Unrest reported in Libya

[High_Gravity]

China: ‘We Will Respect Libya's Choices'

China will respect the choice of the Libyan people and hopes that the situation there stabilizes quickly, the country's Foreign Ministry has said today as rebel forces battle for Tripoli.

The Chinese government may maintain publicly that it doesn't interfere in other nations' internal affairs, but it has been careful to hedge its bets over the unfolding civil conflict in Libya. It surprised many, for example, when it announced in June that it would receive envoys from the anti-government Libyan rebels, a shift from its usual position of only engaging with the recognized governments of other states on political issues. This followed the equally surprising move by Beijing to abstain from a UN vote on military action, rather than vetoing it.

China:

 

[High_Gravity]

Libyan rebels tighten grip on Tripoli

Reporting from Cairo— Rebels pouring in from the countryside strengthened their grip on much of the Libyan capital, setting up checkpoints and securing buildings even as longtime leader Moammar Kadafi evaded their grasp and pockets of his loyalists continued to put up fierce resistance.

Heavy fighting rumbled around Kadafi's Bab Azizia compound in southern Tripoli, and throughout the capital rebels said they had sustained heavy losses. The opposition forces claimed control of about 80% of the city, which was at once jubilant with waving flags and precarious with the rattle of gunfire.

Attention quickly focused on how the Transitional National Council, the rebels' governing body, would impose order on a fractious tribal nation battered by six months of revolt. The rebels are prone to divisions and Western officials worry that power struggles and the desire for revenge may threaten stability much as they did after the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

But the rebels' sense of momentum suffered a blow early Tuesday when Kadafi's son and onetime heir apparent, Seif Islam, appeared at a Tripoli hotel that remained in the hands of Kadafi's forces. The rebels had claimed Sunday that they had captured him. Another son, Mohammed, was reported to have escaped rebel custody.

Kadafi's tanks and snipers took strategic positions in several Tripoli neighborhoods. Still, it was uncertain if the mercurial man who referred to himself as Brother Leader and ruled the nation for nearly 42 years could muster a potent counterattack.

NATO indicated that it would continue its airstrikes against the Libyan leader's army. That poses a high risk of civilian casualties in Tripoli, a dense urban landscape with more than 1.6 million people. But the pressing question for rebel leaders and NATO commanders was Kadafi's whereabouts. Unlike on previous days, the Libyan leader released no new audio broadcasts.

In comments to reporters, Seif Islam said his father remained in Tripoli.

"We do not know if he is inside or outside Libya," Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the head of the rebel government, said during a news conference in the eastern city of Benghazi, the insurgents' de facto capital.

Underscoring the importance of that question in a country emblazoned with Kadafi's image and shaped by his personality, one Tripoli resident said: "We cannot feel peace. We cannot feel victory until we see Kadafi captured."

East of Tripoli, rebels said Kadafi's forces were retreating from Port Brega on the coastal highway toward Surt, Kadafi's birthplace and tribal stronghold. Kadafi's forces reportedly fired a Scud missile from near Surt on Monday; the target was unclear.

The rebels received support from governments around the world, including Egypt, which is struggling to build a democracy after its revolution overthrew President Hosni Mubarak in February. The United Nations said it was organizing a meeting with the Arab League and African Union to help Libya emerge from Kadafi's legacy.

Libya rebels tighten grip on Tripoli - latimes.com

 

[High_Gravity]

Libya Rebels Attack Gaddafi Compound

TRIPOLI, Libya -- Fierce fighting erupted around Moammar Gadhafi's main military compound in Tripoli on Tuesday, hours after the Libyan leader's son and heir apparent turned up free to thwart Libyan rebel claims he had been captured and rally supporters.

The surprise appearance of Seif al-Islam energized regime loyalists and underlined the potential for Gadhafi, whose whereabouts remain unknown, to strike back even as his grip on power seemed to be slipping fast.

Street battles between pro-Gadhafi troops and rebels were reported in several parts of the city, and the mood turned from one of euphoria to confusion and fear a day after opposition fighters swept into the capital with relative ease, claiming to have most of it under their control.

Thick clouds of gray and white smoke filled the Tripoli sky as heavy gunfire and explosions shook several districts of the city of 2 million people.

NATO warned the situation in Tripoli remains very dangerous and promised the alliance will continue bombing forces loyal to the 69-year-old Libyan leader if they keep fighting.

"Snipers, shelling, missiles could do much damage, but they can't change the course of history or the outcome of this campaign," spokesman Col. Roland Lavoie told reporters at a news conference in Naples, Italy.

Some of the heaviest fighting was around Gadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya main compound and military barracks, with both sides battling it out with heavy machine-guns, mortars and anti-aircraft guns. The sprawling complex, heavily damaged by NATO airstrikes, emerged as one of the centers of government resistance since tanks rolled out Monday and fired at rebels trying to get in.

Associated Press reporters at the scene said the two sides were positioned across either end of an empty field outside the complex on Tuesday.

The standoff occurred after Seif al-Islam, with a full beard and wearing an olive-green T-shirt and camouflage trousers, took a group of foreign journalists to the area as part of a tour aimed at showing the regime still has support. At Bab al-Aziziya, at least a hundred men were waiting in lines for guns being distributed to volunteers to defend the regime. Seif al-Islam shook hands with supporters, beaming and flashing the "V" for victory sign.

"We are here. This is our country. This is our people, and we live here, and we die here," he told AP Television News. "And we are going to win, because the people are with us. That's why were are going to win. Look at them - look at them, in the streets, everywhere!"

It was not clear whether Gadhafi's son, who turned up at the Rixos hotel, where about 30 foreign journalists have been staying under the close watch of regime minders, had escaped from rebel custody or never been captured in the first place. His arrest was announced on Monday by both the rebels and the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court, which has indicted him and his father.

ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said the court never received official confirmation from Libya's rebel authorities about the arrest.

The rebel leadership - which had said Seif al-Islam was captured without giving details on where he was held - seemed stunned. A rebel spokesman, Sadeq al-Kabir, had no explanation and could only say, "This could be all lies."

He also said another captured Gadhafi son, Mohammed, had escaped house arrest. Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, head of the rebel National Transitional Council, announced the detention of a third Gadhafi son, al-Saadi, on Monday.

Riding in a white limousine amid a convoy of armored SUVs, Seif al-Islam took reporters on a drive through parts of the city still under the regime's control, including Bab al-Aziziya, saying, "We are going to hit the hottest spots in Tripoli." AP reporters were among the journalists who saw him and went on the tour.

The tour also covered the district around the Rixos hotel and streets full of armed Gadhafi backers, controlled by roadblocks, and into the Gadhafi stronghold neighborhood Bu Slim.

When asked about the ICC's claim that he was arrested by rebels, he told reporters: "The ICC can go to hell," and added "We are going to break the backbone of the rebels."

Rebels said Monday that they controlled most of Tripoli, but they faced pockets of fierce resistance from regime loyalists firing mortars and anti-aircraft guns. Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Rahman, who was in Tripoli, said the "danger is still there" as long as the longtime Libyan leader remains on the run.

He warned that pro-Gadhafi brigades are positioned on Tripoli's outskirts and could "be in the middle of the city in half an hour."

