ICC warrant for Gaddafi

Libya hits back at ICC warrant for Gaddafi

     

     International Criminal Court arrest warrant for war crimes against the Libyan leader Gaddafi. Government has hit back on charging the tribunal tool of European powers.

          Rebel fighters on ground yesterday captured a large arms depot from pro-Gaddafi forces in the desert near their mountain of Tripoli in big boost to their resupply, an AFP correspondent said.

          Human rights bodies and the West, meanwhile, hailed the ICC's move on Nato bombing campaign.

          Libya rejected the warrants issued for Gaddafi, 69, his son Seif al-Islam, 39, and the head of Libyan intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi, 62, for atrocities committed in a bloody uprising that began mid-February.

          The ruling is a "cover for Nato which is still trying to assassinate Gaddafi", said Libya's justice minister, Mohammed al-Gamudi.

          Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaaim said the ICC "functions as a European foreign policy vehicle.

          ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo sought the warrants as thousands died in fighting and an estimated 650,000 people fled the country 

          The submissions forces carried out a systematic campaign of arrest and detention of alleged dissidents.

          The Libyan strongman ordered the shooting of civilians leaving mosques after evening prayers.

This is a crime against humanity

NATO condemns fiery speech by Libyan leader

          "NATO will be defeated," Gadhafi yelled in a hoarse, agitated voice to the crowd. "They will pull out in defeat."

          NATO accused Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on Saturday of using mosques and children's parks as shields, saying the longtime ruler who lashed out against alliance airstrikes is the one "brutally attacking the Libyan people."

          In Brussels on Saturday, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu dismissed Gadhafi's speech as "outrageous."

          "We are saving countless lives every day across the country," she said. "We are conducting operations with utmost care and precision to avoid civilian casualties. Civilian casualties figures mentioned by the Libyan regime are pure propaganda."

          NATO has been ramping up the pressure on Gadhafi's more than four-decade-old regime. Though most airstrikes happen under cover of darkness, daytime raids have grown more frequent.

          "It has become clear to us that NATO has moved on to deliberately hitting civilian buildings. ... This is a crime against humanity," he told reporters in the capital.

          NATO attacked the Libyan capital at midday Friday, pounding a target in the south of the city and sending a thick cloud of black smoke rising high into the air.

          A coalition including France, Britain and the United States launched the first strikes against Gadhafi's forces under a United Nations resolution to protect civilians on March 19.

Khaleda sets terms for talks with govt on CG system

Khaleda sets terms for talks with govt on CG system

Khalea Zia

 BNP will definitely discuss with the ruling party over who will be the Chief Adviser provided the government makes clear Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia said

statement about the continuation of the system of caretaker government (CG), report agencies.

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia spelt out her party's position at a crowded press conference at her Gulshan office, responding to the Prime Minister's call to her to place new formula of CG in parliament.

The opposition leader said that after the formation of the caretaker government, they would want to discuss formation of a strong Election Commission comprising neutral and qualified persons and also how to make a non-partisan administration.

She said there is no need to prepare any new formula about the CG, saying the existing provision of the caretaker government to oversee general election will have to be maintained.

Khaleda said that at first the government would have to abandon its "ill motive and attempt" to hold election under party government by removing the CG system on the plea of the court verdict.

"Although the present parliament has become ineffective on all counts, we never said we'll never go to parliament. We want parliament to be effective and to fulfill the people's expectations.

But she said the issue (CG) that "The ruling party has brute majority in parliament. We've clearly given our opinion. So, now they have to take the decision."

Khaleda reiterated that BNP will not participate in parliamentary elections under any political government and her party's movement against this "ill-design" will continue.

Asked whether BNP will accept the immediate past Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque as chief adviser, she outright rejected the idea saying that he (Khairul) has not only become a controversial person but also has been working as "party" activist

The Libyan leader has been playing chess

The Libyan leader has been playing chess

     The Libyan leader has been playing chess with the visiting Russian head of the World Chess Federation.

             The federation is headed by the eccentric Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who until last year was the leader of Russia's predominantly Buddhist republic of Kalmykia. He once claimed to have visited an alien spaceship.

            Libyan state television showed Gadhafi, dressed all in black and wearing dark sunglasses, playing chess Sunday evening with his Russian guest. He seemed somewhat unsure of how the game is played.

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               "I offered to draw, because it's not polite to win when you're a guest, " Interfax quoted Ilyumzhinov as saying Monday.