Showing posts with label Muammar Gaddafi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Muammar Gaddafi. Show all posts
Former Libyan Dictator Gaddafi Warned Tony Blair On The Rise Of The Islamic State
British Prime Minister Tony Blair (L) shakes hands with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in a tent outside Tripoli, March 25. 2004. © Madeleine Chambers / Reuters
The Independent: Phone conversation transcript reveals Colonel Gaddafi warned Tony Blair about the rise of Islamic extremism
Transcripts of phone calls between the pair have been released by the Foreign Affairs Committee as it investigates British intervention in Libya
Muammar Gaddafi accused Tony Blair of supporting al-Qaeda as he refused calls to stand down during the height of the Libyan uprising, newly-released transcripts have revealed.
Records of two phone conversations between the pair on 25 February 2011 have been published by the Foreign Affairs Committee as its inquiry into Britain’s intervention continues.
Mr Blair made his first call to the Libyan dictator at 11.15am, saying he had tried to reach him for days as the “difficult and dangerous situation” escalated with global calls for intervention.
More News On Libyan Dictator Gaddafi Warning Tony Blair On The Rise Of The Islamic State
Gaddafi warned Tony Blair of Islamist attacks on Europe, phone transcripts reveal -- Daily Mail
Gaddafi warned Blair his ousting would 'open door' to jihadis -- The Guardian
Gadafi warned in telephone conversations with Tony Blair on the rise of Islamic radicalism -- The Telegraph
Blair told Gaddafi to 'step aside', phone records show -- BBC
Gaddafi Warned Blair About Attacks In Europe -- SKY News
Gaddafi accused Blair of ‘supporting Al-Qaeda,’ unseen phone transcripts reveal -- RT
Gaddafi's Grim Prophecy Fulfills as Terrorism Spreads Across Europe -- Sputnik
Gaddafi’s warnings to Blair have been proven by today's attack on Libyan police training centre -- Patrick Cockburn, The Independent
New Book On Former Libyan Dictator Gaddafi Lifts Lid On His Brutal Treatment Of Women
The Terrible Truth About Gaddafi's Harem: How Libyan Dictator Kidnapped And Raped Dozens Of Women To Fulfil His Perverted Desires -- Daily Mail
* Harrowing story of schoolgirl abducted by Gaddafi at the age of 15
* She endured almost seven years of rapes, beatings and abuse
* Tyrant claimed to be the great emancipator of women in the Arab world
* In reality he abused women on a massive scale since seizing power
* Even known to take women from their own wedding ceremonies
* New book Gaddafi's Harem lifts lid on dictator's brutal treatment of women
The horror started with the lightest of touches. As the 15-year-old schoolgirl held out the bouquet to the 62-year-old man, he took her free hand and kissed it gently.
The man was Muammar Gaddafi, the dictator of Libya who had seized power 35 years before. His people were forced to call him the Guide, but the rest of the world knew him simply as Colonel Gaddafi.
That morning in April 2004, Gaddafi was visiting a school in his home town of Sirte, on the Mediterranean coast 350 miles east of Tripoli.
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My Comment: It has been almost two years since Gaddafi was killed .... but I suspect that it will take another generation or two before more details on how Gaddafi ruled will be disclosed .... but Annicj Dojean's book is a start.
How Did Gaddafi Die?
How Did Gaddafi Die? A Year Later, Unanswered Questions and Bad Blood -- Time
A year after Libya's long-ruling despot Muammar Gaddafi was cornered and killed by rebel forces, questions remain over the nature of his death and its legacy for the fractious, fledgling Libyan state
It’s been a year since the world was transfixed by the extraordinary video of Muammar Gaddafi, sitting bloodied and cowering in his hometown of Sirt, as he faced his imminent death, while Libyan rebels pummeled him with rifle butts and boots. Within minutes his 42-year dictatorship, and the seven-month civil war, was over.
But what exactly happened that day—Oct. 20, 2011?
