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Benghazi suspects under surveillance, U.S. wants to try them in court instead of seizing them as terrorists
Five men are under round-the-clock U.S. surveillance in Libya, wanted for questioning in the attack last year on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. The White House believes there is enough proof for a military force to seize them as terrorist suspects, officials say, but prefers to wait until investigators have enough evidence to try them in a U.S. civilian courtroom.
The decision not to seize the men militarily underscores the White House aim to move away from hunting terrorists as enemy combatants and toward a process in which most are apprehended and tried by the countries where they are living, or arrested by the U.S. with the host country’s cooperation and tried in the U.S. criminal justice system. Using military force to detain the men might also harm fledgling relations with Libya and other post-Arab Spring governments with which the U.S. is trying to build partnerships to hunt al-Qaida as the organization expands throughout the region. (FBI)
Slain dictator Gaddafi’s only daughter booted from Algerian safe house for repeatedly setting it on fire
When the daughter of a deposed dictator was forced to flee her home, she had no problem in finding a safe retreat.
But Aisha Gaddafi proved too hot to handle for those who welcomed her in – she has been thrown out of her Algerian safe-house for repeatedly setting it on fire.
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s 37-year-old daughter has an arrest warrant against her name after she fled Libya when her father was deposed and then killed two years ago.
The western educated lawyer arrived in Algeria with other family members after her husband – an army general – was killed in the bombing raids that destroyed Gaddafi’s regime. (AFP/Getty Images)
‘Today is your last day, ambassador’: Embassies under siege as anti-Islam film protests spread
Demonstrators, furious at a film they say insults the Prophet Mohammad, clashed with police near the U.S. embassy in Cairo on Friday before a nationwide protest called by the Muslim Brotherhood which propelled Egypt’s Islamist president to power.
‘We were misled’: Crew members condemn anti-Islam film, claim Mohammed references added in post production
As mystery continued to surround the man behind Innocence of Muslims — the video that has sparked violent protest across North Africa — members of the film’s crew have come forward to claim they had no idea they were working on a piece of anti-Islamic propaganda.
Cindy Lee Garcia, an actress from Bakersfield, Calif., who worked on the film told Gawker that the script she was given was titled simply Desert Warriors.
“It was going to be a film based on how things were 2,000 years ago,” she said. “It wasn’t based on anything to do with religion, it was just on how things were run in Egypt. There wasn’t anything about Mohammed or Muslims or anything.”
U.S. ambassador killed in Libya rocket attack as consulate is stormed
BENGHAZI, Libya — The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff were killed in a rocket attack on their car, a Libyan official said, as they were rushed from a consular building stormed by militants denouncing a U.S.-made film insulting the Prophet Mohammad.
Gunmen had attacked and burned the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, a center of last year’s uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, late on Tuesday evening, killing one U.S. consular official. The building was evacuated. (Photos: AFP/GettyImages; Reuters)
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Anti-Islam filmmaker Sam Bacile goes into hiding after movie sparks violent riots in Egypt, Libya
U.S. ambassador to Libya killed in rocket attack in Benghazi
The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff were killed in a rocket attack on their car, a Libyan official said, as they were rushed from a consular building stormed by militants denouncing a U.S.-made film insulting the Prophet Mohammad.
Gunmen had attacked and burned the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, a center of last year’s uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, late on Tuesday evening, killing one U.S. consular official. The building was evacuated.
See the winning photographs from the 2012 World Press Photo of the Year awards
For photojournalists it is the creme de la creme—an award they all secretly, or publicly covet. And, invariably, it comes with huge personal risk, because following the news often means placing oneself in harms way. Here are some of the winning pictures, more at the link. (Photos: New York Times/Corbis/Reuters)
Muammar Gaddafi diehard supporters capture Libya town of Bani Walid
Diehard supporters of slain Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi seized control Monday of Bani Walid, his one-time bastion, after launching a brazen attack at a base there that killed five, officials told AFP.
“The loyalists of Gaddafi took control of the entire city of Bani Walid,” said M’barek al-Fotmani, a former member of the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) in the desert oasis, 170 kilometres south of Tripoli.
The assault on the base of ex-rebels was the first major offensive launched by Gaddafi loyalists since the “liberation” of Libya on October 23, shortly after the fall of Bani Walid. (Photo: Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images)
Ottawa puts freeze on Saadi Gaddafi’s $1.6M Toronto condo
Federal government lawyers have frozen a $1.6-million penthouse on the Toronto waterfront owned by Saadi Gaddafi, the fugitive son of the late Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
The Department of Justice filed a notice that prevents Mr. Gaddafi, who is the subject of an assets freeze imposed by the United Nations Security Council, from selling the downtown luxury condo.
