Rome:
Five Libyan army generals who defected from Moammar Gaddafi's regime are appealing to fellow officers to join them in backing the rebels.
Italian foreign ministry officials presented the generals, two colonels and a major, at a news conference in Rome on Monday.
Gen. Melud Massoud Halasa said Gaddafi's forces are only 20 per cent as efficient as they were before the rebellion, and at most 10 generals are still loyal to him.
Mahmoud Shammam, of the Libyan Transitional National Council -- also speaking at the conference -- said other officers, based in Tripoli or the rebel-held city of Misrata, have also fled to Tunisia.
Shammam's account, along with his claim that some 120 officers have fled in recent days, could not immediately be verified.
Italian foreign ministry officials presented the generals, two colonels and a major, at a news conference in Rome on Monday.
Gen. Melud Massoud Halasa said Gaddafi's forces are only 20 per cent as efficient as they were before the rebellion, and at most 10 generals are still loyal to him.
Mahmoud Shammam, of the Libyan Transitional National Council -- also speaking at the conference -- said other officers, based in Tripoli or the rebel-held city of Misrata, have also fled to Tunisia.
Shammam's account, along with his claim that some 120 officers have fled in recent days, could not immediately be verified.
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