Libyan justice focus of U.N. report

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TRIPOLI, Libya, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Human rights and the rule of law are cornerstones for a strategy to implement a national reconciliation program in Libya, a U.N. diplomat said.

A report from the U.N. Support Mission in Libya recommends a reconciliation program as part of a transitional justice strategy.

Ian Martin, U.N. special envoy to Libya and head of UNSMIL, said Libya is at a "critical juncture" nearly a year after longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi was killed after falling into rebel hands.

"For democracy to be fully achieved in Libya, human rights and the rule of law must prevail and long-lasting reconciliation must be achieved," he said in a statement.

Libyan authorities said as many as 50 people were arrested following a deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. The head of Libya's General National Congress told CBS News last weekend that some of those arrested were al-Qaida sympathizers.

Former Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi was extradited from Mauritania to Libya in early September. He, along with Gadhafi's son Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of committing crimes against humanity during last year's civil war.

The government in Tripoli maintains the right to try former regime officials in its national courts.