Category Archives: Libya

US asks Libya rebels to review Lockerbie bomber case

Posted on by

NEWS.YAHOO.COM

By Laura Rozen

Senior Foreign Affairs Reporter

By Laura Rozen | The Envoy – 12 hrs ago 

Abdel Basset al-Megrahi in Tripoli. (CNN)

Libyan rebels are consolidating their hold in the capital city of Tripoli–but the end of Moammar Ghadafi’s strong-arm rule may not create an opening to secure the extradition of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who’d been convicted for helping to plot the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. In August 2009, a Scottish prison board  released al-Megrahi from serving a life sentence and allowed him to return to Libya, on humanitarian grounds: Doctors determined that the bomber, who was suffering from terminal cancer, had just three months to live. But last month–some two years later–al-Megrahi was spotted on video attending a pro-Gadhafi rally in Tripoli.

It seems that al-Megrahi’s health has lately taken another turn for the worse, however: When CNN’s Nic Robertson found al-Megrahi over the weekend at a villa in Tripoli, he was unable to question him about his role in the terrorist attack  that killed 270 people. Al-Megrahi was unable to focus on any questions, since he was drifting in and out of consciousness, Robertson reported Sunday:

“I was expecting al-Megrahi to be in a comfy armchair, but he was not,” Robertson reported. “Beneath the blankets [of his hospital bed] was al-Megrahi, eyes shut, inert. … The oxygen mask on his face, … the drip hanging a foot from his head. His skin seemed paper-thin, his face sallow and sunken. … There is no movement. His eyes remain shut.”

Al-Megrahi’s son Khaled told Robertson that the family has been trying to care for his father at home; he’d been removed from a Tripoli hospital shortly before the Libyan rebels entered the capital city last week. “If you send him to Scotland, he will die by the way. Here or there,” Khaled told CNN.

Meanwhile, a representative of the Libyan opposition National Transition Council said Sunday that the body has no plans to extradite al-Megrahi to the United Kingdom or the United States.

“Al-Megrahi has already been judged once and he will not be judged again,” NTC minister Mohammed al-Alagi told reporters in Tripoli Sunday, the New York Times reported. “We do not hand over Libyan citizens; Gadhafi does.”

The State Department said Monday however that it has requested in the past week that Libya’s transitional leaders review the Megrahi case. Continue Reading →

Libya to be another sharia state?

Posted on by

Heritage has a scribd of the draght constitution

From Heritage.org

Lachlan Markay

August 22, 2011 at 1:23 pm

 

The dust has not yet settled over the Libyan capital of Tripoli since rebels took control over the weekend. But already, a draft constitutional charter for the transitional state has appeared online (embedded below). It is just a draft, mind you, and gauging its authenticity at this point is difficult. There is also no way to know whether this draft or something similar will emerge as the final governing document for a new Libyan regime.

As both the Morning Bell and Washington in a Flash noted today, Heritage Fellow Jim Phillips recently pointed out that Islamist forces “appear to make up a small but not insignificant part of the opposition coalition,” and must be prevented “from hijacking Libya’s future.” Parts of the draft Constitution allay those fears, while others exacerbate them.

Much of the document describes political institutions that will sound familiar to citizens of Western liberal democracies, including rule of law, freedom of speech and religious practice, and a multi-party electoral system.

But despite the Lockean tenor of much of the constitution, the inescapable clause lies right in Part 1, Article 1: “Islam is the Religion of the State, and the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia).” Under this constitution, in other words, Islam is law. That makes other phrases such as “there shall be no crime or penalty except by virtue of the law” and “Judges shall be independent, subject to no other authority but law and conscience” a bit more ominous.

Libya Draft Constitutional Charter for the Transitional Stage

 

Please click through for interested parties. 

 

LIBYA: GADDAFI CALLS UP SHAMANS AGAINST REBELS

Posted on by

If he was in Saudi Arabia, he, Ghadaffi, the man of a thousand spellings, would be executed for witchcraft. Let’s hope he goes for a visit.

From ANSAMED:

(ANSAmed) – ROME – Black magic and African shamans are the latest weapon that Gaddafi has made recourse to in order to extend the life of his regime. Shamans and witches from Mali, Mauritania, Gambia, Morocco and Nigeria have the main task of repelling the rebels, who are moving in ever closer to his stronghold in Tripoli. Gaddafi has urged the most famous shamans to help him defeat the rebels, according to the colonel and pilot Saleh Al Ubaidi, who has recently gone over to the side of the rebels and who was quoted by the daily paper Asharq Al Awsat. The pilot said that the shamans send their ”priests” onto the battle field with magic talismans in the hope of preserving soldiers’ loyalty. ”After the February 17 revolution, shamans – claims Saleh Al Ubaidi – have been used by Colonel Gaddafi as a parallel intelligence agency.” Quoting a source very close to Gaddafi, the pilot said that the leader had requested help from a Gambian shaman, and the latter recited the text of a talisman over Gaddafi’s mantle to protect him from NATO and rebel attacks. Al Ubaidi added that Gaddafi always wears this mantle, even when in high temperatures. He went on to say that the leader also never takes off a silver ring made with the brains and bones of a hyena, which shamans believe has special powers. The ring was a gift to the Colonel from a Mauritanian shaman to instill fear and terror with whoever speaks to him. At the beginning of the February revolution, Libyan state TV had as a guest a Libyan witch doctor who threatened NATO, telling the leader that the righteous and jinns (supernatural creatures often of an evil nature) are fighting along his side. (ANSAmed).

