Critics say advice and information website selling hair removal products to young girls is ‘cynical’ and ‘clearly a marketing tool’ A leading UK manufacturer of major household brands has come under fire for “crass” and “exploitative” marketing of its body hair removal products to young girls barely into puberty. Procter & Gamble’s BeingGirl website, associated with its Tampax and Always brands of sanitary protection, offers advice and information about menstruation to girls who have recently started or are about to start their periods. It is actively promoted to young girls in thousands of schools as part of its parallel education scheme, the About You Personal Wellbeing programme, which provides free information and sample sanitary pads and tampons. But alongside advice it also directs users to features on “hot underwear” advertising press-on pads which can be worn with “sexy strings” and endorses the use of long-term body hair removal products, including epilators made by its own brand Braun. The Mothers’ Union said the website was “clearly a marketing tool” and its advertising should be clearly labelled as such so girls using the site knew they were being sold a product. Rachel Aston, social policy officer for the Mothers’ Union, said she feared the adverts would send the wrong message to girls at a vulnerable phase in their lives. “It’s telling [girls] from the outset that they should be removing hair, so it is reinforcing a particular view of how girls should look. It’s not entirely sensitive bombarding girls with the message that when they’ve got their periods they need to be worrying about their legs as well.” Rebecca Mordan of the London Feminist Network said she was “overwhelmed” by “a completely crass set of exploitative marketing values” expressed on the site. “It’s literally telling them that ‘BeingGirl’ is to be hairless as soon as, if not before, you have your first period – bearing in mind that some children start their periods as young as eight or nine.” Mordan also criticised the images of “hot underwear” and linked it with the “pornification of culture and of childhood”. She added: “This is literally adverts for sexy knickers and hairlessness. Everything about this site is abusive to children and abusive to women. I think it should be buried.” The controversy comes just weeks after the publication of the Bailey report into the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood , which singled out sexualised and gender-stereotyped clothing, products and services for children as the biggest areas of concern for parents, worried their offspring are being encouraged to grow up too soon. The report was published at the end of a six-month review by Reg Bailey, chief executive of the Mothers’ Union. David Cameron has promised a follow-up summit at Downing Street in October, but believes the problems thrown up are best resolved by the self-regulation of retailers, manufacturers and broadcasters. Site defence Well-known for its Gillette and Fairy brands, Procter & Gamble is a major sponsor of the 2012 Olympics, through its “P&G proud sponsor of mums” message and its recently announced Paralympics sponsorship campaign. A spokeswoman for the company defended the site, saying: “BeingGirl is a community website set up for teenage girls to provide advice, support and information throughout this life stage. This is more than just about menstruation – it covers all areas of puberty and development through these formative years, including hair growth and the choices this presents. We are clear on the site that the content is provided by P&G and that we feature our products throughout.” She said its broader personal wellbeing educational scheme was strongly supported by schools. “All the free educational information and materials are provided by P&G, supported by teachers and external category, health and education consultants. This is a programme that is held in very high regard and valued by the schools.” Dr Merran Toerien, a research fellow based at the University of York, who has previously published research on women’s body hair, criticised the website’s “cynical” attitude in advertising to such a young age group. “Obviously, the younger you can catch somebody into an ongoing lifelong cost implication [the better for a company]. “A lot of the women in my study spoke about the fact that removing hair gains you confidence. One of the arguments I put forward is [this] idea depends on a society in which being hairy is problematic; so we have our confidence taken away then get sold the solution to that lack of confidence. I think this website is inducting young women into that right from the word go.” Consumer affairs Children Women Family Feminism Parents and parenting Rebecca Smithers guardian.co.uk
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• Defiant Saif al-Islam Gaddafi appears in Tripoli • Hunt for Muammar Gaddafi continues • UN says more than 2,200 people killed in Syria crackdown 11.19am: Repressive regimes don’t all stick together – Bahrain has declared its recognition of Libya’s National Transitional Council. The kingdom’s state news agency said: In light of recent developments in Libya, the Kingdom of Bahrain reiterates its recognition of Libya’s Transitional National Council (TNC) as the sole legitimate representative of the brotherly Libyan people, wishes Libya to achieve prosperity, progress and stability, development and reconstruction. 