SMELL OF VICTORY. Libyan rebel fighters embrace at a military base in Tripoli, Libya, on Monday. Libyan rebels claimed to be in control of most of the Libyan capital. AP
TRIPOLI, Libya—Hundreds of Libyan rebels poured into Moammar Gadhafi’s compound in Tripoli on Tuesday and were seen firing in the air in celebration, Reuters reporters on the scene said.
Pro-Gadhafi forces initially tried to defend the compound but their resistance later ended, the reporters said.
But the fate of Gadhafi was not immediately known.
Earlier, a son of Gadhafi, previously reported captured, made a surprise appearance with jubilant supporters in Tripoli overnight, urging loyalists to fight off rebels who say they control most of the Libyan capital.
Seif al-Islam, seen as his father’s chosen successor, visited the Tripoli hotel where foreign journalists were staying to declare that the government was defeating its opponents.
He took journalists to his father’s fortified Bab al-Aziziya bastion in central Tripoli early on Tuesday. Seif al-Islam smiled, waved, shook hands with supporters and flashed victory signs.
“We broke the back of the rebels. It was a trap. We gave them a hard time, so we are winning,” he said.
“Take up arms today,” Seif al-Islam told cheering supporters waiting to be given weapons. “Inshallah (God willing), we will attack the rats today.”
Hours later, fresh fighting erupted in Tripoli. Rebels and Gadhafi troops fought fierce street battles in several parts of the city, a day after opposition fighters swept into the capital with relative ease, claiming to have most of it under their control.
Thick clouds of gray and white smoke filled the Tripoli sky as heavy gunfire and explosions shook several districts of the city of 2 million people. Some of the heaviest fighting was around Gadhafi’s Bab al-Aziziya main compound and military barracks.
The compound, which has been heavily damaged by Nato air strikes, has emerged as one of the centers of government resistance since tanks rolled out on Monday and began firing at rebels trying to get in.
The Arab news channel Al Arabiya reported that the rebels attacked the gates of the compound as Nato planes flew low overhead. Nato confirmed it had aircraft deployed over Tripoli, but could not confirm it had bombed Gadhafi’s fortress.
“The revolutionaries are trying to get in through the Old Gate on the western side. If they’re successful, the fighting will move inside the compound,” Muftah Ahmad Othman, a rebel in Tripoli, told the news channel.
Britain’s Sky TV also reported that smoke could be seen billowing from the compound following a Nato air strike.
Located in the southern center of Tripoli, the 6 square kilometer complex is home to Gadhafi’s private quarters as well as a military barracks and other installations.
Seif al-Islam’s sudden—even surreal—arrival at a Tripoli hotel where foreign journalists are staying threw the situation in the capital into confusion.
His appearance underlined the potential for the longtime Libyan leader, whose whereabouts remain unknown, to strike back even as his grip on power seemed to be slipping fast.
Seif al-Islam’s arrest had been reported both by rebels and the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, and his reappearance raised questions about the rebels’ credibility.
Gadhafi safe
Gadhafi’s son said Tripoli was in government hands and that he did not care about the arrest warrant issued by the ICC to put him and his father on trial for crimes against humanity.
CONFUSING IMAGES. Moammar Gadhafi’s son, Seif al-Islam (top left) gestures to troops loyal to his father in Tripoli on Tuesday. AP
Asked if his father, who has not been seen in public for weeks, was safe and well in Tripoli, Seif al-Islam said: “Of course.”
His reappearance mystified rebels.
“We’re trying to figure out how he escaped,” said one rebel, Muftah Ahmad Uthman. “You know the capital was captured really quickly. Many of the men in uniform are volunteers, and some of them make mistakes.”
World leaders urged Gadhafi, 69, to surrender to prevent more bloodshed and appealed for an orderly transition of power, as the 6-month-old battle for control of the oil-producing North African nation appeared to enter its final stages.
Pockets of resistance
Rebels swept into Tripoli two days ago in tandem with an uprising within the city. Reporters saw firefights and clashes with heavy weapons, including antiaircraft guns, as rebels tried to flush out snipers and pockets of resistance.
Hundreds seem to have been killed or wounded since Saturday.
But Gadhafi tanks and sharpshooters appeared to hold only small areas, mainly around the Bab al-Aziziyah compound.
