 |
The rebels raced into Tripoli Sunday and met little resistance as Qaddafi's defenders melted away and his 42-year rule rapidly crumbled. The euphoric fighters celebrated with residents of the capital in Green Square, the symbolic heart of the regime. ...
After a morning of heavy fighting near Muammar al-Qaddafi's compound in Tripoli, the Libyan rebels' top diplomat in London said that only five percent of the capital city was still controlled by forces loyal to the Libyan leader.
He says they have not yet found Qaddafi but "the fighters will turn over every stone to find him, to arrest him, and to put him in the court."
A NATO official said that Qaddafi must step down immediately in order to save lives and allow for a peaceful transition, but he has still not done so.
The rebels raced into Tripoli Sunday and met little resistance as Qaddafi's defenders melted away and his 42-year rule rapidly crumbled. The euphoric fighters celebrated with residents of the capital in Green Square, the symbolic heart of the regime.
Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Rahman says that tanks emerged from the complex, known as Bab al-Aziziya, early Monday and began firing.
An Associated Press reporter at the nearby Rixos Hotel where foreign journalists are staying could hear gunfire and loud explosions that have been going on for more than 30 minutes.
Qaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, was captured by rebel forces as they overtook the city. Al-Islam faces charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands, and the court urged rebels to turn him over, rather than seek revenge.
In a press conference Monday morning, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that another of Qaddafi's sons, Mohammed al-Qaddafi, was also detained.
Tripoli resident Moammar al-Warfali, whose family home is next to Bab al-Aziziya, said tanks rolled out from the compound in the early morning after a group of rebels tried to get in. He said there appeared to be only a few tanks belonging to the remaining Qaddafi forces that have not fled or surrendered.
Bab al-Aziziya, a sprawling compound that long served as the command center for the regime, has been heavily damaged by repeated NATO airstrikes over the past five months, al-Warfali said.
Abdel-Rahman says that Qaddafi troops remain a threat to rebels advanced into the city Sunday, and that as long as Qaddafi remains on the run the "danger is still there."
Associated Press reporters with the rebels said they reached the Tripoli suburb of Janzour around nightfall Sunday. They were greeted by civilians lining the streets and waving rebel flags.
"It's over, frizz-head," chanted hundreds of jubilant men and women massed in Green Square, using a mocking nickname of the curly-haired Qaddafi. The revelers fired shots in the air, clapped and waved the rebels' tricolor flag. Some set fire to the green flag of Qaddafi's regime and shot holes in a poster with the leader's image.
By the early hours of Monday, rebels controlled large parts of the capital. They set up checkpoints alongside residents -- many of them secretly armed by rebel smugglers in recent weeks. But pockets of pro-Qaddafi fighters remained: In one area, Associated Press reporters with the rebels were stopped and told to take a different route because of regime snipers nearby.
"We were waiting for the signal and it happened," Nour Eddin Shatouni said. Shatouni is a 50-year-old engineer who was among the residents who flowed out of their homes to join the celebrations.
Hours earlier, the same rebel force of hundreds drove out elite forces led by Qaddafi's son in a brief gunbattle. The fighters hauled off truckloads of weapons and advanced full speed toward the capital.
When rebels reached the gates of Tripoli, the special battalion entrusted by Qaddafi with guarding the capital promptly surrendered. The reason: Its commander, whose brother had been executed by Qaddafi years ago, was secretly loyal to the rebellion, a senior rebel official Fathi al-Baja told The Associated Press.
Al-Baja, the head of the rebels' political committee, said the opposition's National Transitional Council had been working on the offensive for the past three months, coordinating with NATO and rebels within Tripoli. Sleeper cells were set up in the capital, armed by rebel smugglers. On Thursday and Friday, NATO intensified strikes inside the capital, and on Saturday, the sleeper cells began to rise up, The Associated Press reported.
NATO said in a statement that "the sooner Qaddafi realizes that he cannot win the battle against his own people, the better -- so that the Libyan people can be spared further bloodshed and suffering."
A senior U.S. official, observing the evolving situation in Tripoli, told Fox News that "the momentum that the opposition has built over the past several weeks seems to be paying off. The battle for Tripoli is clearly underway, and what has often seemed impossible--the fall of Qadhafi--may now be attainable."
An Associated Press reporter with the rebels saw them take over the base of the Khamis Brigade, 16 miles west of the capital, on Sunday. The base has been defending Qaddafi's stronghold of Tripoli. After a brief gunbattle, Qaddafi's forces fled.
Qaddafi's 27-year-old son Khamis commands the 32nd Brigade, also known simply as the Khamis Brigade, one of the best trained and equipped units in the Libyan military.
Inside the base, hundreds of rebels cheered wildly and danced, raising the rebel flag on the front gate of a large, gray wall enclosing the compound. They seized large stores of weapons from the base, driving away with truckloads of whatever arms they could get their hands on. One of the rebels carried off a tube of grenades, while another carted off two mortars.
"This is the wealth of the Libyan people that he was using against us," he said, pointing to the haul. "Now we will use it against him and any other dictator who goes against the Libyan people."
"Anti-Qaddafi forces have had momentum on their side for some time," a U.S. senior administration official told Fox News on Sunday. "If Tripoli eventually falls to the rebels, Qaddafi's already limited options would become even more limited. Pressure on him and his shrinking circle of loyalists has to be taking a seriously toll."
A Libyan government officials says at least 376 people have been killed in Tripoli during the overnight attacks and over 1,000 were injured.
But a government spokesman also told reporters Sunday that NATO's airstrikes have gone astray, targeting civilian buildings including schools, hospitals, farms and houses.
Anti-regime protests erupted Sunday in several Tripoli neighborhoods where thousands braved the bullets of snipers perched atop high buildings, residents and opposition fighters said.
Mukhtar Lahab, a rebel commander closing in on Tripoli and a former captain in Qaddafi's army, said relatives inside the capital reported mass protests in four neighborhoods known to be sympathetic to the opposition: Fashlum, Souk al-Jouma, Tajoura and Janzour. He said mosques there were rallying residents with chants of "Allahu Akbar" or "God is great," broadcast on loudspeakers.
Snipers on high buildings were firing on protesters in at least one of the four neighborhoods, said Lahab. Residents contacted in the city by telephone also reported snipers firing on civilians.
Fighters said a 600-strong rebel force that set out from Zawiya has reached the outskirts of the village of Jedaim and was coming under heavy fire from regime forces on the eastern side of the town.
Jury Seated In Penis Amputation Lawsuit Poison Flask Offers New Clue In Mummy Mystery Judge Apologizes To Convicted Murderer Seeking Sex-Change WATCH: Dangerous Ride For Baby On Board WATCH:
Social Security Disablity Payments May Cease in 2017 More Volatility: What Investors Should Do Now Save Yourself From the Dollar's Doom Total Recall:
Hong Kong July CPI Jumps Less-than-expected 7.9% Japan signals readiness to intervene in currencies Germany's Merkel Again Rules Out Euro Bonds Thai Stocks Tumble After GDP Unexpectedly Shrinks China paper warns of euro crisis "Black Death"
Wenger gets 2-match touchline ban from UEFA Barcelona won't lodge complaint against Madrid Webster: Is $82million Fernando Torres damaged goods? Australian captain Neill to join Al Jazira Paper Chase:
FREELOADERS re-airs this weekend on Fox News (Saturday at 10pm ET) Tonight's show: The Republican Debate Deadly Regulations No Soup for You: the Government's War on Food What Budget Cuts?