FINAL battle for Libya under way as rebel forces overcome regime troops in Tripoli but Gaddafi remains defiant.
- Rebel forces�take control of Tripoli's Green Square�
- Gaddafi's personal security team has surrendered
- Dictator's sons arrested, claim rebels
- We're seeing a regime crumbling - NATO
- Gaddafi: From People's Republic to plastic surgery
LATEST UPDATES BELOW�| ALL TIMES AEST
5.20pm There are the triumphant sounds of the rebel capital Benghazi: Honking horns, assault rifles firing into the air, fireworks, drumming and cries of victory.
In a rare sight for such a conservative society, where men and women are normally strictly separated, small groups of veiled teenage girls joined the crowd, AFP reporter Herve Bar reports. He adds:
While some solemnly but joyously shouted Allah Akbar (God is greatest), others opted for insulting the flamboyant 69-year-old army colonel, who at times sported a sort of Afro-style hairdo, shouting "no more curly hair". Continuing the hair gibes, someone shouts "they've captured baldy", a reference to Gaddafi's son, Seif al-Islam, and the announcement sets off another roar from the crowd.
WIRE: A Libyan rebels security forces member fires his rifle in the air as tens of thousands of libyans celebrate the news of the arrest of Kadhafi's son Saif al-islam and the partial fall of Tripoli in the hands of the Libyan rebels on August 21, 2011 in Benghazi, Libya. Libyan rebels surged into Tripoli Sunday in a final drive to oust Moamer Kadhafi, seizing swathes of the capital including symbolic Green Square and arresting the strongman's son, Seif al-Islam. Thousands of residents poured onto the streets to welcome the rebels, congregating at the site which the renamed Martyrs Square near the water front in the centre of Tripoli. AFP PHOTO/GIANLUIGI GUERCIA
Source: AFP
5.00pm British Prime Minister David Cameron has cut short a holiday to Cornwall to attend a security meeting on Libya, his office says. It's the second time this month Mr Cameron has cut a holiday short, after returning from Tuscany in the wake of riots in London.
4.50pm An American activist has been shot, apparently by a sniper - after going for a bicycle ride around Tripoli as the rebels closed in.
Franklin Lamb, director of Americans for Middle East Peace, spoke to Newscore from his room at the Corinthia Hotel, saying there was "some bombing, some machine gunfire" continuing in the streets, but the situation was otherwise "relatively calm". He told Russia Today of the shooting:
"I was out in Tripoli on a bicycle for 90 minutes and when I came back, walking by the swimming pool of this hotel, I was shot in my right leg. The doctor gave me the bullet as a souvenir ... I've got painkillers and I've got bandages. I'm OK. I'm lucky the guy didn't hit me in the head."
4.45pm AP photographers have filed these images of the sea of people celebrating the capture of Muammar Gaddafi's son and one-time heir apparent, Seif al-Islam.
WIRE: 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, Libya, early Monday, Aug. 22, 2011. Libyan rebels raced into Tripoli in a lightning advance Sunday that met little resistance as Moammar Gadhafi's defenders melted away and his 40-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 Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)
Source: AP
WIRE: 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, Libya, early Monday, Aug. 22, 2011. Libyan rebels raced into Tripoli Sunday and met little resistance as Gadhafi's defenders melted away and his 42-year rule rapidly crumbled. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)
Source: AP
4.37pm Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi could still be in his Bab Al-Aziziya compound in central Tripoli, according to a diplomatic source who met the embattled strongman within the past two weeks reported Agence France Presse.
"He is still in Tripoli and could be in his residence at Bab Al-Aziziya," the source said today, asking not to be identified.
4.10pm Agence France Presse has reported that heavy fighting is occuring around Gaddafi's Tripoli compound with the rebels telling AFP that loyalist forces still control around 20 per cent of the city.
3.05pm Who will rule in Libya once the Gaddafis are gone?
There are concerns it will be terrorists or anarchists, but The (London) Times recently published a blueprint said to be�the rebels' plan for a task force of 10,000-15,000 to take charge.
The most likely uniting body will be the National Transitional Council, which has the backing of 30 countries, including the US.
