InfoAnda - Torture and lawlessness as Libya victory high ends |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Yemen hunts bomb suspect as oil pipeline attacked | 3 November 2010
Hamas sees Egypt's Mursi defying Israel, ending blockade | | 13 July 2012
Britain the best place to die: global study | 15 July 2010

Pakistan kills 22 militants in Khyber | 13 September 2009

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Torture and lawlessness as Libya victory high ends |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Davos 2012 Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Summits Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Geraldine Fabrikant Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Slideshow VIDEO Tahrir Square on revolution anniversary Egyptians head to Cairo's Tahrir Square to mark the first anniversary of the uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak. Video One year on, calls for change continue in Egypt Egypt's early hours of the revolution Life during the Egyptian uprising Egypt's revolution in review The fall of Hosni Mubarak Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read U.S. commandos free two pirate hostages in Somalia 10:16am EST Subculture of Americans prepares for civilization's collapse 21 Jan 2012 Iran's Ahmadinejad ups rates to stem money crisis 8:29am EST Gingrich wants to hear his debate fans roar 24 Jan 2012 Delta diverts polar flights due to solar storm 5:56am EST Discussed 332 Subculture of Americans prepares for civilization’s collapse 205 Abortion safer than giving birth: study 160 Romney reports tax bill of $6.2 million for 2010-11 Watched Angelina Jolie fascinated by "bizarre" Republican presidential race Sun, Jan 22 2012 Aesop's fable brought to life by clever crows Tue, Jan 24 2012 Obama targets economic inequality Tue, Jan 24 2012 Torture and lawlessness as Libya "victory high" ends Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Libyan defense minister in restive town for talks 7:46am EST Anger, chaos but no revolt after Libya violence Tue, Jan 24 2012 Gaddafi supporters seize control of Libyan town Mon, Jan 23 2012 Deputy head of Libya's NTC quits after protests Sun, Jan 22 2012 Protesters storm Libyan government HQ in Benghazi Sat, Jan 21 2012 Analysis & Opinion Obituary of a scandal : A first draft on Pakistan’s “Memogate” Yemen needs an insurgent democracy Related Topics World » Libya » 1 of 2. Ibrahim Mohammed from Assabia who says he was tortured at the hands of the Gharyan city forces during skirmishes between the two cities earlier this month lies in a hospital in Tripoli January 19, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Ismail Zitouny By Oliver Holmes TRIPOLI | Wed Jan 25, 2012 10:39am EST TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Violent crime and clashes between armed militants are running rife in Libya as the jubilation of last year's liberation fades, to be replaced by the harsh and unromantic reality of building a new state. Although much less frequent than the celebratory shooting in the weeks after Muammar Gaddafi died in October, the sound of gunfire can still be heard at night in Tripoli, where security sector workers say theft, infighting and murder are on the rise. Last week, two grenade attacks were reported in central Tripoli and gunfights occur on a near-daily basis. "The country is coming down off a victory high," a western diplomat in the capital told Reuters. "Not only are there clashes between rival militias, but we are seeing a lot more reports of crime in the capital and I think it is because people are disillusioned with the slower-than-hoped progress of the country," the diplomat said. The National Transition Council (NTC), Libya's internationally recognized but self-appointed government, has received praise for getting many of the country's ministries up and running and, notably, for drafting an election law in which NTC leaders will be unable to run in June elections. But many Libyans thought progress would be faster, and the defense ministry and the interior ministry are failing to incorporate disparate militias, armed with anything from pistols to tanks, into a police force and an army. These groups fought hard in the campaign to topple Gaddafi but now refuse to hand in their weapons, saying they are suspicious of the country's new rulers. The ramshackle government lost control of a former Gaddafi stronghold on Tuesday after local people staged an armed revolt, posing the gravest challenge yet to the NTC's authority. The revolt in Bani Walid will heighten doubts in the West about the NTC government's ability to instill law and order crucial to rebuilding oil exports, to disarm tribal militias and to guard Libyan borders in a region where al Qaeda is active. Elders in Bani Walid, 200 km (125 miles) southeast of the capital, said they were appointing their own local government and rejected any interference from the authorities in Tripoli. Although seen unlikely to spread elsewhere, the fighting added to the problems besetting the fragile new government. The sense of lawlessness - and the lingering influence of Gaddafi even in death - is exemplified in recent clashes between the neighboring towns of Assabia and Gharyan, 50 miles south of Tripoli. ESCALATING FIGHTING Although accounts are conflicting, residents from both towns -- perched on the edge of the sandstone Western, or Nafusa, Mountains -- say that a knife fight broke out at a weekly market along a road that connects them. The towns' respective militias rapidly amassed their troops, blocked off the main connecting road with walls of dirt to hide behind and started a three-day battle, in which shells, mortars and 9-foot-long GRAD rockets were fired. Near the front line, a towering Catholic church can be seen at the peak of a nearby hill. During the Italian occupation in the early 20th century, fighters from Gharyan and Assabia fought together to decolonize Libya. During the fighting, the military council of Gharyan swore that they were fighting the remnants of pro-Gaddafi forces still hiding in Assabia. "Assabia and us are brothers, but due to the presence of Gaddafi fighters we have a problem," Gharyan spokesman Ismail al-Ayeb told Reuters. He said there are more than 1,000 pro-Gaddafi troops in Assabia -- a town of just over 