tagged w/ Moammar Gadhafi
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– Col. Moammar Gadhafi, the dictator who ruled Libya for 42 years, was killed by rebels in his hometown of Sirte on Thursday. A dictator who oppressed his own people and sponsored terrorism abroad, Gadhafi’s legacy will be stained by violence. But beyond his brutality, Gadhafi will be remembered for something else entirely… being a first-class weirdo.– Col. Moammar Gadhafi, the dictator who ruled Libya for 42 years, was killed by... more
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Rebels claimed that Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi is dead. According to reports, he had been captured and killed in his home town of Sirte. An exclusive footage by Al Jazeera appears to show the bloody body of the former Libyan leader.
http://www.pinoyhalo.com/2011/10/20/moammar-gadhafi-a-bloody-end/Rebels claimed that Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi is dead. According to reports, he... more
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Luxury, horror lurk in Gadhafi family compound
By Dan Rivers, CNN Correspondent
August 28, 2011 10:03 p.m. EDT
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PHOTO:
Shwygar Mullah, a nanny for Hannibal and Aline Gadhafi, says Aline burned her with boiling water.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
CNN visits the seaside homes of the Gadhafi family
A horribly scarred family nanny recounts being scalded by Gadhafi's daughter-in-law
A colleague corroborates the account and says he, too, was regularly tortured
Gadhafi family seaside villas are packed with high-end liquor and electronics
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Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Moammar Gadhafi told his people he lived modestly during his nearly 42-year rule over Libya, often sleeping in a Bedouin tent.
Even if that was true for the leader, it certainly wasn't for his sons.
At a seaside compound in western Tripoli, the Gadhafi boys enjoyed a decadent lifestyle that his people could only dream about, while perpetrating unspeakable horrors on the staff that served their every whim.
CNN visited the seaside homes Sunday.
The first house we entered was apparently the "party" beach condo with an oversized door that led into sleek, modern, black-and-white rooms. It had been ransacked by the rebels, but still it was spectacular, with panoramic ocean views and plenty of evidence of the hedonism for which Hannibal Gadhafi -- one of Moammar Gadhafi's sons -- is famous.
Discarded bottles of Johnny Walker Blue Label Scotch and Laurent Perrier pink champagne cases littered the floor. Much of the electronic equipment had been plundered, but instruction manuals remained for high end Harman/Kardon stereo components. Cabinets designed to hold two huge TV screens could still be seen.
The bedroom held a circular bed, while the in-suite bathroom was complete with sunken Jacuzzi tub lined with plastic white flowers. Outside, a hot tub, a bar and a barbecue area adjoined the private beach.
Another villa contained a white baby grand piano and more expensive stereo equipment. Next door was a huge swimming pool and diving complex, a gym, a steam room and a sauna faced in white marble. In other house.
We came upon rebels furtively dividing up a huge stash of alcohol. They seemed edgy and tense -- this is the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and alcohol was supposedly banned under the Gadhafi regime.
We filmed them quixotically studying the labels of Cristal champagne and fine St. Emilion Bordeaux, apparently not realizing each bottle is worth hundreds of dollars.
As we were about to leave, one of the staff told us there was a nanny who worked for Hannibal Gadhafi who might speak to us. He said she'd been burnt by Hannibal's wife, Aline.
I thought he meant perhaps a cigarette stubbed out on her arm. Nothing prepared me for the moment I walked into the room to see Shwygar Mullah.
At first I thought she was wearing a hat and something over her face. Then the awful realization dawned that her entire scalp and face were covered in red wounds and scabs, a mosaic of injuries that rendered her face into a grotesque patchwork.
Even though the burns were inflicted three months ago, she was clearly still in considerable pain. But she told us her story calmly.
She'd been the nanny to Hannibal's little son and daughter.
The 30-year-old came to Libya from her native Ethiopia a year ago. At first things seemed OK, but then six months into her employment she said she was burned by Aline.
Three months later the same thing happened again, this time much more seriously.
In soft tones, she explained how Aline lost her temper when her daughter wouldn't stop crying and Mullah refused to beat the child.
"She took me to a bathroom. She tied my hands behind my back, and tied my feet. She taped my mouth, and she started pouring the boiling water on my head like this," she said, imitating the vessel of scalding hot water being poured over her head.