11.08am: Sky News Alex Crawford describes “fierce fighting” outside Gaddafi’s Bab al-Aziziya compound, in this Audioboo clip. _ 10.55am: The international criminal court now denies that it ever confirmed Saif al-Islam had been arrested. A live blog by the Libyan activists Feb 17, quoted spokesman Fadi el-Abdallah, telling the BBC: What we said yesterday is that we received information about the arrest of Saif al-Islam and we were trying to confirm that by contacting the National Transitional Council in Libya, but Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was not under the custody of the ICC. The media was reporting about his arrest. We tried to contact different persons of the National Transitional Council and there were different opinions and different answers. That’s why we said there was no official confirmation about his arrest. The Guardian’s diplomatic editor Julian Borger tweets: Seif al-Islam episode is enormously embarrassing for the ICC . Still not clear what happened. #ICC #Libya 10.49am: Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the Nato campaign should continue until security full security is established. Speaking at a press conference in Benghazi he also said frozen Libya assets should be release soon to the Libyan opposition, Reuters reports. 10.38am: After chairing a meeting of the government’s National Security Council, Nick Clegg said the reappearance of Saif al-Islam was “not the sign of some great comeback” for the regime. Clegg said it was “only a matter of time” before Gaddafi’s regime in Libya was defeated. He said rebels controlled “much but not all of Tripoli”. The deputy prime minister chaired the meeting as David Cameron resumed his holiday in Cornwall . 10.27am: A boat charted by the International Organisation for Migrants to rescue 300 people stranded in Tripoli can’t dock because of the security situation. In phone interview IOM spokeswoman Jemini Pandya said: “We had been hoping to carry out the evacuation today. Unfortunately it [the boat] no longer has the security and safety guarantee it was given earlier. So as a result we will not dock the boat because it will not be safe for either our staff or the migrant to carry out the operation. What IOM will do however is keep the boat at sea until conditions improve. It is going to be an extremely difficult operation but we remain committed to carrying out.” Pandya said the IOM was keen to avoid _ 10.07am: Sky News’ Tripoli correspondent Alex Crawford confirms Luke’s reports of heavy fighting. Speaking to camera crouched behind a car, she described many casualties arriving at a hospital in central Tripoli. She also said supplies at the hospital were running low. Sky correspondent: Many casualties arriving at hospital in central Tripoli following intense fighting @AlexCrawfordSky Doctors seriously stretched in Tripoli’s only working hospital. Very few staff, piles of rubbish everywhere. 2 young children among wounded Sound of gunfire and shelling continues. Docs appeal for pressure on both sides to stop attacking the hospital. Horrendous conditions here 9.50am: After being interrupted by shelling Luke Harding in Tripoli resumes describing the battle for the city. Since we spoke more than 200 rebel vehicles have made a sedate cavalcade looping round the harbour and the old city, shooting and crying ‘God is great’ [heading] for the coastal road out west. It is not clear this is a retreat or a show of force. It is very hard to make sense of what is going on, but the battle is still going on as you can hear. I’m in the Corinthia hotel and it’s a bit like being in a reverberating amphitheatre. _ 9.28am: “I’ve got a front row stall seat on the battle,” Luke Harding reports above the crump of mortar shells in Tripoli. To my left is the old city which is in rebel hands – the rebels have got the harbour, the corniche, they’ve got Green Square. But to my right, where the fighting is going on, there are a series of tall government buildings where the rebels have taken up positions and they are now duking it out with Gaddafi forces in Bab al-Azizya, which is Gaddafi’s compound and the area where the Rixos hotel is situated. There is just a big battle going on [sound of shelling] that’s a big mortar. It is clear that the city is not in rebel hands, nor is it entirely in government hands. What we are looking at now is a Beirut-style situation. The west of city – the opposition have taken control of that – and the mood there is much calmer. But here in the heart of Tripoli there is this just this almighty fight. On the reappearance of Saif al-Islam, Luke said the it provided a psychological boost to loyalist fighters. But he added: “There isn’t anywhere for them to go from here. I can’t really see them recapturing the city. What I can envisage is them hanging on for some time, they have got a lot of ammunition, they’ve been expecting this, they’ve got heavy weaponry. Plus they’ve got all these captive journalists [in the Rixos hotel] …” At that point Luke had to cut the call short and take cover. _ 8.50am: Welcome to Middle East Live. It was reports of the arrest of Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam on Sunday night, confirmed by the international criminal court, which illustrated how close to collapse the Libyan regime had come. Saif’s defiant reappearance overnight suggests that the battle for Tripoli is far from over. “We are going to win” he said and asked about his indictment for war crimes he said: “Screw the criminal court.” _ Was Saif released as part of some kind of deal or did he escape? Waheed Burshan, a member of the National Transitional Council, told al-Jazeera: “We had confirmation Saif al-Islam was arrested, but we have no idea how he escaped.” Here are the other main developments: Libya • Opposition figure Ibrahim Sahad condemned the handling of another of Gaddafi’s sons, Mohammad, who also escaped on Monday. In an interview with the Australian broadcaster ABC, Sahad said: The way they dealt with Mohammed last night was not adequate… they wanted to show him the civilisation of this revolution. So they left him at home and they put some guards around the house, and the information now that he escaped. I mean this should not be done. It should be everybody from the Gaddafi family should be brought under arrest. • The head of the opposition National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil cautioned that “the real moment of victory is when Gaddafi is captured” . The Libyan leader’s whereabouts are still unknown, but US officials said they believed he was still in Libya. • Nato jets bombed Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli early on Tuesday, according to reports. Earlier, Nato said pro-Gaddafi forces fired at least three Scud missiles from the city of Sirte, Gaddafi’s birthplace. • Libyan state TV is off the air after its headquarters was stormed by rebels. Rebel forces also claimed to have detained Hala Misrati, the Libyan state TV prestenter who famously vowed to die a martyr for Gaddafi while waving a gun on air on Sunday. • Some international journalists remain trapped in Tripoli’s five-star Rixos hotel, in a part of the city controlled by Gaddafi’s forces. The hotel is subject to frequent power cuts. One of those reporters, the BBC’s Matthew Price, tweets: #Rixos Journos have little Internet access and trying to conserve power/sat phones etc. But all ok, feel safer this am, no power though. • The New York Times provides a detailed account of the rebel offensive on Tripoli which was combined with an uprising of residents. They were aided by steady supplies of weapons, fuel, medicine and food from British, French and Qatari troops and an escalated bombing campaign by NATO jets and American Predator drones. Hundreds of rebels took part in secret military training inside Qatar. Rebel forces even advanced on Tripoli by boat, arranging a flotilla from the town of Misurata in an operation the rebels called Mermaid Dawn … The western offensive by the rebels galvanized opposition fighters in other parts of the country. American and NATO officials described a carefully coordinated three-pronged push on Tripoli, to drive fighters loyal to Colonel Qaddafi on the roads back toward the capital where NATO planes could bomb them. That push, concentrated to the west of Tripoli, was coordinated with the uprising on Saturday within Tripoli itself. • The hard part starts now , Martin Chulov, the Guardian’s former Baghdad correspondent, warns in an analysis of what the various rebels factions do now. The lessons of what becomes of a Middle East state that suddenly loses its strongman are recent and raw. More than eight years after Baghdad fell with the same ignominious haste as Tripoli, it remains a basket case of competing agendas, a disengaged political class and citizens left with the reality that the state neither has the capacity or the will to look after them. • The speed of the collapse of the Gaddafi regime presents serious problems, agues Daniel Serwer from the Johns Hopkins School of Advance International Studies. Speaking on Bloggingheads TV, Serwer said: “Had I been an active diplomat in this I would have worked very hard to try to get a formal turnover of power, because that’s what prevents the kind of stay-behind rebellion that we suffered in Iraq.” Syria • More than 2,200 people have been killed in the Syrian government’s crackdown on protests , the UN’s human rights commissioner Navi Pillay said as she condemned a shoot-to-kill policy by the regime. While demonstrations have been largely peaceful, the military and security forces have resorted to an apparent “shoot-to-kill” policy. Snipers on rooftops have targeted protesters, bystanders who were trying to help the wounded, and ambulances … As of today, over 2200 people have been killed since mass protests began in mid-March, with more than 350 people reportedly killed across Syria since the beginning of Ramadan. The military and security forces continue to employ excessive force, including heavy artillery, to quell peaceful demonstrations and regain control over the residents of various cities, particularly in Hama, Homs, Latakia and Deir Ezzor. The heavy shelling of al-Ramel Palestinian refugee camp in Latakia last week resulted in at least 4 people killed and the displacement of the 7,500 inhabitants of the camp. Despite assurances from President Assad to the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Wednesday that military operations had finished, I regret to note that at least five people were killed around the country on Thursday and 34 more on Friday by Syrian military and security forces. • The Syrian government’s attempts to whitewash evidence of a brutal crackdown on the country’s five-month uprising appeared to backfire on Monday after a visiting UN humanitarian delegation was met by protesters waving SOS signs . Hundreds of demonstrators in Homs surrounded the UN car in the central New Clock square, shouting for the overthrow of the regime. Libya Muammar Gaddafi Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Syria Bashar Al-Assad Matthew Weaver guardian.co.uk
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Unsuitable housing, pesticide dangers and barriers to union membership catalogued by Human Rights Watch monitors There is no question of its flair for producing a world-class chenin blanc, cabernet sauvignon or pinotage at an affordable price. But the provenance of South Africa’s wines is altogether less savoury, an investigation by human rights monitors has revealed . Workers on the country’s wine and fruit farms lead “dismal, dangerous lives,” according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), which found on-site housing unfit for habitation, exposure to pesticides without proper safety equipment, lack of access to toilets or drinking water while working and barriers to union representation. Farm workers contribute millions to South Africa’s economy, with products that are sold in Tesco and other British supermarkets, yet they are among the lowest wage earners in the country, the group’s report says. Daniel Bekele, HRW’s Africa director, said: “The wealth and wellbeing these workers produce should not be rooted in human misery. The government and the industries and farmers