Libya Rebels Attack Gaddafi Compound

 

[High_Gravity]

Libya Post-Conflict Planning Has Major Western Support

Even as fierce fighting still roils Tripoli, the capital of Libya's beleaguered dictator Muammar Gaddafi, new information is emerging about the major role played by outside civilian and military groups in aiding the rebel military and its transitional government.

On Tuesday, at a surprise press conference in Benghazi, the rebel capital in eastern Libya, Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters that his country had secretly funded the rebel's National Transitional Council (NTC) with more than $200 million over the past month.

"We won't accept that any part of Libya be deprived of security and stability," Davutoglu added, promising that NATO countries would continue to provide protection and assistance to the rebel leadership in the coming weeks.

The United States formally recognized the NTC in July as the formal "governing authority" for Libya, granting it access to embassies around the world and, eventually, some $37 billion in frozen assets.

But even as the rebel fighters seemed poised to overtake Tripoli, American officials told the Wall Street Journal that they would proceed cautiously before actually releasing any of the funds.

But Western governments have contributed to the rebel effort in other ways.

According to reports in the American and British press, French and British special operatives have been on the ground with the rebels, and played a major role in coordinating the final strategic push into Tripoli.

More recently, the Guardian reported that, ever since Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif -- once claimed to be in rebel detention -- resurfaced Monday night in Tripoli, NATO forces have taken the lead in quietly preparing for what they hope will be a final strike against the portions of the city still under loyalist control.

After months of assistance from private military contractors, the rebels have now been joined by active-duty British special operatives, the paper said.

Meanwhile, in Benghazi, civilian advisers with one American organization presently advising the NTC report that the leadership there optimistically projects a quick resolution to any lingering conflict in Tripoli.

"All remain convinced that Gaddafi's end will come, whether today or in the coming days," the civil society group wrote on Monday in a report obtained by The Huffington Post.

"There is a perception that Tripoli will stabilize in the near future, just as calm returned to Benghazi after [the] pro-Gaddafi force's retreat in March."

Several observers of the Libya operation have expressed concerns that the post-conflict landscape was not sufficiently mapped out, or that any plans would prove difficult to execute in the chaotic days and months after Gaddafi's fall.



On Monday, civil society and U.S. government advisers sought to counter this perception, with one senior American official telling CNN that the NTC's plans, as reviewed by the U.S. government, were "quite detailed," and included specific programs for public services and democratic governance.

But, the official acknowledged, the longer-term fate of the nation still leaves cause for worry.

"They have set up a timeline, but it's getting from today through Gadhafi's actual departure altogether, to where they're all sitting in Tripoli implementing a transition -- that's the period I'm a bit concerned about," the official told CNN. "I think that they are doing a good job, but we'll just have to see. They have lots of good stuff on paper but it's translating it from paper into practice that remains to be seen, particularly in the initial period."

The American civil society group in Benghazi reported this week that Libyans engaged in the governance with whom they met disputed reports about substantial divisions and tribal factions within the NTC, but conceded that the new government would face significant challenges in demobilizing irregular fighters.

"Many combatants are students and workers who will return to their daily lives," the report said. "However, it is possible that some former soldiers will contribute to potential instability."

The NTC is said to be working on plans to help incorporate the young soldiers into the regular army, where they could be properly trained, particularly on human and civil rights matters.

The civil society group also said that youth groups in Benghazi were particularly looking forward to engaging with their peers in Tripoli, something they had not previously been able to do. Outreach with citizen groups in NTC-controlled parts of the country to explain details of the transition were "not sufficient," the report said, citing a local activist.

Libya Post-Conflict Planning Has Major Western Support

 

[High_Gravity]

Libya Rebels Come Under Fire In Gaddafi Compound

TRIPOLI, Libya — A defiant Moammar Gadhafi vowed Wednesday to fight on "until victory or martyrdom," as rebel fighters tried to end scattered attacks by regime loyalists in the nervous capital.

The rebels say they have now taken control of nearly all of Tripoli, but sporadic gunfire could still be heard Wednesday, and Gadhafi loyalists fired shells and assault rifles at fighters who had captured the Libyan leader's personal compound one day earlier.

The streets of the city were still largely deserted Wednesday, scattered with debris, broken glass and other remnants of fighting, while rebel fighters manned checkpoints every few hundred yards.

Rebel leaders, meanwhile, made their first moves to set up a new government in the capital. During Libya's six-month civil war, opposition leaders had established their interim administration, the National Transitional Council, in the eastern city of Benghazi, which fell under rebel control shortly after the outbreak of widespread anti-regime protests in February.

"Members of the council are now moving one by one from Benghazi to Tripoli," said Mansour Seyf al-Nasr, the Libyan opposition's new ambassador to France. He said that Tripoli is "secure and our guys are checking all the areas."

The deputy rebel chief, Mahmoud Jibril, was to meet later Wednesday with French President Nicholas Sarkozy, one of the earliest and staunchest supporters of the Libyan opposition, along with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Even as his 42-year-old regime was crumbling around him, Gadhafi vowed not to surrender. In an audio message early Wednesday, he called on residents of the Libyan capital and loyal tribesmen across his North African nation to free Tripoli from the "devils and traitors" who have overrun it.

The broadcast came a day after hundreds of Libyan rebels stormed Gadhafi's fortress-like Bab al-Aziziya compound in the capital but found no sign of the longtime leader. Late Sunday, the rebels entered Tripoli, pouring into the Mediterranean metropolis of some 2 million people in a stunning breakthrough.

Libya Rebels Come Under Fire In Gaddafi Compound

 

[High_Gravity]

Libya Weapons Stockpiles: Officials Fear Country's Weapons Could Fall Into The Wrong Hands

WASHINGTON — No one can be sure who controls the Libyan government's weapons stockpiles, a stew of deadly chemicals, raw nuclear material and some 30,000 shoulder-fired rockets that officials fear could fall into terrorists' hands in the chaos of Moammar Gadhafi's downfall or afterward.

One immediate worry, U.S. intelligence and military officials say, is that Gadhafi might use the weapons to make a last stand. But officials also face the troubling prospect that the material, which was left under Gadhafi's control by a U.S.-backed disarmament pact, could be obtained by al-Qaida or other militants even after a rebel victory is secured.

The main stockpile of mustard gas and other chemicals, stored in corroding drums, is at a site southeast of Tripoli. Mustard gas can cause severe blistering and death. A cache of hundreds of tons of raw uranium yellowcake is stored at a small nuclear facility east of the capital.

Weapons demolition teams hired by the State Department have located and destroyed some of the anti-aircraft rocket systems in rebel-held parts of the country.

U.S. and allied officials say chemical and nuclear stockpiles appear to be still under the control of what's left of the Libyan government despite rebel military advances into the capital. That may or may not be reassuring. It depends on whether Gadhafi loyalists, increasingly desperate, adhere to international agreements not to use or move the material.

