News you may have missed #541

Libyan rebels

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
►►Western-aided Libyan rebels use child soldiers as young as seven, loot towns and abuse civilians. Few in the West would argue that Libyan strongman Muammar al-Gaddafi is a humanitarian leader who deserves international support. It is way too often the case, however, that the Libyan rebels, who have been doggedly fighting Gaddafi for months, are portrayed in the West as angels in military fatigues. Two recent underreported articles from Libya may be worth noting in this respect. In one of them, a British war correspondent supplies substantial photographic evidence to show that anti-government rebels routinely use child solders as young as seven to fight in the civil war, which is both unethical and illegal. In another report, the New York-based group Human Rights Watch, tells Reuters news agency that Libyan rebel fighters who captured villages from forces loyal to Gaddafi have looted shops, burned homes and beaten civilians suspected of supporting the Libyan leader. This raises the question of what will happen to the masses of pro-Gaddafi supporters if the rebels capture the entire country? Should neighboring nations (including Libyan opposition supporters France and Italy) be preparing for an unprecedented exodus of pro-Gaddafi supporters? ►►UK politicians demand extra powers to hold spies to account. In Britain, meanwhile, a group of parliamentarians calling themselves The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), have called for immediate measures to improve the transparency and accountability of the country’s intelligence services. In a report issued a few days ago, the ISC said the Parliament should have the ability to order, rather than simply request, intelligence agencies to provide information on administration, policy and operational issues. The report includes all three of Britain’s paramount intelligence agencies, namely MI5, MI6 and GCHQ. ►►British government revives GCHQ VOIP interception plann. Speaking of the GCHQ, which is Britain’s communications interception agency, the British government has announced that it will revive the previous (Labour) administration’s Counter Terrorism Strategy (aka CONTEST) program. The £2 billion program includes provisions to strengthen GCHQ’s technical ability to intercept and decipher VOIP encryption systems, such as those associated with Skype communications. Last time the British government tried to enact CONTEST, the plan was shot down by privacy advocates and telecommunications companies. Also, for CONTEST to have any meaning, GCHQ will first have to stop the leak of their technology experts to the private sector –specifically to companies like Microsoft, Google and Amazon, where they can make nearly three times the average GCHQ wage.