RRowleyTucson Robert Rowley
Gunfire on outskirts of loyalist town heard after negotiationscollapse over #BaniWalid handoverenglish.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/… #Libya #Feb17
Gunfire on outskirts of loyalist town heard after negotiations collapse over Bani Walid handover
Sunday, 04 September 2011
Gunfire on the outskirts of the Libyan loyalist town of Bani Walid was heard by local reporters on Sunday night after negotiations collapsed over the handover of the town to revolutionaries.
A local reporter told Al Arabiya he heard shots being exchanged on the outskirts after it was earlier reported that revolutionary fighters had moved to within 15 to 20 kilometres (10 to 12 miles) of Bani Walid with a view to launching an assault if the talks broke down.
The chief negotiator for the National Transitional Council had said earlier that negotiations to end a standoff around the Libyan town of Bani Walid crumbled and would not resume under his watch.
“As chief negotiator, I have nothing to offer right now. From my side, negotiations are finished,” Abdallah Kanshil told reporters at the site of earlier talks with tribal elders from Bani Walid, a town southeast of Tripoli.
“I am leaving the military commander to resolve the problem,” Kenshil said when asked if an attack would now be launched on the town, AFP reported.
Bani Walid, along with fallen leader Muammar Qaddafi’s hometown of Sirte and Sabha, is one of the last bastions of support for Qaddafi. Rebel groups believe two of Qaddafi’s sons, Saadi and Mutassim, are in hiding there.
Negotiations had begun several days ago through the intermediary of tribal leaders with the hope of taking Bani Walid without bloodshed.
Over the previous day, NTC spokesmen had claimed they were ready to enter Bani Walid and fight to claim it, issuing a deadline for pro-Qaddafi forces to surrender and “raise the white flag” by Sunday morning. But it soon came apparent that pro-Qaddafi fighters were in control of the area.
NTC officials estimated there may be as many as 100 fighters waiting in the town to battle the Qaddafi opposition, while one NTC commander said that about 20 fighters still controlled the center of Bani Walid, Reuters reported.
Kenshil had said earlier that the pro-Qaddafi forces were “very well-armed, with machine-guns, rocket-launchers and snipers.”
A local reporter told Al Arabiya he heard shots being exchanged on the outskirts after it was earlier reported that revolutionary fighters had moved to within 15 to 20 kilometres (10 to 12 miles) of Bani Walid with a view to launching an assault if the talks broke down.
The chief negotiator for the National Transitional Council had said earlier that negotiations to end a standoff around the Libyan town of Bani Walid crumbled and would not resume under his watch.
“As chief negotiator, I have nothing to offer right now. From my side, negotiations are finished,” Abdallah Kanshil told reporters at the site of earlier talks with tribal elders from Bani Walid, a town southeast of Tripoli.
“I am leaving the military commander to resolve the problem,” Kenshil said when asked if an attack would now be launched on the town, AFP reported.
Bani Walid, along with fallen leader Muammar Qaddafi’s hometown of Sirte and Sabha, is one of the last bastions of support for Qaddafi. Rebel groups believe two of Qaddafi’s sons, Saadi and Mutassim, are in hiding there.
Negotiations had begun several days ago through the intermediary of tribal leaders with the hope of taking Bani Walid without bloodshed.
Over the previous day, NTC spokesmen had claimed they were ready to enter Bani Walid and fight to claim it, issuing a deadline for pro-Qaddafi forces to surrender and “raise the white flag” by Sunday morning. But it soon came apparent that pro-Qaddafi fighters were in control of the area.
NTC officials estimated there may be as many as 100 fighters waiting in the town to battle the Qaddafi opposition, while one NTC commander said that about 20 fighters still controlled the center of Bani Walid, Reuters reported.
Kenshil had said earlier that the pro-Qaddafi forces were “very well-armed, with machine-guns, rocket-launchers and snipers.”
