Libyan Rebels Poised To Assault Gadhafi Stronghold

Teni Sow | September 4, 2011 | 0 Comments

TARHOUNA, Libya (AP) — Libyan rebels are poised to attack one of Moammar Gadhafi’s remaining strongholds, but their military spokesman said Sunday he expected the town’s tribal leaders to surrender rather than see their divided followers fight one another.

Rebels control most of Libya and are moving forward with setting up a new government, but they might hold off on declaring victory until Gadhafi is caught and his remaining strongholds are defeated. Gadhafi and his staunchest allies have been on the run since the fall of the capital late last month. Loyalists have entrenched themselves in several towns, including besieged Bani Walid, some 90 miles (140 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli.

Col. Ahmed Bani, the rebel’s military spokesman based in Benghazi, said members of the tribe that dominates Bani Walid, the Warfala, are divided over whether to join the rebels. He said 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 one of Gadhafi’s sons, Seif al-Islam, had fled to Bani Walid soon after Tripoli fell, but left recently for fear townspeople would hand him over to the rebels.

Seif al-Islam Gadhafi once had been expected to succeed his father, and was indicted alongside him on international charges of crimes against humanity in their attempt to quash the rebellion that broke out in February. Last week, a man claiming to be Seif al-Islam Gadhafi made an appeal from hiding that was carried by a Syrian-based TV station, urging his father’s supporters to keep up the fight against the rebels even if it means “we are going to die on our land.”

Rebel officials have given conflicting statements on where they believe the elder Gadhafi is hiding. Bani Walid, Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte and the loyalist town of Sabha, deep in the Libyan desert, have been mentioned.

Rebels continued to put the pressure on Bani Walid, circling the town and saying they are ready to take it by force. Thousands of rebel fighters have converged on Bani Walid in recent days, with the closest forces about 10 miles (15 kilometers) from the town center.

“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.”

Al-Fassi said more Gadhafi loyalists have moved into Bani Walid from the south, but did not know how many.

The 1-million-strong Warfala make up one-sixth of Libya’s population. Moammar Gadhafi said in an audio message last week that the Warfala would be among the tribes defending him to the death.

But Bani Walid also has a history of opposition to Gadhafi. Western diplomats in Libya and opposition leaders abroad reported in 1993 that the air force had put down an uprising by army units in Misrata and Bani Walid. They said many officers were executed and arrested.

 

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