Libyan Revolution Tweets, Day 7, Part 1 (Richard III in a bad & dangerous way)

LibyanThinker The Libyan Thinker
Remains of Soldiers Burned to Death for Not Shooting Protesters in #Libya http://www.twitvid.com/YXKOT & http://tinyurl.com/4d6a57n

Ashton follows Cameron to Egypt
22/02 20:13 CET

VIDEO

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, visiting Cairo, has talked about adding a billion euros to current aid being given to Egypt. Encouraging free elections was another main point on Catherine Ashton’s agenda.

She said her aim was to see how the EU can help democratic transitions in the region the most: “In the longer term, as we say everywhere, it’s for people in these countries to be able to feel that they have a say in their own future, a say in their own destiny, but to do that in a peaceful manner, and being here in Egypt is a very good example of how that can be done.”

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UK arms manufacturers are also visiting the region, for the Middle East’s largest weapons fair, in Abu Dhabi.

The British PM’s office insisted that his aims were to boost business and to promote political reform.

http://www.euronews.net/2011/02/22/ashton-follows-cameron-to-egypt/

February 23, 2011

4.48pm: The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC (International Criminal Court) has issued this statement on Libya:

The decision to do justice in Libya should be taken by the Libyan people. Currently, Libya is not a State Party to the Rome Statute. Therefore, intervention by the ICC on the alleged crimes committed in Libya can occur only if the Libyan authorities accept the jurisdiction of the Court, (through article 12(3) of the Rome Statute). In the absence of such step, the United Nations Security Council can decide to refer the situation to the Court. The Office of the Prosecutor will act only after either decision is taken".

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/africa/2011/02/22/live-blog-libya-feb-23

Report: Ex-minister says Gadhafi ordered Lockerbie

The Associated Press
Wednesday, February 23, 2011; 9:57 AM

STOCKHOLM -- ...

Expressen on Wednesday quoted Mustafa Abdel-Jalil as telling their correspondent in Libya that "I have proof that Gadhafi gave the order about Lockerbie." He didn't describe the proof.

Abdel-Jalil stepped down as justice minister to protest the violence against anti-government demonstrations.

He told Expressen Gadhafi gave the order to Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed all 259 people on board and 11 on the ground.

"To hide it, he (Gadhafi) did everything in his power to get al-Megrahi back from Scotland," Abdel-Jalil was quoted as saying.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/23/AR2011022302133.html

EU police mission complicit in Israeli, PA rights abuses
David Cronin, The Electronic Intifada, 12 October 2010


Palestinian police officers attend an EU police training course organized in the West Bank city of Qalqiliya, October 2009. (Khaleel Reash/MaanImages)

A bizarre public relations exercise is now underway in the West Bank. Doubtlessly inspired by the enduring popularity of TV drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the European Union has been trying to glamorize a forensic science course it has been running for Palestinian police since mid-September. As well as being tutored on fingerprinting techniques and the use of chemicals following a murder or armed robbery, officers completing the six-week program will be given CSI vans of their own, "updates" promoting the course tell us.

It is not difficult to see why EU officials are eager to obtain favorable publicity for their police support "mission," headquartered in Ramallah. For all of its five-year life, the mission has been something of a poor relation to the other major international policing initiative in the occupied West Bank: that run by United States security coordinator US Army Lieutenant General Keith Dayton (replaced by US Air Force General Michael Moeller earlier this month). At a time when the EU's 27 governments are nominally striving to make a greater collective impact on the world stage, it is logical that they should be highlighting foreign policy work that at first glance appears laudable.

The reality is far from glamorous. Rather than helping to nurture institutions that could prove essential in a future Palestinian state, both the EU and US are acting as proxies for the Israeli occupation. Moreover, they are acquiescent in human rights abuses perpetrated by Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces against the Palestinian people.

Contrary to the impression frequently created by news stories, the PA does not have a police force that can justifiably be viewed as independent of Israel. Under the Oslo accords from the 1990s, the PA was given full responsibility for security in a region dubbed "Area A." This comprises six West Bank cities -- Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya, Ramallah, Tulkarem and Bethlehem -- and part of Hebron. In Area B -- other towns and villages, where 68 percent of Palestinian inhabitants in the West Bank lived -- the authority was tasked with maintaining public order but Israel was allowed "overriding" responsibility for security. Then in Area C -- 62 percent of the West Bank, including Jewish-only settlements and other areas deemed of "strategic importance" to Israel -- total control over security remained in Israeli hands. Moreover, under the Oslo accords, the PA police forces only have jurisdiction over the Palestinian population, not over territory; they have no powers to arrest, or intervene with Israeli settlers or other Israeli citizens even when they are present in areas ostensibly under PA control.

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http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11565.shtml

Oil May Surge to $220 If Libya, Algeria Halt, Nomura Says
By Grant Smith - Feb 23, 2011 8:18 AM GMT-0600

Oil prices may surge to $220 a barrel if political unrest in North Africa halts exports from Libya and Algeria, Nomura Holdings Inc. said.

Crude futures rose to their highest in more than two years in New York today as Libya’s violent uprising threatened to disrupt shipments from Africa’s third-biggest supplier. The commodity surged to $96.39 a barrel in New York, and to $108.42 in London. Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi vowed to fight a growing rebellion until his “last drop of blood.”

“If Libya and Algeria were to halt oil production together, prices could peak above $220 a barrel and OPEC spare capacity will be reduced to 2.1 million barrels a day, similar to levels seen during the Gulf war and when prices hit $147 in 2008,” the Tokyo-based bank said in a note today.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has spare production capacity of about 5 million barrels a day, according to the International Energy Agency. Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said yesterday that the organization will boost output if there is a shortage.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-23/oil-may-surge-to-220-a-barrel-if-libya-algeria-halt-output-nomura-says.html

Libya crew abort bombing mission on Benghazi: report
ALGIERS | Wed Feb 23, 2011 9:52am EST

(Reuters) - A Libyan air force plane crashed near the eastern city of Benghazi after its crew bailed out because they refused to carry out orders to bomb the city, Libya's Quryna newspaper cited a military source as saying.

Quryna's online version quoted the source, a colonel at an air base near Benghazi, as saying captain Attia Abdel Salem al Abdali and his number two Ali Omar Gaddafi bailed out of the Russian-made Sukhoi-22 plane and parachuted to earth.

The aircraft, which took off from Tripoli, came down near the city of Ajdabiya, 160 km (100 miles) south-west of Benghazi, the newspaper said.

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Benghazi-based Quryna is Libya's most reliable media outlet. It was owned by a media group linked to Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam but since Tripoli lost control over Benghazi it has begun to report openly on events in the city and further afield.

(Reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed; writing by Christian Lowe; editing by Philippa Fletcher)



http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/23/us-libya-protests-plane-idUSTRE71M3B820110223?WT.tsrc=Social%20Media&WT.z_smid=twtr-reuters_%20com&WT.z_smid_dest=Twitter