Libyan Revolution Day 76

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13265825">Turkey's PM Erdogan urges Col Muammar Gaddafi to quit
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi to step down "for the sake of the country's future".

Mr Erdogan said the Libyan leader had ignored the wishes of his people by using force against them.

Correspondents say it is a marked change in Turkish policy towards Libya, with Mr Erdogan previously having taken a more conciliatory approach.

Col Gaddafi's troops have been fighting rebel forces for several weeks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXr74CgRPFM">Gaddafi forces accused of rape
There has been escalating violence, especially sexual assaults, against women in Libya.

The accusations are levelled at forces of the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Some women say they were taken to the desert in groups. Others say they were raped in front of their families.

...

Al Jazeera's Sue Turton reports from Benghazi.

http://enoughgaddafi.com/?p=653">Coffee and Conversation
He’s a monster. The courthouse is covered with photos of the men who gave their lives for the struggle against him. The Wall of Martyrs is a reminder of the constant threat of Gaddafi’s bullets and bombs. The dilapidated infrastructure all around me, along with the stories of missing loved ones, is a reminder of a different kind of violence perpetrated by the monster. A silent kind. A kind that destroys the history of a proud people, while simultaneously snuffing out hopes for a future. A kind that snatches bodies from their warm beds and throws them in cold cages with a promise of indefinite suffering. Fear is violence, Imposed upon the hearts and minds of millions for four decades.

I head to a cafe by the courthouse referred to by the locals as the cafe. I walk in, and I’m immediately met with about dozen salams (peace be unto you). Once they find out that I had just arrived from America, I’m received with just as many hamdullah 3ala salamas (Thank God for your safe passage). My nose is greeted with the smell of brewing coffee and cigarette smoke, a combination I find pleasing. The first thing I see on the wall opposite of the front door is a giant red, black, and green flag below a photo of Omar Mukhtar. The older men, apparently regulars, tell me this is where they’ve met for years to discuss what they fear they cannot in the street.

Other photos decorate these walls as well. Black and white pictures of Benghazi pre -1969, “before the monster descended upon this nation.” Streets are paved. The sidewalks are free of trash, the architecture beautiful. A grey bearded man with a pleasant smile gives me a tour, describing each photo in detail. He has the attention of the entire shop. They’re eager to get me up to speed with what was, what is, and what the future holds for their beloved city.

“Those were better times…”

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/05/201153191731146409.html">UN: Libyan refugee crisis worsening
The UN has said that almost 40,000 people have fled fighting in Libya's Western Mountains region in the past month.

Thousands of ethnic Berbers from Libya fled into Tunisia after a brief hiatus in their exodus last week because of fighting between Libyan government troops and opposition forces for control of a border crossing point.

"This past weekend, more than 8,000 people, most of them ethnic Berbers, arrived in Dehiba in southern Tunisia. Most are women and children," a UNHCR spokesperson said on Tuesday.

UNHCR staff in Dehiba said the situation of the refugees was being made worse by a violent sandstorm that has battered the area, destroying hundreds of tents and two huge portable warehouses.

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/food-medicine-running-low-in-besieged-libyan-city/">Food, medicine running low in besieged Libyan city
BEIRUT, May 3 (Reuters) - Food and medical supplies are running low in the besieged Libyan city of Misrata, rebels said on Tuesday, with battles raging near the airport and aid ships anchored offshore unable to reach the port.

A rebel spokesman in the coastal town, one of the bloodiest battlefields of Libya's two-month-old conflict, said intense air strikes by NATO planes appeared to have won the port a respite in shelling by forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

But several aid ships remained offshore within sight of the port, residents said, while hundreds of migrant workers and wounded Libyan civilians awaited evacuation at the dockside after weeks under siege.

In the southerly neighbourhood of al-Ghiran near the airport, rebels were trying to stop pro-Gaddafi forces advancing on the city centre, rebel spokesman Abdelsalam told Reuters by telephone from Misrata.

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE7420VT20110503?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true">Arab revolts bring hope for media freedom
PARIS, May 3 (Reuters) - The toppling of two of the world's worst offenders against media freedom during a wave of Arab revolts has proved that oppressors are not invincible, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Tuesday.

The Paris-based rights group has removed former Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak from its "Media Predators" list after they were ousted in popular uprisings that have triggered protests across the region.

The 2011 list, published on World Press Freedom Day, and showing the 38 world leaders RSF deems most hostile to civil liberties and press freedom, includes the leaders of Libya, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain.

RSF Secretary General Jean-Francois Julliard told Reuters: "The predators we have been condemning for years are no longer untouchable. No-one expected Ben Ali and Mubarak to go the way they did, but it happened, and there's now a chance that freedom of speech can be restored in other oppressed countries."

http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/media/press-briefing-notes/pbnAF/cache/offonce/lang/en?entryId=29603">IOM Appeals for Its Boat to Dock in Misrata to Carry out Urgent Life-Saving Evacuation Mission
ibya - IOM is urgently appealing to all parties involved in the conflict in Libya to allow its chartered Red Star One boat to dock at Misrata port in order to rescue about 1,000 stranded migrants and many badly wounded civilians.

