GADDIFI TOPPLED!!!!!TRIPOLI CELEBRATING!!!!!!!!

Sabot wrote:
It's not been a good year for Bullies and Liars, has it.

I would say a resounding NO LL

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16053951


Libyan Rebels Seize Major Tripoli Military Base
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Libyan rebels have seized a major military base defending Tripoli, as the fight for the capital intensifies.


Reports suggested the fighters had captured the base of the Khamis Brigade, 16 miles west of the capital.
It is said to be one of the best trained and equipped units in the Libyan military.
The Libyan government earlier appealed for an immediate ceasefire and an end to Nato's "aggression" as it responded to the rebel force's advances.
Spokesman for Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime, Moussa Ibrahim, told reporters the rebels were nothing without Nato and they would never be able to take Libya.
He claimed the people of Tripoli would never rise up and join the rebels and warned of a bloodbath on the streets as they moved closer to the capital.
"Tripoli is well protected and we have thousands upon thousands of professional soldiers ready to defend this city against any possible invasion by rebels under the cover of Nato."
He added: "What is happening now and what is going to happen is not the power of the rebels.
"It's the power of Nato - a major force for evil that has no heart, using armed gangs to occupy a whole nation."
Rebels initially came under sniper fire at the western gate of Tripoli, forcing them to retreat slightly.
Reports indicated they then advanced again, staging large protests around the city.
Residents in the city have either been to scared to leave their homes, leaving streets deserted, or have risked their lives to protect their families from the violence.
Fighters from the western city of Zawiyah earlier pushed forward and took Jaddaim, less than 20 miles (30km) from Tripoli.
Sky News' special correspondent Alex Crawford, reporting from nearby village Mayah, said the rebel force consisted of several dozen foot soldiers and an armed convoy.

She said they had encountered "very little resistance" as they passed through Jaddaim into Mayah.
"This is a march on the capital, they are heading for the presidential palace," she said.
"They will try to indicate to the Tripoli-based population that they are in charge and, as quick as they can, they need to switch sides.
"They want to raise the rebel flag above Gaddafi's presidential palace.
"They are very much speaking of today being the end day for Col Gaddafi."
A Libyan rebel commander told Sky News Col Gaddafi would not last another night in power and his forces were waiting for the "green light" to move into Tripoli.

Overnight, explosions and sustained gunfire rocked parts of Tripoli as the leader of Libya's rebel force insisted "the end is very near" for Col Gaddafi.
"We have contacts with people from the inner circle of Gaddafi," Mustafa Abdel Jalil said.
"All evidence shows that the end is very near, with God's grace."
Mr Jalil added: "I expect a catastrophic end for him and his inner circle, and I expect that he will create a situation within Tripoli. I hope my expectation is wrong."
Four loud explosions were heard in Tripoli at 4am local time (3am BST), as Nato warplanes flew overhead. The targets have not yet been identified.


More is coming in all the time on various site - there is a lot of talk about Gaddafi falling tonight.

Insha'Allah

Al Jazeera:

Libyan rebels in 'final push' for capital
Regime forces use machine guns and mortars to confront armed opposition groups in Tripoli, witnesses say.
Last Modified: 21 Aug 2011 11:26

Security forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have used heavy machine guns and mortars to confront lightly armed opposition forces and protesters who took to the streets of Tripoli on Saturday night in anticipation of a final rebel advance on the capital.

Fighting continued into Sunday morning in a few central and eastern neighbourhoods, and rebel flags were raised over some buildings, witnesses said. Much of the population took cover inside their homes.

Outside of Tripoli, rebel fighters closed in. They advanced tens of kilometres from Zawiyah, to the west, seizing the town of al-Mayah and putting themselves within several kilometres of the capital's suburbs. Other rebel formations remained further way, stationed to the south, in Gharyan, and to the east, in Zlitan.

Despite the greatest challenge yet to his power, Gaddafi remained pugnacious, issuing a telephoned audio address in which he exhorted his followers and congratulated them for defeating the "rats".

His most prominent son, Saif al-Islam, gave a televised speech, saying the regime did not know how to raise the "white flag" of surrender.