The State Department has also sent experts to Libya to confer with rebel leaders and Libya's neighbors about abiding by those same compacts and beefing up border security to prevent weapons from being smuggled out.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Tuesday the U.S. is working to ensure that "the governing forces in Libya have full command and control of any WMD or any security assets that the state might have had." Jamie F. Mannina, spokesman for the State Department's Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, said Libya's known chemical weapons storage facilities have been monitored since the start of the civil war.

Still, many U.S. officials question whether NATO has enough people on the ground to make sure the material remains secure if Libyan security forces flee their posts. NATO's decision to limit its participation in the conflict has kept the coalition's investment in blood and treasure to a minimum. But that has not helped the cause of nonproliferation.

With the battle for the capital Tripoli still unfolding, military advisers from Britain, France, Italy and Qatar are feeding intelligence to the rebels and NATO bombers on the whereabouts of the enemy. That has left U.S. intelligence relying primarily on military drone, satellite and spy plane reports to track Gadhafi's arsenal.

"No one seems clear" how many of the estimated 30,000 anti-aircraft rockets, and other stockpiles still remain after six months of pounding by air strikes, according to a U.S. official who has been following the Libyan events. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.

As for chemical agents, said British Embassy spokesman Hetty Crist, officials are concerned about the security of some 11 metric tons of mustard gas.

Crist said the Libyan stocks are "under guard in secure and remote locations" at the moment and cannot be used easily for warfare because they are not weaponized.

Despite dismantling much of his nuclear program after making a deal with the Bush administration, Gadhafi has enough weaponry – if he can still reach it – to try to sell to militants.

"There are still going to be a lot of Gadhafi loyalists who could hijack the weapons supplies and use them for an insurgency like Iraq," said Democratic Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

And if the material goes unguarded, it could be seized by al-Qaida militant sympathizers, he said in an interview Tuesday. "A single rocket can do damage," he said, recalling the downing of a Chinook helicopter Aug. 5 in Afghanistan from a rocket-propelled grenade fired by the Taliban, killing all 38 troops on board.

The State Department has spent $3 million on two international weapons abatement teams charged with finding and destroying the antiaircraft systems along with other lethal munitions and landmines.

The teams have demolished some of the shoulder-launched antiaircraft missile systems called MANPADS, including nearly 30 Russian SA-7 launchers, according to Alexander Griffiths, director of operations for the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action, one of the abatement groups.

But the teams are only scouring rebel-held battle sites and arms depots, and are not sent into combat hot zones.

Libya possesses a variety of leftover, aging weapons of mass destruction. Libya agreed to halt its WMD programs in 2003, under economic pressure from U.S. and Western embargoes. Gadhafi surrendered the hardware for his nuclear program and let the U.S. remove about 11.5 pounds of weapons-grade uranium from a nuclear research reactor near Tripoli in 2009.

But there are still some 500 to 900 metric tons of raw uranium yellowcake stored in drums at Libya's lone nuclear reactor, east of Tripoli. The supply is less of a worry for U.S. officials because it requires heavy industrial refining and enrichment before it could be used as an explosive. But it could be sold for a large profit to those more capable of building a nuclear weapon.

Gadhafi also had extensive chemical weapons, which his forces used against Libya's southern neighbor, Chad, in 1987.

Libya Weapons Stockpiles: Officials Fear Country's Weapons Could Fall Into The Wrong Hands

 

[High_Gravity]

Libya: Rebels And Regime Battle For Control In The East

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan rebels battled forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi on the streets of Tripoli Thursday, with the clatter of machine gunfire echoing through the chaotic capital, while the opposition tried to assert control over the oil-rich country even as the longtime leader remained at large.

An intense gunbattle erupted outside the Corinthia hotel where many foreign journalists are staying, as about a dozen rebels with machine guns and an anti-aircraft gun fired on what appeared to be loyalist gunmen shooting from nearby high-rise buildings.

The rebels are struggling to take complete control of Tripoli, four days after they swept into the capital and sparked the collapse of Gadhafi's regime. The autocrat has refused to surrender and has vowed from hiding to fight on "until victory or martyrdom."

The rebel leadership has offered a $2 million bounty on Gadhafi's head, and British Defense Secretary Liam Fox said Thursday that NATO was helping in the search for the longtime dictator.

Fox told BBC Radio 4 that NATO was "providing intelligence and reconnaissance assets to help in the hunt," and had been heavily active in carrying out overnight airstrikes against Gadhafi loyalists, but refused to say if British special forces were involved.

In Brussels, a NATO official said some airstrikes were launched because Gadhafi's forces had been detected trying to restore some of their damaged weapons systems, including surface-to-air missiles, which the official called a "huge threat" to alliance aircraft and humanitarian aid flights.

The official could not be identified under NATO rules. A months-long NATO air campaign, which included about 7,500 attacks on Gadhafi's forces, was key to helping the rebels sweep through the country.

Rebels say one of their key targets now is Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) from Tripoli, but acknowledged that capturing that city would not be easy because Gadhafi's fellow tribesmen were expected to put up a fierce fight. Opposition leaders have said they were trying to negotiate a peaceful surrender of the city.

Fawzi Abu Ketf, deputy defense minister of the rebel National Transitional Council, said fighting was raging Thursday outside Bin Jawad, 400 miles (650 kilometers) south of Tripoli, but he had no details. Gadhafi loyalists ambushed rebels advancing toward the city on Wednesday, killing at least 20 of them.

Wednesday's attack was carried out by pro-Gadhafi forces who had retreated from the oil city of Ras Lanouf after rebels captured that city earlier this week, said Ahmed Zeleity, a rebel commander.

The ambush showed that pro-regime forces retain the ability to strike back even as the rebels tighten their control over the nation's capital.

Rebels also have seized several parts of Sebha, another Gadhafi stronghold still holding out, including the main commercial Gamal Abdel-Nasser street, according to rebel official Adel al-Zintani, who is in daily telephone contact with rebel commanders in the desert city.

He said mercenaries from sub-Saharan African nations who had been paid by Gadhafi have fled the city, but loyal soldiers were continuing to hold firm.

Ketf said another challenge was the need to supply troops at the front. "The supply lines will be too long and we are short of funds and supplies," he said.

The humanitarian situation there is increasingly difficult, he said, with lengthy power and water outages.

In Milan, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Italy was preparing to release $505 million in frozen assets in Italian banks, calling it the first payment. Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler and biggest trading partner, has not disclosed the total Libyan assets held there.

Berlusconi made the announcement after meeting with the leader of Libya's rebel Cabinet, the second stop on a European diplomatic tour by Mahmoud Jibril aimed at securing the release of billions of dollars in frozen Libyan assets.

The Libyan opposition says they urgently need at least $5 billion of those assets to pay state salaries, maintain vital services and repair critical oil facilities.

The U.N. Security Council, meanwhile, is preparing to vote this week on a resolution that would release $1.5 billion in Libyan assets in U.S. banks that the world body froze to thwart Gadhafi. Analysts estimate as much as $110 billion is frozen in banks worldwide.

Libya: Rebels And Regime Battle For Control In The East (LIVE UPDATES)

 

[High_Gravity]

NATO Joins Hunt For Gaddafi: UK

LONDON — NATO intelligence and reconnaissance assets are being used to try to hunt down Moammar Gadhafi, the elusive Libyan dictator.