She peeled back the garment draped carefully over her body. Her chest, torso and legs are all mottled with scars -- some old, some still red, raw and weeping. As she spoke, clear liquid oozed from one nasty open wound on her head.
After one attack, "There were maggots coming out of my head, because she had hidden me and no one had seen me," Mullah said.
Eventually, a guard found her and took her to a hospital, where she received some treatment.
But when Aline Gadhafi found out about the kind actions of her co-worker, he was threatened with imprisonment if he dared to help her again.
"When she did all this to me, for three days, she wouldn't let me sleep," Mullah said. "I stood outside in the cold, with no food. She would say to staff, 'If anyone gives her food, I'll do the same to you.' I had no water -- nothing."
Her colleague, a man from Bangladesh who didn't want to give his name, says he was also regularly beaten and slashed with knives. He corroborated Mullah's account and says the family's dogs were treated considerably better than the staff.
Mullah was forced to watch as the dogs ate and she was left to go hungry, he said.
It seems to sum up how the workers at the beach-side complex were viewed by the Gadhafi family.
"I worked a whole year they didn't give me one penny," Mullah said. "Now I want to go to the hospital. I have no money. I have nothing."
She starts sobbing gently -- an utterly pitiful scene.
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08/30/11 - 11:59PM PT UPDATE AND VIDEO:
See below for news update, along with video on Nanny's medical care.
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Luxury, horror lurk in Gadhafi family compound
By Dan Rivers, CNN Correspondent... more
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Jubilant Rebels Control Much of Tripoli
The New York Times...
August 22, 2011
Jubilant Rebels Control Much of Tripoli
By KAREEM FAHIM and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
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PART ONE...
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TRIPOLI, Libya — Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s four-decade-old grip on power dissolved with astonishing speed on Monday as rebels marched into the capital and arrested two of his sons, while residents raucously celebrated the prospective end of his four-decade-old rule. Colonel Qaddafi’s precise whereabouts remained unknown.
In the city’s central Green Square, the site of many manufactured rallies in support of Colonel Qaddafi, jubilant Libyans tore down posters of him and stomped on them. The rebel leadership announced that the elite presidential guard protecting the Libyan leader had surrendered and that their forces controlled many parts of the city, but not Colonel Qaddafi’s leadership compound.
The National Transitional Council, the rebel governing body, issued a mass text message saying: “We congratulate the Libyan people for the fall of Muammar Qaddafi and call on the Libyan people to go into the street to protect the public property. Long live free Libya.”
Officials loyal to Colonel Qaddafi insisted that the fight was not over, and there were clashes between rebels and government troops early on Monday morning.
Explosions and the sound of mortars could still be heard Monday morning and a rebel fighter told Al Jazeera television that pro-Qaddafi forces still controlled 15 to 20 percent of the capital. News reports quoting rebel officials said tanks had emerged from Colonel Qaddafi’s compound and had opened fire. “There haven’t been many silent minutes,” Karen Graham, a British nurse in Tripoli told the BBC, referring to the sound of battle.
NATO and American officials said that the Qaddafi government’s control of Tripoli, which had been its final stronghold, was now in doubt, and the European Union said on Monday it had begun planning for a post-Qaddafi era.
“It’s clear the regime is crumbling around him,” Alistair Burt, a British minister, said, referring to the Libyan leader.
President Obama said Sunday night that Colonel Qaddafi and his inner circle had “to recognize that their rule has come to an end” and called on Colonel Qaddafi “to relinquish power once and for all.” He also called on the National Transitional Council to avoid civilian casualties and protect state institutions as it took control of the country.
“Tonight, the momentum against the Qaddafi regime has reached a tipping point,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. “Tripoli is slipping from the grasp of a tyrant. The Qaddafi regime is showing signs of collapsing. The people of Libya are showing that the universal pursuit of dignity and freedom is far stronger than the iron fist of a dictator.”
The shocking collapse of the Qaddafi forces appeared to signal the end for one of the world’s most flamboyant and mercurial political figures, the leader of an idiosyncratic government that was frequently as bizarre as it was brutal.
Long a thorn in the side of the West after he took power in a bloodless coup in 1969, Colonel Qaddafi had managed an awkward reconciliation in recent years, abandoning his fledgling nuclear program and paying billions of dollars to the victims of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, which was attributed to Libyan agents.
