Court orders arrest of Gadhafi, son, key aide

TRIPOLI, Libya – Thousands of jubilant Libyans danced and cheered in the streets of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant Monday for Moammar Gadhafi, accusing him of crimes against humanity for killing civilians who rose up against his rule.

The court order raised pressure on the Gadhafi regime, already targeted by daily airstrikes, and NATO clearly hopes it will encourage key allies to abandon him. But it also gives Gadhafi less incentive to accept a peaceful settlement that would see him leave power — something he has shown no indication of doing — because of the subsequent threat of arrest.

The court in The Hague, Netherlands, lacks police powers, and the force most likely to arrest Gadhafi appears to be the rebels battling to oust him.

At the United Nations, political affairs chief B. Lynn Pascoe said the rebels now hold a tenuous military advantage over Gadhafi's forces. The rebels have failed to penetrate the Libyan leader's center of power in Tripoli and conceded Monday they are unlikely to detain Gadhafi on their own.

Warrants were also issued for Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, whom he has groomed as his successor, and for Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi. All three men were accused of orchestrating the killing, injuring, arrest and imprisonment of hundreds of civilians during the first 12 days of an uprising to topple Gadhafi from power, and for trying to cover up their alleged crimes.

Presiding Judge Sanji Monageng of Botswana said Gadhafi had "absolute, ultimate and unquestioned control" over his country's military and security forces. She said prosecutors presented evidence showing that following popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, Gadhafi and his inner circle plotted a "state policy ... aimed at deterring and quelling by any means — including by the use of lethal force — demonstrations by civilians against the regime."

Hundreds of civilians were killed, injured or arrested, and there were "reasonable grounds to believe" that Gadhafi and his son were both responsible for the murder and persecution of civilians, she said.

Gadhafi's regime rejected the court's authority and dismissed the charges as politically motivated.

"This court is nothing but a cover for the military operations of NATO," said Justice Minister Mohammed al-Qamudi. "The ICC does not really mean anything for us Libyans because we are not party to it and because it's merely a political tool for exerting pressure and political blackmail against sovereign countries. ... It has become clear that it's a tool of imperialism."

Hours after the arrest warrants were announced, dozens of pro-government supporters stormed the grounds of a Tripoli hotel where foreign journalists are required to stay, chanting slogans in support of the leader, who has held power since 1969. Defiant bursts of gunfire rang out across the capital into the evening.

By contrast, thousands of Libyans poured into Liberty Square in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi, with women ululating and dancing and several men shooting celebratory gunfire in the air. The square echoed with chants of: "The blood of the martyrs will not be wasted" and "Freedom is here. Today we win."

Benghazi resident Mohammed al-Nazeif, 35, said the warrants made for the happiest day in his life.

"We want Gadhafi to be tried in Libya in front of everyone. Even if we die, our children will do the job," he said. "We never felt like we are human beings until today."

The warrant was the second issued for a sitting head of state since the court began work in 2002. Judges have twice issued warrants for Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.

The al-Bashir warrants underscore the court's key shortcoming: He has repeatedly exposed the impotence of a court without its own police force by traveling to friendly nations without being arrested. But he also has canceled other trips for fear he could be detained and sent to The Hague.

International war crimes prosecutors count on such isolation eventually marginalizing and weakening leaders to the point where they lose the support of important allies, paving the way for arrests.

Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic ended up in court at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal years after he was first indicted for fomenting the Balkan wars. Former Liberian leader Charles Taylor also has been brought before a war crimes tribunal in the Netherlands.

The White House called the court's decision one more indication that Gadhafi has lost his legitimacy. Spokesman Jay Carney said the ICC's action underscores the need for justice and for holding Gadhafi accountable.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen echoed that sentiment in Brussels.

"It reinforces the reason for NATO's mission, to protect the Libyan people from Gadhafi's forces," he said, adding that the Libyan leader and his supporters need to realize that "time is rapidly running out for them."
NATO has been conducting daily airstrikes against military targets in Libya for the past 100 days under a United Nations resolution to protect civilians.

On Monday morning, loud explosions shook Tripoli. Libyan officials said two NATO missiles targeted Gadhafi's personal bus inside his Bab al-Aziziya compound.

