Nicaragua tawar suaka politik kepada Gaddafi

MANAGUA: Nicaragua akan menawarkan suaka politik kepada Muammar Gaddafi walaupun belum ada permintaan daripada pemimpin Libya itu setakat ini.

“Jika sesiapa yang memohon suaka, kami akan memberi jawapan yang positif kerana rakyat (Nicaragua) diberi perlindungan politik yang hendak dibunuh ketika pemerintahan diktator Anasatasio Somoza," kata Bayardo Arce, penasihat hal ehwal ekonomi kepada Presiden Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega kepada pemberita hari ini.

Arce bagaimanapun tidak menyatakan nama pemimpin Libya itu tetapi adalah jelas Gaddafi mungkin akan berpindah ke Nicaragua berdasarkan teori suaka selepas Managua tidak mempunyai kedutaan di Tripoli.

Media tempatan membuat spekulasi bahawa Gaddadi mungkin hidup dalam buangan ke Nicaragua kerana Ortega selama ini menjadi penyokong kuat kepada pemimpin Libya itu dan terbaru menyifatkannya sebagai "abang" dan "sahabat".

Ortega adalah antara pemberontak berhaluan kiri yang berjuang menentang pemimpin diktator, Somoza yang tamat pada 1979. - AFP

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Era Pemerintahan Gaddafi tumbang

TRIPOLI: Ketua pemberontak Libya, Mustafa Abdel Jalil semalam mengisytiharkan berakhirnya ‘era Gaddafi’ yang memerintah negara itu selama 40 tahun selepas tentera pemberontak menguasai hampir keseluruhan bandar raya ini.

‘Era Gaddafi sudah berakhir,” katanya pada sidang akhbar di Benghazi, timur Libya, merujuk kepada pemimpin veteran Libya, Muammad Gaddafi.

Mustafa berkata, beliau berharap, Gaddafi yang menghadapi waran tangkap yang dikeluarkan Mahkamah Keadilan Antarabangsa akan ditangkap supaya beliau boleh dibicarakan secara adil.

Mustafa megucapkan tahniah kepada rakyat Libya kerana ‘kemenangan bersejarah’ itu dan juga mengucapkan terima kasih kepada Nato kerana memberikan sokongan ketenteraan.

Beliau bagaimanapun berkata, kemenangan sebenarnya ialah apabila Gaddafi, 69, ditangkap.

Menurutnya, hampir keseluruhan Tripoli kini berada di bawah penguasaan pemberontak.

Laporan sebelum ini menyatakan Gaddafi bersembunyi selepas tentera pemberontak menyerang bandar raya itu dan berlaku pertempuran sengit di luar perkarangan istana Presiden.

Dalam pada itu, tiga anak Gaddafi dikatakan berada dalam tahanan pemberontak.

Dalam kenyataan awalnya, Mustafa Abdel Jalil memberitahu stesen televisyen al-Jazeera, mereka menahan Saif al-Islam dan Al-Saadi, dua anak Gaddafi.

Abang mereka, Muhammad, dilapor menyerah diri.

Menurut Mustafa “Saif kini ditahan dengan kawalan ketat sehingga dia didakwa kelak.” Sementara itu, bunyi tembak menembak terus kedengaran di seluruh ibu negara itu selepas penyokong setia Gaddafi yang terkepung melancarkan serangan balas.

Kereta kebal tentera kerajaan muncul dari kompleks istana yang dikenali sebagai Bab al-Aziziya dan mula melepaskan bedilan sejurus selepas subuh berikutan serangan pemberontak.

Penduduk berkata, tentera pemberontak cuba memanjat tembok perkarangan istana presiden tetapi ditembak oleh pengawal.

Pemimpin Libya itu masih menguasai kawasan Rixos di barat daya Tripoli dan tentera upahan masih berjuang untuknya.

Anak bongsunya, Khamis al-Gaddafi dipercayai mengetuai serangan balas.

Kira-kira 1,300 orang dikatakan terbunuh dalam pertempuran terbaru di Tripoli itu.

Jurucakap pemberontak, Nouri Echtiwi berkata: “Keadaan tenteram selama empat jam menyusuli sambutan besar-besaran penyokong pemberontak di jalan raya.

“Kemudian kereta kebal dan pikap yang dilengkapi mesingan keluar dari Bab al-Aziziya, kubu kuat terakhir Gaddafi dan mula membedil Jalan Assarin dan kawasan al-Khalifa.