While denying that he actually headed the government, Colonel Qaddafi created a cult of personality that centered on his Green Book, a volume both trivial and impenetrable. His decades of iron-fisted rule have produced a country, analysts say, that is devoid of credible institutions and any semblance of a civil society — a potential source of trouble in the months and years ahead.
After six months of inconclusive fighting, the assault on the capital unfolded at a breakneck pace, with insurgents capturing a base of the vaunted Khamis Brigade, where they had expected to meet resistance, then speeding toward Tripoli and through several neighborhoods of the capital effectively unopposed.
A separate group of rebels waged a fierce battle near the Rixos Hotel, a bastion of Qaddafi support near the city center. A team of rebels there captured Colonel Qaddafi’s son and one-time heir apparent, Seif al-Islam. Rebels also claimed to have accepted the surrender of a second Qaddafi son, Mohammed.
CONTINUED...
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PHOTO: Bryan Denton for The New York Times
Libyan rebels advanced Sunday into Tripoli, the capital and Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's last stronghold. By Monday, they controlled much of the city.Jubilant Rebels Control Much of Tripoli
The New York Times...
August 22, 2011... more
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One of Gadhafi's sons killed in NATO airstrike, Libyan official says
By the CNN Wire Staff
April 30, 2011 7:08 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Libyan officials call the fatal NATO airstrike illegal and a "war crime"
Saif al-Arab Gadhafi dies after NATO missile strikes his house, a Libyan official says
Moammar Gadhafi and his wife were in the house at the time but are in good health
The victim is one of two of Gadhafi's sons named Saif
(CNN) -- One of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's sons -- Saif al-Arab Gadhafi -- was killed after a NATO airstrike, a spokesman for Libya's government said Sunday at a press conference.
Moammar Gadhafi and his wife were in their son's house when it was targeted, spokesman Musa Ibrahim said. Both of them are in good health, according to the spokesman.
The victim is one of two of Gadhafi's sons named Saif. The other is Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, who had previously touted reform but has emerged as one of his father's most visible defenders in recent months.
The house in Tripoli was destroyed by the strike, with a massive crater where the house used to be. At least one unexploded bomb could be seen at the scene.
The building was in a residential area of Tripoli, according to Ibrahim, who insisted that Saif al-Arab Gadhafi was a student in Germany who was not deeply involved in Libya's military and government.
Ibrahim railed against NATO after the fatal strike, calling it an illegal act and a "war crime."
This is not the first time that Moammar Gadhafi has been at the site of an airstrike that killed one of his children.
In April 1986, U.S. forces launched an airstrike that targeted Moammar Gadhafi's residential compound. As a result, the Libyan leader's adopted daughter, Hanna Gadhafi, was killed.
At the time, President Ronald Reagan told the American people the bombings were an act of self-defense following the bombing of a West Berlin club that killed two American servicemen and injured several others.
.One of Gadhafi's sons killed in NATO airstrike, Libyan official says
By the CNN... more
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TRIPOLI, Libya — Moammar Gadhafi's troops launched a powerful assault with tanks and rockets Friday on Misrata, the last major rebel city in western Libya, sending residents fleeing to increasingly crowded safe areas of the city that are still out of the Libyan leader's reach, witnesses said.
Misrata has become emblematic of the limits of NATO's air campaign, with the alliance's top military commander saying he needs more precision attack aircraft to avoid civilian casualties in urban combat. President Barack Obama acknowledged in an interview that the two-month-old civil war has reached a stalemate.TRIPOLI, Libya — Moammar Gadhafi's troops launched a powerful assault with... more
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Updates: Added a new video and a secondary article.
The heart of Moammar Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli lay in shambles Monday following bombing by the United States and its allies, prompting a debate about whether the allies were trying to kill the Libyan leader.
A coalition military official insisted neither Gadhafi nor his residence were intended targets of the bombing late Sunday. The official -- who was not being identified because of the sensitivity of the information -- said the compound was targeted because it contained command-and-control facilities for Libyan forces.
U.S. Vice Adm. Bill Gortney concurred. "We are not going after Gadhafi," he said at a Pentagon press briefing. Asked about reports of smoke rising from the area of Gadhafi's palace, Gortney said, "We are not targeting his residence."
