Tripoli, January 24: Libya’s interim government has rejected reports that the supporters of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi have taken over the town of Bani Walid, southeast of the capital, Tripoli.
The denial came after former National Transitional Council (NTC) member M’barek al-Fotmani said on Monday that “the loyalists of Gaddafi took control of the entire city of Bani Walid.”
According to Fotmani, the loyalists were carrying green flags and chanting pro-Gaddafi slogans.
Libyan caretaker Interior Minister Fawzi Abdelali, however, denied the claim and said that armed clashes have erupted in the town due to “internal problems.”
Reports say at least five NTC forces have been killed in the gunfire.
“The information we have from inside the city does not say that there are green flags (hoisted on town buildings) and there is nothing in relation to the former regime,” said Abdelali.
Volunteer forces have also established checkpoints across Tripoli, about 170 kilometers north of Bani Walid, which was one of the last pro-Gaddafi bastions to fall in the popular uprising against the slain dictator’s rule.
——Agencies