By IANS/AKI,
Tripoli: Muammar Gaddafi would never destroy the country’s oil wells — its main source of wealth — to quash the anti-government protests, the Libyan leader’s son Saif al-Islam has said.
As the world’s 12th largest oil exporter, Libya has the potential to unsettle the global economy if its violent anti-government protests disrupt supplies.
“We will never demolish the sources of oil. They belong to the people,” Saif told Turkish news channel CNN-Turk Friday.
In an interview translated from English into Turkish on the CNN-Turk website, he said the Gaddafi family had no intention of fleeing Libya, and claimed the government was in control of the west, south and centre of the country.
“We have plans A, B and C. Plan A is to live and die in Libya. Plan B is to live and die in Libya. Plan C is to live and die in Libya,” Saif said.
He described the anti-government militias as terrorist groups, and said they only had a few hundred men, but had seized tanks, guns, automatic weapons and ammunition.
Anti-government forces have taken control of coastal cities east of the capital Tripoli where fierce fighting was reported to be taking place Friday. An elite brigade commanded by Gaddafi’s son Khamis was believed to be dug in.
Peaceful anti-government protesters in Tripoli came under fire Friday as Gaddafi surfaced in the capital, urging supporters to kill those against him.
More than half of Libya’s gross domestic product comes from the oil and natural gas sectors, which also account for more than 95 percent of exports, according to the World Bank.