November 22, 2011
This is another area, one of the big ones, where I know little at the moment. Therefore, another spot for comments from the better informed. At some point I'll pull the best stuff up into this post, but for now the content is below.
Yesterday The Telegraph reported that Abdullah al-Senussi is being held in secret location:
ReplyDelete"The spokesman for the NTC, said Senussi was in the custody of the Fazan brigades in the town of Sabha, 400 miles (650 kilometers) south of Tripoli.
He said on Monday there was a media blackout on his precise location and the details of his capture because he is much-hated in Libya and there could be attempts to kill him."
Perhaps a new caring spirit among the rebels, but there are even no pictures or videos of the captive until now.
And also AFP went a step backwards today:
"Libya's new rulers have no proof of the arrest of Moamer Kadhafi's spymaster Abdullah al-Senussi, the US envoy to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said on Tuesday.
"At that stage they were not able to confirm that Senussi was in anybody's custody," Rice said in the eastern city of Benghazi on the sidelines of an official visit to Libya."
We shouldn't forget how many times Khamis was reported dead and Saif captured before it realy happend. For the moment the capturing of Abdullah al-Senoussi looks more like a media hoax.
There was a time when all such claims were false, and I still wonder about Khamis, but now we're in mixed territory with some pretty well-accepted arrests and stupid brutal killings.
ReplyDeleteHowever as late as October, they said they caught Mutassim with short hair as a disguise. Yet when they killed him a week later, his hair was long.
They do have someone who looks a lot like Seif (although I suspect they had one of those too back in October...) But still no proof of Senoussi's capture. Interesting... They considered both arrests the turning point where they can finally work towards democracy and justice, based upon the truth of their struggle, the sacrifice of the "martyrs," and so on.
Completely fictitious arrests seem perfect for this kind of closure.
F'in Susan Rice...
Meant to say "back in August," not October.
ReplyDelete@caustic logic that seems to be the case because now they are saying that Abdullah al-Senoussi has been arrested in Mauritania arriving from Morroco.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g1x0fK2Qeyj81yxGYLODazULmZ9g?docId=694bd705a960490d8206ead450c948c3
Abdullah al-Senussi has been arrested in Mauritania, says BBC News:
ReplyDeleteLibya demands handover of Gaddafi spy chief Senussi
Quote:
Senussi was held at the airport in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, after flying in from Morocco using a false passport, officials said.
Libya, France and the ICC are demanding extradition.
In fact, I would be very pleased to see someone from Libya in The Hague. It would be like calling the ICC bluff. Unfortunately there does not seem to be any defense team – apart from the CIWCL – at least I have not heard of one. If there is we should definitely be in contact with them.
BBC: "France said the arrest was carried out in a joint operation between French and Mauritanian authorities"
ReplyDeleteHowever, Mauritania has not yet provided any evidence of his arrest. However...
Mauritania's state information agency said in a statement that al-Senoussi was arrested at the airport [Rami Al-Shaheibi, Huffington Post]
Orginal source: French Government in Paris:
"Résultat des efforts conjoints des autorités françaises et mauritaniennes, dont ont été tenues informées les autorités libyennes, cette interpellation donnera lieu dans les prochaines heures à la transmission par la France d'une demande d'arrestation aux fins d'extradition à la justice mauritanienne", précise le communiqué.
e.g here
More obfuscation.