World court targets Gaddafi for crimes against humanity
Muammar Gaddafi and key aides will be probed over allegations they committed crimes against humanity while fending off the uprising in Libya, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor said Thursday.
"We have identified some individuals with de facto or formal authority, who have authority over the security forces," that have clamped down on a rebellion that started on February 15, Luis Moreno-Ocampo told journalists in The Hague.
"They are Muammar Gaddafi, his inner circle, including some of his sons."
Ocampo also listed individuals including the veteran Libyan leader’s head of personal security, and the head of the external security forces.
More than 100,000 people have already fled Libya to escape a vicious crackdown by Gaddafi loyalists which has left at least 1,000 dead, according to UN estimates.
Meanwhile, Gaddafi’s forces struck at rebel control of oil export hubs in Libya’s east for a second day on Thursday as Arab states weighed a plan to end turmoil Washington said could make the country "a giant Somalia."
A leader of the uprising against Gaddafi’s 41-year-old rule said he would reject any proposal for talks with Gaddafi to end the conflict in the world’s 12th largest oil exporting nation.
President Hugo Chavez has spoken with Gadhafi about creating a bloc of friendly countries to help mediate a resolution to Libya’s crisis, Venezuela’s information minister said Wednesday.
Venezuela’s leader, who has forged close ties with Gadhafi and refused to condemn him for his crackdown on protesters, spoke with the Libyan leader on Tuesday, Information Minister Andres Izarra said through Twitter.
Witnesses said a warplane bombed the eastern oil terminal town of Brega, a day after troops loyal to Gaddafi launched a ground and air attack on the town that was repulsed by rebels spearheading a popular revolt against his four-decade-old rule.
The rebels, armed with rocket launchers, anti-aircraft guns and tanks, called on Wednesday for U.N.-backed air strikes on foreign mercenaries it said were fighting for Gaddafi.
But perhaps mindful of a warning by Gaddafi that foreign intervention could cause "another Vietnam", Western officials expressed caution about any sort of military involvement including the imposition of a no-fly zone.
A rebel officer said government air strikes targeted the airport of Brega and a rebel position in the nearby town of Ajdabiyah, referring to two rebel-held locations.
Opposition soldiers also said troops loyal to Gaddafi had been pushed back to Ras Lanuf, home to another major oil terminal and 600 km (375 miles) east of Tripoli.
"Gaddafi’s forces are in Ras Lanuf," Mohammed al-Maghrabi, a rebel volunteer, told Reuters, echoing comments by others.
The uprising, the bloodiest yet against long-serving rulers in the Middle East and North Africa, is causing a humanitarian crisis, especially on the Tunisian border where tens of thousands of foreign workers have fled to safety.
NATO intervention
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday it has no intention of intervening in Libya but is planning for "all eventualities."
Rasmussen said at a press conference that NATO officials "take note" of a request from the Libyan opposition for foreign nations to launch airstrikes against mercenaries hired by Muammar Gaddafi’s.
"We follow and monitor the situation closely, take note of requests forwarded," he said after meeting with Montenegro’s Prime Minister Igor Luksic at NATO headquarters.
However he added: "I would like to stress that NATO does not have any intention to intervene but as a defense alliance and security organization we do prudent planning for all eventualities."
The NATO chief has insisted the UN Security Council would have to approve any military action in Libya, including the enforcement of a no-fly zone.