Monday - Residents Jubilant

MONDAY

Tripoli residents jubilant after loyalists reign of fear

By Charles Onians (AFP)

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5im3AzTt3VrrDZqUdUIj2dcr_pJRw?docId=CNG.15841938fe1107f1909efb0cac8def73.51

TRIPOLI — Tripoli residents spent Monday jubilant yet fearful, asking for weapons to join rebels in their cat-and-mouse war with loyalists who have besieged the city with snipers and drive-by shootings.

The capital's battle-scarred streets were all but empty, the day after rebels made a lightning advance on the capital to drive out defiant leader Moamer Kadhafi.

But rebel checkpoints were sparse, indicating they had not yet taken complete control of the city, as they awaited the arrival of thousands more fighters from already captured parts of the country.

The drab city's concrete walls have been daubed with anti-Kadhafi and pro-revolutionary graffiti, demanding freedom for Libya and an end to the leader many people in Libya consider insane.

There was confusion over whether to travel quickly on the main thoroughfares, exposed to snipers in tall buildings, or slowly through the warren of tiny streets, without knowing what awaits around the next corner.

Travelling across the city was extremely difficult, with snipers, mortars and heavy machine-guns echoing down sunlit streets.

Among the high-rise buildings along the corniche, a lone cyclist braved the sniper fire, possibly acting as a scout, as the whistle of bullets cut through the silent city.
Civilians were exhausted after having stayed up most of Sunday night, enjoying the food, drink and cigarettes that they must resist during daylight hours of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, despite the burning heat.

People in the southwestern Gorji neighbourhood, near where Kadhafi's son Mohamed lives, said they welcomed the rebel fighters when they entered the city.

"The rebels from the mountains and from Zawiyah are now in Martyrs' Square (formerly Green Square) and the surrounding streets," said Gorji resident Saad Zaidi, who just returned from celebrations in the centre of town.

"But there are African snipers from Chad in the Old City, and sometimes you can hear mortars falling. But we don't know where they're being fired from."

The situation was also 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 soldiers armed with Kalashnikov rifles, went in and out of the hotel, which is separated by a wooded area from Kadhafi's residence, insisted they were providing security.

Hotel staff had abandoned their posts leaving correspondents and soldiers alike to search the kitchens for something to eat and drink.

At around 1830 GMT the power went out in districts around the hotel while gunfire crackled in the darkened streets, the AFP correspondent at the Rixos said, adding the soldiers prevented correspondent from leaving the building.

Gorji residents like Abdel Rahman Bin Jama, whose neighbourhood sheltered and treated a team of AFP journalists that came under sniper attack, wanted nothing else than to join the fight.

"I don't have a weapon but we protect the neighbourhood because it's ours. We don't have enough weapons, but we all want weapons to get rid of the dictator. Everyone here is a fighter," said Bin Jama.

"Even the women give us emotional support and they are so happy about what is going on now. You won't find anyone here who supports Kadhafi."

Residents, both armed and unarmed, were tense and jumpy about the uncertain situation yet happy about what they saw as Kadhafi's inevitable exit.

"Gorji was the first neighbourhood that made anti-Kadhafi demonstrations, we've had 100 people arrested since the start of the revolution, but we haven't had any news from them yet," said Gorji resident Abubakr Wnees.

"State television said they would attack this area if we don't give up. Kadhafi told a local sheikh (Muslim preacher) to tell people to fight in his name, but he refused and so they arrested him."

Residents say that they know which neighbours support Kadhafi, but they are not seeking retribution. "We know exactly who is with us and who is with Kadhafi, they are very few. We've just told them to stay at home."

Tripoli residents jubilant after loyalists’ reign disintegrates

August 23, 2011 01:28 AM

TRIPOLI: Tripoli residents spent Monday jubilant yet fearful, asking for weapons to join rebels in their cat-and-mouse war with loyalists who have besieged the city with snipers and drive-by shootings.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2011/Aug-23/Tripoli-residents-jubilant-after-loyalists-reign-disintegrates.ashx - axzz1VoNvJ9rC

Tripoli’s battle-scarred streets were all but empty the day after rebels made a lightning advance on the capital to drive out defiant leader Moammar Gadhafi.

But rebel checkpoints were sparse, indicating they had not yet taken full control of the city, as they awaited the arrival of thousands more fighters from already captured parts of the country.

The drab city’s concrete walls have been daubed with anti-Gadhafi and pro-revolutionary graffiti, demanding freedom for Libya and an end to the leader many people in Libya consider insane.

There was confusion over whether to travel quickly on the main thoroughfares, exposed to snipers in tall buildings, or slowly through the warren of tiny streets, without knowing what awaits around the next corner.

Traveling across the city was extremely difficult, with snipers, mortars and heavy machine guns echoing down sunlit streets.

Among the high-rise buildings along the corniche, a lone cyclist braved the sniper fire, possibly acting as a scout, as the whistle of bullets cut through the silent city.

Civilians were exhausted after staying up most of Sunday night, enjoying the food, drink and cigarettes that they must resist during daylight hours of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, despite the burning heat.

