NTC Places A $1.7 Million Bounty On Qaddafi’s Head
Muammar al-Qaddafi
Fighting continues in Libya on Thursday, two days after the rebel army, backed by the NATO air strikes, entered Qaddafi’s stronghold at Bab al-Aziziyah, without finding the leader of Libya in it. On Wednesday, the rebels placed a $1.7 million bounty on Qaddafi. He is wanted dead or alive. The initiative was tabled, according to NTC leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil, by businessmen and the council agrees with it. Jalil announced that the members of Qaddafi’s clique who will capture or kill him will be offered amnesty.
In an audio message released on Wednesday, Qaddafi said that he had left Bab al-Aziziyah in a “tactical withdrawal,” and urged the people to continue fighting against what he called “traitors and rats.”
As the fight goes on, the first steps are being taken towards ensuring the governance of the country. Thus, diplomatic efforts were launched to make sure that the billions of dollars in frozen assets be delivered to the National Transitional Council, in order to see to it that the new Libyan government has the funds to get things started in the country.
The journalists kept at the Rixon Hotel were released but an Italian journalist was kidnapped by supporters of Qaddafi’s regime.
On the diplomatic front, the NTC won another victory, as they obtained recognition of two of Qaddafi’s allies, Burkina Faso and Chad.
The United States assured that the stockpile of weapons of mass destruction in Qaddafi’s possession have been secured, so that there is no possibility of them being used against the population.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy invited the Western countries that support Libya and the leaders of NTC to France to talk about the future of the country in the post-Qaddafi era.
People Defiling Qaddafi's Statue
British PM David Cameron added that a conference will be held to the purpose of providing Libya with the financial help it needs in order to begin reconstruction.
NTC announced that it needed $5 billion from Qaddafi’s frozen assets to pay civilian servants, to meet basic humanitarian needs, to restore schools and hospitals, and to get economy running again, especially oil industry, the main source of Libyan economy.
South Africa refused to lift block of the $1.5 billion in frozen assets, announcing that it would agree with the plan only after the reunion of African Union, that will decide whether to recognize NTC as Libya’s government or not.
South Africa was one of Qaddafi’s supporters, the president of this country acting as emissary by the world powers.
A resolution was brought before the UN Security Council on Wednesday, by which the United States demand the unfreezing of $1.5 billion for the needs of the Libyan new authorities.
The Venezuelan President Hugo Chaves announced on Wednesday that the Venezuelan embassy in Libya was looted, and condemned again the “aggression” against Libya. Chavez restated that his country is supporting Qaddafi and called the bounty on his head “madness let loose.”
The famous South American leader accused the United States and European powers of wanting to steal Libyan oil, and predicted that for the Libyans the troubles don’t end with the overthrowing of Qaddafi but they just begin.
