"I believe it is the duty of the people to rebel against tyranny." - Saif Gaddafi
Saif completed his "Manifesto" – to have been published by Oxford University Press – calling for civil society and participatory democracy in Libya. It expressed a commitment to move beyond the "hereditary regimes, family rule, military rule, tribal culture and the absence of constitutionalism and rule of law" to a Libya defined by "stable political institutions and a stable code of laws".
He boldly quoted the 17th century English rebel John Bradshaw, proclaiming "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God", adding in his own words: "I believe it is the duty of the people to rebel against tyranny." - Professor Benjamin Barber
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has rejected calls for his father Muammar Gaddafi to step down as
Western powers attacking Libya have made themselves "legitimate targets" for retaliation, the son of Muammar Gaddafi has warned.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi rejected calls for his father to quit Libya as the price of peace with the rebels fighting to overthrow him.
"To tell my father to leave the country, it's a joke, he told the French TV channel TF1. "We will never surrender. We will fight. It's our country.
"We have to fight for our country and you are going to be legitimate targets for us."
Asked if he had a message for the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, one of the prime movers in the Nato offensive, Gaddafi replied: "You are not going to win. You have no chance, zero chance, to win the war here.
"If you are angry with us because we are not buying the Rafale airplanes, you should talk with us," he added, a reference to the Dassault-built French warplane that Paris had been trying to sell to Tripoli before the uprising against Gaddafi.
"If you are angry with us because oil deals are not going well, you should talk to us. Rebels will not give you anything because they are not going to win."
The Libyan leader's son, who like his father is facing an international arrest warrant on charges of crimes against humanity, claimed the regime was prepared to make concessions to some western demands.
"You want democracy, we are ready," Saif said. "You want elections, we are ready. You want, what, a new constitution? We are ready. Ceasefire? We are ready. But, the other side is refusing, all the time."
In an audio message played to tens of thousands of supporters in Tripoli's Green Square on Friday, Gaddafi urged Nato to halt its bombing campaign or risk seeing Libyan fighters descend on Europe "like a swarm of locusts or bees".
The conflict in Libya is in virtual stalemate, with rebels on three fronts unable to make a decisive advance towards Tripoli and growing strains inside Nato about the cost of the operation and the lack of a military breakthrough.
It was reported on Monday that rebel commanders had slowed their advance on Tripoli because they feared an all-out offensive would cause heavy civilian casualties. The rebels were less than 60 miles from Tripoli,British Forces News said, but claimed they were waiting for an uprising in the capital before they attacked.
Libya will be on the agenda at talks between Russia and Nato on Monday in the southern Russian resort of Sochi. Russia has criticised the bombing campaign, saying the mission has lost its original focus on protecting civilians and now aims to remove Muammar Gaddafi.
(Thanks to Cynthia McKinney for supplying us with this)
The complete transcript of Gaddafi's July 1 speech transmitted to the tens of thousands of Libyans at Green Square.
GADDAFI:
Just a year ago
(mathaba) This is a Day of Anger, it’s Day of the Great Challenge, to show the Pride of the Great Libyans.
To show the bravery, to show the existence of Libyans, a Day of Dignity. A Day to be proud of our Martyrs.
This is a historical letter, it will be written by human history, directed by the Libyan people, for Life and for the world to the six continents of the Earth.
History will write that the 1st of July 2011 was a Great Day on the face of history when one people out of the peoples of the earth sent a strong message with the courage to challenge under the bombardment of NATO planes.
It is well known in the history of NATO, known in the history with its 28 countries and Nuclear states but its planes and missiles and bombs crashed under the courage of the Libyan people and the pride of the Great Libyan people.
Listen O world to the voice of Libyan people, the great Libyans, Free Libyans, people who decided to live with pride and to live free and die.
Allahu Akbar (God is Great)!
My friends in Europe: My poor friend Berlusconi, open the Libya channel [on your TV], Sarkozy the poor, my friend open a channel of Libya [on your TV], but I advise you to take tranquilizers before you open Libya channel, because you will be shocked, shocked because you have weak nerves, will not bear what you see in the channel of Libya, the challenge of Libyan people marching in their millions.