The IOM boat, which left Benghazi on 29 April, has been waiting off-shore to dock since 30th April. Shelling of the city's port area, together with the threat of mines laid in the approach to the port has prevented IOM from docking so far.

As on previous occasions, a medical team will be on board the ship comprising Libyan doctors and nurses as well as staff from the International Medical Corps. Some of the team will stay behind in Misrata to relieve colleagues in hospitals there.

Journalists in Misrata, also waiting to be evacuated, have told IOM that another 36 people need to be urgently taken out of the city with intensive care units now having run out of beds and supplies.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Bin-Laden-Gaddafi-Libyan-Leader-Issued-Arrest-Warrant-For-Bin-Laden-Well-Before-9-11/Article/201105115984158">Bin Laden Was Made A Wanted Man By Gaddafi
Osama bin Laden was a wanted man well before the 9/11 attacks, before the attack on the USS Cole and before the US Embassy bombings in east Africa.

The first international warrant for his arrest was issued in April 1998 following a request not by the Americans or the Europeans, but by Colonel Gaddafi of Libya.

On March 16, 1998, five months before the al Qaeda bombings of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the Libyan Ministry of Justice named Bin Laden as the main suspect in a double murder that had taken place in the Libyan town of Sirte four years earlier.

The warrant was forwarded to Interpol in France, where it was formalised on April 15, 1998.

"One month ago (Western countries) were sooo nice, so nice like pussycats," Saif says in a contemptuous sing-song tone."Now they want to be really aggressive like tigers. (But) soon they will come back, and cut oil deals, contracts. We know this game." - http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2058389,00.html">Saif Gaddafi

http://english.libya.tv/2011/04/25/eastern-libyans-believe-in-national-unity-distrust-au-and-turkish-mediation-survey-reveals/">The first free public opinion poll ever conducted in Libya reveals clues to Eastern Libyan sentiments
* 98 percent of the respondents do not support the division of Libya as a part of the political solution for the current conflict with the Gaddafi regime. Around 95 percent also don’t see any role for Gaddafi or his sons in a transitional period, and think it is impossible to implement any political reform in Libya if Gaddafi or one of his sons stays in power

* Around 96 percent of those polled, believe that the 17th of February revolution can consolidate the national unity of Libya and support the model of a democratic Libya based on a constitution which respects human rights

* Al-Qaeda has not played any role in the 17th of February revolution, say 94 percent of the Eastern Libyans, and 91 percent thinks it’s impossible for Al-Qaeda to play any political role in the new Libya

* The National Transitional Council is seen by 92 percent of those surveyed as “expressing the views and wishes of Libyans for change”

http://jenkinsear.com/2011/03/19/a-legal-war-the-united-nations-participation-act-and-libya/">A Legal War: The United Nations Participation Act and Libya
The above link is to an overview of why Obama's implementation of the NFZ and R2P is perfectly legal under the law. I will not post it entirely here, however, all objections come down to the misinformed position that Obama, by using forces in Libya, was invoking Article 43 of the United Nations. This is wrong. Obama invoked Article 42, which does not require congressional approval to implement. Proof of this is that Article 43 has http://www.un.org/en/sc/repertoire/actions.shtml#rel5">never been used.

It goes like this: The US law (Title 22, Chap. 7, Subchap. XIV § 287d) grants the President the right to invoke UN Article 42 http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/uscode22/usc_sec_22_00000287---d000-.html">without authorization, the War Powers Act (Title 50, Chap. 33 § 1541) grants the President permission to act without authorization under http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/50/1541–1548.html">"specific statutory authorization" which, by definition, is what 287d does. § 1543 of the War Powers Act requires the President to report to Congress, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/obama_explains_libya_mission_to_congress/2011/03/03/ABU9377_blog.html">which he did. One can argue all day and night about the legality of the War Powers Act, doesn't change the fact that under the law as it is written, the President acted within the law.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-10-0">March 10 7:28pm Saif al Islam Gaddafi says "the time has come for full-scale military action" against Libyan rebels. He goes on to say that Libyan forces loyal to his family "will never surrender, even if western powers intervene".

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/2011/03/2011328194855872276.html">Libyan Karzai? Chalabi? Forget it
Fortunately, the Council wasn't made-in-the-USA or manufactured by another foreign power. Rather it came into existence, a month ago, at Libyans' own initiative, soon after the winds of revolutionary change blew Libya's way, and after its people rose to the occasion with pride and courage.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/03/31/getting_libyas_rebels_wrong">Getting Libya's Rebels Wrong
Don't buy Qaddafi's line: The rebels aren't al Qaeda.

