Free Republic

Lebanon has issued an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi over the disappearance 30 years ago of a senior Shiite cleric after a visit to Libya, officials said on Wednesday. Kadhafi was also indicted for allegedly "inciting the abduction" of Imam Mussa Sadr, the spiritual guide of Lebanon's Shiite community, investigating magistrate Samih el-Hajj said in a charge sheet. An "arrest warrant" was issued for the Libyan ruler and six other Libyan suspects who were also indicted for taking part in the alleged abduction, AFP reported. Sadr disappeared while in Libya with two companions Mohammed Yacoub and Abbas Badreddin...

TRIPOLI, Libya - Hijackers in Sudan's wartorn Darfur region seized a jetliner carrying nearly 100 people, including local Darfur officials, and forced it to land at a World War II-era airfield in the heart of the Sahara Desert in neighboring Libya, officials said. A Libyan official at the remote Kufra airport said there were 10 hijackers belonging to a Darfur rebel group and were demanding enough fuel for the Boeing 737 to continue to France. -snip-

ALERT - Sudanese plane hijacked: pirates want to go to Paris TRIPOLI - The hijackers who hijacked on Libya a Sudanese plane, with more than 100 people on board, require fuel to go to Paris, said in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday a Libyan airport source. ALERT - The hijackers claimed to belong to the SLA Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur TRIPOLI - The hijackers who hijacked on Libya a Sudanese plane, with more than 100 people on board, belonging to the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLA) Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur who lives in Paris, said on the night from...

Despite 189 American lives lost in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, the U.S. settled all lawsuits against Libya for terrorist killings and restored diplomatic relations with the country today – with reparations to be paid to Libya. President Ronald Reagan ordered air strikes on Tripoli and Benghazi on April 15, 1986, after Libyan terrorists planted 6 pounds of plastic explosives packed with shrapnel on the dance floor of La Belle discotheque in Berlin, killing three people – including two U.S. soldiers – and maiming 200 others. Libyan President Col. Moammar Gadhafi (Courtesy: Sky News) Two years later, Pan Am...

Libya and the United States settled all outstanding lawsuits by American victims of terrorism on Thursday, clearing the way for the full restoration of diplomatic relations. There were 26 pending lawsuits filed by American citizens against Libya for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and other attacks, said a senior Libyan government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the details of the deal had not been publicly announced. The official said there were also three outstanding lawsuits filed by Libyan citizens for U.S. airstrikes on Tripoli and Benghazi in 1986 that Libyans say...

Libyan leader Muamar Gaddafi on Tuesday warned "arrogant" Iran that it faces military humiliation on the scale of Iraq for its refusal to respond to western powers over a nuclear impasse. "What Iran is doing stems simply from arrogance," Gaddafi said during a visit to Tunisia after Tehran ignored another western deadline to accept an incentives package in exchange for full transparency on its nuclear drive. "In the event of a decision against Iran, this country will suffer the same outcome as Iraq... Iran is not any stronger than Iraq and won't have the means to resist (a military attack)...

On BOARD S/Y BUSHIDO--Around 20 years or so ago, Udai Hussein, Saddam’s boy, had some of his heavies beat up a man who refused their master’s invitation to join his table in a Geneva nightclub. The Iraqi wanted to meet the man’s beautiful companion, hence the invite. Although arrested, Udai got away with it by claiming diplomatic immunity. The Swiss caved in, as they often do in such cases. As Plato pointed out, money talks. The only good thing anyone can say about Udai is that he died like a man, as did his brother. Last week a scumbag who...

Washington, D.C. – July 31, 2008: The law firm Crowell & Moring LLP has released the following open letter on behalf of its clients, the families of the victims of UTA Flight 772 suitcase bombing in September 1989: We are the American families whose loved ones were murdered by Libya in September 1989 when Libyan agents placed a suitcase bomb on board UTA Flight 772 which blew up over the African desert on its way to Paris, killing all 170 innocent people on board. We speak out today to oppose passage of the "Libyan Claims Resolution" Bill pending before...

