UNITED NATIONS: The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court urged Libya and other nations Tuesday to help arrest six men allegedly linked to a brutal militia blamed for multiple killings and other crimes in a strategically important western town where mass graves were discovered in 2020.
Karim Khan told the UN Security Council that he is ready to work with the Libyan government and people as well as countries that are parties to the ICC and those that are not to assist in the arrests.
The ICC does not have a police force and relies on cooperation from its 124 member states to enforce arrest warrants.
The six men were either key members of or associated with the Al Kaniyat militia that controlled the town of Tarhuna from at least 2015 to June 2020, when government forces ousted them from the town. Tarhuna is located about 65 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of the capital, Tripoli.
Briefing the council by video from Libya, Khan said he met victims earlier Tuesday from Tarhuna who told him of their suffering. He said he walked “in the areas where their loved ones were tortured and killed.” One Libyan told him that “every household in Tarhuna has a victim,” he said.
“They have a steely determination. They have a clear conviction that justice and accountability and fair processes are essential for themselves, their families, their community, and for Libya at large,” Khan said.
The prosecutor said the victims’ determination “gives rise to renewed hope that things are moving in a direction away from talk to action, and the possibility of justice.”
The ICC unsealed arrest warrants in early October for six men: Abdelrahim Al-Kani, Makhlouf Douma, Nasser Al-Lahsa, Mohammed Salheen, Abdelbari Al-Shaqaqi and Fathi Al-Zinkal.
Khan said at that time that three of the men were leaders or senior members of Al Kaniyat. Three others were Libyan security officials associated with the militia at the time of the alleged crimes.
“We know where they are,” Khan said Tuesday.
The ICC prosecutor said the victims told him they are pleased with the warrants but “what they are demanding is your help to help with the arrests of those individuals and to ensure that there are trials — that they can be part of trials when they can give evidence.”
Libya plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. The country split, with rival administrations in the east and west backed by rogue militias and foreign governments.
The mass graves were found in Tarhuna after the militia’s withdrawal following the collapse of a 14-month campaign by military commander Khalifa Haftar, who is still a powerful force in the east, to wrest control of Tripoli from an array of militias allied with the former UN-recognized government.
ICC prosecutor urges nations to help arrest 6 Libyans allegedly linked to a brutal militia
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ICC prosecutor urges nations to help arrest 6 Libyans allegedly linked to a brutal militia
- The six men were either key members of or associated with the Al Kaniyat militia that controlled the town of Tarhuna from at least 2015 to June 2020
- “They have a clear conviction that justice and accountability and fair processes are essential for themselves, their families, their community, and for Libya at large,” Khan said
2 US service members and one American civilian killed in ambush in Syria, US Central Command says
- The attack is the first to inflict casualties since the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad a year ago
DAMASCUS, Syria: Two US service members and one American civilian have been killed and three other people wounded in an ambush on Saturday by the Daesh group in central Syria, the US Central Command said.
The attack is the first to inflict casualties since the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad a year ago.
Central Command said in a post on X that as a matter of respect for the families and in accordance with Department of War policy, the identities of the service members will be withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified.
Shots were fired at Syrian and US forces on Saturday during a visit by American troops to a historic central town, leaving several wounded, Syria’s state media and a war monitor said.
The shooting took place near Palmyra, according to the state-run SANA news agency, which said two members of Syria’s security force and several US service members were wounded. The injured were taken by helicopters to the Al-Tanf garrison near the border with Iraq and Jordan.
SANA said the attacker was killed, without providing further details.
A US defense official told The Associated Press that they are aware of the reports and did not have any information to provide immediately. The official spoke on condition of anonymity for not being authorized to speak to the media.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least three Syrian security members were wounded as well as several Americans. It added that the attacker was a member of the Syrian security force.
The US has hundreds of troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the Daesh group.
Last month, Syria joined the international coalition fighting against Daesh as Damascus improves its relations with Western countries following last year’s fall of President Bashar Assad when insurgents captured his seat of power in Damascus.
The US had no diplomatic relations with Syria under Assad, but ties have warmed since the fall of the five-decade Assad family rule. The interim president, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, made a historic visit to Washington last month where he held talks with President Donald Trump.
Daesh was defeated in Syria in 2019 but the group’s sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks in the country. The United Nations says the group still has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq.
US troops, which have maintained a presence in different parts of Syria — including Al-Tanf garrison in the central province of Homs — to train other forces as part of a broad campaign against Daesh, have been targeted in the past. One of the deadliest attacks occurred in 2019 in the northern town of Manbij when a blast killed two US service members and two American civilians as well as others from Syria while conducting a patrol.
