Seif al-Islam on Tuesday

"LandepNews"

Seif al-Islam on Tuesday

European countries called on the president of Libya Muammar al Qaddafi to lay down arms and stop fighting in order to prevent more bloodshed and more damage. The president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy called the Libyan leader “irresponsible and desperate,” and urged his forces to “turn away without delay,” to lay down arms and surrender to the “Libyan legitimate authorities.”

The call of the French president comes amid a major success of the rebels in Libya, who were able to enter on Monday morning the capital of the country, after months of stalemate and useless attempts to get inside.

Fights were still recorded in the neighborhoods of Tripoli on Monday afternoon, with the soldiers loyal to Qaddafi still fighting against the rebel forces.

French president’s statement says that the leader of the Libyan rebels, Mahmud Jibril, was invited to visit the European country on Wednesday.

The same call to stop fighting was made by the British Prime Minister David Cameron, who said that the majority of the capital of Libya was already into the hands of the rebels, and that the resistance of the loyalists cannot alter the predictable outcome of this situation.

Cameron said that the future of the soon-to-be former president of Libya is in the hands of the leader of the National Transitional Council Abdul Jalil and of the authorities that will take control of Libya.

The president of European Union, Herman van Rompuy, the President of the European Commission, Manuel Barosso, and the EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, also demanded the Libyan leader to step down and put an end to the fight.

The Libyan rebels seem to have advanced rapidly into the capital but were incapable of taking Bab al-Aziziyah, the stronghold which is believed to be the fort of the president Qaddafi.

In spite of the euphoria that engulfs the Western capitals over the advance of the Libyan rebels into Tripoli, contradictory information continues to come from the field.

In a pro-Qaddafi Base in Tripoli

Thus, two of the presidential sons were reported arrested on Monday, one of them being the famous Seif al-Islam al Qaddafi, the heir apparent, who was considered killed in the first NATO actions against Libya a few months ago, and who resurfaced on Tuesday free and defiant, rejecting the claim of the rebels that they have occupied the capital Tripoli, and reasserting the fact that the regime will crush the rebellion.

Seif al-Islam appeared at a hotel where journalists were being camped, thus showing the potential of the regime to lash back at the rebels and the fact that not all news about the situation in the field must be taken seriously.

The spokesman for the rebels confirmed that another son of the president had escaped house arrest, but could not make the same claim about Seif al-Islam. He did however warn that it was a little premature to try to thrive on victory, since the forces loyal to Qaddafi could walk into the city at any time.

Seif al-Islam arrived at Rixos Hotel, where 30 journalists were stationed, and took them on a ride in his limousine through the parts of town that are controlled by the regime.

In the neighborhoods of Bab al-Aziziyah, supporters of the regime were lining up to receive weapons, with which they pledged to defend the regime.

The whereabouts of Muammar al-Qaddafi remain unknown, but reports say that he may still be in the country, though some said on Monday that he had been spotted traveling toward the Algerian border.

The South African authorities offered guarantees last week that he was not taken out of the country by any South African plane.

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