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| Africa North |
| Libya: rebels say hold 15 Algerian mercenaries and have killed 3 |
| 2011-04-11 |
| [Ennahar] Libyan hard boyz said on Sunday they had captured 15 Algerian mercenaries in Ajdabiya and killed three during in heavy fighting ... as opposed to the more usual light or sporadic fighting... on Saturday in this city in the east. The rebels regularly denounce the presence of mercenaries, particularly from Africa, among the forces defending the regime of Muammar Qadaffy. According to a front man for the rebels, Chemseddine Abdoulmolah, the mercenaries caught did not have identification papers, but "they said they were Algerian and had an Algerian accent." He told AFP that several Algerian identity cards and passports had been found in a nearby building in Ajdabiya. "They said they were selling hashish and (...) they have hashish on them," he said, referring to a "crazy" story. Mr. Abdoulmolah explained that the group of 18 mercenaries had been brought into a city on the front line by a local, loyal to the regime of Muammar Qadaffy. The latter was also captured. The rebel front man, who said that prisoners were well treated, accused Algeria of supporting Muammar Qadaffy, saying the country is "turning a blind eye" on the arrival of mercenaries. "It's sad ... They (in Algeria) have the same kind of dictatorship we have here," he said. A delegation of African presidents were to meet Sunday afternoon in Tripoli, Muammar Qadaffy to plead for a truce in fighting between the army and the rebels, which have flared up in Ajdabiya (east) and Misrata (west). South African president, Jacob Zuma, and his counterparts of Congo, Mali, Mauritania and Uganda's Minister of Foreign Affairs, mandated by the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... (AU), were then scheduled to visit Sunday night and Monday Benghazi, "capital" of the rebels at 1,000 km east of Tripoli. Their task looks difficult, the rebel leaders rejected any idea of a cease-fire involving the retention of power by Mr. Qadaffy and his son. |
| Posted by:Fred |