APRIL FOOOOOLLL

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FORMER Delta State governor, Chief James Ibori, has denied that he pleaded guilty to alleged corruption charges at a London Court, last Monday.

Chief Ibori, while reacting to reports widely reported in the media on Tuesday, said he never pleaded guilty to corruption charges as they had been withdrawn by the prosecution because they could not be proved.

He said what he pleaded guilty were charges of money laundering, adding that “all corruption charges were dropped by the London police for lack of evidence.”

Speaking through Mr Tony Eluemunor, his media assistant, Chief Ibori maintained that he did not plead guilty to corruption charges which were removed, because they could not be proved beyond any reasonable doubt, adding that the police stayed with money laundering charges to be proved by nothing but inference.

Chief Ibori advised Nigerians not to be misled by the news reports of the Monday court session which, he said, were trusted to insane levels by media manipulation and misinformation.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/36868-i-did-not-plead-guilty-ibori

A damning report by Amnesty International says that a year after the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi Libya's militias are "largely out of control", with the use of torture ubiquitous and the country's new rulers unable – or unwilling – to prevent abuses.

The report says that the "hundreds of armed militias" that took part in the overthrow of Gaddafi's regime continue to operate more or less independently of the central authorities. Since the fall of Tripoli last August, the militias have failed to disband – and now pose a serious threat to a democratic Libya.

Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) has "failed to get a grip" on the militia problem, Amnesty says. The NTC has taken no action against fighters from either side involved in human rights abuses, and has not brought to justice those involved in extra-judicial killings – including of Gaddafi and his son Mutassim, captured and executed last October.

Additionally, there is overwhelming evidence that Libya's victorious militias use torture. Thousands of detainees are being held in various prisons across the country. In at least 12 cases since October prisoners have been tortured to death, including Omar Brebesh, Libya's former ambassador to France, who died in Tripoli last month.

Donatella Rovera, author of the Amnesty report, said she witnessed violence against detainees first hand at one militia jail in Misrata. "I was leaving the place, three guys, two in military clothes, were beating the hell out of two detainees," she told the Guardian. "When I said: 'What are you doing?' he [a captor] said: 'These guys are not going to be released.'"

She said she complained, and later returned to the jail, to find the detainees had been freed. But she said Amnesty's call for the NTC to take action had fallen on deaf ears. "I have not seen one single case that is being investigated," she said.

Rovera, who spent several months in Libya, said militia violence against detainees was not universal but that the violence is unchecked: "Within the militias there are members who don't agree with what's going on and feel that they are not able to expose it."

She said Nato nations, who had played a large part in winning the war for the former rebels, should put more pressure on the authorities to act. "Their friends including the UK need to start telling them [The Libyan authorities]. The international friends who supported them, they need to snap out of this self-congratulatory complacent attitude."

Amnesty interviewed dozens of prisoners in January and February. They were being held in and around Tripoli, as well as in the cities of Zawiya, Gharyan, Misrata and Sirte. Detainees said they had been suspended in contorted positions; beaten for hours with whips, sticks and bars; and given electric shocks with live wires and Taser-like weapons. "The patterns of injuries observed were consistent with their testimonies," Amnesty said.

Since the former regime's collapse, the militias have rounded up thousands of suspected Gaddafi loyalists, together with soldiers and alleged foreign mercenaries, the report says. Militias have also looted and burned homes, forcibly displacing tens of thousands of people, and meting out collective punishment against communities seen as having supported Gaddafi during the fighting.

In Misrata, the coastal city that saw some of the worst battles, families who fled have returned to discover that their apartments have been given to other people. Locals have accused them of being traitors and have expropriated or burned down their properties. The Misrata militias have also razed the regime-loyal town of Tawargha, 30km east of Misrata, forcing the entire population of 30,000 to flee.

On a recent visit to Misrata's main military prison, a former school, the Guardian saw no visible signs of mistreatment, with several hundred inmates gathered in the playground area. Approximately 40 prisoners had lined up suitcases and canvas bags, ready to be discharged with prison authorities saying they were no longer suspected of war crimes.

But Médicines Sans Frontières (MSF), which quit treating tortured prisoners last month in protest at continuing torture, said mistreatment occurs at several militia bases elsewhere in Misrata, with the victims returned, wounded, to the former school, and in some cases taken out again for fresh torture. MSF said it has treated 112 detainees who were the victims of torture, some more than once, prompting its decision to quit Misrata in protest.

