accused the longest-serving Arab leader of committing genocide against his own people in the current crisis.
The eruption of turmoil in the capital after seven days of protests and bloody clashes in Libya's eastern cities sharply escalated the challenge to Gadhafi. His security forces have unleashed the bloodiest crackdown of any Arab country against the wave of protests sweeping the region, which toppled leaders of Egypt and Tunisia. At least 233 people have been killed so far, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch. The difficulty in getting information from Libya made obtaining a precise death toll impossible.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called on Gadhafi to "stop this unacceptable bloodshed" and said the world was watching the events "with alarm."
British Prime Minister David Cameron, visiting neighboring Egypt, called the crackdown "appalling."
"The regime is using the most vicious forms of repression against people who want to see that country — which is one of the most closed and one of the most autocratic — make progress," he said.
Communications to Tripoli appeared to have been cut, and residents could not be reached by phone from outside the country. State TV showed video of hundreds of Gadhafi supporters rallying in Green Square, waving palm fronds and pictures of him.
State TV quoted Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, as saying the military conducted airstrikes on remote areas, away from residential neighborhoods, on munitions warehouses, denying reports that warplanes attacked Tripoli and Benghazi.
Jordanians who fled Libya gave horrific accounts of a "bloodbath" in Tripoli, saying they saw people shot, scores of burned cars and shops, and what appeared to be armed mercenaries who looked as if they were from other African countries.
Many billboards and posters of Gadhafi were smashed or burned along a road to downtown Tripoli, "emboldening" protesters, said a man who lives on the western outskirts of the capital.
The first major protests to hit an OPEC country — and major supplier to Europe — sent oil prices jumping, and the industry has begun eyeing reserves touched only after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the first Gulf War in 1991.
Tripoli was largely shut down Monday, with schools, government offices and most stores closed, except for a few bakeries, said residents, who hunkered down in their homes. Armed members of pro-government organizations called "Revolutionary Committees" hunted for protesters in Tripoli's old city, said one protester named Fathi.
Members of the militia occupied the city center and no one was able to walk in the street, said one resident who lived near Green Square and described a "very, very violent" situation.
"We know that the regime is reaching its end and Libyans are not retreating," the resident said. "People have a strange determination after all that happened."
The heaviest fighting so far has been in the east. Security forces in Benghazi opened fire Sunday on protesters storming police stations and government buildings. But in several instances, units of the military sided with protesters.
By Monday, protesters had claimed control of the city, overrunning its main security headquarters, called the Katiba.
Celebrating protesters raised the flag of Libya's old monarchy, toppled in 1969 in a Gadhafi-led military coup, over Benghazi's main courthouse and on tanks around the city.
"Gadhafi needs one more push and he is gone," said lawyer Amal Roqaqie.
Gadhafi's son went on state TV early Monday with a sometimes confused speech of nearly 40 minutes, vowing to fight and warning that if protests continue, a civil war will erupt in which Libya's oil wealth "will be burned."
"Moammar Gadhafi, our leader, is leading the battle in Tripoli, and we are with him," he said. "The armed forces are with him. Tens of thousands are heading here to be with him. We will fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet," Seif al-Islam Gadhafi said.
He also promised "historic" reforms if protests stop. State TV said Monday he had formed a commission to investigate deaths during the unrest. Protesters ignored the vague gestures. Even as he spoke, the first clashes between demonstrators and security forces in the heart of Tripoli were still raging, lasting until dawn.
Fire raged Monday at the People's Hall, the main building for government gatherings where the country's equivalent of a parliament holds sessions several times a year, the pro-government news website Qureyna said.
It also reported the first major sign of discontent in Gadhafi's government, saying Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel-Jalil resigned to protest the "excessive use of force" against unarmed demonstrators.
There were reports of ambassadors abroad defecting. Libya's former ambassador to the Arab League in Cairo, Abdel-Moneim al-Houni, who resigned his post Sunday to side with protesters, demanded Gadhafi and his commanders and aides be put on trial for "the mass killings in Libya."
"Gadhafi's regime is now in the trash of history because he betrayed his nation and his people," al-Houni said in a statement.
A Libyan diplomat in China, Hussein el-Sadek el-Mesrati, told Al-Jazeera, "I resigned from representing the government of Mussolini and Hitler."
Two Mirage warplanes from the Libyan air force fled a Tripoli air base and landed on the nearby island of Malta, and their pilots — two colonels — asked for political asylum, Maltese military officials said.
A protest march Sunday night sparked scenes of mayhem in the heavily secured capital. Protesters had streamed into Green Square, all but taking over the plaza and surrounding streets in the area between Tripoli's Ottoman-era old city and its Italian-style downtown.
That was when the backlash began, with snipers firing from rooftops and militiamen attacking the crowds, shooting and chasing people down side streets, according to witnesses and protesters.
Gadhafi supporters in pickup trucks and cars raced through the square, shooting automatic weapons. "They were driving like madmen searching for someone to kill. ... It was total chaos, shooting and shouting," said a 28-year-old protester.
The witnesses reported seeing casualties, but the number could not be confirmed. The witness named Fathi said he saw at least two he believed were dead and many more wounded. After midnight, protesters took over the main Tripoli offices of state-run satellite stations Al-Jamahiriya-1 and Al-Shebabiya, a witness said.
"Gunfire was echoing across the capital all night last night," said Adel Suleiman, a Jordanian adviser to the Libyan Central Bank governor.
"I saw scores of burned cars and shops in the capital," said Suleiman, who was among about 260 Jordanians evacuated from Tripoli.
Mahmoud Shawkat, a 28-year-old computer engineer, said his Libyan neighbor was shot in the head during a protest in Green Square. "I'm not sure if he died," Shawkat said. "I had to flee to the airport."
A Jordanian engineer who identified himself as Abu Saleh, 30, said armed militias were in Green Square on Monday morning, and many of them appeared to be foreigners from other parts of Africa "who were shooting randomly at people and in the air. Some of them were carrying swords."
He said he also saw bloodstains on the road on my way to the airport and "pictures of Gadhafi were also torched."
Fragmentation is a real danger in Libya, a country of deep tribal divisions and a historic rivalry between Tripoli and Benghazi. The system of rule created by Gadhafi — the "Jamahiriya," or "rule by masses" — is highly decentralized, run by "popular committees" in a complicated hierarchy that effectively means there is no real center of decision-making except Gadhafi, his sons and their top aides.
An expert on Libya said she believed the regime was collapsing.
"Unlike the fall of the regime in Tunisia and Egypt, this is going to be a collapse into a civil war," said Lisa Anderson, president of the American University in Cairo, and a Libya expert.
Seif has often been put forward as the regime's face of reform and is often cited as a likely successor. His younger brother, Mutassim, is the national security adviser, with a strong role in the military and security forces. Another brother, Khamis, heads the army's 32nd Brigade, which according to U.S. diplomats is the best-trained and best-equipped force in the military.
