Muammar Gaddafi has been killed after National Transitional Council fighters overran loyalist defences in the toppled Libyan leader's hometown and final stronghold of Sirte.
But questions remained on Thursday over the circumstances of Gaddafi's death as footage appeared to show he had been captured alive, following an apparent attempt to flee the besieged coastal city in a convoy which came under fire from French warplanes and a US drone aircraft.
Other footage showed Gaddafi's lifeless and bloodied body being dragged along a road.
"We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Muammar Gaddafi has been killed," Mahmoud Jibril, the de facto Libyan prime minister, told reporters on Thursday in Tripoli, the capital.
Jibril said Gaddafi had been shot in the head "in crossfire" between his supporters and NTC fighters after his capture.
"He was alive up to last moment, until he arrived at hospital" in the town of Misrata, Jibril said.
After his death, Gaddafi's body was reportedly transferred to a mosque in the city.
Crowds took to the streets of Sirte, Tripoli, Misrata and Benghazi, the eastern city that spearheaded the uprising against Gaddafi's 42-year rule in February, to celebrate the news, with some firing guns and waving Libya's new flag.
"I'm so proud now," a Tripoli resident told Al Jazeera."It's a new era. Look to our eyes and you'll see happiness, finally".
One of Gaddafi's sons, Mutassim, was also killed on Thursday, having been hiding with his father, Mahmoud Shammam, Libya's information minister said. Earlier reports had suggested that he had been captured alive but injured.
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Showing posts with label Libya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Libya. Show all posts
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
As opposition fighters are pushing towards the Libyan capital, Twitter users applaud the "Arab Spring".
Statement by the NATO Secretary-General on the situation in Libya
"The Qadhafi regime is clearly crumbling. The sooner Qadhafi realises that he cannot win the battle against his own people, the better -- so that the Libyan people can be spared further bloodshed and suffering.
The Libyan people have suffered tremendously under Qaddafi’s rule for over four decades. Now they have a chance for a new beginning. Now is the time for all threats against civilians to stop, as the United Nations Security Council demanded. Now is the time to create a new Libya – a state based on freedom, not fear; democracy, not dictatorship; the will of the many, not the whims of a few.
That transition must come peacefully. It must come now. And it must be led and defined by the Libyan people.
NATO is ready to work with the Libyan people and with the Transitional National Council, which holds a great responsibility. They must make sure that the transition is smooth and inclusive, that the country stays united, and that the future is founded on reconciliation and respect for human rights.
Qadhafi's remaining allies and forces also have a great responsibility. It is time to end their careers of violence. The world is watching them. This is their opportunity to side with the Libyan people and choose the right side of history.
We will continue to monitor military units and key facilities, as we have since March, and when we see any threatening moves towards the Libyan people, we will act in accordance with our UN mandate.
Our goal throughout this conflict has been to protect the people of Libya, and that is what we are doing.
Because the future of Libya belongs to the Libyan people. And it is for the international community to assist them, with the United Nations and the Contact Group playing a leading role. NATO wants the Libyan people to be able to decide their future in freedom and in peace. Today, they can start building that future."
Monday, July 18, 2011
Delegitimizing Gadhafi regime...like we needed to!
The U.S. and more than 30 other nations including the Arab League on Friday formally recognized Libya's main opposition group as the country's legitimate government, giving the rebel movement a major boost.
The decision, which declared Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's regime no longer legitimate, gives his foes greater credibility and will potentially free up billions in cash that the rebels fighting Libyan forces urgently need.
Rebels, backed by NATO's air force bombings, control much of the country's east and pockets in the west.
Foreign ministers and other representatives of the organization known as the Contact Group on Libya said in a statement Friday that the "Gadhafi regime no longer has any legitimate authority in Libya." They said the Libyan strongman and certain members of his family must go.
"The Contact Group has sent an unequivocal message to Gadhafi: that he has no legitimacy and there is no future for Libya with him in power. He must go and go now," said British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
The nations said they would deal with Libya's main opposition group -- the National Transitional Council, or NTC -- as "the legitimate governing authority in Libya" until an interim authority is in place that will organize free and fair elections.
