Talks for surrender of Kadhafi bastion fail

Libya: Negotiations for the surrender of Moamer Kadhafi’s forces in the Libyan town of Bani Walid failed Sunday and will not resume, an official said, opening the way for a military attack. “I am leaving the military commander to resolve the problem,” said Abdullah Kenshil, the chief negotiator for the anti-Kadhafi National Transitional Council (NTC).

The town southeast of Tripoli is one of the last strongholds of pro-Kadhafi fighters where at least one of the ousted despot’s sons is reputed to be hiding.

Kenshil said the fighters had wanted to come out with their weapons but were refused.

“They demanded that the revolutionaries enter Bani Walid without their weapons,” he added, charging that it was a pretext for an ambush.

Kenshil also said Kadhafi himself, his sons and many of his family had been in Bani Walid, without specifying when. Some had left but two of Kadhafi’s sons, Saadi and Mutassim, are suspected of still being there.

Negotiations through the intermediary of tribal leaders began several days ago with the hope of taking Bani Walid without bloodshed. Meanwhile NTC military spokesman Ahmed Omar Bani confirmed earlier reports of the death of Kadhafi’s son Khamis, and said that the son of the strongman’s spy master Abdullah Senussi was also killed.

Shishan, Monday, AFP