Gadhafi's offer to talk rejected by rebels
Source: Agencies |
August 29, 2011, Monday
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LIBYAN rebels yesterday rejected Moammar Gadhafi's offer to negotiate and said they have captured the eastern town of Bin Jawwad, forcing regime loyalists to flee after days of fighting.
With his regime crumbling, Gadhafi appears to be on the run, but his chief spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said the Libyan leader is still in the country.
Meanwhile, new evidence emerged pointing to arbitrary killings of detainees and civilians by Gadhafi's forces during the rebels' push into Tripoli last week, including some 50 charred corpses at a regime lock-up.
The rebels dismissed Gadhafi's offer, relayed by Ibrahim, to have his son al-Saadi lead talks on a transitional government.
Mahmoud Shammam, the Information Minister in the rebel transitional government, said: "We do not recognize them. We are looking at them as criminals. We are going to arrest them very soon. Talking about negotiations is a daydream for what remains of the dictatorship."
In London yesterday, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague also dismissed the offer, saying the National Transitional Council, the rebel government, was already in charge of the country and that Gadhafi should call on his supporters to stop fighting.
He said: "I referred a few days ago to Colonel Gadhafi making delusional statements and this is another one of them."
The rebels control most of Libya, including Tripoli, but are struggling to alleviate shortages of water, fuel and electricity in the capital.
Usama el-Abed, the deputy leader of the new city council, said between 60 and 70 percent of residents had insufficient water.
The United Nations is preparing to ship in baby food, bottled water and medicine. World Health Organization officials are in Malta, about 350 kilometers north of Tripoli in the Mediterranean, preparing aid shipments, which are expected to leave for Libya in the next few days.
In one small attempt at returning to normal, a traffic policeman in a white uniform was on duty yesterday in an eastern neighborhood of Tripoli.
"Today is the first day we started working. Things are under control and running smoothly," said traffic cop Abu Bakr al-Murbet.
Some 1,000 Egyptians, Jordanians and Filipinos boarded a passenger ferry in Tripoli yesterday to escape instability and shortages. Most said they plan to return to their jobs in Libya once the situation has calmed down.
Before the outbreak of fighting, large numbers of foreign workers - some estimates go as high as 2.5 million - were employed in oil-rich Libya. Hundreds of thousands have already fled.
Rebels yesterday threatened to advance on the coastal road toward Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte if tribal leaders there do not surrender.
With his regime crumbling, Gadhafi appears to be on the run, but his chief spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said the Libyan leader is still in the country.
Meanwhile, new evidence emerged pointing to arbitrary killings of detainees and civilians by Gadhafi's forces during the rebels' push into Tripoli last week, including some 50 charred corpses at a regime lock-up.
The rebels dismissed Gadhafi's offer, relayed by Ibrahim, to have his son al-Saadi lead talks on a transitional government.
Mahmoud Shammam, the Information Minister in the rebel transitional government, said: "We do not recognize them. We are looking at them as criminals. We are going to arrest them very soon. Talking about negotiations is a daydream for what remains of the dictatorship."
In London yesterday, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague also dismissed the offer, saying the National Transitional Council, the rebel government, was already in charge of the country and that Gadhafi should call on his supporters to stop fighting.
He said: "I referred a few days ago to Colonel Gadhafi making delusional statements and this is another one of them."
The rebels control most of Libya, including Tripoli, but are struggling to alleviate shortages of water, fuel and electricity in the capital.
Usama el-Abed, the deputy leader of the new city council, said between 60 and 70 percent of residents had insufficient water.
The United Nations is preparing to ship in baby food, bottled water and medicine. World Health Organization officials are in Malta, about 350 kilometers north of Tripoli in the Mediterranean, preparing aid shipments, which are expected to leave for Libya in the next few days.
In one small attempt at returning to normal, a traffic policeman in a white uniform was on duty yesterday in an eastern neighborhood of Tripoli.
"Today is the first day we started working. Things are under control and running smoothly," said traffic cop Abu Bakr al-Murbet.
Some 1,000 Egyptians, Jordanians and Filipinos boarded a passenger ferry in Tripoli yesterday to escape instability and shortages. Most said they plan to return to their jobs in Libya once the situation has calmed down.
Before the outbreak of fighting, large numbers of foreign workers - some estimates go as high as 2.5 million - were employed in oil-rich Libya. Hundreds of thousands have already fled.
Rebels yesterday threatened to advance on the coastal road toward Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte if tribal leaders there do not surrender.
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