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BBC MUNDO RADIO
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Fugitive strongman Muammar Qaddafi denounced events unfolding in
Libya as a “charade,” speaking in an audio message broadcast Tuesday on
Syria-based Arrai television.
“What is happening in Libya is a charade which can only take place thanks to the (NATO-led) air raids, which will not last forever,” said Qaddafi in his first audio message in weeks.
The deposed despot is believed hiding in Libya although members of his family fled to Algeria and Niger after rebel fighters, backed by a NATO-led air war, overran Tripoli on Aug. 23.
“What is happening in Libya is a charade which can only take place thanks to the (NATO-led) air raids, which will not last forever,” said Qaddafi in his first audio message in weeks.
The deposed despot is believed hiding in Libya although members of his family fled to Algeria and Niger after rebel fighters, backed by a NATO-led air war, overran Tripoli on Aug. 23.
“Do not rejoice and don’t believe
that one regime has been overthrown and another imposed with the help
of air and maritime strikes,” Qaddafi said in the brief message.
While the former Libyan leader regularly delivers messages via Arrai through his spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, this is his first audio recording since he on Sept. 8 denied reports he had crossed into Niger.
Qaddafi, his son Seif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi are wanted by the International Criminal Court to face charges of alleged crimes against humanity.
While the former Libyan leader regularly delivers messages via Arrai through his spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, this is his first audio recording since he on Sept. 8 denied reports he had crossed into Niger.
Qaddafi, his son Seif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi are wanted by the International Criminal Court to face charges of alleged crimes against humanity.
NTC commander says deadlock over Qaddafi’s last bastions to end Tuesday
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Anti-Qaddafi fighters travel towards Sirte to fight his loyalists. (Photo by Reuters)
The situation in Libya will change completely in Bani Walid,
Sirte and Sabha on Tuesday, a Libyan National Transitional Council
commander told Al Arabiya, as Amnesty International attacked the
European Union’s “abysmal” response to the mounting refugee crisis on
Libya’s borders.
Maj. Gen. Khalifa Haftar said that the Libyans who live in Sirte have abandoned the regime of Muammar Qaddafi and have announced their support to NTC fighters.
A senior general loyal to Qaddafi, meanwhile, has been captured in the southern Libya, an official from the country’s new regime told AFP Tuesday, as the hunt for the toppled dictator intensified.
Maj. Gen. Khalifa Haftar said that the Libyans who live in Sirte have abandoned the regime of Muammar Qaddafi and have announced their support to NTC fighters.
A senior general loyal to Qaddafi, meanwhile, has been captured in the southern Libya, an official from the country’s new regime told AFP Tuesday, as the hunt for the toppled dictator intensified.
“General Belgacem al-Abaaj,
Qaddafi’s intelligence chief in the al-Khofra region, was captured” on
Monday some 100 kilometers (60 miles) from southern Libyan town of
Sabha, said Mohammed Wardugu, spokesman for the “Desert Shield Brigade”
in Benghazi.
Al-Abaaj, who had been sought by the NTC forces, was seized with members of his family who were traveling in five four-wheel drive vehicles, added Wardugu.
Wardugu said that the NTC forces had entered Sabha and taken control of the airport but that fighting was continuing in some quarters.
Elsewhere Fierce fighting raged on Monday in Bani Walid, as new Libyan regime fighters attacked the oasis town where Qaddafi’s son Seif al-Islam is believed holed up, possibly with his father.
Qaddafi, Seif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi have been on the run since rebels overran Tripoli on Aug. 23. They are wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International on Tuesday attacked the European Union’s “abysmal” response to the mounting refugee crisis on Libya’s borders caused by the recent Arab Spring uprisings.
A new briefing paper issued by the rights group called on EU member states to “urgently address” the worsening situation by opening their borders to the mainly sub-Saharan refugees who were forced by the recent unrest to leave their homes.