“Mereka membedil secara rambang pada semua arah setiap kali mendengar bunyi tembakan.” Ketika rejimnya kelihatan di ambang keruntuhan, televisyen swasta Libya melaporkan pemimpin Libya itu sudah ‘melarikan diri seperti seorang pengecut.’ - Agensi

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Kuasa dunia mahu Gaddafi berundur

SEBUAH trak pemberontak yang membawa pelancar roket mengawal pintu masuk ke bandar Ajdabiya, Libya semalam.

DOHA - Pemimpin Libya, Muammar Gaddafi perlu segera meninggalkan negara itu manakala pihak pemberontak yang menentang kepimpinannya perlu diberikan bantuan material, kata para menteri luar kuasa dunia pada persidangan di sini semalam bagi membincangkan masa depan negara Afrika Utara itu.

"Para delegasi sebulat suara dan tegas dalam membuat resolusi ini," kata mereka dalam kenyataan terakhir dan muktamad yang diperoleh agensi berita Reuters.

"Gaddafi dan rejimnya tidak lagi diiktiraf dan beliau perlu menyerahkan kuasa dan membiarkan rakyat Libya menentukan masa depan sendiri," tambah kenyataan itu lagi.

Para menteri luar berkenaan yang akan bersidang sekali lagi pada Mei depan, menyatakan, mereka akan bekerjasama dengan kepimpinan pemberontak iaitu Majlis Peralihan Kebangsaan (NTC) bagi mewujudkan mekanisme bantuan kewangan sementara bagi membolehkan NTC menggunakan aset Libya yang telah dibekukan.

Para menteri luar itu terdiri daripada 20 buah negara termasuk Perancis, Belgium, Kuwait, Itali dan Britain selain beberapa pertubuhan antarabangsa yang membincangkan mengenai Libya.

Amerika Syarikat (AS) tidak menghantar Setiausaha Negara, Hillary Clinton tetapi ia dilaporkan menghantar delegasi yang disertai Pengarah Politik Jabatan Negara AS, William Burns.

Dalam perkembangan berkaitan, seorang pegawai pemberontak, Ali Al Isawi mendakwa, tentera yang setia kepada Gaddafi telah membunuh 10,000 orang dalam pertempuran di Libya setakat ini.

Beliau yang mewakili NTC pada pertemuan para menteri luar Kesatuan Eropah (EU) di Luxembourg kelmarin memberitahu, 20,000 lagi rakyat Libya masih hilang manakala 30,000 yang lain cedera dengan satu perempat daripada mereka parah.

Sementara itu, satu letupan kuat didengar di ibu kota Libya, Tripoli semalam tetapi punca letupan masih tidak dapat dipastikan. Stesen televisyen Al Arabiya melaporkan dua letupan berlaku berhampiran lapangan terbang Tripoli.

Pemberontakan di Libya bermula pada 15 Februari lalu ekoran para penunjuk perasaan menuntut kebebasan hak asasi manusia.

Ia kemudian bertukar menjadi pertempuran di antara kumpulan tentera Gaddafi dengan para pemberontak sebelum tentera bersekutu diketuai AS mengebom bandar-bandar utama di Libya bagi menguatkuasakan larangan terbang di negara tersebut selepas diluluskan Majlis Keselamatan Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB). - Agensi

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Nations bombing Libya are 'terrorists,' Gadhafi says

A Libyan jet bomber crashes after being shot down in Benghazi on March 19, 2011 as Libya's rebel stronghold came under attack, with at least two air strikes and sustained shelling of the city's south sending thick smoke into the sky. AFP PHOTO/PATRICK BAZ (Photo credit should read PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi called the allied nations bombing his country "terrorists" Sunday, a day after the United States, United Kingdom and France began to enforce a United Nations-mandated no-fly zone to protect Libya's civilians from their leader.

There was violence across the country on Sunday, with Gadhafi apparently shelling rebels in the west while allied airstrikes destroyed one of Gadhafi's convoys in the east, according to rebels.

Gadhafi said the strikes were a confrontation between the Libyan people and "the new Nazis," and promised "a long-drawn war."

"You have proven to the world that you are not civilized, that you are terrorists -- animals attacking a safe nation that did nothing against you," Gadhafi said in a televised speech.

Gadhafi did not appear on screen during the address, leading CNN's Nic Robertson in Tripoli to speculate that the Libyan leader did not want to give the allies clues about his location.

Throughout the address, an image of a golden fist crushing a model plane that said "USA" filled the screen -- a monument in Tripoli to the 1986 American bombing of Libya, in which one U.S. plane was downed.

