London Summit Doesn’t Rule Out Exile for Gadhafi
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi may be offered a way out, even as the more than 40 nations gathered in London vowed to keep bombing his battered forces into submission.

The tough talk of relentless pressure aimed to oust the unpredictable and brutal despot who has ruled Libya for 41 years didn’t entirely drown out hints of possible exile and the possibility of avoiding a war crimes trial, with UN envoy Abdel-Elah Al-Khatib was headed to Tripoli.

Col. Gadhafi and his sons have so far vowed to fight to the death and unleashed a new salvo of furious accusations at what he calls Western “Crusaders.”

Still the possibility of exile remained.

“It depends on the country which may offer to welcome Gadhafi,” Italy’s Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said.

American, British and Canadian warplanes are flying bombing runs from Italian airbases, but the government in Rome remains fearful that a prolonged civil war or Col. Gadhafi regaining the military advantage would threaten Italy with a flood of hundreds of thousands of Libyan refugees.

Mr. Frattini, said “no country” has yet offered the Libyan leader exile, “even the African countries which may be ready” to consider it. Africa’s other pariah despot, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, may be Col. Gadhafi’s best hope for a comfortable exile on the continent. Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, another Col. Gadhafi admirer, might also offer the Libyan leader safe haven. » | Paul Koring | Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Gaddafi Issues Defiant Challenge to Libya Conference in London
THE GUARDIAN: Libyan leader condemns 'crusader strategy' amid speculation that his foreign minister has defected

Muammar Gaddafi told the London conference discussing Libya's future without him that there was no room for compromise with the Benghazi-based rebels, whom he described bluntly as al-Qaida terrorists supported by Nato and representing no one.

Far from showing any sign of bending to demands from Barack Obama, David Cameron and other world leaders that he step down, Gaddafi issued a characteristically defiant challenge to what he called a "new crusader strategy or imperialist plan".

But three powerful explosions that shook Tripoli in mid-afternoon – apparently the first daylight attack in 10 days of UN-mandated air strikes – seemed to presage a possible escalation of the conflict. Libyan officials made no comment.

In another dramatic development, there was speculation that Gaddafi's foreign minister, Mousa Kousa, might have defected during a visit to Tunisia.

The Libyan leader warned that the UN-imposed no-fly zone would turn north Africa into "a second Afghanistan" in an extraordinary letter sent to the European Parliament, the US Congress and "the Europeans" meeting in London.

"Stop your barbaric and unjust offensive against Libya," he wrote. "Leave Libya for the Libyans. You are carrying out an operation to exterminate a peaceful people and destroy a developing country. We are united behind the leadership of the revolution, facing the terrorism of al-Qaida on the one hand and on the other hand terrorism by Nato, which now directly supports al-Qaida."

The full text shows the Libyan leader to be baffled by the ingratitude of the world towards him after years of rapprochement and utterly dismissive of concerns about the use of violence against his own people. » | Ian Black in Tripoli | Tuesday, March 29, 2011

London: World Leaders Speak on the Libyan Crisis
World leaders have met at a summit in London to discuss the ongoing conflict in Libya, and possible outlooks both for the military intervention, and humanitarian and development aid going forward. Here are excerpts from comments made by David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, and Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General

Hizb ut Tahrir London Meeting: An Eyewitness Report
JIHAD WATCH: A Jihad Watch reader went undercover to the Hizb ut Tahrir conference in London on the caliphate last Saturday, and kindly sends us this exclusive report about what was said there:

Khilafah The Need for Political Unity
London Conference 
Saturday 16th August 2008
Hosted by
Hizb Ut Tahrir – Britain

“The destruction of the Islamic Khilafah State over 80 years ago marked the beginning of dividing the Muslim World into countless nation states governed by a plethora of kings, dictators and western backed ‘democrats’. Today three major regions of the Muslim World are under occupation, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan. Oil and food crisis has pushed millions of people into starvation. Sectarian divisions are fuelled by occupying powers to further divide and weaken us.

The Muslim Ummah now needs a new political thinking and direction. It requires a new leadership that will unify the Umma and utilize her resources to address these countless problems. This one day conference will address the obligation of unifying our Umma under one leadership and discuss how political unity is the only practical way forward for the Muslim Ummah.” -- Hizb Ut Tahrir, Britain Hizb ut Tahrir London Meeting: An Eyewitness Report >>> Posted by Robert Spencer | August 19, 2008

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