In Benghazi, cars honked their horns in celebration and protesters in the streets chanted "Long live Libya" on Monday, a day after bloody clashes that killed at least 60 people.
Benghazi's airport was closed, according to an airport official in Cairo. A Turkish Airlines flight trying to land in Benghazi to evacuate Turkish citizens was turned away Monday, told by ground control to circle over the airport, then to return to Istanbul.
There were fears of chaos as young men — including regime supporters — seized weapons from the Katiba and other captured security buildings. "The youths now have arms and that's worrying," said Iman, a doctor at the main hospital. "We are appealing to the wise men of every neighborhood to rein in the youths."
Youth volunteers directed traffic and guarded homes and public facilities, said Najla, a lawyer and university lecturer in Benghazi. She and other residents said police had disappeared from the streets.
After seizing the Katiba, protesters found the bodies of 13 uniformed security officers inside who had been handcuffed and shot in the head, then set on fire, said a doctor named Hassan, who asked not to be identified further for fear of reprisals. He said protesters believed the 13 had been executed by fellow security forces for refusing to attack protesters.
Tunisia's official news agency said at least 2,300 Tunisians fled neighboring Libya on Sunday and Monday out of concerns over the unrest, crossing at the border post of Ras Jedir. Other reports suggest the figure was much higher.
Kobe outfoxes younger stars for 4th MVP trophy
AP, LOS ANGELES: LeBron James racked up a silky-smooth triple-double. Kevin Durant dropped 34 points in 30 minutes. Amare Stoudemire slammed and jammed his way through Staples Center for 29 points.
And the NBA's younger stars still were thrilled when Kobe Bryant took home one more MVP trophy from the All-Star game Sunday night.
"Everyone wanted him to get the MVP," said Miami's Dwyane Wade, last season's MVP. "He came out very aggressive, as aggressive as I've seen anybody in an All-Star game."
Bryant won his record-tying fourth All-Star MVP award Sunday night with 37 points and 14 rebounds in the West's 148-143 win over the East. Bryant was well aware he had a chance to tie Bob Pettit's mark — and so were his fellow All-Stars.
"He deserved it," Durant said. "Thirty-seven and 14? That's unbelievable numbers. I wanted him to get 40, but the old fella kind of tired out a little bit."
Both All-Star teams seemingly deferred to Bryant for much of the night, finding him on fast breaks and clearing a path for his dunks — a rarity these days for Bryant, who prefers to conserve the bounce in his aching knees. Bryant even threw down a slam against James' defense in the third quarter, following it up with a 3-pointer.
So enjoy it, Kobe. Hidden in all the adulation and goodwill around hometown All-Star weekend was another common theme: That's the last prize that will come easily to the Los Angeles Lakers' five-time champion guard this year.
LeBron's Miami Heat, K.D.'s rising Thunder and the archrival Boston Celtics won't make it nearly as easy for Bryant to claim his sixth championship ring. The Lakers are still title contenders, but they went into the break with three straight losses and serious questions about whether this veteran team can get motivated for a three-peat run.
Bryant plans to deal with all that Monday at practice in El Segundo.
"We're looking forward to it," Bryant said of the stretch run. "We're up for the challenge. Pau (Gasol) and I have been talking this whole time about looking forward to it, and getting back at it. We've been in communication with the rest of the fellas, and we all can't wait to get started."
Until taking over the starring role on Sunday, Bryant said he spent the weekend attempting to cede the spotlight to James and his Heat teammates, or the four Celtics All-Stars, or even Clippers rookie Blake Griffin.
"I've been there, you know what I mean?" Bryant said. "It's not about that for me at this point in my career. It's very important for the game to continue to have young stars emerge. ... It's important for me to step aside. It's about me coming out and performing and staying healthy, and doing the right things after 15 years."
Although Bryant is just 32, the Philadelphia prep-to-pro star is in his 15th NBA season, and several current All-Stars — particularly young Los Angeles natives Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love — grew up watching his partnership with Shaquille O'Neal during the Lakers' first three-peat. That reverence is reflected throughout the season, but was particularly obvious in this exhibition.
Bryant fell short of Wilt Chamberlain's All-Star record 42 points in 1962, but not for lack of trying by his teammates. He went scoreless in the final 6:48.
"I wish we could have," New Orleans guard Chris Paul said. "But Kobe is one of those guys who has been in the league for 13 years, but it seems like he's getting younger, so he'll have another opportunity."
And the NBA's younger stars still were thrilled when Kobe Bryant took home one more MVP trophy from the All-Star game Sunday night.
"Everyone wanted him to get the MVP," said Miami's Dwyane Wade, last season's MVP. "He came out very aggressive, as aggressive as I've seen anybody in an All-Star game."
Bryant won his record-tying fourth All-Star MVP award Sunday night with 37 points and 14 rebounds in the West's 148-143 win over the East. Bryant was well aware he had a chance to tie Bob Pettit's mark — and so were his fellow All-Stars.
"He deserved it," Durant said. "Thirty-seven and 14? That's unbelievable numbers. I wanted him to get 40, but the old fella kind of tired out a little bit."
Both All-Star teams seemingly deferred to Bryant for much of the night, finding him on fast breaks and clearing a path for his dunks — a rarity these days for Bryant, who prefers to conserve the bounce in his aching knees. Bryant even threw down a slam against James' defense in the third quarter, following it up with a 3-pointer.
So enjoy it, Kobe. Hidden in all the adulation and goodwill around hometown All-Star weekend was another common theme: That's the last prize that will come easily to the Los Angeles Lakers' five-time champion guard this year.
LeBron's Miami Heat, K.D.'s rising Thunder and the archrival Boston Celtics won't make it nearly as easy for Bryant to claim his sixth championship ring. The Lakers are still title contenders, but they went into the break with three straight losses and serious questions about whether this veteran team can get motivated for a three-peat run.
Bryant plans to deal with all that Monday at practice in El Segundo.
"We're looking forward to it," Bryant said of the stretch run. "We're up for the challenge. Pau (Gasol) and I have been talking this whole time about looking forward to it, and getting back at it. We've been in communication with the rest of the fellas, and we all can't wait to get started."
Until taking over the starring role on Sunday, Bryant said he spent the weekend attempting to cede the spotlight to James and his Heat teammates, or the four Celtics All-Stars, or even Clippers rookie Blake Griffin.
"I've been there, you know what I mean?" Bryant said. "It's not about that for me at this point in my career. It's very important for the game to continue to have young stars emerge. ... It's important for me to step aside. It's about me coming out and performing and staying healthy, and doing the right things after 15 years."
Although Bryant is just 32, the Philadelphia prep-to-pro star is in his 15th NBA season, and several current All-Stars — particularly young Los Angeles natives Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love — grew up watching his partnership with Shaquille O'Neal during the Lakers' first three-peat. That reverence is reflected throughout the season, but was particularly obvious in this exhibition.
Bryant fell short of Wilt Chamberlain's All-Star record 42 points in 1962, but not for lack of trying by his teammates. He went scoreless in the final 6:48.
