Rebels reroute Gadhafi's cellphone network

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, April 13 (UPI) -- A Libyan-American based in the Persian Gulf says he helped rebels commandeer part of Moammar Gadhafi's cellphone network.

Ousama Abushagur, 31, a telecom executive who was raised in Huntsville, Ala., and lives in Abu Dhabi, told The Wall Street Journal Wednesday his improvised system is giving more than 2 million Libyans in the insurgent east their first connections to each other and to the outside after the dictator cut off their telephone and Internet service in March.

The new network, which opened April 2, has become the opposition's main avenue of military communication, replacing colored flags.

On March 6, during a flight back to the United Arab Emirates after organizing relief for besieged Misurata, Abushagur said he drew up a plan on the back of a napkin to infiltrate the Libyana cell network, run by one of Gadhafi's sons, hijack the signal and create a network free of Tripoli's control.

The UAE and Qatar provided diplomatic support and helped buy telecommunications equipment needed in Benghazi, members of the rebel leadership said.

The Gulf states stepped in after China's Huawei Technologies, one of Libyana's original contractors, refused to sell the rebels equipment.