Category Archives: Libya. Revolution

The Arab Spring in North Africa at One-and-a-Half

ROAD TRIP IMPRESSIONS

Summer 2012

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The ‘Sultanistic” authoritarian regimes and tyrants have fallen in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya but the euphoria and revolutionary enthusiasm generated in the first few months are now almost obsolete. The political and security scene in the three countries is still in flux, often chaotic and more confusing than ever.

 

“We do not forgive … do not forget  … expect us … ♥one love … one ‘shaab’ [people]” –-graffiti on a provincial school wall.

After the initial shock people are open to change, longing for social peace and stability—with whatever elements of society that are still functional, even if it’s the military or Islamists. There are major challenges: conceiving a new political and institutional framework; engineering new constitutions to formalize democratic governments; and holding parliamentary, presidential and local elections. These processes are underway in all three countries.

Islamists of both moderate and extremist persuasions are now vying for political power either at the ballot box or by other means—not necessarily peaceful ones. Some clearly hope to introduce Sharia religious law into the political system and enshrine it in the new constitutions. The rights of women, religious minorities, and all sorts of freedoms will accordingly suffer if there are not countervailing guarantees.

Only a few days after the overthrow of the Tunisian regime, self-appointed morality police turned up in the Tunis red-light district, where they threw Molotov cocktails into the brothels and threatened the women. In March 2012 a Salafist militant removed the Tunisian flag and raised the Jihadists’ black flag at the Manouba University near Tunis. A confrontation ensued that triggered the suspension of courses for weeks. A few weeks ago, a group of Salafists stormed an exhibition called “Spring of the Arts.” The rampage was triggered by a picture in which ants formed the words “Praise to God.”

A Salafist slogan on a mosque’s outer wall calling for restoration of  the caliphate خلافة as system of government. 

 

The Salafist groups have been emboldened by the passive reaction of the security services to stop them from intimidating and attacking anyone and anything they deem “un-Islamic.”

 

 

In Egypt, political Islam emerged strengthened from a revolution in which it played no part. The Muslim Brotherhood and the radical Salafists won the country’s first free parliamentary election. The Egyptian constitutional court, however, declared the parliamentary election to be invalid, and the military council curtailed the authority of the president even before the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate came into office, ultimately rendering him a mostly powerless figure.

The real message behind the recent Egyptian election is that the old regime / establishment is alive and well, but that the country is also deeply polarized. The road ahead looks increasingly hazardous and the outcome of any future political dynamic seems unknown.

 

In Libya, the legacy Gadhafi left behind doesn’t even resemble a workable state, with no political or civic institutions to speak of. The country’s July elections for a constitutional assembly, which will appoint a new interim government and a panel charged with drafting a new constitution surprisingly resulted in a resounding defeat for the political wing of Libya’s Muslim Brotherhood, bucking a trend of success for Islamist groups in other Arab Spring countries such as Egypt and Tunisia.  A moderate National Forces Alliance scored a landslide victory over rival Islamist parties. (The quasi-parliament will convene for 18 months and will have two goals: to appoint a prime minister and a 60-member commission to draft a constitution).

However, the country remains very chaotic and the provisional central government has limited powers. In early June, an armed brigade occupied the airport in the capital Tripoli, and a few days later another militia arrested employees of the International Criminal Court. They had visited the former dictator’s son, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, who has been jailed in the provincial city of Zintan since November — one of more than 4,000 Libyans being held prisoner by militias throughout the country.

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Street art in Western Libya

Gadhafi asked his notorious “Who are you?” in one of his most frightening speeches in February 2011 addressed to his people. The Libyan’s responds, above, “we’ve been your tenants for the last 42 years.”

“Who are you?” [“Man antom?”] became a slogan during the Libyan Revolution; it’s equivalent to ‘Irhal’ which means “Go” or “Leave”  chanted  in other Arab Spring countries. Turned against Gadhafi by the people, “Who are you?” became a most famous revolutionary slogan along with “Jainag” which means “We are coming to get you.”

