Libyan security forces switch sides as Gadhafi hangs on - CNN

Embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi seemed increasingly cornered Sunday as security forces defected to the opposition in a town near the capital and the United Nations Security Council voted for tough restrictions on and possible war crimes charges against the Libyan regime.


Former security forces said they had switched sides and joined the opposition in Zawiya, a town about 55 kilometers (35 miles) from the capital, Tripoli. Some buildings in Zawiya showed signs of damage, including a freshly burned-out police station.


CNN's Nic Robertson, on a government-organized trip to Zawiya, saw armed civilians taking defensive positions on rooftops to prepare for a possible effort by Gadhafi loyalists to retake the town.


About 2,000 people took part in an anti-government protest there, some standing atop tanks or holding anti-aircraft guns. They said they wanted the government overthrown, calling Gadhafi a "bloodsucker."


Later in the day, CNN witnessed two smaller pro-government rallies that had apparently been organized by government officials for international journalists to see, Robertson reported.


The opposition now controls several Libyan cities after weeks of protests inspired by demonstrations that toppled longtime leaders in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt.








Gadhafi criticized the U.N. Security Council resolution Sunday, 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."


U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Security Council measures -- which include an arms embargo, asset freeze, and travel bans for Gadhafi and members of his family and associates -- form "one of the speediest international responses to a government targeting its own people."


"We recognize the killings are ongoing," Clinton told reporters en route to a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Switzerland. "We recognize we need to advance the humanitarian, the military, judicial, and even forensic planning already under way."
British Prime Minister David Cameron and British Foreign Secretary William Hague both called on Gadhafi on Sunday to go.


"Libya's future has no future with him at the helm," Cameron said. "Absolutely none."
Britain also announced it was freezing the assets of Gadhafi, five of his children, and those acting on their behalf.


Gadhafi's son, Saif, denied the government used force on its own people. In an interview that ran Sunday with Christiane Amanpour for ABC's "This Week," he was asked about numerous reports of attacks by government forces on civilians.


"Show me a single attack," he said. "Show me a single bomb. Show me a single casualty. The Libyan air force destroyed just the ammunition sites."


The younger Gadhafi -- who is a prominent member of the government -- also played down anti-government protests. Just because "10,000 or 5,000 people" demonstrate against his father, he said, doesn't mean the entire population is against him.
He had harsh words, however, for the Libyan diplomats who have turned their backs on his father, calling them "hypocrites."


"If you are strong, they love you. If not, they say goodbye. That is good. We get rid of them," he told Amanpour.


Meanwhile, Gadhafi's nurse went home to Ukraine. Galyna Kolotnytska gained notoriety in November after WikiLeaks released a cable from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli describing Gadhafi's almost obsessive reliance on the woman, described as a "voluptuous blonde." Kolotnytska's daughter told CNN on Sunday her mother had returned but was not commenting.
Tunisians on the border with Libya waved pre-Gadhafi-era Libyan flags in support of the opposition as tens of thousands surged towards the country that triggered the series of Arab world revolts.


About 100,000 people have fled violence in Libya in the past week, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said.


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


The Tunisian government reported Saturday that 40,000 people had crossed its borders since February 20, while Egypt reported 55,000 had crossed over since February 19, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Sunday. The evacuees include Tunisians, Egyptians, Libyans, and many from Asian countries.


About 10,000 fled from Libya to Tunisia on Saturday, the Red Crescent said.
"Very large numbers of people amassed in the no man's land between Libya and Tunisia in extremely cold conditions," Red Crescent spokesman Joe Lowry told CNN on Sunday. "People stood in the queue for six hours with no food, water, or access to sanitation."
The Red Crescent is affiliated with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.


At least four people were carried away in stretchers because of crush injuries and several lost consciousness as a result of the chaos.
"It was very worrying to see women passing their babies in cots over the crowd to keep them from harm," Lowry said.


There were also chaotic scenes in Tripoli as people rushed to banks to claim a government handout of 500 dinars (just over $400) per family. There were also long lines in Zawiya.
Pharmacies in Tripoli were running out of blood pressure and diabetes medicines, a source in the capital told CNN.


Gadhafi has showed no sign of relinquishing power. Sunday, the world waited to see whether the threat of sanctions will have any effect on a country where the death toll from the recent unrest has topped 1,000, according to an estimate from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.


Saturday night, the United Nations Security Council voted 15-0 on the draft resolution, which also refers the situation unfolding in Libya to the International Criminal Court. Gadhafi and others could face an investigation for potential war crimes.
"This resolution will be a signal (to) put an end to the fascist regime that is still in existence," said Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgham, Libyan ambassador to the United Nations. Earlier Saturday, he renounced support for Gadhafi, calling him "a leader who loves nobody but himself."


Hours before the Security Council's vote Saturday, Libya's budding opposition picked a former top official as its interim leader.
Libya's deputy ambassador to the world body, Ibrahim Dabbashi, indicated that he and fellow diplomats support "in principle" a caretaker administration under the direction of former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil.


City councils in areas no longer loyal to Gadhafi chose Jalil to head an interim government that would represent all of Libya and ultimately be based in Tripoli, according to Amal Bogagies, a member of the coalition of the February 17 Uprising, and a separate Libyan opposition source. Both are based in Benghazi, the eastern city that is under the control of the opposition.