Libya's state shipping company says it has halted oil shipments to Switzerland in protest at the brief arrest of leader Muammar Gaddafi's youngest son. It threatened further action if the Swiss did not apologise for the arrest. Geneva police held Hannibal Gaddafi for two days after he and his pregnant wife allegedly hit two of their staff. The couple face charges of bodily harm, threatening behaviour and coercion. They have denied any wrongdoing over the alleged incident on 15 July. COSTLY ROW? The stopping of oil shipments comes a day after the Swiss foreign ministry complained of Libya taking "retaliatory...

Excerpt - Libya has taken "worryingly retaliatory measures" against Switzerland following the recent arrest of leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's son in Geneva, according to the Swiss Foreign Ministry. Col Gaddafi's government has recalled some of its diplomats from Switzerland, reduced flights between the countries, stopped processing visa requests from Swiss citizens, demanded the closure of Swiss firms in Libya and detained two Swiss citizens. Swiss foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey has formally complained about the moves to her Libyan counterpart and has advised citizens not to travel to Libya. ~ snip ~

Libya's dictatoship of Kadhafi has decided to suspend its oil selling toward Switzerland after Swiss authorities arrested and briefly detained Kadhafi's son in Geneva, last week, under the charges of having beaten two employees. Khadafi's son, Hannibal, seeks revenge. The Libya National Oil Company announced Libya will cancel its oil sells to Switzerland. Libyan oil represents 48% of Switzerland's needs.

Libya has imposed sanctions against Switzerland and Swiss interests following a son of President Muammar Gaddafi being arrested in Geneva. Motassim Gaddafi and his pregnant wife were held in custody following allegations that they ill-treated two members of staff at a luxury hotel in the city. They couple have complained of the treatment they received during the two nights they spent in the cells. Libya is demanding Switzerland apologise for the incident and on Wednesday closed down offices of the Swiss food giant Nestlé. Two of the company's staff in Libya have been arrested. The Libyan ambassador to Switzerland has...

(AGI) - Geneva, 17 July - The detention of Hannibal Gheddafi, son of the Libyan President, and his wife lasted just one night. The Gheddafis, arrested yesterday evening accused of mistreating two staff of the hotel in Geneva where they were staying, were released after the payment of bail of 309,000 euro. The most serious charges were made against Colonel Gheddafi's daughter-in-law, 9 months' pregnant and admitted today to the University of Geneva hospital. The two employees of the Hotel Presidente Wilson, a Moroccan man and a Tunisian woman showed the injuries to the judge but the Gheddafis' lawyers...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil surged Thursday following reports that Libya may cut production and an OPEC official said crude could hit $170 a barrel this summer. Meanwhile, the dollar's decline against the euro added further upward price pressure. Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose $3.65 to $138.20 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price climbed as high as $138.95, a $4.40 gain and within $1 of the all-time intraday high of $139.89. Supply worries. Ongoing concerns over supply disruptions in Africa and the Middle East gave oil a bump Thursday. The largest...

Gaddafi warns Obama against "inferiority complex" Wed Jun 11, 2008 5:29pm EDT TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Wednesday U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would have an "inferiority complex" because he is black and if elected he might "behave worse than whites." "We fear that Obama will feel that, because he is black with an inferiority complex, this will make him behave worse than the whites," Gaddafi told a rally at a former U.S. military base on the outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli. "This will be a tragedy," Gaddafi said. "We tell him to be...

AQ Khan recants nuclear admission WASHINGTON: Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan told the US media on Tuesday that he was not responsible for passing nuclear secrets to Iran and Libya, back-pedalling from his earlier admissions. In an interview with the McClatchy news organisation, Khan said he had introduced Tripoli and Tehran to Western businesses that provided information on building a nuclear weapons programme. Khan had confessed in February 2004 that he had run a network that passed atomic secrets, equipment and technological advice to Iran, North Korea and Libya over a period of 15 years, a statement he recanted...

