Pro-Gaddafi forces capture Bani Walid, 5 NTC troops killed - report

Published time: January 23, 2012 16:23
Edited time: January 24, 2012 06:01
Files picture dated September 22, 2011 shows Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters launching a rocket towards Bani Walid from their outpost at the entrance of the city (AFP Photo / Joseph Eid)
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Fighters loyal to late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have clashed with revolutionary forces in the former-regime stronghold of Bani Walid, taking control of the city in the process.

The head of Libya’s National Transitional Council Mustafa Abdel Jalil today warned of the threat of another civil war.

At least five NTC troops were killed and 30 others injured in the violence, Interfax reports.

M’barek al-Fotmani, a local official, says the pro-Gaddafi rebels who seized control of Bani Walid were using heavy weaponry including 106mm anti-tank weapons.

He also said that authorities called for help when the attack began, but the NTC did not send any troops.

"There are between 100 and 150 men armed with heavy weapons who are attacking. We have asked for the army to intervene, but the Defense Ministry and NTC have let us down," he told Agence France Press.

"We're out of the frying pan into the fire. We've been warning about this for the past two months," he added.

Witnesses say the violence erupted on Monday after Gaddafi loyalists, angry over the arrest of one of their men, attacked pro-revolution fighters.

The town of Bani Walid was one of the last bastions of pro-Gaddafi force in Libya's eight-month civil war.

The clashes came after mass protests in the city of Benghazi over the weekend and the subsequent resignation of NTC deputy chief Abdel Hafiz Ghoga.

Sabah al-Mukhtar, president of the Arab Lawyers Association, believes a new civil war is a real threat.

“Reason number one is that the arms are still in the hands of the various militias in various areas," in addition to competing tribes in those areas, he explained.

“At the same time, the political views of the people are in conflict. You have a situation when people want Islam to be a part of the constitution, while you have others that are liberals who do not.”

So you have the conflict on policies as well as the availability of arms,” he concluded.

Sabah al-Mukhtar also says there are dramatic divergences in what the NTC says and what it actually does.

Many of them are actually from the old regime – including the leader who was a Minister of Justice under Gaddafi – and there are many other people like his deputy, like many others, who were men of Gaddafi and at the same time now they say, 'we will not allow those who benefited from Gaddafi`s regime to stand for elections.'"

The lawyer pointed out that the head of NTC himself served as a Minister of Justice under Gaddafi and turned blind eye to many injustices in the country.

Watch RT's full interview with Sabah al-Mukhtar


‘NTC isn’t reflecting anyone’s needs and desires’

Patrick Hayes, a reporter for the Spiked online magazine, says the events in Libya are not surprising given the fact that the West-backed council was not chosen by the Libyan people.

You can’t just bring about democracy through bombs. You have to bring about democracy through a battle of ideas,” Hayes told RT. “And that’s broadly what was put on hold by Western intervention last year.”

The journalist insists that there are people in Libya who are still loyal to late Muammar Gaddafi and the ideas he stood for. “It does seem like the NTC is impotent and isn’t reflecting the needs and desires of anyone in Libya at the moment,” he adds.

In Haye’s opinion, the Western forces that helped topple Gaddafi will turn a blind eye on what is going on in Libya now and will keep themselves in “self-delusion” that they brought democracy to Libya.

Watch RT's full interview with Patrick Hayes


Comments (52)

Andor 26.01.2012 10:01

This just shows us that no country other than european can have democracy. Not even China can do it!! Especially the arabs and african, they think democracy is power to the people and freedom= you can do what you want?? So, these countries must have force control no other solution. The USA will slowly loose its democracy [if it ever had one] because of the millions of arab/chinese and africans there. That is why they are slowly changing to martial law!!

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James Williamson 25.01.2012 07:09

Now, as in regards to Libya, I've kept up with the news, and it seems the green resistance is still strong & well. I knew it be so. I never believed that the people of Libya would actually want to sell themselves to the corporations & crony capitalists running amok in the U.S. & NATO. Even Gaddafi's still alive & well, leading the green resistanc e from a secret location somewhere in Africa. The King of Kings of Africa will return, & this will only serve to strengthen all of the countries & peoples of Africa in the long run. Perhaps even a true African Union or a United States of Africa, even, may just come true someday. Thank goodness for all of it. So, I wish the best for the green resistance fighters in Libya, they have a tough fight here, freeing their country from an illegitimate, criminal NTC government that has kidnapped the country w/ help from the U.S./NATO, as for all the rest of the world that is resisting the west & the U.S. Time has shown that, yes, the U.S. isn't completely invincible, in Cuba, Vietnam, elsewhere. It, too, has it's weaknesses, being riddled near debt, it's currency not backed by gold & might just probably even be threatened if enough countries stop depending on the dollar so much, like what Iran did, what Libya planned to do (Hint: One of the main reasons why Libya was attacked & invaded by NATO-employed mercenaries, complete with a no-fly zone), what BRICS has in mind & will carry out soon, in due time, and other countries out there have similar ideas, as well. The U.S. can only take so much, and same with it's NATO slaves. Why do the governments in the many countries of Europe, like my own country in the UK, insist on doing the bidding of the U.S. still, and join alongside it, in committing crimes against the whole world, when an infinite number of problems plague my country, and similarly to all the other countries in Europe, like immigration issues, debts, joke leaders who don't seem to know what they're doing, etc.?

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James Williamson 25.01.2012 06:46

CON wrote in #5
Peter The Great wrote in #4
Russia could save Libya from massacre&n bsp;but it didn't. Failed to do so in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanist an, Pakistan,...
All it can do for years now is to bark like a puddle in UN at their US and Israelis masters for their amusement. 
Pathetic if you ask me. Did you mean to write Poodle?
I suppose he did. Anyhow, I would say this is all Gorbachev's fault for this. Russia was once a mighty country that didn't take anything from anyone. It was once a country that, if they had something to say, the U.S. had better listen to what the Russians had to say. Now, since 1991, that had waned, as the great tragedy set in motion by Gorbachev had taken it's course, fracturing the mighty nation into 15, brought death to Russia, in the form of declining birth rates, which leads to a declining population trend that seems to be all but evident, health problems rose dramatically, such as alcohol-related deaths, drug addictions, such as with opium, preventable deaths, brought waves of crime into the country, allowe d the west into Russia for a time, all of it. It is because of this cursed man that it would seem that Russia's words seem rather empty-handed & the world wonders where is their savior, their protector, & who would save the rest of the world from the U.S. now, given the events that had happened ever since that tragic fall at the end of 1991, such as what Peter The Great had mentioned, for example. Essentially, why is Russia & China not doing much of anything, when really, they ought to do more, a lot more than just talk? Where did it all go so awry? Now, Russia & China, can, of course, always make a come back from the brink. Russia has come back from the brink many times, and will do so again, getting everything that was taken from them back, and China's economy is getting close to surpassing the U.S., meaning it can & will defeat U.S. influence over the world, and liberate the 3rd world & the rest of the world, when the time comes. But, right now, they really should stiffen up, and they must get more serious with the west, show them that enough is enough. They can do it, but they must do something fast, before the west come to them. Talk won't satisfy those crooks&nb sp;running the western countries & the U.S. They don't unerstand talk, only greed & domination.

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