New prosecutor chosen for Gitmo military tribunals (AP)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The U.S. Defense Department has announced a new chief prosecutor for the military tribunal trials at Guantanamo Bay.

Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins will be in charge of prosecuting Guantanamo detainees charged with war crimes and other crimes. He succeeds Navy Capt. John Murphy, who has served as chief prosecutor since May 2009.

Martins is currently working in Afghanistan and will take over the position in October.

A Defense Department statement Thursday says Murphy will return to civilian life as an assistant U.S. attorney in Louisiana.

(This version CORRECTS that Murphy is returning to Louisiana, not Martins.)

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Egypt's Mubarak unfit for prison move: prosecutor (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt's public prosecutor said on Tuesday that ousted President Hosni Mubarak was in no condition to be transferred to a prison hospital and would remain in a health facility in a Red Sea resort for the time being.

Mubarak, overthrown on February 11 after a popular uprising, has been detained since mid-April in a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh, rather than in a prison medical center, after it was reported that he suffered heart problems during initial questioning.

A medical team determined that Mubarak should not be transferred "outside of Sharm el-Sheikh hospital at the current time and to hire a specialized medical team to oversee his treatment," the prosecutor said in a statement.

"The committee examined the patient in his intensive care room and found that he is clearly frail and depressed and cannot leave the bed without assistance," it said.

It added that the Torah prison hospital on Cairo's outskirts was "unsuitable for a patient in a critical condition."

Mubarak was ordered last week to stand trial for the killing of protesters, corruption and wasting public funds. The charges, which he has denied, include "premeditated killing," a crime which is punishable by death.

The timing of the illness meant he has not joined other former officials in jail and has fueled talk that he was getting special treatment from the army. The military now ruling Egypt deny this and say the case is in the hands of the judiciary.

The six-member medical team appointed by the prosecutor found Mubarak had low blood pressure, weak blood circulation to the brain resulting in frequent fainting and an irregular heartbeat, leaving him at risk of sudden heart attack, the statement said.

It noted he suffered from tumors in his gall bladder and pancreas, for which he has had operations in the past.

(Reporting by Dina Zayed; editing by Michael Roddy)

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War crimes prosecutor targets Gaddafi and allies (Reuters)

THE HAGUE/TRIPOLI (Reuters) – The world's top war crimes prosecutor sought an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, accusing him of killing protesters who want an end to end his four-decade rule.

International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo also asked judges, who must now see if there is enough evidence to issue warrants, for the arrest of Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam and his spy chief brother-in-law Abdullah al-Senussi.

In the uprising, civilians were attacked at home, protests were suppressed using live ammunition, heavy artillery was used against funeral processions and snipers deployed to kill people leaving mosques after prayers, the prosecutor said on Monday.

"We have strong evidence, so strong evidence," Moreno-Ocampo said, adding: "We are almost ready for trial ... Gaddafi ruled Libya through fear and Libyans are losing that fear now."

The prosecutor's office had received calls from senior officials in the Gaddafi government in the past week to provide information. Prosecutors spoke with eyewitnesses to attacks and assessed evidence from 1,200 documents, plus videos and photos.

In central Tripoli, NATO airstrikes hit two buildings on Tuesday, including one which a Libyan spokesman said contained files detailing corruption cases against government officials who had defected to the rebels.

Officials summoned reporters after the attack in the early hours to visit the two damaged buildings which they said housed internal security forces and Libya's anti-corruption agency. One building was in flames.

Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said the anti-graft agency had held files on former supporters of Muammar Gaddafi who had joined the rebels. "We believe that NATO has been misled to destroy files on their corruption cases," he said.

There was no immediate reaction to Ibrahim's comments from the rebel leadership, based in the eastern city of Benghazi. Ambulances were at the scene of the buildings on either side of a street although there was no sign of any casualties.

OIL CHIEF

Arab television channels reported late on Monday that Shokri Ghanem, chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation, had defected. It was not possible to verify the reports immediately and Libyan officials in Tripoli were not available for comment.

Al Arabiya television quoted sources in the rebel Transitional National Council as saying that Ghanem had defected and joined rebel ranks. Al Jazeera reported he had defected and left Libya, without giving details.

Thousands have been killed in the conflict in the North African state, the bloodiest of the revolts which have convulsed the region in what has been called the "Arab Spring."