But in terms of individuals, here are the frontrunners:
2.48pm What freedom sounds like on the streets of Tripoli. Gunfire, mainly, but mesmerising nonetheless:
2.15pm How the rebels took Tripoli. Here's a graphic from the New York Times which plots the weekend movements, starting with the taking of Zawiyah and where one of Gaddafi's sons abandoned the city of Mayah.
1.41pm It's been revealed�Gaddafi travels with a 40-strong troupe of Amazonian-style guardswomen, who as well as being masters of combat, are required to maintain their virginity.
12.59pm This just in from the shock jocks:
"It's the most disgraceful thing ever done to democracy."
And with that, Alan Jones sums up what may be our somewhat lopsided view of what's really important - truckies who are sure the Gillard Government is incompetent at something, or 1300 people killed in the last 12 hours trying to oust a murderous dictator?
Punch on with Anthony Sharwood about it at The Punch�
12.41pm US President Barack Obama says momentum against Gaddafi's regime in Libya has reached a tipping point.
From his holiday digs in Martha's Vineyard, Mr Obama said Tripoli "is slipping from the grasp of a tyrant".
"The Gaddafi regime is showing signs of collapsing. The people of Libya are showing that the universal pursuit of dignity and freedom is far stronger than the iron fist of a dictator."
From one bunker to another - US President Barack Obama reckons Gaddafi's number is just about up. Picture: AP
Source: AP
US President Barack Obama says he's being "briefed regularly" while on holiday. Picture: AP
12.10pm Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has reminded us all to not just focus on footage and pictures of the rebels in Tripoli.
NATO bombs, he says, are "falling on schools, hospitals, workplaces, farmland".
The staunch Gaddafi defender says the US is searching for an excuse to take over the oil-rich nation.
"They're practically demolishing Tripoli with their bombs. It's the excuse to intervene and seize a country and its riches."
11.25am History is being rewritten - er, literally:
"Now we don't call it the Green Square, but we call it the Martyrs Square"
That from Nour Eddin Shatouni, a 50-year-old engineer among the residents who flowed out of their homes to join the celebrations.
He's not kidding - Wiki editor BritishMafia has already redirected traffic from Wikipedia's Green Square to Martyr's Square. Expect Edit Wars to ensue.
Above is a picture taken in the 1950s of "Martyr's Square". When it was Independence Square. Before it was Green Square. Also, before the sea (right) was filled in to become useable land. Picture: Wikipedia
10.53am Breaking news from The Chaser's Chas Licciardello over at Twitter:
10.20am Apparently, we can all expect petrol to be cheaper if the rebels succeed in toppling Gaddafi.
Before its export ability was cut off, Libya used to supply 1.5 million barrels a day. That's not a lot, but it was the good stuff, according to The Australian.
An analyst told them the situation in Libya has increased world prices by between $10 and $20 a day.
8.19am In his appeal for Libyans to rise up to save Tripoli, Gaddafi says: "It is the obligation of all Libyans. It is a question of life or death." As at least one commentator pointed out it is now probably a question of Gaddafi's life or death.
8.13am People in the rebel-held town of Benghazi celebrate the news from Tripoli in this AP picture:
People celebrate the recent news of uprising in Tripoli against Moammar Gadhafi's regime at the rebel-held town of Benghazi, Libya, early Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011. Libyan rebels said they launched their first attack on Tripoli in coordination with NATO late Saturday, and Associated Press reporters heard unusually heavy gunfire and explosions in the capital. The fighting erupted just hours after opposition fighters captured the key city of Zawiya nearby. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)
Source: AP
7.49am An audio message apparently from Gaddafi has been played� on state TV urging Libyans to take up arms and defend Tripoli.
7.45am Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim says 1300 people have been killed in Tripoli, describing the fighting as a "real tragedy".
7.22am The US State Department says the "offensive for Tripoli is under way'' and US officials remain in "close communication'' with the rebel alliance.
7.15am Gaddafi's son, Saif Al-Islam has been captured, the head of the rebel National Transitional Council has told Al Jazeera tv. Reuters quotes him as saying: "We have given instructions to treat him well so that he can face trial."
