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Libyan Rebels Claim They Have Gadhafi Surrounded, Prepared to Capture or Kill Him

Libyan Fighters Say They Have Gadhafi Surrounded, Prepared to Capture or Kill Him

Libyan fighters said Wednesday they have surrounded Moammar Gadhafi and it is only a matter of time before the ousted dictator is captured or killed, although the dictator's spokesman said Gadhafi is determined to fight his way back to power. (AP File Photo)

TRIPOLI, Libya (The Blaze/AP) — Libyan fighters have surrounded the ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi, and it is only a matter of time until he is captured or killed, a spokesman for Tripoli’s new military council said Wednesday.

Anis Sharif would not say where Gadhafi had been found, but said he was still in Libya and had been tracked using high technology and human intelligence. Gadhafi is trapped within a 40-mile radius area surrounded by rebels, he said.

“He can’t get out,” said Sharif, who added the former rebels are preparing to either detain him or kill him.

Libyan Fighters Say They Have Gadhafi Surrounded, Prepared to Capture or Kill Him

A rebel fighter at a checkpoint between Tarhouna and Bani Walid, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011. (AP Photo)

Locating Gadhafi would help seal the new rulers’ hold on the country. The announcement came after convoys of Gadhafi loyalists, including his security chief, fled across the Sahara into Niger in a move that Libya’s former rebels hoped could help lead to the surrender of his last strongholds.

Some former rebels depicted the flight to Niger as a major exodus of Gadhafi’s most hardcore backers. But confirmed information on the number and identity of those leaving was scarce given the vast swath of desert — over 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) — between populated areas on the two sides of the border.

In Niger’s capital, Niamey, Massoudou Hassoumi, a spokesman for the president said Gadhafi’s security chief had crossed the desert into Niger on Monday accompanied by a major Tuareg rebel.

The government of Niger dispatched a military convoy to escort Mansour Dao, the former commander of Libya’s Revolutionary Guards who is a cousin of Gadhafi as well as a member of his inner circle, to Niamey.

Dao is the only senior Libyan figure to have crossed into Niger, said Hassoumi, who denied reports that Gadhafi or any member of his immediate family were in the convoy.

Hassoumi said the group of nine people also included several pro-Gadhafi businessmen, as well as Agaly ag Alambo, a Tuareg rebel leader from Niger who led a failed uprising in the country’s north before crossing into Libya, where he was believed to be fighting for Gadhafi.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters, “We don’t have any evidence that Gadhafi is anywhere but in Libya at the moment.”

Since Tripoli’s fall last month to Libyan rebels, there has been a movement of Gadhafi loyalists across the porous desert border that separates Libya from Niger. They include Tuareg fighters who are nationals of Niger and next-door neighbor Mali who fought on Gadhafi’s behalf in the recent civil war.

There has been intense speculation regarding the whereabouts of Gadhafi’s inner circle and last week, Algeria, which like Niger shares a border with Libya — confirmed that the ousted leader’s wife, his daughter, two of his sons, and several grandchildren had crossed into Algeria.

Hassoumi said “waves” of returnees had crossed over from Libya before the arrival of Gadhafi’s security chief, but he said they were mostly Tuaregs and not Libyan soldiers or civilians. Tuareg fighters have long been enlisted as mercenaries for Gadhafi’s regime.

The West African nation of Burkina Faso, which borders Niger, offered Gadhafi asylum last month, raising speculation the convoys were part of a plan to arrange passage there for the ousted leader. But on Tuesday, Burkina Faso distanced itself from Gadhafi, indicating he would be arrested if he went there.

Libyan Fighters Say They Have Gadhafi Surrounded, Prepared to Capture or Kill Him

The anti-Gadhafi fighters who toppled his regime by sweeping into Tripoli last month have been struggling to uproot the his bastions of support, particularly in the cities of Bani Walid, Sirte and Sabha. They say residents in those cities have been prevented from surrendering to the new post-Gadhafi rule because of former regime figures in their midst.

Hassan Droua, a representative of Sirte in the rebel’s National Transitional Council, said he had reports from witnesses that a convoy of cars belonging to Gadhafi’s son, Muatassim, was headed for the Niger border loaded with cash and gold from the city’s Central Bank branch.

NATO said Wednesday that it had made a number of airstrikes around Sirte — Gadhafi’s hometown — hitting six tanks, six armored fighting vehicles and an ammunition storage facility, among other targets.

Meanwhile, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, the head of the Transitional Council — the closest thing to a Libyan government now — warned that the loyalist town of Bani Walid had until Friday to surrender or else the former rebel forces would move in.

“We know that the decision for Bani Walid is not in the hands of its leaders and notables. It is a besieged town and (Gadhafi’s) brigades have barricaded themselves in all parts of the town,” he told Al-Jazeera television Tuesday.

More truckloads of former rebels arrived Wednesday outside Bani Walid, with some fighters firing weapons into the air in their eagerness to assault the town.

“Frizz-head, we’re coming to get you,” some chanted, using a now-commonly heard insult for Gadhafi.

Commanders said, however, that they were still awaiting orders for an attack.

Residents of the holdout cities have a complex mix of motives.