"I wish we could have," New Orleans guard Chris Paul said. "But Kobe is one of those guys who has been in the league for 13 years, but it seems like he's getting younger, so he'll have another opportunity."
Hollywood comes out for NBA all-star game
AFP, LOS ANGELES: Hollywood A-listers turned out en masse for the NBA all-star game and were treated to a superb display of showmanship from hometown hero Kobe Bryant, who led the West over the East 148-143.
An eclectic group of celebrities was on hand at Staples Center arena Sunday night, including half-time performer Rihanna, who was celebrating her 23rd birthday.
Teenage singing sensation Justin Bieber, of Canada, caught the game from courtside while singers Beyonce, Jay-Z and Steven Tyler, and actors Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman sat in the lower bowl.
Comedian George Lopez rose out of his seat and waved to the sold-out crowd when introduced on the JumboTron TV in the first half while fashion model, actress and recording artist Ciara blew kisses to the camera.
An eclectic group of celebrities was on hand at Staples Center arena Sunday night, including half-time performer Rihanna, who was celebrating her 23rd birthday.
Teenage singing sensation Justin Bieber, of Canada, caught the game from courtside while singers Beyonce, Jay-Z and Steven Tyler, and actors Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman sat in the lower bowl.
Comedian George Lopez rose out of his seat and waved to the sold-out crowd when introduced on the JumboTron TV in the first half while fashion model, actress and recording artist Ciara blew kisses to the camera.
All-Star break over, James ready for playoff push
AP, MIAMI: LeBron James acknowledges there is a point in the NBA schedule where regular-season games start carrying a little bit more significance.
It's now.
He's not shy about saying that, either. Though they all count the same in the marathon 82-game schedule, games after the All-Star break just seem to carry more weight in James' mind. The reason is simple: With every passing game, he's that much closer to returning to the playoffs — and resuming his still-unfulfilled quest of winning an NBA championship.
Miami opens its post-All-Star schedule Tuesday at home against Sacramento. This time of year is often called the second half, but it's more accurate to depict it as the final third, since the Heat have just 26 games left before the opening postseason round begins.
James has been saying for weeks that he starts getting into playoff mode after the break.
The Heat can't wait to see what that really means.
"We're still learning each other," James said. "Our record is really good and we're excited about our record, but we understand, we've still got to continue to get better."
In other words, follow his lead.
He's the league's two-time reigning MVP, a title that he was widely expected to relinquish this season in exchange of pursuing, well, another title. With Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh alongside him in Miami, many people — James included — thought he would be unlikely to put up MVP numbers for a third straight year.
But James' stats have gotten better each month. Scoring is up. Rebounding is up. Assists are up.
And the strange part is, he's doing it while the productivity for Wade and Bosh has increased as well, making Miami look more and more like a championship contender as the year rolls along.
"Here's what's interesting. As his personal numbers have increased the last few weeks, what's important is our level of team execution and trust and confidence has also increased," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "As long as those two things can work in concert, we're all for it. We're talking about an MVP, a two-time MVP, who is so dynamic and versatile with his skills he can impact the game in so many ways."
Just look at Sunday night's All-Star Game as proof of that. The Eastern Conference may have lost to the West All-Stars, but James still managed a triple-double — 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
The only other player in All-Star history to do that? Michael Jordan.
James comes out of the All-Star break ranked third in the league in scoring (26.1), 13th in assists (7.3, despite spending almost as much time lately at power forward than point guard), and tops the NBA charts in two categories that measure efficiency — plus-minus (plus 8.3 per game) and the combination of points, assists and rebounds (40.8).
"I didn't want to think about me being MVP this year," James said. "I wanted to think about bringing the Miami Heat an MVP player on the court. ... I've always said over my career team success comes individual accolades — and I guess my name is back in the race."
Miami's 9-8 start to the season is long forgotten. The Heat are 32-7 since.
Around the league, no one is surprised that the Heat turned things around. Suns coach Alvin Gentry scolded reporters in November for asking him about Miami's "struggles," answering those questions by saying onlookers would be crazy to think Miami's tough times would continue all season. That night, as if on cue, Gentry's team lost in Miami by 27 points.
Much got made of a team meeting in Dallas and a bump James gave Spoelstra during a time-out that same night, but in actuality, there may not have been one definitive launching moment for where things started clicking for Miami.
"We knew each other's games from playing on different teams, but it's different when you're playing with a guy," Wade said. "You have to make adjustments to not only the teammates around us, but to our style of play a little bit. ... It was just time. Time cures all. Anytime we had a point where we felt it wasn't going as smooth, we talked about it."
For his part, James doesn't look to a certain game as the springboard, either.
Miami's best basketball, he believes, is still to come — and given the way the Heat played going into the break, he may be right.
"I think he's more comfortable in the system, more comfortable playing with the guys, he knows where everybody's going to be," Heat center and longtime James teammate Zydrunas Ilgauskas said. "We use a lot more of our playbook now. We have a lot more plays in. We just had to have some games under our belt as individuals and as a team for us to be comfortable."
Wade says that if he got an MVP vote now, he'd pick James.
It's tough to argue.
Still, remember what James said Jan. 1 about how he would handicap the MVP chances for either himself or Wade, who also hasn't seen any major dips in his stats despite having two other No. 1 options playing alongside him now. "When we decided to come together, our MVP chances went out the window," James said on New Year's night.
Care to reconsider, anyone?
"Look at his numbers. He's putting up great numbers on a good team," Wade said in Los Angeles at All-Star weekend. "It shows even more to average 26, 7, and 7 and you have another guy (himself) averaging 25 and you got another guy (Bosh) averaging almost 19. And you still are a very valuable player to this team. So there's no question he can."
Spoelstra has made a number of changes to the Heat lineup over the season, experimenting with different starting point guards, then always having either Mario Chalmers or Carlos Arroyo on the floor, then going to long stretches without either. James has been a hybrid, going from point guard to power forward — neither his preferred position, remember — at times within the span of one possession.
The biggest change was one that Wade and James may have made on their own. They're attack players who tried to defer to each other too much in the early going. So now, they find ways to attack at the same time.
"Me and D-Wade were trying to, I guess, shoot less and make sacrifices and it was really hurting our team," James said. "Until we turned the switch and said, 'OK, we need to just be ourselves and let everyone else catch up to us on the team,' it's then we started winning basketball games. And we knew we were going to be all right then."
James would prefer to be better than "all right." He desperately hopes this is the year to finally win it all.
Maybe the harbinger of what awaits came Sunday night. Jordan's All-Star triple-double was in 1997. His Bulls won that season's NBA championship.
James starts getting ready for that playoff mode on Tuesday.
"We'll go out there and just play the game the right way," James said. "We never get in each other's way."
It's now.
He's not shy about saying that, either. Though they all count the same in the marathon 82-game schedule, games after the All-Star break just seem to carry more weight in James' mind. The reason is simple: With every passing game, he's that much closer to returning to the playoffs — and resuming his still-unfulfilled quest of winning an NBA championship.
