[mtvlover571]

Lots of conflicting chatter today saying that Kadafi is seeking asylum in several countries, that he's arranging for transport of his family, that rebels have actually seized Tripoli, that Kadafi has beaten them back and is asserting control. For instance, as explosions and gunfire rage across the capital, state media is broadcasting reports that all is calm and the rebels have fled.

All we know is that a lot is happening, but foreign press have been barred from attending briefings, so it's not clear entirely what exactly is happening.

LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,2341017.story

Dramatic gains by rebels in recent days suggest for the first time in the 6-month-old uprising that Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi is losing his grip on power as emboldened opposition forces push closer to the capital, Tripoli.

The Libyan battle map is strung with Kadafi defeats. The rebel advance in Zawiya, about 30 miles west of Tripoli, has cut supply routes to his army. Opposition fighters have further squeezed Tripoli by taking Gharyan to the south. And to the east, insurgents seized the strategic coastal town of Zlitan.

...

"The end is very near," rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil told reporters Saturday. He said of Kadafi: "I expect a catastrophic end for him and his inner circle."

Rebels claimed they had gained control of the oil city of Port Brega, about 415 miles southeast of Tripoli. The city in recent months had swung back and forth between Kadafi and rebel control and has been the scene of heavy fighting. Hostilities also spread beyond Libya's borders as armed men in pickup trucks believed to be Kadafi supporters briefly clashed with border guards in Tunisia early Saturday.

Rebels also suggested that the Libyan leader was losing pockets of the capital, which has seen an exodus of frightened residents.

"The situation in Tripoli is like a man in his late stages of cancer and waiting," said Col. Ahmed Omar Bani, spokesman for the rebel army. "Kadafi's troops are not in command of the city anymore. Residents broke the wall of fear and started carrying out operations and fighting against the troops … using Molotov cocktails and homemade bombs and other weapons that were sneaked to Tripoli."

Such assertions could not be independently confirmed but the eccentric and verbose Kadafi has kept an uncharacteristically low profile as NATO airstrikes have rumbled in and around the capital. His government released an audio recording last week of Kadafi telling his countrymen that "the blood of martyrs is fuel for the battlefield."

[CathBraunn]

Ongoing coverage from Al Jazeera English: http://english.aljazeera.net/

[Maypeevophy]

Here's the latest - rebels claim they've encircled the capital city. They also claim that Gadhafi's troops are fleeing as they advance.

NY Times: http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_18725307?source=rss

For the first time in months, witnesses in Tripoli reported heavy fighting in multiple neighborhoods in the capital late Saturday night, even as rebel forces claimed to have encircled the city by taking major towns to its east, west and south.


Rebel leaders in Tunis and eastern Libya characterized the fighting as the beginning of a new uprising in the capital against Moammar Gadhafi's rule. And after months of rebel offenses that crumbled or stalled despite heavy support from a NATO airstrike campaign, it marked the first time since the uprising began in February that the rebels threatened Qaddafi's ultimate stronghold.


"We are coordinating the attacks inside, and our forces from outside are ready to enter Tripoli," said Anwar Fekini, a rebel leader from the mountainous region in western Libya, speaking by telephone from Tunis. "If you can call any mobile number in Tripoli, you will hear in the background the beautiful sound of the bullets of freedom."

[PersonalLoansBank]

Al Jazeera tweets: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/Libya

"Libya's rebel fighters will halt their offensive if Muammar Gaddafi announces his departure, the head of Libya's rebel National Transitional Council said on Al Arabiya television on Sunday.
Mustapha Abd El Jalil added that the rebel forces would give Gaddafi and his sons safe passage out of the country. "

"Numbers swelling outside #Libya's embassy in Cairo #Egypt"

"Al Jazeera has learnt that Gaddafi's eldest son Mohammed has surrendered."

[Extipletape]

LA Times: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/baby...ama-calls.html

With rebels pressing into the heart of Tripoli, President Obama issued a statement late Sunday saying that the momentum against Moammar Kadafi’s regime has reached a "tipping point" and calling on the Libyan leader to step down.

"The people of Libya are showing that the universal pursuit of dignity and freedom is far stronger than the iron fist of a dictator," Obama said.

"The surest way for the bloodshed to end is simple: Moammar Qadhafi and his regime need to recognize that their rule has come to an end. Qadhafi needs to acknowledge the reality that he no longer controls Libya. He needs to relinquish power once and for all."

At the same time, Obama urged rebel forces to respect the rights of the people of Libya, avoid civilian casualties, protect the institutions of state and pursue a just and inclusive transition to democracy.

"A season of conflict must lead to one of peace," Obama said.