ICC issues four new arrest warrants in Libya war crimes investigation

Khan said he had also applied for an additional two warrants in the past few weeks. (Reuters)
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Updated 12 May 2023
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ICC issues four new arrest warrants in Libya war crimes investigation

  • It is believed that they are senior members of former president Muammar Gaddafi’s regime
  • The ICC launched an international war crimes investigation in Libya in 2011

NEW YORK CITY: The prosecutor of the International Court of Justice announced during a briefing at the UN Security Council on Thursday that the court has issued four warrants for the arrest of individuals following his investigations of war crimes in Libya. 

Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor, said during the briefing that he had applied for the warrants to be unsealed and that the ICC international judges would decide on these in due course. 

Khan said he had also applied for an additional two warrants in the past few weeks.

Though Khan did not name the individuals or the nationalities of those for whom the international arrest warrants were issued, it is believed that they are senior members of former president Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. Gaddafi was ousted from power by the US and European military alliance NATO after a popular and bloody uprising against his decades-long dictatorial rule.

Thousands of innocent Libyans were killed and injured, and many disappeared, during the uprising and the civil war that followed. 

The ICC launched an international war crimes investigation in Libya in 2011 after referral by the Security Council and following the Security Council Resolution 1970 that condemned the use of lethal force by Gaddafi and his senior aides against Libyan civilians. 

On June, 27 2011, the ICC issued two arrest warrants — one for Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, the eldest son of the deposed leader, and a second one for Abdullah Al-Senussi, a former colonel in the Libyan air force and head of military intelligence.

Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi was imprisoned for several years by one of the armed groups in Libya but later released. 

Both men have yet to stand trial at the Hague in the Netherlands where the ICC is located.

Khan told the council that the rights of victims and survivors mattered, and that his organization was working to bring justice to victims of war crimes and other atrocities.

He said that he had traveled to Libya and met Libyan officials, civil society leaders, victims and survivors of war atrocities.

Khan added that he had engaged with the Libyan legal authorities and met the country’s attorney general, the military prosecutor and the minister of justice.

He emphasized the need for partnership and cooperation between national states and the ICC to achieve justice and bring accused individuals to court.

“Partnerships are key to justice,” he said.

“If the referral from this council to the court is to be vindicated, it requires everybody to step up and every single state to realize the shared responsibility,” he said.

The Libyan representative at the UN who spoke at the Security Council meeting said that his country was fully committed to holding those responsible for committing war crimes “accountable” and to punish them as provided for by the national law of Libya.

He said that administration of justice on Libya territory was a sovereign prerogative and that the Libyan judicial system was fully committed to exercising its obligations.

The Libyan envoy reiterated his country’s commitment to work with the ICC in accordance with its mandate based on the principle of “complementarity,” where the ICC and the national justice system worked to complement each other during investigations. He said that the ICC would not be an “alternative” to Libya’s legal system.

Khan said that he planned for members of his team to travel to Libya to coordinate with Libyan authorities and establish a field office in the capital Tripoli. He described these steps as “important” and not merely a “cosmetic exercise” because in this way justice became more tangible for victims.

Other speakers reiterated their countries’ position in holding perpetrators of war crimes accountable to achieve justice for the people of Libya.


Arab League says any plan to uproot Palestinians from Gaza would be ‘ethnic cleansing’

Updated 7 sec ago
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Arab League says any plan to uproot Palestinians from Gaza would be ‘ethnic cleansing’

  • The bloc was reacting to President Trump’s suggestion to ‘clean out’ Gaza Strip, move its population to Egypt and Jordan
  • Egyptian President El-Sisi has repeatedly warned that any planned displacement would threaten Egypt’s national security

CAIRO: The Arab League on Sunday warned against “attempts to uproot the Palestinian people from their land,” after US President Donald Trump suggested a plan to “clean out” the Gaza Strip and move its population to Egypt and Jordan.
“The forced displacement and eviction of people from their land can only be called ethnic cleansing,” the regional bloc’s general secretariat said in a statement.
“Attempts to uproot the Palestinian people from their land, whether by displacement, annexation or settlement expansion, have been proven to fail in the past,” the statement added.
Earlier Sunday, Egypt vehemently expressed its objection to Trump’s suggestion.
Cairo’s foreign ministry in a statement expressed Egypt’s “continued support for the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land.”
It “rejected any infringement on those inalienable rights, whether by settlement or annexation of land, or by the depopulation of that land of its people through displacement, encouraged transfer or the uprooting of Palestinians from their land, whether temporarily or long-term.”
After 15 months of war, Trump said Gaza had become a “demolition site” and he would “like Egypt to take people, and I’d like Jordan to take people.”
Moving Gaza’s inhabitants could be done “temporarily or could be long term,” he said.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023 both countries have warned of plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza into neighboring Egypt and from the West Bank into Jordan.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, with whom Trump said he would speak on Sunday, has repeatedly warned that said displacement would aim to “eradicate the cause for Palestinian statehood.”
El-Sisi has described the prospect as a “red line” that would threaten Egypt’s national security.
The Egyptian foreign ministry on Sunday urged the implementation of the “two-state solution,” which Cairo has said would become impossible if Palestinians were removed from their territories.


