Showing posts with label Accused. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Accused. Show all posts

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Nato accused of murder by Gaddafi

23 June 2011 Last updated at 02:29 GMT Nato said that close monitoring showed this bombed residence was a command centre, but the family who lived there said it was their home

Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has accused Nato states of murder, two days after members of the family of a close aide were killed in an air strike.

In an audio message broadcast on state TV late on Wednesday, he described those who carried out the bombardment as "criminals" and "barbarians".

Nato has said it regrets any civilian deaths, but that the targeted residence was a "command and control centre".

Italy's foreign minister earlier called for an immediate halt to hostilities.

Francisco Frattini said a ceasefire was necessary to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to the war-torn country.

He also urged Nato to provide more details of its aerial campaign and precise guidelines on "dramatic errors involving civilians".

But Nato's Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said the alliance's air campaign was protecting civilians and would continue.

He repeated that Nato was investigating Libyan reports that seven people had been killed in an air strike last week, but stressed that it was Col Gaddafi's forces, not Nato, who were targeting civilians.

'Back to the wall'

BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen, who is in Tripoli, says Col Gaddafi was as defiant as ever in his latest audio message.

He said Libyans would fight "foreign barbarians" and "crusaders" to the death.

Man grieves for a girl killed in a Nato air strike in Surman, west of Tripoli (23 June 2011) Nato's secretary general said its air campaign was protecting civilians and would continue

The devil, he added, would be ashamed of the lies and allegations being made by Libya's enemies.

Col Gaddafi said he had his "back to the wall", but that the battle would "continue to the beyond, until you are wiped out".

Our correspondent says Col Gaddafi dwelt on the Nato air strike that destroyed the house of his close ally and adviser, al-Khuwailidi al-Humaidi, in Sorman on Monday.

Among the dead, who were buried a few hours before the speech, were three of Mr Humaidi's grandchildren and his daughter-in-law.

Nato said the attack was on a legitimate military target, as the house was a command centre. The Libyan government rejected the allegation.

Col Gaddafi referred to Nato's statement that its surveillance had provided conclusive proof. If the intelligence had been so good, he said, surely Nato would have known that children were living there.

"You said: 'We hit our targets with precision.' You murderers!" he said. "One day we will respond to you likewise and your homes, sons and children may become one day legitimate targets."

He called on the UN Security Council other than "the three criminals" - the US, UK and France - to send a mission to investigate the deaths of civilians in air strikes.

Nato's mission - to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya to protect civilians using "all necessary measures" short of a ground invasion - began in March in response to Col Gaddafi's violent response to an uprising.

The intervention was mandated by the UN Security Council, and led by France, Britain and the US until the end of March, when Nato took over.

Having initially been given 90 days - which would have run out on 27 June - the mission has been extended for a further 90 days.

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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Accused Bahrain medics 'tortured'

20 June 2011 Last updated at 22:58 GMT By Rupert Wingfield-Hayes BBC News, Bahrain Troops guard the entrance to the Salmaniya Medical Centre in Manama (18 March 2011) The medics are accused of taking control of Salmaniya Medical Centre in Manama Twenty Bahraini doctors on trial for taking part in anti-government protests were tortured into making false confessions, their families have told the BBC.

The wife of one of the suspects said they had been forced to stand for three weeks and unable to sleep.

The defendants returned to court on Monday accused of taking over a hospital during protests in March.

Hundreds have been detained since the demonstrations were suppressed.

'Bizarre list of crimes'

On Monday, the doctors shuffled into court looking pale and tired.

Some looked dejected, staring at their feet, while others, still proud, looked their accusers in the eye.

Many shook their heads as the accusations against them were read out.

The doctors are accused of taking over the country's biggest hospital and using it as a base to try to overthrow the Bahraini regime.

The first government witness accused them of a bizarre list of crimes including stealing blood from the blood-bank, and transporting guns in ambulances.

But interviews with families of several doctors revealed compelling evidence that many of those on trial had been tortured.

The wife of one of them told me her husband had signed a confession after being left standing for three weeks, handcuffed, unable to sleep.

There seems little doubt that the doctors did support the anti-government demonstrations that swept Bahrain this spring.

But their real crime appears to have been to speak out to the international media when the government began its violent suppression of the protests at the end of March.

Human rights groups say the fact the doctors are being tried in a military court is no accident.

They say it shows that the hard-liners who have now taken control inside Bahrain's ruling family are determined to make an example of them.


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