The US is considering a plan to send private contractors into Libya to help rebels fight Gaddafi. They have pleaded for ground support as the dictator's forces take control of the fighting.
A senior former Pentagon official said "This has worked well in the past, such as when the US company MPRI provided military training for the Croatian Army in 1994 in the civil war with the Serbs," the former official said. "The private sector has plenty of experience in this sort of work and it doesn't even need to be training on the shooting end of the war, they could be used to provide logistical support to get the rebels more organised," the source said. The CIA sent operatives into Libya to make contact with rebels yesterday.
The Allies were encouraged by the defection of Gaddafi's foreign minister Moussa Koussa who has sought refuge in the UK and are hoping that more will follow. Intense negotiations are going on behind the scenes to find a country prepared to give Gaddafi a safe haven. His justice and interior ministers resigned shortly after the uprising began last month, but Koussa is the first high-profile resignation since the no-fly campaign began.
Gaddafi's forces are now using civilian vehicles - minivans, sedans and 4WDs fitted with weapons - which makes it much harder to distinguish Gaddafi forces from the rebels. But they are still better armed, better trained and better organised than the opposition and pushed the rebels back 160 kilometres in just two days. Undisciplined with no real directiion, it's becoming clear that they have little hope of winning on their own.
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