29 June,2011 07:31 AM IST | | Agencies
The International Criminal Court is still trying to link Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, his son and his brother-in-law to rapes, but it does not yet have enough evidence to do so, prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said yesterday.
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It has evidence that rapes have taken place in Libya's civil war, he said, but he cannot prove Gaddafi ordered them.
The court issued arrest warrants on Monday for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, and his brother-in-law Abdullah al-Sanussi on other charges.
Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi is a close adviser to his father. His arrest warrant came two days after his 39th birthday. Al-Sanussi serves as Gaddafi's head of intelligence.
The warrants are "for crimes against humanity," including murder and persecution, "allegedly committed across Libya" from February 15 through "at least" February 28, "through the state apparatus and security forces," the court said in a news release.
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The court could file charges against "one or two other names, but in principle the first investigation focuses on these individuals," Moreno-Ocampo said.
The court is not asking international forces operating in Libya to arrest the suspects, Moreno-Ocampo said, explaining that Libya has the primary responsibility to do so as a United Nations member.
NATO confirmed in a news conference that it was not seeking to arrest anyone, as that was not part of its mission.
Lt Gen Charles Bouchard of NATO gave a mixed assessment of the mission to protect civilians, saying Libyans were writing 'Thank you, NATO' on their roofs.
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But, he said, Gaddafi's forces were using civilians as human shields, making NATO operations "more difficult, but not impossible."
