Battle lines in Libya harden
the city, many buildings were pockmarked by bullets, and most streets were blocked by felled palm trees or metal barricades. Police stations and government offices have been torched, and anti-Gaddafi graffiti — labeling him a “mass murderer” — was everywhere. In the main square, an effigy of the leader hung from a light pole with the words “Execute Gadhafi” on its chest.
“To us, Gaddafi is the ‘Dracula’ of Libya,” said Wael al-Oraibi, an army officer in Zawiya who decided to join the rebels in large part after Gaddafi used mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa against residents of the city.
The mood in Zawiya was generally upbeat, with chants of “Free, free Libya,” although the anticipation of a renewed attempt to retake the city was causing some anxiety among the rebels.
Rebels and defecting army forces largely consolidated control of Zawiya on Thursday, after an army unit loyal to Gaddafi opened fire on a mosque where residents — some armed with hunting rifles — had been holding a sit-in. The square has become the burial site of six of eleven rebels killed by pro-Gaddafi forces who failed to retake the town that day. Residents reported several skirmishes between both sides since then.
At least six checheckpoints controlled by troops loyal to Gaddafi stood on the road from Tripoli to Zawiya. Each one was reinforced by at least one tank, with troops who concealed their faces with scarves.
Before Zawiya fell to rebel forces, Gaddafi had scolded its residents on Thursday, saying they were in league with terror mastermind Osama bin Laden.
“Shame on you, people of Zawiya. Control your children,” he said. “They are loyal to bin Laden,” he said of those involved in the uprising. “What do you have to do with bin Laden, people of Zawiya? They are exploiting young people. … I insist it is bin Laden.”
Gaddafi blasted sanctions against his country and vowed to stay in power, telling Serbia’s private Pink TV in a telephone interview that “the Libyan people are still behind me.”
