Rod 2.0:Beta #gay #news #lgbt #gaynews

LIBYA: Thousands of Black Africans Arrested as Suspected Mercenaries

PHOTOS: AP

There is an escalating human rights crisis unfolding in Libya. "Thousands" of Black Libyans and migrants from sub-Sahara Africa have been randomly detained by rebel forces and militia. The detainees have been accused of being suspected mercenaries and hired from neighboring countries such as Chad and Niger to fight for the ousted Gadhafi regime, reports the New York Times.

But Libya has a black population of its own, and many black migrant workers were trapped in the country when the conflict began. And it seems that plenty of the black Africans captured as mercenaries were never actually involved in the fight.

The chairman of the African Union, Jean Ping, said that Libya’s Transitional National Council “seems to confuse black people with mercenaries” as [the NYT] reported. There are documented cases of mercenaries from elsewhere, including an ethnic Croatian named Mario who was interviewed in Time magazine last week.

Amnesty International issued a statement on Tuesday saying that people suspected of fighting for Colonel Qaddafi, “in particular black Libyans and sub-Saharan Africans, are at high risk of abuse” by rebel forces. The statement said that Amnesty representatives were told on recent visits to detention centers in al-Zawiya and Tripoli that one-third to half of the detainees there were from sub-Saharan Africa.

The Associated Press:

Oil-rich but with a relatively small population of 6.6. million, Gadhafi's Libya welcomed hundreds of thousands of black Africans looking for work in recent decades. Many young citizens of Mali and Niger who flocked to Libya in the 1970s and 1980s were recruited into an "Islamic Legion" modeled on the French Foreign Legion. In addition, Gadhafi's military recruited heavily from black tribes in Libya's south.

In February, witnesses reported African fighters shooting at protesters or being captured by anti-Gadhafi forces. Witnesses have described scores of mercenaries being flown in to put down the rebellion, although many of the fighters already were in Libya. As a result, people with roots in sub-Saharan Africa and black Libyan citizens have been targeted by rebel forces in the messy and confusing fight for control of the country.

African Union Chairman Jean Ping says there are reports that some Black Africans have been summarily executed.

Channel 4 News in Britain reported the frightening story of detained Blacks who literally begged journalists not to leave a roadside checkpoint because they feared for their lives. In that case, the men "appeared to be telling the truth" that they were not mercenaries and were allowed to leave.

WATCH: President Obama Defends U.S. Involvement in Libya

 

President Barack Obama made the case for U.S. and NATO involvement in military action against Libya during a speech last night at the National Defense University in Washington D.C..

The President framed the short address in "stark strategic and humanitarian terms," noted USA Today. Obama said the United States could not idly stand by while a tidal wave of democratic aspirations "spreading across the Middle East were 'eclipsed by the darkest form of dictatorship' at the hands" of the murderous Moammar Gadhafi."

President Obama also pushed back against critics who want the U.S. to broaden its mission beyond that narrowly defined by the United Nations Security Council. "To be blunt, we went down that road in Iraq," Obama said. "Regime change there took eight years, thousands of American and Iraqi lives and nearly a trillion dollars. That is not something we can afford to repeat in Libya."

Were you satisfied with the President's response? Or do you believe the U.S. should not have lead yet another military intervention in the Middle East? Watch the full speech AFTER THE JUMP ...

NEWS: Syria, Doug Spearman, Celia Cruz, Cory Booker, Louis Smith

NATO to enforce no-fly zone over Libya. 

Lindsay Lohan becomes "Lindsay." 

Noah's Arc alum Doug Spearman lands role on All My Children.

Celiz Cruz and Tito Puente are honored with U.S. stamps.

  Sweden replaces stamps with text messages. "Users will send a text to the postal service, and receive a code. That code gets scribbled on a piece of snail mail and voilà! It's ready to be sent."

Syrian troops open fire on protesters. "Human rights groups said that since protests began seven days ago in the south, 38 people had been killed by government forces—and it appeared that many more were killed on Friday. Precise details were difficult to obtain Friday because the government sealed off the area to reporters and denied access to the country to foreign news media."

Boris Kodjoe cast in television pilot.

