On the heels of news reports that Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was arming civilian supporters against the protesters, now comes news that militaryforces loyal to Gaddafi are shooting people from ambulancesand using antiaircraft guns against crowds of demonstrators in Tripoli, according to witnesses. Furthermore, the government is alleged to have removed dead bodiesas well as the woundedfrom hospitals in an effort to disguise the rapidly increasing death toll in the country. According to Heba Morayef, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, top officials of the biggest Tripoli hospitals remain loyal to Gaddafi and are underestimating the number of fatalities. There have also been unconfirmed reports that an armed rebel force, rumored to be around 2,000 men, is headed for Tripoli on Saturday. The U.N. is meeting to consider multinational sanctions against Gaddafi, including arms and asset freezes and travel bans, and several countries, including the U.S., France, Germany, and Britain, have pressured the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged crimes against humanity.
Protesters in Benghazi, a major city in the east, fought the government and won. Now theyre building their future. Babak Dehghanpisheh reports from Free Libya. Plus,shocking photos and videos from Libya's streets. The young men in the black Toyota Camry speed down the seaside road, the thundering waves unable to drown out the sound of their firing guns. Across the road, a man wearing green camouflage pants and a checkered black-and-whitekeffiyehlifts his AK-47 and blasts an entire clip in the air.
Opposition protesters in Benghazi, Libya, on Friday. (Hussein Malla / AP Photo)This isnt a battle for control of the town; its a celebration in eastern Libya which protesters have liberated from the governments control. At the border with Egypt, black graffiti scrawled on a wall tells visitors about the territory theyre about to enter: Free Libya. And proud fighters in mismatched uniforms scramble to have their pictures taken in front of their handiwork. Imagine somebody has tied your hands and blindfolded you for 42 years, says Col. Adel ben Omran, 49, an air force officer who deserted to join the protesters. And then they untie you. Its like youre in heaven.
In Benghazi itself, men hang off a seafront wall, clapping and singing boisterously out of tune. Families wave the green, black, and red flag of Libya that dates back to the time of the monarchy. Posters and effigies mocking the countrys psychotic leader Muammar Gaddafi are ubiquitous. One man has tied a green scarf, the color of Gaddafis flag, around the neck of his dog. This is an insult to the dog, he says with a grin.
Benghazi, as its residents love to point out, is the town where it all began. Protests kicked off when a prominent lawyer was detained on Feb. 15, and quickly spread after activists called for a nationwide anti-regime rally two days later. Within a week, disenchanted youths, political activists, disgruntled tribal leaders andperhaps most importantlydefecting military leaders wrested control of large swaths of eastern Libya, shaking the regime of one of the most brutal despots in the Middle East.
One man has tied a green scarf, the color of Gaddafis flag, around the neck of his dog. This is an insult to the dog, he says with a grin.
The uprising in Libya was inspired in part by the recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt; organizers even to! ok a pag e from their fellow protesters' playbook. In Libya, young activists rallied supporters through a Facebook page called the Grandchildren of Al Mukhtar, a reference to Omar Mukhtar, a beloved anti-colonial hero.
But that may be where the similarities with the other uprisings end. Gaddafi has more in common with Saddam Hussein than he does with Hosni Mubarak or Tunisias Zine al Abeddine Ben Ali. Like Hussein, the Libyan dictator skillfully and brutally played rival tribal groups against each other for years and, like Hussein, Gaddafi wasnt shy about using violence on his own people to clamp down on dissent. In Benghazi, that meant mowing down protesters with anti-aircraft guns.
Opposition fighters eagerly show off the 14.5 mm rounds theyve found around the city, as well as stomach-churning videos of shredded bodies. The question that many Libyans ask is who exactly is behind these horrific attacks. Many blame themurtazeqa,or mercenaries.
Jihad Gatlawi, a 26-year old businessman, was among the demonstrators in central Benghazi last week and tells of seeing hundreds of men in yellow hardhats attacking protesters with pistols and sticks. I saw them shooting and beating people all around me, says Gatlawi, gesturing his hands wildly to recreate the chaotic scene. I couldnt believe my eyes. Many, he says, appeared to be foreigners.