British Defense Secretary Liam Fox said NATO was playing an active role in efforts to locate Gadhafi, whose whereabouts are unknown. Rebels stormed his compound in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Tuesday, but he was not there.

The rebel leadership has offered a $2 million bounty on Gadhafi's head, but the autocrat has refused to surrender, fleeing to an unknown destination as his 42-year regime crumbles in the North African nation. Speaking to a local Libyan television channel Wednesday, apparently by phone, Gadhafi vowed from hiding to fight on "until victory or martyrdom."

Fox declined to confirm Thursday whether troops from Britain's elite Special Air Service or Special Boat Service were involved in attempts to locate Gadhafi – but acknowledged that NATO has a key role.

"We never comment about special forces, not least because if we were to use them under those circumstances it would compromise their security," Fox told BBC Radio 4.

European officials have confirmed that small numbers of British, French and other special forces have been working inside Libya in recent months.

"It is fair to say, however, that NATO is providing intelligence and reconnaissance assets to help in the hunt for Col. Gadhafi, and indeed the remnants of the regime," Fox said. "Last night, NATO was more active than we have been in recent days in terms of air activity against the resisting elements."

The United States is the largest contributor to NATO, but the Obama administration has repeatedly said it will not place U.S. military personnel on the ground in Libya. The Pentagon said earlier this week that the Libyan rebel military advance into Tripoli had not changed that policy.

However, U.S. drone aircraft have been helping the Libyan rebels gather intelligence for months, and U.S. intelligence agencies including the CIA have been working with contacts they developed in Libya before the uprising began in the spring.

Rebels say Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte, which is 250 miles (400 kilometers) east of Tripoli on the Mediterranean Sea, is now a key target. Mahmoud Jibril, the head of the opposition government, said Wednesday during talks in Paris that Gadhafi could be y other place."

The French magazine Paris-Match reported Thursday that the rebels nearly caught Gadhafi on Wednesday but he got away and is still somewhere in Tripoli. The report cited an unnamed "reliable source" as saying a cell of rebel and Arab intelligence services located a plain, modest house in central Tripoli where Gadhafi had spent at least one night.

The report said Libyan rebels then stormed the house, but Gadhafi had already left. It said there was some unidentified proof that Gadhafi had been there.

Britain previously provided a small number of military advisers – thought to be around 12 – to help organize Libya's rebel forces. France and Italy also sent similar troops to assist the anti-Gadhafi forces with training and logistics.

A Western diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said special forces from some NATO nations – operating outside the alliance's command structure – may now be engaged in the hunt for Gadhafi.

U.S. aircraft accounted for most of the more than 20,200 sorties flown by NATO aircraft in the five-month war in Libya. The largest proportion were flights by American aerial tankers refueling allied strike planes, as well as AWACS and other surveillance aircraft.

European warplanes – mainly French and British – have flown the vast majority of the airstrike sorties, but U.S. armed drones and some jets – such as those tasked with radar-supressing Wild Weasel missions – have also participated.

In Brussels, a NATO spokeswoman declined to comment Thursday, saying only that the alliance does not discuss intelligence matters. "NATO does not target specific individuals," spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.

NATO Joins Hunt For Gaddafi: UK

 

[High_Gravity]

The Hunt for the Gaddafis: Street to Street with the Rebel Fighters

"Zenga zenga, dar dar!" ["Alley to alley, house to house."] That was the battle cry of Muammar Gaddafi and his sons when they unleashed their forces on the rebels six months ago. Now the phrase may be coming back to haunt the Gaddafis, if they are, in fact, hiding where the rebels believe they are.

On Thursday, closing in on a string of neighborhoods in central Tripoli, rebels often moved house to house through the narrow streets of Ghabour and Abu Salim — two of Gaddafi's last known strongholds in the Libyan capital. Taking cover behind walls and concrete barricades, groups of fighters from towns across the country dodged sniper fire and waged sporadic gun battles with often invisible assailants as they hunted for the now missing Libyan dictator and his family. "The problem is, we don't know where Gaddafi is," admitted Ali al-Abbas, a Swiss-Libyan dual national at midday. "But we know that a lot of the people who escaped from Bab al-Aziziyah went to Abu Salim. And they've waged significant resistance there. So that's why we think he might be there."

Bab al-Aziziyah is Gaddafi's vast, fortified compound in central Tripoli, which in the past two days has been transformed into ripe territory for both looting and tourism by the sundry forces of the National Transitional Council, the rival of the Gaddafi regime. But the surrounding areas were long ago designed as Gaddafi defensive strongholds, the fighters say. And these streets may be where Tripoli's longest and dirtiest battle plays out — if the worst hasn't already come. "They're very aggressive," says Mohamed, a fighter who was driving out of the neighborhood at sunset, amid fierce shelling. "That means they're fighting for something."

The Bab al-Aziziyah compound — massive on its own — was militarily and logistically run from the 77 Base across the street on Airport Road. But it was the adjacent neighborhoods of Abu Salim and Ghabour that Gaddafi used to house his extensive population of staff and supporters. And the ubiquitous green flags of the regime dotting the rooftops there provide the visual reminders — amid the sniper fire — that the battle is far from over.

But there are also signs that a ferocious battle has already been fought. Thursday marked the first day that journalists were able to enter Bab al-Aziziyah Square, a grassy traffic circle in the contested part of town, set between the compound and the 77 Base on one side, and Abu Salim and Ghabour on the other. At midday rebels set fire to a sprawling, ransacked camp that had served as a makeshift supply base and field hospital for Gaddafi loyalists in recent days. The fire, some said, served to mask the stench of decaying flesh.

And indeed, on a median near the circle, nine bloated bodies lay decomposing in the harsh sunlight. A team of ambulance workers said they believed that the bodies had been there for three days while fighting overwhelmed the area.

But there is strong evidence to suggest that a massacre took place there. A nearby field clinic — also part of the camp — contained more than 30 bodies. Mostly dressed in civilian clothes, they lay swollen and fly-covered, strewn over mattresses and dirt, many of them wearing bandages. Two, still on stretchers and hooked up to IVs inside a clinic tent, had been shot in the head. Another body lay on a stretcher inside an abandoned ambulance. The camp had been ransacked, with food, water bottles and medical supplies strewn about. And several of the other nine on the median had their hands bound in plastic ties behind their backs; the bullet wounds piercing their skulls, backs and chests.

The rebels say Gaddafi's forces did it. But it is still unclear why Gaddafi would have massacred the wounded at his own camp. The bodies had yet to be removed on Thursday, despite the presence of rebels in the area — the kind of treatment that Libyan rebels have typically only permitted for enemy dead. The antiregime fighters are adamant, however. "It was because they didn't like Gaddafi. So people inside the camp killed them — Gaddafi guys," says Mohanid Gomaa, 28, a fighter from Tripoli. "I live here. I saw everything," he adds.

Still, the scene could pose serious new questions about Libya's future — and its new leadership's commitment to democracy and human rights — as the rebels move to consolidate control of the capital. By Thursday evening, anti-Gaddafi fighters were manning checkpoints — in some places, every 100 m — throughout large swathes of Tripoli. In Souk al-Jomaa, one of the first neighborhoods to fall over the weekend, a number of shops had reopened and children played in the street. And in Green Square, where Gaddafi had famously gathered his supporters for dramatic demonstrations in recent months, families and rebels in cars paraded around the traffic circle producing an endless cacophony of celebratory honking and gunfire.