Joint Statement by the United States and Libya Following is the text of a joint statement by the United States and Libya: Begin Text: Representatives of the United States and Libya met in London May 28-29 to begin negotiations on a claims settlement agreement. Both parties affirmed their desire to work together to resolve all outstanding claims in good faith and expeditiously through the establishment of a fair compensation mechanism. In this context, both parties reiterated their commitment to further develop bilateral cooperation. They affirmed their mutual cooperation to combat terrorism. They also recognized the 2003 historic and courageous decision...

The government ordered the destruction of documents on an alleged international nuclear smuggling network involving three Swiss engineers, it has been confirmed. The head of a parliamentary control committee said the material was shredded last November. The father and sons – Friedrich, Marco and Urs Tinner - are suspected of helping to supply parts for Libya's nuclear weapons programme between 2001 and 2003 through a trafficking ring run by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's atom bomb. Reports say the three worked as undercover agents for the United States intelligence service. There is widespread media speculation that Washington asked...

Excerpt - TRIPOLI, Libya -- Recently, Libyan strongman Col. Moammar Gadhafi wrote a letter to President Bush, asking: Where are we going with our relationship? Five years ago, the Bush administration helped persuade Libya -- for decades one of the world's leading sponsors of terrorism -- to scrap its nuclear ambitions and dismantle its terror infrastructure. It ranks as one of the president's signature foreign-policy successes and was supposed to blaze a path for other rogue states, principally North Korea and Iran. Now, these ties are fraying. According to Libyan diplomats who have seen the letter, sent in early March,...

France led a walkout at the United Nations last week after Libya’s Deputy Ambassador compared the Israeli military’s treatment of the Palestinians in Gaza to the way the Nazis sent Jews to concentration camps. French Ambassador Jean Maurice Ripert was followed by Americian, British, Belgian and Costa Rican diplomats after Ibrahim Dabbashi made the comments during a private meeting on the situation in the Middle East. The meeting was postponed following the walkout. Britain's deputy ambassador, Karen Pierce, said: “A number of council members were dismayed by the approach taken by Libya and do not believe that such language helps...

What drove so many Libyans to volunteer as suicide bombers for the war in Iraq? A visit to their hometown—the dead-end city of Darnah. Even before he vanished, Abd al-Salam bin-Ali was an easy young man to miss. Pale, lanky and blind in one eye, the unobtrusive 20-year-old didn't leave much of an impression in Darnah, his hometown in eastern Libya. In school he had studied to become a veterinarian, but after graduation he couldn't find a job. "The economic situation was terrible," recalls his older brother, Abd al-Hamid. "He was looking for work every day." Sometimes Abd al-Salam would...

"...The agreements and multi-billion contracts signed during the visit were fully consistent with the interests of both countries, he said.

An array of Russian officials and top-managers of the largest corporations will accompany Vladimir Putin. Moscow intends to make Tripoli its strategic ally in Northern Africa, and for the sake of it is ready to relieve Libya's $4.6 bln debt in exchange for concluding arms and energy contracts. But Russia's new attempt to consolidate its grip in this crucial region can be in vain... Similar situations have been common in the past years: Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi invited President Putin to Libya right after his victory in the presidential election of 2000, but visits have been suspended. The previous one...

PERUGIA, Italy -- The Libyan officer tried to cloak the purpose of his call to the Italian arms dealer. "A friend," he said, wanted to buy 1 million "pieces" and 50 million items of "food." But when that phone call was placed in 2006, Italian police were listening. They knew the meaning. Libya was shopping for guns - lots of them. Authorities shadowed the negotiations between Libyan officials and a group of black-market dealers from across Italy for a year before they moved in and broke up what would have been a $64 million deal for hundreds of thousands of...

Libyan authorities released 90 members of a group with suspected links to al-Qaeda after they renounced violence, a government-backed group said. Those released from a Tripoli jail on Tuesday were members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which purportedly has links to the terror network. They were serving prison terms ranging from 10 years to life after being convicted of belonging to a banned organization and carrying out illegal activities. Most had already served between six to eight years. The group has long been accused in Libya of plotting to overthrow the country's autocratic leader Moammar Gadhafi. The release was...

