Turkish Businesses Look for Improved Ties With Libya

Turkish businesses have been lobbying for almost a year to receive compensation for work they had to abandon during the uprising that ousted former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Now it seems their efforts are going to be rewarded as Libya and Turkey move to improve political and economic ties, reflecting Turkey’s increasing clout in the region. Turkish businessmen have been prowling the halls of Libyan ministries and patrolling the marble-floored corridors of Tripoli’s five-star hotels for months to find people who can help get them paid what they are owed for contracts abandoned during the revolution.

Until recently their efforts had not met with much success. The new government has been struggling to solve bigger immediate challenges than reimbursing Turks. But on a recent visit to Turkey, Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zidan pledged to slash through the red tape.

As Libya seeks to rebuild, Turkish companies will play a big role - if for no other reason than cost. Turkish firms can do the work for less than their European rivals, said Libyan lawmaker Abdurahman Al-Shater.

“The advantage of the Turks is not political influence, it is price-wise, the Turkish contractors in the price and the quality much cheaper than if you compare it with UK companies or France or Italy or Greece,” said Al-Shater.

More than 3,000 Turkish nationals evacuated Libya in February 2011, and the debt owed to about 100 Turkish firms is estimated at $20 million. The Ankara government has mounted a concerted campaign to get its businessmen, mostly in the construction sector, to be paid ahead of those from other countries. And it seems to have worked.

About half the outstanding contract payments owed to Turkish firms will be forthcoming in weeks, with some compensation for breach of contract [restitution] paid, as well. But to get the money, Turkish firms will have to begin work again on the abandoned projects.

Libyan-Turkish trade last year stood at around $2.5 billion and Turkish firms are eager to see that grow. At last year’s Libya-Build exhibition, more than 400 of the 800 foreign companies participating were Turkish. The debt settlement is a reflection of Turkey’s growing political clout in the region. Since the Arab Spring uprisings, Turkey has been pursuing an ambitious foreign policy and Turkey’s construction sector is positioning itself as a key player in rebuilding the region’s post-conflict economies.

Richard Griffiths, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Libya, does not agree entirely with lawmaker Shater’s view that there are no politics involved.

“Certainly with the Turks it is a mixture of the two. They have found what I believe is the perfect the combination of political support, which is not too overbearing, and also the effort which I, of course, would like to see from the US companies that they are very much here, engaged and present," said Griffiths. "When there is a delegation or trade show or event you will always find the largest group are the Turks and frankly they are the ones who are reaping the rewards for it.”

For many Libyans there is a natural affinity with Turkey. Islamist modernizers see Turkey as a model: a modern, commercially successful democratic Muslim state.

And for Libyans who fear the growing interest of Gulf countries with a tendency to involve themselves in Libya’s internal politics, Turkey is a useful counter-weight.

President Margriet, Sorry, Margarief

The body of Libya’s bloodthirsty tyrant, Muamar Gaddafi, naked on the concrete floor of a meat locker in Sirte on 20 October 2011, was the shocking start of the Democratic Republic of Libya.

“The tyrant is dead. Long live the new President, “spoke Dr. Ahmed Tabuli, the Libyan ambassador to The Hague during his ceremonial reception on the occasion of the celebration of two years revolution. But who in the world knows the new president, a certain Dr. Margarief Muhammad, a professor of electrical engineering from Atlanta, Georgia U.S.?

His Excellency Tabuli’s face exuded fear about what once was and what still is to come. Once upon a time even this ambassador was handpicked and appointed to the post in The Hague by this bloody tyrant Gaddafi himself.

The new leaders of the Democratic Republic of Libya walked around in dark western business suits rather that Gaddafi’s flamboyant colorful flowing desert robes which became his trademark. Nowhere was even a glimpse of a Bedouin tent either.

In 1981, actor Anthony Quinn shaped the formidable image of Omar Mukhtar with his performance in “The Lion of the Desert” which became the role model for guerrilla leaders of Libya. The brave struggle against Mussolini’s murderous violence and Rodolfo Graziani ruthless troops transformed the terrible Omar Mukhtar into the spiritual father of Colonel Muamar Gaddafi.

Gaddafi became the hero and liberator of his Bedouin people and finally, in his delusional megalomania, the hero of all oppressed on earth. Revolutionary Irish in Belfast, Lockerbie bomb explosions and attacks on wicked nightclubs became the plight of Gaddafi’s holy war. He did not hesitate to engage the enemy, the great Satan, staring him straight in the face, even if it were the U.S.A…

Following a terrorist attack on a nightclub in Berlin on April 15, 1986, President Ronald Reagan ordered the bombing of “terrorist sites” in Jamahiriya, ” a Gaddafi residence.

About 60 people were killed, including an adopted daughter of Gaddafi. Muamar rose to the occasion as an immortal martyr who proudly stood his ground, and was portrayed among the ruins with the flesh torn body of his daughter in his arms.

But the stalwart super hero of the people, the great Solomon of peace, prosperity and wisdom, turned into a bloodthirsty tyrant, greedily scraping every penny he could steal from government coffers.

His sons ruled the enslaved even harsher, as an implacable Rehoboam, with a knout and a whip and funneled hundreds of billions to offshore accounts through ingenious corporate structures in Amsterdam, trust companies and banks on Curacao and in Austria.

Pecunia non olet always was and still remained the Vespasian device of the trading nation of The Netherlands. Oil invest and Green Stream BV at Strawinskylaan Amsterdam, facilitated the Gaddafi clan with the construction and exploitation of world’s longest subsea pipeline, while Haskoning BV built ports. Both companies did business for billions of dollars.

President Muhammad Margarief has to step into Gaddafi’s giant shoes or rather desert slippers. . Damen Ship yards got a little job for eight 48–foot coastguard boats to patrol the 2,000-mile long Mediterranean coastline. The crews, eight men per boat, will also be trained in the Netherlands . It can hardly be called a mega order.

The invoice for the sixty revolution casualties, who languished for months in Dutch hospitals, is still not completely paid. Less than two third has been received of the six million Euro’s outstanding, leaving money strapped hospitals with ugly and unwelcome losses.

Gaddafi’s nasty hang over will be on President Muhammad Margarief coat tails for a long time to come.

Margarief may want to try the flowing robes of a galebya instead…

Panetta blames lack of intelligence for Benghazi attack

Arguing that the Pentagon was prepared for a wide range of contingencies, the US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta today blamed the lack of "specific intelligence" for the inability to quickly respond to the terrorist attack at US Consulate in Libya last year.

The September 11 terrorist attack on the Consulate in Libyan capital of Benghazi killed US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

"On that tragic day, as always, the Department of Defence was prepared for a wide range of contingencies? Unfortunately, there was no specific intelligence or indications of an imminent attack on US facilities in Benghazi.

