GUARDIAN Sun, 11 Sep 2011 12:00:01 GMT
The National Transitional Council's pledge to honour contracts signed by Gaddafi's regime stores up trouble for the future
The crumbling of the Gaddafi regime has intensified discussion of the challenges that lie ahead for Libya. Democracy, pluralism, national reconciliation and religion are all critical issues that will need much work. In my own opinion, though, re-establishment of the rule of law is the most pressing of all issues. Corruption, left unchecked, constitutes a threat to the future security of Libya.
A few years into its existence, the Gaddafi regime began to morph into a criminal enterprise that siphoned off Libya's wealth either for personal enrichment or to buy friends for the regime both at home and abroad.
Naturally, the government controlled all revenues flowing into the Libyan treasury and maintained a vice-like grip on contracts. Over the years, the percentage "commission" on any given contract grew exponentially and, in many cases, was reported to exceed...
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GUARDIAN Sun, 28 Aug 2011 22:00:01 GMT
BBC left red-faced by Alex Crawford's charge on Tripoli
As the Libyan rebels rolled into Tripoli, Sky News beamed a steady stream of live reports from Alex Crawford. The network's special correspondent led the way in last Sunday's rebel convoy advance, from the celebrations in Tripoli's Green Square, and, on Tuesday, from the confines of Colonel Gaddafi's freshly-liberated compound.
Amid the events in Tripoli, the Gaddafi administration did not seem to be the only regime in danger of crumbling. The BBC was consistently a step behind, its correspondents not just in the wrong districts of the capital, but even in the wrong cities – or, even more frustratingly for the corporation, confined under armed guard in Tripoli's Rixos Hotel. While Sky had Crawford, the three-times Royal Television Society journalist of the year, on the scene, BBC big guns such as John Simpson and Jeremy Bowen were nowhere to be seen.
It was an embarrassing week for the corporation, whose overseas budgets....
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GUARDIAN Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:59:01 GMT
Perhaps the European Union, by holding out the prospect of future EU membership to Libya, would be a bold but creative answer to the question of who will be able to influence the Libyan situation for the better (Editorial, 22 August).
Economically, a country with low debt and substantial gas and oil resources should be a welcome addition. With imaginative investment, Libya's huge landmass – more than three times the size of France – could produce significant additional resources. Socially, its small population – 6.5 million people, almost exclusively Sunni Muslims – should be easily assimilated into Europe's wide ethnic and religious mix. The carrot of sustainable democracy, prosperity and social stability, including human rights, taken for granted in the EU, could help to unite and stabilise Libya in this period of rapid change while offering the EU the prospect of a valuable and exciting new member.
Arthur Birchall
Isleworth, Middlesex
• The resistance of the troops loyal....
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GUARDIAN Tue, 23 Aug 2011 21:47:03 GMT
Dictator and his family nowhere to be found as rebel fighters storm Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli
Muammar Gaddafi's seat of power in Tripoli has fallen as rebel fighters swarmed into his fortified compound, stamping on a gilded bronze head of the deposed despot and setting fire to his famous tent in a cathartic end to his 42-year dictatorship.
But the Libyan leader and his family, were nowhere to be found. If they had indeed spent the last days of their rule inside their walled citadel, Bab al-Aziziya, they had since melted away, possibly through the labyrinth of tunnels that lie beneath the compound, an insurance policy against such a day.
Gaddafi told a television station that his withdrawal from the compound had been a tactical move, Reuters reported. He also vowed death or victory in the fight against "aggression", telling al-Orouba TV that his Tripoli headquarters had been levelled to the ground after 64 Nato air strikes.
In the streets beyond the compound, gunfire....
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GUARDIAN Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:23:44 GMT
It is crucial for the maintenance of international justice that Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah al-Senussi are transferred to The Hague
As fighting continued in the Libyan capital Tripoli, the international criminal court said on Monday that Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC prosecutor, has been in contact with the country's Transitional National Council regarding the three top Libyan leaders sought on war crime charges - the besieged Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, and Abdullah al-Senussi, the former head of Libyan military intelligence.
