Reply #122: Libyan city of Sirte on the brink of falling

[pinboy3niner]

Fighters celebrate capture of Gaddafi's son Mutassim and tighten grip on troops loyal to former leader

Peter Beaumont in Sirte guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 12 October 2011 18.07 EDT


The Libyan coastal city of Sirte was on the brink of falling to government forces as fighters loyal to the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were trapped in a tightening pocket 500 metres wide and twice as long.

The latest gains for the forces of the National Transitional Council (NTC) came as its officials said Gaddafi's son Mutassim, who had been commanding the city's defences, had been captured in a car trying to flee with his family on Tuesday evening and taken to Benghazi for questioning.

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The arrest of Mutassim – referred to as "Number 1" on pro-Gaddafi forces radio traffic – underlined the depth of the collapse of Sirte's loyalist defenders in the past week. Mutassim is the first major figure in Gaddafi's inner circle to have been captured by the NTC.

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By afternoon, it appeared that barely 5% of the city remained under the control of those fighting for Gaddafi, who is still on the run after ruling Libya for 42 years. As government forces completed the clearing of the city's east, rumours began to circulate that it had finally capitulated. "Sirte is free!" said one man heading to join the fighting in the city centre.

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The already angry mood towards the loyalists hardened with the discovery, in three locations in the city, of 30 captured men who had been cuffed and executed. According to government commanders, the men had been killed on Tuesday.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/12/libya-sirte-falling-government-forces?newsfeed=true