News / Africa
Botswana calls on diehard Gaddafi followers to surrender
04 Sep 2011 at 05:37hrs | Views
Botswana called on diehard followers of Fugitive Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi to surrender on Saturday as it became the latest country to grant recognition to Libya's transitional rulers.
"The government of Botswana calls upon Gaddafi's forces to lay down their arms to avoid a further loss of human lives," said a government statement.
The statement also appealed to followers of the deposed strongman to become "part of the construction and reconciliation process led by the National Transition Council (NTC)."
Botswana was one of the first African countries to break with the Gaddafi regime, severing diplomatic ties in February in protest at his forces crackdown on anti-government protests.
However the diamond-rich southern African nation said it was time for diplomatic ties to be restored with the NTC, the former rebel movement which has been granted widespread international recognition since toppling Gaddafi.
"To this end, the government of Botswana will invite the NTC to open the Libyan embassy in Gaborone," it said.
The NTC has given Gaddafi's followers until next weekend to surrender but has moved its troops towards Bani Walid, a desert town southeast of the capital where it suspects the long-time ruler may have taken refuge.
Meanwhile a Botswana government spokesman confirmed that the former Libyan ambassador to Zimbabwe who was ordered to leave for recognising Libya's new rulers had arrived in the country.
Zimbabwean state media had earlier said that Ambassador Taher Elmagrahi had driven over the border into Botswana on Thursday night after being expelled.
The Libyan envoy raised the ire of the government of President Robert Mugabe when he pulled down portraits of Muammar Gaddafi and burned the old green flag associated with Gaddafi's fallen regime.
He replaced the old flag with that of the National Transitional Council (NTC) saying he was following the wishes of the Libyan people, adding that he represented Libyans and not Gaddafi.
"The government of Botswana calls upon Gaddafi's forces to lay down their arms to avoid a further loss of human lives," said a government statement.
The statement also appealed to followers of the deposed strongman to become "part of the construction and reconciliation process led by the National Transition Council (NTC)."
Botswana was one of the first African countries to break with the Gaddafi regime, severing diplomatic ties in February in protest at his forces crackdown on anti-government protests.
However the diamond-rich southern African nation said it was time for diplomatic ties to be restored with the NTC, the former rebel movement which has been granted widespread international recognition since toppling Gaddafi.
The NTC has given Gaddafi's followers until next weekend to surrender but has moved its troops towards Bani Walid, a desert town southeast of the capital where it suspects the long-time ruler may have taken refuge.
Meanwhile a Botswana government spokesman confirmed that the former Libyan ambassador to Zimbabwe who was ordered to leave for recognising Libya's new rulers had arrived in the country.
Zimbabwean state media had earlier said that Ambassador Taher Elmagrahi had driven over the border into Botswana on Thursday night after being expelled.
The Libyan envoy raised the ire of the government of President Robert Mugabe when he pulled down portraits of Muammar Gaddafi and burned the old green flag associated with Gaddafi's fallen regime.
He replaced the old flag with that of the National Transitional Council (NTC) saying he was following the wishes of the Libyan people, adding that he represented Libyans and not Gaddafi.
Source - Afp
