01/09/2011

Gadaffi Sons Split On Resistance

Separate broadcasts from the sons of Muammar Gadaffi have revealed a split on their approach to the ongoing conflict in Libya.

On the pro-Gaddafi al-Rai television station on Wednesday, Saif al-Islam vowed to continue resistance against "the rats", while his brother Saadi Gaddafi said in TV interview he is willing to negotiate an end to the fighting.

More surprisingly, Saadi is also believed to have entered into negotiations on the conditions of his surrender with the head of Tripoli's military council, Abdul Hakim Belhadj.

"We want to spare bloodletting, therefore negotiation and surrender is preferable," Belhadj told international news agency Reuters. "If this does not happen there is no other way except a military solution."

The statements from the Gaddafi sons came as Al Jazeera revealed NATO had bombed remaining outposts of Gaddafi's supporters in Libya, targeting their tanks and armoured vehicles as well as military facilities.

Meanwhile, a top military commander of Libya's interim council said on Thursday the ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is believed to be in the desert town of Bani Walid, about 150 (95 miles) southeast of Tripoli.

Rebel forces are believed to be surrounding the city.

British Prime Minister David Cameron is yet to respond to the latest developments but is due to attend a meeting with the Libyan National Transitional Council along with representatives from 60 countries and the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Paris on Thursday evening.

The PM also said the transition to a free and democratic Libya should be a “Libyan-led and Libyan-owned process”.

“Our task now is to do all we can to support the will of the Libyan people which is for an effective transition to a free, democratic and inclusive Libya.”

However, the comments come on the heels of a rebuke from the temporary Libyan Council over plans by the UN to send in "peacekeeping" ground troops.

Mr Cameron said the Government would establish a “diplomatic presence” in Tripoli as soon as it was safe to do so and said the UK could be proud of its role in helping the uprising against Gadaffi.

(DW/CD)


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