Son Denies Rebels’ Claim That Qaddafi Is Cornered
By ROD NORDLAND and RICK GLADSTONE
Published: August 31, 2011
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TRIPOLI, Libya — A top official of Libya’s transitional government said Wednesday that its fighters had cornered Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in a desert redoubt 150 miles from the capital and were exhorting him to give up, in what would bring a sense of finality to the prolonged uprising that routed him and his family from Tripoli a week ago.
But one of Colonel Qaddafi’s fugitive sons, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, threw a new if improbable taunt at the rebels even as they said they had closed in on his father, vowing in an audio statement that loyalists would never surrender and insisting that “victory will be near.”
“Our leadership is fine,” he said in the statement broadcast on the Al Rai television channel of Syria and other Arab broadcasting outlets. “We are drinking tea and coffee.”
Seif al-Islam gave no indication in the statement of his precise whereabouts except that he was in a Tripoli suburb, and it was not clear if his remarks had been prerecorded. But the statement itself raised the possibility of more fighting and underscored the ability of the Qaddafis to frustrate the alliance of rebel forces that has become the effective government of Libya.
Earlier on Thursday, Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga, the deputy chairman of the rebel Transitional National Council, said in a telephone interview from his home in Benghazi that fighters believed they had located Colonel Qaddafi hiding in Bani Walid, a desert town southeast of Tripoli.
There was no way to corroborate Mr. Ghoga’s claim on the location of Colonel Qaddafi, whose ability to outrun the rebel forces that toppled him has prevented them from claiming absolute victory in the Libya conflict. Previous assertions by rebel forces concerning the whereabouts of Colonel Qaddafi and his family, routed from their Tripoli compound on Aug. 23, have proved premature or false.
The transition government formed by the rebels has given Qaddafi relatives and their loyalists until this Saturday to stop fighting without conditions.
Mr. Ghoga also confirmed reports that another Qaddafi son, Saadi el-Qaddafi, had offered to negotiate a coalition government with the rebels, but that the rebels rejected that out of hand.
Mr. Ghoga laughed out loud when asked about Saadi el-Qaddafi’s overtures. “They have no choice, Qaddafi has no choice, he has to surrender by Saturday.”
Bani Walid, a town of about 50,000 people southeast of Tripoli, is a stronghold of Libya’s largest tribe, the Warfallah, who have traditionally been strong supporters of the government.
Another Qaddafi son, Khamis, was reported killed when he and a group of bodyguards tried to break through a rebel checkpoint on the road to Bani Walid, rebel fighters in the area have told journalists, but his death has never been verified. A rebel spokesman, Col. Ahmed Bani, quoted survivors of that confrontation as saying that they were escorting Khamis, once the head of the feared Khamis Brigade guarding Tripoli, to refuge in Bani Walid.
In addition, there have been unverified reports that Colonel Qaddafi’s second wife, daughter and two of his sons, who fled to Algeria earlier this week, went through Bani Walid, south to the oasis town of Sabha, and then to a remote desert crossing into Algeria. They were granted asylum on humanitarian grounds there earlier this week, infuriating the rebel forces, who have demanded that Algeria repatriate them.
Rebel forces have massed on the outskirts of Bani Walid, but have stopped advancing during a unilateral cease-fire declared by the rebels for the three-day Id al-Fitr holiday.
The rebels also have moved closer to the coastal city of Surt, Colonel Qaddafi’s hometown and another of his rumored refuges.
Mr. Ghoga said the rebel cease-fire had been holding and there had been no reports of major fighting on its first full day.
The call to surrender was earlier rejected by a spokesman for Colonel Qaddafi, Moussa Ibrahim, in a telephone call to The Associated Press in New York. “No dignified, honorable nation would accept an ultimatum from armed gangs,” the A.P. quoted him as saying.
Rebel officials have expressed hope that their cease-fire would persuade Colonel Qaddafi to surrender and avoid the bloodshed of a last stand. Their announcement of his location may have been calculated to pressure him into taking their Saturday ultimatum seriously.
A spokesman for the NATO operational command in Naples, speaking on condition of anonymity as a matter of alliance policy, said that its operations in Libya were continuing normally. “Our mission continues, our mission is still ongoing as long as there is a threat against civilians.” However, the spokesman refused to confirm specifically whether there were any airstrikes on Wednesday.
Mr. Ibrahim told the A.P. that a missile attack, possibly from NATO warplanes, had killed 1,000 people in Surt — a tally that could not be independently verified. Throughout the six-month conflict, Colonel Qaddafi’s government has exaggerated the extent of casualties it says have been inflicted by NATO bombings.
As they secure growing acceptance abroad, the rebels’ readiness to press their demands showed the extent to which they have been emboldened by the NATO-backed military advances that helped to sweep them into Tripoli.
At the same time, the rebel leadership, struggling to unite bands of fighters and ensure security in the capital and elsewhere in the country, appeared to reject the need for international peacekeepers. “We don’t now expect military observers to be requested,” said Ian Martin, a United Nations special envoy for post-conflict planning in Libya, Reuters reported. “It’s very clear that the Libyans want to avoid any kind of military deployment of the U.N. or others.”
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