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At week's end, the Revolutionary Council confirmed that its troops had occupied Benghazi, the principal city of Cyrenaica in eastern Libya and stronghold of King Idris and his Senussi sect. The continuation of the curfew suggested that the rebels might be encountering opposition, possibly from the more than 6,000-man British-trained Cyrenaican militia or the national police force, which is almost twice the size of the 10,000-man Libyan army. Radio Tripoli was heard urging rebel troops to seize the "police helicopters" and to "be ready to counter any internal and external acts against the republic."
There were no signs of such acts, however, from King Idris and his small retinue. The ailing monarch paid a $24,000 tab at his Turkish spa and moved on to a Greek one at Kammena Vourla, near Thermopylae, where he booked 36 rooms for a 20-day visit. Would he return to Libya? He let it be known through aides that he would, if the regime permitted. If not, he said, rather poignantly, "somewhere in the world there will be a place for me to live."