One none-military source in Misrata said the problem rested with the lack of a command structure for the militias; each prisoner is in effect the property of the militia who arrested him. While some militias may be lenient, others can be harsh, and there is no military police organisation to enforce standards of conduct.

The militias have also detained black Libyans and migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa – accusing them of being hired Gaddafi mercenaries. Many have been tortured.

"The NTC-led transitional government appears to have neither the authority nor the political will to rein in the militias, many of which are reluctant to submit to the central authority," Amnesty says.

Hana El Gallal, of Libya's National Council for General Freedoms and Rights, a human rights group, said the problem rested with a lack of control over militias. "We do have torture, but it is not systematic, it is individual. We need to address this as fast as possible."

She said a visit to detainees held in a makeshift prison in the coastal town of Sirte in January lasted five minutes, with Amnesty officials told to leave before it was possible to interview and examine the inmates.

"There is a lot the NTC can and should do," she said. "This kind of chaos is very bad for security, for business, for everything in Libya."

Some 2,400 detainees remain in centres controlled by the new Libyan government. But the militias are believed to be holding thousands more. The International Committee of the Red Cross reported that between March and December 2011 it visited 8,500 detainees in some 60 detention centres. Speaking in January, the UN commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, said bluntly: "There's torture, extra-judicial executions, rape of both men and women."

Torture was used throughout Gaddafi's brutal 42-year reign. But testimony from detainees suggests that not much has changed. A 29-year-old former soldier told Amnesty he had been visiting Tripoli with a friend last November when two armed men grabbed him and took him to an unknown location. The men, part of a Nafusa mountains militia, accused him of having fought with Gaddafi.

He recalled: "They forced me to lie on my back on a bed and my hands and legs were tied to the frame. In this position I was beaten with fists on my face. Then they beat me with a plastic hose on my feet. Later, I had to turn around face-down and was tied again to the bed. In that position, I was beaten again with a hose on my back and on the head. I was also subjected to electric shocks to various parts of my body including my left arm and chest. The instrument they used was a black stick about 50cm long. My cousin was also subjected to electric shocks."

He continued: "The torture lasted until about 3am. Then they put us in a vehicle and drove us back to the road to Tripoli, where they left us."

Another 45-year-old army officer from Tripoli of Tawargha origin, said he was repeatedly tortured in January after reporting to work at his military base, now occupied by the rebels.

"Even before I was asked the first question I was beaten with a wooden stick and a heavy rubber cable while I was tied with one wrist to the iron bar of a window and with the other to a metal locker or cabinet," he told Amnesty.

"Later they tied me to the metal frame of a bed and beat me again with a rubber cable. The beating caused bleeding injuries and scars are still visible on my body. The beating also dislocated my right shoulder, which needed surgery.

"Two weeks ago my whole body was covered in bruises. They also subjected me to electric shocks through live wires while I was lying on the floor. They put the electricity to different parts of my body – including my wrists and toes. At one point I fainted and they threw water at me to wake me up."

In some cases prisoners died. A postmortem examination into the death of Fakhri al-Hudairi al-Amari - killed last November - found bruise marks in parallel lines across the body; marks of electric shocks; two nails missing on the left hand; burn marks on the forehead, right forearm and left wrist; bruising around both ankles; and severe abrasions on the soles of the feet. Other cases were similar.

Last November Libya's new interior ministry issued a decree prohibiting "revolutionary brigades" from arresting and interrogating suspects. But the decree is widely ignored, Amnesty said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/16/amnesty-widespread-torture-libyan-militias?newsfeed=true

By JIMITOTA ONOYUME
PORT HARCOURT- SHELL has said Nigeria would lose about N800 billion to oil theft this year if the alleged on-going illegal refining and bunkering at the Nembe Creek Trunk line was not stopped by the Federal Government immediately.

Managing Director of the multinational giant, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu who made this known in Port Harcourt yesterday said that currently, the country loses about 140,000 barrels daily. This would mean that on the average, about 50,400,000 barrels would be lost yearly to the illegal bunkering in the creeks, thus constituting a huge drain on the economy.

