Obama warns Gaddafi of "no let up"

President Barack Obama warned Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on Wednesday there would be 'no let-up' in pressure on him to go, following a second successive night of heavy NATO bombing in Tripoli.

Six loud explosions rocked Tripoli late on Tuesday within 10 minutes, following powerful strikes 24 hours earlier, including one on Gaddafi's complex in which Libyan officials said 19 died. Obama told a London news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron he could not predict when Gaddafi, who is fighting a three-month-old insurgency, might be forced to go.

"I absolutely agree that, given the progress that has been made over the last several weeks, Gaddafi and his regime need to understand that there will not be a let-up in the pressure that we are applying." "We have built enough momentum that, as long as we sustain the course that we are on, that he is ultimately going to step down," he said. "Ultimately this is going to be a slow, steady process in which we are able to wear down the regime."

Fighting between Gaddafi's forces and rebels has reached a stalemate, despite two months of NATO aerial support under a U.N. mandate intended to protect civilians. Gaddafi denies that his troops target civilians and says the rebels are criminals, religious extremists and members of al Qaeda. Strikes drove back Gaddafi's forces shortly after he pledged "no pity, no mercy" to rebels in their stronghold of Benghazi.

But since then, the rebels have been unable to achieve any breakthrough against better- trained and -equipped forces. "TURNING UP PRESSURE" Cameron echoed Obama's calls for Gaddafi to go. "I believe we should be turning up that pressure and on Britain's part we will be looking at all the options of turning up that pressure," he said. But Obama reiterated that NATO ground troops were not an option, saying: "We cannot put boots in the ground in Libya."

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Tuesday the NATO bombing should achieve its objectives within months. France plans to deploy attack helicopters for more precise attacks on pro-Gaddafi forces embedded among civilians. Britain said on Tuesday it was considering doing the same.

The rebel-held town of Zintan, 150 km southwest of Tripoli in the Western Mountains, was hit by shelling on Wednesday, a witness there said. Rebel spokesman Abdulrahman said Gaddafi's forces were firing from Zawiyat al Baghoul, 18 km to the east. Rebel fighters say Gaddafi's forces fire salvos into Zintan, then drive their truck- mounted rocket batteries into abandoned structures in Zawiyat al Baghoul to evade detection by NATO.

They also say the troops are using new types of Grad rockets, including Chinese- made Grads that spread flechettes when they explode to kill as many as possible. Doctor Anja Wolz of Doctors Without Borders said a relocation of the hospital in Zintan was being considered. "For three days now we've had rockets landing near the hospital," she told Reuters by satellite phone from Zintan.

"We're looking for a back-up place for the hospital. My feeling is it's becoming a target." Libyan television quoted a military source as saying civilian and military sites in the Western Mountains town of Nalut had been hit by NATO.

TRIPOLI BOMBED In the second night of heavy NATO bombing of Tripoli, the alliance hit a vehicle storage bunker, a missile storage and maintenance site and a command-and-control site on the outskirts of Tripoli, a NATO official said. Government targets around the besieged rebel-held city of Misrata had also been hit. The Group of Eight world powers were to discuss ways to break the impasse at their summit in France on Thursday and Friday.

Some expectRussia to propose a mediation plan. The Libya government says NATO air strikes on a Gaddafi compound on April 30 killed his son Saif al-Arab, 29, and three young grandchildren. Thousands attended Saif al- Arab's funeral. But Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said in a television interview the story appeared to have been fabricated.

"To the coalition ... it appears that this is propaganda and that Gaddafi's youngest son is not in Libya but lives in another country, and also the story of the three grandchildren is unfounded. This is the information we are getting from our services," Berlusconi said in the interview, which was recorded on Wednesday and aired inItaly on Thursday.

South African President Jacob Zuma said he would meet Gaddafi in Tripoli next week on behalf of the African Union. Zuma led an African Union mission to Tripoli in April but the bid to halt the civil war collapsed within hours. Jordan followed France, Italy and Qatar on Tuesday by recognising the rebel National Transitional Council in Benghazi as a legitimate representative of Libya's people, and said it would open an office in the city.

The United States bolstered the credentials of the council as a potential government-in- waiting on Tuesday when a U.S. envoy invited it to set up an office in Washington.

War tests loyalties in Libya's rebel west

The rebels said it would be easy: roll in, block the road, raise the flag -- another village under their writ in Libya's Western Mountains.

The villagers are with us, the rebels said of their fellow Berbers -- an ethnic minority that rose up against Muammar Gaddafi at the very start of the rebellion in February.

"Only a few support Gaddafi, maybe five or six," said Omar, commander of the rebel unit from the nearby town of Kabaw.

His call-sign was Rambo. But the operation, which began on Sunday afternoon with the rebels gathering over coffee at a roadside cafe, ended an hour later in angry confrontation, tense retreat and a lesson in the divided loyalties and half-truths of this particular theater of Libya's conflict.

"Only seven or eight people here don't like Gaddafi," Mohammed, a resident of Tamzin, quietly told a reporter.

The truth probably lay somewhere in the middle, like Tamzin itself and dozens of other towns and villages wedged between the rebels who hold most of the plateau and forces loyal to Gaddafi mainly in the desert plains.

The rebels control a road running more than 200 kilometers across the top of the mountain range from the border with Tunisia, the war's western front.

They wanted to close an adjoining artery that cuts through Tamzin and down the mountainside to a town where pro-Gaddafi forces and their artillery are positioned, some 20 kilometers further on.
The road was a security threat, they said, and arrived heavily armed in a convoy of around a dozen pick-up trucks, young rebels wrapped in the flag of the uprising.

"BLACK OR WHITE"

The Berber of the Western Mountains were among the first to hoist the rebel colors, seeing a chance to reassert an identity denied them under Gaddafi.

But the Kabaw rebels were met by angry, unarmed Tamzin villagers, who, though ethnic kin, also happen to shop in the Gaddafi-held town in the plains, which, unlike the choked plateau, has an open route for goods from Tripoli.

"This is the main road for us," said a man who gave his name as Ali. "Food comes through it. If you close it off, we'll die here."

Others appeared offended by the rebels, with their mud-smeared trucks and casual weapons-handling. "Why are they coming to my town with guns?" asked Mohammed, who said he worked for an oil company in Tripoli.

"There are families here. I like my life, I like Gaddafi."
A few of the Libyan leader's green flags were flying from pylons. Rebels said the Tamzin villagers were scared of the pro-Gaddafi forces such a short distance away.

But allegiances are not always easy to discern in the Western Mountains, with sometimes fatal consequences.
When rebels in Zintan, at the far eastern edge of the rebel-held strip, tried to cut off a road used by pro-Gaddafi forces near the village of Ryayna earlier this month, a shooting match erupted in which at least six rebels died.

A commander blamed Gaddafi army snipers, but other rebels spoke of a clash with pro-Gaddafi villagers of a different tribe, enraged by the intrusion. Ryayna's loyalties remain the subject of much speculation in Zintan.
It is a question that may weigh heavily on this region once the war is over and the winners hold the losers to account.

The rebels said they would return to Tamzin within two days.
"I told them, 'You are either with Gaddafi or with the rebels'," the commander, Omar, said after the retreat. "It's black or white, no grey."

France and Britain to use attack helicopters in Libya

France and Britain will deploy attack helicopters in Libya, French officials said on Monday, a step aimed at better targeting Muammar Gaddafi's forces which could help rebels break the stalemate.

Continued shelling of the rebel-held western port of Misrata illustrated the problem facing rebel forces and NATO. Rebels said Gaddafi forces were trying to advance into the long-besieged city under cover of rocket and mortar shells.

Hospital officials said two people were killed and several wounded in Monday's fighting in Misrata. Later in the day, explosions were heard outside the city, lasting about an hour.

A rebel spokesman said forces loyal to Gaddafi also shelled the rebel-held town of Zintan and massed troops close to another town in the mountainous region bordering Tunisia, intensifying operations on the war's western front.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in an interview with CBS News, said pressure on Gaddafi was increasing.

"I think we are seeing slow but steady progress. The pressure on the Gaddafi regime has increased to the point that Gaddafi's wife and daughter fled across the border into Tunisia in the last two days," she said. "The oil minister has defected."

"There is an enormous amount of increased messaging going to Gaddafi, not just because of the military strikes but from those who he thought were in his camp or at least wouldn't try to push him to leave."

Residents in the capital Libya have heard fewer planes overhead in the last day or two, but a NATO official said bad weather had temporarily hampered NATO air strikes.

Confirming the proposed use of helicopter gunships, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told reporters in Brussels the move was in line with a United Nations resolution to protect Libyan civilians and NATO's military operations.

