- Title: LIBYA: NTC forces advance towards Bani Walid
- Date: 9th September 2011
- Summary: NEAR BANI WALID, LIBYA (SEPTEMBER 8, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF NTC FIGHTER PLACING REVOLUTIONARY FLAG ON POLE VARIOUS OF ANTI-GADDAFI FIGHTERS CHANTING SLOGANS AGAINST MUAMMAR GADDAFI NTC FIGHTER HOLDING PAPER WITH COLOURS OF LIBYAN REVOLUTIONARY FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ANTI-GADDAFI FIGHTER, FARADJ HARABI, SAYING: "We are on the brink of reaching Bani Walid -- it's known as Wadi Dinar. We have made advances since yesterday and with God's will, tomorrow we will advance even further." VARIOUS OF NTC FIGHTERS ON ROAD TO BANI WALID VARIOUS OF NTC FIGHTER VEHICLES IN DESERT NTC FIGHTER VEHICLE ON ROAD / FIGHTERS WALKING ON ROAD DUSK SHOTS BULLETS SPREAD ON ROAD / NTC FIGHTER VEHICLES IN BACKGROUND NTC FIGHTERS TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ANTI-GADDAFI FORCES FIELD COMMANDER, ABDELHAKIM AL MACHERI, SAYING: "Bani Walid is a very special area because it's all one unit -- people are united by blood ties and strong bonds and the people you see here are the sons of the people inside Bani Walid. Keep in mind, we are not talking about Bani Walid as an entire area, but as a place where loyalists have infiltrated. So our fight will be against those infiltrators, it will not be against the people of Bani Walid because the residents of the area are our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and children." VARIOUS OF NTC FIGHTERS PRAYING ON ROAD NTC FIGHTERS WALKING ON ROAD
- Embargoed: 24th September 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Libya
- Country: Libya
- Topics: Conflict,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAEWVZF289OM5DTGFJ1CXKKVU0J
- Story Text: Anti-Gaddafi forces advanced near Bani Walid on Thursday (September 8), a desert town south of Tripoli where a hard core of loyalists -- estimated by their opponents at about 150 -- are under siege by the new interim government's forces.
Some National Transitional Council (NTC) commanders suspect ousted Muammar Gaddafi himself might be hiding inside.
"We are on the brink of reaching Bani Walid -- it's known as Wadi Dinar. We have made advances since yesterday and with God's will, tomorrow we will advance even further," NTC fighter Faradj Harabi, told Reuters as they held onto their positions 10 km outside of Bani Walid in an area known as Wadi Dinar.
A military spokesman for the NTC had said the new rulers would abide by a truce until Saturday (September 10) to allow negotiated surrenders at Bani Walid and Gaddafi's home town of Sirte, on the coast.
Meanwhile, the fighters said they were ready to fight the former regime's loyalists.
"Bani Walid is a very special area because it's all one unit -- people are united by blood ties and strong bonds and the people you see here are the sons of the people inside Bani Walid. Keep in mind, we are not talking about Bani Walid as an entire area, but as a place where loyalists have infiltrated. So our fight will be against those infiltrators, it will not be against the people of Bani Walid because the residents of the area are our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and children," said Abdelhakim al Macheri, an anti-Gaddafi forces field commander.
Gaddafi's whereabouts have been a mystery since NTC fighters stormed his Tripoli headquarters two weeks ago. Gaddafi's spokesman has repeatedly said he is in Libya and remains in high spirits.
Niger said he was not in a convoy that crossed the border earlier in the week.
Libya's ruling NTC has sent envoys to Niger to try to stop Gaddafi and his entourage from evading justice by fleeing across a desert frontier toward friendly African states. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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