Contact Group representatives broke into spontaneous applause when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced her nation's recognition of the NTC, according to U.S. officials.
Meanwhile, the council's oil minister said Libya could be exporting 1 million barrels of oil a day within three to four months of Gadhafi's departure. He said the opposition hopes to hold elections within a year and resume oil exports very soon, saying the damage to oil facilities has been minimal and repaired. Allied multinational oil and service companies will expedite repairs and increase capacity.
And another Dictator soon to bite the dust!!!
The decision, which declared Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's regime no longer legitimate, gives his foes greater credibility and will potentially free up billions in cash that the rebels fighting Libyan forces urgently need.
Rebels, backed by NATO's air force bombings, control much of the country's east and pockets in the west.
Foreign ministers and other representatives of the organization known as the Contact Group on Libya said in a statement Friday that the "Gadhafi regime no longer has any legitimate authority in Libya." They said the Libyan strongman and certain members of his family must go.
"The Contact Group has sent an unequivocal message to Gadhafi: that he has no legitimacy and there is no future for Libya with him in power. He must go and go now," said British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
The nations said they would deal with Libya's main opposition group -- the National Transitional Council, or NTC -- as "the legitimate governing authority in Libya" until an interim authority is in place that will organize free and fair elections.
Contact Group representatives broke into spontaneous applause when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced her nation's recognition of the NTC, according to U.S. officials.
Meanwhile, the council's oil minister said Libya could be exporting 1 million barrels of oil a day within three to four months of Gadhafi's departure. He said the opposition hopes to hold elections within a year and resume oil exports very soon, saying the damage to oil facilities has been minimal and repaired. Allied multinational oil and service companies will expedite repairs and increase capacity.
And another Dictator soon to bite the dust!!!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Justice, Law & Liberty
There is indeed, no uglier kind of state than one in which the richest men are thought to be the best, Marcus Tullius Cicero born 106 B.C.
If you read only two books, then let them be Cicero’s The Laws and The Republic.
In these two books, Cicero wanted to restore the republic to its uncorrupted and truest form. He intended to persuade good and honorable men to participate actively in public affairs. Politics, he argued, was the most honorable of all professions. His ideas were not new. He relied on Greek and Roman writings.
In The Laws, Cicero explored his concept of natural law. "Law is the highest reason," he wrote, "implanted in Nature, which commands what ought to be done and forbids the opposite." Thus, natural law is the guide for right and wrong in human affairs.
Without laws, Cicero reasoned, there can be no state or government. More important, he continued, there must be equality under the law with no special exceptions. This is essential, he said, for justice, which in turn is necessary for a successfully functioning government.
In The Republic, Cicero argued that laws are not enough for a just state. There also must be liberty. "But if liberty is not equally enjoyed by all the citizens," he declared, "it is not liberty at all." Therefore, liberty cannot exist unless "the people have the supreme power" in government.
Cicero looked into the ideal form of government for upholding natural law, establishing justice, and ensuring liberty. He started by examining three "good states" and their perverted forms, described earlier by the Greek historian Polybius.
Cicero believed the best of the good states was a monarchy, but the king could turn into a tyrant. Cicero also approved of an aristocracy, rule by the best men, but it was vulnerable to conspiracies by factions intent on grabbing power (an oligarchy). In Cicero's view, the worst of the good states was a democracy, where all the people participated directly in running the government. It eventually led to mob rule.
Cicero went a step further than Polybius to describe a cycle of government forms. "The government is thus bandied about like a ball," Cicero wrote, "tyrants receive it from kings; from tyrants it passes either to aristocrats or to the people; and from the people to oligarchs or tyrants." Therefore, he concluded that all three good states were flawed and unstable.
Even so, Cicero recognized each good state had its merits. A king could act quickly and decisively in an emergency. The people in a democracy enjoyed liberty with equal rights. The aristocrats possessed experience and wisdom.