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More News On The Death Of Muammar Gaddafi
Colonel Gaddafi died after being stabbed with bayonet, says report -- The Telegraph
Colonel Gaddafi 'Killed by Bayonet Stab to the Anus' [VIDEO] -- IBTimes
Hunted: A first-hand account of Gaddafi’s desperate last days -- Washington Post
Rights group recounts Gadhafi's last bloody moments, calls for justice -- CNN
Many Libyans executed in Gaddafi capture: report -- Reuters
Report: Gadhafi convoy members executed -- UPI
The final hours of Muammar Gaddafi revealed -- Belfast Telegraph
Report: Libyan militias executed dozens, possibly including Gadhafi -- CNN
Libyan militia 'executed 67 detainees' -- The Guardian
Gadhafi Loyalists Executed by Rebels: Rights Group -- Epoch Times
Libya: New Proof Of Mass Killings At Gaddafi Death Site -- Huffington Post
'War crime': Gaddafi, his son and over 60 loyalists executed by rebel fighters – HRW -- RT
Libya report probes 'war crimes' and Gadhafi's death -- Deutsche Welle
US pushes Libya for Gaddafi death probe -- The Australian/AFP
Was Gaddafi's Death A War Crime?
Image taken from amateur video posted on a social media website and obtained by Reuters, October 21, 2011, shows former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, covered in blood, after his capture by NTC fighters in Sirte. Photo: Reuters
ICC Prosecutor Says Gadhafi's Death May Be War Crime -- Voice of America
The International Criminal Court's ICC chief prosecutor says there are "serious suspicions" that the death of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was a war crime.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo made the comments Thursday at a press briefing at the United Nations. Moreno-Ocampo said the ICC is asking Libya's interim government how it plans to investigate alleged war crimes, including those of revolutionary forces.
"I think the way in which Mr. Gadhafi was killed creates suspicions of war crimes and I think that a very important issue," the chief prosecutor said.
Read more ....
More News On The ICC Prosecutor Saying That Gadhafi's Death May Be A War Crime
Gadhafi's death suspicious, ICC says -- UPI
ICC prosecutor says there are ‘serious suspicions’ Moammar Gadhafi’s death was a war crime -- Washington Post/AP
Gaddafi's death could amount to a 'war crime', ICC says -- The Telegraph
Gaddafi's death may be war crime: ICC prosecutor -- Reuters
ICC says Muammar Gaddafi killing may be war crime -- BBC
'Serious suspicions' Gaddafi death a war crime: ICC -- Sydney Morning Herald
ICC says Gadhafi killing may be war crime -- UPI
Qaddafi's death: Will the ICC launch a war-crimes investigation? -- Scott Baldauf, Christian Science Monitor
My Comment: Of course how he was killed was a crime .... but a war crime .... no.
Was A British Company Trying To Help Gaddafi Flee Libya?
South African Intelligence Investigates Role Of British Company In Col Gaddafi's Attempt To Flee Sirte -- The Telegraph
The South African intelligence services are investigating the role of a British company in a mission to help Colonel Gaddafi flee from Libya which ended in his capture and death.
According to a senior intelligence source, both the British firm and a woman in Kenya who is thought to have recruited South African mercenaries on its behalf are "of interest" in their investigation.
It has been alleged that one of the security firms who provided mercenaries for the mission may have acted as a “double agent”, helping Nato to pinpoint Gaddafi’s convoy for attack, and that the dictator’s escape was “meant to fail”.
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My Comment: I am skeptical of this story .... but then again .... Gaddafi was known to hire mercenaries, and hiring former SAS soldiers would fit in how he operated. The Daily Mail has more on this story.
A Summary And Analysis Of Gaddafi's Last Days
Muammar GaddafiKing Of Kings: The Last Days Of Muammar Qaddafi -- Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker
How does it end? The dictator dies, shrivelled and demented, in his bed; he flees the rebels in a private plane; he is caught hiding in a mountain outpost, a drainage pipe, a spider hole. He is tried. He is not tried. He is dragged, bloody and dazed, through the streets, then executed. The humbling comes in myriad forms, but what is revealed is always the same: the technologies of paranoia, the stories of slaughter and fear, the vaults, the national economies employed as personal property, the crazy pets, the prostitutes, the golden fixtures.
Instinctively, when dictators are toppled, we invade their castles and expose their vanities and luxuries—Imelda’s shoes, the Shah’s jewels. We loot and desecrate, in order to cut them finally, futilely, down to size. After the fall of Baghdad, I visited the gaudiest of Saddam’s palaces, examined his tasteless art, his Cuban cigars, his private lakes with their specially bred giant fish, his self-worshipping bronze effigies. I saw thirty years’ worth of bodies in secret graves, along with those of Iraqis bound and shot just hours before liberation.