  Pommel horse hotness Louis Smith wins gold in Paris.

Michelle Obama to deliver commencement address at Spelman.

GOP recall drive ahead of schedule in Wisconsin: "Dems say they’ve gathered more than half the signatures they need to hold elections to recall GOP Senators and are now flatly predicting they’ll take back the state senate."

Attention size queens! World penis size chart.

A cautionary tale: Black, gay NYC escort shares story of "hustling, drug addiction, bareback sex, AIDS, depression."

Soulja Boy in grief over the death of his brother.

AT&T's $39 billion deal to acquire T-Mobile faces "steep climb" for approval.

NYT profiles Newark Mayor Cory Booker's constant use of Twitter: "Part of Mr. Booker’s success is his real-world networking with the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey and Brad Pitt, but a huge part is his social networking dexterity. He’s quick, for obvious reasons, to mention Facebook as well as Twitter. Still, the most striking part is his Twitter feed, with its crowdsourcing on local problems, motivational snippets, Dalai Lama-citing, Springsteen-quoting and general air of hyper-caffeinated hyper awareness.

REPORT: Usher Donates Gadhafi Money to Amnesty International

This is major. Not only has Usher reportedly donated the substantial fee he received from Mutassim Gadhafi—the son of Col. Muammar Gadhafi and the Libyan national security adviser coordinating the bloody crackdown that has killed thousands—but he donated it to Amnesty International.

Usher said Friday he's "sincerely troubled" to learn he appeared at a concert in St. Bart's linked to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's family and plans donate his concert fee to human rights organizations. Usher did not perform but was paid to appear at the private concert featuring Beyonce in 2009.

"I am sincerely troubled to learn about the circumstances surrounding the Nikki Beach St. Bart's event that took place on New Year's Eve 2009, " he said in a statement released to The Associated Press. "I will be donating all of my personal proceeds from that event to various human rights organizations."

The statement said Usher made a contribution Friday to Amnesty International, which the organization confirmed. The group said Usher requested the donation amount be private.

Earlier this week, Beyonce and Nelly Furtado renounced their performances at private concerts for the Gadhafi family. The Libyan leaders are responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians in Libya, where entire cities and provinces are revolting against the dictatorship. The entertainers have promised to give their fees to charity or said they have already done so.

Gadhafi and his sons face investigation for war crimes.

And as for Mariah Carey?

Carey said she was unaware of whom she was performing for and "embarrassed." She announced she will donate royalties for the song "Save the Day," which she has written for her upcoming album, to charities that create awareness for human-rights issues.

You Should Read ...
Beyoncé Donated Gadhafi Millions to Haiti Relief
Furtado to Donate Gadhafi Money to Charity
WIKILEAKS: Beyonce, Usher, Mariah Performed for Gadhafi Son

REPORT: Beyoncé Donated Gadhafi Millions to Haiti Relief

Bravo to Team Beyonce. The pop icon reportedly donated the $2 million she received to perform for Mutassim Gadhafi—the son of Col. Muammar Gadhafi and the Libyan national security adviser coordinating the bloody crackdown that has killed thousands—to Haitian earthquake relief.

Beyonce gave the money away as soon as she learned of Mr Gaddafi's connection to the concert at a private party on the Caribbean island of St Barts on December 31, 2009, spokeswoman Yvette Noel-Schure said.

"All monies paid to Beyonce for her performance at a private party at Nikki Beach St Barts on New Year's Eve 2009... were donated to the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti over a year ago," she said. "Once it became known the third party promoter was linked to the (Gaddafi) family, the decision was made to put that payment to a good cause."

Earlier this week, singer/songwriter Nelly Furtado tweeted she is donating the $1 million she was paid for a private concert for Libya's Gadhafi family.

Excellent decisions by Furtado and Beyoncé, who obviously do not want their brands associated with the carnage in Libya. And continued silence from Usher, Mariah Carey, 50 Cent and others who were also paid millions to entertain the blood-thirsty Libyan leader ... responsible for ordering  soldiers to spray  unarmed civilian crowds with machine guns and helicopter and bomber strikes against civilian targets, among other atrocities.

