In Libyen herrscht Bürgerkrieg

Executive Summary

• Recognizing  the National Transitional Council as the sole, legitimate representative  of the Libyan people until Libyan civilians can hold democratic  elections
• Unfreezing of  Gaddafi regime assets as a means of facilitating humanitarian relief  efforts in Libya to protect civilians from starvation and to facilitate  peace and stability in liberated areas
• Formulating  clear and consistent consensus of how to achieve ultimate goal of  removing Gaddafi from power, marshaling all resources necessary to  execute consensus vision, and ensuring that the country is able to  smoothly transition into its pre-democracy phase
• Providing more  humanitarian aid to the Libyan people in Western besieged cities,  Misrata, Nafusa mountain region, Zintan and refugees at the border
• Providing pro-democracy fighters with weapons as a means of self-defense and participation in their struggle for freedom
• Protecting  natural resources, such as natural water reserves and oil fields, along  with natural heritage sites and ancient ruins, which have been  threatened by Gaddafi forces
• Deploying  fact-finding missions to Tripoli as a means of gaining access to prisons  and facilities reported to house many kidnapped persons; including  Ain-Zara and Abu Saleem prisons
• Preventing the  creation of a power vacuum by promoting and facilitating the  post-Gaddafi political transition process; investing in systems and  structures that support post-conflict planning dialogue and programs  that build leadership and management competencies
• Disabling  Gaddafi’s capacity to circumvent UN Sanctions, particularly in the  acquisition of oil through third parties, and repatriation and harboring  of funds through key officials abroad
• Preventing  foreign-national mercenaries from entering Libya and focusing on  countries that continue to provide support to Gaddafi
• Widening NATO efforts to the full extent possible under UN Resolution 1973 to protect civilians and oust Gaddafi from power
• Reinstituting American participation and leadership in the NATO mission

• U.S. private  firms studied possibility of destabilizing Gaddafi regime through  computer hacking, provided report to U.S. government (http://tiny.cc/mt9bp)
• Sassi Garada, one of the first men to join Qaddafi when he took power more than 40 years ago, left Libya through Tunisia (http://tiny.cc/dawsk)
• ARABIC VIDEO  (Graphic) Gaddafi soldier abuses and threatens to set fire to a  pro-democracy opposition fighter for refusing to praise Gaddafi  (http://tiny.cc/8ui6i)
• According to NATO, Gaddafi hiding more than five Grad rocket-launchers trucks in the ruins of Leptis Magna (http://tiny.cc/7ca48) and (http://tiny.cc/23ews)

• Study  indicates that U.S. government has expertise and capability to disable  Gaddafi’s systems and effectively shut his government
• Gaddafi regime members continue to demonstrate blatant disregard for human rights and international law
• Additional defection from Gaddafi regime inner circle further isolates Gaddafi
• Gaddafi tactic  of hiding weapons indicates that the regime likely has many more  missiles and other weaponry than initially thought by NATO
• The ancient  ruins of Leptis Magna, a UNESCO World Heritage site, are one of the  “best preserved Roman ruins in the Mediterranean, located between  Tripoli and Misrata. At its zenith, in 200BC, Leptis Magna was the third  greatest Roman city in Africa ...after Alexandria and Carthage.” They  serve as a treasure for Libyans and the world and a strategic resource  for the Libyan people, offering an opportunity for Libya to diversify  its economy from one solely based on oil to one also based on tourism

• Evaluate  whether implementation of study could hasten the Gaddafi regime’s  demise. If yes, then implement its applicable portions
• Immediately meet with Garada to obtain valuable intelligence; continue encouraging other “insiders” to defect
• NTC to  expedite development of a judicial and criminal system capable of  managing the crimes committed by Gaddafi regime forces, and engage  stakeholder community in transparent manner to develop clear criteria  for what constitutes war crimes in Libya;  applied as part of Libya’s  overall constitutional development strategy and processes
• NATO to coordinate more effectively with opposition fighters on the ground to uncover hidden Gaddafi weapon depots
• NATO to do  everything within its means to preserve the ancient ruins, and utilize  other military and non-military tactics to monitor Gaddafi regime forces  from entering and leaving ruins; potentially consider using tear gas,  and adopting other non-kinetic warfare to ensure soldiers do not gain  access to reinforcements and potentially succumb to dehydration and  starvation
• UNESCO to work  with the international community to ensure that ancient sites are not  damaged; and to work with Libyans to strategize and plan for the  preservation of ancient heritage sites in alignment with Libya’s  potential to develop its tourism sector   

• Opposition forces make significant gains in Misrata even as regime Gaddafi artillery rained down on them (http://tiny.cc/1puto)
• Opposition forces liberate town of Al-Rayyana in western mountains (http://tiny.cc/it9p0)
• British naval  commander predicts that Britain can remain involved at current levels  for an additional three months but will need added funding the continue  efforts beyond that period (http://tiny.cc/ri1tv)
• Norwegian government officials have decided to extend Norway’s contribution to the NATO-led bombings of Libya until August 1 (http://tiny.cc/j31b1)
• NATO Insists that Libyan air campaign will yield desired result (http://tiny.cc/fiaya)

• Gains in Misrata and western mountains are critical as opposition seeks to assert itself throughout Libya, not just in the east
• British  military funding situation may negatively affect current mission as it  appears cuts have limited military’s ability to engage in anything but  short-term conflicts
• Norwegian  officials believe the August 1 extension to be the best available  compromise as they are under pressure domestically to end participation  in war
• NATO remains committed to ending Gaddafi regime’s reign over Libya