"Frankly without an adequate warning, there was not enough time given the speed of the attack for armed military assets to respond," Panetta told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
In his probably last testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee as the Defence Secretary, Panetta argued that that the US was not dealing with a prolonged or continuous assault, which could have been brought to an end by a US military response.

"Time, distance, the lack of an adequate warning, events that moved very quickly on the ground prevented a more immediate response," he said while responding to a volley of questions from agitated members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"Even if we were able to get the F-16s or the AC-130s over the target in time, the mission still depends on accurate information about what targets they're supposed to hit. And we had no forward air controllers there. We had no communications with US personnel on the ground. And as a matter of fact, we had no idea where the Ambassador was at that point to be able to kind of conduct any kind of attacks on the ground," he argued.

General Martin Dempsey, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff too appeared before the Congressional Committee to testify on the tragic Benghazi attack.

Top Republican Senator John McCain, entered into a heated debate with Dempsey. "I have to admit it's one of the more bizarre statements that I have ever seen in my years in this committee. When you're talking about the Benghazi issue, you say, 'We positioned our forces in a way that was informed by and consistent with available threat estimates.'

"Then you go on to say, 'Our military was appropriately responsive,' even though seven hours passed and two Americans died at the end of that. Then you go on and say, 'We did what our posture and capabilities allowed'," McCain said quoting from the earlier statement of Dempsey.

Report: Corruption suspected in Mideast defense

An international monitoring group on Wednesday warned that excessive secrecy in Mideast security agencies leaves countries like Egypt, Libya and Tunisia open to corruption even after the overthrow of authoritarian regimes.

Continued secrecy and lack of civilian oversight in defense ministries and armed forces in the Middle East and North Africa expose them to corrupt practices, the Britain-based Transparency International said in a report on the Mideast and North Africa region released in Beirut.

Of the 19 countries surveyed, only a few disclose their defense budgets, the group said. None of the countries makes public the size of its military or the troops' salaries.

In Syria, for example, the group notes that defense policy was under tight control of the ruling Assad family even before the civil war there. And countries in transition, such as Egypt, Libya Tunisia and Yemen, lack any accountability, legislative oversight and credible "whistleblowing" systems through which concerned officers or defense officials can report suspected corruption.

It's a clear indication that replacing authoritarian leaders with elected ones is not enough to eradicate corruption, Mark Pyman, the director of the Transparency's Defense and Security Program, told The Associated Press in an interview.

"Corruptive structures have been allowed to develop and mature within defense institutions and armed forces over 20 or 30 years, and a regime change will not make them go away," Pyman told the AP. "The new administrations need to work actively to ensure that those elements of state become properly accountable in defense and security issues."

There are no signs that Egypt's elected leaders are working to open defense institutions to public oversight, Pyman said, and secrecy and lack of accountability prevail in the aftermath of the political turmoil that has been engulfing the country since President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in a popular uprising two years ago.

In Egypt and in other countries that have experienced decades of authoritarian rule, including Libya, Yemen, Algeria and Syria, the military owns a large portion of commercial economic outlets. Little or nothing is known about their profits.

The absence of independent legislatures in these countries contributes to high political corruption risk, the group said, adding that it has evidence that suggests organized crime has penetrated the defense sectors in at least some of the countries.

Countries that are ranked slightly higher by the watchdog are Iraq, Iran, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. Even so, their risk of corruption is still significant given that they don't publicly disclose the percentage of the national budget that is spent on secret items. All these countries show limited activity to counter corruption and enforce existing controls in the political part of the defense sector, the report said, concluding that the risk of improper purchases taking place in these nations remains high.

Libyan protesters occupy parliament

Dozens of Libyan gunmen occupied the main chamber of the country’s parliament, forcing lawmakers to work in a smaller room upstairs and delaying ratification of the budget, Prime Minister Ali Zidane and Parliamentary speaker Mohammad Magariaf said.

The militiamen demanded that some of the ministers be removed because they have links to the late Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

Libya had agreed about the composition of a government earlier on Wednesday, and Prime Minister Ali Zidane gained the support of the National Congress for his choice of ministers.

Presidential guards were stationed in the Congress complex and had been ordered not to fight with the men, it reported.

Muammar Gaddafi killed after his capture near Sirte

Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered on Thursday as fighters battling to complete an eight-month-old uprising against his rule overran his hometown Sirte, Libya's interim rulers said.

His killing, which came swiftly after his capture near Sirte, is the most dramatic single development in the Arab Spring revolts that have unseated rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and threatened the grip on power of the leaders of Syria and Yemen.

"He (Gaddafi) was also hit in his head," National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters. "There was a lot of firing against his group and he died."

Mlegta told Reuters earlier that Gaddafi, who was in his late 60s, was captured and wounded in both legs at dawn on Thursday as he tried to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked. He said he had been taken away by an ambulance.

There was no independent confirmation of his remarks.

An anti-Gaddafi fighter said Gaddafi had been found hiding in a hole in the ground and had said "Don't shoot, don't shoot" to the men who grabbed him.

His capture followed within minutes of the fall of Sirte, a development that extinguished the last significant resistance by forces loyal to the deposed leader.

The capture of Sirte and the death of Gaddafi means Libya's ruling NTC should now begin the task of forging a new democratic system which it had said it would get under way after the city, built as a showpiece for Gaddafi's rule, had fallen.

Gaddafi, wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of ordering the killing of civilians, was toppled by rebel forces on August 23 after 42 years of one-man rule over the oil-producing North African state.

NTC fighters hoisted the red, black and green national flag above a large utilities building in the center of a newly-captured Sirte neighborhood and celebratory gunfire broke out among their ecstatic and relieved comrades.

Hundreds of NTC troops had surrounded the Mediterranean coastal town for weeks in a chaotic struggle that killed and wounded scores of the besieging forces and an unknown number of defenders.

NTC fighters said there were a large number of corpses inside the last redoubts of the Gaddafi troops. It was not immediately possible to verify that information.

Q&A: Top NTC commander Abdel Hakim Belhadj from Tripoli

Abdul Hakim Belhadj, former prisoner of Gaddafi, arrested by the CIA in 2004, is now one of the most powerful men in the new Libya. 

Sitting in a lavish apartment in the wing of a 5-star Tripoli hotel once inhabited by Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif, Abdel Hakim Belhadj looked a bit out of place in his drab, beige and brown military fatigues.

These again, incongruities of this sort are becoming common for the 45-year-old revolutionary who emerged from the darkest of Gaddafi's torture chambers to become the leader of Tripoli's Military Council, and, by some accounts, the most powerful man in the new Libya.

And sharp swings of fate are hardly new for Belhadj, a war-hardened fighter who was born in Tripoli's Souq al-Jumaa district and studied engineering at al-Fateh University.

In the 1980s, he fought in Afghanistan against the Soviets and later returned to Libya to form the former Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which fought a guerrilla war in Libya's hinterlands for three years and allegedly tried to assassinate Gaddafi three times in the mid-1990s.