"What we want is to better tailor our ability to strike on the ground with ways that allow more accurate hits," he said.

NATO bombing has damaged Gaddafi's armor but not enough to break a deadlock between rebels and government forces. While helicopters could make it easier to strike urban targets, they would also be more vulnerable to ground fire.

Britain was also sending helicopters, French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet said, but no other nation planned to follow suit. London was tight-lipped. "We are not in the habit of talking about any new missions we undertake until they are in operation," a British government spokeswoman said.

The French daily Le Figaro reported 12 helicopters were shipped to Libya on the French warship Tonnerre on May 17.

A U.N. Security Council resolution allows NATO to strike Gaddafi forces in Defense of civilians, but it explicitly excludes any military occupation. Critics such as Russia accuse NATO of overstepping their mandate in prosecuting a systematic campaign to force an end to Gaddafi's 41-year rule.

According to Le Figaro, French special forces, who have been in Libya to identify targets for NATO since the start of air strikes, could now be reinforced to guide helicopter attacks.

MORE RISKY

The use of helicopters would pose additional risks for NATO. Helicopters would fly lower and be more exposed than aircraft flying well above depleted air defenses. The downing of helicopters could draw ground forces into rescue efforts.

Intensifying diplomatic activity ahead of a G8 meeting of world powers in France this week, the most senior U.S. diplomat to visit during the uprising arrived in the eastern city of Benghazi for talks with leaders of the rebellion.

Jeffrey Feltman, assistant secretary of state for the Near East, met members of the National Transitional Council formed to administer the eastern regions under rebel control.

Gaddafi describes his opponents as religious extremists, criminals and foreign-backed mercenaries. He says he has no intention of stepping down after the manner of Tunisian and Egyptian autocratic leaders overthrown in an "Arab Spring" of democratic protest that swept the Middle East.

Obama and Cameron pledge to keep up pressure on Libya

The leaders of the United States and Britain pledged on Tuesday to keep up the pressure on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi until he fully complied with United Nations resolutions.

Responding to the revolts sweeping the Arab world, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron said in a joint article in The Times newspaper that they would not stand by as protesters' aspirations were "crushed in a hail of bombs, bullets and mortar fire."

"We are reluctant to use force but when our interests and values come together we know that we have a responsibility to act," they wrote.

"This is why we mobilized the international community to protect the Libyan people from Colonel Gaddafi's regime.

"We have degraded his war machine and prevented a humanitarian catastrophe. And we will continue to enforce the U.N. resolutions with our allies until they are completely complied with," the two leaders said.

NATO countries, led by Britain, France and the United States, have enforced a U.N.-authorized no-fly zone over Libya, inflicting severe damage on Gaddafi's military as he tries to stave off a revolt.

U.N. Security Council 1973, establishing the no-fly zone, calls for a ceasefire, an end to attacks on civilians, respect for human rights and efforts to meet Libyans' aspirations.

NATO bombs Tripoli, U.S. says time against Gaddafi

NATO warplanes hammered Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's compound with their heaviest air strikes yet on Tuesday after the United States said Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi would "inevitably" be forced from power.

The shockwave from the strikes was so powerful that plaster fell from the ceilings in a hotel where foreign reporters were staying, about 2 km (1.2 miles) from Gaddafi's compound.

A NATO official said the strikes hit a military facility that had been used to attack civilians. A Libyan government spokesman said three people had been killed and 150 wounded, and that the casualties were local residents.

"It is definitely, in terms of one target, the largest and most concentrated attack we have done to date," said the NATO official in Brussels."

"This complex is where members of the Gaddafi regime, not only military, but hit squads, were based out of in the early days of the violent suppression of the popular uprising, and it has been active ever since," the official said.

Libyan government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said the strikes had targeted a compound of the Popular Guards, a tribally based military detachment.

But he said the compound had been emptied of people and "useful material" in anticipation of an attack. "This is another night of bombing and killing by NATO," Ibrahim told reporters.

Led by France, Britain and the United States, NATO warplanes have been bombing Libya since the United Nations authorized "all necessary measures" to protect civilians from Gaddafi's forces in the country's civil war.

Critics argue that NATO has overstepped its mandate and is trying directly to engineer Gaddafi's fall. Rebels, however, have complained Western forces are not doing enough to break Gaddafi's army.

"We have degraded his war machine and prevented a humanitarian catastrophe," President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron wrote in Britain's Times newspaper. "And we will continue to enforce the U.N. resolutions with our allies until they are completely complied with."

U.N. Security Council 1973, passed on March 17, established a no-fly zone and called for a ceasefire, an end to attacks on civilians, respect for human rights and efforts to meet Libyans' aspirations. Gaddafi denies his forces target civilians and describes the rebels as criminals and religious extremists.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a London news conference on Monday: "We do believe that time is working against Gaddafi, that he cannot re-establish control over the country."

She said the opposition had organized a legitimate and credible interim council that was committed to democracy.

"Their military forces are improving and when Gaddafi inevitably leaves, a new Libya stands ready to move forward," she said. "We have a lot of confidence in what our joint efforts are producing."

The United States bolstered the credentials of the rebel National Transitional Council as a potential government-in-waiting on Tuesday when a senior U.S. envoy invited it to set up a representative office in Washington.

"A formal invitation for the council to establish a representative in Washington D.C. is a milestone in our relationship and I am pleased that they accepted our offer," said Assistant Secretary for the Near East Jeffrey Feltman, who was meeting rebel leaders in rebel-held Benghazi.

Unlike France, Italy and Qatar, the United States has not established formal diplomatic ties with the rebels.

CONFLICT DEADLOCKED

Rebels trying to end Gaddafi's 41-year rule control the east of the oil-producing country, but the conflict has been deadlocked for weeks.

French officials said on Monday that France and Britain would deploy attack helicopters, a step aimed at targeting Gaddafi's forces more precisely. However, Britain's Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey said on Tuesday Britain had taken no decision on whether to use them.

"What we want is to better tailor our ability to strike on the ground with ways that allow more accurate hits," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said.

But the use of helicopters carries risks for NATO, as they would fly lower than warplanes and be more exposed to ground fire. The downing of helicopters could draw ground forces into rescue efforts.

Reporters, whose movements are tightly controlled by the Libyan authorities, were taken to visit Tripoli's central hospital after the heavy night raids.

They were shown the corpses of three men with head injuries, their bodies laid out on gurneys.

A man who identified himself only as Hatim, who had deep gashes and abrasions on his arms and legs, said the blasts had caved in part of his residence near the military compound.

"We were in the house and then, wham, the ceiling came down, right on me," he said.

A Reuters reporter in the city of Misrata, 200 km (130 miles) east of the Libyan capital, said the western district of Defniyah had come under light shelling from pro-Gaddafi forces.

Rebel fighters in the city, the biggest rebel stronghold in western Libya, have pushed back government forces to the outskirts after weeks of street-by-street fighting.

Laser puts record data rate through fibre. 26 terabits/second

Researchers have set a new record for the rate of data transfer using a single laser: 26 terabits per second. At those speeds, the entire Library of Congress collections could be sent down an optical fibre in 10 seconds.

The trick is to use what is known as a "fast Fourier transform" to unpick more than 300 separate colours of light in a laser beam, each encoded with its own string of information. The technique is described in the journal Nature Photonics. The push for higher data rates in light- based telecommunications technologies has seen a number of significant leaps in recent years.

While the earliest optical fibre technologies encoded a string of data as "wiggles" within a single colour of light sent down a fibre, newer approaches have used a number of tricks to increase data rates. Among them is what is known as "orthogonal frequency division multiplexing", which uses a number of lasers to encode different strings of data on different colours of light, all sent through the fibre together.

At the receiving end, another set of laser oscillators can be used to pick up these light signals, reversing the process. Check the pulse While the total data rate possible using such schemes is limited only by the number of lasers available, there are costs, says Wolfgang Freude, a co-author of the current paper from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.

"Already a 100 terabits per second experiment has been demonstrtaed," he told News reporters. "The problem was they didn't have just one laser, they had something like 500 lasers, which is an incredibly expensive thing. If you can imagine 500 lasers, they fill racks and consume tens of kilowatts of power."

Professor Freude and his colleagues have instead worked out how to create comparable data rates using just one laser with exceedingly short pulses. Within these pulses are a number of discrete colours of light in what is known as a "frequency comb". When these pulses are sent into an optical fibre, the different colours can add or subtract, mixing together and creating about 350 different colours in total, each of which can be encoded with its own data stream.

