Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Interviewed on Press TV: 'NATO Violates UN Decree in Libya'

Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, appearing on Press TV to discuss the escalation of US/NATO bombing of the North African state of Libya on July 18, 2011. The imperialists have been at war with the Gaddafi government for five months., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

'NATO violates UN decree in Libya'

To watch this interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of Pan-African News Wire, just log on to the URL below:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/189735.html

Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:2AM GMT

Libya deals with more NATO bombardment as the northern alliance destroys Tripoli's International Airport radar antenna which is a violation of international law.

In an interview with Press TV, Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of Pan-African News Wire, discusses the current situation in Libya.

Press TV: NATO had already been accused of overriding the UN resolution and now the attack on the international airport's radar is being called a violation of international law. Is NATO going too far?

Azikiwe: Well, of course this is a part of an overall pattern of the escalation of the bombing in Libya. Just yesterday on July 17 anywhere between 60 and 75 ordinances were dropped on Tripoli and also in the eastern suburb of Tajura, and it's really an escalation of the ongoing conflict that has been carried out for the last four months in that oil producing North African state.

The UN resolution 1970 and United Nations resolution 1973 have both been violated, even according to what the Security Council had intended initially in regard to passing these resolutions several months ago. What has happened is that the French have violated the UN resolution 1970 by doing air drops of weapons to the TNC rebel forces inside the country, and of course 1973, [which] merely called for the protection of civilians.

Yet we have the bombing of civilian installations, government communication satellites, schools have been hit, ports have been hit, and [along with] other commercial facilities inside the country. As well as civilians, many of them in the hundreds have been killed in this bombing inside of Libya, and this represents only the continuation of that same policy that has been carried out by the United States and NATO.

Press TV: A US state department official has confirmed talks between US officials and Gaddafi representatives. The Gaddafi side says this is the first step in repairing ties but Washington says it was asking Gaddafi to step down. Why do you think this meeting was held?

Azikiwe: I believe that the US state department and the White House are looking for a way out of this conflict. As I have acknowledged before, the bombing has been going on now for four months [and] the government in Tripoli is not budging. In fact over the last two weeks we have seen demonstrations of hundreds and thousands in Tripoli and in other cities in the western region of Libya in support of the government. Just yesterday, Colonel Gaddafi spoke via audio tape to people inside of Libya saying that the government would not surrender, that they would not compromise with NATO.

At the same time the NATO forces are showing divisions within its own ranks. The Dutch government said that they are going to halt their air attacks over the country. Norway has already said that August 1 is going to be their deadline. So, with the NATO alliance breaking up in regard to this war, the US and other western European countries are looking for a way out. This is the only reason why they gave the recognition to the Transitional National Council just this past Thursday after their meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. But it really doesn't make any difference in regard to the actual conditions that are taking place on the ground in Libya. It doesn't matter if they recognize the the TNC or not, because it has very little impact on the concrete conditions that are taking place right now involving the war inside Libya itself.

Press TV: A lot of questions have been raised about what is going to happen to the frozen Libyan assets once that TNC council has been recognized. People are saying that those large sums of money could be falling into the wrong hands.

Azikiwe: Well, I don't believe for one minute that those tens of billions of dollars are going to be handed over to the TNC forces. They have already pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to the opposition forces and there has never been any mention in regard to the accountability of what has happened to those funds.

So, I believe very strongly that this is just a cover to loot the national treasury of Libya, and to loot their foreign assets. We are talking about a hundred and twenty billion dollars in foreign assets. There is thirty billion dollars here in the United States that have been frozen. So, I don't think that money is going to be turned over to the TNC, they are claiming that they have no money to continue their campaign against the Libyan government. It is just a cover to confiscate more resources from the government and the business people inside of Libya.