Qadhafi asks Obama to end air strikes in a letter

AP

Wed, 06/04/2011 - 23:40

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Washington -- Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi appealed directly to President Barack Obama on Wednesday to end what Qadhafi called "an unjust war," and he wished Obama good luck in his bid for re-election next year.

"You are a man who has enough courage to annul a wrong and mistaken action," Gadhafi wrote in a rambling, three-page letter to Obama obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday. "I am sure that you are able to shoulder the responsibility for that."

The White House confirmed the letter, but top officials shrugged it off.

"I don't think there is any mystery about what is expected from Mr. Qadhafi at this time," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said, repeating US and allied demands that Qadhafi's forces pull back and cease attacks.

Rebels and pro-government forces waged nearly stalemate battles in Libya, while a former US lawmaker made an unendorsed private trip to Tripoli to try to convince Qadhafi to step down. An Obama administration envoy continued meeting with Libyan opposition figures in the rebel-held city of Benghazi, with no decision on whether to increase US help for the rebels seeking Qadhafi's ouster.

The letter was sent to the State Department and forwarded immediately to the White House.

Qadhafi implored Obama to stop the NATO-led air campaign, which he called an "unjust war against a small people of a developing country."

"To serving world peace...Friendship between our peoples...and for the sake of economic, and security cooperation against terror, you are in a position to keep Nato (NATO) off the Libyan affair for good," Qadhafi wrote in the letter.

"I am sure that you are able to shoulder the responsibility for that."

Neither White House press secretary Jay Carney nor State Department spokesman Mark Toner would discuss the details of the letter.

Qadhafi told Obama that a democratic society could not be built through the use of missiles and aircraft. He also repeated his claim that the rebels seeking his ouster are members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network.

Addressing Obama as "our son" and "excellency," Qadhafi said that his country had been hurt more "morally" than "physically" by the NATO campaign.

The letter, composed in formal but stilted English, includes numerous spelling and grammatical errors.

"Our dear son, Excellency, Baraka Hussein Abu oumama, your intervention is the name of the USA is a must, so that Nato (NATO) would withdraw finally from the Libyan affair," Qadhafi wrote. "Libya should be left to Libyans within the African union frame."

Qadhafi said his country had already been unfairly subjected to "a direct military armed aggression" ordered by then-President Ronald Reagan, who famously called the leader the "Mad Dog of the Middle East," in 1986, as well as earlier rounds of US and international sanctions.

Although he listed a litany of complaints, Qadhafi said he bears no ill will toward Obama in the letter, which was dated 5 April 2011 in Tripoli and is signed by "Mu'aumer Qaddaffi, Leader of the Revolution."

"We have been hurt more morally (than) physically because of what had happened against us in both deeds and words by you," he wrote. "Despite all this, you will always remain our son whatever happened. We still pray that you continue to be president of the USA. We Endeavour and hope that you will gain victory in the new election campaigne."

Meanwhile, former congressman Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican who has visited Libya twice before, arrived in Tripoli on Wednesday at Qadhafi's invitation. Weldon said he is on a private mission to urge the Libyan leader to step down.

Weldon was in Tripoli as US envoy Chris Stevens was meeting rebels in their de facto capital, Benghazi, to gauge their intentions and capabilities.

Qadhafi has been widely excluded from international efforts to broker a peace plan, with rebels insisting that his four-decade rule must end. Weldon would be one of the few high-profile Westerners to meet with Qadhafi since the rebellion began in February.

However, the State Department dismissed the significance of Weldon's visit, saying he had been warned of the dangers of traveling to Libya, was not traveling on behalf of the administration and not carrying any message to Qadhafi from Washington.

"I don't know if it is helpful or unhelpful," Toner said of the trip. "He is not representing the US government."

Stevens, the US envoy to the opposition, held a second day of talks with opposition figures in Benghazi aimed at determining exactly how the administration could assist them.

"We hope that he will come away with a clear picture of the opposition so we can make decisions going forward," Toner said. The US is considering giving the opposition financial assistance and non-lethal aid but has yet to make a decision on whether to recognize their transitional council as the legitimate government of Libya, something that US allies France and Italy, along with Qatar, have already done.

The subject of aid to and recognition of the opposition was expected to be high on the agenda of a meeting between Clinton and Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini later Wednesday in Washington.

