Defend the sovereignty of Libya!

Down with the imperialist aggression!

The inhuman and unjust imperialist aggression on Libya is continuing; new forms of economic and political pressures have been added to the destructive war power of the NATO powers.  The aim of this war is “regime change”, meaning destruction of Gaddafi politically and physically if possible, and installation of a puppet regi

Down with the imperialist aggression!

The inhuman and unjust imperialist aggression on Libya is continuing; new forms of economic and political pressures have been added to the destructive war power of the NATO powers.  The aim of this war is “regime change”, meaning destruction of Gaddafi politically and physically if possible, and installation of a puppet regime under the control of US, France and Britain.

Over 15,300 bombing missions (called sorties) have been carried out so far. NATO forces have used Libya to test their advanced weapons and planes.  Cynical discussion is going on in the media about whether the Eurofighter is more effective than the French Rafale jets, sponsored by the leading arms producers and merchants of the world.

NATO bombing has disconnected communications all cross Libya. Petrol is in short supply in this oil producing country. Roads have been destroyed. Schools and universities have been bombed. The airport has been destroyed. Attacks on civilian targets are illegal under international norms and standards. The Libyan government has armed over 2 million of the 3.5 million adult population of the country to take up the defence of their freedom and sovereignty.  In an opinion poll conducted in Western Libya, over 85 % of the population is reported to have supported their government and rejected "regime change".

Imperialist motives

The war against Libya has been orchestrated by the US, France, Britain and other imperialist forces. The so-called rebels were organized according to the plan of these big powers.

France organized the defection of a leading Libyan official, Nouri Mesmari, in October 2010. With his assistance, it masterminded the plan to organize rebel forces, defections, and the overthrow of the Libyan government. French imperialism is keen to re-establish its hold over Africa. France roped in Britain, which has similar aims.

The United States assumed leadership of the operation in the wake of the mass uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, with a view to divert the people’s movements and establish its own domination in the region. 

Manipulation of UN and violation of norms

The UN Security Council passed two Resolutions in early 2011, called SCR 1970 and SCR 1973.  The first was passed on 26th February authorizing sanctions against Libya, including a referral of Libyan officials to the International Criminal Court.  The second resolution was passed on 17th March, authorizing military action to impose a “no-fly zone” over Libya, meaning that foreign aircrafts are allowed to prevent Libyan aircrafts from flying over Libyan air space.  Unlawful violation of Libya’s sovereignty was presented as a “humanitarian action”.

SCR 1970 was placed on the agenda at the request of a former Libyan diplomat called Ibrahim Dabbashi, who announced his defection from the Government of Libya on 21st February.  He had no official position either with Libya or with the UN on February 26, 2011, yet the Security Council acted on his request, in violation of norms.

UN Security Council rules specifically allow the country being discussed to be present. However, no lawful representative of the Libyan government was allowed to be present at any of the meetings in which Libya was discussed.  The letters from the Libyan government refuting the allegations against it were not even presented for discussion.

US authorities denied visas to the official representatives of the Government of Libya, to prevent their participation in the Security Council meetings. Even after the Libyan government formally communicated that Dabbashi and others of its UN mission no longer represented the Government of Libya, the UN Secretary General issued special passes to these defectors.

The jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) does not apply to non-members; and Libya is not a member. Yet the Security Council resolved to initiate proceeding against Libyan leaders in the ICC, which is a clear violation of UN laws.

Russian media exposed that all satellite pictures of Libya disproved the theory that the Libyan airforce was being used against its own people.  This was not taken into account. On the other hand, unverified stories were spread in the Anglo-American media about bombings of civilians, of “genocide” by the Libyan government using African “mercenaries”.  Such stories have even been used in the UN Security Council to justify the military intervention; and they continue to be spread on a global scale.

Russia, China, India, Germany and Brazil voiced public opposition to the fact that civilian targets were being bombed in the name of “ensuring no fly zone”.  The African Union has opposed military intervention in Libya. No note has been taken of this by the UN Security Council in the months since the war began.

Recent Developments

Having failed to overthrow the Gaddafi regime, and facing immense opposition at home to this war, the Obama regime sent an emissary to Tunisia in mid July, to negotiate with the Libyan government an alternate plan for regime change. Under this plan, the US promised to protect Colonel Gaddafi from the ICC arrest warrant and issue his safe passage to any country.

It is reported that the Libyan government rejected this offer.  It asked instead for full dialogue without any preconditions, so as to end the war.

Diplomatic recognition of the so-called National Transition Council is part of the pressure being applied on Libya. US imperialism is acting to free up and make available to the so-called rebels some of the $30 billion of Libyan money it grabbed under the US-Libya Accord of 2003-04.

The Gaddafi government has apologized to its people for signing the US-Libya Accord of 2003-2004, saying it was a mistake.

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