Uprising in Libya

[Lord of the Abyss]

Libyan rebels take fight to Tripoli

TRIPOLI, Libya - Libyan rebels said they launched an attack on Tripoli in coordination with NATO late Saturday, and Associated Press reporters heard unusually heavy gunfire and explosions in the capital. The fighting erupted just hours after the opposition captured the key city of Zawiya nearby.

Gunbattles and mortar rounds were heard clearly at the hotel where foreign correspondents stay in the capital. Explosions also sounded in the same area as NATO aircraft carried out heavy bombing runs after nightfall.

"We planned this operation with NATO, our Arab associates and our rebel fighters in Tripoli with commanders in Benghazi," Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, the head of the rebel leadership council, told the Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera. Benghazi, hundreds of miles east of Tripoli, is the rebels' de facto capital.

"The fighters in Tripoli are rising up in two places at the moment - some are in the Tajoura neighborhood and the other is near the Matiga (international) airport," he told the Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera.

Libya rebels capture main square in Zawiya
Libyan rebels capture Brega, close in on Qaddafi
Complete coverage: Anger in the Arab World

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim appeared on Libyan television to deny that there was an uprising in Tripoli.

"Sure, there were some armed militants who escaped into some neighborhoods and there were some scuffles, but we dealt with it within a half hour and it is now calm," he said.

The claims from both sides could not immediately be independently verified.

Rebels fighting to oust Gadhafi have scored a number of victories in the six-month civil war, only to see towns fall out of their hands. Now the momentum appears to have firmly swung in the opposition's favor after months of near-deadlock.

Col. Fadlallah Haroun, a military commander in Benghazi, said the battles marked the beginning of Operation Mermaid - a nickname for Tripoli. He also said the assault was coordinated with NATO. Haroun told the AP that weapons were assembled and sent by tugboats to Tripoli on Friday night.

"The fighters in Tripoli are rising up in two places at the moment - some are in the Tajoura neighborhood and the other is near the Matiga (international) airport," he told the Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera. Tajoura has been known since the beginning of the uprising in February as the Tripoli neighborhood most strongly opposed to Moammar Gadhafi's regime.

Earlier Saturday, the government organized a trip for reporters to the airport to show them it was still in government hands.

The head of the rebel's leadership council said they chose to start the assault on Tripoli on the 20th day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which fell on Saturday. The date marks the ancient Islamic Battle of Badr, when Muslims conquered the holy city of Mecca in A.D. 624.

A representative for Tripoli on the rebel leadership council told the AP that rebels were surrounding almost every neighborhood in the capital, and there was especially heavy fighting in Fashloum, Tajoura and Souq al-Jomaa.

Those three neighborhoods have been bubbling with discontent ever since the beginning of the Libya uprising. They paid the highest price in deaths when protesters took the streets in anti-Gadhafi protests, only to be met with live ammunition by government militiamen.

"We don't have exact numbers yet, but we are hearing that many fighters have fallen - very likely over 100," said Mohammed al-Harizi.

State television showed calm, aerial scenes of Tripoli in the daytime and shots of a very sparse Green Square in Tripoli, the epicenter of pro-Gadhafi rallies since the uprising began.

In Benghazi, thousands of Libyans celebrated in the main city square, shooting fireworks and guns into the air, and waving the rebel tricolor flag.

[The Romulan Republic]

I expected Gaddaffi to go down soon, but even I'm surprised by how quickly the Rebels seem to be advancing. Are they really in a position to take Tripoli?

Hopefully this ends soon and with as little loss of life as possible, and Libya can put together a decent government.

[Tribun]

Well, Gaddafi just broadcast this. Make of it what you want.

"I can't understand how Libya is now in this state... you need to find the people behind this state... behind this tragedy."

"You need to Love Libya... how can you allow those people to play with Libya? Instead of being happy we're sad."

"People who were happy last Ramadan are sad this Ramadan."

He said he expected the opposition to claim his message was pre-recorded:

"They will say this message is recorded ... It's Sunday, the 21st of August. Time is 1:37 Libya time."

"It (the uprising) is not a Libyan project. No Muslim can follow this project... It's not an Islamic project, it's not a Libyan project ... Those people are destroying Libya."

[The Romulan Republic]

Not sure what he thinks the point of that message is. If he had any decency he'd surrender, and if he had any brains he'd flee. Of course, if he had either brains or decency, this wouldn't be happening in the first place.

