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Post-Gaddafi, who can unite Libya?
Rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil (above), chairman of the National Transitional Council, is one of the front-runners for the top job. The Prime Minister of the rebels’ shadow government, Mahmoud Jibril, and Ali Tarhouni, the US-based academic and opposition figure in exile, who returned to Libya to take charge of economic and oil matters for the rebels, are the other two in the reckoning. — Reuters
Gaddafi may have fled to Algeria: Report
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Saif may be tried in Libya: Rebels
Arab countries back rebels
JuD collecting donations against Pak govt order
Anna effect? Burney to launch anti-graft movement in Pak
Islamabad, August 22 Pakistani rights activist Ansar Burney said today he would launch a campaign against corruption and terrorism in his country after Eid-ul-Fitr, mirroring an anti-graft drive by Anna Hazare in India that has gained thousands of followers. Pakistan is confronting a “dire and painful period in its history, with rampant and continuously growing corruption and terrorism destroying every fabric of our nation and any prospects of a decent future for our children and grandchildren”, Burney said in a statement.
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Post-Gaddafi, who can unite Libya?
Nalut (Libya), August 22 Without the cause of fighting Gaddafi to unite them, the fighters from all walks of life must come up with an effective leadership to run a country suffering from factionalism, tribal rivalries and ethnic divisions. Signs of trouble emerged long before the rebels made their dramatic sweep from the Western Mountain region to Tripoli, cheered by Libyans who will soon want a smooth-running government, jobs, better schools and the oil wealth that rarely trickled down to them during Gaddafi’s reign. Rebels who complained about Gaddafi’s alleged human rights abuses as they prepared for battle at the frontlines also spent a great deal of time criticising their comrades, mainly because they were from a different village, or ethnic group or seemed to have more resources. Libyan rebel Husam Najjair, an Irish citizen, seemed disillusioned with the rebel movement he joined, leaving everything behind in Dublin. “There could be some very big problems. Everyone wants to run the show. That’s when it will get messy,” he told Reuters. “Everyone must be disarmed.” Is there one unifying figure who can lead Libya and prevent the rebels from turning on each other? Right now the resounding answer seems to be no. “There isn’t one rebel leader who is respected by everyone. That’s the problem,” said Kamran Bokhari, Middle East Director at Stratfor global intelligence firm. Gaddafi ran the North African oil producing-country like a personal cult, without state institutions that would make any transition easier for the rebels, who have plenty of spirit but lack a proper chain of command. The most prominent rebel leader is Mustafa Abdel Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional Council (NTC), a diverse group of Gaddafi opponents based in the eastern city of Benghazi. It consists of former government ministers and longstanding opposition members who represent wide-ranging views including Arab nationalism, Islamists, secularists, socialists and businessmen. A former justice minister, soft-spoken Abdel Jalil was described as a “fair-minded technocrat” in a US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks. A mild-mannered consensus builder in his late 50s, he was praised by Human Rights Watch for his work on Libya’s criminal code reform. Abdel Jalil resigned as justice minister in February when violence was used against protesters. But like other former members of Gaddafi’s inner circle, he will always be viewed with suspicion by some rebels who want completely new faces with no past links to the regime running the country. The Prime Minister of the rebels’ shadow government, Mahmoud Jibril, a former top development official under Gaddafi, has extensive foreign contacts and has been the rebels’ roving envoy. But his travels have frustrated some colleagues and foreign backers so his experience and contact building will have been wasted if he is not part of any new administration. Another high-profile rebel who may play a future leadership role is Ali Tarhouni. The US-based academic and opposition figure in exile returned to Libya to take charge of economic, financial and oil matters for the rebels. — Reuters
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Gaddafi may have fled to Algeria: Report
Cairo, August 22 With rebels reported in occupation of 95 per cent of the capital except Gaddafi’s command and control centre Bab
al-Aziziya, speculation was rife about the whereabouts of Gaddafi. A rebel spokesman claimed that Gaddafi and some of his family members were spotted making a dash towards Algeria, while
Al-arabiya quoting its correspondent in the Libyan capital said that Gaddafi was in the
Tajura-Cardiac hospital. But said there were no reports on whether Gaddafi was undergoing treatment in the hospital or simply taking refuge. But diplomatic sources quoted by BBC reported that the Libyan strongman was in Tripoli in his Bab
al-Aziziya command and control centre. The Bab al-Aziziya compound has been regularly pounded by NATO airstrikes and most of the buildings in the compound have been flattened. Rebel sources said that Gaddafi had constructed a number of deep bunkers in the complex where he could take cover. But the rebels vowed that “Gaddafi would be hunted down”. “We will leave no stone unturned to trace the tyrant and make him face trial,” rebels commander told
Al-jazeera. — PTI
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Saif may be tried in Libya: Rebels Paris, August 22 “Everything is possible. It is up to the National Transitional Council
(NTC) to decide. It is possible that he will be handed over to the ICC but it’s also possible he won’t,” Mansour Saif
al-Nasr told Reuters Television outside the Libyan embassy in Paris. Saif Al-Islam is one of two of Gaddafi’s sons arrested by the Libyan rebels on Sunday as they swept from the western outskirts to the government stronghold of Tripoli, meeting little resistance.
