Libyan oil minister says joining rebellion: report

Libya's rebel leadership on Thursday welcomed the defection of former oil minister Shukri Ghanem, a key official in the regime of Moamer Kadhafi."The National Transitional Council (NTC) salutes the latest defection from the Kadhafi regime, that of Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem," Abdul Hafiz Ghoga, vice president of the rebel group which holds the east of Libya, said in a statement."In recent days and weeks we have witnessed an acceleration in defections from the Kadhafi regime, which has no legitimacy, credibility or future," he added.

Libya's rebel leaders, the National Transitional Council (NTC), have announced that they have renamed their armed forces the National Liberation Army (NLA)."The NTC hopes that the temporary name will help better define the increasingly professional and disciplined military efforts to overcome the Kadhafi regime," said the statement.Rebels have been fighting troops loyal to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi since the February 17 uprising that has effectively split the country in two, with the rebel forces entrenched in the east of the country.

Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi fired on the lifeline port in the besieged city of Misrata on Saturday and hit several fuel depots, rebels said."There are still attacks by Grad missiles and our fighters are still resisting," said Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani, military spokesman of the Benghazi-based National Transitional Council."They tried again to destroy the Misrata port but our fighters didn't allow them to do that," he said.He said loyalists had switched tactics and were now focusing their offensive on fuel depots.

When a group of Islamic terrorists with links to al-Qaeda attacked the U.S. consulate in killing Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, many Libyans hoped it was an aberration. But months later, religious violence is growing and the emerging government seems paralyzed. Radical Islamists have unleashed a string of assaults on foreign and Christian targets. These include threats, beatings, public lashings and desecration of holy sites.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday dismissed a Libyan claim that an April 30 NATO air strike killed one of strongman Moamer Kadhafi's sons, the ANSA news agency reported.Berlusconi said the report of the death of 29-year-old Seif al-Arab, made by a Libyan government spokesman, was "propaganda"."In fact, the youngest son was not in Libya, and he was living in another country, and its the same story for the three grandchildren," the Italian leader added, calling the claims "unfounded."

Former Libyan Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem was found dead Sunday in the Danube river in Vienna, Austria, a police spokesman said.

Former Libyan soldiers who defected to the rebels will be pardoned if they surrender to government forces, state television said on Monday, quoting the military.The announcement came as forces loyal to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi pursued their eastward drive towards the rebel capital of Benghazi, threatening the key town of Ajdabiya.A number of soldiers and military officers joined the ranks of the opposition in the days that followed the start on February 15 of a popular uprising against the hardline rule of Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi.