Who Cut off Saif al Islam’s fingers? And why?

http://youtu.be/rZdTS_moiyA
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Published Monday, November 21, 2011

A Libyan rebel said that his colleagues cut off three fingers of the right hand of Saif Al Islam, surviving son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

He did so, allegedly because Saif pointed his finger at the rebel in a threatening manner. Cutting off fingers and body parts is a hallmark of Al Qaeda behavior on the battlefield. It is considered a war crime.

Ironically, the TNC Rebels who cut off Saif’s fingers want him charged with War Crimes— but all evidence points to significant atrocities committed by NATO and their Al Qaeda fighters– not Gadhaffi’s government.

Meanwhile ‘Al Mashahad Al Leeby’ programme in a joint broadcast with ‘Libya TV’ and ‘Libya FM’ reported that Abdullah Al Zentan said he personally witnessed the “cuting off of the fingers of Saif Al Islam.”

On the other hand, Saif Al Islam himself told Reuters on Saturday he is in good health, and he has wounded his right hand during a Nato air raid.

Saif al-Islam spoke briefly on the bandages on three fingers of his right hand would only say, “Air Force Air Force ..” In response to a question whether he meant the raid to NATO said: “Yes .. a month ago.”

Saif Al Islam Gaddafi and the son of Libyan Intelligence Chief, Abdullah Sanusi were arrested in Ubari in the south of Libya, where he was found hiding in an abandoned house accompanied by a group of his associates.

Libya’s La Terreur Metastizes by Franklin Lamb

France’s early September 1793 to late July 1794 Reign of Terror, the period of violence following the initial “success” of the French Revolution was incited by conflict between rival political factions and was marked by mass executions including “disappearances” of perceived enemies of the revolution. Libya has entered its own La Terreur which is spreading inexorably and is aided by NATO member states including American, French and British SAS units known locally as “disappearance squads”. This is one of the rapidly developing consequences of the UN’s rush to “protect Libya’s civilian population” last spring. And it is why human rights investigators are arriving in Benghazi Libya this week. “Approximately 600 miles from Cairo to Benghazi”is what the lovely travel agent who works off Tahir Sq reported, as she cajoled this observer to take a fancy, double decker luxury bus to Benghazi, where I was headed from Cairo. In the end I settled for a dump truck at one-third the cost across the Egyptian and Libyan desert to Benghazi. It didn’t seem such a bad idea following meetings in nearby countries especially considering alternative routes which would have involved flying to Tunis, then another flight to Jerba and then the six hours jammed service ride to Tripoli. I needed to leave right away to meet some prisoners being held in one of Beghazi’s teeming jails. Until the NTC announced changes yesterday, anyone bearing an American passport did not need a visa to enter Libya so grateful has been the NTC for all the financial help that American taxpayers, largely unknowingliy, have supplied to NTC officials in addition to presenting them with a country with vastoil reserves and zero national debt. One of the fortunate language usages in this part of the World is the liberal transliteration applied to Arabic, which helps those challenged by the language. But one has to listen carefully in Libya these days to grasp the important distinction between certain English words when referring to the fate of increasing numbers of supporters of the Gadhafi regime. In the current atmosphere one often hears that someone “has disappeared.” Depending on one’s political views, that is usually good news. It means the person is in hiding or left the area or fled the country to safety. Alternatively, it might be said that a person “is disappeared” meaning that she or he was caught by the new regime and is gone, probably forever, without a trace for loved ones to pursue. Based on meetings with Libyan evacuees (disappeared) from NATO’s nine months of bombing who are now refugees in nearby countries, as well as meetings inside Libya with incarcerated former officials and family members, and fugitive opponents of the new “government,” it is clear that the current period is cascading into paroxysmal revenge attacks and political cleansing. Those increasingly being targeted by “disappearance squads” are family members and even former domestic employees such as gardeners, handymen, and household staff of former regime affiliates. Homes, cars, furniture, of former regime affiliates are being systematically confiscated (looted). Torture has become the normal means to elicit information regarding the whereabouts of individuals thought to still be supporting the former regime.The reason, according to one former Libyan official who barely escaped one of the French squads and who now resides in Egypt, “is the same reason drones are so popular with your US military, torture works. Not 100% but it’s better than the other options.”