Captured Gaddafi son denies seeking deal with ICC

SAIF al-Islam Gaddafi denied on Saturday that he had been in contact with the International Criminal Court while he had been on the run before his capture by Libyan fighters.

Asked by Reuters on the plane which brought him to the town of Zintan after his capture in the early hours by anti-Gaddafi fighters, he said of reports last month that he had been in indirect contact with ICC officials: "It's all lies.

"I've never been in touch with them."

The ICC chief prosecutor said last month that he had received, through intermediaries, inquiries from Saif al-Islam about the treatment he might receive if he surrendered to the court at The Hague, which has indicted him for crimes against humanity.

Unlike Libya, which wants to try him for alleged serious crimes committed over many years, the ICC does not have the death penalty.

Source: Reuters

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UN Chief Urges Libya To Secure Gadhafi's Weapons

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged Libya's new leaders to quickly secure chemical weapons, nuclear materials and shoulder-fired missiles, some of which have been left unguarded during the eight-month civil war that toppled the Moammar Gadhafi's regime.

Ban said he was encouraged by a pledge from Libya's interim leader, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, to protect the weapons sites — though unsecured stockpiles of missiles and other munitions were still being discovered as recently as last month.

Earlier this week, Libyan officials said they found two undeclared chemical weapons sites, along with 7,000 drums of raw uranium. Libya under Gadhafi had pledged nearly a decade ago to stop pursuing non-conventional weapons.

Inspectors from the Organization for the Protection of Chemical Weapons were arriving in Libya on Wednesday.

During Libya's civil war, many military sites were left unguarded because of the conflict, exposing them to looting.

Earlier this week, the U.N. Security Council expressed concern about the weapons, including the fate of thousands of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles that pose a risk to civil aviation. An unknown number of missiles have disappeared and a senior Libyan border official has reported brisk weapons smuggling from Libya to Egypt.

The Security Council urged Libya to prevent such weapons from reaching terrorists and other armed groups. It also called on Libyan authorities to destroy chemical weapons stockpiles in coordination with international authorities.

Ban said he raised the weapons issue with Abdul-Jalil repeatedly, including on Wednesday. "It is very important that all these materials should be very carefully ... secured," Ban told reporters at a joint news conference with the Libyan leader.

The U.N. has said it is ready to help Libya in its transition to democracy, including police training, preparations for elections and the drafting of a constitution.

"We are here to help," Ban said, praising Libyans for their courage and determination in ousting Gadhafi.

The U.N. chief also reiterated his concern about the bloodshed in Syria, where President Bashar Assad has overseen a brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters.

"The killing of the Syrian people must stop immediately," Ban said, adding that he had discussed this with Assad. "He has not kept his promises," Ban said of the Syrian leader.

The U.N. says more than 3,000 people have been killed in Syria's crackdown on the uprising, part of the wave of anti-regime protests that have swept the Arab world this year.

NATO, which rushed to the aid of the Libyans, has no intention of getting involved in Syria, the alliance's chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said earlier this week, as the alliance ended its seven-month air campaign over Libya.

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Nato officially brings its Libya mission to an end

Nato has formally ended its seven-month air campaign that led to the ousting of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

The UN earlier rejected a request by Libya's new rulers to extend air operations until the end of the year.

Many of Col Gaddafi's weapons were destroyed by Nato air strikes.

But the UN Security Council has expressed deep concern about remaining stockpiles and called for efforts to prevent looted arms falling into the hands of militants.

In a separate development, the National Transitional Council has named academic Abdurrahim el-Keib as the country's new prime minister.

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Gaddafi Killers Will Be Put On Trial Says NTC

Libya's ruling National Transitional Council has said it will put the killers of deposed dictator Muammar Gaddafi on trial.

NTC vice chairman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga said: "With regards to Gaddafi, we do not wait for anybody to tell us.

"We had already launched an investigation. We have issued a code of ethics in handling of prisoners of war.

"I am sure that was an individual act and not an act of revolutionaries or the national army. Whoever is responsible for that (the killing) will be judged and given a fair trial."

