Benghazi, Libya (CNN) -- Terrified residents of Libya's tense capital braced for the possibility of more bloodshed Saturday as a defiant Moammar Gadhafi vied to preserve his four decades of power.
Across the Atlantic at the United Nations, international pressure intensified as the Security Council huddled in an urgent session to discuss slapping a new set of sanctions on Gadhafi's regime and referring the strongman to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.
Gadhafi's brute force has killed more than 1,000 people, the United Nations estimated.
The strongman still appears to control Tripoli, though many other parts of the north African nation, despite the bloody crackdown, have slipped from his grasp over days of popular uprising.
More than 200 Arab organizations and a group of 30 prominent intellectuals from across the Middle East and North Africa urged global bodies, including the Security Council, the European Union and the African Union, to take action to limit further humanitarian consequences.
Gadhafi behaving badly?
RELATED TOPICS
The group urged the international community to devise contingency plans for intervention and impose immediate sanctions on the Libyan regime.
"We appeal to you as leaders who have the power to bring an end to this horror," the statement said. "Your failure to do so would be a lasting stain on the responsibilities of world leadership and on humanity itself."
In Tripoli, terrified residents stayed indoors, though unable to shut off the sound of gunfire or put aside the words of Gadhafi in a public address the day before in which he vowed to keep unleashing force.
"We can destroy any assault with the people's will, with the armed people," he said on state television Friday. "And when it is necessary, the weapons depots will be open to all the Libyan people to be armed."
Gadhafi's son went on air on Al Arabiya television Saturday, again blaming foreigners for the unrest and denying that Gadhafi's security apparatus was to blame for the bloodshed.
"Now we are here, we are in a hotel in Tripoli," said Saif al-Islam Gadhafi. "Life is normal. Go out and see who is ruling there. Thousands of people are doing their jobs to maintain security in the city. They are not security police or armed forces."
Human Rights Watch reported Saturday streams of Egyptian migrants who had flowed into Tunisia after Libyan security forces and pro-government groups in the western city of Zawiya violently cracked down on anti-government protesters.
"West of Tripoli in Zawiya city, government security forces firing on demonstrators are causing bloodshed and chaos," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
The city of Zawiya -- about 55 kilometers (35 miles) west of Tripoli -- was the epicenter of violent protests Thursday.
At the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an effective solution to end the violence against anti-government protesters and a Libyan envoy tearfully asked the Security Council to step in.
Libyan: U.S. 'doesn't give a damn'
The draft Security Council resolution on Libya includes an arms embargo, asset freeze and a travel ban. It also requests that the International Criminal Court investigate alleged crimes during the unrest in Libya.The International Criminal Court has said it can only take up the case if Libyan authorities accept its jurisdiction or the security council refers the situation to the court. Unless either decision is taken, it cannot investigate because Libya is not a state party to the court, prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said.
More than 1,000 people have been killed in clashes in recent days, Ban said, calling for an immediate resolution to the crisis.
"In these circumstances, the loss of time means more loss of lives," Ban told the 15-member Security Council.
Ban cited reports of security forces shooting civilians at homes and inside hospitals in Tripoli and he reported clashes in at least three cities near the capital, according to Ban.
Human rights groups and witnesses have reported indiscriminate killings, shooting of peaceful demonstrators, torture of the opposition and use of foreign mercenaries, Ban said.
CNN could not independently confirm reports for many areas in Libya but compiled information through telephone interviews with witnesses.
Ban said he planned to speak with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington Monday.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Obama was suspending embassy operations in Tripoli and pursuing sanctions. State Department officials said they have other channels to communicate with the Libyan government, and emphasized that relations between the two nations are not broken.
"The flag is still flying. The embassy is not closed. Operations are suspended," said Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy.
The British Embassy has done the same.
"In light of the deteriorating situation in Libya ... we have temporarily suspended the operations of the British Embassy in Tripoli," the Foreign Office said Saturday.
CNN's Richard Roth contributed to this report.
No comments:
Post a Comment