Last year, Professor Freude and his collaboratorsfirst demonstrated how to use all of these colours to transmit over 10 terabits per second. At the receiving end, traditional methods to separate the different colours will not work. Here, the researchers have implemented what is known as an optical fast Fourier transform to unpick the data streams. Colours everywhere The Fourier transform is a well-known mathematical trick that can in essence extract the different colours from an input beam, based solely on the times that the different parts of the beam arrive.

The team does this optically - rather than mathematically, which at these data rates would be impossible - by splitting the incoming beam into different paths that arrive at different times, recombining them on a detector. In this way, stringing together all the data in the different colours turns into the simpler problem of organising data that essentially arrives at different times.

Professor Freude said that the current design outperforms earlier approaches simply by moving all the time delays further apart, and that it is a technology that could be integrated onto a silicon chip - making it a better candidate for scaling up to commercial use. He concedes that the idea is a complex one, but is convinced that it will come into its own as the demand for ever-higher data rates drives innovation.

"Think of all the tremendous progress in silicon photonics," he said. "Nobody could have imagined 10 years ago that nowadays it would be so common to integrate relatively complicated optical circuits on to a silicon chip."

Militants attack Karachi naval air base

Gunmen have attacked a military base in the Pakistani city of Karachi, killing at least 11 soldiers, officials say.

The well-armed attackers set off explosives and have been fighting gunbattles with navy personnel at the Mehran naval aviation base. The gunmen are now holding hostages, including Chinese military personnel. No group has claimed the raid, but the Pakistani Taliban have vowed to avenge the killing of Osama Bin Laden by US special forces on 2 May.

They have carried out several attacks since then. Battle continues On Sunday militants stormed three hangars housing aircraft at the Mehran base, according to officials. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said: "We have been able to confine them to one building and an operation is underway either to kill or capture them." Flames can be seen in the distance, and intermittent gunfire continues as troops battle the militants inside, says the BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan at the scene.

Their first targets were aircraft parked on the tarmac and equipment in nearby hangers. Eyewitnesses say the militants used rocket propelled grenades to damage and destroy several warplanes. These included the Pakistan navy's premier anti-submarine attack jet - the US made P-3C Orion. At least two of these multi-million dollar aircraft were set ablaze.

The gunmen then opened indiscriminate fire, killing several naval personnel as they carried their deadly raid into the heart of the base. Subsequently, navy commandos and marines launched a counter assault. Dozens of heavily armed army reinforcements also arrived to provide cover. Some of the militants have now been killed, officials say.

The remaining gunmen have taken several officials, including Chinese military personnel, hostage inside a building. Security officials say commandos are now being sent in to clear this area. On Friday the Taliban bombed a US consulate convoy in Peshawar, killing one Pakistani. Other attacks by Pakistani militants this month include a raid on a security post that killed two police in the north-west and a twin suicide bombing at a paramilitary police training centre.

NATO sinks eight Libyan warships

NATO aircraft sank eight warships belonging to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces in overnight attacks, the alliance said on Friday. 

The ships were sunk in coordinated attacks on the ports of Tripoli, Al Khums and Sirte, an alliance statement said. "Given the escalating use of naval assets, NATO had no choice but to take decisive action to protect the civilian population of Libya and NATO forces at sea," Rear-Admiral Russell Harding, deputy commander of the NATO mission in Libya, said in the statement.

Libyan opposition stays under the radar

Almost hidden from view by a house perimeter wall and a fig tree's leafy embrace, Khaled was still palpably nervous as he began criticising Muammer Gaddafi.

He explained he had been against Libya's leader since the 1980s, seeing his reform promises as empty, but had been too afraid to protest in Tripoli during the three- month-old opposition uprising because of the strength of the security forces there. "I was scared," he said.

"I saw the television and I was terrified." Khaled and his friend Faisal– both aliases – are the kind of men who would have been out protesting every day on the streets of Tunis or in Cairo's Tahrir Square during the revolutions there but dared not do the same in Col Gaddafi's Tripoli. Dissent in the Libyan capital is still a furtive and dangerous business, mostly conducted underground to evade authorities that– for all the pressure the regime is facing from the rebellion, Nato bombing and economic sanctions– are still seen as a unchallengeable and ruthless enemy in a way their counterparts in Egypt and Tunisia were not.

Faisal, frustrated if still determined, said regime opponents who had been driven from the streets by security force violence during the uprising's early days were now resorting to minor protests, such as painting the colours of the rebel flag– red, black and green – on balloons, cats and pigeons. "Of course, it's a bad thing to do because they [the authorities] will shoot those cats and pigeons.

But this is just to tell the regime we are here." Many independent observers agree there is appreciable opposition to Col Gaddafi in Tripoli– as well as some support – but the problem is finding activism that goes beyond hasty, covert anti-regime conversations.

Twitter has buzzed for weeks with reports of armed clashes between rebels and government forces but, if they are happening, they remain masked in a city where journalists' movements are tightly controlled and soldiers let loose volleys of fire in many contexts other than combat.

Some dissenters report – and in some cases record – what they say are rebel flag drops, covert playing of the pre-Gaddafi era national anthem and fleeting protests, although none of these has been verified independently. Just as Libyan state TV has created an alternate reality of total loyalty to Col Gaddafi, so the rebels have been trying to conjure their own virtual world in which the decisive uprising against the regime is imminent.

The east Libyan-based opposition National Transitional Council announced last week that mass demonstrations would take place on Friday in mainly government-controlled western Libya, with the turnout expected to be large in Tripoli.

Yet traditional centres of anti-regime feeling, such as the Tajoura and Souk al- Jumah districts, were so quiet that visiting journalists were left wondering about possible Delphic signs of dissent– such as one man wearing an England football shirt, even though the UK is carrying out air strikes. Another opposition activist admitted that attempts on the internet to instigate a mass demonstration in Tripoli on May 17, the three-month anniversary of the uprising, had failed.

He said: "The truth is that anti-regime activity remains covert and under the radar, for fear of the vicious crackdown seen in February and March." Regime opponents say two generations of repression– which rights groups allege includes political detention and torture – have caused an internalisation of fear, particularly among the majority of the population that has known no leader other than Col Gaddafi. Regime critics say dissent tends to manifest itself in closed shops, absences from work and the mostly small turnouts at pro-regime demonstrations.

As one person who has worked for the government puts it, the mere act of staying away from a workplace where staff are expected to show fealty to the regime is enough to make a point. "Most Libyans have a dichotomy," he said. "Their professional persona differs from their natural persona." The very subtlety of the opposition shows that dissidents such as Khaled and Faisal are not yet ready to bet on the collapse of the regime. "We will succeed," insists Khaled, putting a finger to his lips as he leaves. "And when we do, please come back."

War Crime Prosecutors want arrest warrant for Gaddafi

The world's top war crimes prosecutor sought an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, accusing him of killing protesters who want an end to end his four-decade rule. 

International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo also asked judges, who must now see if there is enough evidence to issue warrants, for the arrest of Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam and his spy chief brother- in-law Abdullah al-Senussi. 

In the uprising, civilians were attacked at home, protests were suppressed using live ammunition, heavy artillery was used against funeral processions and snipers deployed to kill people leaving mosques after prayers, the prosecutor said on Monday. "We have strong evidence, so strong evidence," Moreno-Ocampo said, adding: "We are almost ready for trial ... Gaddafi ruled Libya through fear and Libyans are losing that fear now." 

The prosecutor's office had received calls from senior officials in the Gaddafi government in the past week to provide information. Prosecutors spoke with eyewitnesses to attacks and assessed evidence from 1,200 documents, plus videos and photos. In central Tripoli, NATO airstrikes hit two buildings on Tuesday, including one which a Libyan spokesman said contained files detailing corruption cases against government officials who had defected to the rebels. Officials summoned reporters after the attack in the early hours to visit the two damaged buildings which they said housed internal security forces and Libya's anti- corruption agency. 

One building was in flames. Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said the anti-graft agency had held files on former supporters of Muammar Gaddafi who had joined the rebels. "We believe that NATO has been misled to destroy files on their corruption cases," he said. There was no immediate reaction to Ibrahim's comments from the rebel leadership, based in the eastern city of Benghazi. Ambulances were at the scene of the buildings on either side of a street although there was no sign of any casualties. 

OIL CHIEF Arab television channels reported late on Monday that Shokri Ghanem, chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation, had defected. It was not possible to verify the reports immediately and Libyan officials in Tripoli were not available for comment. Al Arabiya television quoted sources in the rebel Transitional National Council as saying that Ghanem had defected and joined rebel ranks. Al Jazeera reported he had defected and left Libya, without giving details. 

