Battle continues over strategic Libyan town
CBC News
Posted: Mar 3, 2011 5:31 AM ET
Last Updated: Mar 3, 2011 7:53 AM ET
The International Criminal Court in The Hague opened its investigation Thursday into alleged crimes against humanity involving Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, some of his sons and his inner circle as new airstrikes were launched in the oil town of Brega.
"There will be no impunity in Libya," chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told reporters.
Moreno-Ocampo said alleged incidents at various locations throughout the country starting on Feb. 15 will be investigated.
"No one has authority to attack and massacre civilians," Moreno-Ocampo said, warning he will also investigate opposition groups if necessary.
Moreno-Ocampo said the court will investigate those most responsible for the most serious incidents, including people who lead military or security groups.
"If forces under their command and control commit crimes, they could be criminally responsible," he said.
New airstrikes launched on rebel-held town
In Libya, meanwhile, anti-government forces poured into Brega as warplanes launched new airstrikes in the area.
Witnesses could not identify the target of the airstrikes, but it was likely an airstrip that belongs to the huge oil complex in the area.
"There are soldiers here, rebel soldiers, who are very much prepared to launch a counter-attack to those reported airstrikes we are hearing about," CBC's Carolyn Dunn said from a checkpoint roughly 75 kilometres outside Brega.
Dunn said many of the rebel soldiers said they were prepared to die for their cause.
Gadhafi supporters tried to retake control of a major oil installation in Brega on Wednesday, but were repelled after hours of fighting with anti-government forces.
A rebel soldier gestures atop a car as he heads to Brega, Libya, on Wednesday. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
Brega is about 740 kilometres east of Gadhafi's stronghold in the capital Tripoli.
In the nearby town of Ajdabiya, rebel forces armed with rocket launchers and tanks were shoring up defences to guard against new attacks by Gadhafi loyalists, Reuters reported.
There were also reports of attempted airstrikes in the Ajdabiya area, Dunn said Thursday.
Anti-government forces took to the streets more than two weeks ago to demand Gadhafi's ouster.
The longtime leader has resisted calls to step aside and has repeatedly blamed al-Qaeda for the unrest in the north African nation.
The United Nations estimates at least 1,000 people have been killed since the unrest began, but other organizations say the death toll could be closer to 2,000.
The UN, EU, Britain and Canada have hit Libya and its leadership with a series of economic, travel and arms sanctions.
Moreno-Ocampo will work with the United Nations, African Union and Arab League and request information from Interpol and other sources, the office in The Hague said Wednesday. Moreno-Ocampo will deliver a report to the UN Security Council within two months.
Meanwhile, UN aid agencies are gearing up to provide assistance to more than 150,000 people who have fled to Tunisia and Egypt in an effort to escape the growing unrest in Libya, officials said.