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| Africa North |
| Former Gaddafi number two flees Tripoli |
| 2011-08-21 |
| BENGHAZI, Libya — Former Libyan prime minister Abdessalam Jalloud, who fell out of favour with Muammar Gaddafi in the mid-nineties, has fled Tripoli to rebel-held territory, rebel sources said Friday. ‘He has left Tripoli. He has joined the rebels. For security reasons, we can’t disclose his exact location for the moment,’ rebel military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani told AFP. ‘Commander Jalloud has managed to flee Tripoli with his family and arrived Friday in the town of Zintan,’ located in rebel-held territory southwest of the capital, another senior rebel said on condition of anonymity. Rebel television channel Libya Awalam quoted Jalloud on its news ticker as saying: ‘Gaddafi’s regime is finished.’ Jalloud was a member of the hard core of officers who grabbed power with Gaddafi in 1969 and was long considered the regime’s second-in-command before being gradually sidelined in the nineties. He was prime minister from 1972 to 1977. Following his dispute with Gaddafi, he had retired from politics altogether and lived under virtual house arrest. Jalloud is from the influential Megarha clan and has remained a popular figure in Libya. In October 2010, media controlled by Gaddafi’s son Seif Al Islam had mentioned Jalloud’s name as a possible prime minister to lead the fight against corruption. His defection to the rebellion is another blow to Gaddafi’s regime, which is under increasing military and diplomatic pressure. |
| Posted by:Steve White |