About 50,400,000 barrels of crude oil currently costs about yearly $4,880,232,000 or about N8000,358, 408,000 in the international market.
Sumonu urged the Federal Government to urgently provide security along crude lines in the area to save the country from further loss of revenue through such oil theft.

Describing the ugly situation around its Nembe Creek Trunkline as very worrisome and disturbing Sumonu said the government and other stakeholders should act decisively if the nation was to sustain oil operation in the region.

“I feel extremely saddened by what is happening, display of criminality, lack of care. I am extremely worried. Frankly, something has got to be done otherwise our operation in the region will not be sustainable. This is very worrisome,’’ he said.

Continuing, he said that the level of oil theft and illegal refining of crude in the region had constituted a major threat to the environment. “I am really worried about the danger to the environment,” he added.

According to him, there were a lot of international agencies that had indicated interest to develop the agricultural sector in the region but were reluctant investing in such projects because of the high level of criminal activities in the region.
Sumonu stressed that as a multinational oil firm, Shell would continue to do its best in the fight against oil theft and other related crimes threatening its operations, pointing out however, that the crusade should not be left to the oil giant alone.

“This is not a war that Shell alone can win, we need a coalition of efforts.’’
He further recommended creation of jobs and development of the region as steps towards resolving the problems, even as he explained that Shell had been actively involved in creating empowerment opportunities for people through various schemes and skill acquisition programmes.

“We need to create employment for people of the Delta. Government should work on both sides of development of the delta,” he added.

On alleged plans by a group, Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND to attack oil facilitiesin the region, the Managing Director called on youths in the area to uphold the rule of law by ensuring peaceful resolution of grievances following due process. Mr Sumonu however parried questions bordering on activities of MEND.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/02/shell-boss-raises-alarm-over-oil-theft/

(CNN) -- Several detainees in Libya have died after being tortured in recent weeks, the human rights group Amnesty International said Thursday.
The humanitarian aid group Doctors Without Borders said it was halting its work in detention centers in Misrata because detainees are "tortured and denied urgent medical care."
The agency, known by its French acronym MSF, said it has treated 115 people with torture-related wounds from interrogation sessions.
Christopher Stokes, general director of MSF, told CNN that two detainees died -- one in October and another in November -- within 30 minutes of being interrogated. Autopsies were not carried out, so the cause of death is unknown, he said.
Rights group: Libyan detainees tortured
In a statement, Amnesty described "widespread torture and ill-treatment of suspected pro-Gadhafi fighters and loyalists," a reference to those who fought for the regime of leader Moammar Gadhafi until his ouster and death.
"Amnesty International delegates in Libya have met detainees being held in and around Tripoli, Misrata and Gharyan, who showed visible marks indicating torture inflicted in recent days and weeks. Their injuries included open wounds on the head, limbs, back and other parts of the body.
"The torture is being carried out by officially recognized military and security entities as well by a multitude of armed militias operating outside any legal framework," Amnesty said in a statement.
Libyan officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
Interim Prime Minister Abderrahim el-Keib, in a televised addressed Wednesday evening about the state of affairs in Libya, said a plan was in progress to take over prisons partially.
Libya's ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammed Shalgham, told the United Nations on Wednesday that Libya does not approve of any abuse of detainees and was working to stop any such practices.
Amnesty published what it said were quotes from tortured detainees in Misrata.
"Five men in plain clothes took turns beating and whipping me. , They suspended me from the top of the door by my wrists for about an hour and kept beating me. They also kicked me," one said, according to the human rights group.
"Yesterday they beat me with electric cable while my hands were cuffed behind my back and my feet were bound together. They threatened to send me back to the militia who captured me, who would kill me," said another, according to Amnesty.
MSF said some of the patients its personnel have treated were tortured again after being returned to detention centers.
"Some officials have sought to exploit and obstruct MSF's medical work," said Stokes, the general director.
"Patients were brought to us for medical care between interrogation sessions, so that they would be fit for further interrogation. This is unacceptable. Our role is to provide medical care to war casualties and sick detainees, not to repeatedly treat the same patients between torture sessions."
MSF officials told CNN the injuries included cigarette burns, fractures, and electroshocks, which are "definitely" due to torture. There were also clear signs of beatings, Stokes said.
The detainees with torture wounds includes former fighters in the conflict, "but also people who have been accused of theft," Stokes said.
MSF is continuing its work providing mental health services in Misrata schools and health centers, he said.
Libya faces challenges in building a new nation
Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, voiced similar concerns about torture in Libya, sparking the response from Shalgham, Libya's U.N. envoy.
Pillay said the International Committee of the Red Cross had visited more than 8,500 detainees in about 60 places in Libya between March and December.
The majority of the detainees are accused of being Gadhafi loyalists, Pillay said Wednesday.
She said the issue is part of the difficulties Libya is having in law enforcement and security as the country transitions from Gadhafi's rule.
"The lack of oversight by the central authorities creates an environment conducive to torture and ill-treatment," Pillay said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/26/world/africa/libya-msf-torture/index.html?iref=allsearch