6.59am What happens to Libya without Colonel Muammar Gaddafi? CNN speaks to Mark Quaterman of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
6.47am In this AP picture a wounded rebel fighter flashes a V-sign while awaiting treatment in the Abu-Rafat hospital on the outskirts of Zawiya.
WIRE: A wounded rebel fighter flashes a V-sign in the Abu-Rafat hospital on the outskirts of Zawiya, LIbya, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011. Libyan rebels said they were less than 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Moammar Gadhafi's main stronghold of Tripoli on Sunday, a day after opposition fighters launched their first attack on the capital itself. Fighters said a 600-strong rebel force that set out from Zawiya has reached the outskirts of the village of Jedaim and was coming under heavy fire from regime forces on the eastern side of the town. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
Source: AP
6.40am Sky News reporter says rebel convoys are heading to centre of Tripoli� with no sign of resistance, but surrounded by jubilant crowds.� AP has told of locals shouting, "We are coming for you, frizz-head'', a mocking nickname for Gaddafi.
6.33am Gaddafi is a dead man walking according to defected ex-prime minister Abdessalam Jalloud.
"He has no way of leaving Tripoli. All the roads are blocked. He can only leave with an international agreement and I think that door is closed.
"I think it would be difficult for Gaddafi to give himself up. And he is not like Hitler who had the courage to kill himself... I don't think the evolution of the situation in Tripoli will allow him to survive."
6.30am Latest buzz on Twitter is that Gaddafi has been captured - but the reports are all unconfirmed.
6.28am NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu says "What we're seeing ... is the regime crumbling".
"The sooner Gaddafi realises there is no way he can win, the better for everyone."
6.15am Gunfire was heard this morning near the hotel used by the foreign media in the centre of the Libyan capital. A Libyan government official says 376 people have been killed and more than 1000 wounded in the rebel assault.
2.15am Libyan rebels have taken control of a military base, "Kilometre 27", located on the outskirts of Tripoli, seizing weapons and ammunition, reports say.
Hundreds of rebels entered the military base, 27 kilometres west of Tripoli, on the road from Zawiyah, an AFP correspondent said. The base was considered the biggest obstacle on the road to Tripoli.
A rebel, giving his name as Mohammed, said: "We have taken the base but it is not yet secure. We think there are still snipers inside."
When the rebels entered the base, circled by a six-metre wall, they found several Grad rocket launchers, vehicles and boxes of ammunition.
The correspondents reported clashes but were unable to give a casualty toll.
12.40am Rebels have infiltrated the capital Tripoli by sea in a covert operation launched from their western enclave of Misrata, a rebel spokesman says.
An advance party "from Misrata reached Tripoli this dawn by sea and joined Tripoli rebels. They are now fighting alongside them," spokesman Abdullah Melitan today told AFP in Misrata, 200 kilometres from Tripoli.
9.45pm Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told a news conference in Tripoli:
"We are here to, sincerely as always, appeal for an immediate cease-fire, an immediate halt of NATO's aggression against our nation, and for all parties to sit down and begin a peaceful way out of this crisis.
We believe unless the international community heeds this appeal, many people will be killed and terrible crimes will be committed inside several Libyan cities."
9.16pm Gaddafi's Libyan government has called for an immediate cease-fire as rebels opposed to the regime advanced on Tripoli.
New images filed by AFP this evening show Libyan rebels run for cover during fighting against regime forces near the Gadayem forest, west of Tripoli.
Libyan rebels run for cover during fighting against regime forces near the Gadayem forest, west of Tripoli. Picture: AFP
Source: AFP
A Libyan rebel runs for cover during fighting against regime forces near the Gadayem forest, west of Tripoli. Picture: AFP
Source: AFP
Below, a Libyan woman raises a rifle as tens of thousands of Libyans celebrate what the rebels claim to be the first uprising in Tripoli against the regime of leader Muammar Gaddafi, at Freedom Square in Benghazi. Picture: AFP
A Libyan woman raises a rifle as tens of thousands of Libyans celebrate what the rebels claim to be the first uprising in Tripoli against the regime of leader Muammar Gaddafi, at Freedom Square in Benghazi. Picture: AFP
Source: AFP
7.29pm British Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt says the Libyan conflict was now at "an extraordinarily crucial point", saying an uprising in Tripoli had "plainly started", as rebels closed in on the Libyan capital.