!“شبر شبر- بيت بيت- دار دار- زنقا زنقا- فرد فرد”

[Early in the uprising, Gaddafi threatened those who opposed him to pursue and fight them ‘inch by inch, house by house, alley by alley [zanga zanga] … A tautology that worked at his own expense in the end.]

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The country consists of three regions: Tripolitania in the west, Cyrenaica in the east and Fezzan in the south. The politicians in the east feel underrepresented and are calling for a confederacy (a loose federal system with substantive independent decision powers for the three regions). Last week, a convoy of jeeps carrying anti-aircraft guns blocked the coastal road between Tripoli and Benghazi. In the absence of any kind of a national military or police force, local militias and armed gangs have run amok in Libya’s cities, towns and villages. Strong separatist forces are also at play. Libya risks being torn apart by longstanding regional and tribal rivalries and by those who oppose even a return to the loose federal arrangement of the 1950s before Gadhafi seized power.

Traditional dancers in the town of Nalut in the western Nafusa mountain region. Notice the Amazigh flag held by the top dancer and the absence of the Libyan national flag

The Amazigh (Berber) flag

 

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In all three Arab Spring countries, halfway between first landmark elections and the next round of voting early next year, the political scene is fractured, security is far from normal, social dissatisfaction widespread and fear of Islamists domination overshadows many sectors of society.

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FOOTNOTES

*‘Saved by Philosophy’

The event that triggered the cascading uprisings of the Arab Spring was when a street vendor persecuted for selling fruit without a license set himself on fire and died. More than a year and a half later little has changed in Tunisia’s law enforcement practices. In early July, a widely reported case captured the news headlines for its eerie similarities to the original event. The ‘perpetrator’ was accused of unauthorized street peddling of goods (“exposait sa marchandise d’une manière anarchique!”) Appearing before a judge he pleaded guilty, declaring that indeed he’s not licensed but his social condition did not leave him much choice; he was a third-year philosophy student from a poor family and had no other means to make a living. The judge, in an attempt to gauge his truthfulness, focused his questioning of the student on his putative study major and asked him many pointed questions about philosophy and major contemporary philosophers. The student answered brilliantly. At the end the judge inquired about the student’s current predicament and what philosophical context would it fit. Without hesitation came the answer: “Les misérables of Victor Hugo. Verdict : a fine of five Dollars and 50 cents and return of all his marchandise to the student. After the Tunisian revolution, there’s little doubt that democratic practices and individual freedoms have changed the country beyond recognition. But much else is still the same : Civil, penal and criminal codes date back decades and so are law enforcement practices and ethics.

Sauvé par la philo / Journal Le temps [Archive Dimanche 15 juillet 2012]

Un jeune, la trentaine, a comparu devant le juge du tribunal cantonal de Tunis. Il est accusé d’avoir enfreint à la loi.
Etant marchand ambulant, il exposait sa marchandise d’une manière anarchique dans les artères de la capitale.
Interrogé par le juge, il a déclaré que ce n’est pas son métier mais ses conditions sociales l’ont obligé à l’exercer. Après le décès de son père, son frère aîné s’est marié et a quitté le domicile parental pour vivre avec son épouse. Il a déclaré qu’il est universitaire étudiant en 3ème année Philo et qu’il n’a aucun autre moyen pour continuer ses études et subvenir en même temps à ses besoins.
Le juge a fait preuve d’attention particulière aux déclarations de l’inculpé. Il lui a posé plusieurs questions concernant le domaine de la philosophie et les écrivains contemporains. L’étudiant a brillamment répondu à toutes les questions. La dernière question posée par le juge était sur sa situation actuelle et dans quel cadre philosophique peut-il la placer : l’étudiant a répondu sans aucune réflexion : Les misérables de Victor Hugo.
Dès la fin de l’interrogatoire le juge a annoncé le verdict : Une amende de 9 Dinars et restitution de toue la marchandise qui a été saisie à l’inculpé

 A.A

Journal Le temps – – Sauvé par la philo.
 

