Operation Odyssey Dawn continues: despite ceasefire declarations by Libyan ruler Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, witnesses reported heavy smoke overhanging Benghazi, the rebels' stronghold. There are reports of strikes on the center of the capital, Tripoli, apparently by Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from NATO ships.
Against the background of the fighting in Libya, the price of oil has risen 2% to $103 per barrel. At the end of last week it was reported that production from Libya had fallen below 400,000 barrels per day, compared with 1.6 million barrels before the disturbances began in the country.
Overnight it was reported that a building in the compound of Gaddafi's palace was bombed from the air and utterly destroyed. Gaddafi himself was apparently not the target of the attack on the building, which a coalition spokesperson said was a military command and control center.
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stressed that Gaddafi was not a target for air strikes, adding, "I think that it's important that we operate within the mandate of the UN Security Council resolution."
Meanwhile, Gaddafi himself said last night that he would pay back the Christians, as he put it, and that "We will not leave our oil for the US, France, Britain, or any Christian country. We will fight for every centimeter."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 21, 2011
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