Thousands have been killed in the conflict in the North African state, the bloodiest of the revolts which have convulsed the region in what has been called the "Arab Spring." NATO, which has been hitting targets in Libya for nearly two months, appeared to step up its bombing campaign on Monday with strikes in several towns and cities including Tripoli, according to Libyan state television and rebels. On the diplomatic front, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the United Nations was working on the removal of Gaddafi to exile to make way for a new government, and a Libyan government delegation was expected in Moscow on Tuesday. 

Libyan officials have denied killing civilians, saying instead they were forced to take action against criminal armed gangs and al Qaeda militants. They say the NATO bombing campaign is an act of colonial aggression aimed at grabbing Libya's oil. PERSECUTION, TORTURE Moreno-Ocampo said persecution was still taking place in areas under Gaddafi's control with forces arresting, imprisoning and torturing alleged dissidents. 

Some had disappeared. Prosecutors are also investigating reports of mass rapes, war crimes committed by different parties and attacks against sub- Saharan Africans wrongly seen as mercenaries once the Libyan situation developed into an armed conflict. Libyan officials have already denounced the ICC, saying the court is a creation of the West for prosecuting African leaders. 

The Libyan rebel council has welcomed the move. State-run television in Libya reported there were NATO strikes on Tripoli, the town of Zawiyah about 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital, the western Tripoli suburb of Tajoura, and on the town of Zuara, 120 km west of Tripoli on Monday. In each case strikes hit military and civilian targets and caused "material and human losses," it said. A rebel spokesman in the town of Zintan, southwest of Tripoli, told Reuters by telephone that NATO had been hitting government weapons depots about 30 km from the town.

Libya buries Imam killed by NATO

Tears, chants and volleys of gunfire fired into the air punctuated the funeral for nine imams Libya said NATO killed in an air strike, but the alliance said the building it struck was a command-and- control center. 

NATO is bombing Libya as part of a U.N. mandate to protect civilians. Some NATO members say they will continue until Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who taunted the alliance as cowards whose bombs could not kill him, is forced out. 

The nine imams were among 11 people killed in a strike on a guest house in the eastern city of Brega on Friday, the government said. The other two were buried elsewhere. "May God defeat their (NATO) forces on land, sea and air," shouted a crowd of about 500 at the funeral held at a cemetery near Tripoli's port. 

Mourners hoisted the plain wooden coffins above their heads to carry them into the cemetery and they were open to show what looked like bodies wrapped in green shrouds and garlanded with flowers, a Reuters witness said. "It (NATO's campaign) is one insult after another to the living and the dead," said onlooker Abdulrahman. 

In a statement, NATO defended its action: "We are aware of allegations of civilian casualties in connection to this strike and although we cannot independently confirm the validity of the claim, we regret any loss of life by innocent civilians when they occur." Libyan state television broadcast audio remarks by Gaddafi on Friday apparently aimed at quashing speculation about his health sparked by Italy's foreign minister who said he had likely been wounded in a NATO strike and left Tripoli. 

"I tell the cowardly crusader (NATO) that I live in a place they cannot reach and where you cannot kill me," said the man on the audio tape, whose voice sounded like Gaddafi's. "Even if you kill the body you will not be able to kill the soul that lives in the hearts of millions," he said. NATO struck his Bab al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli on Thursday but government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said he was unharmed, in good spirits and in Tripoli. 

INFILTRATION ATTEMPT:

Rebels have mounted a three-month-old uprising against Gaddafi's rule and control Benghazi and the oil-producing east of Libya. Thousands of people have been killed in the fighting. Rebels have failed to achieve their main military target of toppling Gaddafi and taking Tripoli and the war has reached a virtual stalemate, with recent fighting centered on the port city of Misrata in the west and in the Western Mountains region. 

Rebels seized Misrata airport this week in a significant breakthrough. They now also control al Dafiniya, the western entrance to Misrata, and Tammina, about 25 km (16 miles) east, said a witness called Ghassan by telephone on Saturday, quoting rebels. A doctor at Misrata hospital, Khalid Abufalgha, said by telephone: "The city is coming back to life. 

People are going out. Not everything is available but to some extent people are finding what they need in terms of food essentials." One rebel was killed on Saturday in fighting and 20 others lightly wounded, he said. There was no independent confirmation. Another Misrata source said rebels were fighting through the day on the outskirts of the town of Zlitan, some 60 Km (35 miles) to the west. 

Libya's border with Tunisia near Dehiba is another focus of fighting since it provides a conduit for rebel supplies to the Western Mountains. On Saturday, Tunisia turned back a column of around 200 pro-Gaddafi soldiers in 50 vehicles at the Gare Ayoub crossing, said the Tunisian news agency, TAP, adding there was no violence. The Libyans were apparently trying to attack a rebel-held frontier post near the Tunisian town of Dehiba. 

DIPLOMATIC FRONT

Rebel leaders met senior officials at the White House on Friday in a boost to their bid for international legitimacy. At a news conference in Benghazi on Saturday, rebels said they were pleased with the international support they had received and rejected partition as a solution for the country. "There is no stalemate. We are making progress on all fronts .... 

 We don't see progress as only military progress because this revolution was a peaceful humanitarian revolution that was simply calling for simple human rights," said Aref Nayed, support coordinator for the council. In a fresh sign of diplomatic activity, Greece will send officials to Benghazi to work as a contact group with rebels, Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas said on Saturday after talks in Athens with the U.N. envoy for Libya Abdelilah al-Khatib. A small team will travel to Libya next week with a humanitarian aid ship, a foreign ministry official said.

Pornography found in bin Laden hideout

A stash of pornography was
found in the hideout of Osama bin Laden by the U.S. commandos who killed him, current and former U.S. officials said on Friday.


The pornography recovered in bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, consists of modern, electronically recorded video and is fairly extensive, according to the officials, who discussed the discovery.


The officials were not yet sure
precisely where in the compound the pornography was discovered or who had been viewing it. Specifically, the officials said they did not know if bin Laden himself had acquired or viewed the materials.


Reports from Abbottabad have said that bin Laden's compound was cut off from the Internet or other hard-wired communications networks. It is unclear how compound residents would have acquired the pornography.


But a video released by the Obama administration confiscated from the compound showed bin Laden watching pictures of himself on a TV screen, indicating that the compound was equipped with video playback equipment.


Materials carted away from the compound by the U.S. commandos included digital thumb drives, which U.S. officials believe may have been a principal means by which couriers carried electronic messages to and from the late al Qaeda leader.


Three other U.S. officials familiar with evidence gathered during investigations of other Islamic militants said the discovery of pornography is not uncommon in such cases.

Suicide attacks in Pakistan kill 80; Taliban claim bin Laden revenge

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Friday for suicide attacks on a military training facility in the nation's northwest, saying they were carried out in retaliation for the killing of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

The twin suicide bombings killed at least 80 people, nearly all of them military recruits who had just completed their training, said Bashir Ahmad Bilour, a senior provincial minister. About 140 others were wounded.

"Pakistani and the U.S. forces should be ready for more attacks," said Ihsan Ullah Ihsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, who accused the Pakistani military of having alerted the United States to bin Laden's location.
"Osama was our great leader and the killers of Osama will have to pay its price," he said.

The back-to-back explosions took place shortly after scores of recruits had left the Shabqadar Fort, a training facility in the district of Charsadda, said Jahan Zeb Khan, a senior police officer.
Afterward, video of the blood-soaked ground outside the training facility showed it littered with burned vehicles and broken glass.

The recruits had just completed a nine-month training program when the attackers struck.
The district of Charsadda borders Mohmand Agency, one of seven districts in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border.

Mohmand is believed to be a hideout for Taliban fighters and al Qaeda-linked militants fleeing last year's military operation in the district of South Waziristan and ongoing U.S. drone strikes in North Waziristan.
The Pakistani army has carried out numerous ground and air operations in Mohmand but it has not been able to stamp out the militants.

The Pakistani Taliban represent a confederation of Taliban groups in northwestern Pakistan, where they are based, said Bill Roggio, military-affairs analyst who is managing editor of The Long War Journal.
Those fighters attack targets in Pakistan and across the border in Afghanistan.

The group, which is headquartered in Quetta, is different from the Afghan Taliban, which has been focused on re-establishing the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan.

Both groups swear allegiance to Taliban leader Mullah Omar and have close ties to al Qaeda, he said.
Last December, some 150 militants ambushed six security checkpoints in Mohmand, killing 11 Pakistani soldiers, officials told CNN.

Earlier in December, a twin suicide attack targeting a government building in Mohmand killed at least 40 people.

"They're clearly trying to disrupt our bilateral relationship through this attack," State Department spokesman Mike Toner told reporters. "But it's also clear that they are going to carry out these kinds of attacks no matter what."

