Rebels advance after Tripoli uprising
Source: Agencies |
August 22, 2011, Monday
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LIBYAN rebels battled their way closer to Tripoli yesterday to help fighters inside the city who rose up overnight declaring a final showdown with Moammar Gadhafi.
The Libyan leader dismissed the rebels as "rats" and said he would not yield. But his grip on power looked more fragile than ever after rebels, fighting for the past six months to end his rule, advanced to within about 25 kilometers of Tripoli's western edge.
"We're going to Tripoli now," said Moussa, a rebel fighter raised in the United States, near the frontline in the village of Al-Maya.
As he spoke, rebel pick-up trucks and a tank trundled down the highway which traces the Mediterranean coast towards Tripoli. Anti-aircraft guns, adapted to shoot targets on the ground, pounded away nearby.
In a coordinated revolt that rebel cells had been secretly preparing for months, shooting started on Saturday night across Tripoli, moments after Muslim clerics, using the loudspeakers on mosque minarets, called people on to the streets.
The fighting inside the capital, combined with rebel advances to the outskirts of the city, appeared to signal the decisive phase in a six-month conflict that has become the bloodiest of the "Arab Spring" uprisings and embroiled NATO powers.
"Gadhafi's chances for a safe exit are diminishing by the hour," said Ashour Shamis, a Libyan opposition activist and editor based in Britain.
But Gadhafi's fall is far from certain. His security forces did not buckle, and the city is much bigger than anything the mostly amateur anti-Gadhafi fighters, with their scavenged weapons and mismatched uniforms, have yet tackled.
Rebels said after a night of heavy fighting, they controlled a handful of city neighborhoods. Whether they hold on could depend on the speed with which the other rebels reach Tripoli.
"The rebels may have risen too early in Tripoli and the result could be a lot of messy fighting," said Oliver Miles, a former British ambassador to Libya. "The regime may not have collapsed in the city to quite the extent they think it has."
But the rebel advance towards the city was rapid, and there was no sign of fierce resistance from Gadhafi's security forces. In the past 48 hours, the rebels west of Tripoli have advanced about 25 kilometers, halving the distance between them and the capital.
Government forces put up a brief fight at the village of Al-Maya, leaving behind a burned-out tank, and some cars that had been torched.
The anti-Gadhafi fighters paused long enough to daub some graffiti on walls in the village. One read "We are here and we are fighting Gadhafi," another, "God is great." They then moved on towards Tripoli.
In Benghazi, where the rebels have their main stronghold, a senior official said everything was going according to plan.
"Our revolutionaries are controlling several neighborhoods and others are coming in from outside the city to join their brothers at this time," said Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice-chairman of the rebel National Transition Council.
In a recording broadcast late on Saturday, Gadhafi - whose location has been kept a secret since NATO warplanes started bombing government buildings - made clear he had no intention of giving in.
"Those rats ... were attacked by the masses tonight and we eliminated them," Gadhafi said. "I know that there are air bombardments but the fireworks were louder than the sound of the bombs thrown by the aircraft."
A spokesman for Gadhafi underlined the message of defiance.
The armed units defending Tripoli from the rebels "wholeheartedly believe that if this city is captured the blood will run everywhere so they may as well fight to the end," said the spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim.
The Libyan leader dismissed the rebels as "rats" and said he would not yield. But his grip on power looked more fragile than ever after rebels, fighting for the past six months to end his rule, advanced to within about 25 kilometers of Tripoli's western edge.
"We're going to Tripoli now," said Moussa, a rebel fighter raised in the United States, near the frontline in the village of Al-Maya.
As he spoke, rebel pick-up trucks and a tank trundled down the highway which traces the Mediterranean coast towards Tripoli. Anti-aircraft guns, adapted to shoot targets on the ground, pounded away nearby.
In a coordinated revolt that rebel cells had been secretly preparing for months, shooting started on Saturday night across Tripoli, moments after Muslim clerics, using the loudspeakers on mosque minarets, called people on to the streets.
The fighting inside the capital, combined with rebel advances to the outskirts of the city, appeared to signal the decisive phase in a six-month conflict that has become the bloodiest of the "Arab Spring" uprisings and embroiled NATO powers.
"Gadhafi's chances for a safe exit are diminishing by the hour," said Ashour Shamis, a Libyan opposition activist and editor based in Britain.
But Gadhafi's fall is far from certain. His security forces did not buckle, and the city is much bigger than anything the mostly amateur anti-Gadhafi fighters, with their scavenged weapons and mismatched uniforms, have yet tackled.
Rebels said after a night of heavy fighting, they controlled a handful of city neighborhoods. Whether they hold on could depend on the speed with which the other rebels reach Tripoli.
"The rebels may have risen too early in Tripoli and the result could be a lot of messy fighting," said Oliver Miles, a former British ambassador to Libya. "The regime may not have collapsed in the city to quite the extent they think it has."
But the rebel advance towards the city was rapid, and there was no sign of fierce resistance from Gadhafi's security forces. In the past 48 hours, the rebels west of Tripoli have advanced about 25 kilometers, halving the distance between them and the capital.
Government forces put up a brief fight at the village of Al-Maya, leaving behind a burned-out tank, and some cars that had been torched.
The anti-Gadhafi fighters paused long enough to daub some graffiti on walls in the village. One read "We are here and we are fighting Gadhafi," another, "God is great." They then moved on towards Tripoli.
In Benghazi, where the rebels have their main stronghold, a senior official said everything was going according to plan.
"Our revolutionaries are controlling several neighborhoods and others are coming in from outside the city to join their brothers at this time," said Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice-chairman of the rebel National Transition Council.
In a recording broadcast late on Saturday, Gadhafi - whose location has been kept a secret since NATO warplanes started bombing government buildings - made clear he had no intention of giving in.
"Those rats ... were attacked by the masses tonight and we eliminated them," Gadhafi said. "I know that there are air bombardments but the fireworks were louder than the sound of the bombs thrown by the aircraft."
A spokesman for Gadhafi underlined the message of defiance.
The armed units defending Tripoli from the rebels "wholeheartedly believe that if this city is captured the blood will run everywhere so they may as well fight to the end," said the spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim.
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