Rebels blame Chad troops for loss of key Libyan cities

Mar 31, 2011, 13:07 GMT

Cairo/Tripoli - Libya's opposition Interim Transitional National Council (ITNC) said Thursday that the government of Chad is participating in attacks on rebels and continues to have up to 3,600 troops fighting for Moamer Gaddafi in eastern Libya.

Council spokesman Ahmed Bani said Chad forces have killed and wounded thousands of opposition fighters since the start of the uprising in mid-February, according to Libyan news website Brnieq.

Bani alleged that the mercenaries are being led by a senior intelligence official in Chad, Taher Issa, who is a member of the same Zaghawa tribe as President Idriss Deby.

The rebel spokesman deflected criticism from the opposition, which lacks both combat training and organization, and instead blamed the Republican Guard of Chad for the retreat by opposition fighters.

Despite the loss of key eastern cities to Gaddafi's forces, Bani told reporters at a press conference that the opposition is confident coalition airstrikes, now led by NATO as part of a UN-authorized no- fly zone, will help the rebels reclaim lost territory.

'We are confident they will intervene in a timely manner as they did in Benghazi, but from our side, we do not count on this intervention alone,' said Bani. 'We've established strong defenses at Ajdabiya and rebels have impeded Gaddafi's process in the town of Brega.'

However, troops loyal to Gaddafi drove eastward Wednesday toward the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in the north-east of the country as the rebels also abandoned Ajdabiya, located north-east of Brega and about 150 kilometres from Benghazi.

Rebel forces were returning to the Libyan city of Brega early Thursday after fleeing the previous day ahead of approaching government troops, Al Arabiya news channel reported.

Also on Thursday, the government in Tripoli denied that its Foreign Minister Musa Kusa had fled, stating he was on a 'diplomatic trip'.

The high profile public defection of Kusa, who arrived in Britain after a trip to Tunisia, is a sign the Libyan government is 'crumbling from within', said British Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Meanwhile, representatives of the opposition in the southern town of Kufrah said members of the elite Khamis Brigade had gone over to the rebels.

The special forces brigade, considered one of the most effective forces in the country's military, takes its name from its commander and son of the country's leader, Khamis Gaddafi.

Khamis Gaddafi was reported to have died from injuries sustained during an attack on Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli this month, but state television late Monday broadcast live footage appearing to show him in uniform greeting visitors.

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