Miami opens its post-All-Star schedule Tuesday at home against Sacramento. This time of year is often called the second half, but it's more accurate to depict it as the final third, since the Heat have just 26 games left before the opening postseason round begins.
James has been saying for weeks that he starts getting into playoff mode after the break.
The Heat can't wait to see what that really means.
"We're still learning each other," James said. "Our record is really good and we're excited about our record, but we understand, we've still got to continue to get better."
In other words, follow his lead.
He's the league's two-time reigning MVP, a title that he was widely expected to relinquish this season in exchange of pursuing, well, another title. With Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh alongside him in Miami, many people — James included — thought he would be unlikely to put up MVP numbers for a third straight year.
But James' stats have gotten better each month. Scoring is up. Rebounding is up. Assists are up.
And the strange part is, he's doing it while the productivity for Wade and Bosh has increased as well, making Miami look more and more like a championship contender as the year rolls along.
"Here's what's interesting. As his personal numbers have increased the last few weeks, what's important is our level of team execution and trust and confidence has also increased," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "As long as those two things can work in concert, we're all for it. We're talking about an MVP, a two-time MVP, who is so dynamic and versatile with his skills he can impact the game in so many ways."
Just look at Sunday night's All-Star Game as proof of that. The Eastern Conference may have lost to the West All-Stars, but James still managed a triple-double — 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
The only other player in All-Star history to do that? Michael Jordan.
James comes out of the All-Star break ranked third in the league in scoring (26.1), 13th in assists (7.3, despite spending almost as much time lately at power forward than point guard), and tops the NBA charts in two categories that measure efficiency — plus-minus (plus 8.3 per game) and the combination of points, assists and rebounds (40.8).
"I didn't want to think about me being MVP this year," James said. "I wanted to think about bringing the Miami Heat an MVP player on the court. ... I've always said over my career team success comes individual accolades — and I guess my name is back in the race."
Miami's 9-8 start to the season is long forgotten. The Heat are 32-7 since.
Around the league, no one is surprised that the Heat turned things around. Suns coach Alvin Gentry scolded reporters in November for asking him about Miami's "struggles," answering those questions by saying onlookers would be crazy to think Miami's tough times would continue all season. That night, as if on cue, Gentry's team lost in Miami by 27 points.
Much got made of a team meeting in Dallas and a bump James gave Spoelstra during a time-out that same night, but in actuality, there may not have been one definitive launching moment for where things started clicking for Miami.
"We knew each other's games from playing on different teams, but it's different when you're playing with a guy," Wade said. "You have to make adjustments to not only the teammates around us, but to our style of play a little bit. ... It was just time. Time cures all. Anytime we had a point where we felt it wasn't going as smooth, we talked about it."
For his part, James doesn't look to a certain game as the springboard, either.
Miami's best basketball, he believes, is still to come — and given the way the Heat played going into the break, he may be right.
"I think he's more comfortable in the system, more comfortable playing with the guys, he knows where everybody's going to be," Heat center and longtime James teammate Zydrunas Ilgauskas said. "We use a lot more of our playbook now. We have a lot more plays in. We just had to have some games under our belt as individuals and as a team for us to be comfortable."
Wade says that if he got an MVP vote now, he'd pick James.
It's tough to argue.
Still, remember what James said Jan. 1 about how he would handicap the MVP chances for either himself or Wade, who also hasn't seen any major dips in his stats despite having two other No. 1 options playing alongside him now. "When we decided to come together, our MVP chances went out the window," James said on New Year's night.
Care to reconsider, anyone?
"Look at his numbers. He's putting up great numbers on a good team," Wade said in Los Angeles at All-Star weekend. "It shows even more to average 26, 7, and 7 and you have another guy (himself) averaging 25 and you got another guy (Bosh) averaging almost 19. And you still are a very valuable player to this team. So there's no question he can."
Spoelstra has made a number of changes to the Heat lineup over the season, experimenting with different starting point guards, then always having either Mario Chalmers or Carlos Arroyo on the floor, then going to long stretches without either. James has been a hybrid, going from point guard to power forward — neither his preferred position, remember — at times within the span of one possession.
The biggest change was one that Wade and James may have made on their own. They're attack players who tried to defer to each other too much in the early going. So now, they find ways to attack at the same time.
"Me and D-Wade were trying to, I guess, shoot less and make sacrifices and it was really hurting our team," James said. "Until we turned the switch and said, 'OK, we need to just be ourselves and let everyone else catch up to us on the team,' it's then we started winning basketball games. And we knew we were going to be all right then."
James would prefer to be better than "all right." He desperately hopes this is the year to finally win it all.
Maybe the harbinger of what awaits came Sunday night. Jordan's All-Star triple-double was in 1997. His Bulls won that season's NBA championship.
James starts getting ready for that playoff mode on Tuesday.
"We'll go out there and just play the game the right way," James said. "We never get in each other's way."
Kobe Bryant claims one more All-Star MVP trophy
AP, LOS ANGELES: Kobe Bryant talks more about his past than his future these days.
The Los Angeles Lakers' five-time champion guard has said he can see the finish line of his career. He has even talked about clearing out of the way, allowing younger superstars to take charge of the NBA.
Those youngsters weren't ready to let this 32-year-old geezer out of the spotlight just yet — not at his hometown All-Star game, anyway.
Bryant won his record-tying fourth All-Star MVP award Sunday night with 37 points and 14 rebounds in the West's 148-143 win over the East, finishing five points shy of the All-Star scoring record.
Bryant clearly wanted the trophy that would tie him with Bob Pettit in NBA history, but until taking over the starring role on Sunday, Bryant said he spent the weekend attempting to cede the spotlight. He imagines himself sliding into a background role in the NBA cacophony behind LeBron James and his Miami Heat teammates, or the Boston Celtics' four All-Stars, or even Clippers rookie Blake Griffin.
"I've been there, you know what I mean?" Bryant said. "It's not about that for me at this point in my career. It's very important for the game to continue to have young stars emerge. ... It's important for me to step aside. It's about me coming out and performing and staying healthy, and doing the right things after 15 years."
That didn't stop Bryant from going after an MVP trophy and a West win with unusually ferocious play for a glorified exhibition.
And even though James racked up a silky-smooth triple-double, Kevin Durant dropped 34 points in 30 minutes, and Amare Stoudemire slammed and jammed his way through Staples Center for 29 points, the All-Stars seemed uniformly pleased Bryant came away with one more trophy for his overstuffed case back home in Orange County.
"Everyone wanted him to get the MVP," said Miami's Dwyane Wade, last season's MVP. "He came out very aggressive, as aggressive as I've seen anybody in an All-Star game."
Both All-Star teams seemingly deferred to Bryant for much of the night, finding him on fast breaks and clearing a path for his dunks — a rarity these days for Bryant, who prefers to conserve the bounce in his aching knees. Bryant even threw down a slam against James' defense in the third quarter, following it up with a 3-pointer.
