North Africa, Tripoli | featured news

Col. Muammar Qaddafi has gained the upper hand on the Libyan battlefield, even as British and other Western officials maintain that his regime is "crumbling" from the inside. Benefiting from a change in tactics, Colonel Qaddafi's forces have made significant gains against rebels with more nimble units that are harder for Western allies to target by air. Rebels, now lacking the curtain of airstrikes that paved their rapid westward advance last weekend, appear to be relinquishing their determination to battle Qaddafi's forces all the way to Tripoli.

A woman burst into the hotel housing the foreign press in Tripoli Saturday and fought off security forces as she told journalists that she had been raped and beaten by Qaddafi militia members.

Hundreds of demonstrators call for Moammar Kadafi's downfall in Tripoli but are quickly dispersed by security forces. Rebels continue to hold nearby Zawiya after an assault organized by one of the embattled leader's sons.

Opponents of Libyan strongman Moammar Kadafi pressed their battles for control of major cities to the east and west of the capital, Tripoli, on Thursday, drawing gunfire from government troops as they fought in the town of Zawiya.