Libya Denies Interior Min Resigned, Says He Is Kidnapped

Gaddafi is facing high-level defectiions after making it clear much more blood will be shed before, if at all, the regime relinquishes control. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Hours after Libya's former interior minister said he resigned to support anti-government protesters, the Libyan government said he had been kidnapped.

Abdul Fattah Younis al Abidi told CNN Wednesday that he resigned Monday after hearing that 300 unarmed civilians had been killed in Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city. He accused Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi of planning to attack civilians on a wide scale.

But the same day, Libyan state media reported that "gangs" in Benghazi had kidnapped him.

Earlier Wednesday, al Abidi said he had quit the government and is supporting the protesters, who he predicted will achieve victory in "days or hours."

"Gaddafi told me he was planning on using airplanes against the people in Benghazi, and I told him that he will have thousands of people killed if he does that," al Abidi said in an Arabic-language telephone interview Wednesday.

He described Gaddafi as "a stubborn man" who will not give up. "He will either commit suicide or he will get killed," said al Abidi, who said he has known him since 1964.

Al Abidi called on Libyan security forces "to join the people in the intifada." Already, he said, "many members" of the security forces had defected, including those in the capital, Tripoli.

Since the recent protests in Libya started February 15, a growing number of Libyan officials have reportedly resigned.

Libya's ambassador to Bangladesh, A.H. Elimam, resigned to side with pro-democracy protesters, said BSS, the official news agency of Bangladesh, citing a Foreign Ministry official Tuesday.

Justice Minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil also resigned, saying he was protesting the "bloody situation" and "use of excessive force" against unarmed protesters, according to the Libyan newspaper Quryna.

Witnesses have reported that Benghazi has essentially been taken over by the opposition, but it is very hard to confirm reports about the situation beyond Benghazi. The Libyan government maintains tight control on communications and does not respond to requests from journalists for access to the country.

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