JayAtl
BANNED
- Nov 18, 2010
- 8,812
- -14
Gaddafi Arrest Warrant Issued By International Criminal Court
THE HAGUE, Netherlands International judges ordered the arrest of Moammar Gadhafi on Monday for murdering civilians, as NATO warplanes pounded his Tripoli compound and world leaders stepped up calls for the Libyan leader to end his four-decade rule.
The International Criminal Court said Gadhafi, his son Seif al-Islam Gadhafi and his intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi are wanted for orchestrating the killing, injuring, arrest and imprisonment of hundreds of civilians during the first 12 days of an uprising to topple Gadhafi from power, and for trying to cover up the alleged crimes.
The warrants from the court in The Hague turn the three men into internationally wanted suspects, potentially complicating efforts to mediate an end to more than four months of intense fighting in the North African nation. The warrants will be sent to Libya, where Gadhafi remained defiantly entrenched.
Presiding judge Sanji Monageng of Botswana called Gadhafi the "undisputed leader of Libya" who had "absolute, ultimate and unquestioned control" over his country's military and security forces. She said there were "reasonable grounds to believe" that Gadhafi and his son are both responsible for the murder and persecution of civilians.
Gadhafi's regime did not immediately react Monday to the announcement, but rejected the court's authority even before the decision was read, accusing the court of unfairly targeting Africans while ignoring what it called crimes committed by NATO in Afghanistan, Iraq "and in Libya now."
"The ICC has no legitimacy whatsoever ... all of its activities are directed at African leaders," government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters Sunday.
Mohammed al-Alaqi, the justice minister in the Libyan rebel administration, picked up a copy of the warrant from the court but cast doubt on rebels' willingness to turn over Gadhafi if they did arrest him. He told reporters there was nothing to prevent the rebels from putting Gadhafi and his son on trial in Libya.
"If they prosecute them in Libya it would be under the standards of this court," he said. "Let's decide later, after we arrest them, where we should prosecute them, here or there."
Al-Alaqi said he hoped the warrants would persuade Gadhafi's forces to defect
THE HAGUE, Netherlands International judges ordered the arrest of Moammar Gadhafi on Monday for murdering civilians, as NATO warplanes pounded his Tripoli compound and world leaders stepped up calls for the Libyan leader to end his four-decade rule.
The International Criminal Court said Gadhafi, his son Seif al-Islam Gadhafi and his intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi are wanted for orchestrating the killing, injuring, arrest and imprisonment of hundreds of civilians during the first 12 days of an uprising to topple Gadhafi from power, and for trying to cover up the alleged crimes.
The warrants from the court in The Hague turn the three men into internationally wanted suspects, potentially complicating efforts to mediate an end to more than four months of intense fighting in the North African nation. The warrants will be sent to Libya, where Gadhafi remained defiantly entrenched.
Presiding judge Sanji Monageng of Botswana called Gadhafi the "undisputed leader of Libya" who had "absolute, ultimate and unquestioned control" over his country's military and security forces. She said there were "reasonable grounds to believe" that Gadhafi and his son are both responsible for the murder and persecution of civilians.
Gadhafi's regime did not immediately react Monday to the announcement, but rejected the court's authority even before the decision was read, accusing the court of unfairly targeting Africans while ignoring what it called crimes committed by NATO in Afghanistan, Iraq "and in Libya now."
"The ICC has no legitimacy whatsoever ... all of its activities are directed at African leaders," government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters Sunday.
Mohammed al-Alaqi, the justice minister in the Libyan rebel administration, picked up a copy of the warrant from the court but cast doubt on rebels' willingness to turn over Gadhafi if they did arrest him. He told reporters there was nothing to prevent the rebels from putting Gadhafi and his son on trial in Libya.
"If they prosecute them in Libya it would be under the standards of this court," he said. "Let's decide later, after we arrest them, where we should prosecute them, here or there."
Al-Alaqi said he hoped the warrants would persuade Gadhafi's forces to defect