So enjoy it, Kobe. Hidden in all the adulation and goodwill around hometown All-Star weekend was another common theme: That's the last prize that will come easily to the Los Angeles Lakers' five-time champion guard this year.
LeBron's Miami Heat, K.D.'s rising Thunder and the archrival Celtics won't make it nearly as easy for Bryant to claim his sixth championship ring.
"He deserved it," Durant said. "Thirty-seven and 14? That's unbelievable numbers. I wanted him to get 40, but the old fella kind of tired out a little bit."
The Lakers are still title contenders, but they went into the break with three straight losses and serious questions about whether this veteran team can get motivated for a threepeat run. Bryant jokingly claimed he couldn't remember the Lakers' last game before the break — an inexplicable five-point loss at NBA-worst Cleveland.
Bryant plans to deal with all that Monday at practice in El Segundo.
"We're looking forward to it," Bryant said of the stretch run. "We're up for the challenge. Pau (Gasol) and I have been talking this whole time about looking forward to it, and getting back at it. We've been in communication with the rest of the fellas, and we all can't wait to get started."
Bryant fell short of Wilt Chamberlain's All-Star record 42 points in 1962, but not for lack of trying by his teammates. He went scoreless in the final 6:48.
"I wish we could have," New Orleans guard Chris Paul said. "But Kobe is one of those guys who has been in the league for 13 years, but it seems like he's getting younger, so he'll have another opportunity."
The Los Angeles Lakers' five-time champion guard has said he can see the finish line of his career. He has even talked about clearing out of the way, allowing younger superstars to take charge of the NBA.
Those youngsters weren't ready to let this 32-year-old geezer out of the spotlight just yet — not at his hometown All-Star game, anyway.
Bryant won his record-tying fourth All-Star MVP award Sunday night with 37 points and 14 rebounds in the West's 148-143 win over the East, finishing five points shy of the All-Star scoring record.
Bryant clearly wanted the trophy that would tie him with Bob Pettit in NBA history, but until taking over the starring role on Sunday, Bryant said he spent the weekend attempting to cede the spotlight. He imagines himself sliding into a background role in the NBA cacophony behind LeBron James and his Miami Heat teammates, or the Boston Celtics' four All-Stars, or even Clippers rookie Blake Griffin.
"I've been there, you know what I mean?" Bryant said. "It's not about that for me at this point in my career. It's very important for the game to continue to have young stars emerge. ... It's important for me to step aside. It's about me coming out and performing and staying healthy, and doing the right things after 15 years."
That didn't stop Bryant from going after an MVP trophy and a West win with unusually ferocious play for a glorified exhibition.
And even though James racked up a silky-smooth triple-double, Kevin Durant dropped 34 points in 30 minutes, and Amare Stoudemire slammed and jammed his way through Staples Center for 29 points, the All-Stars seemed uniformly pleased Bryant came away with one more trophy for his overstuffed case back home in Orange County.
"Everyone wanted him to get the MVP," said Miami's Dwyane Wade, last season's MVP. "He came out very aggressive, as aggressive as I've seen anybody in an All-Star game."
Both All-Star teams seemingly deferred to Bryant for much of the night, finding him on fast breaks and clearing a path for his dunks — a rarity these days for Bryant, who prefers to conserve the bounce in his aching knees. Bryant even threw down a slam against James' defense in the third quarter, following it up with a 3-pointer.
So enjoy it, Kobe. Hidden in all the adulation and goodwill around hometown All-Star weekend was another common theme: That's the last prize that will come easily to the Los Angeles Lakers' five-time champion guard this year.
LeBron's Miami Heat, K.D.'s rising Thunder and the archrival Celtics won't make it nearly as easy for Bryant to claim his sixth championship ring.
"He deserved it," Durant said. "Thirty-seven and 14? That's unbelievable numbers. I wanted him to get 40, but the old fella kind of tired out a little bit."
The Lakers are still title contenders, but they went into the break with three straight losses and serious questions about whether this veteran team can get motivated for a threepeat run. Bryant jokingly claimed he couldn't remember the Lakers' last game before the break — an inexplicable five-point loss at NBA-worst Cleveland.
Bryant plans to deal with all that Monday at practice in El Segundo.
"We're looking forward to it," Bryant said of the stretch run. "We're up for the challenge. Pau (Gasol) and I have been talking this whole time about looking forward to it, and getting back at it. We've been in communication with the rest of the fellas, and we all can't wait to get started."
Bryant fell short of Wilt Chamberlain's All-Star record 42 points in 1962, but not for lack of trying by his teammates. He went scoreless in the final 6:48.
"I wish we could have," New Orleans guard Chris Paul said. "But Kobe is one of those guys who has been in the league for 13 years, but it seems like he's getting younger, so he'll have another opportunity."
Hornets' G Jarrett Jack arrested, charged with DUI
AP, SNELLVILLE, Ga: Police in an Atlanta suburb say New Orleans Hornets' backup point guard Jarrett Jack has been arrested and charged with drunken driving.
Snellville Police Chief Roy Whitehead said in an e-mail Monday the 27-year-old former Georgia Tech star was pulled over early Sunday by an officer who clocked him at 66 mph in a 45-mph zone. Police say Jack's Mercedes was also weaving.
Whitehead says Jack failed a field sobriety test, then was taken to the Gwinnett County jail and given a breath test, which measured just under the legal limit of .08 more than an hour after Jack was stopped.
Jack was also charged with failure to maintain a lane. He was released Sunday night.
He did not immediately return a call for a telephone number listed for him in Atlanta.
Snellville Police Chief Roy Whitehead said in an e-mail Monday the 27-year-old former Georgia Tech star was pulled over early Sunday by an officer who clocked him at 66 mph in a 45-mph zone. Police say Jack's Mercedes was also weaving.
Whitehead says Jack failed a field sobriety test, then was taken to the Gwinnett County jail and given a breath test, which measured just under the legal limit of .08 more than an hour after Jack was stopped.
Jack was also charged with failure to maintain a lane. He was released Sunday night.
He did not immediately return a call for a telephone number listed for him in Atlanta.
NBA All-Star game earns best TV rating since '03
AP, NEW YORK: The NBA All-Star game has earned its highest television rating since Michael Jordan's last appearance in 2003.
The Western Conference's 148-143 win Sunday night on TNT featuring a duel between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James drew a 5.2 rating. That's up 37 percent from last year, part of a season of strong ratings for a league bursting with intriguing story lines.
Ratings measure the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program.
The Western Conference's 148-143 win Sunday night on TNT featuring a duel between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James drew a 5.2 rating. That's up 37 percent from last year, part of a season of strong ratings for a league bursting with intriguing story lines.
Ratings measure the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program.
NBA All-Star game highest ratings since 2003
Reuters, LOS ANGELES: Kobe Bryant's on-court drama for the West team brought TNT its highest rated NBA All-Star Game since 2003.
The Sunday night game delivered 9.1 million total viewers and six million households. It was second most-watched NBA game on television during the 2010-11 season to date.
