[dan-b]

For me, the end doesn't justify the means, but I'm glad the fighting is over.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14608807

A convoy of Libyan rebels has rolled into central Tripoli past celebrating crowds after a day of heavy fighting in and around the capital.

Crowds on Green Square cheered them, waving flags and firing salutes.

President Obama said the Gaddafi regime had reached a "tipping point". The UK said the end was near for the Libyan leader, and urged him to go.

The rebels reportedly captured Col Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, as the colonel himself vowed to fight on.

International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he had been informed of the arrest. The court has indicted Saif al-Islam for torturing and killing civilians.

Continue reading the main story At the scene Matthew Price BBC News, Tripoli
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The hotel where we and other foreign journalists are staying is still under the control of pro-Gaddafi guards, and we believe that they are now preparing to defend it from opposition forces.
There's been an awful lot of firing going on in recent hours in the area.
We believe there will some sort of rebel attempt to take the hotel because it's the place from which the Libyan information minister has been broadcasting his take on the conflict - it's also the place from where Libyan TV has recently been broadcasting its nightly shows from.
So it's one of the targets of the opposition forces. What's happening here is in sharp contrast to what's happening three miles - or 5km - down the road in Green Square, where there are jubilant scenes.
Inside the Rixos hotel
Another of Col Gaddafi's sons, Muhammad, was speaking on the phone to al-Jazeera TV when he said the rebels were surrounding his home. Gunfire was heard before the line cut off.

Fighting has continued overnight in some districts while the rebels and their supporters have been celebrating on Green Square - which they renamed Martyrs' Square.

TV footage showed Libyans kneeling and kissing the ground of Tripoli in gratitude for what some called a "blessed day".

Government forces still control parts of the city, including the areas around Col Gaddafi's Bab al-Azizia compound and near the hotel where foreign journalists are staying, south of the city centre.

In an audio message broadcast late on Sunday, the Libyan leader urged residents to "save Tripoli" from the rebels.

"How come you allow Tripoli, the capital, to be under occupation once again?" he asked. "The traitors are paving the way for the occupation forces to be deployed in Tripoli."

Col Gaddafi is believed to have thousands of armed followers in the capital, although reports suggest a number of them have surrendered to the rebels.

The chairman of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) Mustafa Mohammed Abdul Jalil said early on Monday: "I warn you, there are still pockets of resistance in and around Tripoli."

Libyan Information Minister Moussa Ibrahim said fighting in the city since noon (10:00 GMT) on Sunday had left 1,300 people dead and 5,000 wounded. There is no confirmation of the figures.

Tripoli resident: "This is the victory moment right now"

Rebel forces advanced from the east and west in recent days, backed by Nato aircraft enforcing a UN resolution to protect civilians.

In Washington, President Obama said in a statement: "Tonight, the momentum against the Gaddafi regime has reached a tipping point. Tripoli is slipping from the grasp of a tyrant."

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said it was clear "that the end is near for Gaddafi".

Mr Cameron said the Libyan leader had "committed appalling crimes against the people of Libya and he must go now to avoid any further suffering for his own people".

Safe passage offer
Libyan Information Minister Moussa Ibrahim: ''Nato is attacking the heart of a peaceful civilian city''

During the day, one group of rebels had pushed in from the west while another set up checkpoints on the eastern outskirts.

It is clear there have been bloody battles in parts of Tripoli, the BBC's Matthew Price reports from the city.

The Libyan information minister accused Nato of backing "armed gangs" with air power. He added that the Gaddafi government was prepared to negotiate directly with the NTC.

Mr Jalil said the rebels would halt their offensive if Col Gaddafi announced his departure.

Speaking about Saif al-Islam Gaddafi's capture, he said he was "being kept in a secure place under close guard until he is handed over to the judiciary".

He added that rebel forces would give Col Gaddafi and his sons safe passage out of the country.

[kellyhound]

I remember he said he wud die fighting in his own country instead of getting a safe passage out of his country.
We'll see if he's a man of his word.

[bdjackass318]

Originally Posted by kellyhound ↗

I remember he said he wud die fighting in his own country instead of getting a safe passage out of his country.
We'll see if he's a man of his word.

yeah me thinks he is already gone.