To escape Gaddafi's wrath, he led a life on the run, spending time in Sudan, Syria, Pakistan, Turkey, Syria and Iran before returning to Afghanistan. According to an arrest warrant issued in 2002, Belhadj forged close ties with al-Qaeda and the Taliban. 

Escaping his base in Jalalabad whenthe US moved into Afghanistan after  September 11, 2001, he was eventually arrested with his wife by the CIA in Bangkok in 2004. He was then extradited to Libya, where he

was imprisoned and tortured in the notorious Abu Salim prison for seven years.

Released in 2010, as part of a plan championed by the same Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, Belhadj eventually became the top rebel commander in Libya and was largely credited for masterminding the fall of Tripoli on August 23.

Belhadj spoke to Al Jazeera's David Poort about torture, tragedy and what he plans to say to Muammar Gaddafi.

David Poort: What happened to you after your arrest in 2004? Belhadj: When I was arrested I was first subjected to barbaric treatment at the hands of CIA agents at Bangkok airport. The same treatment was given to my wife, who was pregnant at the time. Later, in Libya, I was subjected to many types of physical and mental torture.

[Appears uncomfortable] Let's not get into the details. DP: Colonel Ahmed Bani said there is a "human tragedy" unfolding in Bani Walid. What is your assessment? Belhadj: We have sent additional weapons and troops to Bani Walid, answering calls from our fighters at the frontline. Our commanders there said they had a shortage of equipment and weapons, so over the past days we have been trying to accommodate their requests.

We've also sent more ambulances and other aid vehicles. Hopefully, this will have a positive effect on the situation so that Bani Walid may be liberated soon. DP: What is the latest from Sirte?

Belhadj: The same goes for the situation in Sirte. People from there are witnessing a very fierce conflict and they are paying a heavy price. Casualty numbers are very high. Even so, the situation in Sirte is better than it is in Bani Walid. DP: Do you know the location of Gaddafi and his sons? Belhadj: We are receiving conflicting reports on this. But the heavy resistance from the remaining Gaddafi troops confirms to me that they are among them. We know there are still a lot of loyalist fighters active in Bani Walid. If we find Gaddafi or his family members we will treat them fairly and give them a fair trial. We will protect their human rights, because that is what this revolution is all about; that is what we have risen up for. DP: Are your troops disciplined enough not to shoot Gaddafi on sight? 

Belhadj: [Joking: I hope they do] This revolution has set high standards regarding the justice system. All accused will be subjected to the same laws, regardless of their status or the crimes they committed. I trust my troops to do the right thing, but also I trust that Gaddafi won't surrender easily. Our troops will deal with him according to military standards, as a soldier. 

However, we believe that he will not let himself be arrested. I think he would rather kill himself. DP: What would you say to Gaddafi if they catch him alive? Belhadj: I would only ask him: "Did you ever expect yourself to be in this position?" [Smiles] DP: There are still neighbourhoods in Tripoli known to be largely loyal to Gaddafi. Are you worried about this? 

Belhadj: Tripoli has been liberated and we have now moved to the second phase, which is securing all neighbourhoods of the capital. This is important because we need people to return to their normal life, to go back to work, and children to go back to school. 

DP: Western countries have voiced concern about Islamist elements within the revolutionary forces. Belhadj: Regarding the Islamist elements among the revolutionaries, I can only say that Libya is an Islamic country and that all our traditions and behaviour is built on Islam. Libyans are generally moderate Muslims, with moderate ways of practice and understandings of religion. You can find some extreme elements that are different from the ainstream, but this does not in any  ay represent the majority of the  Libyan people. I would like to remind you again that the Islamic elements in the revolution are not considered to be a danger to our country or to our neighbours. 

DP: What about your own alleged ties with al-Qaeda? Regarding what people say about ties with al-Qaeda: We have never been in a relationship with them or joined them in any kind of activity, because we could never come to an nderstanding of [philosophies]. 

Even the Western intelligence agencies have found no connection between the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and al-Qaeda. The confusion stems from us being active at the same time and place as them. We never sympathised with them or upported their activities. We were against their ideas and actions. 

DP: What will be your role in the new Libya when the fighting is over? Belhadj: I'll be what the Libyan people will ask me to be. My future role is still to be decided upon in the oming period. I don't care whether my role will be political or military. [Joking: Maybe I could become a journalist.] At this time, we are still fighting a war for liberty that was orced upon us by the previous  government. We did not choose to wear this uniform and carry these weapons. 

Our main challenge is to build our dream, a civilised country where every civilian can get all of his civil rights. To achieve this, we need all Libyan people to participate. We do not know how long this battle will continue but I don't think this will be over by the end of this month. 

Gaddafi defenders stall advance on Libyan town

Battle-hardened Libyan combatants joined the fight to capture a desert town from well-armed loyalists of Muammar Gaddafi on Sunday after the head of Libya's interim council warned that the ousted leader still posed a threat.

Gaddafi troops firing rockets and mortars held up local fighters trying to push into the northern outskirts of Bani Walid, which lies 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Tripoli.

Scores of uniformed soldiers and experienced fighters of the ruling Transitional National Council (NTC) reinforced their comrades who have met fierce resistance from Gaddafi forces since Friday, saying they would attack within hours.

"I've been a soldier in the Libyan army in the 1980s. I have a little bit more experience than these local boys," said one new arrival, Omar Swaid, a truck driver from Kansas.

"They are great -- very enthusiastic but they don't know how to fight. We're going help them. The Gaddafi forces, some want to surrender. I hope this is the last fight. I don't want to see any more blood," he said in a broad American accent.

NATO warplanes, which Reuters witnesses said launched at least seven strikes on Gaddafi positions on Saturday, again patrolled the skies. NATO confirmed its aircraft had flown missions over Bani Walid but would not comment on any bombing.

"NATO dropped many bombs yesterday, targeting Grad rocket launchers. It is really helping us. When we enter the city, NATO should give us more protection from the sky," said Ibrahim Bakkar, a 20-year-old fighter, outside Bani Walid.

The original plan was for local men to enter the town of 100,000 to reassure residents and to encourage Gaddafi fighters to lay down their weapons and stay indoors.

But NTC officials, who first estimated they were facing only 150 Gaddafi loyalists, now say their opponents number about 1,000 after an influx of extra men from other Gaddafi strongholds such as Sirte on the coast and Sabha in the south.

"Last night the enemy fired many Grad rockets and mortars. We were under a hail of Grads. We don't know what we're going to do now. I have to admit, they have more experience than us," said Mohammed Ibrahim, a local anti-Gaddafi fighter.

GETTING A GRIP

It is vital for the NTC to capture Gaddafi's last strongholds and find the fugitive former leader to assert its grip over the vast oil-producing North African country and begin a countdown to elections and a new constitution.

NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil, a former Gaddafi justice minister who had run the council from the eastern city of Benghazi, arrived in Tripoli on Saturday for the first time since bands of anti-Gaddafi rebels captured it on Aug. 23.