Sky News has retraced Gaddafi's final movements in his home town of Sirte, establishing that he moved house to house before being finally captured.

He tried to escape in a convoy but a Nato airstrike stopped the string of vehicles in their tracks and the former leader was forced to take refuge in a storm drain.

Gaddafi was hauled out by fighters but there is confusion about exactly what happened next leading to his death.

Video footage showed the former dictator bleeding heavily but still alive as he was pulled onto the back of a truck.

He later died from a bullet to the head and also sustained gunshot wounds to his stomach, according to the post-mortem report.

The NTC had suggested he was killed in crossfire as loyalists fought with anti-Gaddafi troops after the leader's capture.

But the announcement of a potential trial suggests a change of position as they contemplate whether he was unlawfully killed.

The move came after footage published by the Global Post in the US suggested Gaddafi had been sodomised before he died.

The video shows Gaddafi being dragged from his hiding place, bleeding from his head, arm and other injuries.

It then appears to show one of the fighters using a pole or knife to assault him before he is dragged onto the back of a truck.

The moment of his actual death has not yet emerged but videos have also shown him with a gun to his head.

Mystery also surrounds the death of his son Mutassim who was pictured drinking water and smoking while in captivity before he too was killed.

Amid the questions about Gaddafi's demise, the UN Security Council has ended its mandate for the NATO military operation in Libya that has lasted seven months.

The 15-nation council unanimously approved a resolution which had allowed foreign forces to use "all necessary measures" to protect civilians.

It means UN authorisation for foreign military operations in the country will now formally end at 11.59pm local Libyan time on October 31.

Meanwhile, there are fears weapons used by Libyan loyalists could end up in the hands of terrorists.

And the hunt is still on for another of Gaddafi's sons, Saif al Islam, who is still at large.

A senior NTC spokesman said he had crossed to the Niger side of the Libyan border.

Saif was charged, along with his father and Libya's ex-intelligence chief, with crimes against humanity for the bombing and shooting of civilian protesters in February.

A source within the NTC earlier said he wanted to turn himself in to face the International Criminal Court.

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AFTERMATH GADDAFI'S DEATH:BRITISH GOVERNMENT DEMANDS £1 BILLION PAYBACK FROM LIBYA

Many observers of the current revolution in Africa and Middle East are skeptical of the involvement of western super powers.

Some have come to the conclusion that America, Britain, France, Germany, and others are interested in the war going on in some of these countries.

Not because they love democracy as they claim, but are out for an ulterior motive, oil! A report monitored on Daily Mail UK says a British MP, Daniel kawczynski, has demanded that Libya use its vast oil wealth to compensate Britain for saving thousands of lives. 

So, British government is now claiming to have spent £1.75 billion in Libya in just 7 months while a lot of her citizen could barely make ends meet back home. If Britain alone is asking for £1 billion, what would France, Germany and USA ask for?

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Gaddaffi’s fall and the lessons from dictatorship

THE tragic termination of 42 years of Moammar Gadhafi’s dictatorial regime in Libya yesterday by the NATO army, for many watchers of the iron fisted era, was not only a relief to the oil rich country, but also for the entire Africa and Arab countries. 

The cataclysmic journey of the inglorious regime of the North African maximum leader began following the on going mass uprising sweeping across the North African/Arab countries starting with ousting of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia and Hosoni Mubarak of Egypt. This wave of revolution, which is now popularly referred to as “Arab Spring” has not only spread to Libya, but in its wake has catch on with the leadership of the people of Bahrain, Yemen and Syria. 

These revolutionary actions which initially began as some form of mass protest, following the sit tight attitude of some of these unwanted regimes and their leaderships have increasingly assumed unprecedented military engagement unsurpassed in civil war situations. But among the countries of North Africa and Europe that have become victims of the recent revolutionary uprisings, no other has suffered more military and civil onslaught than Libya. 

Following the recalcitrant actions of Gaddafi, he drew the ire of members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, whose military arsenal led by America combined with the fighting Libyan rebels to oust the regime. In the course of prosecuting this war, Libya has lost monumentally in material and human terms. According to unconfirmed reports, Gaddafi lost some of his sons, closed aides, and infrastructural facilities in the course of the senseless war. 

