SAIF AND HIS PROFESSIONAL
FOOTBALLER BROTHER
'OFFER TO GET RID OF THEIR FATHER'
Brothers said to have backed plan to oversee 'transitional democracy'
But other sons of Gaddafi are hardliners
Regime's peace offers so far rejected as 'not credible'
Government forces shell Misrata
April 6, 2011
Rifts appeared to be growing in Colonel Gaddafi's regime today, as two of his sons reportedly backed a plan to remove their father from power.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and brother Saadi are said to be proposing that the dictator steps down and they oversee a 'transitional democracy' in return for an end to NATO air strikes.
London School of Economics-educated Saif has been at the forefront of the Tripoli regime's attempts to put down the revolution, but he has previously been seen as a moderniser open to Western ideas.
Saadi is a former professional footballer who played for Italian side Perugia and captained the Libyan national team.
Plot: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, left, and his ex-professional footballer brother Saadi, right, have reportedly backed a plan to oust their father as more cracks appear in the Tripoli regime
A source close to the pair said they want to 'move toward change for the country' without their father, according to the New York Times.
'They have hit so many brick walls with the old guard, and if they have the go-ahead, they will bring the country up quickly,' he told the newspaper. One son apparently 'wishes of the rebellion were his own'.
Saif has also approached British and Italian officers, who have insisted that he can play no role in the future of Libya.
It is not known if the 68-year-old dictator who has ruled the country for more than 40 years has signed up to the plan.
However Gaddafi is increasingly isolated in Tripoli after the defection of his foreign minister Musa Kusa last week and reports that scores of other senior officials are set to betray him.
Hardliners: Gaddafi is thought to be backed by his son Khamis, left, who was reported killed last month, and Mutuassim
Bogged down: Libyan rebel forces appear to have little hope of defeating the Tripoli regime. Two fighters are pictured near Brega
Gaddafi officials have also met British and Greek representatives in an attempt to start peace negotiations.
Deputy foreign minister Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi flew to Athens last night with a personal message from the dictator while Mohamed Ismail, an aide to Saif, is also returning from London after attempting to open negotiations.
However the proposals so far were today rejected as 'not credible'.
Another two of the dictator's seven sons, Khamis and Mutuassim are hardliners opposed to any change.
Khamis is particularly hated by the Libyan people, as the leader of an elite commando unit. He was reportedly killed in a suicide jet attack on Gaddafi's compound last month, but the regime has insisted he is alive.
Mutassim is a national security advisor and reported rival to Saif.
The speculation that Gaddafi is facing dissent from within his own family comes after the regime continues to attempt to negotiate peace.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini today dismissed proposals for peace made by the Gaddafi regime as 'not credible' after a meeting with the rebel leadership.
He said: 'The regime of Tripoli is sending people to some countries ~ to Greece, to Malta, sending people to make proposals. These proposals are not credible.'
He said he had spoken to the Greek foreign minister who said Gaddafi's envoy had pledged to respect a ceasefire.
Destroyed: A Libyan rebel walks past the charred remains of the vehicles, belonging to the Libyan rebels, which were allegedly targeted killed in NATO coalition airstrike near Brega
Stalemate: Libyan rebels shout religious slogans before heading towards the frontline, near Brega
'But nothing was said about the departure of Gaddafi, which is one of the conditions, so it is not possible to accept this point of view.'
Things are getting steadily worse for Libyan rebel forces. They were today under heavy shelling in the Western town of Misrata while on the eastern front the two sides remained locked in a stalemate around Brega.
Gaddafi forces using tanks and snipers were reportedly carrying out a 'massacre' in Misrata with corpses on the streets and hospitals full of the wounded, evacuees said, with one describing the besieged city as 'hell'.
Libya's third city is now under attack by government troops after a violent crackdown put an end to most protests elsewhere in the west of the country.
'You have to visit Misrata to see the massacre by Gaddafi,' said Omar Boubaker, a 40-year-old engineer with a bullet wound to the leg, brought to the Tunisian port of Sfax by a French aid group.
'Corpses are in the street. Hospitals are overflowing.'
Swathed in bandages, evacuees gave some of the most detailed accounts yet of conditions in Misrata, the last major rebel-held city in western Libya which recalled sieges of town and cities in the Bosnian conflict.
U.N.-mandated air strikes to protect civilians have so far failed to halt attacks by the Libyan army, which residents said stationed snipers on rooftops and fired mortars and artillery at populated areas of the city with devastating effect.
Libyan officials deny attacking civilians in Misrata, saying they are fighting armed gangs linked to al Qaeda. Accounts from Misrata cannot be independently verified as Libyan authorities are not allowing journalists to report freely from there.
A rebel spokesman said the city was shelled on Monday.
'The shelling started in the early hours of the morning and it's continuing, using mortars and artillery. This is pure terrorism. The shelling is targeting residential areas,' the spokesman, called Gemal, told Reuters by telephone, adding:
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