Civilians, who had mobbed the streets on Sunday to cheer the end of dictatorship, stayed indoors as machine gun fire and explosions punctuated some of the heaviest fighting of the Arab Spring uprisings that have been reshaping the Middle East.
US President Barack Obama, saying the conflict was not over yet, cautioned rebels against exacting revenge for Gadhafi’s brutal rule. “True justice will not come from reprisals and violence,” he said.
The US leader also made plain that the United States would oppose any group within the loose coalition of rebels from imposing its power over other parts of Libyan society.
“Above all we will call for an inclusive transition that leads to a democratic Libya,” Obama said.
In an audio broadcast on Sunday before state TV went off the air, Gadhafi said he would stay in Tripoli “until the end.” There has been speculation, however, he might seek refuge in his home region around Sirte, or abroad.
In a sign Gadhafi allies were still determined to fight, Nato said government forces fired three Scud-type missiles from the area of Sirte toward the rebel-held city of Misrata. Rebels clashed with a military convoy coming from Sirte, killing dozens of Gadhafi’s troops on Tuesday, Al Arabiya TV reported. It did not say where the clash took place. Nato bombed Sirte heavily just before rebels moved into Tripoli.
Bab al-Aziziya, a huge complex where some believe Gadhafi might be hiding, was the focal point of fighting in Tripoli.
“I don’t imagine the Bab al-Aziziya compound will fall easily and I imagine there will be a fierce fight,” Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, the spokesperson for the rebel National Transitional Council, said in an interview aired by Al Jazeera.
The Arab network, quoting its correspondent, said violent clashes were also reported near the oil town of Brega.
Fears of reprisal
Rebels had initially said they held three of Gadhafi’s sons, including Seif al-Islam. Al-Jazeera said that one of them, Mohammed, had escaped, adding that the body of another son, military commander Khamis, might have been found along with that of powerful intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi.
Western powers are concerned that tribal, ethnic and political divisions among the diverse armed groups opposed to Gadhafi could lead to the kind of blood-letting seen in Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
In a move that could ease tensions, a rebel official in the eastern city of Benghazi said, however, that efforts were under way to make contact with authorities hitherto loyal to Gadhafi.
Foreign governments which had hesitated to take sides, among them Gadhafi’s Arab neighbors, Russia and China also made clear his four decades of absolute power were over.
French initiative
A US Department of State spokesperson said Libyans who said they represented Gadhafi were making “more desperate” efforts to negotiate with the United States in the last 24 to 48 hours.
Washington did not take any of them seriously because they did not indicate Gadhafi’s willingness to step down, the spokesperson added.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who took an early gamble on the rebels and may now reap diplomatic benefits, called on the Gadhafi loyalists “to turn their back on the criminal and cynical blindness of their leader by immediately ceasing fire.”
Late on Monday, Sarkozy spoke to Britain’s David Cameron by telephone about Libya, and they agreed to “pursue efforts in supporting the legitimate Libyan authorities as long as Colonel Gadhafi refuses to surrender arms,” a French statement read.
Paris has offered to host a summit on Libya soon.
Cameron also spoke to Obama on Monday night.
Oil production
Western leaders, wary of a possible Iraq-style insurgency by rearguard Gadhafi loyalists, reiterated their refusal to commit military forces to peacekeeping in Libya.
Britain’s International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell told BBC his country saw no circumstances in which British troops would be deployed on the ground in Libya.
But some governments have had civilian advisers in Benghazi for months, and recent swift rebel advances revived questions about the shadowy role of foreign special forces on the ground.
First signs emerged of moves to begin restoring oil output that has been the basis of the economy and a source of hope for Libya’s 6 million, mostly poor, people.
Staff from Italy’s Eni arrived to look into restarting facilities, said Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.
He said Italy expected contracts held by Italian companies in Libya to be respected by any new post-Gadhafi government.
Italy’s interests in its former colony stretch from oil fields to huge contracts in defense and construction.
“They’ve agreed to honor all contracts, including those with Italian companies, undertaken by Libya,” Frattini told Italian radio, referring to the Benghazi-based rebel council.
“Italy’s contracts are with Libya, not with Gadhafi.” Reports from Reuters and AP