Peter Bouckaert, the emergencies director for Human Rights Watch, says that Gaddafi likely brought in foreign fighters. But theyre not mercenaries in the classical sense, he says, pointing out that the Libyan leader has long supported African opposition groups, some of which have training camps set up inside Libya.
Figuring out who is who in the chaos of the fighting isnt always easy. In a detention room at the central Benghazi courthouse, which now functions as the de-facto town hall, a dozen alleged mercenaries are being held. The prisoners hail from Ghana, Eritrea, Chad, and Ethiopia. Some say they have lived in Libya for years but w! ere atta cked by opposition supporters who saw them as a threat
TRIPOLIColonel Qaddafis security forces used gunfire to try to disperse thousands of protesters who streamed out of mosques after Friday prayers. Rebel leaders said they were sending forces from nearby cities and other parts of the country to join the fight.BENGHAZITens of thousands of people gather for Friday prayers outside the courthouse where the protests that led to the rebellion began. The city is now firmly in control of the opposition. The rebels are organizing themselves into a functioning government.
Yet even as the Libyan leader spoke, his 41-year grip on power seemed to loosen further. There were reports that rebels had gained control of at least one key suburb of Tripoli, and several other towns, including heavily contested Zawiya, 20 miles west of the capital, were said to have fallen to the opposition.High-level defections continued to weaken Gaddafi's regime, and the world community stiffened its response. The United States said it would impose sanctions, and the United Nations advanced a process that could lead to a war crimes prosecution.
"We know the whole country is with us, but we don't know how long this is going to take," said a trader who joined the protests but went home after the gunfire became too intense. "The security forces have the upper hand, and there's so many of them, because he's concentrating all his effort on Tripoli."
KIEV, UkraineEmbattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is set to be deserted by another close ally after his Ukrainian nurse said she was heading home.
Galyna Kolotnytska, described in a diplomatic cable published by Wikileaks as a "volu! ptuous b lond" who "travel[s] everywhere" with Col. Gadhafi, called her family in Kiev on Friday to say she intends to return to Ukraine, her daughter told daily Segodnya.
"Mom got in touch yesterday. She said she was now in Tripoli," Tetyana Kolotnytska said. "She spoke in a calm voice, asked us not to worry and said she'd soon be home."
According to the cable from September 2009, contacts in Tripoli told U.S. diplomats that Col. Gadhafi "relies heavily" on Ms. Kolotnytska, then 38, as "she alone 'knows his routine.'"
The cable also reported claims from unnamed sources that the eccentric Libyan leader and the nurse, part of a retinue of four Ukrainians, "have a romantic relationship."
Ms. Kolotnytska's daughter said her mother had been in Libya for nine years, originally employed in a hospital before starting work for Col. Gadhafi.
"Other Ukrainian women also work for him as nurses. Mom is one of them," she said. "For some reason, he doesn't trust Libyan women with this matter.
I did not name him but others did. He is Malaysias Cabinetministerwho allegedly raped his Indonesian maid 3 years ago. He is a lawyer by profession a! nd obtai ned his PhD from Kings College London. In 2007 Malaysia nominated itsMinisterof Culture,Artsand Heritage to replace the outgoing Commonwealthsecretary-general, Don McKinnon, whose term would have expired in March 2008. This minister was a strong contender for the post having once served as Foreign Minister. There had never been a secretarygeneral from Asia before and a Malaysian victory was imminent. Countries in the region Singapore, Brunei and New Zealand, also supported Malaysias bid.
Malaysias High Commission in London where the Commonwealth secretariat is based was geared up to lobby support for its candidate. Visiting Commonwealth heads of state were ready to meet thisman. As part of Malaysians campaign, the candidate even planned a visit to London to rally support. Then out of the blue, the nominee dropped his bombshell.
The strange thing was that hours earlier, he had been discussing the Malaysian campaign strategy with Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar at a Cabinet meeting.
The nominees announcement to withdraw from the race apparently shocked the Cabinet and stunned the government.
