Libyans who went to investigate the US warplane's crash site said that a US helicopter had come in with guns firing,y nike running shoes online creating panic and wounding onlookers, some of whom had to be taken to hospital; one 20-year-old man is expected to have his leg amputated.
The villagers said they had been searching for the plane's missing airmen to welcome them and help them.
A member of the Libyan rebel forces at the site of the crash, Omar Sayid, a colonel of the military police, told Channel Four News: "We are disturbed about the shooting, because if they'd given us a chance we would have handed over both pilots. This shooting created panic."
The airmen ejected from their F-15E at 10.30am local time on Monday after what the Pentagon described as "equipment malfunction"; it had not been shot down. The airmen's parachutes opened and they landed at separate locations in rebel territory, near Bu Mariem, 24 miles east of Benghazi.
One hid in a sheep pen before being found by rebel forces, hugged, given juice and food, and taken to Benghazi. The other was picked up by US marines. Both are back in US hands, with only minor injuries.
One villager who saw the crash, Mahdi Amrani, told AP: "I saw the plane spinning round and round as it came down. It was in flames. They died away, then it burst into flames again."
Although the US military refuses to confirm or deny reports of any shooting, villagers told reporters that the American rescuers strafed the field where one airman had landed, and villagers had been injured.
Hamid Moussa el-Amruni, whose family owns the farm where the US plane's weapons officer had hid, told AP that he himself had wounds in his leg and back from shrapnel. He was using a crutch, but said he held no grudge, believing the incident to have been an accident.
A team of 12 marines was sent to rescue the two aboard two large Osprey helicopters launched from the USS Kearsarge, a large assault ship off Libya.buy Reebok EasyTone
Channel Four's Lindsey Hilsum spoke to the villagers, and visited Jala hospital in Benghazi where some of the injured were treated. Among them was Hamad Abdul Ati, 43, who had bullet and shrapnel wounds. He said he was puzzled rather than angry, and did not understand why the Americans had been so aggressive in their rescue mission.
"We consider that whoever is shot down or a prisoner of war, we should save him and hand him over," he told Hilsum from his hospital bed. "But another plane shot at me and Hamdy, my son. I have shrapnel in my hand."Hospital staff said that Hamdy, aged 20, wa s having an operation to amputate his leg.
"Why did this happen? My car is destroyed, my home is damaged. We would have just picked the second pilot up and put him wherever he wanted in a safe place. Even the other one, we had a celebration for him," Abdul Ati said.
Reporters said the villagers had showed no animosity after the incident; instead, they expressed gratitude for the US-led coalition, which they said had saved them from massacre by Gaddafi's forces.
The downed plane is the first confirmed loss on the US side.buy Reebok ZigTech The F-15E Strike Eagle was based at RAF Lakenheath but had been flying out of Aviano airbase in Italy; it was totally destroyed.
One board the USS Kearsarge, the commander of the US naval flotilla stationed off Libya did not respond to questions on whether civilians had been shot by US marines. "I have no knowledge of reports," said Rear Admiral Peg Klein. She said that the F-15E pilot had been picked up by one of the Osprey helicopters and brought to the USS Kearsarge.
The second member of the F-15E's crew, its weapons officer, was "recovered by the people of Libya and treated with dignity and respect", said Klein. A US officer had earlier said he was now in US hands.
Klein declined to give any furtherdetails about the crew, beyond saying: "These jets go several times the speed of sound, they eject and it is fairly traumatic.
"We are solely focused on those two crew members being cared for. It is a thorough process. We want to evaluate them to make sure they are OK."
Admiral Samuel Locklear, the US commander co-ordinating coalition operations from aboard USS Mount Whitney in the Mediterranean, declined to deny that the marines had opened fire.
"We believe it is appropriate that NATO takes over the command of the mission because NATO has a structured intervention scheme and would monitor with greater transparency the quality of the operations in Libya," Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa said. nike running shoes onlineHe told reporters after an extraordinary cabinet meeting called to describe Libyan developments and Italy's role in it.
La Russa further clarified that Italy doesn’t oppose United Nations’ resolution on imposing no-fly zone over Libya, but not keenly interested in using force either. Italy last week offered its navy and air bases for missile attacks on Libya, while its firefighter patrolled skies of the North African nation. However, the minister confirmed that they had not carried out any raids.
Meanwhile, Russia, India and China have urged the West to immediately stop military strikes. Russian politicians seen divided on Libyan strikes with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin denounced the U.N. resolution and described it as a "medieval call to crusade". Putin said, "To me, it resembles some sort of medieval call to crusade when someone would appeal to someone to go to a certain place and free someone else." President Dmitry Medvedev later criticized Putin for using "crusade" in reference to a Muslim country like Libya. However, Medvedev said that Moscow would neither take part in any operation nor send any troops against Libya.