But Imran Khan, a Pakistani opposition party leader, said the attacks show that the Pakistani government is doing a poor job managing the crisis.

"Unfortunately, we do not have a trustworthy, credible government," the chairman of Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) Party told CNN. "That's why I'm calling for the resignation of our own government, free and fair elections and a new, credible government," he said.

He cited government figures that cite 34,000 deaths and a $68 billion loss to the nation's economy as a result of terrorism. "The people of Pakistan are dying under this war on terror," he said.

Khan said Pakistan would be in a better position if it would simply decline U.S. aid. "Unfortunately, if Pakistan is considered a hired gun of the U.S., it reduces its capability to win this war on terror," he said. "If this becomes Pakistan's war, I think Pakistan will win the war. But if it's perceived that the Pakistani army is a mercenary army of the U.S., we have no chance of winning."

He added, "They target Pakistan because Pakistan is perceived as America's agents. That's why you see the sort of carnage that's taking place today."

Prior to 2004, there were no suicide attacks and no militant Taliban in Pakistan, he said. But things have changed. "Here's a country that had 500 bomb blasts last year."

The vast majority of the fighters are tribal people who are neither terrorists nor religious fundamentalists, he said. "They are fighting as a result of Pakistani military operations in the tribal area. So a credible government should have peace talks with them and then isolate the al Qaeda, which has worried the West."

Unreleased bin Laden audio message called 'puzzling'

An unreleased audio message from Osama bin Laden, produced in late April, days before his death, in which he talks in support of the so-called "Arab Spring," was seized at the compound during the U.S. raid, according to a U.S. official.


The message refers to the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia but doesn't mention the uprisings in Libya, Yemen,
Syria or elsewhere.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the classified nature of the information.
The official said it is "puzzling" that bin Laden would "suddenly join the bandwagon on the uprisings," months after they started and not mention all of the Arab nations in turmoil. For instance, the official said it was a "head scratcher" why bin Laden would not indicate his support for the uprising against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, a man bin Laden detested.

"Why not try to inspire AQIM," said the official, referring to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a regional affiliate.

Since protests began across the Middle East, U.S. officials have said the movement undermined al Qaeda and offered an alternative to dissatisfied youth.

"The revolutions in Tunisia and in Egypt and the protests elsewhere that are leading to reforms in a number of governments I think are an extraordinary setback for al Qaeda," Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said on March 1. "It basically gives the lie to al Qaeda's claim that the only way to get rid of authoritarian governments is through extremist violence."

The U.S. official also said that among the seized materials were written communications from bin Laden expressing his desire to see U.S. President Barack Obama assassinated.

The United States expects to have further interrogations of the three wives of bin Laden who were taken into custody by Pakistani authorities after the U.S. raid on the compound. The U.S. official concurred with a description of the meeting on Friday with all three wives as hostile.

Rockets strike Gadhafi's compound

Four rockets struck the compound of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on Thursday, killing at least two people, a government spokesman told reporters.


After the blasts, which could be heard in the center of Tripoli, sirens blared and at least two emergency vehicles sped toward the Bab al-Aziziya compound.

The Libya government took journalists near the site of the blast and smoke could be seen still rising from the compound. At least two dead bodies were at a nearby hospital, both of them men.

Government officials said 27 people affected by the strike were also brought to the hospital. Most seemed to be suffering from smoke inhalation.

On May 1, the Libyan government said another attack on the same compound had killed Gadhafi's son Saif al-Arab Gadhafi and three of the leader's grandchildren.

Thursday's strike came a day after spokesmen for the Libyan rebels sparred with a spokesman for the Libyan government over who was in control of the airport in the besieged city of Misrata.

During the day, Shamsiddin Abdulmolah of the Transitional National Council said the airport in the southern part of the war-torn city had fallen to "revolutionaries" after opposition fighters in nearby Zlaitin joined their counterparts in Misrata.

Government spokesman Musa Ibrahim said government forces were in control of the airport and the seaport in Misrata. He said rebel forces had been there "for (a) short time and left."

But a rebel spokesman in Misrata, who has asked to be identified solely as Mohamed, said late Wednesday night that the rebels had retained control of the airport and were also in control of a civil defense base beyond the airport.

The capture of the airport would be key for rebels fighting the Gadhafi forces since it would provide an important entry point for humanitarian aid.

Two months of fighting and the ongoing shelling of the Misrata port have prevented most aid ships from docking there, leaving the city "at the forefront" of humanitarian concerns, a top U.N. official told the Security Council this week.

NATO warplanes and missiles have been pounding Gadhafi's forces since March as Gadhafi's troops try to quash a nearly three-month-old revolt against his nearly 42 years of rule.

The NATO mission aims to enforce a U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for the protection of civilians.

U.S. President Barack Obama and NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen will meet at the White House on Friday to discuss the alliance's role.

NATO said Wednesday that vehicle and ammunition storage facilities, a surface-to-air missile launcher and an anti-aircraft gun had been hit in the Tripoli area. It also said in a news release that ambulance storage facilities were struck in Mizdah and Qaryat.

As for Misrata, Marie Colvin, the Middle East correspondent for Britain's Sunday Times, told reporters that rebel forces defending the city from government troops were making "meter-by-meter" gains despite heavy shelling and rocket attacks.

Units loyal to Gadhafi have been firing rockets and artillery shells into residential neighborhoods, leaving a nearby emergency room full of women, children and old men, she said.

"The rebels are very much trying, at a minimum, to push back Gadhafi's lines so he simply can't do that," Colvin said Tuesday.

Almost 750,000 people have fled the country amid the fighting, and 58,000 more are displaced within Libya, Valerie Amos, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs said.

At least 5,000 more are stranded at border crossings between Libya, Tunisia and Niger, Amos said.

Others have tried to flee by sea, but one such attempt appears to have ended in disaster for hundreds of refugees as their ship capsized off the capital.

Libyan government, rebels both claim control of Misrata airport

Spokesmen for the Libyan rebels sparred Wednesday with a spokesman for the Libyan government over who was in control of the airport in the besieged city of Misrata.

During the day, Shamsiddin Abdulmolah of the Transitional National Council said the airport, located in the southern part of the war-torn city, had fallen to "revolutionaries" after opposition fighters in nearby Zlaitin were able to join their counterparts in Misrata.

During the night, government spokesman Musa Ibrahim said government forces were in control of the airport and the seaport in Misrata. He said rebel forces had been there "for short time, and left."
But a rebel spokesman in Misrata, who has asked to be identified solely as Mohamed, said late Wednesday night that the rebels had retained control of the airport and were also in control of a civil defense base beyond the airport.

The capture of the airport would be key for rebels fighting the forces of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi since it would provide an important entry point for humanitarian aid.

Two months of fighting and the ongoing shelling of the Misrata port have prevented most aid ships from docking there, leaving the city "at the forefront" of U.N. humanitarian concerns, a top U.N. official told the Security Council this week.

NATO warplanes and missiles have been pounding Gadhafi's forces since March as Gadhafi's troops try to quash a nearly 3-month-old revolt against his regime, and the ferocity of the warfare in Misrata underscores the animosity between the pro- and anti-Gadhafi forces.

Abdulmolah said an unknown number of casualties occurred in the fighting. He also reported that the oil-rich town of Jakharra, in the interior of the country, fell Tuesday night to opposition forces and that Gadhafi's forces were surrounded in the oasis towns of Awjila and Jalu.

The NATO mission is intended to enforce a U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for the protection of civilians. U.S. President Barack Obama and NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen will meet at the White House on Friday to discuss the alliance's role, the White House said Wednesday.

NATO said Wednesday that vehicle and ammunition storage facilities, a surface-to-air missile launcher and an anti-aircraft gun were hit in the Tripoli area. It also said in a news release that ambulance storage facilities were struck in Mizdah and Qaryat.

As for Misrata, Marie Colvin, the Middle East correspondent for Britain's Sunday Times, told CNN that rebel forces defending the city from government troops were making "meter-by-meter" gains despite heavy shelling and rocket attacks.

Units loyal to Gadhafi have been firing rockets and artillery shells into residential neighborhoods, leaving a nearby emergency room full of women, children and old men, she said.

"The rebels are very much trying, at a minimum, to push back Gadhafi's lines so he simply can't do that," Colvin said Tuesday.

As for aid, a ship carrying supplies from the International Committee of the Red Cross docked Tuesday in Misrata, but the ongoing fighting had deterred captains of other ships from trying to enter the port, Colvin said.

The ICRC said the vessel was carrying medical supplies, spare parts to repair water and electrical supply systems and 8,000 jars of baby food.