Al-Nasr said he was unsure of the whereabouts of Muammar Gaddafi, but vowed the embattled leader who has ruled Libya since 1969 would be arrested and brought to justice. “It is finished,” said
al-Nasr. “Since yesterday we have turned the dark page of this dictatorship.”
Al-Nasr ruled out the possibility that a UN force would provide security on the ground and humanitarian aid in the chaotic coming weeks. He reiterated that the new government would welcome the participation of many Libyans, not just those who have been a part of the rebel National Transitional Council, which has been based in the eastern city Benghazi. — Reuters
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Cairo, August 22 Arabi, in a statement expressed "his full solidarity with the ongoing efforts by the National Transitional Council" and "wished success for the council in leading a new era and preserving Libya's regional integrity and its sovereignty and independence." The pan-Arab Cairo-based organisation call for a Libyan no-fly zone in March opened the way for NATO air strikes that tipped the balance in the rebels'
favour, he added. — AFP
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JuD collecting donations against Pak govt order
Pakistan-based outfit Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), blamed by India for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, has been holding gatherings at pre-dawn prayers in Lahore during Ramzan to collect donations, despite government orders barring it from such activities.
On August 5 this year, the Interior Ministry issued a list of 25 religious and welfare groups that are not allowed to take part in alms collection activities in Ramzan, usually the most rewarding time of the year for collecting charity. The JuD has been organising speeches by its chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed at various places and advertising them through posters, pamphlets and mass text messages. Addressing a meeting held yesterday at a marriage hall at Moon Market in Gulshan-e-Ravi, Saeed began his speech by condemning India for allegedly “trying to flood Pakistan by deliberately releasing water in its rivers” and ended with a plea for donations. He accused India of trying to flood Pakistan’s agricultural land and destroy thousands of acres of crops. He alleged the government was letting India “get away with it”, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. The JuD has organised a special programme to give people affected by floods a brighter Eid, Saeed said. The JuD volunteers were active in flood-hit areas, arranging meals at ‘sehri’ and ‘iftar’ and distributing food and medicine, he added. The activities come even after the federal Interior Ministry earlier this month included the JuD in a list of 25 groups that were barred from collecting donations during the Islamic fasting month of Ramzan. (With inputs from
PTI)
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Anna effect? Burney to launch anti-graft movement in Pak Islamabad, August 22 Pakistan is confronting a “dire and painful period in its history, with rampant and continuously growing corruption and terrorism destroying every fabric of our nation and any prospects of a decent future for our children and grandchildren”, Burney said in a statement. Burney made no reference to Hazare, whose movement has captured the public imagination in India, but said his movement would get underway after the Islamic festival of Eid-ul-Fitr that will be celebrated at the end of this month. “It is now up to civil society to take steps to rid the country of this evil before it is too late, and the Ansar Burney Trust will kick-start a massive anti-corruption campaign and anti-terrorism movement following Eid as a first step towards saving our country,” he said. Burney said his proposed movement is aimed at bringing “the nation together and making a stand that corruption will no longer be tolerated”. — PTI
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Now that Muammar Gaddafi’s four-decade rule appears to be over, the disparate groups of rebels who drove him from power could face a graver danger: each other.
Paris, August 22 
