Monday, October 24, 2011

Gadhafi's Heirs: Dead Dictator's Sons Speak Out - Yahoo! News

Gadhafi's Heirs: Dead Dictator's Sons Speak Out - Yahoo! News:

Gadhafi's Heirs: Dead Dictator's Sons Speak Out

By JEFFREY KOFMAN and KEVIN DOLAK | ABC News – 4 hrs ago

Just one of Moammar Gadhafi's eight children is still unaccounted for following the Libyan dictator's death last week, and although he is currently wanted by the International Criminal Court, Libya's former heir apparent is still trying to reclaim his father's glory.

Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi, the London-educated son who was to succeed his father and carry on the dynasty is possibly still at large. Libya's interim government had said he was captured this weekend, but at the very same time the 39-year-old appeared on Syrian television.

"We continue our resistance. I'm in Libya, alive, free and intend to go to the very end and exact revenge," Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi was heard saying on Syrian TV. "I say go to hell, you rats and NATO behind you. This is our country, we live in it, and we die in it and we are continuing the struggle."

The short message was broadcast on Syrian TV station Al-Rai on Sunday and was soon uploaded by several users onto YouTube. It's not clear if the audio-only message was broadcast live or was a recording. The Al-Rai station broadcasts into Libya, and in the past has broadcast messages from Moammar Gadhafi.

As the hunt for Saif intensifies, his brother Saadi Gadhafi, who escaped the country in September as rebel forces began to close in, has publicly lashed out about the death of his father and brother.

Under house arrest in Nigeria, Saadi issued a blistering condemnation of the way his father was treated after capture.

"These barbaric executions and the grotesque abuse of the corpses make it clear that no person affiliated with the former regime will receive a fair trial in Libya," he said through his publicist.

As news and video footage of his death surfaced, the United Nations' High Commission for Human Rights called for an investigation into the events surrounding his death; though video seems to show him in rebel custody, he allegedly died in "crossfire."

Libya's acting Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said that he would not oppose a full investigation under international supervision into his death, according to The Associated Press.

The fate of one of Gadhafi's other sons, Moutassim Gadhafi, is quite clear however: his body now lies with his father's on display in a meat refrigerator for all of Libya to see.

"This is his destiny because of all the evil he has done," one Libyan spectator said after lining up to see for himself the body of the man who ruled Libya for 42 years and his fifth son.

All of the dictator's eight children lived their lives as lavishly and as ruthlessly as their father.

Three of the Gadhafi children -- Moutassim, Khamis and Said al-Arab -- have been killed in the revolution. Three more, Hannibal, Mohammed and Gadhafi's only daughter Aisha – once called the Claudia Schiffer of North Africa -- are now living in exile in Algeria with Gadhafi's wife Safia.

Across Libya there is little sympathy for anyone in the Gadhafi family. The interim government officially declared the country liberated this weekend, and has promised to bring democracy.

While celebratory gunshots rang out across the capital of Tripoli, it has been one non-stop party as Libya begins its transition to democracy. A new interim government is expected to be declared within a month, with elections for a constitutional assembly expected within eight months.

Warren Buffet - Fixing Congress

Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers a thought-provoking
quotes about the debt ceiling:

  "I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just
         pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more
         than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible
         for re-election.

         The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds)
         took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple!
         The people demanded it. That was in 1971 - before computers, e-mail,
         cell phones, etc.

         Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took one (1) year
         or less to become the law of the land - all because of public pressure.

         Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to
         a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask
         each of those to do likewise.

         In three days, most people in The United States of America will
         have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed
         around.

         _*Congressional Reform Act of 2011*_

         1. No Tenure / No Pension.

         A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no
         pay when they're out of office.

         2.  Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social
          Security.

         All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the
         Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into
         the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the
         American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

         3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all
        Americans do.

         4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.
         Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

         5. Congress loses their current health care system and
         participates in the same health care system as the American people.

         6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the
         American people.

         7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void
         effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this
         contract with Congressmen/women.

         Congressmen/women made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in
         Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers
         envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their
         term(s), then go home and back to work.

         If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will
         only take three days for most people (in the U.S.) to receive
         the message. Don't you think it's time?

         THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!