Reported yesterday, firstly, that he was seriously injured while trying to escape from the besieged city, and shortly after, that he was shot dead as the shooting and bombing ravaged his village of Sirte. His death, relieving and sad as it were, provides another critical platform for the assessment of what Gaddafi and dictatorship represent for Africa, Arab and the entire world.

Gaddafi’s gruesome death in the hands of NATO army, will continue for a long time, to serve as a deterrent to others of his types across Africa and Arab. The leaderships of Tunisia, Bahrain, Cameroon and Zimbabwe among some other dictatorial regimes across the continent should learn to leave the stage while the ovation is loudest. Reviewing the death of Gaddafi, fiery Nigerian critic, political scientist and poet, Odia Ofeimun reasoned that the late Gaddafi, though an authoritarian built his country. 

Ofeimun said: “He was very authoritarian, but he built his country. He should not have allowed the war in the first place. By allowing the war to take place, it meant that he wanted the work he did for his country to be destroyed. He built his country. Libya has the highest human development index in the whole of Africa.”

But the tragedy that befell Gaddafi in Ofeimun’s view remains his obduratic addiction to power. He asked: “How can a man, who has stayed in office for 40 years, also want his sons to take over from him?” Another scholar, professor of political economy and Director General of the Centre for Black African Arts and Civilisation, CBAAC, Tunde Babawale sees Gaddafi’s death as a “ relief not only to Libyans but also, the whole of Africa.”

Babawale said: “Gadahafi’s death should serve as a lesson to other African countries like Cameroon, Yemen, and Bahrain. The leadership of these countries must know that judgment day is a matter of time. And the lesson for all of us is that we should not celebrate anybody’s death, but learn from mistakes. It is also important that sustainable democracy should be put in place by the transitional council so that the villain of today should not become heroes of tomorrow.”

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Gaddafi son Mo'tassim dead, was hiding with father

One of Muammar Gaddafi's sons, Mo'tassim, is dead and had been hiding with his father, Libya's interim government information minister told Reuters.


"Mo'tassim is dead. I can confirm it," Mahmoud Shammam told Reuters. "With his father," he said in answer to a question about where Mo'tassim had been.

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Breaking news: Muammar Gaddafi killed near Sirte

Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered in his capture near his hometown of Sirte on Thursday, a senior NTC military official said.

National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters earlier that Gaddafi was captured and wounded in both legs at dawn on Thursday as he tried to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked.

He was also hit in his head, the official said.

There was a lot of firing against his group and he died.

There was no independent confirmation of his remarks.

Meanwhile, NATO said that it was checking reports of the capture of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya and said they could take some time to confirm.

"Clearly these are very significant developments, which will take time to confirm. If it is true, then this is truly a historic day for the people of Libya," a NATO official said

Senior Obama administration official says US was working to confirm reports of Gaddafi's death or capture.

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Ghaddafi captured and wounded

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been captured and wounded in both legs, National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid said on Thursday.

The news came after transitional forces claimed control of Sirte, Col Gaddafi's birthplace. 

Col Gaddafi came to power in Libya in 1969. He was toppled in an uprising that began in February.

The International Criminal Court is seeking his arrest.

"He's captured. He's wounded in both legs ... He's been taken away by ambulance," the senior NTC military official told Reuters by telephone.

AFP news agency quoted another NTC official, Mohamed Leith, as saying that Col Gaddafi had been captured in Sirte and was "seriously wounded" but still breathing.

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Declaration of Libyan returnee: LIBYAN AT WAR BETTER THAN NIGERIA AT PEACE.

‘East or west’ as the saying goes, ‘home is the best.’ However, this doesn’t seem to old water for this Nigerian who was forced home by the recent uprising in Libya. “For my present situation and condition now, I prefer war-ravaged Libya to Nigeria. 