Bani Walid is the homeland of Libya’s largest tribe, the Warfala. In 1993, some Warfala attempted a coup against Gadhafi but were brutally crushed. The masterminds were executed, their homes demolished and their clans shunned while Gadhafi brought other members of the tribe to dominance, giving them powerful government jobs and lucrative posts.

That history gives the tribe a strong pride in an oddly contradictory legacy, as both early opponents of the regime and an entitled part of Libya’s leadership.

The dusty city of 100,000, strung along the low ridges overlooking a dried up desert river valley, lies on the road connecting Sirte and Sabha.

Comments (25)

  • MUDFLAPS
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 6:48pm

    you can pick him out where ever he is… he is always the ugliest person where ever he is.

    Report Post »  
  • wheeler44
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 4:46pm

    Today‘s fleeing loyalists are tomorrow’s insurgents. The beat goes on.

    Report Post »  
  • TH30PH1LUS
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 3:49pm

    They’ll make him and his luxurious robes the next contestant on Project Runway.

    Report Post » TH30PH1LUS  
  • thegreatcarnac
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 3:42pm

    Funny…obama is for the libyan rebels but I‘ll bet he won’t be pulling for the rebels in this nation. The rebellion is coming.

    Report Post »  
  • Scruff
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 3:27pm

    Have you seen pictures of Gadhafi recently? I think Osama Bin Laden isn’t dead. I think he killed Gadhafi a year ago and had Gadhafi’s face transplanted to replace his own.

    Report Post » Scruff  
  • georgeisn6
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 12:56pm

    We have got to be gratefull that we have these great fighters on our side. They have in the last 6 mo. had gidalfi surounded at least 10 times have killed him 5 times and they have killed or captured his three sons twenty five times, and they have taken Tripoli so maney times I have lost count, now those are the kind of people we need to be in bed with. they get results,time and time again.

    Report Post »  
  • Tickdog
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 11:43am

    Yawn….

    Report Post » Tickdog  
  • V-MAN MACE
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:57am

    The Al Qaeda Webels ought to have Gadhafi by now, with all the NATO support they’re getting.

    Thank Obama for giving Libya to Al Qaeda while treating Americans like terrorists.

    Report Post » V-MAN MACE  
    • NOTALOTTAYITTAYADDA
      Posted on September 7, 2011 at 11:41am

      Many say Libya is the Swiss of Africa, they have it much better than other counties on the continent.
      This is more to do w/ undermining a legit government than ousting a corrupt leader.
      He has every right to put down the US fed gov, they are evil.

      Watch the videos closely, THERE WERE NO PLANES!!!
      STOP BEING NAIVE AND FACE THE FACTS!

      ps not directed @ mace, hez cool IMO

      Report Post »  
  • Ghandi was a Republican
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:55am

    2 Years ago Kaddafi was a hero of obama/clinton and many other progs who defended and honored him on his anti-US tirade at the U.N. Are the muslim brotherhood really this good a trade that they flip a 180 on him? Just sayin’/

    Report Post » Ghandi was a Republican  
    • TheWholeTruth
      Posted on September 7, 2011 at 11:35am

      Seems they UN and US are going against their own ‘laws.‘ The LIGF leader is one of the leaders of Al Qaeda We’re helping terrorist (ones on our own list of terror organization) take over a country. We’re giving them more weapons and aid. Does this sound ‘right’ to anyone?

      Report Post »  
    • Servant Of YHVH
      Posted on September 7, 2011 at 4:32pm

      What this actually means is that obama has no favorites. He’s only concerned with taking over America and the world as well.

      Report Post » Servant Of YHVH  
  • MrKnowItAll
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:50am

    Everyday the same old story. “We are close to getting Him”/ Well Folks the truth is….It Ain’t over to the Burka Falls!

    Report Post » MrKnowItAll  
  • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:45am

    Let’s see, capture or kill, what would a muslim do?

    Report Post » Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
  • This_Individual
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:43am

    That fool is out of the country, I bet.

    Report Post »  
  • cntrlfrk
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:40am

    ‘
    Meet the new boss….

    Report Post » cntrlfrk  
  • texascav
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:37am

    Geeeee….. Are they going to ……….“TAKE HIM OUT”……..

    Report Post » texascav  
    • Seabee79
      Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:42am

      I think he may be hiding in a spider hole. better check them all.

      Report Post » Seabee79  
  • I.Gaspar
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:37am

    Hey Mustafa, We keel him then we capture him?
    No, Ali. We capture him then we keel him.
    But Mustafa, if we keel him first won’t he be easier to capture?
    Good point Ali. Let’s keel him first. Then we capture him.
    Okay Mustafa. I will call the white house and see if it’s okay with them….

    I am sure they are going to build a wonderful post Khadafi government.

    Report Post »  
  • gpk
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:34am

    Amercian people surround WH…….only matter of time befor Obama & Biden captured. My dream.

    Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:27am

    Yawn…so they claim to have him again? I will believe it when they have him or his carcass dragged before live TV.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • DanWesson455
    Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:27am

    YAWNNNNNN!! Who gives a flying leap.

    Report Post » DanWesson455  
    • Seabee79
      Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:46am

      yes you are correct who cares once he is gone some other radical muslim dumb a$$ will take over and then he will threaten us. so what’s the point. nuke all the turbin heads and turn the M.E into a parking lot.

      End of Story.

      Report Post » Seabee79  

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