[size=13pt]Libya: The battle not over, Gaddafi’s son insists[/size]

TRIPOLI-(AFP) – Libyan rebels declared the Gaddafi era over after storming Tripoli, but one of the veteran strongman’s sons insisted the battle was far from over as he defiantly refuted reports of his arrest.

Exultant rebel fighters packed in trucks and cars have since Sunday streamed across the capital of the oil-rich North African state, seizing control of Moamer Kadhafi’s state television network and Tripoli’s seaside Green Square.

US President Barack Obama called for “an inclusive transition” in Libya, demanding that Kadhafi “explicitly” give up power and warning the rebels that their struggles were “not over yet”.

But after so long in power, Gaddafi is resisting calls from Obama and other world leaders to step down and gunfire is still crackling around Tripoli, at the climax of a revolt that sprang up in February during the “Arab Spring”.

Gaddafi’s whereabouts are unknown but the White House said there was no indication that the 69-year-old leader, who has ruled Libya with an iron fist since 1969, had left Tripoli.

His son Seif al-Islam, after being said by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to be under arrest, appeared before cheering armed loyalists outside the family’s residential compound in the early hours of Tuesday.

“Tripoli is under our control. Everyone should rest assured. All is well in Tripoli,” he told journalists outside the compound at Bab al-Azizya, smiling broadly and flashing the V for victory sign despite the rebels’ encroachment.

“I am here to refute the lies,” the 39-year-old said about reports of his arrest, and accused the West of waging a “technological and media war to cause chaos and terror in Libya”.

Seif al-Islam, who like his father is wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity, claimed the insurgents had suffered “heavy casualties” Monday when they attempted to storm the Bab al-Azizya compound in the city’s south.

Mohammed Gaddafi, the leader’s eldest son whose arrest had also been announced by rebels, has escaped, the Libyan ambassador to Washington told CNN.

The rebels said they had cut off a column of pro-Kadhafi troops attempting to march on Tripoli from the city of Sirte, the leader’s hometown. The rebels themselves say they are awaiting thousands of reinforcements from around Libya.

The mood around the iconic Green Square, renamed “Martyrs Square” by the rebels, has been joyous with fighters and their supporters dancing through the night and waving the red, black and green flag of anti-regime forces.

But Tripoli residents are palpably nervous as the end game plays out.

The situation remained tense at the Rixos hotel, home to some 30 foreign correspondents, where water and power supplies were cut on Monday while pro-Kadhafi soldiers stood guard outside the building.

The rebels are hesitant about how to secure the parts of Tripoli not already under their control: whether to advance through broad boulevards, where they could be vulnerable to sniper fire, or to fight through narrow back streets.

“The Gaddafi era is over,” rebel chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil told a news conference in the anti-Kadhafi stronghold of Benghazi, eastern Libya.

But while thanking NATO for its military support, he conceded that not all of Tripoli was under rebel control and cautioned that “the real moment of victory is when Kadhafi is captured”.

Abdel Jalil also expressed hope that Gaddafi would be “captured alive so that he will be given a fair trial”.

Gaddafi broadcast three defiant audio messages on Sunday, vowing he would never surrender and urging the people of Tripoli to “purge the capital”. But he has not been seen in public for weeks as the rebels have crept ever closer.

France welcomed the apparent defeat of Gaddafi’s regime and said it would host a summit of the international “Contact Group”, countries backing NATO’s anti-Gaddafi air campaign which are coordinating a response to the conflict.

Contact Group diplomats will first meet on Thursday in Istanbul “to coordinate next steps”, the US State Department said.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon said the heads of the African Union, European Union, Arab League and other regional groups would attend a summit on Libya this week in New York, probably on Thursday or Friday.

Crude rose in Asia Tuesday as traders monitored the crisis in Libya, with the price rise also being supported by expectations that it could take years before the North African country’s oil output is back to pre-revolution levels.

Brent North Sea crude for October delivery rose 39 cents to $108.75 a barrel from Monday’s close of $108.36.

New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light sweet crude for October delivery rose 64 cents to $85.06.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/08/libya-the-battle-not-over-gaddafis-son-insists/

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What do you expect from the son of a man that dresses like a Peacock

Can anyone give me the assurance that Libya will not end up like Iraq or Agfanistan. One thing I have noticed about arabs is their tendency to squabble when there is no common enemy to fight!I just pray they have not burnt down the whole house in their effort to get rid of a rat!

Talking about the rat. I heard he's dug underground tunnels with oxygen supply all around Tripoli.

It is all over for the tyrant.

Watch the video of fierce fighting as rebels storm Gaddafi compound on
http://www.nigeriansreport.com/2011/08/fierce-fighting-as-rebels-storm-gaddafi.html

The useless rebels are busy burning while NATO is bombing! After IMF will now give them loan to rebuild!When will Africans wake up!Haliburton might get the contract to rebuid the refineries.I sorry for Africa!

cinzo:

The useless rebels are busy burning while NATO is bombing! After IMF will now give them loan to rebuild!When will Africans wake up!Haliburton might get the contract to rebuid the refineries.I sorry for Africa!

peacock thinking

what?

whether he likes it or not it is over boy, go and hide now there is time unless it will be too late

Libya should have wait for Gaddafi death these one way the UN want to take over there oil they should wake up and never let them take over there oil after the war i assure u they will give them loan and get refinery in return Libya should wake and stop all these

Thatdave:

peacock thinking

cinzo:

The useless rebels are busy burning while NATO is bombing! After IMF will now give them loan to rebuild!When will Africans wake up!Haliburton might get the contract to rebuid the refineries.I sorry for Africa!

Which one is peacock thinking? the man is telling you the plain truth, but people like you tied to the white man's under-wear can't see what is going on. Baba Fela called it Colonial mentality. There are 54 countires in Africa, Libya is the only country that does not owe IMF/Worldbank $1, they are debt free, but that is changing soon. The Rockfellers, Rothschilds, JP Morgan and co will be smiling rubbing their hands together thinking: Time to drown that country in DEBT that their great grand children will not even be able to repay !!!

Yeah right!!!

And the sun will turn blue tomorrow

Libya will definitely become the next Iraq.

Dont mind that Gaddafi son, it is propaganda. If they are having upper hand, they dont have to come to the public to say it. It shows they are hiding somewhere.

Saddam hussien did the same thing.

If you watch this on satelite TV you should be worried. Did you see the number of guns in circulation? There is no way those guys will hand over the guns when the war is over and then NATO will dump this nonsense on the AU AND THE ARAB LEAGUE to handle while the pump oil

Infact Libya will be the seat of terrorism. The seat/headquarter of Alqaeda.

Things are happening fast and getting worse. Gadhafi’s son, Seif al-Islam, was captured. He and his father have both been charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. Another son, Mohammed, who was under house arrest, was also detained. Gadhafi’s two other sons, Khamis and Mutassim, are thought to be with the remaining loyalist forces.

What manner of father will leave thy children to the vices of the enemy. Thy end is near, fool thyself and believe only in thy own understanding lest you lose your life, flee I say flee like thy father, unless you turn yourself a martyr

Gaddafi can never win this war!

Fighting the masses

So what? You do know that thousands of people are in Tripoli right now from the east and the west right? You do know that the french air dropped weapons to the opposing tribes in the Western mountains right?

Few weeks before that:

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