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Gadhafi's last stand? Libya rebels launch assault on Tripoli

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Author Topic: Gadhafi's last stand? Libya rebels launch assault on Tripoli  (Read 652 times)
William
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« on: August 20, 2011, 06:48:59 pm »

Explosions, gunfire heard amid unconfirmed reports that leader has fled

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan rebels launched an assault early Sunday on the capital of Tripoli amid unconfirmed reports that leader Moammar Gadhafi had fled, NBC News reported.

"Zero hour has begun," a rebel commander told NBC News.

However, a government spokesman said Gadhafi remained in control.

Rebels were fighting in at least four areas of Tripoli, NBC News said.


Libyan rebel fighters burn a Gadhafi government flag in the main square Saturday after seizing control of the center of the strategic coastal city of Zawiyah.

Protesters demanding the departure of Gadhafi took to the capital streets, Reuters said. Heavy mortar fire and sustained gunfire grew intense, witnesses said.

White House and U.S. intelligence officials were monitoring rumors that Gadhafi had left with his two sons, Hannibal and Mutassim, ending his 41-year rule, NBC News reported.

Late last week, intelligence officials told NBC News that Gadhafi might seek exile in Tunisia.

White House officials said President Barack Obama "had been briefed on Libya and is getting regular updates as needed."

In Libya, rebels said they launched the Tripoli assault in coordination with NATO and with the uprising of rebels inside the capital.

"This was a pre-set plan," said Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice-chairman of the National Transition Council, based in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. "They've been preparing for a while. There's coordination with the rebels approaching from the east, west and south.''

Ghoga said NATO warplanes were launching raids to distract Gadhafi's forces.

"The next hours are crucial. Many of their (pro-Gadhafi) brigades and their commanders have fled.''

His claims could not be independently confirmed immediately.

Sustained gunfire and thuds were heard in the distance and residents of Tajoura, on Tripoli's eastern outskirts, where reported clashes were under way.

An eyewitness told Al Arabiya news agency that the suburb was in rebel hands and people were out dancing in the streets.

Free Libya Now television reported that rebel forces set up command and control and civil control structures.

It also claimed rebels were in control of the airport, but the government denied the report.

An unknown number of rebels were killed in clashes in the Tripoli suburb of Qadah and fighting was ongoing at Mitiga airbase, a rebel activist told Reuters.

In the eastern coastal city of Benghazi, residents took to the streets to celebrate the advance on Tripoli, Al Jazeera news agency reported.

However, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told state television: "All of Tripoli is safe and stable."

"I ensure Libyans that Gadhafi is your leader ... Tripoli is surrounded by thousands to defend it,'' he said. "Armed people sneaked into Tripoli but have been dealt with."

"We have arrested Algerians, Tunisians and Egyptians in Tripoli," Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim renewed a call to rebels to surrender, saying they would be forgiven even if "they have killed our relatives.''

Mobile telephone subscribers received a text message from the government urging them to "go out in the squares and streets to eliminate the armed agents," according to one resident who received the message on his phone.

More at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44212588/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/#.TlBDb6jAXk8
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Mark
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« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2011, 08:04:22 pm »

it was just a couple and put down quickly. not today nato
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William
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« Reply #2 on: August 21, 2011, 07:28:55 pm »

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan rebels waved opposition flags and shot into the air in jubilation after reaching Tripoli's central Green Square, Sky news live footage from the scene showed in the early hours of Monday.

The vast square, reserved until now for carefully orchestrated rallies praising Moammar Gadhafi, erupted in celebration after troops pushed into the center of the Libyan capital overnight.


Libyans celebrate reports that rebels have attacked Tripoli early Sunday in Benghazi, Libya.

The rebel leadership said Gadhafi's son and one-time heir apparent Seif al-Islam had been arrested.Rebel leaders later said a second Gadhafi son, Mohammed, and the top military unit in charge of protecting the Libyan leader surrendered.

Real-time updates, media from Tripoli, from breakingnews.com

Associated Press reporters with the rebels said they met little resistance as they moved from the western outskirts into the capital in a dramatic turning of the tides in the 6-month-old Libyan civil war. The rebels took control of one neighborhood, Ghot Shaal, on the western edge of the city. They set up checkpoints as rebel trucks rolled into Tripoli.

One of the rebels, Mohammed al-Zawi, 30, said he was in a convoy of more than 10 trucks that entered Ghot Shaal. He said they progressed as far as the neighborhood of Girgash, about a mile and a half from Green Square, where Gadhafi supporters have gathered nightly throughout the uprising to rally for their leader of more than 40 years.

He said the rebels came under fire from a sniper on a rooftop in the neighborhood.

"They will enter Green Square tonight, God willing," al-Zawi said.

Sidiq al-Kibir, the rebel leadership council's representative for the capital Tripoli, confirmed the arrest of Seif al-Islam to the AP but did not give any further details.

Earlier, Gadhafi said he will stay in Tripoli "until the end" and called on his supporters around the country to help liberate the capital from a rebel offensive.

He said in an audio message played over state television he was "afraid that Tripoli will burn" and he said he would provide weapons to supporters to fight off the rebels.

Earlier in the day, the rebels overran a major military base defending the capital, carted away truckloads of weapons and raced to Tripoli with virtually no resistance.

The rebels' surprising and speedy leap forward, after six months of largely deadlocked civil war, was packed into just a few dramatic hours. By nightfall, they had advanced more than 20 miles to Gadhafi's stronghold.

Along the way, they freed several hundred prisoners from a regime lockup. The fighters and the prisoners — many looking weak and dazed and showing scars and bruises from beatings — embraced and wept with joy.

Thousands of jubilant civilians rushed out of their homes to cheer the long convoys of pickup trucks packed with rebel fighters shooting in the air. Some were hoarse, shouting: "We are coming for you, frizz-head," a mocking nickname for Gadhafi. In villages along the way that fell to the rebels one after another, mosque loudspeakers blared "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great."

"We are going to sacrifice our lives for freedom," said Nabil al-Ghowail, a 30-year-old dentist holding a rifle in the streets of Janzour, a suburb just six miles west of Tripoli. Heavy gunfire erupted nearby.

As town after town fell and Gadhafi forces melted away, the mood turned euphoric. Some shouted: "We are getting to Tripoli tonight." Others were shooting in the air, honking horns and yelling "Allahu Akbar."

Once they reached Tripoli, the rebels took control of one neighborhood, Ghot Shaal, on the western edge of the city. They set up checkpoints as rebel trucks rolled into Tripoli. A convoy of more than 10 trucks entered Ghot Shaal.

The rebels moved on to the neighborhood of Girgash, about a mile and a half from Green Square. They said they came under fire from a sniper on a rooftop in the neighborhood.

Sidiq al-Kibir, the rebel leadership council's representative for the capital Tripoli, confirmed the arrest of Seif al-Islam to the AP but did not give any further details.

Inside Tripoli, widespread clashes erupted for a second day between rebel "sleeper cells" and Gadhafi loyalists. Rebels fighter who spoke to relatives in Tripoli by phone said hundreds rushed into the streets in anti-regime protests in several neighborhoods.

Libyan state television aired an angry audio message from Gadhafi Sunday night, urging families in Tripoli to arm themselves and fight for the capital.

"The time is now to fight for your politics, your oil, your land," he said. "I am with you in Tripoli — together until the ends of the earth," Gadhafi shouted.

The day's first breakthrough came when hundreds of rebels fought their way into a major symbol of the Gadhafi regime — the base of the elite 32nd Brigade commanded by Gadhafi's son, Khamis. Fighters said they met with little resistance.

