Sega attacked, hacker group offers to take revenge (Reuters)

BOSTON (Reuters) – Japan's Sega Corp joined the rapidly growing club of video game companies whose computer systems have been hacked by cyber criminals, the company said on Friday.

The news capped a week in which the Lulz Security group of hackers launched a cyber crime spree against other video game companies.

In an unexpected twist, Lulz responded to the news of the attack on Sega by offering to track down and punish the hackers who attacked the Japanese maker of video game software.

The drama surrounding the recent round of video game breaches paled compared to what PlayStation maker Sony Corp experienced following two high-profile attacks that surfaced in April. Those breaches led to the theft of account data for more than 100 million customers, making it the largest ever hacking of data outside the financial services industry.

They also exposed what turned out to be a large number of security holes in sites throughout the global Sony media empire. That led to a rash of attacks on Sony systems that undermined confidence in the company and made it the source of frequent jokes by security experts. Its security staff scrambled to repair vulnerabilities in its network as independent experts identified new problems via remote scans and disclosed them to Sony and the public.

Sega said that some personal information about an unspecified number of Sega Pass online network members had been compromised in the attack, according to a letter the company sent to customers on Friday that was published on the PlayStation LifeStyle.net website.

Customer email addresses and birthdates, which can be read in plain text were taken, as were passwords, which could not be read in plain text because they had been scrambled or encrypted using security software before being stored in the database.

Sega shut down the Pass network on Thursday, the day it learned of the breach, telling customers in a note on its website that it was "undergoing improvements." It was not immediately clear when it would go back online.

The video game developer is a division of Japan's Sega Sammy Holdings, which makes game software such as Sonic the Hedgehog as well as slot machines.

Sega was one of the biggest video game consoles makers in the 1990s, but pulled out of the market in 2001 in response to disappointing sales of its Dreamcast system, which had debuted in 1998 to widespread industry praise. Dreamcast lost ground to newer products developed by Sony and Nintendo.

It now focuses on developing video games for systems made by other companies.

LULZ GETS INVOLVED

While the FBI is likely to be called in to investigate the attack on Sega, as the bureau typically is in such cases, its agents may find themselves competing for clues with members of Lulz Security hacking group.

In its offer to assist Sega, the Tweet from Lulz hinted that its leaders might count themselves among a small but highly loyal group of gamers who still play on the aging Dreamcast console.

"Sega - contact us," Lulz said in its Tweet to the video game developer. "We want to help you destroy the hackers that attacked you. We love the Dreamcast, these people are going down."

Lulz offered to see that the cyber criminals are punished for attacking Sega shortly after ending its own crime spree that included attacks on several other video game companies.

The Lulz hackers, who publicize their attacks on their own website and via Twitter, said on Friday that they had stolen customer records of some 200,000 users of the online video game Brink. Officials at Xenia Media, the developer of Brink, could not be reached for comment.

Lulz last week also attacked several other industry players, saying it was working on behalf of disgruntled players who had ordered the attacks via telephone hotlines that Lulz set up in the United States and Europe to solicit such requests.

Tribalware.net and EVE from Innogames were among the victims of the Lulz campaign against video game makers. The hacking group also attacked servers that help run two other online games -- "League of Legends" and "Minecraft" -- and it hit the The Escapist website, which provides video game news.

Lulz had hacked into Nintendo in an attack that it disclosed on June 3, but the incident has not appeared to have serious consequences for the company. The hacking group published a data file over the Internet that it said contained details on the way Nintendo set up one of its web servers.

Such data could be valuable to other hackers planning future attacks on Nintendo because the data potentially could leave clues as to possible security weaknesses in the game maker's network.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Eric Walsh)

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The Revenge of Steve Jobs (PC Magazine)

Not long after the IBM PC began to takeoff in 1982, Steve Jobs and team started working on the Mac in earnest. He was convinced that the PC—with its mainframe and minicomputer-like, text-driven interface—would never catch on with mainstream users, and he set his team on creating a new computer that had a graphical user interface. Although he did not disclose that a new computer was coming from Apple at that time, I remember him telling some of us about how the PC was too geeky and boxy to be considered anything but a business computer. Even then, he was fixated on ease of use and design.

