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International News Title: Libya: Qaddafi Forces Given Surrender Deadline Libyan rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil gave forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi until Sept. 3 to surrender or face attack and said members of the former leader’s government would receive fair trials. The coastal city of Sirte and the southern town of Sabha are the key remaining bastions of Qaddafi loyalists, Jalil, chairman of the rebel National Transitional Council, said today in a televised press conference broadcast from Benghazi. “The entry to Sirte and southern towns of Libya should be as peaceful as possible to avoid more bloodshed and destruction,” he said. “If there are no indications for conducting this peacefully we can act decisively to end this situation in a military manner, but we do not wish to do so.” Sirte, Qaddafi’s hometown, is the last major coastal city still resisting rebel forces, which are backed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The opposition is seeking to capture Qaddafi and his closest aides, including son Saif al- Islam, to consolidate its gains and announce a new interim government after entering Tripoli, the capital, last week. “We want the wise people of these cities to cooperate,” Jalil said. “We have been in contact with the elders and the wise men of these cities.” NATO, which has supported the rebels by bombing pro-Qaddafi targets, will continue operations in the North African country as long as necessary, spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told reporters today in Brussels. “It looks as if we are nearly there, but we’re not there yet,” she said. Qaddafi’s wife, Safia, daughter Aisha and two sons, Hannibal and Mohammad, with their wives and children, crossed into Algeria early yesterday, the Algeria Press Service reported, citing a statement by the Foreign Ministry. Algeria closed part of the border with Libya after their arrival, according to the privately owned newspaper El Watan. The Algerian Foreign Ministry said today that Aisha had given birth in Algeria. One of Qaddafi’s sons, Khamis, a military commander, was killed in a NATO air strike southeast of Tripoli, Sky News reported, citing a man claiming to have been Khamis Qaddafi’s bodyguard. A rebel official, speaking on the condition he not be named, said the deaths of Khamis and Qaddafi’s top security adviser, Abdullah al-Senussi, hadn’t been confirmed. The balance of strength between rebel and pro-Qaddafi forces has shifted during two weeks of fighting. The rebels now have several dozen 155mm howitzers and at least 14 tanks deployed around Misrata. “The Qaddafi regime is collapsing and rapidly losing control on multiple fronts,” Colonel Roland Lavoie, spokesman for NATO’s Operation Unified Protector, told reporters today. “The Tripoli region is essentially freed.” Columns of rebel units in armed pickup trucks, some towing artillery and wheeled anti-aircraft guns, left Tripoli yesterday and headed east to Misrata in preparation for an advance on Sirte. “We want to celebrate Eid,” rebel fighter Abdullah Maaiteeg said, referring to the festival that marks the end of the Islamic month of fasting, Ramadan. He said he had been in Tripoli with the Faisal brigade collecting ammunition abandoned by pro-Qaddafi forces around the capital. “After that, maybe we will have to deal with Sirte.” Pro-Qaddafi forces committed possible war crimes in the battle for Misrata, Physicians for Human Rights said in a report released today. Those crimes include murder, torture and rape, the Boston- based group said, citing interviews with 54 residents of Misrata and its surrounding villages that it said were conducted in June, shortly after rebel forces captured the western coastal city. “The rule of law must be the bedrock of a new and free Libya,” the group said. The transitional council “must ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice and held accountable.” Amnesty International said yesterday that key prison records and other documentation -- vital for possible war crimes trials -- are at risk of being lost as sites remain unsecured and papers are destroyed or looted. Jalil said the transitional council will try members of Qaddafi’s government in the courts. “The safety and security of everyone is our responsibility,” he said. “We will provide fair trials for each of them, but we will not deal lightly with anyone who poses a threat to the revolution.”
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#1. To: Brian S (#0)
Would Qaddafi surrender if Condoleezza asked him?
"...all of the equations in neoclassical economics are rubbish. The differential equations describe nothing. Economics is not about mathematics, it is about the human being." Sandeep Jaitly
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