Libya: Gaddafi Regime Unraveling As Cash And Gold Is Brought Into Niger from Sirte

Reuters reports a convoy of 10 vehicles crossed into Niger carrying money taken from a branch of the Central Bank of Libya, confirmed by a spokesman for the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) today. "They took the money from the central bank in Sirte," Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, an NTC spokesman told Reuters in Benghazi. Sirte is the birthplace of fugitive strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

An NTC official earlier said a Libyan convoy of 10 vehicles carrying gold and cash crossed into Niger late on Monday, citing sources among the Tuareg people who live in the Sahara desert on both sides of the frontier. Reuters said today that what appears now to be a string of 200 to 250 vehicles could have been part of a dramatic secret attempt by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi to find refuge in a friendly African state, possibly Burkina Faso, which has offered him asylum. But other reports suggested that the vehicles were carrying Tuareg fighters who had been paid to fight for him.

The possibility might also exist that France may have brokered a deal between the rebels and Colonel Qaddafi but the French government declined to confirm the report. France was the first country to recognize the rebels who launched their uprising in February and has played a central role along with Britain and the United States in the NATO air campaign to weaken his forces.

Asked whether NATO was aware of the convoy’s reported movements, officials of the alliance at its headquarters in Brussels and its Libya operations base in Naples, Italy, declined to comment, saying they did not discuss intelligence matters.

EU-Digest

Libya: Clinton urges Gaddafi to go, not issue threats

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi should stop issuing threats against Europeans and resign instead, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says.

"Gaddafi should put the well-being and the interests of his own people first and he should step down from power," Mrs Clinton said in Spain.

For more: BBC News - Libya: Clinton urges Gaddafi to go, not issue threats: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Libya: Italy FM: Leaders must agree there's no role for Moammar Gadhafi's family in Libya's future

Italy's foreign minister says talks this week on Libya must firmly agree there can be no future role for Moammar Gadhafi or his family.

Franco Frattini said Monday that diplomats also should reject any new proposal to partition Libya between the rebel-held eastern cities and Gadhafi's strongholds in the country's west.

Frattini told France's Europe-1 radio that the "sons and the family of Gadhafi cannot participate in the political future."


For more: The Canadian Press: Italy FM: Leaders must agree there's no role for Moammar Gadhafi's family in Libya's future

Italy to propose joint plan with Germany and Turkey on Libya

Italy will propose that it and Germany back a joint plan on Libya that involves a ceasefire, a humanitarian corridor through Turkey and exile for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said.

Frattini said in an interview published on Sunday by La Repubblica newspaper that Rome would try to get Berlin to agree to the plan and present it at a London meeting to set up a high-level steering group on Libya. "We have a plan and we will see if it can be translated into an Italian-German proposal, perhaps in a joint document that can be presented on Tuesday," he said.

He said it included a ceasefire monitored by the United Nations and a "permanent humanitarian corridor" to let aid in, which he said Turkey was already making efforts to achieve.

EU-Digest