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2011/04/04/110404taco_talk_anderson#ixzz1HvS7iW22">Who Are the Rebels?
During weeks of reporting in Benghazi and along the chaotic, shifting front line, I’ve spent a great deal of time with these volunteers. The hard core of the fighters has been the shabab—the young people whose protests in mid-February sparked the uprising. They range from street toughs to university students (many in computer science, engineering, or medicine), and have been joined by unemployed hipsters and middle-aged mechanics, merchants, and storekeepers. There is a contingent of workers for foreign companies: oil and maritime engineers, construction supervisors, translators. There are former soldiers, their gunstocks painted red, green, and black—the suddenly ubiquitous colors of the pre-Qaddafi Libyan flag.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/29/vision-democratic-libya-interim-national-council">A vision of a democratic Libya
The interim national council, formed by opposition groups in Libya, has said it will hold free and fair elections and draft a national constitution. Here is its eight-point plan in full.

http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2011/04/20/left-slipping-towards-qaddafi">The left: slipping towards Qaddafi?
When the revolt against Qaddafi started in Libya, hardly anyone on the left — however broadly defined — could say anything in defence of Qaddafi.

With the start of the "no-fly zone", many on the left started to sideline the issues within Libya and focus their efforts on denouncing NATO.

Now the denunciation of NATO, in turn, is acting as a lever to introduce defence of Qaddafi and denunciation of the rebels into broad-left discourse.

...

Everything is done by insinuation and sarcasm, just as old-style Stalinists used to deflect criticism of the USSR by studied wondering whether the regime was quite as bad as extreme Western right-wingers used to say, or whether the right-wingers' motives for criticism might be suspect.

http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/is-qaddafi-an-anti-racist/">Is Qaddafi an anti-racist?

...

One of the signs that you are dealing with a cruder form of propaganda is if the author does not bother to address evidence that contradicts his or her own. To be taken seriously on the question of Qaddafi’s commitment to pan-African values, you have to take a close look at his overall record, something that does not interest Forte who is so anxious to tilt the scales in favor of Qaddafi that he does not bother to conceal the fact that his hand rests upon the scale.

...

Mohammed Nabbous, killed by Gaddafi's forces while trying to report on the massacre in Benghazi

"I'm not afraid to die, I'm afraid to lose the battle" -Mohammed Nabbous, a month ago when all this began

I'm struggling to come up with something to say about this man. I was not aware of the Libyan uprising until I saw Mo's first report, begging for help, posted here on DU. I was stricken. Here was a man giving everything he had to explain a situation that clearly terrified him, I would not call him a coward in that moment, but you could see the fear in his eyes, and desperation in his voice. For 30 days Nabbous would spend many hours covering the uprising in Benghazi. For many nights I would go to sleep with the webcast of Benghazi live on my computer screen, looking to it occasionally to be sure it was still 'there.' Mo treated the chat room as if we were his friends, and in some way, we were. I never signed up to LiveStream to thank him for all his work and it seems somewhat shallow to do so now, given that I was a lurker for so long. Ever since I took over posting these threads "Libya Alhurra" has been linked as a source of information. It wasn't until last night, when I posted, and twitter posted on Mo's adventures out into Benghazi to try to determine the truth of the situation, that Mo's webchannel became a hit, over 2000 people were watching him stream live. This was curious to him because he'd done many reports like this in the past but he appeared somewhat bemused that the view count exploded as it did. Last night Mo became a star. This is a man who first started out with a webcast replete with fear and desperation finally overcoming that aspect of himself and losing that fear, to become someone who was a fighter for the resistance just as much as those who held the guns. Reporting on the front lines of Benghazi became his final act, and for that he should never, ever be forgotten. I'm so sorry Mo that I never got to know you better.

Mo's first report, which many of you may remember, begging for help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38EXALI60hg

Mo's last report, a fallen hero trying to spread the word to the world: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecu_iWLn-rg

Mo leaves behind a wife who is with child, she had http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/23/a_bright_voice_from_libyas_darkness">this to say about the No Fly Zone and R2P UN resolution:

We started this in a pure way, but he turned it bloody. Thousands of our men, women, and children have died. We just wanted our freedom, that's all we wanted, we didn't want power. Before, we could not do a single thing if it was not the way he wanted it. All we wanted was freedom. All we wanted was to be free. We have paid with our blood, with our families, with our men, and we're not going to give up. We are still going to do that no matter what it takes, but we need help. We want to do this ourselves, but we don't have the weapons, the technology, the things we need. I don't want anyone to say that Libya got liberated by anybody else. If NATO didn't start moving when they did, I assure you, I assure you, half of Benghazi if not more would have been killed. If they stop helping us, we are going to be all killed because he has no mercy anymore.

http://cjchivers.com/post/5174283538/soon-on-the-nyt-inside-the-workshops-of-the-uprising">Soon on the NYT: Inside the Workshops of the Uprising.
Have a glance at these pics. The first one, at top, is of a piece of henzab, an object that could be a symbol of the Libyan rebels’ battle to push the forces of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi out of Misurata. And here’s a laundry basket of them.

Would you like to drive your car over a patch of road or alley covered with these? Would you like to run across the same place while under gunfire, or diving for cover?

The rebels of Misurata have been aided by many people. Among them are a network of metal workers whose designs have helped equip Misurata’s residents with home-made killing tools and protective armor. Between back-alley upgrades to weapons and modifications to civilian items converted to martial use, the rebels have gone to battle with locally conceived products that reflect their peculiar circumstances for waging war. We’ve written here and in The New York Times of some of the rebels’ weapons and other equipment (look here for photographs of their armor-clad pickup trucks.) And we’ve covered some of the problems with rebel jury-rigged arms, especially the Grad rocket launchers and repurposed air-to-ground rockets visible each day in eastern Libya.

