Gaddafi struggles to keep control

Pro-democracy protesters takeover eastern part of the country, as state structure appears to be disintegrating



Source: Press TV
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/201122445420412325.html

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, is struggling to maintain his authority in the country, as vast swathes of territory in the east now appear to be under the control of pro-democracy protesters.

This comes as international pressure mounts on the Libyan leader to stop the violent crackdown on the demonstrators.

European countries have readied a set of economic sanctions against the country, while Barack Obama, the US president, has slammed the use of "outrageous" force against protesters.

A special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council is also set to take place on Friday to discuss the use of extreme force against peaceful protesters.

On Thursday, anti-government protesters appeared to be in control of the country's eastern coastline, running from the Egyptian border through to the cities of Tobruk and Benghazi, the country's second largest city.

Franco Frattini, the Italian foreign minister, said on Wednesday that protesters also held the city of Cyrenaica, while reports indicate that the anti-government forces' control could stretch as far west as the city of Misurata, where machine gun and heavy arms fire has been reported.

Other towns that appear to no longer be under Gaddafi's control include Derna and Bayda, among others across the country's east.

There have been reports of clashes between pro- and anti-government protesters in the cities of Sabha in the south, Sabratha, near Tripoli and Az Zawiya in the west, where fierce violence was reported. Reuters news agency, quoting Egyptian nationals fleeing Az Zawiya, reported that anti-government protesters had taken the city.

'People in control'

Soldiers in the cities controlled by the protesters have switched sides, filling the void and no longer supporting Gaddafi's government. In a statement posted on the internet, army officers stationed in Misurata pledged their "total support" for the protesters.

Major-General Suleiman Mahmoud, the commander of the armed forces in Tobruk, earlier told Al Jazeera that the troops led by him had switched loyalties.

"We are on the side of the people," he said. "I was with him [Gaddafi] in the past but the situation has changed - he's a tyrant."

Thousands gathered in Tobruk to celebrate their taking of the city on Wednesday, with Gaddafi opponents waving flags of the old monarchy, honking cars and firing in the sky.

"In 42 years, he turned Libya upside-down," said Hossi, an anti-government protester there. "Here the leader is a devil. There is no one in the world like him."

Armed opponents of the government are also patrolling the highway that runs along the country's Mediterranean coast. Al Jazeera's correspondent said that even in the towns under anti-government forces' control, gangs of pro-Gaddafi militias had been reported to be roaming the streets at night.

"From what I've seen, I'd say the people of eastern Libya are the one's in control," Hoda Abdel-Hamid, Al Jazeera's correspondent who is in Libya, reported. She said that no Libyan officials had been manning the border where Al Jazeera's team crossed into the country.

Capital paralysed

Tripoli, the Libyan capital, meanwhile, is said to be virtually locked down, and streets remained mostly deserted, even though Gaddafi had called for his supporters to come out in force on Wednesday and "cleanse" the country from the anti-government demonstrators.

He described citizens who opposed him as "rats" and "mercenaries".

Libyan authorities said food supplies were available as "normal" in the shops and urged schools and public services to restore regular services, although economic activity and banks have been paralysed since Tuesday.

London-based newspaper the Independent reported, however, that petrol and food prices in the capital have trebled as a result of serious shortages.

'Advisory role'

In the first comments from a Gaddafi family member regarding a post-Gaddafi Libya, Saadi, the Libyan leader's third son, told London-based newspaper the Financial Times that his father would play an advisory role in any new re

"My father would stay as the big father who advises," he said. "After this positive earthquake, we have to do something for Libya... We have to bring in new blood to govern our country."

He claimed that 85 per cent of the country was "very calm" and that army battalions were ready to strike at protesters.

On Wednesday, an army general told Al Jazeera that two pilots had ejected from their air force jet near the town of Agdabia after refusing to bomb civilians in Benghazi, which has been a stronghold of the anti-government protesters.

In addition to desertions by many army troops, Gaddafi has also been faced with several diplomats in key posts, as well as cabinet ministers, refusing to recognise his authority and calling for him to be removed.

Hundreds killed

Foreign governments, meanwhile, continue to rush to evacuate their citizens, with thousands flooding to the country's borders with Tunisia and Egypt. The United States, Britain, France, Italy, Turkey, China, France and India, among others, have made arrangements for their nationals to leave the country.

James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent, reported that there was "a desperate scene at Tripoli's airport". He said that there was a "log-jam" there, with some saying that they have been trying to leave the country for three days.

He said it was "almost impossible to buy a ticket", and that police were beating people with clubs to stop them from getting inside the airport.

"The airport is still very firmly under the control of Gaddafi's people," he reported, adding that secret police are patrolling the area, and several checkpoints have been set up on the road leading there.

While authorities have placed tight restrictions on reporting from the country, rights groups say that hundreds of people have been killed in the violent crackdown on anti-government protests that began on February 17. Witnesses say that government-employed foreign mercenaries have been patrolling the streets of cities, firing indiscriminately at people.

The use of warplanes against civilian targets has also been widely reported.

The Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights put the number of people killed at 640, though Nouri el-Mismari, a former protocol chief to Gaddafi, and Frattini, the Italian foreign minister, put the number closer to 1,000.

Denying these figures as "fabrications," the Libyan interior ministry on Wednesday said the death toll since the violence began is only 308.

'Industry of extermination'

Alain Juppe, the French defence minister, on Thursday said he "hop[ed] wholeheartedly Gaddafi is living his last moments as leader". He repeated calls for economic sanctions to be imposed on Libya, including halting purchases of oil from the country.

William Hague, the British foreign minister, said that the United Kingdom was seeking an international investigation into the use of violence against Libyan protesters, and that the "odds are stacking heavily against [Gaddafi]". In earlier comments, Hague had suggested that mass desertions and defections from the diplomatic corps and military meant that Libyan state institutions were in danger of collapse.

Opposition parties in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, meanwhile, have made a joint statement on the government crackdown in Libya, calling on their governments to intervene.

"It is a genuine industry of extermination that has been unleashed. We must stand up to it, as any conscious individual would, and do everything to stop this massacre," read the statement.

As condemnations for the crackdown continue to pour in, international oil prices have hit two-and-a-half year high on the back of instability in the country, which is one of Africa's largest oil producers.