UK tells Libya to form interim government after taking over Sirte

Transitional council also asked to investigate torture, illegal detentions and other human rights abuses reported by Amnesty Britain is urging Libya’s rebel administration to move swiftly to form an interim government once it declares the country liberated — with the defeat of Gaddafi loyalists in Sirte now looking imminent. It has also pressed the National Transitional Council to investigate evidence of torture and illegal detentions in a new Amnesty International report into abuses that risk tarnishing the “new” Libya with practices associated with the old regime. Foreign secretary William Haguetold MPs on Thursday that leaders of the NTC “have confirmed their clear understanding of the need for quick formation of a new, inclusive government.” The NTC has said political change will begin when most fighting is over. If Sirte falls then resistance is likely to be confined to Bani Walid, a sizeable but isolated town south of Tripoli, where Muammar Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam is rallying loyalists. Hague also said that Nato air operations to protect Libyan civilians — in the language of UN resolution 1973 —would continue “for as long as is necessary at the request of the NTC.” Russia, China and other countries complain that Nato has exceeded the mandate granted by the UN security council in March and has in effect intervened in a civil war between the regime and rebels. Foreign Office officials said that Britain’s mission in Tripoli had urged the NTC to investigate an Amnesty report that revealed a pattern of beatings and ill-treatment of captured Gaddafi soldiers, suspected loyalists and alleged mercenaries. It said that since August, when the Tripoli uprising took place, armed militia have arrested and detained up to 2,500 people in the capital and al-Zawiya. None of the detainees seen by Amnesty had been shown any arrest warrant and many were effectively abducted from their homes. Detainees were almost always held without legal orders by local councils or armed brigades — far from the oversight of the ministry of justice. “The Amnesty report raises serious questions which the NTC needs to investigate and we have pressed them to take action”, an FCO official said. “Anyone who has committed such abuses must be held to account, so that the new Libya shows a clear break with the past. The NTC leadership has declared their commitment to human rights. But despite what is a challenging situation on the ground, orders from the top need to be translated into action”. The NTC official responsible for justice, Mohammed al-Alagi, said that abuses would be investigated. “People will be held to account,” said spokesman Guma el-Gamaty. “We have been living with human rights violations for 42 years. No-one is trying to hide anything.” Hague warned too that no country should give shelter to fugitives. Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi are all wanted on charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court and are still at large. Other members of the family and regime have taken refuge in Niger, Algeria and Tunisia. The NTC meanwhile approved an investigation into another Gaddafi son, Saadi, over the murder of Bashir al-Ryani, a footballer who played for Libya in the 1980s. He was tortured and killed in December 2005. Saadi is in Niger, where the government says he is under surveillance but it is unlikely to extradite him to a country where he would not be given a fair trial and risked the death penalty. Libya Middle East Africa Amnesty International Muammar Gaddafi Foreign policy Nato Human rights Ian Black guardian.co.uk

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