I am a welder by profession and as a welder in Libya, I was better off than being a welder in Nigeria.” These were the words of Adebayo Samuel Adesina, who was in the first batch of returnees from Libya in March this year after a six-year sojourn in the north African country. Adesina, 41, told Daily Sun in a chat that he regretted coming back to Nigeria in the wake of the war in Libya because, according to him, despite the crisis in that country, life was by far better for him than in Nigeria where there is no war. 

He said he came back to Nigeria out of fear of the war only for him to realise later that there are safer places in Libya where he could have remained to do his business or work, adding that there, both Muslims and Christians worship only on Fridays and everybody is friendly. He further noted that he had also worked in a construction company but later picked up a job as a chief steward in a restaurant in Benghazi city where he earned 3, 500 Dinars, equivalent of N3, 500 daily, bringing his salary to N105, 000 a month. 

But when he attempted to get a job in Nigeria, he was offered N6, 000 a month, insisting that it was grossly inadequate to cater for himself and his family. Hear him: “Since I came back to Nigeria, I have not found a job to do yet. In fact, I feel like going back to Libya. I think I prefer life in Libya to Nigeria despite the crisis there. Yes! I prefer it because once I have my documents, I think there is nothing to fear. Even in a city like Sabha down south, there was not much problem there but I did not know on time; if I had known, I don’t think anything would have brought me back to this country. 

“How I wish I could go back to Libya now. If I have money, I will still go back there; I prefer Libya. I prefer to go back. For my situation now, I prefer war-ravaged Libya to Nigeria. I am a welder by profession, and as a welder in Libya, I was better off than being a welder in Nigeria. Few days ago, I tried to get a welding job with a brewery company in Kaduna but I was surprised when they said they offered me N6, 000.00 per month. For God’s sake, what will I do with N6, 000.00 a month?

I have a family to take care of so, what am I going to do with N6, 000.00. Paying a welder N6, 000.00, to a man, 41, married with a child? “I am from Ogun State. I was among the first set of Nigerians that the Federal Government brought back from Libya in March this year. One of my friends that we simply call Kingsley went back to Libya recently and when I spoke with him on phone he told me that he was doing fine but when I later spoke with him another time, somebody else picked his phone and told me that the person I am calling was in prison for supporting former president Col. Gaddafi. 

I told the man, who picked the phone, that he was telling lies; no Nigerian is supporting Gaddafi. Probably my friend’s permit documents have expired. The people we heard, who are supporting Gaddafi are Chadians. “The Federal Government did not give us money when we returned to Nigeria but we heard that the United Nations allocated some money to us. But other people from countries like Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Mali were given $400 by their respective governments as soon as they arrived home. 

But here in Nigeria, we were maltreated as soon as the officials heard that we were from Libya. Even ordinary water we did not get from Nigerian Government.” “Apart from my friend, there are still other Nigerians in Libya who are doing well there without being molested. So why did they decide to molest and accuse my friend that just went back there recently of supporting Gaddafi. I don’t blame my friend for going back to that country because life is difficult in Nigeria, in fact, supposing I have enough money on me now, I would have gone back to Libya. 

I can’t just understand what is going on in Nigeria. “I was living in Benghazi since 2005; I was working in a road construction company. I came back to Nigeria in 2008 when I was given my annual leave. I went back in 2009, and I decided to work in a restaurant, and to God be the glory, I was doing fine, until the war started. I have my resident permit. The owner of the restaurant did the resident permits for me. “I was a chief steward in the restaurant where I was earning N105, 000.00 per month because my daily payment was 35 Dinars Libya currency. Its naira equivalent is N3, 500.00 daily. 

And those under me as their chief steward were being paid 25 Dinars, which is equivalent of N2, 500.00 daily. If it were in Nigeria, I would probably be earning N6, 000.00 or N16, 000.00 a month. You can see that the difference is clear between our country and Libya. I was actually better off working in a restaurant than in a construction company. “If you are living in Libya as a foreigner, and your documents are genuine and complete, the people will accommodate you; their security is very good. As long as you are not there to do dubious things or to create problem, the people don’t have problem with you, they lead a normal life. No policeman will embarrass you.

