World Threats

The location of Muammar Qaddafi and Saif al-Islam is the big question. Khamis’ death is nearly confirmed. The speculation is on four areas: Bani Walid, Sabha, Sirte (his hometown) and the border town of Ghadamis. In other words, they don’t know where he is.

The member of Khamis’ security detail who was present at the final meeting between him and his father in Tripoli said he heard a driver say Muammar Qaddafi was going to Sabha. Now, a top rebel military official says “someone we trust” puts Qaddafi in Bani Walid with Saif al-Islam and Abdullah al-Senoussi, the intelligence chief recently reported killed in the same clash that allegedly killed Khamis.

A deputy rebel commander describes Bani Walid as being almost completely full of Qaddafi supporters, but predicted it would fall into rebel hands once Sirte falls. The rebels are hesitant to go into Bani Walid because many of the rebels have tribal links there.  There are also long-standing tensions between the tribes of Bani Walid and the tribes of the Misrata area.

An Algerian newspaper reports that Qaddafi was in the border town of Ghadamis when he called the Algerian President to ask for entry. According to the report, he refused to take his call. This could very well just be a planted story by the Algerian government to try to make nice with the NTC after taking in some of Qaddafi’s family members (such as Hannibal, his son) and materially supporting the regime during the civil war.

New details have come out about the family members’ movement to Algeria. A team of 35 mercenaries who used to be a part of the South African special forces were paid $15,000 apiece to get them there safely.

On another note, I’m surprised I’m not hearing more about this one line in Qaddafi’s latest audiotape release: “We will not give up. We are not women.”