TRIPOLI, Libya, May 30 (UPI) -- Eight senior Libyan military officers, including five generals, said Monday they had defected, decimating Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi's leadership ranks.
The defection of the five generals, two colonels and a major to Rome came as South African President Jacob Zuma was in Libya to try to broker a cease-fire between Gadhafi and rebel fighters.
Gen. Melud Massoud Halasa, one of the defectors, said only 10 generals remain loyal to the embattled Libyan leader, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The officers said they had quit the Gadhafi regime in protest of the killing of civilians and the shredding of Libya's military strength by 80 percent, the British newspaper said.
The newspaper cited one unattributed report as saying the generals may have been forced out in favor of younger, more aggressive officers, many of them from Gadhafi's own tribe.
Abdurrahman Shalgam, Libya's ambassador to the United Nations who defected early on in the uprising, said at least 100 other army officers also have fled Libya recently.
A crowd chanting, "We love Gadhafi" and a group of Libyan officials greeted Zuma, who left the airport in a convoy, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Zuma spent hours talking with Gadhafi and other government officials in Tripoli Monday afternoon with no sign of progress, the Telegraph said.
Unlike other world leaders who have condemned Gadhafi's actions, Zuma, the African National Congress party and the African Union haven't called for Gadhafi to step down and have criticized NATO airstrikes targeting government forces, CNN reported.
African Union spokesman Noureddine Mezni said Zuma desires talks between Gadhafi and the rebels, who seek his ouster after 42 years of rule.
Unclear was whether Zuma would press Gadhafi for information concerning the fate of South African freelance photographer Anton Hammerl, CNN said. Hammerl has been missing in Libya since April and is believed dead.
NATO has increased its attacks against Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli, forcing him to move in secret among locations. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday Gadhafi's "reign of terror is coming to an end."
"He is increasingly isolated at home and abroad," Rasmussen said in a speech in Bulgaria. "Even those closest to him are departing, defecting or deserting."
On Sunday, Britain revealed the Royal Air Force was preparing 2,000-pound Paveway III bunker-buster bombs to target Gadhafi's compounds.
There is no indication he was willing to step aside as demanded by rebels, Western governments and longtime allies Russia and Turkey. The Times reported peace talks that have been quietly broached have been thwarted by Gadhafi's insistence that he remain in power.
Meanwhile, rebel leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil said Libyan opposition forces were still fending off attacks near the rebel-held port city of Misurata, but were running out of money.
Jalil, head of the National Transitional Council, told CNN the rebels would not ratchet back their fight against Gadhafi's government, but needed more financial resources so the uprising could succeed.
"We are in desperate need of money," Gadhafi's former justice minister said. "We really need money. This is clear. We are going through a financial crisis."
