The unity of Libya’s new rulers was tested on Wednesday as negotiators sought to orchestrate the peaceful surrender of the oasis town of Bani Walid after the ambush of a tribal delegation.“The negotiations were successful yesterday and we are waiting for the National Transitional Council to give us the green light to go in,” said NTC’s chief negotiator Abdullah Kenshil. NTC negotiators say they are committed to avoiding bloodshed in Bani Walid, even after a delegation sent to the oasis town on Tuesday retreated after being fired upon. “The elders have joined the revolution,” Kenshil said, adding some of them were in Tripoli and others were back in Bani Walid after armed men loyal to fallen Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi initially prevented them from returning.
Hours later the situation behind the front lines of the pro-NTC forces was tense, as political and military leaders gave varying accounts of how successful the efforts were at avoiding a full-fledged battle. Some affiliated with Libya’s interim rulers said the negotiations were close to a breakthrough that would prevent bloodshed, while others insisted the time for talking was over. At a checkpoint near Wishtata, an AFP correspondent reported there were signs of a military build-up, with some brigades arriving, but not in the numbers to indicate an attack was imminent. In the hamlet of Wishtata itself, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the front line, Colonel Abdullah Abu Asara said his volunteer fighters were ready for any eventuality. “We are fully ready to attack, we are just waiting for the command from the National Transitional Council, we are under their command now,” he told AFP. “The heads of tribes were sent into negotiate yesterday and Gaddafi’s troops fired on them,” he said. But, according to Kenshil, the aggression against the elders had angered members of Bani Walid’s community and could spur the hamlet to reject Gaddafi loyalists and embrace the NTC instead. “Armed men waved their weapons at the elders… and this angered the community,” Kenshil said. Witnesses reported seeing the tribal elders heading away from Bani Walid, 170 kilometres (105 miles) southeast of Tripoli, towards the nearby town of Tarhuna late on Tuesday. While the dust clears, the situation is delicate for the interim government’s political and military leadership and tensions are rising ahead of a Saturday deadline for pro-Gaddafi forces to surrender to the NTC.