“There are churches in Libya, everybody is allowed to practise their own religion; you go to mosque as a Muslim, and you go to church as a Christian. But Christians are not allowed to worship on Sundays, only on Fridays like their Muslim counterparts. It is their law that everybody should worship God on Fridays irrespective of your religion. There is no work on Fridays; they don’t do any other things on Fridays; they go to the mosques, come back home and relax. 

The working days there are from Saturday to Thursday, and on Friday they rest. “Some of us left there out of fear because the people of Benghazi were accusing the blacks that they were in support of Gaddafi, but when you flashed your documents, they would leave you alone. But those who did not have documents were the ones badly molested.“I landed at the Murtala Mohameed airport, Lagos whereas my friend landed at the Abuja airport. Others landed at the Kano airport. 

None of us got anything and that is so bad. This thing happened at a time many of us have spent money. And in Libya, there is no much money in January because many people have spent much money in December time, the way it happens to Christians, that is the way it happened to Muslims there. “There is no Nigerian man that will take the risk of going to fight war in Libya because of $100. People are just saying what is not true. We only heard about some Chadians that collected 100 dollars to fight for Gaddafi. But I don’t think a Nigerian will risk his life to fight war in Libya for $100.” 

VIA NAIJAPALS

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Libya Rebels Still Killing Nigerians

Another Nigerian about to be "Slaughtered" in Libya, the rebels kill any black man they see and often assault the women, they claim all black people are supporting Gadhafi.

This is pure Genocide. Libya fighters arrest a man from Nigeria, who they allege is a Gadhafi loyalist.

they have taken control of Moammar Gadhafi loyalists villages in the desert some 730 km south of Tripoli, at Mahruga, 50 km north of the southern city of Sebbah, Libya, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011. via (AP Photo/Francois Mori) All the black men & their family are trapped indoors, they can't even risk trying to cross the border to return home or even going to look for food. Jonathan please help.

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Gaddafi 'ready to negotiate' with rebels

Moussa Ibrahim, Muammar Gaddafi's spokesman, has reportedly told the Associated Press news agency that the toppled Libyan leader is ready to negotiate with the rebels to form a transitional government.

Ibrahim called AP headquarters in New York late on Saturday, and told them he was calling from Tripoli, the Libyan capital, and that Gaddafi was still in Libya.

Ibrahim said Gaddafi had appointed one of his sons, al-Saadi, to head the negotiations with the rebel forces, according to AP who said it identified Ibrahim from his voice.

Ibrahim has been the most public face of the Gaddafi government in recent weeks, regularly addressing television cameras and journalists in Tripoli.

The phone call appears to represent a change of policy by Gaddafi who last week referred to the rebels as "thugs" and "rats" and urged loyalists to continue fighting even as his opponents seized control of Tripoli.

Gaddafi's whereabouts remains unknown and rebels have offered a reward for his capture or killing.

Al Jazeera's correspondent James Bays reporting from Tripoli said: "the hunt for him [Gaddafi] goes on and one of the places that is still in the hands of Gaddafi forces is his hometown of Sirte."

Sirte is considered the last remaining bastion of support for the man whose decades-long rule of Libya is effectively over, with the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) now widely recognised as the country's legitimate government.

On Saturday the Arab League became the latest international body to recognise the NTC as it turned over the country's seat in the regional bloc to the rebel leadership.

Rebel claimed victory in Bin Jawad late on Saturday, advancing in their push towards Sirte.

Reporting from the city, Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland said: "If, in fact, it is proven that the rebels are able to hold the town of Bin Jawad, then certainly they will have removed a major obstacle on the way to Sirte."

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, chairman of the NTC, said at a news conference on Saturday that rebel commanders were negotiating with Gaddafi loyalists in Bin Jawad to try to persuade them to surrender control over the city.

Vital supply route

Elsewhere, Libyan rebels have defeated Gaddafi loyalists in skirmishes over a key border checkpoint with Tunisia, opening up a vital supply route into the war-ravaged country.

Gaining control of the Ras Ajdir crossing allows rebels to channel fresh supplies and aid to Tripoli, amid fears of a developing humanitarian crisis in the capital and elsewhere.