Brazil, India, China and Germany also opt not to vote the resolution, which was supported by 10 countries to use all ‘necessary measures’ to stop Gaddafi from hurting innocent civilians. Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna called for immediate halt to strikes, which were affecting foreign nationals, civilians and diplomatic missions.
"India calls upon all parties to abjure violence and the use of threat and force to resolve the differences. Reebok EasyTone I think the need of the hour is cessation of armed conflict," he told reporters.
Despite Germany’s abstention, Chancellor Angela Merkel wishes success of west’s military mission in Libya.
In Tripoli, foreign forces bombed veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi's compound, his southern strongholds and a navy base. However, Britain clarified that Gaddafi would not be the target of their forces, said Britain's chief of defense staff, General Sir David Richards. His comments came after Foreign Secretary William Hague’s comments hinted that Gaddafi could be specifically targeted in the attacks.
Meanwhile, rebels claimed that Gaddafi's forces continued their attack in Misrata city near Tripoli. A day after criticizing west’s air strikes and called them to stop them, the Arab League on Monday reassured its support for the military operation called 'Operation Odyssey Dawn'.
In Cairo, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is on a trip to Egypt and Tunisia, on Monday said that the authoritarian leaders of the Middle East and North Africa should take Libyan war and people’s uprising in Tunisia and Egypt as a warning.
In an interview to AFP, Ban called on nations to speak out when a wind of change was apparently sweeping the region. "The international community, while we closely follow the situation,, Find brand shoes has a responsibility to help those people, so that leaders could hear clearly and sincerely the voices of the people, their aspirations," he added.
Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council has agreed to convene another round of meeting next Thursday to discuss Libya amid worldwide criticism over West’s military strikes over Gaddafi’s regimes after a resolution was passed to allow use of force in the North African nation.
Explosions were reported in Tripoli and anti-aircraft fire was heard over Col Gaddafi’s residence.ghd hair straighteners A plume of smoke was reported to be coming from near the dictator’s home. The Americans were said to have taken over the airwaves to warn residents not to interfere with the military operation.
On Sunday, an increasingly erratic Col Gaddafi initially refused to back down following the first round of air strikes from the United Nations-backed allies, declaring that he was arming more than one million of his people for a “long war”.
However, as the second round began, a spokesman for the Libyan military ordered all units in the country to observe a ceasefire.
Coalition commanders were cautious over whether the order was genuine. A No 10 spokesman said: “Everyone will recall that in recent days Col Gaddafi declared a ceasefire which was promptly violated. We said then we would judge him on his actions, not his words, and we will do so again.” Last night Tornados took off from RAF Marham as reports came through that Gaddafi troops were still targeting rebels in Misurata and Zintan.
Col Gaddafi’s defiance led to suggestions that British ground forces might need to be deployed. Admiral Mike Mullen, the head of the US armed forces, warned of a potential stalemate as he admitted he was unclear of the “endgame”. Dr Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, raised the possibility that Col Gaddafi could be personally targeted in air strikes.
Senior British defence sources insisted that no plans were being drawn up to send in forces on the ground but ministers yesterday refused to rule out the possibility. William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, indicated that ground forces could be used for specific missions under the terms of the UN mandate, providing they did not become an “occupying force”.
Barack Obama has already ruled out the use of the American military and David Cameron is likely to come under pressure in Parliament today to clarify the British terms of involvement in the international mission.
The Coalition suffered its first diplomatic blow yesterday when the Arab League criticised the operation, expressing concern about a “bombardment” rather than the enforcement of a no-fly zone. Russia and China also condemned the attack.
On Saturday, forces from Britain, France, Canada and the US launched a series of bombing raids on Libyan airfields, tanks and air defence systems. Qatari and Italian planes were due to join the offensive last night.
Ships and submarines fired 124 cruise missiles to destroy dozens of tanks and aircraft. Commanders said most of Libya’s military air capacity was destroyed with few, or no, civilian casualties.
In a briefing yesterday, senior Ministry of Defence officials said they were “entirely comfortable” with the success of the attacks, which had struck “high-value targets” in Tripoli and other parts of Libya.
Adm Mullen said Col Gaddafi was no longer able to deploy helicopters and aircraft, meaning that “effectively the no-fly zone has been put in place”. However, he warned that the dictator could use chemical weapons, ghd hair straighteners sale including a “significant quantity” of mustard gas in the desert. “We’ve had our eyes on that for a significant period of time, literally the last two or three weeks,” he said. “There’s no indication he’s moving toward using that, but certainly that’s something we’re watching very carefully.”
Yesterday afternoon, there were reports that regime forces had entered the coastal town of Misurata. The regime was also said to be using civilians as human shields at military sites.
