Arab League calls for unfreezing of Libyan assets

The Arab League Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi is ready to begin talks to transfer power, according to his spokesman.He told a news agency discussions would be led by Col Gaddafi's son, Saadi.

Rebel fighters who now control most of the country, including the capital Tripoli, believe Col Gaddafi is still in hiding in the area.
The BBC's Jon Leyne says the latest offer will be seen as just another sign of the delusional state of Col Gaddafi and his followers.
The Libyan opposition says supplies of fuel and water should begin arriving in Tripoli - amid fears that Tripoli's water supply may have been poisoned by Col Gaddafi's forces.
Meanwhile more evidence is emerging of mass killings in the country.
More than 50 charred bodies have been found in a burnt out warehouse next to a military base south of the capital.
The Arab League early Sunday called on "the UN and countries concerned" to "unfreeze the assets and property" of Libya, in a statement released here after a special meeting of Arab foreign ministers.
The ministers"call on the Security Council and the countries concerned to assume their responsibilities in these difficult circumstances that the Libyan people are undergoing by rescinding the decision to block the funds, assets and property of the Libyan state," the communique said.
And in latest developments, Jacky Rowland for Al Jazeera reported 13 km from Ras Lanuf in the oil terminal of al-Sidra and said:   "We are now very close to the frontline and the military checkpoint behind me is pretty muchthe last checkpoint before the frontline. "The rebel fighters have been able to push beyond Ras Lanuf right now, but in my experience they have never been able to push any further here.  I was pretty close to this very same spot about 5 months ago. "The rebels are testing how far they can get. But the Gaddafi forces at the moment seem to have drawn a red line here just to the west of Ras Lanuf it seems like they really don't want the rebels to advance any further."  Additionaly, there are currently NATO special forces with rebel forces at the front line, this may well be one of the reasons why journalists aren't allowed through to the front line. Meanwhile, Deputy Commander of the Rebel forces told a SkyNews reporter that they are considering going round Sirte & surrounding it to stop Gaddafi splitting Libya in two.
The AP news agency has reported that rebels have claimed a suburb near Tripoli's airport after overnight fighting. Residents in the suburb of Qasr bin Ghashir celebrateed by firing guns and anti-aircraft weapons into the air and beating portraits of toppled leaders with their shoes.  Omar al-Ghuzayl, a 45-year-old rebel field commander, told Al Jazeera his force has been able to push Gaddafi fighters "completely outside Tripoli.'' Moreover, Sky's chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay was at a compound where an "execution" took place. He has counted 53 bodies. He spoke to an eyewitness about what happened at the compound as he heard people shouting and guns being fired. The witness said: "We tried to come closer, but we saw snipers, so we went back... It was a massacre." "These were civilians and they were executed." "They were killed by Gaddafi forces, for sure," says the eyewitness. Meanwhile, Sky's Anna Botting said that an anti-Gaddafi fighter has absolutely denied that they would have killed any mercenaries they had captured.  Meanwhile, the Head of the NTC Mahmoud Shammam spoke at a press conference in Tripoli on Saturday where he said that he "expects the Tripoli local council to be running in the next 48 hours" despite the "many challenges" which Tripoli council is doing what it can to address. Shammam said: "Tripoli was under control of dictatorship for 42 years, we are lacking a lot of institutions."
"The TV station and other media will be held under the executive committee. We are in the process of forming a supervising council."
He added that: "Tripoli is much safer than Baghdad. We are dealing with all military issues. Soon you will hear good news about Tripoli being clear and stable. We have managed to do what many others failed to do." Meanwhile, Mahmoud Jibril, Deputy Cheif of Libya's National Transitional Council is due to meet in Egypt today with the head of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, and Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr.
A convoy of six Mercedes cars have crossed from Libya into Algeria, Egypt's state MENA news agency reported on Saturday, quoting a rebel source. It was impossible to verify the report and it was not immediately clear who might have been in any convoy, but MENA quoted the source as speculating that senior Libyan officials or Muammar Gaddafi himself and his sons may have fled the country. "It is believed that these vehicles were carrying senior Libyan officials, and possibly Gaddafi and his sons," MENA quoted the source as saying. Algerian officials were not immediately reachable for comment.
The agency quoted the source from the rebel Military Council in the city of Ghadamis, on the Algerian border, as saying that the convoy of armored cars crossed the frontier on Friday morning protected by the commander of a desert nomadic military unit that had apparently operated under Gaddafi. The source was quoted as saying the rebels were unable to chase and stop the convoy.
Algeria declined to recognize the NTC on Friday, insisting it would adhere to the policy of "strict neutrality" adopted since the start of the conflict. A foreign ministry statement was the first official comment from Algiers since the NTC took control of the capital in neighboring Libya, even as other countries in the region have been quick to endorse the rebels.
