The mystery of 53 dead in Sirte Mahari Hotel casts a new shadow on the CNT

Mystery of 53 dead in Sirte Mahari Hotel

Sirte (Libya) Special Envoy - What happened in the days before the fall of Sirte and the death of Colonel Qaddafi, Thursday, October 20th at the Hotel Mahari? When he returned home, the morning of Saturday, October 22, Faraj Mohammed, near the luxury hotel, found 53 bodies lying on the grass: all men, all shot dead. They were lying on the lawn that slopes gently toward the sea still dark spots indicate the locations where the bodies were. Half of the bodies had their hands tied behind his back and wore casts and bandages, indicating their status as prisoners or wounded. All appear to have been summarily executed judging wounds to the head or the neck. Who are they? Faraj Mohammed claims to have found four people, the people of Sirte, which Ezzeddine Al-Hencheri, former Minister of Gaddafi and Moftah Dabroun, an officer.

It is impossible to know with certainty the date of death without an autopsy in good standing. It dates back between 14 and 19 October, according to Peter Bouckaert, emergencies chief of the division to the NGO human rights Human Rights Watch. Mahari Hotel is located near the Quarter Number 2, where Colonel Gaddafi and the last four of his supporters were entrenched, resisting fiercely, almost all civilians who then fled the city. The rest is history. Gaddafi tried to flee on Thursday morning October 20, aboard a convoy halted by NATO. Captured by the revolutionaries, he died while being transported by ambulance to Misrata, the result of his injuries, provides the National Transitional Council (CNT), a summary execution, accusing his family. Moatassim his son, who was arrested the same day, was seen on an amateur video talking calmly with the rebels who held.

The Mahari, transformed into a place of detention by the forces of anti-Gaddafi, he witnessed a mass execution of prisoners pro-Qaddafi. The establishment was controlled by Misrata forces since the end of the first week of October, between 7 and 10. Several groups of thowar the revolutionary fighters, had made their base, as evidenced by the walls of the hotel covered with graffiti of different brigades Misrata. The Al-Nimr katiba (the tiger in Arabic) is the present, it is one of the most powerful of Misrata, which has 230. There were also present katibas Al-Fahad (the jaguar), Al-Assad (lion) and Al Qasba (the citadel).

Misrata fighters, drunk with anger at the atrocities committed during the five months of siege and shelling of their city, they would have wanted revenge. The commander of the Al-Nimr katiba denies any involvement. "The hotel has never been a place of detention. On the morning of October 20, we were attacked by Gaddafi and his forces. We had to leave the place. When we came back the next day the bodies were there." To him, they were probably killed by Gaddafi "which would prevent them from speaking." An explanation unconvincing, since the Libyan seemed especially concerned about his flight that morning. The head of the military council of Misrata, Ramadan Zarmouh, for his part said that Sirte is full of graves of revolutionary arrested or disappeared for months and calls into question the identity of victims of the hotel Mahari. "They are prisoners removed by Gaddafi before their departure," he says.

Detail worse, the staff of the hospital Ibn Sina Sirte ensures that a week before the fall of the city, the revolutionaries entered the school, locked in a room physicians, and toured the rooms to retrieve injuries alleged to have participated in the fighting to take them to an unknown destination. For fear of reprisals, no one is willing to testify openly or give a figure, even the Ukrainian pediatrician remained throughout the siege. Upstairs, the wounded also show evasive, some even refusing to disclose the nature of their injuries for fear of being identified as combatants. If this massacre is found, it will not be the first attributed to the rebels. The Gaddafi regime, he, has been used to a much more systematic and significant. Peter Bouckaert, Human Rights Watch, the murders of the Mahari Hotel "require the immediate attention of the Libyan authorities," who must conduct a survey.

News by Lemonde

Google upgrades its Google TV

Google tv

AFP - Google Internet group said Friday the new generation of its television system connected to the Internet, Google TV, which led to various problems postpone the originally scheduled launch in Europe this year. The second generation of software for Google TV offers simplified controls, better integration with the YouTube video site and an option to add external applications. "This is another step on a road that will be long," said an official from Google TV, Chris Dale. "We are committed to the product and we improve."

Google is one of the companies that have bet the future, we watch movies and videos mainly via Internet connections. A year ago, the group launched its Google TV, loaded on Sony TVs and accessories Logitech: This is a system that works with Android's browser Chrome, with easy access to the Internet on their television, for example, to download movies, free or paid. However, Sony and Logitech had to cut prices in the face of disappointing sales, and delay the launch outside the United States. The system was considered too complex to appeal to the general public, which led Google to provide an update of the system supposed to make it more intuitive.

The devices will be equipped with Sony next week, those of Logitech "shortly after," said Google. Google told AFP that other electronics manufacturers were interested in integrating their system. Click here to find out more!

Obama urges Europeans to erect a "firewall" to contain the crisis

Barack Obama

AFP - U.S. President Barack Obama urges Europeans to implement their plan against the crisis of debt and to erect a "firewall" to prevent its contagion, in an article published in the Financial Times on Friday. "It is important to us all that this strategy is implemented successfully - including building a firewall that prevents credible crisis expanding, strengthening of European banks, the outline of a viable path for Greece and the resolution of structural problems in the heart of the current crisis, "Obama wrote in the British financial daily. The euro area has come to buckle pain Thursday morning at an anti-crisis plan intended to ensure its survival.
An agreement was reached with the banks covering a waiver of 50% of their claims, or 100 billion euros. In return for the effort required for the banking sector, an agreement was reached to recapitalize institutions in need.

In addition, European leaders have decided to leverage the power of their fire relief fund for countries in financial difficulty in bringing it to 1,000 billion euros in the first place. This envelope should prevent the debt crisis earns Italy and Spain. China is considering investing in this fund, although it warned earlier Friday she was waiting for clarification. Without explicitly naming the country, Obama is claiming in the forum "greater flexibility in exchange rates, including exchange rates that are based on the market." The United States regularly accuse China of manipulating its currency to boost exports.

Bad weather in Italy: Declared the state of emergency

Storm in Italy

AFP - The death toll from the storms on Tuesday and Wednesday from Liguria (north) and north of Tuscany rose to seven dead Friday morning after the discovery of the body of a Romanian, while the Council of Ministers declared the state of emergency for devastated areas. Firefighters extracted the body Borghetto Vara, the town most affected Ligurian, after two days of research: the victim was invited to a friend, also died. Seven others are still missing. In the night, the A12 Genoa-Livorno was reopened to traffic in both directions after four days of traffic disruption due to a landslide that had blocked a tunnel.

An extraordinary cabinet meeting, convened Friday in Rome, proclaimed a state of emergency in areas hit by heavy rains that caused mudslides and devastated several towns. The proclamation of emergency rule avoids some red tape and accelerate the release of funds to help the affected populations. The Council of Ministers has also immediately released 65 million euros of aid. Many of them are still without electricity, gas and running water. People who have stayed in their homes are without heating and number of inhabitants had to be temporarily housed in hotels in the region. Furthermore Borghetto Vara, Aulla, in northern Tuscany, was particularly affected, and authorities evacuated 250 people from the historic center of Mulazzo, about ten km, due to fears of a landslide.

In the department of La Spezia (Liguria), where the tourist resorts of Cinque Terre, the towns of Monterosso and Vernazza are still isolated. According to the meteorological services, from 200 to 500 millimeters of rain fell in a few hours, causing overflowing rivers and streams, destroying many bridges and causing landslides and mudslides in several villages. Click here to find out more!