People in the southwestern Gorji neighborhood, near where Gadhafi’s son Mohammad lives, said they welcomed the rebel fighters when they entered the city Sunday.

“The rebels from the mountains and from Zawiyah are now in Martyrs’ Square [formerly Green Square] and the surrounding streets,” said Gorji resident Saad Zaidi, who just returned from celebrations in the center of town.

“But there are African snipers from Chad in the Old City, and sometimes you can hear mortars falling. But we don’t know where they’re being fired from,” he added.
At the Rixos hotel in central Tripoli used by foreign media, power and water supplies were cut Monday afternoon. Hotel staff had abandoned their posts but gunmen going in and out said they were providing security.

Gorji residents like Abdel Rahman Bin Jama, whose neighborhood sheltered and treated a team of AFP journalists that came under sniper attack, just wanted to join the fight.
“I don’t have a weapon but we protect the neighborhood because it’s ours. We don’t have enough weapons, but we all want weapons to get rid of the dictator. Everyone here is a fighter,” said Bin Jama.

“Even the women give us emotional support and they are so happy about what is going on now. You won’t find anyone here who supports Gadhafi.”

Residents, both armed and unarmed, were tense and jumpy about the uncertain situation yet happy about what they saw as Gadhafi’s inevitable exit.

“Gorji was the first neighborhood that made anti-Gadhafi demonstrations, we’ve had 100 people arrested since the start of the revolution, but we haven’t had any news from them yet,” said Gorji resident Abubakr Wnees.

Residents say that they know who supports Gadhafi, but do not want retribution. “We know exactly who is with us and who is with Gadhafi … We’ve just told them to stay at home.”

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on August 23, 2011, on page 9.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/08/22/libya.tripoli.scene/

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- As dusk approached on Monday, emboldened residents began to filter out into the streets of the capital as the regime of Moammar Gadhafi teetered on collapse, largely heedless of the fighting between rebels and loyalist holdouts that continued to rage in parts of the city.

What appears to be a significant pocket of resistance is virtually across the street from the Rixos Al Nasr Hotel, where pro-government forces still are in control and are fighting fiercely to defend the presidential compound nearby.

The hotel was shaken by huge explosions and pinged by stray bullets as foreign media representatives who have been staying there were forbidden to leave, and were without food, water and electricity.

While the mood at the hotel was fearful, much of the city was celebrating.

Bristling with mounted weapons and flying the pre-Gaddhafi Libyan flag, vehicles manned by cheering rebel fighters poured through the streets of business and residential parts of town.

They were cheered on by residents who had endured 42 years of one-man rule. As was the case when rebels overran cities such as Zawiya and Misrata, those who supported the regime -- if they aren't still fighting on its behalf in scattered pockets of resistance -- have either left the city or are keeping quiet.

The momentum that had gathered in favor of the rebels over the weekend cascaded into the city overnight.

Early Monday morning, armed men, some of whom said they had just joined in the rebellion, massed in Green Square in the middle of the city in celebration. In practically the same breath, rebels who exclaimed "Gadhafi's finished" acknowledged that bloody fighting still lay ahead.

"At the moment, we're not fully (in) control of Tripoli," said one young fighter, who described himself as a resident of the city who had fled and was returning to take part in a momentous battle.

"It's a historic day, because we had to leave from here ... without anything, and now we have to fight. I'm not fighter, I'm student, and this is my first time to, like, handle a gun."

Amid celebratory shooting and shouting, witnesses said, loyalist snipers began firing from rooftops, though there was no direct evidence of it.

People in the streets ran for cover, and the gunfire intensified.

Civilians and reporters were warned that a "massive battle" was about to take place and were told to leave the area.

Rebel forces pulled back and regrouped about a half-mile from the square to coordinate an unspecified action.

From that fallback position, loud explosions, possibly artillery fire, could be heard not far away, but it wasn't clear whether the explosions were coming from Green Square.

In the early afternoon, a large component of the rebel forces streamed through the area en route to engage Gadhafi's troops at an undisclosed location.

The rebels said they intend to give Green Square the name it had before Gadhafi came to power in 1969 -- Martyrs Square.

The regime had loosening its grip on foreign reporters earlier in the day, when staff and government minders melted away from Rixos hotel. Journalists were no longer being shadowed by armed minders, as the focus appeared to shift to defensive preparations.
But the situation remained fluid throughout the day, and the fighting across the street intensified into a full-pitched battle by evening.

Also, Hala Al Misrati, the well-known state TV news host who brandished a pistol on air and threatened to kill anyone who sought to overrun the station, was apprehended by rebels Monday outside a café as she sat in a car with her brother.

Witnesses said a rebel soldier entered the car and told them both that they were under arrest. Immediately after, they were taken away into a nearby building.

Witnesses said Al Misrati was unharmed but would not be speaking to media. A cordon of soldiers quickly formed to sequester her from media representatives and an angry gathering of onlookers who decried her as a mouthpiece for Gaddhafi.