TNA MPs advocate for Tamils rights in U.S. capital
[TamilNet, Friday, 28 October 2011, 03:33 GMT]
Four Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Members of Parliament visiting the U.S. on an invitation by the State Department arrived Tuesday night and have completed two days of meetings at the State Department and with Congress persons including members of the Sri Lanka caucus, sources close to the MPs said. The team led by Parliamentary group leader Mr Sampanthan said that they were aware of the political significance of this unique gesture by the State Department in inviting a non-State political party and that they would use every opportunity available to articulate Tamils position to the decision makers in Washington.
The visiting TNA delegation included Rajavarothayam Sampanthan, Maavai Senathirajah, Suresh Premachandran and M.A. Sumanthiran.
Mr Sampanthan said that the team would prepare a press statement on the nature of the discussions held and the positions articulated by them as representatives of Tamils.
After further meetings in New York, some members are scheduled to travel to Canada.
The group is scheduled to return to Sri Lanka end of next week.
Criminal Court in Indirect Talks With Qaddafi Son, Prosecutor Says
By J. DAVID GOODMAN
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court at The Hague said on Friday that he had been in indirect contact with Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, the fugitive son of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and his one-time heir apparent, about turning himself in to face trial before the court.
The prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said in a statement that he did not know the whereabouts of Mr. Qaddafi, and he did not identify the parties who were conveying messages for him.
Mr. Moreno-Ocampo also did not make clear whether the informal contacts had been initiated by Mr. Qaddafi, who has previously ridiculed the court as a tool of foreign powers hostile to the Qaddafi government. The court issued arrest warrants four months ago, at Mr. Moreno-Ocampo’s request, for Colonel Qaddafi, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi and Abdullah al-Sanousi, Colonel Qaddafi’s intelligence minister and brother-in-law, on charges of systematically killing civilians during the early days of the Libyan uprising.
There has been speculation that Mr. Qaddafi, who has eluded capture by the rebels who overthrew Colonel Qaddafi in late August, may have undergone a change of heart about turning himself over to court custody after his father was seized by rebel fighters, brutalized and killed on Oct. 20 in his hometown of Surt, an event captured on cellphone videos and widely circulated on the Internet.
“Through intermediaries, we have informal contact with Seif,” Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said. “The office of the prosecutor has made it clear that if he surrenders to the I.C.C., he has the right to be heard in court, he is innocent until proven guilty. The judges will decide.”
Mr. Moreno-Ocampo also said that the court was looking into the possibility of intercepting any plane that might be transporting Mr. Qaddafi in order to make an arrest.
Reuters, citing an unidentified member of Libya’s Transitional National Council, the interim government, reported Thursday that Mr. Qaddafi feared for his life and was seeking to arrange an aircraft to deliver him into the custody of the court from a desert hide-out in an unspecified location.
The only remaining Qaddafi son still to be accounted for, Seif has been a focal point for intense rumor and speculation during the week since Colonel Qaddafi was killed.
Officials in Niger, to the south of Libya, said that they had no information about Mr. Qaddafi’s whereabouts but that they would act on the international warrants if he were found to be in their country.
“If our armed forces intercept him, we are handing him over to the I.C.C.,” said Massaoudou Hassoumi, the chief of staff to Niger’s president, Mahamadou Issoufou. “For the moment our forces have not taken him. We have no idea if he is in Niger or not.”
Human rights groups, who have expressed growing alarm over evidence of reprisal killings and abuse committed by anti-Qaddafi forces in Libya, urged swift action in locating and arresting Mr. Qaddafi.
“The gruesome killing of Muammar Qaddafi last week underscores the urgency of ensuring that his son, Seif al-Islam, be promptly handed over,” said Richard Dicker, director of the international justice program at Human Rights Watch.
Unconfirmed news accounts from Libya and Niger have said that both Mr. Qaddafi and Mr. Sanousi, the former minister, had sought refuge in neighboring Mali and may be under the protection of the Tuareg tribesmen there who had good relations with the Qaddafi family.
Another uncorroborated account in Beeld, an Afrikaans-language South African newspaper, said that Mr. Qaddafi might be traveling under the protection of South African mercenaries, Agence France-Presse reported.