TRIPOLI (AFP) - Libya has freed 90 members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, an Islamist group that Al-Qaeda hailed as a new affiliate last November, the Kadhafi Foundation headed by the son of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi said on Tuesday. "The dialogue opened with leaders of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group .. has resulted in the release of 90 members, which represents one third of the membership of this group," said the foundation headed by Seif al-Islam Kadhafi. The prisoners were paraded for photographers as they were released amid tight security from the Abu Salim prison in the Libyan...

Afghanistan to Ask NATO for Bigger Army Afghan officials will go to the NATO summit in Romania Thursday with a request: pay to increase our national Army by 40 percent. A bigger Army, Afghan officials argue, will allow the US and other coalition members to scale back in the coming years. This appeal comes amid pleas from the US and Canada for other NATO members to commit more to the Afghanistan mission, which many analysts say has floundered over the past year for lack of resources and a coherent strategy. France is expected to contribute another 1,000 forces and...

More than 30 German elite police officers and soldiers are under investigation over allegations they trained Libyan security forces on their own account -- and without permission from their superiors. According to a report in the Friday edition of the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, around 30 officers from across Germany carried out or organized training courses in Libya.

WASHINGTON — Rep. John Boehner, the U.S. House minority leader, returned from Libya last week with a cool souvenir, thanks to Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi. Visiting Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and Israel with other members of Congress, Boehner, R-Ohio, was summoned while in transit to a meeting with Gadhafi in a white tent in the desert, he said. In the middle of their talk about terrorism, nuclear weapons and other serious matters, an aide to Gadhafi came over with what looked like a glasses case. Gadhafi then presented a pair of shades to the Republican leader, saying, "Desert not kind...

Though only three months have passed since Libya joined the Security Council of the United Nations for a two-year term, the verdict already is in. Libya's membership on the Security Council shames the UN, and severely undermines the council's ability to maintain international peace and security. Put most simply, Libya does not deserve its seat. It has already justified terrorism, accused Israel of genocide, and blocked the council's condemnation of the recent murder of eight young Jerusalem students - this in spite of the Security Council's well-established practice of condemning terrorism wherever and whenever it happens. The truth is no...

DAMASCUS, March 29 (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi urged fellow Arab leaders on Saturday to improve ties with non-Arab Iran, saying it was not in their interest to antagonise the Islamic republic. "You have no escape from Iran. It is a neighbour and Muslim brother and it is not in your interest to be its enemy. We have no interest at all in turning Iran against us," Gaddafi told an Arab summit meeting in Damascus. A strengthening alliance between host Syria and Iran have deepened divisions in the run up to the summit, which is being attended by Iran's...

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi poured contempt on fellow Arab leaders at a summit Saturday, and warned that they might be overthrown like former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. Gadhafi's rambling, off-the-cuff speech to the opening of the Arab summit both bewildered and brought reluctant smiles to the faces of the other leaders. The maverick Libyan's litany of insults at Arabs and his undiplomatic railing at the disarray of Arab regimes have become almost a tradition at the annual gathering. Dressed in lush purple and pink robes with a traditional Libyan cloak and cap, Gadhafi blasted Arab countries for doing nothing while...

Libyan leader says the Bible is counterfeit Thursday, 20th March 2008. 11:42am By: Manasseh Zindo. LIBYAN leader Col Muammar Gadaffi, who is in Uganda, on Wednesday March 19 celebrated the anniversary of the birth of Prophet Mohammed with a series of attacks on European countries and the Bible for besmirching the Prophet Gadaffi was speaking to a large crowd at Nakivubo War Memorial Stadium in Kampala after leading the Thuhur (afternoon) prayer, where he said any Bible and Torah (Old Testament) that does not mention the Prophet Mohammed was written by mankind and therefore a fraud. Full article posted here

Serbia will never recognize Kosovo's independence because the unilateral declaration of the province's independence is illegitimate said Serbian President Boris Tadic during a discussion with the newly appointed Ambassadors to Serbia from Tunisia, Czech Republic, FYROM and Chile. "I support a continuation of the negotiations under the UN auspices with the goal to find a compromise-based solution to the future status of KiM. Serbia will continue fighting for its interests and respect for the international law, with all available political and diplomatic means, without the use of force," Tadic said. During talks with the Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, Libyan...

