LIBYAN RESISTANCE: Ex-Gaddafi colonel says regime crumbling!

For LEED Consultancy / IGBC Certifications, Green Building Design, Green Homes, Green Factory Buildings, Green SEZs, Green Townships & Energy Audits - www.greentekindika.com

August 14, 2011 / DC.

A Libyan rebel flashes the V-sign for victory reportedly entering the western outskirts of the town of Zawiyah, 40km west of the capital Tripoli during clashes with forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi - AFP.

An imprisoned Libyan army colonel who surrendered to the rebel forces two months ago said on Saturday that Muammar Gaddafi's regime is riven with division and in the process of collapse.

Speaking from a prisoner of war camp in the rebel enclave of Misrata, Colonel Wissam Miland said Gaddafi's military hangs together through coercion and mercenary-enforced martial law, but that infighting is rife.

"I think it will soon collapse," he said, offering a rare glimpse inside Gaddafi's three-pronged loyalist force, made of up army regulars, militia fighters and mercenaries.

"Among the militias, the Libyan soldiers were starting to fight with the foreign mercenaries, there are many problems," he said in an interview.

The prospect of mounting divisions among Gaddafi's fighters will be an encouraging sign for many NATO countries, which have warned that there can be no clear-cut military solution to Libya's nearly six-month-old civil war.

Since the beginning of the revolt, the alliance -- along with Libya's rebels -- has used sanctions, diplomacy and brute force to try to cleave off parts of Gaddafi's inner circle in the hope of hitting the regime's tipping point.

The prospect that Gaddafi's use of foreign mercenaries may be backfiring will also offer hope that the once oil-rich regime could be running out of options.

While it has long been known that Gaddafi has used paid fighters from Chad, Niger, Mauritania and other Sahel nations, their exact role has not always been clear.

"Within my unit there were a lot of mercenaries," Miland said. "But they are not fighting with the army -- they surround the army. They don't let anyone fall back. If you retreat, they will kill you."

But, Miland warned, Gaddafi is also successfully using economic, social and political levers to sustain his regime.

"Most of the soldiers are illiterate, they are just trained very hard and they are told that Gaddafi is the most important person in the world -- 'Your life depends on Gaddafi, if Gaddafi loses, you lose'," he said.

Full Story at,

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/world/africa/ex-gaddafi-colonel-says-regime-crumbling-783