The rebels, aided by UN-authorized airstrikes intended to protect civilians from Qadhafi's forces, have maintained control of much of the eastern half of Libya since early in the uprising, while Qadhafi has clung to much of the west. Qadhafi has been putting out feelers for a cease-fire, but he refuses to step down.

Neither government forces nor the rebels have made any serious gains in recent days and the conflict has shifted to smaller objectives on both sides such as control of the key oil port of Brega, where fighting has flared on the outskirts.

On Wednesday, rebel forces gathered outside Brega but made no clear move to advance. Many posed for photos for the gaggle of foreign photographers. One young rebel dropped a grenade on the road as his pickup truck sped by and then sheepishly got out and picked it up as the crowd looked on in concern.

Rebel leaders have complained that NATO airstrikes are coming too slow to give them a clear battlefield edge. But NATO and US commanders acknowledge that pro-Qadhafi units have frustrated the air campaign by moving into civilian areas and new NATO tactics are needed.

"When there's a tank with dozens of people around about it, of innocent civilians, the best thing in that stage is to not to drop a bomb on the tank," said British Rear Adm. Russell Harding, deputy commander of the NATO operation, at a press conference in Naples, Italy. "So there's a limit, a physical limit, because we're not allowed boots on the ground."

Harding said NATO had flown more than 850 missions in five days -- including a steady rise in daily sorties since Monday -- but suggested that it was not NATO's job to satisfy rebel demands.

For the moment, it appears Qadhafi forces are concentrating on Misrata, 200km southeast of Tripoli and the only major rebel-held city outside their eastern enclave.

A rebel spokesman said Misrata civilians have fled to several areas along the coast that are farthest from the fighting.

Former Libyan military officers who have joined the opposition were trying to keep untrained fighters from advancing from the eastern gateway city of Ajdabiya toward Brega. But that was causing tensions within the rebel ranks.

Travel ban lifted for leaders of Islamic groups‏

Arabic Edition

Thu, 07/04/2011 - 12:08

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Leaders of various Islamic groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, are no longer banned from traveling abroad after the Interior Ministry removed their names from travel ban and watch lists, sources said.

Sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Muslim Brotherhood General Guide Mohamed Badie and all of the group’s Guidance Bureau leaders and delegates and several members of the group’s Shura Council were removed from the lists, including several Brotherhood leaders who live abroad.

Others who had recieved court verdicts against them were not removed from the lists, but efforts are being made to annul the rulings or retry their cases.

The travel ban lists had also included leaders of Jama’a al-Islamiya such as Sheikh Karam Zuhdi and Dr. Najah Ibrahim, the group’s most prominent leaders among those who resigned two weeks ago.

The sources did not recall whether the ban was lifted for leaders of Islamic Jihad, and indicated that watch lists still some members who are living abroad. Among those still banned from travel are Ayman al-Zawahiri and leaders of the armed group living in Afghanistan, Pakistan and a number of European nations where they have political asylum or foreign citizenship.

Rebels say Qadhafi halts oil, Libya blames Britain

Reuters

Thu, 07/04/2011 - 12:08

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Tripoli -- Libya accused Britain of damaging an oil pipeline in an air strike, hours after rebels said government attacks had halted production of oil they hope to sell to finance their uprising.

"British warplanes have attacked, have carried out an air strike against the Sarir oilfield which killed three oilfield guards and other employees at the field were also injured," Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim told reporters.

There was no immediate comment from Britain's Ministry of Defense or from NATO, which is coordinating air strikes to protect civilians in Libya from Muammar Qadhafi's forces.

Kaim said the strike damaged a pipeline connecting the oilfields to the Marsa al-Hariga port. "There is no doubt this aggression...is against international law and is not covered by the UN resolution," he said.

Any damage to a pipeline leading to Marsa al-Hariga is likely to cause more harm to the rebels than to Qadhafi.

The Liberian-registered tanker Equator sailed from the port, near Tobruk, on Wednesday, apparently with the first cargo of crude sold by rebels since their uprising began in February.

A rebel spokesman had said Qadhafi artillery hit rebel-held oilfields in Misla and the Waha area on Tuesday and Wednesday, halting production.

No one on the rebel side was immediately available for comment on the latest allegations from Tripoli, which insisted the oil fields were under its control.

The rebels regained ground around the oil port of Brega on Wednesday but repeated accusations NATO was not doing enough to help them as Qadhafi's forces unleashed yet more mortar rounds, tank fire and artillery shells on the western city of Misrata.