FOLLOW-UP:

Man immolates himself in Arab Spring reprise
The Independent, 13 March 2013, 405 words, (English)
World A young cigarette vendor set himself on fire in Tunis yesterday, reviving memories of similar events two years ago that sparked an uprising which spread across the Arab world. [GRAPHIC!]
 
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*Judging People by Their License Plates

In post-Gadhafi Libya, total chaos rules all aspects of life; there’s of course no constitution and no laws governing the country to speak of. A typical example of lawlessness is a phenomenon you notice on Libyan car license plates. For decades during Gadhafi’s rule all plates read the same: “al-Jamahiriyah;” followed by a combination of numbers. (الجماهيرية, al-Jamahiriyah, or, the state of the masses, is a Gadhafi’s invention and a much controversial and hated term discussed in some detail in his Green Book.)

After the Revolution, you see now three kinds of plates: the old ones reading “al-Jamahiriyah” often identifying the owner as a Gadhafi (old system) supporter; the same “al-Jamahiriyah” but smudged, defaced, or painted over; and new ones reading simply Libya.

There’s no new law in the country regulating car or driver’s licensing. So, practically, you can write what you want on your car’s plate, often reflecting your regional, sectarian, political and ideological view point.

Libya’s Post-Revolution Press Boom

Despite scant funding and a lack of publishing expertise in the country,  media outlets in Libya  witness an unprecedented boom sparked by the  revolution. Before the revolution, the press was tightly controlled. In its 2010 press freedom index, Reporters Without Borders put Libya at 160th position out of 178 states. The media landscape, which has long been dominated by the government  Public Press Authority, now boasts more than 300 dailies and weeklies, with about 180 issued in Benghazi. Many new outlets receive funding from civil society, local councils and businessmen. The National Transitional Council (NTC) also provides assistance to journalists.

 

The Tripoli Post

ليبا اليوم – Libya alyoum

Libya declares liberty with Gaddafi dead & Gaddafi’s ‘Last Will’ [al wasiyyah]

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[Gaddafi’s Death Certificate, issued in Misurata]

‘Sic transit gloria mundi’

BENGHAZI, Libya, Oct 24 (Reuters) – Libya’s new rulers declared the country freed from Muammar Gaddafi’s 42 years of one-man rule, saying the “Pharaoh of the times” was in history’s garbage bin and a future of democracy and reconciliation beckoned… [Graphic!]

washpliby

gaddNyt

gaddShur

Gaddafi’s ‘Last Will’

Three days after his death, a website published Sunday, October 23, what it said the last will written by slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

English transcript of Gaddafi’s last will as published by the BBC.

“This is my will. I, Muammar bin Mohammad bin Abdussalam bi Humayd bin Abu Manyar bin Humayd bin Nayil al Fuhsi Gaddafi, do swear that there is no other God but Allah and that Mohammad is God’s Prophet, peace be upon him. I pledge that I will die as Muslim.

Should I be killed, I would like to be buried, according to Muslim rituals, in the clothes I was wearing at the time of my death and my body unwashed, in the cemetery of Sirte, next to my family and relatives.

I would like that my family, especially women and children, be treated well after my death. The Libyan people should protect its identity, achievements, history and the honorable image of its ancestors and heroes. The Libyan people should not relinquish the sacrifices of the free and best people.

I call on my supporters to continue the resistance, and fight any foreign aggressor against Libya, today, tomorrow and always.

Let the free people of the world know that we could have bargained over and sold out our cause in return for a personal secure and stable life. We received many offers to this effect but we chose to be at the vanguard of the confrontation as a badge of duty and honor.

Even if we do not win immediately, we will give a lesson to future generations that choosing to protect the nation is an honor and selling it out is the greatest betrayal that history will remember forever despite the attempts of the others to tell you otherwise.”

