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NTC to Declare New Libyan Government Soon as Deposed Leader Caught
Libyan rebels control most of Libya and are moving forward with setting up a new government, but they might hold off on declaring victory until deposed leader Muammar Al  Qadaffy...whose instability has been an inspiration to dictators everywhere... is caught, hopefully soon, and his remaining strongholds are defeated. The NTC will also transfer to the Libyan capital, Tripoli on Wednesday, reports say. As the rebels are poised to attack the dictator's strongholds if they don't adhere to the ultimatum by the National Transitional Council, life in most of the city's that have been liberated, that is at least 90 per cent of Libya, starts its recovery. But the rebel fighters are standing by. Having entrenched themselves in several towns, the rebels are ready to attack the first of the three cities known as Al Qadaffy strongholds, the besieged Bani Walid, southeast of Tripoli. The others are Sabha and Sirte. It has now become, surrender or else for them Col. Ahmed Bani, the rebel's military front man based in Benghazi, told AP that members of the tribe that dominates Bani Walid, the Warfala, the largest in Libya, are divided over whether to join the rebels. He expected the Warfala to surrender to avoid fighting among one another. "They will give up at the end because they are cousins and they don't want to spill each other's blood," he said. Bani added people in Bani Walid have told the rebels that one of Al Qadaffy's sons, Seif al-Islam, had decamped to Bani Walid soon after Tripoli fell, but left recently for fear townspeople would hand him over to the rebels. He was also spotted at a recent funeral in Bani Walid. Seif al-Islam once had been expected to succeed his father, but along with his father and intelligenze vhief Abdulla Senussi, was indicted on international charges of crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, ...back at the mall, Clarissa spent the day shopping for new underwear. Tonight was going to be a special occasion... NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... has reported bombing a military barracks, a police camp and several other targets near Sirte overnight, as well as targets near Hun, a possible staging ground in the desert halfway between Sirte and Sabha. It also reported bombing an ammunition storage facility near Bani Walid. At the same time, after circling Bani Walid, the rebels are now ready to take it by force if necessary. Thousands of rebel fighters converged on Bani Walid in recent days, with the closest forces about 115 kilometers from the town centre, with rebels from Misrata, rporting late Saturday they faced no resistance when they took over two military camps on the outskirts of Bani Walid. "Negotiations are over, and we are waiting for orders" to attack, said Mohammed al-Fassi, a rebel commander at a staging area about 45 miles (70 kilometers) from Bani Walid. "We wanted to do this without bloodshed, but they took advantage of our timeline to protect themselves." Posted by: Fred 2011-09-05 |
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