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Tuesday, 23 August, 2011, 5:7 ( 3:7 GMT )
Editorial/OP-ED




Boat Carrying 200 Rebel Fighters Docks into Tripoli Harbour to Help Locals
21/08/2011 19:03:00
Abdulsalam Ahmed Jalloud on Al Jazeera TV appealing to Al Qathafi's tribe to disown the Libyan leader

Fighters from inside Tripoli battling to help in the ousting of the Libyan leader Muammar Al Qathafi, have been reinforced by some 200 more fighters from Misurata who docked into Tripoli harbour on a boat. They joined up in the final push as a challenge was launched to the Al Qathafi troops in the fight for the capital and to rid themselves of the regime that seems to be really shaking.

It is not an easy battle as Tripoli is well-defended by "thousands" of troops. However, the start of what the opposition has dubbed "Operation Mermaid" in which they vow will only end when Al Qathafi surrenders or departs has already brought some successes, and the rebels have so far managed to take up control of three Tripoli neighbourhoods, namely, Fashloum, Zawiyat Dahmani, and Mansoura.

Rebel spokesman Ahmed Jibril explained that "Operation Mermaid" is a joint effort between the Benghazi-based rebel National Transitional Council (NTC), insurgents fighting in and around Tripoli and NATO forces. He said: "The operation is also in coordination with NATO."

Another rebels spokesman, Abdullah Melitan said the covert operation by sea was launched from the rebels' western enclave of Misurata, 200 kilometres from Tripoli, when an advance party reached the capital at the down by sea and joined the Tripoli rebels.

They are now all fighting alongside each other. However, the assertion by some of the rebels that Tripoli could fall into their heads before the night is out, looks a bit far fetched.

On Sunday the two warring sides appeared to be jockeying for control of roof terraces to use as firing positions, possibly in preparation for a new burst of fighting after dark, and a rebel activist in the city said pro-Al Qathafi forces had put snipers on the rooftops of buildings around Bab al-Azziziyah, the Libyan leader's compound, and on the top of a nearby water tower.

Meanwhile, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told journalists that Tripoli is being defended by "thousands" of professional and volunteer soldiers. He also accused the rebels of carrying out "34 executions" and raping women in the western coastal town of Sorman.

One of the insurgents said they are fighting the Khamis brigade (named after and headed by Al Qathafi's son Khamis) on the bridge 27. "We are fighting for control of the bridge. We have had some injuries but no deaths," he said, a claim that could not be independently verified.

The rebels' NTC chief Mustafa Abdul Jalil has claimed that victory was within reach, a claim that prompted celebrations in rebel-held towns. "Goodbye Al Qathafi," the people chanted at Freedom Square in the rebel-capital, Benghazi.

In the meantime, though faced with defeat, another of the Libyan leader's sons, Seif al-Islam remained as defiant as his father. He said: "We have a long breath. We are in our land and in our country.

"We will resist for six months, one year, two years... and we will win," he said on state television. Rumours had it that his remarks were recorded a day earlier.

Another sign of the regime's frailty came as fighters said former premier Abdulsalam Ahmed Jalloud, a popular figure who fell out of favour with the Libyan strongman in the mid-1990s, had "defected" and joined their ranks.

In Italy, the country's defence minister, Ignazio La Russa confirmed reports that Abdulsalam Ahmed Jalloud, a former close aide of Al Qathafi before falling out with the leader in the 1990s, and who enjoys popularity among the Libyans, was in Rome and that he was supporting whole-heartedly the rebels.

In a statement on Al Jazeera Sunday, Jalloud called on Al Qathafi's tribe to disown him, saying the "tyrant" Al Qathafi will go. "The noose has tightened around him."

In another development, the official news agency TAP of neighbouring Tunisia has reported that Tunisia has decided to recognise the NTC as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. “The political decision has been taken,” a Tunisian government source told AFP.

Tunisian's recognition has been interpreted as a clear message to the Libyan leader that his end was near.

Earlier in the day, a Maltese ship, MV Triva 1, heading for Tripoli to pick up refugees came under fire and could not dock in the port, Polish foreign ministry officials were quoted saying by Polish state news agency PAP on Sunday. “The ship is waiting for a better moment to enter the port because during it was swept by gunfire and it returned to its anchorage ,” Paulina Kapuscinska, a spokeswoman from the ministry, told PAP.

When it comes to NATO, it said in a statement, that the situation in Libya is changing quickly and it is becoming more difficult to identify and engage targets for air strikes as the uprising against Muammar Al Qathafi gains momentum.

NATO spokesman Col. Roland Lavoie said that because the situation on the ground had become so fluid in recent days it was difficult to track all developments. He added that, “there is no longer a traditional front line as we had in other phases of the conflict.”
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Comment:
Seif AL-Islam Gaddafi: Do what is right for Libya; disown you mad father, and silence him.
How do you, Seif, wish to be remembered by history; as a weak son of a dominating and crazy tyrant of a father, or as the only sane member of your impoverished and evil family?
Comment:
with all the CIA, MOSSAD, and British special forces probably no room on boats for the fake Lybian rebels
this is the most despicable action NATO has publicly been involved in during my life .
Comment:
Hey Mojacar go fuck yourself you fucking Gadafi lover. The rebels have won the fight for freedom along with some help from Nato... Go stand beside Gadafi as he gets gunned down like Hitler...
Comment:
This was a fight orchestrated by Britian and the United States (illegally by the way), it will be interesting to see the leadership the "rebels" form for the country. The United States can probably add another name to the list of people who would love to attack us here at home, by taking part in this war. The brilliant Obama and Clinton at work
Comment:
Toward the end of Tolkien's saga "The Lord of the Rings," in the 3rd book, "The Return of the King"; before the gates of Mordor the emissary of the evil Sauron - the "Mouth of Sauron" - attempts at rationalized rhetoric to debate with Gandalf the Wizard, to feign at the insults being waged against his justly scornful master.
Gandalf listens, and waits.
Gaddafi's emissary Moussa Ibrahim IS the "Mouth of Gaddafi."
Comment:
War is the worst possible solution.
 
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