On the front lines of the battle, bullets were whizzing past "like very angry hornets," Colvin said. At least 70 rebels have been wounded -- but they have held their line, "and meter by meter were able to advance," she said.

"They're defending their homes. They're defending their families, and they are not giving up an inch. They are fighting," Colvin said.

The first shipment of nonlethal aid from the United States to the Libyan opposition arrived Tuesday in Benghazi, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

It included more than 10,000 meals that are permissible under Islamic law. Other items en route from the U.S. Defense Department include medical supplies, tents, uniforms, boots and protective gear.
Almost 750,000 people have fled the country amid the fighting, and another 58,000 are displaced within Libya, Valerie Amos, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told the Security Council Monday.

Another 5,000 are stranded at border crossings between Libya, Tunisia and Niger, Amos said. Others have tried to flee by sea, but one such attempt appears to have ended in disaster for hundreds of refugees as their ship capsized off the capital, Tripoli.

11 dead in clashes between Yemeni protesters, security forces

Eleven protesters were killed during demonstrations in Sanaa and Taiz Wednesday, when Yemeni security forces in both cities opened fire using live ammunition.

Doctors and eyewitnesses in both cities tell that at least 169 people have been injured, some critically.
"Shots are heard everywhere in Sanaa," a witness told reprters.

Journalists and medical sources say eight people were killed in the capital when Republican guards began shooting directly at demonstrators in the east and north parts of Change Square. At least 65 people were injured, the sources say, 12 critically. They added that more than 100 additional people suffered injuries from rocks or batons.

"Security forces are aiming for a massacre in Sanaa," said Abdul Wahab Anesi, a medical staff spokesman at a field hospital set up in Change Square.

Before Republican Guards began firing at protesters in the square, they reportedly clashed with military personnel who had been protecting demonstrators gathered there. Journalists, medical sources and eyewitnesses tell CNN that these soldiers defected two months ago along with Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar.

In addition to the casualties in the capital, three people were killed and four others were reported critically injured in Taiz.

"The attack took place while we were chanting, 'One more week left for you, Saleh,' " said Sabir Ali, a protester in Taiz. The protesters were giving President Ali Abdullah Saleh a week to step down, saying if he does not, they will make good on a vow to march to the presidential palace.

Earlier, a senior security official denied that forces fired on protesters in Taiz.

"Security forces were preventing attacks on civilians led by gangs of the opposition," the official said. "Security forces did not shoot at protesters. Gangs of the JMP were the shooters." The JMP stands for the joint meeting parties, a coalition of opposition parties.

"Security forces kill people, then deny the incident," said Ahmad Bahri, head of the political office at the opposition Haq party. "This is why the Yemeni revolution is taking place."
He said the protesters were unarmed and were marching peacefully when they were shot. Those who died were shot in the head, Bahri said.

Civil disobedience was also seen in the cities of Abyan, Aden, Ibb, Hodeida and Amran, according to reports.

Protesters calling themselves Revolution Youth had called for a civil disobedience day on Wednesday. More than 95% of the shops in Taiz were closed, according to eyewitnesses.
On Monday, medical officials said at least six people were killed and hundreds wounded when teachers -- accompanied by opponents of Saleh's government -- demonstrated against salary cuts. Witnesses said security forces opened fire on the protesters and dispersed marchers with batons and tear gas before shooting at them.

Saleh's impoverished and unstable nation has been wracked by anti-government protests and clashes between demonstrators and security forces for many weeks.

Bin Laden relatives want probe and proof of death

Relatives of Osama bin Laden want proof that the terrorist leader is dead and are calling for an investigation into how he was killed, according to Jean Sasson, an author who helped one of bin Laden's sons write a memoir.

"They just really want some answers, and they would just really like to know what exactly happened, why they weren't called," said Sasson, who worked with Omar bin Laden to pen a memoir titled "Growing Up bin Laden."

The United States says U.S. Navy SEALs killed bin Laden during a May 2 raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where he was hiding out.

The forces collected a trove of intelligence from the compound and later buried bin Laden's body at sea. While the Obama administration has decided not to release photos of the slain bin Laden, some U.S. lawmakers will be allowed to view them.

Bin Laden's relatives "would like to have been able to have witnessed seeing the body, at least identified the body, because, you know how it is in the Middle East so many times: They really need proof or people start believing -- this has been discussed by a lot more people than me -- that many people will not believe that he's dead," Sasson told reporters Wednesday.

Her comments come a day after a statement from Omar bin Laden and his brothers was provided to The New York Times.

Asked about the statement, Sasson said Omar bin Laden -- who has publicly denounced his father's violence -- contacted her and told her he has some things to say. She said she prepared a letter for him and he approved it.

Another family member had gotten an attorney to write a letter about what relatives were thinking and feeling and Sasson said it was decided to go with the attorney's letter.

The statement published in The New York Times is from bin Laden's sons -- "the lawful children and heirs" of the notorious al Qaeda leader.

It says that despite the extensive coverage of his death, "we are not convinced on the available evidence in the absence of (a) dead body, photographs, and video evidence that our natural father is dead."

"We seek such conclusive evidence to believe the stories published in relation to 2 May 2011 operation Geronimo as declared by the President of United States Barack Hussein Obama in his speech that he authorized the said operation and killing of OBL and later confirmed his death," they said.

The statement argued that if bin Laden has been "summarily executed," "international law" might have been "blatantly violated" and that U.S. legal standards were ignored.

The statement cites the trials for late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, and notes that Osama bin Laden didn't get a "fair trial" or "presumption of innocence until proven guilty by a court of law."

"If OBL has been killed in that operation as (the) president of United States has claimed then we are just in questioning as per media reports that why an unarmed man was not arrested and tried in a court of law so that truth is revealed to the people of the world."

"We maintain that arbitrary killing is not a solution to political problems and crime's adjudication as justice must be seen to be done," the statement said.

Three other men, including one of bin Laden's sons, and a woman were killed in the raid, and bin Laden's 29-year-old Yemeni wife, Amal Ahmed Abdulfattah, was wounded.

All three of bin Laden's wives and a number of children, some of whom were bin Laden's, were taken into Pakistani custody after the raid. A U.S. official identified the other two women as Khairiah Sabar, also known as "Umm Hamza," and Siham Sabar, or "Umm Khalid."

"It is also unworthy of the special forces to shoot unarmed female family members ... killing a female and that of one of his sons," the statement said.

"In making this statement, we want to remind the world that Omar (bin Laden), the fourth-born son of our father, always disagreed with our father regarding any violence and always sent messages to our father, that he must change his ways and that no civilians should be attacked under any circumstances.

"Despite the difficulty of publicly disagreeing with our father, he never hesitated to condemn any violent attacks made by anyone, and expressed sorrow for the victims of any and all attacks. As he condemned our father, we now condemn the president of the United States for ordering the execution of unarmed men and women," the statement said.

It also urged Pakistan "to release and hand over" the wives and the children of bin Laden. The authors of the statement called for a U.N. investigation into the event and said they will pursue justice in bodies such as the International Criminal Court if questions aren't answered.

A senior U.S. official Wednesday angrily rejected the charge that international law was violated.

"There is an inherent right of self-defense enshrined in the U.N. charter within Article 51. This is a man who is a terrorist, who declared war on the United States, killed Americans and continued to plan operations against the U.S. and its allies," the official said.

The raid in which bin Laden was killed dealt a blow to the relationship between the United States and Pakistan. The revelation that bin Laden had been living in Pakistan has fueled suspicions that Pakistani officials knew the whereabouts of the terrorist leader, while Pakistan has complained about the U.S. military incursion.

But while the ties between the CIA and Pakistan's intelligence agency are strained, they are not shut down, another U.S. official said.

This official, who did not want to be identified for safety concerns, said both sides need to continue working together.

"Both sides understand the importance of the relationship," the official said. "Cooperation is continuing, discussions are continuing, but there are issues to work through."

Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, plans to go to Pakistan soon, a Senate source familiar with his plans said Wednesday. He has visited the country at other times and has the trust and respect of many senior Pakistani officials.

Most recently, Kerry visited Pakistan to help defuse tensions over the detention of Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor who was jailed in Pakistan after he shot and killed two Pakistani men in what he said was a robbery attempt. He was released from jail after compensation was paid to the victims' families.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration is encouraging Kerry's trip.

"We think it's important as part of the overall efforts by the United States government to continue our collaborative relationship with Pakistan and the cooperation that we have seen in the past," Carney said.

"While we don't see eye to eye on the issues, that cooperation has led to some very important successes in our war against al Qaeda. We are working at the administration level to continue our consultations with Pakistani leaders, to continue that kind of cooperation, and are glad to see Senator Kerry make that trip as well."

