Fighters from Libya’s new regime retreated under heavy fire from forces loyal to former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi in his hometown of Sirte yesterday as their leaders backtracked from an announcement they had captured one of his sons.
The advancing fighters, who had been hoping to mop up the last pockets of resistance in two residential neighborhoods in the northwest of the city, withdrew at least 2km to the central police headquarters they captured, a correspondent reported.
Before the reverse, a field commander said the fighters were trying to avoid using heavy weaponry against residential neighborhoods to avoid civilian casualties.
Sirte is a key goal for Libya’s new leaders who have said they will not proclaim the country liberated and begin preparing for the transition to an elected government until the city has fallen.
The new regime began its siege of Sirte on Sept. 15 before launching what it termed a “final assault” on Friday last week that has seen at least 91 of its troops killed and hundreds wounded, medics said.
A top adviser to National Transitional Council (NTC) chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil, meanwhile, backtracked on his announcement that new regime forces had captured Qaddafi’s son and former Libyan national security chief Mutassim in Sirte, after it was denied by military commanders in the city.
“There was some confusion about the reports of Mutassim’s capture,” Abdelkarim Bizama said. “As soon as we have -confirmation, there will be an official -announcement of his arrest.”
Late yesterday, Bizama had announced: “Mutassim Qaddafi was captured at Sirte and was transferred to Benghazi,” Libya’s second-largest city where significant parts of the new leadership remain based.
The announcement sparked celebratory gunfire in both Tripoli and the anti-Qaddafi stronghold of Misrata.
New regime fighters said they had captured the Qaddafi regime’s top cleric Khaled Tantoosh as he attempted to flee Sirte on Wednesday with his beard shaved off to disguise his appearance.
“We captured him yesterday morning,” said fighter Abdu Salam, who said he stopped the cleric’s vehicle with four comrades on the coast road west out of Sirte.
NATO said its aircraft hit two military vehicles in Sirte on Wednesday and one more in the other remaining bastion of Qaddafi forces — the desert oasis of Bani Walid, southeast of Tripoli.
NTC Oil and Finance Minister Ali Tarhuni said Libya would not award any further oil contracts until an elected government had been formed.
“The only government that can give new concessions in oil is an elected government, and that would be after we have a constitution,” he said.
Libya’s oil production, which collapsed following the uprising in February, is expected to rise from current levels of about 400,000 barrels a day, to nearly 1 million by April next year, said Nuri Berruien, president of the state-run National Oil Corp.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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