To his dismay, the PC did take off, and even when the Mac came out and helped redefine the user interface by making it more consumer friendly, the PC went on to defy his viewpoint and become the defacto standard for personal computing. If you know Apple's history, Jobs's decision to not license the Mac OS doomed Apple to a distant second place behind Windows and IBM compatible PCs. Apple has been struggling to play catch up to this dominant platform since 1984.

But Steve Jobs has never given up on his vision of creating the "next" great computer. When he was kicked out of Apple in 1984, his main goal was to create the computer that could beat the original Mac and the PC. He attempted to do this with the launch of his NeXT Computer. While the NeXT Computer did not do that, the base NeXT OS code that he created during that time eventually became the core of the new Mac OS and is central to iOS today as well.

In fact, his desire to create the "next" big computer and thumb his nose at the PC market that rejected his early creations is now stronger than ever. Jobs is inflicting his own version of personal revenge by causing major nightmares for traditional PC vendors with the new products and services that he has brought to market since he returned to Apple in 1997. While his moves are all business, his intentions are clearly to make sure that this time he wins the battle for producing the next big thing in personal computers.

His first onslaught into creating the next major computing platform was with the Mac itself. He has now extended its OS in ways that make it the richest PC OS on the market today. His MacBook Air is the thinnest and lightest laptop and is redefining what a portable computer should look like. But the thing that is frightening his competitors is that after decades of lagging behind the PC vendors, the Mac today is kicking their butts. Not only is the Mac outpacing the broader PC market, but it is doing it in virtually every segment from enterprise to government to education. According to IDC, Mac shipments grew 27 percent in March—a period in which PC shipments declined 1.2 percent. IDC goes on to say that in Europe, Mac sales were up 10 percent year over year, while the PC market there was down 17.5 percent. In Asia, IDC says Mac sales were up 69.4 percent, while the PC market was up just 8.8 percent. Even more interesting is that in PC crazed Japan, Mac sales where up 21.1 percent and total PC sales declined 16.1 percent.

Helping that growth is Apple's impressive retail presence. Apple stores have defied pretty much every one's prediction that they would fail. In fact, May 19, 2011 marked the 10th anniversary of the first Apple Store. Through these stores, Apple has redefined what it takes to sell technology products and has raised the bar so much that it has made it almost impossible for the mainstream retailers to compete head-to-head with them, especially when it comes to personalized services.

One thing Jobs really understands is that even though Apple creates an easy to use UI for all of its products, technology by nature has many variables and is still complex, so consumers need hand-holding from time-to-time. According to Apple, 50 percent of the people who buy Macs in its stores are new to the Mac platform, which means that these folks are choosing to turn their backs on Windows-based PCs. This is a huge trend, and with the stores helping make computer buying fun and easy, it should not be a big surprise that Apple is gaining ground on its PC competitors.

But the crowning jewel in Jobs's personal revenge is the iPad. With this product, he finally brought out the "next" computer. Apple delivered what really is the next major personal computing platform. But this time, he realized that just creating a hardware device and a great OS is not enough. In his long-range planning way of thinking, he spent the last decade building out a rich service component that includes iTunes, the App Store, and the soon to be announced cloud service. These services combined with the new personal computing device give users a richer experience. To Jobs, perhaps the more important aspect of this is that the whole package is hard to replicate.

His success with the iPad has, like the original PC from IBM, shown the market what the next big computing platform will be. And like the first time around, Jobs and company is sticking with their decision of not licensing iOS. And of course, he won't give any OEM access to his services either. This time around, Windows is not Apple's chief competitor though. Google's Android is Apple's most competitive challenger in the mobile OS game. The big question is whether Android can eventually be the spoiler to Apple that Windows was back in the 1980s or 1990s.

The competition sure hopes so. I have talked with CEOs, CMOs, and many top execs with competing devices, and they basically see Android eventually replicating what Windows did for PCs and delivering the largest OS platform for tablets. I am not so sure this is true for the first few years of tablets. The iPad gets its great utility from the apps and connected ecosystem Apple provides. The Apple stores also enhances the iPad, because they have become the go-to location for anyone even slightly interested in a tablet. On the other hand, the competing tablets will be on racks in big box stores and specialty computer retailers, where they are all vying with each other and where they will receive little sales support to help consumers with buying decisions. But, once they become commodity devices, like PCs are today, the balance could be tipped towards Android and other OSs as well. But at the moment, with Macs on a major upswing and the iPad leading the current tablet assault, Steve Jobs's revenge engine is in high gear.

