Gaddafi defiant as defections hit regime

MUAMMAR GADDAFI struck a defiant stance yesterday after two high-profile defections from his regime, calling instead on Western leaders “affected by power madness” to resign.

Gaddafi’s message was undercut by its delivery — a scroll across the bottom of state TV as he remained out of sight. The White House said the strongman’s inner circle was clearly crumbling with the loss of Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, who flew from Tunisia to England on Wednesday.

Ali Abdessalam Treki, a former foreign minister and UN General Assembly president, announced his departure yesterday, saying “It is our nation’s right to live in freedom and democracy and enjoy a good life.”

Gaddafi declared yesterday: “The solution for this problem is that they resign immediately and their peoples find alternatives to them,” according to the state news agency.

His government’s forces have regained momentum on the rapidly moving front line of the battle with opposition forces, retaking the town of Brega after pushing the rebels miles back toward the territory they hold in eastern Libya.

The rebels said they were undaunted, taking heart from the departures in Gaddafi’s inner circle.

“We believe that the regime is crumbling from within,” opposition spokesman Mustafa Gheriani said in Benghazi, the rebels’ de facto capital.

He compared Gaddafi to a wounded animal.

“An injured wolf is much more dangerous than a healthy wolf. But we hope the defections continue and I think he’ll find himself with no one around him.”

Most high-level Libyan officials are trying to defect but are under tight security and having difficulty leaving the country, said Ibrahim Dabbashi, the deputy ambassador in Libya’s UN mission, which now backs the opposition.

Koussa is privy to all the inner workings of the regime, so his departure could open the door for some hard intelligence, though Britain refused to offer him immunity from prosecution.

“Koussa is one of the pillars of Gaddafi’s regime since the 1970s,” said Abdel Moneim al-Houni, a former Libyan Arab League representative who was among the first wave of Libyan diplomats to defect this month. “His defection means that he knew that the end of Gaddafi is coming and he wanted to jump from the sinking boat.”

Libyan officials, who initially denied Koussa’s defection, said he had resigned because he was sick with diabetes and high blood pressure.

Despite the setbacks and ongoing air strikes, Gaddafi loyalists have retaken much of the territory the rebels had captured since air strikes began on March 19.

Rebels had advanced overnight to the west gate of Brega, a town important to Libya’s oil industry. They were in the city at dawn, but soon pulled out under heavy shelling from Gaddafi’s forces.

Many people also have fled Ajdabiya, a rebel-held city about 80 kilometres east, fearing government forces were on their way.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon’s special envoy, Abdelilah Al-Khatib, arrived yesterday in Tripoli, spokesman Farhan Haq said. He was also expected to talk to the Libyan opposition.

Picture: A Libyan rebel plugs his ears as rebels fire a rocket at troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on the road between Ajdabiya and Brega. A government spokesman has denied that coalition air strikes have tipped the balance in favour of rebel forces. Picture: AP Photo