The rise and fall of Colonel Muamar Gadaffi

International Court closes in on Gaddafi

Simon Santow reported this story on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 12:26:00

ELEANOR HALL: To Libya now and the signals that the International Criminal Court is about to call for the arrest of the country's leader, Colonel Moamer Gaddafi.

The ICC's chief prosecutor says he now has proof that the regime committed crimes against humanity.

The court is expected to issue as many as five arrest warrants on charges relating to kidnapping, torture and the killing of unarmed civilians, as Simon Santow reports.

n an interview with the news media agency Reuters, Luis Moreno-Ocampo says he has the evidence to ask for arrest warrants to be issued.

He says at the beginning of the conflict, soldiers killed unarmed civilians and people were tortured or made to disappear after demonstrating or speaking to journalists.

The International Criminal Court is also examining allegations that rape has been used as a weapon.

Concern has been expressed that Gaddafi's soldiers were issued with popular anti-impotence drugs such as Viagra and that the move was designed to terrorise women in rebel held positions.

The ICC's chief prosecutor is planning to brief the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

Source:

Sasa hata waturuki wanafunga ubalozi wao Tripoli, Libya!

Amid violence, Turkey
closes its embassy in Tripoli
May 3, 2011

ISTANBUL — Turkey closed its embassy in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, on Monday, becoming the latest country to do so amid increasing violence there. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry also said it would maintain its consulate in rebel-controlled Benghazi.

“In light of recent changes in the security conditions in Libya and the emergence of potential security risks, we took an important decision last night to temporarily evacuate our embassy in Tripoli,” Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, told reporters in Ankara.

“Of course this does not mean Turkey will cease its activity” in Libya, he said.

Turkey, which has had strong business ties with Libya and has acted as an intermediary between Western nations and the government of Moammar Gadhafi, has evacuated roughly 25,000 of its nationals from Libya amid the increasing chaos there. Last year, Turkey began allowing Libyan citizens to stay in Turkey for at least three months without a visa, in a strengthening of diplomatic and business relations.

Source

Swiss reveal funds stashed by Gaddafi, Mubarak, Ben Ali
Tue May 3, 2011 6:48am GMT

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) - Switzerland has found 360 million Swiss francs of potentially illegal assets linked to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his circle stashed in the Alpine country, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

Some 410 million Swiss francs traced to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and 60 million Swiss francs linked to former Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali have also been identified, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lars Knuchel said.

"In the case of Libya, it was 360 million Swiss francs," Knuchel told Reuters. "These amounts are frozen in Switzerland following blocking orders by the Swiss government related to potentially illegal assets in Switzerland".

Both Tunisia and Egypt -- where unrest led to the ousting of Ben Ali and Mubarak -- are in touch with Swiss judicial authorities regarding their formal requests for legal assistance to seek return of the funds and property, according to Knuchel.

No such discussions are underway with authorities in Libya, where Gaddafi is clinging to power in the face of an uprising and NATO air strikes.

Neutral Switzerland had previously announced that it was freezing any assets linked to the three North African leaders, thereby requiring financial and other institutions to report any suspicious funds.

The respective amounts were fairly "stable", based on information provided by Swiss-based financial institutions to authorities, Knuchel said. He declined to name the banks or the cantons (states) in which the accounts or properties are held.

"We never specify the institutions. It is not just money, there are real estate assets," he said.

-Reuters

Pro Gaddafi News May 1 English Libya

Berlusconi plays down Gaddafi threat against Italy
2011-05-02 14:00

Milan – Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi today sought to play down threats of reprisal by Muammar Gaddafi which he attributed to the Libyan leader’s “disappointment” in Rome.

“I think that (Gaddafi’s) reaction is dictated by the disappointment provoked by Italy and is linked to the friendship treaty” the two countries signed two years ago, the Italian leader told journalists outside a court in Milan where he was due to attend a closed-door hearing on fraud charges.

“I would not attach much importance to this statement,” Berlusconi added, saying Gaddafi’s statement was different from the risk of reprisals posed by yesterday’s killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

“Let’s not put these things on the same level,” he said.

Italy boosted security checks yesterday when Gaddafi threatened to “bring the battle to Italy” after the Italian government’s decision to take part in NATO-led air strikes against his regime. Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said yesterday that Gaddafi’s threat should not be under-estimated and was not just “propaganda”.

