Amigos, and undecideds at the HU Bar,

I just noticed that Libya's Gaddafi really knows how to PARTY. According to this Reuters article, this past september....he went all out for his 40th anniversary of rule.... a 6 day bash, for those who want to see the pictures that accompanied the article, go here: the Reuters article is copied below.

Libya prepares for six-day Gaddafi celebrations / PHOTO [ WORLD BULLETIN- TURKEY NEWS, WORLD NEWS ]

Now, what does this fette in libya have to do with being kidnapped or anything as sober as what the hostages are experiencing right now?


Here are my thoughts. If you scroll down to the last paragraph of the article... you will note that "hot air balloons will be floating overhead while the Tuaregs display 1,000 camels."

Could the hot air balloons/small zeppelins be the new camels of the desert?

After all, the jet stream does sweep across Africa from Mauritania to Libya.

What if, a 4X4 is used by "locals" for the initial attack and taking of hostages from a relief convoy, or perhaps a from a private vehicle, the hostages are shoved into the 4X4 and quickly driven into the desert.

Then the hostages are transferred/sold to others with a hot air balloon/or something like a small zeppelin, possibly rigged for stealthy night flying.....

The 4X4 is buried in a pre-readied crater in the desert sand? The 4X4 tracks just end, as was the case when the 3 Spaniards were recently taken.

Would those sent to rescue the hostages think to look for a buried 4X4???

Meanwhile, while the air force, army and navy are mobilizing the hot air balloon lands at a "safe camp" where the hostages are held waiting other prearranged transport from a point not in the original area of the search.

Please remember, resources for rescue operations might be very limited initially and they will be focused on the immediate area of the attack and surrounding desert.

Perhaps the local 4X4 kidnappers also have camels waiting nearby for their escape.

At the end of the Gaddafi article, are some links to information on zeppelins currently operating in Africa.

Any thoughts from the HU Bar?

Eat , Drink and Be Careful xfiltrate

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Libya prepares for six-day Gaddafi celebrations / PHOTO
Libya will start marking 40th anniversary of Gaddafi ruling as military bands, 400 dancers, aerobatic planes are set to electrify a hot and drowsy Tripoli.
Tuesday, 01 September 2009 11:46

Libya will start marking 40th anniversary of Gaddafi ruling as military bands, 400 dancers, aerobatic planes and fireworks are set to electrify a hot and drowsy Tripoli from Tuesday.

Muammar Gaddafi throws Libya's biggest party.

The six days of celebrations across the north African country were designed to get the message across to the world that the long-isolated oil exporter was open again for business after years of heavy sanctions, organisers said.

Libya has invited dozens of Western heads of state but European leaders are expected to stay away, including Italy's Silvio Berlusconi who visited Libya on Sunday to mark the first anniversary of a Libyan-Italian friendship agreement.

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela will attend and a bevy of African leaders including Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Sudan's Omar Hassan al-Bashir, are expected to be in town for an African Union summit.

"Libya is opening up to the world -- that is the basic message," said Philippe Skaff, who heads the team coordinating the centrepiece celebration event. It includes companies from France and Britain.

"This is the first time they actually received thousands of foreigners with open arms. They are granting visas for this like they've never done before," he said.

But the United States and Britain angry at the "hero's welcome" that Tripoli gave a former Libyan agent who was freed by Scotland last month from a life sentence for the Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people.

Gaddafi's rule

At home, political parties remain banned and Gaddafi staunchly defends his system of grass roots government by town-hall committee.

But foreign companies are back searching for oil or vying for contracts to build roads, railways, phone networks and schools.

As Tripoli counts down to its six-day party, lasers beam out into the Mediterranean through the hot, humid night air from the roofs of new hotels built to cater for the influx of foreigners.

Lights adorn buildings across the city, walls in the old town have been freshly whitewashed and rows of green Libyan flags flutter over its dusty streets.

Portraits of Gaddafi adorn billboards and buildings across the city, his features sometimes traced out in colourful neon lights. Two new oil tankers loom over the corniche in a statement of Libya's growing might as an energy producer.

The organisers say hundreds of thousands are expected in the capital on Tuesday night for a three-hour show tracing Libya's history and offering a glimpse of the future. They say its scale will rival an Olympic opening ceremony.

In the following days, hot air balloons will rise over the desert and Tuaregs will hold a festival featuring 1,000 camels. Libya's ancient coastal cities of Leptis Magna and Sabratha will come right up to date with sound and light displays.
Reuters

De Beers Searches for Diamonds By Blimp

OVERSEAS TRANSPORT OF A ZEPPELIN BY

Modern Airships - De Beers Zeppelin heading for South Africa

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This December 27, 2009 article gives an overview of sorts, regarding kidnappings in Africa, and how the Festival in the Desert has been impacted...

Seems to me, that beyond the hostage for prisoner exchange there is also a financial angle, on the part of (AQIM) I did not find any mention of the Latin American drug cartels involvement, which I am sure will also impact the Festival in the Desert and the Sahara.

I got an idea, perhaps some acceptable bright diplomat and translator, might set up a conversation between the prisoners that Spain holds that (AQIM) wants released, and the hostages, and this conversation could be broadcast to the world.

