Esam Omran Al-Fetori/Reuters
People gathered near the body of an anti-Qaddafi fighter after an attack on an oil refinery in Ras Lanuf on Monday.
TRIPOLI, Libya — The chairman of Libya’s transitional rebel government gave his first public address in Tripoli on Monday, exhorting thousands of cheering Libyans in the central square to support a democratic system that honors Islam, respects the rule of law and repudiates the personality cult of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the deposed leader whose 42-year rule was upended last month.
The speech by the transitional government leader, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, was, symbolically at least, the most significant action taken by him since an alliance of rebel forces routed Colonel Qaddafi from Tripoli. Over the past few weeks, anti-Qaddafi fighters have isolated his loyalists to a few pockets of the country, including Colonel Qaddafi’s hometown of Surt. But up until this weekend, Mr. Jalil had not moved to Tripoli and remained based in the eastern city of Benghazi where the uprising began in March.
“We will not accept any extremist ideology, on the right or the left,” Mr. Jalil said, according to news accounts of the speech in Tripoli’s Martyr’s Square, formerly known as Green Square during the Qaddafi era. “We are a Muslim people, for a moderate Islam, and will stay on this road.”
The speech capped a day of new international recognition of the rebel Transitional National Council as Libya’s legitimate government, as well as reminders that Colonel Qaddafi and his followers remain a threat to that government’s stability.
Earlier Tuesday, forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi attacked an important oil refinery at the Mediterranean port of Ras Lanuf, and the transitional government said at least 15 anti-Qaddafi fighters had died. But in a hopeful sign for the council, China, the last major power to withhold recognition of its legitimacy, officially changed positions and accepted it.
Abdulrahman Busin, a spokesman for the council’s military operations, said the loyalist attack on Ras Lanuf was apparently a response to news that the council had taken steps to restart oil production, which had been one of the country’s major contributors of income before the conflict began. He said that forces allied with the council were still fighting loyalists to bring an industrial area in Ras Lanuf back under control. “We have them surrounded,” he said.
The transitional government has not revealed which of the country’s oil facilities are working again, but has said it was attempting to get all reopened as soon as possible. Ras Lanuf is one of Libya’s main oil installations.
There were other indications on Monday that efforts to declare complete victory over Colonel Qaddafi and his holdouts were moving slowly or stalled. NATO, which helped the rebel forces in a bombing campaign against Colonel Qaddafi’s military, said its work remained unfinished in Libya. Two days have passed since a deadline for remaining Qaddafi loyalists to surrender, with no indication that they have lost their will to fight.
And while leading figures of the deposed government and Colonel Qaddafi’s family have fled — his son Saadi el-Qaddafi was the latest to escape, seeking sanctuary in Niger over the weekend — Colonel Qaddafi’s whereabouts remained unknown. Al-Rai, a Syria-based television channel that has become a conduit for pro-Qaddafi messages, broadcast a statement on Monday that it said had been written by Colonel Qaddafi, denouncing his Libyan adversaries as traitors and vowing: “We will not surrender Libya to colonialism.”
Fighting continued Monday in the loyalist stronghold of Bani Walid, where anti-Qaddafi fighters said Sunday they had taken control of the northern half of the town. Outside Colonel Qaddafi’s hometown, Surt, fighters said Monday that they tried to push closer to that city the day before, but encountered heavy loyalist fire from Grad rockets and pulled back to a bridge about 125 miles from Surt.
In the Ras Lanuf attack, Mr. Busin, said pro-Qaddafi gunmen advanced on the oil facility from the south, killing between 15 and 19 former rebel fighters and seizing part of an industrial area there.
While residents of many major population areas have displayed a growing sense of security, reappearing on the streets and opening businesses, many Libyans say they will not feel completely safe until Colonel Qaddafi is captured or killed.
Many stores remain closed and many refugees who fled the conflict have yet to return. Militias allied with the provisional government still roam Tripoli with guns that they often fire in celebration, making residents nervous.
There have been unconfirmed but persistent reports of shooting attacks on checkpoints around Tripoli. On Monday, officials said they had been unable to confirm reports of an explosion at the Tripoli airport, which raised fears of an attack there, and had concluded it was nothing serious.
And while university campuses are opening for cleanup, parents have expressed concern about allowing students to travel to campuses alone for fear that pro-Qaddafi snipers may still be lurking.
