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.
'West aims to neo-colonize N Africa'
Interview with the editor of the Pan-African News Wire, Abayomi Azikiwe
To watch the Press TV News Analysis program featuring Abayomi Azikiwe just click on the website below:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/196711.html
Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:47AM GMT
Genocide, racism and the forced removal of millions in Libya are part of a Western scheme to re-conquer and neo-colonize North Africa, says a political analyst.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, the editor of the Pan-African News Wire, to discuss the current events in Libya. Below is a transcription of the interview.
Press TV: Speaking about what's happening in Sirte now, before we move on with the discussion of how NATO is involved with all of this, presuming that the rebel fighters do capture Sirte, does this mean that they have achieved victory and the violence is going to be over now?
Azikiwe: No, it does not mean that the National Transitional Council (NTC) has achieved victory. We always have to keep in mind the primary role of the US and NATO in this whole war. This is something that has been planned for many years. Even the 'Operation Mermaid Dawn,' according to public accounts over the last ten days, had been planned for some ten weeks. We have to understand that we've had intensive US and NATO bombing of this country now for well over five months. With 20,000 sorties, approximately 7,500 airstrikes, and thousands of people have lost their lives, hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs and have been displaced.
There's a mounting humanitarian crisis going on right now in Tripoli, as well as other parts of the country, because NATO forces and their NTC allies have attacked the oil industry, factories, water-supply systems, communication installations, and hospitals over the last 6 months. We recently saw the conditions that existed in the Abu Salim Hospital in south Tripoli.
Just several days ago there were hundreds of people who were left to die in very deplorable conditions. This is happening in many different areas of Libya right now. This is clearly a war against the people of Libya, and there is no plan on the part the NTC, they do not have the capacity to form a provisional government. This is quite clear. You talk about the potential resistance from people who support the revolution of Gaddafi. That is on-going. There is fighting that is still taking place in Tripoli, in Sirte, and areas in the western part of the country.
There is still shelling of Misrata, and also the border area that fell just several days ago. But at the same time, if we look at the political dynamics of the NTC itself, they're not a cohesive group. There is bound to be some split within the group itself. What NATO has done is created a horrible situation and with the deployment of the UN and the western nations' military forces, this is going to bring about even more instability.
Press TV: Tell us what you think NATO's role has been in this? Do you think it is to blame for failing to rather investigate who these people are or for even purposefully not trying to see who is running the affairs there? What are these allegations about al-Qaeda about? And for being to hasty to recognize the rebels as the soul representatives of the revolution?
Azikiwe: Well they saw an opportunity to intervene in Libya, something that had been planned for years. We have to keep in mind people like Hefter who had been here in Virginia, and for decades had been supported by the America Central Intelligence Agency. He was flown back to Libya in February to head up the rebellion. I think that the Western industrialized countries including the US, wanted to take full control of the oil industry in Libya, and the natural gas industry in Libya. The country is strategically located in North Africa.
Libya is the most prosperous country in Africa. All we have to do is look at the actions of the ruling class in the US. Even the CIA fact-book says this. The CIA, which has been no friend to the Libyan government, at least over the past two years.
If you read that (CIA Fact Book) it indicates very clearly, that there has been tremendous economic growth in Libya over the last 42 years, under the Gaddafi government. Even according to the CIA, they have one of the highest standards of living in Africa. They have been involved in many projects, the development of water resources there, the oil industry, also supporting other African nations on the continent.
This is why the African Union is withholding recognition of the rebels in Libya, because of the racism that they have been exhibiting over the last several months. We have had dark-skinned Africans in Libya who have been put in prison, tortured and even lynched. This has been documented in videos. Villages where the majority were dark-skin inhabitants have been cleared out in areas in the eastern and western regions of Libya. This has been a process of genocide, racism, and also forced removal of millions of people inside Libya. Also, the refugees who have taken flight to Tunisia have also been victims of this kind of racial discrimination. This has done a lot to destroy relations between so-called Arabs and Africans inside North Africa. This process is part of the plan of the US-Africa Command, the Pentagon plan to re-conquer and neo-colonize areas throughout North Africa and throughout the entire African continent. Other countries have been targeted as well in this whole process.
So, I do believe very firmly that this is a plot on the part of NATO to seize control of the resources of Libya for the benefit of the ruling classes and oil industries in the US, as well as Western Europe.
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