Libyan rebels moved to encircle cities loyal to Muammar Qaddafi, threatening to attack unless they surrendered by next week while the search for the leader and his closest associates continued.
Elsewhere in the Middle East yesterday, a car bomb killed five Yemeni soldiers, according to al-Masdar, an independent news website. In Syria, government forces killed at 11 protesters, al-Jazeera reported, citing activists.
Libyan National Transitional Council head Mustafa Abdel Jalil said yesterday its forces will pressure the cities of Sirte, Bani Walid, Jufra and Sabha until they give up while continuing to supply them with humanitarian aid. Rebel fighters said they will begin attacking Bani Walid this morning if the city doesn’t surrender, Agence France-Presse reported.
“We are by the grace of God in a position of strength, capable of entering any city,” Jalil told reporters in Benghazi. He said the rebels were extending the deadline for surrender by a week “in our desire to avoid bloodshed and to avoid more destruction.”
The Misrata Military Council said it deployed its most powerful unit, the Halbus Brigade consisting of 500 men, around Beni Walid and it has observed that defensive positions that were held by government troops have been abandoned.
Restoring Stability
Since rebels captured Tripoli in late August, transitional authorities have been trying to restore stability, consolidate military gains and capture Qaddafi. More than six months of fighting to end the Libyan leader’s 42-year rule have reduced oil production and disrupted power supplies in the country with Africa’s largest crude reserves.
Libya’s new leaders anticipate restoring the nation’s oil output “within a reasonable time.” The pace of restoring oil production rests on how soon oil companies return their workers, said Ahmed Jehani, minister for reconstruction in Libya’s transitional administration.
Companies with major investments in Libya include Italy’s Eni SpA (ENI), France’s Total SA (FP) and Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) of the U.S., as well as Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY), ConocoPhillips (COP) and Hess Corp. (HES)
The Libyan rebel leadership has extended by a week to Sept. 10 the deadline for Qaddafi loyalists in his hometown of Sirte to surrender. Qaddafi vowed to fight on and turn the country “into a hell” in an audio recording broadcast by Syria-based Arrai satellite television.
Oil Production
Libyan oil production slumped to 60,000 barrels a day in July from 1.7 million barrels in January, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency.
There was little damage to infrastructure, Jehani said in an interview, and most of the required work involves restoring pressure to wells and cleaning sludge out of pipelines and storage facilities.
“Many of our fields are concessions held by international companies, so they are the ones that have to do the work,” Jehani said. “We can’t do it for them. It depends on how fast they deploy back to the country.”
Russia “will discuss all issues” with Libyan authorities, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, yesterday when asked about Russian energy projects in Libya. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on its website on Sept. 1 that it hopes the new Libyan leaders will honor previously signed contracts and agreements.
Gas Pipeline
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, the largest buyer of Libya’s energy output, this week said that Eni is aiming to re-open a gas pipeline between the two countries by Oct. 15.
Jalil said the NTC would move its headquarters to Tripoli from Benghazi, and pledged to hold presidential and legislative elections within 20 months, according to Agence France-Presse.
While opposition supporters now control most of Libya, Qaddafi has avoided capture. The former rebels believe he may be in one of their three key targets: the coastal city of Sirte, 280 miles (450 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli, Bani Walid, which lies 90 miles southeast of Tripoli, or Sabha, home to a major military base about 400 miles south of the capital.
Earlier this week, leaders of the international coalition that helped topple Qaddafi pledged economic and military support to Libya’s new administration as the former strongman vowed a long insurgency against his opponents.
Friends of Libya
A group of about 60 nations, called the Friends of Libya, agreed at a meeting in Paris to release billions of dollars in frozen funds for humanitarian and reconstruction needs. The meeting underscored the urgency of maintaining momentum following a five-month allied military effort.
The next meeting will take place in New York “on Sept. 20 or 21,” Italy’s Foreign Affairs Minister Franco Frattini said.
Since the rebels took Tripoli, Qaddafi has been on the run, while some members of his family have taken shelter in neighboring Algeria.
Some members of his family were taken to Algeria by a team of 35 former South African special forces, who were paid $15,000 each for the operation, Johannesburg’s New Age newspaper reported, citing an unidentified person who declined a request to take part in the mission.
Jalil said that Qaddafi “is still a threat” and that he welcomes the support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The one-day Paris meeting marked a shift from backing rebel aspirations to supporting the new leaders of Libya as they try to establish order and restore their economy.
Unfreezing Assets
The urgent unfreezing of Libyan government assets is prompted in part because it may be a year or more before full resumption of oil exports. Shokri Ghanem, Libya’s former top oil official who defected earlier this year, said he doesn’t expect production to return to pre-conflict levels of more than 1.5 million barrels a day until the end of 2012, according to the Sept. 5 issue of Petroleum Intelligence Weekly.
Jehani said he expected oil production to return to pre-war levels “within a reasonable time,”
Crude oil fell on concerns fuel consumption will drop in the world’s largest economy. Crude oil for October delivery settled down $2.48, or 2.8 percent, to $86.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Aref Ali Nayed, the operations coordinator for the National Transitional Council’s stabilization team, said in a press conference there was little damage at the Zawiya refinery, and that crude supplies are resuming. Nayed said Eni and at least four other oil companies have sent advance teams to the country. He wouldn’t name the others.
UAE Ambassador
Nayed, a theologian who defected as ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, reiterated earlier pledges from the NTC leadership that existing oil contracts will be respected.
Restoring output “could be faster than some people think,” Jehani said.
The car bomb attack in Yemen was the third suicide bombing in the city since early May.
A huge explosion was heard in different parts of Aden followed by heavy gunfire, said a witness, Mohammed al-Hasani, by phone.
Residents in Yemen have been protesting since February against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was injured in an attack on June 3 and has been recuperating in Saudi Arabia.
Yesterday’s killings in Syria brought the death toll for the week to 73, the National Organization for Human Rights said on its website.
Night demonstrations occurred in the Syrian cities of Homs, Daraa, Hawla, Saramain and Damascus, Al-Arabiya news channel said, citing activists.
Russia doesn’t support unilateral sanctions against Syria, Lavrov said.
“We always say unilateral sanctions cannot make any good,” Lavrov said of European Union sanctions against Syria. “It is destroying any partnership approach to any problem.”