More at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44218013/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/?gt1=43001#.TlGYh6jAXk8
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« Reply #3 on: August 21, 2011, 07:39:29 pm »

watching this one closely...
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« Reply #4 on: August 21, 2011, 07:43:40 pm »

well the nation does have to go Sharia. I just wonder if Damascus will get nuked when they attack them next.
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William
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« Reply #5 on: August 21, 2011, 07:52:57 pm »

well the nation does have to go Sharia. I just wonder if Damascus will get nuked when they attack them next.

Do you mean the nation of Libya will have to go towards Sharia Law of the Muslims?

There are two scriptures the speak of something like this happening...

The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. (Isaiah 17:1 KJB)

And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad. (Jeremiah 49:27 KJB)

Though the verse from Jeremiah says the Lord will kindle it, but I suppose he could use another nation to do that... Undecided
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« Reply #6 on: August 21, 2011, 07:59:38 pm »

Do you mean the nation of Libya will have to go towards Sharia Law of the Muslims?

There are two scriptures the speak of something like this happening...

The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from [being] a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. (Isaiah 17:1 KJB)

And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad. (Jeremiah 49:27 KJB)

Though the verse from Jeremiah says the Lord will kindle it, but I suppose he could use another nation to do that... Undecided

yes they have to go Sharia. Most of the governments in Muslim nations are very secular by making them sharia you are guaranteed the attack on Israel. Just making it easier. Only a couple left, Turkey and Syria being 2 of them.

and yes Damascus must be destroyed in such a way that it will never be a city again. a nuke solves that very easily.
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William
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« Reply #7 on: August 21, 2011, 08:20:16 pm »

Eyewitnesses Dismiss Rebel Advances On Tripoli As Misinformation

Russia Today
August 21, 2011

Heavy gunfire and explosions have been reported in the Libyan capital, and according to rebel commanders, the firing signals the start of a final onslaught on Muammar Gadaffi’s stronghold.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfgE3sEzOZI&feature=player_embedded

Earlier NATO-backed rebels in Libya said that a battle for the capital Tripoli could unfold by the end of the month, as they had taken key cities around the Gaddafi stronghold. However, rounds have been fired close to a hotel where foreign journalists are staying on Saturday evening. Explosions were heard in the area as NATO aircraft carried out heavy bombing runs after nightfall, the Associated Press reported.

Rebels were reported to be fighting in the city’s Tajoura neighborhood, as well as near Tripoli’s international airport. There have been reports that fighting also broke out in the neighborhoods of Soug Jomaa and Arada in the east.

But eyewitnesses say the gunfire is sporadic and the explosions heard are victory celebrations of Gaddafi loyalists.

Independent journalist Lizzie Phelan says the reports are an effort by NATO to create panic.

“The only gunfire that we are hearing is celebratory gunfire,” she said. “And the only explosions that we are hearing are NATO air strikes or NATO sound bombs, which are clearly designed to create a sense of panic in the capital city of Tripoli.”

Phelan said that the Libyan rebels created fake footage of themselves in Zawiya and Tripoli, and were aided in disseminating the footage by, among other media outlets, Al Jazeera. The Qatar-based satellite television station, she argued, has been at the center of the media conspiracy against Libya. The Western mainstream media, she continued, in turn picked up these reports and repeated them, creating a sense of panic among the Libyan people.

“Later on in the areas like Soug Jomaa, after the prayers, a number of armed gangs emerged, which are essentially sleeper cells of rebels inside the city, and began firing randomly and threatening ordinary people, that if they did not join them they would be assassinated,” she said. “They then took footage of the empty streets, which created the sense that they were in the process of capturing the city.”

Many people in Tripoli have been armed by the government and these people came out to defend their capital, she added.

From: http://www.infowars.com/eyewitnesses-dismiss-rebel-advances-on-tripoli-as-misinformation/
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« Reply #8 on: August 22, 2011, 02:53:57 am »

Rebels sweep into Tripoli; tanks emerge from Gaddafi home

By REUTERS
08/22/2011 09:33

Forces loyal to Libyan leader begin fighting back, still control 15-20% of Tripoli; Gaddafi's whereabouts remain unknown but two sons arrested; leader makes two audio addresses on state television.

TRIPOLI - Rebel fighters swept into the heart of Tripoli and crowds took to the streets to celebrate what they saw as the end of Muammar Gaddafi's four decades of power, but a government fightback was reported as dawn broke on Monday.

Tanks emerged from Gaddafi's stronghold in the center of the Libyan capital and were shelling the area, Al Jazeera television reported.

RELATED:
Gaddafi defiant as Libyan rebels besiege Tripoli
Battle outside Libyan capital, fighting spills to Tunisia

Despite euphoria among rebels and their backers in Tripoli and elsewhere, a rebel spokesman, identified on Al Jazeera as Nasser, said government troops still controlled "about 15 to 20 percent of the city".

Earlier, rebels waving opposition flags and firing into the air drove into Green Square, a symbolic showcase the government had until recently used for mass demonstrations in support of the now embattled Gaddafi. Rebels immediately began calling it Martyrs Square.

Two of Gaddafi's sons were captured by the rebels, but the whereabouts of Gaddafi himself were unknown.

Laila Jawad, 36, who works at a Tripoli nursery, told Reuters: "We are about to be delivered from the tyrant's rule. It's a new thing for me. I am very optimistic. Praise be to God."

The rebels made their entrance into the capital driving in convoy through a western neighborhood.

Remaining defiant, Gaddafi earlier had made two audio addresses over state television calling on Libyans to fight off the rebels.

"I am afraid if we don't act, they will burn Tripoli," he said. "There will be no more water, food, electricity or freedom."

But resistance to the rebels initially appeared to have largely faded away, allowing the rebels and their supporters to demonstrate in Green Square.

Libyans kissed the ground in gratitude for what some called a "blessed day".



Near Green Square youths burned the green flags of the Gaddafi government and raised the rebel flag. One rebel fighter from the Western mountain said: "We are so happy -- we made it here without any problems."

Many Tripoli residents received a text message from the rebel leadership saying: "God is Great. We congratulate the Libyan people on the fall of Muammar Gaddafi."

Gaddafi, a colorful and often brutal autocrat who has ruled Libya for more than 40 years, said he was breaking out weapons stores to arm the population. His spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, predicted a violent reckoning by the rebels.

"A massacre will be committed inside Tripoli if one side wins now, because the rebels have come with such hatred, such vendetta ... Even if the leader leaves or steps down now, there will be a massacre."

After six months, Tripoli falls quickly

After a six-month civil war, rebels moved quickly into Tripoli, with a carefully orchestrated uprising launched on Saturday night to coincide with the advance of rebel troops on three fronts. Fighting broke out after the call to prayer from the minarets of the mosques.

Rebel National Transitional Council Coordinator Adel Dabbechi confirmed that Gaddafi's younger son Saif Al-Islam had been captured. The International Criminal Court in The Hague, which wants Saif along with his father on charges of crimes against humanity, confirmed he had been held and said he should be handed over for trial.

Gaddafi's eldest son Mohammed Al-Gaddafi had surrendered to rebel forces, Dabbechi told Reuters. In a television interview, the younger Gaddafi said gunmen had surrounded his house, but he later told al-Jazeera in a phone call that he and his family were unharmed.

Only five months ago Gaddafi's forces were set to crush the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, the leader warning then that there would be "no mercy, no pity" for his opponents. His forces, he said, would hunt them down "district to district, street to street, house to house, room to room".

The United Nations then acted quickly, clearing the way for creation of a no-fly zone that NATO, with a campaign of bombing, used ultimately to help drive back Gaddafi's forces.