So what happened in those crucial hours from the time he finished discussing his campaign, to the time he made his personal announcement? Who did this man speak to? More importantly, who had contacted him? What was discussed that persuaded him to withdraw his candidacy?
The proper procedure would have been f! or the g overnment to announce any changes in the Malaysian Commonwealth bid. But this man did not, or could not wait.
Why?
Was he given an ultimatum or was he told that that was the best solution for all?
The reasons he gave in his sudden announcement was that he had pressing duties to oversee celebrations of Malaysia's 50th year of independence.
He said, My responsibilities (for the Merdeka celebrations) are far more important and furthermore, it is already too late (to campaign). So it's better that I withdraw.
Noble words indeed but they only added to intense speculation that something had cropped up that was being swept under the carpet.
Wikileaks and other cyber whispers have edged us closer tothe truthand finally, the last piece of the puzzle provides us with a clue and answers those questions that were asked in 2007. This man was allegedly accused of rape. The Prime minister at the time, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy, Najib Abdul Razak were privy to this distasteful revelation.
But true to fashion, they had to protect the good name of Umno. And themselves.
The matter was serious enough and could have brought down a government, but no investigation was carried out to see if there was any truth in the allegation.
Perhaps, senior members of Umno already know that there are several rapists, murderers and psychopaths making up their ranks.
Justicefor the rape victim was the last thing on the collective minds of thesemen. What mattered! most wa s to protect Umno. The leaders knew that under normal circumstances, the alleged rapist could have carried on with hisjoband play an important role in society, like nothing had happened. This is Malaysia, after all, where whitewashing is a favourite pastime. The fact that this man had put his name up for nomination for the post of Commonwealth secretary-general complicated matters. The fact that Malaysias bid was going to be successful did not help.
If this man was selected as Secretary-General of the Commonwealth that March 2008 he would have to be based in London.
If thegirlwho was raped managed to successfully press charges or if some stubbornjournalistgot wind of the story and unearthed the sordid details, this mans past and his crime, would have been exposed. Scotland Yard or Interpol would have had to detain him and carry outinvestigations. The Commonwealth, Malaysia and Indonesia would have a diplomatic scandal of cataclysmic proportions. Our name would be mud. So Abdullah Badawi and Najib did the next best thing. They persuaded the candidate to withdraw his nomination and blame it on personal matters. That way it would not tarnish the administration. They too, played their part and professed shock at his sudden announcement.
They must have told the alleged rapist that although they could easily protect him in Malaysia, their power and influence could not extend to the United Kingdom where the rule of law is adh! ered to.
But for Wikileaks and the cyberwhispers, all these rape allegations have blown out intothe open. This is the same minister who, in early 2010, warned Muslims to not immerse themselves in the Internet and told Malaysians that .Twitter and Facebook are tools of the West that can erode Malaysian culture
No wonder he told us to be wary of the Internet. How ironic then that in the end it was the internet that brought about his downfall.
WASHINGTON In what appears to be the first diplomaticcasualtyfrom the latest WikiLeaksrevelations, the U.S.ambassadortoLibyahas returned to Washington and is likely to leave his post, U.S. officials said TuesdayAmbassador Gene Cretz, a veteran Americandiplomat, authored several secretcablesto Washington that speculated on long-time Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's health, and described his personal proclivities, including his reliance on a "voluptuous" Ukrainian nurse
The documents are among about 2,000 that have been publicly released from a cache of more than 250,000 State Department cables obtained by WikiLeaks.
While the Libyan government has not commented ! publicly on them, the leaked cables can only have complicated Cretz's task in dealing with the notoriously prickly regime in
Tripoli, which the mercurial Gadhafi has ruled since a 1969 military coup.
A senior State Department official said that the WikiLeaks revelations were not the only reason for Cretz's return, noting the frustrations of U.S.-Libyan ties.
"It's a complicated
relationship, and WikiLeaks just added to that complication," said the official, who requested anonymity because no announcement has been made on Cretz's status.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters that Cretz had returned to Washington for consultations. "One of the issues to be discussed will be, you know, when he goes back," Crowley said.