Read more: Libya: On the Hunt for the Gaddafis with the Rebels - TIME

 

[High_Gravity]

Gaddafi's Fleeing Mercenaries Describe the Collapse of the Regime

Right from the start, Mario, an ethnic Croatian artillery specialist from Bosnia, suspected it was a lost cause.

"My men were mainly from the south [of Libya] and Chad, and there were a few others from countries south of Libya," said Mario, who spoke on condition that his last name not be published. A veteran of the wars of the former Yugoslavia, he had been hired by the Gaddafi regime to help fight the rebels and, later, NATO. "Discipline was bad, and they were too stupid to learn anything. But things were O.K. until the air strikes commenced. The other side was equally bad, if not worse. [Muammar] Gaddafi would have smashed the rebels had the West not intervened."

By early July, Mario said, more than 30% of the men under his command had deserted or defected to the rebel side. NATO missiles scored several direct hits on his forces, causing "significant casualties." At that point in the war, he said, "military hardware stopped having the role it [once did]. We had to use camouflage and avoid open spaces."

Away from the front, at the heart of the regime, mistrust and excess further undermined Gaddafi's hold on power, Mario said. "Life in [Gaddafi's] compound and shelters was so surreal, with partying, women, alcohol and drugs," said Mario, 41. "One of the relatives of Gaddafi took me to one of his villas where they offered me anything I wanted. I heard stories about people being shot for fun and forced to play Russian roulette while spectators were making bets, like in the movies."

Tension between two of Gaddafi's sons contributed to the sense that Gaddafi's cause was doomed. "I noticed profound rivalry between Gaddafi's sons," Mario said, speaking en route from the southern city of Sabha to Libya's border with Niger. "Once, there was almost an armed clash between Mohammed's and Saif [al-Islam]'s men. I saw one group interrogating the other at gunpoint, and then more of the other group arrived fully armed, and it was a standoff for several minutes, with both sides cursing each other."

Mario respected and liked Gaddafi's most prominent son, Saif al-Islam, who in 2009 threw himself a lavish 37th birthday party on the coast of the former Yugoslav republic of Montenegro, one of Europe's newest glamour spots for the superrich. The ties between the Gaddafi family and the former Yugoslavia stretch back to the days of Josep Broz Tito, Yugoslavia's storied communist leader, who was a friend and ally of Gaddafi's. Mario said that Gaddafi had hired several former Yugoslav fighters, most of them Serbs, to help him in his fight against NATO and the rebels. One by one, Mario said, these foreign advisers and commanders left Tripoli. Some senior Libyans joined them.

"I noticed that many Libyans pretended loyalty just out of fear and were just seeking a way to turn against [Gaddafi]," Mario said. "Many officers admitted to me they stood no chance against NATO, and one of them told me he was in touch with the people in Benghazi." Benghazi is the rebel stronghold in the east of the country.

Mario left Tripoli 12 days ago after receiving a warning from a comrade. "Two weeks ago, a friend who brought me here told me I should leave Tripoli, as things were going to rapidly change and that deals have been made," he said. He noticed Gaddafi's South African mercenaries beginning to leave. Mario decided with a fellow mercenary to flee Tripoli. "I tried to get ahold of Saif before that, but he was beyond reach," he said. "Later he called my companion to ask if we needed something and to say that they would win back all of Libya."

Read more: Libya: Ex-Gaddafi Mercenaries Describe Collapse of Regime - TIME

 

[High_Gravity]

African Union: Libya Rebels Won't Be Recognized At This Time

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- The African Union will not yet recognize Libyan rebels as the new government of Libya, South African President Jacob Zuma said Friday, rejecting calls for recognition from Libyan rebel leaders.

Zuma called for an immediate cease-fire and said the Libyan capital of Tripoli was not yet under full rebel control. He spoke as AU leaders met in the Ethiopian capital to discuss the next action they should take regarding Libya. Many African nations have long ties with Col. Moammar Gadhafi and the AU has had difficulty taking a unanimous stand.

"Fighting is still going on. That is the reality," said Zuma, who chairs the AU committee on Libya. "We can't say this is a legitimate (government) now."

He said the AU did not rule out pro- or anti-Gadhafi forces from taking part in a future Libyan government. African countries like Ethiopia and Nigeria that already recognized the rebels were free to do so and also support the AU position, he said.

The U.N. has urged African leaders to "encourage new leadership" in Libya.

"We must help the country's new leaders to establish an effective, legitimate government that represents and speaks for all the country's diverse people," U.N. deputy secretary general Asha Rose Migiro told AU leaders.

Earlier in the day, Mahmoud Jibril, the head of the rebel National Transitional Council, called for recognition from the AU and the urgent release of frozen Libyan assets, saying the government could face a "legitimacy crisis" if the Libyan people's demands are not met.

The Libyan opposition is setting up an interim government in the capital of Tripoli despite ongoing street battles. They hold almost all of the country and have already been recognized as the legitimate authority by most of the world.

Now the opposition needs says it urgently needs at least $5 billion in frozen assets to pay state salaries and maintain services in Libya, including areas still under Gadhafi's control. Funds are also needed for an army and a police force to restore order and confiscate arms, he said.

"If the services expected by the citizens are not met, we may be faced with a legitimacy crisis," Jibril said at a joint news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Jibril was in Turkey to attend a meeting of the so-called "Contact Group" of some 30 countries leading efforts to stabilize Libya.

African Union: Libya Rebels Won't Be Recognized At This Time

 

[High_Gravity]

Gaddafi Family Flees To Algeria

TRIPOLI, Libya -- Ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's wife and other relatives fled to Algeria Monday, the Algerian foreign ministry said.

The Algerian government said Gadhafi's wife, daughter, two of his sons and their children entered the neighboring country on Monday. It did not say whether Gadhafi himself was with the family.

It said the U.N. secretary-general and Security Council and the head of Libyan rebel National Transition Council were informed.

The report came as battles raged on two sides of Sirte, the southern city that is the headquarters of Gadhafi's tribe and his regime's last major bastion. The rebels were consolidating control of Tripoli, the capital.

Despite effectively ending his rule, the rebels have yet to find Gadhafi or his family members – something that has cast a pall of lingering uncertainty over the opposition's victory.

The Egyptian news agency MENA, quoting unidentified rebel fighters, had reported from Tripoli over the weekend that six armored Mercedes sedans, possibly carrying Gadhafi's sons or other top regime figures, had crossed the border at the southwestern Libyan town of Ghadamis into Algeria. Algeria's Foreign Ministry had denied that report.

Ahmed Jibril, an aide to rebel National Transitional Council head Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, said if the report of Ghadafi relatives in Algeria is true, "we will demand that Algerian authorities hand them over to Libya to be tried before Libyan courts."

