ANTI-AIRCRAFT FIRE was heard in Tripoli last night followed by large explosions, which according to some reports, came from the direction of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gadafy’s compound, which had been hit on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, a senior opposition official yesterday vowed there would be no negotiations with Col Gadafy to end the conflict. “We are in a war of attrition this dictator has forced upon us,” Abed al-Hafeez Ghoga of the Libyan National Council said in Benghazi, the de facto capital of the rebels since the uprising began in the city last month.
“We will see the end of him rather than negotiate. He is wanted internationally as a war criminal. He will be judged for his genocidal actions against his own people,” he said.
Benghazi was quiet yesterday compared with previous days when the city was rocked by the sound of explosions and gunfire.
There were, however, reports of sporadic shooting in some areas. Fears remain that regime loyalists lying low within the city may instigate further attacks. Several residents spoke of incidents where pro-Gadafy elements had disguised themselves as rebels in order to infiltrate neighbourhoods.
Washington, wary of being embroiled in another war after long campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, has ruled out specific action to overthrow Col Gadafy. President Barack Obama yesterday, speaking on a visit to Chile, attempted to resolve the apparent contradiction between his earlier statements that “Gadafy must go” and comments by his military commanders that the Libyan leader may remain in power after the military campaign has ended.
“It’s very easy to square our military actions and our stated policy,” Mr Obama said. “Our military action is in support of an international mandate from the [UN] Security Council that specifically focuses on the humanitarian threat posed by Col Gadafy to his people.” He added: “I also have stated that it is US policy that Gadafy needs to go.
“We got a whole range of tools in addition to our military effort to support that policy,” Mr Obama said. But the UN mandate for military action was specifically humanitarian, “and we are going to make sure that we stick to that mandate”, he said.
As the military operation continued, clear divisions emerged between members of the coalition on its leadership and direction. Asked when the US would hand over command of the war in Libya to a third country, presumably European, Mr Obama said: “We expect this transition to take place in a matter of days, not weeks.”
British prime minister David Cameron said the intention was to transfer the coalition command to Nato, but France said Arab countries did not want the Atlantic alliance in charge.
– (Additional reporting: Lara Marlowe in Washington and Ruadhán Mac Cormaic in Paris)