Libya: 'Gaddafi will win in the end' says US intelligence chief embarrassing Obama part 1

Libya: 'Gaddafi will win in the end' says US intelligence chief embarrassing Obama

 

• White House forced into humiliating denial

• PM writes letter calling for dictator to step down

• But EU's Baroness Ashton warns against no-fly zone
  
• Unicef accuses Gaddafi of using child soldiers
  
• Opposition troops cling on to outskirts of oil port
• Regime threatens to cleanse rebel 'rats' from country
  

The head of the U.S. intelligence service said today that he believed the Gaddafi regime 'will prevail' in Libya.

James Clapper told the Senate armed services committee: 'With respect to the rebels in Libya, and whether or not they will succeed or not, I think frankly they’re in for a tough row. I don’t think he has any intention of leaving. He appears to be hunkering down for the duration.'

Pressed on which side had the momentum, the Director of U.S. National Intelligence was even clearer, saying: 'I think in the longer term that the regime will prevail.'

Desperate defence: Shrapnel flies through the air as a tank shell explodes near Libyan rebel fighters defending their last position in Ras Lanuf

Hours later, the White House distanced itself from the remarks. A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that President Barack Obama ' does not think Gaddafi will prevail'.

Mr Clapper was speaking as David Cameron demanded that Europe unite against Gaddafi and call on the dictator to give up power immediately.

 

Arriving at an emergency summit in Brussels today the Prime Minister said: 'It's important that the countries of Europe show political will, ambition and unity in being clear that Colonel Gaddafi must go, that his regime is illegitimate, that what he is doing to his people is completely unacceptable.This is absolutely vital work.'

Retreat from Ras Lanuf: Rebel fighters scramble to escape as Gaddafi's forces launch a barrage of shells and rockets on the strategic oil port

 

Further fears about Gaddafi's methods were raised by Unicef, which said there were 'serious concerns' that child soldiers are among the mercenaries the dictator is hiring from Africa to attack rebel forces.

Marixie Mercadoe, spokeswoman for the UN children's agency in Geneva, said the mercenaries came from Chad, Niger, Central African Republic and Sudan's Darfur region, all places with 'known child soldiers'.

The UN special envoy for children in armed conflicts, Radhika Coomaraswamy, said human rights groups and Libyan civilians were also providing unconfirmed reports that children were taking up arms and being killed and injured.

Counter-offensive: Rebel fighters have been defeated in Zawiya and are clinging on in Ras Lanuf

 

At the Brussels emergency summit on Libya and North Africa, Europe's foreign policy chief Cathy Ashton warned EU leaders against backing a no-fly zone over Libya, citing deep concern about the potential risks and loss of civilian life.

In a joint letter to the summit Mr Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy had urged the EU to deliver a declaration endorsing contingency planning to prevent the use of force against civilians by the Gaddafi regime, including 'a no-fly zone or other options against air attacks'.

But Baroness Ashton, who visited Tripoli earlier this week and was at Nato talks on no-fly zones yesterday, was said now to be concerned about such a move.

'The risks are high for potential civilian casualties and potential collateral damage,' said one EU diplomat. 'The efficiency of a no-fly zone is very questionable. Apart from anything else, European command and control facilities would not be able to get a no-fly zone up and running in less than five or six weeks, and Nato is suggesting it would take at least three to four weeks.'

'The question is whether, in political terms, a no-fly zone can achieve what you want it to achieve.'

Threat: Gaddafi's son Saif vows to a rally of young supporters that the regime will retake the eastern half of the country

 

British ministers have said for days that a 'demonstrable need' would have to be established for a no-fly zone, which would also need a 'clear legal basis' and the backing of countries in the region - effectively through the Arab League.

But the diplomat said latest assessments accepted by Baroness Ashton suggest that Algeria and Syria would be unwilling to give their support. Another factor is the EU nationals remaining in Libya - between 1,500 and 2,000, of whom only 150 want to leave the country.

At the summit, a British official said no-fly zones remained on the agenda, adding: 'We think all governments, all countries should be thinking about what might lie around the corner.'

As the EU debated no-fly zones, Gaddafi's regime threatened to cleanse Libya of rebel forces and chase them 'like rats' from 'house to house, from farm to farm and from one city to another city'.

Government units have defeated the opposition in a bloody battle for the strategically important town of Zawiya and have forced a frantic retreat from Ras Lanuf, where rebels were today clinging to the outskirts of the oil port.

Journalists allowed into Zawiya, only 30 miles from Tripoli, described the scene as looking like the aftermath of a huge bomb, with utter devastation for half a mile in every direction from the main square.

They said clean-up squads loyal to Gaddafi were busy erasing any evidence of the bloody week-long battle for the town, loading up the mangled wreckage of tanks and decorating lampposts with the green flags of the regime.

The only other people on the streets, said The Guardian, were bands of Gaddafi's men 'high on victory and bent on revenge' going from house to house and rounding up dozens of suspects.

Residents described scenes of carnage, with women and children among the dead. One resident said: 'People are being arrested for no reason, people who stayed in their homes for the whole seven days of the fighting. You cannot imagine what is happening here.'

The victors in Zawiya showed off their spoils on state television. Displaying weapons taken from the rebels, a reporter said they were captured from: 'terrorists, dogs and traitors'.

Then came the threat to chase the rebel forces across the country. The reporter said: 'The armed people's force have started from al-Zawiya and will continue to cleanse the whole  country. The armed people's force is announcing that every citizen should report to them any rat if they know of there whereabouts.'

Zawiya was recaptured by Gaddafi's son Khamis, who leads the 52nd Brigade, described by U.S. diplomats as the best trained of all the Libyan forces. In Tripoli, the leader's son Saif al-Islam pledged to launch a new offensive to retake the eastern half of the country. He told a cheering crowd of young supporters: 'I have two words to our brothers and sisters in the east: We're coming.'