Scores of Libyan army vehicles have crossed the desert frontier into Niger in what may be a dramatic, secretly negotiated bid by Muammar Gaddafi to seek refuge in a friendly African state, military sources from France and Niger told Reuters on Tuesday.
A convoy of between 200 and 250 vehicles was given an escort by the army of Niger, a poor and landlocked former French colony to the south of Libya. According to a French military source, it might be joined by Gaddafi en route for neighbouring Burkina Faso, which has offered him asylum.
It was not clear where the 69-year-old former leader was. He has broadcast defiance since being forced into hiding two weeks ago, and has vowed to die fighting on Libyan soil. His son Saif al-Islam, heir apparent before the uprising which ended his father’s 42 years of rule, also was considering joining the convoy, the French source added.
France played a leading role in the war against Gaddafi and such a large Libyan military convoy could hardly have moved safely without the knowledge and agreement of NATO air forces. Sources told Reuters that France may have brokered an arrangement between the new Libyan government and Gaddafi. But the French Foreign Ministry in Paris could not confirm the report of the convoy’s arrival in Niger nor any offer to former Libyan ruler.
Speaking with Syrian television al-Rai, former Libyan leader spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said that Moammar Gadhafi was determined to fight his way back to power. “Moammar Gadhafi is in excellent health, planning and organising for the defence of Libya,” he said, adding that both Gadhafi and his sons remain in Libya. “We are fighting and resisting for the sake of Libya and all Arabs,” he said.
“We are still strong and capable of turning the tables on NATO,” Ibrahim said. Also Tuesday, tribal elders in a Gadhafi stronghold were trying to persuade regime loyalists holed up inside to lay down their arms, a rebel negotiator said. Gadhafi loyalists have been holed up in several towns, including Bani Walid, some 140 kilometres southeast of Tripoli. Thousands of rebel fighters have surrounded the town.
Rebel negotiator Abdullah Kanshil said that tribal elders want assurances that the rebels will not take revenge, and are trying to persuade Gadhafi loyalists to lay down their arms. Abdullah Kanshil, a rebel negotiator, opened a meeting with tribal leaders from Bani Walid by assuring them his fighters were not bent on revenge. Another rebel official, Ali Dariki, listed medical supplies the rebels had brought for the town.
Abdel-Qader al-Maya, speaking for the tribal leaders, said at the meeting televised live by Al-Jazeera that rumors were circulating in Bani Walid that the rebels are going to rape women and slaughter the people in Bani Walid.
