TRIPOLI: Libyan government tanks and snipers put up scattered, last-ditch resistance in Tripoli today after rebels swept into the heart of the capital, cheered on by crowds hailing the end of Muammar Gaddafi’s 42 years in power.
The 69-year-old leader, urging civilians to take up arms against rebel ”rats”, 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, two of Gaddafi’s sons were seized and it was unclear where he was.
”Gaddafi is finished. Now we are free,” one rebel, named Abdullah, told a Reuters reporter over the sound of gunfire and shelling, as his group consolidated its position to the west of the city centre after an overnight dash into the capital.
World leaders were in no doubt that, after six months of an often meandering revolt backed by NATO air power, the disparate and often fractious rebel alliance was about to take control of the North African desert state and its extensive oil reserves.
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.
”Time has run out,” said Franco Frattini, foreign minister of former colonial power Italy, adding that Gaddafi’s forces now controlled no more than 10 or 15 per cent of the capital.
Fighters from the irregular opposition forces moved from building to building, hunting sharpshooters. Civilians came out in celebration yesterday after a coordinated move by rebel cells in Tripoli late on Saturday but stayed indoors today.
Rebel spokesman Nouri Echtiwi said by telephone that tanks and pick-up trucks mounted with machineguns had emerged from Gaddafi’s Bab al-Aziziya compound: ”They fired randomly in all directions whenever they heard gunfire,” he said.
US President Barack Obama urged Gaddafi to accept defeat as sporadic gunbattles crackled across Tripoli. The European Union, whose members had in recent years resolved disputes with Gaddafi in return for energy supplies, said his time was up. (UNI)
”We seem to be witnessing the last moments of the Gaddafi regime and call on Gaddafi to step down without further delay and avoid further bloodshed,” an EU spokesman said.
”We have post-Gaddafi planning going on.”
South Africa, a leading power on the continent to which Gaddafi devoted much of Libya’s wealth and influence, denied it had sent a plane for Gaddafi or was planning to shelter a leader who has been indicted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Sweden’s prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said: ”We are watching history.”
But he cited the example of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and warned: ”There is a risk for actions of revenge, and uncontrollable violence. These are tribal groups who are fighting against their oppressors. One knows what one is against, but it is not always equally clear what one is for and people can be for different things.”
First signs emerged of moves to begin restoring oil production that has been the foundation of the Libyan economy. Technical staff of Italy’s oil and gas major Eni arrived in Libya to look into restarting facilities, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said.
In China and Russia, both powerful critics of the NATO war launched in March in support of the rebels, officials agreed that Libya appeared to have new masters. In Beijing, the foreign ministry said it would respect the people’s choice.
Late yesterday, 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, including Saif al-Islam who was once seen as heir apparent and a potential friend of the West were captured by the rebels. But the whereabouts of Gaddafi himself, one of the world’s longest ruling leaders, were unknown.
Laila Jawad, 36, who works at a Tripoli nursery, told Reuters after the rebels arrived: ”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.”
REBEL CONVOY
The rebels made their entrance into the capital driving in convoy through a western neighbourhood.
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 faded away. Near Green Square youths burned the green, Islamic flags of the government and raised the rebel tricolour last used by the post-colonial monarchy which Gaddafi overthrew in a military coup in 1969.
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 colourful and often brutal autocrat, said he was breaking out weapons stores to arm civilians. 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,” Ibrahim said yesterday. ”Even if the leader leaves or steps down now, there will be a massacre.”
Obama, on vacation in the island of Martha’s Vineyard, said in a statement: ”The surest way for the bloodshed to end is simple: Muammar Gaddafi and his regime need to recognize that their rule has come to an end. Gaddafi needs to acknowledge the reality that he no longer controls Libya. He needs to relinquish power once and for all.”
NATO said the transition of power must be peaceful.
TRIPOLI FALLS QUICKLY
After civil war that became a stalemate in the desert for long periods, rebels raced 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 mosques.
Rebel National Transitional Council Coordinator Adel Dabbechi confirmed that Gaddafi’s younger son Saif al-Islam had been captured. The ICC, which wants him 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 had surrendered to rebel forces, Dabbechi told Reuters. In a television interview, Mohammed said gunmen had surrounded his house. He 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 in the far east of the vast and thinly populated North African state of six million. He warned then that there would be ”no mercy, no pity” for his opponents. His forces, he said, would hunt them down ”district to district, alley to alley, house to house, room to room”.
The United Nations then acted quickly, pushed notably by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, clearing the way for the 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, thousands gathered in a central square. They waved red, black and green opposition and trampled on pictures of Gaddafi as news. REUTERS S