from islamist groups, not al qaeda, but islamist groups that they are strong in libya. but i don't think that's going to be the first order of the day because what has to happen is establishing basic order and political representation to avoid the kind of chaos that could then really support a haven for terrorists. >> thank you all very much. that does it for "360." our coverage continues next. we'll see you tomorrow. saif, the son and heir of moammar gadhafi was said to be under arrest but he makes a surprise appearance and tells reporters that his father is still in the capital.

fighting to the finish. the war wages on in parts of tripoli where gadhafi loyalists continue to hold out. hello. i'm here at the cnn center. welcome to our viewers in the united states and right around the world of our special coverage of the crisis in libya. rebels say he was in their custody. but just hours ago, saif islam, the son of moammar gadhafi spoke outside a hotel in tripoli and his message was clear. the government remains in control of the libyan capital. >> translator: there have led through the sea and through other means gangs of people who are sabotaging and you could see the people of libya are standing and had to have broken the spine of those rats and gangsters,

just -- today we'll go to the hot spots of tripoli, in tripoli, and we'll reassure the people that things are fine in libya. >> now, saif gadhafi says his father remains in tripoli despite speculation that he may have fled the country. still, there's been no sign of the long-time libyan leader. the chairman of the national transitional council says the real moment of victory will be when gadhafi is captured. [ gunfire ] meanwhile, the battles are far from over. pro gadhafi enforcers still control pockets of the capitol of tripoli and nearly towns. overhead, nato jets continue their bombing runs and there's also reports that pro gadhafi had scud missiles coming from

the libyan leader's hometown. >> it seems beyond belief that the high-profile son of moammar gadhafi making an appearance outside the government-controlled hotel came after news of his aparent capture. matthew chance spoke with saif gadhafi and matthew talked about the encounter with anderson cooper a short time ago. >> he seemed very relaxed. he seemed, you know, looking quite good, actually, for a man who was supposed to have been custody for the last 48 hours. he said that was a trick. he made the point that the rebels have come into tripoli. he said that gadhafi forces had broken their backbone and given them a hard time before the door closed and he drove off. but he drove off in a motorcade into tripoli, clearly, into an area which is very much under control of the forces of his father. >> and you say -- he said the opposition had fallen into some sort of trap. what did he mean? the opposition was claiming besides capturing him but that

they controlled 90% of tripoli. >> they are saying that. and, you know, i think there are questions tonight about to what extent that's the case. it's very difficult for us here in the hotel to verify how much of tripoli's controlled by the rebels and how much is controlled by gadhafi but i can tell you this, saif gadhafi got into that motorcade and drove off through the gates of the hotel into this area immediately around the hotel, the gadhafi compound is in this area. there are other key installations in this area and he was driving around with pretty limited security. a couple of other cars filled with bodyguards. didn't have like huge armored car or anything like that. he seemed confident. he also said -- get into the car and i'll take you to the hotter areas, supposedly, of tripoli, the implication that there are areas that are being talked about as being in rebel hands but he wanted to show us that these areas were safe to drive around.

we didn't take the opportunity for various reasons but, nevertheless, he did come across as very confident, indeed, anderson. >> it would seem a multi-vehicle white land rover convoy would be a tempting target for nato planes overhead. the fact that he's driving around at night does seem to show a certain amount of confidence. >> it does. he told reporters who gathered at the hotel earlier, that he was going to be giving a press conference. we didn't know -- we didn't know he was not in captivity so we're all taken aback and skeptical that this would happen but our skepticism was confirmed when we went down at 11:30 at night to get ready for the press conference, he just didn't turn up so we thought it was just spin being put out by the rebels. but then he rocked up to the hotel entrance i few hours later, about 1:30 in the morning we were all really surprised. what was really surprising of

everything, he was still in tripoli. he was still -- he was free and he said his father, moammar gadhafi was still in tripoli, as is the rest of his family, trying ing ting t ing ting to t they had been taken captive. >> at this time are you hearing gunfire or sounds of combat? and if not, when was the last time you did? >> it was about, you know, three or four hours ago, shortly before saif gadhafi turned up at the hotel. previous to that there have been enormous gun fights. ferocious gun fights. grenades exploding. huge explosions of all kinds around the come pound, the moammar gadhafi compound. it's been under heavy bombing the last several months but more particularly, the last 72 hours as the rebels entered tripoli.

but after saif gadhafi made his appearance at the riox hotel the whole situation seems to have changed. we now have electricity. a few hours ago we were sitting in the searing heat because there were no air conditioners or running water. it's pitch black in the hotel. no lights outside and no lights inside and now, the generators have gone back on again and it seems that, at least in this area, this pocket of tripoli, around the rio dpchlt hotel and the gadhafi compound the government have really succeeded in defending this pocket and have re-established their control. control, by the way anderson, they never really lost in this particular area. >> matthew chance there. as both sides fight for control the battle rages on. sarah has been following the fighting between rebels and forces loyal to gadhafi. she spock to becky earlier.

