September 25, 2011
Libyans Say Qaddafi Loyalists Mounted Raid From Algeria
By KAREEM FAHIM
TRIPOLI, Libya -- In a rare cross-border incursion, fighters loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi drove cars full of weapons into Libya from across the Algerian border and attacked former rebel forces, Libyan military officials said Sunday.
The attack, on the city of Ghadamis, left at least six anti-Qaddafi fighters dead, The Associated Press reported.
The incursion raised the possibility that fighters loyal to the deposed Libyan leader, who have been driven from all but a few remaining strongholds inside Libya, may have found a base in a neighboring country from which to mount attacks.
The rebels who overthrew Colonel Qaddafi and are now governing Libya have had an uneasy relationship with Algeria. They have accused the country of providing arms to the Qaddafi forces during the conflict. After the fall of Tripoli, several of the colonel's relatives fled to Algeria. [1]
A Libyan military spokesman quoted by The A.P., Ahmed Omar Bani, said that the attack occurred Saturday but that the Qaddafi loyalists had crossed the border several days earlier.
Separately, officials of the provisional government said Sunday that they had discovered the site of a mass grave in Tripoli with the remains of more than 1,200 prisoners who were massacred in 1996 at Abu Salim prison. [2]
The officials said they located the grave, in a weed-filled lot behind the prison, after interrogating former security guards who had worked there. The field has not yet been excavated.
During a visit to the site on Sunday, there was no way to tell with certainty whether it contained human remains. Someone had collected dozens of bones, including many that appeared to belong to animals. Soldiers showed reporters what appeared to be a human jaw, but they could not say where it was found. Other bones and bits of clothing were scattered across the field.
The 1996 massacre of inmates who were demanding better conditions in the prison has endured in Libyans' memories, and it was one of the seeds of the February uprising, which began with a demonstration by relatives of the victims. On Sunday, Ibrahim Abushima, a doctor who is investigating mass graves in Libya, said that international help would be needed to excavate the site and analyze any remains.
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/world/africa/30libya.html
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/world/africa/02abusalim.html