Loyalists at Qaddafi compound hold off rebels
Libyan rebel fighters shoot toward pro-Qaddafi forces during fighting in downtown Tripoli, Libya, Aug. 22, 2011. / AP Photo
Last Updated 2:32 p.m. ET
Libyan rebels claimed to be in control of most of the Libyan capital on Monday after their lightning advance on Tripoli heralded the fall of Muammar Qaddafi's nearly 42-year regime. Scattered battles erupted, and the mercurial leader's whereabouts remained unknown.
Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Rahman, who was in Tripoli, warned of pockets of resistance and said as long as Qaddafi remains on the run the "danger is still there."
Clashes broke out early Monday at Qaddafi's longtime command center known as Bab al-Aziziya early Monday when government tanks emerged from the complex and opened fire at rebels trying to get in, according to Abdel-Rahman and a neighbor. An AP reporter at the nearby Rixos Hotel where foreign journalists stay heard gunfire and loud explosions from the direction of the complex. Electricity and cell phone service are reported out.
CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen reports eyewitness accounts of several tanks emerging to protect Qaddafi's stronghold, but their effort sounded weak and by some accounts dispirited.
"Bab al-Aziziya and the surrounding areas are still out of our control," said rebel leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil at a press conference Monday in Benghazi. "We have no knowledge of Qaddafi being there, or whether he is still in or outside Libya."
Rebel sources say NATO warplanes will start bombing Bab al-Aziziya any time now.
A Pentagon spokesman has told CBS News the U.S. does not believe Qaddafi has left Libya, and that while U.S. surveillance flights will continue, the current position is that there will be no U.S. boots on the ground in a post-Qadaffi Libya.
The Rixos hotel also remained under the control of Qaddafi forces, with two trucks loaded with anti-aircraft machine guns and pro-regime fighters and snipers posted behind trees. BBC News said there are reports the power is out at the Rixos, where many foreign correspondents are trapped.
Al-Arabiya is reporting clashes in central Tripoli between rebels and troops controlled by one of Qaddafi's sons.
The rebels' top diplomat in London, Mahmud Nacua, said opposition forces controlled 95 percent of Tripoli. He vowed "the fighters will turn over every stone to find" Qaddafi and make sure he faced justice.
But Qaddafi's former right-hand man, who defected last week to Italy, said the longtime leader would not go easily.
"I think it's impossible that he'll surrender," Abdel-Salam Jalloud said in an interview broadcast on Italian RAI state radio, adding that "He doesn't have the courage, like Hitler, to kill himself."
In other developments:
- Admitting that the situation in Libya is "still very fluid," U.S. President Barack Obama said this afternoon that "the Qaddafi regime is coming to an end, and the future of Libya is in the hands of its people." Speaking to the Libyan people, whose courage and character in the face of a tyrant he praised as "unbreakable," Mr. Obama said the Libya they deserve is now within their reach. "The pursuit of human dignity is far stronger than any dictator," Mr. Obama said, promising that the United States would stand as a friend and partner to the country as it rebuilds itself. The president also remembered the scores of American citizens murdered in acts of terror attributed to the Qaddafi regime.
- Al Arabiya reports rebels have seized control of Tripoli airport.
- Libyan state television TV has gone off the air, with Reuters reporting its studio headquarters is now under rebel control.
- The rebels have confirmed another of Qaddafi's seven sons - Saadi al-Gaddafi, a professional footballer who had an unspecified military function during the civil war - was arrested. However, an unconfirmed report by Al Jazeera said that Mohammad Gaddafi, one of Qaddafi's sons who surrendered to rebel forces on Sunday, has escaped from custody with the aid of Qaddafi loyalists. Al Jazeera also quote slocal sources as saying that the rebels have recovered two bodies believed to be Qaddafis' son Khamis and the intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senousi.
- Egypt has officially recognized the Libyan National Council as the new legitimate government of Libya, according to AFP.
- Al-Arabiya television is reporting fierce fighting between rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces near the Tunisian border.
- State Department sources tell CBS News that preparations are being made to reopen the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli.
- In London, British Prime Minister David Cameron said frozen Libyan assets would soon be released to help the country's rebels establish order, saying Qaddafi's regime was "falling apart and in full retreat."