Retired U.S. Navy Capt. Alec Fraser suggested that Gadhafi might end up being a casualty even if he was not the intended target, but indicated he would not blame the coalition if that happened.
"If he happens to be someplace that they're striking, that's his problem," he said on CNN's "American Morning" Monday.
The British called off a second bombing run targeting the compound for fear of hitting civilians, a Ministry of Defence spokesman told CNN Monday, declining to be named in line with British tradition.
The ministry said earlier that Royal Air Force GR4 Tornados were told not to launch weapons after "information came to light that identified a number of civilians within the intended target area." At the time it did not identify the target of the aborted mission.
Gadhafi's whereabouts -- and his plans after promising a "long-drawn war" -- remained unknown Monday.
The U.S. military mission in Libya may already have peaked, spokesman Vince Crowley said Monday.
"We are moving from the action phase to a patrolling phase," said Crowley, a spokesman for the military's Africa Command. "Our aircraft participation has... plateaued, if not reduced somewhat."
A witness in the Libyan city of Misrata reported "absolute destruction and carnage" by Gadhafi forces on Monday -- despite the regime's recent call for a cease-fire.
"Misrata is being flattened and razed to the ground as we speak," said the man, whom CNN is not naming to protect his safety. "He (Gadhafi) is using tanks and snipers to terrorize the city."
He added, "They are shooting people in the main street and on the back street."
The Libyan military announced the cease-fire after an attack near Benghazi -- the heart of the Libyan opposition forces. Coalition forces pounded a Libyan military convoy there Sunday. At least 70 vehicles -- including armored personnel carriers and tanks -- were destroyed.
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Why Libya 2011 is not Iraq 2003
A critique of the U.S. involvement in the military intervention in Libya that will no doubt be common in coming days is that the Obama administration is making a large error by embarking on a war with a third Muslim country, as if reversing Moammar Gadhafi's momentum against the rebels will be a rerun of the debacle of the war against Saddam Hussein.
A further element of this view is that -- whatever the outcome of the Libyan intervention -- the United States' standing in the Islamic world will once again be severely damaged by an attack on a Muslim nation.
There are, of course, some real similarities between Hussein and Gadhafi -- both ruthless and erratic dictators of oil-rich regimes who fought bloody wars with their neighbors, brutalized their own populations, sought weapons of mass destruction, and sired some equally unattractive sons and heirs.
The déjà vu quality of the Libyan situation may help account for recent polls taken before the intervention which found that while Americans were either split or slightly in favor of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, most were opposed to stronger U.S. military action.
PS: Im just going to make new articles, so make sure to follow me if you want the most recent update on this issue.Updates: Added a new video and a secondary article.
The heart of Moammar... more
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British newspapers reprimanded US President Barack Obama for dragging his feet on a move to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, passed almost three weeks after it was first mooted. The 15 members of the UN Security Council on Thursday approved a resolution permitting "all necessary measures" to impose the no-fly zone, protect civilian areas and impose a ceasefire on strongman Muammar Gaddafi's military.
Britain and France had pushed for military action for some time.
"David Cameron (the British prime minister) first urged a no-fly zone over Libya 19 days ago when the uprising was in full swing," The Sun said in an editorial.
"Had America listened, Libya might already be liberated and the mad dog hanging from a lamp-post. But US officials rubbished the PM's 'loose talk' and said he didn't know what he was on about," it said.
"This was not the President's finest hour. "http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/article973767.ece/British-press-raps-Obama-over-Libya-no-fly-zone-delayBritish newspapers reprimanded US President Barack Obama for dragging his feet on a... more
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Source: Military attacks military camps in eastern Libya
By the CNN Wire Staff
March 2, 2011 4:38 a.m. EST
U.S. Navy moves closer to Libya
Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Military camps on the outskirts of Ajdabiya were bombed by military airplanes Wednesday, a tribal leader said, as pro-government forces moved in to a town that has been controlled by the opposition.
The tribal leader, who did not want to be identified for safety reasons, said youth in Ajdabiya were amassing and heading toward the conflict area to defend the town, which has been in the control of opposition forces in recent days. Some military bases in eastern Libya have fallen into the hands of protesters as more members of the military have abandoned longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi's regime and joined demonstrations.