IT was supposed to be the dawn of a new Libya, the overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and his murderous henchmen. Now former revolutionary heroes stand accused of torturing their critics and rivals in much the same fashion as the deposed tyrant: limbs are being crushed and victims scorched with cattle rods.

Barely three months after the brutal killing of the former dictator, the authority of the stopgap National Transitional Council seems to be seeping away. Amnesty International and Medicins Sans Frontieres said yesterday that detainees were being interrogated and abused and, in some cases, dying in custody.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/libyas-new-torturers-pick-up-where-gaddafi-left-off/story-fnb64oi6-1226255672480

After reading the thread https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-854464.0.html on the threat to NLC by BH for accepting #97/litre, I could easily conclude how you guys have been blinded by sentiments. Just because the group supports bringing it back to #65, u guys have said the govt should even take it back to #141. The fight we all have been fighting, NLC, SNG, all civil society groups. Although we all are against the bombing and killing by the sect, but we should be analytical in judgment. I wouldn’t want to say much but a word is enough for the wise.

What I actually want to say is that the so called boko haram should face the Nigerian police. If they carry out all their attact againt the Nigerian police legitimately (with good reasons), I wont have any problem with that. The level of oppression on innocent and harmless citizens by the police is too much. Like here in the south, Lagos and Benin for instance, if a policeman sees a young man with a laptop, a BB or a well dressed boy, he will be immediately arrested, taken to police station, beaten and called a fraudster, they will beat you, sieze your phone, you cant make call, force you to ATM and collect money. This happens up till now and nothing is been done about it.

When I served in the east I saw many cases of humiliation on innocent businessmen. I cant mention much but I believe we all know and we should not deceive ourselves. I think a strong group should break up and declared a war on the police with clear message why you are carrying out the attack. This will draw the attention of the govt and with heavy losses on the police, I think they will learn not to violate human right.

You may argue with me, but when you personally experience what I mean, I think you will come out and see reasons with me and don’t get me wrong I am not in support of BH attacking innocent civilian. I just want a group with a clear cut legitimate warning to the police so as to protect human right.

>

Beef fck you

Abuja - The Federal Government will soon come up with a standard guideline to regulate noise level in the country, Mr Ahmed Alfa, the Deputy Director, Pollution Control Department, Federal Ministry of Environment, has announced.

He told newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja that a detailed study would be conducted by the ministry in collaboration with some stakeholders, including the Federal Ministry of Health and Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) before coming up with the guideline.

Alfa said efforts by the ministry to conduct the study before now were hindered by the lack of funds, but promised that the Federal Government would soon make available funds for the project.

“The study will involve a lot of financial commitment, and we will soon get the money from the government.”

Alfa said Nigeria had adopted the standard set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to regulate noise pollution in its industries.

“The standard set by WHO for industries workers must not be more than eight hours, while the noise level must not be more than 90 decibel.

“The WHO has produced a uniform standard for all countries, but some nations have domesticated their own standards as well.”

