This marks a really important milestone in the transition in Libya. It marks the way from the military phase towards the formation of an inclusive government, the full participation of all sectors of society, and for the Libyan people to choose their own future.British ambassador to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant • Speaking on the UN Security Council unanimously voting to end the no-fly zone that they had previously approved in Libyan skies. The no-fly zone will be lifted on October 31st, marking the official drawing down of NATO’s military involvement in the country. The Security Council also implored the new Libyan government “to refrain from reprisals” against foreign nationals and African immigrants who were targeted by the rebels as being supporters of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi. source (via • follow)
In short, Russia’s foreign minister feels that NATO violated its mandate in attacking Gaddafi’s convoy from the air as he escaped. It also contends that the rebels violated the Geneva convention by killing Gaddafi as they did.
Let us question who has the interest in the fact that Gaddafi will not be tried. Those who wanted him killed were those who were loyal to him or had played a role under him. His death was in their benefit.Mustafa Abdel-Jalil • Speaking on the NTC’s new committee to investigate the killing of Muammar Gaddafi, after what glimpses of video have made clear was an initial live capture of the deposed dictator. The tact of this quote is a little bothersome, though, for the simple reason that Abdel-Jalil is already implying that Gaddafi’s people, not his people, are to blame for this. At best this is an opinion for which there’s yet no evidence, or none the NTC has presented — we’d feel a bit better about this if, with today’s formation of a Libyan committee to investigate the killing, the NTC leader wasn’t promoting any pre-conceived notions of may have happened. Hopefully the committee will be impartial, and pursue an independent analysis of what took place, even if it doesn’t end up reflecting well on the rebels who surrounded Gaddafi in his final moments. It’s an early test. source (via • follow)
Mustafa Abdul-Jalil also told thousands of supporters at a ceremony on Sunday that Islamic Sharia law would be the “basic source” of legislation in the country and that existing laws that contradict the teachings of Islam would be nullified. In an address that set an Islamist tone for post-Gadhafi Libya, he said new banks would be set up to follow the Islamic banking system, which bans charging interest.
This is a big change from the days of Gaddafi’s green books and tribal rule. Will be interesting to see how the country evolves. Good luck to Libya as they plan their next steps as a country.
Reports say Moammar Gaddafi amassed a $200 billion worldwide fortune, making him possibly the world’s richest man, while average Libyans earned just $12,000 each year.
The latest estimate of the strongman’s net worth, reported in the Los Angeles Times, is the largest yet, and suggests that the former dictator spent decades stockpiling lucrative holdings in foreign investments while the average Libyan earned just $12,000 each year.
Gaddafi’s massive portfolio included everything from lavish hotels in London and Russia to stock in Goldman Sachs and Italian soccer teams.
None of those assets, of course, helped Gaddafi on Thursday when he was dragged from a drainage pipe in his hometown of Sirte and shot dead to end what was for many Libyans a 42-year nightmare. According to multiple reports, the garishly opulent dictator was carrying his storied golden pistol when he died.
It’s certainly not the way we do things. We would have liked to see Col. Gaddafi going on trial to answer for his misdeeds.British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond • Calling for an investigation into Muammar Gaddafi’s violent, bloody death on Thursday. The Libyan leader’s method of death — Human Rights Watch suggests it’s an execution that took place after the leader was detained — could cast a violent pall on the new government. Gaddafi’s wife Safiya, as you might guess, also wants an investigation. “I am proud of the bravery of my husband, Moammar Gadhafi, the holy warrior, and my sons who confronted the aggression of 40 countries over the past six months,” she told Syria-based Al-Rai TV. source (via • follow)
![pantslessprogressive:
Downfall of the despots. A Lebanese activist carries a caricature as Lebanese policemen stand guard during a protest in solidarity with anti-government protesters in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain, in front of the Arab league headquarters in Beirut. The caricature depicts (from right to left) Tunisia’s former President Ben Ali, Egypt’s former President Hosni Mubarak, Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi, Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. [Photo: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]
Fascinating illo. Nice twist on the Time theme.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lth32kw50Y1qzr73ro1_500.jpg)
Downfall of the despots. A Lebanese activist carries a caricature as Lebanese policemen stand guard during a protest in solidarity with anti-government protesters in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain, in front of the Arab league headquarters in Beirut. The caricature depicts (from right to left) Tunisia’s former President Ben Ali, Egypt’s former President Hosni Mubarak, Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi, Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. [Photo: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]
Fascinating illo. Nice twist on the Time theme.
How far removed from the real world do you have to be to think publishing, with no warning, a graphic image of a dead or
dieingdying person covered in blood is fine? Newsweek’s Tumblr even calls the posting of the grotesque image “a necessity in an age of media-driven rumors”. [more]
A few things: Newsweek and The Atlantic are fighting two different schools of thought on this specific issue. There are groups of people that won’t be convinced unless they see this image or a similar one, and there are people who won’t ever be OK with showing an image like this, ever. You can’t — and won’t — please both.
As Wardrox writes: “I can only assume the people in charge of the Tumblr feeds for both Newsweek and The Atlantic live in some corner of an office, detached from the real world in some kind of bubble. The kind of bubble where reason and logic, common sense and common decency become warped by deadlines, hits, spin and hype.”
No, they’re not. They’re journalists. They’re people who dread these decisions. They have to make tough decisions like this all the time. (This was one of the tougher ones.) Ultimately, though, they decided they would rather be honest with their readers than to hide an important issue from view. And a lot of people liked that they presented it. And a lot of people didn’t. That’s the nature of journalism — not everyone’s going to like everything you do. When presented with the issue ourselves, we went with posting it. We dreaded it. One of our regular readers made a comment about this. We didn’t back down from the decision, but we did start a dialogue.
The news is the news. Newsweek and The Atlantic have no interest in running gruesome pictures like that all the time. They did it because the news value was extremely high. WIll everyone like it? No. But when you have a photo like that and mere moments to decide on whether something is the right choice, you have to go with your gut. That’s how journalism works. Sometimes it, unfortunately, isn’t pretty. We try to limit those moments to when it really matters.
(Source: sausage-roller)
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Gaddafi’s body being held in shopping center freezer: Today in ways to go out that aren’t exactly graceful.
We’re linking instead of posting due to graphic nature of image. Headline is baseball-related.
Libyan NTC claims credit for Gaddafi killing: It’s been a rather wild day as far as world news is concerned, which you’d probably expect when a notorious dictator of forty years is slain; in the aftermath, Libya’s National Transitional Council has said that Gaddafi’s capture and subsequent death (what happened exactly is yet unknown, as video has surfaced of Gaddafi once being alive under rebel custody, albeit in chaotic circumstances) was the work of Libyans, contrary to speculation NATO may have had a hand in it. Said spokesman Ahmed Bani: “It was our courageous revolutionaries who have killed the tyrant and not NATO.” source
Warning: this is video of Muammar Gaddafi’s corpse being kicked through the streets of Sirte. No way to whitewash that. We’re posting it because many others have, and at this point, it’s a video asset in the history books.
This video is super-graphic. But it also confirms, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it’s him. Holy hell.
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