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Showing posts with label Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi killed in Sirte. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi killed in Sirte. Show all posts

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi’s son, arrested, Libyan commander says

saif al-islam gaddafi
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi
TRIPOLI— Saif al-Islam, the favored son of former Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, was arrested on the border with Niger while his supporters were trying to smuggle him out of the country, a Libyan commander said Saturday.

Othman Maigeta, a brigade commander, confirmed that the once high-profile member of the ruling family was detained and taken to the mountain city of Zintan. The city is home to one of the largest groups of fighters that swept across the west of the country, ultimately toppling the regime in August.

The announcement by Maigeta, made at a news conference at the Radisson hotel in the Libyan capital, was greeted with celebratory gunfire, singing and dancing.

Scenes of joy broke out in the streets as the news was announced on Libyan television, and people hung out of the windows of their cars, honking horns, flashing lights and flying the red, black and green revolutionary tricolor. Cries of “Allahu Akbar” filled the air as crowds hugged each other and wept.

Moammar Gaddafi was captured outside his hometown of Sirte last month, but was immediately killed in a mob attack. He was later buried quietly in the desert.

Saif al-Islam, the eldest son of Moammar Gaddafi and his second wife, was a prominent international spokesman for the regime. He was educated in London and portrayed himself as a reforming force.

But he became a leading force of the Gaddafi regime’s struggle for survival and is wanted for trial by the International Criminal Court, which has been negotiating with people who claimed to his representatives about his possible surrender.

Rebels from Zintan have maintained their status as a fighting force and control parts of Tripoli, as well as patrolling areas in the south of the country. Commanders said that the arrest was made in Obari, in the desert, 400 miles south of Tripoli.

Rumors had been circulating for weeks about the whereabouts of the man who was poised to take over from his father in ruling Libya, and who was both politically influential and widely reviled.

Fighting last week near the Western town of Zawiya intensified after word spread that Saif al-Islam was hiding in a residential neighborhood on the outskirts of Tripoli.


News by Washington Post


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Thursday, October 20, 2011

The former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi killed in Sirte.

gaddafi
Muammar Gaddafi
The former "Guide" Libya was killed Thursday in combat in Sirte, his hometown. The announcement of his death was greeted with enthusiasm by Western leaders. Relive the event in live conditions on our liveblogging.

* Colonel Muammar Gaddafi died Thursday, Oct. 20, in combat in Sirte, his hometown. The circumstances of his death are still uncertain. According to the National Transitional Council (CNT), the former strong man of Tripoli would have succumbed to his injuries while trying to flee the city. According to images broadcast by the Arab television Al-Arabiya and Al Jazeera, the former Libyan leader was alive at the time of his capture.

* FRANCE 24 correspondent in Libya, Marine Olivesi, confirmed the death of Colonel Gaddafi, after seeing his body in a villa in Misrata, west of Sirte, where his body was taken. One of his son, Moutassim Gaddafi, was also killed. His lifeless body was also seen by FRANCE 24 correspondent.

# Seif al-Islam Kadhafi's son most involved in the political life of his country, is still alive. He tried to leave Sirte on a train, pursued by the forces of the CNT.

* According to French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet, the French aircraft are identified and that have "stopped" the column of vehicles in which there was Muammar Gaddafi, before clashes between ground forces and fighters of the CNT under which he was killed. A U.S. drone fired a missile was also against the convoy attacked by a French Mirage 2000, said Thursday in a U.S. official told AFP.

* Western countries, especially those involved in the intervention of NATO forces on the side of the CNT, have responded enthusiastically to the "end of conflict" that mark, according to them, announced the death of Muammar Gaddafi.


News by France24dotcom