Cicero proposed that the ideal government "is formed by an equal balancing and blending" of monarchy, democracy, and aristocracy. In this "mixed state," he argued, royalty, the best men, and the common people all should have a role.
Unlike many of the political philosophers before him, Cicero was an experienced politician and had a working model for his "mixed state." This was the Roman Republic, with its consuls (co-kings), Senate (aristocrats), and democratic assemblies (commoners).
To achieve his ideal government, Cicero argued that Romans only had to restore the republic to its previous perfect form. He proposed strengthening the aristocratic consuls and Senate at the expense of the democratic assemblies. But Cicero's reforms did little to address the mounting forces endangering the existence of the republic.
The greatest threat facing the Roman Republic was ambitious military men, especially the Triumvirate. When Crassus died in a disastrous war in the eastern empire, Pompey and Caesar each plotted to become master of Rome, and civil war erupted that led to the Fall of the Republic.
Let Cicero’s words echo throughout our planet:
On Justice
Justice is the crowning glory of the virtues.
Justice consists in doing no injury to men…
Justice is the set and constant purpose which gives every man his due.
The foundations of justice are that no one should suffer wrong; then, that the public good be promoted.
…justice must be observed even to the lowest.
Justice does not descend from its pinnacle.
Justice extorts no reward, no kind of price; she is sought…for her own sake.
Extreme justice is extreme injustice.
If our lives are endangered by plots or violence…any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right.
On Law
True law is right reason in agreement with nature; it is of universal application…
The welfare of the people is the ultimate law.
The precepts of the law are these: to live honestly, to injure no one, and to give everyone else his due.
According to the law of nature it is only fair that no one should become richer through damages and injuries suffered by another.
The strictest law often causes the most serious wrong.
The more laws, the less justice.
…the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled…
The administration of government, like a guardianship, ought to be directed to the good of those who confer, not of those who receive the trust.
When a government becomes powerful…it is an usurper which takes bread from innocent mouths and deprives honorable men of their substance for votes with which to perpetuate itself.
On Liberty
We are in bondage to the law so that we might be free.
The essence of liberty is to live as you choose.
Freedom is a man’s natural power of doing what he pleases, so far as he is not prevented by force or law.
Freedom is a possession of inestimable value.
What is so beneficial to the people as liberty…to be preferred to all things.
Liberty is rendered even more precious by the recollection of servitude.
Freedom suppressed again, and again regained, bites with keener fangs than freedom never endangered.
Only in states in which the power of the people is supreme has liberty any abode.
Peace is liberty in tranquility. Servitude is the worst of all evils, to be resisted not only by war, but even by death.
Cicero was among the most important influences behind the American Revolution. He was a symbol of dedication in opposing tyranny, and his ideas on justice, law and liberty are represented in our founding documents.
To the dissidents of the world -- those who call for Justice, Laws & Liberty; let the words of Cicero forge your steel during the unendurable times ahead: “the best men and women are especially motivated by glory.” You all deserve a representative form of government that you choose and that is not thrust upon you.
To my fellow Americans, let us not let slip what took 2,000 years to re-create.
If you read only two books, then let them be Cicero’s The Laws and The Republic.
In these two books, Cicero wanted to restore the republic to its uncorrupted and truest form. He intended to persuade good and honorable men to participate actively in public affairs. Politics, he argued, was the most honorable of all professions. His ideas were not new. He relied on Greek and Roman writings.
In The Laws, Cicero explored his concept of natural law. "Law is the highest reason," he wrote, "implanted in Nature, which commands what ought to be done and forbids the opposite." Thus, natural law is the guide for right and wrong in human affairs.
Without laws, Cicero reasoned, there can be no state or government. More important, he continued, there must be equality under the law with no special exceptions. This is essential, he said, for justice, which in turn is necessary for a successfully functioning government.
In The Republic, Cicero argued that laws are not enough for a just state. There also must be liberty. "But if liberty is not equally enjoyed by all the citizens," he declared, "it is not liberty at all." Therefore, liberty cannot exist unless "the people have the supreme power" in government.