Bryant won MVP for the West team which pulled out a dramatic victory over the LeBron James-led East team. Rihanna performed at the half-time show before taking a courtside seat next to Justin Bieber, who was named MVP in the Celebrity All-Star game on Friday night.
The 2003 All-Star Game was the final appearance by NBA superstar Michael Jordan.
(Editing by Zorianna Kit)
The Sunday night game delivered 9.1 million total viewers and six million households. It was second most-watched NBA game on television during the 2010-11 season to date.
Bryant won MVP for the West team which pulled out a dramatic victory over the LeBron James-led East team. Rihanna performed at the half-time show before taking a courtside seat next to Justin Bieber, who was named MVP in the Celebrity All-Star game on Friday night.
The 2003 All-Star Game was the final appearance by NBA superstar Michael Jordan.
(Editing by Zorianna Kit)
Can Lakers get it together, host NBA finals, too?
AP, LOS ANGELES: The All-Star game was never supposed to be Kobe Bryant's highlight at Staples Center this season.
Not when his two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers were expected to have a shot at a third in a row. Even after LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Dwyane Wade in Miami, the Heat agreed with Michael Jordan that the Lakers were the favorites until somebody beat them in June.
These days, June basketball doesn't even look like a sure thing for the Lakers.
They stumbled into the All-Star break with three straight losses, capped by a defeat in Cleveland against a Cavaliers team they beat by 55 earlier in the season.
But nobody is counting Bryant's bunch out yet.
"They are the champions. We understand and know the second half of the season, they are going to play even better and when it comes time to win, they are going to be the team to beat," Wade said.
Wade's Heat might have the team to do it, and the Boston Celtics would love another shot at their biggest rivals after losing in seven games last June. But first, the Lakers have to prove they're the best in the West before they worry about who's tops in the East.
They are currently third in the conference, 8 1/2 games behind NBA-leading San Antonio and 2 1/2 back of second-place Dallas. But the Lakers looked shaky late last season before putting it together, and they're confident they can do it again.
"It has been like a lot of hot and cold this season, a lot of contrasts and looking for a level of consistency," All-Star forward Pau Gasol said. "I feel that we can do that."
Bryant won his fourth All-Star MVP award Sunday, scoring 37 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in the Western Conference's 148-143 victory over the East. He looked poised for the stretch run, with a couple of soaring dunks, one over a chasing James, that showed there's plenty of bounce left in his sometimes aching legs.
The season resumes Tuesday, with the first business a possible conclusion to the Carmelo Anthony situation. The Denver Nuggets have until Thursday's trade deadline to decide whether to trade him to New York or New Jersey, or hold onto him for the rest of the season.
"The deadline is Thursday, so obviously something's going to happen whether I stay in Denver or whether they trade me," Anthony said Sunday night. "So the end is here. I'm excited for all this stuff to be over with. I'm pretty sure everybody is."
His season-long saga has sometimes overshadowed the news on the court, but the focus will be back there once the deadline has passed.
Even if the Lakers get things figured out, the road to the NBA finals might go through San Antonio. With a 46-10 record and health they haven't enjoyed in recent years, the Spurs seem capable of winning a fifth title with Tim Duncan after they struggled just to reach the postseason in 2010.
"Last year we had 50 wins the whole season and now we have 46, so no one really expected it," All-Star Manu Ginobili. "We have always been healthy and nobody misses a game, and we got the experience and we got a better bench."
While they cruise out West, Boston leads Miami by percentage points in the East, with Chicago two games back. The Celtics are 3-0 against the Heat, but haven't been able to keep centers Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal healthy to surround their four All-Stars.
"We are not where we want to be. I mean, I know it sounds crazy, still at the top of the East and we have the best record, but I don't think we are near where we want to be," Paul Pierce said. "We battled a lot of injury. We battled inconsistent play over the last couple of weeks. We are just fortunate to be in the position that we have. We haven't been healthy all year long. I'm just waiting to see what's going to happen in the next couple of weeks when we get about 95 percent healthy, to see what's really going to happen."
The Knicks are sixth in the East, in position to make their first playoff appearance since 2004. They lurk as a dangerous lower seed if they land Anthony to join fellow All-Star Amare Stoudemire in a potentially explosive frontcourt.
"The team that we have now, we are not too bad," Stoudemire said. "We are making our playoff push, but you never know how things may end up here in the next few days."
The MVP race could come down to Chicago point guard Derrick Rose or James, the two-time winner who figured his move to Miami counted himself and Wade out this season. But he's been so good that he believes he's back in the conversation, especially if the Heat continue to recover from their rocky start and reach the potential that was expected of them.
"For the first two-thirds of the season, we played some good basketball. For the last third of the season, we have to understand that we cannot afford to take a step backwards and we have to keep moving forward," James said. "We have to continue to get better, because there are teams out there that's better than us right now."
Maybe the Lakers can still prove they are one of them.
"We are looking forward to it," Bryant said. "We are up for the challenge."
Not when his two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers were expected to have a shot at a third in a row. Even after LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Dwyane Wade in Miami, the Heat agreed with Michael Jordan that the Lakers were the favorites until somebody beat them in June.
These days, June basketball doesn't even look like a sure thing for the Lakers.
They stumbled into the All-Star break with three straight losses, capped by a defeat in Cleveland against a Cavaliers team they beat by 55 earlier in the season.
But nobody is counting Bryant's bunch out yet.
"They are the champions. We understand and know the second half of the season, they are going to play even better and when it comes time to win, they are going to be the team to beat," Wade said.
Wade's Heat might have the team to do it, and the Boston Celtics would love another shot at their biggest rivals after losing in seven games last June. But first, the Lakers have to prove they're the best in the West before they worry about who's tops in the East.
They are currently third in the conference, 8 1/2 games behind NBA-leading San Antonio and 2 1/2 back of second-place Dallas. But the Lakers looked shaky late last season before putting it together, and they're confident they can do it again.
"It has been like a lot of hot and cold this season, a lot of contrasts and looking for a level of consistency," All-Star forward Pau Gasol said. "I feel that we can do that."
Bryant won his fourth All-Star MVP award Sunday, scoring 37 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in the Western Conference's 148-143 victory over the East. He looked poised for the stretch run, with a couple of soaring dunks, one over a chasing James, that showed there's plenty of bounce left in his sometimes aching legs.
The season resumes Tuesday, with the first business a possible conclusion to the Carmelo Anthony situation. The Denver Nuggets have until Thursday's trade deadline to decide whether to trade him to New York or New Jersey, or hold onto him for the rest of the season.
"The deadline is Thursday, so obviously something's going to happen whether I stay in Denver or whether they trade me," Anthony said Sunday night. "So the end is here. I'm excited for all this stuff to be over with. I'm pretty sure everybody is."
His season-long saga has sometimes overshadowed the news on the court, but the focus will be back there once the deadline has passed.
