Michele Gillen On Libya
Amid what many Libyans are describing as murder and mayhem, many Libyan insiders and observers tell Chief I-Team Investigator Michele Gillen that the elusive Libyan strongman, Moammar Qaddafi, is "finished!"
It is speculated that Qaddafi maybe on the run from Tripoli where the streets are stained with blood and in the eyes of the Libyan masses ...courage.
"The Tripoli people are very courageous. It took a lot of guts to go out in the streets with rocks against people who have machine guns," Karim Murabet told Gillen by phone. A Libyan citizen, Murabet left Tripoli for Italy on the eve on the battles and bloodshed.
Gillen had walked the streets of Tripoli with Murabet when she flew there in January 2004 to interview Qaddafi. It was one of only a handful of TV interviews the dictator has granted over the past three decades. It was his first TV interview following his claim he was giving up weapons of destruction in the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq.--- promising a new chapter.
At the time Gillen asked him to respond to those who still look at him as a threat.
"I believe that from now on, henceforth, we should judge and assess people with their actions not with prejudged minds," Qaddafi told Gillen in an interview at began at minutes before midnight at his official compound.
The rare CBS4 interview had been pushed by his younger son, former soccer player, Saadi Qaddafi. He accompanied Gillen and the crew to Libya and talked to Gillen about the need for reform and change in Libya.
Reflecting on that today, Murabet said "The problem here was the old timers, his old group; they were kind of fighting against the son for any reform."
But Sunday night Libyan TV ran a taped speech by one of Gadafi's others sons, Saif, who took a strident tone threatening civil war if there was a revolution. "Don't believe it" was the response by Libyans who spoke with Gillen and posted messages on Gillen's Facebook page through the day.
Like Egypt and Tunisa, the apparent Libyan revolution is being fueled by the internet and social platforms. Ironic, in that Qaddafi told Gillen of how he favored the internet and used it daily to the disgust, he said, of Islamic fundamentalists.
But his fate may now be in the hands of his people - who the military turned guns on --- in one case, it is reported, as they peacefully filed out of a funeral. Trapped by the unrest, what might Qaddafi do next? There is speculation his targets could include oil fields and military installations. "Sources say will probably try to blow up all the military facilities in Libya so they can't use them against them," said Murabet. "At the end, if he is stuck in a corner, he has very thin options."
Pondering what options lie ahead for the Libyan people US Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen told CBS4 News
"Qaddafi at best is out of his mind on any given day. He is not a reliable person. For us to have taken this horrid human rights record country off the terrorist list was ludicrous," said Ros-Lehtinen.
Here are some of the Facebook postings shared with Gillen today.
"Air strikes are taking place now in our neighborhood. Please pray for us. Please let people know. We are desperate"
"From sources in Tripoli, down town Tripoli being bombarded right now, Mercenaries are breaking into house with guns and killing everyone. Dead body everywhere, scattered all around the city."
"WE NEED A JOURNALIST: Just received this tweet @melhitami @Sarahcarr
@monaeltahawy urgent help: a friend in Libya wants a news channels to call, to testify"