Cicero looked into the ideal form of government for upholding natural law, establishing justice, and ensuring liberty. He started by examining three "good states" and their perverted forms, described earlier by the Greek historian Polybius.
Cicero believed the best of the good states was a monarchy, but the king could turn into a tyrant. Cicero also approved of an aristocracy, rule by the best men, but it was vulnerable to conspiracies by factions intent on grabbing power (an oligarchy). In Cicero's view, the worst of the good states was a democracy, where all the people participated directly in running the government. It eventually led to mob rule.
Cicero went a step further than Polybius to describe a cycle of government forms. "The government is thus bandied about like a ball," Cicero wrote, "tyrants receive it from kings; from tyrants it passes either to aristocrats or to the people; and from the people to oligarchs or tyrants." Therefore, he concluded that all three good states were flawed and unstable.
Even so, Cicero recognized each good state had its merits. A king could act quickly and decisively in an emergency. The people in a democracy enjoyed liberty with equal rights. The aristocrats possessed experience and wisdom.
Cicero proposed that the ideal government "is formed by an equal balancing and blending" of monarchy, democracy, and aristocracy. In this "mixed state," he argued, royalty, the best men, and the common people all should have a role.
Unlike many of the political philosophers before him, Cicero was an experienced politician and had a working model for his "mixed state." This was the Roman Republic, with its consuls (co-kings), Senate (aristocrats), and democratic assemblies (commoners).
To achieve his ideal government, Cicero argued that Romans only had to restore the republic to its previous perfect form. He proposed strengthening the aristocratic consuls and Senate at the expense of the democratic assemblies. But Cicero's reforms did little to address the mounting forces endangering the existence of the republic.
The greatest threat facing the Roman Republic was ambitious military men, especially the Triumvirate. When Crassus died in a disastrous war in the eastern empire, Pompey and Caesar each plotted to become master of Rome, and civil war erupted that led to the Fall of the Republic.
Let Cicero’s words echo throughout our planet:
On Justice
Justice is the crowning glory of the virtues.
Justice consists in doing no injury to men…
Justice is the set and constant purpose which gives every man his due.
The foundations of justice are that no one should suffer wrong; then, that the public good be promoted.
…justice must be observed even to the lowest.
Justice does not descend from its pinnacle.
Justice extorts no reward, no kind of price; she is sought…for her own sake.
Extreme justice is extreme injustice.
If our lives are endangered by plots or violence…any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right.
On Law
True law is right reason in agreement with nature; it is of universal application…
The welfare of the people is the ultimate law.
The precepts of the law are these: to live honestly, to injure no one, and to give everyone else his due.
According to the law of nature it is only fair that no one should become richer through damages and injuries suffered by another.
The strictest law often causes the most serious wrong.
The more laws, the less justice.
…the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled…
The administration of government, like a guardianship, ought to be directed to the good of those who confer, not of those who receive the trust.
When a government becomes powerful…it is an usurper which takes bread from innocent mouths and deprives honorable men of their substance for votes with which to perpetuate itself.
On Liberty
We are in bondage to the law so that we might be free.
The essence of liberty is to live as you choose.
Freedom is a man’s natural power of doing what he pleases, so far as he is not prevented by force or law.
Freedom is a possession of inestimable value.
What is so beneficial to the people as liberty…to be preferred to all things.
Liberty is rendered even more precious by the recollection of servitude.
Freedom suppressed again, and again regained, bites with keener fangs than freedom never endangered.
Only in states in which the power of the people is supreme has liberty any abode.
Peace is liberty in tranquility. Servitude is the worst of all evils, to be resisted not only by war, but even by death.
Cicero was among the most important influences behind the American Revolution. He was a symbol of dedication in opposing tyranny, and his ideas on justice, law and liberty are represented in our founding documents.
To the dissidents of the world -- those who call for Justice, Laws & Liberty; let the words of Cicero forge your steel during the unendurable times ahead: “the best men and women are especially motivated by glory.” You all deserve a representative form of government that you choose and that is not thrust upon you.
To my fellow Americans, let us not let slip what took 2,000 years to re-create.
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