Gaddafi’s ‘Last Will’ in Arabic

الوصية

أوصى العقيد الليبي الراحل معمر القذافي في وصية نسبت إليه بدفن جثمانه في مقبرة سرت بجوار عائلته، كما حث على استمرار المقاومة من بعده

وقال موقع « سيفن دايز نيوز » الإخباري، الموالي للقذافي في صفحته على موقع التواصل الاجتماعي « الفيسبوك »، إنه انفرد بوصية القذافي التي كتبها بتاريخ 17 أكتوبر/تشرين الأول في آخر أيامه في سرت احتياطا لمقتله وسلمها لثلاثة أشخاص توفي أحدهم ووقع آخر في الأسر ونجا الثالث.

:وجاء في نص الوصية

» كل نفس ذائقة الموت وإنما توفون أجوركم يوم القيامة »

هذه وصيتي أنا معمر بن محمد بن عبد السلام بن حُميد بن أبو منيار بن حُميد بن نايل القُحصي القذافي.

أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأن محمدا رسول الله عليه الصلاة والسلام وأموت على .عقيدة أهل السنة والجماعة

:وأوصي بما يأتي

أن لا أُغسّل، وأن أدفن وفق تعاليم الشريعة الإسلامية وفي ثيابي التي أموت فيها.

أن أُدفن في مقبرة سرت إلى جوار قومي وأهلي.

أن تُعامل عائلتي وخاصة نساءها وأطفالها معاملة حسنة.

أن يحافظ الشعب الليبي على هويته وعلى منجزاته وتاريخه وصورة أجداده وأبطاله المشرفة وأن لا يسلّم في تضحيات أحراره وأخياره.

أن تستمر مقاومة أي عدوان أجنبي تتعرض له الجماهيرية الآن أو غدا وعلى الدوام.

أن يثق الأحرار في الجماهيرية والعالم أننا كنا نستطيع المتاجرة بقضيتنا والحصول على حياة شخصية آمنة ومستقرة وجاءتنا عروش كثيرة، ولكننا اخترنا أن نكون في المواجهة واجبا وشرفا، وحتى إذا لم ننتصر عاجلا فإننا سنعطي درسا تنتصر به الأجيال التي ستأتي، لأن اختيار الوطن هو البطولة وبيع الوطن هو الخيانة التي لن يستطيع التاريخ أن يكتب غيرها مهما حاولوا تزويره.

أن يبلّغ سلامي إلى عائلتي فردا فردا وإلى أوفياء الجماهيرية وإلى كل أوفياء العالم الذين ساندونا ولو بقلوبهم

والسلام عليكم جميعا

معمر بن محمد القذافي

سرت الوفاء الاثنين 17 التمور 2011 مسيحي

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gadTelegaddQudsبعد لحظات من إعلان مقتل القذافي انهى المطرب الشعبي شعبان عبد الرحيم تسجيل أغنية جديدة عن مقتل الزعيم الليبي معمر القذافي، من كلمات والحان إسلام خليل، توزيع سيد شعبان وتقول كلماتها

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لا الشماتة من طبعي .. ولا حتى من أهدافيأهي

لفّت الأيام .. وجات على القذافي

واخدينا بيع وشرا .. مفيش رحمة في قلوب

ده آخرة اللي افترى .. واللعب بالشعوب

مبروك على شعب ليبيا .. حمد لله على السلامة

لكن خدوا بالكو برضه .. من الخطة بتاع أوباما

الغرب عينه على النفط .. وعنيه في كل بير

مش حرية وعدالة .. دول ناس ملهاش كبير

بعد العراق ما وقعت .. الدور على السودان

عايزين الكل يضعف .. عشان يفضوا لإيران

 

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Farewell Poem by Gaddafi

(Shortly  before his death Gaddafi wrote a poem saying goodby to Libya and accusing the Arabs …) –Updated Dec. 2012

في قصيدة نظمها قبيل مقتله: القذافي يودع ليبيا… ويتّهم العرب

الخميس 13 ديسمبر 2012 الساعة 09:53:27 بتوقيت تونس العاصمة

طرابلس ـ (وكالات)

تنتشر بين الشباب الليبي  قصيدة يعتقد انها من نظم العقيد الراحل معمر القذافي، وانه قد نظمها  قبل يومين من مقتلة في مسقط رأسه في مدينة سرت الليبية وقدم العقيد الراحل ما اعتبر تحية الوداع لبلاده. وقال موقع «السوسنة» على الانترنت ان القصيدة انتشرت بشكل كبير عبر الهواتف النقالة والرسائل النصية وصفحات التواصل الاجتماعي واعتبرت اكثر العبارات استعمالا في ليبيا.

