Fate of Gaddafi inner circle also at stake...the people in the bunker

[maddezmom]

By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 25, 2011

As he desperately tries to squash a popular rebellion, Libyan ruler Moammar Gaddafi is banking on the loyalty of a close circle of relatives and security officials whose personal fates depend on his survival, according to U.S. officials and analysts.

Among them are four of his sons and two longtime spy chiefs accused of directing a series of assassination and terrorist plots during Gaddafi's four decades in power. While numerous Libyan diplomats and government officials have defected or abandoned Gaddafi in recent days, analysts said it is unlikely that his inner core will follow suit.

"The people who are in the bunker with him, they have pretty good reasons for sticking by Gaddafi," said John Hamilton, a Libya expert with Cross Border International, a British publishing and consulting firm that specializes in North Africa. "It's a bit late for the sons to revolt against their father. . . . There's really nowhere for the others to turn, either."


For years, the Gaddafi children have jockeyed for influence in hopes of replacing their father, a competition that Gaddafi has encouraged by refusing to anoint a successor and purging the government of potential rivals. But the Gaddafi sons appear to have put aside their jealousies in an attempt to save their father - as well as themselves, analysts said.

more:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/24/AR2011022407859.html