Journalists were taken to see a heavily damaged, burned out bus inside the compound two hours after the strike. It didn't appear to have been struck recently, however, since it was cool to the touch. No one was reported killed.

Also on Monday, an anti-Gadhafi youth group called the Free Generation Movement posted a video showing activists trying to set fire to a large street poster of Gadhafi, apparently in the heart of Tripoli. The poster was partially damaged with soot clearly blackening part of Gadhafi's face.

It wasn't possible to independently verify when and where the video was filmed.

GOP, Democrats seem to harden stance on debt

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama plunged into deadlocked negotiations to cut government deficits and raise the nation's debt limit Monday, and the White House expressed confidence a "significant" deal with Republicans could be reached. But both sides only seemed to harden their positions as the day wore on, the administration insisting on higher taxes as part of the package but Republican leaders flatly rejecting the idea.

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., for about 30 minutes at the White House, and then met with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky for about an hour in the early evening.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama reported after the morning session that "everyone in the room believes that a significant deal remains possible." But Carney also affirmed that Obama would only go for a deficit-reduction plan that included both spending cuts and increased tax revenue, an approach that Republicans say would never get through Congress.

Said Carney: "It's the only way to get it done if you want to do it right."

Obama and the vice president spent more time with McConnell than they did with Reid, an indication of the differences they still need to bridge. McConnell also was seen speaking with White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley moments before his meeting with Obama and Biden.

"The meeting concluded but they will continue to talk," McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said afterward.
Hours earlier McConnell reaffirmed Republican opposition to more tax hikes in a speech from the Senate floor.

"It's time Washington take the hit," he said, "not the taxpayers."

McConnell said any tax increase or new spending would be counterproductive to economic recovery, and he pointed out that Democrats had been unable to pass tax increases on the wealthy when they controlled both chambers of Congress last year.

"Let's move past tax hikes, talk about what's actually possible, and let's talk about what has and hasn't worked over the past two years," said the Kentucky Republican.

Reid said, "I hope my Republican colleagues will put the economy ahead of politics." Speaking on the Senate floor, he said, "I hope they'll join us to create jobs and set aside their desire to please the tea party and defeat President Obama."

At issue is not just the staggering national debt but a showdown on the federal borrowing limit that carries enormous risks.

Absent an agreement that cuts long-term deficits, Republicans say they will not vote to increase the nation's borrowing, which will exceed its $14.3 trillion limit on Aug. 2. The administration has warned that if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling, it could mean the first U.S. financial default in history and send economic shockwaves around the world.

To meet government obligations, a two-year increase in the debt ceiling would have to be about $2.4 trillion. Republicans are insisting on deficit reduction of a similar amount over 10 years.

So far the financial markets remain unrattled by the impasse, and some say it might take a massive market upheaval to move Congress to pass an increase in the debt ceiling. That's what it took in 2008 for Congress to approve the financial bailout known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Politically, raising the debt ceiling is considered a more difficult vote than the bank bailout plan.

Failure to raise the ceiling "would do serious damage," Said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics whose views are frequently cited by the Obama administration. "It will unhinge the already very fragile collective psyche."

Zandi said a deficit reduction plan that includes some tax increases would be "more credible and more appropriate from an economic perspective."

But he said that if Republicans are being asked to give up their deep-seated opposition to tax increases, then Obama needs to abandon a major campaign promise, such as his demand that the wealthy give up their Bush-era tax cuts.

"The president needs to take a chance himself, and do something that shows he's willing to give up something that's very large to move this forward," Zandi said in an interview.

The president stepped up his personal involvement in negotiations after bipartisan talks led by Biden stalled last week. Republican lawmakers abandoned the negotiations, saying the issues still on the table had to be addressed by the president.

Obama already has met privately with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and with House Democrats.
Until Friday, Biden had held a series of meeting over several weeks with bipartisan teams from the House and Senate, focusing on areas where the two sides were amenable to cuts until the dispute over taxes caused Republicans to walk out.

Carney rejected suggestions that Obama should have become more involved earlier. "If you honestly believe that the public is out there wondering why the president wasn't in every one of these meetings, you know, I think that's nuts."

The White House is pushing for some tax increases on the wealthy or the elimination of tax breaks for big companies and wealthy individuals as part of a deficit-cutting plan. During the Biden-led negotiations, Democrats proposed about $400 billion in additional tax revenue, including ending subsidies to oil and gas companies, an idea that has failed previously in the Senate.

