Rebels Seize Ras Jdir Post on Tunisia Border
Libyan rebels on Friday took control of the Ras Jdir post on the border with Tunisia, and raised the flag of the rebellion, a Tunisian government source told Agence France Presse.
"More than 100 Libyan rebels arrived Friday at Ras Jdir," the source said.
"There were not any real clashes, the (regime) loyalists took off and the rebels' flag was raised at the border post."
A representative of the Libyan rebels' National Transitional Council, Adel Debachi, said on Tunisian television from Ras Jdir that they took control of the border post just before breaking the Ramadan fast around 18:00 GMT.
He also said four pro-Gadhafi loyalists surrendered.
A humanitarian worker at Ras Jdir also told AFP the rebels had taken the border post.
Tunisian soldiers stationed near the crossing have been on high alert in recent days as fighting in western Libya has approached the border.
Ras Jdir, the main crossing point between Libya and Tunisia, was closed Monday by Tunisian officials who sought to block armed fighters from entering the country. Only those injured by the fighting in Libyaand humanitarian workers were allowed to cross.
Hundreds of people have entered Tunisia through Ras Jdir in recent days, according to humanitarian workers.
The rebels seized the Dehiba border post, the other crossing point between Libya and Tunisia, in April.
Meanwhile, Rebel fighters said they had captured the base of the elite 32 Brigade commanded by Gadhafi's son Khamis after a NATO airstrike and seven hours of fierce fighting.
In a building nearby local residents showed an AFP correspondent the charred remains of some 50 people they said were captives killed on Tuesday with rifles and grenades.
National Transitional Council chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil promised the elusive Gadhafi and his senior aides they would be given a fair trial in Libya if they surrendered.
Speaking in the eastern city of Benghazi, where the rebellion began in February, Jalil also called for emergency humanitarian aid for the capital, stressing the lack of medical supplies.
"We are calling all the humanitarian organizations and telling them that Tripoli needs medicines, first aid products and surgical material," he told a news conference.
Blaming "sabotage by Gadhafi's forces" for shortages of water and electricity in Tripoli, he said, "We are working on resolving these problems."
While fighting was still under way on various fronts, focus was increasingly turning to a post-Gadhafi era, with calls for reconciliation and a peaceful transition.
NTC spokesman Mahmud Shammam said in the capital the rebels would start distributing 30,000 tons of petrol to Tripoli residents immediately, and would be providing cooking gas within the next 48 hours.
They were also working to restore the Zawiyah refinery, Shammam said, pleading for patience and calling on all public, private and oil sector employees to return to work.
"We are starting from point zero in this situation. Do not ask for miracles, but we promise to try to make this difficult period as short as we can," Shammam said.
"The problems and accidents we are facing are less than in any other experience in an international war," he said.
"We don't have chaos. We don't have fire everywhere. We are in control."
But he admitted there was still resistance left.
"Anybody who thinks that there is not a fraction of people who support Gadhafi or that there is no fifth column who will try to trouble the peace of Tripoli would be mistaken.
"After 42 years of dictatorship we will find a problem of people trying to harm our society. We are a city liberated for just a few days."
Electricity in the capital is out for several hours a day. Many districts have no water and the price of food and petrol has skyrocketed.
Mountains of rubbish have piled up on the sweltering streets since the rebels entered the capital a week ago, battling Gadhafi's forces until they stormed his compound on Tuesday and then mopping up after that.
Even so, life bore a semblance of normality in central Tripoli on Saturday, with some shops open and people out and about preparing for the end of the Ramadan fast.
After several days of intense combat, the remaining Gadhafi loyalists seemed to have opted for guerrilla tactics, striking in small groups to keep tensions high and then withdrawing.
Tripoli airport, held by the rebels, was still being targeted by sporadic shooting and shelling but the insurgents said they had expanded the area under their control.
The rebels late Friday also captured the Ras Jdir border post on the frontier with Tunisia, through which it was feared Gadhafi, his henchmen and family might use to escape.
Shammam said the coastal highway from Tripoli to the border would be open once fighting ends in Zuwarah, 90 kilometers west of the capital, which is held by rebels but still being bombarded by pro-Gadhafi forces.
Meanwhile the Algerian foreign ministry denied as "baseless" an Egyptian news agency report that a motorcade of six armored Mercedes that could be carrying Libyan officials, even Gadhafi, had crossed into Algeria late Friday.
The rebels, who are making slow progress in their advance on Kadhafi's hometown of Sirte, east of Tripoli, another possible bolt hole, want to find him so they can proclaim final victory in the six-month-old uprising.
"We call on Moammar Gadhafi and his associates to surrender so we can protect them and spare them illegal execution," Jalil said. "We guarantee them a fair trial, whatever their position."
Asked about the International Criminal Court, which has issued indictments against Gadhafi, his son Seif al-Islam and his intelligence chief, Jalil said the ICC was complementary to Libyan justice.
"We have issued appeal after appeal for them to appear, that we will protect them and that they will be tried," Jalil said. "Those who are afraid and do not respond will be alone responsible for their security."
The rebels have offered a $1.7 million dollar reward for Gadhafi's capture, dead or alive.
The United Nations, African Union, Arab League and European Union urged both sides in Libya to avoid reprisals, EU foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton said after talks of the so-called Cairo Group.
"Colonel Gadhafi must avoid further bloodshed by relinquishing power and calling on those forces that continue to fight to lay down their arms and protect civilians," she said.
She added: "Today, under UN leadership, we agreed to call on all parties to respect international humanitarian and international human rights obligations. There should be no reprisals."
Ashton said that the Cairo Group, which also includes the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, "emphasized that the transition in Libya should be Libyan-led and inclusive."
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said after the talks, which he chaired, that an international police force may need to be sent to Libya, which is "awash" with small arms.
Egypt's news agency said NTC number two Mahmud Jibril was in Cairo for a special meeting of the Arab League that would see the rebels take over Libya's seat from Gadhafi's regime, suspended in February after the conflict began.
Source: Agence France Presse
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