Monday's Daily Brief

Turkey Earthquake Kills Hundreds, Rescue Efforts Underway

Monday, October 24, 2011

Turkey Earthquake Kills Hundreds, Rescue Efforts Underway

	EDUCATION Schools Fear Worst Budget Cuts Ahead
	POLITICS Rick Perry Answers Birther Questions, Walks Fine Line
	TECHNOLOGY WATCH: An Unprecedented Look At The Life Of Steve Jobs
	RELIGION Vatican Calls For Radical Economic Reform Of World's Financial Systems
	CELEBRITY Jennifer Lopez Breaks Down During Concert

BLOG POSTS

	David Katz, M.D.: Any Day but Food Day This is not about Food Day. This is about the other 364 days this year; the 365 days last year; and the 365 days next year. Why aren't THEY Food Day?
	Raymond J. Learsy: Occupy Wall Street Protestors 'Get A Life' -- Elect A President! She may not know it yet, but the nation needs Sheila Bair. Her persona, her values, her experience would be an enormously timely gift to all of us.
	Abdulrahman El-Sayed: The Reckless Folly of Ellsberg's "Will Dropouts Save America?" Rather than highlighting a small, non-representative minority of college dropouts to misrepresent the importance of education, perhaps it would be better to concentrate on redesigning our higher education system so that it better serves American society.
	BritChick Paris: Why You Can Count Your True Friends on one Hand I am a demanding friend I do admit. I expect too much. I always did. As a child I'd be terribly disappointed when a playdate was cancelled or when Maisy or Poppy decided she was no longer my best-est friend.
	Nancy Hiller: The House That Saved Me My sister and I were raised to want two things in life: a husband and a house, in that order.

Rights group: Bodies of 53 apparent Gadhafi loyalists found in Libyan hotel - CNN.com

Rights group: Bodies of 53 apparent Gadhafi loyalists found in Libyan hotel - CNN.com:

Rights group: Bodies of 53 apparent Gadhafi loyalists found in Libyan hotel

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 6:26 AM EST, Mon October 24, 2011

The chairman of Libya's National Transitional Council Mahmoud Jibril says elections will be held within eight months.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Human Rights Watch says the bodies were found in a Sirtehotel last week
HRW: Some of the deceased had their hands bound behind their backs
The area of Sirte has been controlled by anti-Gadhafi fighters since early October, HRW says
Residents identified some of the dead as Sirte residents and Gadhafi supporters

(CNN) -- The bodies of 53 people, believed to be supporters of ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, have been found in a hotel that was under the control of anti-Gadhafi fighters, Human Rights Watch said Monday.

The rights group said it found the bodies clustered together at Hotel Mahari in Sirte on Sunday. About 20 residents were putting the bodies in body bags to prepare them for burial when Human Rights Watch found them.

"We found 53 decomposing bodies, apparently (Gadhafi) supporters, at an abandoned hotel in Sirte, and some had their hands bound behind their backs when they were shot," said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director of Human Rights Watch.

"This requires the immediate attention of the Libyan authorities to investigate what happened and hold accountable those responsible."

Officials with the National Transitional Council, Libya's newleadership, were not immediately available for comment.

The residents told Human Rights Watch investigators they found the bodies last week after the fighting in Sirte stopped and they returned home.

They identified some of the deceased as Sirte residents and Gadhafi supporters.

Moammar Gadhafi's body displayed in Libya

The next chapter in the Arab Spring

Chronicling Gadhafi's demise

Sirte, Gadhafi's hometown, was one of the last cities to fall before the National Transitional Council declared the country liberated Sunday following Gadhafi's 42-year rule.

However, anti-Gadhafi fighters from Misrata had controlled the area of Sirte where the hotel is located since early October, Human Rights Watch said, citing witnesses.

On the entrance and walls of the hotel, the group said it saw the names of several brigades from Misrata.

Based on the condition of the bodies, the group's investigators determined the 53 had been killed between October 13 and 19.

"The evidence suggests that some of the victims were shot while being held as prisoners, when that part of Sirte was controlled by anti-Gaddafi brigades who appear toact outside the control of the National Transitional Council," Bouckaert said.

"If the NTC fails to investigate this crime it will signal that those who fought against Gaddafi can do anything without fear of prosecution."

At a different location, Human Rights Watch found 10 decomposed bodies that had been dumped in a water reservoir. The group could not determine whether the bodies belonged to pro- or anti-Gadhafi forces.

In addition, medical officials in Sirte told the group that pro-Gadhafi forces had carried out killings in the city and that they had found 23 bound bodies between October 15 and 20.

Meanwhile, questions linger about the circumstances surrounding Gadhafi's death Thursday, with Human Rights Watch and others questioning the Libyan interim government's version.

An autopsy revealed Gadhafi died from gunshot wound to the head.

Mahmoud Jibril, chairman of the NTC's executive board, has said Gadhafi's right arm was wounded when a gun battle erupted between the fighters and Gadhafi loyalists as his captors attempted to load him into a vehicle.

More shooting erupted as the vehicle drove away, and Gadhafi was shot in the head, dying moments before arriving at a hospital in Misrata, Jibril said, citing the city's coroner.

On Monday, Human Rights Watch said it found the remains of at least 95 people who were apparently killed at the site Thursday. Some died in the fighting and in the NATO airstrike on Gadhafi's convoy prior to the ousted leader's capture. But the group said that about six to 10 seemed to have been "executed" -- with bullet wounds to the head and body.

Social Policy and Change

Monday, October 24, 2011