The Fall of Tripoli, The End of Qaddafi’s Regime

Fall of Tripoli

The rebel forces in Libya have finally succeeded in entering the capital of the country Tripoli on Sunday, putting an end to Muammar al-Qaddafi’s regime five months after the first protests in the city of Benghazi. Qaddafi was heard on television on Saturday night telling the people of the capital by phone that he was still in the city and urging them to fight to the end. Still, no one has seen him in months, and if he is still in the capital, this should be confirmed within the next hours.

Even though he is said to have remained in the capital of Libya, some think he may have gone abroad. South Africa, the country that helped Qaddafi find a solution to the crisis and acted as an emissary of the regime to the Western countries, was forced to deny on Monday that it had sent a plane to pick Qaddafi up and take him to their country.

There are reports from the rebels that the colonel and some members of his family are at the Algerian border.

His son Seif al-Islam Qaddafi was reported arrested on Monday and is expected to be taken to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where he is to face charges related to his implication in the crackdown on Libyan people.

Seif is considered the most powerful men in Libya after his father, and is accused of having agreed to execute the plan to brutally end the rebellion of the people. At a certain point there were rumors that he was in command of the military jets that were firing on the people and triggered the imposing of the no-fly zone by NATO.

Al-Jazeera reports that there is shooting in different parts of the capital and that the clashes erupted on Monday after tanks left the presidential compound to fight the rebels.

Many civilians have gathered in the centre of the capital to celebrate the end of the regime, and the national television, Libya TV, is reported into the hands of the rebels.

In his last address to the people, Muammar al Qaddafi warned that Tripoli would become a new Baghdad and demanded the people to come and protect it. He also appealed to the tribal leaders to come and fight for the capital.

The Fall of Tripoli

Opposition forces and residents of the capital were trying to maintain order on Monday morning, setting checkpoints and searching cars for possible supporters of the former regime.

Journalists in a centre hotel were prevented from coming out of it because there are many Qaddafi people in the streets, and sleeper cells are still dangerous.

NATO air forces were reported above the city, but it was not clear whether they were preparing to bomb it or were there just for surveillance purposes. It is said that 20% of the city is still in Qaddafi’s hands.

The NATO secretary general has already expressed his availability to work with the Transitional National Council, restating that the preoccupation of the military bloc was assuring the safety of the people of Libya.

In an address the president of the United States Barack Obama said that the regime in Libya was over and that the conflict in this country has reached its peak.

Two weeks ago, a website considered close to Mossad, was announcing that a ground invasion was going to be deployed within two weeks in Libya. It would seem that it is no longer necessary, but the implication of NATO in the success of this final assault of the rebels is finally to be determined.

Meanwhile, some embassies of Libya already send messages back home, congratulating the success of the rebels, and expressing their commitment to the change of power.