MORONI, Comoros (AFP) — African Union troops will arrive Monday in the Comoros before launching a military offensive against the island of Anjouan and its rebellious leader, the government of the Indian Ocean nation said. Anjouan leader Mohamed Bacar is at loggerheads with Comoros' President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi after he held local elections last year against the orders of the government and the AU. "In the next 24 hours, we will see soldiers and military equipment arrive at our airports," government spokesman Abdourahim Said Bakar told AFP. Libya, Senegal, Sudan and Tanzania, which chairs the AU, have offered to supply...

It's not just American election pundits who have been pondering the meaning of "change." In case you missed it on the Fox News web site, Libyan tyrant Moammar Gadhafi has also glommed onto this buzzword of the Democratic campaigns, and in this video clip from MEMRI, with English subtitles, you can watch him airing his views (excerpts, transcribed by MEMRI, here) that Americans, with their interest in change, regard their system, their government, and their elections, as a failure. Says Gadhafi, "The whole world will return to the Libyan model."That, and some of Gadhafi's other nonsense in this speech,...

Petraeus: Al Qaida Trying to 'Come Back In' U.S. military officials said there will be no significant reduction in coalition troops in the Baghdad area as part of an effort to stop the Al Qaida offensive in northern Iraq. They said Al Qaida was trying to reenter Baghdad and reverse its losses in 2007. "Al Qaida is trying to come back in," U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus said. "We can feel it and see it, and what we're trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground." Read More Militants Assert...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - For the second time in two months, Libya on Thursday blocked the U.N. Security Council from condemning violence and unrest in the Middle East. The move came after a gunman entered the library of a rabbinical seminary in Jerusalem and opened fire on a crowded nighttime study session, killing eight people and wounding nine before he was slain. Israeli defense officials said the attacker came from east Jerusalem, the predominantly Palestinian section of the city. Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the obstruction undermines the council's effectiveness in the region. "What happened today...

Can we ignore Sen. Obama's silence about Muammar Kaddafi? We know that Louis Farrakhan has said positive things about Barack Obama. And he's not the only one. This is the same Louis Farrakhan who has travelled to Libya to meet with and say positive things about Kaddafi, who has long-standing ties to terrorism. And that's not all. The former pastor at Obama's church, Jeremiah Wright, has not only said positive things about Farrakhan. In the 1980s, he went on a trip with Farrakhan to ... you guessed it, Libya, to meet with Kaddafi. With all of Obama's ties to Kaddafi...

In its abuse of American taxpayer dollars and trust, the United Nations has come up with many creative projects over the years, ranging from terrorist schoolhouses in Gaza, to procurement fraud, to per diems for pedophiliac peacekeepers. Now, the U.N. is on the brink of channeling millions in U.S. funds to pay for an encore of its notorious America-bashing, Israel-trashing conference held six years ago in Durban, South Africa. That U.N. jamboree, which opened in late August, 2001, was supposed to be all about the worthy cause of ending racism. Instead, it turned into such a frenzy of despotic and...

TRIPOLI (AFP) - The Kadhafi Foundation denied a report by Human Rights Watch that it was holding a Libyan political prisoner whose health was deteriorating on Monday, as AFP was allowed to visit the detainee. HRW called at the end of January for the immediate and unconditional release of opposition figure Fathi al-Jahmi, 66, who has been held since 2004 after criticising the regime of Libya's leader Moamer Kadhafi. It said he was seriously ill and needed urgent medical treatment. But Salah Abdessalem of the Foundation, a charity headed by Kadhafi's son Seif al-Islam, said he was "suprised" by the...

February 24, 2008 Mystery over Colonel Muammar Gadaffi, son of French top gun Albert Preziosi Jon Swain Seldom have the French been so glad to see the back of an official guest as they were last year when Colonel Muammar Gadaffi left Paris after a chaotic five-day visit when he pitched his bedouin tent a stone’s throw from the Elys饠Palace. Last week the Libyan leader had the last laugh when the French were reminded of the possibility that their recent guest is the son of a French war hero. According to a legend circulating in Vezzani, Corsica, Gadaffi’s father was...