Rebels in the west have taken numerous towns and hundreds of kilometres of ground in the past month.

Gunfire and explosions were reported near the Bab al-Aziziyah - a sprawling regime command and control compound - and in the Souq al-Jomaa and Abu Sita neighbourhoods.

Rebels said some regime troops defending the Mitiga air base in the capital had abandoned their posts, though mass defections were not reported.

Taher, a resident near the Bab al-Aziziyah, told Al Jazeera that men in his neighbourhood, some of whom were armed with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, had begun protesting last night and blocked the roads.

Around 30 to 40 regime security forces responded on Sunday morning with assault rifles and anti-aircraft guns. Some took positions on the rooftops of the nearby Nigerian Embassy and an eye clinic and opened fire, forcing the men to take cover inside the walled compounds of neighbourhood homes.

Youssef, another Tripoli resident who lives in the Abu Sita neighbourhood, said regime gunmen had taken positions on the top of the nearby Libyana mobile company building and were firing indiscriminately, as other forces launched mortar rounds. The streets in the area were deserted, he said, as occasional gunfire and booming explosions could be heard in the background.

The rebel flag, a tricoloured emblem of the country's first post-colonial days, flew over many buildings in the neighbourhood, he said.

"We are waiting for the revolutionaries to come to conquer Tripoli, because we don't have weapons to defend ourselves," he said.

"Gaddafi troops are using heavy artillery and heavy weapons, and we don't know what's going to happen in the next two to three hours."

Government said rebels 'dealt with'

Protests began at around 9pm local time on Saturday, as residents took to the streets in numerous areas of the capital, many of them emerging from mosques and chanting "God is great".

Expatriate Libyans speaking to family members in the capital said men went out to protest, some with weapons, while children and women were asked to stay home. Meanwhile, NATO aircraft reportedly carried out bombing raids after nightfall.

In a live audio broadcast aired on state television early on Sunday morning, Gaddafi congratulated his supporters and accused French President Nicolas Sarkozy of trying to steal the country's oil. He said that the rebels were "bent on the destruction of the Libyan people".

Gaddafi urged his supporters to "march by the millions" and end a months-long rebellion, which he termed a "masquerade".

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim earlier said rebels had tried to attack Tripoli but had been "dealt with".

Ibrahim said that pro-regime volunteers had repelled attacks in several neighbourhoods. He dismissed mounting speculation that the regime was on the brink, but more gunfire was heard after he spoke on television.

'Operation Mermaid Dawn'

A senior official in the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) said on Sunday that operations in Tripoli were co-ordinated between opponents of Gaddafi in the city and the rebels in the east.

"The zero hour has started. The rebels in Tripoli have risen up," said Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice-chairman of the NTC, in the eastern city of Benghazi.

"There is co-ordination with the rebels in Tripoli. This was a pre-set plan. They've been preparing for a while. There's co-ordination with the rebels approaching from the east, west and south," he said.

Colonel Fadlallah Haroun, a military commander in Benghazi, said the battles marked the beginning of Operation Mermaid Dawn. Tripoli's nickname in Libya is "Bride of the Sea," or mermaid.

Haroun told the AP news agency that weapons were assembled and sent by tugboats to Tripoli on Friday night.

"The fighters in Tripoli are rising up in two places at the moment - some are in the Tajoura neighbourhood and the other is near the Matiga airport," he told Al-Jazeera.

Tajoura has been known since the beginning of the uprising in February as one of the Tripoli neighbourhoods most openly opposed to Gaddafi's rule. The Matiga airport is located in the city, while the international airport is located around 30km south.

A rebel representative for Tripoli on the NTC told AP that rebels were surrounding almost every neighbourhood in the capital, and there was especially heavy fighting in Fashloum, Tajoura and Souq al-Jomaa.

In Benghazi, thousands of Libyans celebrated in the main city square, shooting fireworks and guns into the air, and waving rebel flags.

