Libya seeks arms against Gaddafi

14 September 2011 Last updated at 20:19 GMT Mustafa Abdul Jalil says he believes Col Gaddafi is planning attacks

The head of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) has appealed for weapons as NTC forces fight to capture parts of the country still loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Mustafa Abdul Jalil told the BBC that the ousted leader was in southern Libya and planning revenge attacks.

A written message attributed to Col Gaddafi appealed to the UN to stop "crimes" against his birthplace Sirte.

Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy will visit Tripoli on Thursday.

"We say to the leaders coming tomorrow that they will be safe," Mr Abdul Jalil said. He did not specify which other foreign leaders might be accompanying President Sarkozy.

However, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, who championed the international intervention in Libya, will be joining the visit to Tripoli.

Earlier, the US said it was encouraged by the increasing control the NTC was exercising over security forces in the country.

'Fierce battles'

Gaddafi loyalists still control four areas, including Sirte on the Mediterranean coast, and Bani Walid, south-east of the capital Tripoli, as well as Jufra and Sabha.

Mr Abdul Jalil said many pro-Gaddafi forces had fled to Sabha in the southern desert.

"There will be fierce battles in Sabha with equipment that we do not yet have, and we ask for more equipment to retake these places," said Mr Abdul Jalil.

He said Col Gaddafi had possession of "all the gold" and would be planning attacks on cities, oil fields and power plants.

Col Gaddafi has previously said he would rather die than flee Libya.

NTC officials say members of the former leader's inner circle took gold and cash with them when they fled south across the border to Niger last week.

Mr Abdul Jalil was speaking in his first BBC interview since moving to Tripoli at the weekend from the anti-Gaddafi stronghold of Benghazi.

He confirmed that the NTC would not move the whole of its administration to Tripoli until the last pockets of pro-Gaddafi resistance had been captured.

Earlier, he held talks with senior US envoy Jeffrey Feltman, who pledged Washington's support for the NTC and said the US would reopen its embassy in the capital as soon as possible.

"We remain encouraged by growing command and control over security and police forces," said Mr Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs.

Mr Feltman said the US was working with Libya on the control of conventional weapons such as shoulder-fired missiles.

The Americans were also talking to the Libyans about the risk from non-conventional weapons such as mustard agent and toxic chemical precursors, he said.

These had in the past been accounted for by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Warfare.

Meanwhile, a Syrian TV channel sympathetic to Col Gaddafi has broadcast a message purporting to be from the fugitive leader.

"Terrorism and destruction exercised by Nato on the Sirte area is beyond description and has no match in past history of wars," said the written message, which was read out by a presenter.

"You must bear your international responsibility and intervene immediately to stop this crime."

The presenter said the letter had been signed: "Muammar Gaddafi, the leader of the revolution."

Nato has been carrying out air strikes under a mandate from two UN resolutions to protect Libyan civilians.

At least 36 members of Col Gaddafi's inner circle, including relatives and generals, have fled to neighbouring Algeria and Niger since Tripoli fell to NTC forces last month.

With roads to Tunisia, Egypt, Chad and Sudan largely controlled by anti-Gaddafi forces, Niger has been used as an exit route by Gaddafi loyalists - including his son Saadi

Anti-Gaddafi fighters say they have captured the northern half of Bani Walid but have struggled to push further.

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Gaddafi must face trial in Libya before ICC: rebels (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) – Muammar Gaddafi must face trial in Libya before being transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC), said Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, spokesman for the rebel National Council Tuesday.

Ghoga told Egyptian state television that Gaddafi, who was indicted by the ICC in May for war crimes, was still in Libya and there was no chance that he will escape.

"Gaddafi is still in Libya, if not in Tripoli, then he may have sneaked to the center (of the country) or the south," Ghoga said.

"We are keen to capture Gaddafi and to try him in Libya before he is tried in the criminal court," he added.

Libyan rebels were searching for the Libyan leader who ruled the North African Arab country for 42 years after they stormed his headquarters in Tripoli Tuesday.

Asked if the rebels would allow Gaddafi an escape route, Ghoga said: "This is impossible. There is no chance for him to escape at all. Gaddafi has no choice."

(Reporting by Ali Abdelatti; Writing by Sami Aboudi)

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Libyan rebel to give Gaddafi hat to his father (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) – A Libyan rebel, wearing a flamboyant military peaked hat that he said he had seized from Muammar Gaddafi's bedroom in his Tripoli compound, said he planned to give the trophy to his father.

Speaking to Britain's Sky News, the bearded fighter identified only as al-Windy, was among the fighters who stormed Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Tuesday, seizing weapons and trophies.

