Libya rebels 'in secret talks' with Tripoli underground

A member of the rebels' National Transitional Council (NTC) in Benghazi revealed they were holding secret talks to prepare for the regime's fall.

The member said the talks were being held via Skype and satellite phones.

The rebels want to gauge the impact of pressure from Nato air strikes and shortages on morale in Tripoli.

Secondly, they want to involve the Tripoli underground opposition in their general strategy for ousting Col Gaddafi, so that if anyone is emboldened to take to the streets again in the capital it is woven into a bigger plan.

Nightly talks

They call them the "Tripoli Five" - the five members of the NTC who, from their stronghold of Benghazi, every night contact the network of more than 100 people in Tripoli.

They believe they have found a way to bypass attempts by the Gaddafi regime to monitor them.

NTC member Alamin Belhaj says he believes direct communications through Skype and satellite phones are secure "because no-one has been arrested yet".

"We talk for about an hour every night. The network covers all sectors of society and they tell us what their friends are thinking, or what's being said in mosques and on the streets."

Mr Belhaj is well placed to help run the clandestine network. For 30 years he was in the opposition to Col Gaddafi, as a leading member of the once-banned Libyan Muslim Brotherhood, based first in Tripoli and then in exile in Manchester.

"We have very good experience of working underground. In 30 years we were never infiltrated," he says.

Now he has joined the rebel task force, which is trying to prepare Tripoli for the day when Col Gaddafi falls; Kazinform cites BBC News.

See www.bbc.co.uk for full version.