JEDDAH: A Libyan human rights group has linked the Manchester Arena bomber to an extremist Libyan group, and has called for transferring the case to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation and to reveal “Qatar’s role as a financier of this group.”
British authorities earlier said that 22-year-old Salman Abedi, who was born in Britain, had executed the bombing on May 22, resulting in the deaths of 22 concert-goers and 119 injuries.
The Libyan National Committee for Human Rights demanded from the office of the prosecutor of the ICC and the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) “to urgently open a comprehensive international investigation in the political intervention in the internal affairs of Libya and the financial and military support from Qatar to Islamist and extremist organizations in Libya,” namely support to groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Ansar Al-Sharia terrorist organization.
Libyan lawyer and politician Abdulhafith Ghouta said Friday in a telephone interview with Arab News from Cairo, where he resides, that Abedi “belongs to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (Al-Jama’a Al-Islamiyyah Al-Muqatilah bi-Libya), which is known for its ties to Qatar,” and that the extent of Qatari support to the organization is no secret.
Ghouta said recent confrontations in Tripoli led to the exit of the group’s base from the city, led by Khalid Al-Sharif, one of the leaders of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.
In a statement, the human rights committee said Qatar is at the forefront of countries meddling in Libyan affairs and exacerbating the armed conflict by supporting armed militant groups and political extremists.
Such intervention hindered the democratic process during the transition stage, said the human rights committee, as well as dragging Libya into a new civil war due to violence erupting at the end of 2014 between armed groups loyal to Al-Karama operation and the House of Representatives, and other extremist and Islamist groups named Fajr Libya.
The military, financial, and political support for such groups by Qatar also led to significant deaths and injuries of civilians and military personnel due to suicide terror operations and assassinations in Benghazi, Darna and Barak, the human rights committee said.
The committee went on to state that Qatari meddling and intervention since 2011 further propagates violence and humanitarian crises, a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions banning arms in Libya.
Libyan group seeks transfer of Manchester bomber case to ICC
Libyan group seeks transfer of Manchester bomber case to ICC
Lebanese government imposes immediate ban on Hezbollah’s military activities
BERUIT: Lebanon's government said Hezbollah’s overnight attack against Israel were “illegal” and imposed an immediate ban on the group’s military activities, while also demanding its hand over its weapons.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said only the state could decide whether to go to war and called on the Lebanese military to prevent the firing of projectiles and detain anyone involved.
The move comes after Iran-backed Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel, provoking retaliatory Israeli strikes. The government convened for five hours and 15 minutes in an early morning meeting on Monday before reaching its decision.
The Lebanese cabinet meeting, chaired by President Joseph Aoun, started at 8am with ministers discussing the repercussions Hezbollah's launching of missiles from southern Lebanon into Israel and the Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
Sources initially told Arab News that ministers were “pushing for a decisive response to Hezbollah’s recklessness, regardless of the consequences.”
Lebanese MP Melhem Khalaf said the priority was to “shelter people that are evacuating their homes in relatively safe places. What happened at dawn on Monday has taken us from one stage to another, and we don't know where they've taken us.”
As US-Israeli attacks on Iran continued, Hezbollah said it fired missiles from Lebanon into Israel early Monday in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and “repeated Israeli aggressions.”
There were no reports of injuries or damage, and Israel said it had intercepted one projectile, while several fell in open areas.
Israel retaliated with strikes on Lebanon, killing at least 31 people and wounding 149 others, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Around two thirds of the dead were in the south of the country.
Lebanon’s government said it was holding an emergency meeting after Hezbollah’s attack triggered the Israeli airstrikes.
Iran has been firing missiles at Israel and Arab states in a counter-offensive since the joint America-Israeli attack Saturday that killed Khamenei and other top Iranian officials. The war has quickly expanded to proxy forces, including Hezbollah firing out of Lebanon.
MP Bilal Abdullah told Arab News: “All the appeals issued by officials in Lebanon not to embroil us in this destructive war seem to have been in vain. We were supposed to protect Lebanon.
“Whoever launched the missiles and drones from Lebanon has slaughtered Lebanon. Displacing people is a major tragedy. We are in the winter season, and the cold is severe.”
