As already disclosed, time is running out
This article titled “Benghazi celebrates as reports emerge of battles in central Tripoli” was written by Martin Chulov Benghazi, for The Guardian on Friday 25th February 2011 15.37 UTC Clashes have continued on the outskirts of Tripoli for a third consecutive day as Muammar Gaddafi’s loyalists attempt to shore up the capital from a rampant anti-government revolution. Demonstrators at a large opposition rally in Libya’s second city, Benghazi, today received numerous phone calls from frantic relatives in Tripoli who relayed details of ongoing battles nearing the centre of the city. There were unconfirmed reports today of a major airbase in Tripoli having fallen into opposition hands. If true, it would be a serious blow to the Libyan leader’s attempts to cling to power in the capital. In much of the rest of the country, the battle already appears lost. Opposition activists have been striving to get their hands on military bases and ammunition, seeking to further weaken the regime of the veteran dictator who has already been ousted from eastern Libya and much of the centre of the country. Benghazi’s main military base was sacked on Sunday and Libya’s second city fell later that day. Ever since, Benghazi has been a hub of anti-government dissent. Most towns and villages along the 1,000km (620-mile) route between the two cities now appear to turned against the dictator. Demonstrators in Benghazi, where it all started on 17 February, were joyfully celebrating today at a large rally after Friday prayers outside the looted court house and police headquarters. “Gaddafi go to Israel,” they said. “Libya is free, Gaddafi must leave.” Benghazi has remained calm since Sunday, with most residents insisting that the last remnants of the dictator’s old guard have fled the region. “They can never return,” said Khadija Begaigy, who lives in the city. “It is finished for them, and now onwards to Tripoli!” So far, almost all of the armoury seized from Benghazi’s looted military bases remains safe inside the forecourt of a ransacked secret police headquarters near the port. There have been calls for those weapons to be used against loyalist forces still defending the capital. However, the small number of weapons that have been handed out are being used to help with neighbourhood defences. Gaddafi was expected today to fly in reporters from the UK on a Libyan government jet, intending to show that all is well in the capital. However, Libyans continue to paint an entirely different picture. “The battles here have been worse this week than last,” one man in Tripoli told his mother, who was protesting in Benghazi today. “Something is clearly happening here.”
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