Mr. Moreno-Ocampo also said that there was “a group of mercenaries” willing to move Mr. Qaddafi to an African country where the government does not cooperate with the international court. In an interview with The Associated Press before boarding a plane to China, the prosecutor said that country was “probably Zimbabwe.”
Among Seif al-Islam’s six brothers, Muatassim and Khamis, military officers who commanded their own brigades, died during the uprising. The anti-Qaddafi forces said they killed Khamis in August as he and his bodyguards tried to break through a rebel checkpoint. Muatassim died while in the custody of former rebel fighters following the battle for Surt last week.
As of a week ago, another military brother, Saadi, had sought refuge in Niger. Of Colonel Qaddafi’s other children, Mohammed, Hannibal and his daughter, Aisha, fled to neighboring Algeria, and Seif al-Arab was believed to have been killed in an air raid in Tripoli.
Marlise Simons contributed reporting from Paris, and Adam Nossiter from Tripoli, Libya.
US Envoy: Libya Death Toll Could Be 30,000
Says Reliable Numbers Will Come Once Troops Are 'On the Ground'
by Jason Ditz, April 27, 2011 Antiwar Forum Speaking today at the State Department, US Ambassador to Libya Gene Cretz said he had seen various estimates of the overall death toll of the violence in Libya, and that the toll could be as high as 30,000. The figure is dramatically higher than rebel estimates, which put the toll at 8,000 as of mid-March. Perhaps more interesting, Cretz said that he didn’t think the US could get an accurate number “until we really get more hands-on experience on the ground.” The administration has repeatedly denied plans to send ground troops to Libya. The tolls inside Libya are virtually impossible to verify at this point, with foreign media being kept largely sequestered from the action. Even the 8,000 toll from March was seen as surprisingly high, however, making the 30,000 toll far more than anyone likely expected. Though still officially the ambassador, Cretz has been in DC since January, when he was recalled by the Obama Administration. Officials insisted it was unrelated, but the move came in the wake of Wiki Leaks cables in which he mocked Gadhafi. --------------------- U.S.: Libya death toll as high as 30,000 As many as 30,000 may have died in the conflict thus far. (AP) (CBS/AP) WASHINGTON — The death toll in Libya after more than two months of violence could reach as high as 30,000, an Obama administration official said Wednesday. Gene Cretz, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, said it is very hard to gauge how many people have died in strongman Moammar Gadhafi's crackdown on protesters and the subsequent fighting between rebels and pro-government forces. But he said that U.S. officials have seen figures ranging from 10,000 to 30,000. "I don't think we're probably going to get an accurate number until we really get more hands-on experience on the ground," Cretz told reporters at the State Department in Washington. "We just have no sense of the scale of this thing until it's over." As recently as two weeks ago, Libyan rebel leaders told Al Jazeera they estimated the death toll to be around 10,000 or so. Many observers say it will be impossible to know the exact human cost of the fighting in Libya for some time, as human rights groups and journalists have been limited in their ability to report in the country because of the dangers presented by the back-and-forth fighting between the rebels and government troops. Cretz said the U.S. keeps getting reports of "bodies that have been uncovered on the beach" as it maintains communication with contacts it established when it operated an embassy in Libya. He also described Libya's Transitional National Council in Benghazi as a "political body that is worth our support," suggesting that the United States could provide further assistance to individuals seeking to set up an alternative system governance to Qaddafi's 42-year dictatorship. However, Cretz stopped short of saying the administration would recognize the council as Libya's legitimate government as NATO allies France and Italy have done. He spoke a day after the administration eased its sanctions on Libya, allowing opposition forces to sell the oil it controls and use the income to buy weapons and other supplies, while the White House ordered the expenditure of up to $25 million in surplus, non lethal goods and commodities to support and protect the rebels.
எட்டு மாதத்தில் நேற்றோ படுகொலை செய்த லிபிய மக்கள் குறைந்த பட்சம் எண்பதினாயிரம் ENB
ராஜபக்சவை வென்ற ராஜ ராஜ சோழன் ஒபாமா,
துனூசியாவில் ஆரம்பித்த புதிய ஆட்சிமுறைக்கான மக்கள் கலகம், பரந்து விரிந்து பரவி வியாபித்து, லிபியாவில் 2011 மாசி மாத நடுப்பகுதியில் வெடித்தது.
