Gaddafi barricaded in Tripoli compound, says ex-diplomat

ISTANBUL - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has barricaded himself in a compound in capital Tripoli, a former diplomat said Tuesday.

“He is now in Bab al-Azizia - an area that is six square kilometres large,” Abdulmoneim al-Honi, the representative of Libya in the Arab League who resigned in protest over the regime’s brutal crackdown on demonstrators, told DPA.

“Besides this base, there are now only two barracks, held by Gaddafi and his followers. One of them is Al-Saadi, a barrack to the east of Sirte (Gaddafi’s home town). The rest of the country is now controlled by the youth.”

Meanwhile, a former aide to Gaddafi said the Libyan leader would keep fighting and not be swayed to enter into dialogue with opposition protesters.

“Gaddafi is a strong man who doesn’t change his opinion and if dialogue is directed as an order, he won’t listen,” Nouri al-Mismari told broadcaster Al Arabiya.

But al-Mismari, regarded as a prominent of Mubarak confidante before defecting last year, said the government has to eventually obey the people’s demands.