Insurgent Commander Vows Assault on Capitol; Desperate Foreigners Try to Flee
BENGHAZI, Libya—Rebels menaced Col. Moammar Gadhafi's stronghold from all sides Thursday, as insurgent commanders said they have sent troops for an offensive against Tripoli and residents of the capital prepared their first mass demonstration in days on Friday.
Just 30 miles west of Col. Gadhafi's shrinking base of power, antiregime forces battled for the oil-industry town of Al-Zawiya. On Thursday evening, opposition forces gained control of Misrata, a coastal city 130 miles east of Tripoli.
In Benghazi, the country's second-largest city and the hub of eastern Libya, a group of army colonels who recently defected said they are plotting the end their former commander's 42-year reign, which began to crumble last week as Libyans joined the antiauthoritarian protests roiling the Arab world.
"We have a plan to bring down Tripoli," Col. Tareq Saad Hussein, one of seven former colonels who have taken charge of rebel forces in Benghazi, said in an interview. "We will not stop until we liberate the whole country."
Speaking inside a downtown army administrative compound—now the rebel commanders' operations center—Col. Hussein said his team had already begun sending rebels west toward Tripoli in small groups to slip past forces loyal to Col. Gadhafi.
Tripoli residents, meanwhile, said antiregime groups sent a wave of text messages Thursday urging residents to meet en masse Friday for prayers at the city's Green Square as a sign of defiance against Col. Gadhafi.
Several residents who participated in Sunday's large demonstration in Tripoli say heavy patrols by government forces have made the streets dangerous for protesters. Some say they hope Friday's event will be a turning point. "We will go and gather, even if we are slaughtered," said one resident.
Governments across the world continued their attempts Thursday to evacuate their citizens from Libya. Germany and the U.K. sent warships to retrieve nationals. A ferry loaded with U.S. passengers continued to await departure in Tripoli's port Thursday amid high winds and rough seas, complicating U.S. efforts to take diplomatic action against Col. Gadhafi.
On Thursday, President Barack Obama consulted with European leaders while Washington explored a full range of options. Asked whether the U.S. was considering military steps, White House spokesman Jay Carney said: "I'm not ruling anything out."
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Col. Gadhafi had told the U.S. through Libyan officials that his opponents are inspired by Islamists and under the influence of drugs, a message that has mirrored his statements on Libyan state television.
Col. Gadhafi lashed out at his domestic opponents again Thursday in a 23-minute telephone interview with state television, accusing rebels in Al-Zawiya and elsewhere of being under the sway of al Qaeda. "What is this farce? You in al-Zawiya turn to [Osama] bin Laden?" he said. "He brainwashed your sons."
While Libya does have a history of homegrown terrorism, Col. Gadhafi's more immediate concern appears to be the new military units commanded by Col. Hussein and other former officers around the country. Libya has long required its men to serve in the military, making the regulars, reservists and former soldiers who make up these militias familiar with arms.
Residents of Tajura, a suburb of Tripoli, say pro-government militias have fought running battles against local youths amid ongoing street protests by residents in defiance of Col. Gadhafi's speech Tuesday that promised death to demonstrators. The residents were taking inspiration from rousing sermons issued by a notable religious leader, Sheikh al-Geryani.
"He spoke up," says one resident about the religious leader. "He was telling the people that we can't let them kill us. Now they have raided his house and are looking for him."
Tajura youth groups have fought running gun battles with pro-regime forces for the three nights leading up to Thursday night, according to residents. But the government has moved in tanks and set up road blocks on most main streets of the town, and so far remain in control over the area, residents say.
In Benghazi, Col. Hussein said he and other colonels had dispatched armed rebels west toward Tripoli in small units, to make it difficult to detect them passing through territories including the city of Sirte, the heavily fortifieed hometown of Col. Gadhafi and his still-loyal tribesmen. Col. Hussein wouldn't say how many fighters had been sent to Tripoli and wouldn't comment on when a larger scale westward offensive might be launched.
Idriss Sherif, an economics professor who is serving on one of Benghazi's newly formed leadership committees, said he believed that over 1,000 rebel troops had already been dispatched to Tripoli.
At the Benghazi compound's front gate, two antiaircraft guns pointed skyward. Inside, in the shade of eucalyptus and palm trees, soldiers piled dozens of wooden crates filled with tank shells into a pickup truck. The soldiers said the compound now served as depot where weapons seized by young protesters from army bases and police stations were gathered and redistributed to trained rebel fighters.
Col. Hussein, speaking as he picked over a lunch of grilled chicken and macaroni, said his forces were also working to hunt down Col. Gadhafi.
Col. Hussein said intelligence from friendly senior army officers with whom he is in contact throughout Libya suggested Col. Gadhafi was moving from house to house to avoid detection.
He said there were strong indications that Col. Gadhafi's hold on power was fast slipping.
Some of Benghazi's new officials said their contacts in Sirte told them that Mr. Gadhafi's intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi, had bolted the city Thursday, along with the unit of soldiers protecting him.
Col. Hussein said his forces had recently been contacted by some members of Col. Gadhafi's tribe in and around Sirte who said they no longer supported Col. Gadhafi.
"Gadhafi's days are numbered," said Col. Hussein. "If we capture him, he will be publicly prosecuted for his crimes. But if the youth find him first, I don't think I'll see Gadhafi in less than 40 or 50 pieces."
Meanwhile, Col. Hussein and other rebel commanders say their forces are motivated and gaining in strength, numbers and organization with each day.
There was no way to confirm these rebel reports.
At the headquarters of Benghazi's interim governing committees, dozens of youth lined up Thursday to sign up.
"We've opened the doors for volunteers in the new army, to unite and fight against the mercenaries and liberate all of Libya," said Akram Akaza, a 36-year-old corporal who was directing the volunteers to the sign-up lists. "We must get Gadhafi out. I'm going to Tripoli."
Senior rebel commanders in other eastern cities said similar efforts were underway there.
"We are getting many volunteers every day," said Maj. Gen. Suleiman Mahmoud, who is headquartered in Tobruq. Gen. Mahmoud was the commander of the armed forces in eastern Libya—making him one of Col. Hussein's seniors—under Col. Gadhafi before he defected to the rebels on Sunday.
Gen. Mahmoud said his rebel forces were also preparing a march on Tripoli.
But it was unclear how much coordination there was between efforts in different cities.
Col. Hussein and Gen. Mahmoud both said coordination was good. But neither, when asked Thursday, seemed aware of what the other was doing.
Gen. Mahmoud is among a small group of top ranking Libyan defense officials who appear to be playing a key role in the rebellion. Another senior military figure in the uprising is Abdel Fattah Younis, who was Libya's defense minister until he defected to the rebels on Sunday. Mr. Younis was helping rebels days before that, according to some rebel officials in Benghazi.
Mr. Younis's leadership was key to drawing up and executing the operation that brought down Benghazi's principal pro-Gadhafi military base, which collapsed late Sunday night, according to Mr. Sherif.
"He was the one giving orders that day," said Mr. Sherif. "He commands the loyalty of officers throughout all of Libya."
But some rebel soldiers and loyalists voiced distrust of both Gen. Mahmoud and Mr. Younis, because they served for so long and in such a senior capacity.
Asked about his views on Gen. Mahmoud and Mr. Younis, Col. Hussein would only say: "There are officers with high ranks who had very nebulous positions toward the revolution until the last minute. These officers should have declared their support earlier
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