Even if the Lakers get things figured out, the road to the NBA finals might go through San Antonio. With a 46-10 record and health they haven't enjoyed in recent years, the Spurs seem capable of winning a fifth title with Tim Duncan after they struggled just to reach the postseason in 2010.
"Last year we had 50 wins the whole season and now we have 46, so no one really expected it," All-Star Manu Ginobili. "We have always been healthy and nobody misses a game, and we got the experience and we got a better bench."
While they cruise out West, Boston leads Miami by percentage points in the East, with Chicago two games back. The Celtics are 3-0 against the Heat, but haven't been able to keep centers Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal healthy to surround their four All-Stars.
"We are not where we want to be. I mean, I know it sounds crazy, still at the top of the East and we have the best record, but I don't think we are near where we want to be," Paul Pierce said. "We battled a lot of injury. We battled inconsistent play over the last couple of weeks. We are just fortunate to be in the position that we have. We haven't been healthy all year long. I'm just waiting to see what's going to happen in the next couple of weeks when we get about 95 percent healthy, to see what's really going to happen."
The Knicks are sixth in the East, in position to make their first playoff appearance since 2004. They lurk as a dangerous lower seed if they land Anthony to join fellow All-Star Amare Stoudemire in a potentially explosive frontcourt.
"The team that we have now, we are not too bad," Stoudemire said. "We are making our playoff push, but you never know how things may end up here in the next few days."
The MVP race could come down to Chicago point guard Derrick Rose or James, the two-time winner who figured his move to Miami counted himself and Wade out this season. But he's been so good that he believes he's back in the conversation, especially if the Heat continue to recover from their rocky start and reach the potential that was expected of them.
"For the first two-thirds of the season, we played some good basketball. For the last third of the season, we have to understand that we cannot afford to take a step backwards and we have to keep moving forward," James said. "We have to continue to get better, because there are teams out there that's better than us right now."
Maybe the Lakers can still prove they are one of them.
"We are looking forward to it," Bryant said. "We are up for the challenge."
Hornets' Jack charged with drunken driving
Reuters, ATLANTA: New Orleans Hornets' reserve guard Jarrett Jack has been charged with drunken driving in an Atlanta suburb, police said Monday.
Jack was pulled over early Sunday after an officer in Snellville, Georgia, clocked Jack driving 66 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone northeast of Atlanta.
The officer charged Jack with driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding and failure to stay in one lane, according to Snellville police chief Roy Whitehead.
"He (the officer) stopped the vehicle and smelled an odor of an alcoholic beverage on the driver. He gave the driver field sobriety tests and he failed," Whitehead said in an email.
Jack, 27, went to Georgia Tech and was drafted in the first round of the 2005 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets. He played with the Portland Trail Blazers, Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors before joining the Hornets in 2010.
Jack was pulled over early Sunday after an officer in Snellville, Georgia, clocked Jack driving 66 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone northeast of Atlanta.
The officer charged Jack with driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding and failure to stay in one lane, according to Snellville police chief Roy Whitehead.
"He (the officer) stopped the vehicle and smelled an odor of an alcoholic beverage on the driver. He gave the driver field sobriety tests and he failed," Whitehead said in an email.
Jack, 27, went to Georgia Tech and was drafted in the first round of the 2005 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets. He played with the Portland Trail Blazers, Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors before joining the Hornets in 2010.
Ordonez hopes to rebound from broken ankle
AP, LAKELAND, Fla: Magglio Ordonez knew his season was over as soon as he broke his right ankle sliding into home plate against Toronto last July 24.
"When you snap your ankle, there's no way you are coming back by the end of the season," Ordonez said after the Detroit Tigers finished practice on Monday. "Since then, all I had to do was work to get back to this year."
Ordonez was batting .303 with 12 homers and 59 RBIs in 84 games. He had 12 homers and 59 RBI before the injury. He led the Tigers with 28 homers and 139 RBIs in 2007, and he said he can put up similar statistics.
With Victor Martinez signed as a free agent during the offseason, manager Jim Leyland said the 3-4-5 spots in his batting order are set as long as first baseman Miguel Cabrera makes it back into the lineup. Cabrera hasn't reported to camp after his DUI arrest last week.
Leyland expects a top season from the 37-year-old Ordonez.
"He looks great so far, great," the manager said. "With those guys at the heart of the order, we have a great track record, and Magglio is going to drive in more runs than ever."
For Ordonez to top his career-bests, he'll need help at the top of the order. Austin Jackson should be a lock to hit leadoff, and one of Leyland's big challenges is to find a No. 2 hitter.
"With Magglio at the three spot, he can know in runs, I promise you that," Leyland said. "He's ready to play and I am not concerned with him at all."
Ordonez said the ankle feels fine and he's ready to put last season behind.
"I feel fine and I can tell you that we are going to be a great team if everybody stays healthy," Ordonez said. "The lineup looks great, and I just want to get going."
Detroit was 81-81 last year, then declined his $15 million option before agreeing to a $10 million, one-year deal.
"We are just going to take it easy with him and have him ready," Leyland said. "We won't rush him, but I expect him to have a career year."
NOTES: 2B Scott Sizemore who was the Tigers opening day starter before splitting time between Detroit and Triple A Toledo after suffering a right groin strain, is 100 percent according to Leyland. ... Although prized pitching prospects Andy Oliver and Jacob Turner have been turning heads, Leyland said it was "highly doubtful" that they would open the season in Detroit. ... Leyland said OF Clete Thomas, who missed much of last season with a knee injury, was 100 percent and ready to compete for a roster spot.
"When you snap your ankle, there's no way you are coming back by the end of the season," Ordonez said after the Detroit Tigers finished practice on Monday. "Since then, all I had to do was work to get back to this year."
Ordonez was batting .303 with 12 homers and 59 RBIs in 84 games. He had 12 homers and 59 RBI before the injury. He led the Tigers with 28 homers and 139 RBIs in 2007, and he said he can put up similar statistics.
With Victor Martinez signed as a free agent during the offseason, manager Jim Leyland said the 3-4-5 spots in his batting order are set as long as first baseman Miguel Cabrera makes it back into the lineup. Cabrera hasn't reported to camp after his DUI arrest last week.
Leyland expects a top season from the 37-year-old Ordonez.
"He looks great so far, great," the manager said. "With those guys at the heart of the order, we have a great track record, and Magglio is going to drive in more runs than ever."
For Ordonez to top his career-bests, he'll need help at the top of the order. Austin Jackson should be a lock to hit leadoff, and one of Leyland's big challenges is to find a No. 2 hitter.
"With Magglio at the three spot, he can know in runs, I promise you that," Leyland said. "He's ready to play and I am not concerned with him at all."
Ordonez said the ankle feels fine and he's ready to put last season behind.
"I feel fine and I can tell you that we are going to be a great team if everybody stays healthy," Ordonez said. "The lineup looks great, and I just want to get going."
Detroit was 81-81 last year, then declined his $15 million option before agreeing to a $10 million, one-year deal.
