Kadhafi's daughter gives birth in Algeria

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ALGIERS - Moamer Kadhafi's daughter gave birth to a baby girl in Algeria Tuesday as Algiers said it decided to grant safe haven to the wife and three children of the ousted Libyan leader for "strictly humanitarian reasons."

"Aisha gave birth very early this morning. She had a little girl. Mother and daughter are doing fine," said a government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Earlier Tuesday, foreign ministry spokesman Amar Belani insisted that Aisha, her brothers Mohammed and Hannibal, as well as their mother Safiya, Kadhafi's second wife, were allowed into the country "for strictly humanitarian reasons."

Libya's ruling National Transitional Council criticised the announcement from Algeria, which has not recognised the NTC as Libya's new authority, amid speculation that Algiers backed Kadhafi through the months-long conflict and is troubled by his downfall.

The newborn girl was named Safiya, after their grandmother, according to the daily Ennahar, which said the family crossed via the Tinkarine border post in the far south and was flown 400 kilometres (250 miles) northwest to Djanet, where Aisha was admitted to hospital.

The family was placed under house arrest in the desert town, the newspaper said.

"We have informed the Secretary General of the United Nations, the president of the (UN) Security Council and the president of the executive council of the NTC," Belani said in an e-mail sent to AFP.

Belani was commenting on a request issued by the NTC for the return of the Kadhafi family members.

When the Algerian foreign ministry on Monday announced the arrival of the Kadhafi family, the rebels' justice minister Mohammed al-Allagya told AFP that the Algerian authorities would be asked to send them back to Libya.

The spokesman of the rebel government, Mahmud Shammam, said on Monday evening that the NTC had been told by Algeria of the family's arrival.

"We'd like those persons to come back," Shammam said, adding that Algeria had given them a "pass" to go to a third country.

"Saving Kadhafi's family is not an act we welcome and understand," he told a press conference in Tripoli late on Monday.

"We can assure our neighbours that we want better relations with them ... but we are determined to arrest and try the Kadhafi family and Kadhafi himself," Shammam went on, saying the rebels guaranteed a "fair trial."

Algeria stands apart from other north African nations like Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, which have all recognised the NTC as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people, leading some among the rebels to accuse Algiers of supporting the Kadhafi regime.

Pierre Vermeren, a French researcher at the African affairs centre in Bordeaux and expert in north African affairs, said ties were "more than cold because the Algerians do not recognise (the NTC) and for months there have been rumours of help by some elements of the Algerian army for the Kadhafi regime."

"While the Algerians welcomed the fall of (Zine El Abidine) Ben Ali (in Tunisia in January), they didn't seem happy with the fall of Kadhafi.

"(Algerian President Abdelaziz) Bouteflika has said nothing," Vermeren pointed out.

With Kadhafi's whereabouts still a mystery, there has been speculation that he is hiding out among tribal supporters in his birthplace, the coastal town of Sirte.

Rebels say they are negotiating with civic and tribal leaders to try to broker Sirte's peaceful surrender.

Algeria has "since February been accused of supplying military aid to Kadhafi, particularly by providing planes to transport mercenaries," said Didier Le Saout, a north African expert at Paris university.

"Algeria will be the state in the region with the worst relations with the new Libyan authorities."

Mourad Benmehidi, Algeria's ambassador to the UN, told the New York Times that the spouses of Kadhafi's two sons and daughter also crossed into Algeria, along with several of their children.

Algeria has also closed its borders with Libya in the far south, El Watan reported on its website, quoting Algerian officials.

Algiers, according to the report, wants to block Kadhafi loyalist fighters from fleeing into Algeria to avoid further strain relations in its ties with the NTC.

Forgiveness

When rebel Nizar Hussein came face to face with a member of one Moamer Kadhafi's most loyal brigades on a Tripoli street, his anger flared and he thought of revenge as the soldier begged forgiveness.

"I am innocent," said the man, a member of Kadhafi's guard who stumbled upon Hussein as he emerged from a house near Kadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya stronghold, which the rebels overran last week.

When that failed to work, he pleaded for forgiveness.

"Please. Forgive me. I was forced to do it," he told Hussein, who was armed with a pistol and a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

Hussein had come to Tripoli to visit an uncle, travelling from the western town of Zawiyah, where rebels fought pitched battles with Kadhafi forces as they pushed their way east to the capital.

The soldier's unit was considered one of the staunchest pro-Kadhafi brigades.

"I just wanted a car. The Kadhafi forces said they would hand out cars, money and houses to volunteer (fighters)," said the soldier.

"I have children. I am with you," he said, hoping to convince Hussein.

But Hussein was furious and refused to be swayed by a neighbourhood official who warned him against harming the soldier.

"Don't touch him," said Mohammed al-Fezzani, a member of a popular committee set up by the rebels to keep order in the district.

"The new authorities will deal with him. Just don't tell anyone where he is. Some people could be furious because he might have killed someone dear to them, a mother, a father," he told Hussein.

The rebel National Transitional Council has asked insurgents to refrain from any acts of revenge, but the soldier still expects the worse.

"I'll give you anything. Anytime. Please, forgive me," he told the rebel, who dismissed his words with a shrug.

"Don't worry," he said, letting the soldier rush out of sight. But then he explodes.

"He was in Zawiyah. I saw them, him and his unit on Green Square. He killed, he raped, he abducted people. No one knew where he was hiding," Hussein shouted.

"I would like to kill him for everything he did. He deserves to die."

While the rebel informs officials in Zawiyah tasked with hunting Kadhafi loyalists, the soldier's father, Yussef, pleaded with a neighbourhood official for his son's safety.

"You must do something for my son. You must find a solution for his security," Yussef, who declined to give his surname fearing revenge attacks against his family, told a local committee member.

The rebels have erected checkpoints across Tripoli and set up local committees to maintain order in the city since taking control of most of the capital last week.

Motorists driving in and out of Tripoli neighbourhoods are stopped for identity checks and people from outside the neighbourhood must explain where they are going and who they plan on visiting to weed out any suspicious people.

Yussef said he has lived in the area for 45 years and would seek out his neighbours in case of any problems. Kadhafi loyalists have been beaten up by rebels in the days after the insurgents flooded Tripoli.

According to the rebels, Yussef was a member of the "revolutionary committees", the backbone of Kadhafi's regime.

But Yussef admitted only to having worked "with the military" and unlike other pro-Kadhafi families in the area, he did not flee when the rebels arrived.

"I am not the only pro-Kadhafi (person) here. Everyone liked him, everyone backed him. It was expected as long as his forces were around," he said.

"He was the president of this country and I was a simple citizen. Before I was loyal to Kadhafi. Now I will be loyal to the rebels," said Yussef.

He says he is not afraid and that for now things "are well" with the rebels who are providing residents with food and water.

But Yussef also admitted that life under Kadhafi "was fine."

"I had a comfortable life, a pay cheque at the end of each month. I ate, I worked. It was peaceful."

Ahmed al-Tharaht, the official in charge of interior affairs at the rebel council, said Tuesday revenge attacks were "isolated cases, not systematic" and that Tripoli's rebels would soon be disarmed and asked to join the army or security forces.