Libya: Gaddafi a Fugitive as Rebels Advance in the Capital
Tripoli ---Heavy fighting has taken over in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, where rebel fighters seeking to end the beleaguered Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year rule have seized control of much of the city.
Rebel forces advanced into Tripoli from the west with little resistance on Sunday after capturing a key military base near the city, while another group of fighters made to the capital by sea from the port of Misrata in the recent push for the capital backed by NATO aircraft enforcing a UN resolution to protect civilians.
Rebels claim they had captured two of Col Gaddafi's sons one being the influential Saif al-Islam whom the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant alongside his father and the country’s intelligence chief for crimes against humanity.
Gaddafi’s whereabouts remains concealed, since he was last seen in public in May, but diplomatic sources claim he could be still in his Bab al-Azizia residence in the capital. In an audio message broadcast on Sunday, Col Gaddafi urged residents to save Tripoli from the rebels whom he said re being helped by traitors.
U.S. President Barack Obama in a statement late Sunday called on Col Gaddafi to "relinquish power once and for all," saying the momentum against him has reached a tipping point. He said the US will continue to work with the international community to support a peaceful transition to democracy in Libya.
Foreign journalists have been trapped inside the Rixos hotel in Tripoli, almost as human shields by Gaddafi forces defending the hotel from takeover by rebels because it’s the place from which the Libyan information minister and the state TV have been broadcasting from lately.
Chairman of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) Mustafa Mohammed Abdul Jalil said early on Monday that there are still pockets of resistance in and around Tripoli. He said that the rebels would halt their offensive if Col Gaddafi announced his departure, where they would grant him and his sons safe passage out of the country.
Sunday’s fighting is believed to have left 1,300 people dead and another 5,000 wounded according to Libyan information ministry, which has accused NATO of attacking the heart of a peaceful civilian city and also backing “armed gangs” with air power.
Tripoli, Libya
Claimed Detained Al-Islam Appears in the Capital
One of Col Muammar Gaddafi's sons Saif al-Islam claimed to have been captured by rebels has appeared in the streets of the capital Tripoli moving freely.
A confident and jubilant Saif al-Islam presented himself to foreign journalists confined at the Rixos Hotel held by pro-government forces on Tuesday, a day after rebel forces claimed to have him in custody. He told reporters that his father's government still controls the capital and had lured rebels into a trap by allowing them enter into the city.
He told three journalists who accompanied him to his father's residence in Bab al-Azizia in the capital that everyone should be rest assured that Tripoli was under government control.
Monday's battle for the capital saw a bloody engagement between the two forces where over 1,300 claimed lives are believed to have been lost according to government sources. Fighting continues to intensify in the unclear condition over who controls the city,which both sides claim.
Government forces are said to be reinforcing in the city in bid to recover lost areas, as rebels supply lines have come under attack. A senior rebel source said that another of Col Gaddafi's sons-Mohammed-had escaped house arrest and apparently a third son was still in custody.
Head of the opposition Transitional National Council (TNC) Mustafa Abdul Jalil has acknowledged that the rebels have yet to establish full control of the capital. He said that Gaddafi, whose whereabouts are still unknown, will receive a fair trial once captured.
Rebels final push for Tripoli came on Sunday, advancing through the eastern and western outer defences into the city's central Green Square where thousands were waiting in jubilation.
Saif al-Islam, widely regarded as his father's likely successor is being sought after alongside the Libyan leader and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi by the International Criminal Court for committed crimes against humanity.
Jonglei, South Sudan
UN Calls for End to Cycle of Violence
Top United Nations officials in South Sudan have called for an end to the “cycle of violence” in the country following last week's killing of at least 600 people in ethnic clashes in eastern state of Jonglei.
Head of the UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Hilde Johnson, condemned the destruction and looting, saying that "this cycle of violence must stop". She cited that so many people had been killed and injured again in such unacceptable wanton destruction.
Clashes between members of the Murle and Lou Nuer ethnic groups inhabiting the Jonglei state broke out on Thursday when young men from the Murle community are said to have attacked the majority Lou Nuer in a cattle raid, stealing nearly 40,000 cattle.
According to a press release by the UNMISS at least 600 people have reportedly died and unconfirmed reports indicate almost 1000 other were wounded during the clashes in and around the town of Pieri where many homes have been destroyed. Nearly 200 people have been apparently abducted and thousands displaced. The Murle were apparently seeking revenge for a recent attack by the Lou Nuer.
Ms Johnson pledged willing support by the mission in the urgently needed reconciliation process between the two communities. A report by an assessment and verification team from the UNMISS team sent to the area of violence is expected to help in the reconciliation efforts by the local authorities.
State governor Kuol Manyang told the BBC that the attack was cattle raid and such similar inter-ethnic clashes are due to poverty and competition over resources, that have claimed hundreds of lives.
The recent clashes brings the toll to 3,000 deaths, number of people killed in hundreds of violent clashes in South Sudan this year.
Jonglei state has been termed to be one of the unsafest places in the newly independent South Sudan owing to proliferation of arms among civilians and poor roads that are hampering security operations in the area.
Monrovia, Liberia
ICG Warns of Incitements ahead of Referendum
The International Crisis Group has called on all Liberian leaders to refrain from aggressive statements especially those exploiting memories of war, warning that the referendum will set tone for the upcoming presidential polls.
This comes after the opposition called for a boycott for the Tuesday’s constitutional referendum along series of politically motivated violence throughout the country that have raised security concerns. The referendum contains four amendments, each of which require a two third vote to become law.
The amendments include decrease in residency requirement for presidential candidates and their vice from 10 to five years, moving election date from October to November, raising retirement age for supreme court judges and conduct of legislative and local council elections that would require a more than 50 per cent vote to win.
Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in her appeal to calm, has called on all politicians to conduct themselves in a “responsible and law-abiding manner”, and ensure the same with their supporters. She said that the politically motivated violent acts “undermine and destroy democracy” warning that it could lead the country into another civil conflict.
Ms Sirleaf who is seeking a second term faces stiff challenge from Winston Tubman, a Harvard-educated lawyer who has teamed up with former soccer star George Wear who lost to Sirleaf in the run-off of the 2005 presidential polls.
United Nations representative in Liberia Ellen Margrethe Loej, has called for conducive environment to healthy political debate and competition saying that both the referendum and the presidential election will be a “litmus test for Liberia's progress towards peace and democracy.”
The Report by the Belgium-based organisationLiberia: How Sustainable Is the Recovery?, warns that five factors are still critical to lasting peace, which include fight against corruption, political reforms and economic development among others.