While the world waits for President Obama to decide if Libya’s lack of strategic importance to America outweighs the threatened humanitarian catastrophe; intriguing news comes from Malta.
According to Malta Today, Colonel Gaddafi’s cousin, Ibrahim Yahia Gaddafi, has been sighted on the island attempting to negotiate the purchase of petrol and the chartering of shipping to transport it to Brega.
Ibrahim Yahia Gaddafi runs the Libyan state oil company Tamoil, and is normally based in Morroco.
The Algerian newspaper Echorouk has recently alleged that Ibrahim Yahia Gaddafi has been responsible for the hiring and financing of mercenaries, using Tamoil as a front company.
On Sunday the Gaddafi regime called on Italy to help with a fire at the Ras Lanouf refinery, and the de facto oil minister, Shukri Ghanem, admitted that oil production had fallen drastically due to the uprising.
In Benghazi, Aisha Ftaytah, a spokeswoman for the Transitional National Council, claimed that the only major oil hub held by the Gaddafi forces is in Tripoli, 400 miles from the rebel capital of Benghazi.
With US ambassador Susan Rice reportedly seeking to widen the criteria of the NFZ to include ground attacks on vehicles, the possible Maltese sighting is seen by some to indicate that it may not be too late for intervention. And that Saif Gaddafi’s claims of 400 vehicles closing in on Benghazi and the conflict being over within 48 hours may prove logistically impossible: especially if such a long supply line is subject to air attack.
This last ditch attempt to force a stalemate, and diplomatic solution, is dependent on President Obama making a decision; something his critics point out is not his strength.
No comments:
Post a Comment