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Internet chatter up on bin Laden revenge attacks

LONDON (AP) — Pipe bombs, a targeted car crash, a lone gunman: Western intelligence officials said Friday they are seeing increased Internet and phone chatter about cheap, small-scale terror attacks to avenge the death of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Pro-Osama bin Laden supporters march to the U.S. Embassy in London on Friday to protest the killing of the al-Qaeda chief.

More than 100 protesters, meanwhile, gathered Friday outside the U.S. Embassy in London shouting, "USA, you will pay!" and warning of such revenge attacks.

European security officials say there is no specific plot to justify raising the threat level in Europe. But one of their biggest fears is the possibility of a Mumbai-style attack like the 2008 shooting spree that killed 166 people and paralyzed India's business capital for days.

Many of the Indian police who initially responded to the attack were unarmed. Most of Britain's police force is also unarmed, while other European police officers usually carry lighter arms than their North American counterparts.

Interpol has asked law enforcement agencies in some 188 countries to be on alert for retaliatory attacks. Communities have been warned to report anything suspicious. Embassies and some American businesses have added new security measures.

"Is it likely that people who follow bin Laden's ideology will try to avenge his death," one European intelligence official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of his work. "There is an increase in chatter, but that doesn't mean the threat has increased for now."

Europe has been the target of numerous terror plots by Islamist militants. The deadliest was the 2004 Madrid train bombings, when shrapnel-filled bombs exploded, killing 191 people and wounding about 1,800. A year later, suicide bombers killed 52 rush-hour commuters in London aboard three subway trains and a bus. And in 2006, U.S. and British intelligence officials thwarted one of the largest plots yet — a plan to explode nearly a dozen trans-Atlantic airliners.

"There has been a mixture of chatter regarding low-tech attacks but nothing as yet that we see as a credible or imminent threat," said a second western intelligence official, also on condition of anonymity. "There have been mentions of shootings, bombings and random violence, though it is not surprising, given bin Laden's death."

According to computers, DVDs and documents from the luxury compound in Pakistan where U.S. officials think bin Laden had been living for up to six years, al-Qaeda had hoped to attack a U.S. rail network to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The confiscated materials reveal the rail attack planning as of February 2010.

British cleric Anjem Choudary, who helped organize Friday's demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy, said revenge attacks in Britain and abroad were likely because of bin Laden's importance to al-Qaeda and its affiliates. Choudary used to head the outlawed al-Muhajiroun group and is now a member of the Muslims Against Crusades group.

"I think Britain is more likely to face a 7/7 today than ever," he said in reference to the London suicide bombings that took place on July 7, 2005. "Osama bin Laden was a high-profile leader. If the Americans talk of justice, they shouldn't have killed him. The next attacks will likely be high profile and could very well happen in Europe or in the U.S."

He said he had no knowledge of any planned attacks.

Other protesters said attacks were imminent.

"It is only a matter of time before another atrocity — the West is the enemy," a man who identified himself as 28-year-old Abu Muaz from London said.

There has also been increased praise of bin Laden on Internet forums in Britain, home to nearly 1 million people of Pakistani or Afghan descent.

Kemal Helbawy, an Islamist based in London, joined an online session on the pro-Brotherhood 'On Islam' website Monday — the day after bid Laden was killed — asking that God "treat him generously, to enlighten his grave, and to make him join the prophets, the martyrs and the good people."

Helbawy came to the U.K. in the 1970s as a spokesman for the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. He later co-founded both the Muslim Council of Britain and the Muslim Association of Britain, the Muslim Brotherhood's main British front-group, according to the London-based Quilliam Foundation, an anti-extremist think-tank.

"There is a big push to encourage ordinary Muslims in the west to take up arms spontaneously since al-Qaeda can't organize training camps like it used to," said James Brandon, head of research at Quilliam.