அப்போது அது தேசியக் கலகமாகவே தொடங்கியது. லிபியத் தளபதி கடாபியின் 40 ஆண்டுகால ஆட்சிமுறையின் அதிர்ப்தியின் வெளியீடாக இருந்தது.இதில் ஒரு மாறுதலை வேண்டி நின்றது.லிபியாவின் கண மோதலில் வீழ்த்தப்பட்டிருந்த பெங்காசிக் கணம் திருப்போலிக் கணத்துக்கு எதிராக கலகத்தில் இறங்கியது.
இந்த மோதல் எகிப்து மாதிரியான ஒரு மக்கள் இயக்கமாக வளர்ந்து விடாது தடுக்க ஏகாதிபத்தியவாதிகள் முயன்றனர்.
இதனை மூடிமறைக்க ~ பெங்காசியைக் காப்போம் `` என முழங்கி லிபிய நவீனகாலனியாதிக்க மறுபங்கீட்டில் குதித்தனர்.
பங்குனி மாதம் 17ம் திகதி இந்த ஏகாதிபத்திய ஆக்கிரமிப்புக்கு ஐ,நா,சபை அங்கீகாரம் வழங்கியது. ரசியாவும், சீனாவும் இதைத் தடுக்கவில்லை.
இந்த சர்வதேச சமூக ஆதரவுடன் நேற்றோ படையின் கொலை வெறி ஆக்கிரமிப்புத் தாண்டவம் லிபியாவில் ஆரம்பமானது.
இந்த ``மனிதாபிமான நடவடிக்கை``(முள்ளிவாய்க்காலில் ராஜபக்ச உபயோகித்த அதே பதம்)படுகொலை செய்த லிபிய மக்களின் எண்ணிக்கை எவ்வளவு?
சித்திரை மாத பிற்பகுதியில் - நேற்றோ தாக்குதல் தொடங்கி ஒரே மாதத்தில் லிபிய மக்களின் உயிரிழப்பு முப்பதினாயிரத்தை தாண்டும் என அமெரிக்காவின் லிபியத் தூதுவர் உத்தியோகபூர்வமாக அறிவித்து அறிக்கை வெளியிட்டுள்ளார்.
பங்குனியில் தொடங்கிய நேற்றோ தாக்குதல் ஐப்பசிவரை வரை தொடர்ந்தது. அதாவது இந்த அறிக்கை வெளிவந்ததைத் தொடர்ந்த ஆறு மாதப் படுகொலைகளை இதனுடன் இணைத்துக்கொள்ள வேண்டும்.
சர்வதேச சமூகம் படுகொலைகளைத் தொடர்வதில் கடைப்பிடிக்கிற தீவிரத்தின் காரணமாக சடலங்களை எண்ணி கணக்குச் சொல்ல நேர அவகாசம் இல்லாதுள்ளது!
நீதிச் சபைகளின் கணித சமன்பாடுகள் கூட வர்க்க சார்பால் பிறழ்வுண்டு கிடக்கிறது!
ஆக ஏகாதிபத்தியவாதிகள் ``மனிதாபிமான நடவடிக்கை`` என்கிற பெயரால் எட்டு மாதங்களில் படுகொலை செய்த லிபிய மக்களின் எண்ணிக்கை
எண்பதினாயிரம் என எமது மிக நியாயமான அரசியல் தர்க்கத்தின் அடிப்படையில் பிரகடனம் செய்கின்றோம்!
( In the mean time we have to say its not a BODY COUNT ACCOUNT) அதேவேளையில் லிபியச் சடலங்களின் துல்லியமான கணக்கெடுப்பின் அடிப்படையில் இப் பிரகடனம் அமையவில்லை என்பதையும் தெரிவிக்க நாம் கடமைப்பட்டுள்ளோம்.
இது முள்ளிவாய்க்கால் இனப்படுகொலையின் இரண்டு மடங்கு!!
இதனால், தேசியப் படுகொலைகளில் ராஜபக்சவை வென்ற ராஜ ராஜ சோழன் ஒபாமா என பிரகடனம் செய்கின்றோம்.
