GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Qaddafi blames protests on drug-laced milk

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Arab News

24February2011 5:00pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: BENGHAZI, Libya: Forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi launched a fierce counter-attack on Thursday, fighting gun battles with rebels who have threatened the Libyan leader by seizing important towns close to the capital.

The opposition were already in control of major centers in the east, including the regional capital Benghazi, and reports that the towns of Misrata and Zuara in the west had also fallen brought the tide of rebellion closer to Qaddafi’s power base.

Gun battles in Zawiyah, an oil terminal 0 km (30 miles) from the capital, left 10 people dead, a Libyan newspaper said.

France’s top human rights official said up to 2,000 people might have died so far in the uprising.

In a rambling appeal for calm, Qaddafi blamed the revolt on Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, and said the protesters were fueled by milk and Nescafe spiked with hallucinogenic drugs,

Qaddafi, who just two days ago vowed in a televised address to crush the revolt and fight to the last, showed none of the fist-thumping rage of that speech.

This time, he spoke to state television by telephone without appearing in person, and his tone seemed more conciliatory.

“Their ages are 17. They give them pills at night, they put hallucinatory pills in their drinks, their milk, their coffee, their Nescafe,” Qaddafi said. (read full report)

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