The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor Tuesday urged Muammar Gaddafi's aides to help arrest him, as the Libyan leader lashed out at an ICC warrant against him for crimes against humanity.
On the ground, rebel fighters captured an arms depot from Gaddafi forces in the desert near their mountain enclave southwest of Tripoli in a boost for their resupply, an AFP correspondent at the scene said.
Human rights bodies and the West, meanwhile, hailed the ICC's move against Gaddafi on Monday that came on the 100th day of a NATO bombing campaign.
Libya rejected the warrants issued for Gaddafi, 69, his son Seif al-Islam, 39, and the head of Libyan intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi, 62, for atrocities committed in a bloody uprising that began mid-February.
The ruling is a 'cover for NATO which is still trying to assassinate Gaddafi,' said the justice minister, Mohammed al-Gamudi.
The deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaaim, said the ICC 'functions as a European foreign policy vehicle.
'It is a political court which serves its European paymasters,' he said, adding: 'Our own courts will deal with any human rights abuses and other crimes committed in the course of conflict in Libya.'
But ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Libya's regime could 'be part of the solution' by implementing the arrest warrant.
'Gaddafi's inner circle is the first option. They can complement the arrest warrants,' he said at a press conference in The Hague.
'They can be part of the problem and be prosecuted, or they can be part of the solution, working together with the other Libyans to stop the crimes,' Moreno-Ocampo said.
In the latest fighting around the southwestern mountains, the rebels on Tuesday captured a network of bunkers in the desert around 25 kilometres from the hilltown of Zintan, the AFP correspondent said.
The capture of rockets, machine guns and other munitions was a major boost for rebel hopes of driving on to Tripoli from the frontline on the other side of the Nafusa Mountains, which now lies just 50 kilometres from the capital.
Hundreds of rebel fighters, accompanied by local civilians, combed through the warren of caches, some of which had been blown up in air strikes but with others remaining intact.
The rebel fighters overcame heavy multiple rocket fire from loyalist troops to seize their booty. Rebel commanders said they also ambushed a government convoy, destroying three vehicles.
Source : New Age
