An official of the revolutionary forces said on Wednesday that the fallen Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi is hiding near the town of Ghadamis under the protection of one of his last and strongest support groups: the Tuareg tribe. The CNN reported that the interim military government had reliable information about Gaddafi’s hideout, but could not disclose how the military had acquired the information.

“Gaddafi is protected by the Tuareq tribe located between Niger, Algeria, and Ghadamis town in Libya,” said spokesperson Col. Abdul Basit. Tuareq fighters have been long-time supporters of the Gaddafi regime, “probably because he’s paying them,” said one source according to the Associated Press.

Ethnic Tuareq is a nomadic community that lives around the desert borders of Algeria, Chad, Libya, Mali and Niger. Tribesmen are known to be capable mercenaries, says CNN, and have played a vital part in the escape of loyalists of the Libyan dictator.  Before the revolution, Gaddafi often cashed in on the support of the Tuareg as he rallied to manipulate unstable countries south of Libya.

While the military spokesperson seemed sure about the discovery of Gaddafi’s whereabouts, the National Transitional Council has before made false statements, according to CNN. Another report has suggested that Gaddafi was hiding in the southwestern desert town of Sabha but suspicion has intensified after a recent attack near Ghadamis.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Gaddafi family is scattered in known and unknown locations around the country and neighboring territory. Saif al-Islam is largely considered to be hiding in Bani Walis, 140 kilometers southeast of Tripoli alongside other regime members while another son, Mutassem, is thought to be in Sirte, Gaddafi’s hometown.

CBSnews.com further reported that Gaddafi’s daughter Aisha and other relatives have been given refuge in Algeria. The International Criminal Court in The Hague still has arrest warrants out for the Libyan dictator, his son Salif as well as the former intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi. Senussi was allegedly killed during clashes with rebels.

According to Examiner.com, Col. Gaddafi is wanted for crimes committed against humanity through “significant evidence showing Gaddafi ordered forces to attack civilian homes, shoot at demonstrators, disrupt funerals and order snipers to hit those coming out of mosques.” According to NATO, 200,000 Libyan nationals are still under threat from pro-Gaddafi forces.
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On the September 8, two young and determined Libyan activists stormed their embassy in the Philippine capital demanding the resignation of Gadhafi diplomats. The Associated Press (AP) reported that two men scaled the embassy’s steel gate, barging into the building and scuffling with guards.

They were yelling loudly and tried to look for two of four Libyan diplomats inside, who they accused of remaining loyal to Gadhafi. “We are Libyans, this is our embassy,” Elyosa Fathi Elgardag, one of the intruders and a former student in the Philippines, said before storming the complex in front of Filipino guards.

The two Libyans said they left the embassy after the staff showed them a senior diplomat’s resignation letter, according to the Associated Press. The other diplomat the two activists were seeking wasn’t identified, and the Libyan Embassy staff refused to comment. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs also did not comment Friday on the situation.

Elgardag said that the embassy later informed the activists that the other diplomat they were interested in seeing is not a Gadhafi loyalist. Elgardag said they were satisfied with the development: “We are happy with that,” he said, adding that they left the building in an embassy car without any further cause.

A number of other Libyan activists, mainly Philippine students, were barred from entering the upscale gated community in Manila’s financial district, Elgardag said. A crowd-control team stood by in case Libyan protesters tried to get near the embassy.

Last month, Libyan diplomats in Manila raised the flag of the temporary rebel government, the National Transitional Council, as Tripoli’s diplomatic missions across the world defected from Gadhafi, underscoring his rapid fall after nearly forty two years in power.

The rapturous, young Libyans rampaged through the embassy compound in August, smashing Gadhafi’s glass-covered portraits, shouting “Die Gadhafi, die!” and ripping his “Green Book,” with his ruling philosophy. However Elgardag said the Libyan diplomats in Manila were under pressure after he and some other Libyans stayed in the Philippnes forced them to defect.

Elgardag’s companion, an anonymous student, said that they were refused from entering the embassy and they had no choice but to storm it because the embassy failed to arrange for the continuation of financial aid to Libyan students abroad. This lack of funding made things difficult for many students, according to the AP.

Elgardag believes that despite Gadhafi’s condemnation, the Libyan people should remain vigilant and ensure that succeeding leaders stomp out problems like massive corruption, the AP reported. “It’s not yet over,” he said and added that the Libyan revolt should “move all the corruption from the country. It’s not just to move the president.”

