Opposition forces had gained control over most of eastern Libya by Thursday, with only Tripoli and Sirte remaining under the regime’s control. With even the military joining the opposition in the east, the authority of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has entered a fragile state.
“It’s very significant. They already do not have the support of the people, and now that they do not have the support of the military it’s hard to say what will keep them in power,” said Max Abrahms, a postdoctoral fellow of the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College, in a phone interview.
The opposition takeover in the East lifted a veil that Gadhafi draped over the country by shutting down its Internet, jamming cell phone signals, and labeling foreign reporters as “outlaws.”
Images of the dead and wounded are now being transmitted from Libya, giving a graphic picture of what is currently unfolding.
Meanwhile, Gadhafi’s comments are becoming less sensible. During a Feb. 24 announcement through state television, he said the demands of the protesters “are being dictated to them by Bin Laden,” according to a BBC translation.
Gadhafi also claimed the opposition is being carried out by individuals high on drugs, which “are supplied from the factory and they add them to their milk, their coffee, and other drinks. Once they drink these pills they let them go out on the streets and start committing criminal acts,” according to a translation by Arabic-language news network Al Jazeera.
Pressure, both from the international community and from the opposition, is mounting against Gadhafi.
Word is also circulating of an internal, army-led faction planning to oust Gadhafi and install a new leadership “made up of public and military figures to administer the country,” according to a report from geopolitical intelligence company Stratfor.
“There is power in numbers, so the larger the demonstrations get, the harder it is for the incumbent regime to maintain power—and I haven’t seen any evidence indicating the demonstrations are getting smaller,” Abrahms said.
Last-Ditch Effort
“We will fight to the last man and woman and bullet,” stated Gadhafi’s son, Sa'if al-Islam Gadhafi, in a Feb. 20 state TV broadcast, according to a report from conservative think tank The Jamestown Foundation.
