Gadhafi is surrounded, say Libya's new leaders
Source: Agencies |
September 8, 2011, Thursday
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LIBYAN fighters have surrounded ousted leader Moammar Gadhafi, and it is only a matter of time until he is captured or killed, a spokesman for Tripoli's new military council said yesterday.
The council's deputy defense minister said, however, that Libya's former rebels have no idea where Gadhafi is, and they are focusing on taking control of territory instead of tracking down the former leader.
People in Libya's new government have given a series of conflicting statements about Gadhafi's presumed whereabouts since the fall of the capital last month, and many reports about his location have proven untrue.
Rebel spokesman Anis Sharif said Gadhafi is still in Libya and has been tracked using advanced technology and human intelligence.
Rebel forces have taken up positions on all sides of Gadhafi's presumed location, with none more than 60 kilometers away, he said, without providing details.
"He cannot get out," said Sharif, who added the former rebels are preparing either to detain him or to kill him.
"We are just playing games with him," Sharif said.
NATO said it has made a number of airstrikes around Sirte - Gadhafi's hometown - on Tuesday, hitting six tanks, six armored fighting vehicles and an ammunition storage facility, among other targets. They also targeted the Gadhafi loyalist strongholds of Hun, Sabha and Waddan.
Deputy Defense Minister Mohammad Tanaz said the former rebels do not know where Gadhafi is, and the fugitive could still be hiding in tunnels under Tripoli.
He said the manhunt was not a focus for his men.
"Our priority is to liberate all of Libya," he said.
Locating Gadhafi would help seal the new rulers' hold on the country.
Convoys of Gadhafi loyalists, including his security chief, fled across the Sahara into Niger this week in a move that Libya's former rebels hoped could help lead to the surrender of his last strongholds.
In Niger's capital, Niamey, Massoudou Hassoumi, a spokesman for Niger's president, said Gadhafi's security chief had crossed the desert into Niger on Monday.
Mansour Dao, the former commander of Libya's Revolutionary Guards and a cousin of Gadhafi as well as a member of his inner circle, is the only senior Libyan figure to have crossed into Niger, said Hassoumi.
Hassoumi said the group of nine people also included several pro-Gadhafi businessmen, as well as Agaly ag Alambo, a Tuareg rebel leader from Niger who led a failed uprising in Niger's north before crossing into Libya, where he was believed to be fighting for Gadhafi.
Since Tripoli's fall to Libyan rebels last month, there has been a movement of Gadhafi loyalists across the porous desert border that separates Libya from Niger. They include Tuareg fighters who are nationals of Niger and next-door neighbor Mali who fought on Gadhafi's behalf in the civil war.
The council's deputy defense minister said, however, that Libya's former rebels have no idea where Gadhafi is, and they are focusing on taking control of territory instead of tracking down the former leader.
People in Libya's new government have given a series of conflicting statements about Gadhafi's presumed whereabouts since the fall of the capital last month, and many reports about his location have proven untrue.
Rebel spokesman Anis Sharif said Gadhafi is still in Libya and has been tracked using advanced technology and human intelligence.
Rebel forces have taken up positions on all sides of Gadhafi's presumed location, with none more than 60 kilometers away, he said, without providing details.
"He cannot get out," said Sharif, who added the former rebels are preparing either to detain him or to kill him.
"We are just playing games with him," Sharif said.
NATO said it has made a number of airstrikes around Sirte - Gadhafi's hometown - on Tuesday, hitting six tanks, six armored fighting vehicles and an ammunition storage facility, among other targets. They also targeted the Gadhafi loyalist strongholds of Hun, Sabha and Waddan.
Deputy Defense Minister Mohammad Tanaz said the former rebels do not know where Gadhafi is, and the fugitive could still be hiding in tunnels under Tripoli.
He said the manhunt was not a focus for his men.
"Our priority is to liberate all of Libya," he said.
Locating Gadhafi would help seal the new rulers' hold on the country.
Convoys of Gadhafi loyalists, including his security chief, fled across the Sahara into Niger this week in a move that Libya's former rebels hoped could help lead to the surrender of his last strongholds.
In Niger's capital, Niamey, Massoudou Hassoumi, a spokesman for Niger's president, said Gadhafi's security chief had crossed the desert into Niger on Monday.
Mansour Dao, the former commander of Libya's Revolutionary Guards and a cousin of Gadhafi as well as a member of his inner circle, is the only senior Libyan figure to have crossed into Niger, said Hassoumi.
Hassoumi said the group of nine people also included several pro-Gadhafi businessmen, as well as Agaly ag Alambo, a Tuareg rebel leader from Niger who led a failed uprising in Niger's north before crossing into Libya, where he was believed to be fighting for Gadhafi.
Since Tripoli's fall to Libyan rebels last month, there has been a movement of Gadhafi loyalists across the porous desert border that separates Libya from Niger. They include Tuareg fighters who are nationals of Niger and next-door neighbor Mali who fought on Gadhafi's behalf in the civil war.
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