Hundreds of Muslims under the banner Coalition Against Violence and Western Domination (CAVWED) on Thursday went on a demonstration through the main streets of Tamale to protest against NATO’s bombing of Libya.
They presented a petition to the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Bukari Mabengba, for delivery to the US and French embassies in
Ghana.
“We strongly condemn the systematic attempts made by foreign powers to deny the people of Libya the right to self-determination,”
the petition said adding that Libyans must be allowed to determine the legitimacy of the ruling regime and not the Security Council of the
United Nations or any other foreign power.
The petition, read by Sheikh Sahid Abubakar, Leader of Ambareya Muslim Group in Tamale, said “We note with deep regret the manner in which the international community ignored ordinary Libyans’ opposition to any form of foreign intervention and plunged the whole country into a state of insecurity” adding “there is virtually no evidence that the vast majority of Libyans supported any form of foreign intervention in an internal conflict”.
It said the No-Fly-Zone intended to maintain peace had rather escalated the military conflict in the country, causing more suffering than the rebel aggression.
It said “war can never be used to improve humanitarian crisis” adding “We therefore, reject any persuasive attempt to brand the rebels as pro-democracy forces just to turn round and demonize Libyan forces (state military) as pro-Gaddafi forces”.
The petition said the allied assault on Libya had dire consequences on the economy of all African countries especially Ghana, citing the return home of about 16,000 Ghanaian nationals from Libya, including a possible cut-off of Libyan scholarship schemes amongst other interventions to other African countries.
It said the interest of the western powers’ assault on Libya was because of her oil saying they were using the humanitarian crisis as a
diversion of people’s minds from their main objective, which were the Libya’s oil reserves.
It called on the international community to allow the African Union’s Peace and Security Council to resolve the conflict in Libya saying the A.U had the capacity to do so.
The petition called for the adoption of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration to build peace in Libya.
Receiving the petition, Mr Mabengba assured that he would forward it to the appropriate quarters.