Gadhafi’s son warns of rebellion against rulers

TRIPOLI

Saadi Gadhafi, one of the sons of Libya’s former dictator Moammar Gadhafi, has said a nationwide rebellion is brewing against the country’s new rulers as he vowed to return to his homeland.

“I will return to Libya at any time,” Saadi Gadhafi told Al-Arabiya television by telephone from neighboring Niger, where he took refuge after the fall of Tripoli which ended his father’s 42-year rule of Libya.

“Seventy percent of Libyans are not satisfied with the current situation,” he said in an interview on Feb. 10, adding that “the Libyan people are ruled by gangs.” Gadhafi said “there is a rebellion that is going on day after day, and there will be a rebellion in the entire country.” Asked about the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC), which took over after his father’s overthrow last year, Gadhafi said: “There will come a day when the Libyan people will be capable of wiping out these gangs.” When he returned, “I will try to make sure that there are no reprisals or revenge operations,” he promised.

NTC demands extradition
The NTC responded with a renewed call to the authorities in Niger to extradite Saadi Gadhafi. “The council demands that the Niger government extradite Saadi and those who are with him to the Libyan authorities as soon as possible to maintain the relationship with the Libyan people,” NTC spokesman Mohammed al-Harizy said, reading out a statement to reporters.

Niger responded that it could not hand over Saadi because he would face execution in Libya. But officials in Libya and Niger said that the Niger authorities had placed tighter restrictions on Saadi’s movements and agreed that the Libyan foreign minister, Ashour Bin Hayal, would meet his Niger counterpart to discuss the issue.