Gistonflame's Blog

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was once the heir apparent to his father’s regime but is now wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity during his father's brutal efforts to put down the 2011 rebellion against his rule. His candidacy was announced by officials in the Libyan Popular Front party during a news conference in Tunis on Monday. Khaled Guel told al-Araby al-Jadeed, a pan-Arab newspaper, that Libya needed to get past recent divisions."The humanitarian situation is deteriorating and the path forward is unclear. Therefore many Libyans now believe that the only way to save the country is through Saif al-Islam," he said. Saif al-Islam had been held by a militia in the town of Zintan for six years after his father was driven from power by rebels. His whereabouts are unknown but officials with the Libyan Popular Front said he would soon address the nation about his plans. New Telegraph

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who spoke while addressing State House Correspondents in Abuja, however, admitted that the government negotiated with the sect. He said, “The girls were released unconditionally, no money changed hands. They (Boko Haram insurgents) only had one condition – that they will return them to where they picked them. So, in the early hours of today, they did return the girls and most of them went to their parents homes. Like I said in the statement released to you early, once violence and confrontation was ruled out and negotiation started, there was a deliberate pause on the part of the military; in other words, it was agreed that there will be no force, there will be no confrontation, that was why it was possible for them to drop the girls. It was part of the agreement that when they release the girls, there will be no violence or confrontation. And don’t forget that the lives of this children are much more important to us than any cheap v...