Abu Dhabi // A top Libyan official and long-time English translator for Col Muammar Qaddafi said the government would remain defiant in the face of "foreign intervention" on behalf of an uprising in the east of the country.
Fuad Zlitny, who was described recently in confidential US government cables as "Qaddafi's translator and personal aide", said in an interview from Tripoli yesterday that Nato forces were "driving the country towards a civil war, rather than sending observers for mediation".
"The feel here is that there is a foreign intervention. There is injustice. There is cowboy business," Mr Zlitny said. "It's a plot by the Arab League, by the secretary general of the Arab League, by Al Jazeera."
The government, he said, would continue to "resist" foreign intervention in Libya.
Mr Zlitny's defiant comments came as a team from United Nations was in Tripoli to investigate allegations of human-rights violations since a crackdown on protesters began in February and armed conflict with rebels took place across the country.
The three investigators are charged with probing alleged abuses from all parties: the Libyan regime of Col Qaddafi, the rebels and Nato forces. There have been of reports over the last two months of disappearances, torture and murder at the hands of Col Qaddafi's forces, but his aides deny they have committed violations of human rights.
Mr Zlitny said that Western forces and their allies across the Middle East and North Africa were in violation of the UN-sanctioned military assault on the Libyan regime after a bombing earlier this week of Col Qaddafi's official residence in Tripoli, and other attempts on his life.
"The whole compound was destroyed," said Mr Zlitny, whose office was inside the compound. "It has been there for almost 50 years. It has nothing to do with military operations. Everybody knows it; all the ministers, all of the heads of state, they know this. (Former British prime minister) Tony Blair came and had a cup of tea here."
The attack on the offices, located in the Bab al-Aziziya compound, amounted to an assassination attempt on Col Qaddafi, he said, echoing concerns raised by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
The countries enforcing a no-fly zone and pressuring Col Qaddafi to step down as leader of Libya have "no morals, no ethics, no Security Council resolutions", Mr Zlitny said.
"For them, might is right and underline it 10 times," he said. "What I am saying reflects the feeling of the normal Libyan citizen. Any Libyan would say that. It's a plot from day one."
"Give me one reason why Qatar goes to war with Libya?" he said. "Why are the Emirates going to fight Libya?"
bhope@thenational.ae
The%20specs
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Correspondents
By Tim Murphy
(Grove Press)
The specs
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1. Alice Debany Clero (USA) on Amareusa S 38.83 seconds
2. Anikka Sande (NOR) For Cash 2 39.09
3. Georgia Tame (GBR) Cash Up 39.42
4. Nadia Taryam (UAE) Askaria 3 39.63
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
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How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?
If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.
Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.
Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.
Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).
Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.
Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.
By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.
As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.
Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.
He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”
This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”
Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.
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