Libya.

[alfaman]

RichyBoy said:

Was all this true for libya or was it just propaganda:

16. Gaddafi carried out the world’s largest irrigation
project, known as the Great
Man-Made River project, to make water readily
available throughout the desert
country.

That bit is definitely correct - [ I project managed a chunk of the project [Ajdabiya reservoir ]]

It was the world's largest Civ Eng project at the time - cost about $20bn IIRC , about 20 years ago.

Libyans are [or were] reasonably well educated , but definitely not well paid ... IIRC when Gaddafi took over he completed banned ALL private enterprise, even down to the local grocery shops and stalls ..this really pissed off just about anyone who was educated as they had their livelihoods forcibly sequestered by the great "socialist" Jamahiriya.

..No wonder he eventually got his come-uppance have impoverished everyone else and spent $ billions on himself

[Mermaid]

nutty slack said:

MX7 said:

It's a nice sentiment, but in reality, how realistic is it to prosecute those guilty of war crimes?

Someone on this thread posted some quite gruesome videos a few days ago. It seems like the whole war revolved around intimidation, torture, attacks that lacked precision, un-uniformed combatants, in fact it was a text book conflict for ignoring the rules. Are they really going to start a witch hunt for one guy while ignoring all the other war criminals just to gain some sort of global credibility?

I think it's quite petty if that's the case, and while I think it's unfortunate that Gaddafi didn't face the court, I also think that this is a good opportunity to move on. If we have years of hunting down certain individuals all that will happen is that it'll prolong and exacerbate the divisions between different factions at a time when a sense of unity is paramount. If there are real instigators of war crimes, on the scale of people like Milosevic and Karadzic, let the ICC deal with them.

Good post, sums it up nicely.

+ 1 Also the fact that the international community is looking at these kind of issues hopefully will prevent civil strife and abuse of the Gaddafi loyalists.

[odyssey2200]

All gone quiet.

Anyone know what's happening over there?

[Mermaid]

I suppose cheaper oil is flowing

[andy_s]

Escaping convoys still getting whacked in Niger on their way home, weapons stocks are being flogged to AQIM but apart from that all quiet.

[Balmoral Green]

There was an article on R4 today about developing their tourist industry.

Leptis Magna anyone?

[Trommel]

Balmoral Green said:

Leptis Magna anyone?

An old colleague went (he had a habit of taking holidays to odd places) - it's apparently very impressive.

[MX7]

Balmoral Green said:

There was an article on R4 today about developing their tourist industry.

It makes sense really. Tunisia on one side and Egypt on the other. I can see Easy Cruise doing a south Med trip in a few years.

[andy_s]

The Roman sites in Algeria (similarly tourist-free...) are mad - the just put a fence up around the whole area, weed occasionally and that's it, you're free to wander where you like and in a certain way it looks like you've just come across it and discovered it for yourself rather than having it all roped off and naked. Quite cool.

[Mermaid]

Saif -al- Islam Gaddafi arrested. Will he make it to court?

http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/6041ZA/40D2...

[0a]

Mermaid said:

Saif -al- Islam Gaddafi arrested. Will he make it to court?

http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/6041ZA/40D2...

Those hand injuries could be fatal...

[HD Adam]

Mermaid said:

Saif -al- Islam Gaddafi arrested. Will he make it to court?

http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/6041ZA/40D2...

Absolutely.

I expect to see him in the dock at The Hague telling us all about his friends.

Zero chance of him being killed in custody by an irate guard.

No, wait.........

[Tunku]

0a said:

Mermaid said:

Saif -al- Islam Gaddafi arrested. Will he make it to court?

http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/6041ZA/40D2...

Those hand injuries could be fatal...

Looks like he was testing a fan belt...

[Puggit]

Another one captured - this time 'the Executioner' Abdullah al-Senussi captured.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaan...

[Mermaid]

Iran may have sent Libya shells for chemical weapons, U.S. officials say


The Obama administration is investigating whether Iran supplied the Libyan government of Moammar Gaddafi with hundreds of special artillery shells for chemical weapons, U.S. officials said. The highly toxic arsenal, which Libya kept secret for decades, was uncovered in recent weeks by rebel fighters at two sites in central Libya and has prompted a U.S. intelligence-led probe into how the Libyans obtained them.

"We are pretty sure we know" the shells were custom-designed and produced in Iran for Libya, said a senior U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the accusation, which an Iranian spokesman rejected. Confirmed evidence of Iran's provision of the specialized shells would likely exacerbate international tensions over the country's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.

Excuse enough?

[nutty slack]

Saif Al Islam knows too much. Don't forget he's not just some desert raghead, he was educated in the UK and always had some VERY powerful connections amongst the ruling elite, especially the previous labour administration, amongst others.

Expect the news very soon that he died in:
A car crash on his way to a secure jail
A helicopter/plane crash
A sudden illness
blah blah blah...

This guy knows too much for him to attend an international trial or a trial in Libya where the TRUTH may come out, he's a marked man.

Blair et al can't afford for this man to speak out in public.

Watch this space...

[Victor McDade]

How dare Iran try and encourage the use of chemical weopons in the middle east. You'd never catch us doing the same.

[Bill]

Mermaid said:

Excuse enough?

For what?

It's another stick to beat the Iranian regime with, but shell cases aren't typical terrorist weapons. Tbh I'm surprised the Iranians bothered selling them, I wouldn't have thought they need the money and Ghadaffi isn't really their kind of loony.

[Mermaid]

Bill said:

Mermaid said:

Excuse enough?

For what?

It's another stick to beat the Iranian regime with, but shell cases aren't typical terrorist weapons. Tbh I'm surprised the Iranians bothered selling them, I wouldn't have thought they need the money and Ghadaffi isn't really their kind of loony.

If the Iranians were late on their library book, there would be share rattling. 45 minute reasons, WMD explanations, and some excuses too to topple all the nasties.

[Bill]

Mermaid said:

If the Iranians were late on their library book, there would be share rattling. 45 minute reasons, WMD explanations, and some excuses too to topple all the nasties.

I don't think our politicians want to open that can of worms, even if the allegations are true.