He said research findings had showed that excessive noise could cause different infirmities in human beings, including hypertension, abortion or miscarriage and the lack of concentration.

http://www.nigerianobservernews.com/11112011/news/news12.html

lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93EKCBfSgQ0

browse youtube and watch, Al-qaedia flag flying in Benghazi court house and in rallies in libya.

see what someone (probabaly an American) commented on youtube:

We've spent 10 yrs, 2 trillion dollars, and lost way to many soldiers lives for what? Then our dumb ass gov. hands over a country to the people responsible for all this shit. What the Bleep are they thinking? And who is going to be held accountable? OOOOOPS I forgot that our gov has no accountability,

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Mizoram, India (CNN) -- The world's population hits 7 billion this week, but Ziona, the patriarch of what may be the biggest family in the world, is not bothered.
"I don't care about overpopulation in India , I believe God has chosen us to be like this (have big families). Those who are born into this family don't want to leave this tradition so we just keep growing and growing," he says with a smile.
Ziona, who only goes by his first name, has 39 wives, 86 children and 35 grandchildren.
Ziona's father, Chana, founded the Christian sect in Baktwang village that promotes polygamy as God's will. "I never wanted to get married but that's the path God has chosen for me," he says. "It's not my wish to keep marrying again and again."
All 160 family members live in a four-storey mansion perched on top of a remote village in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram.
The state, neighboring Myanmar and Bangladesh, has one million residents, one of the lowest population densities in this country of 1.2 billion. Despite its natural beauty, special permits are required to enter the state, making tourism virtually non-existent.
Guy has 39 wives, 86 kids, 35 grandkids
Four hours away from Mizoram's only airport, in the isolated village of Baktwang, Ziona's bright purple house with 22 bedrooms stands out.
The main room is a giant hall where the family cooks, eats and prays. The bedrooms are dormitory-style with an average of 20 beds, each double bed about a foot apart from the next. The children sleep with their mothers who take turns visiting the 69 year-old's master bedroom.
"There is no discrimination amongst us, he treats us all equally," fifth wife Twangi says.
Ziona first got married when he was 17 to Zathiangi, who is now 70. His youngest wife is 31.
As the eldest wife, Zathiangi calls all the shots in the kitchen so meal times are an efficient exercise.
Without much fuss, while some women of the house cook, others set the table, still others serve and clean.
"We cook 25 kilograms of rice, 40 kilograms of potatoes and 5 kilograms of lentils everyday," Twangi says.

Continue on http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/31/world/asia/india-record-family/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

lol

ripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Abdul Hakeem Belhaj, one of the most effective commanders among anti-Gadhafi forces in Libya, has seen plenty of combat in his 45 years. A well-built, bearded man with dark, serious eyes, he fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan -- and alongside al Qaeda in the dying days of the Taliban regime.
Now he is commander of the anti-Gadhafi forces in Tripoli, and swears loyalty to the National Transitional Council, describing himself as an "ordinary Libyan" fighting for a common cause.
But there's not much ordinary about Belhaj. As a young man in the late 1980s, he was one of scores of jihadists in the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group that went to fight in Afghanistan. His military prowess soon made him a commander among his fellow fighters. After the fall of the Taliban, Belhaj left Afghanistan and was arrested in Malaysia in 2004. After some questioning by the CIA, he was sent back to Libya and jailed.
Belhaj was released from Moammar Gadhafi's notorious Abu Salim jail last year. He and dozens of others of LIFG fighters negotiated with the Gadhafi regime for their freedom -- in return for denouncing al Qaeda and its philosophy of jihad.
The negotiations were led by a former LIFG member in exile, Noman Benotman, and Saif al Islam Gadhafi, one of the sons of the Libyan leader and a man that Belhaj is now hunting.
The Gadhafi regime had jailed hundreds of Islamists, among them fighters of the LIFG who had launched a short-lived insurgency in the 1990s. Many were massacred during a prison revolt in 1996.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/09/02/libya.belhaj.profile/index.html?&hpt=hp_c1

@Poster,Deji,may god bless you for this post. I feel so bad that our people have been so brainwashed by western media propaganda. our people especially Nigerians believe anything that comes from CNN and BBC, if only you guys were watching RT you would have seen the other side of the story. Gadaffi is a hero, African will miss him.

The western claimed they were supported by the Arab league, but they would have named the countries, they are all tyrants with no democracy, is it Saudi Arabia?, ruled by a king, even uae no democracy.