The government took action after the National Post revealed that Mr. Gaddafi was the registered owner of the suite, which has a view of Lake Ontario and access to a pool, bowling alley and squash, basketball and tennis courts.
Mr. Gaddafi, 38, is wanted on an Interpol warrant issued in September. The Security Council froze his assets in March, describing him as a commander of “military units involved in the repression of demonstrations.” (Photo: Left: Tim Wimborne/Reuters; Right: Tyler Anderson/National Post)
The Arab Awakening: The beginning of the end for the Gaddafi regime
The seeds of Libya’s uprising were planted 15 years ago when stories of cold-blooded murder began to seep from Abu Salilm, the nation’s most notorious prison.
In 1996, more than 1,270 political prisoners were killed at the Tripoli detention centre, shot to death by the henchmen of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
Their families knew nothing about their fate until 2001, when the government acknowledged at least some of what’s now considered one of the most horrific crimes against humanity under the Gaddafi regime.
Fathi Terbil, 39, a human rights lawyer in Benghazi, became leader of a legal team representing the slain prisoners’ families. Protests were planned for mid-February in the eastern Libya city and Mr. Terbil was preparing to begin a court case examining the Abu Salim massacre. He planned to demand compensation — and answers — for the families.
He was deemed a brave soul for agreeing to do so. On Feb. 15, he was arrested by government officials.
Then something extraordinary happened, protesters say.
Mr. Terbil’s mother ran out into the street and made the first call to action. “Wake up, wake up oh Benghazi,” she shouted. “This is the night that we’ve been waiting for.” (Photo: Suhaib Salem/Reuters)
Ottawa asks RCMP to investigate Saadi Gaddafi’s Toronto condo
The federal government said Thursday it has asked the RCMP to look into a $1.6-million Toronto condo owned by the wanted son of the late Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
“This matter has been referred to the RCMP,” Joseph Lavoie, press secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, responded when asked about the downtown property.
The move came after the National Post reported on Thursday that Saadi Gaddafi, who is the subject of a United Nations-imposed assets freeze, is the listed owner of a penthouse on the Toronto waterfront.
The RCMP has not said if it has launched an investigation into whether the sanctions have been violated. The Department of Justice ultimately decides whether properties should be seized.
Saadi Gaddafi owns a $1.6M penthouse in Toronto
The Gaddafi family owns a $1.6-million penthouse apartment in downtown Toronto that has apparently gone unnoticed by the Canadian and Libyan governments, the National Post has learned.
The luxury condo atop the Harbor View Estates building on the Toronto waterfront comes with a view of Lake Ontario and access to a 25-metre swimming pool, squash, basketball and tennis courts and a bowling alley.
Although the United Nations Security Council ordered countries to freeze the Gaddafis’ worldwide assets in response to Libya’s crackdown on demonstrators, Ontario property records still list the condo’s owner as “Saadi Kaddafi.”
New on the market: ‘Casa Kadafi’
Saadi Gaddafi, playboy son of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, was supposed to live in exile on a beachfront property with views of yachts and fishing boats in the Bahia de Banderas and the lights of Puerto Vallarta twinkling in the distance.
The Guadalajara newspaper Mural ran a front-page story last week, saying Gaddafi’s third son and his family were to reside in a three-bedroom, three-bathroom home on a 10-metre-by-40-metre lot with a swimming pool, barbecue pit and access to a dark sand beach littered with beat-up fishing boats.
The property, which the National Post visited and accessed via an unlocked back gate, is listed for sale and was full of leopard-print furnishings still under plastic wrap. Located on a rutted road and fronting a vacant lot overgrown with weeds, the property is known locally as “Casa Estrella,” or the “Star House.” But given the recent spate of unexpected attention, someone instead posted a sheet of paper below the address numbers christening the house “Casa Kadafi.” (Photo: David Agren for National Post)
The Canadian woman at the centre of Saadi Gaddafi’s alleged escape plot
Cynthia Vanier billed herself as an expert in First Nations conflict resolution. Now she’s in a Mexican jail, accused of plotting Saadi Gaddafi’s escape from Libya. “I find it hard to fathom,” says one native official.
Saadi Gaddafi planned escape to luxurious home in trendy Punta Mita
After Libyans turned against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in February, his playboy son Saadi made plans to flee to a Mexican beach resort whose celebrity visitors include Kim Kardashian, Charlie Sheen and Lady Gaga, according to those familiar with the scheme.
Although the United Nations had frozen Saadi Gaddafi’s assets and banned him from crossing borders because of his close ties to the Libyan dictatorship, a multi-million-dollar refuge awaited him in Punta Mita, a posh development near Puerto Vallarta on Mexico’s Pacific Coast.
