Rebels scoff at Gadhafi's son take over

Saif al-Islam Gadhafi

With no end to Libya's bloody war in sight, a source close to the country's leadership said a Libyan envoy is floating the idea of ruler Moammar Gadhafi passing his power to a son -- a notion rebel leaders deem merely cosmetic.


Under the proposal, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, 38, would help to usher in swift reform, the source said. But Saif Gadhafi has become one of his father's most outspoken defenders since the start of the unrest, despite once being perceived as a leading reformer in the Libyan government.

But a proposal to shift power from Gadhafi to his second-oldest son is "a ridiculous offer," said Ali Aujali, a former Libyan ambassador to the United States who now represents the Libyan opposition in Washington.

"Libyan people, they decided, and they will not go back at all (to) Gadhafi or any member of his family," Aujali said. "His sons, they are killers -- they're just like their father."
Aujali said the rebels are willing to offer Moammar Gadhafi and his family safe passage out of Libya in an exchange for an end to the fighting -- but that's as far as their offer goes.

Gadhafi's forces appeared to have the upper hand Tuesday in renewed fighting in the oil town of al-Brega, where rebel forces were staging a panicked retreat under intense artillery bombardment, according to CNN reporters in the area.
The setback is the latest for a ragtag opposition that has struggled to maintain ground against the better trained and equipped Gadhafi forces, and it comes less than a day after rebel commanders said they had the longtime Libyan leader's forces on the defensive in al-Brega.

Meanwhile, more carnage spread in the besieged city of Misrata on Monday, and a rebel spokesman said a NATO-led effort to help protect civilians seemed nonexistent in some areas.
Five people were killed and 24 wounded in Monday clashes between pro-Gadhafi forces and rebels in Misrata, two sources told CNN.
Residents have said the city has been choked off by Gadhafi troops, with electricity and access to food cut off.

"Every day, life is getting more and more difficult," said one resident, who is not being identified for safety reasons. "There are long queues of people for bread and fuel."
He added some are not leaving their homes for days at a time.
"There are snipers shooting at anything that moves," the resident said. "They are controlling the main road leading to outside the city."

In al-Brega, an opposition officer said Monday that rebel forces had the town surrounded from the north, east and west and had been bombarding the area with rockets for much of the afternoon.
Maj. Miftah Omar Hamzah told CNN that 50 carloads of loyalist forces remained in al-Brega, but he insisted that the Gadhafi troops were on the defensive.

New al-Brega, a suburban area of the homes of workers at a nearby oil refinery, was partially under rebel control on Monday. Opposition officers said they were still clearing the area of Gadhafi forces, and a resident fleeing the area told CNN that it is still unsafe.

There have been no NATO airstrikes in the area for at least 24 hours, he said.
The perceived lack of airstrikes enforcing a U.N. resolution to protect civilian lives and enforce an arms embargo brought criticism from rebel spokesman Mustafa Gheriani.
"You are supposed to be implementing this resolution and clearly it's not implemented in Misrata, it's not implemented in Zintan or Zahwiya and we're wondering, where are they?" he said.
Though Gadhafi has shown no signs of appeasing the opposition or relinquishing his power to anyone outside his family, cracks in his armor have surfaced.

His longtime confidant and foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, recently fled to London and announced his resignation from the Libyan government. On Monday, the U.S. Treasury Department lifted the freeze on Koussa's assets following his split from Gadhafi.

Gheriani said while the conflict persists, he remains hopeful for a revolution.
"I think the Gadhafi regime is crumbling from within," he said. "I think if you look at history, people will always win, and I think victory will be ours."