Australian FM minister to visit Libya to seek Melinda Taylor release

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr will visit Libya to personally push to release the four delegates of the International Criminal Court, including Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor, who has been reportedly detained by authorities in Libya since June 7 and to 45 days in preliminary detention.

The International Criminal Court delegation comprises an Australian lawyer, as well as Russian, Spanish and Lebanese nationals are accused of smuggling documents to Seif al-Islam Qaddafi.

The Libyan authorities want to try Seif al-Islam Qaddafi on charges of suppressing opposition protests under the former regime while the ICC wants to try him for crimes against humanity.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press news reported that at least 15 people were killed and 89 more injured in tribal clashes which resumed in southern and western Libya last Wednesday.

As a result of the violence, the Libyan government has declared a "military zone" and deployed troops in the west of the country.

BBC news reported according to security source that the area includes the mountainous towns of Zintan, Mizdah and Shegayga, some 150 kilometres south of Tripoli.

According to Press TV news, Libya's Prime Minister Abdel Rahim al-Kib's office said in a statement that the interim government orders all parties to immediately stop their fire.

"The government has ordered the army chief and the interior ministry to consider the area of clashes a military zone using all means of force to stop any shooting against innocent civilians," the statement added.

However, Libyan TV said that 20 people have killed and over 100 wounded since the interim government declared a mountainous area a war zone .

Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/06/18/221276.html