"It's over. Gaddafi's finished," said Saad Djebbar, former legal adviser to the Libyan government.

In Benghazi in the east, thousands gathered in a city-centre square waving red, black and green opposition flags and trampling on pictures of Gaddafi as news filtered through of rebel advances into Tripoli.

Mohammed Derah, a Libyan activist in Tripoli, told Al Jazeera: "This is another day, a new page in Libya's history. We are witnessing a new dawn and a new history of freedom. The regime is finished."

"We are living historic moments, moments that we haven't witnessed since we were born, since we came out of our mothers' wombs," said We'am Mohanna.

Celebratory gunfire and explosions rang out over the city and cars blaring their horns crowded onto the streets. Overhead, red tracer bullets darted into a black sky.

"It does look like it is coming to an end," said Anthony Skinner, Middle East analyst, Maplecroft. "But there are still plenty of questions. The most important is exactly what Gaddafi does now. Does he flee or can he fight?"

"In the slightly longer term, what happens next? We know there have been some serious divisions between the rebel movement and we don't know yet if they will be able to form a cohesive front to run the country."

Gaddafi, in his second audio broadcast in 24 hours, dismissed the rebels as rats.

"I am giving the order to open the weapons stockpiles," Gaddafi said. "I call on all Libyans to join this fight. Those who are afraid, give your weapons to your mothers or sisters.

"Go out, I am with you until the end. I am in Tripoli. We will ... win."

A Libyan government official told Reuters that 376 people on both sides of the conflict were killed in fighting overnight on Saturday in Tripoli, with about 1,000 others wounded.

From: http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Video/Article.aspx?ID=234873&R=R1#_tab#_tab#_tab
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« Reply #9 on: August 22, 2011, 04:24:24 am »

Will the new Libya be worth fighting and dying for? Huh

Sharia Law is just further oppression.

Just shows how hopeless that country is.
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William
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« Reply #10 on: August 22, 2011, 02:16:02 pm »

From: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44224936/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/?GT1=43001#.TlKpa6jAXk8 - More at link.

Latest updates:

   Obama declares Gadhafi regime near an end
    U.S. believes Gadhafi may be dug in somewhere in capital
    Opposition claims to control 95 percent of Tripoli
    Rebel leader warns against lack of discipline, threatens to resign
    Three of ruler's sons reported in custody


The regime of Col. Moammar Gadhafi is over in Libya, President Barack Obama said Monday.

In a taped statement Monday afternoon from Martha's Vineyard, Mass., where he has been monitoring developments while on vacation, Obama acknowledged that fighting continued amid a "fluid and uncertain" atmosphere in Tripoli and other major parts of Libya.

But "the situation in Libya has reached a tipping point," he said, and the U.S. stands ready to help opposition leaders rebuild the country.

"This much is clear: The Gadhafi regime is coming to an end," Obama said, "The future of Libya is in the hands of its people."

Repeating comments he made in a written statement Sunday night, Obama said the U.S. recognized the opposition's National Transitional Council as the government of Libya and would be its "friend and partner."

As rebels claimed to control of most of the Libyan capital, it still wasn't clear Monday where Gadhafi was.

U.S. intelligence believes he could still be dug in somewhere in or near Tripoli, U.S. officials told NBC News, and Obama said he "still has the opportunity to relinquish power and lay down arms for sake of Libya."

Obama made a point of calling on the opposition "to take steps to ensure a peaceful transition" and said "the rights of all Libyans must be respected."

The comments came as the rebels' leader warned that some opposition forces were breaking off on their own and ignoring the chain of command. He called on them to follow orders from Benghazi, the rebel headquarters, and said that if they didn't, he could resign.

U.S. officials told NBC News that the U.S. believed Gadhafi hadn't fled the country, unlike other senior figures. A variety of sources have reported that he was headed for any of several countries, among them Venezuela, Algeria and Chad, but the U.S. officials said they had no confirmation that he had even been invited by a foreign country.

U.S. intelligence agencies believe Gadhafi could still be hiding somewhere in Libya, most likely in the Tripoli area, a senior official at the Defense Department said Monday.



Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the Intelligence Committee, agreed, saying in an interview with MSNBC TV, "I believe he is in a bunker or a secure situation in Tripoli."

Arabic television reported Sunday night that Gadhafi had been spotted overnight in Tripoli but fought off rebel attempts to capture him.

Nacua, the rebel diplomat, said opposition fighters would "turn over every stone to find him, to arrest him and to put him in the court."

Gadhafi, 69, urged civilians to take up arms against rebel "rats." He said in an audio broadcast that he was in the city and would be "with you until the end," but there was little sign of popular opposition to the rebel offensive.

Three of Gadhafi's sons — Saif, Mohammed and, most recently, according to reports, Saadi — were captured by the rebels, but Al Jazeera reported that Mohammed Gadhafi managed to escape Monday.

NATO promised to maintain its air campaign until all pro-Gadhafi forces surrendered or returned to barracks. NATO warplanes have hit at least 40 targets in and around Tripoli in the last two days — the highest number on a single geographic location since the bombing started more than five months ago, the alliance said.

The U.S., which is part of the NATO campaign, will continue flying Predator drone missions — some of them armed — over Libya, the Defense Department official told NBC News. But for now, the Obama administration's policy that there would be no "U.S. boots on the ground" remains in effect, the official said.

'We still don't believe that this is happening'
Some warned of a risk of a longer, anarchic civil war after what has been the bloodiest of the Arab Spring uprisings inspired by the overthrow of autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt. Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, head of the opposition's National Transitional Council, insisted that "the real moment of victory" wouldn't come until Gadhafi was captured.

At a news conference in the rebels' headquarters city, Benghazi, Abdel-Jalil promised a fair trial for Gadhafi and called for civilians and of public and private property to be protected.

Abdel-Jalil expressed deep frustration with indiscipline within the rebel movement, warning that some fighters' refusal to observe the chain of command "might be the reason or the cause of my resignation."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44221786/ns/business-oil_and_energy/t/gadhafi-out-power-oil-prices-should-fall/ (Story: With Gadhafi out of power, oil prices should fall )

Libyan rebel fighters fight in downtown Tripoli on Monday, Aug. 22. Libyan rebels claimed to be in control of most of the Libyan capital after their lightning advance on Tripoli heralded the fall of Moammar Gadhafi's nearly 42-year regime. (Sergey Ponomarev / AP)
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William
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« Reply #11 on: August 22, 2011, 02:43:39 pm »

Analysis: Victory hands new set of problems to Libya rebels



LONDON (Reuters) - Even as they battle Muammar Gaddafi's last strongholds in Tripoli, Libyan rebel leaders must race to impose order and prevent bloody score-settling as the capital shakes off 42 years of despotism, analysts and Western officials say.

It is not clear if they can achieve this, but the implosion of Muammar Gaddafi's authority in the capital -- so far without a bloodbath -- suggests its two million inhabitants are focused more on reconciliation than revenge.

The assault on Tripoli has been a stunning success. In many cases rebel fighters have simply walked into the capital without firing a shot. Much of that is due to a long-planned civilian revolt in parts of the capital that erupted on Saturday evening.

But the battle-hardened fighters flooding into Tripoli may eventually become a liability for opposition leaders who will now want to channel the emotional rush of revolution into the more pedestrian work of reconstruction, analysts say.

Restoring public order would be helped by a spirit of reconciliation, not only between former Gaddafi loyalists and opponents, but also between disparate rebel forces who may now compete, perhaps violently, for the spoils of victory.

