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NATO Denies Strike on Residence, Questions Death of Gaddafi Son, Britain Expels Libyan Ambassador over Attack on Embassey
Libyans in the opposition stronghold of Benghazi have taken to the streets to celebrate the government's announcement of the death of Muammar Gaddafi's youngest son in an air strike, but growing scepticism remains over the veracity of the news, according to reports by Al Jazeera.
Gaddafi and his wife were in the Tripoli house of his 29-year-old son, Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, when it was hit by at least one missile fired by a NATO warplane late on Saturday, Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said on Sunday.
Libyan state television has shown new pictures purportedly showing the body of Muammar Gaddafi's son, killed, according to the Libyan government, by a NATO air strike.
Al-Arab's compound in Tripoli’s Garghour neighbourhood was attacked "with full power" in a "direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country", Ibrahim said, calling the strike a violation of international law.
"What we have now is the law of the jungle," he told a news conference. "We think now it is clear to everyone that what is happening in Libya has nothing to do with the protection of civilians."
Ibrahim had earlier taken journalists to the remnants of a house in Tripoli, which Libyan officials said had been hit by at least three missiles. It appeared unlikely anyone inside could have survived
NATO Says Strikes on Qadhafi Compound Were Military
NATO continued its precision strikes against Qadhafi regime military installations in Tripoli overnight, including striking a known command and control building in the Bab al-Azizya neighborhood shortly after 1800 GMT Saturday evening.
“All NATO’s targets are military in nature and have been clearly linked to the Qadhafi regime’s systematic attacks on the Libyan population and populated areas. We do not target individuals,” said Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, Commander of NATO’s Operation Unified Protector.
The strike was part of NATO’s coherent strategy to disrupt and destroy the command and control of those forces which have been attacking civilians.
“I am aware of unconfirmed media reports that some of Qadhafi’s family members may have been killed,” Lieutenant-General Bouchard said. “We regret all loss of life, especially the innocent civilians being harmed as a result of the ongoing conflict. NATO is fulfilling its UN mandate to stop and prevent attacks against civilians with precision and care – unlike Qadhafi’s forces, which are causing so much suffering.”
NATO’s operation is conducted under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which called for an immediate end to all attacks and authorized all necessary measures to protect civilians in Libya. NATO plans and conducts its strikes with great deliberation to minimize the risk to innocent people.
“I want to remind again all civilians in Libya to distance themselves as much as possible from Qadhafi regime forces, equipment and known military infrastructure to reduce the potential danger to them,” Lieutenant-General Bouchard said.
As NATO and partner foreign ministers made clear, NATO will continue operations until all attacks and threats against civilians have ceased; until all of Qadhafi's forces, including his snipers, mercenaries and paramilitary forces have verifiably withdrawn to their bases, and until there is full, free and unhindered access to humanitarian aid to all those in Libya who need it.
Vladimir Putin Says NATO Taking Sides in Libya
FCO Minister on latest situation in Libya and Syria
British Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt says NATO targets in Libya are linked to regime's attack on the Libyan population.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5Live, the Foreign Office Minister for the Middle East reiterated that NATO targets were military in nature.
The Minister was speaking after unconfirmed reports of air strikes on Qadhfi's compound in Triploi.
Mr Burt said that NATO targets were clearly in line with UNSC Resolution 1973 which aims to stop the regime's systematic attack on the Libyan population
“That’s what the UN resolution allows NATO forces to do and that is what it’s done. All the targets are military in nature, they have to be linked to the way in which the regime mounts it attack on the civilian population in Libya. It is because of those attacks on the civilian population that the international community came together and the UN resolution was there."
Mr Burt said individuals were not individually targeted.
“But clearly if people are inside the command and control structures and other places when attacks take place that is when you get, that is when you get casualties but that does not mean individuals are being personally or deliberately attacked. What is, what is being attacked are the military installations and the, the, the parts of their regime that are directing the attacks against the civilians.”
He said there was no reason for the international community to fear that the UN resolution was being breached or that NATO was going beyond its terms.
“Targeting policy is not changed. This can all come to a stop the moment Gaddafi’s forces stop attacking their own civilians. That has been what has been missing in this whole equation. There have been repeated calls for the Gaddafi regime to do what it needs to do; that is to stop inflicting misery on its people. Until that, until that time is reached then the resolution is very clear; it allows the international community to come together in unprecedented numbers with support from the Arab League and others to take action necessary to protect civilians. There is nothing that has happened over the past few weeks that is in any way moved or changed from that determination or that resolution. It is not being interpreted differently, it has always been interpreted the same and that remains the case this morning.”
On Syria, the Minister said the Government had made it very clear there was concerted international action being taken against Syria.
“European Union and other world figures have continued to make representations to Syria to say you’ve always got an opportunity to turn back. We’ve seen the Syrian President make speeches about reform, we’ve seen other figures say the same and then there has been a crackdown and repression. It is still possible for the Syrian regime to turn back from where it is and we’ve called upon it to do so, we condemn absolutely the bloodshed and violence that’s taken place.
There is still an opportunity in Syria to turn back from the action that’s been taken and we would urge that. And the international community is working repeatedly and effectively together now to continue to put pressure on the Syrian regime to put in place a sanctions regime, to isolate the regime, to make sure that everything is done to try and ensure that it does turn away from its path of violence and comes back to reform. That is what’s needed and an end to the violence immediately."
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague condemns attack on British Residence in Tripoli, Expels Libyan Ambassador
In a statement British Foreign Secretary William Hague said, “I condemn the attacks on the British Embassy premises in Tripoli as well as the diplomatic missions of other countries.
The Vienna Convention requires the Qadhafi regime to protect diplomatic missions in Tripoli. By failing to do so that regime has once again breached its international responsibilities and obligations. I take the failure to protect such premises very seriously indeed.
As a result, I have taken the decision to expel the Libyan Ambassador. He is persona non grata pursuant to Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and has 24 hours to leave the country."
“The attacks against diplomatic missions will not weaken our resolve to protect the civilian population in Libya.”
Libya is just the beginning. International bankers have recently been shying away from investing their dollars into indigenous populations that produce negative returns on investments. This is bad news for hundreds of millions in Africa and Asia whose people are dependent on investors willing to take a loss.