The administration also would tax private equity or hedge fund managers at higher income tax rates instead of lower capital gains rates, change the depreciation formula on corporate jets and limit itemized deductions for wealthy taxpayers. It also has called for repealing a tax benefit for an inventory accounting practice used by many manufacturers.

Republicans are demanding huge cuts in government spending. While they are insisting there be no tax increases, they have been willing to consider other forms of revenue, particularly higher user fees.
"Revenues have never been off the table," said Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Senate's Republican participant in the Biden talks. "There are some user fees that are probably way low compared to when they were originally set."

Obama's budget wants $85 billion in new user fees over 10 years, including raising the airline passenger security fee from a maximum of $5 per one-way trip to $11. Other proposals range from Food and Drug Administration food inspection fees to duck hunting fees.The $85 billion also includes federal auction of parts of the broadcast spectrum and the sale of surplus federal property.

Complicating matters is the congressional schedule. While the Senate is in session, the House is off this week ahead of the July 4 holiday. The House is scheduled to return next week when the Senate will be away. That makes it difficult for leaders in both chambers to find consensus among their respective memberships.
"It will take time, and that is a bit troublesome," Kyl said. "It will take time to both reach the agreement, to put it all together and to debate it on the floor. Nobody wants this to be just parachuted in three days before they vote on it. They want time to take it back to their constituents, talk about it, debate it on the floor."
Carney wouldn't set a deadline for a deal, saying he didn't want to name a "token timetable." He said Obama and Biden would hold additional meetings with congressional lawmakers, though none is scheduled at this point.

Jury convicts ex-Ill. Gov. Blagojevich at retrial

CHICAGO (AP) — Rod Blagojevich, who won two terms as Illinois governor before scandal made him a national punch line, was convicted Monday of a wide range of corruption charges, including trying to sell President Barack Obama's Senate seat.

The verdict, coming after his first trial ended last year with the jury deadlocked on most charges, was a bitter defeat for Blagojevich, who spent 2½ years professing his innocence on reality TV shows and later on the witness stand. His defense team insisted that hours of FBI wiretap recordings were just the ramblings of a politician who liked to think out loud.

Blagojevich becomes the second straight Illinois governor convicted of corruption. His predecessor, George Ryan, is now serving 6½ years in federal prison.

When sentenced later this year, Blagojevich is virtually certain to get a significant prison term that experts said could be 10 to 15 years.

After hearing the verdict, Blagojevich turned to defense attorney Sheldon Sorosky and asked "What happened?" His wife, Patti, slumped against her brother, then rushed into her husband's arms.

Before the decision was read, the couple looked flushed, and the former governor blew his wife a kiss across the courtroom, then stood expressionless, with his hands clasped tightly.

The verdict capped a long-running spectacle in which Blagojevich became famous for blurting on a recorded phone call that his ability to appoint Obama's successor to the Senate was "f---ing golden" and that he wouldn't let it go "for f---ing nothing."

The 54-year-old Democrat, who has been free on bond since shortly after his arrest, spoke only briefly with reporters as he left the courthouse, saying he was disappointed and stunned by the verdict.

"Well, among the many lessons I've learned from this whole experience is to try to speak a little bit less, so I'm going to keep my remarks kind of short," Blagojevich said, adding that the couple wanted "to get home to our little girls and talk to them and explain things to them and then try to sort things out." His two daughters are 8 and 14.

The case exploded into scandal when Blagojevich was awakened by federal agents on Dec. 9, 2008, at his Chicago home and was led away in handcuffs. Federal prosecutors had been investigating his administration for years, and some of his closest cronies had already been convicted.

Blagojevich was swiftly impeached and removed from office.

The verdict provided affirmation to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, one of the nation's most prominent prosecutors, who, after the governor's arrest, had condemned Blagojevich's dealings as a "political corruption crime spree."

On Monday, he said the key question for the jury was whether to accept the defense suggestion that Blagojevich's activities amounted to "the kind of political wheeling and dealing that is common in Illinois and around the country."

"That," said Fitzgerald, his voice rising, "couldn't be any further from the truth. ... Selling a Senate seat, shaking down a children's hospital and squeezing a person to give money before you sign a bill that benefits them is not a gray area. It's a crime."