REBEL UNITY "HARD TO PREDICT"

Arab commentator Issandr El Amrani said it was unclear how much control the Benghazi-based National Transitional Council (NTC) "can really exert over what amounts to a large, diffuse coalition of anti-Gaddafi forces that -- once the Brother Leader is killed, exiled or arrested -- may have less common cause.

"There are a lot of light weapons in the hands of volunteer fighters in Libya, and like in any conflict, it's hard to predict what they might end up doing with them in the coming transition," he wrote.

The omens are mixed.

A faltering performance by the NTC could hurt the chances of a peaceful transition in which to resolve big issues such as forging a new constitution, rebuilding the economy and deciding what to do with Gaddafi, if he is captured, and his sons.

The council seems to be scrambling to keep up with events.

RIFTS MAY EMERGE

NTC officials had indicated they would disclose the names of the Tripoli-based officials in their leadership team at the right time -- after keeping them secret until now for their own safety. But there was no word on this by mid-Monday.

However, TNC member Abdullah Gzema, said four council members had traveled to Tripoli to prepare for Gaddafi's downfall before rebel fighters closed in on the city.

He said rebel leaders wanted civilian authorities, not frontline fighters, to control security in Tripoli and elsewhere. to prepare for Gaddafi's overthrow.

Another NTC member, Suleiman al-Sahli, said there would be no wholesale purging of Gaddafi's administration and security forces, such as happened in Iraq after Saddam Hussein's fall.

"We will work with them, except for those who were very close to Gaddafi, but I think they have gone already," he said.

Nevertheless, rebel divisions may now come to the fore.

George Joffe, a North Africa expert at Cambridge University, said the assault on Tripoli was led by rebels from Western Libya. "There is no guarantee they will accept the leadership of Benghazi. So we are entering a very dangerous phase."

Some see the swift fall of Tripoli as a hopeful omen for a relatively peaceful transition.

Parts of Gaddafi's security forces abandoned their posts, defected or stood aside as insurgents and their civilian supporters took over Tripoli districts at the weekend.

Noman Benotman, senior analyst at the Quilliam Foundation and an associate of Gaddafi's former spy chief Moussa Koussa, told Reuters the Tripoli uprising "was all made possible by the people of Tripoli themselves."

They had some help because some army and intelligence officers had ordered their men not to resist, he said, citing a military intelligence commander, el-Barrani Ashkal, a cousin of Gaddafi's, who he said had told his men not to attack rebels.

"The implications of this for the transition are very good. It's the perfect scenario for the future, because there was no substantial fighting," Benotman said.

The coordinated nature of the revolt and joyous scenes that accompanied it show that Gaddafi was widely loathed.

Hafed al-Ghwell, a U.S.-based Libyan opposition activist, said his family like those of many Libyans had suffered immensely from Gaddafi's despotism, but now was not the time to vent personal grievances, legitimate though they may be.

"Young battle-hardened fighters could take over by the gun and this is a real danger," he told Reuters.

"In post-conflict situations the most important thing is to focus people's energy on a political framework, rather than letting them fall into more primitive processes and habits," he said, advocating forgiveness and reconciliation.

WORKING CLASS REVOLT

Juan Cole, history professor at the University of Michigan, blogged that Gaddafi had lost popular support across the board and was in power only through force.

"The secret of the uprising's final days of success lay in a popular revolt in the working-class districts of the capital, which did most of the hard work of throwing off the rule of secret police and military cliques," he wrote.

"Once enough of his heavy weapons capability was disrupted, and his fuel and ammunition supplies blocked, the underlying hostility of the common people to the regime could again manifest itself, as it had in February."

Cole cautioned against underestimating future challenges, such as mopping up Gaddafi loyalists, restoring law and order in rebel-held cities, reconstituting the police and the national army, moving the NTC to Tripoli, founding political parties and building a new, parliamentary regime.

"Even in much more institutionalized and less clan-based societies such as Tunisia and Egypt, these tasks have proved anything but easy," he wrote.

"But it would be wrong in this moment of triumph ... to dwell on the difficulties to come. Libyans deserve a moment of exultation."

(Reporting by William Maclean; Editing by Jon Boyle and Alistair Lyon)

From: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-victory-hands-set-problems-libya-rebels-122920121.html
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« Reply #12 on: August 22, 2011, 05:32:33 pm »

Obama urges Gaddafi loyalists lay down arms

CHILMARK, Massachusetts | Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:32pm EDT

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama called on Monday for Muammar Gaddafi to end the bloodshed in Libya as pockets of his loyalist forces continued to fight.

"Although it is clear Gaddafi's rule is over, he still has the opportunity to reduce bloodshed by explicitly relinquishing power to the people of Libya and calling for those forces that continue to fight to lay down their arms," Obama said.

While rebels hunted for Gaddafi in Tripoli, some forces loyal to the autocratic leader were fighting on fiercely.

"This is not over yet," Obama warned in a statement from the farm where his family is vacationing on an island off the coast from Boston.

Vowing the United States would be a friend and partner to help a democratic Libya emerge in the post-Gaddafi era, Obama also cautioned the Libyan opposition against acts of revenge for the four decades of Gaddafi's autocratic rule.

"True justice will not come from reprisals and violence. It will come from reconciliation and a Libya that allows its citizens to determine their own destiny," he said.

Although he did not go into details about what help the United States would be prepared to offer Libya, Obama said a top priority would be humanitarian aid to the wounded.

He did spell out that U.S. engagement would continue to be part of a multinational effort and praised the role NATO had played in the campaign to oust Gaddafi.

"NATO has once again proven it is the most capable alliance in the world and its strength comes from both its firepower and the strength of out democratic ideals," Obama said.

(Reporting by Laura MacInnis and Alister Bull; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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« Reply #13 on: August 22, 2011, 09:41:14 pm »

Gadhafi son, reported arrested, appears at Tripoli hotel
When asked if his father is safe and well, Seif al-Islam replies: 'Of course'


NBC News and msnbc.com
updated 2 hours 20 minutes ago

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TRIPOLI — Latest highlights:

    Gadhafi's whereabouts remain unknown
    Son says Gadhafi is alive and well
    Rebel leader warns against lack of discipline, threatens to resign
    Loyalist forces fire Scud-type missiles
    NATO reportedly bombing Gadhafi compound
    U.S. fears Libyan missiles smuggled out of country
    Get the latest updates from Breakingnews.com

As rebel forces consolidated their control over Tripoli amid signs of disorganization within the ranks, the manhunt continued Monday for Col. Moammar Gadhafi, who was said by his son to be alive and well.

Three of Gadhafi's sons — Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, Mohammed Gadhafi and Saadi Gadhafi — were reported to have been captured by the rebels, but Seif later appeared before reporters at a Tripoli hotel, and Al Jazeera reported that Mohammed managed to escape.

Seif Gadhafi appeared at the Rixos Hotel late Monday night and spoke to foreign journalists there.

Asked whether his father was safe, Seif Gadhafi said, "Of course." In an exchange captured on television, he said the rebels had fallen into a "trap" in Tripoli and that loyalist forces had "broken the spine of rebels."

Seif also said that Tripoli was under government control and that he did not care about an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague seeking him and his father for crimes against humanity.

Television footage showed him pumping his fists in the air, smiling, waving and shaking hands with supporters outside the hotel, as well as holding his arms aloft with each hand making the V for victory sign.

Seif's public appearance contradicted the rebels' claims a day earlier that they had captured him and raised questions about the veracity of their assertions that up to 80 percent of the capital was under their control.

NBC News' Richard Engel reported from Tripoli that opposition fighters had taken control of a majority of the city — but not, crucially, of Gadhafi's main Bab al-Aziziya compound.

