Libyan rebels hunted for Muammar Qaddafi and declared his regime over as loyalist forces kept up their fight in parts of Tripoli, the capital now mostly in rebel hands.
His son and presumed heir, Saif al-Islam, who was reported arrested by rebels in the capital yesterday, arrived today at a hotel where foreign journalists are staying, the Associated Press reported. He then led reporters on a tour of parts of the city still under the control of the regime, AP said.
Even as gunfire continued in some areas, particularly around Qaddafi’s former home, rebel and western leaders looked ahead to forming an interim government after the dictator’s 42- year rule.
“The era of Qaddafi is over,” Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the head of the rebel National Transitional Council, said yesterday at a news conference in the eastern city of Benghazi. He called on rebel fighters to avoid reprisals, respect human rights and treat prisoners of war humanely.
Qaddafi, who in an Aug. 21 audio broadcast vowed “never to give up,” remained at large.
“I think Qaddafi is still in the country, the fighters will turn over every stone to find him, arrest him, and put him in court,” Mahmoud Al-Nakou, Libyan charge d’affaires to the U.K., said in a televised press conference in London yesterday.
Saif al-Islam told BBC Television in Tripoli that his father was safe and that the “backbone of the rebels” was broken.
Arrest Reports
Earlier, Mohamad Al Akari, an adviser to the National Transitional Council, the rebel governing body, said Saif al- Islam had been arrested. The International Criminal Court was in talks with the council about his surrender to the court, ICC spokesman Fadi El-Abdallah said yesterday from its headquarters in The Hague.
The rebels control 90 percent of the city, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington yesterday.
Rebels for a time held three of Qaddafi’s sons captured during the advance into Tripoli, although one of them, Mohammed, later escaped from house arrest, according to Al Jazeera.
U.S. President Barack Obama said that “the Qaddafi regime is coming to an end, and the future of Libya is in the hands of its people.”
“As the regime collapses, there’s still fierce fighting, and we have reports of regime elements threatening to continue fighting,” Obama said yesterday from the vacation house where he’s staying on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Obama Pledges Aid
Obama promised aid to help Libya transition to a new government. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton convened a conference call from New York yesterday with foreign ministers from 11 countries to discuss international support, Nuland said.
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said that “Qaddafi must stop fighting, without conditions -- and clearly show that he has given up any claim to control Libya.” French President Nicolas Sarkozy also called on forces loyal to Qaddafi to lay down their arms.
Oil advanced for a second day amid signs that a recovery in Libyan crude production may take longer than expected. Output from Libya, which has the largest proven oil reserves of any African country, dropped to 100,000 barrels a day in July, down from the 1.6 million barrels the nation pumped before the uprising started.
Oil Markets
Crude for October delivery climbed as much as 99 cents to $85.41 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 2:32 p.m. time. The contract earlier fell as much as 0.4 percent. It gained 2.4 percent yesterday.
Shares of European companies with business in Libya, including Eni SpA (ENI) and Total SA, gained on the prospect of an end to the conflict.
The uprising, inspired by the popular revolts that ousted the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt, began in February and spread from the eastern rebel stronghold in Benghazi. Until this month, opposition fighters had struggled to take and hold government- controlled territory.
Al Jazeera broadcast video of people in Tripoli’s Martyrs’ Square, the former Green Square staging ground for pro-Qaddafi demonstrations, singing national songs and firing into the air to celebrate the rebels’ advance. Some raised the rebel flag and others ripped up a poster of Qaddafi.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday he will convene an “urgent” meeting on Libya’s future with the heads of the African Union, the Arab League, the European Union and a coalition of Islamic nations.
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