Gaddafi abandoned compound in 'tactical withdrawal'

Tripoli: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi today said he had abandoned his Tripoli compound, seized earlier by rebel fighters, in a “tactical withdrawal.”

“Bab al-Azizya was nothing but a heap of rubble after it was the target of 64 NATO missiles and we withdrew from it for tactical reasons,” he said in a speech carried by the website of a television station headed by his son Seif al-Islam.

The speech also quoted by the pro-Gaddafi Al-Oruba channel came after rebel fighters stormed the sprawling compound but found no trace of him or any of his family.  It gave no indication of where he had gone. At the same time Gaddafi spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told the Syrian-based Arrai channel that more than 6,500 “volunteers” had arrived in Tripoli to fight for the regime and called for more.

“The volunteers can come to Libya and we will give them weapons, ammunition and training,” he said. Ibrahim said Gaddafi’s forces had captured several rebel leaders and warned that if NATO raids continued “we will turn Libya into a brazier and we can protect civilians from the crusader gangs and alliances.”

Meanwhile four hundred people were killed and 2,000 wounded in three days of fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi in the Libyan capital Tripoli,Mustafa Abdel Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional Council, told a telvesion show.

“We captured up to 600 Gaddafi soldiers,” he added. Jalil said he thought that Gaddafi himself had fled Tripoli, saying he was not brave enough to stay and fight, but “God alone” knew where he was..

“I hope that he will be captured alive and tried so the world can know about his crimes,” he added.

Jalil said the rebels were in full control of Gaddafi’s Bab al-Azizya compound, but there were still loyalists holding out in three areas of the capital, including Abu Slim.He appealed for humanitarian aid, saying that the city’s hospital lacked medical supplies and some of the wounded needed to be evacuated.

Jalil said that despite the violence the council would begin moving from its base in Benghazi to the capital with effect from tomorrow. Saying the country must not fall into chaos, he added, “I call on all rebels and citizens to show patience, forgiveness and tolerance and not give in to vengeance.”

  Watch Video: People loot arms from Gaddafi’s compound

AFP