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My Comment: A rather good and comprehensive look and summary of Gaddafi's last days.
Gaddafi's Family To Sue NATO For War Crimes
Photo: Moammar Kadafi, center, leans on Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, left, and then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at a summit last year in Surt, Kadafi's hometown. Credit: Asmaa Waguih / Reuters Moammar Kadafi's Family Reportedly Will Sue NATO -- L.A. Times
The family of deceased Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi reportedly plans to file a war-crimes complaint against NATO for the role they believe the international military alliance played in the former leader’s death, a lawyer for the family told Agence France-Presse news service.
Marcel Ceccaldi, a French lawyer who previously worked for Kadafi's regime and now represents his family, told AFP on Wednesday that the complaint would be filed with the International Criminal Court in the Hague because the family believes a NATO strike on Kadafi’s convoy led directly to his death.
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My Comment: The gall of this family is unbelievable .... but they have many supporters, both here and abroad.
Gaddafi's Funeral?
Is This The Body Of Colonel Gaddafi In A Wooden Coffin Moments Before He Was TakenTto His Grave? -- Daily Mail
* Gaddafi chemical weapons have been 'found' in Libya
* Nato postpones meeting to formalise a decision to conclude alliance's Libya mission until later this week
Amateur footage purporting to be of Colonel Gaddafi, his son Mutassim and his defence minister Abu Bakr Yunis moments before they were taken away to be buried at a secret location in the Libyan desert has emerged.
The grainy video, shot on a mobile phone, shows three open wooden coffins each containing a body wrapped in a white sheet.
Dubai-based television network Al Alaan claims the footage is of a funeral ceremony near Misrata yesterday.
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My Comment: I am sure that one day .... years from now .... there will be a television documentary that will reveal Gaddafi's final burial place, and he will then be reburied in his hometown.
Why Gaddafi's Grave Is A Secret
No Relic, No Shrine: Why Gaddafi's Grave Is a Secret -- Vivienne Walt, Time
After a macabre five-day spectacle around his corpse, the man who ruled this country for 42 years was finally buried secretly in the vast Libyan desert at dawn on Tuesday, closing out what must be one of the most bizarre ends for any head of state. The questions about how Muammar Gaddafi died, however, have not been silenced.
Libya's interim leaders and military officials told journalists on Tuesday that Gaddafi had been transported into the Sahara and buried at 5 a.m. in an unknown location, with members of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) in attendance.
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My Comment: The Libyan NTC government is following the lead of the U.S. and on how they treated Bin Laden's body. Buried .... and out of sight. Is this the right strategy .... yes and no. His grave-site would have probably attracted some followers .... but as a rallying call for supporters to get together and be a threat to the new government .... I doubt that very much.
The Last Weeks Of Gaddafi As Revealed By His Bodyguard
In Final Weeks, Gaddafi Felt Both Rage And Despair, Frequently Changed Hideouts, Aide Says -- Washington Post
MISRATA, Libya — Moammar Gadhafi, Libya’s all-powerful leader for four decades, spent his final weeks shuttling from hideout to hideout in his hometown of Sirte, alternating between rage and despair as his regime crumbled around him, said a regime insider now in custody.
Gadhafi, his son Muatassim and an entourage of two dozen die-hard loyalists were largely cut off from the world while on the run, living in abandoned homes without TV, phones or electricity, using candles for light, said Mansour Dao, a member of the Gadhafi clan and former chief bodyguard.
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My Comment: He was probably in denial .... right up to when he was captured and beaten by his captors. But what caught my eye in this report was the following comment from his bodyguard ....
.... “I feel sorry for him because he underestimated the situation,” Dao said. “He could have left and gotten out of the country and lived a happy life.”
Yup ... he could have left the country and lived a happy life. But .... I guess he and his family could not accept the idea that they could lose all this power .... that after ruling for decades the possibility of losing everything never entered their minds .... hence the battle to the end.
Moammar Gaddafi And His Son Are Buried In A Secret Desert Location
Moammar Gaddafi Buried In Secret Desert Location -- Washington Post
TRIPOLI—Former Libyan strongman Moammar Gaddafi was buried in a secret location on Tuesday, officials of the interim government said, ending a four-day spectacle in which his bloody body was displayed to a public celebrating his gory death as a fitting end to decades of repression.