themselves need to do a lot more to protect people who live and work on farms.” South Africa is the world’s seventh-biggest wine producer, filling the equivalent of more than 1.2bn bottles a year. The industry, concentrated in Western Cape province, contributes 26.2bn rand (£2.2bn) to the regional economy, according to a 2009 study. Tourists from around the world enjoy tastings, cellar tours and weddings at vineyards amid glorious scenery between well-heeled towns such as Franschhoek and Stellenbosch. South Africa has laws guaranteeing wages, benefits and safe working and housing for workers and other farm dwellers. But the government has largely failed to monitor conditions and enforce the law, HRW says. Its 96-page report, Ripe with Abuse: Human Rights Conditions in South Africa’s Fruit and Wine Industries, alleges: “Despite their critical role in the success of the country’s valuable fruit, wine, and tourism industries, farm workers benefit very little, in large part because they are subject to exploitative conditions and human rights abuses without sufficient protection of their rights.” Housing for some workers is claimed to be uninhabitable. One farm worker showed researchers a former pig stall, without electricity, water or protection from the elements, where he has lived with his wife and children for 10 years. His wife said: “It makes me very unhappy because I can’t guarantee safety of [my] children and can’t provide for [them].” Many workers live on farms with family members as part of their employment arrangement. Their land tenure rights are protected under legislation enacted in 1997. Yet, by civil society estimates, more than 930,000 people were evicted from South African farms between 1994 and 2004. Interviewees described a steady pace of evictions, particularly when labourers were no longer able to work. Evicted workers who spoke to HRW said they had not been given suitable alternative housing or adequate compensation to find new housing. Farmers sometimes resort to illegal tactics to force out farm dwellers, including cutting electricity or water. In one case, farm managers cut electricity for more than a year for a family with two children. Security guards on the farm harassed families in the middle of the night with dogs. HRW also alleges that occupationalhealth and safety conditions on many farms endanger workers. The majority of the current and former farm workers interviewed said they had been exposed to pesticides without adequate safety equipment. In addition, many employers jeopardise workers’ health by not providing them with legally required access to drinking water, hand-washing facilities or toilets. Bekele said: “Given what we know about the effects of pesticide use, it is unconscionable that some of these workers are not provided with appropriate safety equipment, even after they ask for it.” South Africa’s wine farms have a painful history. For centuries, workers were paid partly in alcohol in the so-called “dop” system, with pernicious health and social consequences. HRW found these payments had generally disappeared, although it did document two farms that provide wine as partial compensation. One worker was quoted in the report as saying: “During the week, I am given wine in the afternoon, at 12pm, and at 6pm in the evening. I also get this on Saturdays. On Sundays, we get wine in the morning, afternoon and evening. In the morning, we get it before 7am, at 12pm, and we have to do Sunday prayer and then get more wine at 6.30pm. If you don’t want the wine, then it’s your choice. Everybody is drinking except the children and the guy driving the school bus.” Farm workers are some of the most poorly organised in the country, It is estimated the percentage of workers represented by trade unions in the Western Cape agricultural sector is just 3%, compared with 30% among those with formal employment nationally. HRW found some farmers try to prevent workers from forming unions in spite of South Africa’s constitution and international law. Bekele said: “The answer is not to boycott South African products, because that could be disastrous for farm workers. But we are asking retailers to press their suppliers to ensure that there are decent conditions on the farms that produce the products they buy and sell to their customers.” The report is based on more than 260 interviews with farm workers, farm owners, civil society members, industry representatives, government officials, lawyers, union officials and academic experts. It did not trace the supply chain for the products and does not identify farms in order to reduce the risk of retaliation against workers. Representatives of the South African wine industry challenged the report’s findings. Su Birch, chief executive of Wines of South Africa, said: “Most of the farm workers interviewed were identified by unions and NGOs, who have a vested interest in presenting the worst of cases. The report plays down the significance of the wine industry’s substantial direct financial and indirect contribution to improving working conditions through Wieta [the Wine Industry Ethical Trade Association] and fair trade and empowerment schemes. “The report makes only the scantiest reference to the many farm owners who comply with all legislation and go way beyond it. For every poor house on a farm, I can show you loads of good ones and some exceptional ones. Wine farmers are currently providing housing for over 200,000 workers, which represents an investment of billions of rands. Our industry is working hard to correct the wrongs of the past, and we accept that there is much work to be done. Even one case of abuse is one too many. But ‘ripe with abuse’? I don’t think so.” Vineyards have been passed down through generations of white owners. Workers are still invariably black or mixed race, although there are a growing number of black-owned cooperatives and labels . Sikhula Sonke , a