Hillary in Tripoli; Gaddafi forces counter-attack
19 October, 2011
TRIPOLI/SIRTE: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Libya on Tuesday, to urge its new government to establish firmer control over its people, as loyalists of ousted Muammar Gaddafi launched a surprise attack in his hometown of Sirte. Clinton is the most senior US official to come to Tripoli since Gaddafi's 42-year rule ended in August. Her visit was marked by tight security, reflecting worries that Libya's new rulers have yet to establish full control over the country. Speaking after meeting Libya's de facto prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, she cautioned of the need to establish control over the regional militias who emerged from the war to oust Gaddafi. "We are encouraged by the commitment of the National Transitional Council (NTC) to take the steps necessary to bring the country together," Clinton said. The United States took part in the NATO bombing campaign that helped Libya's interim government take power, although its aircraft largely played a secondary role to those of Britain and France. Though supporters of Libya's new rulers express loyalty to the new government, many analysts see these heavily armed groups as the biggest threat to Libya's unity. Nearly two months since capturing Tripoli, the new government has failed to defeat remaining Gaddafi loyalists, raising questions about its ability to exert its authority over the entire country and postponing the launch of its promised democracy programme. "I am proud to stand here on the soil of a free Tripoli, this is Libya's moment, this is Libya's victory, the future belongs to you," she said. Sirte is now the last major Libyan town where pro-Gaddafi forces are holding out, after the other bastion of resistance, Bani Walid, fell to the country's new rulers on Monday. Gaddafi loyalists who had been cornered in a an area of Sirte of about two square kilometres appeared to have broken out of their encirclement, Reuters reporters in the city said. A group of NTC fighters was forced to pull back about 2 km after they came under heavy fire. On the southern outskirts of the city, in an area that in previous days had been safe from gunfire, mortars were landing and air-burst rounds were exploding overhead. On the edge of the "Seven hundred" district in central Sirte, the front line had not moved. A Reuters reporter saw one man hit by bullets from pro-Gaddafi forces. People around him tried to resuscitate the fighter but they stopped after five minutes when it became clear he was dead. Afterwards, they threw down sand to mop up the pool of blood from his body. Libya's new rulers were so confident of their imminent victory in the town that NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil visited Sirte last week and was greeted by fighters firing triumphantly into the air. NTC troops say loyalists use the cover of darkness to sneak out of their encirclement and then open fire and the NTC effort - by mostly amateur fighters in a hotchpotch of volunteer units - has been hampered by a lack of coordination. Units from Benghazi in eastern Libya and Misrata to the west have lost men in "friendly fire" incidents, when they have fired at each other by mistake instead of at the Gaddafi loyalists. Mohammed Ismail, a field commander with the anti-Gaddafi Shohada al Thaqil brigade, said his men decided to stop bombarding loyalists with artillery and were now using infantry. Libya's new authorities took power nearly two months ago when an armed rebellion, with support from NATO missiles and warplanes, broke Gaddafi's grip on the capital, Tripoli, and ended his autocratic rule. Gaddafi is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of ordering the killing of civilians. He is in hiding, possibly deep in Libya's Sahara desert. The capture of Sirte is vital to the NTC, because it will mark the establishment of at least nominal control over all Libya's territory. The NTC has also said the fall of Sirte will be the signal for the process to begin of creating a fully-fledged government and building democratic institutions. End.
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