Report: Gadhafi's son Saif seen rallying Libyans

CAIRO?? A television station broadcast footage dated Sept. 20 of what it said was Moammar Gadhafi's son Saif al-Islam apparently rallying his forces in one of the last strongholds of the Libyan leader.

"This land is the land of your forefathers. Don't hand it over," Saif al-Islam shouted to a crowd of followers in an unidentified location, according to the footage broadcast by Syrian-based Arrai TV on Tuesday.

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Saif al-Islam has not been seen in public since the Libyan capital Tripoli was overrun by rebels in August.

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Brandishing an automatic rifle and wearing a military uniform, he said: "Brothers, you need to enter Tripoli today by force."

It was not immediately possible to verify the footage.

It was the first time that Gadhafi's son, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court to face charges of crimes against humanity, had been seen in public since footage of him was broadcast on Aug. 23, soon after rebels announced they had captured him.

"I am off now, but I will send you weapons," Saif al-Islam could be heard saying to his followers. A crowd could be heard reciting a traditional chant: "God, Moammar and just Libya".

Halt politics, Algeria tells Gadhafis
Other members of the Gadhafi have fled to Algeria, where on Tuesday the government ordered them to stay out of politics.

Gadhafi's daughter Aisha angered the new Libyan government by telling the media her father was still fighting to hold on to power.

"It is clear that the message has been passed on to Aisha and the other members of the family that they should, from now on, respect their status as guests in Algeria and remove themselves completely from any political action," Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci was quoted as saying by Algeria's official APS news agency.

Aisha Gadjafi, her brothers Hannibal and Mohammed, their mother Safia and several other family members fled Libya in late August after rebel fighters took control of most of the country.

Algeria's government said it allowed them to enter on humanitarian grounds, but Libya's new rulers, the National Transitional Council (NTC), accused Algeria of an "act of aggression."

Last week, Arrai TV, which gives sympathetic coverage to Moammar Gadhafi and his family, broadcast a message from Aisha.

Message prompts protest
"I reassure you about your leader, oh Libyans," said Aisha, a 35-year-old lawyer. "He is well and thank God his spirits are high. He is carrying his weapon and fighting along with his sons at the fronts."

That broadcast prompted civil society activists in Tripoli to go to the Algerian embassy and submit a protest petition.

Algeria has had rocky relations with the NTC since the start of Libya's rebellion in February.

The NTC accused Algeria's government of backing Gaddafi in the civil war, a charge it denied, while Algiers said the NTC was not committed to tackling the threat to security from al Qaeda's north African wing.

In a step toward repairing relations, Algeria last week said it recognized the NTC as the legitimate government, becoming the last of the Libya's neighbors to do so.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44690148/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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