LIBYA’S LEADER Muammar Gadafy’s government is ready for immediate negotiations with rebels seeking to oust him, and has asked Nato to convince the rebel forces to halt an attack on Tripoli, a spokesman said on state television last night.
He was speaking as it appeared that rebels had advanced right into the heart of the city without any major resistance from troops loyal to Col Gadafy. TV pictures showed hundreds on the streets of Tripoli to greet the rebels.
Col Gadafy was prepared to negotiate directly with the head of the rebel National Transitional Council, spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said. However, the head of the tranisitional council said Libya’s rebel fighters would halt their offensive if Col Gadafy announced his departure. Mustapha Abd El Jalil added that the rebel forces would give Col Gadafy and his sons safe passage out of the country.
Late last night it appeared that rebel forces had taken over several suburbs, hoisting their tricolour on public buildings.
Nato, meanwhile, launched air strikes on the city, with the alliance reporting the destruction of 36 targets over the weekend. Moussa Ibrahim claimed that that 1,300 people had been killed in fighting in Tripoli yesterday.
To the west of the city, rebel units said they had advanced to within artillery range of Tripoli, overrunning the depot of the elite 32nd brigade, commanded by Col Gadafy’s son, Khamis.
Khamis Gadafy was reported by rebel fighters to have been wounded in fighting in Zlitan on Friday while commanding his brigade.
Earlier yesterday, the Gadafy administration had insisted it would fight on, with Col Gadafy’s oldest son, Saif-Al Islam, giving a televised speech promising he would never raise the “white flag” over Tripoli.
Col Gadafy’s speech, aired via an audio recording, was similarly strident, with the leader accusing the rebels and Nato allies of forming a “masquerade” with their claim to be liberating the country.
He insisted he would not be leaving the capital and that he would defeat enemy forces.
In Tripoli, foreign diplomats reportedly gathered for safety at a city centre hotel, while a ship from the International Office of Migration arriving to evacuate foreign citizens was turned back by gunfire.
Rebel commander said they were now certain of victory. In Zlitan, 80 miles east of the capital, captured by opposition forces on Friday, military convoys of black-painted jeeps and trucks mounting rocket launchers rumbled into the town.
Mohammed Al Durat, commander of the Shaheed (Martyr’s) brigade, said his forces were bringing forward supplies for an offensive west to complete the isolation of Tripoli from the rest of Libya.
Opposition commanders said they expected the eastern and western prongs of their advance from Zlitan and Zawiya to meet in the coming days at Tarhouna, cutting off Tripoli.
They expected that the junction will starve government garrisons of supplies in towns stretching east to Brega. – (Additional reporting Reuters)