 

وبدأ مواطنون ليبيون  بنشر جزء من القصيدة على بعض المباني الحكومية والطرقات العامة  في العاصمة الليبية طرابلس ، وفي ما يلي جزء من القصيدة.

 

 هيا بالسلامة يا بلادي تهني ….. توا تعمري كانه خرابك مني
 هيا بالسلامة وروقي …… عليك بالنفس انبدل معاه بشوقي…
 ومدام باعوني اقراب اعروقي ….. وفيهم اقراب الدم خايب ظني…
 عطيت حقكم ياشعب وين احقوقي …… وياريت واحد من العرب طمني…
 هيا بالسلامة يا بلاد تهني …… توا تعمري كانه خرابك مني …

 

ويذكر أن  نظام القذافي سقط بفعل ثورة السابع عشر من فيفري وبمساعدة كبيرة من حلف الناتو الذي قتل القذافي بطريقة غير مباشرة يوم الخميس 20 أكتوبر 2011 عندما قصف رتل سيارات القذافي بمدينة سرت بواسطة طائرة «بريديتور» أمريكية بدون طيار وطائرة «الميراج» الفرنسية مما مكن قوات الثوار من الإمساك بالقذافي وكان قد بلغ من العمر 69 عاما وقتل بالرصاص ومثلت بجثته ودفن هو ورفاقه في مكان مجهول وفق ما نشره موقع «السوسنة» على الانترنت.


“… To the shores of Tripoli”

America’s Military Connection to Libya and Tripoli’s Link to the US Marines’ Hymn

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Two Hundred years ago the newly independent U.S.A. won a military victory in Libya that inspired the famous words from Francis Scott Key:

THE MARINES’ HYMN

From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli
We fight our country’s battles
In the air, on land and sea.

United States relations with what is now Libya have a complex history going back to America’s first decades. Although two other North African states, Morocco and Tunisia, were among the first countries in the world to recognize the USA diplomatically, the new nation soon fought the Barbary Wars in the Mediterranean over attacks on its ships by pirates from Tripoli—the origin of the “shores of Tripoli” reference in the Marines’ Hymn.

Why the Corps were on the shores of Tripoli

President Thomas Jefferson became the first US president to bypass Congress and take the nation to war in 1801. It was the First Barbary War of 1801-1805. It was also a war of many firsts: the first foreign war fought by the US after the American Revolution,  the first time an American soldier shed blood on foreign soil, the first time the US Marines saw battle, and the first time the Stars and Stripes were raised over foreign soil after a military victory. It was also the first attempt by the US to overthrow a foreign ruler and install an American-friendly government – an attempt which ended in compromise, not in victory. The mission was embarrassingly abandoned yet oddly commemorated by the Marines who never actually made it to the shores of Tripoli.

The Barbary Wars


125px-Flag_of_the_Ottoman_Empire_(1453-1844).svgولايت طرابلس غرب =Vilâyet-i Trâblus Gârp = Flag of the Ottoman Empire -Tripoli

The “Barbary” states are actually the North African states of today’s Algeria, Morocco, Libya, and Tunisia that were nominally governed by the Ottoman Empire. The Barbary Wars originated from the Barbary Coast pirates’ attacks on ships and crews along the North Coast of Africa. Since the 13th century, Barbary Coast pirates had attacked European ships in the Mediterranean, freeing crews and cargoes only after receiving ransom payments. For a higher price, the pirate states would agree to abstain from taking ships or hostages in the first place. During the 2nd half of the 18th century and before the Treaty of Paris, which granted America’s independence from Great Britain, American shipping was protected by France. Shortly after independence, more than one-fifth of U.S. trade then was with Mediterranean countries. And without the protection of the British and the French navies (then fighting each other elsewhere), American shipping began to fall prey to the pirates around 1784, sometimes at a cost of 20% of the US budget. The need to protect American shipping was a major factor in drafting a new and stronger US Constitution. James Madison wrote in the Federalist Papers of “the rapacious demands of pirates and barbarians,” that should be a good reason for American states to unite into a strong central government.

