Libyan rebels applauded a G8 call for Moamer Gaddafi to go ahead of a visit on Monday by South Africa’s president for talks that officials said will focus on an ‘exit strategy’ for the strongman.
“The entire world has reached a consensus that Colonel Gaddafi and his regime have not only lost their legitimacy but also their credibility,” rebel leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil said in a statement from Benghazi. “I would like to welcome the position taken… by the G8 where members emphasised the necessity of Colonel Gaddafi’s departure,” the statement said.
“The position taken by the G8 is reflective of the will of the international community as well as the demands and aspirations of the Libyan people.” On Friday, G8 leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States called for Gaddafi to step down after more than 40 years in the face of pro-democracy protests turned full-fledged armed revolt. Russia at the same time finally joined explicit calls for Gaddafi to go.
The Libyan regime responded saying any initiative to resolve the crisis would have to go through the African Union. “The G8 is an economic summit. We are not concerned by its decisions,” said Tripoli’s deputy foreign minister Khaled Kaaim. “We are an African country. Any initiative outside the AU framework will be rejected,” he said. Kaaim confirmed the visit on Monday of South African President Jacob Zuma, without indicating whether Gaddafi’s departure would be discussed.
A source in Zuma’s office, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday that “the purpose (of the visit) is to discuss an exit strategy for Gaddafi,” while another said South Africa was working with Turkey on the exit plan. At the time, Zuma’s spokesman Zizi Kodwa insisted discussion of an exit strategy was “misleading,” saying the visit was taking place within AU efforts for Libya to adopt the political reforms needed to end the crisis.
Turkey last month gave the international community, including the African Union, a proposed “roadmap” to end the Libyan turmoil by removing Gaddafi and opening the way for comprehensive political transition. In Benghazi, meanwhile, rebels are already planning for a post-Gaddafi future, appointing ambassadors and preparing a draft constitution amid fears in some quarters that the rebel National Transitional Council risks becoming a short-term government for only half the country.
“As time passes, the risk increases that we set up a system that will not fit in the west of the country and that might be hard to sell to the Libyans in Tripoli,” one NTC member told AFP on condition of anonymity. “Jalil will not name a provisional government until Gaddafi has been killed or has left the country,” said a European diplomat in Benghazi.
“A government that does not represent all the regions, notably Tripoli, is a partition of the country, and that’s a victory for Gaddafi,” the diplomat added.
In his statement, Jalil, head of the TNC, accused Gaddafi’s forces of attacking rebel-held cities in the Nafusa mountains in western Libya with heavy artillery, tanks and rocket launchers. “They continue to shell and besiege the city of Misrata, and also impose arbitrary measures that include random arrests, torture, and raids of homes in the city of Tripoli, Zawiyah, Zwara, and many other cities. “We witness how Colonel Kadhafi presents initiatives to fool the world and create the illusion that he is in search of peace,” Jalil said.
“It is with this in mind that we would like to reconfirm that the basis of any consideration for the resolution of the Libyan crisis, is the removal of the main reason for this crisis, Colonel Gaddafi.
