INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT ORDERS ARREST OF GADDAFI

Moammar GaddafiLibyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, his son and his intelligence chief were issued arrest warrant on Monday by the International Criminal Court for ‘crimes against humanity’ in the early days of their struggle to cling to power.

Mr. Gaddafi was charged with killing, injuring, arrest and imprisonment of hundreds of civilians during the first 12 days of an uprising to topple him from power after more than 4 decades, and for trying to cover up the alleged crimes.

The judge presiding over the matter was Sanji Monageng of Botswana who said there were reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Gaddafi and his son were criminally responsible for indirect co-perpetrators for murder and prosecution of civilians.

The effort to mediate the end to four months of intense fighting in the North African nation turned complicated because of the warrants against Gaddafi, his son Seif-al Islam Gaddafi, and the intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Sanoussi which have turned them internationally wanted suspects.

The court’s decision wasn’t welcomed and the Libyan officials rejected it in the Hague courtroom. They claimed that the court had unfairly targeted Africans while ignoring what they called crimes committed by NATO in Afghanistan, Iraq and now in Libya.

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters on Sunday that, “The ICC has no legitimacy whatsoever. We will deal with it. … All of its activities are directed at African leaders.”

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT ORDERS ARREST OF GADDAFI

Report by Sumit