Arab news Qaddafi troops issued Viagra in rape warfare, UN told By LOUIS CHARBONNEAU | REUTERS
Published: Apr 29, 2011 10:48 Updated: Apr 29, 2011 10:48 UNITED NATIONS: The US envoy to the United Nations told the Security Council on Thursday that troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi were increasingly engaging in sexual violence and some had been issued the impotency drug Viagra, diplomats said. Several UN diplomats who attended a closed-door Security Council meeting on Libya told Reuters that US Ambassador Susan Rice raised the Viagra issue in the context of increasing reports of sexual violence by Qaddafi's troops. "Rice raised that in the meeting but no one responded," a diplomat said on condition of anonymity. The allegation was first reported by a British newspaper. Pfizer Inc's drug Viagra is used to treat impotence. Diplomats said if it were true that Qaddafi's troops were being issued Viagra, it could indicate they were being encouraged by their commanders to engage in rape to terrorize the population in areas that have supported the rebels. That would constitute a war crime. Several diplomats said Rice provided no evidence for the Viagra allegation, which they said was made in an attempt to persuade doubters the conflict in Libya was not just a standard civil war but a much nastier fight in which Qaddafi is not afraid to order his troops to commit heinous acts. "She spoke of reports of soldiers getting Viagra and raping," a diplomat said. "She spoke of Qaddafi's soldiers targeting children, and other atrocities." Rape as weapon? Rice's statement, diplomats said, was aimed principally at countries like India, Russia and China, which have grown increasingly skeptical of the effectiveness of the NATO-led air strikes, which they fear have turned the conflict into a protracted civil war that will cause many civilian deaths. Most council members, diplomats said, had expected Qaddafi's government to collapse quickly. They said the frustration felt by India, Russia and China would likely grow if the war dragged on. The use of rape as a weapon during wartime has received increasing attention at the United Nations. Last year, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed a special envoy on sexual violence during armed conflict, Margot Wallstrom. Earlier this month, Wallstrom chided the Security Council for failing to mention sexual violence in two recent resolutions on Libya, despite having made the subject a priority. Wallstrom said at the time that reports of rape in Libya remained unconfirmed but she cited the highly publicized case of Eman Al-Obaidi, the woman who burst into a journalists' hotel in Tripoli last month saying she had been raped by pro-government militiamen. The International Criminal Court is already investigating whether Qaddafi's government committed war crimes in its violent crackdown against demonstrators who demanded greater freedoms. The crackdown sparked a rebellion that has turned into a civil war. The US mission to the United Nations declined to comment. © 2010 Arab News ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
