Africa News
NATO hails defection of Gaddafi generals to Italy
May 31, 2011, 13:50 GMT
Brussels - NATO on Tuesday welcomed news that several Libyan military officers had defected to Italy, hailing it as proof that support for Moamer Gaddafi was crumbling.
Eight officers, including five generals, appeared in Rome on Monday to say they were part of a group of up to 120 military officials defecting from Gaddafi's regime.
'Gaddafi's reign of terror is coming to an end. Even the ones closes to him are departing, defecting and deserting, and we saw a confirmation of that yesterday,' NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told reporters in Brussels.
Military spokesman Mike Bracken, speaking via videolink from the operational headquarters of NATO's Libya operations in Naples, said 'the cracks in the Gaddafi regime are now clearly visible.'
The defecting Libyan generals were reported as saying that as a result of NATO strikes the pro-Gaddafi forces were at 20 per cent of their strength.
'That is their assessment,' Lungescu commented.
Read more about Libya Conflict
Read more about NATO
COMMENT
blog comments powered by DisqusLatest Headlines in Africa
- 1. Several dead in car bombing in northern Nigeria
- 2. Mogadishu blast kills seven, including sports chiefs
- 3. Seven dead in Mogadishu suicide bomb attack
- 4. ANC suspends Youth League leader with immediate effect
- 5. Police arrest Uganda's opposition leader and others at protest march
Older Talkback