Africa union try to bring a peaceful solution but NATO refused, the peace deal drafted by the African union, gadaffi signed and accepted reform but NATO told the rebels not to signed and they didn't. even when African union were going back to even refine it and make it favour the rebels more, they were unable to enter tripoli because of NATO bombing, they had to beg NATO to suspend bombing, even the hall they used in the former meeting was bombed. ever after that, the rebels still refused to sign, and we are all blaming Gadaffi. its so sad.

there are so many videos in youtube of havoc committed by the rebels but the western media never show them. how come the western media never mentioned all the good thing gadaffi has done in libya? how come they never quoted libya that has the best standard of living in africa

The most painful thing is that the majority of the libya citizens love gadaffi. If 1 million people protest in support of gadaffi the western media will not show it, but if 10 people protest against gadaffi, the whole world will hear it.

British special forces are on the ground in Libya helping to spearhead the hunt for Col Muammar Gaddafi, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

As a £1 million bounty was placed on Gaddafi’s head, soldiers from 22 SAS Regiment began guiding rebel soldiers after being ordered in by David Cameron.
For the first time, defence sources have confirmed that the SAS has been in Libya for several weeks, and played a key role in co-ordinating the fall of Tripoli.
With the majority of the capital now in rebel hands, the SAS soldiers, who have been dressed in Arab civilian clothing and carrying the same weapons as the rebels, have been ordered to switch their focus to the search for Gaddafi, who has been on the run since his fortified headquarters was captured on Tuesday.
Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) said Gaddafi was wanted “dead or alive” and promised an amnesty to any of his inner circle prepared to betray his whereabouts.

more

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8721291/Libya-SAS-leads-hunt-for-Gaddafi.html

Please i need a bit clarification on whats really the situation in the other states in Libya is, i have never really seen a good interview of citizens in Tripoli and other Libyan states apart from Benghazi. It seems the other states actually like their leader, how come the protest is only from benghazi and the international community concentrate solely on benghazi without even knowing about the welfare of people in other states. I have a good feeling that apart from Benghazi the citizens of Libya love their leader.

I remember a Nigerian guys that wanted to cross to Italy through Libya, he said in Libya, most of the citizens have sticker of Gaddafi picture on their phone because of their love for him.
I think if the international community wants to change the leader,they should consider the citizens and do it in favour of the majority of the people.

Libyan rebel forces seeking to oust Muammar Qaddafi have looted shops, homes and medical facilities in some of the towns they seized in the country's western mountains, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday.
In several conquered towns, the rebels torched homes believed to belong to Qaddafi supporters, the New York-based group said.
Since the uprising seeking to end Qaddafi's 42-year rule broke out in mid-February, armed rebels have seized control of much of the country's east, where they've set up an administration in Benghazi. They also control the coastal city of Misrata and much of the Nafusa mountain range southwest of Tripoli.

Through a string of victories in recent months, rebel forces have expanded the area under their control in the mountains.
The Human Rights Watch report, based on interviews with local fighters and residents, said that after seizing towns, rebel forces torched a number of homes believed to belong to Qaddafi supporters. It also said rebel forces had ransacked shops and looted supplies from medical facilities.
Qaddafi's forces in the area have been accused of much worse, including indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas and laying land mines.
HRW called on rebel commanders to hold their forces responsible for damaging civilian property."Opposition forces have an obligation to protect civilians and their property in the areas they control so people feel they can return home safely and rebuild their lives," said Joe Stork, the group's deputy Middle East and North Africa director.
Rebel commanders could not be immediately reached for comment.
HRW quoted one commander as acknowledging that some abuses had taken place, but denying that such acts were policy.
"If we hadn't issued directives, people would have burned these towns down to the ground," the group quoted Col. El-Moktar Firnana as saying.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/07/13/rights-group-libyan-rebels-loot-seized-towns/

'Somalia-sation'
He said the supplies had been limited to ammunition and "light arms" including machine guns and rocket launchers. He denied a report in Le Figaro newspaper that anti-tank missiles had been parachuted in.

French media reports have said "light armoured cars" were also delivered to the rebels from Tunisia, and that France had not informed its allies about the move.

Earlier on Thursday, African Union chief Jean Ping listed a number of "problems" linked to France's decision to air-drop weapons to the rebels.

"The risk of civil war, risk of partition of the country, the risk of 'Somalia-sation' of the country, risk of having arms everywhere, with terrorism.

"These risks will concern the neighbouring countries," said Mr Ping, speaking at an African Union summit in Equatorial Guinea.

Russia has strongly criticised France for dropping weapons to Libyan rebels and demanded an explanation from Paris.

