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2011-09-08 Africa North
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Al Qathafi Could be Heading for Chad, Niger, or Beyond
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[Tripoli Post] Muammar Al Qadaffy
...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland...
has probably left the Libyan desert town of Bani Walid and is heading further south with the help of loyalist tribes towards Chad or Niger, Rooters news agency quoted a senior military official in Libya's new leadership as saying.
Hisham Buhagiar, who is coordinating the National Transitional Council's efforts to find the former Libyan leader, said reports indicate that he may have been in the region of the southern village of Ghwat, some 950km south of Tripoli and 300km north of the border with Niger, three days ago.
When the NTC fighters eventually enter the desert town of Bani Walid, one of the last remaining strongholds of the runaway former leader, they won't find Muammar Al Qadaffy there. He did reach the town when he decamped from Tripoli, but with the rebel forces on his heels, there's a certainty that he has now left, and is most probably heading further south.
Loyalist tribes are said to have helped him leave the country towards either Chad or Niger. But even then none of the two countries is expected to be his final destination. The two friendly neighbours are much too poor for him to live there, even if he could just stay for some time.
The fact that the convoy that left Libya without him towards Niger on Sunday was carrying a lot of cash and gold, is taken to man that he wants to live a luxury life in some safe haven with his family
Hisham Buhagiar, a senior military official and member of the National Transitional Council who the man leading the hunt for the deposed leader has been reported saying that he believed that Al Qadaffy has left Bani Walid, and that three days ago he may have been in the region of the southern village of Ghwat some 305 kilometres north of the border with Niger.
He told Rooters: "The last tracks, he was in the Ghwat area. People saw the cars going in that direction .... We have it from many sources that he's trying to go further south, towards Chad or Niger,"
According to Buhagiar, Al Qadaffy could be travelling in a convoy of some 10 cars and may be using a tent as shelter. "It's the tent. We know that he doesn't want to stay in a house, so he stays in a tent. People say the cars came, and then they made a tent," he said, adding that his sources had not themselves seen Al Qadaffy.
Al Qadaffy is long known to have touted his tribal, desert roots, and even received foreign dignitaries in a tent. He also has portrayed himself as an African leader and has boosted his influence in Africa through loans, aid and diplomatic contacts.
The news follows reports that some of Al Qadaffy's brass hats, including security chief Mansour Daw, were riding in a convoy of vehicles that has already entered Niger.
On Tuesday military sources from La Belle France and Niger told Rooters that scores of Libyan army vehicles had recently crossed the desert border with Niger, in what may be a bid by Al Qadaffy to seek refuge in a friendly African state.
Two days ago the deposed leader's front man Moussa Ibrahim insisted that Al Qadaffy remained in Libya and that he and his sons were ready to fight to the death. He told Rooters in a telephone conversation: "He is in Libya. He is safe, he is very healthy, in high morale." he told Rooters by telephone from Qazi's guesthouse an undisclosed location.
Meanwhile,
...back at the barn, Bossy had come up with a new idea...
US officials said they doubted Al Qadaffy had crossed the border yet and urged Niger to detain any bigwigs from the regime, with US defence secretary Leon Panetta
...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993....
saying that the former Libyan leader is still on the run, with no clue of his whereabouts.
The United States also said it believed the convoy was carrying senior members of Al Qadaffy's entourage and urged Niger to detain anyone liable for prosecution for alleged crimes committed during the uprising against the deposed Libyan leader.
Reports also indicate that two of the runaway leader's sons, Saadi and Seif al-Islam are in Bani Walid with witnesses saying that Seif was recently seen in the town that has a population of about 100,000, and is home to the powerful Warfalla tribe, who have been loyal to the ousted regime, holding a meeting with loyalists.
Surprisingly, despite sitings of the Libyan convoy by so many people, Niger's minister of internal affairs, Abdou Labo, denied that a Libyan convoy had entered his country. He would only confirm that Niger had given asylum to Al Qadaffy's internal security chief Abdullah Mansoor on humanitarian grounds.
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Posted by Fred 2011-09-08 00:00||
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Posted by Anonymoose 2011-09-08 10:18||
2011-09-08 10:18||
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Posted by Besoeker 2011-09-08 11:08||
2011-09-08 11:08||
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Posted by Guillibaldo Hatrack1304 2011-09-08 14:43||
2011-09-08 14:43||
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