Are Libya's rebels in disarray? Envoy calls disputes 'normal.'
| Washington
The Washington representative of Libya’s ad-hoc transitional government, which is fighting to oust Muammar Qaddafi, dismissed on Monday reports of disarray in the opposition’s military command, chalking up what disagreements exist among rebels to “a normal thing in any democracy.”
Ali Aujali, who until mid-February was the Libyan regime’s ambassador to Washington, also implored the international coalition enforcing a United Nations resolution and carrying out airstrikes in the country to redouble its efforts. The coalition should take steps to “paralyze” and even “destroy” the forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi in order to help precipitate the Libyan leader’s departure, Mr. Aujali said.
Aujali spoke at the Center for American Progress in Washington, as reports swirled around the capital of reluctance on the part of the Obama administration to arm rebel forces that by some accounts are increasingly riven by disputes and conflicting military aims.
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The longtime Libyan diplomat, who only a few weeks ago was vehemently defending the Qaddafi regime, said the international coalition should provide more humanitarian aid to the Libyan people, as well as training and heavy arms such as tanks and artillery to the rebels. But as for foreign troops, Aujali said, none are necessary or desired.
"The Libyan people want the honor to remove Qaddafi from power,” he said.
And any Americans concerned about the cost to the US of continuing its participation in the coalition effort should remember, he added, that Libya has tens of billions of dollars in assets held by foreign countries that he said Libyans would be “very happy” to spend on gaining their freedom.
'Don't pay our bill'
“Don’t pay our bill,” Aujali said, “We will pay our own bill.”
Asked about the reports of disputes among the rebels’ military commanders, Aujali said that while there may be “some differences” over how Qaddafi should leave power, there is unity on the objective of a Libya free from “Qaddafi and any of his family.”
“The Libyans share in the most important thing – the goal that Qaddafi must go,” Aujali said. He added that the world should not be surprised by “disagreements over how to move forward” in a country where a dictator “didn’t allow us to have differences for the last 40 years.”
But he insisted that any “differences” are aired as part of a “democratic process” that is overseen by the civilian transitional council. The New York Times reported Monday that the rebels military commanders had clashed at a meeting they were summoned to last week by the transitional council.
Opposition to arming rebels
Some members of the Obama administration, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, have come down against arming the Libyan rebels, arguing that it remains unclear exactly who they are and who controls them. Some US officials have raised concerns that the rebels could include Al Qaeda elements – Libyans who in the past went off to Afghanistan to fight on the side of the Taliban.
Aujali insisted the transitional council is Al Qaeda-free, even as he admitted that some Libyans might have such connections. “Not one member of the council has any connection to Al Qaeda or extremists at all,” he said. But he acknowledged that the stalemate that a growing number of military analysts say Libya could settle into could favor Al Qaeda’s infiltration into the country.
“Qaddafi didn’t allow Al Qaeda to work in Libya,” he said. “But if the crisis is taking a long time, then we have to be concerned.”
