Libyan Official: Qaddafi Guilty of 'Genocide'
CNN reports:
The Libyan government launched new efforts Monday to crack down on protests, after apparently losing control of the city of Benghazi and facing defections from prominent officials inside leader Moammar Gadhafi's regime.
Libyan state television reported that government security forces had raided "nests of destruction and horror." A leader of the opposition group National Front for the Salvation of Libya said Monday evening that helicopter gunships were firing into crowds. Earlier, protesters apparently set fire to a government building in Tripoli. A witness reported seeing the building ablaze.
CNN could not confirm reports for areas beyond Benghazi. The Libyan government maintains tight control on communications and has not responded to repeated requests from CNN for access to the country. CNN has interviewed numerous witnesses by phone.
Libya's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Dabbashi, called on the country's ruler of 42 years to "leave as soon as possible."
Gadhafi "has to stop killing the Libyan people," Dabbashi told reporters in New York. "He has to give up and he has to leave the country as soon as possible."
He accused Gadhafi of "genocide" and asked the United Nations to help protect Libyans and impose a no-fly zone to cut off military supplies to the regime.
The country's justice minister, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, resigned, saying he was protesting the "bloody situation" and "use of excessive force" against unarmed protesters, according to Quryna -- a newspaper that last week carried regime propaganda but is now reporting on the protests and casualty figures.
Click here to read more.
