Gaddafi issues defiant message from hiding

Deposed former Libyan leader vows never to leave the country and denies claims he is in neighbouring Niger Muammar Gaddafi has issued a defiant message from hiding in which he vowed “never to leave the land of his ancestors” and denied claims he had fled the country for neighbouring Niger. The telephone message, broadcast on Syria’s Arrai TV station, is believed to have come from within Libya. Some rebel commanders say that the former dictator may be in the town of Bani Walid, which is still refusing to surrender to forces loyal to Libya’s new government. Overnight, columns of fighters from the National Transitional Council were spotted heading towards the town in pick-up trucks shouting anti-Gaddafi slogans. “We will move into Bani Walid slowly. There was a message in Bani Walid from Gaddafi this evening,” NTC unit commander Jamal Gourji told Reuters. In the audio message, the former leader of Libya said he expected a new uprising in the capital. “The youths are now ready to escalate the resistance against the ‘rats’ [rebels] in Tripoli and to finish off the mercenaries,” Gaddafi said. “All of these germs, rats and scumbags, they are not Libyans, ask anyone. They have cooperated with Nato,” he said. Arrai TV last broadcast a message by Gaddafi, who has not been seen in public for months, at the start of September when he urged followers to “keep fighting” and promised to turn Libya “into a hell” . In the new message, Gaddafi denied reports that he had fled to Niger in a column of vehicles heading across the border. Referring to himself in the third person, Gaddafi said: “Columns of convoys drive into and out of Niger carrying goods, and people inside and outside [of Libya] say Gaddafi is going to Niger,” he said. “This is not the first time that convoys drive in and out of Niger.” Earlier this week it emerged that Gaddafi’s former aide Mansour Dhao had been admitted in to the country “for humanitarian reasons”. Niger’s foreign minister, Mohamed Bazoum, said that at least three convoys had come in to the country containing, he claimed, several pro-Gaddafi businessmen, as well as Agaly ag Alambo, a Tuareg rebel leader. There were fewer than 20 of them, he added, and they would be free to stay in Niger. The US said it believed senior Gaddafi regime figures had crossed over the border, but not Gaddafi himself. In a BBC interview on Wednesday, Bazoum confirmed that Niger officials had also crossed the border as part of a series of convoys fleeing Libya across the desert. However he denied that Gaddafi or his sons had entered Niger. “There is no news about Gaddafi in Niger, we have no news about him, it is not true that he has tried to come into Niger or he came into Niger,” he said. Reports say the convoys later arrived in the Niger city of Agadez. Bazoum said there was “no means to close the border” between his country and Libya because it was “too big”. The president of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaoré, also denied reports it had offered asylum to the former Libyan leader. Earlier in the week, the National Transitional Council announced it had sent a delegation to Niamey in Niger to discuss how to stop “any kind of infiltration” by Gaddafi or his family. Fathi Baja, the head of political affairs for the NTC, said the group was determined to try to prevent the dictator fleeing to Niger or Algeria. “I think he’s near one of these borders … and he’s looking for a chance to leave. We’re asking every country not to accept him. We want these people for justice,” Baja told Reuters. As the search for Gaddafi continues, lead rebel negotiator, Abdullah Kanshil, said Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, had been spotted in the town of Bani Walid on Monday. “Saif was sighted two days ago,” he said. “He’s coming in and out.” Kanshil said that Bani Walid was made up of 52 villages, three of which were still occupied by pro-Gaddafi gunmen. It was also possible that Saif could be hiding in its numerous caves. Another “big fish” might also be in the town, Kanshil added. Pressed for details, he replied: “Another of the sons. The ugly one.” Asked if it would be necessary to take Bani Walid by force, Kanshil had said earlier in the week, “No, we hope not. The people of Bani Walid are with the revolution. But there are 80 snipers there, that’s our worry. Some in caves, some on roofs of buildings, some walking in places.” Any decision on an attack rested with the National Transitional Council, he said. “They are the leadership.” Muammar Gaddafi Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Libya Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Africa Shiv Malik Lizzy Davies guardian.co.uk

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