"If this is confirmed, it is a very crude violation of UN Security Council resolution 1970," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

The African Union has also criticised the move, saying it risks causing a "Somalia-sation" of Libya.

The French military says it has dropped arms to Berber tribal fighters in the mountains south-west of the capital.

Mr Lavrov said Russia had formally requested information from France about the move, to check that it "corresponds with reality".

Mr Lavrov is due to meet French counterpart Alain Juppe in Moscow on Friday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13979632

There is arm embargo in Libya yet France still arm the rebels.
I thought the UN resolution was to stop gaddaffi from attacking the rebels, but the rebels are actually attacking and the government are on the defensive.
, the world politics, where is justice

France has air-dropped weapons to rebels fighting Col Muammar Gaddafi's troops in Western Libya, the French military has confirmed.

Light arms and ammunition were sent to Berber tribal fighters in the Nafusa mountains in early June, it said.

Earlier, a report in Le Figaro newspaper said the arms included rocket launchers and anti-tank missiles.

France, a leading force in the Nato operation in Libya, did not inform its allies about the move, Le Figaro said.

"We began by dropping humanitarian aid: food, water and medical supplies," said Col Thierry Burkhard, spokesman for the French general staff.

"During the operation, the situation for the civilians on the ground worsened. We dropped arms and means of self-defence, mainly ammunition," he told AFP news agency.

He said the arms were "light infantry weapons of the rifle type", dropped over a period of several days "so that civilians would not be massacred".

UN resolutions
The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris says the statement is likely to bring further criticism from the likes of Russia and China, who believe Nato and its allies have already gone beyond the remit of UN resolution 1973, which authorised international military action in Libya.

The US has argued that resolution 1973 allows countries to provide arms to rebels despite an earlier resolution - 1970 - that imposed an arms embargo on the whole of Libya.

Resolution 1973 authorises "all necessary measures" to protect civilians, "notwithstanding" the arms embargo in resolution 1970.

France played a prominent role in pushing for military intervention in Libya, and French and British planes have led the air strikes over the country that began in late March.

Qatar, which has supported the Nato-led operation in Libya, has been supplying arms to rebels mainly through their eastern stronghold in the city of Benghazi.

France, the UK and Italy announced in April that they were sending military advisers to Benghazi.

'Light tanks'
The decision to drop arms to the Libyan rebels was reportedly taken following a meeting in mid-April between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Chief of Staff of the Libyan rebels, Gen Abdelfatah Younis.

France is said to have been concerned at the stalemate in a conflict between the rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces that started in February.

Local media reports say 40 tonnes of weapons were sent to western Libya, including "a few light tanks" that were smuggled in across the Tunisian border.

Le Figaro also reported that it had seen a confidential defence map showing two makeshift airstrips in rebel-held towns, built to receive small aircraft from the Gulf that can move arms closer to the front.

The rebels have recently been edging forward in Libya's north-west, and are hoping to push on to Tripoli from the frontline, currently on the other side of the Nafusa mountains and about 65km (40 miles) from the capital

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13955751

WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday approved a resolution formally authorizing continued U.S. participation in the NATO-led military intervention in Libya but banning the introduction of U.S. troops on the ground there.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 14-5 to approve the measure offered by Senator John Kerry, a Democrat, and Senator John McCain, a Republican, sending it to the full Senate.

It would authorize the mission for up to one year after the date of enactment of the resolution by Congress, unless the NATO mission ends sooner.

It also says that the removal of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is a political goal of U.S. policy, and calls for the United States and NATO to be reimbursed for the costs of the operation from assets seized from Gaddafi's government.

All those who voted against the measure were Republicans, including the panel's top Republican, Senator Richard Lugar.

The United States and its NATO allies launched the U.N.-backed mission against Libya in March, aiming to prevent Gaddafi's forces from attacking civilians in regions opposed to his rule. The mission now, NATO-led since the end of March, appears to have the unstated goal of driving Gaddafi from power.

