US, French, Canadian, British forces deploying off in Libya

SYRIA: The US has deployed its newest aircraft carrier off the Syrian coast amid mounting speculations of a Washington-led military invasion against the Arab nation.

A US naval task force, led by the USS George H.W. Bush, parked off just outside Syria’s territorial waters, just after the US embassy in Damascus urged Americans to “immediately” leave the country, the Daily Caller news website reported on Wednesday.

Media reports also indicated that US ambassador to Damascus Robert Ford, recalled from Syria in October due the mounting anti-US sentiment in the country, will not return later this month as planned.

The developments come amid Western attempts, spearheaded by the United States, to pressure Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

The CVN 77, better known as the George H.W. Bush, is capable of carrying up to 70 aircraft, including 48 fighter jets.

Washington has not explained the purpose of the carrier’s deployment to the Syrian coast.

Meanwhile, NATO-ally Turkey is seen as likely to launch a military action against Syria.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul has already suggested that Ankara might invade the country under the pretext of weeding out Kurdistan Workers’ Party terrorists operating inside Syria.

Arab media have also spoken of an impending no-fly zone over Syria, similar to the one imposed over Libya before NATO launched massive missile strikes and aerial bombardments of the oil-rich country earlier in the year.

Press TV

Libya must hand over Seif Al – Islam Gaddafi

LIBYA: Libya must hand over Seif al-Islam, the son of Moamer Kadhafi, to the International Criminal Court, an official said Saturday, while holding out the prospect of a trial in Tripoli.

An ICC spokesman said chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo would travel to Libya next week for talks with the new regime, as world leaders called on the authorities in Tripoli to ensure that justice was done.

Seif was arrested in the south of Libya, a senior National Transitional Council official said Saturday, almost a month to the day since the capture and gruesome killing of his father Moamer Kadhafi.

Russia’s special representative for Africa Mikhail Margelov articulated the concerns of the international community quite clearly.

“We are happy that this time the new authorities in Libya did not resort to summary justice for Seif al-Islam, the son of the ousted leader Kadhafi,” he said Saturday.

Seif, who was considered Kadhafi’s heir apparent, is wanted by the court for crimes against humanity, allegedly committed during the former regime’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in February.

He, his father, and Kadhafi’s security chief Adullah al-Senussi, were all accused of having orchestrated the deadly operations against the protesters to put down the revolt by “any means necessary”.

The security forces, acting on their orders, killed or wounded, hundreds of anti-regime demonstrators, arresting hundreds of others as they tried to quash the uprising, which began in mid-February.

“We are coordinating with the Libyan ministry of justice to ensure that any solution in regards to Seif al-Islam’s arrest is in accordance with the law,” Moreno-Ocampo’s spokeswoman Florence Olara told AFP.

ICC spokesman Fadi Al-Abdallah told AFP that the Libyan authorities were obliged to cooperate with the ICC and surrender him to the court as required by the UN resolution on Libya.

“If they want a trial in Libya, they must submit a request for dismissal and procedures in Libya must be conducted on the same charges as those contained in the warrant of the ICC,” Abdallah added.