Libyan rebels raced into Tripoli Sunday and met little resistance as Muammar Qaddafi's defenders melted away and his 42-year rule rapidly crumbled. The euphoric fighters celebrated with residents of the capital in Green Square, the symbolic heart of the regime.

Reports from the country indicate rebels met little resistance as they overran a major military base that defends the capital.

Associated Press reporters with the rebels said they reached the Tripoli suburb of Janzour around nightfall Sunday. They were greeted by civilians lining the streets and waving rebel flags.


Sky News reported that Qaddafi's son, Saif al Islam Qaddafi, was captured by rebel forces. He was reportedly the head of the Libyan defense.

"It's over, frizz-head," chanted hundreds of jubilant men and women massed in Green Square, using a mocking nickname of the curly-haired Qaddafi. The revelers fired shots in the air, clapped and waved the rebels' tricolor flag. Some set fire to the green flag of Qaddafi's regime and shot holes in a poster with the leader's image.

By the early hours of Monday, rebels controlled large parts of the capital. They set up checkpoints alongside residents -- many of them secretly armed by rebel smugglers in recent weeks. But pockets of pro-Qaddafi fighters remained: In one area, Associated Press reporters with the rebels were stopped and told to take a different route because of regime snipers nearby.

"We were waiting for the signal and it happened," said Nour Eddin Shatouni, a 50-year-old engineer who was among the residents who flowed out of their homes to join the celebrations.

"All mosques chanted 'God is great' all at once. We smelled a good scent, it is the smell of victory. We know it is the time."

Hours earlier, the same rebel force of hundreds drove out elite forces led by Qaddafi's son in a brief gunbattle. The fighters hauled off truckloads of weapons and advanced full speed toward the capital.

BBC world service says Qaddafi is currently in Algeria. Fox News could not confirm the report.

NATO said in a statement that "the sooner Qaddafi realizes that he cannot win the battle against his own people, the better -- so that the Libyan people can be spared further bloodshed and suffering."

A senior U.S. official, observing the evolving situation in Tripoli, told Fox News that "the momentum that the opposition has built over the past several weeks seems to be paying off. The battle for Tripoli is clearly underway, and what has often seemed impossible--the fall of Qadhafi--may now be attainable."

An Associated Press reporter with the rebels saw them take over the base of the Khamis Brigade, 16 miles west of the capital, on Sunday. The base has been defending Qaddafi's stronghold of Tripoli. After a brief gunbattle, Qaddafi's forces fled.

Qaddafi's 27-year-old son Khamis commands the 32nd Brigade, also known simply as the Khamis Brigade, one of the best trained and equipped units in the Libyan military.

Inside the base, hundreds of rebels cheered wildly and danced, raising the rebel flag on the front gate of a large, gray wall enclosing the compound. They seized large stores of weapons from the base, driving away with truckloads of whatever arms they could get their hands on. One of the rebels carried off a tube of grenades, while another carted off two mortars.

Ahmed al-Ajdal, 27, a fighter from Tripoli, was loading up a truck with ammunition.

"This is the wealth of the Libyan people that he was using against us," he said, pointing to the haul. "Now we will use it against him and any other dictator who goes against the Libyan people."

"Anti-Qaddafi forces have had momentum on their side for some time," a U.S. senior administration official told Fox News on Sunday. "If Tripoli eventually falls to the rebels, Qaddafi's already limited options would become even more limited. Pressure on him and his shrinking circle of loyalists has to be taking a seriously toll."

A Libyan government officials says at least 376 people have been killed in Tripoli during the overnight attacks and over 1,000 were injured.

But a government spokesman also told reporters Sunday that NATO's airstrikes have gone astray, targeting civilian buildings including schools, hospitals, farms and houses.

Anti-regime protests erupted Sunday in several Tripoli neighborhoods where thousands braved the bullets of snipers perched atop high buildings, residents and opposition fighters said.

