Mustafa Abdel Jalil

"LandepNews"

Mustafa Abdel Jalil

A week after the surprising taking of the Libyan capital Tripoli by the rebels, backed by the NATO’s air strikes, life in Tripoli is returning to normal, and the legitimate authorities of National Transitional Council leaders are visiting the Western countries to convince them to send money from the frozen assets of the former regime in order to be able to pay the civilian workers and restore the basic commodities, like running water or electricity.

One problem still remains: the whereabouts of the former president Muammar al-Qaddafi, who has not been found neither in the bunker at Bab al-Aziziyah, nor anywhere in the country.

Last week some businessmen placed an $1.7 million bounty on Qaddafi’s head, and soon after the NTC announced that the soldiers who deliver him would be granted pardon for participating in the crackdown against the people.

Speaking at a meeting in the capital of Qatar, NTC’s chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil said that Qaddafi remains a danger to the country and the world and apprehending him is absolutely compelling for Libya to return to its normal life.

Jalil called on NATO to continue to offer its support against Qaddafi’s rule. The NTC is pushing to take the city of Sirte, the hometown of the former leader, though no one knows if he is in there.

Rebel fighters gave the people in Sirte until Monday to surrender the city or face “liberation.” Thousands of rebels gathered at the outskirts of the city where Qaddafi was born and is considered that taking this city is the final battle for Libya. The ultimatum given by rebels comes after days of negotiations, when the rebels told the troops loyal to Qaddafi to disarm.

Libyan Rebels

NATO said that its actions in Libya would continue until the problem has been solved. They said that Qaddafi’s regime is near collapse but that it is not yet finished. The commander of the NATO joint forces said that the resistance pockets are being reduced every day, and that the regime is no longer capable of mounting a serious attack.

NATO has destroyed so far more than 5,000 military targets, and has a mandate until September 27. In order to prolong that mandate, NATO would have to hold another council.

As the troops of the rebels move against the last resistance pockets of the regime, evidence of the atrocities committed by the regime are being unveiled.

It is reported that 150 people were burnt alive in a warehouse as troops loyal to Khamis Qaddafi threw grenades and shot spraying bullets at them as they were retreating. One survivor told the media that the massacre happened on August 22.

The National Transitional Council announced that they would not surrender to the Western countries Abdelbeset al Megrahi, the man convicted of destroying a Pan Am jet in 1988. Megrahi had been released from prison in Scotland in 2009, because of his health condition.

A number of U.S. senators have criticized the idea of releasing the man responsible for one of the most barbaric terrorist acts in 1980s.

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