Gaddafi gunmen, government forces clash in Libyan capital

TRIPOLI, Oct 15 (Reuters): Gunbattles between supporters of deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi and forces of the National Transitional Council (NTC) shook the Libyan capital Friday, raising fears of an insurgency against the country's new rulers. The clashes appeared to be isolated and involve only dozens of pro-Gaddafi fighters, but it was the first sign of armed resistance to the NTC in Tripoli since its rebel brigades seized the city and ended Gaddafi's 42-year rule in August. Hundreds of NTC fighters in pick-up trucks shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) careered toward the Abu Salim neighbourhood, a repository of support for Gaddafi, and the two sides exchanged automatic and heavy machinegun fire. The fighting in Tripoli coincided with prolonged battles in Sirte, where NTC forces are battling pro-Gaddafi fighters holed up in a small area of Gaddafi's home town. Local people in Tripoli told Reuters that a group of up to 50 armed men had appeared in the Abu Salim district earlier in the day and chanted pro-Gaddafi slogans. NTC men said fighting also broke out in three nearby neighbourhoods. "Gaddafi told them in a message last night to rise up after Friday prayers," said one NTC fighter, Abdullah. "That's why these few people have come out and are causing this problem." Since he went into hiding after rebel forces captured Tripoli on August 23, Gaddafi has released a number of audio recordings calling on loyalists to fight back. Two Gaddafi supporters and one NTC fighter were killed in Friday's violence in Tripoli, NTC official Abdel Razak al Oraidi said during a press conference in the capital. "Orders were issued to raise the state of alert to the maximum," Oraidi said. "Gaddafi supporters should give up their weapons. Those who do not do so will be considered terrorists." NTC fighters dragged one man out of an apartment block in Abu Salim, a traditional bastion of support for Gaddafi. As he was kicked and punched, one NTC man tried twice to stab the prisoner only to be blocked each time by another NTC man. The captured man had been armed with a rocket-propelled grenade, said NTC fighters. The interim government's forces have been criticised by human rights groups for their treatment of prisoners. Reuters saw at least two other captured gunmen taken away in pickup trucks being punched and kicked. Dominated by apartment blocks, Abu Salim was the last part of the capital to fall to the NTC when its forces took Tripoli on August 23 after six months of civil war.