After quashing with brute force Friday's protest in Tripoli, Libyan authorities are making feverish preparations to defend the capital by arming civilian supporters and establishing checkpoints to prevent infiltrations.
The move comes amid plans by the opposition, based in Benghazi, to direct a final assault on the Libyan capital.
In Benghazi, Tarek Saad Hussein, a colonel who has defected, has emerged as the point person, who is coordinating the fight into Tripoli. In an interview, he points out that a well- equipped force of nearly 10,000 fighters has already been assembled to take on the Libyan capital. Around 2,000 fighters have already reached Tripoli, where they are expected to face stiff resistance from Mr. Qadhafi's loyalists.
The area on the way to Tripoli around Surt, Mr. Qadhafi's hometown, has become problematic. Colonel Hussein says he is engaged in negotiations with tribal sheikhs, volunteers and officers to get past this hurdle and advance towards Tripoli.
In the capital, Mr. Qadhafi's supporters rallied on Friday after he addressed them in the green square from the ramparts of an old fort. In his televised address he said: “We shall destroy any aggression with popular will. With the armed people, when necessary we will open the weapons depots. So that all the Libyan people, all the Libyan tribes can be armed. Libya will become a red flame, a burning coal.” On another occasion, he said Libyan youth formed a “formidable and invincible force. Libya will become a hell.”
Earlier, eyewitnesses said unarmed protesters streaming out of mosques on Friday afternoon were shot at, and several were killed. Mr. Qadhafi's armed loyalists roamed in trucks. Some of them randomly shot at doors of homes to prevent people from coming outdoors.
As the chaos spread, the Tripoli airport had the appearance of a war zone, with thousands attempting to flee. Thousands of Egyptian immigrants fled to Tunisia but were stranded in tented encampments set up by the Tunisian army.
“We've just escaped guns and bullets, leaving our possessions and jobs behind, and now we come here to freeze in tents, Human Rights Watch quoted one Egyptian migrant worker as saying. Some of the workers said Libyan border guards had confiscated their cell phones and cameras to prevent pictures of the brutal violence leaking across the Libyan border.
