Libyan rebels pour into Tripoli; Gadhafi's sons held

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan rebels waved flags and shot into the air in celebration Monday morning after driving into Tripoli's vast Green Square, taking control of the symbolic heart of the 42-year regime of Col. Moammar Gadhafi.

President Barack Obama said in a statement late Sunday from vacation in Martha's Vineyard, Mass., that "Tripoli is slipping from the grasp of a tyrant" and that Gadhafi's regime "is showing signs of collapsing."

"The future of Libya is now in the hands of the Libyan people," the president said.
Gadhafi, whose whereabouts were unknown Monday morning, delivered a series of defiant audio messages on state television Sunday evening. He acknowledged that the opposition forces were moving into Tripoli and warned that the city would be turned into another Baghdad.
"The traitors are paving the way for the occupation forces to be deployed in Tripoli," he said, calling on his supporters to march in the streets of the capital and "purify it" from "the rats."
Other top officials were reported to be fleeing, led by Prime Minister Al Baghdadi AlMahmoudi, who was spotted Monday morning in Jaraba, Tunisia, Al-Jazeera reported.

As international news agencies broadcast video of huge crowds celebrating in Benghazi, the rebels' eastern headquarters, a U.S. official told NBC News that "the battle for Tripoli is clearly under way, and what has often seemed impossible — the fall of Gadhafi — may now be attainable."

Referring to reports that Gadhafi's sons Seif al-Islam, his onetime heir apparent, and Mohammed had been arrested and were in rebel custody, the U.S. official said, "We could be watching the game changer unfolding."

"Whether or not Gadhafi reads the tea leaves the same way is the big question," the official said.
Associated Press reporters with the rebels said they moved easily from the western outskirts into the regime's stronghold in a dramatic turning of the tide in the six-month civil war.