[CJvR]

Gaddafi's speaches tend to be incoherent ramblings from what I have heard.

Lets hope this is indeed the endgame and that Gaddafi will be dangeling from a lamppost soon.

[CJvR]

How important is Bani Waled? It looks out of the way to most of Gaddafi's territory, and surrounded by Freedom fighter forces.

Very, it is the only remaining link between Tripolis, Sirte and Sabha in the deep south. As long as Bani Waled holds out the rebels are effectively isolated in three pockets. If it falls the loyalists will be divided in two pockets.

[Lord Zentei]

Not sure what he thinks the point of that message is. If he had any decency he'd surrender, and if he had any brains he'd flee. Of course, if he had either brains or decency, this wouldn't be happening in the first place.

He probably knows that he's finished, but is too proud to flee. As someone commented earlier he probably figures that the purple is the best burial shroud. Besides, where would he flee to? Who would give him sanctuary? He obviously doesn't want to be a fugitive for the rest of his life, and in any case, he'd probably be hunted down eventually. And surrender? For what, to be put on trial instead of going out in a blaze of glory?

[Tribun]

Not sure what he thinks the point of that message is. If he had any decency he'd surrender, and if he had any brains he'd flee. Of course, if he had either brains or decency, this wouldn't be happening in the first place.

He probably knows that he's finished, but is too proud to flee. As someone commented earlier he probably figures that the purple is the best burial shroud. Besides, where would he flee to? Who would give him sanctuary? He obviously doesn't want to be a fugitive for the rest of his life, and in any case, he'd probably be hunted down eventually. And surrender? For what, to be put on trial instead of going out in a blaze of glory?

Well, his buddy Hugo in Venezuela surely would. After the ridiculous lengths the man went to stay on Gaddafi's side, he'd give him shelter in his country.

[Lord Zentei]

Point. He might try and escape there if all else fails, if his courage fails him. But unless he's completely delusional about his prospects, I think he wants to go down fighting.

[Sea Skimmer]

Well, his buddy Hugo in Venezuela surely would. After the ridiculous lengths the man went to stay on Gaddafi's side, he'd give him shelter in his country.

Seeking shelter in the hands of a man who has cancer, and isn’t really a complete dictator no matter how bad people want to portray him as one, doesn’t strike me as being very wise. Chavez would certainly shelter him, but could also be dead inside a year for all anyone knows and future Venezuelan governments would almost certainly kick him out. Seeking shelter from Lukashenko in Belarus or Rahmon in Tajikistan seems more likely. But I personally don't think Qaddafi will willingly leave Libya, it seems much more likely that he would go into hiding like Saddam did while attempting to motivate his lingering supporters to start a wider insurgency then they already have in rebel held areas. It is possible he will go down fighting in Tripoli, or simply be caught trying to flee, but neither seems all that likely.


Various newcrews are reporting that fighting in Tripoli seems to have died way down. If that means the rebels were defeated, or have taken the objectives they aimed at is totally unknown. In another hour the sun rises in the city, which is almost certain to bring about renewed fighting.

[Patrick Degan]

From MSNBC:

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan rebels launched an assault early Sunday on the capital of Tripoli amid unconfirmed reports that leader Moammar Gadhafi had fled, NBC News reported.

"Zero hour has begun," a rebel commander told NBC News.

However, a government spokesman said Gadhafi remained in control and the leader in a live interview on state television called the rebels "rats" who need to be destroyed.

Rebels were fighting in at least four areas of Tripoli, NBC News said.

Protesters demanding the departure of Gadhafi took to the capital streets, Reuters said. Heavy mortar fire and sustained gunfire grew intense, witnesses said.

White House and U.S. intelligence officials were monitoring rumors that Gadhafi had left with his two sons, Hannibal and Mutassim, ending his 41-year rule, NBC News reported.

Late last week, intelligence officials told NBC News that Gadhafi might seek exile in Tunisia.

White House officials said President Barack Obama, vacationing at Martha's Vineyard, Mass., "had been briefed on Libya and is getting regular updates as needed."

A second senior official said the administration was in close contact with the Libyan opposition and U.S. allies and partners, and believes that Gadhafi's days in power are numbered. Both aides spoke on condition of anonymity.
Gadhafi rumors add to uncertainty for US on Libya

In Libya, rebels said they launched the Tripoli assault in coordination with NATO and with the uprising of rebels inside the capital.

