Nicolas Sarkozy: Crime and Punishment?

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is under investigation for allegedly receiving millions of euros in illegal election campaign funding from Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi. This must be placed in the broader context of war crimes by Western heads of state.

Gilbert Doctorow
By Gilbert Doctorow
Former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, left, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, pose during a ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris in December, 2007. (Patrick Hertzog/AP)

The relationship between Sarkozy and Gaddafi fits the pattern of the old mafia joke: “You’re my friend. I kill you for nothing.” Two news items jostled for attention on the front pages of mainstream newspapers and news bulletins of the main television channels on the Old Continent last week. One was the Sergei Skripal “nerve agent attack” and

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Was Nicolas Sarkozy’s Role in Taking Out Gaddafi More Personal than Geopolitical?

While the other nations were primarily involved in Libya’s destruction for geopolitical and economic reasons, Sarkozy may have been chiefly interested in saving his own skin – an effort that may have been all for naught, depending on how the French investigation proceeds.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
Former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, left, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, pose during a ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris in December, 2007. (Patrick Hertzog/AP)

PARIS – Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was arrested Tuesday and indicted last night on charges related to the illegal funding of his successful 2007 campaign for president. The investigation, which began nearly five years ago, has focused on illegal campaign contributions Sarkozy’s campaign received from Muammar Gaddafi, the former leader

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Sex Slavery, ISIS & Illegal Arms Trade: Libya Plunged Into Failed State After US invasion

Six years after the U.S. helped “moderate rebels” overthrow Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has gone from enjoying the highest standard of living in Africa to a failed state. Sex slavery is rampant, the illegal arms trade has proliferated and ISIS maintains a strong presence.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
A sniper from Misrata fires towards ISIS militant positions in Sirte, Libya, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016.

Today’s Libya is virtually unrecognizable from Libya of years past. Following the violent ouster of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, things have taken a turn for the worse as the north African nation declines further into failure. One example of Libya’s steep decline has been the proliferation of the illegal arms trade. In 2014, the

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Freedom For Saif al-Islam Gaddafi! Freedom For Libya!

In a convoluted political picture, one must see beyond simply “good guys” and “bad guys,” and instead understand that while there are indeed good guys and bad guys, some of the good guys are sometimes bad, while some of the bad guys are sometimes good.

Eric Draitser
By Eric Draitser
Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, speaks to the media at a press conference in a hotel in Tripoli, Libya.

The news that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the assassinated leader of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Muammar Gaddafi, has been released from captivity is one of the most significant developments in Libya in some time. For while the Western corporate media would like people to believe that the Gaddafi name is dead and buried, the fact remains that

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Libya Grapples For Control Over Its Eastern Ports

An extraordinary standoff between the Libyan navy and eastern rebels, who are attempting to complete the first independent sale of oil by a non-state body, shows just how unstable Libya is.

Les Neuhaus
By Les Neuhaus
Mideast Libya

In a show of how unstable Libya is right now, authorities there captured, then lost, then re-captured an oil tanker bearing North Korean flags after it docked and departed from an oil port controlled by rebels in Eastern Libya. In the aftermath of the debacle, the nation’s legislative branch, the General National Congress, fired Prime Minister Ali

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Ports Standoff in Libya’s East Destabilizing Entire Nation

Rebels in the east seized oil facilities months ago and now want to do international business, but is the central government strong enough to fend off the crisis?

Les Neuhaus
By Les Neuhaus

Militias in eastern Libya said this week they would sell oil from seized facilities to foreign companies and protect arriving tankers, leaving government officials scrambling to keep the country unified as multiple groups demand autonomy and threaten to pull the country apart. As Tripoli has steadily lost ground in certain quadrants of the

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