WRAPUP4-Gaddafi gunmen, govt forces clash in Libyan capital
* Hundreds of NTC fighters pour into the area* One captured man stabbed by NTC fighter* Pocket of pro-Gaddafi resistance holding out in Sirte
(Updates with quotes, details of fighting)By Barry MaloneTRIPOLI, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Gunfights broke out in the
Libyan capital Tripoli on Friday between supporters of deposed
leader Muammar Gaddafi and forces of the National Transitional
Council (NTC), raising fears of an insurgency against the
country’s new rulers.Nearly two months since seizing the capital, Libya’s
National Transitional Council has failed to capture the final
holdout towns still under the grip of Gaddafi’s supporters. The
ousted leader has repeatedly vowed to lead an uprising.Friday’s battles appeared to be isolated and and involve
only dozens of pro-Gaddafi fighters, but it was the first sign
of armed resistance to the NTC in the city since its rebel
brigades seized the capital and ended Gaddafi’s 42-year rule in
August.Hundreds of NTC fighters in pick-up trucks shouting “Allahu
Akbar” (God is greatest) careered towards the Abu Salim
neighbourhood, a centre of support for Gaddafi, and the two
sides exchanged automatic and heavy machinegun fire.Local people told Reuters at the scene that a group of up to
50 armed men had appeared in Abu Salim earlier in the day and
had chanted pro-Gaddafi slogans. NTC men said fighting also
broke out in three other nearby neighbourhoods.”Gaddafi told them in a message last night to rise up after
Friday prayers,” said one NTC fighter, Abdullah. “That’s why
these few people have come out and are causing this problem.”Since he went into hiding after rebel forces captured
Tripoli on August 23, the former leader has released a number of
audio recordings calling on loyalists to fight back.NTC fighters dragged one man out of an apartment block in
Abu Salim, a traditional bastion of support for Gaddafi. As he
was kicked and punched, one of the NTC men plunged a knife into
the prisoner’s back. It was unclear if it was a fatal blow.The captured man had been armed with a rocket-propelled
grenade, said NTC fighters. The interim government’s forces have
been criticised by human rights groups for their treatment of
prisoners. Reuters saw at least two other captured gunmen taken
away in pickup trucks being punched and kicked in the face.Dominated by apartment blocks, Abu Salim was the last part
of the capital to fall to the NTC when its forces took the city
after six months of civil war.The NTC fighters were met by volleys of machinegun fire as
they went from house to house searching for remaining Gaddafi
gunmen. Shooting died down later in the afternoon.”Some Gaddafi cells came out on the streets with guns today
after prayers but, as you can see, our forces have the situation
under control,” said a senior NTC official at the scene under
heavy protection, Mahmoud Abdul Aziz.”All families are safe. If Gaddafi is still at large we
won’t see peace but we will slay that beast.”A spokesman for the NTC in the eastern city of Benghazi
dismissed Gaddafi’s armed supporters in Tripoli as a “fifth
column” trying to destabilise the country.”The other thing I hear that is disturbing is that the fifth
column has been doing some drive-by shootings around Tripoli
today. These are loyalists trying to wreak havoc,” he said.Diplomats told Reuters there were drive-by shootings near
the Radisson hotel, where some senior NTC officials and Western
diplomats are staying.Gaddafi supporters appear to have set Friday as the date for
a new uprising. A pro-Gaddafi Facebook group called October 14
bears a green Gaddafi flag and calls for an “intifada (uprising)
of the free Libyan people.” It has more than 1000 followers.SIRTE STILL HOLDING OUTGaddafi supporters are still holding out in Sirte, Gaddafi’s
coastal hometown in the centre of the country, where a small
pocket is battling on after weeks of fighting, and Bani Walid, a
town south of Tripoli.Government forces pushed tanks deep into Sirte on Friday to
try to smash the last pocket of resistance by Gaddafi loyalists
in his home town.The mostly untrained NTC militia army has gradually
tightened its stranglehold around Sirte in a chaotic struggle
that has cost scores of lives and left thousands homeless.The failure to seize the final Gaddafi bastions has also
held up the attempt by Libya’s new leaders to try to build a
democratic government, a process they say will begin only after
Sirte is captured.NTC commanders say Gaddafi’s die-hard loyalists now only
control an area measuring about 700 metres (yards) north to
south, and around 1.5 km (a mile) east to west in a residential
neighbourhood mostly of apartment blocks.”We are going to engage them with tanks and heavy artillery
first. After that we will send in the pick-up trucks with
anti-aircraft guns, then the infantry,” said NTC commander Abdul
Hadi Doghman.The biggest obstacle to taking the town has been Gaddafi’s
snipers hiding in the buildings. Tanks are deployed to hit the
buildings from close range and dislodge the sharpshooters.Green flags, the banner of Gaddafi’s rule, flew above many
of the buildings in the loyalist enclave. An occasional sniper
shot zipped past as the government forces cleaned their weapons
and prepared to do battle another day.But there was no extra build-up of troops on Friday and the
NTC forces did not appear to be preparing for a final push.Gaddafi himself is believed to be hiding somewhere in the
vast Libyan desert.Gaddafi’s encircled forces in Sirte can have little hope of
victory, but still fight on, inflicting dozens of casualties
with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and small arms. One
field hospital received two dead NTC fighters and 23 wounded on
Thursday.FEAR OF REPRISALSOne NTC commander said Gaddafi’s forces were no longer using
heavier weapons and appeared to have lost their cohesion.”We’ve noticed now they are fighting every man for himself,”
said Baloun al-Sharie, a field commander. “We tried to tell them
it’s enough and to give themselves up, but they would not.”NTC officers say Gaddafi loyalists fear reprisals if they
surrender — some captured fighters have been abused.A Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) doctor at Sirte’s Ibn Sina
hospital estimated there are still some 10,000 people trapped by
the fighting in the city of 75,000 residents. Many of those
trapped are women or children and some need medical care.”In the past few days, the patients haven’t been able to
receive proper medical care, due to a shortage of doctors and
due to the lack of water,” said Gabriele Rossi. “The wounds of
some patients are really bad and very infected.”Amnesty International issued a report on Wednesday saying
Libya’s new rulers were in danger of repeating human rights
abuses commonplace under Gaddafi. The NTC said it would look
into the report.