Suliman Fortia, the representative of the city of Misurata on the national governing council, said in a telephone interview that Gaddafi’s body was put in an unmarked grave “somewhere in the desert” at dawn. Libyan officials have said they wanted to prevent his tomb being desecrated or turned into a pilgrimage site.
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More News On The Burial Of Muammar Gaddafi
Libyans bury Gadhafi in secret location at dawn -- Yahoo News/AP
Kadhafi, son buried at night in secret location -- Yahoo News/AFP
Gaddafi body handed to NTC loyalists for burial -- Yahoo News/Reuters
NTC official: Gadhafi buried along with son -- CNN
Col Gaddafi 'buried in secret, desert grave at dawn' -- BBC
Ignominious end for dictator Gaddafi as he is buried with his son Mutassim in unmarked desert grave at dawn -- Daily Mail
Gaddafi, son Mutassim buried at unknown place in desert -- Xinhuanet
Qaddafi Buried in Secret Desert Location: NTC -- Bloomberg
Who, What, Why: What are the burial customs in Islam? -- BBC
Analysis Of Gaddafi's Captured Indicates That He Was Sodomized (Very Graphic)
Gaddafi Sodomized: Video Shows Abuse Frame By Frame (GRAPHIC) -- Global Post
SIRTE, Libya — An analysis of video obtained by GlobalPost from a rebel fighter who recorded the moment when Col. Muammar Gaddafi was first captured confirms that another rebel fighter, whose identity is unknown, sodomized the former leader as he was being dragged from the drainpipe where he had taken cover.
A frame by frame analysis of this exclusive GlobalPost video clearly shows the rebel trying to insert some kind of stick or knife into Gaddafi's rear end.
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My Comment: Dictators beware.
New Video Emerges Of Gaddafi Being Beated Before Being Shot By Rebels
'I Killed Gaddafi', Claims Libyan Rebel As Most Graphic Video Yet Of Dictator Being Beaten Emerges -- Daily Mail
* WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
* 'Killer' brandishes bloodied shirt and ring purportedly taken from Gaddafi
* New footage shows dictator being beaten in the moments after his capture
* Graphic footage from Freedom Group TV, a Libyan 'citizen journalist' outfit
* Videos emerge after new Libyan leader says he wanted Gaddafi taken alive
* Libyans spend a fourth day filing past tyrant's battered body
* NTC form committee to investigate killing after pressure from allies
* Human rights groups claim to have found 53 loyalists in mass grave
A Libyan revolutionary fighter has bragged in a leaked video that he was the man who killed Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, that country's despotic former ruler.
The young man, who is pictured but has not yet been identified, said he killed the fallen dictator because he could not bear the thought of taking him alive.
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More News On The Death Of Gaddafi And It's Aftermath
Libya bows to calls for investigation into Gaddafi death -- The Guardian
Libyan authorities announce Gaddafi death investigation -- BBC
Libya’s Interim Leaders to Investigate Qaddafi Killing -- New York Times
Libya’s NTC under fire over loyalist killings -- Financial Times
Libya ends public showing of Gaddafi's body -- Reuters
Gaddafi’s body taken off display, but burial dispute continues -- National Post
Libya "liberated," but Gaddafi still unburied -- Reuters
On liberation day, Libyans flock to see Qaddafi – for proof, closure -- Christian Science Monitor
Why does it matter how Gaddafi died? -- Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, Washington Post
Where Is Gadhafi?
Moammar Gadhafi Libya's New Government Still Hasn't Found Gadhafi -- USA Today
TRIPOLI, Libya — It has been almost two months since Tripoli fell to Libya's revolutionary forces but ousted ruler Moammar Gadhafi remains at large.
There's no shortage of speculation about his whereabouts, but there is a dearth of credible information.
"There's an 80% to 90% chance he's in the south areas of Libya," said Abdul Rahman Bussin, a military spokesman for the transitional government. He said people from the nomadic Tuareg tribe were protecting Gadhafi.
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Update: Gadhafi still elusive -- UPI
My Comment: He will be found, but it will only be a matter of time. In the meantime .... the main focus is avoiding scenarios like this one.
A Look At Gaddafi’s Air Force One
Flying On Gaddafi's "Air Force One" -- Global Post
Gaddafi's private jet, a modified Airbus, has a full-length mirror hanging above the leader's queen-size bed.
