New defection adds pressure on Gaddafi
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Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was hit with a triple whammy Tuesday as his oil minister appeared to have defected, Moscow issued a rebuke and NATO jets pounded Tripoli.
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Firemen and rescue personnel work at the scene of where two explosions were heard around 1:30 am local time (11:30 GMT) in the capital Tripoli Tuesday. |
A Tunisian government source told AFP that Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem, a veteran of Gaddafi's regime, had left his country and arrived in Tunisia.
Ghanem, also the chairman of Libya's powerful national oil company, crossed the border by car on Saturday and is in a hotel in the southern tourist island of Djerba, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Former foreign minister Moussa Koussa defected to Britain in March, leaving Libya via Tunisia.
In Moscow, meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he held talks Tuesday with Gaddafi's envoys and had told Tripoli to obey the terms of UN resolutions on Libya. Russia is also preparing to hold talks with Libyan rebels.
Overnight, air strikes by NATO set two buildings near Gaddafi's compound on fire in the Libyan capital.
Britain confirmed attacks overnight in Tripoli involving Tomahawk missiles and Royal Air Force Tornado aircraft, which it said struck intelligence agency buildings and a military training base.