U.S. President Barack Obama said it was clear that "the Gadhafi regime is coming to an end," but the White House was reported to be deeply concerned about the prospect that powerful Libyan missiles capable of shooting down commercial airliners had been smuggled out of the country.

And a crucial question remained unanswered: Where is Gadhafi, who hasn't been seen in public for weeks, limiting his communications to audio messages. The last of those was Sunday, when Gadhafi, 69, urged Libyans to take up arms against the rebel "rats."

U.S. officials told NBC News that the U.S. believed Gadhafi hadn't fled the country, unlike other senior figures. U.S. intelligence agencies believe he was most likely hiding somewhere in the Tripoli area, a senior official at the Defense Department said Monday.

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the Intelligence Committee, agreed, saying in an interview with MSNBC TV, "I believe he is in a bunker or a secure situation in Tripoli."

NATO, meanwhile, promised to maintain its air campaign until all pro-Gadhafi forces surrendered or returned to their barracks. Al Arabiya, citing rebel sources, reported late Monday that NATO was bombing the Bab al-Aziziya compound.



U.S. officials told NBC News on Monday that the U.S. and NATO strikes would continue as long as Gadhafi and parts of his military remained unaccounted for. The officials said Gadhafi himself would be a target.

A key worry for the U.S. is Gadhafi's stockpile of 20,000 shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. That stockpile has been looted, and the U.S. officials said they feared some of the missiles had been smuggled out of the country, possibly into the hands of terrorists.

NATO warplanes have hit at least 40 targets in and around Tripoli in the last two days — the highest number on a single geographic location since the bombing started more than five months ago, the alliance said.

NATO said loyalist forces responded Monday by firing three Scud-type missiles from Gadhafi's home city, Sirte, toward Misrata. Initial reports showed that the rockets landed most likely at sea or on the shore, NATO told Reuters, saying it wasn't aware of any casualties or damage.

The U.S., which is part of the NATO campaign, will continue flying Predator drone missions — some of them armed — over Libya, the Defense Department official told NBC News. But for now, the Obama administration's policy that there would be no "U.S. boots on the ground" remains in effect, the official said.

Where could he go?
A variety of sources reported that Gadhafi was headed to any of several countries — among them Venezuela, Russia, Cuba, Angola, Zimbabwe, Algeria, South Africa and Tunisia — but U.S. officials said they had no confirmation that he had even been extended an invitation by any country.

South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said Monday that his country wasn't helping Gadhafi leave and that it wouldn't offer him asylum. Algeria's foreign minister denied that Gadhafi was in his country. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a strong supporter, is reported to be seriously ill and unlikely to be able to guarantee protection.

Until Gadhafi is accounted for, the rebels could not say that they had reached "the real moment of victory," Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, head of the opposition's National Transitional Council, said at a news conference from the council's headquarters in Benghazi.

Mahmud Nacua, a diplomatic representative for the rebels, said opposition fighters would "turn over every stone to find him, to arrest him and to put him in the court."

More at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44224936/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/#.TlMJWqjAXk8
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« Reply #14 on: August 23, 2011, 12:18:47 pm »

NBC's Engel: Rebels have full control of Gadhafi compound
'Strategically, this means that Tripoli has fallen,' reporter says from inside site


TRIPOLI, Libya  — Rebel forces gained "full control" over Moammar Gadhafi's fortified Bab al-Aziziya compound in Libya's capital Tuesday, NBC News reported.

The compound, which was heavily damaged by NATO airstrikes, had emerged as one of the last centers of government resistance.

"Strategically, this means that Tripoli has fallen," NBC's Richard Engel said from inside the compound.

Several rebels, in a show of contempt for the man who ruled their vast North African nation for more than 40 years, placed a head seized from a statue under their feet and kicked it. One happily lifted it above his head while his comrades danced and yelled joyfully around him.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene said the compound's green gates were blasted open, allowing hundreds of rebels poured into the complex, some driving golf carts as the area resounded with celebratory gunfire.

It was not immediately clear whether Gadhafi or members of his immediate family were in the compound when it was breached by the rebels, but the ferocity of the battle led many to speculate that the maverick leader may have been inside.

Abdel-Aziz Shafiya, 19, walked down one of the main roads of the compound with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher in one hand and a Kalashnikov in another. The teenager, who is from the embattled city of Misrata, said he felt "an explosion of joy inside."

"I lost friends and relatives and now I can walk into Gadhafi's house," he said. "Many of my friends have died and now all of that meant something."

The battle for Bab al-Azizya, in which mortars, heavy machine-guns and anti-aircraft guns were used, came hours after Gadhafi's son and heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, turned up free to thwart Libyan rebel claims he had been captured and rally supporters.

His surprise appearance underlined the potential for Gadhafi to strike back even as his grip on power seemed to be slipping fast.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the Russian head of the World Chess Federation, said he spoke by telephone with Gadhafi and the Libyan leader remains in Tripoli.


Seif al-Islam flashes the victory sign at the Rixos hotel in Tripoli.

Ilyumzhinov, who has visited Libya during the NATO bombing campaign and met Gadhafi, said the leader's eldest son Mohammad had called him by telephone on Tuesday afternoon.

"He gave the phone to his father, who said that he is in Tripoli, he is alive and healthy and is prepared to fight to the end," Ilyumzhinov told Reuters by telephone.

Gadhafi's former right-hand man Abdel-Salam Jalloud told Al-Jazeera television that he thought the Libyan leader was moving around the outskirts of Tripoli, taking shelter at private homes, small hotels and mosques. Jalloud defected this month.

Mahmoud Shammam, a Doha-base spokesman for the rebels' interim council, was more cautious.

"We don't know who is inside Bab al-Aziziya. We believe that there is someone there and that he is leading a fierce battle. It is a symbol. This is the final castle of Gadhafi," he said.

NATO warns Tripoli remains dangerous
Street battles between pro-Gadhafi troops and rebels also broke out elsewhere in the city. Thick clouds of gray and white smoke filled the Tripoli sky as heavy gunfire and explosions shook several districts of the city of 2 million people.

NATO warned the situation in Tripoli remains very dangerous and promised the alliance will continue bombing forces loyal to the 69-year-old Libyan leader if they keep fighting.

"Snipers, shelling, missiles could do much damage, but they can't change the course of history or the outcome of this campaign," spokesman Col. Roland Lavoie told reporters at a news conference in Naples, Italy. He said NATO had to stay vigilant because of fluidity of the situation on the ground.

"Most notably, Tripoli is still the site of numerous clashes between pro- and anti-Qadhafi forces, and the tension is far from being over. The situation in Tripoli is indeed very, very dynamic and complex, even today, and we are closely monitoring developments hour after hour," he said.

NATO officials in Brussels said the alliance's warplanes were flying over Tripoli on Tuesday, but that there have been no bombing runs.

President Barack Obama said on Monday the situation in Libya reached a tipping point in recent days after a five month NATO-led bombing campaign. However, he acknowledged that the situation remained fluid and that elements of the regime remained a threat.

Saying the conflict was not over yet, Obama cautioned rebels against exacting revenge for Gadhafi's brutal rule. "True justice will not come from reprisals and violence," he said.

Scud fired
Gadhafi's forces fired off a short-range Scud missile Monday near Sirte, his hometown and one of the few remaining cities still under his control, said U.S. military officials told The Associated Press, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations. It was unclear where the missile landed or if anyone was hurt.