"This is my will. I, Muammar bin Mohammad bin Abdussalam bi Humayd bin Abu Manyar bin Humayd bin Nayil al Fuhsi Gaddafi, do swear that there is no other God but Allah and that Mohammad is God's Prophet, peace be upon him. I pledge that I will die as Muslim.
Should I be killed, I would like to be buried, according to Muslim rituals, in the clothes I was wearing at the time of my death and my body unwashed, in the cemetery of Sirte, next to my family and relatives.
I would like that my family, especially women and children, be treated well after my death. The Libyan people should protect its identity, achievements, history and the honourable image of its ancestors and heroes. The Libyan people should not relinquish the sacrifices of the free and best people.
I call on my supporters to continue the resistance, and fight any foreign aggressor against Libya, today, tomorrow and always.
Let the free people of the world know that we could have bargained over and sold out our cause in return for a personal secure and stable life. We received many offers to this effect but we chose to be at the vanguard of the confrontation as a badge of duty and honour.
Even if we do not win immediately, we will give a lesson to future generations that choosing to protect the nation is an honour and selling it out is the greatest betrayal that history will remember forever despite the attempts of the others to tell you otherwise."
சர்வதேசிய நிலையில் உமர் முக்தாவின் வீரப்புதல்வனாக, அரபுத்தேசியவாதி நாசரின் அசல் வாரிசாக, உள்நாட்டில் லிபிய கணம் ஒன்றின் மேலாதிக்க அரசதிகார இராணுவ சர்வாதிகாரியும், சந்தர்ப்பவாதியுமான தளபதி கடாபி, ராஜபக்சவோடு கூட்டமைத்தது- அதிகார நலனின் அடிப்படையில்- நியாயப்படுத்தப்படக் கூடியது! எந்தளவிலும் இது நியாயமானதாக இல்லாது இருப்பினும் கூட!
ஆனால் விடுதலைப் போராளிகளே! மறத்தமிழ் வீரர்களே!!
யாரோடு கூட்டமைக்க தமிழீழ ஏழை முஸ்லிம் விவசாயிகளைப் படுகொலை செய்தீர்கள்?
ஈழ முஸ்லிம்களை அவர்கள் தாய் மண்ணிலிருந்து ஏன் விரட்டியடிதீர்கள்?
எங்கள் கூட்டுக்குள் குடியிருந்த குயில்களை ஏன் கொத்திக் கலைத்தீர்கள்?
இப் படுபாதகச் செயலுக்கு தங்கள் பதில் என்ன?
சொல்ல மாட்டீர்கள், நாங்கள் சொல்கிறோம்,
அகத்தில் குறுமினவாதமும் புறத்தில் நாம் பாகிஸ்தானின் எதிரிகள், இந்தியாவின் நண்பர்கள் என்று எடுத்துரைப்பதுதானே உங்கள் படுகொலைகளின் குறிக்கோள்! இதன் மூலம் இந்தியாவை அணைத்துக்கொண்டு இமாலயத் தமிழீழத்தை அடையலாம் என்று தானே மூடர்களே கருதினீர்கள்.
இவ்வாறுதானே உங்கள் வெளிவிவகார சந்தர்ப்பவாத மூடக் கொள்கை செயற்பட்டு வந்தது; இதைத்தானே ``காய் நகர்த்தல்`` என்கிற சூதாட்ட மொழியில் உரைத்தீர்கள், இவ்வாறுதானே விடுதலைப் போரை சூதாட்டமாக மாற்றினீர்கள்.
அன்ரன் பாலசிங்கச் சூதாடிகளை தேசத்தின் குரல் ஆக்கினீர்கள் !
உண்மையா-இல்லையா?
இதற்கு ஈழமக்கள் கொடுத்த கோர விலை தானே முள்ளிவாய்க்கால்!
எத்தனை நாள் உங்கள் தமிழ் முக்காடுகளுக்குள் மூடி மறைந்திருப்பீர்கள்?
