UK steps up bombing of Gaddafi targets

Libyan’s secret police compounds among sites hit in Nato strikes hours after ICC prosecutor calls for arrest, says UK military Hours after the international criminal court chief prosecutor called for the arrest of Muammar Gaddafi and his closet advisers for mass murder, Britain stepped up its strikes on what military officials described as secret police compounds in Tripoli. The submarine HMS Triumph fired Tomahawk cruise missiles and Tornado jets dropped bombs on a number of targets in Libya’s capital. Tomahawks’ electronic systems can distinguish between different buildings and are therefore suitable against urban targets, according to defence officials. Danish planes also attacked targets in Tripoli in a series of attacks British defence officials made clear were also designed to signal that Nato was determined to extend its range of targets in a military campaign which, after nearly two months, shows little sign of leading to the collapse of the Libyan regime. Major General John Lorimer, chief military spokesman at the Ministry of Defence, said the bombed targets “lay at the heart of the apparatus used by the regime to brutalise the civilian population”. He added: “One of the intelligence facilities which was hit is known to play a significant role in the collection of information by Colonel Gaddafi’s secret police, while the other was a headquarters for the external security organisation, commanded by Abdullah Senussi.” Senussi, the intelligence chief, along with the Libyan leader and his son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, was accused on Monday of crimes against humanity by the ICC chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who called for their arrest for orchestrating a campaign of mass murder. British targets on Monday night included the executive protection force, which Lorimer described as “the bodyguard for the inner circle of the colonel’s regime … entrusted with other sensitive tasks”. He said vehicles at the training base have been identified as having been involved in the violent suppression of public demonstrations in Tripoli on 4 March. The latest Nato strikes came days after General Sir David Richards, Britain’s chief of defence staff, called on member countries to increase their range of targets to include the regime’s infrastructure, command and control centres, and communications networks. The defence secretary, Liam Fox, told the Commons on Monday that Nato bombing strikes would not end until Gaddafi stopped “slaughtering” his own people. There are 23 RAF aircraft and two Royal Navy warships committed to Operation Ellamy, the MoD’s codename for operations in Libya. Muammar Gaddafi Arab and Middle East unrest Libya Middle East Africa Nato Military International criminal court Human rights Richard Norton-Taylor guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 17, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.