Meanwhile, a witness reported heavily-armed soldiers in pickup trucks have taken over the main checkpoint in the eastern town of al-Brega, home to a small airport and an oil refinery facility.
They're the latest developments in a weeks-long conflict between Libya's government, led by Gadhafi, and opposition forces who demand an end to his regime of four decades.
The capital city of Tripoli has remained under the control of Gadhafi's regime, though opposition forces have taken control of the eastern city of Benghazi and other cities amid the deadly unrest.
Meanwhile, international efforts to persuade Gadhafi to step down have ratcheted up. World leaders moving against him on financial and political fronts strengthened their rhetoric and moved military might into the region.
The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution Tuesday to suspend Libya from its seat on the 47-member chamber Human Rights Council. It was the first time the assembly had suspended a member of the council.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the General Assembly that he welcomed the decision and urged the international community to investigate allegations of human rights violations in Libya. "The world has spoken with one voice," he said. "We demand an immediate end to the violence toward civilians and full respect for their fundamental human rights, including those of peaceful assembly and free speech."
He added that reports from the ground "are sobering," with deaths and ongoing repression.
"Arms depots and arsenals have reportedly been opened to gangs who terrorize communities. There are reports that government forces have fired indiscriminately on peaceful protesters and bombed the military bases in the east of the country," Ban said.
"The death toll from nearly two weeks of violence is unknown, but likely to exceed 1,000," with thousands more wounded, he added, using the same fatality figure he had used Friday.
Libya's ambassador to the United States estimated Monday that the death toll was about 2,000.
In western Libya, Ban said Tuesday, there were reports of ongoing clashes between government forces and armed opponents.
He noted "allegations of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, detentions and torture."
Though more members of the military have reportedly sided with the opposition, Gadhafi's supporters "appear to be holding a tight grip on western parts of the country, chiefly Tripoli," he said.
He warned of "serious indications" that the numbers of refugees and displaced persons were reaching crisis proportions and worried that the violence could disrupt distribution networks and lead to food shortages.
Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, the leader's 38-year-old son who has spoken on behalf of the regime during the protests, told CNN his talks with the opposition are in "chaos" because the opposition is divided, with no clear leaders.
U.S. officials made similar comments about the opposition forces. A U.S. official who wished to remain anonymous because the official was not authorized to speak on the record said it's "unclear who the leaders in the opposition are and that makes it difficult" for the U.S. to provide assistance.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that "Gadhafi must go."
U.S. President Barack Obama's administration is considering whether it should cut diplomatic ties with Libya, a senior U.S. official told CNN. "Whether to maintain relations or sever them is under review," the official said.
The amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge and the amphibious transport dock USS Ponce were to be repositioned in the Mediterranean to "provide us a capability for both emergency evacuations and also for humanitarian relief," U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters. But, he noted, the U.N. Security Council has not authorized the use of armed force.
The government of Canada has frozen $2.3 billion in assets tied to the Libyan government; the assets were frozen after Canada enacted sanctions over the weekend, Canadian Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Lynn Meahan said Tuesday. A number of other countries, including the United States, have ordered an asset freeze.
Though some witnesses have accused pro-Gadhafi forces of firing on civilians from the air, Gates and Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said they could not confirm the reports.
Clinton said imposition of a no-fly zone is under consideration, but Mullen said doing so would be "an extraordinarily complex operation."
U.S. Central Command leader Gen. James Mattis told the Senate Armed Services committee Tuesday that any effort to establish a no-fly zone over Libya would include eliminating Libya's air defenses.
The U.N. refugee agency reported that nearly 150,000 people had crossed Libya's borders into Egypt and Tunisia, and thousands more were arriving hourly at the borders.
Ban called for immediate action by the international community.
"Time is of the essence," he said. "Thousands of lives are at stake."
