Fears that Colonel Gaddafi is planning to use chemical weapons against rebels grew yesterday when forces loyal to the Libyan tyrant were seen wearing gas masks.After giving rebels in the besieged city of Misrata until midnight tonight to surrender or face the ‘fires from Hell’, Gaddafi’s troops were yesterday seen wearing the masks for the first time since the uprising against his rule began seven weeks ago.
The chilling development prompted rebel fighters in Misrata, which is surrounded on three sides by Gaddafi’s forces, to radio for immediate supplies of their own protective masks to be shipped from Benghazi, their stronghold in the East.
With more than 1,000 dead in Misrata after fierce pounding by Gaddafi’s forces, the prospect of a chemical attack has sent a new wave of fear and panic through the city, with civilians also desperately trying to find gas masks.
A doctor, who asked not to be named, said sources inside Gaddafi’s regime had warned him to flee with his family by yesterday – before the dictator takes revenge against the people of Misrata when the deadline expires.
The threat came as crowds of up to 2,000 people chanting Gaddafi’s name yesterday gathered in Tripoli for the funeral of his 29-year-old son and three grandchildren – allegedly killed in a Nato airstrike on Saturday.
Although the deaths remain unverified, what appeared to be Saif al-Arab’s coffin, covered in flowers and wrapped in the Libyan flag, was carried through the crowds to the grave at Hani cemetery in Tripoli. Gaddafi himself was not at the funeral, but Saif al-Islam, the most prominent of his sons, attended in dark tribal robes. Read More
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