Gadhafi Orders Destruction of Oil Pipelines: Source

Desperate leader 'seeking to sow chaos'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 23, 2011 12:48 AM CST
Updated Feb 23, 2011 1:23 AM CST
Gadhafi Orders Destruction of Oil Pipelines: Source
Gadhafi blames al-Jazeera for the uprising, the source says.   (Getty Images)

Moammar Gadhafi has vowed to fight until his last drop of blood and he's apparently ready to spill Libya's last drop of oil in the process. The Libyan leader has ordered security forces to sabotage the country's oil pipelines, according to former CIA field agent and Time columnist Robert Baer, who quotes a "well-placed source" close to the Gadhafi regime. The dictator, the source says, would rather turn Libya into another Somalia than surrender power.

The sabotage is intended to send a message to rebellious Libyans that the only choice they have is between Gadhafi and complete chaos, according to the source, who also says the Libyan leader has ordered the release of all the Islamic militants in the country's prisons. The source says Gadhafi has become "desperate and irrational" and can now only count on the loyalty of some 5,000 elite troops. The source hasn't, however, been 100% accurate. The columnist notes that his source told him just 2 weeks ago that there was no chance of the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia spreading to Libya. (More Libya stories.)

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