Jalil was in Gadhafi's government until Monday, when he quit to protest the "bloody situation" and "use of excessive force" against unarmed protesters, according to Libyan newspaper Quryna.


Protests began February 15 in Benghazi, Libya's second largest city. At least several other cities are now thought to be under opposition control, according to eyewitnesses. There have been numerous reports of widespread violence -- some of it perpetrated by foreign mercenaries and security forces loyal to Gadhafi, and some by protesters.


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


Source ; CNN

America closes Libya embassy & readies sanctions

The United States shuttered its embassy in Libya on Friday and readied stiff financial and other penalties against Moammar Gadhafi and his loyalists, ending days of cautious condemnation by all but calling for the unpredictable leader's immediate ouster.


Gadhafi's legitimacy has been "reduced to zero," the White House said as it announced the steps.


The sharper U.S. tone and pledges of tough action came after American diplomatic personnel were evacuated from the capital of Tripoli aboard a chartered ferry and a chartered airplane, escorting them away from the violence to Malta and Turkey. As they left, fighting raged on in Tripoli and elsewhere in Libya as Gadhafi vowed to crush the rebellion that now controls large parts of the country.


With U.S. diplomats and others out of harm's way, the administration moved swiftly. Shortly after the chartered plane left Libyan airspace, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the U.S. had been constrained in moving against Gadhafi and his loyalists due to concerns over the safety of Americans but was now ready to bring more pressure on the government to halt its attacks on opponents.


"It's clear that Colonel Gadhafi has lost the confidence of his people," Carney told reporters. "He is overseeing the brutal treatment of his people, the fatal violence against his own people and his legitimacy has been reduced to zero in the eyes of his people."





The White House was finalizing a presidential executive order that would name Gadhafi and his family, impose travel bans and freeze assets, according to an administration official familiar with the document who spoke on condition of anonymity because it had not yet been made public. Part of the goal of such efforts is to encourage Gadhafi loyalists to defect.



Carney said sanctions would "make it clear that the regime has to stop its abuses, it has to stop the bloodshed." International officials say thousands may be dead.


But the hesitancy to outline the full range of U.S. punishments reflected in part the administration's skepticism that it had many options to influence Gadhafi. The 68-year-old has had a rocky relationship with the West, and American officials are worried about his unpredictability as he desperately seeks to maintain his four-decade grip on power.


U.S. military action is considered unlikely, although the Obama administration has not ruled out participation in an internationally-administered protective no-fly zone.


Carney said some sanctions would be unilateral, and others would be coordinated with international allies and the United Nations, whose chief, Ban Ki-moon, was invited to Washington for Monday talks with President Barack Obama.


Carney cited U.N. negotiations on a possible weapons embargo, but declined to lay out the independent steps the U.S. would take.


The Treasury Department had already ordered American banks to scrutinize accounts linked to senior Libyan officials and inform authorities of any attempts to misappropriate or divert public funds.
The U.S. suspended operations at its Tripoli embassy after a chartered flight took the last embassy staff out of the country at 1:49 p.m. EST. That followed a ferry that departed earlier Friday and arrived in Malta with nearly 338 passengers aboard, including 183 Americans.


The U.S., however, did not break diplomatic relations with Libya because it wants to retain the ability to communicate directly with Libyan officials to appeal for restraint and an end to the violence, State Department officials said. The embassy will be re-opened once security conditions permit, they said.
The administration stressed that the U.S. pressure was part of a broader movement to bring peace to Libya, with several officials saying the international community was speaking with a single voice on the matter. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is headed to Switzerland on Sunday to meet foreign policy chiefs from key allies. Officials said she might announce specifics of the U.S. sanctions on Monday.
But whereas French President Nicolas Sarkozy told Gadhafi to step down, the U.S. refrained — just barely — from a similar declaration.


"The status quo is simply neither tenable nor acceptable," Carney said. "The Libyan people deserve a government now that protects the safety of its citizens, is responsive to their aspirations and is broadly representative."


Obama was briefing world leaders on U.S. plans and coordinating the international pressure on Gadhafi's government. He spoke Friday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and they discussed measures to hold Libya's government accountable for its "unacceptable" violence. That followed Thursday's discussions with leaders from Britain, France and Italy.


The U.S. maintained a stiff embargo against Libya for years, calling it a terrorist sponsor. Washington eased restrictions over the past several years in recognition of Gadhafi's decision to renounce his nuclear weapons program and his cooperation in anti-terror operations. Carney said the U.S. would suspend the limited military cooperation it had with the country.


Libya ranks among the world's most corrupt countries and has enormous assets to plunder. Confidential State Department cables suggest that U.S. banks manage hundreds of millions in Libyan assets and the government has built a multibillion-dollar wealth fund from oil sales.


In Geneva, U.S. diplomats joined a unanimous condemnation of Libya at the U.N. Human Rights Council, which launched an investigation into possible crimes against humanity by Gadhafi's regime and recommended Libya's suspension from the body.


The U.N. Security Council in New York was discussing action simultaneously Friday, and NATO was talking about deploying ships and surveillance aircraft to the Mediterranean Sea.
Carney insisted the sanctions could work.


"Sanctions that affect the senior political leadership of a regime like Libya have been shown to have an effect," he said. We are also ... pursuing actions that will ensure that the perpetrators of violations of human rights are held accountable."


Source ; Associated Press  ( White House Correspondent Ben Feller contributed to this report )