எத்தனை நாள் தேசியத்துக்கும் விதேசியத்துக்கும் இடையில்
லிபியத் தேசியத் தலைவரும் தளபதியுமான கடாபி அவர்களின் கோரப்படுகொலை
80 ஆண்டுகால ஏகாதிபத்திய ஆபிரிக்க காலனியாதிக்கத்தின் குரூர முகத்தை பளிச்சிடுக்காட்டும் வெளிச்ச வீடாகும்
The picture on Gaddafi's chest is of a Libyan resistance fighter, Omar al-Mukhtar, hanged by the Italian colonialists in 1931. Gaddafi even bought along the man's elderly son
ஒரு முஸ்லீமின் இறுதிக்கிரிகை சமயச் சட்டப்படி 24 மணி நேரத்துக்குள் முடிக்கப்பட வேண்டும்.
NTC ஏகாதிபத்திய கருங்காலிக் கும்பல் இந்தக் கடமையை நிறைவேற்றவில்லை.
பாவனையில் இல்லாத பழைய இறைச்சிக்கடைப் பகுதி ஒன்றில் பிணத்தைக் காட்சிக்கு வைத்து ஜனநாயகத்துக்கு பிரச்சாரம் செய்கிறது!
துர்நாற்றத்தைத் தவிர்க்க``மக்களுக்கு``சுவாசப் பாதுகாப்பு கவசங்களைக் கூட வழங்கியிருக்கிறது!
எங்கு புதைப்பது என்பதில் சர்ச்சையாம்! பகிரங்கமாகப் புதைத்தால் அந்த இடம் வழிபாட்டுத்தலம் ஆகி விடுமாம்; `` 42 ஆண்டு கால சர்வாதிகாரிக்கு``!!
அதனால் இரகசியமாகப் புதைக்க ஜனநாயக விவாதம் நடக்கிறதாம்!
நாளை ஞாயிறு உதிப்பது லிபியாவின் சுதந்திர தினமாம்!
``இது ஒரு புதினமாம் தோழி, நரியை விழுங்கிச்சாம் கோழி``.
Gaddafi, in meat locker, still divides Libya
Fri Oct 21, 2011 7:27pm BST
* Arguments over disposal of body held in market cold store
* Reuters reporter sees body with bullet in side of head
* New leaders, Western backers hail dawn of new Libya
* Challenge now to impose order on array of armed groups (Adds delayed liberation date, NATO comment, details, edits)
By Rania El Gamal
MISRATA, Libya, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's body lay in an old meat store on Friday as arguments over a burial, and his killing after being captured, dogged efforts by Libya's new leaders to make a formal start on a new era of democracy.
With a bullet wound visible through the familiar curly hair, the corpse seen by Reuters in Misrata bore other marks of the violent end to a violent life, still being broadcast to the world a day later on looping snatches of gory cellphone video.
The interim prime minister offered a tale of "crossfire" to explain the fallen strongman's death after he was dragged, still alive, from a storm drain in his home town of Sirte. But seeing him being beaten, while demanding legal rights, to the sound of gunfire, many assume he was simply summarily shot.
Gaddafi's wife, who found refuge in neighbouring Algeria while her husband and several sons kept their word to fight to the death, was reported to have demanded an inquiry from the United Nations. The U.N. human rights arm said one was merited.
Controversy over the final moments of a man who once held the world in thrall with a mixture of eccentricity and thuggery raised questions about the ability of Libya's National Transitional Council to control the men with guns, and disquiet among Western allies about respect for human rights among those who claimed to be fighting for just those ideals.
The body appeared to be the latest object of wrangling among the factions of fighters who overthrew him -- along with control of weapons, of ministries and of Libya's oil wealth.
Libyans, and the Western allies who backed the revolt that ended Gaddafi's 42-year rule two months ago, have indicated their impatience to begin what the United States declared was a democratic "new era". NATO was expected to agree on Friday to start winding down its seven-month air campaign over Libya.
But regional and other rivalries have been holding up the disposal of the corpse of Gaddafi, who was seized by fighters on Thursday, and a formal declaration of Libya's "liberation".
BURIAL DISPUTE
"They are not agreeing on the place of burial. Under Islam he should have been buried quickly but they have to reach an agreement whether he is to be buried in Misrata, Sirte, or somewhere else," one senior NTC official told Reuters.
Others said talks were under way with members of Gaddafi's tribe to dispose of him in secret, avoiding creating a shrine.