NATO, which has been hitting targets in Libya for nearly two months, appeared to step up its bombing campaign on Monday with strikes in several towns and cities including Tripoli, according to Libyan state television and rebels.

On the diplomatic front, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the United Nations was working on the removal of Gaddafi to exile to make way for a new government, and a Libyan government delegation was expected in Moscow on Tuesday.

Libyan officials have denied killing civilians, saying instead they were forced to take action against criminal armed gangs and al Qaeda militants. They say the NATO bombing campaign is an act of colonial aggression aimed at grabbing Libya's oil.

PERSECUTION, TORTURE

Moreno-Ocampo said persecution was still taking place in areas under Gaddafi's control with forces arresting, imprisoning and torturing alleged dissidents. Some had disappeared.

Prosecutors are also investigating reports of mass rapes, war crimes committed by different parties and attacks against sub-Saharan Africans wrongly seen as mercenaries once the Libyan situation developed into an armed conflict.

Libyan officials have already denounced the ICC, saying the court is a creation of the West for prosecuting African leaders. The Libyan rebel council has welcomed the move.

State-run television in Libya reported there were NATO strikes on Tripoli, the town of Zawiyah about 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital, the western Tripoli suburb of Tajoura, and on the town of Zuara, 120 km west of Tripoli on Monday.

In each case strikes hit military and civilian targets and caused "material and human losses," it said.

A rebel spokesman in the town of Zintan, southwest of Tripoli, told Reuters by telephone that NATO had been hitting government weapons depots about 30 km from the town.

(Reporting by Joseph Nasr in Berlin, Steve Gutterman in Moscow, Peter Apps in London, David Brunnstrom in Brussels, Sami Aboudi in Cairo; Writing by Peter Millership and Sylvia Westall; editing by David Stamp)

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Prosecutor seeks Gaddafi arrest over protest deaths (Reuters)

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – An international prosecutor on Monday sought an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi accusing him of committing crimes against humanity by killing protesters during an uprising against his 41-year rule.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, International Criminal Court prosecutor, also asked judges, who now need to see if there is enough evidence to issue warrants, for the arrest of Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam and his spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi.

Moreno-Ocampo signaled his action earlier this month when he said he would seek three arrests for the "pre-determined" killing of protesters in Libya after the U.N. Security Council referred the violence to the Hague-based court in February.

"The office gathered direct evidence about orders issued by Muammar Gaddafi himself, direct evidence of Saif al-Islam organizing the recruitment of mercenaries and direct evidence of the participation of al-Senussi in the attacks against demonstrators," Moreno-Ocampo said at the ICC on Monday.

Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict in the North African oil-producing desert nation, the bloodiest of the revolts which have convulsed the Middle East in what has been called the "Arab Spring."

The prosecutor moved with unprecedented speed in his investigation into the early violence in the uprising against Gaddafi's rule, with the request for arrest warrants coming just 2-1/2 months after the Security Council referral.

He added the office of the prosecutor also documented how the three held meetings "to plan the operations" and Gaddafi used his "absolute authority to commit crimes in Libya."

Libyan officials have already denounced the ICC prosecutor's action, saying the court is a creation of the West for prosecuting African leaders.

"IMPATIENTLY WAITING"

Rebels welcomed the prosecutor's move.

"We have been impatiently waiting for such a decision. It is an important decision," said Belkacem, a rebel spokesman in the besieged city of Misrata. "Gaddafi hasn't stopped killing our brothers in all areas across Libya."

Libyan officials deny killing civilians, saying instead they were forced to take action against criminal armed gangs and al Qaeda militants. They say a NATO bombing campaign is an act of colonial aggression aimed at grabbing Libya's oil.

Moreno-Ocampo said the swiftness of his investigation stems from global consensus that the crimes committed in Libya had to be investigated, although judges will now need to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed with the warrants.

He said the office of the prosecutor documented how the three named held meetings "to plan the operations" and Gaddafi used his "absolute authority to commit crimes in Libya."

The ICC has no police force and relies on member states to enforce arrests. Despite NATO bombing operations intended to protect civilians, Libya has been plunged into civil war, seriously complicating efforts to arrest ICC suspects.

Moreno-Ocampo had said his request for warrants would be based on "strong evidence," which would include photographs, video footage and the testimony of government insiders.

Libya is not an ICC member state and is therefore not obliged to arrest the court's suspects.

