Monday, February 28, 2011

news

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Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi flatly denied Monday the existence of the protests threatening to end his 41-year rule, as reports of fighting between government forces and rebels raged another day.

In a joint interview with ABC News' Christiane Amanpour and the BBC, Gadhafi also denied using force against his people, Amanpour reported. Excerpts of the interview were posted on the networks' websites.

"No demonstration at all in the streets," he said, speaking at a restaurant in Tripoli.

Told by the BBC's Jeremy Bowen that he had seen demonstrators in the streets that morning, Gadhafi asked, "Are they supporting us?"

"They love me, all my people with me, they love me all. They will die to protect me, my people," he said.

Government forces have repeatedly clashed with demonstrators over the past two weeks in Libya, fired on crowds and at times shot indiscriminately at people in the streets, numerous witnesses have told CNN. The death toll has topped 1,000, according to an estimate from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.



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Video testimonials from Libya Soon after Gadhafi's interview, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said the Libyan strongman sounded "delusional."

"And when he can laugh in talking to American and international journalists while he is slaughtering his own people, it only underscores how unfit he is to lead and how disconnected he is from reality," she said.

Gadhafi's regime has lost control of parts of the country to rebel forces, and with each passing day more Libyan officials around the world have defected, joining calls for his ouster.

The use of the term "rebel" to describe the anti-government forces is apt, said Kurt Volker, former U.S. ambassador to NATO and now a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Forces.

"In Egypt, you didn't have a force that was developed; you had protesters who were demonstrating against the government and the government relented," he told CNN in a telephone interview. "Here, you actually have a government that retains force at its disposal and you have demonstrators joined by elements of the military that have forces at their disposal. So it really has become an armed rebellion."

Even as Gadhafi sought to project confidence Monday, reports came in that a military jet bombed a military base in an area controlled by rebel forces.

The base is near Ajdabiya, 90 miles south of Benghazi, a stronghold of government opponents. Some bases in the area have fallen into the hands of protesters as more members of the military have abandoned Gadhafi's regime and joined demonstrations.

Several soldiers told CNN they switched their allegiance after refusing to use weapons against peaceful demonstrators.

CNN saw the military jet fly overhead and heard the sounds of explosions. Witnesses reported a bombing at the base.

But Libyan state television later denied any such bombing had occurred. The Temporary General Committee for Defense said reports that the Libyan air force conducted strikes on the ammunition depots in the cities of Ajdabiya and Rajima were false, state TV reported.

While CNN has staff in some cities, the network can not independently confirm reports for many areas in Libya. CNN has gathered information through telephone interviews with witnesses.

Pro-Gadhafi forces also tried to attack a radio station in Misrata, a city controlled by protesters, a witness said. A military chopper with soldiers on board has tried to land a couple of times over the past three days, but the opposition fired at the soldiers and kept them away, the witness said.

The international community, meanwhile, launched new efforts Monday to pressure Gadhafi to halt the violence.



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"He has lost his legitimacy when he declared war on his people," Secretary-General Ban said about embattled Libyan leader, urging him to heed the call of his people.

Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan said the United States is "repositioning" naval and air forces in the region to be prepared for any option that it may need to exercise. He would not comment on whether any ground forces are being put on alert or having leaves cancelled because of Libya.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, of the U.N. Human Rights Council that the United States is exploring "all possible options," and that "nothing is off the table so long as the Libyan government continues to threaten and kill Libyan citizens."

"Colonel Gadhafi and those around him must be held accountable for these acts, which violate international legal obligations and common decency. Through their actions, they have lost the legitimacy to govern. And the people of Libya have made themselves clear: It is time for Gadhafi to go, now, without further violence or delay," she said.

Asked at a news conference whether the U.S. planned an imminent military response, Clinton said, "No."

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday that "exile is certainly one option" for Gadhafi. Carney also said the U.S. government is considering the possibility of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya.

Also Monday, the United States became the latest country to announce it had frozen Gadhafi-related assets. The U.S. government froze at least $30 billion in Libyan government assets under U.S jurisdiction after enacting sanctions on Friday, a Treasury official said. It marked the largest amount ever blocked under a sanctions program, according to Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen.

In Tripoli, protesters stayed off the streets, telling CNN they feared violence. Government officials spread word that thousands of people could die if the popular uprising continues. On the 14th day of protests, there appeared to be a stalemate. Some in Tripoli told CNN they feared their protest movement was losing momentum.

But around the world, support for the protests was growing.

Yet another prominent Libyan official, the country's ambassador to South Africa, added his voice to the calls for Gadhafi to end his nearly 42-year grip on power. Gadhafi "should take the ultimate decision to step down in the interest of Libya," Abdullah Alzubedi told reporters in Pretoria.

The European Union's high representative for foreign affairs, Catherine Ashton, said the U.N. Human Rights Council "has a grave responsibility to ensure that our often-stated intentions are translated into real actions and real progress." Speaking at the meeting in Geneva, Ashton said, "What matters in the end is not the number of resolutions passed but results in the real world."

In an interview with CNN, Ashton said stopping the violence means trying "to persuade the people concerned that they will be held to account, that there will be the International Criminal Court, that we will stop their assets being moved, that we will hold them to account for their actions. That's what we do as an international community. That's what we have to make clear. And there's no doubt in my mind that actually they do listen to what's being said."

