THE GUARDIAN: Gaddafi regime systematically opened fire on peaceful protests, says International Criminal Court prosecutorThe Gaddafi regime committed war crimes against Libyan pro-democracy demonstrations, opening fire "systematically" on peaceful protesters, according to a report issued by the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), who will seek arrest warrants against Muammar Gaddafi and two other senior members of his regime later this month.
Addressing the UN security council in New York, the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said he will ask judges at the court in The Hague for three warrants. He has not named his suspects but in his report to the UN security council on Wednesdayhe said they were the people who gave the orders for the alleged atrocities. The Guardian has learned from well-informed sources that Gaddafi will top the list, and that his brother-in-law and intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi, is also likely to be included.
Other names in the frame include the leader's second oldest son Saif al-Islam and Mahmoud Al-Baghdadi, in effect, the nation's prime minister.
"It is indeed a characteristic of the situation in Libya that massive crimes are reportedly committed upon instruction of a few persons who control the organisations that execute the orders," Moreno-Ocampo said. He added that the arrests were a manner of urgency. » | Julian Borger, diplomatic editor | Wednesday, May 04, 2011
