Libyan rebels said on Monday that strongman Moamer Gaddafi still poses a danger for Libya and the world, as insurgents closed in on his hometown Sirte a week after overrunning his capital Tripoli. Rebels were also battling to restore basic services in Tripoli, hit by cuts in the supply of water, electricity, petrol and even food following the fierce clashes of the past week. The leader of the rebels’ National Transitional Council (NTC), Mustafa Abdel Jalil urged in Doha Monday no let-up in international action against Gaddafi.
“Gaddafi’s defiance of the coalition forces still poses a danger, not only for Libya but for the world. That is why we are calling for the coalition to continue its support,” Abdel Jalil said at a meeting of chiefs of staff of countries militarily involved in Libya, including Qatar.
Another senior rebel leader, Jallal al-Digheily — who holds the NTC’s defence portfolio — told the meeting that coalition support was needed to eliminate the last pockets of resistance by Gaddafi’s loyalist troops. “We still need the support (of the coalition) to re-establish security and eliminate the sleeper cells and the remainder of Gaddafi’s regime,” Digheily said.
The international coalition launched Operation Unified Protector in Libya on March 19 under a UN mandate which authorised air strikes to protect civilians in the country’s civil war which began with a peaceful revolt in mid-February.
Since March 31, the air strikes have been carried out under the command of NATO.
Although Gaddafi’s whereabouts remain a mystery, there is widespread speculation that he is holed up in Sirte, 360 kilometres (225 miles) east of Tripoli, among tribal supporters there.
Rebel forces moved to within 30 kilometres (18 miles) of Sirte from the west and captured Bin Jawad 100 kilometres to the east, the rebel commander in Misrata, Mohammed al-Fortiya, told AFP on Sunday.
“We took Bin Jawad today” on the eastern front, and “the thwar (rebel fighters) from Misrata are 30 kilometres from Sirte” in the west, Fortiya said.
Fierce fighting also raged in the west of Libya as rebels trying to wrest control of the region from Gaddafi’s forces said they had fallen into an ambush in a town southwest of Zuwarah.
“We are negotiating with the tribes for Sirte’s peaceful surrender,” Fortiya said, adding that only tribal leaders were involved, and that to his knowledge no direct contact had been made with Gaddafi himself.
The rebels have offered a $1.7 million-dollar reward for Gaddafi’s capture, dead or alive.
