By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, September 23 -- When Mahmoud Jibril appeared for a UN press conference on Friday, it was the first since the Transitional National Council he heads was given Libya's seat at the UN. Inner City Press asked Jibril two questions, about NATO and the International Criminal Court.
Jibril had said that the south is liberated, Sirte will be in 48 hours and Bani Walid is under seige, "we are squeezing it." Inner City Press asked if that is true, when will NATO's protection of civilians mandate end?
"When the need [to protect civilians] is not there," Jibril answered, "I don't think there is a need for NATO... Once the whole Libyan territory is liberated." According to him, if Bani Walid falls after Sirte, that's it for NATO.
Inner City Press asked for Jibril's and the TNC's view on whether Gaddafi and the other ICC indictees should be sent to the Hague, if and when captured, or be tried in Libya. Jibril said, "the most important question is how to catch Gaddafi." After that, he said, it's up to "legal consultants" to consider "the supremacy of Libyan or international law" and "the national interest of the Libyan people." Video here, from Minute 18:04.
This deference to consultants differed from Jibril's answers to other questions, on which he said it will not be up to the TNC, but to "the Libyan people" -- which was also Ian Martin's response to Inner City Press about the ICC - click here and watch this site.