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« Reply #15 on: August 23, 2011, 05:15:02 pm »

Libyan rebels storm seat of Gadhafi's power

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Hundreds of Libyan rebels blasted through the green gates of Moammar Gadhafi's sprawling compound in Tripoli Tuesday, charging wildly through the symbolic heart of the crumbing regime as they looted armories and scoured the grounds in vain for the missing dictator.

The storming of Bab al-Aziziya, long the nexus of Gadhafi's power, marked a major success for the rebels. But with Gadhafi and his powerful sons still unaccounted for — and gunbattles flaring across the nervous city — the fighters know they cannot declare victory.

After five hours of intensive battles with Gadhafi loyalists outside, fought with mortars, heavy machine-guns and anti-aircraft guns, the rebel force was inside. They beat and killed some of those who defended the compound and hauled away crates of weapons and trucks with guns mounted on the back in a frenzy of looting.

"We're looking for Gadhafi now. We have to find him now," said Sohaib Nefati, a 29-year-old rebel sitting against a wall with a Kalashnikov rifle.

One fighter climbed atop the iconic statue of a huge golden fist clenching a model of an American warplane and shot his machine gun in the air in celebration. The statue stands outside a building that was once Gadhafi's home, preserved with the pockmarks of an American bombing in 1986 as a symbol of his defiance.

Gadhafi delivered many a fiery speech from the balcony of that house, railing against the West. It was there that he appeared on television at the beginning of the 6-month-old uprising, mocking his opponents.

Bab al-Aziziya has since been pummeled many times over by NATO bombings in the air campaign against the regime that began in March.

Abdel-Aziz Shafiya, a 19-year-old rebel dressed in camouflage with an RPG slung over one shoulder and a Kalashnikov over another, said the rebels believe Gadhafi is hiding underground inside the complex.

Rebel fighter brakes the glass of the Moammar Gadhafi's tent inside the main compound in Bab Al-Aziziya in Tripoli, LIbya, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2011.Libyan rebels stormed Moammar Gadhafi's main military compound in Tripoli Tuesday after fierce fighting with forces loyal to his regime that rocked the capital as the longtime leader refused to surrender despite the stunning advances by opposition forces. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)

"Wasn't he the one who called us rats. Now he is the rat underground," he said. Asked how it felt to be standing inside Gadhafi's compound, the fighter who came from to Tripoli two days ago from rebel-held western city of Misrata replied:

"It's an explosion of joy inside. I lost friends and relatives and now I can walk into Gadhafi's house. Many of my friends have died and now all of that meant something."

Associated Press reporters inside the compound said parts of it appeared to still be under control of government forces who were firing toward the rebels, making for an atmosphere of joyful celebration mixed with tension. The air was thick with smoke from the battles and the sound of crackling gunfire was constant. Rebels chanted "Allahu Akbar" or "God is Great" and on loudspeakers they cried: "Hamdullah, hamdullah" or "Thank God."

As the fighters stormed in, they captured a guard at the gates and threw him to the ground, slamming rifle butts into his back. A hostile crowd gathered around, punching and kicking him until one rebel stepped in, stood over him and kept the crowd at bay. Inside the walls, a few bodies of Gadhafi fighters — one with a gaping head wound from a gunshot — were sprawled on the ground.

Several young men wrenched the head from a statue of Gadhafi and kicked it around. One lifted it above his head while his jubilant comrades danced and yelled around him. Fighters with long beards hugged each other and flashed the "V'' for victory. Others carried injured rebels to ambulances.

Thousands of rebels converged on the compound after it was breached, snatching ammunition and arms from depots inside. They found brand new rifles still in their paper wrappings. Scuffles broke out, pushing and shoving to get inside two white buildings where the rifles, machine guns and handguns are stored. They came out drenched in sweat from the struggle.

Some used a rifle bayonet to crack open a green box that contained guns and pushed each other to lay their hands on the booty.

Ali Sameer, a 45-year-old Tripoli resident, stood nearby with three brand new rifles resting on his legs.

"They are for my friends. I don't even know how to fight," he said.

Abdul-Salamah Alawah, 29, who arrived on a boat from Misrata last night, loaded a clip into his handgun.

"This one is especially for Gadhafi," he said.

The rebels carted out boxes of the weapons and ammunition, and some drove off with trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns on the back. One drove out with a golf cart, another walked out with a fan.

Others were busy ripping down posters of Gadhafi.

Ayman Coumi, a 21-year-old fighter inside, said there were five hours of heavy fighting before they broke through the gates.

"We entered from three sides," he said.

Near Gadhafi's old home with the statue outside, the body of a dead regime loyalist lay inside a large tent with glass windows shot out. It was partly covered by a blanket, his head sticking out with a gaping gunshot wound.

A second, much larger tent was on fire.

Gadhafi has a famous penchant for Bedouin-style tents, meant to symbolize his roots as a simple desert dweller. He received guests in the tents inside Bab al-Aziziya.

The storming of the compound was a new high for the rebels in what has been an emotional rollercoaster since they moved into Tripoli Sunday night. It began with euphoria and claims that they had taken over most of the city with little resistance. The first night they partied in Green Square, a major symbol of the regime where Gadhafi supporters had held almost nightly rallies throughout the uprising. And it seemed Gadhafi rule was teetering on the brink of collapse.

In the early morning hours of Tuesday, there was a shocking setback. The rebels had claimed that they arrested Gadhafi's son and heir apparent, Seif al-Islam. It was confirmed by the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands, which has charged him and his father with crimes against humanity.

But inexplicably, he showed up at the hotel where foreign journalists are staying under the close watch of regime minders in early morning hours of Tuesday. He giddily took reporters on eerie drive in the middle of the night to see hundreds of pro-regime gunmen around Bab al-Aziziya and at least a hundred more lined up outside where guns were being handed out to volunteers. The rebels gave no explanation of what had happened.

By Tuesday morning, it looked like the capital might descend into bloody urban warfare. There was sporadic gunfire in many parts. The rebels were in control of parts of the city, though it was not clear how extensive their control really was. Then the fighting took focus around Gadhafi's compound.

The Libyan leader has not been heard from since Sunday, when rebels entered Tripoli and he delivered a series of angry and defiant audio messages on state television, apparently phoned in.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the Russian head of the World Chess Federation who has known Gadhafi for year, said he spoke Tuesday by telephone with Gadhafi, who told him he was "alive and well and still in Tripoli." The report couldn't be independently confirmed.

In other parts of the capital, the rebels said they were also in control of the state television. They raised the flag on the top of the building. Rebels claimed they also control the airport.

Libya's former deputy ambassador to the U.N. said he expects the entire country will be in rebel hands within 72 hours. Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi, who with other diplomats has continued to work at the Libyan mission since disavowing Gadhafi in February, said Tuesday he expects Libya will be "totally liberated."

In the de facto rebel capital of Benghazi, hundreds of miles east of Tripoli, the news of the Bab al-Aziziya storming was greeted with celebratory gunfire and firecrackers. Men drove around with their cars waving the rebel flags.

Wael Abu Khris, a 35-year-old shipping agent turned rebel fighter from Tripoli, was walking around Gadhafi's compound after the battle, carrying his Kalashnikov.

"I feel great satisfaction. We are at last free of this dictator," he said. "Libya is free at last. No more Gadhafi!"

Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, he said he has been married for six years, but only now does he want to have children.

From: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-08-23-ML-Libya/id-bb286bfd1da849cc9d9a6705efc7d849#_tab
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« Reply #16 on: August 24, 2011, 11:58:54 pm »

Aug. 24, 2011 7:52 PM ET

Libyan rebels hunt Gadhafi, try to secure Tripoli

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyans hunting Moammar Gadhafi offered a $2 million bounty on the fallen dictator's head and amnesty for anyone who kills or captures him as rebels battled Wednesday to clear the last pockets of resistance from the capital Tripoli.