Mr Ocampo's office said in a statement that he had been briefed on the security situation in Libya, and that "further conversations will define the precise way to move forward". This would include " the possibility to apprehend and surrender to the court the three individuals alleged to have committed crimes after 17 of February 2011, and also to investigate and prosecute them in Libya for......
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GUARDIAN Mon, 22 Aug 2011 18:19:23 GMT
Assad, Saleh and others will not lose any sleep and are unlikely to draw lessons from the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya
Just a few days before completing his 42nd year in power, Muammar Gaddafi appears to have become the third Arab dictator to fall in the past eight months.
Tunisian president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali was the first to go, hounded out of the country in January after 23 years in power. In February it was the turn of Hosni Mubarak, when a popular uprising by the Egyptian masses ended his 29-year rule.
In the wake of that, hopes of political change swept across the region as protests broke out in Yemen, Bahrain and Syria, plus others on a smaller scale in Morocco, Jordan, Algeria and Oman.
But then came a hiatus, prompting speculation that the Arab spring was running out of steam. The opposition in Bahrain was brutally crushed, the Yemeni youth movement was sidelined by tribal warlords and military chiefs jockeying for position, while protests in Syria brought.....
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GUARDIAN Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:43:19 GMT
Libyan rebels arrest three of his sons but dictator has 'no means of leaving Tripoli', says former prime minister
For 42 long years, from the moment he came to power in a bloodless coup, Muammar Gaddafi did all he could to become ubiquitous. He made his Green Book of political philosophy required reading and ensured his portrait was hung in homes, plastered to buildings and engraved on the gold watches he gave as gifts.
On Monday, however, the "brother leader and guide of the revolution" was nowhere to be seen. Nor was he heard, unlike on Sunday when he issued a series of audio messages calling on supporters to fight back against rebels.
"We have no confirmation of Gaddafi's whereabouts," said David Cameron, who has returned from holiday for the second time this summer, to deal with the rapid pace of change in Tripoli.
Mahmoud Nacua, Libya's new diplomatic envoy to London, told the Guardian: "We don't know exactly where he is, but the fighters will look to find him. Maybe it....
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GUARDIAN Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:00:45 GMT
Things will not be made perfect in the troubled country, but they can – and will – be made much better
Every liberation is different, with its own special qualities and historical context, and yet every liberation is the same. All obey, to one degree or another, an iron law of unrealistic expectations, high hopes dashed, eroding unity and, at the very least, the banalities of ordinary life quickly overlaying the excitement of sudden change. In a month when we are remembering Yeltsin atop his tank, as well as looking back to the already frayed Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions, it is not surprising that the Libyan liberation is viewed with some scepticism. But, although it is certain that some things will go wrong in Libya, it is far from certain that everything will go wrong.
The always fractured return to normal life is in fact the essence of a successful liberation. Things will not be made perfect. But they will, or they can, be made better. The problems facing Libya are........
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GUARDIAN Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:53:12 GMT
Most residents of the Libyan capital welcomed the rebels, but some had mixed feelings. And where was Gaddafi?
For a brief few hours on Monday, Tripoli's Green Square was a tranquil place. A rebel flag hung above the old Ottoman palace. A few curious locals emerged to take a look around. What they saw was a mess: the windows of the Saleem coffee shop had been blown in; a mangled truck lay next to a municipal pleasure park with palm trees and a pond.
One Tripoli resident, Tariq Hussain, 32, said Gaddafi loyalists had fired at the square for four hours on Sunday. At midnight their bombardment stopped. After that people had flooded into the area – quickly renamed Martyrs' Square – to celebrate the arrival of rebels from the Libyan capital's western suburbs and the apparent end of Muammar Gaddafi's regime.
Hussain admitted to ambivalence about the rebels' victory. "I'm afraid of them, to be honest," he said. Others, however, were jubilant. "Forty-two years too much. It's game over,...