"Brotherhood and warmth -- that's what we will depend on to build our future. We are not at a time of retribution," Abdel Jalil declared. "This is the time of unity and liberation."

The NTC has said it will complete its move to Tripoli this week, although previous timelines for this have slipped.

Establishing a credible interim government in the capital would mark an important step for Libya, where regional and factional rivalries among forces united only by contempt for Gaddafi could trouble efforts to reshape the country.

The NTC is anxious to show it can restart oil production, virtually stalled since the civil war began six months ago.

Interim Oil and Finance Minister Ali Tarhouni said on Saturday oil would be pumped at some fields within days and pre-war output levels would be restored within a year.

But Abdel Jalil said Libya could not yet be declared "liberated" from the man who ruled it for 42 years.

"Gaddafi still has money and gold," he said. "These are the fundamental things that will allow him to find men."

The NTC had given Sirte, Sabha and Bani Walid until Saturday to surrender or face attack, although fighting around Sirte and Bani Walid erupted a day before the deadline.

Anti-Gaddafi fighters believe one or two of the ousted leader's sons may be holed up in Bani Walid. Some NTC officials have even suggested Gaddafi might be there.

The struggle for the town appeared far from over.

Abdulkarim el Elwani, a former Libyan army soldier who defected, now commands a unit of about 100 men who arrived at the front on Sunday, visibly better-equipped and in uniform.

"They asked us to come here because the Bani Walid rebels have failed to take the city," he said. "There's a lot of resistance. We have orders to advance in two hours."

How al-Qaeda got to rule in Tripoli

His name is Abdelhakim Belhaj. Some in the Middle East might have, but few in the West and across the world would have heard of him. Time to catch up. Because the story of how an al-Qaeda asset turned out to be the top Libyan military commander in still war-torn Tripoli is bound to shatter - once again - that wilderness of mirrors that is the "war on terror", as well as deeply compromising the carefully constructed propaganda of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO's) "humanitarian" intervention in Libya. 

Muammar Gaddafi's fortress of Bab-al-Aziziyah was essentially invaded and conquered last week by Belhaj's men - who were at the forefront of a militia of Berbers from the mountains southwest of Tripoli. The militia is the so-called Tripoli Brigade, trained in secret for two months by US Special Forces. This turned out to be the rebels' most effective militia in six months of tribal/civil war.

Already last Tuesday, Belhaj was gloating on how the battle was won, with Gaddafi forces escaping "like rats" (note that's the same metaphor used by Gaddafi himself to designate the rebels). Abdelhakim Belhaj, aka Abu Abdallah al-Sadek, is a Libyan jihadi. Born in May 1966, he honed his skills with the mujahideen in the 1980s anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan. He's the founder of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and its de facto emir - with Khaled Chrif and Sami Saadi as his deputies. 

After the Taliban took power in Kabul in 1996, the LIFG kept two training camps in Afghanistan; one of them, 30 kilometers north of Kabul - run by Abu Yahya - was strictly for al-Qaeda-linked jihadis. After 9/11, Belhaj moved to Pakistan and also to Iraq, where he befriended none other than ultra-nasty Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - all this before al-Qaeda in Iraq pledged its allegiance to Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri and turbo-charged its gruesome practices. In Iraq, Libyans happened to be the largest foreign Sunni jihadi contingent, only losing to the Saudis.

Moreover, Libyan jihadis have always been superstars in the top echelons of "historic" al-Qaeda - from Abu Faraj al-Libi (military commander until his arrest in 2005, now lingering as one of 16 high-value detainees in the US detention center at Guantanamo) to Abu al-Laith al-Libi (another military commander, killed in Pakistan in early 2008). Time for an extraordinary rendition The LIFG had been on the US Central Intelligence Agency's radars since 9/11. 

In 2003, Belhaj was finally arrested in Malaysia - and then transferred, extraordinary rendition-style, to a secret Bangkok prison, and duly tortured. In 2004, the Americans decided to send him as a gift to Libyan intelligence - until he was freed by the Gaddafi regime in March 2010, along with other 211 "terrorists", in a public relations coup advertised with great fanfare. The orchestrator was no less than Saif Islam al-Gaddafi - the modernizing/London School of Economics face of the regime. LIFG's leaders - Belhaj and his deputies Chrif and Saadi - issued a 417-page confession dubbed" corrective studies" in which they declared the jihad against Gaddafi over (and illegal), before they were finally set free. A fascinating account of the whole process can be seen in a report called "Combating Terrorism in Libya through Dialogue and Reintegration". [1] Note that the authors, Singapore-based terrorism "experts" who were wined and dined by the regime, express the "deepest appreciation to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation for making this visit possible". 

Crucially, still in 2007, then al-Qaeda's number two, Zawahiri, officially announced the merger between the LIFG and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb (AQIM). So, for all practical purposes, since then, LIFG/AQIM have been one and the same - and Belhaj was/is its emir. In 2007, LIFG was calling for a jihad against Gaddafi but also against the US and assorted Western "infidels". Fast forward to last February when, a free man, Belhaj decided to go back into jihad mode and align his forces with the engineered uprising in Cyrenaica. Every intelligence agency in the US, Europe and the Arab world knows where he's coming from. 

He's already made sure in Libya that himself and his militia will only settle for sharia law. There's nothing "pro-democracy" about it - by any stretch of the imagination. And yet such an asset could not be dropped from NATO's war just because he was not very fond of "infidels". The late July killing of rebel military commander General Abdel Fattah Younis - by the rebels themselves - seems to point to Belhaj or at least people very close to him. It's essential to know that Younis - before he defected from the regime - had been in charge of Libya's special forces fiercely fighting the LIFG in Cyrenaica from 1990 to 1995. 

The Transitional National Council (TNC), according to one of its members, Ali Tarhouni, has been spinning Younis was killed by a shady brigade known as Obaida ibn Jarrah (one of the Prophet Mohammed's companions). Yet the brigade now seems to have dissolved into thin air. Shut up or I'll cut your head off Hardly by accident, all the top military rebel commanders are LIFG, from Belhaj in Tripoli to one Ismael as-Salabi in Benghazi and one Abdelhakim al-Assadi in Derna, not to mention a key asset, Ali Salabi, sitting at the core of the TNC. It was Salabi who negotiated with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi the "end" of LIFG's jihad, thus assuring the bright future of these born-again "freedom fighters". It doesn't require a crystal ball to picture the consequences of LIFG/AQIM - having conquered military power and being among the war "winners" - not remotely interested in relinquishing control just to please NATO's whims. 