Fitzgerald also addressed a question that has hung over the case ever since Blagojevich was arrested: Why did authorities not wait until the governor actually made a deal for the Senate seat? Doing so might have helped ensnare other conspirators.

A U.S. Senate seat "should not be put up for sale. You should not let the sale happen. ... Our job is to try to prevent crime, not just prosecute crime," he said.

Fitzgerald pledged to retry the governor after the first jury failed to reach a decision on all but the least serious of 24 charges against him.

On Monday, the jury voted to convict on 17 of 20 counts after deliberating nine days. Blagojevich also faces up to five additional years in prison for his previous conviction of lying to the FBI.

Blagojevich was acquitted of soliciting bribes in the alleged shakedown of a road-building executive. The jury deadlocked on two charges of attempted extortion related to that executive and funding for a school.
Judge James Zagel has barred Blagojevich from traveling outside the area without permission. A status hearing to discuss sentencing was set for Aug. 1.

The charges carry a possible sentence up to 300 years in prison, but federal guidelines mean he will serve only a fraction of that.

Judges have enormous discretion in sentencing and can factor in a host of variables, including whether a defendant took the stand and lied. Prosecutors have said that Blagojevich did just that.

Two legal experts speculated that Blagojevich would probably receive around 10 years in prison, with little chance that he would get more than 15.

Former prosecutor Jeff Cramer estimated that Blagojevich would get between six and 12 years. Another former assistant U.S. attorney, Phil Turner, guessed closer to six years.

All 12 jurors — 11 women and one man — spoke to reporters after the verdict, identifying themselves only by juror numbers. Their full names were to be released Tuesday.

Jurors said the evidence that Blagojevich tried to secure a high-paying, high-powered position in exchange for the appointment of Obama's successor in the Senate was the clearest in the case.

"There was so much more evidence to go on," said Juror No. 140. Jury members said they listened and re-listened to recordings of Blagojevich's phone conversations with aides. They also acknowledged finding the former governor likable.

"He was personable," Juror No. 103 said. "It made it hard to separate what we actively had to do as jurors."
Still, Juror No. 140 said she found Blagojevich's testimony over seven days at times "manipulative."
"Our verdict shows that we didn't believe it," she said.

The quiet Blagojevich who left the courthouse Monday was a sharp contrast with the combative politician who emerged after his arrest. Back then, he called federal prosecutors "cowards and liars" and challenged Fitzgerald to face him in court if he was "man enough."

Over the months that followed, he engaged in what many saw as embarrassing indignities for a former governor. He sent his wife to the jungle for a reality television show, "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here," where she had to eat a tarantula. He later showed his own ineptitude at simple office skills before being fired on Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice."

For the second trial, prosecutors streamlined their case, and attorneys for the former governor put on a defense — highlighted by a chatty Blagojevich taking the witness stand for seven days to portray himself as a big talker but not a criminal.

Richard Kling, a professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law who watched much of the trial, said the defense had no choice but to put Blagojevich on the stand, even though doing so was risky.

"The problem was with some of his explanations," Kling said. "It reminded me of a little kid who gets his hand caught in a cookie jar. He says, 'Mommy I wasn't taking the cookies. I was just trying to protect them and to count them.'"

Robert Grant, head of the FBI's Chicago office, said the agency's eavesdropping helped seal the verdict.
"A famous artist once said that lady justice is blind, but she has very sophisticated listening devices, and that was certainly the case in this matter," Grant said.

Blagojevich seemed to believe he could talk his way out of trouble from the witness stand. He sought to counteract the blunt, greedy man he appeared to be on FBI wiretaps and apologized to jurors for the four-letter words that peppered the recordings.

He said the wiretaps merely displayed his approach to decision-making: to invite a whirlwind of ideas — "good ones, bad ones, stupid ones" — then toss the ill-conceived ones out.

When a prosecutor read wiretap transcripts where Blagojevich seems to speak clearly of trading the Senate seat for a job, Blagojevich told jurors, "I see what I say here, but that's not what I meant."

Lead prosecutor Reid Schar started his questioning of Blagojevich with a quick verbal punch: "Mr. Blagojevich, you are a convicted liar, correct?"

After the judge overruled a flurry of defense objections, Blagojevich eventually answered: "Yes."