Anti-Muammar Qaddafi fighters were playing a waiting game yesterday after an official said negotiations for the surrender of the town of Bani Walid had failed and would not resume.
The town southeast of Tripoli is one of the last strongholds of pro-Qaddafi fighters, where at least one of the ousted despot’s sons is reported to be hiding.
“We are waiting for orders to start the attack or to extend the deadline until Saturday,” said Abdulrazzak Naduri, second in command in the military council in Tarhuna.
Kenshil said on Sunday the supporters of the former Libyan leader inside the town had wanted to come out with their weapons, but were rebuffed.
“They demanded that the revolutionaries enter Bani Walid without their weapons” to negotiate, he added, charging that it was a pretext for an ambush.
Kenshil said Qaddafi himself, his sons and much of his family had been in Bani Walid, without specifying when. Some had left but two of Qaddafi’s sons, Saadi and Mutassim, were still believed to be there.
Negotiations began several days ago through tribal intermediaries with the hope of taking Bani Walid without bloodshed.
Saadi Qaddafi said the failure of the talks was the fault of his high-profile brother Seif al-Islam, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court along with their father for suspected crimes against humanity during the uprising.
Saadi told CNN in a telephone interview that an “aggressive” speech broadcast by his brother a few days ago had led to the breakdown of the negotiations.
Asked about his location, Saadi said he was “a little bit outside” Bani Walid, but had been moving around, CNN reported late on Sunday.
He said he had not seen his father or brother for two months.
Saadi said he is “neutral,” but remains “ready to help negotiate a ceasefire,” CNN added.
“Saadi is looking after -No. 1, which is a good sign. It means cracks are appearing,” National Transitional Council (NTC) spokesman Jalal al-Gallal said.
The anti-Qaddafi fighters had set a deadline of 8am on Sunday for Bani Walid’s surrender, although the NTC last week announced an overall truce until Saturday in a bid to negotiate the surrender of the remaining -strongholds of -Qaddafi forces.
Those include a strip of Mediterranean coast around his hometown of Sirte and the southern oases of Sabha and Al-Jufra as well as Bani Walid.
NATO said yesterday that its aircraft had hit 13 targets in and around Sirte, a command and control node near Sabha and six targets in Hun in the Al-Jufra oasis.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft