Somali militants al-Shabab threaten Kenya retaliation

Somali militant group Al-Shabab has warned Kenya to withdraw its troops from Somalia, or face bloody battles.Al-Shabab spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage told the BBC Somali service that his fighters would attack Nairobi.
Kenya launched an air and ground assault on the weekend, in response to several recent cross-border abductions it blames on al-Shabab.
The hard-line group, which controls much of southern Somalia, denies carrying out the kidnappings.
Mr Rage said: "We will defend ourselves. Kenya doesn't know war. We know war. The tall buildings in Nairobi will be destroyed.
"We have fought against governments older and stronger than Kenya and we have defeated them."

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Government forces take over Gadhafi stronghold

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- More symbols of Moammar Gadhafi's rule over Libya began to crumble Monday as forces of the country's new government took over one of the last cities loyal to him while others bulldozed the walls of his Libya compound.
Forces took over the city of Bani Walid on Monday, National Transitional Council military spokesman Abdelrahman Busin said.
Meanwhile, in Tripoli, fighters began bulldozing the outer walls of Gadhafi's Bab al Aziziya compound. Seizure of the compound by then-rebel forces in August marked the end of the regime.
Fighters participating in the effort said they may begin as soon as Tuesday to bulldoze a structure in the compound that Gadhafi called the House of Resistance, his former residence bombed by the United States in 1986 and frequently used as a site for speeches.
The fall of Bani Walid leaves Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte as the focus of military action by Libya's new government.
National Transitional Council forces will bolster their number in Bani Walid as soon as the battle for Sirte is over, Busin said.
As the battle for control of the last Gadhafi outposts continues, the U.N. human rights office expressed concern about the number of prisoners in Libya and their treatment.
"It could be up to 7,000," said Mona Rishmawi, a senior official with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland. "At this stage, there is no police infrastructure, there is no prison authorities. ... Right now, the Justice Ministry is not fully functional."
"There is allegations and evidence of torture" in the prisons, she said, citing lawyers, clients and human rights groups.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also expressed concern Monday for treatment of prisoners who are "being detained apparently on their skin color and an assumption that they have supported Gadhafi."
"We urge the (National Transitional Council) to honor its stated commitment to the rule of law and respect for the universal human rights of all people in Libya," Nuland said. more.

If he was captured alive, how did Gadhafi end up dead?

The death of longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi helped solidify the National Transitional Council's power in Libya, but there is still a large amount of uncertainty about the circumstances surrounding how he was killed, what happened during the last battle in Sirte and what it all means for the future of Libya.

When Gadhafi's death was first reported, it came with a large amount of uncertainty.

Multiple scenarios emerged as to how the last minutes of his life played out, thanks to cell phone pictures and videos, many later uploaded to YouTube. Then, there were statements from officials from NATO, from within Libya and from the National Transitional Council about what happened.

And as the country prepares to move on, the international community searches for answers as to exactly what happened in the minutes after Gadhafi was captured.

What exactly do we know about how Gadhafi was captured?

We know that the events leading to Gadhafi's death began about 8:30 a.m. Thursday in Libya, according to a NATO official, when a convoy of loyalists made a break from a part of Sirte and headed west, trying to get out of the city.

Gadhafi had long been suspected of being holed up in his hometown, which was one of the only remaining regime strongholds.

U.S. drones and French fighter jets struck the convoy, splitting it up and forcing the loyalists to scurry away on foot. A NATO official said Gadhafi was in that convoy, though he was not hit.

Gadhafi fled with a handful of his men. The revolutionaries found him hiding in a drainage pipe.

Mahmoud Jibril, Executive Chairman of Libya's National Transitional Council, said that after Gadhafi was found, a gunbattle erupted between transitional council fighters and Gadhafi's supporters. His captors attempted to load him into a vehicle, leaving Gadhafi with a wound to his right arm.

Video out of Sirte showed what appeared to be a heavily wounded and bloodied Gadhafi being held up by NTC fighters as they took him toward a vehicle.

What happened after that is more murky.

What do we know about how Gadhafi died?

When Gadhafi was captured, he was, by all accounts, alive.

Several videos from the scene showed Gadhafi looking wounded and confused but alive and even walking as he was pulled toward a vehicle.

Jibril said Gadhafi was shot in the arm as he was dragged into a vehicle headed to Misrata, a two-and-a-half-hour trip.

But the autopsy report from the chief pathologist said Gadhafi died of a gunshot wound to the head.

So how did Gadhafi go from being captured to being shot in the head?

It depends on whom you ask, and there are many details that simply are not confirmed.

Leaders of Libya's interim government have said Gadhafi was killed in that crossfire after fighters captured him in Sirte.

But videos and pictures coming out of Libya lead to more questions about what shot may have killed the leader.

Some members of the international community had hoped there would be some more clarity from the autopsy report. But the doctor who conducted the examination would not disclose whether findings revealed that he suffered the wound in crossfire or at close range, a key question that has prompted the United Nations and international human rights groups to call for an investigation into the final moments of Gadhafi's life.

Jibril, the transitional prime minister, said that as the vehicle carrying the wounded Gadhafi drove away, more shooting erupted, and that was when Gadhafi was shot in the head.

Mohammed Sayeh, a senior member of the council, said that in the hail of gunfire, Gadhafi was shot in the feet and then in his head.

"I cannot tell you whether it was from far or near, but it was unintentional," he said. "No one decided to kill him or slaughter him. It would have been much better for us Libyans and the whole universe to capture him and take him to a court."

But in a new video from Reuters, a man standing next to an ambulance claims he killed the ousted leader, and another man claims he saw it happen. The group surrounding him applauds and hugs the self-described gunman.

There were no more specifics given about the fatal shot.
All that seems to be clear is that Gadhafi did not have a head wound when he was taken from the drainage pipe.

But when his body showed up at a hospital in Misrata, videos and photos showed a clear bullet wound.


And it is that disparity that has prompted calls for an investigation into the death. However, for some Libyans, how he died isn't so much the issue, Time.com reports. For them, knowing that he is gone is all that matters.

What was NATO's involvement in Gadhafi's death?

We know that NATO had eyes on Sirte, including aerial surveillance in areas where it had seen an uptick in conflict. Gadhafi's forces had been boxed into a particular area in Sirte, NATO said. When a large convoy left that area, the drones and fighter jets struck. It's also the moment when Gadhafi is believed to have fled.

For weeks, the revolutionaries had been on the forefront of the battle for Sirte, struggling to wrest control of the coastal city from the last vestiges of the old regime in brutal urban warfare. Thursday, when the fight was finally won, they could finally claim liberation for their nation.


In the wake of the death, and because of the strike on the convoy, NATO re-emphasized what it has been saying since the mission in Libya began: There was a mission to take out Gadhafi's regime and forces but not to assassinate him.

NATO launched an air and missile campaign in March, when pro-Gadhafi forces were advancing on a rebel stronghold in Libya, under a U.N. mandate to protect civilians. NATO's efforts have included strike sorties and airstrikes targeting Gadhafi's military resources.

NATO began to scale back operations in Libya after Gadhafi's death, with the preliminary end date of October 31, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Friday.

"We did what we said we would do, and now is the time for the Libyan people to take their destiny into their own hands," Rasmussen said.

So, what's next for Libya?

A long road stretches ahead for the Libyan people.

In addition to the investigation into Gadhafi's own death, human rights groups are calling for investigations after they discovered the bodies of 53 people, believed to be Gadhafi supporters, in a hotel that was under the control of anti-Gadhafi fighters.

"We found 53 decomposing bodies, apparently (Gadhafi) supporters, at an abandoned hotel in Sirte, and some had their hands bound behind their backs when they were shot," said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director of Human Rights Watch.

Officials with the National Transitional Council were not immediately available for comment. The report comes amid growing concerns about extrajudicial killings under Libya's new leadership.

