Rebel entered Tripoli and Gaddafi's son has been captured by forces

Rebel fighters streamed into
Tripoli as Muammar Gaddafi's
forces collapsed and crowds
took to the streets to celebrate,
tearing down posters of the
Libyan leader.

A convoy of rebels entered a
western neighborhood of the
city, firing their weapons into
the air. Rebels said the whole of
the city was under their control
except Gaddafi's Bab Al-Aziziya-
Jazeera stronghold, according to
al-Jazeera Television.

Gaddafi made two audio
addresses over state television
calling on Libyans to fight off the
rebels.

"I am afraid if we don't act, they
will burn Tripoli," he said. "There
will be no more water, food,
electricity or freedom."

Gaddafi, a colorful and often
brutal autocrat who has ruled
Libya for over 40 years, said he
was breaking out weapons
stores to arm the population. His
spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim,
predicted a violent reckoning by
the rebels.

"A massacre will be committed
inside Tripoli if one side wins
now, because the rebels have
come with such hatred, such
vendetta...Even if the leader
leaves or steps down now, there
will be a massacre."

NATO, which has backed the
rebels with a bombing campaign,
said the transition of power in
Libya must be peaceful.
After a six-month civil war, the
fall of Tripoli came quickly, with
a carefully orchestrated uprising
launched on Saturday night to
coincide with the advance of
rebel troops on three fronts.

Fighting broke out after the call
to prayer from the minarets of
the mosques.

Rebel National Transitional
Council Coordinator Adel
Dabbechi confirmed that
Gaddafi's younger son Saif Al-
Islam had been captured. His
eldest son Mohammed Al-Gaddafi
had surrendered to rebel forces,
he told Reuters.

Only five months ago Gaddafi's
forces were set to crush the
rebel stronghold of Benghazi, the
leader warning in a television
address that there would be "no
mercy, no pity" for his
opponents. His forces, he said,
would hunt them down "district
to district, street to street, house
to house, room to room."

The United Nations then acted
quickly, clearing the way for
creation of a no-fly zone that
NATO, with a campaign of
bombing, used ultimately to help
drive back Gaddafi's forces.
"It's over. Gaddafi's finished,"
said Saad Djebbar, former legal
adviser to Libyan government.
Al Jazeera television aired images
of people celebrating in central
Tripoli and tearing down posters
of Gaddafi, which had
dominated Libyan cities for
decades.

In Benghazi in the east,
thousands gathered in a city-
center square waving red, black
and green opposition flag as
news filtered through of rebel
advances into Tripoli.

"It's over!" shouted one man as
he dashed out of a building, a
mobile telephone clutched to his
ear. Celebratory gunfire and
explosions rang out over the city
and cars blaring their horns
crowded onto the streets.
Overhead, red tracer bullets
darted into a black sky.

"It does look like it is coming to
an end," said Anthony Skinner,
Middle East analyst, Maplecroft.
"But there are still plenty of
questions. The most important is
exactly what Gaddafi does now.

Does he flee or can he fight?"
"In the slightly longer term, what
happens next? We know there
have been some serious
divisions between the rebel
movement and we don't know
yet if they will be able to form a
cohesive front to run the
country."

Gaddafi, in his second audio
broadcast in 24 hours, dismissed
the rebels as rats.
"I am giving the order to open
the weapons stockpiles," Gaddafi
said. "I call on all Libyans to join
this fight. Those who are afraid,
give your weapons to your
mothers or sisters.

"Go out, I am with you until the
end. I am in Tripoli. We will ...
win."

A Libyan government official
told Reuters that 376 people on
both sides of the conflict were
killed in fighting overnight on
Saturday in Tripoli, with about
1,000 others wounded.

A diplomatic source in Paris,
where the government has
closely backed the rebels, said
underground rebel cells in the
capital had been following
detailed plans drawn up months
ago and had been waiting for a
signal to act.

That signal was "iftar" -- the
moment when Muslims
observing the holy months of
Ramadan break their daily fast.

Via ABC News.