“We have witnessed an abysmal response to the plight of displaced refugees on Europe's doorstep,” said Nicolas Beger, Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office.
“This failure is particularly glaring given that some European countries, by participating in NATO operations in Libya, have been party to the very conflict that has been one of the main causes of the involuntary movement of people.
“EU Home Affairs Ministers must urgently address the resettlement issue,” he demanded.
The paper estimates that around 5,000 refugees are currently living on Libya’s Egyptian and Tunisian borders.
Qaddafi was forced from power last month after NATO-assisted protesters descended on the capital Tripoli following a bloody six-month battle.
Revolutionaries accuse sub-Saharan Africans of fighting for Qaddafi, and many have fled to the borders fearing revenge attacks.
Refugees from Tunisia and Egypt have also arrived at the borders following violent rebellions in their own countries.
Amnesty described the conditions at Egypt’s Salloum border post and the Choucha camp in Tunisia as “grim.”
The fleeing populations face harsh desert conditions and have been forced to sleep in tents made of blankets and plastic sheets.
One Sudanese refugee told Amnesty: “there is no freedom in Sudan and no dignity here.”
The United States, Australia and Canada have offered to resettle some of the refugees, but only eight European countries have come forward, between them offering only 700 places, according to the paper.
“These people stranded on Libya’s borders are between a rock and a hard place,” said Beger. “It is time for the EU to shoulder responsibility for this crisis.”
Since the conflict began, around 1,500 people are believed to have died after returning to Libya and attempting to leave the country by boat, Amnesty said.
Al-Abaaj, who had been sought by the NTC forces, was seized with members of his family who were traveling in five four-wheel drive vehicles, added Wardugu.
Wardugu said that the NTC forces had entered Sabha and taken control of the airport but that fighting was continuing in some quarters.
Elsewhere Fierce fighting raged on Monday in Bani Walid, as new Libyan regime fighters attacked the oasis town where Qaddafi’s son Seif al-Islam is believed holed up, possibly with his father.
Qaddafi, Seif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi have been on the run since rebels overran Tripoli on Aug. 23. They are wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International on Tuesday attacked the European Union’s “abysmal” response to the mounting refugee crisis on Libya’s borders caused by the recent Arab Spring uprisings.
A new briefing paper issued by the rights group called on EU member states to “urgently address” the worsening situation by opening their borders to the mainly sub-Saharan refugees who were forced by the recent unrest to leave their homes.
“We have witnessed an abysmal response to the plight of displaced refugees on Europe's doorstep,” said Nicolas Beger, Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office.
“This failure is particularly glaring given that some European countries, by participating in NATO operations in Libya, have been party to the very conflict that has been one of the main causes of the involuntary movement of people.
“EU Home Affairs Ministers must urgently address the resettlement issue,” he demanded.
The paper estimates that around 5,000 refugees are currently living on Libya’s Egyptian and Tunisian borders.
Qaddafi was forced from power last month after NATO-assisted protesters descended on the capital Tripoli following a bloody six-month battle.
Revolutionaries accuse sub-Saharan Africans of fighting for Qaddafi, and many have fled to the borders fearing revenge attacks.
Refugees from Tunisia and Egypt have also arrived at the borders following violent rebellions in their own countries.
Amnesty described the conditions at Egypt’s Salloum border post and the Choucha camp in Tunisia as “grim.”
The fleeing populations face harsh desert conditions and have been forced to sleep in tents made of blankets and plastic sheets.
One Sudanese refugee told Amnesty: “there is no freedom in Sudan and no dignity here.”
The United States, Australia and Canada have offered to resettle some of the refugees, but only eight European countries have come forward, between them offering only 700 places, according to the paper.
“These people stranded on Libya’s borders are between a rock and a hard place,” said Beger. “It is time for the EU to shoulder responsibility for this crisis.”
Since the conflict began, around 1,500 people are believed to have died after returning to Libya and attempting to leave the country by boat, Amnesty said.
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