Russia to mediate in Libyan crisis

Moscow to help mediate an end to an international campaign it has opposed.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the meetings with the Tripoli government representatives will be followed by talks with rebel envoys from Benghazi at a later date.
“We have agreed Moscow meetings with representatives of both Tripoli and Benghazi,” the ITAR-TASS news agency quoted Lavrov as saying.
“The Tripoli envoys will be here tomorrow,” Russia’s top diplomat said.
He added that the trip by the rebel representatives had been delayed for “technical” reasons but had originally been scheduled for tomorrow.
Lavrov did not specify which officials would be coming to Moscow or whom besides himself they would meet.
Senior Libyan rebel leader Mahmud Jibril held talks in Washington on Friday and met French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris on the following day in his bid to gain international recognition for the opposition government.
Russia has refused to accept the rebels as a legitimate power in Libya and still has formal ties with the Gadaffi regime.
Lavrov has fired almost daily barbs at the international military campaign against Gadaffi’s forces and accused the foreign powers of trying to target the disputed Libyan leader.
Russia abstained for the UN Security Council vote on international military intervention in a move that helped the measure to pass.
But Moscow has argued that the current campaign breaches the UN mandate and has also criticised the leading role taken in the crisis by the International Contact Group.
It was particularly furious when the group this month agreed to provide financial assistance to the rebels from funds that partly came from Gadaffi’s frozen foreign assets.
At the same time, Russia has also joined world powers in imposing its own financial and military export sanctions on Tripoli and has been openly critical of Gadaffi’s crackdown on the opposition.
The Kremlin’s top foreign policy adviser said shortly after the international campaign started that Moscow was keeping its ties open with Tripoli only “because we have to”.
But while calling on Gadaffi to immediately cease fire and enter talks, Russia has also criticised some Western nations for agreeing to start training the rebels, saying the decision breached international law.
The Arab League has asked satellite operator Arabsat – which it owns – to stop transmitting Libyan state-owned channels, the 22-member bloc said in a statement distributed yesterday.
The Arab League’s council of ministers “has requested the Arab Satellite Communications Organisation to halt the transmission of the Libyan Jamahiriya channel and all television channels affiliated with the Libyan authorities, in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1973,” it said.
Arab League members meeting in Cairo made the request late on Sunday, after talks to elect a new secretary general.
NATO on Monday carried out fresh air raids east of Libya’s capital, destroying a radar base, residents in the neighbourhood and JANA state news agency reported.
A radar station in the heart of a residential area was destroyed in Tajura, residents of the eastern suburb told AFP, adding they heard three loud explosions and blasts further to the east.
JANA, quoting a military source, said “civilian and military sites” in the area of Tajura had been targetted by NATO raids causing “human and material losses,” without providing further details.
Tajura, home to several military installations and radars, has been targeted almost daily by coalition strikes launched on March 19 after a UN resolution called for the protection of civilians.
The UN war crimes court’s chief prosecutor said yesterday he had sought arrest warrants for Gadaffi, his son Seif al-Islam and intelligence head Abdullah Senussi for crimes against humanity.
“Today, the office of the prosecutor requested the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants,” Luis Moreno-Ocampo said at a Press conference in The Hague, where the International Criminal Court is based.
“He ordered attacks on Libyan civilians in their homes and in public spaces,” the prosecutor continued, adding, “he shot at demonstrators using live ammunition, using heavy weaponry against . . . funeral processions and placed snipers to kill those leaving mosques after prayers.”
The prosecutor said Khadhafi also used his inner circle and family to enforce his absolute rule.
“His second-oldest son Seif al-Islam is his de-facto prime minister. Al-Senussi, Gadaffi’s brother-in-law, is his right-hand man.”
A panel of ICC judges will now have to decide whether to accept or reject the prosecutor’s application, based on his case file. – AFP.