Gaddafi Family Flees To Algeria

 

[High_Gravity]

Libya Rebels Free 10,000 From Gaddafi Prisons

TRIPOLI, Libya -- Libyan rebel leaders asked NATO on Monday to keep up pressure on elements of Moammar Gadhafi's regime and to protect those struggling to restore electricity and water to the battle-scarred capital of Tripoli.

National Transitional Council head Mustafa Abdul-Jalil told senior NATO envoys meeting in the Gulf Arab nation of Qatar that Gadhafi, who has been in hiding since rebels captured Tripoli a week ago, can still cause trouble.

"Gadhafi is still capable is doing something awful in the last moments," Abdul-Jalil told military chiefs of staff and other key defense officials from NATO nations including France, Italy and Turkey.

"Even after the fighting ends, we still need logistical and military support from NATO," he added. NATO has been bombing Gadhafi's forces since March under a United Nations mandate to protect Libyan civilians.

Rebels appear to have secured the capital after a week of fierce fighting in which they captured Gadhafi's compound and then cleared loyalists holed up in the residential neighborhood of Abu Salim nearby.

Despite effectively ending his rule, the rebels have yet to find Gadhafi or his family members - something that has cast a pall of lingering uncertainty over the opposition's victory.

Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte, about 250 miles east of Tripoli, is still a bastion of support and some have even speculated that the ousted leader himself may have fled there. Rebels have been converging from the east and west on Sirte, preparing to do battle Gadhafi loyalists. However, no fighting there has been reported yet and rebel leaders say they are trying to negotiate a peaceful surrender with local tribes to avoid further bloodshed.

Rebels say they want to take Gadhafi alive so they can try him in Libya.

"We hope that Gadhafi is still in Libya so we can rid the world of this insect," rebel military spokesman Ahmed Bani said. "The only way to treat this pest is to make him accountable for the crimes in Libya."

Bani also said rebel forces may have killed Gadhafi's son Khamis in a clash Saturday. Rebel clashed with a military convoy in the town of Tarhouna, 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli, destroying two vehicles in the convoy. The bodies in the cars were burned beyond recognition, he said, but captured soldier said they were Khamis Gadhafi's bodyguards.

Gadhafi's regime sought to break the uprising that broke out mid-February by using lethal force on protesters and locking up thousands people. Bani said nearly 50,000 people are still missing following six months of civil war. He said they have released some 10,000 prisoners from his regime lockups.

Libya Rebels Free 10,000 From Gaddafi Prisons (LIVE UPDATES)

 

[High_Gravity]

Libya: Rebels Demand Gaddafi Family Extradition

ABU GRAYN, Libya — Libyan rebels pledged Tuesday to launch an assault within days on Moammar Gadhafi's hometown, the ousted strongman's last major bastion of support.

The rebels and NATO said that Gadhafi loyalists were negotiating the fate of Sirte, a heavily militarized city some 250 miles (400 kilometers) east of the capital, Tripoli.

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the head of the rebels' National Transitional Council, said that negotiations with forces in Sirte would end Saturday after the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, when the rebels would "act decisively and militarily."

We can't wait more than that," he told reporters in the eastern city of Benghazi. "We seek and support any efforts to enter these places peacefully. At the end, it might be decided militarily. I hope it will not be the case."

Col. Roland Lavoie, a NATO spokesman, said it's possible Sirte might surrender without a fight.

"We have seen dialogues in several villages that were freed – I'm not saying with no hostilities, but with minimal hostilities," he said.

Lavoie said NATO would continue its mission as long as civilians in the country are under threat, although the area around the capital, Tripoli, is now "essentially free."

Lavoie appeared to struggle to explain how NATO strikes were protecting civilians at this stage in the conflict. Asked about NATO's assertion that it hit 22 armed vehicles near Sirte on Monday, he was unable to say how the vehicles were threatening civilians, or whether they were in motion or parked.

The rebels also demanded that Algeria return Gadhafi's wife and three of his children for trial after they fled, raising tensions between the neighboring countries.

Safiya Gadhafi, her daughter Aisha and sons Hannibal and Mohammed entered Algeria on Monday, while Gadhafi and several other sons remain at large. In Washington, the Obama administration said it had no indication that Gadhafi himself has left the country.

Algeria's Health Ministry said that Aisha Gadhafi gave birth to a girl on Tuesday. The official provided no other information, including on where she gave birth. The official was not authorized to be publicly named according to ministry rules.

Algerian news reports had said Aisha's pending childbirth was one reason for Algeria's decision to take the family in.

The departure of Gadhafi's family was one of the strongest signs yet that the longtime leader has lost his grip on the country. Algeria's decision to host members of the Gadhafi clan is an "aggressive act against the Libyan people's wish," said Mahmoud Shammam, information minister in the rebels' interim government.

Rebels also said another Gadhafi son, Khamis, was likely killed last week in a battle south of Tripoli.

"We are determined to arrest and try the whole Gadhafi family, including Gadhafi himself," Shammam said late Monday. "We'd like to see those people coming back to Libya."

Rebel leaders said they were not surprised to hear Algeria welcomed Gadhafi's family. Throughout Libya's six-month uprising, rebels have accused Algeria of providing Gadhafi with mercenaries to repress the revolt.

Libya: Rebels Demand Gaddafi Family Extradition

 

[High_Gravity]

Libyan Interim Council Issues Ultimatum To Gaddafi Loyalists

Libyan rebels fighting against the remnants of Colonel Gaddafi's regime have given his forces until Saturday to surrender.

The leader of the interim National Transitional Council (NTC), Mustafa Abdul Jalil, said on Tuesday that unless he received a "peaceful indication" that Gaddafi's forces would lay down their arms then the NTC would "decide this manner militarily".

"We do not wish to do so but we cannot wait longer," he said through a translator at a press conference in Benghazi.

The announcement came as NTC military commander Hisham Buhagiar claimed that 50,000 people had been killed in Libya since the start of the uprising there six months ago.

Algeria closed parts of its long stretching border with Libya on Tuesday, the local El Watan newspaper reported after the interim Libyan government condemned the Algerian authorities for accepting the ousted dictator's relatives.

The NTC may seek extradition to bring the Gaddafi family to justice, it has also been reported.

"Especially for Hannibal, if he fled to Algiers and the Algerian authorities allowed him to do that, we'll consider this as an agressive act against the Libyan people's wish," Mahmoud Shammam, NTC information minister, said.

"We're going to use all the means to get him back and try him, put him in a court and try him. This is our aim. We would give everybody of the Gaddafi family a fair trial and we can guarantee that."

But Algeria's envoy to the United Nations defended the decision to take in the Gaddafis saying it was a "holy rule of hospitality" to provide assistance.

Mourad Benmehidi told the BBC World Service that his nation had a duty to provide assistance.

"In fact in many parts of the Sahara region it's mandatory by law to provide assistance to anyone in the desert," he told the broadcaster.

Relations between Algeria and the NTC were strained before the Gaddafi family fled. The NTC previously accused Algeria of sending mercenaries to fight for Gaddafi, while Algeria's autocratic regime has resisted calls to recognise the legitimacy of the NTC and repressed protests within its own country.

Elsewhere in Libya senior rebel commanders reported that another of Gaddafi's sons, Khamis, had been killed.

