’My father would commit suicide or flee to Latin America in the face of rising public outcry over his tyrannical rule’
Libya revolutionaries tightened their grip on President Muammar Gaddafi, who appeared yesterday, in a state of nervous breakdown in a telephone interview with the official television, calling for ‘parents’ to suppress their children rebelling ‘manipulated by al-Qaeda’ which ‘distributes Hallucinations pills on them’.
His comments were made as several northern cities were captured by the opposition, and dozens of Libyan diplomats and security members defected to side with the protesters.
After ten days since the Libyan revolution started, fierce clashes between pro- and anti-government forces for control of Az-Zawahiya, near the capital, a crowded middle-class town home to a number of pro-Gaddafi military officers and the site of Libya's biggest oil refinery where the revolutionaries appeared to be victorious. Troops loyal to Gaddafi shot peaceful protesters in the town, killing at least 100.
Heavy fighting was reported in Libya's third city Misrata, and in Zouara, further west towards the Tunisian border, fleeing Egyptian workers said the town was in the control of civilian militias after fierce fighting.
Amid an unabated outpouring of rage against Gaddafi, his youngest son Saif al-Arab has joined the pro-democracy protesters in Libya. He was sent by his father to cooperate with Libyan security forces in the massive crackdown on pro-democracy protesters but joined forces with the demonstrators in the eastern city of Benghazi on Thursday.
Saif al-Arab, who is widely regarded as the most low-profile of Gaddafi's sons have also hinted that his father would commit suicide or flee to Latin America in the face of rising public outcry over his tyrannical rule.
Gaddafi's cousin and one of his closest aides, Ahmed Gaddafi al-Dam, also said he resigned from his all posts in Libya, the pan-Arab Al-Arabiya TV said, citing an e-mail sent from al-Dam's office on Friday. Al-Dam is one of the high- ranking Libyan officials and has served as a liaison with Egypt.
The move comes as several intelligence and military officials in the third largest city, al-Bayda have stepped down, while a major general in the eastern city of Tobruk has castigated Gaddafi's regime for its heavy-handed assault on protesters.
Major General Suleiman Mahmoud, the commander of the armed forces in Tobruk, has stated that he has resigned and now has sided with protesters, adding that soldiers and civilians are under fire from aircraft, and this was an important reason for him to join the people.
The state-run Petra news agency reported on Thursday the Libyan ambassador to Jordan Mohammad Hassan Barghathi has resigned from his post because of the current developments in his country.
In the city of Benghazi, Security Chief Ali Huwaidi has also quit.
Tripoli's ambassadors to Paris and UNESCO resigned to condemn "acts of repression in Libya", Paris ambassador Salah Zaren and UNESCO envoy Abdul Salam el Galali said.
Former justice Minister Mustafa Abdel Galil told Al-Jazeera that Gaddafi may resort to using biological and chemical weapons as a last resort against civilians, he “may burn everything left behind him”.
Conflicting reports were issued about the number of martyrs in Libya but some have said that at least 1,000 people have been killed in Tripoli by airstrikes conducted by the Libyan military in a desperate move meant to quell the popular uprising. A total of 130 Libyan soldiers have been executed for refusing to open fire on protesters.
Tens of thousands of people have continued to spill out into the streets of the eastern city of Benghazi and other major cities calling for the ouster of the 68-year-old Gaddafi and celebrating their freedom from the ruler. The latest pictures from the city show deserted army bases, tanks and other military equipments. This area was the scene of massive battles between protesters and the army three days ago.