Meanwhile, amid the fog of war, it's unclear whether Gaddafi is planning to trap the Tripoli brigade in urban warfare; or to force the bulk of rebel militias to enter the huge Warfallah tribal areas. Gaddafi's wife belongs to the Warfallah, Libya's largest tribe, with up to 1 million people and 54 sub-tribes. The inside word in Brussels is that NATO expects Gaddafi to fight for months if not years; thus the Texas George W Bush-style bounty on his head and the desperate return to NATO's plan A, which was always to take him out. Libya may now be facing the specter of a twin-headed guerrilla Hydra; Gaddafi forces against a weak TNC central government and NATO boots on the ground; and the LIFG/AQIM nebula in a jihad against NATO (if they are sidelined from power). Gaddafi may be a dictatorial relic of the past, but you don't monopolize power for four decades for nothing, and without your intelligence services learning a thing or two. 

From the beginning, Gaddafi said this was a foreign- backed/al-Qaeda operation; he was right (although he forgot to say this was above all neo-Napoleonic French President Nicolas Sarkozy's war, but that's another story). He also said this was a prelude for a foreign occupation whose target was to privatize and take over Libya's natural resources. He may - again – turn out to be right. The Singapore "experts" who praised the Gaddafi regime's decision to free the LIFG's jihadis qualified it as "a necessary strategy to mitigate the threat posed to Libya". Now, LIFG/AQIM is finally poised to exercise its options as an "indigenous political force". Ten years after 9/11, it's hard not to imagine a certain decomposed skull in the bottom of the Arabian Sea boldly grinning to kingdom come.

Libyan Rebels capture Gaddafi compound in Tripoli

Rebel fighters captured Moammer Gaddafi's heavily fortified Bab al-Aziziya compound and headquarters in Tripoli on Tuesday after a day of fierce fighting, a correspondent witnessed.

The defenders had fled, and there was no immediate word on the whereabouts of Gaddafi or his family after the insurgents breached the defences as part of a massive assault that began in the morning.

"Rebels breached the surrounding cement walls and entered inside. They have taken Bab al-Azizya. Completely. It is finished," the correspondent said.

"It is an incredible sight," he said, adding that the bodies of a number of apparent Gaddafi fighters were lying inside, as well as wounded.

Only minutes earlier, rebel spokesman Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani said from Benghazi: "Our forces are surrounding Bab al-Azizya. There is a fierce battle going on there. We are now controlling one of the gates, the western entrance."

The correspondent said rebels found an armoury in one of the buildings and were seizing quantities of ammunition, pistols and assault rifles.

There was no immediate comment from the rebel leadership in the eastern city of Bengazi, but an official in the western city of Misrata said that "at the same house used by Gaddafi before to describe the Libyan people as rats, today the independence flag flying on its roof."

On Tuesday morning, Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam, who was reportedly under arrest, made a surprise appearance in Tripoli and announced that his father and family were still in the capital.

However, he declined to say where.
"Gaddafi and the entire family are in Tripoli," Seif told reporters at the Rixos Hotel where many foreign journalists are housed.

Seif also said the regime's forces had deliberately not tried to prevent the rebels from entering the capital.

"Allowing the rebels to enter Tripoli was a trick," he said, without elaborating.
NATO, meanwhile, said Gaddafi was "not a target" for the military alliance.
"NATO does not target individuals," said Operation Unified Protector spokesman, Colonel Roland Lavoie.

"Gaddafi does not constitute a target," he told reporters in Brussels via video-conference from the mission's Naples headquarters.
In the hours that led up to the storming of the compound in central Tripoli, the sound of the fighting was the most intense heard in the city since rebels arrived three days ago.

The correspondent said that rebel forces coming from the western city of Misrata had reinforced the offensive during the afternoon.
The rebel official in Misrata said one of their commanders had been killed in the assault on the compound.

The sky was filled with the sound of heavy and light machine guns as well as mortars, with the overhead roar of NATO jets that had been carrying intensive over flights though it was unclear if there were any air strikes.

Even two kilometres (about a mile) from the fighting, the almost constant whistle of falling bullets could be hear from the rooftops, as the city's mosques chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest).

Gaddafi son Saif Al Islam at Tripoli hotel after arrest report

Saif al-Islam, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who rebels and the International Criminal Court said had been arrested, arrived late on Monday at the Tripoli hotel where foreign reporters are staying.

Saif appeared at the Rixos Hotel late at night and spoke to foreign journalists there. Television footage showed him pumping his fists in the air, smiling, waving and shaking hands with supporters, as well as holding

his arms aloft with each hand making the V for victory sign. 

Saif told journalists that Tripoli, which has been largely overrun in the past 24 hours by rebel forces seeking to topple his father, was in fact in government hands and that Muammar Gaddafi was safe. Earlier, armed pro-Gaddafi security mean guarding the hotel took a small group of journalists to Gaddafi's Bab al Aziziyah compound, where they had a meeting with Saif. 

They returned to the hotel accompanied by Saif, who then spoke to journalists in the lobby before taking some of them back to he compound a short distance away for a  brief visit.

Saif said: "I am here to disperse the rumors ...

"This is a war of technology and electronics to cause chaos and terror in Libya. They also brought in armed gangs by sea and by road."

He was referring to a text message sent to mobile phone subscribers in Tripoli on Monday congratulating them on the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. Saif also said that Tripoli was under government control and that he did not care about an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague seeking him and his father for crimes gainst humanity. 

When asked if his father was safe and well in Tripoli, Saif told a journalist: "Of course."

Fighting erupts in Tripoli

<< Supporters of Libyan leader Gaddafi

Fighting erupted in Tripoli late Saturday as rebels closed in on the capital by claiming a third key city in 24 hours and predicted Muammar al-Gaddafi's 42-year-old rule was on its last legs.

Blasts and gunfire rocked Tripoli after the break of the dawn-to-dusk fast of Ramadan and witnesses reported fighting in the eastern neighbourhoods of Soug Jomaa, Arada and Tajura.

As jubilant rebels in newly-conquered towns were champing at the bit for a final push on Tripoli, a government spokesman said the fighting in the capital had not lasted long and the situation been brought under control.

"The situation is under control," Moussa Ibrahim said on television, adding that pro-regime volunteers had repelled insurgents attacks in several neighbourhoods.

Ibrahim dismissed mounting speculation that the regime was on the brink as a "media attack" but more gunfire was heard after he spoke on television.

In his eastern stronghold of Benghazi, Libyan rebel chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil claimed Saturday that victory was within reach, six months after the insurgency was launched.

"We have contacts with people from the inner circle of Gaddafi," said the chairman of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC). "All evidence (shows) that the end is very near, with God's grace."

Abdel Jalil was speaking to reporters as a flurry of rumours suggested that Gaddafi was preparing to flee Libya.

"I expect a catastrophic end for him and his inner circle, and I expect that he will a create a situation within Tripoli. I hope my expectation is wrong," Abdel Jalil said, before the latest fighting in the capital.

"That would be a good thing that will end the bloodshed and help us avoid material costs. But I do not expect that he will do that," Abdel Jalil added.

