Officials: Libya interior minister lands in Cairo

[August 15, 2011]  CAIRO (AP) -- Egyptian airport officials say the Libyan interior minister has arrived in Cairo with family members.

The officials say the minister, Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah, landed just before noon on Monday at the Cairo international airport, with nine members of his family.

They say he arrived on a special plane from Tunisia and told Egyptian officials that he was "on a tourist visit."

The airport officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

The secrecy surrounding the arrival and the fact that no official from the Libyan embassy, which is loyal to Moammar Gadhafi, was at the airport to greet Abdullah, raised suspicions of a possible defection.

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THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE.
AP's earlier story is below.

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ZAWIYA, Libya (AP) -- Libyan state television has aired what it says is an audio message from Moammar Gadhafi urging loyalists to take arms and fight "traitors and NATO."

The Libyan leader's message was broadcast early Monday and contained much of the same rhetoric used in previous addresses aimed to pump confidence in the fight against the rebels.

He calls on Libyans to "dance, sing and fight" and says that as the number of "martyrs" increased, so does Libyan resolve.

It is his first message since rebels in the western mountains launched an offensive toward Tripoli.

On Sunday, the opposition fighters also battled government forces for control of the strategic city of Zawiya, just 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the capital, Tripoli.

[Associated Press; By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF]

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