Friday, 26 August 2011
Libyan rebel fighters stand guard over detainees during a fight for the final push to flush out Muammar Gaddafi's forces in Abu Salim district in Tripoli. (Photo by REUTERS)
Libyan rebel forces were surrounding an area of Tripoli where Muammar Qaddafi and his entourage were believed to hiding, a minister in Libya’s National Transitional Council said on Friday. Meanwhile, the role some NATO states are laying in the hunt for Qaddafi has put alliance in an awkward position after repeated denials that it works hand-in-hand with the rebellion.
“The area where he is now is under siege,” Justice Minister Mohammed al-Alagi told Reuters. “The rebels are monitoring the area and they are dealing with it.”
“The area where he is now is under siege,” Justice Minister Mohammed al-Alagi told Reuters. “The rebels are monitoring the area and they are dealing with it.”
Alagi, a lawyer who said he had come to Tripoli to establish the new “legal authority” declined to specify where Gaddafi was.
Other rebel officials have said they believe the fallen strongman has taken refuge in the Abu Salim area in the south of the capital –an area that saw clashes in recent days.
Rebel fighters have said earlier this week that they thought they had Gaddafi cornered but these reports have turned out to be inaccurate, or at least premature.
Meanwhile, British Defense Secretary Liam Fox slightly lifted the veil of secretive operations when he said Thursday that NATO was providing “intelligence and reconnaissance assets” to help rebels hunt down the elusive Libyan leader.
The British defense ministry then announced Friday that it had bombed a “large headquarters bunker” in Qaddafi’s home town of Sirte, an operation that came as rebels geared up to launch an offensive there after their Tripoli triumph.
NATO has consistently rejected claims that it is coordinating operations with the rebels, commanding special forces on the ground, or trying to kill Qaddafi since the bombing campaign began in March.
“No specific individual is a target as an individual, whether it’s Qaddafi or anybody else,” NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said Thursday after Fox’s remarks.
Lungescu insisted that NATO was sticking to its United Nations mandate, limited to protecting civilians from any attacks. “There is no military coordination with the rebels,” she said.
The NATO denials are “absolute rubbish,” said Shashank Joshi, a Libyan war expert at the Royal United Services Institute in London.
“It’s a necessary fiction to stay within the bounds of (UN) Resolution 1973 and to avoid legal and political difficulties,” Joshi told AFP.
Russia and China withheld their vetos at the UN Security Council to allow the resolution’s adoption in March, but they have since accused NATO of going beyond the scope of its mandate.
“There’s overwhelming evidence that NATO was not only helping the rebels but that it was a decisive and critical partner to the rebels,” Joshi said.
“It was really engaged in a close and intimate level of coordination and support, without which the rebels could not have won this conflict, so I don’t believe a single word NATO is saying,” he added.
An AFP correspondent found on Thursday French and British operatives based at rebel eastern front command facility in Zuwaytina, about 150 kilometers (95 miles) southwest of the opposition capital Benghazi.
France and Britain have spearheaded the NATO air war, launching the first salvos along with the United States on March 19. The three nations later sent military advisers to Benghazi.
British newspapers revealed this week the role played by Britain’s Special Air Service (SAS) forces.
The Daily Telegraph, quoting defense sources, said SAS members were sent to Libya several weeks ago and played a key role in coordinating the battle for Tripoli, and are now focusing on tracking down Qaddafi.
The Times newspaper reported that the SAS had been working with Qatari special forces. While the Qataris were operating along the front lines with rebel fighters, the SAS had performed a more discreet role further back coordinating with NATO pilots, the paper said, quoting Ministry of Defense sources.
A Western official stressed that there was a distinction between forces led by national governments and the air campaign directed by NATO’s command structure.
“I think that’s the unfortunate sort of nuance that was missing,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said regarding Fox’s statement that NATO was helping in the search for Qaddafi.
“The fact that some NATO nations have some individuals on the ground, it should be made clear they are not under NATO command,” the official said. “Unfortunately people have a habit of calling everything down there NATO.”
Other rebel officials have said they believe the fallen strongman has taken refuge in the Abu Salim area in the south of the capital –an area that saw clashes in recent days.
Rebel fighters have said earlier this week that they thought they had Gaddafi cornered but these reports have turned out to be inaccurate, or at least premature.
Meanwhile, British Defense Secretary Liam Fox slightly lifted the veil of secretive operations when he said Thursday that NATO was providing “intelligence and reconnaissance assets” to help rebels hunt down the elusive Libyan leader.
The British defense ministry then announced Friday that it had bombed a “large headquarters bunker” in Qaddafi’s home town of Sirte, an operation that came as rebels geared up to launch an offensive there after their Tripoli triumph.
NATO has consistently rejected claims that it is coordinating operations with the rebels, commanding special forces on the ground, or trying to kill Qaddafi since the bombing campaign began in March.
“No specific individual is a target as an individual, whether it’s Qaddafi or anybody else,” NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said Thursday after Fox’s remarks.
Lungescu insisted that NATO was sticking to its United Nations mandate, limited to protecting civilians from any attacks. “There is no military coordination with the rebels,” she said.
The NATO denials are “absolute rubbish,” said Shashank Joshi, a Libyan war expert at the Royal United Services Institute in London.
“It’s a necessary fiction to stay within the bounds of (UN) Resolution 1973 and to avoid legal and political difficulties,” Joshi told AFP.
Russia and China withheld their vetos at the UN Security Council to allow the resolution’s adoption in March, but they have since accused NATO of going beyond the scope of its mandate.
“There’s overwhelming evidence that NATO was not only helping the rebels but that it was a decisive and critical partner to the rebels,” Joshi said.
“It was really engaged in a close and intimate level of coordination and support, without which the rebels could not have won this conflict, so I don’t believe a single word NATO is saying,” he added.
An AFP correspondent found on Thursday French and British operatives based at rebel eastern front command facility in Zuwaytina, about 150 kilometers (95 miles) southwest of the opposition capital Benghazi.
France and Britain have spearheaded the NATO air war, launching the first salvos along with the United States on March 19. The three nations later sent military advisers to Benghazi.
British newspapers revealed this week the role played by Britain’s Special Air Service (SAS) forces.
The Daily Telegraph, quoting defense sources, said SAS members were sent to Libya several weeks ago and played a key role in coordinating the battle for Tripoli, and are now focusing on tracking down Qaddafi.
The Times newspaper reported that the SAS had been working with Qatari special forces. While the Qataris were operating along the front lines with rebel fighters, the SAS had performed a more discreet role further back coordinating with NATO pilots, the paper said, quoting Ministry of Defense sources.
A Western official stressed that there was a distinction between forces led by national governments and the air campaign directed by NATO’s command structure.
“I think that’s the unfortunate sort of nuance that was missing,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said regarding Fox’s statement that NATO was helping in the search for Qaddafi.
“The fact that some NATO nations have some individuals on the ground, it should be made clear they are not under NATO command,” the official said. “Unfortunately people have a habit of calling everything down there NATO.”
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