THE International Criminal Court Pre-Trial Chamber I has issued three warrants of arrest for Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, his son, Saif Al-Islam and the regime’s Intelligence Chief, Abdulla Al-Senussi, as rebels trying to oust him said their forces had advanced to within 80 kilometres (50 miles) of the capital, Tripoli.

The warrants turn the three men into internationally wanted suspects, potentially complicating efforts to mediate an end to more than four months of intense fighting in the North African nation.

The warrants will be sent to Libya, where Gaddafi remained defiantly entrenched.

It is unclear how the warrant could restrict Gaddafi’s travels within Africa, since many African states are not ICC signatories and others have declined to act on an ICC arrest warrant for another African leader, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.   The Sudanese leader was on his way to China at Beijing’s invitation when the warrant was announced for Gaddafi.

Meanwhile in Tripoli, two loud explosions shook the area near Gaddafi’s compound yesterday, setting off a chorus of emergency sirens.

Libyan officials said a NATO air-strike fired two missiles targeting Gaddafi’s personal bus inside his Bab al-Aziziya compound. The bus was burnt but no one was killed or injured, they said. Gaddafi is not believed to be staying at the compound.

Fadi El Abdallah, Associate Legal Outreach Officer at the Court, yesterday informed The Guardian that the “Pre-Trial Chamber in the Situation: The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and the Case between The Prosecutor v. Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi, Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Al-Senussi” issued the warrants of arrest for the trio for crimes against humanity (murder and persecution) allegedly committed across Libya from February 15-28, 2011 through the state apparatus and Security Forces.

Abdallah said the Chamber composed of Judges Sanji Mmasenono Monageng (Presiding), Sylvia Steiner and Cuno Tarfusser, considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the three suspects committed the alleged crimes and that their arrests appear necessary in order to ensure their appearances before the Court; “to ensure that they do not continue to obstruct and endanger the Court’s investigations; and to prevent them from using their powers to continue the commission of crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court.”

The situation in Libya was referred to the ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo by the United Nations Security Council, through the unanimous adoption of Resolution 1970 on February 26, 2011.

The Security Council decided, under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, that “the Libyan authorities shall cooperate fully with and provide any necessary assistance to the Court and the Prosecutor pursuant to this resolution.”

And, while recognising that States not party to the Rome Statute have no obligations under the Statute, the Security Council urged all States and concerned regional and other international organisations to cooperate fully with the Court and the Prosecutor.

On March 3, 2011, Moreno-Ocampo decided to open an investigation and requested, on May 16, 2011, the issuance of the arrest warrants.

-Guardian

Posted by admin on Jun 27 2011. Filed under Africa & World Politics, Headlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry