- CAIRO: The secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference has condemned the bloody crackdown on protests in Libya, and has called on Moammar Qaddafi’s regime to stop “targeting innocent Libyan people.”
In a statement released Tuesday, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu strongly criticized the Libyan government’s use of excessive force against civilians. He said the nation’s authorities should resolve demonstrators’ demands through “peaceful means and serious dialogue” rather than bloodshed.
The situation in Libya has become increasingly chaotic since Qaddafi’s forces began to try and put down protests against his regime last week.
The OIC is an umbrella organization representing 57 Muslim nations.
In Geneva, Switzerland, the United Nations' top human rights official called for an international investigation into the violent crackdown by Libyan security forces against peaceful protesters.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay says widespread and systematic attacks against the civilian population “may amount to crimes against humanity.”
In a statement Tuesday she condemned the “callousness with which Libyan authorities and their hired guns are reportedly shooting live rounds of ammunition at peaceful protesters.”
Pillay also urged the international community to condemn the violence and make “unequivocal commitments to ensure justice is rendered to the thousands of victims of this repression.”