Al Jazeera's Sue Turton, reporting from Tripoli on Saturday, said the capture was an "incredibly important" gain for the rebels.

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Rebels in Libya are killing black Africans

The rebels in Libya are killing any one who have black skin and they tell the world that they are killing Gaddafi Mercenaries.

One Turkish construction worker told the BBC: "We had 70-80 people from Chad working for our company. They were cut dead with pruning shears and axes, attackers saying: 'You are providing troops for Gaddafi.' The Sudanese were also massacred. We saw it for ourselves."

One man was seen shouting on Sky TV yesterday "I am a Nigerian immigrant stranded in Libya, help me!”

South Africa has already started evacuating its people, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan should do the same oh. There are hundreds of thousands of Nigerians in that country, only God knows how many have been executed.

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Gaddafi flees Tripoli HQ ransacked by rebels-vows to fight on to death or victory

A beleaguered Muammar Gaddafi vowed on Wednesday to fight on to death or victory after jubilant rebels forced him to abandon his Tripoli stronghold in an apparently decisive blow against the Libyan leader's 42-year rule.

Rebels ransacked Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya bastion, seizing arms and smashing symbols of a ruler whose fall will transform Libya and rattle other Arab autocrats facing popular uprisings.

Gaddafi said the withdrawal from his headquarters in the heart of the capital was a tactical move after it had been hit by 64 NATO air strikes and he vowed "martyrdom" or victory in his six-month war against the Western alliance and Libyan foes.

Urging Libyans to cleanse the streets of traitors, he said he had secretly toured Tripoli.

"I have been out a bit in Tripoli discreetly, without being seen by people, and ... I did not feel that Tripoli was in danger," Gaddafi told loyalist media outlets.

His whereabouts after leaving the compound, perhaps via a tunnel network to adjoining districts, remain unknown, although he appears to have been in Tripoli, at least until recently.

Rebels said fighting was still going on near the Rixos hotel, where armed Gaddafi loyalists have prevented foreign journalists from leaving, and in eastern areas of the city.

A Reuters reporter near the hotel around midday (11 a.m. British time) on Wednesday heard rifle fire and heavy anti-aircraft guns, which have been used by both sides against ground targets.

Earlier in the morning, a Reuters reporter inside the hotel, Missy Ryan, said food and water were running low. Pro-Gaddafi gunmen who had patrolled the hotel compound were no longer in sight, she said, but it was not clear if they had withdrawn.

Residents remained fearful, with empty streets, shuttered shops and piles of garbage testifying that life is still far from normal in the city of 2 million. Rebels manned checkpoints along the main thoroughfare into the city from the west.

People were defacing or erasing Gaddafi portraits and other symbols in a city where they were once ubiquitous. They painted over street names and renamed them for rebel fighters who had become "martyrs". Plaques were torn off government offices.

"There are some fights going but hopefully today everything will be over," one rebel fighter said.

Fighting was reported on Tuesday night in a southern desert city, Sabha, that rebels forecast would be Gaddafi loyalists' last redoubt. Pro-Gaddafi forces were shelling the towns of Zuara and Ajelat, west of Tripoli, Al-Arabiya TV said.

Omar al-Ghirani, a rebel spokesman, said loyalist forces had fired seven Grad missiles at residential areas of the capital, causing people to flee their homes in panic.

He told Reuters Gaddafi troops had also fired mortar rounds in the area of the Tripoli airport.

"VOLCANO OF LAVA"

The continued shooting suggested the six-month popular insurgency against Gaddafi, a maverick Arab nationalist who defied the West and kept an iron hand on his oil-exporting, country for four decades, has not completely triumphed yet.

A spokesman for Gaddafi said the Libyan leader was ready to resist the rebels for months, or even years.

"We will turn Libya into a volcano of lava and fire under the feet of the invaders and their treacherous agents," Moussa Ibrahim said, speaking by telephone to pro-Gaddafi channels.

Rebel leaders would not enjoy peace if they carried out their plans to move to Tripoli from their headquarters in the eastern city of Benghazi, he said.