Residents reported that Col Gaddafi’s tank commanders had pushed through to the centre of the city, triggering clashes that caused dozens of casualties.
A spokesman for the rebels who goes by the name Abdelbasset said: “There is fighting between the rebels and Gaddafi’s forces. Their tanks are in the centre of Misurata. There are so many casualties we cannot count them. He is using a scorched earth strategy, burning and destroying everything in his way.”
This presents coalition forces with a dilemma, as air power cannot easily be used to stop Libyan aggression in dense urban areas without the risk of large numbers of civilian casualties. Shashank Joshi of the Royal United Service Institute, the think tank, said: “In terms of the mission to enforce a no-fly zone, they are likely to be extremely effective.
“But the question is, even once you have established a no-fly zone, what happens next?”
British Typhoon aircraft arrived at an Italian airbase last night, where British fighter jets will now be stationed along with those from other countries. The British base in Cyprus will still be used for support aircraft, despite protests from the Cypriot government.y cheap ghd australia online,
Yesterday, senior British ministers said that although no “occupying force” would be deployed, the use of ground forces could not be ruled out. Mr Hague said: “There can’t be an occupation force. But I don’t think that means you can’t have a ground invasion of Libya.”
Mr Osborne also indicated that ground forces may be used in future after only saying their deployment was not being discussed “at the moment”. He declined to rule out their use in future.
The comments stand in contrast to assurances given by the Americans, who are wary of being dragged in to another prolonged military campaign alongside operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On a trip to Brazil, President Obama said: “As I said yesterday, we will not, I repeat, we will not deploy any US troops on the ground.”
The Americans are also preparing to hand over responsibility for the operation to Nato in the next few days.
Yesterday there were signs of international unease at the mission, and even splits within the coalition.
Ivory Coast was plunged into violence when President Laurent Gbagbo refused to cede power to Alassane Ouattara, who was declared the winner by the United Nations in the elections that took place in November.
'In just a few weeks, buy the rosetta stone english the number of refugees has doubled and the number of displaced people has increased fivefold,' EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement. 'There are at present an estimated 380,000 displaced persons and refugees.
'Today's increase will allow us to provide immediate relief to these people, many of whom have fled unspeakable violence,' the rosetta stone japanese she added.
Last week, the United Nations' World Food Programme announced a 16-million-dollar plan to assist 125,000 displaced people inside the Ivory Coast as well as some 80,000 who have poured into neighbouring Liberia.
Twenty years after he left a top Indianapolis law firm on his quest to become the richest man in the world, Timothy S. Durham was arrested at his Los Angeles-area home on charges that he masterminded a fraud that bilked thousands of Ohio families out of more than $200 million.guess handbags
Federal prosecutors announced the charges Wednesday in Indianapolis, much to the relief of residents across Ohio stung by the implosion last year of Fair Financial, a small finance company that authorities say Durham and his lieutenants looted to support a lavish lifestyle.
"It's a blessing that they are going to prison, and will go to prison," said Dale Henthorn, 71, an Ohio retiree who reported losing $237,000 in life savings in the alleged scheme. "They took us pretty bad. They ruined our lives."
The charges, made by a federal grand jury sitting in Indianapolis, are allegations that federal prosecutors Winfield Ong and Joe Vaughn now must prove in court.
Durham; James F. Cochran, 55; and Rick D. Snow, 47, each were charged Tuesday on 12 separate counts of conspiracy and wire and securities fraud related to the operation of the finance company in Akron, Ohio. One wire fraud count carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years upon conviction.
Regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission weighed in as well, filing a civil lawsuit Wednesday. It contends Durham and Cochran used loans from Fair "to pay their daily living expenses and to support lavish personal lifestyles, including mortgages for multiple homes, more than 40 classic cars worth over $7 million, a $3 million private jet, a $6 million yacht, hundreds of thousands of dollars of gambling and travel expenses, credit card bills, and country club dues, and for elaborate parties, and other forms of entertainment and expenditures. They also distributed large amounts of money to family members and friends."
The federal cases brings few new details to the sensational Durham tale. Splashy FBI raids in November 2009 shut down Fair Financial and his main investment firm, Obsidian Enterprises in Indianapolis.
Durham and Cochran were business partners at Obsidian when they bought the long-established Akron finance company in 2002 and hired Snow as its chief financial officer.
By prosecuting Durham, the government will put the public spotlight squarely on the flamboyant 48-year-old lawyer.
He walked away from a plush labor law job at the big Ice Miller firm to work with prominent Indianapolis businessman Beurt SerVaas.
