TRIPOLI // Rebels attacked buildings filled with regime gunmen yesterday in a fierce and grim battle for Muammar Qaddafi's last stronghold in Tripoli. The Libyan leader remained in hiding but sent a new message taunting the rebels and calling on Libyans to kill them.
The bodies of three regime soldiers in military uniforms lay on the ground outside a fire station in the Abu-Salim neighbourhood and a few bodies of rebel soldiers were wrapped in blankets nearby, the Associated Press reported. The sewers ran red with blood.
Deafening explosions of outgoing mortars and the whistle of sniper fire filled air clogged with smoke from burning buildings and weapons fire.
Mahmoud Bakoush, a rebel commander at the site, said there were rumours that one of Col Qaddafi's sons might be in the buildings, but they are unconfirmed.
Abu-Salim, which is next to the Qaddafi compound seized by rebels on Tuesday, is thought to be the regime's last major stronghold in Tripoli. After hours of fierce fighting, Associated Press reporters at the scene said rebels were making progress pushing them out.
However, the rebels know they will not be able to win the 6-month-old civil war until Col Qaddafi is either captured or killed.
A regime spokesman told The Associated Press that Col Qaddafi is safely in hiding and leading the battle against the rebels.
"Don't leave Tripoli for the rats. Fight them, fight them, and kill them," Col Qaddafi said in audio message broadcast on Al-Arabiya television. "It is the time for martyrdom or victory."
He warned that the rebels will enter people's homes and rape their women, and asserted that "Nato can't remain in the air all the time."
Col Qaddafi spokesman Moussa Ibrahim, in a call to AP's Cairo office, said the dictator was in Libya and his morale was high. Col Qaddafi "is indeed leading the battle for our freedom and independence" said Mr Ibrahim, who was recognisable by his voice.
Since the weekend, rebel forces have driven the regime out of power. But while many consider Col Qaddafi's defeat inevitable, it is less clear what will follow. New questions are emerging as Libyans face an uncertain future.
The most pressing of those questions is whether the end of the war will guarantee an end to violence.
Yesterday Mahmoud Jibril, the head of the rebel National Transitional Council, warned of instability if public services and salaries could not be restored, and urged western countries to provide money.
For now, rebel fighters have set up checkpoints around the capital and organised neighbourhood watches.
"We need the rebels to stabilise things," said Azzedine Meshergui, a fisherman who lives with his wife and children in Tripoli's old medina. "Then we need to work through the ballot box."
Last weekend, Mr Meshergui picked up a gun for the first time since his discharge from the army 20 years ago to help guard the old medina.
At 47, he is twice the age of many rebel fighters, and commands respect. This week he also become father to what locals describe as the neighbourhood's first martyr.
Last Monday, Mr Meshergui's 19-year-old son, Mohamed, left the family's house to buy fish and never came back.
"The first time I called his phone, he answered, but the second time another person answered," said Mr Meshergui's mother, Salha El Halki. "Qaddafi militiamen."
Mr Meshergui's body was found later that day in a parked car, bound at the knees. He had been shot through the head.
Today the sweltering Libyan capital is full of revolutionary graffiti, green Qaddafi flags in the streets to drive over, and grinning young men with assault rifles.
However, the city is also full of uncollected rubbish, while food, water and petrol are scarce.
"I used to buy my stock from the souq, but now the souqs aren't open anymore," said Nader, the owner of a small food shop in the old medina.
A few bottles of water and cans of ginger beer soft drink stood in the refrigerator, and some flies were inspecting a basket of green peppers by the door.
"We really need a solution," Nader said. "I don't even have milk for children. Just these green peppers, and that's not a meal."
Meanwhile, both rebel fighters and ordinary citizens are handicapped by communications networks that remained largely offline yesterday.
Col Qaddafi's regime shut down internet and most phone access months ago. Yesterday there was patchy mobile phone service in Tripoli, while an independent mobile network has been set up in Benghazi.
"Now, engineers are trying to connect the two networks," said Ahmed Alzagui, 21, a burly rebel fighter and medical student posted yesterday outside the headquarters of Libyana, one of Libya's two cell phone providers. Engineers declined to be interviewed, citing security reasons.
On Saturday night Mr Alzagui was among 20 rebel fighters who advanced on the Libyan office.
They approached via a side street and came under fire from a heavy machine gun. A pro-Qaddafi sniper on the roof and a soldier armed with an RPG rocket launcher also offered resistance.
"And I had to kill him, the RPG guy," said Mr Alzagui as his eyes reddened. "We begged him to surrender, but he didn't. It isn't in my nature to be violent, and this has stayed on my conscience."
Nor is Mr Meshergui in the old medina a violent man, he said. But at times he still explodes with grief at the death of his son.
"I had no weapons, my son had no weapons!" he said to neighbours outside his house on Wednesday. "Only those who went to Green Square to cry 'Muammar!' had weapons."
Later, back inside his house, Mr Meshergui reflected on how a new government should deal with those who supported Col Qaddafi.
"As long as their hands are unstained with blood, and they haven't stolen the country's wealth, they're welcome," he said. "Once Qaddafi is gone, I'll feel calm again."
jthorne@thenational.ae
with additional reporting by the Associated Press
