North Africa Theater

ICC prosecutor urges Qaddafi aides to implement arrest warrant

International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on June 28 urged personal aides of Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi to implement the ICC arrest warrants issued the previous day. Moreno-Ocampo called on the aides to arrest Qaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, the "de facto Prime Minister," and his brother-in-law Abdullah al-Sanussi, the head of intelligence, for alleged crimes against the people of Libya, saying the aides could be "part of the solution."

The Libya intervention: Our readers write

Our last issue featured the story "The Two Wars in Libya: Revolutionary Struggle and NATO Intervention" by Art Young of Green Left Weekly, arguing that progressives in the West can support the first while opposing the second. We also ran the story "Libya and the Left" by Seth Weiss, special to World War 4 Report, who asks whether it is possible to support the rebels without supporting their call for military assistance. Our May Exit Poll was: "Is NATO's Libya war a necessary humanitarian intervention or bloody imperialist aggression?" We received the following responses:

Congress and the Libya war: Orwellian logic on both sides

The House of Representatives on June 24 voted 295-123 against a resolution authorizing US participation in the NATO campaign in Libya, dealing a blow to President Barack Obama's decision to wage war without congressional approval. In the face of opposition from conservative Republicans and anti-war Democrats alike, the White House has maintained the Orwellian position that the bombing campaign does not constitute "hostilities" and therefore does not fall under the purview of the War Powers Resolution.

Palestinians call out McKinney on support for Qaddafi

Received from the progressive Arab blog Yansoon, June 21:

Open Letter to Gaddafi Supporter Cynthia McKinney from Disappointed Palestinians

Dearest Cynthia McKinney,

Two years ago, you spoke out against Israel’s human rights abuses in Palestine. You were even put in an Israeli prison after your attempts to help deliver medical supplies and humanitarian aid on a ship to Gaza in 2009. For your sacrifices, you gained respect from many Palestinians all over the world.

ANSWER thugs bar Libyans from Cynthia McKinney event: report

A report on Feb 17th, website of the Libyan Youth Movement, states:

On June 16th, The ANSWER Coalition in LA held an event titled "Eyewitness Libya" with Cynthia McKinney, part of Cynthia's nation-wide tour to continue to propagate Gaddafi's lies. Members of the Libyan community in LA were prevented from entering the room in which the event was being held, on the basis of "seeming like they may cause trouble". They stood outside as others were allowed in, although many of them were invited to the public event. It was ironic that an event discussing the situation in Libya did not host any Libyans to speak in the panel or even allow Libyans to enter the room to participate in the discussion.

Morocco: thousands march in rejection of proposed constitutional reforms

Some 10,000 marched in Casablanca June 19 in answer to a call from Morocco's youth-based February 20 Movement, which has rejected constitutional reforms proposed by King Mohammed VI. Among the marchers in the city's popular Derb Soltaine neighborhood were members of the Islamist Justice and Charity group. Rabat also saw a large march against the proposed reform package, and a much smaller march in support of the king was also held in Casablanca. The February 20 Movement said the proposed reforms would leave in place a network of privilege and patronage surrounding the king. While stopping short of a call for abolition of the monarchy, the movement is calling for democratic restrictions on the king's power. (AFP, MoroccoBoard News Service, June 19)

Libya: Qaddafi exploits civilian casualties, Gates says air-strikes are "not hostilities"

NATO acknowledged June 18 that its aircraft had mistakenly hit a column of rebel military vehicles last week near the Libyan oil port of Brega, and early June 19 the Qaddafi government showed reporters a destroyed cinder-block house that neighbors and the government said was hit by an errant NATO air-strike in Tripoli. Two bodies were pulled from the rubble, and at the Tripoli Central Hospital, government officials showed reporters three others, including an infant and a child, who they said were killed in the house. Western media accounts called it the first time in three months of air-strikes that the Qaddafi regime has presented credible evidence of what appeared to be direct civilian casualties of NATO attacks. The destroyed building was far from any obvious military facility, in the Souq al-Juma area, which is actually known for its hostility to Qaddafi. In a statement NATO said: "A military missile site was the intended target of air strikes in Tripoli. However, it appears that one weapon did not strike the intended target and that there may have been a weapons system failure which may have caused a number of civilian casualties." The air-strike was apparently carried out by French jets. (The Telegraph, June 19; NYT, June 18)

Morocco: king announces constitutional reforms

King Mohammed VI of Morocco on June 17 announced changes to the constitution which would transfer some of the political power held by the king to elected officials. The proposed changes would instill more authority in the country's prime minister, who would be given the power to appoint government officials as the "president of the government." The reforms would also ensure that the prime minister is the leader of the largest party in parliament, as opposed to being selected by the king. Mohammed said that if these reforms were approved, it would represent a transition to democratic institutions for Morocco. Mohammed would still retain certain important powers as chair of the Council of Ministers and the Supreme Security Council, leaving him control over the country's security, military and religious institutions.

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