Rebels were jubilant after claiming to have captured the strategic eastern oil hub of Brega, a day after saying they had seized Zawiyah and Zliten, two other key towns.
However, rebel Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani said retreating Gaddafi forces were shelling Brega's industrial zone on Saturday and that his men had pulled back to its eastern edge to avoid unnecessary casualties and property damage.

In Sabratah, around 50 kilometres west of Tripoli, rebels were celebrating their camp's latest advances and waiting for a chance to take part in an offensive on the capital.
"I'm dying to go to Tripoli," Mohamed, an 18-year-old fighter from Manchester, said as fighters fired shots in the air and residents stayed to their TV sets, monitoring what they believe are Gaddafi's final hours.

"We have to stay here and await orders. I would like to go right now to Tripoli by boat but I can't because I don't have contact with NATO," said Akram Mohamed Ramadan, another fighter.

While the rebels' pincer movement on the capital intensified, another sign of the regime's fragility came when rebels said former premier Abdessalam Jalloud, who fell out of favour with the Libyan strongman in the mid-1990s but remains a popular figure, had defected and joined their ranks.

Yet both they and the regime downplayed the significance of his departure, after he reportedly flew to Italy from neighbouring Tunisia with his family.

The official JANA news agency simply said "Jalloud had remained away from politics out of his own free will, and spent most of his time abroad for (medical) care for heart disease."

He was among the officers who grabbed power with Gaddafi in 1969 and was long considered the regime's second-in-command before being gradually sidelined in the 1990s.

In Zawiyah, families were fleeing the battle-scarred city in cars and pickups loaded with personal possessions, a day after the rebels claimed it had fallen as they advanced on Tripoli from the west.

Queues of cars hundreds of metres long snaked out of petrol stations after rebels decided to distribute fuel from the nearby refinery for free.

The refinery is the only source of fuel to Tripoli, and could leave it without critical supplies.

At the start of the main road heading south, rebels set up a checkpoint with a list of names of informants whom they accused of having helped Gaddafi's fighters in their now-lost battle for the city.

Insurgents also said they seized Zliten from Gaddafi's forces, hours after saying they were in the town's centre, 150 kilometres (93 miles) east of Tripoli.

Rebels have been seeking to sever Tripoli's supply lines from Tunisia to the west and to Gaddafi's home town of Sirte in the east, hoping to cut off the capital, prompt defections and spark an uprising inside Tripoli.

Meanwhile, a Tunisian defence official said Tunisian troops clashed with a group of armed Libyans overnight in the country's southwest.

An army patrol came under fire from men travelling in several 4X4 vehicles with Libyan registration plates in the Douz region, the official said.

No one was caught and the attackers were still being hunted Saturday by ground and air forces, the official said, adding there were no casualties on the Tunisian side.

With the rebels vowing to take Tripoli before the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan ends in late August, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has urged the population of the capital to rise up against Gaddafi.

"We hope the people of Tripoli... understand the regime has harmed its own people and will therefore join a process of political change to cut off room for manoeuvre for Gaddafi's regime," Frattini said.

Meanwhile, the International Organisation for Migration said it was drawing up plans to evacuate thousands of migrants stranded in Tripoli because exit points have been cut off after a spate of rebel successes.

"There are already thousands of Egyptians who are ready for evacuation now, and what we are hearing is that every day there are more and more requests," IOM spokeswoman Jemini Pandya said.

Libyan Prince Says Qaddafi Will Be Ousted If Rebels Are United

Libyan Prince Muhammad bin Sayyid Hassan as-Senussi said Muammar Gaddafi will be toppled “sooner rather than later” if rebels keep their unity and resolve, as the conflict in the North African nation enters its sixth month.

“Day after day, week after week, most of the nation has stood together, united against the tyrant as brave freedom fighters have taken up arms,” as-Senussi said in a statement on his website today. “For Libya to take its place among the great nations of the world, we must work together as one people.”

On Feb. 17, Libyans in the eastern town of Benghazi staged a peaceful protest calling for more rights, and were fired upon by security forces. In March, amid international condemnation of Qaddafi’s escalating crackdown on dissent, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization began an air campaign to protect civilians.

After several weeks of stalemate, the rebels are claiming advances on the battlefield. Opposition forces say they have ended nightly rocket attacks by Qaddafi’s military by taking the town of Tarwaga, near the western city of Misrata. They also say they are inside Zawiya, 35 miles (56 kilometers) from the capital, Tripoli.

Qaddafi has lasted longer than expected amid reports of fuel and food shortages in Tripoli, which he controls. This week, he urged his supporters to resist NATO and rebel fighters in a speech aired as an audio file on state television.

“United we must fight for a new society in which the freedoms and rights of the people come first,” said as-Senussi, who now lives in London. “This long struggle, one that has been longer than we had hoped, is not yet over,”

As-Senussi is the son of Hassan as-Senussi and the great- nephew of King Idris, who was overthrown by Qaddafi in September 1969. The prince, who pushed for a no-fly zone over Libya in February, has worked with Libyan expatriates to send goods, clothing and medicine to the North African country.

Endgame for Libyan Strongman Muammar Gaddafi?

The battle to control Libya has entered its final phase when Muammar Gaddafi must make a choice: to seek a negotiated exit or to defend his capital to the last bullet. Rebels with support from NATO warplanes have, over the past 48 hours, taken key towns around Gaddafi’s stronghold in

Tripoli in a dramatic series of advances which cut the city off from supplies of fuel and food.

Rebel offensives have, in the past, turned into headlong retreats. But if they hold their ground, the end of Gaddafi’s 41-year rule will be closer than at any time since the conflict began six months ago.

A U.S. official said that for the first time in the conflict, government forces on Sunday fired a Scud missile — an act that was pointless from a military point of view but signalled the desperation of pro-Gaddafi forces.

“The Libyan regime may or may not collapse forthwith but it now looks like it will happen sooner or later,” said Daniel Korski, a fellow at the European Council for Foreign Relations.

He added: “The manner of its collapse, however, and the method of the rebel takeover will be just as important as the conduct of the war.”

Flushed by their success in getting so close to Tripoli, some rank-and-file rebels on Monday spoke of attacking the capital next. But analysts said that will not be the favoured option for rebel commanders.

Unwanted battle

Gaddafi will throw all the men and weapons he has left into a defence of the capital, civilian casualties in urban fighting will be high, and sections of the population in Tripoli are likely to oppose the rebels.

Even if Gaddafi’s opponents were able to win that fight, the bloodshed would create grievances and vendettas which could make the capital — and maybe even the country — ungovernable.

Starved of fuel and unable to bring in more weapons and reinforcements, elements of Gaddafi’s security forces in Tripoli may decide the best way to save themselves is to lay down their arms or cross over and join the rebels.

Libya: Gaddafi Faces Fourth Month Without Gasoline Shipments

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi faces a fourth month without receiving gasoline cargoes by sea as motorists wait in line at filling stations in the capital.

