New Libya leaders pledge 'moderate' Islamic rule

 Libya's new leaders pledged "moderate" Islamic rule even as their fighters were accused of committing war crimes and a defiant Moamer Kadhafi vowed from hiding to battle on until victory.

Interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil received a hero's welcome when he made a public speech in Tripoli's main

square late on Monday.

Thousands celebrated last month's fall of the Kadhafi regime in Martyrs' Square, two days after Abdel Jalil, the head of the National Transitional Council (NTC), arrived in Tripoli from Benghazi in the east.

Moderate Islam would be the main source of legislation in post-Kadhafi Libya, he told the crowd.

"We will not accept any extremist ideology, on the right or the left. We are a Muslim people, for a moderate Islam, and we will stay on this road," he said.

In a new report released Tuesday, Amnesty International accused Kadhafi's regime of crimes against humanity but also said NTC fighters had committed possible war crimes.

While the London-based rights group's report consisted mainly of damning examples of violations by Kadhafi's regime, it said the NTC appeared unwilling to hold its fighters accountable for human rights violations.

Amnesty said in the first days of the uprising against Kadhafi's rule groups of protesters killed a number of captured soldiers and suspected mercenaries.

"Some were beaten to death, at least three were hanged, and others were shot dead after they had been captured or had surrendered, the report, "The Battle for Libya -- Killings, Disappearances and Torture," said.

"The NTC is facing a difficult task of reigning in opposition fighters and vigilante groups responsible for serious human rights abuses, including possible war crimes but has shown unwillingness to hold them accountable," the report said.

Kadhafi, meanwhile, in a statement read out on Syria-based Arrai Oruba television, vowed to defeat those behind the "coup" that ousted him.

"It is not possible to give Libya to the colonialists again," the one-time strongman said.

"All that remains for us is the struggle until victory and the defeat of the coup," added the former leader who has gone underground since Tripoli fell to rebel fighters late last month.

On the battlefield, Kadhafi's remaining forces launched ferocious counterattacks Monday on the oil refinery town of Ras Lanuf in the east, on the road towards Kadhafi's hometown of Sirte, and at Bani Walid southeast of the capital Tripoli.

Striking deep behind enemy lines, Kadhafi fighters killed at least 12 NTC soldiers at Ras Lanuf, an NTC military spokesman told AFP.

The oil infrastructure along the Mediterranean coast between Sidra and Brega was a key battleground of the seven-month uprising against Kadhafi, as the mainly rebel-held east and mainly government-held west fought it out.

But since Tripoli's fall, NTC forces have advanced dozens of kilometres (miles) west towards Sirte, which remains in Kadhafi's hand, moving to secure the vital oil infrastructure on which its post-war reconstruction plans depend.

Southeast of Tripoli, civilians poured out of the desert town of Bani Walid Monday after intense fighting between Kadhafi loyalists and troops of the new regime who have encircled it.

But those fleeing said many more remained trapped inside the oasis town, 180 kilometres (110 miles) from the capital, for want of fuel for their vehicles.

"Families are scared to death by this war," said Mohammed Suleiman as he passed through a checkpoint with 10 relatives crammed into the back of his white BMW.

West of Sirte, an NTC commander said his forces had met strong resistance as they advanced to a place called "Checkpoint 50" -- 50 kilometres from the town.

"We came under fire from a lot of Grads (rockets)," said field commander Umran al-Awaib.

The unexpected counter-offensive by Kadhafi loyalists came despite the flight to neighbouring Niger of 32 members of his inner circle during the past 10 days.

"A total of 32 people are now here, including one of (Kadhafi's) sons, Saadi, as well as three generals," Niger's Prime Minister Brigi Rafini said.

They crossed the border in four separate groups and had been taken in for "humanitarian reasons", he added.

The most recent arrivals included Saadi, the third of Kadhafi's seven sons, who has a reputation as a playboy; and eight of the fallen despot's other close associates, Rafini added.

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Niger was preparing to detain Saadi.

