THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and the country's spy chief, Abdullah al-Senussi, on charges of crimes against humanity.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had in May asked the court to issue arrest warrants for the "pre-determined" killing of protesters in Libya following after the UN Security Council referred the issue to the court.
Gaddafi has "absolute, ultimate and unquestioned control" over Libya's state apparatus and its security forces, presiding judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageng said in reading out the ruling.
She added that both Gaddafi and Saif al-Islam "conceived and orchestrated a plan to deter and quell by all means the civilian demonstrations" against the regime and that al-Senussi used his position of command to have attacks carried out.
Gaddafi, who has run his oil-producing Arab North African country since a military coup in 1969, is under pressure to relinquish power from rebels who rose up against his rule and from a NATO bombing campaign.
But more than three months into the NATO campaign, fissures are showing within the Western alliance and it is feared that the ICC warrant could also trigger greater violence in Libya as Gaddafi tries to cling to power. » | Monday, June 27, 2011