Mukhtar Lahab, a rebel commander closing in on Tripoli and a former captain in Qaddafi's army, said relatives inside the capital reported mass protests in four neighborhoods known to be sympathetic to the opposition: Fashlum, Souk al-Jouma, Tajoura and Janzour. He said mosques there were rallying residents with chants of "Allahu Akbar" or "God is great," broadcast on loudspeakers.

Snipers on high buildings were firing on protesters in at least one of the four neighborhoods, said Lahab. Residents contacted in the city by telephone also reported snipers firing on civilians.

Fighters said a 600-strong rebel force that set out from Zawiya has reached the outskirts of the village of Jedaim and was coming under heavy fire from regime forces on the eastern side of the town.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/08/21/explosions-rock-tripoli-amid-reports-rebel-advances-in-capital-116547133/#ixzz1Vj862DRX

Now we will see if the Rebel's really want change or if they are just more of the same. If they hand Gaddafi's son over to NATO troops to hand over to the ICC who issues a warrant for his arrest or if they do what Gaddafi would do and just torture and kill him.

How they respond will tell us a lot about them.

It's a little unfair to judge someone if they hang him right away as they had to live under their oppressive regime and we haven't walked a mile in their shoes.

They are rising up against the regime for those exact freedoms, so if they don't offer them it shows us they just want power.

Well emotions are running high and they are hard to control. I think they just want power anyway so they can run the country as they see fit. Only time will tell if they can change to make it a "civil" country where everybody is respected. I do expect a somewhat bloody purge though, could be wrong, fueled by passions and old hatred.

I don't think the UN, NATO or any associated country will allow a bloody purge. They want certain members of the Gadaffi regime arrested and brought to the Hague, and if the Rebel's are smart they would happily hand them over.

Why risk the backlash then the ICC will just find them guilty and sentance them to death anyways, let the ICC do the dirty work and let them focus on rebuilding Libya.

Another WIN for President Obama.

Obama couldn't win a fart contest!

I don't consider this a win for Obama, he had very little to do with it, it was NATO providing support. Hopefully it is a win for the Libyan people.

I'm interested to see what the Libyan's do if they fully succeed in ousting Qaddafi and his family, he might pull a sneaky one and whack em pretty good. I hope that is not the case and if its not I want to see what kind of government the people build for themselves.

The USA is NATO. We had the most firepower in the region and contributed the most resources at the outset of the conflict.

Who the heck do you think is flying those drones? How many CIA operatives do you think we have on the ground in Libya?

If memory serves me correctly, it was President Obama who called for the Libyan leader to leave the country and stepped up the military actions.

And then it was John Beohner that came out criticizing and threatening to cut off military funding.

Conservatives always want to blame the President for anything that goes wrong but never give credit for things that go right.

Remember, it was President Obama that killed Bin Laden.

1. NATO is many countries. Britain, France and Italy warplanes were used. USA did use warplanes to provide support cover in retrieving downed helicopter pilots. USA took mostly support role.

2. Not many ops as we don't have that many mid-Easterns in service.

3. Yes.

4. Why not? The republicans left us with 2 wars costing 1 trillion a year to the deficit already.

5. No, this was a NATO victory, Obama played his part in it is all. I also don't give blame where it is not deserved.

6. Yes, Obama revigorized the search.

I want to see Qadaffi and his son's and advisors in jail at the Hague and to face the charges in the warrants issues for their arrests.

I would like to see a pro-democracy government establiched and want the Lockerbie Bomber in US custody.

First of all, the only thing the US has done is fired 98% of the Tomahawks, France and England are leading the attacks. The US is in a support role there.

Obama was in Pakistan and fired the fatal shots that killed Bin Laden? Where's your evidence of that.

His son just gave a press conference and apparently he is not in jail
and still thinks he is WINNING like Charlie Sheen.

http://news.yahoo.com/gadhafi-son-turns-free-vows-fight-libya-091211010.html

Everybody remember this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s27Oq5ot0ZI

We will defeat them, we will fight them and clean all their dirt!