Italy was Libya’s colonial ruler from 1911 until World War II and was Libya’s top foreign trade partner before the start of hostilities. Gaddafi signed a friendship treaty with Berlusconi in 2008, which opened the way for massive mutual investments.

- Reuters

War and viagra - Gaddafi forces accused of rape!


Many women in Libya say they have been sexually assaulted by troops loyal to the Libyan leader.

Last Modified: 03 May 2011 09:07

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.

Opposition fighters say they have found Viagra pills in tanks and cars captured from the Gaddafi forces.

Al Jazeera's Sue Turton reports from Benghazi.

Source: Al Jazeera

Gaddafi anazidi kukosa "marafiki"

Turkish PM Erdogan calls on Gaddafi to step down!

By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, May 3, 1:16 PM

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey's prime minister says Moammar Gadhafi must "immediately step down," a major escalation of Turkish pressure on the Libyan leader with whom Turkey once maintained cordial relations.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Gadhafi has ignored calls for change from the Libyan people and instead preferred "blood, tears and pressure" against his own people.

Erdogan told a news conference in Istanbul Tuesday that Gadhafi must take a historic step and withdraw, for the future of Libya, its peace and prosperity.

Erdogan had proposed a roadmap for peace in Libya on April 7, urging forces aligned with Gadhafi to withdraw from besieged cities, the establishment of humanitarian aid corridors and comprehensive democratic change.

Is Gaddafi plotting chemical assault against Libyan rebels? Troops seen wearing gas masks

By Andrew Malone
Last updated at 9:25 AM on 3rd May 2011

Fears that Colonel Gaddafi is planning to use chemical weapons against rebels grew yesterday when forces loyal to the Libyan tyrant were seen wearing gas masks.

After giving rebels in the besieged city of Misrata until midnight tonight to surrender or face the ‘fires from Hell', Gaddafi's troops were yesterday seen wearing the masks for the first time since the uprising against his rule began seven weeks ago.

The chilling development prompted rebel fighters in Misrata, which is surrounded on three sides by Gaddafi's forces, to radio for immediate supplies of their own protective masks to be shipped from Benghazi, their stronghold in the East.

With more than 1,000 dead in Misrata after fierce pounding by Gaddafi's forces, the prospect of a chemical attack has sent a new wave of fear and panic through the city, with civilians also desperately trying to find gas masks.

A doctor, who asked not to be named, said sources inside Gaddafi's regime had warned him to flee with his family by yesterday – before the dictator takes revenge against the people of Misrata when the deadline expires.

-Mail Online

Askari Kanzu said:

A doctor, who asked not to be named, said sources inside Gaddafi’s regime had warned him to flee with his family by yesterday – before the dictator takes revenge against the people of Misrata when the deadline expires.

Click to expand...

Ghadafi anakismati. Ngekewa. Wakati ule alisaidiwa na tetemeko la ardhi Japan, macho yote yakaelekezwa kule. Saa hii kifo cha gaidi Osama kimefanya dunia nzima kumsahau ili aendelee kuwabonda waasi Misrata. Kama ana akili huu ndio wakati wa kujizatiti kiupya!

Askari Kanzu said:

Is Gaddafi plotting chemical assault against Libyan rebels? Troops seen wearing gas masks

By Andrew Malone
Last updated at 9:25 AM on 3rd May 2011

Fears that Colonel Gaddafi is planning to use chemical weapons against rebels grew yesterday when forces loyal to the Libyan tyrant were seen wearing gas masks.

After giving rebels in the besieged city of Misrata until midnight tonight to surrender or face the ‘fires from Hell', Gaddafi's troops were yesterday seen wearing the masks for the first time since the uprising against his rule began seven weeks ago.

The chilling development prompted rebel fighters in Misrata, which is surrounded on three sides by Gaddafi's forces, to radio for immediate supplies of their own protective masks to be shipped from Benghazi, their stronghold in the East.

With more than 1,000 dead in Misrata after fierce pounding by Gaddafi's forces, the prospect of a chemical attack has sent a new wave of fear and panic through the city, with civilians also desperately trying to find gas masks.

A doctor, who asked not to be named, said sources inside Gaddafi's regime had warned him to flee with his family by yesterday – before the dictator takes revenge against the people of Misrata when the deadline expires.

-Mail Online

Click to expand...

