Libyan rebels have entered Muammar Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli, according to a rebel spokesperson. Al-Jazeera and Reuters correspondents both witnessed the rebels breaking into the compound. Foreign secretary William Hague said breaking into the six kilometre wide compound was an "historic achievement" for the rebels and we were seeing the "death throes" of the regime. Speaking on Sky News, he cautioned that there still "may be some formidable problems ahead".
An Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that Gaddafi's troops still have "pockets" of strength - the main one being inside the fortress. "Gaddafi troops are holed up in a series of pockets where they still seem to have strength, the main one of which is inside that sprawling Gaddafi compound", correspondent James Bays said.
After a day of fighting forces loyal to Gaddafi, rebels forced through the outer gate of the compound on Tuesday afternoon, and then breached it entirely. Rebels have reportedly raised their flag over the Libyan leader's fortress.
Sky News showed footage of the rebels kicking the head of a Gaddaf statuei and celebrating outside the iconic image of a golden fist clutching a US fighter plane.
Colonel Gaddafi's exact whereabouts are unknown, but his son Saif al-Islam told journalists he was in Tripoli. His compound, Bab al-Aziziya, is protected by three walls and can be accessed by an underground tunnel. Nato had been targeting the compound in air strikes overnight, according to reports in the Independent.
Muammar Gaddafi could have an underground escape route from his military compound to Tripoli International Airport, an engineer who worked on plans to renovate its infrastructure told Channel 4 News. Although his actual whereabouts are unknown, it is widely believed that Gaddafi is holed up in Bab al-Azizya, the large military base located some 26km (16 miles) from the airport.
The engineer, John, an Irish national who fled Libya in February when the uprising reached Tripoli, told Channel 4 News that designs were in place over a year ago to create a subterranean road directly underneath the main highway that leads from the airway to the base and beyond, which could only be used by military vehicles.
"Gaddafi's people wanted the underground road so that military vehicles wouldn't get mixed up in civilian traffic. It also meant that access to and from the airport was easy for top officials when they were in Tripoli," he said.
He said that the company he worked for did not win the contract for the project, and was unsure of whether the project was ever completed. He added, however, that "given the amount of time that has elapsed, and knowing that the project was seen as a priority, in all likelihood it was built".
Libya rebels: We let Gaddafi son Saif al-Islam escape
The rebel leaders revealed their embarassment as they admitted allowing Saif al-Islam and another of Gaddafi's sons to escape after arresting them during their assault on Tripoli. Saif invited foreign journalists on a short trip of Tripoli showing them hundreds of young men waiting to be armed. |
| Saif gathering troops loyal to the government |
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