Arrest warrant for Gaddafi

oust him said their forces had advanced to within 80km of the capital.
The court approved warrants for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi on charges of crimes against humanity. ICC prosecutors allege they were involved in the killing of civilian protesters who rose up in February against Gaddafi’s 41-year rule.
“To prevent them covering up ongoing crimes and committing new crimes, they should be arrested. This is the only way to protect civilians in Libya,” said ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who had sought the arrest warrants.
The ruling is unlikely to lead to Gaddafi’s arrest as long he remains in power and inside Libya, because the court does not have the power to enforce its warrants.
Celebrations erupted in the rebel-held city of Benghazi, in eastern Libya, after the ICC ruling. People honked their car horns, waved flags, fired shots into the air and flashed victory signs in the street.
The ICC decision invalidated any notion of having negotiations with Gaddafi, insurgent officials said.
Gaddafi’s government denies targeting civilians, saying it took action against armed criminal gangs and al Qaeda militants. It says Nato should be prosecuted instead for killing civilians with its bombing campaign.
Anti-Gaddafi rebels, based in the Western Mountains region southwest of Tripoli, made their biggest breakthrough in weeks to reach the town of Bir al-Ghanam, where they are now fighting pro-Gaddafi forces for control, their spokesman said.
The advance took them about 30km north from their previous position and closer to Tripoli, Gaddafi’s biggest power base.
A senior United Nations official said the war on the ground was started to shift in favour of the insurgents, who for weeks have been bogged down in battles with Gaddafi’s forces.
“While we do not have a detailed understanding of the military situation on the ground, it is clear that the initiative, although halting, is now with the opposition forces, supported at times by Nato air power,” the UN under secretary-general for political affairs, Lynn Pascoe, told the UN Security Council.
The rebels – backed by Nato air support – have been battling Gaddafi’s forces since late February, when thousands of people rebelled, prompting a fierce crackdown by Gaddafi’s security forces.
The revolt has turned into the bloodiest of the Arab Spring revolts against autocratic rulers rippling across the Middle East.
“We are on the southern and western outskirts of Bir al-Ghanam,” Juma Ibrahim, a rebel spokesman in the nearby town of Zintan, said by telephone.
“There were battles there most of yesterday. Some of our fighters were martyred and they (government forces) also suffered casualties and we captured equipment and vehicles. It’s quiet there today and the rebels are still in their positions.” – Reuters.

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