Top Libyan rebel officials on Monday urged NATO to maintain pressure on the remnants of Muammar Qadhafi’s regime and protect crews trying to restore critical water and power services.
“Qadhafi is still capable is doing something awful in the last moments,” the head of the rebel’s transitional government, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, told senior NATO envoys meeting in the Gulf nation of Qatar.
Other rebel officials urged NATO to shift its focus to help safeguard reconstruction teams seeking to ease water and power shortages in the capital, Tripoli, and elsewhere. Rebel leaders estimate at least 60 per cent of Tripoli’s residents don’t have enough water.
Jalal al-Digheily, who is overseeing defence issues in the rebels’ National Transitional Council, said NATO-led forces must now keep watch over work crews seeking to restore services.
“Even after the fighting ends, we still need logistical and military support from NATO,” he told military chiefs of staff and other key defence officials from NATO nations.
The NATO talks in Qatar included France, Italy and Turkey. Qatar has been a leading Arab backer of the Libyan rebels and contributed warplanes to the NATO-led mission.
Published - August 29, 2011 03:13 pm IST