At the same time Gadhafi spoke, his regime was shelling the city of Misrata on Sunday morning using tanks, artillery and cannons, a witness said.

"They are destroying the city," said the witness, who is not being identified for safety reasons. He said rebels were fighting back.

Sounds of heavy gunfire could be heard during a telephone conversation with the man. There was no immediate word on casualties.

CNN's Arwa Damon saw the remains of a convoy of at least 40 military vehicles destroyed by multiple airstrikes Sunday, leading charred bodies, twisted tanks and smashed trucks as far as she could see.

Rebels with Damon told her it was a convoy of Libyan troops loyal to Gadhafi coming to attack the rebel capital of Benghazi.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN Sunday there would be continuous allied air cover of Benghazi.

The no-fly zone is effectively already in place, he said on CNN's "State of the Union," adding that air attacks by coalition forces have taken out most of Libya's air defense systems and some airfields.

International military coalition targeted air defense positions near the capital for a second day Sunday.

Some Libyans welcomed the American, French and British military forces.

Others remained fearful of Gadhafi.

Libyans are "afraid to come out because when they do, he attacked them very, very severely," a woman in Tripoli said Sunday. "This is putting terror in all neighborhoods."

The multinational military forces launched the attacks Saturday, convinced that Gadhafi was not adhering to a cease-fire mandated by the United Nations.

American and British ships and submarines fired more than 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles and hit about 20 Libyan defense targets in western portions of the country, U.S. Vice Adm. William Gortney said at a Pentagon briefing.

Nineteen U.S. warplanes, including stealth bombers and fighter jets, conducted strike operations in Libya on Sunday morning, officials said.

Tomahawk cruise missiles are unmanned and fly close to the ground, steering around natural and man-made obstacles to hit a target programmed into them before launch.

A senior U.S. military official, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the cruise missiles landed near the city of Misrata and the capital, Tripoli.

Scores of missiles were fired in the pre-dawn darkness, and the exact results of the mission were not immediately clear. The United States is expected to conduct a damage assessment of the sites.

The salvo, in an operation dubbed "Odyssey Dawn," was meant "to deny the Libyan regime from using force against its own people," Gortney said.

British Defense Secretary Liam Fox said the Royal Air Force deployed Tornado GR4 fast jets, which flew 3,000 miles from the United Kingdom and back -- making the venture the longest-range bombing mission conducted by the force since the Falklands conflict in 1982.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said the international mission "is necessary, it is legal, and it is right."

"I believe we should not stand aside while this dictator murders his own people," Cameron said late Saturday night.

But Gadhafi remained defiant, saying Libya will fight back against undeserved "naked aggression."

In a statement broadcast on state TV, his military said the strikes killed 48 people -- "mostly women, children and religious clerics."

"The majority of these attacks were on public areas, hospitals and schools. They frightened the children and women near those areas that were subject to this aggression," the military said.

CNN could not immediately confirm the claim.

But Russia said Sunday that innocent civilians were being killed, and urged more caution.

The Foreign Ministry in Moscow cited reports that "non-military" targets were being bombed, including a cardiac center.

"We are calling upon respective nations to stop the indiscriminate use of force... it is inadmissible to use the mandate resulting from UN Security Council Resolution 1973, the adoption of which was quite a controversial step, beyond the intended goals of the resolution, namely the protection of the civilian population," the ministry said on its website.

China's foreign ministry said Sunday it did not agree with the use of force in international relations. And Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez also denounced the military intervention.

"They (the United States) want to appropriate the oil in Libya; they don't care about anyone's life in that region," Chavez said
.
Gadhafi vowed to open weapons depots and said the U.N. charter provides the nation the right to defend itself in a "war zone." He has also issued messages to international powers and said Libyans are ready to die for him.

Some residents said they could receive weapons to fight back.

"We received a phone call around 3 a.m. that everyone should head out in the streets," a woman in Tripoli said. "Normal civilians are being able to have machine guns and take anti-aircraft machine guns ... to fire back at the airplanes."

In Misrata, a witness said Gadhafi's forces are targeting fuel and power stations to make citizens believe the damage is being done by coalition forces. The witness, who was not identified for security reasons, said people celebrated allied airstrikes on loyalist positions in the city.

CNN could not verify the account.

U.S. President Barack Obama is planning for the U.S. portion of the military action in Libya to only last for a few days.

"After that, we'll take more of a supporting role," said a senior administration official, who was not authorized to speak about sensitive military matters.