After a long time trying, Bryan Denton and I gained accesss to workshops where arms and munitions are modified, the caltrops are made, and civilian pickup trucks are outfitted with steel plates and turrets. The report will be up soon on the NYT. We’ll link to it when it goes live. (We’re also expecting a big slide-show of Bryan’s work, which will take you inside.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/world/africa/04misurata.html?pagewanted=1">Hidden Workshops Add to Libyan Rebels’ Arsenal
These armor-clad gun trucks, typically painted black and often with their taillights and turn signals removed or painted over so they are more difficult to spot, are the signature weapon of the Misurata rebels.

The exact quantity that have been made is not known, said Bashir el-Zargani, who supervises the workshops.

“We have been too busy to count them,” he said.

But judging from the number seen racing through the city each day, and at Misurata’s many fronts, the total easily exceeds 100, and might be more than twice that.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110503-711562.html">Libya Contact Group Meeting To Seek Way For Rebels To Sell Oil
ROME (Dow Jones)--Italy hopes a meeting it will host Thursday on Libya will allow back on the market some of the 1.3 million barrels a day of crude shut in the North African country, as oil prices stay firmly above $100 a barrel.

http://english.libya.tv/2011/05/03/prosecutor-moving-in-weeks-on-libyan-probe/">Prosecutor moving in weeks on Libyan probe
The International Criminal Court prosecutor has said he has “strong evidence” of crimes against humanity in Libya committed by Moammar Gaddafi’s regime which he will present to a judge in a few weeks.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo said yesterday in an interview with The Associated Press he has documented the shooting of civilians in demonstrations, a systematic campaign to illegally arrest and torture civilians connected with protests, and a pattern of forced disappearances.

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on February 26 to refer the Libyan crisis to the International Criminal Court, the world’s permanent war crimes tribunal, and asked the prosecutor to report in two months.

Moreno-Ocampo said he plans to tell the council tomorrow that “in a few weeks, we’ll present our first case and we will have strong evidence of the crimes committed.”

http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/opinions_72998.htm">NATO Press briefing on Libya (May 3)
In the past few days NATO airstrikes have targeted Qadhafi forces across the country intent on launching attacks against civilians and civilian centres. Our strikes have destroyed targets across the country, but especially near Zintan and Yafran, where 17 ammunition stores were destroyed along with armoured personnel carriers and other armoured vehicles.

In Tripoli NATO aircraft struck command and control buildings responsible for directing attacks against civilians. You have all seen reports by Libyan television of the death of Saif al-Arab Qadafi. We cannot independently confirm these reports. Obviously we regret any loss of innocent life in this conflict. NATO is not targeting specific individuals but genuine military targets, with care and precision and will continue to do so. We have warned all civilians to stay away from military sites and equipment – and I would like to repeat that advice today.

This is a complex campaign, operating across the whole of Libya, dedicated to steadily degrading the ability the Qadhafi regime to attack its own people. The actions of NATO forces have saved lives, and will continue to do so. There is no doubt that, were it not for NATO’s precision bombing of tanks, rocket-launchers and ammunition depots then pro-Qadhafi’s forces would have killed and wounded thousands more.

NATO operations are part of the international effort to end attacks on civilians in Libya. This week will see important work in the international community to reach that goal.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/03/muammar-gaddafi-target-nato">Gaddafi is a legitimate target
The death of Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Arab, if true, is nothing to celebrate. The deaths of his grandchildren, if confirmed, would be nothing short of tragic – a tragedy felt by countless families across Libya whose children have been shot, blown apart and even raped by Gaddafi's forces.

Let's not spend any time discussing the various theories about whether the deaths really occurred or whether they're part of Gaddafi's increasingly desperate propaganda, designed to put political pressure on the governments involved in enforcing UN security council resolution 1973. Although he's more than capable of such a thing, the greater issue is the international reaction and some of the interpretations expressed regarding the implications for the Nato mission.

Various commentators have declared that the deaths prove Nato has overstepped its mandate, and has violated international law by targeting Gaddafi personally. This is based on their definition of Gaddafi as a head of state, and their belief that the UN mandate is confined only to the establishment and maintenance of a no-fly zone. Both these premises are false.

Gaddafi is not a head of state. He is a warlord in control of a personal army that he has tasked with the mass killing and terrorising of Libyans for the crime of wishing to live as free human beings. There is no meaningful Libyan government structure or decision-making body besides Gaddafi himself and his sons.

(AP) – 1 hour ago

MISRATA, Libya (AP) — Tripoli Street is a bullet-scarred wasteland — littered with charred cars and tanks, its cafes and offices shattered. Yet for Misrata's civilians-turned-fighters, the boulevard is a prized trophy, paid for in blood, won with grit and guile.

