{"id":432955,"date":"2011-05-30T22:02:50","date_gmt":"2011-05-30T22:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/"},"modified":"2011-05-30T22:02:50","modified_gmt":"2011-05-30T22:02:50","slug":"libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/","title":{"rendered":"Libya: Senior officers defect from Gaddafi army"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Eight senior officers who defected from Col Muammar Gaddafi\u2019s army have appealed to fellow soldiers to join them in backing the rebels.<\/p>\n

One of the eight accused pro-Gaddafi forces of \u201cgenocide\u201d.<\/p>\n

The men \u2013 who are said to include five generals \u2013 appeared at a news conference in Rome.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile South African President Jacob Zuma has held talks with Col Gaddafi in Tripoli, in an attempt to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict.<\/p>\n

One of the generals who spoke to reporters in Rome, named as Oun Ali Oun, read an appeal to fellow soldiers and security officials to abandon the regime \u201cin the name of the martyrs who have fallen in the defence of freedom\u201d.<\/p>\n

He also denounced both \u201cgenocide\u201d and \u201cviolence against women in various Libyan cities\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another general, Melud Massoud Halasa, told reporters that Col Gaddafi\u2019s forces were \u201conly 20% as effective\u201d as they were before the rebellion, as \u201cnot more than 10\u2033 generals remained loyal to him.<\/p>\n

Former Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgam, who now backs the rebels and appeared at the news conference, said a total of 120 soldiers had defected in recent days.<\/p>\n

Since the start of the uprising in February dozens of army officers, government ministers, and diplomats have abandoned Col Gaddafi.
Humanitarian priority<\/p>\n

Col Gaddafi \u2013 who was last seen on state television meeting tribal leaders on 11 May \u2013 was not among the dignitaries who greeted Mr Zuma at Tripoli airport.<\/p>\n

As the South African president arrived, his office said the objective was to discuss an immediate ceasefire, the delivery of humanitarian aid and the implementation of reforms needed to end the crisis.
Continue reading the main story<\/p>\n

After the meeting at Col Gaddafi\u2019s compound, Mr Zuma said the Libyan leader was ready to accept an African Union initiative for a ceasefire.<\/p>\n

However the AU\u2019s \u201croadmap\u201d, which was drawn up in February, has already been rejected by both the rebel Transitional National Council (TNC) and Nato because it did not call on Col Gaddafi to step down.<\/p>\n

Nato imposed a no-fly zone in Libya and began bombing Col Gaddafi\u2019s forces in March as they threatened to overrun rebel-held parts of the country, a month after nationwide anti-government protests began.<\/p>\n

South Africa voted for the UN Security Council resolution authorising the use of force to protect civilians in Libya despite the AU\u2019s concerns. Since then, Mr Zuma has joined other African leaders in accusing Nato of overstepping its mandate and calling for an end to the bombardment.<\/p>\n

The BBC\u2019s Andrew North in the Libyan capital says that despite Mr Zuma\u2019s personal relationship with Col Gaddafi, the prospects for this peacemaking bid look thin.<\/p>\n

On Monday, rebel spokesman Guma al-Gamati told the BBC that he believed Mr Zuma\u2019s visit would make a difference as Col Gaddafi was far weaker and more isolated than he was last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people around him and the aides and people who are fighting for him are diminishing; some are deserting,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Pro-Gaddafi forces, which control Tripoli and the rest of western Libya, have been targeted by Nato under the UN resolution aimed at protecting civilians.<\/p>\n

Libyan state media said on Monday that Nato aircraft had killed 11 people at civilian and military sites in Zlitan, 50km (30 miles) west of Misrata.<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Follow this link:
\nLibya: Senior officers defect from Gaddafi army<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eight senior officers who defected from Col Muammar Gaddafi\u2019s army have appealed to fellow soldiers to join them in backing the rebels. One of the eight accused pro-Gaddafi forces of \u201cgenocide\u201d. The men \u2013 who are said to include five generals \u2013 appeared at a news conference in Rome. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-432955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nLibya: Senior officers defect from Gaddafi army - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Libya: Senior officers defect from Gaddafi army - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Eight senior officers who defected from Col Muammar Gaddafi\u2019s army have appealed to fellow soldiers to join them in backing the rebels. One of the eight accused pro-Gaddafi forces of \u201cgenocide\u201d. The men \u2013 who are said to include five generals \u2013 appeared at a news conference in Rome.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Libya: Senior officers defect from Gaddafi army\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-30T22:02:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/\"},\"wordCount\":572,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/\",\"name\":\"Libya: Senior officers defect from Gaddafi army - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-30T22:02:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Libya: Senior officers defect from Gaddafi army - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Libya: Senior officers defect from Gaddafi army - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"Eight senior officers who defected from Col Muammar Gaddafi\u2019s army have appealed to fellow soldiers to join them in backing the rebels. One of the eight accused pro-Gaddafi forces of \u201cgenocide\u201d. The men \u2013 who are said to include five generals \u2013 appeared at a news conference in Rome.","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Libya: Senior officers defect from Gaddafi army","datePublished":"2011-05-30T22:02:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/"},"wordCount":572,"commentCount":0,"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/","name":"Libya: Senior officers defect from Gaddafi army - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-05-30T22:02:50+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/libya-senior-officers-defect-from-gaddafi-army\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432955\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}