Obama authorized U.S. military force on what happened to be the eighth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq.

In the next few days, U.S. military officials expect to hand over control to a coalition commander. Canada and Italy are also part of the coalition.

Violence has raged in Libya following protests calling for democracy and demanding an end to Gadhafi's almost 42-year-long rule. The protests have been met by force from the Gadhafi regime, and some members of his military defected to the opposition.

Another witness in Tripoli said she's terrified about how Gadhafi might respond to the airstrikes.

"We're scared. We're not sure what will happen next," she said. "To be honest, I'm scared for my life."

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Libya gesa gantung sekatan

PERTUBUHAN BANGSA-BANGSA BERSATU: Rejim Muammar Gaddafi mendesak Majlis Keselamatan PBB menangguhkan sekatan yang dikenakan terhadap pemimpin Libya itu berhubung tindakan ganasnya terhadap penunjuk perasaan.

Menteri Luar, Mussa Kussa, dalam suratnya kepada majlis berkenaan berkata, hanya ‘kekerasan sederhana’ digunakan terhadap penunjuk perasaan itu dan kerajaan terkejut dengan sekatan yang dikenakan.

Rejim itu mendesak sekatan perjalanan dan pembekuan aset yang diarahkan terhadap Gaddafi ‘digantung’ sementara menunggu siasatan.

Pada masa sama, Mussa menggesa Majlis Keselamatan bertindak terhadap negara yang mengancam menggunakan kekerasan terhadap Libya.

Surat itu yang dihantar kepada majlis itu kelmarin, adalah reaksi pertama Libya sejak sekatan diluluskan sebulat suara Sabtu lalu.

Kumpulan hak asasi manusia berkata, 6,000 orang terbunuh sejak tunjuk perasaan untuk menggulingkan Gaddafi bermula 15 Februari lalu. - AFP

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Tentera Gaddafi mengganas di Zawiya

ZAWIYA - Pertempuran sengit tercetus antara tentera yang setia kepada pemimpin Libya, Muammar Gaddafi dan kumpulan penentang di bandar ini semalam, lapor sebuah akhbar.

Kumpulan penentang mendakwa, mereka berjaya menawan semula Dataran Jihad di pusat bandar ini selepas mematahkan serangan briged elit Gaddafi yang memasuki bandar ini dengan dibantu beberapa kereta kebal dan artileri pada pagi semalam.

"Beratus-ratus askar Gaddafi yang dibantu beberapa kereta kebal memasuki bandar ini sekitar 6 pagi. Penduduk bandar ini bangkit menentang mereka dan telah mencapai kemenangan setakat ini," kata jurucakap kumpulan penentang, Youssef Shagan.

Serangan ke atas Zawiya yang terletak sekitar 48 kilometer dari ibu negara Libya, Tripoli menyaksikan kumpulan penentang yang sebahagian besarnya cuma bersenjatakan senapang patah dan pedang, bertempur dengan briged elit Gaddafi yang dibantu beberapa kereta kebal, meriam dan mesingan berat.

"Pasukan keselamatan Gaddafi membunuh dengan sewenang-wenangnya termasuk orang awam. Situasi di bandar ini lebih dahsyat daripada Iraq," kata seorang saksi.

"Imam-imam di sini telah mengisytiharkan jihad ke atas tentera Gaddafi," tambahnya.

Saksi berkenaan memaklumkan situasi tersebut dalam satu wawancara telefon.

Dalam perkembangan berkaitan, stesen televisyen Al-Jazeera melaporkan, beberapa pegawai perubatan sebagai berkata, angka kematian orang awam di sini setakat semalam telah melebihi 40 orang.

Antara yang terbunuh termasuk komander kumpulan penentang di Zawiya, Hussein Darbouk.

Sementara itu, lebih 17 orang terbunuh selepas depot simpanan peluru yang ditawan kumpulan penentang di bandar Benghazi, selatan Libya meletup semalam dipercayai akibat perbuatan sabotaj ejen Gaddafi.

Kebangkitan rakyat menentang pemerintah Libya, Muammar Gaddafi tercetus sejak beberapa minggu lalu.

Protes tersebut didorong oleh kebangkitan rakyat Tunisia dan Mesir yang memaksa Presiden Tunisia, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali dan rakan sejawatnya dari Mesir, Hosni Mubarak meletak jawatan.

Di Libya, orang ramai berang kerana Gaddafi, 68, gagal membasmi kemiskinan dan gejala rasuah selepas mentadbir negara itu selama 41 tahun. - Agensi

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