Libya's interior minister, Abdel-Fattah Younis al-Obaidi said he had resigned from his position and joined the "popular revolution" which is sweeping the country for the past week. He predicted victory, pointing out that the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, will not give up and "either commits suicide or assassinated."
Obeidi, accused Gaddafi of planning to attack civilians on a large scale. He defected from the government after learning that nearly 300 unarmed civilians were killed in Benghazi during the past few days.
He said in an interview: "Gaddafi told me that he plans to use the aircraft against the people in Benghazi, and I told him that that would kill thousands." Al-Obeidi expressed support for the people of the revolution and said that victory was just a matter of "days or hours,"
He called on the Libyan security forces to join the uprising.
Al-Obeidi is another Libyan official to quit the regime after the resignation of a number of ambassadors and diplomats to protest the excessive violence exerted by the Tripoli government against the popular protests which started on February 17.
The former minister conveyed that all the eastern regions of the country were out of Gaddafi's control. He described the Libyan leader as a "stubborn man" who would not give up power, adding: "He will commit suicide or be assassinated."
Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council condemned in a statement Tuesday, the excessive use of force against demonstrators in Libya, and called on Libyan authorities to respect human rights and protect civilians.
For its part, the Arab League denounced in a statement after an emergency meeting Tuesday, what it called "crimes against peaceful demonstrations and popular protests in Libya."
