Judges at the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for war crimes and crimes against humanity yesterday, the 100th day of a Nato bombing campaign.
Britain, which has led the UN-mandated international effort to protect civilians from Colonel Gaddafi’s forces, hailed the court’s decision and said members of the Libyan regime should now abandon him.
Italy said the decision of the three-judge court, set up in 2002 to try war crimes, confirmed that Col Gaddafi had lost all “moral legitimacy” and could have “no role in the future of his country.”
And French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said the warrant “confirms that the question is not whether Col Gaddafi should leave power, but when he will leave power.”
ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had sought the warrants for Col Gaddafi, 69, his son Seif al-Islam, 39, and the head of Libyan intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi, 62, for murder and persecution since mid-February, when the bloody uprising started.
All three are charged over their roles in suppressing the revolt, in which civilians were murdered and persecuted by Libyan forces, particularly in Tripoli, Benghazi and Misurata, the prosecutor said.
Thousands have so far died in the fighting, while around 650,000 others fled the country. Another 243,000 Libyans have been displaced internally, according to UN figures.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo said on Sunday that the war crimes in Libya will not stop until Col Gaddafi is arrested.
“Crimes continue today in Libya. To stop the crimes and protect civilians in Libya, Gaddafi must be arrested.”
The prosecutor will give his response to the decision today.
The only other warrant issued by the ICC for a sitting head of state, for Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir in March 2009, has yet to be served. Mr Bashir is expected to begin a state visit to China.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “These individuals are accused of crimes against humanity and should be held to account before judges in a criminal court,” he said, calling on the Libyan government to cooperate with the investigation.
“Individuals throughout the regime should abandon Gaddafi.”
And Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the arrest warrant shows that time is running out for the increasingly isolated Libyan leader.
“This decision once again highlights the increasing isolation of the Gaddafi regime,” he said in a statement.