While some die-hard loyalists kept up the fight to defend Gadhafi, his support was crumbling by the hour. His deputy intelligence chief defected, and even his foreign minister said his 42-year rule was over.

A defiant Gadhafi vowed from hiding to fight on "until victory or martyrdom," in an audio message early Wednesday.

He may have little choice. Asked by the British broadcaster Channel 4 if a negotiated settlement or safe passage for Gadhafi from Libya was still possible, Foreign Minister Abdul Ati al-Obeidi said: "It looks like things have passed this kind of solution."

Rebel leaders were beginning to set up a new government in the capital. Their interim administration, the National Transitional Council, has been based in the eastern city of Benghazi, which fell under rebel control shortly after the outbreak of widespread protests in February.

"Members of the council are now moving one by one from Benghazi to Tripoli," said Mansour Seyf al-Nasr, the Libyan opposition's new ambassador to France.

Rebel officials are eager to prove they can bring a stable political future to Libya, and that their movement is more than an often-fractious collection of tribes, ethnicities and semiautonomous militias. Mahmoud Jibril, the head of the opposition government, outlined plans for a new constitution and elections and said officials were talking to the U.N. about sending up to 200 monitors to help ensure security in Tripoli.

But the capital was far from pacified. A day after rebels captured Gadhafi's vast Bab al-Aziziya compound, the symbolic center of his regime, loyalists were firing into the compound from an adjacent neighborhood where intense clashes broke out. Pro-regime snipers cut off the road to the airport. Four Italian journalists were kidnapped on the highway to Tripoli around the city of Zawiya, 30 miles west of the capital.

Tripoli's streets were largely empty of civilians. Rebels manned checkpoints every few hundred yards, but little could be seen beyond the debris of days of fighting and weeks of accumulated garbage.

Rebels found no sign of Gadhafi after storming his compound Tuesday, but rumors churned of his possible whereabouts. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said there was no evidence he had left Libya, but rebel officials acknowledged they could not find him.

"He might be in Sirte or any other place," Jibril said in Paris, where he met French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Sirte, a coastal city 250 miles from Tripoli, is Gadhafi's hometown and a bastion of regime support.

Khaled al-Zintani, spokesman for the rebel military council for the western mountains, said it has set up an operations room with intelligence officers, military defectors and security officers who are trying to find Gadhafi, his family, regime members and his forces. They are collecting information on the location, size and direction of any convoys.

The operations center is in the western mountains, the staging base for the rebels who marched on Tripoli.

Mohammed al-Herizi, an opposition official, said a group of Tripoli businessmen has offered a $2 million reward for the arrest or killing of Gadhafi. The rebels themselves are offering amnesty for anyone who kills him or hands him over.

"The biggest prize is to offer amnesty, not to give money," rebel spokesman Col. Ahmed Bani said.

Gadhafi vowed not to surrender. Speaking to a local television channel, apparently by phone, he called on residents of the Libyan capital and loyal tribesmen to free Tripoli from the "devils and traitors" who have overrun it.

Al-Sadeq al-Kabir, a rebel spokesman, denied media reports that Gadhafi had offered a cease-fire.

The rebels have taken control of much of Libya with the help of a relentless NATO air campaign that included about 7,500 strike attacks against Gadhafi's forces. His defenses around Tripoli melted away as the rebels rapidly advanced and entered the capital Sunday.

Jibril said a commission created with members from around Libya would write a new constitution, which would be put up for a referendum. He didn't specify a timetable but said that once a constitution is adopted, elections for parliament would be held within the next four months, and its president would be Libya's interim leader until a presidential election sometime later.

"The mission of protecting civilians is not over," Jibril said. "The other bigger and more fierce battle has not started yet. It is the rebuilding of Libya."

In the postwar period, a new army will be created, he said, and the National Transitional Council planned "to call on all those who took up arms to join either the new army or the new police force that we will constitute in coming days."

The rebels said they also have an environment team that tries to detect bodies of combatants and clean the city of rotting animals.

Fighting continued, however, and not just in Tripoli. Jibril said pro-government forces were shelling a number of southern cities.

Residents of the port town of Zwara, about 70 miles west of the capital, said they had suffered through four days of shelling. All roads to the city had been cut off, and rebels said they were running low on supplies.

As they are routed elsewhere, Gadhafi's forces "take their revenge by shelling our town," Sefask al-Azaabi, a rebel, said by telephone. "We are appealing to the (rebel) military council to send us reinforcements or this town will be finished in no time."

In Tripoli, rebel fighters were using Gadhafi's captured compound as a staging area, loading huge trucks with ammunition and discussing deployments, but they had yet to control all of Bab al-Aziziya.

Pro-Gadhafi snipers repeatedly fired on the fighters from tall buildings in the Abu Salim neighborhood, a regime stronghold, rebel Mohammed Amin said.

He said the rebels had surrounded Abu Salim, home to the country's most notorious prison and scene of a 1996 massacre of protesting political prisoners, but had been unable to push into it. But late Wednesday night, al-Kabir, the rebel spokesman, said rebels released thousands of inmates from Abu Salim, many of them political prisoners who had been held there for years.

Matthew VanDyke, a writer from Baltimore missing since March in Libya, was among those who escaped, his mother said. VanDyke called her and said he had been held in solitary confinement, but fellow prisoners helped him escape to a compound where he borrowed a phone. He had traveled to Libya to write about the uprising against Gadhafi.

The State Department said Wednesday that all American citizens known to have been detained in Libya have been released.

A State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said in a statement that the families of those detained have been notified of their freedom and welfare. No further details were given.

The rebels claim they control the Tripoli airport but were still clashing with Gadhafi forces around it. Associated Press reporters said the road leading to the airport was closed because of heavy fire by pro-regime snipers.

Rebels said pro-Gadhafi forces to the south and northeast were firing rockets and shelling rebel positions inside the airport and had set a plane on fire.

Inside Gadhafi's compound, two young rebel fighters searched through a heap of pill packages in a building they said had served as a pharmacy. A broken TV, its screen shattered, lay on the ground in the courtyard. A dozen young fighters posed for pictures next to a gold-colored statue of a clenched fist squeezing a plane — a memorial to the 1986 U.S. airstrikes on the compound in retaliation for a bombing at a German disco frequented by U.S. servicemen.

The rebels also targeted other symbols of the regime, including the homes of some of Gadhafi's children.

About 200 people ransacked the beachfront villa of Gadhafi's son Saadi, driving off with four of his cars — a Lamborghini, a BMW, an Audi and a Toyota station wagon, said Seif Allah, a rebel fighter who joined in the looting, taking a bottle of gin and a pair of Diesel jeans.

After a five-hour gunbattle with guards, rebels also ransacked the mansion of Gadhafi's daughter Aisha.

Clothes and DVDs were strewn on the floor of the master bedroom, including a DVD about getting in shape after childbirth. In a sitting area, a gold-colored statue of a mermaid — a mermaid with Aisha's face — framed a sofa.

At the once-luxurious Rixos Hotel near Abu Salim and Bab al-Aziziya, dozens of foreign journalists were freed after being held captive for days by pro-government gunmen.

The hotel was where rotating tours of journalists had lived for the past six months, closely watched by government minders and taken on approved tours. But it became a de facto prison after the rebels swept into the city because a team of gunmen refused to let the journalists leave.

Heavy gunbattles had raged all around the hotel since Sunday, and a gunman even ran through the lobby at one point. Near-constant power outages left reporters without air conditioning in the sweltering summer heat, and in their final days at the Rixos they had to scrounge the hotel to find food and water.

