Gaddafi’s oil chief changes allegiance to support rebels

The move came as Nato decided to extend its operations in Libya for another three months.

Mr Ghanem, who is in Rome, said: “In this situation you can no longer work, so I have left my country and my work to unite myself with the choice of young Libyans to fight for a democratic country.”

For several weeks, Libyan officials had insisted Mr Ghanem, who as head of the National Oil Corporation serves as Libya’s oil minister, was on a business trip.

As recently as last week, Libya’s foreign ministry said he would represent the government at a meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna on Wednesday next week.

The defection, the latest in a series, followed the departure of eight top Libyan army officers, including five generals, who were presented to reporters in Rome earlier this week by the Italian foreign ministry days after they fled Libya.

Another 13 servicemen loyal to Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, including a colonel and four commanders, have fled to neighbouring Tunisia, the official Tunisian news agency reported. It was the second group of military men to defect to Tunisia this week.

The latest group arrived on Sunday in the port of Ketf.

Meanwhile in Brussels, Nato and its partners in the military campaign to protect Libyan civilians decided to extend their mission for 90 days and issued another warning to the Gaddafi regime.

“This decision sends a clear message to the Gaddafi regime: We are determined to continue our operation to protect the people of Libya,” said Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Col Gaddafi is trying to withstand the Nato air barrage and put down a rebellion.

Yesterday’s decision came during a meeting of ambassadors from the 28 Nato countries plus ambassadors from the five non-Nato countries participating in the Libya campaign – Jordan, Qatar, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco – said Nato deputy spokeswoman Carmen Romero.

The military alliance took over command of the operation on March 31 after difficult negotiations among its members.

Unanimity of 28 is required for action, and the operations to enforce a no-fly zone and use air power, based on a United Nations Security Council resolution that calls for the protection of civilians, were authorised for an initial 90 days.

That time would have expired June 27. The decision to extend the campaign was taken nearly a month ahead of time to allow the participating countries to undertake internal planning, said Ms Romero.