RABAT, Feb 26 (Reuters) - A group of tribes in Libya's Oases region have joined the revolt against leader Muammar Gaddafi and will defend the oil wells near the area, Quryna newspaper's online edition reported on Saturday.
A leader of one of those tribes last week threatened to cut off oil exports to Western countries if Libyan authorities continued to violently crush anti-Gaddafi protests.
Quryna said it had received a statement from three tribes in the Oases region (Wahat), south of Benghazi -- the flashpoint for the uprising -- that also urged the army and police officers from the region to join the 'people's revolt'.
It named the tribes as al-Zuwayya from Jikharra oasis, El-Mjabra from Jalu's oasis and al-Awajila from Awjila oasis.
'We hereby announce ... that we have joined the victorious revolution from its first day and we confirm that the Oases region as a whole backs the February 17 revolution against the rule of Muammar Gaddafi,' Quryna quoted the tribes as saying in the statement.
'The region's youths stand defiant to defend and protect the oil wells that surround the region,' it added.
Shaikh Faraj al Zuway, a leader of the Al-Zuwayya tribe threatened on Sunday to cut oil exports to Western countries within 24 hours unless authorities stop what he called the 'oppression of protesters'.
(Reporting by Souhail Karam, Editing by Jon Boyle) Keywords: LIBYA PROTESTS/OASES (maghreb.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; tel: +212 5 3772 6518; fax: +212 5 3772 2499) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
A leader of one of those tribes last week threatened to cut off oil exports to Western countries if Libyan authorities continued to violently crush anti-Gaddafi protests.
Quryna said it had received a statement from three tribes in the Oases region (Wahat), south of Benghazi -- the flashpoint for the uprising -- that also urged the army and police officers from the region to join the 'people's revolt'.
It named the tribes as al-Zuwayya from Jikharra oasis, El-Mjabra from Jalu's oasis and al-Awajila from Awjila oasis.
'We hereby announce ... that we have joined the victorious revolution from its first day and we confirm that the Oases region as a whole backs the February 17 revolution against the rule of Muammar Gaddafi,' Quryna quoted the tribes as saying in the statement.
'The region's youths stand defiant to defend and protect the oil wells that surround the region,' it added.
Shaikh Faraj al Zuway, a leader of the Al-Zuwayya tribe threatened on Sunday to cut oil exports to Western countries within 24 hours unless authorities stop what he called the 'oppression of protesters'.
(Reporting by Souhail Karam, Editing by Jon Boyle) Keywords: LIBYA PROTESTS/OASES (maghreb.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; tel: +212 5 3772 6518; fax: +212 5 3772 2499) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.