ICC prosecutor seeks Gaddafi arrest warrant

An image grab taken from Libya's state television on March 23, 2011, shows Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi addressing crowds at his former Bab al-Aziziya residence, in the capital Tripoli, late on March 22, 2011. ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on Monday said he would seek arrest warrants against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and intelligence head Abdullah Al Sanousi for crimes against humanity. AFP PHOTO/LIBYAN TV

THE HAGUE, Monday -

The International Criminal Court's prosecution applied Monday for a warrant for Muammar Gaddafi's arrest for crimes against humanity, a day after the Libyan strongman's regime offered truce in return for a halt to NATO-led air strikes.

NATO-led aircraft meanwhile launched fresh raids on an outlying suburb of the capital Tripoli, destroying a radar base, the state news agency JANA and residents said.

ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said warrants were also sought for one of Gaddafi's sons, Seif al-Islam, and intelligence head Abdullah Senussi for crimes against humanity.

"Today, the office of the prosecutor requested the International Criminal Court arrest warrants," Moreno-Ocampo told a news conference in The Hague, where the court is based.

The Argentine prosecutor said there was evidence "that Muammar Gaddafi personally ordered attacks on innocent Libyan civilians".

A panel of ICC judges will now decide whether to accept or reject the prosecutor's application.
Protests against Gaddafi's four-decade rule began on February 15 and Moreno-Ocampo said thousands of people had now been killed in the violence and around 750,000 people forced to flee.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague called on the international community to "fully support" the ICC.

"I welcome this announcement. The human rights situation in western Libya and the behaviour of the Gaddafi regime remains of grave concern," Hague said.

"The request for these warrants is a reminder to all in Gaddafi’s regime that crimes will not go unpunished and the reach of international justice will be long. Those responsible for attacks on civilians must be held to account."

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the days of Gaddafi's regime were "numbered" and that some Libyan officials were looking for a way for their leader to go into exile.

"Messages have been arriving from the regime's restricted circle," Frattini said in a Channel 5 television interview.

"Certain (members) have spoken under cover and are beginning to say that Gaddafi is looking for an honourable way out," he added.

Since the Libyan conflict began, thousands of refugees and migrants from North Africa have fled in rickety fishing boats to Italy's southern shores, sparking consternation over a possible mass exodus to Europe.

On Sunday, Gaddafi's prime minister Baghdadi Mahmudi offered a truce to UN special envoy, Abdul-Ilah al-Khatib, in return for an immediate NATO ceasefire.Mahmudi said after meeting Khatib that Libya wants "an immediate ceasefire to coincide with a stop to the NATO bombardment and the acceptance of international observers," JANA reported.

He accused the Western alliance, which is leading the enforcement of a UN-mandated no-fly zone over Libya, of "abuses and violations" including "political assassinations, the unjust maritime siege, bombing of civilian sites and destruction of infrastructure."

Britain's chief of the defence staff, General David Richards, told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper that more military action was needed against the Libyan strongman.

"The vice is closing on Gaddafi, but we need to increase the pressure further through more intense military action," he said.

The general said he wanted NATO member states to support the targeting of Gaddafi's regime, not just targets which pose an immediate threat to civilians, such as tanks and artillery.

"The military campaign to date has been a significant success for NATO and our Arab allies. But we need to do more. If we do not up the ante now, there is a risk that the conflict could result in Gaddafi clinging to power," Richards said.

On Monday, NATO carried out strikes at a radar station in an outlying suburb of Tripoli, while state news agency JANA quoted a military source as saying that "civilian and military sites" had been targeted in Tajura east of the capital causing "human and material losses."

In Cairo, the 22-member Arab League asked the satellite operator Arabsat -- which it owns -- to stop all transmitting Libyan state-owned television channels.

The rebellion against Gaddafi has claimed thousands of lives while seeing much of eastern Libya fall into the hands of insurgents who have vowed to march on Tripoli and topple him.

In the main eastern city Benghazi, rebel spokesman Jalal al-Gallal touted the uprising's achievements.

"These three months have been very long," Gallal told AFP. "But we managed to secure the eastern areas, free Misrata and the mountainous regions in the west."

He added: "Gaddafi's isolation is irreversible. And most importantly, we achieved freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of movement. Gaddafi's biggest mistake was failing to understand how important these were for us."