Al Jazeera live blog link as there are a lot of reports on there and some pics:

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/Libya

21 Aug 2011 Feb 17 Libvya News - only in Arabic, but really just shouts of 'Allah Akhbar' - God is Great.

Libyan freedom fighters advanced quickly eastwards towards Tripoli on Sunday, seizing weapons and tanks in the town of Gadayem after bloody clashes with retreating forces loyal to leader Moamer Gaddafi.

All sorts of stories seem to be coming in, LL...some rebels have come in from the sea? And locals have freed hundreds from a military prison?

Gun-wielding Libyan TV presenter says she is ready to die fighting against rebels

Silly moo.

bb1 wrote:All sorts of stories seem to be coming in, LL...some rebels have come in from the sea? And locals have freed hundreds from a military prison?

Haven't managed to catch up yet, only just got back from a cruise on the Danube - I am actually in Vienna this weekend. It all looks like things are coming to a head, I understand the soldiers guarding an airport/base ran away or surrendered. LL

It seems to be unravelling fast, and chaotically, LL.


Gaddafi has just done a broadcast, the usual rant about defending the city to the last drop of blood.

It would be good if the last drop shed is his - before the end of today would be good.

bb1 wrote:It seems to be unravelling fast, and chaotically, LL.


Gaddafi has just done a broadcast, the usual rant about defending the city to the last drop of blood.

It would be good if the last drop shed is his - before the end of today would be good.

Reminiscent of Hitler, "I will not leave and I will take you all down with me!" isn't it? LL

They are always keen to spill other people's blood when they are facing their own end.

I am sure he STILL has the option to get on a plane and point it to a neutral country. He won't, though.

bb1 wrote:They are always keen to spill other people's blood when they are facing their own end.

I am sure he STILL has the option to get on a plane and point it to a neutral country. He won't, though.

I don't think the rebels are going to let him leave, now now, not after he has killed so many of their comrades. I am looking for the interviews his son Saif and spokesman Ibrahim have made today; as soon as I get them I will post them up. LL

Thanks, LL, there is so much going on, it's hard to keep track of it all...

Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland offers analysis on the Libyan government spokesman's speech

I will not be here tomorrow for personal reasons, so I am posting up the links to Al Jazeera and Feb 17 info, so that anyone can post up anything that is of importance, especially as things appear to be coming to a head:

Al Jazeera:

Main link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/
Live Blog: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/Libya

Feb 17 Libya

Main link: http://feb17.info/
Videos: http://feb17.info/videos/
For the videos, click on the TV top row centre then on the logo for whichever site you want. I tend to use the Al Jazeera logo. You then need to view the video on you tube and past up that link. LL

Thanks LL - hopefully you will return to good news.
Some nice men brought us a flag in anticipation...

Oh my...look at the live pics from Tripoli!

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16053951


Libyan Rebels: 'Colonel Gaddafi's Son Captured'
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Libyan rebels have told Sky News that Saif Al-Islam, Colonel Gaddafi's son, has been captured as the end of the regmine appears to draw ever closer.


http://news.sky.com/home

Film of the celebrations breaking out in Tripoli...

I can't believe what we are finally seeing....the people of Tripoli are pouring onto the streets...there is talk that Gaddafi has already fled.

Please God let this be over.

Sky are saying that Tripoli has fallen to the rebels; people are pouring onto the streets to celebrate the end of Gaddafi's dictatorship.

They are only half a mile from Green Square now.

Amazing pictures from Sky's Alex Crawford; she is broadcasting from a vehicle in the rebel convoy heading for Green Square, and the people of Tripoli are pouring into the streets, celebrating the fall of Gaddafi...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/21/us-libya-usa-idUSTRE77K2P420110821?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews



U.S. urges Libya rebels to plan post-Gaddafi era


(Reuters) - The United States sees the rebel offensive for Tripoli as clearly under way, and is urging the National Transitional Council (TNC) to start planning for the post-Gaddafi era in Libya, the U.S. State Department said on Sunday.

"Clearly the offensive for Tripoli is under way," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

"We continue efforts to encourage the TNC to maintain broad outreach across all segments of Libyan society and to plan for post-Gaddafi Libya. Gaddafi's days are numbered. If Gaddafi cared about the welfare of the Libyan people, he would step down now."