"We have almost certain information that Khamis Gaddafi and Abdullah al-Senussi (his intelligence chief) were killed on Saturday by a unit of the national liberation army during clashes in Tarhouna," spokesman Ahmed Bani told Al Arabiya television.

Khamis Gaddafi has been reported dead twice before since the uprisings began earlier this year, however, and the deaths remain unconfirmed.

Meanwhile fighting in Libya on Tuesday was focused mainly around Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, where it has been rumoured that the dictator may be hiding.

Nato said that it hit 35 targets in airstrikes on Monday, including four radar sites and 22 armed vehicles in Sirte alone.

Libyan Interim Council Issues Ultimatum To Gaddafi Loyalists

 

[High_Gravity]

Al Saadi Gaddafi Negotiates Surrender: Rebels

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -- Moammar Gadhafi's son al-Saadi is trying to negotiate the terms of his own surrender, the rebel commander in Tripoli told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The commander, Abdel Hakim Belhaj, said al-Saadi first called him Tuesday and asked whether his safety could be guaranteed. "We told him 'Don't fear for your life. We will guarantee your rights as a human being, and will deal with you humanely,' said Belhaj, who added that al-Saadi would be turned over to legal authorities.

If the offer is confirmed -- the rebels have previously claimed to have captured Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam, who hours later turned up free -- the surrender would be a major blow to Gadhafi's crumbling regime. The rebels have been pressing toward Gadhafi's last major stronghold, his hometown of Sirte, and loyalists now only control a handful of major cities.

Belhaj said Al-Saadi told him he had not killed anyone, and that "he was not against the people."

"I told him 'This is good. What is important for us is not to shed Libyan blood. For the members of the regime to surrender is the best way to do this,'" Belhaj said.

The commander said al-Saadi had called back early Wednesday morning, but that he had missed the call. He said he knows al-Saadi's whereabouts, but prefers to negotiate a surrender. He gave no further details.

Belhaj's comments came hours after Gadhafi's chief spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, called the AP headquarters in NY, reiterating the senior Gadhafi's offer to send al-Saadi to negotiate with the rebels and form a transitional government. The rebels have previously rejected such offers.

Ibrahim also rejected a rebel ultimatum for loyalists in Sirte to surrender by Saturday or face an attack.

Al Saadi Gaddafi Negotiates Surrender: Rebels

 

[High_Gravity]

Gaddafi Foreign Minister Caught, Claim Rebels

TRIPOLI, Libya — Rebels hunting the top officials in Moammar's Gadhafi's ousted regime have captured his foreign minister and are closing in on Gadhafi himself, rebel officials said Thursday.

The announcement, made on the 42nd anniversary of the coup that brought Gadhafi to power, also came as rebels forces pressed toward three major bastions of the crumbling regime, including Gadhafi's hometown.

"The regime is dying," rebel council spokesman Abdel-Hafiz Ghoga said late Wednesday, after two of Gadhafi's sons made conflicting statements on Arab television stations – with one vowing to fight until death and the other offering to negotiate a truce. "Gadhafi's family is trying to find an exit," Ghoga said. "They only have to surrender completely to the rebels and we will offer them a fair trial. We won't hold negotiations with them over anything."

Algeria offered safe haven to Gadhafi's wife and three of his children Monday, angering the Libyan rebels. The Algerian newspaper El Watan reported that Gadhafi himself also sought refuge, but the Algerian president refused to take his phone calls.

With Gadhafi's whereabouts unknown, Algeria's foreign minister insisted Thursday that he's not in Algeria. Asked on Europe-1 radio if Gadhafi could be given asylum, Mourad Medelci said, "I don't believe so."

Thursday marks the coup against the monarchy of King Idris by 27-year-old Gadhafi and a group of military officers. Gadhafi took undisputed power and became a symbol of anti-Western defiance in a Third World recently liberated from its European colonial rulers. A brutal dictator, his regime was unchallenged until the uprising that began in February.

Ahmed Said, an adviser to the interior minister in the rebels' interim government, did not identify the captured foreign minister by name, but "can confirm that he is in custody."

A week ago, Foreign Minister Abdul Ati al-Obeidi told British broadcaster Channel 4 that Gadhafi's rule was over.

After six months of civil war, rebels have seized control of most of Libya, including the capital Tripoli, effectively ending Gadhafi's rule. The longtime leader and his family have not been captured, but rebels say they are hot on Gadhafi's trail.

Rebels say they are carefully pulling together clues about Gadhafi's whereabouts from captured regime fighters and others, and learned earlier this week that Gadhafi and two of his sons – longtime heir-apparent Seif al-Islam and former special forces commander al-Saadi – were in the loyalist-controlled town of Bani Walid, said Ghoga. But, he added, it's not clear where they are now.

Late Wednesday, men claiming to be Seif al-Islam and al-Saadi made their appeals from hiding.

Seif al-Islam urged his father's supporters to fight the rebels "day and night." He told the Syrian-based Al-Rai TV station that residents of Bani Walid agreed that "we are going to die on our land." Seif al-Islam was once considered the moderate face of the Gadhafi regime and the leader's heir apparent.

He said NATO had carried out several deadly airstrikes in Bani Walid.

"Attack the rats," he said, referring to the rebels, adding that he was calling from a suburb of Tripoli and that his father "is fine."

In a separate phone call to Al-Arabiya television, a man identifying himself as al-Saadi said he was ready to negotiate with the rebels to stop the bloodshed. Rebel leaders have repeatedly said they won't negotiate.

But Al-Saadi said he spoke for his father and regime military commanders in calling for talks, saying the rebels could lead Libya.

"We don't mind. We are all Libyans," he said. "We have no problem to give them power."

The voice of Seif al-Islam – who was reportedly captured by the rebels earlier this month only to turn up free and defiant in Tripoli – was easily recognizable. Al-Saadi's voice is less familiar and more difficult to confirm.

Rebel forces have been advancing toward three regime strongholds: Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte; the town of Bani Walid, 90 miles (140 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli; and Sabha, in the southern desert.

There has been speculation that Gadhafi is hiding in one of those three towns.

A NATO statement said their forces had launched airstrikes Wednesday against Sirte, and near Bani Walid and Hun, a town midway between Sirte and Sabha. Their targets included missile launchers, an ammunition storage site and a tank.

Gaddafi Foreign Minister Caught, Claim Rebels

 

[High_Gravity]

Libya Paris Conference Pleads For New UN Resolution

PARIS — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the Security Council to make a decision quickly on deploying a civilian mission to stabilize Libya.

Ban said dozens of world leaders at a conference in Paris on Thursday agreed that the United Nations would now take the lead on assisting Libya's new leadership.

He called for "prompt action" to "deploy a civilian mission as rapidly as possible."

He spoke after leaders and envoys from 60 nations and world bodies such as the United Nations and NATO met in Paris for talks with Libya's rebel-led National Transitional Council to map out Libya's future after the ouster of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

PARIS (AP) – The leaders of Britain and France say that dozens of world nations have pledged to support Libya's new leadership, though warn the struggle to stabilize the country is not over.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said NATO will continue operations for as long as needed to protect civilians in Libya, even after the ouster of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at an international conference Thursday that, "We are committed to returning to the Libyans the monies of yesterday for the building of tomorrow."