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GUARDIAN Sun, 21 Aug 2011 08:42:00 GMT
• Tripoli calm as Gaddafi says 'rats' have been repelled
• Rebels claim it is 'zero hour' for Gaddafi as they tighten noose
• Syria's Assad to respond to calls for his removal in TV interview
• Gaza militants fire more rockets into southern Israel
12.47pm: With reference to the apparent defection of Gaddafi's former deputy, Abdel-Salam Jalloud (see 10.20am), one of his allies in the coup that first brought him to power, it's been confirmed that he is now in Italy.
Italy's defence minister, Ignazio La Russa, told reporters that this was the case, AP quotes Italy's Ansa news agency as saying. Jalloud reportedly flew first to Tunisia.
12.44pm: Events in Libya have moved at quite a pace this morning, so perhaps time for a summary:
• Rebel forces in Libya appear on the verge of encircling Tripoli, advancing from the west, south and east. According to one report, those moving from the west got to the very edge of the capital's edge before retreating amid a counter-attack by........
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GUARDIAN Sat, 20 Aug 2011 16:57:32 GMT
As the mortars rain down on Zawiyah there are growing concerns the final battle will be a bloody one
The mood was jubilant. In Zawiyah's main square, rebel fighters were celebrating their capture of the city the previous evening with gunfire, car skids, and a wild, feverish cacophony of shouting and hooting.
On Friday the rebels had turfed the snipers out as Nato jets blew up the upper storeys of two tall buildings, crumpling the roof of the city's main administrative building. Triumphant rebels ransacked it, throwing papers and documents into the street.
Seven months after launching their revolution against Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's rebels notched up another significant victory, seizing Zawiyah after a furious week-long battle. They are edging ever closer to the gates of Tripoli.
The signs of battle were everywhere. The four-star Zawiyah Jewel hotel was a ruinous mess, just the letters spelling Jewel clinging to the wall, the lobby filled with rubble. Mattresses where........
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GUARDIAN Tue, 16 Aug 2011 07:55:00 GMT
Syrian security forces have renewed their assault on the coastal city of Latakia, according to residents. in Libya, government forces have fired a Scud missile for the first time since the conflict with rebels began, according to US defence officials
8.55am: Welcome to Middle East Live. Once again events in Syria and Libya dominate the news.Syria
• Syrian tanks have opened fire on poor Sunni districts in Latakia, residents said, on the fourth day of a military assault on the northern port city aimed at crushing protests against President Bashar al-Assad. "Heavy machinegun fire and explosions were hitting al-Raml al-Filistini (home to Palestinian refugees) and al-Shaab this morning. This subsided and now there is the sound of intermittent tank fire," one of the residents, who lives near the two districts, told Reuters by phone. More than 5,000 Palestinian refugees have fled al Raml al-Filistini, the UN said. The Syrian Revolution Coordinating Union, a grassroots activists' group,..
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GUARDIAN Mon, 15 Aug 2011 06:40:46 GMT
The former president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, is back in court today to face charges of corruption and unlawful killing of protesters. Plus updates from the rest of the Middle East, including Syria and Libya
7.40am: Welcome to Middle East live. The toppled Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, is due back in court in Cairo. We'll be providing live updates from the trial as well as covering news elsewhere in the Middle East. Egypt
• Mubarak will be back in the dock to answer charges of corruption and the unlawful killing of protesters. The Cairo criminal court will decide whether Muhammad Tantawi, the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian forces and de facto head of state, will be called to testify in Mubarak's trial, judicial sources have told al-Masry al-Youm.
Mubarak's first appearance in court was memorable for the extraordinary images of the toppled dictator, who ruled Egypt with an iron fist for 30 years, being wheeled into court on a hospital trolley.
You can read Jack........
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GUARDIAN Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:00:00 GMT
With the protest movement weakened, King Mohammed VI is forcing constitutional change and retaining absolute power
"This is my way: I invite unto Allah with sure knowledge, I and whoever follows me."
It was with this these words, quoted from the Qur'an, that King Mohammed VI ended his speech on 17 June, urging Morocco's people to vote for his new constitution project in a referendum to be held on 1 July.
It takes quite a nerve to identify oneself with the prophet Muhammad and compare a political reform to Allah's path. It's also a paradox, coming from a monarch who is supposedly on the point of renouncing his own divine right.
