until it’s been officially denied:
The Libyan leader, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, has vowed to use force to stop the country breaking up after leaders in an eastern region declared autonomy.
“We are not prepared to divide Libya,” he said, blaming infiltrators and pro-Gaddafi elements for backing the autonomy plan. “We are ready to deter them, even with force.”
His comments come amid mounting evidence that Libya is slowly splintering into a series of rival fiefdoms controlled by competing militias, who increasingly follow their own agendas rather than acting in the national interest.
Heh, reminded me of the story of the election for sheriff in some Texas county. The challenger’s campaign manager told his client he was going to start the rumor that the incumbent fucked pigs. “What?” the client said, “nobody’s gonna believe that.” “Yeah, I know,” said the campaign manager, “but I wanna get the son-of-bitch to deny it.”