Qaddafi’s Son Warns of Civil War as Libyan Protests Widen
THE NEW YORK TIMES: CAIRO — A five-day-old uprising in Libya took control of its second-largest city of Benghazi and spread for the first time to the capital of Tripoli late on Sunday as the heir-apparent son of its strongman, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, warned Libyans in a televised speech that their oil-rich country would fall into civil war and even renewed Western “colonization” if they threw off his father’s 40-year-long rule.

In a rambling, disjointed address delivered about 1 a.m. on Monday, the son, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, played down the uprising sweeping the country, which witnesses and rights activists say has left more than 200 people dead and hundreds wounded from gunfire by security forces. He repeated several times that “Libya is not Tunisia or Egypt” — the neighbors to the east and west that both overthrew their veteran autocrats in the space of the last six weeks.

The revolt shaking Libya is the latest and most violent turn in the rebellion across the Arab world that seemed unthinkable just two months ago and now poses the greatest threat in four decades to Colonel Qaddafi’s autocratic power. The United States condemned the Qaddafi government’s lethal use of force. >>> DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and MONA EL-NAGGAR | Sunday, February 20, 2011

Libya: Protests Gather Pace as Gaddafi's Son Vows to Fight to the End
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Troops loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya will "fight until the last man standing" to defend his regime, his son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, said as forces battled protesters in the capital Tripoli.


Col Gaddafi's second son and heir apparent appeared on television late in the evening to say there would be "rivers of blood" and that Libya was on the brink of a civil war that would burn its oil wealth.

"Our spirits are high and the leader Muammar Gaddafi is leading the battle in Tripoli, and we are behind him as is the Libyan army," he said. "We will keep fighting until the last man standing, even to the last woman standing...We will not leave Libya to the Italians or the Turks."

But he admitted that "civilians are driving tanks in Benghazi" and though he said only 84 people had died showed he was aware of the extent of the uprising.

"This is an opposition movement, a separatist movement which threatens the unity of Libya," he said. "We will take up arms, we will fight to the last bullet. We will destroy seditious elements. If everybody is armed, it is civil war, we will kill each other."

Opponents of the Gaddafi regime were in control of parts of Libya's second city Benghazi having driven back security forces who fired on them with high-velocity sniper rifles, machine guns and even anti-aircraft artillery.

There were less violent clashes in Tripoli, though there were also reports of gunfire and tear gas there as demonstrators gathered near Green Square and hurled stones at police. One protester told the al-Jazeera network they were chanting at the leader: "Where are you? Where are you? Come out if you're a man."

Human Rights Watch says that at least 233 people have died since last week in the unrest, which has spread from the eastern provinces. It said at least 60 people died in Benghazi yesterday, 50 deaths having been recorded at Al-Jalaa Hospital and ten more at 7 October Hospital.

The city was described to diplomats as a "war zone" by a senior regime official. >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent Nabila Ramdani in Cairo | Monday, February 21, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi: a profile – Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, had long been seen as the successor to his father before the wave of protests that has shaken the north African country. >>> | Monday, February 21, 2011

Gadhafi Explains Bomber Endorsement

Die Niederlande als Vorbild für Libyen: Ghadhafis Sohn Saif al-Islam distanziert sich rhetorisch von seinem Vater
NZZ ONLINE: Ghadhafis zweiter Sohn Saif al-Islam hat sich in einem Interview von den radikalen Elementen innerhalb des libyschen Regimes distanziert, ohne seinen Vater direkt zu kritisieren. Er behauptet, für Libyen politische Freiheiten «wie in den Niederlanden» anzustreben.

Die Libyen-Affäre schwelt weiter und Max Göldi sitzt noch immer in einem libyschen Gefängnis. Jetzt hat Saif al-Islam («Schwert des Islams»), Sohn von Revolutionsführer Ghadhafi, in einem Interview mit dem amerikanischen Nachrichtenmagazin «Time» aber erstaunliche Töne angeschlagen. In einer offenen Herausforderung der radikalen Elemente innerhalb des libyschen Regimes forderte er einen «demokratischen Wandel».

Der Streit mit der Schweiz sei nur der Beleg für umfassenderes Problem Libyens, sagte Saif. Es ginge darum, wie sein Land mit dem Westen nach Jahrzehnten der Isolation umgehen soll. «Wenn wir mit dem Westen tanzen wollen, dann müssen wir das zum gleichen Rhythmus und zur gleichen Musik tun».

Ohne seinen Vater direkt zu kritisieren, bezeichnete er die beharrenden Kräfte in Libyen rundweg als «Idioten». Auf die Frage, welche Freiheiten er gerne in Libyen etablieren möchte, antwortete er: «Alle - Ziel ist ein Mass an Freiheit wie etwa in Holland». Das wäre allerdings eine radikale Abkehr von der diktatorischen Herrschaft, wie sie sein Vater nun schon mehr als vierzig Jahre in Libyen ausübt. Bekannt für Offenheit >>> bbu. | Montag, 08. März 2010

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TIME: Gaddafi vs. Switzerland: The Leader's Son on What's Behind the Feud >>> Vivienne Walt, Tripoli | Saturday, February 27, 2010

Gaddafi vs. Switzerland: The Leader's Son on What's Behind the Feud
TIME: It's tempting to dismiss Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi's call this week for a jihad against Switzerland as just another round in the feud between the two countries. But it would be a mistake to treat Gaddafi's rhetoric as mere theater. Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, the Libyan leader's second-eldest son, who many suspect is Gaddafi's likely successor, tells TIME that Libya's row with Switzerland is evidence of a far more serious and urgent issue within Libya, which is grappling with how democratic and Westernized the country should become after decades of isolation. "If we are going to dance with them [the West], we need to dance with the same rhythm to the same music," Saif Gaddafi said in a candid interview as he relaxed on his farm outside Tripoli, on the public holiday marking the Prophet Mohammed's birthday. "The best example is the Swiss crisis. It shows there is a big gap between our way of thinking and our mentality, and the Western mentality and the way of doing business."

That's an understatement. The senior Gaddafi's call on Friday for holy war against Switzerland has injected a new, more menacing tone into a dispute that has dragged on for the past 18 months. Gaddafi told an audience of diplomats and officials in the city of Benghazi that Muslims should bar Swiss planes and ships from their countries, and embargo Swiss goods. "Let us wage jihad against Switzerland, Zionism and foreign aggression," he told the crowd. "Any Muslim in any part of the world who works with Switzerland is an apostate, is against Muhammad, God and the Koran."

The rift, which threatens multi-billion-dollar investments in Libya, began when Swiss police arrested Gaddafi's youngest son Hannibal and his wife in July 2008, for allegedly assaulting two of their servants in a Geneva hotel. The couple denied the charges, which were quickly dropped, but the row continued. Offended by Swiss newspaper portrayals of his son, Gaddafi withdrew billions in Libyan funds from Swiss banks in July of last year, prompting the Swiss president to fly to Tripoli to apologize for the arrest.

Gaddafi was still not mollified. Last August, two Swiss businessmen were arrested in Tripoli for overstaying their visas. After a five-month standoff, one was allowed to leave Libya last week, while the second began a four-month prison term. >>> Vivienne Walt, Tripoli | Saturday, February 27, 2010

Seif Gaddafi with Claudia Haider
Seif Gaddafi, Muammar Gaddafi’s son, was a personal friend of Jörg Haider. Photo of Seif Gaddafi with Claudi Haider, Jörg Haider’s wife, courtesy of ’Die Presse’
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