A French minister said NATO air strikes in Libya risked getting "bogged down" and a top US official warned US lawmakers Libyan agents could be inside the United States and might try to launch retaliatory attacks.

"We want to make certain that we've identified these individuals to ensure no harm comes from them, knowing they may well have been associated with the Qadhafi regime," FBI Director Robert Mueller said.

Qadhafi himself appealed for a halt in the air campaign in a rambling three-page letter to US President Barack Obama bluntly dismissed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"Mr. Qadhafi knows what he must do," Clinton told a news conference with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, reiterating calls for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of his forces from cities they have stormed and his departure from Libya.

Misrata, Libya's third city, rose up with other towns against Muammar Qadhafi's rule in mid-February, and is now under siege by government troops after a violent crackdown put an end to most protests elsewhere in the west of the country.

Rebels who control eastern Libya are angry at what they perceive to be a scaling back of operations since NATO took over an air campaign, after an early onslaught led by the United States, France and Britain tilted the war in their favor.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Qadhafi forces were making it harder for alliance pilots to distinguish them from civilians by hunkering down in populated areas. "The situation is unclear. There is a risk of getting bogged down," he said.

Juppe told France Info radio he would address the issue of tactics shortly with the head of NATO, adding Misrata's ordeal "cannot go of." NATO has accused Qadhafi of using human shields to make targeting harder for its warplanes.

Civil war in the vast North African desert oil producer ignited in February when Qadhafi tried to crush pro-democracy rallies against his 41-year rule inspired by uprisings that have toppled or endangered other autocrats across the Arab World.

The head of Libya's rebel army has condemned NATO for its slowness in ordering air strikes to protect civilians, saying the alliance was "letting the people of Misrata die every day."

Juppe said: "We've formally requested that there be no collateral damage for the civilian population...That obviously makes operations more difficult."

But General Abdel Fattah Younes was adamant that Qadhafi was conducting massacres. "Day by day people are dying. Hundreds of families are being wiped off the face of the earth. Patience has its limits," he said.

Asked whether he found NATO's argument that it is trying to prevent civilian casualties convincing he said:

"No, it's not convincing at all. NATO has other means. I requested there be combat helicopters like Apaches and Tigers. These damage tanks and armored vehicles with exact precision without harming civilians."

NATO ON THE DEFENSIVE

Libyan officials deny attacking civilians in Misrata, saying they are fighting armed gangs linked to Al-Qaeda. Accounts from Misrata cannot be independently verified as Libyan authorities are not allowing journalists to report freely from there.

Rebel criticism has put the Western military alliance on the defensive, particularly over Misrata. Spokeswoman Carmen Romero said that "the pace of our operations continues unabated. The ambition and the position of our strikes has not changed."

NATO air strikes are targeting Qadhafi's military infrastructure but only to protect civilians, not to provide close air support for rebels, much to their dismay, as part of a no-fly zone mandated by the UN Security Council.

Relieving the siege of Misrata was a NATO priority but alliance officials conceded that Qadhafi's army was proving a resourceful and elusive target.

"The situation on the ground is constantly evolving. Qadhafi's forces are changing tactics, using civilian vehicles, hiding tanks in cities such as Misrata and using human shields to hide behind," Romero told reporters in Brussels.

Misrata on Wednesday faced another heavy bombardment.

"There was firing on three fronts today, the port in the east, the center around Tripoli street and the west of the city. Mortars, tank fire, and artillery were used to shell those areas," rebel Abdelsalam said by telephone.

"NATO needs to either launch a serious operation to take out all the heavy armored vehicles, including tanks...If they don't want to do this, they should provide us with weapons to do it ourselves."

Meanwhile, living conditions in Misrata worsened.

"People are panicking, especially women, children and old people. Most people left their homes for safer areas and found refuge with other families," Abdelsalam said, adding:

"No fruit and vegetables have been available in Misrata for over 25 days, bread is also difficult to find. People are scared to go out because of the snipers and the indiscriminate shelling. The upper-hand is still with Qadhafi's forces."

