TRIPOLI-TUNIS – The chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corporation has defected from Col Muammar Gadafy’s administration and fled to neighbouring Tunisia, a Tunisian security source said yesterday.
Libyan rebels also said they had information that Shokri Ghanem (68) had defected, a move that if confirmed would deal a blow to the Gadafy regime’s efforts to shore up the leader’s 41-year rule.
“He is in a hotel with a group of other Libyan officials,” the Tunisian source said. Another Tunisian security source said Mr Ghanem was on his way to the capital Tunis.
A government official in Tripoli said there was no sign Mr Ghanem had defected.
Rebels hold Benghazi and the oil-producing east of the north African country, helped by a Nato bombing campaign sanctioned at the United Nations to protect civilians from forces loyal to Col Gadafy. – (Reuters)
DUBAI – A prominent Bahraini human rights activist said he had been threatened with rape while in custody after he refused to apologise to the king over his role in anti-government protests.
During a separate demonstration yesterday, a protester drove his car into a group of policemen and injured nine of them, state television reported.
Human rights groups said Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, former president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), was removed from a military court on Monday on the third day of his trial after he told the judge about his treatment.
He said that despite prior complaints, the court had not taken action to secure his safety.
“The judge refused to listen to these statements and Mr Alkhawaja was ordered out of the courtroom,” BHCR and Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights said in a joint statement. – (Reuters)