 

 

Qaddafi Money Tied to Co-Sponsor of Huron University College Chair of Islamic Studies

Posted on by

From Campus-Watch:

by Mary Lou Ambrogio, Douglas Cassan, Eva Ryten, et al.
Campus Watch
May 23, 2011

 

[Ed. note: The following letter, addressed to Campus Watch, is signed by concerned residents of London, Ontario, home of Huron University College (HUC). On May 11, Campus Watch published an article by Canadian journalist Barbara Kay, “The Dumbing Down of Due Diligence at Canada’s Huron College,” a shorter version of which appeared May 13 in Canada’s National Post. Kay detailed the questionable sources of funding for a new chair in Islamic studies at HUC. The signatories of this letter also signed an April 5 letter to HUC interim principal (president) Trish Fulton, referenced below, explaining their concerns about the funding.]

We thank Campus Watch for publishing the excellent essay of Barbara Kay on the establishment of a Chair in Islamic Studies at Huron University College in London, Ontario funded mainly by the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) and the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC). Your coverage sparked quite a bit of media interest in Canada and, at last, this matter is getting public attention.

This report is coming to you from a number of the individuals who signed the original letter of concern to Huron University College. (It is not signed by all of them because we want to get the information contained in this communication out quickly and we do not have the time to contact and receive a reply from all the signatories.) As the message is too long for a letter to any editor, we hope you will publish this on your web-site as an update to Barbara Kay’s essay.

Please click over to CW for the last few paragraphs of this article:

Al-Qaeda Rising in Libya?

Posted on by

From Heritage Blog H/T Richard

The Arab Spring may be becoming a long hot summer.

In the President’s major speech on the Middle East yesterday, it seemed pretty clear that he has moved on from Libya and turned his attention back to the Arab–Israeli peace process. Attention deficit disorder, however, may not be the right answer.

There is a disturbing news report that two men arrested in Tunisia were “suspected of being members of al-Qaeda.” They were picked up near the Libyan border “carrying an explosives belt and several bombs, a security source told Reuters.… The men were carrying Afghan identity papers and were of Libyan and Algerian origin, the source said, adding that they were also connected to two men arrested in Tunisia last week.…

Please click over to Heritage to read the balance of this article.

Italy condemns attack on its Tripoli embassy

Posted on by

From Reuters:

ROME | Sun May 1, 2011 10:52am EDT

May 1 (Reuters) – Italy on Sunday condemned an attack on its embassy in Tripoli as a “grave and vile” act and said Muammar Gaddafi’s government had failed to carry out its most elementary international obligations.

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement after the Italian embassy in the Libyan capital was vandalised. A spokesman said there were no further details but a witness said smoke was rising from the building.

Mounting Evidence of Rebel Atrocities in Libya

Posted on by

Here is an article which suggests it has a lot of evidence that the rebels we are assisting in a civil war against Kadhaffi are in fact Al Queda.

Please click over to Pajamas Media to read the story and if the links to the youtube videos no longer work please let me know in a comment. At the request of the author, I have backed up all the videos and if they get deleted will re-upload them to a non-youtube site where they should be safe.

Eeyore

First paragraph of the article below:

While the International Criminal Court has announced that it is investigating charges of war crimes against Muammar al-Gaddafi and other members of the Libyan regime, harrowing video evidence has emerged that appears to show atrocities committed by anti-Gaddafi rebels. Among other things, the footage depicts summary executions, a prisoner being lynched, the desecration of corpses, and even a beheading. The targets of the most serious abuse are frequently black African prisoners. The ultimate source of the footage appears to be rebel forces or sympathizers themselves.

(Warning: Due to the graphic nature of the videos linked below, viewer discretion is advised.)

Reports: fire breaks out in immigrant centre on Italian island

Posted on by

Macleans.ca

April 11, 2011 – 10:59

The Associated Press

LAMPEDUSA, Italy – Italian news reports say a fire has broken out in an immigrant shelter in Lampedusa, the tiny island close to North Africa where thousands of migrants have arrived in the past weeks. The ANSA news agency said a column of smoke was rising from two buildings in the centre. SKY Italia said that Tunisians protesting repatriations set the building ablaze.

About 50 migrants managed to escape from the centre, while others were stopped by police patrolling the area, according to ANSA. Some 26,000 illegal migrants have landed on Lampedusa since the beginning of the year, amid unrest across North Africa. Italy started repatriating Tunisians last week after striking a deal with Tunis.

