Libyan rebels say Gadhafi’s ex-No. 2 has defected

Libya's leader Moammar Gadhafi gives a speech on the formation of S.P.L.A.J., (Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jemahiriyeh) while at right stands Prime Minister Abdel Salam Jalloud, in this April 1977 file photo near Tripoli, Libya. Libyan rebels say Friday Aug. 19 2011 that a close Moammar Gadhafi associate who was once the No. 2 top regime official has defected in another blow to the increasingly isolated Libyan leader. Abdel Salam Jalloud helped Gadhafi stage the 1969 coup that propelled him to power and transformed Libya from a monarchy to a republic. He was Gadhafi's most trusted deputy for two decades but began to clash with the leader starting in the 1990s. (AP Photo / File)

BENGHAZI, Libya— Libyan rebels say a close Moammar Gadhafi associate who was once the No. 2 top regime official has defected in another blow to the increasingly isolated Libyan leader.

Abdel Salam Jalloud helped Gadhafi stage the 1969 coup that propelled him to power and transformed Libya from a monarchy to a republic. He was Gadhafi’s most trusted deputy for two decades but began to clash with the leader starting in the 1990s.

Rebel spokesman Mahmoud Shammam said Friday that Jalloud had fled to a rebel-held area in the western mountains and was on his way to Europe. Pictures showing Jalloud in the western town of Zintan appeared on rebel Facebook pages.

Another rebel official, Abdel-Hafiz Ghoga, says that Jalloud defection, “gives us assurance that Gadhafi is weakening.”