Gaddafi Son Warns Of Fight To The Death
10:49pm UK, Thursday March 10, 2011
The Gaddafi regime has warned of full-scale military action against rebel-held towns in Libya as troops try to push back opposition forces with artillery and air strikes Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif issued a bleak warning to rebel forces and to European and US leaders who have talked about possible international intervention. "This is our country and we will never ever give up or surrender - we fight here in Libya and we will die here in Libya," Saif Gaddafi warned."It is time for action." "We will never ever welcome Nato or the Americans," he said. British Foreign Secretary William Hague told Sky News that the statements from Gaddafi were ominous and furthered the case for international intervention. "It sounds like he is declaring war on his own people," Mr Hague said after a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels..
British Foreign Secretary William Hague talking to Sky NewsThe rebel forces in Libya have shown very strong morale, very strong resilience, in the face of attacks on them
"What we are doing in the outside world about that is that we have agreed additional sanctions, Nato defence ministers have met to do the planning for a no-fly zone and there are other contingencies."We have also agreed to move more Nato assets into the Mediterranean, especially for humanitarian operations in the future so they should know in Libya that the world is watching them. "And that the diplomatic and military capability to bring about a no-fly zone is certainly there and ready." Mr Hague also said any international action should extend beyond the member states of Nato. The US earlier said that any agreed military tactics, including a no-fly zone, would be best conducted by Nato. meanwhile, rebel-held towns in eastern Libya have sustainedaction by pro-Gaddafi forces, including action by mercenaries.
WILLIAM HAGUE RESPONDS TO SAIF GADDAFI
Witnesses said that a number of bombs or missiles had landed close to oil facilities in Ras Lanuf, with a hospital in the port city being evacuated after it came under rocket fire. Heavy fighting was also reported near Bin Jawad, about 20 miles to the west, where pro-Gaddafi troops have stalled the rebel advance in recent days. Libyan army tanks were firing on rebel positions and witnesses reported that rebel fighters were being pushed into retreat from Ras Lanuf. Brega, further inside the rebel-controlled east of the country, was also hit by air strikes for the first time in several days.
Mr Hague praised the stand being made by opposition forces in the country.
He said: "The rebel forces in Libya have shown very strong morale, very strong resilience, in the face of attacks on them."
The western town of Zawiyah, which witnessed bloody battles on Wednesday, appeared to have now fallen to loyalists.
The Times defence editor Deborah Haynes, reporting from Zawiyah, told Sky News: "Today it was very much in government control.
"Troops were out in force and a massive cleanup operation is going on to get ride of all traces of what was a huge and horrific battle."
The Times defence editor Deborah Haynes, in battle-scarred ZawiyahGovernment troops are out in force and a massive cleanup operation is going on to get ride of all traces of what was a huge and horrific battle
A doctor in the town had earlier said at least 40 people had been killed in the fighting.
Mr Hague revealed he has spoken to an opposition envoy about what rebels wanted from the international community.
He said rebels were asking for implementation of a no-fly zone and medical aid from the international community.
The calls for help come as Europe seeks a unified approach to the crisis.
"There is not yet enough clarity about these opposition groups in and around Benghazi," Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal said.
German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle warned: "We do not want to get sucked into a war in North Africa."
Meanwhile, it emerged that three BBC journalists in the country were beaten by Colonel Gaddafi's forces.
BBC JOURNALISTS ATTACKED BY GADDAFI'S FORCES
They were held for 21 hours in various military compounds where they were hooded, handcuffed and subjected to a mock execution, the corporation said.
One, correspondent Feras Killani, a Palestinian refugee, said he was accused of being a British spy and believed he was going to be executed.
He said: "They knocked me down to the ground with their guns, AK-47s. I was down on my knees and I heard them cocking their guns.
"I thought they were going to shoot me. It was a fake execution."
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "This is yet another example of the horrific crimes being committed in Libya.
"The regime had invited journalists to Libya to see the truth. This truth is even more glaring today than it was before.
The Guardian newspaper said it was also trying to find out the whereabouts of one of its correspondents missing in western Libya.
Ghaith Abdul-Ahad was last in touch with the paper through a third party on Sunday, when he was on the outskirts of Zawiyah. He was travelling with Andrei Netto of the Brazilian newspaper Estado, who is also missing.
The Reporters Without Borders advocacy group said that the Iraqi national and Brazilian had been arrested and were being held at an undisclosed location, and urged for their release.
Meanwhile, three Dutch marines who were captured after a botched evacuation mission in Libya last month will be handed over to a European delegation, according to Libyan state TV.
:: A group calling themselves Topple the Tyrants have occupied a house in north London thought to be owned by Saif Gaddafi, saying the £10m property now "belongs to the Libyan people".
