Perilous
Times
Libya's oil minister abandons Colonel Gaddafi's regime and
flees across Tunisian border
Libya's oil minister has defected and fled to Tunisia, becoming
one of the highest profile figures to abandon Muammar Gaddafi's
government.
Several high-level ministers have now left Gaddafi's regime Photo:
REUTERS
2:17PM BST 17 May 2011
The Telegraph UK
Shukri Ghanem, the head of Libya's National Oil Company, crossed
into Tunisia by road on Monday and defected, a Tunisian official
said.
Ghanem is one of the most prominent members of the government to
leave amid fighting between the military and rebels seeking to end
Gaddafi's more than 40-year rule.
Others who have defected include Moussa Koussa, the foreign
minister, one of Gaddafi's earliest supporters; Abdel-Fatah
Younes, the interior minister; Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, the justice
minister, and Ali Abdessalam Treki, a former UN General Assembly
president. A number of ambassadors and other diplomats also have
resigned their posts.
A Nato-led campaign — authorised by the United Nations — is
enforcing a no-fly zone over the country and launching airstrikes
to try to protect civilians from attacks by Gadhafi's forces.
Early on Tuesday, Nato jets pounded two government buildings in
the Libyan capital, including the Interior Ministry, setting them
on fire. A government spokesman suggested that the ministry was
targeted because it contained files on corruption cases against
senior members of the Benghazi-based rebel leadership.
In Geneva, meanwhile, the UN refugee agency said Tuesday that
Libyan authorities appeared to be encouraging African migrants to
board unseaworthy boats bound for Europe.
Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees, told reporters that the Libyan conflict has opened up a
route for migrants that was closed for two years because of an
agreement between Libya and Italy.
Already around 14,000 people — mostly from sub-Saharan Africa —
have used Libya as a springboard to reach Europe, and thousands
more are poised to make the treacherous sea journey in the coming
weeks as weather conditions in the Mediterranean improve.
"The authorities (in Libya) are not discouraging, at all, in fact
there may be signs that they are encouraging these boat journeys,"
she said.
Some are migrants fleeing the fighting in Libya, but others appear
to be crossing into Libya from elsewhere in Africa because it is
easier to get onto smugglers' boats there.
Ghanem, the latest minister to defect, had been at odds with the
Gaddafi regime before, basically losing his post for a while in
2009 as two of Gadhafi's sons differed on the direction the
country should take in reforming its political and economic
systems. His resignation was seen, at least in part, as linked to
the creation of a new superstructure governing the nation's oil
sector, with the new agency designed to replace one he supported.
Before assuming the oil ministry's portfolio, Ghanem served for
around three years as prime minister at a time when Libya was
emerging from under the cloud of more than a decade of
international sanctions.
Ghanem is among Gaddafi government officials under US sanctions
announced by the Treasury Department in early April.
Abdel Moneim al-Houni, a former Libyan Arab League representative
who was among the first wave of Libyan diplomats to defect,
confirmed that Ghanem had defected but said no official
announcement has been made out of concern for the safety of family
members who are still in Tripoli. Al-Houni said that he spoke to
Ghanem after he crossed the border.
"Most of the officials remaining in Tripoli are forced to stay
under intimidation and pressure. They are not happy with what is
happening," Al-Houni told the Associated Press.
Guma El-Gamaty, London-based spokesman for the Libyan opposition's
Interim National Council, said "all what we know is that Shukri
Ghanem is in Tunisia."
Nato has stepped up strikes on the Libyan capital Tripoli, and one
of the buildings hit early Tuesday was used by the Interior
Ministry, which is responsible for internal security.
Libyan spokesman Moussa Ibrahim suggested the ministry was
targeted because it contained files on rebel leaders in Benghazi,
the de-facto capital of the eastern half of the country, which is
under opposition control.
"If they (Nato) are really interested in protecting civilians ...
then we call upon them to stop and start talking to us," Ibrahim
said.
In Moscow, Russia's foreign minister urged Libya's government
representatives to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Minister Sergey Lavrov says that Gaddafi's representatives
reiterated their willingness to consider a peace plan tabled by
the African Union that called for an immediate cease-fire and
dialogue between the government and the rebels. The rebels have
rejected that plan.
The meeting follows a Monday visit to Moscow by the United Nations
special envoy for Libya.