Taliban claims deadly Afghan raid

Co-ordinated suicide blast and gun assault in Kandahar province leave six security officers dead. Last Modified: 07 Apr 2011 10:43

Suicide bombers and armed men have stormed an Afghan police compound in Kandahar, setting off explosions and firing assault rifles in a co-ordinated attack, killing six members of the country's security forces. Thursday's attack began when four suicide bombers stormed the police complex, Zulmi Ayubi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told the Associated Press news agency. Three of the bombers blew themselves up, Ayubi said, while the fourth man exchanged fire with Afghan troops. However, a police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said several attackers were armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. Zalmai Ayoubi, a spokesman for the Kandahar governor's office, said three attackers were killed in the standoff. The complex is also used as an army and police recruitment centre. US Black Hawk helicopters and at least eight US armoured vehicles rushed to support dozens of Afghan troops battling the assailants at the three-building police complex. Major Randy Taylor, a spokesman for the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), told the AFP news agency that the attackers failed to gain access to the complex, despite trying to smuggle in a car bomb in a vehicle disguised as an ambulance. "I heard a blast and after that continuous fighting with rocket launchers," Ashrafullah Agha, Kandahar provincial policeman, told AP. After a third large explosion, Agha cut off the interview. Khan Mohammad Mujahid, Kandahar's police chief, said that four intelligence officers were killed in the fighting, along with an Afghan soldier and a police officer. He said 12 police were wounded. Taliban claim The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault. Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, told the AFP news agency that four of their fighters had entered the police centre, saying it was "currently on fire and there is a lot of smoke from the compound". The police complex sits near the main highway between Kandahar and the capital of Kabul, 148 miles to the north. A weapons training school and police literacy centre are located inside the complex. Kandahar is a Taliban stronghold that has seen some of the most intense fighting of the 'war on terror'. The attack is the latest to target Afghanistan's roughly 120,000-strong police, who will play a growing role in the country's security as international troops start a limited withdrawal from seven more peaceful areas in July. Also on Thursday, NATO announced that it had concluded what it described as a "significant operation" in mountainous eastern Kunar province, near the border with Pakistan. More than 80 fighters were killed after joint Afghan and international forces cleared four villages, NATO said. "The combined security force moved into the mountainous area near the Pakistan border in order to disrupt insurgent activities in the region," NATO said in a statement. "Insurgents had been using the area to move supplies and men into Kunar province and to stage attacks on Afghan and coalition forces." Afghanistan's defence ministry said late on Wednesday that more than 130 fighters had been killed in the area over the past two weeks. Few details havebeen released, but at least six US soldiers were killed in the area last week.

Source: Agencies

Spring brings flood threat to North America

As spring warms the northern hemisphere, some people are nervously watching the river levels. Steff Gaulter Last Modified: 07 Apr 2011 09:54

Canada's rivers are expecting a large influx of water as the snow melts As spring brings its warming glow to the northern hemisphere, some parts are nervously watching the river levels. The breadbasket of North America, including Manitoba, the Dakotas and Minnesota have seen the snowiest winters on record, and for many the thick snow is still lying on the ground. Some parts even reported a fifty percent increase in the autumn and winter precipitation, compared to average. The problems are not helped by the state of the land when winter took hold. Towards the end of last year, when the land froze, the ground was already saturated. So, when the thaw comes, the ground will still be waterlogged and this means that the melting snow won’t be able to soak into it. A late start to spring The thaw has come late this year. The region is a key-growing area and this would normally be time to plant crops, but as the snow is still lying on the ground, this is proving impossible. Farmers are saying that it the wettest that the fields have been at this time of year since the 1970s. As you might expect, one of the first places to flood is usually along the banks of the rivers. One of the major rivers in the area is the Red River that, slightly unusually, flows northwards. It originates in the US, forming the boundary between North Dakota and Minnesota, then up through Winnipeg in Canada. A thawing river The southern parts of the Red River thaw first, and the northwards flow of the river carries blocks of ice towards the still-frozen section of the river in the north. This ice can then block the river, causing it to flood. Winnipeg has a huge artificial waterway which can divert excess water when necessary, but other places simply have to endure the flooding. The region doesn’t see floods every year, but it’s certainly not unusual. Just two years ago, in 2009, thousands were forced out of their homes as the Red River Valley turned into a vast lake. This year, the warnings are equally depressing. The US National Weather Service has warned that the Red River could even peak at a new record high.