• NATO to increase frequency and intensity of air strikes in areas in which opposition forces are engaged in combat
• British  government to provide necessary funding to military institutions  enabling them to continue high-level participation in Libya mission
• NATO member  nations work with Norwegian leaders to develop alternatives ways in  which the Norwegians can continue to participate in and support NATO’s  mission in Libya
• NATO coalition members to remain committed to the mission until Gaddafi dies, is removed from power or leaves

• Libya’s neighbor-states begin planning for a post-Gaddafi Libya (http://tiny.cc/v34sn)
• Liberia severs ties with Gaddafi regime, stating that Gaddafi has lost legitimacy to rule (http://tiny.cc/466b1)
• Gaddafi propaganda website – http://tiny.cc/nyrnn

• African  support for NTC is an incredible development as many of Libya’s  neighbors initially refused to call for Gaddafi’s ouster; Gaddafi  becoming isolated from many who were his strong allies
• The fall of Gaddafi could potentially have transformative consequences for the bordering African nations
• Propaganda site is one of many maintained by Gaddafi loyalists to incept misinformation that influences the global conversation
• Liberia's  refusal to recognize NTC and await political settlement that offers  lasting peace devalues the aspirations of the Libyan people  
• Gaddafi’s  history of using oil wealth to invest and influence African countries is  significantly waning as more and more African countries sever ties with  him

• International  community continue to support African support for NTC and its ideals;  engage African community during the transition
• NATO and/or member nations to disable propaganda websites such as http://tiny.cc/nyrnn
• Liberia to  ensure that the $30 million project to promote local production of rice  in Liberia, and renovation of Monrovia's Ducor Hotel, the largest in the  country and one of the few five-star hotels in Africa, remains at a  standstill until they resume relations with the Libyan people

• Canada to formally recognize NTC (http://tiny.cc/vlblj)
• Jordan’s King Abdullah assures NTC-head Mustafa Abdul-Jalil that his government will continue to provide aid to Libyan people (http://tiny.cc/734jx)
• A leading  Libyan opposition figure states that NTC is well-positioned to lead the  transition to a post-Gaddafi Libya as “a certain degree of organization”  has been established (http://tiny.cc/7g4fl)

• Canadian  support is very important and may likely influence America to follow  suit; and further adds credibility to the other 11 recognitions, in  particular Western powers such as Germany and Australia
• Continued  support of NTC allies like Jordan is critical to success of transition  as the humanitarian needs are and will remain significant
• NTC maturing into a more sophisticated government structure, seems more capable to lead transition than in previous months

• Other western  powers, including America, to follow Canada’s suit, and recognize the  NTC as the legitimate political representative of the Libyan people,  until Libyans can transition to a democratically elected nation
• Work to ensure that other friendly nations and governments continue to provide much-needed humanitarian aid to Libyan people
• Democratic  nations to assist NTC in developing institutions and processes necessary  to build a functioning, robust, participatory democracy

• The Libya  Relief Fund launches a nationwide appeal and fundraising campaign  designed to raise awareness of the human and social crisis unfolding in  Libya and educate the general public on the nature of the conflict, the  Feb. 17 movement, and the Libyan people's struggle for freedom and human  rights and the inhumane repression that followed (http://tiny.cc/px7or)
• President Obama works to ease working restrictions on Libyan students studying at U.S. colleges and universities. (http://tiny.cc/mp7f7)

• Libya Relief Fund playing a critical role in building awareness and raising funds to support the Libyan opposition movement
• Ability of  Libyan students living and studying in the United States to work is  critical as they have no other means to support themselves and their  families without scholarship funds; in addition lack access to health  care

• Support Libya Relief Fund’s efforts
• Continue to  seek ways to ensure that Libyan students in U.S. are able to support  themselves, and obtain medical coverage until scholarship funds are able  to flow once again

• The newly  appointed director of the Libyan opposition National Oil Company said  Sunday that he believed it will take ten months to one year after  hostilities end for Libya to restore its oil production to the  pre-crisis level of 1.6 million barrels per day (http://tiny.cc/z0s3e)

• Relatively  long lead time until Libya will be able to enjoy robust oil revenue  makes critical NTC’s efforts to raise funds through other means to  support its governmental activities

• Allow NTC to  access frozen Gaddafi assets to fund government operations and address  both the physical and psychological humanitarian needs of the people in  the country
• Provide  technical expertise and equipment to NTC to aid and hasten the  reconstruction of destroyed oil fields and more rapidly resume oil  production

• U.S. Senate  Banking Committee will vote Thursday on a bipartisan bill to distribute  an initial $4 billion in the Gaddafi government’s frozen assets to the  Libyan people exclusively for humanitarian aid (http://tiny.cc/kn0og)

• $4 billion sum  will significantly aid efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to  Libyan people; will provide the NTC an opportunity to show world that it  can effectively use funds for desired purpose, potentially opening door  for additional distributions of Gaddafi assets

• Other nations to follow U.S.’s lead and allow frozen Gaddafi assets to be used for humanitarian purposes
• Begin  evaluating potential for allowing NTC to use frozen assets for  non-humanitarian purposes, including funding human capital and  technocrats to facilitate Libya’s constitutional development,  post-conflict planning, national reconciliation, democratic elections  and overall nation building processes