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World tells Kadhafi to quit
AFP - Monday, February 28
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BENGHAZI, Libya (AFP) - – World leaders called on Moamer Kadhafi to step down on Sunday as Libyan protesters appeared to take control of the city closest to Tripoli, threatening an endgame to his four-decade rule.
The chaos engulfing the oil-rich North African state of 6.3 million has fanned fears that his hold on power could descend into civil war as the United Nations confirmed that nearly 100,000 people have streamed out of the country.
The UN Security Council imposed a travel and assets ban on Kadhafi's regime and ordered an investigation into possible crimes against humanity by the Libyan leader, the first time any such decision has been made unanimously.
A key defector was forming a transitional government to replace Kadhafi's crumbling regime, which now controls only western areas around the capital and a few longtime bastions in the arid south, reporters and witnesses say. Analysis: Libya would face hard transition after Kadhafi
Regime opponents appeared to control the city of Az-Zawiyah, just 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Tripoli, where thousands took to the streets to denounce the teetering leader in front of journalists on a guided visit.
Az-Zawiyah is the site of the country's largest oil refinery and a middle-class satellite town on the Mediterranean that is home to a number of pro-Kadhafi military officers.
Witnesses said the journalists were welcomed by thousands of demonstrators who gathered at Martyrs Square, shouting "down with the regime, we want freedom". A number of them were armed and some fired into the air.
No Libyan security services were visible. But the town saw clashes between regime supporters and opponents last Thursday, in which a human rights group said more than 35 people were killed.
Fears of all-out conflict as die-hard loyalists mount a desperate rear-guard action prompted countries to evacuate tens of thousands of citizens and close down embassies, to escape reported gunfire, looting and food shortages.
US President Barack Obama said Kadhafi needs to "leave now," having lost the legitimacy to rule, in a call echoed by leaders in Britain, Germany and Italy. Related article: Obama says Kadhafi must 'leave now'
"The time has long come for him to leave," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, saying a UN Security Council decision against his regime was a signal to all "despots".
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Kadhafi's downfall was now only a question of time. "It's inevitable that this will happen... I think we are at a point of no return," Frattini said.
Britain revoked Kadhafi's diplomatic immunity and Foreign Secretary William Hague too called on him to stand down, as the "best hope" for Libya.
Residents of the capital Tripoli said banks were open but bread and petrol remained tightly rationed as the rebels' grip on large swathes of the vast desert nation played havoc with the distribution of basic goods.
The authorities sent out text messages urging families to take up an offer, announced by state television on Friday, of a handout of $400 for every family.
"This is only for Tripoli, they are trying to bribe the people," one resident told AFP.
Tanks and all-terrain vehicles driven by regime partisans were patrolling almost deserted neighbourhoods around the city, residents said.
"This escape of mine makes me feel I am in heaven," said Mohammed Sali, 63, an engineer in the first batch of Indian evacuees to return home.
"One man came and put the knife on my neck. He took all my belongings -- laptop, chain, even my car.
"We heard gunshots every day... People have to go without food and water for three or four days as the situation there is bad. People are on the streets... police stations have been burnt down. There is no safety, no police."
Libya's former justice minister, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, said a new administration would include commanders of the regular army, much of which has defected, and would pave the way for elections in three months' time.
"Our national government has military and civilian personalities. It will lead for no more than three months, and then there will be fair elections and the people will choose their leader," Abdel Jalil told reporters in the eastern town of Al-Baida, an opposition stronghold.
It was not immediately clear whether other cities that liberated themselves had coordinated the move with Abdel Jalil, who resigned on Monday in protest at the increasingly deadly crackdown on opposition to the regime.
Kadhafi's son Seif al-Islam, once regarded as a reformist possible heir, said the crisis had "opened the doors to a civil war" and denied that his family had secreted billions of dollars out of the country.
"We are a very modest family and everybody knows that," he told ABC television's "This Week" programme, scornfully dismissing the assets freeze imposed by the UN. Related article: No money secreted out of Libya, Kadhafi son says
The Security Council also voted to order an investigation into possible crimes against humanity by the Libyan regime, as well as an arms embargo, and travel bans against Kadhafi and his family and inner circle.
The resolution cited "gross and systematic violation of human rights, including the repression of peaceful demonstrators" and incitement to hostility and violence "from the highest levels of the Libyan government." Related article: UN Council hits Kadhafi with sanctions
The United Nations says that more than 1,000 people have been killed in the crackdown by Kadhafi loyalists.
The Security Council said it was referring the bloodshed to the International Criminal Court because "the widespread and systematic attacks" in Libya against civilians "may amount to crimes against humanity".
Libya's foreign legion of domestic helpers, construction workers and oil executives were among thousands scrambling to evacuate by air, land and sea.
More than 10,000 people fled through the Ras Jedir post into Tunisia on Saturday alone, most of them Egyptians, the Red Crescent said, calling it a "humanitarian crisis". Related article: Tunisia in crisis as thousands flee Libya
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