Source: Al Jazeera

Explosion still a risk at Japan nuclear plant

Workers inject nitrogen gas to reduce chances of blow-up but are running out of space to store radioactive water. Last Modified: 07 Apr 2011 02:42

Previous hydrogen explosions at the plant blew the roofs off of some reactor buildings [EPA] After stopping the leak of highly radioactive water from a crippled nuclear plant north of Tokyo, Japanese authorities have begun injecting nitrogen into part of the facility in order to prevent a hydrogen explosion. Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant began pumping nitrogen gas into the area surrounding the No. 1 reactor around 1:30 am (1630 GMT) on Thursday, said Makoto Watanabe, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. The nitrogen injection was the latest in a series of efforts to prevent another nuclear catastrophe in Japan, which has already been hit by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and a devastating tsunami on March 11 that left tens of thousands dead and severely damaged the Fukushima Daiichi, causing a radioactive leak that forced the government to evacuate citizens 20 kilometers away from the plant. A March 26 internal report from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission warned of the possibility of explosions at the plant, where superheated fuel rods that the government is desperately trying to cool are pulling hydrogen from the water and causing the gas to mix with oxygen seeping in through cracks in the plant. The large explosions that rocked the Fukushima Daiichi in the early days of the crisis were caused by the buildup of hydrogen gas around the reactors. Radioactive particles have settled in the area around the plant, contaminating water, vegetables, dairy products and other food. More explosions could spread the poisonous material farther. But the nitrogen injection itself carries risk, since it could disperse radioactive vapour into the environment. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters on Wednesday that the government was still trying to come up with a "clear safety standard" and might expand the evacuation zone around the plant, which lies roughly 220 kilometers northeast of Tokyo. Workers on Wednesday succeeded in halting the flow of highly radioactive water into the ocean near the plant by injecting a mixture of liquid glass and a hardening agent into the cracked storage pit beneath the reactor. But the stoppage creates its own problem: finding more space to store 60,000 tonnes of radioactive water. Workers will need to continue to pour seawater over the reactors to cool them, and authorities have said they will need to pump 11,500 tonnes of low-radiation water back into the sea. The salt from the seawater that has been used to cool the plant is probably blocking circulation pathways, particularly in the No. 1 reactor, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission report said. As the reactors' structures fill with more and more water, the increasing pressure on their walls makes it likelier they could break in the case of an aftershock, the report said. The radioactive water being pumped out of the plant could spread to nearby fishing communities and lead to a government ban on sales from the areas, effectively wiping out incomes. The Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which owns the plant, has begun funding local governments to pay those who have been forced to evacuate due to the radiation crisis. The company will also face an enormous compensation bill.

Source: Agencies

Kenyans seek Mau Mau compensation in UK

Group of elderly Kenyans who say they were tortured by British officers in the 1950s uprising take case to London court. Last Modified: 07 Apr 2011 09:56

Wambugu Wa Nyingi said he was detained without charge for nine years and was beaten daily with sticks [AFP] A group of elderly Kenyans who say they were tortured by British officers during the suppression of the Mau Mau rebellion in the 1950s are taking their case to the High Court in London. The four claimants, three men and one woman in their 70s and 80s, are seeking compensation and a statement of regret for the treatment they suffered, including castration, torture, sexual abuse, forced labour and beatings. Dan Leader, their lawyer, is expected to argue at the hearing on Thursday that the British government knew both UK and African officers were abusing prisoners during the anti-colonial uprising. The case could open the door for claims from hundreds of other people who survived detention camps during the uprising, which saw Kenyans fighting against British rule in their country. However, the British foreign office, which was recently forced to release hundreds of files relating to the case, insists that Britain cannot be held legally liable. 'Scars remain' The Mau Mau uprising began in central Kenya in a bid to regain land seized by British authorities. But more than 10,000 people were killed in the rebellion, which lasted from 1952 to 1960, and tens of thousands were detained, including the grandfather of Barack Obama, the US president. Wambugu Wa Nyingi, one of the four claimants, says he was detained without charge for nine years, subjected to forced labour and beaten daily with sticks. Nyingi told the AFP news agency that he survived a massacre at the British-run Hola Camp, lying unconscious for three days alongside 11 people who were killed. "I suffered physical violence on my head, on my legs, I still have the scars today because of the beatings from the colonial administrators," he said. "I am here to get justice for the many of my colleagues who have since died, and others who are still alive but living in abject poverty because of the injustices that were committed by the British colonial government." A spokesperson for the foreign office said that the period in Kenyan history "remains a deeply divisive issue" within the country and "caused a great deal of pain for many on all sides", but that the UK would defend the cases. "The UK government is not transferring responsibility to the government of Kenya for dealing with the allegations; we are simply stating that under the law, Her Majesty's Government cannot be held liable in this case."

Source: Agencies