Abdessalam Jalloud, who was a former prime minister ostracized from Moammar
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, is thought to have decamped Libya through Tunisia, in another sign that the Tripoli regime may be hanging by a thread.
In the skirmish late Friday, a Tunisian army patrol came under fire from gunnies travelling aboard several 4X4 vehicles with Libyan registration plates in the Douz region, the official said, adding that there were no casualties on the Tunisian side.
The official said the patrol was sent out Friday evening after a local resident reported suspicious vehicles north of Garaat Bouflija, and was fired upon.
Between five and eight Libyan vehicles were involved in the skirmish, which lasted several hours. No one was caught and the attackers were still being hunted Saturday by ground and air forces, the official said.
The assailants were Libyan, the official said, without specifying whether they were loyal to Qadaffy or from rebel forces.
A Tunisian helicopter meanwhile crashed on Saturday in the region close to the Libyan border, killing both the pilot and co-pilot, a military source said.
The helicopter was on mission patrolling the border in an effort to block gangs from entering Tunisia in a possible escape from the conflict in Libya that is beginning to show concrete signs of a rebel victory.
It was across this border that Jalloud, Libya's former number two, is thought to have decamped Libya before heading to Djerba and flying for Italia on Saturday, a senior Tunisian government official told AFP.
He took "a plane for Italia from Djerba airport at 3:40 am (0240 GMT)", an airport official on the resort island told AFP.
The government official said "Jalloud left Djerba airport for Italia at dawn on a Maltese plane with his family".
He could not say how many people boarded the flight.
Libya's state-run JANA news agency downplayed Jalloud's escape, saying he had remained out of politics for some time.
"Jalloud had remained away from politics out of his own free will, and spent most of his time abroad for (medical) care for heart disease," the agency said.
"There is nothing worth mentioning about Abdessalam Jalloud," it added.
Another source in Tunisia said Qadaffy's former close aide arrived in the southern Tunisian town of Remada overnight Friday.
"He surrendered to the Tunisian army before he was taken care of by Qataris," the source said, adding that Italia may only be a stopover before Jalloud settles elsewhere.
Qatar is one of the few Arab countries that is an active partner in the international intervention against the Qadaffy regime and is home to the Free Libya television station which it partly finances.
In the Italian capital foreign ministry front man Maurizio Massari would not confirm or deny the report.
"We are verifying this information," he said.