It took five weeks of fierce street battles — on rooftops, in alleyways — for Misrata's inexperienced rebels to wrest control of their city's commercial heart from forces loyal to Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi. Up against armored units and professional sniper squads, they turned bottles, tires and trailer trucks into tools of war.

When they finally succeeded in pushing government forces out of Libya's third-largest city in late April, it was the greatest head-to-head military victory yet in the uprising that threatens Gadhafi's 42-year hold on power. The opposition controls much of eastern Libya, but Misrata is the only city in the west rebels have managed to hold.

"Our fighters weren't fighting from experience," said the local military spokesman, Ibrahim Beatelmal, noting that most had never touched a gun before joining the fight. "They had to make it all up as they went along."

...


Yet amid the carnage, residents have organized to stave off hunger, allocate fuel and protect the city. They've erected sand berms along streets to absorb blasts, hacked down palm trees to delineate ambulance fast lanes, formed an array of administrative committees — all with a community spirit that revealed itself in many ways during an Associated Press reporter's weeklong stay.

...


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ilvD1q4vyGXoxlKxpIiP_-i2rYAA?docId=677ea44b0fdd457088ebd1cf5e265b28

BOSTON — As journalists and advocates of press freedom around the globe mark World Press Freedom Day, four reporters — two of them American — are marking one month of detention in Tripoli at the hands of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.


GlobalPost correspondent James Foley and Clare Morgana Gillis, who has written for USA Today and The Atlantic, together with Manuel Varela, a Spanish photographer who works under the name Manu Brabo and South African photographer Anton Hammerl, were picked up by Gaddafi forces on April 5 while reporting on the conflict near the eastern town of Brega.


“The first instinct of tyrants is to shut down a free press, squelching opposition and oversight,” said Lucy A. Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee. “Throwing reporters and photographers in jail because of — or to prevent them from completing — their work is an unacceptable, dangerous and ultimately ineffective means of stifling dissent.


“We call on those nations holding journalists captive — including Americans Clare Morgana Gillis, James Foley and Matthew VanDyke in Libya — to release them from custody immediately. Similarly, we call on the leaders of nations that embrace a free press to take a stand against this outrage by encouraging the release of these brave men and women who willingly walk into the most dangerous places on earth to bring the news to their readers, viewers and listeners in all media,” Dalglish added.


http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/110503/journalists-mark-one-month-detention-libya

By Caroline Alexander and Benjamin Harvey - May 4, 2011 4:07 AM PT

...


Foreign ministers from the Libya Contact Group, which represents NATO members and other allies, meet in Italy tomorrow to discuss the country’s political future. The insurgency since mid-February in Libya, which has Africa’s biggest proven crude reserves, has helped push oil prices up by more than a third. It is the bloodiest in a series of regional uprisings that have ousted the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt and triggered deadly reprisals in Syria and Bahrain.

...


Two explosions were heard in Tripoli early today, the Associated Press reported, attributing them to NATO air strikes. Qaddafi’s son Saif al-Arab, 29, and three of the leader’s grandchildren died when his Bab al-Aziziya compound in the capital was hit by missiles on April 30, according to the Libyan government. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been enforcing a United Nations-mandated no-fly zone for seven weeks.

...


NATO forces disrupted “a very despicable” attempt by Qaddafi loyalists to lay three mines in the approaches to Misrata harbor on April 29, Italian Vice Admiral Rinaldo Veri said yesterday at a press conference in Naples, Italy. The mines were designed to detonate on contact with a ship, he said.

...


NATO reported hitting 12 ammunition dumps near Misrata and three self-propelled artillery pieces that were shelling the besieged city. The alliance is seeking to curtail attacks by Qaddafi’s forces by directing strikes at “everything that he can use to supply is frontline forces,” said Veri. NATO is also targeting command and control centers, he said.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-04/qaddafi-s-forces-bombard-rebel-cities-as-allies-prepare-for-rome-meeting.html

– Wed May 4, 5:44 am ET


TRIPOLI, Libya – The CIA director said he believes Moammar Gadhafi survived a NATO airstrike that reduced much of the Libyan leader's family compound to rubble.

Gadhafi has not been seen in public since Saturday's attack, which Libyan officials said killed one of his sons and three grandchildren. Gadhafi was in the building, but survived, Libyan officials have said, providing no details.

Asked about Gadhafi's fate since the air strike, CIA director Leon Panetta told the U.S. TV network NBC on Tuesday that "the best intelligence we have is that he's still alive."

...


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_libya

Russian leader's opposition to international action against Gaddafi's regime is motivated by economic interests.


Najla Abdurrahman Last Modified: 04 May 2011 11:55


Recently, you elaborated on your previous objections to the UN-sanctioned intervention in Libya. In doing so, you conveniently glossed over the atrocities committed by the Gaddafi regime, recasting it as an innocent victim of foreign aggression. You asked: "When the so-called civilised community, with all its might, pounces on a small country, and ruins infrastructure that has been built over generations - well, I don't know, is this good or bad?"


What, then, should be said of a despot who pounces on his own population, killing and maiming thousands and destroying the infrastructure that he has neglected for decades? Should he be permitted to slaughter civilians with impunity? After all, we Arabs prefer that sort of ruler, as you suggested.


