BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — Libya's rebels will agree to a cease-fire if Moammar Gadhafi pulls his military forces out of cities and allows peaceful protests against his regime, an opposition leader said Friday as rebels showed signs that their front-line organization is improving.
Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, head of the opposition's
interim governing council based in Benghazi, spoke during a joint press
conference with U.N. envoy Abdelilah Al-Khatib. After meeting government
officials in Thursday, Al-Khatib was visiting the rebels' de facto stronghold
of Benghazi in hopes of reaching a political solution to the crisis embroiling
the North African nation.
Abdul-Jalil said the rebels' condition for a
cease-fire is "that the Gadhafi brigades and forces withdraw from inside
and outside Libyan cities to give freedom to the Libyan people to choose and
the world will see that they will choose freedom."
The U.N. resolution that authorized international
airstrikes against Libya called for Gadhafi and the rebels to end hostilities.
Gadhafi announced a cease-fire immediately but has shown no sign of heeding it.
His forces continue to attack rebels in the east, where the opposition in
strongest, and have besieged the only major rebel-held city in the west,
Misrata.
The city has been shelled by tanks and artillery
for days, said a doctor in a Misrata hospital who spoke on condition of
anonymity out of fear of reprisals. Many people have been killed, including
eight since Thursday, he said. He said Gadhafi brigades control the port and a
main street, but rebels control the heart of the city.
Abdul-Jalil said the regime must withdraw its
forces and lift all sieges.
He stressed the ultimate goal was Gadhafi's ouster.
"Our aim is to liberate and have sovereignty
over all of Libya with its capital in Tripoli," he said.
The U.N. said Al-Khatib arrived Thursday in
Tripoli.
Forces loyal to Libya's leader of nearly 42 years
spent much of this week pushing the rebels back about 100 miles (160
kilometers) along the coast. On Friday, the opposition showed signs of gaining
discipline on what has often been a disorganized battlefield.
Fighters said fresh forces were coming in, mostly
ex-military, but also volunteers with not quite a month of training. The rebels
also appeared to have more communication equipment such as radios and satellite
phones, and were working in more organized units, in which military defectors
were each leading six or seven volunteers.
The untrained masses who have rushed in and out of
the fight for weeks with no apparent organization were barred from the front
line. They stayed to the rear, to hold the line temporarily in case Gadhafi's
forces attempt to flank the rebels.
"The problem with the young untrained guys is
they'll weaken us at the front, so we're trying to use them as a backup
force," said Mohammed Majah, 33, a former sergeant. "They have great
enthusiasm, but that's not enough now."
Majah said the only people at the front now are
former soldiers, "experienced guys who have been in reserves, and about 20
percent are young revolutionaries who have been in training and are in
organized units."
The rebels also had mortars Friday, weapons they
previously appeared to have lacked, and on Thursday night they drove in a
convoy with at least eight rocket launchers — more artillery than usual.
The rebels' losses this week, and others before
airstrikes began March 19, underlined that their equipment, training and
organization were far inferior to those of Gadhafi's forces. The recent changes
appear to be an attempt to correct, or at least ease, the imbalance.
It was not immediately clear where the front line
was on Friday. On Thursday, the opposition had moved into Brega, about 50 miles
(80 kilometers) east of Ajdabiya, before Gadhafi's forces pushed them out.
Gadhafi's greatest losses this week were not
military but political. Two members of his inner circle, including his foreign
minister, abandoned him Wednesday and Thursday, setting off speculation about
other officials who may be next. The defections could sway people who have
stuck with Gadhafi despite the uprising that began Feb. 15 and the
international airstrikes aimed at keeping the autocrat from attacking his own
people.
Libyan state TV aired a phone interview with
intelligence chief Bouzeid Dorda to knock down rumors that he also left
Gadhafi.
"I am in Libya and will remain here steadfast
in the same camp of the revolution despite everything," Dorda said.
"I never thought to cross the borders or violate commitment to the people,
the revolution and the leader."
Gadhafi struck a defiant stance in a statement
Thursday, saying he's not the one who should go — it's the Western leaders who
attacking his military with airstrikes who should resign immediately. Gadhafi's
message was undercut by its delivery — a scroll across the bottom of state TV
as he remained out of sight.
The White House said the strongman's inner circle
was clearly crumbling with the loss of Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, who flew
from Tunisia to England on Wednesday. Koussa is privy to all the inner workings
of the regime, so his departure could open the door for some hard intelligence,
though Britain refused to offer him immunity from prosecution.
Ali Abdessalam Treki, a former foreign minister and
U.N. General Assembly president, announced his departure on several opposition
websites the next day, saying "It is our nation's right to live in freedom
and democracy and enjoy a good life."
Gadhafi accused the leaders of the countries
attacking his forces of being "affected by power madness."
"The solution for this problem is that they
resign immediately and their peoples find alternatives to them," the Libya
state news agency quoted him as saying.
Lucas reported from Ajdabiya, Libya. Hadeel
Al-Shalchi in Tripoli and Maggie Michael in Cairo contributed to this report.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Nasser Nasser)