"This was a pre-set plan," said Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice-chairman of the National Transition Council, based in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. "They've been preparing for a while. There's coordination with the rebels approaching from the east, west and south.''

Ghoga said NATO warplanes were launching raids to distract Gadhafi's forces.

"The next hours are crucial. Many of their (pro-Gadhafi) brigades and their commanders have fled.''

His claims could not be independently confirmed immediately.

Sustained gunfire and thuds were heard in the distance and residents of Tajoura, on Tripoli's eastern outskirts, where reported clashes were under way.

An eyewitness told Al Arabiya news agency that the suburb was in rebel hands and people were out dancing in the streets.

Free Libya Now television reported that rebel forces set up command and control and civil control structures.

It also claimed rebels were in control of the airport, but the government denied the report.

An unknown number of rebels were killed in clashes in the Tripoli suburb of Qadah and fighting was ongoing at Mitiga airbase, a rebel activist told Reuters

In the eastern coastal city of Benghazi, residents took to the streets to celebrate the advance on Tripoli, Al Jazeera news agency reported.

However, Gadhafi on a state television audio broadcast, congratulated Libyans on the elimination of "the rats."

He said French President Nicolas Sarkozy "wants the Libyan oil." Rebels don't represent Libya and are bent on "the destruction of the Libyan people," he said, also mentioning the time so he could prove his statements were not pre-recorded.

He signed off saying, "Long live. Go forward, go forward, go forward, go forward."

Gunfire was heard in Tripoli after Gadhafi finished his talk, witnesses said.

Earlier, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told state television: "All of Tripoli is safe and stable."

"I ensure Libyans that Gadhafi is your leader ... Tripoli is surrounded by thousands to defend it,'' he said. "Armed people sneaked into Tripoli but have been dealt with."

A dictator's guide to exile

"We have arrested Algerians, Tunisians and Egyptians in Tripoli," Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim renewed a call to rebels to surrender, saying they would be forgiven even if "they have killed our relatives.''

Mobile telephone subscribers received a text message from the government urging them to "go out in the squares and streets to eliminate the armed agents," according to one resident who received the message on his phone.

NATO resumed its Tripoli attacks with heavy bombing runs after nightfall Saturday.

Multiple explosions rocked Tripoli on Saturday night and repeated anti-aircraft fire was seen streaking across the sky, a Reuters reporter in the city said.

Earlier, rebels expelled government forces from the strategic western city of Zawiyah on Saturday, a major victory for the opposition in their march on Tripoli.

The territory remaining under the Libyan ruler's control has been shrinking dramatically in the past three weeks, with opposition fighters advancing on the capital, a metropolis of 2 million people, from the west, south and east.

Zawiya, a coastal city just 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Tripoli, is the biggest prize so far in the rebels' three-week-old offensive.

The rebel presence in Zawiyah cuts off Tripoli's main route to the outside world. Although Gadhafi's forces, determined to retake it, mounted a fierce counter-offensive Friday, the rebels were still in control Saturday and said they expected more fighting.

"Gadhafi will try to take back Zawiyah at any price. He will keep shelling the hospital," said a rebel fighter as he was preparing for midday prayers in the mosque of Bir Hawisa, a nearby village where many civilians are sheltering in safety.

"We will not let that happen. We will fight," he said.

The rebels also claimed to have captured two more towns — Zlitan in the west and Brega in the east.

However, later Saturday, rebel military spokesman Col. Ahmed Bani said his troops fell back in Brega, losing the industrial section of the key oil port to Gadhafi's forces.

Brega, home to Libya's second-largest hydrocarbon complex and the place where the country's main oil fields feed into for refining, has repeatedly changed hands in the 6-month-old civil war.

Hundreds of miles to the east of Tripoli, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman visited the Libyan rebels' de-facto capital of Benghazi and to announce the reopening of Libya's embassy in Washington, this time under control of the opposition Transitional National Council, not Gadhafi's envoys.

The Obama administration earlier in August had approved the reopening after formally recognizing the Benghazi-based Council as Libya's legitimate governing authority. The State Department shut down the Libyan Embassy shortly after it suspended the operations of the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli in February.

"Gadhafi's days are numbered," Feltman told reporters in Benghazi on Saturday. "The best case scenario is for Gadhafi to step down now ... that's the best protection for civilians."

