Qadhafi blames Al Qaeda for insurrection

BENGHAZI, Feb 24: Muammar Qadhafi blamed Al Qaeda on Thursday for an insurrection wracking Libya as he addressed his divided nation for the second time this week to galvanise support for his crumbling regime. Speaking on state television, the embattled Qadhafi insisted the uprising against his 41-year rule was not a people`s revolt in the style of Egypt and Tunisia, but inspired by Osama bin Laden`s network. In marked contrast to a 75-minute address from a podium outside his Tripoli home on Tuesday, this time Qadhafi spoke by telephone from an undisclosed location in an intervention that lasted barely 20 minutes. His decision to speak by telephone rather than make an on-screen appearance has raised questions about his whereabouts, and indicates that his power base may be shrinking. Amid continued fighting, swathes of the east of Libya have fallen to opposition control and others into lawlessness, residents and reporters said. World governments have scrambled to evacuate stranded nationals from the oil-rich North African state as world crude prices soared close to $120 a barrel. The 68-year-old leader accused residents of Az-Zawiyah, a town 50km west of the capital hit by fierce fighting between his forces and rebels, of siding with the Al Qaeda leader. "You in Zawiyah turn to Bin Laden. They give you drugs. It is obvious now that this issue is run by Al Qaeda," he said, addressing the town`s elders. "Those armed youngsters, our children, are incited by people who are wanted by America and the Western world." Az-Zawiyah is a middle-class satellite town situated on the Mediterranean that is home to a number of pro-Qadhafi military officers and the site of the country`s largest oil refinery. Meanwhile, a Libyan newspaper said 10 people were killed and dozens more wounded when pro-government forces attacked the town on Thursday. Quoting its correspondent in Az-Zawiyah, Benghazi-based Quryna added that "the wounded cannot reach the hospitals because of shots being fired in all directions". Earlier, state news agency Jana said three "terrorists" attacked a security forces post there and slit the throats of three policemen. Al-Jazeera television, reporting heavy fighting, also quoted witnesses as saying an army unit led by Qadhafi ally Naji Shifsha blasted the minaret of a mosque being occupied by protesters in Az-Zawiyah. Hundreds of people have been killed since the uprising started in the eastern city of Benghazi on February 15, according to human rights groups, while some politicians say the toll could be as high as 1,000. A reporter who arrived in Benghazi on Thursday found about 1,000 demonstrators outside the local courthouse, the starting point of the uprising and now restyled as revolutionary headquarters. Effigies apparently of Qadhafi hung from street lamps and children played on top of an abandoned tank. Police stations had been gutted by fire but residents said there had been no looting. In the capital, sustained gunfire was heard in the eastern suburbs during the night. On Thursday morning, the streets were virtually deserted.—AFP