"What is clear is that an uprising in Tripoli, which was always going to happen when people felt that there was an opportunity being produced by the efforts outside Tripoli to make it safe to rise against the Gaddafi regime, that has plainly started ... we are obviously at an extraordinarily crucial point in this desperate fight for freedom by the Libyan people."
6.05pm Libya's defected former number two Abdessalam Jalloud has urged the tribe of strongman Muammar Gaddafi to disown the embattled "tyrant", in a statement aired on Al-Jazeera news channel.
"You are an honourable tribe... You should preserve your history and honour. Disown this tyrant because he will go and you will end up inheriting his legacy. The noose has tightened around him. If he is in Tripoli, it will be difficult for him to leave because all routes are controlled by the rebels."
3.38pm While holidaying on Martha's Vineyard island, US President Barack Obama is being kept up to date on developments in Libya as rebel troops advance on Tripoli.
If Col. Gaddafi flees or is otherwise deposed, the Obama administration plans to voice US support for the opposition and assist it as the country makes a transition to democracy, officials say.
2.52pm Muammar Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam says the regime will not "abandon the fight", but is urging rebels to launch talks, saying: "If you want peace, we are ready".
"We have a long breath. We are in our land and in our country. We will resist for six months, one year, two years ... and we will win ... We will not submit, we will not abandon the fight.''
1.38pm: A little earlier, the NTC (National Transitional Council) in Benghazi�said we were witnessing "zero hour" for Gaddafi and Tripoli:
"The zero hour has started. The rebels in Tripoli have risen up."�
1.31pm: Meanwhile, in Washington DC...or more specifically, in Massachusetts, where President Obama is on holidays at Martha's Vineyard - the Washington Post reports Mr Obama is being updated on the situation in Tripoli.
1.17pm: Here's a list of journalists tweeting from Tripoli,�or if you prefer a broader picture the #libya hashtag is going�predictably�ballistic at the�moment.�
1.04pm: Four loud explosions have been reported in Tripoli.� NATO planes were heard flying over the city at the same time.� It is not immediately clear if it was a NATO strike and if so - what the targets were.
12.01pm: This is the text message that was sent to Tripoli residents earlier, urging them to take up the fight against Gaddafi forces:
"Go out on to the streets and eliminate agents with weapons."��
Gaddafi's spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told an earlier press conference that the violence was the fault of "armed gangs" who had sneaked into Tripoli.� He said some foreign mercenaries were among those captured.
11.43am: The BBC's Matthew Price tweets from the Rixos hotel that a brief�break in fighting appears to have ended:
"It did go quiet for a bit but appears it was a lull. Sounds of heavy fire now and explosions "
11.39am: Despite reports from locals, the government maintains it has control over the Libyan capital and key places of interest:
11.18am: More from the Gaddafi speech - he blames France, leader of NATO missions against his regime, for recruiting "foreigners" so he can win his presidential election by "offering Libyan oil" to the French people.
"(These) agents, traitors and rats ... These scum enter mosques to cry 'God is Greater'. They are dirty. They are defiling the mosques."
10.41am: Rebel supporters in Benghazi react to the news of pockets of fighting against Gaddafi forces in Tripoli:
Rebel supporters in Benghazi cheer the news of fighting against Gaddafi forces in Tripoli / AFP/Gianluigi Guercia
Source: AFP
10.32am: Gaddafi read out the date and time he was speaking, to prove it was a live appearance.� He told Libyans to mobilise against the rebels and confront them in Brega, Zliten and Zawiya:
"We have to put an end to this masquerade. You must march by the millions to free the destroyed towns."
10.24am: Reuters correspondent Missy�Ryan has tweeted on a TV appearance from Col Gaddafi.� "Gaddafi talked about European greed, rebel depravity, also dismissed rebel mil capacities and said they were foreigners."
