Nato Strikes As Gaddafi Faces Arrest Warrant - Sky News

11:01am UK, Tuesday May 17, 2011

Mark Stone, Sky News reporter, in Tripoli

Nato has reportedly stepped up its air strikes on Tripoli - as the International Criminal Court requested arrest warrants for Colonel Gaddafi and his son Saif al Islam for crimes against humanity.

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The court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said forces loyal to the dictator had attacked civilians in their homes, shot at demonstrators, shelled funeral processions and used snipers to kill people leaving mosques.

He also announced at a news conference in The Hague that he had requested a warrant for the country's head of espionage, Abdullah al Senussi, over the violent crackdown on protesters in February.

It comes amid another night of Nato missile attacks on Tripoli.

Both the Ministry of the Interior and a police station are said to have been hit overnight, and unconfirmed Libyan state TV reports claim civilians were injured.

It is claimed Col Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam and al Senussi held meetings and ordered, planned and participated in illegal attacks.

Judges must now evaluate the evidence before deciding whether to confirm the charges and issue international arrest warrants.

Saif al Islam was once seen as his father's likely successor

British Foreign Secretary William Hague has welcomed the announcement.

He said: "The human rights situation in Western Libya and the behaviour of the Gaddafi regime remains of grave concern and the UK was at the forefront of efforts in the UN to adopt resolution 1970 which referred the situation in Libya to the ICC.

"The request for these warrants is a reminder to all in Gaddafi's regime that crimes will not go unpunished and the reach of international justice will be long."

But Libyan officials have already denounced the ICC prosecutor's action, saying the court is a creation of the West for prosecuting African leaders

Mr Moreno-Ocampo says he had concluded "there was enough evidence to present a request for arrest warrants for the commission of two categories" - crimes against humanity and persecution.

"The Office collected good and solid evidence to identify who bears the greatest responsibility; no political responsibilities but rather individual criminal responsibilities for crimes committed in Libya," he said.

The ICC has catalogued the allegations in just two-and-a-half months.

It has reviewed more than 1,200 documents, studied video and photographs and conducted interviews.

The information will now be considered by three judges, from Brazil, Italy and Botswana, in 'Chamber 1' of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

They are expected to uphold the prosecutors charges against the three individuals, but any announcement could take several months.

Speaking to Sky News, sources close to Col Gaddafi expressed irritation that the ICC prosecutors team did not visit the country as part of their investigation.

But the ICC have defended their work. A spokeswoman explained why they had not conducted any research in Libya.

"We did not go to Libya because we did not want to put any witnesses at risk in Libya," a spokeswoman said.

"Once we see someone, we have a duty to protect them."

It is not yet at all clear how any potential arrests could be carried out or how they could affect the conflict in Libya.

Rebel fighters in the western area of Zintan

The ICC was built on the 1988 Rome Statute. It states that the duty to arrest those named falls upon the national government in question.

However, given how long this conflict has now run, it seems unlikely that anyone within Col Gaddafi's inner circle will suddenly turn on the leader.

The arrests could be made by Nato but this would require 'boots on the ground'.

That could only happen after another UN resolution, which China and Russia would probably veto.

None of the Nato countries taking part in the action against Libya have shown any desire to send in ground troops.

There is a hope that the issuing of the warrants will encourage those close to Col Gaddafi to defect for fear of arrest themselves.

But it could also back the dictator into a corner and complicate the possibility of a deal in which he accepts exile as a way to end the conflict.

:: Mark Stone is reporting under Libyan government restrictions.