TRIPOLI // Clothes hang to dry and boots lie on the doorstep of pretty houses: the luxurious quarters of the Qaddafi family in Tripoli have been converted into a five-star headquarters by soldiers of Libya's new regime.
The gated neighbourhood, made up of dozens of identical houses, lies on the western edge of the Libyan capital and though it will soon be handed over to the country's civilian leadership, for now it is the base for the Jado Brigade.
Salem Jhet, operational commander for the brigade, a group of fighters loyal to Libya's new administration, said: "Once everything stabilises, we will turn this place over to the civilian population.
"We are here provisionally, and we are also protecting it. It's a tourist site; a military base has no business being in a place like this."
It was at these opulent mansions, which overlook the Mediterranean Sea and sandy beaches lined with palm trees, where the family and friends of the ousted leader Muammar Qaddafi spent their weekends.
Now, it is dominated by khaki camouflage uniforms and the green, black and red colours that adorn the flag of the "new Libya." In one room, fighters lounge on velvet-covered sofas and watch a giant flat-screen television.
Kalashnikovs rest against the chimney and, when the weather is good, those men on break between assignments frolic in the water or exercise on the large wooden decks built on the beach.
Hannibal, one of Colonel Qaddafi's nine children, who was known as much for his behaviour while on overseas trips as for his brutality, had a residence in the neighbourhood.
"We have evidence. Photocopies of his identity papers, as well as some of his personal belongings, were found in the closets," Mr Jhet said.
Just 500 metres from the complex, a white cubic villa sits on a ledge overlooking the sea. That is the second home of Hannibal and his Lebanese model wife, Aline Skaff.
Windows in the living room and one of the bedrooms give a 180-degree view of the water. White sofas contrast sharply with a black kitchen, while a massive circular bed dominates the bedroom.
The bathroom is chequered in black and white tiles, and a Jacuzzi is outside.
"In my wildest dreams, I would not have imagined that such a house existed in Libya," said Abdullah Al Zenten, a young fighter with a Kalashnikov hanging from his shoulder.
"I imagined them all living in Bab Al Azizya," Qaddafi's massive sprawling residence-cum-bunker in Tripoli.
But at the cubic house, unlike the homes being occupied by the Jado Brigade, much has been ransacked. All that remains of a wall-mounted flat screen in the bedroom, for example, are the hinges it was affixed to.
"Of course, the families of the victims of Hannibal's brutality wanted to extract some vengeance," Mr Al Zenten said.
Mr Jhet said he and his comrades hoped their presence alone would be sufficient to prevent looting by Libyans thirsty for retribution.
But he acknowledges that they will leave at some point.
"If we settled here, that would mean that the system of Qaddafi's rule, and its abuses, would have returned," Mr Jhet said. "Soon, this will be a place that will be opened to all Libyans."