"The request for these warrants is a reminder to all in Gaddafi's regime that crimes will not go unpunished and the reach of international justice will be long," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said.

Three months after a revolt began against Gaddafi's four-decade rule, fighting between rebels and government forces on several fronts has come to a near-standstill and Gaddafi is refusing to bow to efforts to force him from power.

EXILE FOR GADDAFI

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, asked about the possibility of arranging exile for Gaddafi, said: "If we talk about it now, we'll burn this possibility."

"We're obviously working with the United Nations on finding exactly this way out," he told Canale 5 television on Monday.

"A political way out that would remove the dictator and his family from the scene and allow the immediate creation of a government of national reconciliation," he said.

NATO warplanes, acting under a U.N. mandate to protect civilians, have stopped government troops advancing on rebel strongholds but the collapse of Gaddafi's rule, which many Western governments seek, has not materialized.

After a series of air strikes on his Bab al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli, Gaddafi taunted the Western military alliance, saying in an audio recording that he was in a place where NATO could not reach him.

Responding to remarks at the weekend by a senior British commander that NATO needed to broaden its range of targets, a spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday: "Targets are a matter for NATO."

The spokesman said: "We are not seeking to broaden or change the, or seek a new, U.N. resolution."

NATO said it conducted 147 air sorties on Saturday, 48 of them strike sorties that aim to identify and hit targets but do not always deploy munitions. Targets included surface-to-air missile launchers, ammunition stores and artillery pieces.

The uncertain direction of the Libyan conflict poses a dilemma for Western governments. They face voters who are impatient for quick results and want to avoid a repeat of the long-drawn-out fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

An inconclusive outcome is likely to limit Libyan oil exports, keeping world prices high, and drive thousands more migrants to risk death crossing the Mediterranean to Europe.

Previous NATO bombing campaigns, especially in Kosovo in the late 1990s, showed that more aggressive targeting carries with it the risk of civilian casualties.

In Tripoli -- where foreign reporters operate under restrictions on their movement -- the outward signs were that Gaddafi's administration was holding firm.

Security officials in North Africa and elsewhere warn al Qaeda's north African branch could exploit the chaos of a long conflict in Libya to acquire weapons and recruit followers.

(Reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers, Tarek Amara and Sylvia Westall in Tunisia, Mariam Karouny in Beirut and Silvia Aloisi in Rome, Aaron Gray-Block in The Hague, Matt Falloon and Adrian Croft in London, James Mackenzie in Rome, David Brunnstrom; Writing by Peter Millership; Editing by Giles Elgood)

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Prosecutor: Mubarak at risk if moved

Hosni Mubarak has been living in Sharm el-Sheikh since the unrest forced him out of office on February 11.Hosni Mubarak was ordered moved to a military hospital in CairoFormer president's medical team says a move is too riskyAuthorities are investigating Mubarak in deaths of activists during recent uprising in Egypt

Cairo (CNN) -- Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak won't be moved to a military hospital in Cairo because his health has deteriorated and transferring him may be life threatening, the country's prosecutor-general said Tuesday.

Adel Saeed, the prosecutor's spokesman, said the Interior Ministry, which is organizing the move, made the decision after Mubarak's medical team submitted a report that determined he would be at risk if he were transferred.

Mubarak has been under detention at a hospital in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, and Egyptian authorities ordered that he will be transferred to Tora Prison hospital.

Authorities are investigating Mubarak in the deaths of hundreds of activists during the recent uprising in Egypt. He is also being probed on allegations of corruption and misuse of state funds.

The former leader has been living in Sharm el-Sheikh since the unrest forced him out of office on February 11. He entered the hospital because of health problems including heart palpitations and blood pressure issues.

A team of prosecutors questioned Mubarak on Friday about the deaths of the protesters, the prosecutor-general's office said. Mubarak was also questioned about the negotiation of a gas deal with Israel at prices that were allegedly below international standards.

The prosecutor-general's office said that amounted to a waste of public funds.

Mubarak's two sons, Ala and Gamal, are in custody in Cairo, and the prosecutor's office has decided to renew their detentions for another 15 days.

They are being probed for their roles in settling payments of Egypt's debts, commissions for exports of gas to Israel, intervention in issues related to mandatory partnerships in some foreign businesses operating in Egypt, involvement in issues related to privatization of businesses and evaluation and sale of stocks of these companies, the prosecutor said.

CNN's Mohamed Fadel Fahmy contributed to this report.

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