Gaddafi wanted dead or alive – Rebel spokesman

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat – Libya is witnessing the dawning of a new era after Libyan rebels over-ran the capital Tripoli and took over control of Colonel Gaddafi’s stronghold of Bab al-Aziziyah.

By Tuesday evening, the private residence of the African King of Kings, Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, was in rebel hands.  Libyan rebels could be seen firing into the air in celebration and destroying symbols of the Gaddafi regime, including decapitating a statue of the Libyan leader inside the Bab al-Aziziyah main compound.

The Libyan rebels, who have been confronting the Gaddafi regime since February, have now succeeded in wresting control of the majority of Libya from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who has been in power in Libya for 42 years.

Colonel Gaddafi and his sons are presumed to have fled the Libyan capital, most likely for Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte, in northern Libya.

After taking control of much of the Libyan capital on Tuesday, Libyan rebels converged on the Bab al-Aziziyah compound in the heart of Tripoli on Tuesday evening, smashing one of the compound’s gates and storming the Gaddafi stronghold.  Libyan rebels ransacked Bab al-Aziziyah, seizing weapons and smashing symbols of a hated regime that is now presumably drawing its last breath.  This not only represented a strategic victory for the Libyan rebels, but also a symbolic one, as Bab al-Aziziyah had been Gaddafi’s impregnable stronghold, and the place from which he organized pro-regime rallies and castigated the Libyan rebels as “traitors” and “rats.”

Speaking to pro-Gaddafi media outlets, Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi claimed that his withdrawal from Tripoli was a “tactical move” after the Bab al-Aziziyah compound had been hit by 64 NATO air strikes.  He pledged not to give up the fight against the Libyan “traitors”, vowing “victory or martyrdom.”  While Gaddafi spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said that the Libyan leader is ready to resist the rebels for months or even years.  Speaking by telephone to pro-Gaddafi media following the rebels’ victory in Tripoli, the Libyan government spokesman stressed that “we will turn Libya into a volcano of lava and fire under the feet of the invaders and their treacherous agents.”

The Libyan rebel National Transitional Council [NTC] – that is recognized as the legitimate government of Libya by a number of countries including the US – is urging caution.  NTC Chairman Mustafa Abel-Jalil has stressed that “it is too early to say that the battle of Tripoli is over.  That won’t happen until Gaddafi and his sons are captured”

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, NTC representative to the Arab League, Abdul-Monem al-Houni, revealed that “Gaddafi may have fled to his stronghold in the coastal city of Sirte, and we believe he is preparing for a final battle.”

Al-Houni also revealed that the NTC has received reports that “Gaddafi had ordered the withdrawal of all of his troops to Sirte, and we fear that the residents of Sirte will pay the final bill for his [Gaddafi’s] madness for power.”

The NTC spokesman also stressed to Asharq Al-Awsat that “the rebels will never leave Gaddafi; we will capture him dead or alive.”

Al-Houni also stated that Gaddafi was most likely not present in Tripoli during the Libyan rebels advance, and may have fled the Libyan capital weeks ago.

He also told Asharq Al-Awsat that there are three places where Gaddafi might seek refuge at the current time.  Firstly, Gaddafi could seek refuge in al-Jufra region [Al-Jufra Military Base] in southern Libya, which is the headquarters of his general staff.  Secondly, Al-Houni said that Gaddafi could have sought refuge in the Traghen Oasis in southern Libya, which is the hometown of his Chief of Staff Bashir Saleh.  Gaddafi reportedly possesses a well-equipped headquarters in Traghen – close to the Niger border –which includes radio broadcast equipment.  Thirdly, Gaddafi might have sought refuge in his hometown of Sirte, where the Gaddafifah tribe that he belongs to enjoys a strong presence.

Wherever Gaddafi is hiding, there can be no doubt that he is facing the end of his regime, and perhaps even “martyrdom”, particularly as the NTC on Wednesday issued a statement offering an amnesty to any of Muammar Gaddafi’s entourage who “kill or capture him.”  In addition to this, an unidentified Benghazi businessman has reportedly offered a reward of two million Libyan dinars ($1.3 million) for Gaddafi’s capture.