Rebels defend Qaddafi compound as clashes erupt
A rebel fighter shoots with his Kalashnikov inside Muammar Qaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli, Libya, Aug. 24, 2011. / AP Photo
Updated at 1:05 p.m. ET
TRIPOLI, Libya - Scattered battles flared Wednesday across the Libyan capital, with pro-regime snipers cutting off the road to Tripoli's airport while other loyalist fighters launched repeated attacks on Muammar Qaddafi's captured private compound.
While opposition fighters claimed they had most of Tripoli under control, a defiant Qaddafi vowed from hiding that he would fight on "until victory or martyrdom."
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Few civilians were willing to venture outside. The streets of the city were scattered with debris, broken glass, garbage and other remnants of fighting, while rebels manned checkpoints every few hundred yards.
But intense clashes broke out in the Abu Salim neighborhood next to Qaddafi's vast Bab al-Aziziya compound. Qaddafi loyalists inside Abu Salim were also firing into the captured compound. Abu Salim is home to a notorious prison and thought to be one of the regime's final strongholds.
Rebels found no sign of Qaddafi after a battle Tuesday for Bab al-Aziziya, but rumors churned through the city about his possible whereabouts. While the conquest effectively signaled the end of the regime, the rebels know they will face pockets of stiff resistance for some time to come — and that they cannot really proclaim victory until Qaddafi is found.
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The White House said there's no evidence to indicate Qaddafi has left Libya. Briefing reporters traveling with President Obama on vacation, spokesman Josh Earnest also said Wednesday that officials are closely monitoring the status of Qaddafi's weapons stockpiles amid concerns that his huge caches of arms could fall into the wrong hands.
At the Pentagon, CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports that the United States doesn't plan to send troops to Libya after hostilities cease, but a spokesman said U.S. policy could change.
One rebel official said a group of Tripoli businessmen had announced a $2 million reward for the arrest or killing of Qaddafi, but Col. Ahmed Bani, a rebel spokesman, said the rebels themselves were only offering amnesty.
"The biggest prize is to offer amnesty, not to give money," he said.
Should a still-breathing Qaddafi come into the rebels' custody, CNN reports that said the "prevailing thought" of the rebels' interim council would be for Qaddafi and his followers to be tried in a Libyan court, not at the International Criminal Court, which has charged him with crimes against humanity.
Qaddafi's foreign minister told British broadcaster Channel 4 that the longtime dictator had exhausted all his options and his rule "was over." Although it was once thought possible that Qaddafi would get safe passage out of Libya, Abdul Ati al-Obeidi said that was now unlikely.
"Now I'm not in touch with anybody, so it looks like things have passed this kind of solution," he said.
Rebel fighters, who by Wednesday afternoon appeared to control most but not all of Bab al-Aziziya, were using the compound as staging area for their operations, loading huge trucks with ammunition and discussing deployments.
But their movements inside the compound were repeatedly disrupted Wednesday by loyalist attacks, with pro-Qaddafi snipers firing on the fighters from tall buildings in Abu Salim.
"There are also civilians in those buildings who support Qaddafi and they too are firing on us," said Mohammed Amin, a rebel fighter.
He said the rebels have surrounded Abu Salim, but have been unable to push into it. Amin said one rebel had been killed in the area Wednesday morning and four more were captured by pro-Qaddafi soldiers.
The rebels claim they control the Tripoli airport but are still clashing with Qaddafi forces in the streets around it. AP reporters said the road leading to the airport was closed because of heavy fire by pro-regime snipers.
Khalil Mabrouk, a 37-year-old rebel, said he had just come from the airport and the rebels have been inside since Monday. Most of the airport was cleared of Qaddafi troops, he said, but pro-Qaddafi's forces to the south were firing rockets and shelling rebel positions inside.
Meanwhile, dozens of foreign journalists were released Wednesday after being held captive for days by pro-government gunmen at Tripoli's once-luxurious Rixos Hotel, which is next to Abu Salim. A steady barrage of machine gunfire and heavy weapons could be heard in the area through the day, including in a large wooded park behind the hotel.
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Elsewhere in the city, streets were deserted except for the rebel checkpoints, where fighters looked for Qaddafi supporters and checked the trunks of cars for weapons. At one checkpoint, a picture of Qaddafi, once ubiquitous throughout the city, had been laid on the ground so cars had to drive over it.
Many buildings were covered in the pro-rebel graffiti that has appeared over the last few days.
Trash, already a problem in the waning months of Qaddafi's rule, now covers many streets and sidewalks. The shredded remains of Qaddafi's green flags were also scattered across the city.
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