One vehicle for encouraging extremism has been through Inspire Magazine, a slick Western-style Internet magazine linked to American extremist Samir Khan and Yemen-based Anwar al-Awlaki, tipped as bin Laden's successor. In previous issues, the magazine has offered such articles as "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom" and tips on how to fire AK-47s assault rifles.

Brandon said it has appealed to Muslims in Britain and North America, Brandon said.

In October, the U.S. State Department advised American citizens living or traveling in Europe to take more precautions following reports that terrorists may be plotting attacks on a European city. Some of those details came from Ahmed Siddiqui, a German citizen of Afghan descent who was captured by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in July.

Germany authorities were on heightened alert Friday, saying they expect al-Qaeda will be eager to prove itself in the wake of bin Laden's death. They stressed they were not aware of concrete targets or plans, but were watching for any suspicious activity — particularly small-scale attacks.

Last month, a 21-year-old Kosovo Albanian Muslim targeted U.S. airmen at Frankfurt airport.

Denmark's intelligence service, PET, said it also believes bin Laden's death could trigger terror attacks, and mentioned Pakistan and Afghanistan as places at risk of stepped-up attacks.

"There will for militant Islamists be prestige in being the first to avenge him and demonstrate that Islamic militants continue to operate," PET said.

The United States has issued a global travel advisory urging Americans to be cautious even though the overall terror attack threat level has remained the same in many countries.

Small-scale attacks remain a concern in places like Denmark, where the Danish newspaper Jyllandsposten printed controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said special security procedures have been put in place to prevent attacks.

"We continue to review on an ongoing basis all material seized during the (bin Laden) operation as well as new intel that may be coming in," she said earlier this week. "And I stand ready to issue an alert should intel or information emerge that warrants it."

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

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Internet chatter up on bin Laden revenge attacks

LONDON (AP) — Pipe bombs, a targeted car crash, a lone gunman: Western intelligence officials said Friday they are seeing increased Internet and phone chatter about cheap, small-scale terror attacks to avenge the death of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Pro-Osama bin Laden supporters march to the U.S. Embassy in London on Friday to protest the killing of the al-Qaeda chief.

More than 100 protesters, meanwhile, gathered Friday outside the U.S. Embassy in London shouting, "USA, you will pay!" and warning of such revenge attacks.

European security officials say there is no specific plot to justify raising the threat level in Europe. But one of their biggest fears is the possibility of a Mumbai-style attack like the 2008 shooting spree that killed 166 people and paralyzed India's business capital for days.

Many of the Indian police who initially responded to the attack were unarmed. Most of Britain's police force is also unarmed, while other European police officers usually carry lighter arms than their North American counterparts.

Interpol has asked law enforcement agencies in some 188 countries to be on alert for retaliatory attacks. Communities have been warned to report anything suspicious. Embassies and some American businesses have added new security measures.

"Is it likely that people who follow bin Laden's ideology will try to avenge his death," one European intelligence official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of his work. "There is an increase in chatter, but that doesn't mean the threat has increased for now."

Europe has been the target of numerous terror plots by Islamist militants. The deadliest was the 2004 Madrid train bombings, when shrapnel-filled bombs exploded, killing 191 people and wounding about 1,800. A year later, suicide bombers killed 52 rush-hour commuters in London aboard three subway trains and a bus. And in 2006, U.S. and British intelligence officials thwarted one of the largest plots yet — a plan to explode nearly a dozen trans-Atlantic airliners.

"There has been a mixture of chatter regarding low-tech attacks but nothing as yet that we see as a credible or imminent threat," said a second western intelligence official, also on condition of anonymity. "There have been mentions of shootings, bombings and random violence, though it is not surprising, given bin Laden's death."

According to computers, DVDs and documents from the luxury compound in Pakistan where U.S. officials think bin Laden had been living for up to six years, al-Qaeda had hoped to attack a U.S. rail network to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The confiscated materials reveal the rail attack planning as of February 2010.

British cleric Anjem Choudary, who helped organize Friday's demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy, said revenge attacks in Britain and abroad were likely because of bin Laden's importance to al-Qaeda and its affiliates. Choudary used to head the outlawed al-Muhajiroun group and is now a member of the Muslims Against Crusades group.

