Libyan rebels face schism as Zliten attack is repelled
Nizar Sarieldin
BENGHAZI, Nizar Sarieldin- The unity of Libya's revolutionaries became the latest casualty on Wednesday of the shock assassination of a top general, as a key rebel group demanded senior ministers and military brass be fired.
The head of the February 17 Coalition -- whose members kick-started the revolt against Moamer Kadhafi -- told AFP the ministers of defence and international affairs must be sacked in the wake of last week's murder of General Abdel Fatah Yunis.
Abdulsalam el-Musmari, a judge who heads the coalition, criticised the events leading up to Yunis's murder and the governing National Transitional Council's handling of its aftermath.
The facts surrounding the general's death have been opaque, with senior members of the NTC giving incomplete and contradictory accounts of how he died, who killed him and the motive for the murder.
"We have two main demands," Musmari said. "The resignations of the defence minister (Jallal al-Digheily) and his deputy and for all the armed groups to fall under the national army or lay down their weapons."
In a separate written statement, the February 17 Coalition also demanded the sacking of Ali Alasawi -- the NTC's minister for international affairs -- and a probe into why he approved a warrant for Yunis's arrest.
The group's blistering criticism marks the most public sign yet of tensions between Libya's revolutionaries and the NTC that has come to be their de-facto government.
After five months of fighting against Kadhafi's regime, the NTC has come under increasing scrutiny, with unease fuelled by slow progress on the military front.
That slow progress was laid bare on Wednesday in the eastern town of Zliten, where Kadhafi forces appeared to have repelled a rebel attack.
A day after punching into the centre of Zliten, sparking fierce clashes, rebel sources admitted they had pulled back from the centre.
"There is no control from either side, the fight is still going on," said Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani, a military spokesman based in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
In Tripoli, government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told reporters: "Zliten is a free city (and) is under our full control."
He added: "I'm not talking about the centre of Zliten, but about Zliten as a metropolitan area."
But a rebel spokesman in the nearby town of Misrata, who asked not to be named, said Kadhafi's claims of control of the metropolitan area were nonsense.
"We are still not in the centre yet, but we control the Tuesday Souk, the Naima area and another area: Ezdo," he said, referring to areas of the town.
Zliten, some 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of the capital, has long been held by Kadhafi, and was suspected of being a base for multiple rocket attacks on Misrata that have killed scores of civilians.
Meanwhile in Rome, Italy's defence ministry said Wednesday that an Italian naval ship off Libya reported that a missile fell into the water nearby, but it was unclear whether it had been fired or dropped by accident.
"It could be a Libyan missile or an anti-aircraft missile that fell into the sea," Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa said on the sidelines of a press conference.
"There is no reason to worry," he said, though he added that the ship -- the Bersagliere -- had "moved further off to be on the safe side".
The missile fell into the water two kilometres from the frigate around 0840 GMT, he said.
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"We have two main demands," Musmari said. "The resignations of the defence minister (Jallal al-Digheily) and his deputy and for all the armed groups to fall under the national army or lay down their weapons."
In a separate written statement, the February 17 Coalition also demanded the sacking of Ali Alasawi -- the NTC's minister for international affairs -- and a probe into why he approved a warrant for Yunis's arrest.
The group's blistering criticism marks the most public sign yet of tensions between Libya's revolutionaries and the NTC that has come to be their de-facto government.
After five months of fighting against Kadhafi's regime, the NTC has come under increasing scrutiny, with unease fuelled by slow progress on the military front.
That slow progress was laid bare on Wednesday in the eastern town of Zliten, where Kadhafi forces appeared to have repelled a rebel attack.
A day after punching into the centre of Zliten, sparking fierce clashes, rebel sources admitted they had pulled back from the centre.
"There is no control from either side, the fight is still going on," said Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani, a military spokesman based in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
In Tripoli, government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told reporters: "Zliten is a free city (and) is under our full control."
He added: "I'm not talking about the centre of Zliten, but about Zliten as a metropolitan area."
But a rebel spokesman in the nearby town of Misrata, who asked not to be named, said Kadhafi's claims of control of the metropolitan area were nonsense.
"We are still not in the centre yet, but we control the Tuesday Souk, the Naima area and another area: Ezdo," he said, referring to areas of the town.
Zliten, some 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of the capital, has long been held by Kadhafi, and was suspected of being a base for multiple rocket attacks on Misrata that have killed scores of civilians.
Meanwhile in Rome, Italy's defence ministry said Wednesday that an Italian naval ship off Libya reported that a missile fell into the water nearby, but it was unclear whether it had been fired or dropped by accident.
"It could be a Libyan missile or an anti-aircraft missile that fell into the sea," Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa said on the sidelines of a press conference.
"There is no reason to worry," he said, though he added that the ship -- the Bersagliere -- had "moved further off to be on the safe side".
The missile fell into the water two kilometres from the frigate around 0840 GMT, he said.
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