Gaddafi calling on Arab governments to grant family asylum – Rebel sources

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat – It appears that Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s plans to celebrate the 42nd year of the revolution that brought him to power will not come to fruition, due to the determination of the Libyan rebels who are marching on Tripoli and who want to transform the anniversary of Gaddafi’s revolution into the birth of a new revolution.

The so-called Fateh Revolution, which brought Gaddafi to power on 1 September 1969, was a bloodless coup d’état deposing King Idris of Libya whilst he was abroad in Turkey.  This has been a national day of celebration in Libya since Gaddafi first came to power, and reports indicate that Libyan government committees held a series of meetings in Tripoli to prepare for the celebrations this year, despite the unrest in the country, and the Libyan rebels march on Tripoli.  However Libyan rebel officers, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, revealed that they aim to spoil Gaddafi’s celebrations, saying that they plan to have already captured Tripoli by this date.

With the advancements made on the ground by the Libyan rebels in recent days and weeks, the Libyan rebel National Transitional Council [NTC] has said that it has formed a plan – in collaboration with rebel sleeper cells based in Tripoli – to gain control of the Libyan capital and avoid unnecessary violence and chaos.

NTC officials and military officers revealed that this plan aims to secure vital installations and strategic targets inside Tripoli, in addition to gaining control of the Tripoli port and airport, as well as protecting public and private property and residential neighborhoods from looting and destruction.

With regards to the rebels advance on Tripoli, an NTC military source told Asharq Al-Awsat that in light of the absence of land-line telephone communication – and fears of the Libyan authorities monitoring such communication – the Libyan rebels will utilize internet communication – such as Skype – to communicate with the outside world and NTC leaders in Benghazi,

The military source also revealed that “all loyal Gaddafi military forces will be subject to immediate military trial in the event of their arrest.”  He added that all members of the Gaddafi government, as well as his political aides, would be subject to military trial in the event of the collapse of the regime.

The rebel fighters have also received instructions on how to deal with the local population in Tripoli, to ensure that there is no violence or unrest, amidst fears that some Gaddafi forces might go underground or carry out individual attacks which could potentially incite chaos in the Libyan capital.

A Tripoli citizen, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, revealed that nothing out of the ordinary has taken place in the Libyan capital in recent days.  He said that they had not noticed any abnormalities or deployment of Gaddafi’s battalions, as of Thursday night, in light of the rebels advance on Tripoli.

Although some Tripoli citizens have left the city, reports indicate that as many as 100,000 Libyan citizens may have sought refuge in Tripoli from fighting taking place elsewhere in the country.

Gaddafi aides have stressed that it will not be easy for the rebels to capture Tripoli, and that the Libyan rebels – backed by NATO forces – will have to kill thousands of Libyan people before they can hope to capture the Libyan capital or any Gaddafi regime official.

Libyan and Western sources have also revealed that Colonel Gaddafi has sent messages to a number of Western, Arab, and African leaders, urging them to intervene with regards to the NATO campaign in the country and impose an immediate ceasefire in Libya.

NTC representative to the Arab League, Abdul-Monem al-Houni, told Asharq Al-Awsat that “as part of Gaddafi contacting other leads, is his search for a safe haven that he can flee to if Tripoli falls to the rebels.”  He added that “Gaddafi regime has just days before it draws its last breath.”

Al-Houni also revealed that Colonel Gaddafi has contacted a number of governments, including the Egyptian, Moroccan, Algerians, and Tunisian governments to reach an agreement granting his wife Safia Farkash, his daughter Aisha, and his sons’ wives and grand-children, refuge.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday, NTC spokesman Abdul-Monem al-Houni claimed that rebel forces could reach the outskirts of Tripoli within hours of gaining control of the strategically important city of Zawiya.

Government sources also told Asharq Al-Awsat that Colonel Gaddafi may have suffered a stroke preventing him from appearing in public over the past two weeks. Although Gaddafi has failed to appear in public over the past two weeks, he has issued a number of speeches, including a recent speech broadcast on Libyan state television in which he pledged that his regime would fight to the last man, and in which he called on the people to take up arms against “the traitors and NATO.”

However one Tripoli citizen, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat by telephone, said “we expect everybody to flee [with the approach of the rebels].  We hear a lot of rumors, but their talk about fighting till the end is nothing more than an attempt to protect themselves from the anger of the citizens.”