Libyan rebels enter Tripoli, arrest Gadhafis son

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Libyan rebels enter Tripoli, arrest Gadhafis son

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Libyan rebels have entered capital Tripoli and claimed to arrest his son Seif al-Islam.

22 August,2011 04:20 am

Rebel troops approaching from the west met little resistance Sunday as they raced through government positions outside the capital.Earlier, they captured a military base just 27 kilometers from Tripoli run by the governments elite Khamis Brigade, commanded by another of Mr. Gadhafis sons. Rebel fighters hauled away truckloads of weapons and ammunition from the captured base. Opposition forces also freed several hundred prisoners from a government jail as they marched to the capital.Inside Tripoli, thousands of civilians celebrated, cheering long convoys of pickup trucks packed with rebel fighters shooting into the air. A rebel spokesman said insurgents sent some fighters into the capital by sea from the port of Misrata.Witnesses in Tripoli reported widespread clashes for a second day between rebel sleeper cells and Gadhafi loyalists. Mass anti-Gadhafi demonstrations were also reported in four districts sympathetic to the opposition.Libyan state television on Sunday broadcast audio of Mr. Gadhafi saying he would stay in Tripoli until the end to defend the city. He called on supporters to help liberate the capital from a rebel offensive.A government spokesman said late Sunday that 1,300 people have been killed in Tripoli since midday. The claim cannot be independently confirmed.