As Libya closes one chapter in their storied history, it will now begin to try to shore up its future, including answering the concerns about extrajudicial killings.

It will also have to make the transition from a war-torn country into a new society and building or creating all of the foundations to do so.

"The formal timetable laid down by the NTC begins with the declaration of liberation," said Ian Martin, the U.N. special representative for Libya. "The clock begins ticking, and we'll be working with them to try to make their commitments feasible in practice."

That will begin with elections, which leaders have said will take place in the current months. The first vote will be for a National Congress that will draft a constitution. After that, parliamentary and presidential elections will be held, National Transitional Council leaders said.

There will also be the issue of what will happen with what some analysts believe to be as much as $150 billion in frozen assets that had been available to the Gadhafi regime around the world. Even before Gadhafi's death, the U.S. Treasury Department had started thawing $37 billion worth such assets to make them available to the new government in Tripoli.

And then there will be the state of Libya's oil production. It is estimated that 350,000 barrels of oil per day are being produced by Libya.

World leaders offered the new Libya words of encouragement tempered with caution.

"In the coming days, we will witness scenes of celebration, as well as grief for those who lost so much," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. "Yet let us recognize, immediately, that this is only the end of the beginning. The road ahead for Libya and its people will be difficult and full of challenges." more.

How soon can Libya get its oil to flow?

With former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi ousted and dead, Libya’s interim government seems confident the country can reach pre-war oil production levels soon. But not everyone is so optimistic.

Before the February uprising, Libya put out about 1.6 million barrels of oil each day. That’s 2% of the world’s daily oil production.

The oil stopped flowing during the civil war as foreign companies left without properly shutting down the oil infrastructure. It is estimated Libya is now producing about 350,000 barrels of oil per day, but Libya’s new leaders are anxious to get more oil flowing.

Some oil companies that operated wells and refineries in Libya before the war “expressed some skepticism regarding a restoration of production to full pre-war levels within the next six months,” according to Fadel Gheit, managing director of oil and gas research at the Oppenheimer & Co. investment bank and firm.

“Obviously, the whole country is in shambles … civil war, total anarchy. Nobody is in control,” Gheit said. “So it’s not, obviously, a situation that will encourage oil companies to hurry back to Libya anytime soon.”

Gheit said because European oil companies left Libya so quickly during the uprising, they didn’t place the drills and refineries in a state that would make them easy to start up again. In some cases, wells will have to be re-drilled.

The new leaders of Libya will have to invest in the dilapidated oil infrastructure to maximize production and increase the nation’s revenue. But their limited funds are also needed to rebuild the country in the wake of intense fighting. If they spend too much on one, they may not be able to get the other done.

Click the audio player to hear the rest of the story from CNN Radio's Steve Kastenbaum: more.

Security Council removing mandate for Libya military action

[Updated at 12:01 p.m. ET] The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution Thursday removing its mandate for military intervention, effectively ending the NATO mission in Libya, as of October 31.

Last week, senior NATO officials agreed to a preliminary end date of October 31 for the alliance's seven-month Libya mission. NATO ministers gave preliminary approval to that plan.

But U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said this week that Libya's National Transitional Council wanted NATO to stick around until it could establish governance.

However, Libyan Deputy Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi told the 15-member council Wednesday that the Libyan people were looking forward to ending the NATO mission.

While Libyans were grateful for the international community's support, he said, such measures felt like an infringement of Libya's sovereignty.

The Security Council in March passed a resolution mandating the protection of Libya's civilian population as military forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi advanced on a rebel stronghold in eastern Libya. Within days of the Security Council's decision, NATO forces were engaged in action by air and sea.

The operation relied on three main prongs - implementing a no-fly zone, enforcing an arms embargo and taking action to protect civilians and civilian areas under threat of attack.

Since March 31, some 9,634 strike sorties, where targets are identified or hit, are among 26,000 sorties to have been conducted, NATO said Friday. more.