As the rebels drew closer, most of the guards left, leaving just a pair of increasingly nervous gunmen. The journalists were suddenly freed Wednesday after the International Committee of the Red Cross stepped in to negotiate their release.

Libyan rebels patrol to try and find Moammar Gadhafi's relatives as they got rumors that one of his son was hiding inside the building, in Tripoli, Libya, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2011. A defiant Moammar Gadhafi vowed Wednesday to fight on "until victory or martyrdom," as rebel fighters tried to end scattered attacks by regime loyalists in the nervous capital. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

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« Reply #17 on: August 25, 2011, 12:02:20 am »

Price on Gaddafi's head as fighting goes on

By Missy Ryan and Ulf Laessing

TRIPOLI | Wed Aug 24, 2011 11:42pm EDT

(Reuters) - Libya's new masters have offered a million-dollar bounty for the fugitive Muammar Gaddafi, after he urged his men to fight on in battles across parts of the capital.

A day after rebel forces overran his Tripoli headquarters and trashed symbols of his 42-year rule, scattered pockets of loyalist diehards kept the irregular fighters at bay as they hunted Gaddafi and his sons. Rebels also reported fighting deep in the desert and a standoff round Gaddafi's tribal home town.

In Tripoli, rockets and shooting kept largely kept civilians indoors and gunfire rang out in the center into the night. Most were anxious but hopeful the war would soon end, and with it the worsening shortages of food, water and medical supplies -- both for hundreds of wounded and for the sick.

"Gaddafi's forces and his accomplices will not stop resisting until Gaddafi is caught or killed," said Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the rebels' National Transitional Council (NTC), who offered amnesty to any of his entourage who killed the fallen strongman and announced a reward worth over $1 million for his capture.

"The end will only come when he's captured, dead or alive," Abdel Jalil said in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

Until then, he said, Gaddafi would not give up easily and could still unleash a "catastrophic event." In a poor-quality audio tape broadcast by satellite on Wednesday, Gaddafi, 69, urged Libya's tribes to "exterminate traitors, infidels and rats."

There was no clear indication of where Gaddafi is, though his opponents surmised he was still in or around Tripoli after what Gaddafi himself described as a "tactical" withdrawal from his Bab al-Aziziya compound before it was captured on Tuesday.

But Western leaders and the rebel government-in-waiting have lost no time readying a handover of Libya's substantial foreign assets. Funds will be required to bring relief to war-battered towns and to develop oil reserves that can make Libya rich.

OIL FACILITIES

After talks with Arab and Western allies in Qatar, a senior rebel leader said the NTC would seek to have $5 billion in frozen assets released to jump-start the country's economy and provide vital relief to its citizens. The amount is higher than a previously given estimate of $2.5 billion.

Meanwhile, the United States submitted a draft resolution to the U.N Security Council to unfreeze $1.5 billion in Libyan assets. No vote was held on the draft on Wednesday, but diplomats said a vote could come on Thursday or Friday.

Another meeting was scheduled for Thursday in Istanbul.

Rebels also spoke of bringing back workers to restart oil export facilities soon. While Libya is rich in oil, four decades of rule by personality cult has left it with few institutions of normal governance.

The rebels, many of whom were once supporters of Gaddafi, stressed the wish to work with former loyalists and officials and to avoid the purges of the ousted ruling elite which marked Iraq's descent into sectarian anarchy after 2003.

Their gains are however no guarantee of security or progress with Gaddafi and his entourage at large. Abdel Salam Jalloud, a close ally who switched sides last week, said Gaddafi planned to drop out of sight and then launch a guerrilla war:

"He is sick with power," he said. "He believes he can gather his supporters and carry out attacks ... He is delusional. He thinks he can return to power."

However, some of his loyalists have already quit. The second in command of Libya's intelligence services and health minister declared their allegiance to rebel forces during interviews aired on Al Arabiya television.

There were signs of other supporters giving up on him, following a stream of defections during the six months of the uprising. At Tripoli's Rixos hotel where loyalist gunmen had been preventing nearly 40 foreigners, mostly journalists, from leaving, gunmen relented on Wednesday and let them go.

"DIRTY BOMB"

After by far the bloodiest of the Arab Spring revolts that are transforming the Middle East and North Africa, there were clear indications, too, of new threats of disorder. Four Italian journalists had been kidnapped near Zawiya, between Tripoli and the Tunisian border.

Western officials also fear weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles and nuclear material capable of making a "dirty bomb," could be taken from Gaddafi's stocks and reach hostile groups.

Imposing order and preventing rivalries breaking out across tribal, ethnic and ideological lines among the disparate rebel factions are major concerns of both the new leaders and of their Western backers, who are working to avoid the anarchy and bloodshed that followed the overthrow of Iraq's Saddam Hussein.

Meeting rebel government chief Mahmoud Jibril in Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy was the first Western leader to bask in the gratitude of Gaddafi's opponents, who noted how Sarkozy took a lead in pushing for NATO military intervention.

France will persevere with military operations in Libya for as long as needed by the rebel forces, Sarkozy said, adding Paris will host a "Friends of Libya" summit on September 1. It would include Russia and China, both critics of the Western bombing campaign which have been concerned at now losing out on business deals with the rebels.

MEDICAL SHORTAGES

Fighters who swept in to Tripoli at the weekend, uniting several fronts and a variety of opposition groups, were trying to establish order in the city, but faced pockets of resistance and there were signs of looting. Snipers kept up fire from high buildings, including around Gaddafi's compound. Rebels blasted back with anti-aircraft guns mounted on pickup trucks.

"There are still many snipers in eastern Tripoli," said one rebel fighter. "We'll finish them off but it'll take time."

Aymen, a rebel at the Mitiga airbase in Tripoli, said rebels were trying to fight their way into the Abu Slim area, not far from Gaddafi's fallen Bab al-Aziziya complex.

"They are surrounding it but Gaddafi loyalists are putting up a fight, firing from inside. We continue to comb for supporters of the fallen regime," he said by phone.

Gaddafi's tribal home town of Sirte, on the coast between Tripoli and Benghazi, was still not in the hands of the new leadership who have despatched forces there. Nor was the southern city of Sabha, where the rebels reported fighting.

Meanwhile, government buildings were being stripped of anything of value. The images on Arab satellite TV of rebels grabbing the props of Gaddafi's power, could invigorate other revolts in the Arab world, such as in Syria where President Bashar al-Assad has launched military crackdowns on protesters.

At Bab al-Aziziya, fighters were still going through buildings and coming out with sniper rifles and ammunition, which they distributed among their ranks.

But medical supplies, never especially plentiful, were reaching critical levels in many places where some of the hundreds of casualties from the fighting were being treated. Shooting in the street also kept medics away from work.

"The hospitals that I've been to have been full of wounded - gunshot wounded," said Jonathan Whittall, head of the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) mission to Libya.

"In one health facility that I visited, they had converted some houses next to the clinic into an inpatient department ... But because of the shortage of staff, there was no nursing staff and the patients were essentially caring for themselves."

(Reporting by Peter Graff, Ulf Laessing, Missy Ryan, Zohra Bensemra and Leon Malherbe in Tripoli, Robert Birsel in Benghazi, Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers, Souhail Karam in Rabat, Richard Valdmanis, Christian Lowe and Giles Elgood in Tunis, Sami Aboudi, Dina Zayed and Tom Pfeiffer in Cairo, writing by Alastair Macdonald, editing by Peter Millership)

From: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/25/us-libya-idUSTRE77A2Y920110825?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtopNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Top+News%29#_tab
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