"Look at the map of this region, there are monarchies all around," you said. "What do you think they are - Danish-style democracies? No. There are monarchies everywhere, and this basically corresponds with the mentality of the people, as well as long-standing practice."


How right you are to affirm our "long-standing practice" of despotic rule. And how convenient that you chose to disregard the "mentality" of millions of people throughout the Arab world who have demonstrated for democracy, human rights, dignity - and for an end to these "monarchies". To say nothing of the thousands who have paid for these calls with their lives speaks volumes.

...


If it's any consolation, though, the Libyan people would be more than happy to send the colonel to Siberia for his retirement. We know what a big fan you are.


http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/04/2011428134937111186.html

UN says almost 40,000 people have fled fighting in Western Mountains region into neighbouring Tunisia in past month.

Last Modified: 03 May 2011 23:18

...


Thousands of ethnic Berbers from Libya fled into Tunisia after a brief hiatus in their exodus last week because of fighting between Libyan government troops and opposition forces for control of a border crossing point.


"This past weekend, more than 8,000 people, most of them ethnic Berbers, arrived in Dehiba in southern Tunisia. Most are women and children," a UNHCR spokesperson said on Tuesday.

...


Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for refugees, told Al Jazeera that the situation is rapidly getting worse for Libyan refugees.


"We have two hot spots - Misurata, where there is no humanitarian access and people are suffering enormously, and the border with Tunisia where there has been a lot of fighting for control of the border," he said.




...


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/05/201153191731146409.html

By Guy Dinmore in Rome

Published: May 4 2011 14:15 | Last updated: May 4 2011 14:15


Military intervention in Libya has failed to secure majority support among the public in five main participating countries, with more Americans and Italians opposed than in favour, according to a Financial Times survey.


Results of an FT/Harris online poll conducted among six countries showed 37 per cent of Americans to be against military intervention in the north African country and 32 per cent in favour. In Italy, those opposed outnumbered supporters by 49 per cent to 29 per cent.


France registered the highest degree of support with 40 per cent lined up against 31 per cent opposed. Germans, whose government under Angela Merkel stayed out of the campaign, were 39 per cent against intervention and 34 per cent in favour.


Britons were broadly divided with 37 per cent for and 36 per cent against. Spain also saw a narrow plurality in favour of the military campaign.


The poll of 6,241 adults was conducted between March 30 and April 4.


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/939bb0c4-74b9-11e0-8988-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1LOUqCvo6

Crimes against humanity continue in Libya, Luis Moreno-Ocampo says.


Last Modified: 04 May 2011 14:43


The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) told the UN Security Council that he will seek three arrest warrants for crimes against humanity in Libya.

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Crimes against humanity including murder and persecution of civilians are still being carried out by Muammar Gaddafi's regime, he said.

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Alleged criminal incidents include security forces opening live fire at unarmed peaceful protesters, using rape as well as "systemic arrests, torture, killings, deportations, enforced disappearances and destruction of mosques" as a weapon, according to the prosecutor's report released on Wednesday.

While a precise number is hard to provide, up to 700 people were killed in February alone, the report said. Gaddafi estimates that "only 150 or 200" have been killed.


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/05/201154143536127689.html

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:41 PM on 4th May 2011


Aid workers that had been scrambled to evacuate hundreds of terrified migrants aboard a rescue ship that docked in Misrata today came under lethal shell-fire from Gaddafi troops.

The ship, chartered by the International Organization for Migration, was boarded by 800 migrant workers and people injured in the civil war who had been waiting for days to escape the country's worsening humanitarian crisis.

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The shelling was also hitting Misrata's Qasr Ahmad district, a mixed residential and industrial area which houses the iron and steel works in a city that has become one of the bloodiest battlefields in the two-month conflict.

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The port is a lifeline for Misrata, where food and medical supplies are low and where snipers shoot from rooftops. Other rescue ships are waiting offshore but there was no news of their movements. About 12,000 people have been rescued by 12 ships.

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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1383507/Libya-Aid-workers-battered-Gaddafi-shells-rescue-migrants.html#ixzz1LOr1gmfp

Press Release: 04.05.2011


The Office of the Prosecutor will request an arrest warrant against three individuals in the first Libya case. Judges will decide.

ICC-CPI-20110504-PR659

Today, (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo informed the United Nations Security Council that in a few weeks he will request the judges of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants against three individuals for crimes against humanity committed in Libya since 15 February 2011. In accordance with the evidence, they are the most responsible of the crimes committed. The judges can reject the request, accept it or ask for more evidence.

The situation in Libya was unanimously referred to the Prosecutor of the ICC by the United Nations Security Council under Resolution 1970 adopted on 26 of February 2011.

According to the evidence collected so far, “Crimes against humanity have been and continue to be committed in Libya, attacking unarmed civilians including killings and persecutions in many cities across Libya” said the Prosecutor.

Resolution 1970 affirmed that peace and security and the protection of civilians in Libya required justice. “Justice is on course today; however, if those who order the crimes are not stopped and arrested murder, persecution, systematic arrests, torture, killings, enforced disappearances and attacks against unarmed civilians will continue unabated” said the Prosecutor.

Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo called on States to prepare for arrests should judges decide to issue arrest warrants. “Now is the time to start planning on how to implement possible arrest warrants” said the Prosecutor.

In addition, the Office of the Prosecutor will continue investigations on different forms of persecution against civilians in Tripoli and other areas, as well as commissions of rape and the unlawful arrest, mistreatment and killings of sub-Saharan Africans wrongly perceived to be mercenaries.

The Office will also investigate the alleged commission of war crimes in Libya since the end of February, including the use of imprecise weaponry such as cluster munitions, multiple rocket launchers and mortars, and other forms of heavy weaponry, in crowded urban areas.

The International Criminal Court is an independent, permanent court that investigates and prosecutes persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes if national authorities with jurisdiction are unwilling or unable to do so genuinely. The Office of the Prosecutor is currently investigating in six situations: The Democratic Republic of Congo, Northern Uganda, the Darfur region of Sudan, the Central African Republic, Kenya and Libya.

Link to Report: http://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/rdonlyres/A077E5F8-29B6-4A78-9EAB-A179A105738E/0/UNSCLibyaReportEng04052011.pdf

Link to Statement: http://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/rdonlyres/0BDF4953-B5AB-42E0-AB21-25238F2C2323/0/OTPStatement04052011.pdf


For more information, please contact:

In New York
Ms. Florence Olara
OTP Public Information Officer
Florence.olara@icc-cpi.int
+31 (0)70 515 8723 (office)
+31 (0) 6 5029 4476 (mobile)

The Hague
OTP News Desk
OTPNewsDesk@icc-cpi.int
+31 (0)70 515 8945

Source: Office of the Prosecutor
http://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/exeres/DCBD3E2C-C592-4FB8-B7CB-E18E67F692D1.htm

<snip>
During the duration of an investigation, each situation is assigned to a Pre-Trial Chamber. The Pre-Trial Chamber is responsible for the judicial aspects of proceedings. Among its functions, the Pre-Trial Chamber, on the application of the Prosecutor, may issue a warrant of arrest or a summons to appear if there are reasonable grounds to believe a person has committed a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court. Once a wanted person has been surrendered to or voluntarily appears before the Court, the Pre-Trial Chamber holds a hearing to confirm the charges that will be the basis of the trial.

Following the confirmation of charges, a case is assigned to a Trial Chamber of three judges. The Trial Chamber is responsible for conducting fair and expeditious proceedings with full respect for the rights of the accused. The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty by the Prosecutor beyond reasonable doubt. The accused has the right to conduct the defence in person or through counsel of his or her choosing. Victims may also participate in proceedings directly or through their legal representatives.

Upon conclusion of the proceedings, the Trial Chamber issues its decision, acquitting or convicting the accused. If the accused is convicted, the Trial Chamber issues a sentence for a specified term of up to thirty years or, when justified by the extreme gravity of the crime and the individual circumstances of the convicted person, life imprisonment. The Trial Chamber may also order reparations to victims.
<snip>

http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC/About+the+Court/ICC+at+a+glance/How+the+Court+Works.htm

The evidence collected establishes reasonable grounds to believe that widespread and systematic attacks against the civilian population have been and continue to be committed in Libya, including murder and persecution as crimes against humanity,” he said.

Evidence indicates that security forces have shot at peaceful protesters in multiple locations and that the Government hired mercenaries and brought them into the country, the statement noted. Torture, killings and enforced disappearances have also been reported.

“The efforts to cover up the crimes have made it difficult to ascertain the precise number of victims but there is credible information that estimates that, just as the result of such shootings, 500 to 700 persons died in February alone.

“It is difficult to estimate the numbers because dead bodies were removed from streets and hospitals. Doctors were not allowed to document the number of dead and injured admitted to hospitals after the violent clashes began.

“Security forces were allegedly stationed in the hospitals and arrested injured individuals who sought medical treatment. Being injured became evidence of opposing the regime, and challenging the authority of the regime is a crime under Libyan law. To avoid punishment and risk of death, some protesters sought medical attention in private homes and did not bring injured or dead persons to the hospitals.”

Noting that armed conflict has been taking place since the end of February, the Prosecutor added that “there is also relevant information on the alleged commission of war crimes,” including the use of imprecise weaponry such as cluster weapons, multiple rocket launchers and mortars in crowded urban areas, particularly the city of Misrata.

“There are also reports of forces blocking humanitarian supplies. Some sources have also reported the use of civilians as human shields and the torture of prisoners of war or civilians in the context of the armed conflict.”

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http://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/rdonlyres/0BDF4953-B5AB-42E0-AB21-25238F2C2323/0/OTPStatement04052011.pdf

Sudan deploys troops at Libya border, evicts envoy
Wed May 4, 2011 5:15pm GMT

KHARTOUM, May 4 (Reuters) - Sudan has deployed troops at the Libyan border to prevent arms smuggling to rebels in Darfur and closed the Libyan consulate in the troubled region, a government official said on Wednesday.