After leaving the SerVaas fold in 1999, he formed Obsidian to buy unglamorous industrial firms but later made headlines in Indianapolis, saying he wanted to become the world's richest man. By then, he had taken over Fair Financial, become a major contributor to the campaigns of Gov. Mitch Daniels and local Republicans, owned a yacht and a mansion, and had invested in glamour businesses, including National Lampoon, a Los Angeles film company.
Along the way, he rankled local supporters who sensed he had tuned them out as his focus turned to Fair Financial.
"Whether Tim is guilty, the courts will decide," said Jerry Williams, an Indianapolis attorney who briefly invested in Obsidian when it started. "But all the stories that have come out about people in Ohio investing in Fair Financial and getting little or nothing back, that's a sad story about capitalism."
While the Fair bankruptcy proceeding has been making headlines in Akron and Indianapolis, federal authorities stayed largely quiet until Wednesday.
The SEC contends the trio committed fraud by lending $230 million from Fair to Durham and Cochran and their other businesses, their colleagues and friends. Daniel M. Hawke, an SEC investigator in Philadelphia leading the agency's white-collar crime unit, handled the case.
Fair raised the money from 2002 to 2009 by selling Ohio investors certificates that promised they'd get their money back plus a high rate of interest. However, the SEC contends Durham, Cochran and Snow "concealed from investors that Fair's financial condition had substantially deteriorated" because the insider loans were not being repaid. "Fair did not have sufficient cash flow to meet its obligations to investors," the SEC claims.
U.S. Attorney Tim Morrison said an undercover investigation into Durham's operations began in September 2009. It led to the largest white-collar probe ever in Indiana.fashion trends 2011
Automatic not-guilty pleas were entered Wednesday on behalf of Durham, Cochran and Snow. A trial was scheduled for May 16.
Durham, who was in custody in Los Angeles on Wednesday, could not be reached for comment. He previously said that purchases of items such as exotic cars were sound and legitimate investments.
Phone calls to National Lampoon were not answered. Durham has been serving as chief executive officer of the Los Angeles film company since 2009.
Durham's attorney Larry Mackey could not immediately be reached for comment. Cochran's lawyer James Voyles also could not be reached.
Snow's attorney Thomas Farlow said his client maintains he is innocent.
Morrison, the federal prosecutor, presided over a news conference Wednesday about the charges. Asked why the government did not take control of Durham's many assets after the FBI raid in late 2009, Morrison said prosecutors at that point had not had time to gather sufficient facts proving any wrongs were committed.
Durham, meanwhile, was apparently able to sell off houses and other valuables.
By leaving the assets unfrozen, Morrison said, Fair Financial in bankruptcy had valuable items to sell. If the government had seized the assets, the property by law would have remained in federal hands and could not be released to Fair Financial investors.
Cleveland attorney Brian Bash is serving as the U.S. trustee in the Fair Financial bankruptcy. Last year, Bash auctioned off automobiles and pieces of art purchased by Durham and his associates, gathering $1.5 million for investors who lost money.
"I think we've picked off the low-hanging fruit," said Cleveland attorney Kelly Burgan, Bash's counsel on the bankruptcy case. "But the dollars that we've recovered from the sale of cars and art are a pittance in terms of the $200 million" that investors lost.
Burgan said the trustee will next try to recover loans and other assets. "Hopefully, we can recover more cash," Burgan said.
Mark Edington, West Salem, Ohio, has given up hope of ever getting his investment back.
Nearly retired from a 25-year career as a union car hauler, Edington and his wife, Penny, a school bus driver, face a loss of nearly $50,000 they'd socked away with Fair Financial.
The money was supposed to fund a granddaughter's college education. Another chunk was what Edington called "my Corvette money," which, he quickly adds, most likely would have been spent on their granddaughter as well.
"We have pretty much come to the conclusion we are not going to get anything back," Edington said. "We are trying to put it behind us, really."
Henthorn, who lives in Beallsville, Ohio, lost his life savings of $237,000 plus promised interest in the collapse of Fair Financial.
It was money he had saved during 42 years of finishing concrete and performing other construction jobs as a member of the Laborers Union in Ohio.power balance
"I thought I had enough money to carry me all the way through retirement to my funeral, but I ran into people who took my money because they'd rather have fancy cars and boats," Henthorn said.
Now he lives on $1,600 a month from Social Security. His wife died several years ago, so he lives alone.
Like many others who lost money in Fair Financial, Henthorn said, "I thought I could trust them. I just hope this never happens to anyone else. Why do we have to put up with all this greed?"
Instead of sitting on a sunny beach in Florida with his retirement savings, Henthorn finds himself limited to staying close to home and occasionally talking with others who lost money in Fair Financial. "Now that Durham's been arrested, I'd like to know if we can deduct the money we lost from our taxes because we lost it in a Ponzi scheme," Henthorn said. "That's not much, but it would be something."