Both spoke after leaders and envoys from 60 nations and world bodies such as the United Nations and NATO met in Paris for talks with Libya's rebel-led National Transitional Council to map out Libya's future.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/01/libya-paris-conference-gaddafi_n_945336.html

 

[High_Gravity]

Libya Rebels Seek Gaddafi Haven By Pushing On Toward Tribal City

MISRATA, Libya -- A flash of sunlight reflecting off a distant windshield heralded the approach of a vehicle across the endless Libyan desert. So the rebel truck slammed into reverse, taking cover behind a sandy hill and swiveling its heavy machinegun to take aim at whatever was coming.

It was the only vehicle on the deserted highway coming from Bani Walid, one of the few Libyan towns the rebels don't control and a possible hiding place of deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Backed by NATO airstrikes, rebel fighters have been pushing in recent days toward three key targets: Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte, the southern city of Sabha and Bani Walid, 90 miles (140 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli.

With roads connecting it to Tripoli, Misrata and other key coastal cities, as well as links to the deep southern deserts, Bani Walid was an obvious haven for regime loyalists escaping Tripoli after rebel forces swept into the capital on Aug. 20.

While the rebels have said they will wait more than a week to assault the three pro-Gadhafi bastions – hoping for surrenders instead of more bloodshed – Misrata-based rebel patrols still head daily into the scrub-filled desert to keep an eye on Gadhafi's remaining forces.

The civilians were long gone. Anyone planning to flee had already done so. With regular skirmishes in the area, the patrol knew the other vehicle could be carrying pro-Gadhafi fighters.

The approaching vehicle, however, turned out to be friendly – another rebel pickup that had gone even further toward Bani Walid.

That patrol reported little loyalist activity, though the burned-out trucks, shell casings of all sizes and shattered buildings in the desert spoke of months' worth of past battles.

After a grueling four-month siege at the hands of government forces, Misrata's rebels have a score to settle with Gadhafi. They also have a nearly century-old grudge with the town of Bani Walid.

During the 1915 war against the Italian colonial rulers, a Misratan rebel commander named Ramadan al-Sweihy was betrayed and then killed by the tribesmen of Bani Walid, who were taking money from the Italians.

Misratans have never forgotten this betrayal.

"My grandfather used to tell me this story," said Marwan Tantoun, a 22-year-old rebel. "In Bani Walid, they are afraid of everyone. They are afraid of Gadhafi."

In a Thursday audio message, Gadhafi taunted the rebels and said the tribes of Sirte, including his own Gadhadhafa and the Warfala of Bani Walid, would fight to the death. "The battle will be long," he promised.

In the waning months of his weakening regime, Gadhafi warned the rebels that he had the support of Libya's tribes, and especially the Warfala, which may have up to a million members across the country.

But much of that support never materialized.

When Gadhafi seized power 42 years ago, he espoused a progressive brand of Arab nationalism, but he soon had to fall back on the country's tribal network to support his regime, lavishing money and perks on their leaders.

So while Gadhafi does have some genuine support, the situation is often far from clear – even in loyalist towns.

"There are people with us (in Bani Walid), and some are half with us, and some are with Gadhafi because they take money from him," Tantoun said.

The Warafala's support for Gadhafi has never been unconditional. In 1993, he uncovered a plot to assassinate him by 55 Warfala army officers. For years afterward, Bani Walid was in official disfavor.

At a frontline rebel camp, a deputy rebel commander dismissed the town and its inhabitants altogether.

"Bani Walid doesn't matter, they are weak," Ahmed Belhaj said. "Everyone there is a Gadhafi supporter – 99.9 percent." He expected the city to collapse as soon as Sirte was taken.

Now, though, Bani Walid may well find itself in the sights of the massing troops – especially the Misratan rebels returning from their conquest of Tripoli.

Libya Rebels Seek Gaddafi Haven By Pushing On Toward Tribal City

 

[High_Gravity]

Libyan, Tuareg Convoy Heads For Niamey, Niger, Carrying Gaddafi Troops: Report

NIAMEY, Niger — Senior members of Moammar Gadhafi's regime crossed in convoys from Libya into neighboring Niger on Tuesday, with the toppled Libyan leader's own security chief at the head of one of the columns as it rolled into the capital, officials said.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said some senior members of the Gadhafi regime were in the convoy that reached Niger.

"But we do not believe that Gadhafi was among them," she told reporters. "We don't have any evidence that Gadhafi is anywhere but in Libya at the moment."

The U.S. had no evidence to suggest that Gadhafi family members were in the group, either, she said.

Nuland said the U.S. has urged Niger authorities to detain any individuals who may be subject to prosecution in Libya; confiscate their weapons; and impound any state property – such as money or jewels – that were illegally taken out of the country.

Customs official Harouna Ide told the AP that Mansour Dao, Gadhafi's security chief, was at the head of the first convoy. He said other Libyan convoys were south of Agadez in central Niger, a desert country bordering Libya and where Gadhafi has the support of many Tuareg tribal fighters.

It wasn't clear if Gadhafi family members were in the convoys but al-Arabiya television quoted Niger's Foreign Minister Bazoum Mohamed as saying Gadhafi himself was not present.

Assarid Ag Imbarcaouane, an official from neighboring Mali, said a convoy was carrying Gadhafi's entourage. Imbarcaouane is second vice president of the National Assembly of Mali and is a pro-Gadhafi Tuareg leader.

"As far as the information I have received, the Guide is not in the convoy," he said, referring to Gadhafi. "Rather, it's the people in Gadhafi's entourage."

The customs official said there were a dozen vehicles in Dao's convoy, and that among passengers were about 12 Gadhafi officials, Tuareg rebel leader Rissa ag Boula and other Tuaregs from Niger who had gone to Libya to fight for Gadhafi.

Abdoulaye Harouna, owner of the Agadez Info newspaper, said he saw one of the groups arrive in his town Monday in several dozen pickup trucks. They headed for the capital, Niamey, a drive of some 600 miles (965 kilometers). The capital is in Niger's southwestern corner near the nation of Burkina Faso, where Gadhafi has been offered asylum.

Harouna said he saw the Tuareg leader Boula in the convoy. Boula is a native of Niger who led a failed war of independence on behalf of ethnic Tuareg nomads a decade ago before seeking refuge in Libya.

The government of Burkina Faso said late last month it would recognize the Libyan rebels' National Transitional Council. Foreign minister Djibril Bassolet also said the landlocked West African nation would welcome Gadhafi "if he wishes it." But a top security official in Burkina Faso said there was no sign any of the convoys would proceed into Burkina Faso, which lies west of Niger. The official asked not to be named because he's not authorized to speak to journalists.

Both Niger and Burkina Faso are signatories to the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for the Libyan leader, his son and the country's intelligence chief. But both nations also belong to the African Union, which during a July summit called on member countries to disregard the warrant. The AU and many African leaders have become increasingly critical of the court, accusing it of targeting Africans.

Libyan, Tuareg Convoy Heads For Niamey, Niger, Carrying Gaddafi Troops: Report