Moamer Gaddafi is considering leaving the capital Tripoli following blistering NATO air raids, a report said, as Libya’s rebels hinted they may allow him to remain in the country if he stands down.
The Wall Street Journal Friday quoted a senior US national security official as saying American intelligence shows Gaddafi “doesn’t feel safe anymore” in the capital where he has ruled for over four decades. However, officials told the paper they did not see the move as imminent and did not believe Gaddafi would leave the country, a key demand of Libyan rebels who have been battling his forces in a month-old stalemate. Gaddafi is believed to have numerous safe houses and other facilities both within the capital and outside of it to which he might relocate. Rebel spokesman Mahmud Shamam told French daily Le Figaro the insurgents were in indirect contact with the regime and may be prepared to allow Gaddafi to stay in Libya, but that he and his family must agree to leave power. “Our conditions remain the same. It is totally excluded that Gaddafi or members of his family take part in a future government. We are discussing with them the mechanism for Gaddafi’s departure,” he said. In the rebels’ capital Benghazi, however, the National Transitional Council deputy chairman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga told AFP: “There is no contact, direct or indirect, with the Gaddafi regime.” Another rebel leader, Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani on Thursday made a plea for foreign allies to provide the arms, training and communications systems needed to defeat Gaddafi. “It is so urgent” he said, “we will fight, just support us, just give us the equipment.” Speaking at the Rajma military installation, 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Benghazi, Bani said the rebels were up against vastly superior firepower.
The mostly volunteer force has, with the help of NATO air strikes, kept Gaddafi’s forces at bay on several fronts across the country, but has made limited progress toward Tripoli — allowing loyalist forces to dig in to key positions. Much of the rebels’ arsenal comprises Soviet-era tanks and artillery up to 50 years old.