women-led union of farm workers, says its members now earn the minimum wage of 1,375 rand (£115.82) a month, although campaigners believe a living wage should begin at 4,000 rand a month. For years, they have urged Tesco to use its multi-billion pound profits to help improve workers’ pay and conditions . Haidee-Laure Giles, international programmes officer at the anti-poverty group War on Want , said: “Britain ranks among the biggest importers of South African fruit and wine. “But retailers are maximising their profits at the expense of workers facing daily violations of their labour rights and from very basic to appalling living conditions. The UK government must establish a watchdog to prevent supermarkets benefiting from abuses against overseas workers.” South Africa Africa Food & drink industry Food & drink Human rights Wine Supermarkets Retail industry David Smith guardian.co.uk
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North Korean leader arrives by armoured train on first visit to Russia in nine years, to discuss natural gas pipeline deal Kim Jong-il has travelled by armoured train to eastern Siberia for a summit with the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev. The North Korean leader arrived in Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia, a Buddhist province near Lake Baikal, Russian news agencies reported. Kim’s motorcade left town in the direction of Turka, a picturesque village on the shores of Baikal. The Yonhap news agency said the Medvedev-Kim summit was expected to take place on Wednesday. The talks could focus on a deal for a pipeline that would stream Russian natural gas through the North’s territory to the South. South Korean media said the North could earn up to $100m a year. There were signs that preparations were being made for Kim to visit Turka. The Baikal Daily website quoted residents as saying that a local police officer had been making the rounds to record the names and addresses of all the people in the village. The visit is shrouded in mystery. A few people managed to take photos of Kim at his previous stop on Sunday, but heavy police cordons kept the press in Ulan-Ude out of the train station. Kim’s train crossed into Russia on Saturday morning and passed through Khabarovsk before heading west along a railway running roughly parallel with Russia’s borders with China and Mongolia. It is Kim’s first visit to Russia in nine years. North Korea is also pushing to restart six-nation nuclear disarmament talks in exchange for aid, after more than a year of tension during which it shelled a South Korean border island and allegedly torpedoed a South Korean warship. Russian military officials arrived in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, on Monday for a five-day visit. The Russian defence ministry said the talks would focus on the renewal of military co-operation between the countries, possible joint exercises “of a humanitarian nature” and an exchange of friendly visits by Russian and North Korean ships, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. The North, which has long experienced chronic food shortages, has been hit with heavy flooding in recent weeks. The Korea Herald newspaper stated bluntly a strain of thinking in Seoul in an editorial on Tuesday: “It does not take genius to guess why Kim is visiting Russia. [He] desperately needs economic aid.” Kim Jong-il North Korea Russia Dmitry Medvedev Europe guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …North Korean leader arrives by armoured train on first visit to Russia in nine years, to discuss natural gas pipeline deal Kim Jong-il has travelled by armoured train to eastern Siberia for a summit with the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev. The North Korean leader arrived in Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia, a Buddhist province near Lake Baikal, Russian news agencies reported. Kim’s motorcade left town in the direction of Turka, a picturesque village on the shores of Baikal. The Yonhap news agency said the Medvedev-Kim summit was expected to take place on Wednesday. The talks could focus on a deal for a pipeline that would stream Russian natural gas through the North’s territory to the South. South Korean media said the North could earn up to $100m a year. There were signs that preparations were being made for Kim to visit Turka. The Baikal Daily website quoted residents as saying that a local police officer had been making the rounds to record the names and addresses of all the people in the village. The visit is shrouded in mystery. A few people managed to take photos of Kim at his previous stop on Sunday, but heavy police cordons kept the press in Ulan-Ude out of the train station. Kim’s train crossed into Russia on Saturday morning and passed through Khabarovsk before heading west along a railway running roughly parallel with Russia’s borders with China and Mongolia. It is Kim’s first visit to Russia in nine years. North Korea is also pushing to restart six-nation nuclear disarmament talks in exchange for aid, after more than a year of tension during which it shelled a South Korean border island and allegedly torpedoed a South Korean warship. Russian military officials arrived in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, on Monday for a five-day visit. The Russian defence ministry said the talks would focus on the renewal of military co-operation between the countries, possible joint exercises “of a humanitarian nature” and an exchange of friendly visits by Russian and North Korean ships, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. The North, which has long experienced chronic food shortages, has been hit with heavy flooding in recent weeks. The Korea Herald newspaper stated bluntly a strain of thinking in Seoul in an editorial on Tuesday: “It does not take genius to guess why Kim is visiting Russia. [He] desperately needs economic aid.” Kim Jong-il North Korea Russia Dmitry Medvedev Europe guardian.co.uk