Speak now or possibly be forced to testify in a war crimes trial. The International Criminal Court in The Hague announced today that it will investigate Gadhafi, his sons, key aides for crimes against humanity.

You Should Read ...
Furtado to Donate Qaddafi Money to Charity
WIKILEAKS: Beyonce, Usher, Mariah Performed for Qaddafi Son

Nelly Furtado to Donate $1 Million in Gadhafi Money to Charity

 

Bravo and much respect to Nelly Furtado, who Tweeted that she cannot keep the $1 million she was paid for a private concert for Libya's Gadhafi family. Furtado will donate the sum to charity.

Continued silence from Beyoncé, Usher, Mariah Carey, 50 Cent and others, who were paid millions to perform for Mutassim Gadhafi, the son of Col. Muammar Gadhafi and the Libyan national security adviser coordinating the bloody crackdown that has killed thousands in the past two weeks. In addition to ordering soldiers and mercenaries to spray civilian crowds with machine guns, the Gadhafis have also ordered helicopter and bomber strikes.

Those celebrities' position has become even more tenuous: The United Nations has referred Mutassim Gadhafi, his brothers and Col. Muammar Gadhafi to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes.

Music industry sources acknowledge most artists are "probably not" told exactly who pays for many of these extravagant private parties ... but most do not care. Metallica agent Dennis Arfa tells Rolling Stone, "Not every artist is a humanitarian. In more cases than not, for people, greed rules."

It's a good thing that Beyoncé and Usher already cashed their checks. The United States is moving warships toward Libya and has frozen $30 billion in Libyan assets. Britain has also frozen billions in Libyan assets.

WIKILEAKS: Beyonce, Usher, Mariah Performed for Gadhafi Son

UPDATE: Switzerland blocks all Gadhafi assets.

  Beyoncé, Usher and Mariah Carey were paid millions to perform for Mutassim Gadhafi. The son of Col. Muammar Gadhafi and the Libyan national security adviser believed to be coordinating the bloody crackdown that has killed hundreds this week.

That according to confidential State Dept cables leaked by WikiLeaks and published by the New York Times. The intelligence describes the Gadhafi sons as ruthless, "hard-partying, womanizing" and obscenely extravagant, spending millions in petrodollars as the country starves and heads into a bloody civil war.

  After New Year’s Day 2009, Western media reported that Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, a son of the Libyan leader Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, had paid Mariah Carey $1 million to sing just four songs at a bash on the Caribbean island of St. Barts.

Seif indignantly denied the report — the big spender, he said, was his brother, Muatassim, Libya’s national security adviser, according to an American diplomatic cable from the capital, Tripoli. It was Muatassim, too, the cable said, who had demanded $1.2 billion in 2008 from the chairman of Libya’s national oil corporation, reportedly to establish his own militia. That would let him keep up with yet another brother, Khamis, commander of a special-forces group that "effectively serves as a regime protection unit." [...]

A year ago, a cable reported that proliferating scandals had sent the clan into a "tailspin" and “provided local observers with enough dirt for a Libyan soap opera." Muatassim had repeated his St. Barts New Year’s fest, this time hiring the pop singers Beyoncé and Usher. An unnamed "local political observer" in Tripoli told American diplomats that Muatassim’s "carousing and extravagance angered some locals, who viewed his activities as impious and embarrassing to the nation."

Beyoncé was reportedly paid $2 million for her private performance.

Days before the 2010 concert, another brother, Hannibal, fled London after being accused of brutally abusing his wife. Libyan diplomat advised the wife to tell "police that she had been hurt in an 'accident'," cables show.

Only two years before in 2008, Hannibal and his wife were arrested in Geneva for allegedly beating several servants at a luxury hotel. The Gadhafi were released  two days later but the Libyan leader was "so enraged by his son's two-day detention" that he "had two Swiss businessmen arrested, cancelled most flights between the two states and withdrew about $5bn from his Swiss bank accounts," reports The Guardian.

Why should pop stars care if they're partying with dictators who order soldiers to spray crowds of unarmed people with machine guns? "They're getting paid," right?

UPDATE: Switzerland blocks all Qaddafi assets.