Gaddafi's son: Tripoli under govt. control

Muammar Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam makes the victory sign as he appears at the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli, Libya, Tuesday August 23, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195285.html

The Libyan dictator's son Seif al-Islam Gaddafi has downplayed advances of revolutionary fighters in the capital, claiming that Tripoli still remains under control of the regime.

Despite earlier claims that he had been captured by the revolutionary forces, Seif made a surprise appearance outside his father's Bab Al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli in the early hours of Tuesday and told foreign journalists that the Libyan capital was under control and that his father remains safe in Tripoli.

“Tripoli is under our control. Everyone should rest assured. All is well in Tripoli," he said, quoted in an AFP report on Tuesday.

The 38-year-old Seif claimed that his troops had “broken the back” of the fighters after luring them into a “trap.”

Rejecting reports of his arrest by a major opposition leader, Seif said, “I am here to refute the lies.”

He also accused the West of disrupting Libya's telecommunications systems.

"This is a technological and media war to cause chaos and terror in Libya," he went on to say.

The development comes a day after Chairman of Libya's Transitional National Council Mustafa Abdel Jalil declared that Seif had been captured.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo also said that he had received confidential information about Seif al-Islam's arrest.

The remarks by Gaddafi's son came amid reports of ongoing fierce clashes between Muammar Gaddafi's loyalists and Libyan revolutionary forces in the capital.

Opposition fighters say they have taken control of over 80 percent of the capital, including the headquarters of the Jamahiriyah state television network, and that they are trying to secure areas they have captured.

However, it appears that the fighters have been pushed back by Gaddafi forces west of Tripoli.

Backed by tanks and weapons, the regime's supporters resisted against fighters that had entered Tripoli from the west, after opposition forces tried to get to Gaddafi's residence early Monday.

There is yet no official word on the whereabouts of Muammar Gaddafi, as opposition forces have not managed to arrest him yet. Some reports indicate that the Libyan dictator may be at a hospital near Tajura, east of Tripoli.