Reply #95: Gadhafi defiant as rebels claim to take 'revolution' inside Tripoli

[pinboy3niner]

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Saif al-Islam Gadhafi says the rebels are losing and insists "we will not leave" Libya

• Moammar Gadhafi slams the rebels' "lying campaign" and vows their end is near

• A rebel official says the "coordinated" Tripoli operation is "going easily"

• Heavy clashes broke out late Saturday in a Tripoli neighborhood, a resident says

By the CNN Wire Staff
August 21, 2011 -- Updated 0527 GMT (1327 HKT)


Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- The Libyan government and rebel officials offered wildly disparate views of the situation on the ground Sunday as gunfire and explosions continued to rock Tripoli not far from the home of embattled leader Moammar Gadhafi.


Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, a son of the ruler and a top official in his regime, insisted on Libyan state-run television that the rebels were losing every battle. His statement came hours after his father told supporters that the "traitors" and their NATO allies were lying and nearing their end.


The Gadhafis' accounts, however, contrasted with reports from CNN reporters, witnesses and rebel officials that government forces continued to lose ground all around the North African nation and faced fresh attacks in the capital.


Faithi Baja, political affairs chief for the rebels' Transitional National Council, said in a video statement Sunday that rebel fighters' freshly launched operation inside Tripoli is "going easily" and that they are inching toward Gadhafi's Bab al-Azizia compound.

...


http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/08/21/libya.war/