“Regime going mad”
by Francesca Vell
April 8, 2011
A former Libyan minister who fled to Malta together with his family last week said he feels the Gaddafi regime is just going mad. Meanwhile, Turkey’s prime minister proposed a roadmap for peace in Libya yesterday, urging forces aligned with Muammar Gaddafi to withdraw from besieged cities, the establishment of humanitarian aid corridors and comprehensive democratic change. Former Libyan minister Omar Fathi bin Shatwan arrived in Malta with his wife and his three children last Friday. Aside from one of his children who has a British passport, the other family members were granted a visa on humanitarian grounds.
April 8, 2011
A former Libyan minister who fled to Malta together with his family last week said he feels the Gaddafi regime is just going mad. Meanwhile, Turkey’s prime minister proposed a roadmap for peace in Libya yesterday, urging forces aligned with Muammar Gaddafi to withdraw from besieged cities, the establishment of humanitarian aid corridors and comprehensive democratic change. Former Libyan minister Omar Fathi bin Shatwan arrived in Malta with his wife and his three children last Friday. Aside from one of his children who has a British passport, the other family members were granted a visa on humanitarian grounds.
Shatwan: Gaddafi has changed. No one would kill people in the streets in this way
Mr Shatwan left the government in 2007 and served as energy minister and industry minister in the past. He fled the western Libyan city of Misurata last week when the situation there spiralled out of control.
He said yesterday that he felt that now that he had managed to escape, he was in a better position to get aid to Misurata.
He thanked Malta for allowing him and his family to land here, saying he had worked with a number of Maltese Presidents and politicians in the past. There was a time when he chaired the Malta-Libya mixed commission.
Saying that what is happening in Libya is not a civil war, Mr Shatwan said the conflict would only end when Gaddafi left the country. There was no future for the Gaddafi family in the north African country, he said.
Mr Shatwan still had contact with some government figures and explained that many feared for their safety. In some cases, their families are under siege, he said.
“Those whose families are outside Libya will flee if they get a chance,” said Mr Shatwan. “But many can’t leave, and all the families of ministers are under siege.”
The 59-year-old said he had spent 40 days at his home in Misurata before escaping from Libya, and witnessed Gaddafi’s forces pounding the city with heavy artillery and relentlessly shooting civilians.
He said Gaddafi’s forces – which he said were mainly foreign mercenaries led by a small number of Libyans – had fired on civilians indiscriminately inside Misurata.
“I think the regime is just going mad,” said Mr Shatwan. “Col Gaddafi has changed. No one would kill people in the streets in this way.”
He said his own home was struck four times during shelling by Gaddafi’s forces. He said he believed at least one attack had involved cluster munitions.
He said his own home was struck four times during shelling by Gaddafi’s forces. He said he believed at least one attack had involved cluster munitions.
Mr Shatwan was first appointed to Gaddafi’s government in 1987 as industry minister, and held several portfolios until he left the regime in 2007, including a spell as energy minister between 2004 and 2006.
He said he has since worked as an academic in Tripoli, and retained some links to Libya’s ruling elite.
“At the beginning, Gaddafi’s regime was good – the first 10 years saw vast improvements, the middle 20 years less so, and the last 10 years have seen terrible decline,” said Mr Shatwan.
Expelled on the grounds that their visas had expired
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has condemned the Libyan government’s expulsion of 26 foreign journalists.
The Paris-based group says the journalists were invited to the Libyan capital by embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi but were thrown out yesterday “on the grounds that their visas had expired”.
In a statement, Reporters Without Borders also expressed concern over four missing journalists – including two Americans – who reportedly have not been seen since Monday.
Yesterday’s statement said three journalists for the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera who were detained in early March also remain in the custody of pro-Gaddafi forces.
It said about 100 foreign reporters are in Libya to cover the conflict between Gaddafi and rebel forces.
Gaddafi regime’s April victims
Youssef Lumlum, a Libyan man who has been living in Malta for a number of years, yesterday recounted his experience of what are known as ‘April victims of Gaddafi madness’.
Since 7 April 1976, Gaddafi’s revolutionary committees have persecuted any university students suspected to be opposing the regime.
7 April was commemorated annually with several students being arrested and even executed in public. Other Gaddafi dissidents living abroad were also killed in Europe and in the Middle East.
A picture made by Tripolinero to remind all about April 7th
For people like Mr Lumlum, the memory is a terribly painful one. Contacted yesterday, he fought back tears, recalling the execution of four innocent students in front of the College of Engineering in Tripoli.
“If you happened to be discussing an issue with a group of people and, without wanting to, said something against Gaddafi’s policies, you ran the risk of being persecuted.
“It was horrible. Gaddafi’s people would express their loyalty to the regime by hanging onto the bodies of those who would have just been executed.”
Turkey proposes roadmap for peace in Libya
Turkey’s prime minister proposed a roadmap for peace in Libya yesterday, urging forces aligned with Muammar Gaddafi to withdraw from besieged cities, the establishment of humanitarian aid corridors and comprehensive democratic change.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the measures would be discussed at a meeting by a group set up to guide the international intervention in Libya in Qatar next week.
“Firstly, a real ceasefire must immediately be declared and Gaddafi’s forces must lift the siege of some cities and withdraw,” Erdogan told a televised news conference. “Secondly, humanitarian aid corridors must be set up to provide aid to all Libyans and thirdly, a comprehensive democratic change process should be started.”
Erdogan said “solid steps must immediately be taken toward a constitutional political change process,” following a real ceasefire.
The Turkish prime minister, meanwhile, assured the Libyan opposition that Turkey supports their demands, following recent protests in Libya against Turkey by some opposition members.
Special thanks to Tripolinero for the “April 7” picture!
Source: The Malta Independent
