JOIN USGadhafi forces given ultimatum
As the hunt for Gadhafi himself goes on, Libyan officials accused neighbouring Algeria of an act of aggression for admitting his fleeing wife and three of his children.
Algeria’s Foreign Ministry said Gaddafi’s wife Safia, his daughter Aisha and his sons Hannibal and Mohammed had entered Algeria on Monday morning, along with their children. That stirred a diplomatic row just as Libya’s interim council works to consolidate its authority and capture places still loyal to Gadhafi, notably the coastal city of Sirte.
By Saturday, if there are no peaceful indications for implementing this, we will decide this matter militarily. We do not wish to do so but we cannot wait longer,” Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of Libya’s interim council, told a news conference.
Anti-Gadhafi forces have converged on Sirte from east and west, but have stopped short of an all-out assault in hopes of arranging a negotiated surrender of Gadhafi’s birth-place.
“Zero hour is approaching,” military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Bani told a news conference. “We’re not negotiating with the regime. We’re talking to the elders of the various affiliates and tribes,” he said, adding that Gadhafi loyalists were thwarting the desire of most civilians to “join the free Libya liberated areas.”
Gadhafi’s whereabouts have been unknown since his foes seized his Tripoli compound on August 23, ending his 42-year rule after a six-month revolt backed by Nato and some Arab states.
Leader in Sabha
Britain’s Sky News, citing a young bodyguard of Gadhafi’s son Khamis, said the leader had stayed in Tripoli until Friday when he left for the southern desert town of Sabha.
It quoted the captured 17-year-old as saying Gadhafi met Khamis, a feared military commander, on Friday in a Tripoli compound that was under heavy rebel fire.
Dictator’s daughter gives birth to girl
Moammar Gadhafi’s daughter Aisha, who entered Algeria from Libya on Monday, gave birth to a baby girl on Tuesday in an Algerian town, Xinhua reported.
Aisha gave birth in Djanet town of Illizi province, a government official said.
She had arrived in Illizi on Monday morning along with her mother Safiya, her two brothers and their children, the Algerian foreign ministry confirmed in a statement.