Gadhafi Spokesman Denies Capture
A man claiming to be Moussa Ibrahim, spokesman for Moammar Gadhafi, denied on Saturday claims he had been captured by forces of the country's new regime outside of the deposed Libyan leader's hometown of Sirte.
"This information is a lie and does not reflect reality," the man said in a live telephone interview with Syrian-based Arrai television, which has become a conduit for declarations by Gadhafi and other elements of his former regime.
On Thursday, field commanders with Libya's National Transitional Council said Ibrahim had been captured as he attempted to flee Sirte in a car, with some reports saying he was dressed as a woman.
Those claims quickly came into question, with a spokesman for the NTC's Misrata military council saying the next day: "We cannot confirm he was arrested."
On Friday, the website of the former state television channel Allibiya said "Moussa Ibrahim has not been captured."
"This is a mendacious rumor aimed at distracting attention from the rebels'... defeat at the hands of the heroic forces in Sirte."
In the interview on Arrai, the purported Ibrahim said claims of his capture could not be true because at the time he was said to have been captured "I was near the Sirte front with 23 fighters. We were under attack by very well-armed rebels for more than a day and a half, and we suffered fatalities."
Ibrahim was the public voice of the Gadhafi regime.
Since NTC fighters overran Tripoli on August 23, he has continued to issue statements through Syrian-based Arrai television from an unknown location, although not so frequently in recent days.
Late last week, he appealed for resolve against "agents and traitors," denounced what he called "genocide" by NATO and its "Libyan agents," and criticized the world community for "inaction."
Source: Agence France Presse
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