In the aftermath of the U.S. raid on bin Laden's compound, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters Tuesday that the United States will be given access to bin Laden's wives and children "so they can interrogate them, they can interview them."

A senior Pakistani intelligence source had said earlier that the United States could question bin Laden's wives only if their "country of origin has been asked for permission."

Malik did not say when or where the United States would be able to question the wives. Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said Tuesday U.S. and Pakistani officials were discussing the matter.

Carney said the administration is optimistic that U.S.-Pakistani cooperation "will continue with regards to" access to bin Laden's wives "and also to the materials that were collected by the Pakistanis after the U.S. commandos left" the compound where they killed bin Laden.

He described the U.S.-Pakistani relationship as "important and complicated."

Bin Laden death photos to be shown to some members of Congress

Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee, as well as those in the equivalent House committees, will be allowed to view the photographs taken of Osama bin Laden after he was killed, a U.S. official told reporters Tuesday.


The viewings will take place at CIA headquarters in northern Virginia at a time to be decided, the official said.

U.S. Navy SEALs killed the al Qaeda leader last week in an attack on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, confirmed that the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee would be give the opportunity.

Asked whether she planned to avail herself of it, she told reporters, "I actually haven't thought much about it, but I likely will."

Feinstein is chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
President Barack Obama decided on Wednesday that he would not release photos of the body.

"It is not in our national security interest ... to allow these images to become icons to rally opinion against the United States," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters at the time. "We have no need to publish those photographs to establish that Osama bin Laden was killed."

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More airstrikes shake Tripoli as refugees drown fleeing Libya

New NATO airstrikes shook Tripoli on Tuesday after the alliance's secretary-general dismissed complaints that the allied campaign against longtime Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi had fallen into a stalemate.


Meanwhile, an international migration organization said a boat packed with hundreds of refugees trying to flee from Tripoli capsized Friday. Somalia's ambassador to Libya said Tuesday at least 54 Somalis are dead or feared dead.

On the outskirts of al-Brega, a key oil town in the east, three rebels have died in clashes with Gadhafi forces since Monday, according to rebel spokesman Mostafa Bozen and a rebel fighter on the front lines who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity for safety reasons. Rebels have made multiple unsuccessful attempts to enter the town, the sources said.

At least three rounds of explosions echoed across Tripoli, Libya's capital, in a three-hour span that began late Monday and stretched into Tuesday, and the roar of jets could be heard overhead.

Government spokesman Musa Ibrahim told reporters that warplanes hit administrative buildings in central Tripoli, and that a nearby hospital was "indirectly" affected.

Ibrahim said the strikes followed "an extended period of calm."
"It is very sad," he said. "We are losing people every day on both sides. We think it is time to sit down and talk."

NATO warplanes and missiles have been pounding Gadhafi's resources since March in an attempt to protect civilians as Gadhafi's troops try to quash a nearly three-month-old revolt against his regime. Libyan rebels are demanding freedom and an end to Gadhafi's nearly 42-year-rule.

The ongoing crisis in Libya has prompted thousands to flee or try to flee, with some attempts ending in tragedy.

Somalia's ambassador to Libya, Abdelghani Mohamed Oweys, said the boat that capsized Friday was carrying more than 600 asylum seekers of various Arab and African nationalities, including 240 Somalis.
Laura Boldrini, spokeswoman for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Italy, said 16 bodies had been pulled out of the water from the Tripoli harbor. The total number of casualties is unknown.
"From what refugees are telling us, the Libyan authorities are facilitating the departures of non-Libyan citizens from Libyan coasts," Boldrini said. "Refugees are not considered at all as humans. Trips are organized on unlikely vessels, and they leave Libya without considering the weather forecast."

Since the end of March, two vessels departing from Libya have disappeared -- one carrying 320 people and the other 160, Boldrini said. In addition, "We know of a shipwreck on April 4, where 250 people died," Boldrini said.

An aid ship chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross reached the war-torn port city of Misrata on Tuesday, the organization said in a statement. Witnesses in Misrata, which is held by rebels, have said indiscriminate shelling on the city has left victims with crushed bones, burns and amputations.
The ICRC is bringing medical supplies, spare parts to repair water and electrical supply systems and 8,000 jars of baby food, the statement said.

The situation in Misrata "is at the forefront" of U.N. concerns about Libya's civilian population, Valerie Amos, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told the Security Council on Monday. Two months of fighting and the ongoing shelling of the city's port had prevented aid ships from docking there, and between 150 and 300 non-Libyans were still waiting to be evacuated, she said.

"Some people are running short of food, water and other basics," she said. "Medical facilities need supplies and more trained personnel."

Almost 750,000 people have fled the country, another 58,000 are displaced within Libya and another 5,000 are stranded at border crossings into Libya, Tunisia and Niger, Amos said.

For those who remain, Amos said, the fighting and sanctions imposed on Gadhafi and his allies have caused "a severe disruption of supply lines within the country." The results have been "shortages of fuel, difficulties in obtaining commodities including foodstuffs, medicines and other essential goods, and there have been severe cash shortages throughout the country."
Amos said western Libya has about three months' supply of food remaining, and the mostly rebel-held east has about two months. Fuel and supplies for desalinization plants and other facilities that provide fresh water to many Libyans "are running out," she added.

Amnesty International has said Gadhafi's attacks in the port city may amount to war crimes.
A report issued last week by the monitoring group accused pro-Gadhafi forces of the "unlawful killing of civilians due to indiscriminate attacks, including use of heavy artillery, rockets and cluster bombs in civilian areas and sniper fire against residents."

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters on Monday that Gadhafi and his regime "have no future," but refused to predict how long the Libyan leader could hold on.

Rasmussen denied that the situation in Libya had devolved into a "stalemate," insisting that NATO was "making progress" and had "taken out" a substantial part of Gadhafi's military capability. He said a political solution was required to bring the conflict to an end, but "it's hard to imagine an end to the violence as long as Gadhafi remains in power."

Hundreds missing after overcrowded boat from Libya capsizes

Hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of African migrants have drowned or disappeared at sea trying to flee Libya for Europe in overcrowded boats that are not seaworthy, reports from refugee agencies suggest.

Somali migrant worker Ibrahim Abdi has cheated death twice trying to get from north Africa to Europe.
He boarded a boat bound for Italy last month, only to see it sink April 26.
The next week he climbed aboard another ship. That boat capsized in Tripoli's harbor Friday. Abdi survived that wreck as well.

But he is one of very few lucky ones.

Hundreds of people are missing after the ship Abdi was on went down last Friday, while 250 people died in a shipwreck at the beginning of April, and two boats with 480 people between them have simply vanished, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said.

UNCHR is "actively discouraging" migrants from boarding boats for Europe, Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the agency, said Tuesday.

The agency is "stressing the perils of the journey, both inside Libya and on the Mediterranean," while urging third countries to accept refugees for resettlement.

Fifty-four Somalis trying to escape Libya are among hundreds dead or presumed dead in the shipwreck Friday, the Somali ambassador to Libya said Tuesday.

Abdelghani Mohamed Oweys said the boat that capsized off the coast of Tripoli was carrying more than 600 asylum seekers of various Arab and African nationalities -- 240 of whom were Somali.

Ibrahim Abdi, the Somali migrant who has twice tried to get to Europe, said there were 750 people on the ship that went down Friday.

Refugees who arrived on other boats the following day in Lampedusa -- an island south of mainland Italy -- reported seeing hundreds of people thrown into the water from the capsized boat, said Laura Boldrini, spokeswoman for the UNHCR in Italy.

Boldrini said 16 bodies had been pulled out of the water from the Tripoli harbor. The total number of casualties is unknown.

"From what refugees are telling us, the Libyan authorities are facilitating the departures of non-Libyan citizens from Libyan coasts," Boldrini said. "Refugees are not considered at all as humans. Trips are organized on unlikely vessels, and they leave Libya without considering the weather forecast."

The capsized boat marks the latest tragedy in the Mediterranean Sea involving refugees trying to flee the crisis in Libya.

Since the end of March, two vessels departing from Libya have disappeared -- one carrying 320 people and the other 160, Boldrini said. In addition, "We know of a shipwreck on April 4, where 250 people died," Boldrini said.

One Somali woman told the International Organization for Migration in Lampedusa that she and her 4-month-old baby were on the latest doomed boat. Having lost her baby, the woman swam to shore and boarded another boat heading to Italy, the IOM said in a statement.

Although migrants reported seeing people swimming to shore, it is not clear how many from the boat survived, the IOM said.

Oweys said passengers on the capsized boat had travelled back to Tripoli from the Shousha refugee camp near the Libya-Tunisia border to undertake the dangerous sea voyage.