ICC in talks over surrender of Gadhafi son

The International Criminal Court is having "informal conversations" about the surrender of Moammar Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam, who is wanted for crimes against humanity, the court's chief prosecutor said Friday.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo would not say with whom the court is having conversations. He also said the court does not know al-Islam's whereabouts.

If Saif al-Islam Gadhafi is brought before the court, Moreno-Ocampo said, he will "have all the rights and be protected," and will be allowed to present his defense

"We believe we have a strong case," the prosecutor told CNN in an exclusive interview from The Hague. "We believe he should be convicted."
Do Libyans care who killed Gadhafi?
The court believes Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, his father, and his brother-in-law Abdulla al-Sanussi are responsible for crimes against humanity in Libya, including murder and persecution across the country beginning in February amid anti-government demonstrations, Moreno-Ocampo said.
Al-Sanussi served as the head of intelligence for Moammar Gadhafi, who was captured by opposition fighters and killed last week.
Moreno-Ocampo promised there would be no deals for Saif al-Islam Gadhafi's surrender. more.

NATO ending Libya mission

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- More than seven months after the U.N. Security Council authorized NATO forces to protect demonstrators in Libya, the aerial bombing campaign operation that helped depose longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi ended here Monday at midnight.
"I think what has happened in Libya sends a very clear signal to autocratic regimes all over the world," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters earlier in the day after arriving in Tripoli from Brussels, Belgium.
"We have been mandated by the United Nations Security Council to protect civilians and that mission has been a great success," he told CNN during the flight. "We have prevented a massacre. We have saved countless lives. We have fully implemented the United Nations mandate. That was our mission and we have done what we promised to do."
But the Pentagon said Monday that the United States will continue monitoring Libya from the skies even after the end of formal NATO military operations.
"There will be some kind of overwatch role for a little while after the actual end," Pentagon spokesman, Capt. John Kirby said. "We are still working with our NATO allies on that." U.S. manned and unmanned aircraft played a key reconnaissance role in the Libya operation even after U.S. forces stopped taking the lead combat role.
And National Transitional Council spokesman Ahmed Bani told CNN that he was expecting the mission would be suspended rather than canceled. "To cancel it, in these circumstances, I don't think was the right decision, especially at this time," he said, citing the continued presence of pro-Gadhafi elements.
Interim prime minister chosen
NATO's move comes after the United Nations Security Council last week rescinded its March mandate for military intervention to protect civilians targeted during anti-regime protests.
NATO mission in Libya ends Gadhafi's fugitive son may surrender Do Libyans care who killed Gadhafi? Terror victims seek justice
Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said NATO's mission puts Libya on a path to freedom.
But she tempered her remarks with a word of caution.
"We're very concerned that, as we move forward, that the authorities make maximum effort to swiftly form an inclusive government that incorporates all aspects of Libyan society, and in which the rights of all Libyan people are fully and thoroughly respected, regardless of their gender, their religion, their region of origin," Rice said after the Security Council vote last Thursday.
"But for the United States, and, I think, for the United Nations Security Council, this closes what I think history will judge to be a proud chapter in the Security Council's history."
As of Monday, Operation Unified Protector had flown 7,943 total sorties, 1,851 strike sorties and 398 total strikes in which ordnance was dropped.
Momentum to end the campaign began building after Gadhafi was killed following his capture near his hometown of Sirte on October 20.
Many British military personnel who had been stationed at an Italian airfield for the campaign already are returning home.
Meanwhile, Gadhafi's relatives said they plan to file a war crimes complaint.
"All of the events that have taken place since February 2011 and the murder of Gadhafi, all of this means we are totally in our right to call upon the International Criminal Court," Marcel Ceccaldi, a lawyer representing the family, said last week.
Questions have been raised about how Gadhafi was killed.
Amateur videos showed him alive when captured by the opposition. He died from a shot in the head, officials said, but the circumstances surrounding the shot remain unclear.
NATO's Libya campaign began in March, after the Security Council adopted Resolution 1973, which imposed a no-fly zone in the country's airspace and authorized member states to take measures to protect civilians. more.