Rebels opposing Gaddafi received three to four cargoes of gasoline a month in June and July while the leader got none, according to two traders, one shipowner, one analyst and one shipbroker surveyed. The rebels received about four cargoes in May and Gaddafi got none. That compares with eight cargoes in a normal month before an uprising erupted in February, they said.

“International sanctions and the tight monitoring of Libya’s waters by the NATO-led alliance have so far been very successful in denying the regime access to imported fuel cargoes, a situation which will not change over the coming month,” said Samuel Ciszuk, senior Middle East and North Africa energy analyst at researcher IHS Energy Group U.K. Ltd.

Libya’s refineries produced 5.2 million metric tons of diesel and gasoline in 2008, according to the International Energy Agency, a Paris-based adviser to industrialized nations. The plants will probably process no more than 90,000 barrels of oil a day this summer, compared with the usual 370,000 barrels, the IEA said in a report in May.

“The economic pressure on Qaddafi is tremendous,” Ciszuk said. “Qaddafi has to prioritize fuel for his military forces to survive.”

650,000 Cars

One gasoline shipment comprises about 34 million liters (9 million gallons) of the car fuel, enough to fill about 650,000 vehicles.

The fuel’s scarcity may be causing longer waiting times for motorists in Tripoli, said Alan Fraser, a security analyst at AKE Group Ltd. in London, citing contacts in the Libyan city. The capital is held by Qaddafi’s regime, while the rebels control the eastern port city of Benghazi.

“Queues are reportedly getting worse in Tripoli,” Fraser said. “I’ve heard reports of up to five days. In Benghazi, I’ve never heard of fuel shortages being a major issue.”

Libyan crude production fell to 100,000 barrels a day last month, compared with an average of 1.55 million in 2010, according to data.

Libyan Rebels Push to Take Town of Tawarga as Conflict Enters Sixth Month

Libyan rebels in the besieged city of Misrata launched an offensive to try and break through the eastern frontline and take the government-held town of Tawarga.

The attack began in the early morning and three rebel fighters were killed and 44 wounded by 3 p.m. local time, according to officials at Misrata’s Mujamma Aliadat hospital. There were no immediate reports on government casualties.

“We are in the town, we made a big attack this morning,” wounded rebel fighter Loie Mohammed, 19, said from his hospital bed, referring to Tawarga. “Our guys went in a circle to get around the town and attack from behind it.”

The conflict between the rebels and forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi is in its sixth month, with little recent progress on either side. Qaddafi retains control of the capital, Tripoli, while the rebels are holding on to Benghazi in the east and Misrata in the west. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has supported the rebel fighters with an air campaign that began in March.

Misrata’s eastern front has been comparatively quiet for the past two months with most rebel offensives focused on pushing west toward the town of Zlitan. Government forces hit the center of Misrata with missiles on Aug. 9 for the first time since May, injuring one man.

Heavy shelling could be heard from the direction of Tawarga throughout the day and a stream of ambulances arrived in the city from the front line 30 miles (50 kilometers) to the east.

Mohammed said he was wounded by shrapnel as he was manning a mortar. He had bandages over a wound on his side and lay covered in a green sheet with drip feeds in both arms.

“When they tell me it’s OK, I am going back,” he said, referring to the front line.

Libyan Attempt To Bring Back Oil Cos Fails To Ignite Interest

A new attempt by Libya's government to bring back foreign oil companies to the war-torn country has failed to ignite interest, people familiar with the contacts said in recent days.

The government of Col. Moammar Gadhafi is battling a rebellion by the rebel Transitional National Council which, surfing on recent international recognition, has also got in touch with international oil giants.

According to industry officials, which include Libyan oil sources, Eni SpA (E), Total SA (TOT), Repsol SA (REP.MC) and OMV AG (OMV.VI) as well as U.S. companies were recently contacted by Tripoli to return to Libya.

Last month, the country's National Oil Corp., or NOC, "sent a circular to U.S. and European companies asking them to resume operations" and also sent one of its executives to Europe for this purpose.

A manager at a foreign company with interests in Libya said Omran Abukraa, the recently-appointed head of the National Oil Corp., "is trying to convince them to come back and do business in Libya, but he got nothing."

Both sides also appear to disagree on the significance of the approach.

Abukraa said they were part of "continuous contacts with our [foreign companies] partners.

"They were very positive with us because of their keenness to maintain their interests in Libya," he said.

But without commenting on whether it had received any letters from Abukraa, OMV said it "isn't in talks with the Libyan government nor with the transitional government." Total and Eni declined to comment and a Repsol spokesman couldn't immediately comment.

OMV said that "production has been stopped; we are waiting to see how the situation develops."

Foreign oil companies pulled out of Libya late February when civil war erupted there, triggering the shut down of most of its oil production. They are also unable to conduct financial transactions with NOC due to sanctions.

Abukraa said that: "Because of the so-called force majeure state, these companies aren't returning back. But according to the contracts signed with these companies such force majeure should be discussed with the NOC."

However, he said: "Any of our foreign partners who would like to return back to work in Libya is welcome. Libyan oil fields are fine and the security situation in Libya is well."

Libya rebels pledge Ramadan cash handout

Libya’s civilian rebel council has pledged to distribute a small cash donation to families to help ease the rising costs of food during the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Abdul Hafiz al-Ghoga, deputy leader of the National Transitional Council, told a satellite channel that the handout was made possible by the unfreezing of assets in Turkey, a supporter of the rebel council.

France also said it was handing over $259m of Libyan assets to the National Transitional Council for “humanitarian purchases”. The announcement came after a meeting on Monday between Alain Juppé, the French foreign minister, and Mansour Sayf al-Nasr, the NTC’s new ambassador in Paris. Mr Nasr said the funds, frozen in French banks, “belong to the Libyan people” and would be used “for the purchase of medicines and food products”, as required by European law.

The rebel donation to families only amounts to 200-300 dinars ($300-$450 at market rates) per family, a fact that he said reflected the tough circumstances of a region at war. Many said the money would not go far as costs rise during this family-oriented festival.

With many state salaries unpaid and private sector workers taking pay cuts, families have been forced into a more modest Ramadan, when, despite the daytime fast, consumption normally rises as people eat much more after sunset.

The rebel-held east on Monday broke its first fast of Ramadan since the uprising against the regime of Colonel Muammer Gaddafi, but last week’s assassination of General Abdel Fattah Younes, its military commander, and ensuing fears of factionalism have cast a shadow over this important Islamic festival.

Banks are expected to distribute the promised payments but few were optimistic, saying funds had yet to return to the system. “There is no money in the vault – but let’s see if the Turkish money comes though, that could be a solution,” said Haifa al-Saefi, a bank teller in central Benghazi.

Residents have been lining up outside lenders amid rumours that bank liquidity will rise, allowing them to recover some of their savings. Nizar Mafraks, owner of Nizar Supermarket, said prices of domestic produce, such as meat, had only risen slightly. But some imported items, including staples such as powdered milk, have seen prices rise by two-thirds.

