By George Murumba

22^nd Aug 2011:

The end of an era: Col Gaddafi is gone

Anti-Gaddafi National Transitional Council [NTC] rebels, who launched a campaign to topple Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi six months ago, have finally triumphed and marched into the “Green Square” located at the centre of the capital Tripoli.  The NTC immediately announced that they will re-name the square “Martyrs Square”.

The anti-Gaddafi rebels launched multiple land and sea attacks in the last 24hours, an effort that ensured that they captured many towns fairly quickly and effectively isolated the capital Tripoli.  A powerful rebel group approached the capital city from the western flank and advanced towards Tripoli while waving flags and firing celebratory gunfire.

In the ensuing battles for Tripoli, Col. Gaddafi’s previously influential son Saif al Islam Gaddafi was captured alive.  The International Criminal Court [ICC] confirmed Saif al Islam’s capture and requested that he be handed over to the ICC to be tried for the war crimes and crimes against humanity for which he and his father Gaddafi were indicted.

News of the ICC’s request for Saif al Islam Gaddafi have however been met with protests from thousands of people in the rebel stronghold of Bengazi who are demanding that Saif al Islam Gaddafi be left in Libya to pay for his alleged crimes against the people of Libya.  “…The Martyrs blood was not shed for nothing”, they chanted, an indication that they wanted revenge.

Mohamed, Gaddafi’s elder son, also surrendered to the rebels after losing a fire fight and was put under house arrest.  The new Libyan Ambassador to the United States Ali Sulaeiman Aujali said he was happy that Gaddafi’s elder son Mohamed is being treated well because he wasn’t as bad as his brother Saif al Islam Gaddafi.

In the final hours of Gaddafi’s regime, even his Presidential Guards abandoned him and surrendered to the rebels; perhaps sensing that there wasn’t much they could do in the face of a fierce onslaught by the rebels with the help of NATO jets bombing strategic targets to soften the path for the advancing rebels.

As Tripoli fell to the rebels, Col. Gaddafi himself however was still heard via a telephone line calling for Libyans to rise up and defend their country against the invading imperialists.  Some analysts however interpreted it to be evidence that Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for 42 years, was now totally out of touch with the reality on the ground.

Uganda Correspondent has also learnt that the African Union [AU] was already negotiating with Zimbabwe and Angola to allow Col. Muammar Gaddafi and his top Aides to enter into temporary exile in either of those countries.

Two South African planes were also reported to have immediately landed at Tripoli airport although the reason for the plane’s presence there was unclear by press time.  END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.