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| Africa North |
| Residents upbeat as rebels take control of the airport in Tripoli |
| 2011-08-28 |
| [Daily Nation (Kenya)] Libyan rebels said they had complete control of Tripoli airport today and had cleared a nearby district of Muammar Qadaffy ...whose instability has been an inspiration to dictators everywhere... 's forces but still feared isolated snipers at the airfield. "We control the airport entirely," rebel commander Bashir al-Taibi told AFP. Rebels said they had also taken the Qasr ben Gheshir District after a "clean-up" operation around the international airport, launched to push out remaining loyalist forces entrenched in the neighbourhood. They added that they were still being cautious after loyalist forces fired rockets and mortar rounds that destroyed three civilian aircraft on the tarmac. At a roundabout in Qasr ben Gheshir, a cheering crowd celebrated the district's "liberation", singing: "Hey, hey hey, Qadaffy is gone forever," an AFP correspondent said. "Last night (Friday), about 60 to 80 cars from the battalion of Khamis Qadaffy," one of the runaway dictator's sons, left the area and "fled to Bani Walid", a city near Sirte, Qadaffy's hometown, said Mokhtar Lakhtar, who commanded the operation. "It was not a tactical withdrawal, but really a flight," he added. Many in the district confirmed the departure of the convoy of vehicles with Qadaffy loyalists, saying they included 4x4s and "pick-ups with heavy weapons". Two residents said they had seen a pair of large missiles, which they identified as Scuds, going with the convoy, but the rebels did not confirm that. Rebel fighters fired their guns into the air, with the rattle sometimes punctuated by a burst of anti-aircraft fire. At the centre of the roundabout, some residents sacrificed a sheep, in the Mohammedan gesture of celebration. "We have been freed today! I sacrificed a sheep, and I will sacrifice another tomorrow, when Qadaffy is caught," said Saleh Belhaj, 42. |
| Posted by:Fred |