She has said the loud thuds - either artillery or airstrikes�- and gunfire are continuing, although�more sporadically than a couple of hours ago. �Meanwhile Richard Engel from the US NBC network has said fighting is taking place in four areas in Tripoli.
10.14am: This image from AFP photographer Marc Hofer shows four rebels pausing for a moment of respite from the heavy fighting in Zawiya:
Libyan rebels rest in a sidestreet near the centre of Zawiya after their forces launched a major push into the town / AFP
Source: AFP
10.03am: Tunisia has recognised the rebels as the legitimate representatives of the Libyan people, turning its back on the Gaddafi regime.� Fighting spilled over the border briefly this weekend and Libya's former prime minister Abdel-Salam Jalloud slipped into Tunisia on his way to Italy after apparently defecting.
However the significance of�that defection has been downplayed as Mr Jalloud fell out with Gaddafi in the 90s.
9.56am: Reports from Libya say it's "unclear" if the fighters in Tripoli have received an official order from rebel command to start fighting.� Weapons have reportedly been smuggled in to rebel cells in the�capital and the SMSes we mentioned earlier could have been that order, or this could be a spontaneous or opportunistic outburst of violence after the gains in other cities were shown on rebel-friendly TV.
9.19am: What happens if the rebels win?� The Telegraph in the UK calls today's development Gaddafi's "final battle".� The paper also takes a look ahead to the challenges the loose alignment of rebels could face in�a post-Gaddafi Libya.
"The greatest fear in any post-Gaddafi scenario is that rivalries will split the opposition, leading to the outbreak of a second Libyan civil war. ...
"NTC (National Transitional Council) supporters argue that once Gaddafi falls, his diehard supporters will flee and there will be no appetite for any kind of rearguard action. The field will therefore be clear for the NTC to roll out its plans for stabilising the country.
The first task will be to establish security and order and to guarantee the supplies of electricity, fuel, food and possibly also water. This implies an immediate reversal of the ruthless, although arguably necessary strategy of cutting off all vital supplies to Tripoli, which the rebels have been implementing since mid-June.
If this is not dealt with correctly, the rebels will not inherit the capital of a new and liberated country, but the scene of a humanitarian catastrophe."
9.08am: Reuters reports that rebels are giving away free petrol, after taking control of an oil refinery in Zawiyah.
8.20am: Here's a shot from Associated Press TV showing a group of rebels celebrating their advances into Zawiyah.
Rebels celebrate their advances into Zawiya, an important city on the push towards Tripoli / AP
Source: AP
8.08am: The propaganda battle is almost as fierce as the street fighting - and certainly as rapidly mobilised.� Gaddafi's official spokesman has said all is calm in the capital at the same time as there were reports on social media that the�rebels had claimed to have captured Tripoli's airport.
This is what the�rebel chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil said earlier, regarding rumours Colonel Gaddafi is looking to negotiate a flight into exile:
"We have contacts with people from the inner circle of Gaddafi.� All evidence (shows) that the end is very near, with God's grace.
But he has also warned that the fight for Tripoli will be bloody:
�"I expect a catastrophic end for him and his inner circle, and I expect that he will a create a situation within Tripoli. I hope my expectation is wrong."
7.46am: Tripoli residents have said fighting has erupted in several eastern neighborhoods after the break of the dawn-to-dusk fast of Ramadan, according to reports from the city.
AFP's correspondent in the capital has said the fighting is reportedly taking place in the Soug Jomaa and Arada areas.
There is also a report of residents receiving text messages urging them to leave their homes and fight with the rebels.
7.02am:�Libyan rebels have moved into the eastern oil town of Brega, Al Jazeera reported, marking another strategic breakthrough for the rebels, who claimed control Friday of Zliten and Zawiya in the west.
But hours later the Libyan rebels were forced to withdraw to the eastern edge of Brega under heavy shelling by Gaddafi's forces.� Rebel military commander Colonel Omar Bani has said:
"Yesterday, the industrial zone was under our complete control, but the truth is that today the situation has changed due to heavy artillery shelling.� We withdrew to the eastern part of the industrial zone."
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