Many lawmakers are angry that President Barack Obama did not ask the U.S. Congress to authorize the U.S. role, even if they approve of going after Gaddafi. Last week, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives delivered a rebuke to Obama by rejecting a measure similar to the Kerry-McCain resolution. [ID:nW1E7H9027]

That House vote suggests that even if the Kerry-McCain resolution does pass the Senate, it will not be able to get through the House and become law. However, the Obama administration has taken the position that it does not need to ask Congress for authorization for Libyan operations because the U.S. military role there has been too "limited". This position has also annoyed many in Congress

http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFN1E75R1UC20110628

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Internet users worldwide will experience some difficulties in accessing the World Wide Web (www) next week Wednesday, following plans by world Internet bodies to carryout a one day test run on the new Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPV6).
The test run will make it impossible for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), to connect to yahoo, google and other Internet platforms, once the test run commences June 8.
The reason is that all ISPs in Nigeria and most ISPs of the world are currently on Internet Protocol version 4 (IPV4), which is not compatible with IPV6. The disruption is expected to last for only one day.
The world bodies, which include Internet Society (ISOC), the managerial home for the groups responsible for Internet infrastructure standards; Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), will come together on June 8 to commemorate the World IPV6 Day, which has to do with test running of the new IP version.
The planned test run is sequel to the allocation of the last batch of IPv4 addresses by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). It therefore became imperative for the deployment of IPv6, to enable ISPs connect to the new platform.
In technical parlance, Internet Protocol (IP) is simply the address of a device used in connecting to the Internet.
The Internet platform only recognises the IP address in providing access to the Internet. It comes in different versions, and the world was operating version 4 (IPV4), until its numbers were exhausted recently, leading to the development of IPV6, a higher version.
IPv6 is the next generation IP address standard intended to supplement, and eventually replace, the IPv4 protocol that most Internet services use today.
To help ensure the continued rapid growth of the Internet as a platform for innovation, IPv6 tackles some of IPv4’s shortcomings, most notably a limited amount of remaining addresses.
While the technical foundations of IPv6 are well established, significant work remains to deploy and begin using IPv6 capabilities.

http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx?id=34893

ABIDJAN — Followers of Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara have targetted suspected supporters of former leader Laurent Gbagbo, killing at least 149, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.
In a report, the New York-based organisation said Ouattara's Republican Forces of Ivory Coast (FRCI) have targetted ethnic groups seen as loyal to Gbagbo while launching reprisal attacks.
"The hope of a new era following Ouattara's inauguration will fade fast unless these horrible abuses against pro-Gbagbo groups stop immediately," west Africa researcher Corinne Dufka said in the report.
Ouattara was sworn in late last month after a protracted and violent political crisis sparked by Gbagbo's refusal to accept defeat following the country's November election.
The report accuses pro-Ouattara forces of killing at least 149 "real or perceived" Gbagbo supporters in the run-up to his arrest on April 11 and through the following weeks.
"They sealed off and searched" areas considered Gbagbo strongholds in the commercial capital, and conducted "point blank executions of youths from ethnic groups generally aligned with Gbagbo."
The report also says pro-Gbagbo militiamen killed at least 220 men in the days surrounding his arrest.
Gbagbo is under house arrest in the north of country and Ouattara says he will ask the International Criminal Court to investigate whether the former president is responsible for crimes against humanity.
To boost the credibility of his new government, which Ouattara has repeatedly said must unite the country, the new president should suspend any commanders implicated in crimes against political rivals, the report said.
In research conducted between May 13 and May 25, the rights group "documented 54 extrajudicial executions in formal and informal detention sites," implicating both pro-Ouattara police and FRCI commanders in the deaths.
One witness told the rights group that he saw FRCI forces slit his 21-year-old brother's throat, and a female resident of a pro-Gbagbo area said she was raped by Ouattara's troops after being forced to load their car with stolen goods.
The report said Ivory Coast's Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko has promised to convene an emergency meeting with various political and military leaders to investigate the allegations.
Last month, the UN mission in Ivory Coast said at least 1,012 were killed in political clashes and communal fighting during the five-month political crisis.
Ouattara was confined to an Abidjan hotel for months after the poll, surrounded by pro-Gbagbo forces while the UN, African Union and many foreign governments demanded that he be freed and sworn in as president
Violence was initially sporadic, but surged dramatically in April when Ouattara forces launched an operation, backed by both the UN and French forces based in the country, to arrest Gbagbo.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hcCcnX53ZHCxO7cRpMZ5FAOejG1w?docId=CNG.871d6ceaf93465b9db0644b930cabf59.cf1