Ghadaffi makes 1st public appearance in a week • Pays supporters £300 for each rebel killed

Posted by admin Africa & World Politics Thursday, March 24th, 2011

LIBYAN leader, Muammar Ghadaffi, made his first public appearance in a week, on Tuesday night –- appearing on state television to tell the world: “I’m staying in my tent.”

He spoke from his bombed-out Tripoli compound as it emerged he was shockingly paying supporters of his murderous regime £300 for each rebel fighter they killed.

It also became clear that his slaughter of his people had not stopped, despite a devastating onslaught by Allied forces.

Meanwhile, international airstrikes forced Ghadaffi’s forces to withdraw tanks that were besieging a rebel-held western city, on Wednesday, residents said, while people fleeing a strategic city in the east said the situation was deteriorating amid relentless shelling.

Western diplomats, meanwhile, said an agreement was emerging about North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) would take responsibility for a no-fly zone over Libya after the United States which has effectively commanded the operation until now — reiterated that it was committed to the transition.

NATO warships were expected to begin patrolling off Libya’s coast, on Wednesday, to enforce the UN arms embargo.

The international coalition continued airstrikes and patrols aimed at enforcing a no-fly zone and protecting Libyan civilians, early on Wednesday, but the report that Misrata was targeted could not immediately be confirmed.

United States Navy Admiral Samuel J. Locklear, the on-scene commander, said, on Tuesday, the coalition was “considering all options” in response to intelligence showing troops were targeting civilians in the city, 125 miles (200 kilometres) southeast of Tripoli.

Libyan rebel forces have praised the courage of an air force pilot who allegely undertook a “kamikaze” mission on Ghadaffi’s compound which claimed the life of the dictator’s 27-year-old son –– Khamis.

Muhammad Mukhtar Osman’s name and picture were posted on websites following the attack on the family’s Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli at the weekend.

Khamis, who ran the feared Khamis Brigade that has been prominent in its role of attacking rebel-held areas, allegedly died following the suicide air mission on his barracks.

Widespread reports said the 27-year-old died of burns in hospital following the attack, but were derided as a “nonsensical piece of news” by the regime.

The mission might have been a possible attempt on the Libyan dictator’s life, but the hated Muammar was apparently not there, and despite varying reports of when the attack was said to have taken place, rebels praised the pilot as a “martyr”.

A doctor in Misrata said the tanks fled shortly after the airstrikes began around midnight, giving the city a much-needed reprieve after more than a week of attacks and a punishing blockade. The city is inaccessible to human rights monitors or journalists.

“There were very loud explosions. It was hard to see the planes,” the doctor said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals if Ghadaffi’s forces take the city. “Today for the first time in a week, the bakeries opened their doors.”

He said the situation was better but still dangerous, with pro-Ghadaffi snipers shooting at people from rooftops inside the city.

-Tribunewp_posts