Majibu ya kwanini wanavaa hizo mask yasome kwenye post ya thread hii post#2489 of 13th April,2011 at 11:47 a.m.

NI KICHAPO KWENDA MBELE

Gaddafi troops step up attacks in Libya
Tue May 3, 2011 12:10PM


An unidentified person runs away from a shelled checkpoint near the port area of Misratah, Libya, May 2, 2011.
Forces loyal to Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi have reportedly stepped up their attacks on revolutionary troops in the country's Western Mountain region.


At least 10 Grad rockets landed on the town of Zintan late on Monday, Abdulrahman, a spokesman for revolutionary fighters, told Reuters by telephone.

Regime forces also pounded Berber towns in the Western Mountains, close to the border with Tunisia.

The towns have joined the anti-Gaddafi uprising that erupted two months ago.

Revolutionary fighters and refugees say people in those towns are on the brink of starvation.

Meanwhile, further east in the besieged coastal town of Misratah, fighting erupted once again on Monday near the city's airport, which remains under the control of Gaddafi forces.

No detail of the attack has been reported yet.

Revolutionary forces say NATO has all but forgotten about them and this has emboldened pro-Gaddafi forces to continue their bombardment of revolutionary cities.

A hospital medic told Reuters that at least 110 civilians and revolutionary troops have been killed in Misratah and more than 350 wounded since April 24.

Also on Monday, supporters of Gaddafi gathered in Tripoli for the funeral of the Libyan ruler's 29-year-old son Saif al-Arab.

The government says a NATO air raid on Saturday killed him and three of Gaddafi's young grandchildren.

MpigaKelele said:

NI KICHAPO KWENDA MBELE

Gaddafi troops step up attacks in Libya

Click to expand...

Mwisho wa Colonel Gaddafi unakaribia. Ukiona hata Waziri Mkuu wa Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, anamwambia Gaddafi aachie ngazi basi ujuwe dawa ya Gaddafi iko kikaangoni. Kaa mkao wa kula!

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

Huyu muzee ni wa UN ,lakini anasema" Revolution ya Libya has to be a success"....taking side in the conflict?

Residents: Tense Tripoli 'ready to blow'

Gadhafi controls many parts of the city, but signs of defiance simmer below the surface

By Lin Noueihed

Imed Lamloum / AFP - Getty Images A young man sells flags symbolic of leader Moammar Gadhafi's 1969 coup in Tripoli's Green Square. Three months after a popular uprising here, residents say the situation is tense.

TRIPOLI — In Tripoli's Green Square, volunteers hand out the green flag, symbol of Libya since Moammar Gadhafi's 1969 coup, and a giant picture of the "brother leader" looks down on the palm-lined streets.

But in other neighbourhoods, dissidents come out in the dead of night and leave the red, green and black rebel flag unfurled in the streets, residents and opposition activists say.

Opposition graffiti appears overnight, they say, only to be painted over in the morning or replaced with the pro-government slogan "God, Muammar, Libya and that's all."

With the uprising now in its third month, Tripoli remains under Gadhafi's control and he can count on a certain amount of popular support. But tension is simmering beneath the surface.

"Things are tense. They are not normal. I think something will explode soon. There are rumblings at night. You hear gunfire and it is not always celebratory," said one Tripoli resident. "In some neighbourhoods, people wake up and find the rebel flag. It is just a sign, just to say 'we are here'."

Full story

Libya's Gaddafi still alive, US spy chief says

Wed May 4, 2011 4:42am GMT



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence officials believe Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who has not been seen in public since a NATO missile attack reportedly killed his son, is still alive, CIA Director Leon Panetta told NBC television on Tuesday.

"(The) best intelligence we have is that he's still alive," Panetta said in an interview with NBC News.

Gaddafi, who seized power in a 1969 coup, has not been seen in public since a NATO missile attack on Saturday struck a house in his compound in Tripoli. Libyan officials said Gaddafi survived, but his youngest son and three grandchildren were killed.

NATO could not confirm the reports that Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, had been killed.

Our goal isn't to kill Gadhafi- French FM
Posted: May 04, 2011 1:30 PM

PARIS (AP) - The French foreign minister says France would oppose sending ground troops into Libya and that killing Moammar Gadhafi is not its aim in the international military action there.

Alain Juppe says the military intervention must end "as rapidly as possible" and warns that sending in international ground troops would set the stage for a "quagmire."