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Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi’s son, makes a defiant appearance in Tripoli, after being reportedly arrested by rebels on Sunday Muammar Gaddafi’s once powerful son, Saif al-Islam, made a defiant appearance in Tripoli last night to disprove the revolutionaries’ claim to have arrested him and to proclaim ultimate victory. Saif al-Islam, 39, arrived in an armoured vehicle waving two fingers in a victory sign at a hotel where foreign journalists are staying in an area of the Libyan capital still under the regime’s control. “I am here to refute the lies [that he had been arrested],” he said. As the revolutionaries consolidated their control over most of Tripoli and continued their hunt for Libya’s dictator, the younger Gaddafi and one time heir apparent said that his father had not fled the city. The BBC described Saif al-Islam as “confident and full of adrenalin”. He said that the rebels had fallen into “a trap” and would be defeated. “You have seen how the Libyan people rose up together, men and women, to break the backbone of the rebels, rats and gangs yesterday and today,” he was reported to have said. He then took reporters on a drive in an armoured convoy through areas of the city still under the regime’s control including the Gaddafi family compound and military barracks where scores of men waited to receive guns to join the fighting. “We are going to hit the hottest spots in Tripoli,” he said. The revolutionaries claimed to have arrested three of Gaddafi’s sons as they seized control of Tripoli. Saif al-Islam’s detention was confirmed by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who is seeking to have him extradited to stand trial at The Hague for crimes against humanity over the violence unleashed by the regime against the uprising in which hundreds of unarmed people were shot. The ICC alleges that Saif al-Islam drew up and implemented the plan to violently put down the rebellion. Asked about the ICC indictment, he said: “Screw the criminal court.” During the tour of the regime-controlled parts of the city, he offered a rambling explanation for the rebels’ swift success in seizing much of Tripoli in part by accusing Nato and the west of an electronic assault. “They sent text messages to the Libyan people through the Libyana (mobile phone) network. They stopped our broadcast transmission. They perpetuated an electronic and media war in order to spread chaos and fear in Libya. Also they brought gangs from the sea and by car to Tripoli,” he told AP television. Al-Jazeera reported that another of Gaddafi’s sons, Mohammad, who was arrested by rebels on Sunday, was believed to have escaped from rebel custody. Libya Middle East Muammar Gaddafi Saif al-Arab Gaddafi Arab and Middle East unrest Chris McGreal guardian.co.uk
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enlarge Ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances . Click here to view this media Click here to view this media Click here to view this media As the story began to unfold that rebel forces were on the outskirts of Tripoli, news moved quickly changing almost by the minute, making it difficult to anticipate what was going to happen next. At the moment the story is still unfolding. And as dawn is breaking over Tripoli there are still pockets of resistance but the much publicized 65,000 strong Pro-Gaddafi forces have not yet materialized and celebrations are continuing throughout the city. Here are three sets of reports – the first one, via the BBC World Service, starts just as the news broke that rebel forces had entered Tripoli Sunday afternoon (4-5:00 pm PDT). The second and third players are news up to the early daylight hours (11:30 pm PDT). I am sure there will be much more unfolding as the hours go by. More of the stuff of history.
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Battle focuses on Gaddafi’s compound as rebels tighten grip on Tripoli and world leaders call for dictator to give himself up The battle for Tripoli turned into a manhunt for Muammar Gaddafi, as pockets controlled by loyalist forces dwindled rapidly and the Libyan leader’s last vestiges of power fell away at the end of a 42-year dictatorship. Libyan state television, the vehicle for relentless government propaganda throughout the Gaddafi years, went off the air as rebels seized its transmitters. Government troops kept up resistance in some areas of the city but were pummelled by Nato warplanes, which struck at least 40 targets in and around the city in 48 hours – the most intense bombing since the air campaign started more than five months ago. By nightfall, the battle was focused on the wreckage of Gaddafi’s central stronghold, Bab al-Aziziya. The compound has already been nearly flattened by earlier Nato sorties but it is believed to sit atop a network of reinforced tunnels and underground bunkers. Last night, Nato said pro-Gaddafi forces fired at least three Scud missiles from the city of Sirte, Gaddafi’s birthplace. Crowds gathered in Tripoli’s Green Square to celebrate the arrival of the rebels at one point but many residents stayed indoors while street fighting continued in other districts. The head of the opposition National Transitional Council (NTC), Mustafa Abdel Jalil cautioned journalists at the rebel headquarters in Benghazi: “The real moment of victory is when Gaddafi is captured.” World leaders called for Gaddafi loyalists to stop fighting and for the leader to give himself up. David Cameron said he would “like to see Colonel Gaddafi face justice” for his “appalling crimes against his own people”. “Libya is a sovereign nation. It is a matter for the new authorities in Libya to do what they believe is right with Gaddafi,” the prime minister said, but he added: “First, obviously, they