http://www.libyaherald.com/?p=12968
Exclusive – Interior Ministry communications system hacked as Qaddafi loyalists overheard discussing Tripoli blasts
By George Grant.
Interior Ministry communications coordinating the response to the blasts were broadcast live in a public chat-room by self-declared Qaddafi loyalists.
London, 19 August:
Qaddafi loyalists have been recorded discussing this morning’s car bomb attacks in Tripoli both before and after the explosions took place, suggesting prior knowledge of the events.
The men, who remained anonymous, were using the public chat-room service Paltalk, a site previously popular with opponents of the Qaddafi regime during last year’s revolution.
The conversation was overheard by a Libyan living in London who frequently joins the chat-room to hear what Qaddafi loyalists are saying on various issues.
Of significant concern to the authorities will be the revelation that the loyalists’ confirmation of the blasts was received directly through the Interior Ministry’s communications system, which appeared to have been hacked by one of the men last night.
“It was extremely disturbing”, Mohammed Eljarh told the Libya Herald. “I was listening to them talking about the attacks before they actually happened.
“One of them was saying, ‘Allah is the greatest; now we are going to target Tripoli’.
It is not known whether the men involved were communicating from inside or outside of Libya at the time of the blasts.
“Initially I thought it was just their usual waffle, as they frequently like to talk about how they’re going to do this or that, but when I heard reports that the attacks had actually happened, I thought my goodness, this is for real”.
Eljarh says that it was at this point that he first suspected the men were listening in to the Interior Ministry’s communications network.
“There was a live podcast of events on the ground, and you could hear radio communications from what appeared to be security officials reporting the blasts and then ordering their personnel to go to various locations”.
Listening devices can be purchased in Libya without much difficulty, and many Libyans are familiar with how to use them, making it possible to overhear phone calls and other wireless communications. It would be assumed, however, that official communications would be more securely protected.
After the attacks took place, the men in the Paltalk room are overheard celebrating the blasts.
“We have done it, we have done it”, one person is heard reporting back to the room.
Shortly afterwards, an administrator is heard to say “all explosions are remotely controlled and executed. They can’t arrest us; these rats can’t arrest us.”
In reference to the targeting of civilians, another is heard to say “to hell”.
One individual who did identify himself in the room was Hamza Altohami, a prominent pro-Qaddafi journalist under the former regime.
“He was celebrating the explosions with the others, but it did not sound like he was involved in planning the attacks”, Eljarh said.
After the blast outside the Interior Ministry and the two on Omar Mukhtar street, another man is heard discussing a possible fourth explosion, although the place and timing are never confirmed.
It is understood that police did subsequently intercept a fourth bomb on Al-Sreem street, near to the Immigration Ministry.
“From what I could hear, I do not think they were targeting the ministries”, Eljarh added. “Their targets seemed just to be streets, including civilians”.
This morning, Interior Ministry Under-Secretary Omar Al-Kadrawi offered his condolences to the victims of the attacks and pointed the finger of blame squarely at Qaddafi loyalists.
“This is the first Eid without Qaddafi and his regime, and Qaddafi’s diehards are responsible for these attacks to disrupt the celebrations of Libyans during the festival and these holy days”, the under-secretary said.
“Qaddafi’s loyalists are resorting to hit-and-run tactics; these are the cowardly acts we are facing now. However, I guarantee that this is all they can achieve and execute. We will not allow this to happen again”.
Reports are now emerging that one of the perpetrators has been captured and taken to hospital in Abu Salim, although this has not been confirmed.
The Interior Ministry has said that units have been deployed across Tripoli in an effort to prevent any further attacks.
This morning, checkpoints had also been erected around key locations such as the Prime Minister’s office, and cars were being stopped and searched on a frequent basis.
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http://www.libyaherald.com/?p=12952
Deputy Prime Minister Abushagur denies reports of imminent Saif trial
By George Grant.
Britain’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper has claimed that Saif Qaddafi will be tried in Libya next month, free from any ICC involvement.
London, 19 August:
First Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur has denied reports that Saif Qaddafi is to be put on trial next month in Zintan without involvement from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In an article published yesterday evening, Britain’s Sunday Telegraphquoted an official in the prosecutor-general’s office as saying that the decision over where, when and how to try the son of the late dictator had now been made.
“Libya’s newly-elected government intends to put Saif al-Islam Gaddafi on trial next month in the mountain town of Zintan”, the report claimed, adding that “Libya’s prosecutor has made clear that the ICC will play no role in the trial.”
Overlooking the fact that Libya, or more precisely the National Congress, has not yet elected a new government, the current deputy prime minister expressed his surprise upon being informed of his government’s apparent decision.
“Discussions are ongoing, but no decision has been made”, Abushagur told the Libya Herald this morning, Sunday.
“There has been no agreement to hold the trial in Zintan, and there has been no agreement to hold the trial next month”.
The deputy prime minister also rebutted the suggestion that the Libyan government planned to hold the trial independent of any involvement from the ICC.
“We would like the ICC to be involved”, he said. “We want this trial to be as fair as possible”.
Abushagur said he had not been able to contact Abdelaziz Al-Hassadi, the prosecutor-general, to discuss the claims as yet, but he insisted that a decision of this magnitude would not be made without the involvement of the government.
“Perhaps there has been some misunderstanding”, he suggested.
Although exceedingly unlikely in this instance, it is not wholly inconceivable that the prosecutor-general has made a decision without first consulting the government, as it is technically within his powers to do so.
For one hand of power to act without the other hand knowing about it is not uncommon in Libya. Famously, Prime Minister Abdurrahim Al-Kib announced in May that British police could fly to Tripoli to re-open the case of WPC Yvonne Fletcher without telling anybody at the Interior Ministry beforehand.
Nevertheless, it was not just the Libyan government who was in the dark about the situation this morning; the ICC also appeared not to have been informed.
“I am not aware of these claims”, said ICC Spokesman Fadi El-Abdallah.
“The position of the court is very clear. We have an arrest warrant outstanding for Saif Qaddafi, and this has been suspended pending the outcome of the challenge to the admissibility of the case started by the Libyan authorities”.
The challenge to which El-Abdallah refers concerns the question of whether Saif would receive a free and fair trial if his case were to be heard inside Libya by a Libyan court.
Only if the ICC concludes that a fair trial could be held under these conditions will it agree to drop the case, and it is currently considering precisely this question.
Even if the case is held inside Libya, however, there has been a current of opinion prevalent for some time inside Tripoli’s corridors of power that some form of ICC involvement would be advantageous, not least for the purposes of countering negative international perceptions regarding Libya’s competence to afford Saif a proper hearing.
It has also been agreed, moreover, that the trial must take place in Tripoli and not Zintan if it is to be viewed as acceptable both at home and abroad.
With a new and democratically legitimised government set to be appointed in the next couple of weeks, it is hoped that renewed pressure can be brought to bear on the Zintanis to hand Saif over to the capital, where his fate can finally be determined.
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