Libyan rebel commander: “Cut Gaddafi’s throat, then establish an Islamic state”

Posted on by

From Jihad Watch:

I tried to tell you. Here is yet more evidence that Obama’s action in Libya is aiding the jihad: “Libyan Rebel Commander: ‘Cut Gaddafi’s Throat, Then Establish an Islamic State’: While American intelligence experts search for “flickers” of jihadist involvement in the Libyan rebellion, a French reporter on a brief visit to eastern Libya had no problem finding numerous jihadists on the front,” by John Rosenthal in Pajamas Media, April 4 (thanks to Paul):

“The Jihadists Go to the Front.” This is the title of French journalist Julien Fouchet’s report from eastern Libya that appears in the latest edition of the French Sunday paper Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD). Whereas American officials have been straining to make out “flickers” of intelligence suggesting a jihadist influence in the eastern Libyan rebellion against the rule of Muammar al-Gaddafi, Fouchet encountered a flagrant jihadist presence and met with participants who talked openly about their dedication to jihad and/or their desire to establish an Islamic state.

For the rest of this article please click over to Jihad Watch:

Russian TV news clip on the Libyan refugees in Italy

Posted on by

Thanks to Danishgreatdane for translating this clip for us.

I post this clip because it mentioned the burning of the Catholic Church by the Muslim ‘refugees’ from Libya and North Africa to the Italian Island. I put ‘refugees’ in single quotes because in every picture and video it is all young males of fighting age. No children, older people or women whatsoever. This is rather peculiar for a large group of refugees I suspect.

Special dispatch: Gaddafi’s diaspora and the Libyans overwhelming an Italian island who are threatening to come here

Posted on by

The Daily Mail:

By Sue Reid
Last updated at 7:40 AM on 4th April 2011

Swathed in Red Cross blankets, they were waiting for Silvio Berlusconi’s promises to come true as they huddled at midnight around a fire made from cardboard boxes.

Here in Lampedusa, a rocky island off the southern tip of Italy, the ten North Africans plan a new life in Europe — and believe the libidinous Italian Prime Minister will make it possible.

‘We pray for freedom,’ says Mohamed Fitouri, a 23-year-old builder from Benghazi, the rebel-held, second largest city in Libya, speaking in the firelight. ‘I cannot return to my country if it is ruled by Gaddafi. None of us can. Our future is in England or France. There is no turning back.’

Seeking refuge: The Italian island of Lampedusa is at breaking point after the arrival of tens of thousands of refugees fleeing violence in north AfricaSeeking refuge: The Italian island of Lampedusa is at breaking point after the arrival of tens of thousands of refugees fleeing violence in north Africa

Last week Berlusconi made a whistlestop tour of Lampedusa, where 6,000 clandestini, or illegal immigrants, have arrived in rickety boats from North Africa — 70 miles away across the Mediterranean — in less than seven weeks. The island actually sits closer to the African coast than it does to Sicily, which makes it an obvious target.

Fleeing their turbulent homelands of Libya and Tunisia, they have doubled the population of this once picturesque holiday island. Today it has become a grotesque place, fouled by a toxic stench of human waste.

The narrow streets are thronged with men wearing a bizarre garb of tennis shoes and hoodies covered in blankets from the Red Cross which, fearing a health epidemic, set up a field hospital in a tent by the port two days ago. So many immigrants have been arriving that Italy has declared it a national emergency.

Immigration check: Italian Guardia di Finanza check north African refugees before they board a ship to holding centres on the mainlandImmigration check: Italian Guardia di Finanza check north African refugees before they board a ship to holding centres on the mainland

By night, the unwelcome arrivals sleep in wooden fishing boats pulled on to the quayside for the winter, down narrow alleyways, or top-to-tail like sardines on the floor of the port’s harbour office.

On the hillside above the port, there are hundreds more, in makeshift shelters of plastic sheeting and corroding oil drums that litter the hillside. Down below, the once-clear waters are awash with plastic bags, banana skins and soiled paper, the debris of suffering humanity.

Despite a massive police presence, and attempts to move thousands off the island to holding camps in Italy, the situation is potentially explosive. With teenage girls being pestered by gangs of immigrants for sex, the presence of so many young men has also led to sporadic outbreaks of violence on the few streets here.

Coralled: Refugees await transfer onto the San Marco, an Italian military shipCoralled: Refugees await transfer onto the San Marco, an Italian military ship

Drug use is also widespread. Some of the immigrants — among them escapees from Tunisian jails — have smuggled in narcotics along with large sums of cash to fund their journey farther north into Europe. Continue Reading →

Many dead, some beheaded in Afghanistan riots at UN building over burned book.

Posted on by

Here is a CTV clip on the riots with some out of date stats. Stratfor is reporting 20 dead in these riots. Mostly UN workers but some locals as well.

Below, a teaser from CTV news promising to show the story right after a short news break on Libya’s rebels. Five hours later, there is no sign of the story. But the teaser was interesting enough for me to play with a bit…