The rebels said they launched the assault on Tripoli in coordination with NATO forces, and unusually heavy gunfire and explosions could be heard in the capital last night. The fighting erupted just hours after the rebels captured the key city of Zawiyah nearby.
Phone calls to several Tripoli residents from different neighborhoods confirmed widespread gunfire and explosions. And there were reports of frequent NATO jet overflights and airstrikes - a common accompaniment to the rebel advances in the past week.
But in an audio message broadcast on state television, his second in a week, Khadafy rebutted assertions of rebel gains, saying his forces had beaten back the Tripoli uprising within hours and announcing military successes in the same cities rebels had said they seized yesterday. He gave the date and time several times to confirm that he was speaking as events were unfolding.
“The rebels are fleeing like rats, to the mountains,’’ he said. But even as he described a “collapse’’ among rebel fighters and NATO forces, he railed at world leaders who were supporting the uprising, accusing them of giving rebels “weapons to destroy our air conditioners!’’
He gave no indication of where he might be speaking from, a topic of increasing speculation in recent days as rumors have swirled of his preparing to flee, or perhaps having already left Libya.
It became increasingly clear yesterday that even Khadafy’s most senior aides were making exits.
The Tunisian state news agency reported that Oil Minister Omran Abukraa had defected to Tunisia, after leaving Tripoli on what was ostensibly a business trip abroad. If confirmed, his defection would be the third of a senior government official in the past week.
Abdel Salam Jalloud, a former Khadafy deputy, was reported to have defected Friday. A senior security official, Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah, flew to Cairo with his family on Monday.