[niknik]

Now they give power to those who have never had any. Wonder how that will turn out?

[rob666]

Let the Civil War begin........ How many fucking times does this have to happen, with the same result, before we stop messing with things that are none of our business?

[**butterflylove**]

fighting all around the world will never end...its just goes on and on and on

[gatagato]

The rebels reportedly captured Col Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, as the colonel himself vowed to fight on.

- Two of Gadhafi's sons, who had been reported captured over the weekend, were free early Tuesday. Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges, spoke briefly to CNN at the Rixos Hotel, one of the remaining pro-Gadhafi bastions in Tripoli.

- Mohammed Gadhafi escaped from rebel custody Monday, Libyan Ambassador Ali Suleiman Aujali told CNN.

- There was no explanation from the National Transitional Council, the rebel leadership, which had announced the capture of both Gadhafi sons.

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[gatagato]

***UPDATE***
Libya rebels capture Qaddafi’s compound in Tripoli, fire in air in celebration

By ABEER TAYEL
Al Arabiya - TRIPOLI LIBYA

Rebel fighters captured Muammar Qaddafi’s heavily defended Bab al-Aziziya compound and headquarters in Tripoli on Tuesday after a day of heavy fighting, an AFP correspondent witnessed.
There was no immediate word on Qaddafi’s whereabouts after the insurgents breached the defenses as part of a massive assault that began in the morning.
Reuters reporters on the scene said that the Libyan rebels poured into Qaddafi’s compound in Tripoli and were seen firing in the air in celebration.
One rebel contacted by Al Arabiya said that the rebels control about 70% of the compound.
Pro-Qaddafi forces initially tried to defend the compound but their resistance later ended, the reporters said.
Al Arabiya reported earlier that the Libyan rebel forces have breached the first gate of Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli.
“Our forces are surrounding Bab al-Azizya. There is a fierce battle going on there. We are now controlling one of the gates, the western entrance,” Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani told AFP.
The rebels, battling forces loyal to Qaddafi, had earlier in the day intensified their attack on the complex in the southern center of Tripoli, home to Qaddafi’s private quarters as well as a military barracks and other installations.
Bab al-Azizia is a military base located south of the Libyan capital. It has been used as the main premises of Qaddafi. The compound houses Qaddafi’s home as well as a number of military and security barracks, which were used by the troops led by Qaddafi’s sons.
Bab al-Azizia has been set up on an area of six kilometers at a strategic location in Tripoli, near most of the governmental departments. The complex is also near the high way leading to Tripoli International Airport.
The compound is heavily guarded. It is surrounded by three cement-made anti-fire fences.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russian chess federation chief Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said Qaddafi had told him by telephone that he was still in Tripoli, alive and well, and had no plans to leave the city.
Ilyumzhinov, who has visited Libya during the NATO bombing campaign and met Qaddafi, 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.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, said Libyan rebels appeared to be in control of most of Tripoli, adding that it was sticking to its assessment that leader Qaddafi had not left the country, according to Reuters.
Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan added that although the command capabilities of Qaddafi’s forces had been diminished, they remained dangerous. He also said the United States was monitoring Libya's chemical weapons sites, amid concern in Congress that those weapons could fall into the wrong hands.
EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also said that rebel leaders say 80 percent of the Libyan capital is now controlled by forces opposed to leader Qaddafi.
“I just have spoken to (TNC chairman) Abdel Jalil who tells me that 80 percent of Tripoli is controlled by the National Transitional Council (TNC), but that he anticipates it will take a while for that to move further forward,” Ashton told a news briefing.
She also said leaders of the Libyan rebel council had said they wanted international help in preparing for elections in the North African country.

Video: Assault on Qaddafi compound
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http://english.alarabiya.net/article...23/163724.html

[kellyhound]

Colonel Gaddafi may have managed to escape capture by using a bunker and tunnel system underneath his compound in Tripoli.

The man who ruled Libya for 42 years is known to have deep bunkers under his Bab al Aziziya lair, which rebel fighters seized on Tuesday.

Some former Gaddafi officials say the compound is connected by long tunnels to far-flung parts of Tripoli in a hidden network that would have provided him with a quick escape route.