The power of the Libyan people that you experience in North Africa, and you my son Obama, ask your employers at the White House to show you Libya channel, I am speaking to you live now, to see the facts in order to know that you are right when you withdraw from madness and the crazy of NATO and from Europe.
You, who is it, in Britain, what's his name? What name? Camera? ah, Cameron! Open the channel of Libya in Downing Street, Open Libya channel if your nerves bear of what you will see, open Libya channel, if you can, you and Berlusconi, Sarkozy and Cameron and others make sure now you are here in the sea. And you are chasing a mirage. And you must be dreaming, you are wrong, you troubled in a battle did not have the expense of it you don’t have experience in this battle.
Withdraw now, go home.
I advise you to withdraw, or everything you have will be destroyed. This people is estimated to convey the battle to the Mediterranean and can transmit it to Europe, can transgress your homes, your offices and your families can be legitimate military targets as you did make our offices and our houses and our children a legitimate military targets.
Reciprocal treatment, tooth for a tooth and eye for an eye and the darker the partner. Child for Child, Family for a Family, House for a House, if we decide we can do it. We are able to move to Europe, like locusts, and like the bees, but I advise you to withdraw before a disaster.
First of all look at the Libyan people, is this a people ruled by a dictator? Is this a people suppressed? This people came from everywhere without an order from Muammar Gaddafi, me myself surprised by all this march, crowds, women, men, families, children, look at families, look at children marched from the masses everywhere.
Who asked them to come?
Did Muammar Gaddafi go to them?
They came by the power of Challenge!
This is courage. This day is a memorable day, the Libyan people send a universal and historical message. It will be written in the history that after 100 days of successive bombardment day and night with rockets and bombs, families, men, women, children came out to the streets and squares filling the streets and squares.
Not only in Tripoli, but in all the Libyan cities, villages and oases, facing Libyan people is a big loss for you, you will lose the battle, its the first time for you to face an armed people. Those people you see is an armed people having machine guns and knives also axes, lastly even with knives. This crowd you have to deal with. I advise you that if you want peace, and you want things to return to what it was before 100 days ago then deal with the Libyan people. Not with Moammer Gaddafi, Moammer Gaddafi isn’t representing the Libyan people, Moammer Gaddafi is a symbol of Libyans.
Look at the people, this is the people, so deal with Libyans! This people is members of 2,000 tribes, deal with the tribal elders, deal with the leadership of the people, the tribal elders in the main meeting with the Basic People’s Congresses.
I don’t want to rule the Libyan people and I can’t say to them accept this or reject or negotiate with this or that, Libyans decide that for themselves, I handed everything over since 1977. Since 77 I gave everything to Libyans, if you want peace come to negotiate with Libyans, if you want oil come negotiate with Libyans, you want Democracy come negotiate with Libyan people. Anything you want, go to Libyans, if you ask how to get that by the basic people’s congresses that Libyans join, all Libyan, men and women, they live democracy, not the system of Moammer Gaddafi, the system of the Libyan people, political system in Libya is the Libyan system of direct democracy, that’s why it will not fall.
Even if some ran! Fear who fear, fall who fall, it will not be worth anything. If 100 Ambassadors ran Libya people are able to bring 1,000 Ambassadors the next day, this not significant, this is not your government. If The Minister of Interior resigned in Italy, the Italian government will fall. But in Libya, if a Secretary goes this is not significant, the basic people’s congresses can bring a number of other Secretaries instead, because the system in Libya is the system of Libyans, direct popular democracy that you don’t know!
You your people are protesting against you, and you see what the Libyan people are doing with Moammer Gaddafi in the fields and squares, compare that between the demonstrations in the EU and with the demonstrations in Libya! You, your people don’t carry your pictures, unless it’s against you, to break your pictures and want you to go down, demonstrations everywhere, asking for real democracy! What’s the real democracy? It means the democracy in Libya should be applied in the EU, your people are telling you that people should rule themselves, as the Libyan people do, in Popular Conferences and People’s Committees, so conferences decide and the committees implement, if Libyan people want to change to any other system they can do that, nobody can represent the Libyan people!