Gaddafi says Africa must unite or be dominated Wed 30 Jan 2008, 7:03 GMT [-] Text [+] TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Tuesday African leaders meeting in Ethiopia this week should stop wasting time and unite in a single government to stop foreign powers taking control of the continent. "The (summit) will be decisive. It will either put an end to stalling and time wasting on the unification of Africa or prove there is a conspiracy which vetoes African unity," Gaddafi was quoted as saying by the Libyan state news agency Jana. The alternative to a...

Re: 'Arab racists & Islamic bigots' lobby hijacks UN (again) for "racism conference"Canada Abandons UN Racism Conference [which is hijacked by Arab racism & Islamic bigotry 'lobby'] OTTAWA (AP) — Canada has withdrawn its support for a U.N. anti-racism conference scheduled to take place in South Africa next year after deeming it to be anti-Israel, a government official said Wednesday. The so-called Durban II conference "has gone completely off the rails" and Canada wants no part of it, said Jason Kenney, Canada's secretary of state for multiculturalism and Canadian identity. "We'll attend any conference that is opposed to racism and...

Gadhafi son may be linked to Iraq attack By MUHEIDDIN RASHAD, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 42 minutes ago A devastating explosion in northern Iraq was spearheaded by foreign fighters under the sponsorship of Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of the Libyan leader, a security chief for Sunni tribesmen who rose up against al-Qaida in Iraq said Saturday. Col. Jubair Rashid Naief, who also is a police official in Anbar province, said the Anbar Awakening Council had alerted the U.S. military to the possible arrival in the northern city of Mosul of the Seifaddin Regiment, made up of about 150 foreign...

BAGHDAD (AP) - A security chief for Sunni tribesmen who rose up against al-Qaida in Iraq says a son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi (MOO'-ah-mahr gah-DAH'-fee) sponsored a group of foreign fighters behind a recent explosion in northern Iraq. The official says the Anbar Awakening Council had alerted the U.S. military to the possible arrival in the northern city of Mosul of about 150 foreign and Iraqi fighters as long as three months ago. The official isn't saying why Seif Gadhafi would be sponsoring the group of fighters as he has increasingly been sharing his father's spotlight and reaching out...

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libya on Friday defended plans to carry out a massive expulsion of illegal immigrants, rejecting criticism from a human rights group that doing so would violate international law. Labor officials estimate there are 2 million foreigners in Libya and that only 60,000 of them have work permits and legal visas. Most are Africans who sneak through the deserts into Libya from Sudan, Chad and Niger. On Wednesday, the state news agency Jana said authorities were working on the "immediate deportation of all the illegal foreign residents," quoting a member of the national assembly. "No resident without a...

Up to a million migrants have gathered in Libya, from where they will attempt to sail across the Mediterranean for Europe and, ultimately, the UK. New estimates reveal that there are two million migrants massed in the North African country and that half of them plan to sail to the European mainland and travel on to Britain in the hope of building a new life. According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), most have travelled from sub-Saharan states such as Ghana and Sierra Leone, attracted by Libya's reputation as a centre for people smugglers. Most are expected to wait...

Six days before South Carolina Republicans go to the polls, the spat between the Southerners who need to win that crucial primary -- former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee -- continues to get uglier and uglier, even as both men tread more lightly on the candidate who leads the most recent poll in that state, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. "Fred Thompson talks about putting America first, and yet he's the one who is a registered foreign agent, lobbied for foreign countries, was in a law firm that did lobbying work for Libya," Huckabee charged Sunday...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Libya took over the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday in a major step back to global respectability after decades as a pariah of the West. The North African country was elected in October, as were Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia and Vietnam, to sit on the council in 2008-09 after the United States, which foiled two earlier bids by Tripoli, decided not to block it this time. By an alphabetical accident, Libya becomes president of the 15-nation body from its very first day as a member, succeeding Italy. Each country is president...