Gaddafi 'determined to fight on'

Muammar Gaddafi is determined to fight his way back to power, his chief spokesman claimed today, as a large convoy of his soldiers apparently deserted into neighbouring Niger.

Moussa Ibrahim insisted Gaddafi was “in excellent health, planning and organising for the defence of Libya.” He told the Syrian TV station al-Rai that both Gaddafi and his sons remain in Libya.

“We are fighting and resisting for the sake of Libya and all Arabs,” Ibrahim said. “We are still strong and capable of turning the tables on Nato.”

Gaddafi loyalists have been holed up in several towns, including Bani Walid, 90 miles from Tripoli. Thousands of rebel fighters have surrounded the town, as rebel leaders tried to negotiate a surrender deal.

Rebel negotiator Abdullah Kanshil said that tribal elders want assurances that the rebels will not take revenge, and are trying to persuade Gaddafi loyalists to lay down their arms.

A member of the rebel transitional council said he was in a village near Bani Walid called al-Manasser that had just raised the rebel flag.

“We want the rest of the tribes to do like al-Manasser to avoid bloodshed and to realise that the regime is over and it will not come back,” said Mubarak Sabah.

“They should realise that their brothers around the country are enjoying freedom and that they can follow them.”

He reiterated that rebel fighters would not move into Bani Walid before Saturday unless the town surrendered, so as to avoid “a bloody war” with what he said was a minority of Gaddafi supporters in the town.

Across the desert late on Monday, a large convoy of Gaddafi loyalists rolled into the frontier town of Agadez, Niger.

The convoy consisted of more than a dozen pickup trucks bristling with well-armed Libyan troops.

At its head was Tuareg rebel leader Rissa ag Boula, a native of Niger who led a failed war of independence on behalf of ethnic Tuareg nomads a decade ago. He then sought refuge in Libya and was believed to be fighting on behalf of Gaddafi.

It was not immediately clear if the convoy included any members of the Gaddafi family or other high-level members of his regime.

Gaddafi’s regime is believed to have financed the Tuareg rebellion in the north of Niger. African nations where Tuaregs represent a significant slice of the population, like Niger, have been among the last to recognise the rebels that ousted Gaddafi.

Gaddafi remains especially popular in towns like Agadez, where a majority of the population is Tuareg. The Sahara Desert market town is the largest city in northern Niger.

Gaddafi’s whereabouts are unknown, but speculation has centred on Sirte and the other loyalist holdouts of Sabha in the far south and Bani Walid.