You are provoking the Libyan people, you insulted the Libyan people, when you brought agent traitors and they said they represent the Libyan people! Is this democracy you have? You bring a traitor with your aircraft and you say this is representing the Libyan people, is this democracy? To hell with your democracy if it’s like this, democacy is the democracy of the people. All the people sit on chairs, this is democracy, the experience of the Libyan Will will triumph over Europe and America, Asia, and everywhere in hte world, it will win. The Theory of the Libyan people will win, and the revolution of the Libyan people, the revolution of the great Al-Fateh will win in all the world.
Even the revolution of France had been fought against by Europe’s reactionaries, Royals and fascists, but in the end the revolution of France won, the Era of Republics triumphed, and became bourgeois republics, the system prevailing throughout the world after the revolution of France. Now the Libyan people present to you the Jamahiriya, the last Level after the republic, you fight it or not, the Jamahirya [system of direct people's participatory democracy] will win, and all the world will become a Jamahiriya. Instead of parties, the People’s Congresses will prevail, while the parties will fall. Parties are reactionary tools. This is democracy where popular conferences decide and people’s committees implement, unless if the Libyan people want to change it. Libyan people are free. Libyan people made it and Libyan people can change it.
I advice you to stop your aircraft and don’t let anyone make you fools and make you mercenaries. The owners of the money they make heads of state of Europeans mercenaries along with them, I advice you to deal with the Libyan people, starting from tomorrow especially after the African Summit, the first decision from the African Summit is rejecting the decision of the so-called International Criminal Court as a false one and as a tool of colonialism. Africa rejected this decision.
After that you will say how to deal with the Libyan people, they have basic people’s congresses, all Libyans are in it men and women. You will ask me how to deal with the Basic People’s Congresses? We have a General People’s Congress. You will ask me how to get the General People’s Congress? You will get it at the Secretariat of General People’s Congress you will tell me maybe this not going to happen, you have another way? The Tribes of Libya more than 2,000 tribes, tribes formed the Forum of Tribes from Tobruk to Zawara, you will ask me how to get the forum of Libya Tribes, you will get it at the secretariat formed by the Tribes. I will give you the address, I will not interevene! Never, I gave the Power to the people, I trust the people, and everything to the people, diginity to the people, oil to the people, land to the people, future to the people!
If you want to find a solution go to the Libyan people! Don’t depend on the traitors you brought, those will never be accepted by people, nor by Benghazi, no one will accept them. They deceived you, deceived, deceived you, this is the people that does not accept to be represented by any one on behalf of the people. Representation is fraud!
Open Libya Channel [on your TV] I advice you my friends to open the Libya channel! Bombing isn’t the solution, aircraft isn’t the solution. Dropping weapons on the retreators isn’t benefiting you. And the fifth column of mercenaries in the mountain didn’t do anything for you. You hit what you hit without any benefit for you, you make psychological warfare without benefiting, you lie, and lie, and lie with no benefit coming from your lies, then you search for an exit from this trouble, I’m helping you give you the solution.
Look, look to the streets full of people! EU countries’ streets are full of people who are against their rulers! I challnege you, look at my people they carry my pictures! Today it’s recorded in the world, they recorded that in the history of human kind we see for first time a flag 4.5km long! Its recorded in history now, this flag you see isn’t made by Gaddafi! Yesterday I heard of women who sold their gold to buy green linen, to connect the length of the flag to 4.5km, imagine women sold their gold to make this flag, and shops give some to make this long flag, is this made by Gaddafi? This was made by the people.
To get rid of this conspiracy and dirty game you made and you embroiled yourselves in, don’t deal with Muammar Gaddafi, deal with the Libyan people, they are now challenging you, you see now the anger of the Libyan people, you see the diginity of the Libyan people! Blockades on sea and earth is of no benefit, this is the people, so abandon everything, stop bombing, and deal with the Libyan people, tell the Libyan people forgive us, we thought it’s easy we thought it’s a game, we never thought it’s so dangerous! Look at the masses as the Atlantic, NATO has an Atlantic, we have an Atlantic too, this is SATO against NATO. This is SATO of MASSES, have you ever seen masses like this before? Only when its against you.