50,000 people -- and showed Reuters documents which listed tens of thousands of weapons that the Gharyan military council claims are in Assabia. TORTURE CLAIMS In Assabia, a different story was being told, in which residents not involved in the fighting were kidnapped and tortured, one to death, by Gharyan fighters. "We are not Gaddafi supporters. Gharyan just want to legitimize their fight against us," said Ibrahim Mohammed, 23, who was covered head to toe in black and blue bruises which he says he got from beatings with metal chains in Gharyan. "I was on the road to the capital and I was stopped by Gharyan fighters. They asked me where I was from and when I said Assabia they forced me out the car with guns and took me to a military base," he told Reuters from his bed at the central hospital in Assabia, having been released in a ceasefire agreement brokered by the NTC. "I recognized them as being from the military council in Gharyan," he said in a coarse voice, adding that his ankles were crushed in metal workshop clamps and that his finger and toe were smacked with metal bars. Blood seeped from under his fingernails during the interview. "During my interrogations, I saw our main military commander in Gharyan lying on the floor in a pool of blood ... he was barely breathing and they had tied a metal pole to his arms and legs and were giving him electric shocks," Ibrahim said. The body of this Assabia military commander, Ezzedine al-Ghool, was anonymously dropped at the Tripoli hospital where it was later collected by members of Assabia's city council, including Bashir al-Nwer, who says Gharyan fighters took the body to Tripoli to avoid escalating the conflict by returning the tortured body directly to Assabia. "We have come to get the doctor's report which proves he was tortured to death. Then we will take his body to Assabia. Three days after Ezzedine was killed, his wife gave birth to his son, Ali, and we want the son to see his first and last glimpse of his father," he told Reuters at the morgue in Tripoli. Ezzedine spent two months in a Gaddafi prison during the war and is heralded as a hero of the revolution. Reuters travelled in a convoy of dozens of cars which transported Ezzedine's body back to Assabia hospital where Ezzedine's wife was recovering from giving birth a day before. On arrival, the widow's wails echoed through the corridors and she kissed her dead husband's face and whispered prayers. "This is your son," she said, holding her newborn child, tightly wrapped in blankets to protect him from the thin, cold mountain air. TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION So far, the NTC has been efficient at mediating and ending these sort of flare-ups that are happening all over the country and undermining Libya's fragile stability. The Gharyan-Assabia ceasefire was brokered quickly, and prime minister Abdel Rahim El-Keib and NTC head Mustafa Abdel Jalil personally visited both towns. But the NTC has yet to prove it can prevent militia fighting and rising violent crime. "Libya is making a transition from war to peace and trying to deal with what happened," said the western diplomat who is involved in a movement to start a truth and reconciliation committee to document war crimes committed during the civil war. "After going through what Libya went through, any country would have problems and especially as people realize that the country will take time for laws to be enforced and adhered to." (Editing by Sonya Hepinstall) World Libya Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Wednesday, 25 January 2012
U.N. envoys slam Russia for selling weapons to Syria |
Anger, chaos but no revolt after Libya violence |
Netanyahu cites Holocaust lesson in dealing with Iran |
Turkey warns Iraqi PM over sectarian conflict |
Analysis: New EU data laws command the tide but not the cost |
Entrepreneurs bring Internet coding skills to everyday users |
Time Warner leads funding for second social TV company |
ST-Ericsson CEO sees very difficult 2012 |
Oscar's big snub: Uggie the dog, a true Artist |
Downtown and all around New York with Petula Clark |
Jagger says UK's Cameron can't get what he wants |
Sony, Paramount and Weinstein Co. get Oscar boost |
U.S. raid frees two pirate hostages in Somalia |
Islamist militants quit captured Yemeni town |
One year on, Egypt will demonstrate and celebrate |
Blast destroys police station in north Nigeria |
Anger, chaos but no revolt after Libya violence |
Analysis: Myanmar shows little sign of economic miracle |
Apple returns to form, blows Street targets away |
Ericsson Q4 profit halves, sees challenges |
Facebook to stop honoring trades in shares for 3 days: source |
SAP sets sights on fresh profit record |
Google to unify privacy policy across products |
New Yahoo CEO says company needs to do better |
Chipmaker AMD expects lower revenue in weak PC market |
Megaupload founder faces lengthy extradition battle |
Nvidia cuts revenue forecast, shares drop |
Hollywood embraces hopeful tales with Oscar nominations |
Demi Moore seeks help for exhaustion, health issues |
Garth Brooks awarded $1 million in suit against hospital |
Country music great Haggard recovering from pneumonia |
Style author Charla Krupp dies of cancer at age 58 |
Garth Brooks awarded $1 million in suit against hospital |
France's Jean Dujardin plays down Hollywood success |
Documentary makers spur calls to action at Sundance |
Gulf monitors leave Syria, League seeks U.N. support |
Iran's Ahmadinejad ups rates to stem money crisis |
Even without Hormuz blockade, Iran has options |
Transcripts show Italy captain says was told to approach shore |
A year after uprising, Egyptians celebrate and protest |
Torture and lawlessness as Libya victory high ends |
Workers unearth suspected mass grave in southeast Turkey |
Afghan army's night raiders ready to take control |
Pakistan PM drops criticism of the military |
Come for coffee, don't forget the cocaine, Dotcom joked |
Breach of new EU online data rules to carry high fines |
Core suppliers savor bigger Apple pie |
A Minute With: Mary Tyler Moore on a life of achievement |
Abu Dhabi further delays Louvre, Guggenheim projects |
Irishman makes billion-euro home of shredded notes |
Saudi artists test limits of expression in rare show |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01