TOBRUK – Moamer Gaddafi’s regime has lost vast swathes of Libya’s east to an insurrection, it emerged on Wednesday, as the West prepared for a mass exodus from a “bloodbath” in the north African country.
As condemnation of the brutal crackdown grew and foreigners fled the oil-rich country, Gaddafi appeared to be increasingly isolated after reports that hundreds of civilians were killed in the backlash by his forces.
Gaddafi opponents appeared firmly in control of Libya’s coastal east, from the Egyptian border through to the cities of Tobruk and Benghazi, with government soldiers switching sides to join the uprising. Journalists in Cyrenaica saw regime opponents – many of them armed – all along the highway that hugs the Mediterranean coast. Soldiers were declaring their support for the uprising, residents said, but the regime asserted it was still in control via a text message sent on the Libyan national mobile telephone network.
“God give victory to our leader and the people,” the message said, promising a credit in cellphone time if it were forwarded to other mobile telephone users. But Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said, “Cyrenaica is no longer under the control of the Libyan government and there are outbreaks of violence across the country.” For his part, Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Khaim said Al Qaeda had set up an Islamic emirate in Derna, between Tobruk and Benghazi, headed by a former US prisoner at Guantanamo Bay.
But residents in the city have told reporters there was no substance to these rumours, which they claim the Libyan government was sowing to scare Europe. On Tuesday, Libya’s regime said 300 people had been killed in the protests, but the International Federation for Human Rights on Wednesday said at least 640 had died. The figure includes 275 dead in Tripoli and 230 in Benghazi.