USS_Philly_1799-250px

USS Philly 1799

Thomas Jefferson preferred “confrontation with Barbary to blackmail.” US naval squadrons began to appear off the North African coasts to demand  liberation of hostages as well as free trade and free passage. In October 1803, Tripoli’s fleet captured the flagship USS Philadelphia intact after the frigate ran aground on a reef while patrolling Tripoli harbor. The ruler of Tripoli,  Yusuf Karamanli, imprisoned the entire 307-man crew of the 36-gun frigate and aimed its cannon at the rest of the U.S. fleet. In February 1804 U.S. Marines stormed the vessel and set fire to Philadelphia.

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The burning frigate Philadelphia in the harbor of Tripoli, February 16, 1804, by Edward Moran, painted 1897.

In 1805, William Eaton, the former US Consul in Tunis, organized a land attack on Libya. He lead nine Marines and 400 mercenaries on a two-month march of 500 miles from Egypt to Darnah, then Libya’s second-largest city. U.S. Navy ships also  bombarded the town where more than 800 people were killed. Marines then raised the 15-star U.S. flag over Darnah’s harbor fortress. A month later, Karamanli signed a new treaty and released the captain and crew of the Philadelphia (in exchange for $60,000). The American victory in Libya (though not in the city of Tripoli proper) was a historic event which established the US new military prowess. It would be enshrined in the Marine Corps Hymn, written in celebration of William Eaton’s victory of 1805:

Francis Scott Key’s new poem, “When the Warrior Returns,” was about the battle in Darnah, Libya. In it was a phrase that he would use nine years later while watching the British attack Fort McHenry:

And pale beamed the Crescent, its splendor obscured

By the light of the Star Spangled flag of our nation.

Where each radiant star gleamed a meteor of war,

And the turbaned heads bowed to its terrible glare.


handar4Translation into Arabic of the the Marines Hymn:

من قاعات مونتيزوما

إلى شواطئ طرابلس ؛

نحارب معارك بلادنا

والحفاظ على شرفنا النظيف ؛

في الهواء ، في البر والبحر ؛

الأولى للكفاح من أجل الحق والحرية

والحفاظ على شرفنا النظيف ؛

نحن فخورون للفوز بلقب

البحرية الولايات المتحدة

[MORE]——


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Remains of sailors from the USS Intrepid are buried at a cemetery overlooking the harbor in Tripoli. Some may be at a site nearby.


Remains of sailors from the USS Intrepid are buried at a cemetery overlooking the harbor in Tripoli. Some may be at a site nearby. (Courtesy U.S. State Department) A bipartisan group of senators is pressing to repatriate the remains of 13 American sailors who died two centuries ago fighting pirates off the Libyan coast.

The sailors’ remains have been buried near the shores of Tripoli for 207 years after the sailors died in a failed mission against Barbary pirates.

In recent years, a small group of descendants has been seeking to bring them back to the United States. That effort appeared to gain momentum last spring, when the House backed a measure that would force the Defense Department to repatriate the remains. But the measure stalled in the Senate.

This week, a group of key senators wrote to the leaders of the House and Senate armed services committees, urging them to include a repatriation provision in the defense authorization bill that’s in conference committee. Although the cemetery was recently restored, the senators said, it remains in jeopardy because of concerns about U.S.-Libyan diplomacy..

“Today, the future of our relations with Libya is uncertain,” the senators wrote. “For this reason, the restoration and preservation of the American Cemetery and its graves for the Navy’s sailors are … problematic.”

The Navy, however, opposes bringing the remains back to American soil, saying it considers Libya to be the sailors’ “final resting place.” Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, has asked the Navy and other defense officials for more information about their views on the issue. The Navy has said it has concerns about the ability to identify the remains.