The U.N. Security Council over the weekend voted for tough restrictions and possible war crimes charges against the Libyan regime. The Security Council measures -- which include an arms embargo, an asset freeze and travel bans for Gadhafi and members of his family and associates -- also referred the situation unfolding in Libya to the International Criminal Court.

On Sunday, Gadhafi criticized the Security Council resolution, telling private Serbian station Pink TV by phone that council members "took a decision based on media reports that are based abroad." He added, "If the Security Council wants to know about something, they should have sent a fact-finding committee."

The protests, which began February 15, have been fueled largely by people demanding freedom and decrying high unemployment.

As the 68-year-old Gadhafi has appeared increasingly cornered, some Libyan officials have begun to discuss openly what a post-Gadhafi Libyan government would look like.

Over the weekend, Libya's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Dabbashi, indicated he and fellow diplomats support "in principle" a caretaker administration under the direction of former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil.

Jalil quit February 21 to protest the "bloody situation" and "use of excessive force" against unarmed protesters, according to Libyan newspaper Quryna.

Dabbashi told CNN Monday that Gadhafi has asked for a change in Libya's U.N. representation, though the diplomat vowed to stay on to represent the people.

About 100,000 people have fled Libya to Tunisia or Egypt in roughly the past week, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees said Sunday, citing reports from the Tunisian and Egyptian governments. The evacuees include Tunisians, Egyptians, Libyans and many from Asian countries.

Tunisia and Egypt are the two countries that have seen their leaders overthrown in the wave of protests that has swept through the Arab world over the past several weeks.

Tunisians on the border with Libya waved pre-Gadhafi-era Libyan flags in support of the opposition.

The Tunisian army, charities and ordinary Tunisians were trying to help Libyans on the border. Refugees said Tunisians were offering them food, water and the use of phones.

the libias gobernor is using the force to don´t loose his power in the government the rebels want him to leave the government so they can start a civil war at any time and there are some people that said that the government haved maked a bomber go to destroy some places
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Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egypt's attorney general issued an order Monday freezing the assets of former President Hosni Mubarak and his family and prohibiting them from leaving the country.

Attorney General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud ordered the moves after Mustafa Bakri, a member of Egypt's parliament who lost his seat after filing corruption cases against various officials, provided documents indicating Mubarak's family has secret bank accounts totaling more than 200 million Egyptian pounds ($147 million), according to EgyNews.

"I submitted the corruption documents on Sunday night and on Monday morning I was called in by the public prosecutor for investigation, and he asked me to rush to his office." Bakri told CNN. "The attorney general, himself, went over the documents in my possession and then issued his orders to bar Mubarak and his family from travelling and to impound their assets."

Mahmoud ordered the freeze for property owned by Mubarak, his wife Suzanne, his two sons Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, and their wives and children, EgyNews reported. The seizures include "movable properties, real estate, stocks, bonds and various financial assets."

It wasn't immediately clear how the order differed from a similar one reported last week.

Mubarak, through his attorneys and in official filings, has described reports of immense wealth as "fabrications and baseless rumors."

But Bakri said the documents he provided to Mahmoud "are the first solid and concrete evidence on the fortune collected illegally by Mubarak and his family."

Mubarak, who resigned February 11 after 18 days of protest against his rule, is believed to be staying at his residence in Sharm el-Sheikh.

the persons in egypt the exgoverner or the candidate get his accounts and son´s acccounts freezed to don´t leave the country for make some justce
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CNN) -- The United Nations on Monday accused Belarus of defying an arms embargo against Ivory Coast by delivering three attack helicopters to the disputed president of the West African nation.

A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the helicopters and other related materiel "are reportedly being delivered at Yamoussoukro," the nation's capital, for Laurent Gbagbo's forces.

Ban is pushing for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the matter, the spokesman said.

"The first delivery arrived reportedly on a flight which landed this (Sunday) evening and additional flights are scheduled for Monday," the spokesman said in a statement.

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Monday afternoon that U.N. officials on the ground in Ivory Coast were unable to confirm whether the delivery was made, saying they were forced to withdraw from the airport before they were able to verify the report.

U.N. officials later said that the team sent to investigate the possible breach of sanctions was fired upon Monday by local security forces in the Ivory Coast.

Gbagbo, the nation's incumbent leader, is clinging to the presidency despite an international call for him to step down after an electoral commission declared challenger Alassane Ouattara the winner of a November election.

The deliveries violate an arms embargo that has been in place since 2004, Ban's spokesman said.

Andrei Savinykh, a spokesman for the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, vehemently denied the allegation, calling it part of a campaign of "lies and slander" against Belarus.

A "destructive information attack is being carried out" against Belarus, said Savinykh, according to the Belarus state-run Belta news agency.

Violence in Ivory Coast escalated sharply over the past week, after four African heads of state left Abidjan. They had been given a mandate by the African Union to find a "binding solution" to the post-election crisis in Ivory Coast.

Gbagbo and Ouattara supporters have clashed in the central cities, Yamoussoukro and Daoukro, in addition to ongoing fighting in Abidjan.

Ouattara is holed up in the Golf hotel in Abidjan under the protection of U.N. peacekeepers.

that the u.n. said that one candidate to th epresidents charge send 3 attack helicopters to a persons house or some place.

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