Current and former American officials have bemoaned the WikiLeaks disclosures' potential impact on Washington's
foreign policy. Sources are less likely to approach American diplomats with sensitive information if there is a risk it will end up in the public domain, they say.
Already, there are anecdotal reports that foreign leaders have circumscribed meetings with U.S. envoys, insisting in some cases that note-takers or other American staff be excluded.
"Obviously, this has been a difficult period for a lot of U.S. diplomats," said David Mack, a retired State Department official who served in Libya and traveled there recently, where he was told the storm from Cretz's leaked reports would blow over.
U.S. ambassadors and other diplomats are expected to report frankly on political and social conditions in the countries where they are posted, including such sensitive matters as th! e health and personal habits of leaders. But until WikiLeaks, those cables didn't become public until decades later, if at all.
"Diplomats in the field owe the governments that send them there the right to expect both accurate reporting and
candidassessments," Mack said. "And if the WikiLeaks affair makes that less likely, diplomacy will suffer."
Cretz, who in November 2008 became the first U.S. ambassador to Libya since 1972, wrote in a leaked September 2009
cable, entitled "A
GlimpseInto Libyan Leader Gadhafi's Eccentricities," that "Gadhafi relies heavily on his longtime Ukrainian nurse, Galyna . . . who has been described as a 'voluptuous blonde.'"
"He also appears to have an intense dislike or fear of staying on upper floors, reportedly prefers not to fly over water, and seems to enjoy
horse racingand
flamencodancing," reported the cable, written as the Libyan leader prepared to travel to New York for the annual U.N. General Assembly.
Gadhafi "has been described as both mercurial and
eccentric, and our recent firsthand experiences with him and his office, primarily in preparation for his UNGA trip, demonstrated the truth of both characterizations," Cretz wrote.
Another cable, written three months earlier, reported that rumors of Gadhafi's suffering from can! cer were "unreliable," but that the leader had hypertension and was a borderline diabetic.
"Gadhafi was described as 'a hypochondriac,' who insisted that all examinations and procedures be filmed and then spent hours reviewing them with physicians whom he trusted," the ambassador reported.
A series of cables from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli described a dramatic standoff over the fate of Libya's 11.4 pounds of highly enriched uranium, which can be used to fuel nuclear weapons. Shipment of the material out of Libya for disposal in Russia was halted at the last minute.
One cable quotes Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam, as saying the shipment was held up because the Libyan regime was "
fed up" with the slow progress in U.S.-Libyan relations. The highly enriched uranium eventually left Tripoli on Dec. 21, 2009.
Cretz, a native of Albany, N.Y., served in numerous Middle East and
South Asiapostings, including India, Pakistan, Syria, Egypt and Israel, where he was the deputy chief of mission from 2004 to 2007, according to his State Department biography. He speaks Dari, Urdu, Arabic and Chinese.
Watts/News
Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy speaks at the UN in 2009.Libyanleader
Moammar Khadafyhas long been known to be a little strange, but a secret cable sent in September 2009 expands the portrait of a bizarre despot.An all-female secu! rity for ce. A lecher for blond nurses and Flamenco dancing. A fear of flying over water.
Headlined "a glimpse into Libyan Leader Khadafy's eccentricities," the cable says he won't travel without his 38-year-old Ukrainian nurse, Galyna Kolotnytska, described as a "voluptuous blond" with whom he may be having an affair.
He is "particularly enthralled" by horse racing and Flamenco dancers.
Khadafy fears heights and "must stay on the first floor of any facility" - which is why he wanted to pitch a tent in
New Jerseywhen he visited the
UNlast year instead of staying in a
Manhattanhotel.
He also cannot climb more than 35 steps, hates to fly over water and won't fly for more than eight hours at a time.
The cable notes that Khadafy brought only one female bodyguard with him to
New Yorkand suggests his all-female security force is "beginning to play a diminished role."
It is commonly done with horses and falcons, the King said in a March 2009 meeting.
"Horses don't have good lawyers," Brennan told him.
- The cables show
Washingtonstruggling to parcel out the freed Gitmo detainees.
The wheedling even reached
Brussels, which was told that taking in prisoners could be "a low-cost way for
Belgiumto attain prominence in
Europe."
