Rebels encircle Gadhafi

IT’S ALMOST OVER People celebrate the capture in Tripoli of Moammar Gadhafi’s son and one-time heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, at the rebel-held town of Benghazi on Monday. Libyan rebels raced into Tripoli in a lightning advance on Sunday that met little resistance as the strongman’s fighters melted away and his 41-year rule appeared to rapidly crumble. The euphoric fighters celebrated with residents of the capital in the city’s main square, the symbolic heart of the regime. AP

ROME—World leaders on Monday said the end was near for the regime of Moammar Gadhafi and called on the Libyan leader to relinquish power, as hundreds of Libyans living abroad celebrated in the streets after rebels took control of most of the Libyan capital.

With events unfolding quickly and clashes reported near Gadhafi’s compound in Tripoli on Monday, leaders across European capitals urged Gadhafi to avoid a bloodbath of his own people and turn himself in to the International Criminal Court.

“The time is up,” Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said. “There is no alternative to surrendering and handing himself in to justice.”

“If Gadhafi keeps inciting a civil war, he alone will be responsible for a dramatic bloodbath that we must all try to avert,” Frattini added.

France, whose military effort was central to the Nato campaign in Libya—welcomed the rebel advances.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement on Sunday evening that Gadhafi should “avoid inflicting any more unnecessary suffering on his people by renouncing without delay what is left of his power and by immediately ordering the forces that are still loyal to him to cease fire.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron cut short a family vacation to chair a meeting of the country’s special security committee on Libya.

His office said that it was clear “the end is near for Gadhafi,” and called on the strongman to “go now to avoid any further suffering for his own people.”

Poland, which holds the European Union’s rotating presidency, issued a statement saying it “welcomes the end” of Gadhafi’s rule.

US President Barack Obama also urged Gadhafi to accept reality and relinquish power.

“The surest way for the bloodshed to end is simple: Moammar Gadhafi and his regime need to recognize that their rule has come to an end,” Obama said.

International court

The comments were echoed in Berlin, where German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Philipp Roesler told reporters: “I hope very much that Gadhafi will be found very quickly, will be caught, and then handed over to the international court, brought very quickly to the Hague.”

The International Criminal Court has indicted Gadhafi on charges of crimes against humanity, along with one of his sons, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, Libya’s intelligence chief. Seif Gadhafi was arrested by rebel forces, while another one of Gadhafi’s sons was kept under house arrest.

Frattini said there was no longer room for mediation, including allowing Gadhafi to go into exile or remain in Libya.

Italy’s foreign minister said Gadhafi’s only option was to relinquish power—as had been suggested at various points during the past five months of fighting. Nato began air strikes in Libya under a UN Security Council resolution calling for the protection of civilians.

No asylum request

South Africa—which has criticized the Nato bombing and led failed African Union efforts to mediate between the rebels and Gadhafi—insisted it had sent no planes to Libya to evacuate Gadhafi. It said it had received no request from him for asylum, and was involved in no efforts to extricate him.

“I’m quite amazed that there’s even an insinuation that we are facilitating evacuation of anyone,” said Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.

She said that “for sure, he will not ask to come here” and noted that South Africa is an International Criminal Court member—in an apparent implication that South Africa would have to arrest Gadhafi if he arrived there.

The government of Malta, a tiny Mediterranean island close to north Africa, has also denied reports that Gadhafi was headed there.

Expats celebrate

Outside of the country, Libyan expatriates celebrated what they felt was already the end of the regime.

In Ankara, the Turkish capital, dozens of Libyans flocked to the embassy to celebrate the rebels’ seizing much of Tripoli. They removed the Gadhafi regime’s green flag from a mast and replaced it with the rebels’ tricolor one.

They grabbed Gadhafi posters from inside the building, smashed or set them on fire as the embassy staff watched. The group, which included women and children, then proceeded to chant and dance as they waved the rebels’ flags.

A similar scene occurred in Malta, where some 200 Libyans entered the Libyan Embassy on Sunday to hoist the Libyan independence flag while setting fire to pictures of Gadhafi and his green flag. The celebrations continued through the night and were still on Monday morning.

“The celebrations we currently see in Libya, and not least in the streets of Tripoli, all point in one direction: the Libyan people’s struggle for freedom has gone into the playoffs,” said Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen of Denmark.

“It is crucial that the final phase is handled in a dignified manner and that the (opposition) National Transitional Council remains united to manage the transition toward the holding of free elections,” he said.

Point of no return

In Russia, Konstantin Kosachev, chair of the State Duma’s international affairs committee, told the Interfax news agency that “the situation for Gadhafi has passed the point of no return.”

Moscow has denounced the Nato bombing of forces loyal to Gadhafi, and kept up that criticism on Monday. Kosachev called Nato’s air strikes in Sunday night’s assault on Tripoli “regrettable” and said this “will cast doubts on the legitimacy of current and future events in the country.” AP