"I think Britain is more likely to face a 7/7 today than ever," he said in reference to the London suicide bombings that took place on July 7, 2005. "Osama bin Laden was a high-profile leader. If the Americans talk of justice, they shouldn't have killed him. The next attacks will likely be high profile and could very well happen in Europe or in the U.S."

He said he had no knowledge of any planned attacks.

Other protesters said attacks were imminent.

"It is only a matter of time before another atrocity — the West is the enemy," a man who identified himself as 28-year-old Abu Muaz from London said.

There has also been increased praise of bin Laden on Internet forums in Britain, home to nearly 1 million people of Pakistani or Afghan descent.

Kemal Helbawy, an Islamist based in London, joined an online session on the pro-Brotherhood 'On Islam' website Monday — the day after bid Laden was killed — asking that God "treat him generously, to enlighten his grave, and to make him join the prophets, the martyrs and the good people."

Helbawy came to the U.K. in the 1970s as a spokesman for the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. He later co-founded both the Muslim Council of Britain and the Muslim Association of Britain, the Muslim Brotherhood's main British front-group, according to the London-based Quilliam Foundation, an anti-extremist think-tank.

"There is a big push to encourage ordinary Muslims in the west to take up arms spontaneously since al-Qaeda can't organize training camps like it used to," said James Brandon, head of research at Quilliam.

One vehicle for encouraging extremism has been through Inspire Magazine, a slick Western-style Internet magazine linked to American extremist Samir Khan and Yemen-based Anwar al-Awlaki, tipped as bin Laden's successor. In previous issues, the magazine has offered such articles as "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom" and tips on how to fire AK-47s assault rifles.

Brandon said it has appealed to Muslims in Britain and North America, Brandon said.

In October, the U.S. State Department advised American citizens living or traveling in Europe to take more precautions following reports that terrorists may be plotting attacks on a European city. Some of those details came from Ahmed Siddiqui, a German citizen of Afghan descent who was captured by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in July.

Germany authorities were on heightened alert Friday, saying they expect al-Qaeda will be eager to prove itself in the wake of bin Laden's death. They stressed they were not aware of concrete targets or plans, but were watching for any suspicious activity — particularly small-scale attacks.

Last month, a 21-year-old Kosovo Albanian Muslim targeted U.S. airmen at Frankfurt airport.

Denmark's intelligence service, PET, said it also believes bin Laden's death could trigger terror attacks, and mentioned Pakistan and Afghanistan as places at risk of stepped-up attacks.

"There will for militant Islamists be prestige in being the first to avenge him and demonstrate that Islamic militants continue to operate," PET said.

The United States has issued a global travel advisory urging Americans to be cautious even though the overall terror attack threat level has remained the same in many countries.

Small-scale attacks remain a concern in places like Denmark, where the Danish newspaper Jyllandsposten printed controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said special security procedures have been put in place to prevent attacks.

"We continue to review on an ongoing basis all material seized during the (bin Laden) operation as well as new intel that may be coming in," she said earlier this week. "And I stand ready to issue an alert should intel or information emerge that warrants it."

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

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Libyan mourners demand airstrike revenge

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — More than 2,000 Libyans shouting for revenge on Monday buried Moammar Gadhafi's second youngest son, who officials say was killed in a NATO airstrike along with three of the Libyan leader's young grandchildren.

In this photo made on a government-organized tour, supporters carry a poster of a Libyan army colonel who was killed in a NATO attack in April, during funeral ceremony for members of the Gadhafi family in Tripoli on Monday.

By Darko Bandic, AP

In this photo made on a government-organized tour, supporters carry a poster of a Libyan army colonel who was killed in a NATO attack in April, during funeral ceremony for members of the Gadhafi family in Tripoli on Monday.

Seif al-Arab Gadhafi's body, wrapped in a white burial shroud, was lowered into a grave to the thundering sound of anti-aircraft guns being fired from near the cemetery in a Tripoli neighborhood.

Two of his older brothers, Seif al-Islam and Mohammed, paid their respects, but his father was absent. Members of the Gadhafi family have only made infrequent public appearances since the start of the uprising against the Libyan leader in mid-February.