A rebel field commander said reinforcements were arriving in Tripoli by sea from the north, south and southeast. "Our fighters are coming from all directions and, God willing, today we will liberate the whole city," the commander, Suleiman Sifaw, told The Associated Press.
Moammar al-Warfali, whose family home is next to the compound, said there appeared to be only a few tanks belonging to the remaining Qaddafi forces that have not fled or surrendered.
"When I climb the stairs and look at it from the roof, I see nothing at Bab al-Aziziya," he said. "NATO has demolished it all and nothing remains."
The rebels' Abdel-Jalil said Monday, "The real moment of victory is when Qaddafi is captured." He vowed to give the Libyan leader a "fair trial with all legal guarantees."
On Monday, rebels erected checkpoints on the western approaches to the city, handing out candy to passengers and inquiring about their destination. Cars leaving the city were subjected to more rigorous checks.
The rebels' leadership council, based in Benghazi, sent out mobile text messages to Tripoli residents, proclaiming, "Long live Free Libya" and urging them to protect public property. Internet service returned to the capital for the first time in six months.
- no previous page
- next
1/2
Popular on CBSNews.com
- Man dead in "truly shocking" London attack 216 Comments
- London soldier slaying homegrown Islamic extremism?
- Who were the 4 U.S. citizens killed in drone strikes? 56 Comments
- Graphic video: Man dead in "truly shocking" London attack Play Video
- Mexican volcano on verge of eruption 15 Photos
- People cling to car in "sidewalk skiing" stunt Play Video
- Man, 80, becomes oldest to climb to top of Mount Everest
- U.K. official: London attack suspects probed before
Just like in Afghanistan and Iraq where the oil was on the market, they don't want anyone in charge in these countries who has not bought into the global corporate domination oligarchy.
So let's not pretend that this latest imperialistic invasion is something else.
How long are the Palestinian people and the Israelis going to expect the rest of the world to keep you from killing each other? The questions you are directing at our government and those of the European governments is one you should be asking and demanding from the leaders of your separate states.
How many peace envoys have darkened your doorways? What are you and they willing to give up to secure peace? For all that is reasonable and understandable what makes you think that someone else intervening makes a bit of difference? Hamas blows up a bus and Israel invades the Gaza - when are the two of you going to get tired of the bloodshed?
Stop asking and find a way out of the violence yourselves, because frankly the world has tried since the founding of Israel and no one on your end is listening.
They look like a couple of gangbangers from the South Side of Chicago.
I realize they're not trained soldiers but they are wasting an awful lot of rounds for nothing.
miami_don, it is more to point out, that we think we are helping rebels, but we may be hurting ourselves, by allowing groups (rebels) who may have been infiltrated by terrorist groups, to overthrow a sovereign government and take control of their military assets.....but if you think that, is better than a dictator keeping peace for 30 years, that's your opinion.....I don't share that.
And....Yes, Qaddafi protected the bomber, he wasn't the lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was.....their celebrating his return is from their culture of death to non-believers, not specific to libya.
====
To my knowledge I have never known you to support unfounded fear. I do not own a magic lamp for the future but I can read the past. I feel pretty comfortable the Qaddafi ordered the Lockerby bombing. I also suspect based on your stance on previous issues that if you were a citizen of Libya you would be one of these rebels. So, I am a bit confused.
I have no idea what direction these revolutions will lead. None. But I know the leaders are the young professionals seeking a better way of life in their countries and tired of the privileges only being there for the few. How can any believer in democracy not understand the necessity of a people to determine their future without a despot like Qaddafi?
As far as hurting ourselves, wouldn't you also think that statement is speculative? I do not think Qaddafi possess WMD's are he would have already used them on his own people.
George why would our enemies home in on Libya as weapons depot? They do not have any trouble gaining access to arms? From what I understand watching the news report Libya's military has some pretty dilapidated equipment. Those people that want to hurt you and me can buy new Chinese weapons in Pakistan without any questions. Which makes the fear of Liyba more confusing because if there is any country that I worry about falling into the wrong hands it is Pakistan not Egypt, Syria, Tunisa, or Libya.