According to Morocco's new draft constitution, the king won't be "sacred" any more. Instead, the people will owe him respect and tawqeer – an Arabic term which means something between reverence and adoration. So how much of a paradigm change is it really?
Although the US says it is "encouraged" by the draft constitution, this is not particularly......
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GUARDIAN Sat, 18 Jun 2011 20:32:34 GMT
The Observer has gained exclusive access to thousands of documents which show how the Libyan leader gave orders for the torture, arrest and bombardment of his own people
The dark green box files are packed closely together in rows that stretch up to the ceiling – as dull as dull could be. But the papers hidden inside them will sink Muammar Gaddafi.
In these boxes, hidden at a secure location in the besieged rebel city of Misrata, lie thousands of documents containing the orders given by the Libyan leader and transmitted by his generals to unleash the torture, arrest and bombardment that have torn the country apart. For war crimes prosecutors, they are pure gold.
The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, has already filed indictments against Gaddafi, his son, Saif al-Islam, and his intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. These files provide the proof, according to the Libyan lawyers who collected them, that..
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GUARDIAN Sun, 05 Jun 2011 08:39:10 GMT
• Power vacuum in Yemen as President Saleh heads to Saudi Arabia for treatment to rocket attack wounds
• Apache helicopter step up Libya attacks as William Hague visits rebels in Benghazi
9.28am: Good morning, a welcome to our live updates on events in Yemen, Libya and the wider Middle East. Two main stories dominate today:
• Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has flown out of the country to Saudi Arabia, ostensibly to seek treatment for the wounds he suffered on Friday during a rocket attack on the presidential palace in Sana'a. There is now intense speculation as to whether he will ever return home to continue his authoritarian 33-year rule - and if not, whether this will leave a power vacuum in the already chaotic and barely governable nation.
• The UK has made a dramatic public demonstration of its backing for Libyan rebels, with the foreign secretary, William Hague, visiting their stronghold of Benghazi to meet the National Transitional Council, described by Hague as....
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GUARDIAN Thu, 12 May 2011 03:42:10 GMT
The Libyan leader, who had not been seen in public since the April 30 strike, has appeared on state television meeting officials in a Tripoli hotel
Libyan state television showed footage of Muammar Gaddafi meeting officials in a Tripoli hotel, ending nearly two weeks of doubt over his fate since a NATO air strike killed his son.
The Libyan leader, who had not been seen in public since the April 30 strike on his Tripoli compound killed his youngest son and three of his grandchildren, made his appearance on Wednesday in his trademark brown robe, dark sunglasses and black hat.
"We tell the world these are the representatives of the Libyan tribes," said Gaddafi, pointing to the officials and naming a few of them.
"You will be victorious," an old man told Gaddafi, referring to the three-month-old revolt in the North African country against the Libyan leader's 41 years of rule.
A screen behind Gaddafi showed a morning chat show on state al-Jamahirya television. A zoom-in on the......
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NEWS SUMMARY
Libya, Egypt and Middle East unrest - live updates
Roadside graves found in Tripoli
VIDEO: Jalil mobbed on arrival to Tripoli
Libyan interim leader in Tripoli
VIDEO: NTC leader arrives in Tripoli
VIDEO: Battle for Bani Walid under way
Fighters gear up for 'final Libya battle'
Gaddafi forces resist offensive
VIDEO: Battle for Bani Walid 'under way'
Still fighting after all these years – the 76-year-old who refuses to give in
Siege gives way to final assault as rebels enter loyalist stronghold
VIDEO: Concern over Libya's missing weapons
'Battle under way' for Libya town
Libya clashes as deadline looms
Interpol issues Gaddafi red notice
Libya's rebel chief Mahmoud Jibril in first Tripoli press conference - video
Scores to settle
'We fight for Muammar. We fight for Libya. He protected our country'
Libya's new PM Jibril urges unity
Gaddafi unmasked in family photographs
Rockets fired from Libyan outpost
Gaddafi's family photos - in pictures
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