You my brothers I talk to you now, if you want to finish this crisis, the solution is in your hands, as you come here to the Green Square, you march to the western mountain, France dropped the weapons by parachute, you took weapons from them, if you want to forgive them you can exempt them if you don’t want it’s up to you. You march on western mountain with million to clean it to Dheba. Then this problem would be finished, and our families who are in Tunisia, who ran from the traitors and the Fifth column who now show themselves, now they are the same as French soldiers they are mercenaries to France, traitors just like the traitors who were with the Italians. Now it’s clear they are with the French soldiers, it’s as if we are fighting the French soldiers in the Western Mountain.
Who got killed from among us is in the Paradise and who got killed from among them is in the Hell. Their women in Tunisia work now for Tunisian women, yesterday Tunisian women were working for Libyan women! Who made Libyan women work as washers and slaves? Where is he? This is who you should be marching on him and capturing him, search for him, who insulted you, there are Libyan women asking for money from Tunisian women, they are servants in Tunisia, what brought you to this situation? Traitors who is with the NATO now, marching now on Western Mountain, clean it track by track, then march with the same million on Misurata and liberate it lane by lane, liberate the families of Misurata that are asking for help, march without weapons, take off the weapons of those gangs, and make Misurata city free, that have your goods, that have iron and your steel plant.
If someone touches the oil in Brega or Alwahat, or the oil which comes to the filter of AlZawyia you should march on it with a million [people], no playing with oil, oil is your life and your childrens' life, you have to securing oil with people, a million should be marching to protect oil. Prepare yourself women and men to settle the the battle, it’s in your hands, and the victory is close if you resist and march, such is this march, marching on those who NATO stands with, then NATO will not find anyone to depend on, they will know there is one people challenge! Brave, NATO will surrender and go home, then the solution is in your hands, you can settle the battle in several days, and the bombing will stop and blockade will finish, and everything will be finished when you control all your land, then they will come to say we want to deal with you since you are the land’s owners, the excellencies and we were wrong we never thought Libyan people are like this.
Battle is in your hand. Oh thanks, thanks I see your hand, I see your hand thanks, thanks live, live, oh you look, look look what women have written on their hands, and you there your people inslulting you, your people insulting you, the battle finish it fast. This is not a battle of a regular army, this is a battle inside the houses, inside families, gangs come to a building to control it and make human shields. Take children and make them bed, thanks mama I see you, I see you, oh I see "Muammar Only" [written on ladies' hands in henna 'Muammar wa Baz'].
Let them see, in EU and USA in all the world let them see, we have to finish the battle as soon as, and the battle is in our hands, if they want to negotiate with us then welcome, they are losers, they don’t have hope in mercenaries nor by dropping weapons by parachute, even with bombs, or rockets, they tried it 100 days and it’s all failing. Nothing they have to under go to the will of Libyans, then hurry and march on the mountain and on Misurata, then everything will be finished, Benghazi will come it’s not impossible, Benghazi everyday there are marches, everyday explosions, everyday, that’s meaning traitors can't exist there, Sarkozi who put them, they will rule Libyan people is it reasonable? This is Nonsense.
Prepare men and women to march in front of the world, as you are marching now, marching tomorrow and after and in the coming days, on all places where traitors are and the fifth column, and on the mercenaries who are killing your sons everyday. Everyday they’re killing your sons by NATO aircraft, and by the protection of NATO aircraft. Take off their weapons, all tribes should march, all masses should march men and women, we are doing our duty in front of history and we will not betray our great past, the sacrificing of our grandfathers, and we will not fail our children and the next generations, and we will not fail the future, and will not betray the past.
Here the Brave and the pride, we are the owners of the right, we are in our land, the land of our grandfathers, we will never leave it, and we will die for it, this is our duty, our duty, glory for you O Brave, glory for you O Libyans, this is the glory, this is the Brave, This is the Pride, GO AHEAD GO AHEAD The struggle continues until victory!
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