The Philippines in August recognized the opposition-led interim government in Libya after initial reluctance over concerns for safety of 1,700 Filipino workers, mostly nurses, still in the country. Gadhafi used to bankroll Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines but later brokered a historic 1976 peace accord between the main Muslim group and the Philippine government.

Libya also reportedly paid millions of dollars in ransom for the release of Western hostages held by the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group in 2000.

 
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On Friday, Interpol issued arrest warrants for Libya’s former dictator Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam as well as his intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi. And it is not just international forces who want the elusive former leader behind bars.

The new rulers in Libya has according to Huffington Post dedicated a special unit to the hunt of Gaddafi — using phone tapping, satellite images and witness accounts to pinpoint his position. The Libyan dictator went underground after Aug 21 when rebels swept into Tripoli but has not been seen in public for several months ahead of this event.

His disappearance is a major issue to Libyans and many western leaders and rumors of his whereabouts have put him on several locations both in and outside the country. Gaddafi himself claims to remain in Libya through audio broadcast and seems unwilling to face defeat.

Meanwhile, anti-Gaddafi forces are rounding up their former political opponents — most importantly the former Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim, according to Sky News. Khaled Kaim was one of the faces of Gaddafi’s regime and also one of those who denied that Arab Spring was sweeping through the people of Libya, calling the uprising the work of islamists and terrorists.

Kaim is now staying at a high security detention centre in Tripoli where he continues to refuse realities Kaim told Sky News reporter Lisa Holland that he had received a death threat from someone inside the regime shortly before it collapsed because “he was pulling away from them.”

He insisted that he was simply a mouthpiece to the Colonel: “Making a press conference doesn’t mean that you’re saying your own opinion,” he explained While former government strongmen try to salvage their political careers, the anti-Gaddafi fighters continue their operation to find the dictator.

One fighter participated in a raid last week where they believed Gaddafi was staying. The fighter, who spoke to The Huffington Post under the condition of anonymity, said that Gaddafi had “escaped less than an hour before the raid through a secret tunnel. Computers were on and cups of tea were still warm.”

NATO, who has plenty of intelligence collection measures in the area were suggested as a possible partner to the Libyan tracking mission. However, both NATO and Libyan officials has declined that the alliance will make a difference in the hunt for Gaddafi. Still, some of the rebel’s allies continue to contribute where they can.

For example, reports say that small CIA teams, as well as a number of British and French special operation advisors, are prepared to help the former rebels in their search. When or if Gaddafi is caught, the International Criminal Court prosecutor wants to see the former leader held accountable “for the serious criminal charges that have been brought against him.”

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Billionaire real estate mogul, reality television star, and now pretend presidential candidate, Donald Trump claimed last week that he once took part in a devious plan to undermine Muammar Gadhafi’s power by taking his money.

“I think I probably have more experience of anybody — whether I sell them real estate for tremendous amounts of money. I mean, I’ve dealt with everybody,” the billionaire real-estate mogul told Fox News Monday morning, touting his supposed foreign policy credentials. “And by the way, I can tell you something else. I dealt with Gadhafi. I rented him a piece of land. He paid me more for one night than the land was worth for two years, and then I didn’t let him use the land.”

“That’s what we should be doing. I don’t want to use the word ‘screwed’, but I screwed him,” Trump continued. “That’s what we should be doing.”

That sounds sort of impressive, but it is not true.  In 2009, Trump came under inspection when he rented property to Gadhafi.  After a rambling, conspiracy-theory-filled speech delivered at the U.N., Gadhafi planned to spend the night in Bedford, N.Y., where his agents pitched a giant Bedouin tent on a property owned by Trump.  Local officials were unhappy at the news that their small town would be hosting an accused sponsor of terror and they ordered the tent be dismantled, claiming it violated building codes. Trump, at the time, claimed ignorance.  He said he did not know he was renting his land to a dictator.

After a day of controversy, Trump then asked Gaddafi to go elsewhere.  “We have requested that the tenant occupying the property in Bedford, N.Y. remove the tent that was erected. They have complied with this request. Additionally, Mr. Gadhafi will not be going to the property,” said Trump Organization spokeswoman Rhona Graff.

So is that how you screw a dictator, Mr. Trump?  Your version of events sounds far more impressive than what actually happened.  I guarantee Gadhafi got his money back.

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