have to find him.” Barack Obama said yesterday the US would be a friend and partner to Libya, but urged rebels not to seek justice through violent reprisals. “The Gaddafi regime is coming to an end and the future of Libya is in the hands of its people,” Obama said. He added that Gaddafi was “cut off from arms and cash and his forces were steadily degraded … Over the last several days the situation in Libya has reached a tipping point,” he said, and “the people of Tripoli rose up to claim their liberties”. However, in a potential setback for the rebels, one of Gaddafi’s sons, Saif al-Islam, who they said had been captured during the advance into Tripoli, appeared at Tripoli’s Rixos hotel and told supporters that the rebel advance had been broken. But his father’s whereabouts were unknown on Monday night. Gaddafi has not been seen in public for months and his recent addresses to his people have been made using a poor-quality telephone line. A US state department official, Jeffrey Feltman said in an ABC television interview that Washington did not know where Gaddafi was but a Pentagon spokesman, Colonel Dave Lapan, said American officials still believe he was in Libya. “We do not have any information that he has left the country,” Lapan said. Gaddafi is wanted for crimes against humanity by the international criminal court (ICC), along with Saif al-Islam and his intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi, for their role in the brutal suppression of the anti-government protests which began in February. Talks have begun between court officials and the NTC over the handing over of Saif al-Islam, but it is unclear how the rebels intend to respond. Fighting continued outside the capital, as rebel forces based to the east in Misrata tried to break through government lines 80 miles from Tripoli, at Zlitan. The heaviest combat took place at a bridge at Wadi Kam, and also two miles south of Zlitan, where pro-Gaddafi forces fired mortars and anti-aircraft guns at rebel lines from a base at a cement factory. Sources in Misrata had earlier said they hoped to send a unit across the lines to meet government forces and negotiate their surrender. But such plans appeared to be on hold on Monday afternoon as rebel reinforcements in black painted jeeps mounted with machine guns and recoilless rifles drove at speed up the main highway to Zlitan. Even as the fighting raged on, preparations for a transition were underway. The rebel military leadership in Misrata confirmed that a unit of 200 rebel fighters travelled from Misrata to Tripoli by sea over the weekend, bringing weapons and ammunition, and a team of medics. The sea-borne mission was also intended to stake the NTC’s claim to authority in Tripoli, and to shore up security in the wake of Gaddafi’s fall. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said he would hold talks on supporting post-Gaddafi Libya, while regional organisations, the Arab League, African Union and European Union, and France will host a meeting of the “contact group” of major powers and rebel leaders. British diplomats will move from Benghazi to Tripoli as soon as it was safe to do so, Cameron said and added that Britain would soon release £12bn ($20bn) of Libyan assets, which had been frozen. Germany indicated it would follow suit with £7bn of frozen Libyan funds. Libya Muammar Gaddafi Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Africa Luke Harding Chris Stephen Julian Borger guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Battle focuses on Gaddafi’s compound as rebels tighten grip on Tripoli and world leaders call for dictator to give himself up The battle for Tripoli turned into a manhunt for Muammar Gaddafi, as pockets controlled by loyalist forces dwindled rapidly and the Libyan leader’s last vestiges of power fell away at the end of a 42-year dictatorship. Libyan state television, the vehicle for relentless government propaganda throughout the Gaddafi years, went off the air as rebels seized its transmitters. Government troops kept up resistance in some areas of the city but were pummelled by Nato warplanes, which struck at least 40 targets in and around the city in 48 hours – the most intense bombing since the air campaign started more than five months ago. By nightfall, the battle was focused on the wreckage of Gaddafi’s central stronghold, Bab al-Aziziya. The compound has already been nearly flattened by earlier Nato sorties but it is believed to sit atop a network of reinforced tunnels and underground bunkers. Last night, Nato said pro-Gaddafi forces fired at least three Scud missiles from the city of Sirte, Gaddafi’s birthplace. Crowds gathered in Tripoli’s Green Square to celebrate the arrival of the rebels at one point but many residents stayed indoors while street fighting continued in other districts. The head of the opposition National Transitional Council (NTC), Mustafa Abdel Jalil cautioned journalists at the rebel headquarters in Benghazi: “The real moment of victory is when Gaddafi is captured.” World leaders called for Gaddafi loyalists to stop fighting and for the leader to give himself up. David Cameron said he would “like to see Colonel Gaddafi face justice” for his “appalling crimes against his own people”. “Libya is a sovereign nation. It is a matter for the new authorities in Libya to do what they believe is right with Gaddafi,” the prime minister said, but he added: “First, obviously, they have to find him.” Barack Obama said yesterday the US would be a friend and partner to Libya, but urged rebels not to seek justice through violent reprisals. “The Gaddafi regime is coming to an end and the future of Libya is in the hands of its people,” Obama said. He added that Gaddafi was “cut off from arms and cash and his forces were steadily degraded … Over the last several days the situation in Libya has reached a tipping point,” he said, and “the people of Tripoli rose up