Post date: May 30, 2011 7:37:52 PM
Eight defecting Libyan army officers appear in Rome, saying they are among up to 120 who have recently defected.
ROME, ITALY (MAY 30, 2011) REUTERS - Eight Libyan army officers appeared in Rome on Monday (May 30), saying they were part of a group of as many as 120 military officials and soldiers who defected from Muammar Gaddafi's side in recent days.
The eight officers; five generals, two colonels and a major, spoke at a news conference organised by the Italian government, which is one of a handful of countries that has recognized the Libyan rebel movement fighting Gaddafi as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.
Libyan U.N. ambassador Abdurrahman Shalgam, who has also defected from Gaddafi, said all 120 of the military personnel were outside Libya now but he did not say where they were.
"At first, I would to thank all the friends that are here with me for this occasion, these Libyan generals, who have left Gaddafi's forces to support the resistance of the Libyan people. I think this is a very important step that shows that the days of Gaddafi are truly over," he said.
Earlier, Al Arabiya television said 120 Libyan officers had arrived in Rome. The Libyan ambassador to Rome, who has also defected from Gaddafi, said only the eight present at the hastily called news conference were in the Italian capital.
The eight officers said they defected in protest at Gaddafi's actions against his own people, saying there had been a lot of killing of civilians and violence against women.
"We, in this occasion, urge our colleagues, other Libyan officials and representatives of the public security sector to follow us in the February 17 revolution, to join their people. The moment of glory is very near. Long live Libya, long live the revolution of February 17!" General Oun Ali Oun said.
The officials also told the news conference that Gaddafi's armed forces' campaign against rebels was rapidly weakening.
But the spokesman of the Libyan Transitional National Council, Mahmoud Shammam, said the rebels were waiting for much-needed funds promised by international collaborators.
"In compliance with international controls, we have not received any funds due to bureaucratic complications. We are also expecting financing from Kuwait, we are speaking of 180 million dollars, the amount which yesterday was promised to be in our accounts today or tomorrow. We promise the Libyan people and our friends around the world that the money will be used in all transparency," he said.
British-based Libyan opposition activist and editor Ashour Shamis said he was aware of reports from opposition sources that eight high ranking Libyan officers including four generals had defected and were in Rome.
Noman Benotman, another opposition activist who works as an analyst for Britain's Quilliam Foundation think tank, said he had heard that many officers had defected, without elaborating.
Every individual defection was the result of a combination of factors, he said, but the latest group had been spurred largely by tensions arising from the appointment of what he called newcomers to senior positions in the security services.
The behaviour of these men, many of them relatively youthful Gaddafi loyalists in their mid-30s, had stirred anger and dismay among the army's officer ranks, who regarded their actions as overbearing and brutal, Benotman said.
He added that many of the newly appointed senior security officials were Gaddafi relatives.