Libya: Opposition say they are advancing towards Tripoli, US Gen. admits NATO trying to kill Gaddafi & ICC issues warrent

‘Revolutionaries move towards Tripoli’

Press TV

Libyan revolutionaries say they are advancing closer towards Tripoli, opening a second frontline on their way to capture the capital.

The revolutionaries claim they have approached to the outskirts of the town of Bair al-Ghanam, 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Tripoli, and are fighting regime forces, the Associated Press reported on Sunday.

Guma el-Gamaty, a spokesman for the Benghazi-based National Transitional Council said Bair al-Ghanam is of great importance since it is only 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Zawiay, a key western gateway to the capital.

Fighting between loyalists of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi and opposition forces has mostly taken place on frontlines to the east of Tripoli in recent months.

However, intense fighting has raged on in Nafusa Mountains in the west of the country in recent weeks and a push by revolutionaries will force Libyan regime to deploy more forces to the southern and western parts of Tripoli.

The Libyan regime has remained defiant. Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said in a statement late Sunday that Gaddafi is “Libya’s historical symbol and he is above all political actions, above all political and tactical game.”

Earlier the spokesman had proposed a period of national dialogue and an election supervised by the UN.

“If the Libyan people decide Gaddafi should leave he will leave. If the people decide he should stay he will stay,” Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim added that armed groups and NATO have no say in the future of Libya and it is up to Libyans and the leadership to decide about it. He stated that no measure can be taken unless NATO stops the airstrikes.

“It is not possible for a new stage to begin before NATO stops its aggression against Libya. As for the armed groups, they have no force on the ground, nor popular representation,” the statement said.

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NATO tries to kill Gaddafi: US Gen.

Press TV

A top US commander involved in the military operations in Libya has admitted that NATO forces are seeking to kill Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

Admiral Samuel Locklear, commander of the NATO Joint Operations Command in Naples, said on Sunday that the military alliance has recently stepped up attacks to kill Gaddafi, The Telegraph reported.

Locklear’s remarks were disclosed by the US House Representative Mike Turner, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, who has from the beginning of the Libya mission voiced opposition to military intervention in the North African country.

Turner has told Foreign Policy magazine that after a conversation with admiral Locklear, he now believes that NATO is overstepping the UN Resolution1973.

“I believe the scope that NATO is pursuing is beyond what is contemplated in civil protection, so they’re exceeding the mission,” Turner said.

The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1973 on March 17, which authorized all necessary measures to “protect civilians and civilian-populated areas under threat of attack” in Libya.

However, NATO has turned a blind eye to the framework defined in the resolution by carrying out attacks on civilian areas in Libya, killing dozens of people, including children.

Meanwhile, South African President Jacob Zuma has once again warned NATO against exceeding the terms of the UN resolution.

“The intention was not to authorize a campaign for regime change or political assassination” Zuma said in an opening speech at a four-hour closed-door meeting of the African Union panel on Libya in the South African capital Pretoria, according to the text of the speech.

Zuma urged both Gaddafi regime and revolutionary forces to resolve the issue diplomatically to end a deadly impasse which will potentially “destabilize the entire sub-region.”

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ICC issues arrest warrant for Gaddafi

Press TV

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi on charges of committing crimes against humanity.

“The chamber hereby, issues a warrant of arrest against Muammar Gaddafi,” Judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageng said during a court hearing on Monday.

The ICC also issued warrants for Gaddafi’s son Seif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi for committing crimes against Libyan revolutionaries since the Libyan revolution in began in mid-February, AFP reported.

The warrants are a response to ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s call on the court to issue arrest warrants for the three influential Libyan figures.

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