Migrants said many who had been waiting on land changed their minds about making the sea journey to Italy after seeing the boat capsize, according to the IOM. But migrants claimed that Libyan soldiers and officials forced them onto a waiting boat by firing their guns indirectly.

"Although this is the first time that IOM has been told of migrants being forced by Libyan officials to get on a boat, many have told IOM that they did not have to pay for their passage to Lampedusa while others say they have paid a nominal fee," the IOM said. "However, they say that they been stripped by officials and soldiers of their savings and possessions, including mobile phones."

Since the crisis in Libya started, more than 10,371 migrants of various nationalities have arrived on Lampedusa or the neighboring island of Linosa from Libya, the IOM said. About 1,887 arrived on five boats this past weekend alone, it said.

About 29,000 migrants have arrived in Italy from north Africa since February 20, the European Union border agency Frontex told reporters Tuesday.

The majority in the past week have departed from Libya and are African, Frontex said. The agency has been interviewing them and moving them to detention centers, it added.

The IOM said it hopes to continue sea evacuations from the besieged Libyan port city of Misrata. The IOM said it has evacuated 6,263 people from Misrata to the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, which is controlled by rebels.

But Oweys predicted more tragedies involving voyages out of Libya.
"This will happen again and again," he said. "People are getting desperate."

And Ibrahim Abdi, who has survived two shipwrecks, says he will try again rather than continuing to live in a refugee camp in Tunisia, because "even risking death is better than the way we're living now."

Top Syrian officials hit with sanctions

Syrian women shower troops with petals and rice as they pull out of Daraa.

The European Union slapped sanctions on 13 top Syrian officials, including President Bashar al-Assad's brother, for "violence against demonstrators," it announced Tuesday.


Maher al-Assad, the president's youngest brother, is commander of the army's 4th Division and "principal overseer" of the crackdown against protesters, the EU said.

The head of Syrian intelligence, Ali Mamlouk, and Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Chaar were also sanctioned, along with 10 other intelligence, security and business officials.

Their assets in Europe are being frozen, and they're now subject to an arms embargo and travel ban.
Syria has been cracking down forcefully for weeks on anti-government protesters inspired by the "Arab Spring" sweeping across the region.

Protesters have demanded the immediate release of political prisoners, lifting of emergency and martial law, and withdrawal of intelligence forces from Syrian cities.

Syrian officials describe the protesters as "conspirators" promoting "sedition."
On Tuesday, Syrian presidential adviser Bouthaina Shaaban told The New York Times that she believed the government had gotten the upper hand. "I hope we are witnessing the end of the story," she said. "I think now we've passed the most dangerous moment. I hope so, I think so."

State-run news agency SANA reported on the interview with the headline: "Dr. Shaaban: We are witnessing the end of the story."

The Times said that for the story, a reporter was allowed into Syria for only a few hours.
SANA also reported Tuesday that 2,684 "rioters" had "surrendered" and been released after pledging "not to repeat any action against the security of the citizen and the homeland."

Also, four "martyrs from the army forces, who were targeted by extremist terrorist groups in Homs," were buried, SANA reported Tuesday.

Last month, al-Assad lifted the country's 48-year-old state of emergency and abolished the state security court, both of which were key demands of the demonstrators. But anti-government protests have continued, with activists alleging massive human rights abuses and calling for political and economic reforms.

Security forces have relied heavily on the army and the regime's guard to disperse demonstrations.
Syrian security forces have been using soccer stadiums as makeshift prisons in at least two cities -- Banias and Daraa, the center of the uprising -- after raiding homes and arresting hundreds of residents, the directors of two human rights organizations said Monday.

In addition, security forces burst into homes and took residents into custody in the Damascus suburb of Modemiyah, where there were reports of gunfire Monday, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

And in the city of Homs, a doctor said tanks were dispersed and security checkpoints were set up at the entrance to each suburb, with security forces, often backed by secret police, searching anyone passing through. The security presence was so heavy that people were afraid to demonstrate, the resident said.

The witness in Homs said he knew several people killed in demonstrations Friday who could not be buried, because security forces were not allowing funerals out of fear they might turn into demonstrations.

The doctor said he has seen several public buildings, including two health centers and a school, transformed into command and control centers for the Syrian security forces and military. Dozens of people have "disappeared," and their families believe they have been arbitrarily detained, the doctor said.

A U.N. humanitarian assessment team due to enter Syria was stopped, despite having previously been given permission by authorities, a U.N. spokesman said Monday. The mission was set to visit the southern city of Daraa.

U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said Monday the United Nations was trying to clarify why it wasn't able to enter.

More than 400 people have been arrested in Banias since Saturday, Abdul-Rahman said, adding that authorities had converted the Mediterranean city's soccer stadium into a prison to house them.
In Daraa, another human rights organization observed a similar situation.

"In Daraa, there have been so many arbitrary arrests in recent days that the army and security forces are using schools and the city's soccer stadium as makeshift prison facilities," said Ammar Qurabi, chairman of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria.

The heads of both organizations are not in Syria but remain in close contact with activists and protesters there.

Amnesty International said Friday that more than 540 people have been killed by Syrian security forces and that many activists in pro-reform protests "have been forced into hiding after receiving threats from Syrian authorities." On Monday, Amnesty said at least 48 people were killed by security forces in Syria "in the last four days," according to local and international human rights activists.

Hosni Mubarak detention extended

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak will remain in detention for at least another 15 days, as prosecutors further investigate the former Egyptian president and other high-ranking members of his deposed government, state media reported.


Mubarak and two sons were detained in connection with the deaths of protesters during unrest that led to the president's ouster, an official with Egypt's Justice Ministry said at the time of their detentions.

Prosecutors also have been investigating what properties and bank accounts the Mubaraks have.
Meanwhile, former Tourism Minister Zoheir Garranah has been sentenced to five years in prison for squandering public funds and illegal profiteering, according to Adel Saeed, a prosecutor's spokesman.
Garranah is the latest former government minister to receive a prison sentence in the wake of the demonstrations and Mubarak's resignation.

Last week, Interior Minister Habib El Adly was handed a 12-year prison sentence for corruption. He will face a separate trial on May 21 for his role in the killing of protesters during the unrest.

Former Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali is also charged with squandering public funds. He fled the country on February 12, according to a written statement from the prosecutor's office.

Several other former top government officials are under investigation for corruption, prosecutors say.

Alleged rape victim flees Libya

Eman al-Obeidy, who garnered worldwide attention for her vocal rape allegations against the regime of Moammar Gadhafi, says she has fled Libya, fearing for her safety.

Eman al-Obeidy, alleged rape victim who fled Libya

Al-Obeidy told that she crossed into Tunisia on Thursday with the help of a defecting military officer and his family.

She said she had left Tripoli in a military car, wearing a head cover that hid everything except one eye.
Al-Obeidy said she entered at the Dahibah border crossing disguised "in the local manner" and was not challenged. She described the trip from Tripoli as "very tiring."

Along the road to Tunisia, the car she was in was stopped several times at checkpoints, al-Obeidy said. The military officer would show his permit, and they would be allowed to continue, she said.

Al-Obeidy said she crossed into Tunisia using a refugee document.
European diplomats drove her from the border region to Tunis and are giving her sanctuary, there while she considers her future, according to Western diplomatic sources.

She said she was afraid she was being followed and might still be in danger, adding that she hoped she could obtain protection from a Western government.

"I still do not know what I am going to do. Of course I'd like to see my family," she said.
Al-Obeidy's mother learned about her daughter's escape after seeing news reports on TV, her father told  from the family's hometown of Tobruk, Libya. Atiq Al-Obeidy said that his wife then called him, and both parents were overjoyed.

Atiq Al-Obeidy admitted he was "not optimistic" that his daughter would be able to safely leave Libya, thinking forces loyal to Gadhafi "would do the worst to her, given his past."
"I am extremely delighted, and I will be looking forward to more information about how she was able to escape," the woman's father said.

Eman al-Obeidy received worldwide attention on March 26 when she burst into the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli, while international journalists staying there were having breakfast. She told reporters she had been taken from a checkpoint east of Tripoli and held against her will for two days while being beaten and raped by 15 men.
In an interview last month, she said she felt defeated and lived in fear that she would be punished gravely for her words.

"I usually get harassed when I have to show my Identification card to government officials somewhere, and they find out who I am and that I have put complaints forward against Gadhafi's people," she said. "They humiliate me to the point where other people gather around and start saying that it is shameful to treat a Libyan woman that way."

The legal proceedings in her rape case have not gone far, she said last month. She also had not been able to go home.