Libyan rebels said on Friday they were close to capturing Gaddafi, who has disappeared after his Bab al-Aziziya bastion fell to the rebels on Tuesday. Algeria's Foreign Ministry denied on Friday that it was linking any recognition of Libya's rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) to a commitment from the council to crack down on Islamist militants. A government source in Algeria had told Reuters on Thursday that it would not yet grant recognition to the NTC, and that it wanted to be certain that Libya's rulers were engaged in fighting al Qaeda's north African wing.
In other developments, Libyan rebels have defeated Muammar Gaddafi loyalists at a border crossing with Tunisia, seizing control of a key check post that could open much-need supply routes into the country. Rebel forces raised their flag late on Friday on the Ras Ajdir border post, the primary crossing between Libya and Tunisia, in a win that will allow them to bring in supplies and aid to the capital, Tripoli. Al Jazeera's Sue Turton, reporting from Tripoli on Saturday, said the capture was an "incredibly important" gain for the rebels. "It shows that they are managing to get rid of what is left of Gaddafi troops in that area, but more importantly it opens a supply route now totally across from the west into Tripoli," she said. Turton, reporting from the capital on Saturday, said the rebels' main focus now in central Tripoli is to clear out any pro-Gaddafi loyalists that may still be hiding.
"There is obviously still tension southeast of the city; down near the airport they are still being bombed by Gaddafi loyalists further out east from the city," she said.
"The rebels are telling us from that eastern position where they are sniping and where they are still sending artillery all the way back to Saba in central Libya [that] there is a route all the way back to that area, which we know is still really held by Gaddafi's troops."
Although anti-Gaddafi forces say they will be in full control of Tripoli by the end of the weekend, there has been fighting in the oil port of Ras Lanuf, with reports of pro-Gaddafi snipers based in the town, that is hindering the ability of rebel fighters to mover further west toward Sirte, Gaddafi's hometown and stronghold. Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reporting from the Ras Lanuf said: "It is a hard fought battle in Ras Lanuf, but it is not over yet." However, negotiations between rebel fighters and pro-Gaddafi fighters are taking place as "rebels say they are very keen to end the conflict without any more bloodshed, as for as their concerned for Gaddafi it is game over". Rowland said. The rebels are still moving heavy weapons and troops forward. One rebel colonel told Rowland, "We want the negotiations to succeed, but we are moving the weapons forward to show that if it cannot be resolved by talking it will be resolved by force." Middle East analyst Shashank Joshi said that there is still resistance inside Tripoli and that Sirte is going to be the most significant place for resistance. However, Sky's chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay said that anti-Gaddafi troops have told him they have one compound left before they have cleared Tripoli of Gaddafi forces.
In other news, With Muammar Gaddafi on the run, many political prisoners who opposed him have been set free by Libyan rebel forces and are returning home. At least 107 political prisoners held in the Abu Salim prison have returned home to the eastern city of Benghazi. Many families are scanning lists of those freed from prison, anxiously looking for the names of their loved ones.
The AFP news agency reports that NATO is keeping up pressure on Muammar Gaddafi forces in the Libyan leader's hometown of Sirte, bombing 15 vehicles and four other ground targets in the last 24 hours, the alliance said. As rebels prepared to launch an offensive on the town, NATO said in its  daily operational update that it had destroyed 11 vehicles mounted with weapons, three logistic military vehicles and one armoured fighting vehicle. It also struck two military shelters, a military observation point and a military engineer asset in Sirte, 360 km east of Tripoli. On the other hand, the United Nations, the African Union, the Arab League and the European Union urged both sides in Libya to avoid reprisals, EU foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton said after talks of the so-called Cairo Group.
"Colonel Gaddafi must avoid further bloodshed by relinquishing power and calling on those forces that continue to fight to lay down their arms and protect civilians," Ashton said after a video conference.
She added: "Today, under UN leadership, we agreed to call on all parties to respect international humanitarian and international human rights obligations. There should be no reprisals."
Ashton said furthermore that the Cairo Group, which also includes the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, "emphasized that the transition in Libya should be Libyan-led and inclusive."
For his part, UN chief Ban Ki-moon Ki-moon said he had talked with heads of the organizations, which included the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the African Union and the European Union.
"All agreed that the crisis in Libya has entered a new and decisive phase," he said. "All agreed, as well, on the importance of a smooth transition."
That transition must be based on inclusiveness, reconciliation and national unity, he said.
"Fighting goes on in many parts of the country," Ban said. "There is an urgent need to put an end to the conflict and restore order and stability. All agreed that, if the Libyan authorities request, we should be prepared to help develop police capacity, bearing in mind that the country is awash with small arms."
The effect of the fighting has been profound, he said. "There are widespread shortages of fuel, food and medical supplies. Reports on the ground suggest that the water supply to the capital and surrounding region may be in danger, putting several million people or more at risk. "Friday's meeting participants agreed that the international community "must come together with an effective, well-coordinated program of action," Ban said.