Juppe spoke on France 24 TV on Wednesday on the eve of an international conference in Rome among countries involved in the military action in Libya - aimed in part at drumming up financial support for the rebels.

Juppe said the rebels must be helped and said France's aim was to end Gadhafi's ability to harm Libyan civilians. France has been a major backer of the rebels and of the NATO-led campaign against Gadhafi's military.

Source:

There is no future for Gadhafi, Italy says
Published: May 4, 2011 at 11:40 AM

Gaddafi (l) and Frattini (r) in the "good ol' days"

ROME, May 4 (UPI) -- Moammar Gadhafi's rule is doomed and Italy must lead in rebuilding Libya, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told Parliament Wednesday.

The rebel council based in Benghazi "told us they will remember who helped them and who turned their backs on them," Frattini said.

"No one in the world thinks the Gadhafi regime can have a future," he asserted.

Only Italy, France, Qatar, Maldives, Kuwait and Gambia have officially recognized the council as Libya's legitimate government so far, ANSA reports.

Frattini also emphasized Italian corporations must "be protagonists in the construction of the present and future of Libya and the Mediterranean."

Italy is holding a meeting of the U.S.-European-Arab Libya Contact Group Thursday to assess the situation.

Source: UPI.com

Gaddafi targets relief ship as it evacuates Misrata wounded in Libya

Muammar Gaddafi's forces bombard port in Misrata as humanitarian ship tries to evacuate foreign migrants

Xan Rice
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 May 2011 20.34 BST
Wednesday 4 May 2011 20.34 BST


An injured Libyan rebel is evacuated. Gaddafi's forces bombarded the port as a humanitarian ship was evacuating hundreds of people. Photograph: Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images

Muammar Gaddafi's forces have bombarded the port of the besieged city of Misrata while a humanitarian ship was evacuating hundreds of foreign migrants and injured Libyan civilians, killing up to five members of a migrant family.

The Red Star 1, a ferry chartered by the International Organisation for Migration, had been forced to wait outside Misrata for four days after loyalist troops planted sea mines and pounded the harbour with missiles.

The port controller has finally given the ship the go-ahead to dock following a lull in shelling. But as containers of food and medical supplies were being unloaded from the ship, up to a dozen missiles were fired into the area of the port where migrant workers were gathered.

Witnesses said one missile hit a Nigerian or Ghanaian family, killing at least two children and their mother. Others said that the father and a third child had also died.

Julius Chuks, a 35-year-old Nigerian welder, said: "When the attacks started, everyone just started running, though we did not know where to run to. We are very lucky to be alive."

The bombardment caused panic on the ship, with some of the crew keen to leave without boarding the migrant workers or injured people, fearing another missile attack.

Having somehow gained access to the port, dozens of Libyan families desperate to leave Misrata tried to force their way on to the ship, many of them successfully, causing rebel soldiers to fire in the air.

More than 800 migrants, most from sub-Saharan Africa, who have been waiting for weeks to leave Misrata, arrived soon after, packed into trucks. Many of them had been unable to even bring a suitcase along due to the chaos and rush that followed the shelling of their camp.

Full story:

May 5, 5:27 AM EDT

Clinton calls on Gadhafi to 'leave power'
By ALESSANDRA RIZZO and FRANCES D'EMILIO
Associated Press


U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, after disembarking at Rome's Ciampino military airport, early Thursday, May 5, 2011.

ROME (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says ousting Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is the best way to protect Libya's civilians. Clinton called on Gadhafi to cease "his ruthless and brutal attack on civilians," withdraw from cities his forces have put under siege and "to leave power. This is the outcome we are seeking."

Clinton spoke after holding bilateral talks with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini ahead of a diplomatic meeting on Libya.

The meeting of the Libyan Contact Group at the Italian Foreign Ministry on Thursday is expected to seek ways to give financial support to the rebels. The United States has already announced $25 million in surplus, nonlethal goods and commodities to support and protect the rebels.

-AP

International fund to aid Libya rebels

May 5, 2011 - 8:14PM

AFP

International powers have agreed on setting up a special fund to help finance Libya's rebels, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said at the start of talks on Libya in Rome.

"I welcome the announcement, to be made today, of the establishment of a special fund known as the Temporary Financial Mechanism that will permit funds to be channelled effectively and transparently" to the rebels, he said on Thursday.

-AFP