LIBYA: The military commander in charge of interim government forces in Benghazi says he is personally sure that Muammar Gaddafi has left the country

Record ID: 574868

  • Title: LIBYA: The military commander in charge of interim government forces in Benghazi says he is personally sure that Muammar Gaddafi has left the country
  • Date: 29th September 2011
  • Summary: TRIPOLI, LIBYA (SEPTEMBER 28, 2011) (REUTERS) ISMAIL AL-SALABI, COMMANDER OF NATIONAL TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL (NTC) FORCES IN BENGHAZI, SPEAKING TO REPORTERS IN HOTEL LOBBY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ISMAIL AL-SALABI, COMMANDER OF NATIONAL TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL (NTC) FORCES IN BENGHAZI, SAYING: "I am personally convinced that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is out of Libya because Muammar Gaddafi has no courage to stay in Libya - not him, not his sons. Maybe some of his sons are trapped under siege and cannot leave but Gaddafi, I am personally convinced, that he went out of the country even before his family departed." CAMERAMAN
  • Embargoed: 14th October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVACIQT7ZVQ43SRCN6QOYBFVQNXJ
  • Story Text: A senior military commander in Libya's interim government said on Wednesday (September 28) he was certain Muammar Gaddafi has already fled into exile.
    "I am personally convinced that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is out of Libya because Muammar Gaddafi has no courage to stay in Libya - not him, not his sons," said Ismail al-Salabi, who is in charge of National Transitional Council (NTC) forces in Benghazi.
    "Maybe some of his sons are trapped under siege and cannot leave but Gaddafi, I am personally convinced, that he went out of the country even before his family departed," al-Salabi told reporters in Tripoli.
    The statement conflicts with comments from another senior Libyan military official who told Reuters on Tuesday (September 27) that Gaddafi is believed to be hiding around the western town of Ghadamis near the Algerian border under the protection of Touareg tribesmen, In a telephone interview, Hisham Buhagiar told Reuters that the Touareg tribe is still supporting Gaddafi and that he is believed to be in the Ghadamis area in the south.
    Buhagiar, coordinator of the hunt for Gaddafi, said the ousted Libyan leader was believed to have been in the southern town of Samnu a week ago before moving to Ghadamis, which lies 550 km (345 miles) southwest of Tripoli.
    He said Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam was in Bani Walid and another son, Mutassem, was in Sirte, the family's home town.
    Sirte, one of the last bastions of support for Gaddafi, is encircled by forces of Libya's ruling NTC and under bombardment from NATO warplanes.
    Taking Sirte, 450 km east of Tripoli, would bring the NTC closer to gaining control of the whole country, a goal that has eluded it more than a month after its fighters seized the capital.
    Buhagiar said most tribes in the south were against Gaddafi except for the Touareg.
    Gaddafi's daughter Aisha, her brothers Hannibal and Mohammed, their mother Safia and several other family members fled to Algeria in August and have lived there since.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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