Sudan shares an almost 400-km-long (240-mile) border with Libya where a civil war against leader Muammar Gaddafi has split the desert state into a government-held western area around the capital Tripoli and an eastern region held by rebels.

"We deployed troops at the border to Libya because we are worried about arms smuggling (to rebels)," Khalid Musa, spokesman for the Sudanese foreign ministry, said.

Sudan closed the Libyan consulate in al-Fasher in Darfur and asked staff to leave within 48 hours after Libya had closed the Sudanese consulate in the eastern town of al-Kufrah, Musa said.

more...
http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLAE45656920110504?sp=true

Sudan's foreign ministry avails Libyan consulate personnel in Darfur 48 hours to leave country
10:47, May 04, 2011

The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday availed the Libyan consulate personnel at El Fasher, capital of the North Darfur State, 48 hours to close their office and leave the country.
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Meanwhile, Sudan's General Consul in Libya Mohamed Al-Balla Osman told reporters in Khartoum on Tuesday that "the military governor of al-Kufra who belongs to Gaddafi forces ordered them, through the director of ceremonies, to leave Libya in 48 hours and close the consulate. The military governor later apologized for burning the consulate's cars."

He added that the recent events in Libya have prevented many Sudanese nationals from leaving the North African country, but reiterated that their conditions were stable as they were not part of the incidents.

The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier summoned the Libyan ambassador to Sudan and asked him to give explanations for the decision of the Libyan military governor of al-Kufra.

Source: Xinhua
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90855/7369207.html

In Misurata, Libya, the coastal city besieged by Qaddafi forces, an international aid ship risked attack to enter the port and evacuate migrant workers who have been trying to leave Libya since the uprising began.

Colonel Qaddafi’s military has vowed to prevent ships from entering the port, and both tried mining the approach to the harbor and shelling the port with artillery and ground-to-ground rocket barrages.

At roughly the same time as the ship — a Panamanian-flagged ferry chartered by the International Organization for Migration — arrived, more rockets struck near the port, striking African migrant workers waiting to board.

The barrage killed a man, a woman and small boy and girl. The dead had no documents, and their names and nationalities were not immediately clear.

Dr. Hassan Malitan, who worked at the clinic in the Qasr Ahmed neighborhood, where their bodies awaited burial, vented his anger. The neighborhood has been struck repeatedly by rocket fire, and civilians have been repeatedly killed.

“This is the real Qaddafi,” he said.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/world/africa/05nations.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

The Road to Conviction: Arrest as Gaddafi's Potential Ouster
May 4, 2011

By Mariam Elhadri

Over the last several months, we have often heard that “it is not a matter of if Gaddafi will go, but rather a matter of when he will go.” Billions of dollars worth of frozen assets, sanctions and NATO strikes have yet to persuade the pilfering oppressor to relinquish his post.

Chief Prosecutor to the International Criminal Court, Louis Moreno-Ocampo, is set to take the stage on May 4th and to deliver a report to the United Nations regarding the status of investigations into crimes committed in Libya. Moreno-Ocampo is likely to announce that he will seek five warrants of arrest from the Court in upcoming weeks. In theory, the issuing of arrest warrants could present a potential turning point in bringing an end to the atrocities, but in practice, judicial intervention in international conflicts has been easier said than done.

Judicial Intervention in Libya

Although it seems rather intuitive that an international court would intervene in Libya, aligning the necessary political, legal and humanitarian forces for such action has proven quite difficult in the past. As Libya is one of forty-five countries in the UN that has neither signed nor ratified the Rome Statute, the only possible channel to internationally prosecute Gaddafi and his accomplices is through a rare referral from the United Nations Security Council.

The rarity of this type of referral cannot be overstated. The Security Council has referred a case to the ICC only once before, passing Resolution 1593 in 2005 in response to the genocide in Darfur. Even then, the referral came years after massive human rights violations had been alleged, and the Security Council was not unanimous in its referral. In the case of Libya, however, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to refer the situation in Libya to the ICC only ten days after the Gaddafi regime began its brutal crackdown.

more...
http://enoughgaddafi.com/?p=690

Fight for victory, says son of Libya hero
Thursday, 10 March 2011

The son of Libya's first revolutionary can barely remember his freedom-fighter father, hanged 80 years ago by the Italians, but he has no doubt that today's rebels will prevail.

"They should hold themselves up and fill themselves with courage. God shall support them and give them victory," says 90-year-old Mohammed Omar al-Mukhtar, sitting slightly stooped in a black cloak, white scarf and red hat.
"The whole world knows what Omar al-Mukhtar did. That's where they get their energy from
Mohammed Omar al-Mukhtar

His father's 20-year guerrilla war against Italian colonial rulers made him a national hero, inspired generations of Libyans and was immortalized by Oscar-winning actor Anthony Quinn in the 1981 film "Lion of the Desert".

So powerful is his legacy, Mohammed said it was important for Muammer Gaddafi to declare the start of his revolution from Mukhtar's tomb.

More than 30 years later, rebels rising up in Mukhtar's eastern heartland, determined to oust the Libyan strongman, claim him as their own.

more...
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/03/10/140959.html