CNN's Ben Wedeman, Salma Abdelaziz, Arwa Damon, Nic Robertson, Ivan Watson, Eve Bower, Jim Boulden, Frederik Pleitgen, Richard Roth, Jack Maddox, Whitney Hurst and Antonia Mortensen contributed to this reportSource: Military attacks military camps in eastern Libya
By the CNN Wire Staff
March... more
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President Obama was waiting until most Americans were out of Libya before telling Gaddafi (pictured here in his Bono glasses) to GTFO.President Obama was waiting until most Americans were out of Libya before telling... more
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
-Tripoli streets were largely deserted Wednesday evening
-Italy's foreign minister says Libyan death toll may be 1,000
-The State Department says the U.S. considers sanctions
-Pilot and co-pilot eject, refusing bombing orders, a newspaper reports
Even as Moammar Gadhafi called on the military to crack down on anti-government protesters, reports emerged Wednesday that the Libyan leader was facing growing international and domestic opposition, including from his own military.
An opposition figure told CNN that a pilot who had been ordered to bomb oil fields southwest of Benghazi refused to do so and instead ejected from the plane.
Citing military sources, the Libyan newspaper Quryna reported that the two people aboard -- the pilot and co-pilot -- parachuted out and that the plane then crashed into an uninhabited area west of Ajdabiya, 160 kilometers (100 miles) southwest of Benghazi.
Quryna itself is a sign of the changes sweeping through Libya. When protests began last week, it carried regime propaganda. But it later reported on the protests and casualty figures.
CNN could not confirm reports for many areas in Libya. The Libyan government maintains tight control on communications and has not responded to repeated requests from CNN for access to the country. CNN has interviewed numerous witnesses by phone.
A Libyan Arab Airlines plane was denied permission to land in Malta on Wednesday, Maltese government sources said. Permission was denied for "clearance reasons," because officials did not know who was on board, the sources said.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
-Tripoli streets were largely deserted Wednesday evening... more
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Moammar Gadhafi: Deputy Ambassador of Libya to the United Nations, surrounded by fellow diplomats on Monday urged Muammar Gaddafi to resign as leader of the country. If he does not," according to Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi warned, "the Libyan people will get rid of him. Dabbashi said deep cracks appeared in the Gaddafi regime, after 40 years in power, with a raging fire in the main hall of the government in the capitalMoammar Gadhafi: Deputy Ambassador of Libya to the United Nations, surrounded by... more
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Breaking News
Gadhafi's son: 'Civil war' if protesters continue
Libya's army has been told to restore security "at any price" and will remain loyal to longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi, Gadhafi's son told Libyans in a televised address.Breaking News
Gadhafi's son: 'Civil war' if protesters continue... more
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Editors Note: This story is the result of a two-year CNN investigative report into peace talks held between the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and the Libyan Government which recently culminated in the LIFG, a militant jihadist group once close to Osama bin Laden, repudiating al Qaeda. "The Jihadi Code," a documentary on the breakthrough against al Qaeda in Libya, airs on November 15 at 1200 GMT.
Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- From within Libya's most secure jail a new challenge to al Qaeda is emerging.
Leaders of one of the world's most effective jihadist organizations, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), have written a new "code" for jihad. The LIFG says it now views the armed struggle it waged against Col. Moammar Gadhafi's regime for two decades as illegal under Islamic law...
The new code, a 417-page religious document entitled "Corrective Studies" is the result of more than two years of intense and secret talks between the leaders of the LIFG and Libyan security officials.
The code's most direct challenge to al Qaeda is this: "Jihad has ethics and morals because it is for God. That means it is forbidden to kill women, children, elderly people, priests, messengers, traders and the like. Betrayal is prohibited and it is vital to keep promises and treat prisoners of war in a good way. Standing by those ethics is what distinguishes Muslims' jihad from the wars of other nations."
The code has been circulated among some of the most respected religious scholars in the Middle East and has been given widespread backing. It is being debated by politicians in the U.S. and studied by western intelligence agencies.
- Video: Into the prison in Tripoli -
Gallery: The new jihadi code In essence the new code for jihad is exactly what the West has been waiting for: a credible challenge from within jihadist ranks to al Qaeda's ideology.
While the code states that jihad is permissible if Muslim lands are invaded -- citing the cases of Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine -- the guidelines it sets down for when and how jihad should be fought, and its insistence that civilians should not be targeted are a clear rebuke to the goals and tactics of bin Laden's terrorist network... (continued - click link)Editors Note: This story is the result of a two-year CNN investigative report into... more
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Tent time again in Bedford, New York?
A mini-battle over pitching a giant tent on the property of Donald Trump is not yet over.Tent time again in Bedford, New York?
