லிபியாவில் நேற்றோ நடத்திய `மனிதாபிமான படுகொலைகள்`

அற்புதத் தொலைக்காட்சி அல்ஜசீரா முற்றும் மூடி மறைத்த செய்தி

At least 30,000 people had been killed and 50,000 wounded,4,000 people are still missing in Libya's six-month civil war, the first detailed estimate of the high cost in lives of bringing down Gaddafi.

Price of freedom: 30,000 dead, 50,000 hurt

Published Date: 09 September 2011 By Angus Howarth

The acting prime minister for Libya's new rulers has appealed for national unity to rebuild the country, while calling Muammar al-Gaddafi a figure of the past.

Mahmoud Jibril said the battle for Libya was not over, despite continuing pockets of resistance by Gaddafi loyalists.
Only after the whole country is "liberated" can a new government be formed, he said.

Yesterday's appearance was Mr Jibril's first in Tripoli since rebel forces stormed the capital last month, effectively ending Gaddafi's rule and sending him into hiding.

Mr Jibril refused to discuss Gaddafi's whereabouts or send a message to the former ruler. He said he would not "talk about things of the past," referring to Gaddafi.

Nato yesterday said it would continue its mission in Libya as long as there was a threat to the country's population from forces loyal to Gaddafi.

Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that after the threat had gone, the alliance's role would be a supporting one.

Meanwhile, the country's interim health minister said at least 30,000 people had been killed and 50,000 wounded in Libya's six-month civil war, the first detailed estimate of the high cost in lives of bringing down Gaddafi.
There have been rough estimates in the past, but Naji Barakat, the health minister in the new Libyan leadership, said his figures were based, in part, on reporting from hospitals, local officials and former rebel commanders.

Mr Barakat said he will only have a complete count in a few weeks' time, but that he expects the final figure for dead and wounded to be higher than his estimates. Libya has a population of just over six million.

At least 4,000 people are still missing, either presumed dead or held prisoner in remaining Gaddafi strongholds, including his hometown of Sirte, Mr Barakat said.

Others killed in fighting were hastily buried, and are now being exhumed for identification.

Search teams also continue to find secret graves of detainees killed by retreating Gaddafi forces.

This week, they dug up more bodies in one area of the Libyan capital Tripoli and two other towns.

Next week, worshippers will be asked to report the dead and missing in their families to the local mosques, said Mr Barakat, in an attempt to get a more detailed figure.

He added that of the estimated 30,000 killed, about half are believed to have been Gaddafi's fighters. He said he was told by Libya's new military officials that the Khamis Brigade, commanded by Gaddafi's son Khamis and a core force in Gaddafi's army, lost about 9,000 troops. One of the hardest hit areas was the port city of Misrata, Libya's third largest, where former rebels and Gaddafi regime forces fought for two months, ending with the retreat of badly battered Gaddafi troops.