"We have confirmed with the government of Niger that Saadi crossed over, that they are either in the process or have already brought him to the capital of Niamey and intend to detain him," she said.

On the diplomatic front, China which opposed the NATO campaign backing the anti-Kadhafi forces, finally recognised Libya's interim government after weeks of holding back.

Washington also announced it had sent an advance team to help its officials reopen the US embassy in Tripoli.

2 killed as Syrian forces hunt for defector

Syrian security forces searching for an alleged high-profile defector from President Bashar Assad’s regime killed two people after storming a northern village yesterday, raising the death toll from the past two days to at least 19, activists said.

A day earlier, security forces trying to crush almost six months of demonstrations against the authoritarian

leadership fired on thousands of marchers, killing 17 people, most of them in suburbs of the capital Damascus.

The crackdown has drawn international criticism and sanctions. The European Union announced Friday that it was banning oil imports from Syria, which will cost the embattled regime millions of dollars each day.

While Assad brushed off earlier condemnation as foreign meddling, the oil embargo is significant because Damascus gets about 28 percent of its revenue from the oil trade and sells fuel to France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. Some analysts believe Syria is getting financial assistance from Iran, which would cushion the EU blow.

The EU will do more, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said yesterday after meetings in Poland with top diplomats of member states. Ashton told reporters in Poland the ban on Syrian oil imports was an attempt to achieve a political outcome by economic means.

“And we will continue to put that pressure on, to look for ways of doing so, to try and support the people,’’ she said.

The United States has hit more than 30 Syrian officials, including Assad himself, with economic sanctions, banned any US import of Syrian oil or petroleum products, and frozen all Syrian government assets subject to American jurisdiction. But the United States has isolated Syria for decades and has little leverage with the regime.

Yesterday, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland welcomed the EU oil import ban.

“The United States and our international partners will continue to add political and economic pressure in an effort to force President Assad to step aside and allow the Syrian people to effect a peaceful transition,’’ Nuland said.

The United Nations says some 2,200 people have been killed since March as protesters take to the streets every week, despite the near-certainty that they will face bullets and sniper fire. The regime is in no imminent danger of collapse, leading to concerns that violence will escalate.

In the Damascus suburb of Douma yesterday, thousands of mourners marched behind the body of a man killed by gunfire Friday. Mourners seen on video posted online by residents shouted “freedom’’ and “God is great.’’

Activists said troops yesterday raided a village near the town of Maaret al-Numan in the province of Idlib, killing two people.

The Local Coordination Committees activist network and the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the deaths.

The Observatory cited a local activist saying troops taking part in yesterday’s raid in Idlib, an area close to the Turkish border, were searching for Adnan Bakkour, attorney general for the central Hama Province, who appeared in two videos Wednesday declaring his resignation.

Bakkour’s alleged resignation appeared to be a high-profile defection, but authorities said that terrorists had kidnapped him and forced him to make the recording. Bakkour denied that in one of the videos.

Turkey to host radar in support of NATO missile defence

The US has welcomed Turkish decision to host a radar in support of NATO's common missile defence efforts and appreciated this as significant contribution to a vital mission of the alliance. "We are proud to work with Turkey on the deployment of this important asset," the State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland,

said yesterday.

At the NATO Summit in Lisbon in November 2010, Allies agreed to develop a missile defence capability for the full coverage and protection of all NATO European populations, territory, and forces against the growing threat posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles, she said.

"The United States is committed to working with its Allies and partners to defend against the threat of ballistic missiles," Nuland said.

Earlier yesterday, Turkey announced that it would host a NATO early warning radar system, which will go online this year to help spot missile threats coming from outside Europe. The threat is mainly from Iran, officials said. "Turkey's hosting of this element will constitute our country's contribution to the defence system being developed in the framework of NATO's new strategic concept," a Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman had said in a statement.

He said the radar will strengthen NATO's defence capacity and Turkey's national defence system and added that the radar system was being allocated by the US.

Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesman Col Dave Lapan said "The idea is a protective system that would protect those NATO allies from ballistic missile threats emanating outside (Europe), whether they came from a non-state actor -- whatever the source is." NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Turkey would be making a "critical contribution" to the alliance's overall defence against emerging ballistic missile threats.

"I welcome Turkey's announcement to host a radar which will be an important element of NATO's missile defence capability, which was agreed at the Lisbon summit last November," he said.

'Gaddafi in talks with rebels'

Muammar Gaddafi's regime is in direct talks with Libya's rebels, a Russian envoy indicated on Thursday, as the strongman's son said the way out of a months-long conflict is the staging of elections. Russia's Mikhail Margelov, in Tripoli for one day after visiting the rebels in their Benghazi strongh old last week, made the remarks following a meeting Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmudi. "I was assured at today's negotiations that direct contacts between Benghazi and Tripoli are already underway,"

Margelov said, quoted by Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency. "The Libyan prime minister told me that a round of such contacts concluded yesterday in Paris," he said, adding French President Nicolas Sarkozy "has been informed of the outcome of these contacts." He did not disclose the nature of the talks, which could not be confirmed by the rebels' National Transitional Council. Mahmudi said Gaddafi's departure from power was a "red line" that cannot be crossed, despite growing international calls for him to quit and the armed insurrection against his 41-year rule. "Of utmost concern to us in any dialogue is the unity of Libya," Mahmudi told a news conference in Tripoli. His remarks came after Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam said the only way to break the deadlock was to hold elections in coming months. "Elections, immediately and with international supervision. It's the only painless way to break out of the impasse in Libya," the son told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. A US official said that proposals by Gaddafi's inner circle for democratic elections were "a little late" and that the Libyan strongman's days in power were numbered. "It's a little late for any proposals by Gaddafi and his circles for democratic change. It's time for him to go," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. Nato warplanes early on Thursday destroyed an apparently empty hotel, the Wenzrik, in central Tripoli near administrative buildings and Libya's state broadcaster, an AFP journalist reported. The authorities took reporters to the site of the dawn raid, which left only sections of wall standing. They said the attack caused no casualties. Libyan deputy foreign minister Khaled Kaaim later denounced what he called a "barbaric and premeditated raid by Nato on civilians." Kaaim refrained from commenting about Margelov's visit, but when pressed about possible negotiations about Gaddafi's departure, he said that "nobody can make such decisions." Rebels were seen patrolling the streets of Zawit Bagoul, 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) from Zintan. Pro-Gaddafi positions on the village outskirts were deserted and loyalists left behind clothes, shoes and ammunition. The rebels later also moved into Lawania, about seven kilometres away, and then Ghanymma, less than 10 kilometres from Yafran, as Nato aircraft were heard overhead. Nato, which has carried out 10 weeks of air strikes against Gaddafi's forces, can see out its mission without ground troops, its operations commander said in a briefing. Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard also said the military situation in western Libya, where there has been an upsurge in fighting, was developing "very positively." Senior military officials from Britain and France, key players in the Nato campaign, have expressed concerns about how to maintain the Nato operation, which has been extended for a second three-month period from June 27. But French foreign minister Alain Juppe said in Algeria that "a very large majority of the international community" wanted Gaddafi to depart, even though this was not an aim of the UN resolution authorising Nato strikes on Libya. Meanwhile Spain said that it was expelling Libyan ambassador Ageli Abdussalam Ali Breni over the Gaddafi regime's repression of civilians and expelling three embassy officials for unspecified activities. In Washington meanwhile, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton accused Gaddafi's forces of using rape and violence against women as "tools of war." Clinton said that the United States was "deeply concerned" by reports of wide scale rape in Libya and "troubled" by reports that governments across the Middle East and North Africa were using sexual violence to punish protesters. "Gaddafi's security forces and other groups in the region are trying to divide the people by using violence against women and rape as tools of war, and the United States condemns this in the strongest possible terms," she said.