Libyan leader's whereabouts still a mystery as clashes erupt in Tripoli, hours after rebels advanced into heart of city Last Modified: 22 Aug 2011 10:58 | |||
| Heavy fighting and gun battles have broken out in areas of Tripoli after opposition fighters gained control overnight of much of the Libyan capital in their battle to end Muammar Gaddafi's decades-long rule. Clashes erupted on Monday after tanks left Bab Azaziya, Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli, to confront the rebel assault Many of the streets in the centre of the city, where anti-government supporters had celebrated hours earlier, were abandoned as pockets of pro-Gaddafi resistance and the presence of snipers and artillery fire made the area dangerous. Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, who advanced into the city with rebel fighters overnight, said the security situation in the city was "tenuous." "There are some Gaddafi forces still putting up a fight," our correspondent said. In other developments:
There has been no word on the location of Gaddafi himself. The Libyan leader has delivered a series of angry and defiant audio messages in recent days, vowing not to surrender. In the most recent address, he acknowledged that opposition forces were moving into Tripoli and warned the city would be turned into another Baghdad. He also called on Libya's tribes to rally to the city's defence. "How come you allow Tripoli, the capital, to be under occupation once again?" he said. "The traitors are paving the way for the occupation forces to be deployed in Tripoli."
Opposition forces and Tripoli residents were trying to maintain order in the city on Monday, said Khodr, who reached the central Green Square in the early hours of Monday before retreating to the outskirts of the city. "The people of Tripoli really are maintaining law and order in the areas that they are now controlling in Tripoli," our correspondent said. "They have set up checkpoints, are searching cars and looking for possible Gaddaffi supporters, because ever since late last night they were worried about sleeper cells in the capital." As the fighting intensified, it was reported that foreign journalists had been trapped inside the Rixos hotel where many correspondents have been based throughout the conflict. "They are not allowed to leave the hotel because there are Gaddafi men in the area and around the area," Khodr said. "We have been in contact with some of them [journalists trapped in Rixos hotel] and they are telling us basically they were held there almost as human shields." An opposition fighter in Tripoli told Al Jazeera that only about 20 per cent of the city was in the hands of Gaddafi supporters.
"NATO air forces are above us, I am not sure if they are going to strike or if they are just here for surveillance." Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO Secretary-General, said NATO is ready to work with the Libyan National Transitional Transitional Council, and and "our goal throughout this conflict has been to protect the people of Libya". With Gaddafi's grip on power apparently slipping, speculation has begun on where he may flee if Tripoli falls into rebel hands. In a press conference, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South Africa's foreign minister, said Pretoria was not facilitating Gaddafi's exit and did not know the 69-year-old leader's current whereabouts. Nkoana-Mashabana added that South Africa had no plans at the moment to recognise the rebel government if Gaddafi falls. “The Libyans themselves must be given the chance to decide the future if their country and the future of Gaddafi,” Nkoana-Mashabana said. Al Jazeera's correspondent in Johannesburg, Haru Matasa, said Angola and Zimbabwe had been cited as countries the embattled leader was most likely to go to. |
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FIGHTING RAGES NEAR GADDAFI'S COMPOUND
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