"We are just going to take it easy with him and have him ready," Leyland said. "We won't rush him, but I expect him to have a career year."
NOTES: 2B Scott Sizemore who was the Tigers opening day starter before splitting time between Detroit and Triple A Toledo after suffering a right groin strain, is 100 percent according to Leyland. ... Although prized pitching prospects Andy Oliver and Jacob Turner have been turning heads, Leyland said it was "highly doubtful" that they would open the season in Detroit. ... Leyland said OF Clete Thomas, who missed much of last season with a knee injury, was 100 percent and ready to compete for a roster spot.
Hideki Matsui gets to work on first day with A's
AP, PHOENIX: Coco Crisp approached Hideki Matsui while they warmed up Monday and pulled his new teammate into a hug. They shook hands, too — a little more the Japanese style.
Crisp was far from the only one thrilled to see Oakland's new designated hitter in uniform and on the field. Pitcher Dallas Braden greeted the slugger in the clubhouse on reporting day with a life-size blowup Godzilla representing Matsui's nickname, even dressing it in his No. 55 jersey.
"I felt it. All over the place," catcher Kurt Suzuki said of Matsui fever. "Very cool."
Matsui tipped his cap to the large contingent monitoring his every move after a session in the covered cage at Papago Park, then smiled as he went through sprint work on a welcome sunny day in the desert following a weekend of heavy rain and cold. He even pulled out his glove to play catch and later did defensive drills with the outfielders.
"It's like the first day of school. It's great," second baseman Mark Ellis said of the hype. "There are a lot of people all over the place. Getting people to talk about the A's, that's good. It will be different."
The Athletics have high hopes that Matsui and fellow newcomers David DeJesus and Josh Willingham will boost the middle of the order and make them a contender in the AL West. Oakland managed only 109 homers and 663 runs last season, the team's second fewest in the last 28 non-shortened seasons.
"Practice went pretty well," Matsui said through his interpreter, Roger Kahlon. "I'm happy to be wearing this uniform."
While the A's got their first look at their upgraded roster all together, there's not ever much to take from Day 1. Hitters typically stand in the batter's box and spend more time tracking pitches than taking actual swings.
"They're all standing upright. That's good," A's assistant general manager David Forst said with a smile. His club used the disabled list 23 times last season, two shy of the franchise record set in 2008.
Manager Bob Geren said he spent a little more time addressing his team Monday morning and welcoming all the new faces.
With added depth throughout the roster, a talented starting rotation and bullpen, and a lineup that looks to produce more offense, the A's could make a push for their first AL West title since reaching the AL championship series in 2006 and getting swept by Detroit.
Oakland finished second last year to the eventual AL champion Texas Rangers, staying in the race until late despite all the injuries.
Matsui's tender knees feel good and he looks strong. Geren is counting on it.
The attention in Japan is an added bonus for the small-market franchise.
"It's nice with Hideki joining our team, having a little green and gold contingent over there is going to be fun," the skipper said.
Matsui batted .274 with 21 homers and 84 RBIs last season with the Los Angeles Angels, Oakland's division rival. He spent his first seven major league seasons with the New York Yankees and was MVP of the 2009 World Series.
Matsui joined the A's in December on a $4.25 million, one-year contract that includes an additional $100,000 in possible performance bonuses.
His father, Masao, for one, is expecting big things from his son this season: as in 30 homers and a .300 average.
"It's crazy," shortstop Cliff Pennington said of the buzz. "Everybody's excited about the new guys we have. Expectations are high. He's a big-time player and it will bring some attention to the team. It will be interesting to learn about the culture, too."
NOTES: Reliever Michael Wuertz left the complex early and is nursing a minor shoulder issue that will keep him out for a couple of days. ... Geren said Pennington, coming off left shoulder surgery that is expected to keep him out of the first week of exhibition games, could get some defensive work in before he gets any at-bats. ... 1B Daric Barton has been sick in recent days and was limited.
Crisp was far from the only one thrilled to see Oakland's new designated hitter in uniform and on the field. Pitcher Dallas Braden greeted the slugger in the clubhouse on reporting day with a life-size blowup Godzilla representing Matsui's nickname, even dressing it in his No. 55 jersey.
"I felt it. All over the place," catcher Kurt Suzuki said of Matsui fever. "Very cool."
Matsui tipped his cap to the large contingent monitoring his every move after a session in the covered cage at Papago Park, then smiled as he went through sprint work on a welcome sunny day in the desert following a weekend of heavy rain and cold. He even pulled out his glove to play catch and later did defensive drills with the outfielders.
"It's like the first day of school. It's great," second baseman Mark Ellis said of the hype. "There are a lot of people all over the place. Getting people to talk about the A's, that's good. It will be different."
The Athletics have high hopes that Matsui and fellow newcomers David DeJesus and Josh Willingham will boost the middle of the order and make them a contender in the AL West. Oakland managed only 109 homers and 663 runs last season, the team's second fewest in the last 28 non-shortened seasons.
"Practice went pretty well," Matsui said through his interpreter, Roger Kahlon. "I'm happy to be wearing this uniform."
While the A's got their first look at their upgraded roster all together, there's not ever much to take from Day 1. Hitters typically stand in the batter's box and spend more time tracking pitches than taking actual swings.
"They're all standing upright. That's good," A's assistant general manager David Forst said with a smile. His club used the disabled list 23 times last season, two shy of the franchise record set in 2008.
Manager Bob Geren said he spent a little more time addressing his team Monday morning and welcoming all the new faces.
With added depth throughout the roster, a talented starting rotation and bullpen, and a lineup that looks to produce more offense, the A's could make a push for their first AL West title since reaching the AL championship series in 2006 and getting swept by Detroit.
Oakland finished second last year to the eventual AL champion Texas Rangers, staying in the race until late despite all the injuries.
Matsui's tender knees feel good and he looks strong. Geren is counting on it.
The attention in Japan is an added bonus for the small-market franchise.
"It's nice with Hideki joining our team, having a little green and gold contingent over there is going to be fun," the skipper said.
Matsui batted .274 with 21 homers and 84 RBIs last season with the Los Angeles Angels, Oakland's division rival. He spent his first seven major league seasons with the New York Yankees and was MVP of the 2009 World Series.
Matsui joined the A's in December on a $4.25 million, one-year contract that includes an additional $100,000 in possible performance bonuses.
His father, Masao, for one, is expecting big things from his son this season: as in 30 homers and a .300 average.
"It's crazy," shortstop Cliff Pennington said of the buzz. "Everybody's excited about the new guys we have. Expectations are high. He's a big-time player and it will bring some attention to the team. It will be interesting to learn about the culture, too."
NOTES: Reliever Michael Wuertz left the complex early and is nursing a minor shoulder issue that will keep him out for a couple of days. ... Geren said Pennington, coming off left shoulder surgery that is expected to keep him out of the first week of exhibition games, could get some defensive work in before he gets any at-bats. ... 1B Daric Barton has been sick in recent days and was limited.
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