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| Africa North |
| Nato hits government targets in Gaddafi stronghold |
| 2011-05-18 |
| [Bangla Daily Star] NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... A Libyan government front man appealed for a ceasefire and said authorities were likely to release four foreign news hounds held in a Tripoli after they face trial in an administrative court, expected later Tuesday. NATO has stepped up strikes on Tripoli in an apparent attempt to weaken Qadaffy's chief stronghold and potentially target the leader himself. One of the buildings hit early Tuesday was used by the Interior Ministry which is responsible for internal security. Government escorts took news hounds from their hotel to the site of the overnight Smoke and flames engulfed the top floors of the Interior Ministry building as dozens of young men, many of them armed with assault rifles, milled outside the shuttered gate early Tuesday. Some of the men carried a life-sized portrait of Qadaffy, danced before the burning building and chanted: "The revolution will continue!" Nearby, black smoke poured out of a complex that officials said included offices used by authorities overseeing corruption cases. Soldiers collected half-burnt papers strewn amid the smashed glass and twisted metal as fire fighters sprayed water on the flames. Moussa Ibrahim, the Libyan front man. suggested the ministry was targeted because it contained files on rebel leaders in Benghazi, the de-facto capital of the eastern half of the country, which is under opposition control. "If they (NATO) are really interested in protecting civilians ... then we call upon them to stop and start talking to us," Ibrahim said. After the Libyan TV said NATO Earlier, at least three kabooms believed caused by NATO strikes shook windows around the Libyan capital late Monday. It was not immediately clear what was targeted, but Ibrahim said he believed the jets were aiming for Qadaffy's compound. The international warrants could further isolate Qadaffy and his inner circle and potentially complicate the options for a negotiated settlement. But they also could harden Qadaffy's resolve to stand and fight, since the legal action has been seen in Libya as giving NATO more justification to go after him. Because the UN Security Council ordered the ICC investigation, UN member states would be obliged to arrest him if he ventured into their territory. In the Netherlands, prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said on Monday he was seeking warrants against Qadaffy, his son, Seif al-Islam Qadaffy, and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi for ordering, planning and participating in illegal attacks. The younger Qadaffy has become one of the public faces of the regime through frequent interviews with the media. Moreno-Ocampo said he had evidence that Qadaffy's forces attacked civilians in their homes, shot at demonstrators with live ammunition, shelled funeral processions and deployed snipers to kill people leaving mosques. Judges must now evaluate the evidence before deciding whether to confirm the charges and issue international arrest warrants. In Benghazi, rebel front man Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga said the rebels welcomed the ICC case, saying however, that the opposition would like to see Qadaffy tried first in Libya, then before the world body. Under Qadaffy's more than four decades in power, the regime "has committed many crimes against the Libyan people, and the Libyan people want to see him punished for that," Ghoga said. |
| Posted by:Fred |