Nexus - 0208 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

defacto ruler. A BRIEF HISTORY OF AMERICAN This is most likely the reason why Qadhafi set out to pur- AGGRESSION TOWARDS LIBYA chase the controlling stock of The Arab Banking Corporation * 1972: Washington refuses full diplomatic relations with the | Ltd. It is clear that if this corporation attracted support from Jamahiriya (Libya). other Arab nations, a form of an ‘alternative banking system’ * 30th May 1973: US warplanes deliberately violate Libyan air- | could be established. Qadhafi obviously persuaded enough space during manoeuvres of the Sixth Fleet. Arab money to be pulled out of the existing UK-USA bank- * 1974: The delivery of 8 planes (DC-1309) to Libya was refused, | ing fraternities and into the A.B.C., to cause considerable although it had already paid US$60 million in cash for them. alarm. Many researchers have interpreted the sudden drop in * 1977: The Pentagon added the name of the Jamahiriya (Libya) | world oil prices to have been a direct form of economic retal- to the list of enemies of the USA iation for daring to defy the then unannounced, new world + 24th Jan 1978: US Secretary of State declared that Libya heads | _ order. the list of the countries against which the USA intend to take mea- | THE NEW WORLD ORDER? sures in retaliation for their position with regard to the Palestinian The determination of Britain and America to pin Lockerbie cause. . “1. 2 ‘ on Libya has set some chilling precedents in place. The fore- ¢ 10th April 1980: US authorities harassed and expelled mem~- maost - these being MIGHT oan =e bers of the Popular Arab Libyan Bureau in Washington. + 1980: A US plan to shoot the plane transporting Qadhafi through Eastern Europe went wrong: they shot down an Italian Pr plane flying over Usteka waters by mistake. — cancemaed. ; » May 1981: Newsweek magazine reveals that CIA chief, Libya, like the UK and the USA, has internal laws to pre- William Casey had agreed to a costly operation to assassinate | Vent the government from handing over its own citizens to a Qadhafi. foreign country for trial. However, Libya has repeatedly + 19th August 1981: Eight US aircraft intercepted two Libyan | Offered to hand over the two suspects to an impartial interna- reconnaissance planes over Libyan territorial waters and shot | “onal tribunal such as the World Court, in line with the 1971 Ironic as it may seem to some, Libya so far, is the only country to abide by the International Laws agreed to by all them down. Montreal Sabotage Convention. * 1984: Several CIA groups of spies sent to infiltrate Libya. This Montreal Convention is an international agreement + 1985: Repeated CIA attempts to assassinate Qadhafi. signed by Libya and all the UN Security Council states. It + 1986: Reagan orders US citizens to stop working in Libya. provides for trial of suspected terrorists by the courts of their + 25th March 1986: US Navy aircraft bomb civil sites in the | Own country, and for referral of disputes among signatories Gulf of Syrte, and blew up a patrol boat and coastguard cruiser. | to the World Court. The USA and UK have cast doubt on The survivors were pursued and gunned down while making for | the reliability of their evidence by refusing to refer the case safety. to an impartial tribunal. They know their evidence will not + 31st March 1986: Egyptian newspaper A/ Ahram reports that | stand up in a neutral court of law! the USA had pressured Egypt to take joint military against Libya United Nations Security Council Resolution #731, con- no less than three times. demned Libya for its refusal to hand over the two suspects to + 15th April 1986: The USA carried out its bombing raid on | either America or Britain. Both Britain and America acted Libyan cities killing many civilians and children. The raid was in | _jJlegally by voting on this resolution, since they were parties ‘retaliation’ for the apparent involvement of Libya in the bombing | to the dispute in question. Article 27 of the UN Charter pro- of the La Belle Disco in Berlin. Libya was later declared innocent | vides that "a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting". on silomigtie = aia 2 fe tiemmots <0 usaancinc Worse still, according to Francis A. Boyle, Professor of S caeeaee Cal ih ole coongh ale | International Law at the University of Illinois, the Security boa bse i. Sccnenry Of Sine wire Alficun count Council itself acted beyond its powers in adopting these in rm ee eiicenit ash a tom co can counines | Resolution, because it "does not have any lawful authority or Pt mine ya power to adopt a resolution that ignores, abrogates or cir- + December 1989: US warplanes shoot down two Libyan jets. te = = . US Sixth Fleet holds manoeuvres inside Libyan water and air caureones es one y vencigln al intenationa] haw mandating the peaceful resolution of international disputes". space. USA threatens to invade Libya to destroy an alleged q . . ‘ Chemical Weapons Factory. This Factory was later proven to By adopting the Resolution, the Security Council had for have nothing to do with Chemical Weapons. the first time demanded the extradition of citizens of one + 7th December 1990: An American aircraft C-141 (No 50280) | Country to stand trial in another and implicitly accused a landed in Chad and kidnapped 200 Libyan prisoners of war. | member government of involvement in terrorism. These prisoners were taken to Nigeria. "It was an outspoken case of misuse of the Security 8th December 1990: 450 Libyan prisoners transported in the | Council by two countries that are themselves parties in the same way from Chad to Zaire. 250 Libyan prisoners were then | conflict,” said Law Professor E. Vierdag of Amsterdam transported against their will to the USA in a Hercules aircraft. | University. Some sources report that these prisoners of war were then brain-| Joop Syatauw, former lecturer in International Law at the washed and trained in the USA for later use against their own | Ingritute of Social Studies added, "this affair shows to what ey extent in the new world order the security council has JUNE-JULY 1992 34°eNEXUS