NBC News correspondents Richard Engel and Jim Miklaszewski, Reuters, The Associated Press and NBC News contributed to this report.

I had figured that when the rebels finally took Zawiyah, site of the last oil refinery under regime control, and in so doing also cut the resupply road from Tunisia, that it was a mere question of time. Events seem to be accelerating.

[Force Lord]

Uh, Degan, this was already mentioned in the "Uprising in Libya" thread. Can a mod merge this with that thread?

[K. A. Pital]

And done. It seems the colonel's time is running out.

[ComradeClaus]

And done. It seems the colonel's time is running out.

Ugh, 30 years & STILL no promotion?! What is wrong w/ that guy? He should be a Field Marshal by now. Call himself "Dessert Fox"

If I were him, I surround myself w/ those hot amazon bodyguards & have a booze & drug-fueled orgy until I OD. (sorta like Tony Montana) That beats getting lynched by the rebels, pwned by SEALs & turned to shark chum, or bawing in a bunker before Boom Headshotting.

& I'd declare the hottest bodyguard to be my legal successor. That'd make the Western Media flip out.
If you're gonna live as a crazy dictator, you gotta die a crazy dictator, in a crazy & unique way.
Dying like a nobody (Milosevic, Polpot, Amin) is disappointing.

[Thanas]

^Stop spouting mindless drivel.

[Jim Raynor]

Wow, the rebels seem to have made a lot of progress this week. I read the news on several consecutive days, and was surprised to see them taking town after town on the way to Tripoli. Now they're at the capital itself. This after months of "stalemate," naysayers undermining Obama's ability to involve US forces, and enthusiasm wavering among the European NATO nations. Gadhafi's not long for this world. Hopefully, we'll see this guy dead or in court in the next few days.

[Steven Snyder]

Just in from Reuters...Saif Al-Islam captured by rebels..

Linky

Rebels capture Gaddafi son Saif Al-Islam - NTC
Sun Aug 21, 2011 9:07pm GMT

TUNIS Aug 21 (Reuters) - Libya's rebels have captured Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif Al-Islam, the head of the rebel National Transitional Council told Al Jazeera television on Sunday.

"We have confirmed information that our guys have captured Saif Al-Islam," Mustapha Abd El Jalil said. "We have given instructions to treat him well so that he can face trial." (Reporting by Tarek Amara; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

[Tribun]

Wow, the battle of Tripoli is full in swing and things look bleak for Gaddafi:

-Uprsings in the city itself captured the eastern districts of Tajoura, Suq al-Jumaa, Arada and al-Sabaa.
-At the same time, the rebels entered the western district of Janzour.
-The rebels captured two of Gaddafi's sons, Al-Saadi al-Gaddafi and Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.
-Rebels have surrounded Gaddafi's compound Bab al-Aziziya.

Things look bad for the dictator, although there are rumors that he's already fled the city.

[The Romulan Republic]

Excellent. Now if they can just catch his daddy...

Edit: I'm curious as to what circumstances he was captured in. Was he captured in battle? Trying to flee? Did he surrender?

[TimothyC]

Rebels say Gaddafi son Saif Al-Islam captured

TUNIS | Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:11pm EDT

(Reuters) - Libya's rebels have captured Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif Al-Islam, the head of the rebel National Transitional Council told Al Jazeera television on Sunday.

"We have confirmed information that our guys have captured Saif Al-Islam," Mustapha Abd El Jalil said. "We have given instructions to treat him well so that he can face trial."

[Tribun]

Saif al-Islam was captured in the Rixos Hotel, where the international press is. Maybe he wanted to make sure that they don't just lynch him, thus international witnesses.

EDIT: There's a rumor that Gaddafi got killed in the battle.

[Steven Snyder]

It wouldn't surprise me, the rebels have their trial with Saif...and I really don't see Ghaddafi surrendering anyway. He has no way out and nowhere to go, his options are very limited.

[Steven Snyder]

Watching this live on...

http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

They are reporting that most of the city is under Rebel control except for small pockets of resistance...and Ghaddafi is releasing another audio...

[Tribun]

Another son, Mohammed Gaddafi, has surrendered.

[Steven Snyder]

By my count that is 3 of them, other reporting that his loyalists are holed up in the Rixos Hotel, which is where I expect Ghaddafi to be hiding...a place NATO would never bomb.