Kadhafi seeks UN, AU probe into Libyan unrest
PARIS: Moamer Kadhafi said he wanted the United Nations or the African Union to probe the unrest rocking Libya and promised investigators free access, in an interview published Sunday. The strongman, making his first such demand since the outbreak of violent protests against his rule and the ensuing bloody riposte, also warned that the unrest would spell disaster for Europe. “First of all I would like that an investigatory commission of the United Nations or the African Union comes here to Libya,” he told the French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche. “We will let this panel work unhampered,” he said, adding that he would be in favour of France “coordinating and leading” the probe body. Shortly after the unrest broke out, Kadhafi’’s son Saif al-Islam, long seen as a possible successor, said he wanted an independent domestic probe into the unrest. On February 22, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Navi Pillay also called for an independent international investigation and an immediate halt to serious abuses committed by Libyan authorities. Kadhafi underscored that the violence posing the greatest challenge to his more than four decade rule would have serious repercussions for Europe, which has been facing an uphill battle to stem clandestine immigration, especially from North Africa and Asia. “Thousands of people from Libya will invade Europe,” he said, “and there will be no-one to stop them.” Kadhafi repeated an oft-repeated charge that the revolt against his regime was being spearheaded by Al-Qaeda. (AFP)
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