In their letter, the senators backing the measure said there was no comparison between the physical state of the cemetery in Tripoli and other overseas locations where U.S. troops are buried, and that, as a result, they supported the effort to “exhume, identify and to repatriate.”

An assessment from the Congressional Budget Office found that repatriating the remains would cost $85,000 to $100,000, according to the letter.

The letter was signed by Sens. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Jim Webb (D-Va.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Scott Brown (R-Mass.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).

INTERPOL issues Red Notice for arrest of Muammar Gaddafi

INTERPOL media release

INTERPOL issues Red Notice for arrest of Muammar Gaddafi at request of International Criminal Court

9 September 2011

Issuance is first step to INTERPOL formally recognizing Transitional National Council as leading Libya

LYON, France – INTERPOL has issued Red Notices for Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and former director of military intelligence Abdullah Al-Senussi after the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, requested the world police body to issue internationally wanted persons notices against the Libyan nationals for alleged crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution.

The publication of INTERPOL Red Notices for the three men is part of INTERPOL’s collaboration with the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC to assist cooperating member countries in their efforts to enforce the arrest warrants issued by the ICC.

The Red Notices have been circulated to all of INTERPOL’s 188 member countries and include essential identifying and judicial information.

In addition to the publication of the Red Notices, INTERPOL is offering the full support of its Command and Coordination Centre and asking its member countries to take all measures consistent with their national laws to help the ICC locate and apprehend Gaddafi… [MORE]

2011/ رقم 72 9   أيلول/سبتمبر 2011

الإنتربول يصدر نشرة حمراء لاعتقال معمّر القذافي تلبية لطلب المحكمة الجنائية الدولية
إصدار النشرة الحمراء يشكل خطوة أولى نحو اعتراف الإنتربول رسميا بالمجلس الوطني الانتقالي باعتباره السلطة التي تحكم ليبي

ليون (فرنسا) – أصدر الإنتربول نشرة حمراء بشأن كل من معمّر القذافي وابنه سيف الإسلام القذافي ومدير المخابرات العسكرية السابق عبد الله السنوسي، وذلك بعد طلب المدعي العام للمحكمة الجنائية الدولية، لويس مورينو أوكامبو، من منظمة الشرطة الدولية إصدارَ نشرات خاصة بأشخاص مطلوبين دوليا بحق هؤلاء المواطنين الليبيين بتهمة

ARABIC Full Text [PDF]

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Thursday, September 08, 2011

ICC requests help from INTERPOL to locate Gaddafi
Michael Haggerson at 3:29 PM ET

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[JURIST] Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website], Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile], announced on Thursday that he is seeking assistance [press release] from INTERPOL [official website] to locate and arrest former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. The ICC issued arrest warrants [JURIST report] for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and his brother-in-law Abdullah al-Sanussi for alleged crimes against humanity. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was allegedly captured [JURIST report] last month but a free Saif al-Islam vowed to continue fighting [The Telegraph report] to foreign media. The whereabouts of Gaddafi and Abdullah al-Sanussi are currently unknown.The Libya conflict [JURIST backgrounder] has been ongoing since February. Last month, Libyan Prime Minister Al Baghdad Ali Al-Mahmoudi requested that the UN create a “high-level commission” to investigate alleged human rights abuses [JURIST report] by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) [official website]. Though NATO was mandated by the UN to use force in order to stop Muammar from fomenting violence upon Libyan citizens, the campaign has allegedly gone beyond the scope of protecting civilians and recently led to the death of 85 civilians in one night after NATO forces bombed a residential area supposedly housing a rebel command center. In June, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] decided to extend a mandate to an investigative panel instructing it to continue its investigation of human rights abuses in Libya, after it published a 92-page report [JURIST reports]. The report claims Libyan authorities have committed crimes against humanity such as acts constituting murder, imprisonment and other severe deprivations of physical liberties, torture, forced disappearances and rape “as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population with knowledge of the attack.”

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