Qadaffy's...dictator of Libya since 1969. From 1972, when he relinquished the title of prime minister, he has been accorded the honorifics
Guide of the First of September Great Revolution of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriyaor
Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution. With the death of Omar Bongo of Gabon on 8 June 2009, he became the longest serving of all current non-royal national leaders. He is also the longest-serving ruler of Libya since Tripoli became an Ottoman province in 1551. When Chairman Mao was all the rage and millions of people were flashing his Little Red Book, Qadaffy came out with his own Little Green Book, which didn't do as well. Qadaffy's instability has been an inspiration to the Arab world and to Africa, which he would like to rule...
regime in months.
Egyptian airport officials said Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah entered on a tourist visa.
| The Nile is always lovely in August... |
The minister flew in from Tunisia, which borders Libya.
The apparent defection came just days after Libya's rebels made their most dramatic advance in months in western towns and cities close to the capital Tripoli. On Saturday, the rebels from the western mountains near Tunisia pushed into the strategic city of Zawiya, just 30 miles (48 km) from Tripoli for the first time since the uprising against Qadaffy began in February.
On Sunday, the rebels claimed to have captured at least two other towns near Tripoli that sit on key overland supply routes for the capital, critical to supplying the regime with NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
imposing a no-fly zone over the country.
Rebels have said they are trying to cut off Qadaffy's supply routes.
Rebel officials said Sunday they had captured the town of Gharyan, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Tripoli, which sits on the supply road from southern Libya to the capital.
Omar Obeid, field commander for the Sabratha area, 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Zawiya on the coast, said rebels have taken up positions in houses along a major supply route there that connects the Ras Ajdir border crossing with Tunisia to Tripoli. The same road runs through Zawiya, where rebels could also block it if they manage to take control of the city.
Rebels said they also captured the town of Surman, near Sabratha to the southeast.