I, for one, would very much like to hear what each group says. It is only through open communication that the why of the conflict can be understood and then, and only then, can workable solutions be created and implemented.

When negotiations are left to governments, sometimes potential solutions are implemented that do not have the best interest of the majority of the people involved, but, strangely, more often than not, a financial angle too.

Here is the article:

Home / Headlines / Blood in the Sand - Media Monitors Network (MMN)

Drug smuggling in the Sahara articles here: (Quote from second article perhaps supporting my "view" that "arial transport might be part of hostage taking in the Sahara)

"According to the complaint, Toure said his organization would use Land Rovers to drive the load across the desert to Morocco, and he described "two different transportation routes, one through Algeria and Libya and the other through Algeria and Morocco." He told the informant that his group "provides protection for planes that land in their area, including planes from Colombia," the document said."

The Associated Press: Feds: Arrests in Africa link al-Qaida and drugs

U.S. prosecution links drugs to terrorism -- latimes.com

BBC News - US arrests three Africans in 'al-Qaeda cocaine sting'

Sahara new centre for drugs trading, UN warns | World news | guardian.co.uk

and from April: Al-Qaeda Sahara Network Spurs U.S. to Train Chad, Mali Forces - Bloomberg.com

Hey anyone know anything about Hovercrafts? Range, speed, etc.?

Eat, Drink, and Be Careful xfiltrate

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"If this is the new frontline in the war in terror, no one told the locals."

Although hot air balloons may work in one direction, they're a big lump to fold up and take back again! And a little vulnerable to pot shots!
A hovercraft big enough for even just 6 people would be fairly big, very noisy and drink a lot more fuel than something with wheels? Would be fun though
I wonder in what sense the tyre tracks disappeared? The ones being followed joined too many others to be followed, or even reached ground too hard to show tracks? Unless its a truck with unfolding wings?

BBC NEWS | Africa | By flying car from London to Timbuktu

Grizzly7, I suggest this "sober" thread could become a dog and pony show, that could rival, that other web site ? uh, Average rider or something like that, but given the very serious nature of our given topic, I will seriously address your comments.

For those who contribute to HUBB threads, by correcting those who wander off topic, I will begin by explaining that often I find it necessary to use, as example, a seemingly unrelated analogy to the topic.

First I will address your comment:

"If this is the new frontline in the war in terror, no one told the locals."

Perhaps knowing that until very recently less that 20% "of the locals" , by accurate survey, that is local adult US citizens did not know that the the Federal Reserve, created in 1913 - consisting of 12 District Banks, including the Central Bank of the United States is a privately held off shore corporation.

Yet the "Fed" has the potential to control the economy of the United States and impact the economy of the world.

The "Fed's," demand for billions of US taxpayers dollars for bailing out corporations that are "to big to fail" has come into public view during the 2009 financial crisis, and the United States Congress is finally struggling to pass legislation that will require a very watered down audit of the "Fed."

Survival itself consumes the attention of most locals worldwide, it is only when entities like the "Fed" in the United States and "terrorism" in West Africa impede the locals potential to survive that they become aware.

Frontline in the war on terror or not, I do not know, I am more interested in contributing information that might increase the survival potential of current hostages, and prevent more kidnapping.

"Although hot air balloons may work in one direction, they're a big lump to fold up and take back again! And a little vulnerable to pot shots!"

The nomads of the desert just leave behind or bury for later use objects not easily transported. The leave behind, or destroy concept might be unfamiliar to westerners, but to those who travel the trade routes through the Sahara, I suspect, have less a need to "keep" material goods, especially if they have been procured, as a tool, for a well paid job.

Covert operations with hot air balloons would logically be carried out at night, I might add that the Spaniards and the Italians were taken at night.

If the police, army etc suspect hostages might be on board a hot air balloon, this "human shield" factor might limit their option of using deadly force.

As for the hover craft, thanks for the info, a flying car might be more logical for rapid hostage transport, and thank you very much for the BBC news article.

The article I read, reported, the tracks just stopped, no mention of intermingling with other tracks, of course there might be much lost in the various translation. The winds of the Sahara might also cover tracts, or desert experts might know how to make tracks in desert sands disappear.

Eat, Drink and Be Careful xfiltrate

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If you are following the this thread or the Sahara hostage taking threads might want to google "bunkers Sahara" sample below

Terrorism – Al-Qaeda Building Bunkers in the Sahara : Homeland Security News

It is interesting to note that my "third party" kidnappers prediction does not stand alone, there is now, also a rash of articles regarding "bunkers in the Sahara" that gives weight to my "caves/tunnels" prediction.

While we are still waiting for the "hot air ballon/blimp/Zeppelin" articles validating my prediction, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

We will return BsAs in a couple weeks, we just had a visit at our ranch from a Hubber out of Chile on his BMW, Hubbers in northern Arizona, USA needing a place to stay -- PM us

Been too busy to post, but "back in the saddle" soon. Listened to Shirkira's "Waka Waka" ? It is the Official African World Cup song and it has many references to Argentina - might be because Shakira is dating an Argentine??? directly below...

YouTube - Shakira - Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) (The Official 2010 FIFA ...

Xfiltrate

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