Desperate Gaddafi clings to Power

An increasingly desperate Muammer Gaddafi was clinging to power with brutal force on Tuesday after protests against his regime hit Tripoli, Libya's capital, and supporters abandoned him.

The Libyan leader appeared briefly on television at 2am local time, seemingly to show he was still in the country. In a 20-second statement he said: "I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs."

His statement seemed to be aimed at refuting suggestions, including by UK foreign secretary William Hague that he had fled the country. Colonel Gaddafi called these "malicious rumours", although there was no clear indication where and when he was speaking.

The popular uprising against Col Gaddafi's regime, initially centred in Benghazi, the second city, and other eastern cities, swept across Libya.

Egypt's foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, told a news conference on Tuesday morning that the runways at Benghazi airport have been destroyed in the violence, making evacuation flights impossible.

"Regarding [the] east of Libya, the Benghazi airport runways have been destroyed," he said. "It is not possible for Egyptair flights or any other flights to land in that airport."

A resident of Tripoli said the city appeared quiet on Tuesday morning, but landlines and mobiles phones were still cut off. "Night times are a little wild. Mornings are fairly quiet," the resident said.

The resident said the airport was a scene of chaos on Monday, as people scrambled to leave.

He said he had not heard aircraft being used in attacks on the capital as some reports had suggested.

Ahmed al-Gasir, a Swiss-based human rights activists, said the reports may have been part of deliberate ploy by the regime to scare people and get them to stay in their homes. He said he had spoken to a resident who said they had seen bodies on the street, but the picture appeared confusing.

"There's a lot of killing but we don't know the real extent," Mr Gasir said.

A resident of Benghazi said the city was quiet overnight, but there was still uncertainty about the army's political loyalties.

Clashes were reported in Tripoli, the capital, for a second day on Monday, with dozens of people reportedly killed. Exiled opposition figures and activists said they feared another violent crackdown as the regime sought to maintain control of the capital.

Col Gaddafi must hold Tripoli if he is to avoid becoming the third Arab leader in two months to be toppled by popular uprisings, which have already forced the presidents of neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt from office.

"I'm really worried that he wants to subdue the population by mass killings," said Ahmed el-Gasir, a Libyan human rights activist based in Switzerland.

Mr Gasir and others said telephone networks in Tripoli appeared to have been cut off since midday on Monday. The internet has been blocked since Saturday, making it difficult to confirm reports from inside the country.

Saif al-Islam, one of col. Gaddafi's seven sons, had appeared on television in the early hours of Monday morning, promising to "fight to the last minute".

More than 200 people have been killed in the unrest, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch and other reports.

Tripoli residents said police stations and other government buildings, including the General People's Congress, had been set on fire. The GPC functions as a parliament in Col Gaddafi's authoritarian political system, which holds sway over the country's tribal factions.

Reports coming out of Libya indicated that some of Libya's powerful tribes had joined anti-regime protests. The country's ambassadors to the Arab League and India also resigned in protest at the brutality of the crackdown by security forces.

Qureyna, a Libyan newspaper, reported that the justice minister, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, had stepped down from his post citing "excessive use of force against unarmed protesters".

The staff of Libya's mission to the United Nations responded to the violence by declaring their allegiance to the people of Libya, rather than the Gaddafi government. Deputy ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi said that if Col Gaddafi did not relinquish power "the Libyan people will get rid of him".

The UN security council is due to discuss Libya in closed session on Tuesday at 14.00GMT and the Arab League is to hold a meeting, at ambassadorial level, an hour later.

Two Libyan Air Force fighter pilots, both colonels, also defected on Monday and flew their jets to Malta where, according to authorities, they said they had been ordered to bomb protesters in Benghazi.

Seif al-Islam was later reported to have denied that residential areas had been bombed.

"There is no truth to information about a raid by the armed forces against Tripoli and Benghazi," Libyan state television quoted him as telling the official Jana news agency. "The raid targeted ammunitions depots in areas remote from inhabited areas."

Col Gaddafi has ruled Libya with an iron fist ever since he seized power in a military coup in September 1969. The security forces are controlled by three of his sons – Mutassem, Khamis and Saadi.

One Tripoli resident said people had constructed barricades to keep the security forces at bay.

"We are not afraid any more," said the resident, who asked not to be named. "Death is going to come anyway, it will come in the road or it will come in the bed. Enough is enough."

In Benghazi, protesters appeared to be largely in control after forcing troops and police to retreat to a compound. Government buildings were set ablaze and ransacked.

Salahuddin Abdullah, a self-described protest organiser, said: "In Benghazi there is celebration and euphoria ... The city is no longer under military control. It is completely under demonstrators' control."

In the early evening, Libyan state TV reported that security forces had stormed unspecified "terror and sabotage" hideouts, and encouraged people to help restore order.

"Dear citizens; please watch out for organised gangs which are destroying Libya and the need to cooperate with the security forces and police everywhere," it said in another bulletin.

Fitch, a ratings agency, on Monday downgraded Libya's long-term ratings to BBB from BBB+ and placed the country on watch for further downgrades.

Turkey said it was sending four ferries to evacuate citizens from Benghazi after a Turkish Airlines flight was denied permission to land.

(Published by Financial Times - February 22, 2011)