to claim their liberties”. However, in a potential setback for the rebels, one of Gaddafi’s sons, Saif al-Islam, who they said had been captured during the advance into Tripoli, appeared at Tripoli’s Rixos hotel and told supporters that the rebel advance had been broken. But his father’s whereabouts were unknown on Monday night. Gaddafi has not been seen in public for months and his recent addresses to his people have been made using a poor-quality telephone line. A US state department official, Jeffrey Feltman said in an ABC television interview that Washington did not know where Gaddafi was but a Pentagon spokesman, Colonel Dave Lapan, said American officials still believe he was in Libya. “We do not have any information that he has left the country,” Lapan said. Gaddafi is wanted for crimes against humanity by the international criminal court (ICC), along with Saif al-Islam and his intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi, for their role in the brutal suppression of the anti-government protests which began in February. Talks have begun between court officials and the NTC over the handing over of Saif al-Islam, but it is unclear how the rebels intend to respond. Fighting continued outside the capital, as rebel forces based to the east in Misrata tried to break through government lines 80 miles from Tripoli, at Zlitan. The heaviest combat took place at a bridge at Wadi Kam, and also two miles south of Zlitan, where pro-Gaddafi forces fired mortars and anti-aircraft guns at rebel lines from a base at a cement factory. Sources in Misrata had earlier said they hoped to send a unit across the lines to meet government forces and negotiate their surrender. But such plans appeared to be on hold on Monday afternoon as rebel reinforcements in black painted jeeps mounted with machine guns and recoilless rifles drove at speed up the main highway to Zlitan. Even as the fighting raged on, preparations for a transition were underway. The rebel military leadership in Misrata confirmed that a unit of 200 rebel fighters travelled from Misrata to Tripoli by sea over the weekend, bringing weapons and ammunition, and a team of medics. The sea-borne mission was also intended to stake the NTC’s claim to authority in Tripoli, and to shore up security in the wake of Gaddafi’s fall. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said he would hold talks on supporting post-Gaddafi Libya, while regional organisations, the Arab League, African Union and European Union, and France will host a meeting of the “contact group” of major powers and rebel leaders. British diplomats will move from Benghazi to Tripoli as soon as it was safe to do so, Cameron said and added that Britain would soon release £12bn ($20bn) of Libyan assets, which had been frozen. Germany indicated it would follow suit with £7bn of frozen Libyan funds. Libya Muammar Gaddafi Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Africa Luke Harding Chris Stephen Julian Borger guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Howard Fineman: If Obama Said ‘I Love Apple Pie’ Republicans Would Call It ‘A Socialist Plot’
August 22, 2011 No Comment
It's not at all surprising the Obama-loving, anti-war media are gushing and fawning over what appears to be a rebel victory in Libya. On MSNBC's “Hardball” Monday, the Huffington Post's Howard Fineman joined in the victory lap mocking skeptical Republicans by sniping, “If Barack Obama came out and said, 'You know, I really love apple pie,' they would say, 'Apple pie is a socialist plot'” (video follows with transcript and commentary): HOWARD FINEMAN, HUFFINGTON POST: And I think in this case his vision of careful multicultural, multilateral diplomacy and careful pinpointed use of force really did, really did work, and he deserves credit for it. RON REAGAN, HOST: The Republicans, of course, don't see it that way. They're sort of nitpicking the situation. Do they risk looking peevish and small-minded as a result? FINEMAN: I'm laughing because if they, if they ever worried about the risk of seeming peevish and small-minded, I haven't noticed it. I mean, if they, if Barack Obama came out and said, “You know, I really love apple pie,” they would say, “Apple pie is a socialist plot.” That would depend on the ingredients, Howard. Like so many of his colleagues, Fineman has a poor sense of irony. On the one hand, he mocked Republicans for not worrying about “seeming peevish and small-minded.” What this of course means is that he sees members of the GOP as “peevish and small-minded,” and doesn't feel it's at all important for him as a so-called “journalist” to hide such negative sentiments about a large portion of Americans. Yet those on the Right that possess a similarly negative view of the President, and feel uncomfortable giving him credit for anything, are to be mocked and derided for having those feelings. As I've said for years, it takes a tremendous number of rationalizations to be a liberal these days. What is also quite striking about today's left-leaning political analysts is how they conveniently feign total ignorance of politics when the situation warrants. There's an election next year that the Republicans would like to win. It is therefore not in their best interest to say nice things about the president they're trying to defeat. Surely someone that has covered national politics since 1978 is not only aware of this, but also has experienced it throughout his career. Apart from the months immediately following 9/11, Democrats hardly ever had anything nice to say about George W. Bush. That's called politics. Unfortunately, folks like Fineman lose all knowledge of how this game works whenever there's a Democrat in the White House. At that point, Republicans are considered rude if they don't fawn and gush over him like members of the media do. Sorry to disappoint you, Howard.
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