The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor yesterday urged Muammar Gaddafi’s aides to help arrest him, as the Libyan leader lashed out at an ICC warrant against him for crimes against humanity.
On the ground, rebel fighters captured an arms depot from Gaddafi forces in the desert near their mountain enclave southwest of Tripoli in a boost for their resupply, an AFP correspondent at the scene said.
Human rights bodies and the west, meanwhile, hailed the ICC’s move against Colonel Gaddafi on Monday.
However, Libya rejected the warrants issued for Col Gaddafi, his son Seif al-Islam, and the head of Libyan intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi, for atrocities committed in a bloody uprising that began mid-February.
ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Libya’s regime could “be part of the solution” by implementing the arrest warrant.
“Gaddafi’s inner circle is the first option. They can complement the arrest warrants,” he said at a press conference in The Hague.
“They can be part of the problem and be prosecuted, or they can be part of the solution, working together with the other Libyans to stop the crimes,” Mr Moreno-Ocampo said.
In the latest fighting around the southwestern mountains, the rebels yesterday captured a network of bunkers in the desert about 25 kilometres from Zintan. The capture of rockets, machine guns and other munitions was a major boost for rebel hopes of driving on to Tripoli from the front line on the other side of the Nafusa mountains, now just 50 kilometres from the capital.
Hundreds of rebel fighters, accompanied by local civilians, combed through the warren of caches, some of which had been blown up in air strikes but with others remaining intact. The rebel fighters overcame heavy multiple rocket fire from loyalist troops to seize their booty. Rebel commanders said they also ambushed a government convoy, destroying three vehicles.
Germany, meanwhile, said it has offered to supply Nato with bomb components for use in the stretched military alliance’s operation.
Bulgaria and Croatia yesterday joined a list of countries which have recognised the NTC as the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people, their foreign ministries said.