South Africa on Monday joined Russia in criticizing the NATO strike on the Gadhafi family compound. NATO officials have denied they were hunting Gadhafi to break the stalemate between better trained government forces and lightly armed rebels, who control much of eastern Libya.

In Monday's tumultuous funeral, the Gadhafi brothers were thronged by a huge crowd pushing to get closer to the coffin, draped in a green Libyan flag. Seif al-Islam, once pegged as his father's possible successor and a proponent of reform, was dressed in traditional Libyan garb, with a black cap and a black vest over a long white shirt.

The procession began at a large intersection in Tripoli's al-Hani neighborhood, which had been blocked off for the occasion. Thousands crowded around the hearse, chanting "Revenge, revenge for you, Libya" and flashing victory signs.

From there, the mourners carried the casket to the nearby cemetery, where weeds and thistles grew among stone slabs that marked graves.

Seif al-Islam stood at the freshly dug grave as the body of his 29-year-old brother was removed from the simple coffin and lowered into the ground in a burial shroud.

Seif al-Arab was killed late Saturday, along with three of Gadhafi's grandchildren, ages six months to two years, when NATO bombed the family's compound in Tripoli. A French orthopedic surgeon, who runs a private clinic in Tripoli, told reporters he saw three of the four bodies and that one was most likely Seif al-Arab, based on photographs he had seen.

Gadhafi and his wife were present during the attack but were unharmed, said Libyan officials, who accused NATO of trying to assassinate the Libyan leader.

Some foreign countries also criticized the strike, saying it exceeded the U.N. mandate of protecting civilians in Libya. The U.N. approved the implementation of a no-fly zone over Libya in March after Gadhafi attacked protesters who demanded his ouster.

South Africa, which led an African mediation effort in Libya, said Monday that "attacks on leaders and officials can only result in the escalation of tensions and conflicts on all sides and make future reconciliation difficult."

Russia accused NATO of a "disproportionate use of force" on Sunday and called for an immediate cease-fire.

Gadhafi has also called for a cease-fire, but rebels don't believe it is genuine, especially since he has continued to pound the besieged town of Misrata, the only major rebel bastion in western Libya.

Gadhafi's forces used tanks to shell Misrata on Monday, as rumors fueled fears that the Libyan leader was preparing to use chemical weapons.

Hundreds have been killed in Misrata over the past two months as Gadhafi has attempted to seize the town. Rebels succeeded in pushing Gadhafi forces out of several areas of town about a week ago, but they have responded with relentless shelling from the outskirts.

The most recent barrage started early Monday morning and only paused with the threat of NATO airstrikes, said Libyan activist Rida al-Montasser.

"Only when we heard the NATO planes flying over, the shelling paused," said al-Montasser.

Even as the shelling paused, fear spread through Misrata that Gadhafi forces were preparing to use chemical weapons in their fight to defeat the rebels.

"We heard like everybody else that the soldiers are distributing gas masks" in the nearby city of Zlitan, said al-Montasser.

The rumors of Gadhafi forces distributing gas masks could not be independently confirmed.

A U.N. watchdog indicated in February, soon after the Libyan revolution started, that it was unlikely that Gadhafi would use chemical weapons because he had no way to deliver such a payload. Gadhafi destroyed the aerial bombs needed as part of a 2003 reconciliation deal with the West, said the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

U.S. and British intelligence agencies reportedly have been concerned that Gadhafi may not have declared all his munitions and may have held some back, but no evidence has surfaced to support those fears.

Fearful Misrata residents asked officials in Benghazi, the de facto capital in eastern Libya, to send a shipment of gas masks, said al-Montasser, the activist.

On Sunday, the Libyan government unleashed two volleys of rockets on Misrata's port, and heavy shelling occurred elsewhere in the city. The attacks killed 12 people, raising the two-day death toll to 23.

Also Sunday, vandals burned the British and Italian embassies and a U.N. office in Tripoli. The unrest in the capital prompted the U.N. to withdraw its international staff.

Turkey temporarily closed its embassy in Tripoli on Monday due to deteriorating security, and its staff traveled to Tunisia, said Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

The Turkish consulate in rebel-controlled Benghazi was still open, the foreign ministry said.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

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