[ 2012-02-11 ]

Kadhafi son warns of rebellion in Libya
TRIPOLI (AFP) - Saadi Kadhafi, one of the sons of
Libya's slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi, has said a
nationwide rebellion is brewing against the
country's new rulers as he vowed to return to his
homeland.

"I will return to Libya at any time," Saadi
Kadhafi told Al-Arabiya television by telephone
from neighbouring Niger, where he took refuge
after the fall of Tripoli which ended his father's
42-year iron-fisted rule of Libya.

"Seventy percent of Libyans are not satisfied with
the current situation," he said in an interview on
Friday, adding that "the Libyan people are ruled
by gangs."

Kadhafi said "there is a rebellion that is going
on day after day, and there will be a rebellion in
the entire country."

Asked about the ruling National Transitional
Council, which took over after his father's
overthrow last year, Kadhafi said: "There will
come a day when the Libyan people will be capable
of wiping out these gangs."

When he returned, "I will try to make sure that
there are no reprisals or revenge operations," he
promised.

The NTC responded with a renewed call to the Niger
authorities to extradite Saadi Kadhafi.

"The NTC requests to the government of Niger to
immediately hand over Saadi and other fugitives to
the Libyan authorities to maintain its interests
and relations with the Libyan people," spokesman
Mohamed Nasr al-Harizi said in a statement.

Harizi warned that the "thuwar (former rebel
militias) have not given up their arms and are
ready to fight any unwise force."

Libya's official news agency LANA reported that
Libyan Foreign Minister Ashur bin Khayyal
denounced Saadi's remarks in a telephone talk with
his Niger counterpart Mohamed Bazum.

"This declaration (by Saadi) is harmful to the
relations between the two countries," Khayyal
said.

"Niger government must take tough measures against
Saadi, including handing him over to Libyan
authorities to judge him for the crimes committed
against the Libyan people," LANA quoted Khayyal as
telling Bazum.

LANA said Bazum "apologised" to Khayyal and
"expressed his regret to the Libyan government and
the Libyan people about what happened."

Saadi, 38, took refuge in Niger last August. The
African country has refused to extradite him
despite repeated requests from the new Libyan
authorities.

They accuse him of having "taken goods by force
and intimidation when he led the Libyan football
federation," according to international police
organisation Interpol, which issued a "red notice"
for his arrest.

Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou said on
November 11 his country had granted political
asylum to Saadi Kadhafi on "humanitarian
grounds."

The uprising that ousted Moamer Kadhafi erupted on
February 17, 2011 in the eastern city of Benghazi
and later spread across the entire country.

The bloody conflict ended with the capture and
killing of the ousted dictator on October 20 after
a fierce battle for his hometown Sirte.

Source - AFP

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