Libya revolutionaries confident of capturing Gaddafi
Sirte officials warned of attack if they don't surrender by Saturday
Tripoli: Revolutionary tourism was booming on Tuesday in Muammar Gaddafi's former home and headquarters, where euphoric visitors honking horns and firing assault rifle rounds seemed unanimous on one point: The man who ran Libya for more than four decades must be captured or killed.
"We need to cut off the head of the snake," said Ahmad Digin, a revolutionary standing guard at the sprawling Bab Al Aziziya compound, now open to a public delirious with the unexpectedly rapid fall of Libya's long-feared leader. "That is the only way to convince people that there is no use in resisting the revolution."
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The revolutionaries have in effect ended Gaddafi's lengthy rule. But finding him, revolutionary leaders say, would quell remaining opposition and erase any doubt that Libya has embarked on a new era. Many suspect that Gaddafi is hiding in his hometown, Sirte, a loyalist enclave about 225 miles east of the capital.
On Tuesday, the opposition issued an ultimatum: Anti-Gaddafi forces will give officials in Sirte until Saturday — after the three-day Eid Al Fitr holiday — to surrender or face attack.
Ali Abdul Salaam Tarhouni, a representative of the interim Transitional National Council, told reporters that revolutionary leaders "have a good idea" where Gaddafi is. "We don't have any doubt that we will catch him," said Tarhouni, who declined to provide additional details.
Libya's interim leadership demanded that neighbouring Algeria repatriate members of Gaddafi's family who have fled there this week — among them his wife, daughter, two sons and grandchildren, including one reportedly born in the Sahara desert as the family made its way into exile.
The revolutionaries want to put family members on trial along with Gaddafi. The news that much of the ex-leader's family had escaped focused people's interest on the question: Where is Gaddafi? To many here, Sirte is the obvious answer.
"You know, they say the elephant always goes back to his home to die," said Mohammad Hejazi, a revolutionary in a red beret at a beachside base that was once a private resort for the Gaddafi family. Others speculate that Gaddafi may be in the southern desert town of Sabha, a location that could facilitate escape to sub-Saharan Africa, where Gaddafi cultivated robust support.
Additional possibilities include loyalist enclaves such as the city of Bani Walid, 95 miles southeast of Tripoli. Then there are those who believe Gaddafi remains in the capital, ensconced in a clandestine hiding place.
"I think he's right here in Tripoli, maybe in a tunnel somewhere," ventured Digin, the revolutionary at Bab Al Aziziya, who was decked out in classic revolutionary garb: camouflage flak vest, jeans, the de rigueur Kalashnikov and a black beret covering his stringy hair.
These are days of euphoria for many Libyans, despite the string of post-Gaddafi hardships, including severe shortages of running water, power and gasoline. Such problems and other pressing issues, including the proliferation of weapons here and the uncertain status of the future government, remained in the background for many cavorting about Gaddafi's former home turf. "Yes, there is no water, no electricity, but these are things that will be fixed," said Othman Abdullah Masri, 50.