In Misrata, a local commander, Addul-Salam Eleiwa, showed off the body, torso bare, on a mattress inside a metal-lined cold-store by a market. He said: "He will get his rights, like any Muslim. His body will be washed and treated with dignity. I expect he will be buried in a Muslim cemetery within 24 hours."
But amid the rumour and counter-rumour swirling between Sirte, Gaddafi's last bastion, and Misrata, whose siege at his hands made it a symbol of resistance, nothing was certain.
Interim oil minister Ali Tarhouni said he urged colleagues to hold off burying Gaddafi for several days. Dozens of people, many with cellphone cameras, filed in to see that he was dead.
"There's something in our hearts we want to get out," said Abdullah al-Suweisi, 30, as he waited. "It is the injustice of 40 years. There is hatred inside. We want to see him."
In a small triumph for those who were inspired by Arab Spring uprisings elsewhere to launch the rebellion in February in Benghazi, the eastern city was chosen as the venue for NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil to announce that the whole country was liberated. But the planned announcement was delayed from Saturday to Sunday.
That will set a clock ticking on a tentative timetable for a transitional government and for drafting a constitution, under which full elections would, Libyans hope, take place within a year or two.
There has been tension between the easterners and leaders from Misrata, Tripoli and other western cities, who take credit for overrunning the capital in August and complain they are under-represented in an interim government which has yet to move fully to Tripoli. Under the post-liberation plan, that is supposed to happen within weeks, though some in Benghazi, home to much of the oil industry, are keen to decentralise power.
RISKS OF DIVISION
As shown by the delay over burying Gaddafi, differences of opinion in a country that spent 42 years obeying the whims of one man take time to work out - time that worries some observers in light of the heavy weaponry that abounds in Libya.
The uncertain whereabouts of Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi's son and heir-apparent, believed by NTC officials to have escaped from besieged Sirte and be heading for a southern border, may also distract from the process of switching from war to peace.
And without the glue of hatred for Gaddafi and his clan, some fear a descent into the kind of strife that bedevils Iraq after Saddam Hussein, even if Libya lacks its sectarian divide. Optimists point to how, in two months of controlling Tripoli, the Libyan factions have argued but, so far, not fought.
"Can an inclusive, effective national government be formed? Yes, if factions can avoid fighting," Jon Marks, chairman of Britain's Cross Border Information consultancy said. "So it's all about the politics, and the $64,000 question is whether the new polity can retain the overall consensual feel you had during the revolution, or whether dangerous splits will occur."
Long-standing regional rivalries in a country only put together under Italian colonial rule in the 1930s are part of a complex of tribal, ethnic and other divisions which Gaddafi exploited at times to control the thinly populated country of six million and its substantial oil and gas resources.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received first news of Gaddafi's capture in a phone message. "Wow," she exclaimed, looking into a phone handed to her by an aide in Kabul.
Speaking in Islamabad on Friday, Clinton said Gaddafi's death marked the start of a "new era" for the Libyan people.
Nabil Elaraby, chief of the Arab League which in March had given NATO actions a regional seal of approval, called for unity: Libyans should "overcome the wounds of the past, look towards the future away from sentiments of hatred and revenge."
China echoed calls for unity. It said there was a need for "an inclusive political process".
OIL INTERESTS
Russia, which like China was cool to NATO's help for the rebels, may share its concern for investments after a senior Libyan oil official said representatives of Moscow's Gazprom had been summoned to Tripoli to explain what he called breaches of commitments made in contracts it signed under Gaddafi.
Companies from France and Britain, which drove the initial Western support for the rebellion, hope that will stand them in good stead as Libya's new leaders start allocating new deals.
Among those disappointed by his death were advocates of the International Criminal Court, which had hoped to try him for crimes against humanity, and relatives of those who died in the Lockerbie airliner bombing, still looking for answers more than two decades after a presumed Libyan bomb downed the jumbo jet.
"Investigating whether or not his death was a war crime might be unpopular," Amnesty International's Claudio Cordone said. "However, the NTC must apply the same standards to all, affording justice even to those who categorically denied it to others. Bringing Gaddafi to trial would have finally given his numerous victims answers as to why they were targeted and an opportunity
ஒபாமுவுக்கான தமிழர்களே,