But Gaddafi was already history in the eyes of the rebels and their political leaders planned high-level talks in Qatar on Wednesday with envoys of the United States, Britain, France, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates on the way ahead.

Another meeting was scheduled for Thursday in Istanbul.

China urged a "stable transition of power" in Libya and said on Wednesday it was in contact with the rebel council, the clearest sign yet that Beijing has effectively shifted recognition to forces poised to defeat Gaddafi.

China "respects the choice of the Libyan people", Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement.

A senior representative for reconstruction in the rebel movement said a new government would honour all the oil contracts granted during the Gaddafi era, including those of Chinese companies. "The contracts in the oil fields are absolutely sacrosanct," Ahmed Jehani told Reuters Insider TV.

"All lawful contracts will be honoured whether they are in the oil and gas complex or in the contracting... We have contracts that were negotiated ... they were auctioned openly ... There's no question of revoking any contract."

A spokesman for rebel-run oil firm AGOCO had warned on Monday Chinese and Russian firms could lose out on oil contracts for failing to back the rebellion.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urged Gaddafi and his foes to stop fighting and talk. "We want the Libyans to come to an agreement among themselves," he said, suggesting that Moscow could recognise the rebel government if it unites the country.

China and Russia, usually opposed to foreign intervention in sovereign states, did not veto a U.N. Security Council resolution in March that authorised NATO to use air power to protect Libyan civilians. But they criticised the scale of the air campaign and called for a negotiated solution.

The victors are in no mood for dialogue with Gaddafi.

"It's over! Gaddafi is finished!" yelled a fighter over a din of celebratory gunfire across the Bab al-Aziziya compound, Gaddafi's sprawling citadel of power in the Libyan capital.

KEEP REVOLUTION CLEAN, REBEL LEADER SAYS

The hunt to find Gaddafi is now on. Colonel Ahmed Bani, a rebel, told Al-Arabiya TV he was probably holed up somewhere in Tripoli. "It will take a long time to find him," he said.

Some reckon the eight months it took to track down Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003 helped foster the insurgency there.

Rebel National Council chief Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, who was until February a loyal minister of Gaddafi, cautioned: "It is too early to say that the battle of Tripoli is over. That won't happen until Gaddafi and his sons are captured."

In an interview with Italy's La Repubblica, he promised parliamentary and presidential elections in eight months' time.

"If I were to be nominated president, it would only be a temporary appointment and I would remain in that position only until the next elections, which would be the first free elections in our country," Abdel-Jalil said.

He said the council favoured trying Gaddafi and his family in Libya rather than sending him to The Hague, where he and two others have been indicted by the International Criminal Court.

Mahmoud Jibril, head of the rebel government, also promised a transition towards democracy for Libyans. "The whole world is looking at Libya," he said, warning against summary justice.

"We must not sully the final page of the revolution."

Source:Reuters

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Rebels capture Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli

Rebel fighters captured Muoamer Gaddafi’s heavily defended Bab al-Aziziya compound and headquarters in Tripoli on Tuesday after a day of heavy fighting, an AFP correspondent witnessed.

The defenders had fled, and there was no immediate word on the whereabouts of Gaddafi or his family after the insurgents breached the defences as part of a massive assault that began in the morning.

“Rebels breached the surrounding cement walls and entered inside. They have taken Bab al-Azizya. Completely. It is finished,” the correspondent said.

“It is an incredible sight.”

Only minutes earlier, rebel spokesman Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani said from Benghazi: “Our forces are surrounding Bab al-Azizya. There is a fierce battle going on there. We are now controlling one of the gates, the western entrance.”

In the hours that led up to the storming of the compound in central Tripoli, the sound of the fighting was the most intense heard in the city since rebels arrived three days ago.

The sky was filled with the sound of heavy and light machine guns as well as mortars, with the overhead roar of NATO jets that had been carrying intensive overflights though it was unclear if there were any air strikes.

Even two kilometres (about a mile) from the fighting, the almost constant whistle of falling bullets could be hear from the rooftops, as the city’s mosques chanted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest).

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