Muammar Gaddafi apparently flew first class when he traveled.
Libyan rebels, who captured Tripoli from Gaddafi's loyalist troops last week, have been offering journalists guided tours of the leader's private jet, a modified Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A340 complete with leather couches, gold-trimmed teacups, and a massive, roll-out bed.
Total cost of airplane: $150 million.
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Update: Libya: Gaddafi's private jet becomes leather-lined lounge for rebels -- The Telegraph
My Comment: A full-length mirror hanging over his queen-size bed .... in his airplane .... oh please.
Where's A Deposed Dictator To Go?
Where's A Deposed Dictator To Go? Five Top Tyrant Retirement Homes For Gaddafi -- Time
With NATO ever more confident of, and explicit about, deposing Muammar Gaddafi and the Libyan leader losing even some of his longest-standing supporters in Africa, the question increasingly becomes not whether he will go but, assuming he survives, where. Here's five possible retirement homes for the 69-year-old.
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My Comment: I prefer #5
The Search For Gaddafi's Billions
The Complicated Hunt for Gadhafi's Billions -- Spiegel Online
The West had been hoping to use frozen assets belonging to Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and his clan to support the rebels. But that effort is proving much more complicated than first envisioned. Washington and Europe find themselves in an embarrassing predicament.
The German bank Commerzbank received an unusual transfer order in late February. The amount was €1.9 million ($2.7 million) and the bank was instructed to immediately transfer the funds from a Commerzbank account to a foreign account with another bank.
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My Comment: Another example of how the Western legal system gives assistance to the corrupt .... but punishes the weak and innocent.
On a side note .... $61 billion dollars in deposits from one's family business dealings .... Fortune Magazine may have to edit their list on who are the richest people in the world.
Would Gaddafi Accept An Offer To Leave Libya?
Diplomats Discuss Libya's Future As Italy Plots Gaddafi's Escape Route -- The Guardian
Rome is negotiating an African haven for the Libyan leader as international pressure mounts on him to go.
Efforts appear to be under way to offer Muammar Gaddafi a way of escape from Libya, with Italy saying it was trying to organise an African haven for him, and the US signalling it would not try to stop the dictator from fleeing.
The move came amid mounting diplomatic and military pressure on Gaddafi as Britain tries to assemble a global consensus demanding he surrender power while intensifying air strikes against his forces. An international conference in London – including the UN, Arab states, the African Union, and more than 40 foreign ministers – will focus on co-ordinating assistance in the face of a possible humanitarian disaster and building a unified international front in condemnation of the Gaddafi regime and in support of Nato-led military action in Libya.
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My Comment: Gaddafi is 69 years old .... and like former President Mubarak in Egypt .... he must be realizing that he is too old to continue living like this. But would he take an offer to leave .... hmmmm .... everything inside of me tells me no .... but what I think will eventually make him change his mind will be the advice (and pressure) that he will receive from his family and closest allies. They must realize what will happen if they continue to fight .... they are outnumbered and outgunned .... and with time the coalition's air superiority will eventually wipe out the rest of the military that is still loyal to him. If I am a betting man, I will make the prediction that this fight is going to end by the end of April .... if not sooner .... and Gaddafi will either be dead, or living in some neutral African country like Mali.
What Is Gaddafi Thinking?
Libyan Ex-Diplomat: Gadhafi 'Unstable,' Possibly Hiding Underground -- ABC News
Experts Get in Libyan Strongman's Head Amid Unconfirmed Report His Son's Been Killed
Psychological analysts in the CIA spend a lot of time and effort trying to get inside the mind of someone like Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, whose well-documented quirks leave little doubt that it's a strange place.
But according to a former CIA analyst and a Libyan diplomat, suspicion over his own security and devastating allied bombing may have driven the "mad dog of the Middle East" into a new, potentially dangerous depression.
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My Comment: Who knows what a dictator of 42 years may think .... I know that I cannot relate to him on this (or any other) level. The fact that he has publicly disappeared makes me wonder on where has he scurried off to .... especially as this war is now starting to intensify with U.S./NATO involvement. He certainly looked pale and weak at the start of the revolution .... and after a few weeks of this constant stress .... with constant aerial bombardment now being the norm .... I am sure the strain is now starting to show.