Jordanian, Turkish foreign ministers discuss Gaza, Syria

Updated 13 min 53 sec ago
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Jordanian, Turkish foreign ministers discuss Gaza, Syria

  • Chief diplomats affirm support for independent, sovereign Palestinian state
  • Discussions also focus on security, reconstruction of Syria

LONDON: Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Monday spoke with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan about the latest developments in Syria and the Gaza Strip.

The chief diplomats emphasized the urgent need for adequate humanitarian aid to Gaza and the importance of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that ended 15 months of warfare in the enclave.

Both ministers affirmed their support for an independent and sovereign Palestinian state within the armistice lines of the pre-1967 Middle East war, with East Jerusalem as its capital, the Petra news agency reported.

They said that a two-state solution, with Palestinians and Israelis living peacefully side by side, is the only way to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the region.

The ministers also discussed the security and reconstruction of Syria after more than a decade of civil war that devastated the country’s economy.


Israel says 8 hostages due for release in first phase of truce are dead

Supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza hold photos of loved ones during a protest calling for their release.
Updated 27 January 2025
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Israel says 8 hostages due for release in first phase of truce are dead

  • That means that of the 26 hostages yet to be freed under the first phase of the agreement, only 18 are still alive
  • Under the first phase of the agreement, 33 hostages held by militants in Gaza are to be released in exchange for more than 1,900 Palestinians held by Israel

JERUSALEM: Eight of the hostages due for release in the first phase of a truce deal between Israel and Hamas are dead, Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said Monday.
“The families have been informed of the situation of their relatives,” Mencer told reporters, without providing the names of the deceased.
That means that of the 26 hostages yet to be freed under the first phase of the agreement, only 18 are still alive.
The truce deal, announced earlier in January after months of fruitless negotiations, took effect on January 19, bringing to a halt more than 15 months of war sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
Under the first phase of the agreement, 33 hostages held by militants in Gaza are to be released in exchange for more than 1,900 Palestinians held by Israel.
Seven Israeli women have been released since the start of the truce, as have 290 Palestinian prisoners.


Bahraini king, crown prince meet Italian PM in Manama

Updated 27 January 2025
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Bahraini king, crown prince meet Italian PM in Manama

  • King Hamad welcomed Giorgia Meloni at Al-Gudaibiya Palace
  • They discussed bilateral relations, ways to boost cooperation

LONDON: Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa received Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Manama on Monday.

The Italian premier embarked on an official visit to the Middle East this week, meeting the Saudi leadership in AlUla on Sunday before heading to the Bahraini capital.

King Hamad welcomed Meloni at Al-Gudaibiya Palace in the presence of Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the crown prince and prime minister.

They discussed bilateral relations and ways to boost cooperation in economics, trade and investment, according to the official Bahrain News Agency.

The king commended Italy’s efforts to promote peace and highlighted the importance of dialogue and diplomatic solutions to address regional as well as global issues, the BNA added.

Meloni expressed her gratitude for King Hamad’s warm hospitality and his efforts to strengthen historical relations between Rome and Manama.

King Hamad hosted a luncheon in honor of the Italian prime minister and her delegation.


Palestinians say two killed in Israeli West Bank strike

Palestinians drive their vehicles past the carcass of a car that was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Nur Shams refugee camp
Updated 27 January 2025
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Palestinians say two killed in Israeli West Bank strike

  • Official Palestinian news agency Wafa identified the two killed as Ramez Damiri and Ihab Abu Atwi, both residents of the Nur Shams refugee camp

TULKAREM: The Palestinian health ministry said Monday two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem, an attack confirmed by the Israeli military.
The Ramallah-based ministry said in a statement that two dead and three injured arrived at Tulkarem’s Governmental Hospital “following the occupation’s targeting of a vehicle in Nur Shams refugee camp,” adjacent to the city of Tulkarem.
The Israeli army confirmed the strike, and said in a statement that “in a joint operation by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet (internal security agency), an air force aircraft launched an attack shortly ago in the Tulkarem area.”
Official Palestinian news agency Wafa identified the two killed as Ramez Damiri and Ihab Abu Atwi, both residents of the Nur Shams refugee camp.
The health ministry also announced the death of a young man killed Sunday night by Israeli forces in Qalandiya refugee camp, north of Jerusalem.
The ministry reported one dead and two injured “by (Israeli) bullets near Qalandiya camp.”
Wafa news agency identified the man killed as Adam Sab Laban, shot by Israeli forces who were stationed at a military tower by the Qalandiya checkpoint into Jerusalem, and who “opened fire at a group of citizens.”
Violence has soared throughout the West Bank since the war in Gaza broke out on October 7, 2023.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 861 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the health ministry.
At least 29 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military raids in the territory over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.