DAMASCUS – Musa Ibrahim, the Libyan government spokesman, gave a telephone interview last Monday with Iraqi businessman and owner of Damascus-based and pro-Al-Gadaffi Al-Ra’y TV, Mish’an al-Juburi.
Ibrahim alluded to the clandestine oil deal between Libya’s counter-revolutionaries of the National Transitional Council (NTC) and France.
Ibrahim said sarcastically that the ‘attack on Libya was a “good investment” for the future of France, because France is going to make excellent economic gains.’
He added: ‘If France has taken 35 per cent, then how much has Italy taken, how much has Britain taken and how much has the US taken. That means that the Libyan oil has all been sold by now?’
He then spoke about the role of Qatar in the conflict which ‘helped NATO to destroy our homes, our orchards, our schools, our hospitals and our towns and then they force us to pay, to pay the price of this destruction and killing.
‘All the destruction which happened in Libya, they will take it from the Libyan oil. These are people with a guilty conscience.’
Referring to the news reports about documents showing UK and US links with Libyan intelligence as far back as 2003, in particular, the rendition to Libya of Abd-al-Hakim Bilhaj, who is now leader of the Tripoli Military Council, Ibrahim said: ‘The world knows who is Abd-al-Hakim Bilhaj, he is one of the most notorious terrorists in the world who does not hesitate to kill children, who does not hesitate to kill old people and women and who does not hesitate to plant bombs in markets, schools and hospitals.
‘According to him, he was about to reach an agreement with the Libyan state previously, but he broke his word and his promise and has now returned to terrorist operations.’
Ibrahim went on to talk about foreign military bases in Libya: ‘Now there are foreign military bases in Libya. And this is a very, very, very serious matter.
‘This is the most dangerous thing to happen in the region for decades. You are aware, brother Mish’an, that when Muammar al-Gadaffi conducted the 1st September revolution in 1969, the first thing he did, together with his free comrades, was to recover the Libyan oil for the Libyans, then he expelled all military bases and, at the time, there were many military bases. There were British military bases, US military bases, a French military presence and Italian settlers. He expelled them all within one year.’
Ibrahim said all those who were expelled by Al-Gadaffi had now returned to Libya: ‘Now they want to steal oil which was recovered by Muammar al-Gadaffi for the Libyans and they want to establish their military bases in Libya.
‘Brother Mish’an, you are an experienced politician and you know how they present you with honey stuffed with poison. They are not going to establish military bases immediately. They are now talking about permanent peacekeeping forces in Libya. They are talking about areas of a strategic concentration of NATO forces in Libya to ensure security.’
Ibrahim said such peacekeeping forces would threaten ‘not only the security of Libya, but the security of Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and the security of the whole region’.
Asked by Al-Juburi whether the Libyan resistance had moved from the stage of ‘self-defence to the stage of organised attacks against the positions of the enemy, the mercenaries and agents’, Ibrahim replied: ‘We have still not moved to the stage of popular resistance. Why, my noble brother? Because we are still the existing state!
‘We still have the professional forces of the armed people, in addition to legions of volunteers. We continue to fight and our forces still exist to defend the liberated cities and to recover the captured cities through infiltration.
‘We will do this at the right time. These are military issues presented by military and political leaders. However, there are volunteers, men and women, who are carrying out individual and organised actions in several cities, which we encourage, salute and support.
‘But the all-out popular war, from street to street and from city to city has not begun yet.’
He added: ‘Every day I meet fighters. Today I met 150 volunteers who formed a legion bearing the name of one of the martyrs in their region. I am not going to mention names in order to protect the volunteers. They asked me to convey the following message to the Libyans. They told me we are ready for martyrdom. We are the free sons of Libyans and we are ready to die.
‘They are young men – brother Mish’an – in their 20s. They said but the only thing we want from people for whom we will be dying is not to allow the enemy to establish legitimacy. Not to cooperate with it and not to join it so that the enemy feels that he is isolated and hated.’
Ibrahim concluded that the Leader Colonel Gadaffi was in good health in Libya and leading the struggle.
At 1813 gmt on 6th September, during a live phone-in programme, Al-Ra’y TV conducted a 10-minute live telephone interview with Yusif Ali, spokesman for the Warfallah tribe in Bani-Walid.
Ali opened the interview stating that its purpose was to refute ‘the vicious media attack’ and ‘conspiracy’ launched by Al-Jazeera against the Warfallah tribe.
He said this followed a correspondent report aired by Al-Jazeera in which the tribe was said to have participated in negotiations to surrender.
Ali mentioned names of Warfallah dignitaries who had called a consequent meeting and collectively issued a statement which was a ‘direct reply to the lies broadcast by Al-Jazeera’ and proceeded to read it out on air.
After reading out the official statement, Ali moved on to reassure dignitaries of Warfallah tribes in other Libyan cities including Sirte and Sabha that they were ‘well, and resistant’ and called upon them to come to Bani-Walid’s aid and face ‘the enemy of the nation’.
He stated that human rights were being violated in Bani-Walid; oxygen supplies were being prevented from reaching the hospitals, the city was besieged and it was subject to ‘genocide’. He appealed to Warfallah tribe members in Tripoli to move to Bani-Walid ‘to save their families’ and ‘prevent a massacre’.
Following is the full text of the official statement read out by Ali.
‘With reference to Al-Jazeera’s correspondent report regarding negotiations to foil the mujahid city of Bani-Walid, the Warfallah mujahidin tribes of mujahid Bani-Walid announce that no person was dedicated to negotiate on behalf of the people of Warfallah tribes of Bani-Walid with any authority regarding the situation of Bani-Walid, and the Warfallah tribes in Bani-Walid have no interest whatsoever in what was mentioned by Al-Jazeera’s correspondent.
‘And they confirm that they categorically reject the mere talk of surrendering or handing their city to anyone. And that despite the brutality of the air raids mounted by the NATO crusaders, and despite the blocking of the cities’ outlets by the NATO crusader gangs, and the blocking of the roads and prevention of foodstuffs and medicine of reaching the city, the people of the mujahid Warfallah tribe will not be subjected to any conditions whatsoever, and reject negotiating under any condition while they are under the umbrella of air raids that are being mounted by NATO crusader planes, or under conditions of threat and siege.
‘The NATO crusader raids and the threat of injury shall only make the Warfallah tribes more resistant and challenging to the crusader enemy and its criminal gangs.
‘This is the statement by the dignitaries of the Warfallah tribe in Bani-Walid, Tuesday 6th September 2011.’