A mini-battle over pitching a giant tent on... more
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Inside the General Assembly's cavernous chamber, as leaders began filling nearly every seat and aisles were standing-room only, the light-colored robes of some African and Mideast leaders dotted a sea of dark business suits. Polite applause followed the opening remarks of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly President Ali Treki.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, in his first U.N. appearance, arrived just in time for Wednesday's leadoff speech by Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Gadhafi sat in a seventh-row aisle seat, off the left side.
Dressed in flowing brown and tan Bedouin robes, and a black beret that he self-consciously patted at times, he listened through a translation earpiece in his right ear and fiddled with the cord in his left hand. Occasionally he looked around the room.
Aides huddled around him; he kept his glasses, a red handkerchief and a rumpled yellow folder in front of him on the desk. Then he removed his earpiece to jot a note to himself and put it into the yellow folder. He joined the applause at one point. Then he flipped through the handwritten pages of flowing rows of bold Arabic characters inside the folders.
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A commotion swept the room as President Barack Obama appeared. Everyone tried to see him. Gadhafi joined in the light applause that greeted Obama, then listened raptly with the earpiece held to his left ear.
From his fifth-row aisle seat near the chamber's center, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also listened to Obama, but without an earpiece. The Iranian leader seemed relaxed. He was tieless. Ahmadinejad kept regularly checking the watch on his left wrist while peering at Obama. Next to him, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Iran's U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazee each listened with earpieces.
As Obama gestured and read from the TelePrompTer, speaking of the dangers of nuclear proliferation, the Iranians listened intently. Ahmadinejad leaned to his right and said something to Mottaki.
Ahmadinejad and Gadhafi both refrained from joining applause for Obama's comments on Sudan, the Middle East and other U.S. pledges for peace and world security. But Gadhafi joined in clapping when Obama ended his speech. Ahmadinejad didn't. Obama didn't get a standing ovation, but he got warm applause. Many of the delegates in the room abruptly left moments after Obama spoke.
That included the entire U.S. delegation of prominent figures including White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, National Security Adviser Gen. Jim Jones, Obama adviser Samantha Power and Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs Esther Brimmer. Lower-level U.S. delegation staff remained.Inside the General Assembly's cavernous chamber, as leaders began filling nearly... more
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Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi will set foot on U.S. soil for the first time next month when he comes to address the U.N. General Assembly. Now he wants to put down stakes in the middle of American suburbia.
Plans to set up a tent and allow him to stay at a Libyan-owned estate in this upscale community 12 miles north of Manhattan were attacked Monday by neighborhood residents and public officials, particularly after the hero's welcome Libya extended last week to the lone man convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan American Flight 103.
The attack over Lockerbie, Scotland, thought to be the work of Libyan intelligence, killed all 259 people on board the flight, including 33 from New Jersey. Abdel Baset al-Megrahi was freed from a life sentence in a Scottish jail and returned to Libya on compassionate grounds because he is dying of cancer.
"Gadhafi is a dangerous dictator whose hands are covered with the blood of Americans and our allies," said U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman, whose district includes Englewood. He promised there would be "hell to pay" if the U.S. State Department violates a long-standing deal barring the dictator from staying at the Libyan estate.
State department officials said no decision had been made on the issue.
Rothman was mayor of Englewood 26 years ago when the city learned the Libyan Mission to the United Nations had purchased the Palisade Avenue estate. He said local officials worked out a deal with the U.S. State Department limiting its use to the recreational activities by the ambassador and his family. Gadhafi was expressly forbidden to live there, he said.
The Libyans don't pay taxes on the estate under the deal, current Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes said.
He said he would be very disappointed if Gadhafi visited.
"I'm not going over there with a honey cake," Wildes said.
Gadhafi's U.N. appearance culminates a yearslong effort to rehabilitate the Libyan strongman's international image, which has included denouncing terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. He's ruled the oil-rich North African kingdom since 1969.
"This is what happens when you have the path of appeasement," said Susan Cohen, of Cape May Court House, N.J. "He's getting everything he wants, and I guess that includes a trip to the state of New Jersey, which certainly doesn't need this."
Cohen's 20-year-old daughter died in the plane bombing.Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi will set foot on U.S. soil for the first time next month... more
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