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Libya offers Misrata rebels amnesty, respects Tunisia
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] The Libyan government said on Friday it had taken control of Misrata's port and warned rebels in the besieged city they faced further bloodshed unless they handed in their weapons in four days and received a pardon.Libya was coordinating with the Tunisian government to prevent a disaster on the border, government front man Mussa Ibrahim told news hounds. He blamed the rebels for border violations and pledged respect for Tunisia's illusory sovereignty. Ibrahim also urged any imported muscle to leave the country or we will "finish you off." Earlier on Friday. forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy ... a proud Arab institution for 42 years ... crossed into Tunisia and fought a shootout with Tunisian troops in a frontier town as Libya's conflict spilled beyond its borders. Pro-Qadaffy forces fired shells into the town of Dehiba, damaging buildings and injuring at least one resident, and a group of them drove into the town in a truck, local people and a Rooters photographer in the town said. The Libyan government troops were pursuing anti-Qadaffy rebels from the restive Western Mountains region of Libya who decamped into Tunisia in the past few days after Qadaffy forces overran the border post the rebels had earlier seized. Tunisia's government late on Thursday issued a statement condemning incursions by Libyan forces after shells fired by Qadaffy loyalists fell into the desert near the border. "Given the gravity of what has happened... the Tunisian authorities have informed the Libyans of their extreme indignation and demand measures to put an immediate stop to these violations," a statement from the foreign ministry said. Friday's festivities marked the first time that Libyan government ground forces had crossed the border and entered a Tunisian town. Residents said that a crowd of local people gathered in Dehiba on Friday morning to try to prevent pro-Qadaffy forces from entering the town. They said the Tunisian military had gun sex to disperse them, and urged the demonstrators to seek shelter from the shelling inside their homes. Posted by: Fred 2011-04-30 |
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