The war has cut off lines to a large tuna factory in Al Khums, forcing shops to import more expensive cans from Europe and Thailand, he said. Many Libyans mistrust foreign food, with one shopper saying the poor-quality tuna imports were “only good enough for the cat”. When asked the price of meat, quipped one shop assistant: “I don’t know, I only eat chicken now.”

Mr Mafraks was charged with “economic crimes” in 1996 by Col Gaddafi’s government, and only managed to avoid a jail sentence by paying a fine. “At least we don’t have that situation any more, the only thing now is to get rid of [Gaddafi] for good,” he said.

Libyan Rebel commander Abdel Fattah Younes killed

Libya's rebel military commander was shot dead in an incident that remained shrouded in mystery, dealing a blow to Western-backed forces labouring in a campaign to topple Muammar Gaddafi.

Rebels said Abdel Fattah Younes, long in the veteran Libyan leader’s inner circle before defecting in February, was shot by assailants on Thursday after he had been summoned from the battlefield for unspecified talks. Some analysts thought Gaddafi agents may have killed him, others that his own side had done so, revealing deep divisions between Gaddafi defectors and those who never worked with him. Neither side in the conflict clarified the matter.

The killing coincided with a new rebel offensive in the west and further international recognition for rebels, which they hope will help unfreeze billions of dollars in Libyan funds. The rebels did not say who killed Younes or where, and said on Thursday they did not yet have his body.

But on Friday, weeping relatives and supporters brought his coffin into the main square of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi to mourn him, and vowed allegiance to remaining rebel leaders. “We got the body yesterday here (in Benghazi), he had been shot with bullets and burned,” Younes’s nephew, Abdul Hakim, said, crying as he followed the coffin through the square. “He had called us at 10 o’clock (on Thursday morning) to say he was on his way here.”

Secret talks Officials would not give details of why Younes was recalled on Thursday to Benghazi from the front line near the oil port of Brega for questioning. Rumours had circulated in Benghazi that he had held secret talks with the Gaddafi government.

“If the rumours that General Younes was feeding information to Gaddafi were there then it would make sense that some rogue elements might attempt to assassinate him,” said Alan Fraser, an analyst with London-based risk consultancy AKE. Rebel defence minister Omar Hariri told Reuters his death was still being investigated and his loss would be great.

Rebel Chief Says Gaddafi, Family Can Stay in Libya

Libyan opposition leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said Sunday that Col. Moammar Gadhafi and his family could remain in Libya as part of a political solution to the five-month-old conflict, provided they give up power and rebel leaders can determine where in Libya and under what conditions they remain.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal during an unannounced visit to Libya's rebel- controlled western mountains, Mr. Jalil confirmed reports from other rebel officials in recent days that Qatar has stepped up the flow of military aid to rebels in recent days.

Mr. Jalil's offer to let Col. Gadhafi and his family remain in Libya appears to be a significant reversal for the Libyan opposition leader, who is chairman of the rebels' Transitional National Council, based in Benghazi. "Gadhafi can stay in Libya but it will have conditions," Mr. Jalil said. "We will decide where he stays and who watches him.

The same conditions will apply to his family." Mr. Jalil spoke over a lunch of lamb, garbonzo beans and Pepsi, served in cans adorned with pink paper umbrellas, at a private home in the western mountain city of Zintan, where rebel military leaders have established their regional headquarters.

In agreeing that Mr. Gadhafi and his family could remain in Libya, Mr. Jalil appeared to be softening his position, and backing up comments made by U.S., Italian and French officials in recent days to the same effect. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Wednesday that Col. Gadhafi could remain in Libya as long as he gives up power completely.

The U.S. and Italy have said recently that Col. Gadhafi must be removed from power, but have said his fate after that is up to the Libyan people, leaving open the possibility that he remain in Libya. Mr. Jalil's willingness to accept anything short of exile and criminal prosecution for Mr. Gadhafi is likely to prove unpopular among the rebel rank and file.

Mr. Jalil made similar comments to Reuters earlier this month, but had to issue a quick denial after protests erupted in the streets of Benghazi. But Mr. Jalil appears to have carefully calibrated his comments on Sunday by setting conditions for Col. Gadhafi's remaining in Libya that could be broadly interpreted.

Mr. Jalil didn't elaborate on where or under what conditions rebels would demand Col. Gadhafi live if he remained, but presumably it could mean anything from comfortable house arrest among his tribesmen, to a dark cell in solitary confinement. The diplomatic wording would seem to allow Mr. Jalil to appear willing to compromise to appease Western leaders eager to see an end to the conflict, while not alienating his rebel base who want to see Col. Gadhafi held accountable for his actions.

The softening of Mr. Jalil's position toward Col. Gadhafi and his family comes as rebels say they are stepping up military preparations for a resumed push on Col. Gadhafi's forces along multiple fronts. A critical piece of those preparations has been an uptick in military aide from the Persian Gulf state of Qatar in recent days, according to Mr. Jalil and other rebel officials in Benghazi.

Mr. Jalil said Qatar had sent military trainers to the western mountains to train rebel fighters and had built and equipped a rebel operational command center with the latest equipment. Indeed, Qatari military personnel were accompanying Mr. Jalil during his visit to the western mountains. One Qatari military trainer said his team of trainers arrived in the western mountains 20 days ago to train rebels to use certain light weapons and teach them small- unit tactics.

Sunday's visit was Mr. Jalil's first visit to the region since he was tapped as the rebel leader shortly after the uprising began on Feb. 17. Mr. Jalil and his entourage flew into the western mountains after a short visit in Tunisia, where many Libyan civilians have sought refuge from the fighting and where many rebel fighters have gone for treatment.

His plane landed at the rebels' makeshift airstrip on a straight stretch of desert highway outside of Zintan. Qatar has been one of the rebels' staunchest allies since the early days of the uprising and has long provided them with a steady flow of humanitarian and military aid. Qatar has been sending rebels anti- tank weapons, small arms, ammunitions, and bullet proof vests, among other such items for months, according to rebel officials who help manage and distribute the shipments in Benghazi.

But just in the past four days Qatar has stepped up both the quantity and type of military aid it is shipping to the rebels, these officials said. The recent shipments have for the first time included new four-wheel-drive vehicles and armored mine clearers to help the rebels clear massive mine fields laid by Col. Gadhafi's forces outside the oil town of Brega, according to the officials.

Mr. Jalil said rebels would continue their offensive on all fronts during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins early next month. He said rebels in the western mountains were the closest to Tripoli and rebels' best chance of piercing Col. Gadhafi's defenses and reaching the capital. "The war will end in one of three ways," Mr. Jalil said. "Gadhafi will surrender, he will flee Libya, or he will be killed or captured by one of his bodyguards or by rebel forces."