Libyan rebels entered the capital on Sunday and were greeted by residents who ran alongside their convoy as music played in the streets after fierce gunbattles between fighters loyal to embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and the rebels that possibly left 376 people dead and more than 1,000 wounded, as Gaddafi resolutely refused to surrender and pledged to emerge “victorious” from the fighting for Tripoli.
“There are 376 dead and more than 1,000 wounded” since the attacks were launched late on Saturday, a Libyan government official told foreign journalists, asking not to be named. There was no independent confirmation of the casualty toll, however. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) also said on Sunday that Gaddafi’s 42-year rule in Libya was “crumbling”, as rebels launched a fierce street battle for Tripoli in a final push for victory.
In a new audio message broadcast on television, Gaddafi said: “We will not, we will not abandon Tripoli to the occupants and their agents. I am with you in this battle. We do not surrender and, by God’s grace, we will emerge victorious.” He called on his supporters to “march on (the district of) Tajoura in tens of thousands to purge the officials of the colonisers,” in a reference to the NATO-backed rebels. “Today we must take over Tajoura. I fear, if you let them, they will destroy Tripoli,” he warned.
Gaddafi said he was “afraid that Tripoli will burn” and that he would provide weapons to supporters to fight off the rebels. Meanwhile, the rebels moved forward in a convoy of around 100 vehicles as onlookers fired celebratory shots into the air, an AFP correspondent said, reporting an unknown number of casualties during the advance. The rebels had launched a fierce battle for Tripoli earlier on Sunday, capturing a barracks and overrunning Tajura suburb as reinforcements raced to join them for a final push to oust Gaddafi. An advance party of rebels arrived by sea in the capital very early on Sunday and joined sleeper cells of rebels to launch the assault, codenamed “Mermaid”, rebel spokesman Abdullah Melitan said.
TRIPOLI WILL FALL DURING THE NIGHT: After fighting their way from the west, other rebels arrived in the capital in a 100-vehicle convoy by late afternoon and were greeted with cheers by residents. Rebel leaders said they expected Tripoli to fall during the night, but regime spokesman Mussa Ibrahim insisted that Tripoli was well-defended by “thousands” of professional and volunteer soldiers against rebels. He said on state television there had been “small clashes” that lasted 30 minutes and the “situation is under control.”
Melitan said the early morning covert operation was launched from their western enclave of Misrata, 200 kilometres from Tripoli. A separate rebel party seized control of an army barracks at a western entrance to Tripoli, raiding missiles and other ammunition, AFP correspondents at the scene said. They also released dozens of prisoners held in Maya, 25 kilometres west of Tripoli, they said. “We will enter Tripoli in a few hours. Between now and tomorrow we expect it to fall in our hands,” said rebel commander Abdelhakim.
Another rebel spokesman Ahmed Jibril said “Operation Mermaid” was a joint effort between the Benghazi-based rebel National Transitional Council (NTC), insurgents fighting in and around Tripoli and NATO forces. In Dubai, rebel envoy Aref Ali Nayad said the NTC had urged NATO to join the final battle with Apache assault helicopters. Meanwhile, NATO declared that Gaddafi’s 42-year rule was finally coming to an end. “What we’re seeing tonight is the regime crumbling,” Chief NATO Spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told AFP.
“The sooner Gaddafi realises there is no way he can win, the better for everyone. What you are seeing tonight is the cumulative effect, over time, of the eroded capabilities of the regime,” Lungescu said, citing more than 4,000 military targets damaged or destroyed in the last four months. “Clearly we’re into the last stage of the regime – the writing is on the wall,” she added.
The White House, too, predicted Gaddafi’s time was up. “We believe that Gaddafi’s days are numbered,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Gaddafi to give up “immediately what power he has left” as the outcome of a rebel victory is “no longer in doubt”. Sarkozy also called on Gaddafi to immediately order those of his forces that were still loyal to a ceasefire, “to put down their arms, to return to their barracks and make themselves available to the legitimate Libyan authorities.”