"I just went inside his room, Gaddafi's bedroom, and I was really, I was like 'Oh my God'. I am in Gaddafi's room. Oh my God. Then this thing happened. I found this, oh my goodness," the rebel said, taking the red and grey hat embroidered with gold thread off his head.

"I am going to give this to my dad as a present because he has suffered a lot from Gaddafi and from Gaddafi followers," the rebel, who also wore a huge gold chain over his drab olive-green T-shirt and carried what looked like a ceremonial mace.

Gaddafi, reputed for his eccentricities, was once crowned Africa's "king of kings" by those from south of the Sahara.

The fighter said he had fought with rebels in the Western Mountains region before they advanced on Tripoli and overran Gaddafi's main stronghold early this week.

Pro-Gaddafi forces initially tried to defend the vast Bab al-Aziziya compound, the seat of Gaddafi's political power and the principal base of loyalists seeking to rescue his 42-year rule, but their resistance later faded, the reporters said.

"I am really proud for this moment that the Libyans have waited for 42 years," al-Windy said.

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New pressure on Gaddafi on foreign, rebel fronts (Reuters)

NALUT, Libya (Reuters) – Rebels fighting in Libya's western mountains prepared on Thursday for a new offensive against Muammar Gaddafi's troops, raising pressure on the Libyan leader a day after Britain granted diplomatic recognition to the opposition.

With hopes fading of a negotiated settlement, both sides appear prepared for the five-month-old war to grind on into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in August.

The rebels said they were planning to attack the town of Ghezaia near the Tunisian border in the next 48 hours, and a Reuters correspondent saw dozens of heavily armed pickup trucks heading for the nearby rebel-held town of Nalut.

"We are reinforcing the position around Nalut and we will attack Ghezaia tomorrow or the next day for sure. We plan to take it," Omar Fakkan, a rebel commander, told Reuters.

He said that forces from a number of rebel-held towns in the Nafusa Mountains were gathering in Nalut, ready for the attack.

Rebel fighters have taken large swathes of Libya since the start of an uprising to end Gaddafi's 41-year rule, and now control much of the Nafusa mountain range, the northeast of Libya and the western city of Misrata.

Yet they remain poorly armed and are often disorganized. Despite four months of NATO strikes, they have failed to reach the capital Tripoli and appear unlikely to make a breakthrough soon.

Gaddafi has scoffed at the efforts to end his rule and has weathered the now-stalled rebel advance and the NATO air raids on his forces and military infrastructure.

A recent flurry of diplomatic activity has yielded little, with the rebels insisting Gaddafi step down as a first step and his government saying his role is non-negotiable.

United Nations envoy Abdel Elah al-Khatib visited both sides this week with plans for a ceasefire and a power-sharing government that excludes Gaddafi, but to no avail.

Asked about Khatib's proposal, rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said: "We were surprised the day before yesterday that we are taking 10 steps back... and he says to share power with Muammar Gaddafi's regime. This is laughable."

Gaddafi also appeared defiant on Wednesday, urging rebels to lay down their arms or suffer an ugly death.

"We all lead this battle, until victory, until martyrdom," he said in an audio message aired at a pro-Gaddafi rally in Zaltan, 140 km (90 miles) west of his stronghold Tripoli.

RECOGNISING THE REBELS

Ramping up pressure on Gaddafi, Britain expelled his diplomats from London on Wednesday and invited the rebel National Transitional Council to replace them.

Foreign Secretary William Hague announced that Britain now recognized the rebels as Libya's legitimate government and unblocked 91 million pounds ($148.7 million) in frozen assets.

The United States and about 30 other nations have also recognized the opposition, potentially freeing up billions of dollars in frozen funds.

"This decision reflects the National Transitional Council's increasing legitimacy, competence and success in reaching out to Libyans across the country," Hague said in London.

Gaddafi's government said the British move was "illegal and irresponsible" and a "stain on the forehead of Britain."

"We will go to the International Court of Justice and the national courts in Britain, and we will use their justice," said Libya's deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaim.

However, the British move won praise from rebels fighting in the western mountains.

"We are encouraged by what Britain has done and there is no way Gaddafi can stay in Libya," said Fakkan.

"The fighting will get much worse now because he will have to fight to survive and the Libyans do not want him."

(Additional reporting by Joseph Nasr in Berlin, Rania El Gamal in Benghazi, Hamid Oul Ahmed in Algiers, Missy Ryan and Lutfi Abu Aun in Tripoli, Mussab Al Khairallah in Misrata; Writing by Lin Noueihed; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

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