Rebels Take Tripoli, but the Fighting May Be Far from Over

  • Share
  • Read Later
Mahmud Turkia / AFP / Getty Images

Libyan rebel fighters hug each other as they celebrate in the newly named Martyr's Square, formerly known as Green Square, in the capital of Tripoli on Aug. 24, 2011

(2 of 2)

In a crackling audio address from his hideout in the early hours of Wednesday, Gaddafi said he had made a "tactical retreat" from Tripoli. Of the rebel fighters, he said, "They are evil incarnate. We should fight them." His words were broadcast on a new pro-Gaddafi Web-television channel seemingly designed to replace the national propaganda network the leader had just lost. The address was widely dismissed by Libyans as the desperate words of a defeated tyrant. But they might hold some other meaning, according to Benotman. He claims to have met officials last month from a "very significant, large tribe" that is supportive of the regime, who told him that they had made a "pact" to support the regime's holdouts if Gaddafi's rule collapsed — even if the colonel himself was captured or killed. Benotman believes that Gaddafi might have retreated to al-Jufra, a military base south of the leader's hometown of Sirte, and that Saif al-Islam likely slipped out of Tripoli early Tuesday, shortly after dropping by the Rixos Hotel.

Indeed, Gaddafi himself already appears to be yesterday's man — almost "a sideline," says Molly Tarhuni, a Libyan-British academic who has advised the rebels in Benghazi during the past six months. Most Libyans are now far more consumed with piecing their lives back together. "Nobody is even talking about Gaddafi or even listening to any statement he comes out with," Tarhuni says. "They are very quickly moving on and thinking about the future."

For some Libyans, that meant protecting their neighborhoods on Wednesday. "We have held our positions and kept on high alert, but there are still some Gaddafi loyalists moving about," Ehad, a Tripoli resident volunteering to guard his neighborhood, told the BBC on Tuesday afternoon. "It looks like they will put up a fight," he said, adding, "We don't expect the operation to take too long."

As a measure of Libya's stunning change, the journalists trapped inside the Rixos Hotel — a luxury resort that had been home to foreign media (including TIME) during the conflict — emerged on Wednesday night, astonished at the transformation of the city they had last seen on Aug. 20. CNN correspondent Matthew Chance said on air that the situation inside the Rixos had been "an absolute nightmare," with food and water running out, and Gaddafi gunmen prowling around. He said there were "crazy gunmen" who had been in the lobby of the hotel. "Die-hard Gaddafi loyalists," he called them, two of whom surrendered their guns after journalists convinced them that "history was being made" outside the doors.

Whether the remaining fighting is part of Gaddafi's plan as outlined by Benotman, it is not known. Indeed, Benotman's account cannot be independently verified, and he does not name the tribe he met in mid-July, saying only that he met it somewhere in Europe. But while the world has been transfixed by the scenes in Tripoli since the night of Aug. 21, other parts of the huge country — the fourth largest in Africa — are still in dispute, including Sirte, an important hub for the oil industry. In addition, many Libyan tribal leaders and other supporters are likely badly affected by Gaddafi's collapse. "There are always going to be pockets of resistance," says academic Tarhuni. "It was such a long reign, and so many people have so much to lose by his going."

Plans for the Gaddafis' retreat, according to Benotman, included arrangements for high-level figures to take sanctuary in the tribal areas, from where they could begin to organize an armed resistance against the new government, perhaps waiting for the moment when divisions emerged. "They are going to carry on the war, create the free resistance, and are waiting for their chance, for the sharp differences within the Libyans themselves," says Benotman, who was told that the plan was based on the model of the Taliban in Afghanistan. "If we start to witness sharp polarization, it will help to step up their resistance," he adds. "They said, 'You are making a big, big mistake if you think this is only about Gaddafi.' "

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. Next