>> we left the city is along with some rebels who went to have their evening meal. it was not safe to stay in the city overnight from what we assessed the rebels telling us we were not allowed to go down to green square, which is now they have renamed or want people to call it murder square. they say they've gotten control of about 90% of the city, but we heard quite a bit of fighting and gunfire toward the square and towards, also, gadhafi's come compound. so certainly, the battle for tripoli is not over. the rebels back very, very cautious. any time there's rumor of a sflieper everyone goes running no matter where they are, even if there are few buildings around them there's a real fear of snipers and for good reason. apparently, the rebels say 24rr7 snipers in if area shooting from the tops of buildings and it's hard to see. now that it is dark this becomes a very difficult war and, remember, the rebels are less

equipped than any force you might be thinking about. these are people, many of them who have come from their neighborhoods from other parts, also, of the country. not just tripoli. so some of these fighters do not know the city of tripoli and are reliant on the locals to get them around. so important to note that the night battles can be very difficult, very confusing, so it makes people very suspicious and makes things very tense as night fa falls in the city of tripoli, becky. >> sara, you say the rebels rely on locals because they don't know the area and this has pushed into urban wayou are war this point. how well supported are the rebels? >> it's hard to gauge that. when i say they rely on locals that know the area, knows are other rebels they've been training with. not just stopping at someone's door and saying where is this

area of town or that area of town? they have tried to train as much as they can for what they knew would be urban warfare and i think the one thing that really surprised them was that they did not face the kind of numbers moammar gadhafi had promised would rise up or fight on his behalf. they were surprised they were able to get so far into the city so quickly. once they got there, though, that's when a bit of the trouble started because they were not quite sure what they were dealing with and it was eerily quiet. over the past 24 hours as we've seen these things unfold, this morning there was quite a bit of driving up and down the street and this afternoon, more and this evening, celebration and families coming out. as nightfall comes things get quiet in the city. people sort of retracting and trying to see what is going on around them. very difficult. the power is out in a couple of places in the city. so it is very difficult to know

just how much of a fight is left in the gadhafi forces. and just how far the rebels will be able to go when it is this dark and it's very difficult to navigate the city. >> now, after a six-month long battle, no one specificsed events in libya to move this quickly. gadhafi's 42-year grip on power appears to be over and for many libyans who have known anything else other than life under the leader they are heavy teams. colleen has more on what many libyans have been saying. >> as the events in tripoli and across libya unfold we're hearing from people who are living in the libyan capital and they have a front seat view on this historic moment. >> years have gone by and we've missed out on so much. people's morale is really high still. we're just waiting for it to all be over. >> this is something that we've all been dreaming of forever. the second this starts, everyone

is so happy. it's something we've been waiting for. we were living in fear for the past four decades and now you can go out and say what you want or feel and i can talk on the phone and say what i think without worrying that they'll come and take me. >> here are celebrations in benghazi in the east. thousands gathering to celebrate the rebel advances on sunday at freedom square. we got this footage to cnn i report and we also talked on the phone. >> everyone has been waiting for this day for moammar gadhafi to get out. everyone is waiting for that very minute. they can capture the son. they can catch sure confidants of gadhafi but until they have gadhafi captured dead or alive, people are still, even in benghazi, are somewhat apprehensive. he's been a bogeyman to everyone. a chance his followers might

take up arms is still very real. >> if you are in libya, you can show us the scene on the ground. you can share your story. logon to c dmchnn ireport.com. put your own safety first. if you can get to the website we'd love to hear from you. this is something from a blog her libya. a blogger who has not been able to blog since april of this year, went ahead and posted something. here it is. i'm safe and well in libya. it's been a long, hard six months but i made it. the internet has been turned on and i'm slowly sifting through over 2,000 e-mails. thanks to all who have commented, e-mailed, worried and prayed for me, i will update just as soon as i can, just so busy celebrating. again, that from a blogger we've been following, really, since the beginning of the protest so great to see that post come up. we'll keep you up to date on the very latest right here on

cnn. back to you. >> colleen, thank you. the libyan capitol as we've seen is in turmoil. >> we have a tripoli resident on the line with us right now to describe what exactly is going on. we're only going to identify him as ihab for his own safety. tell us what you're seeing and hearing around you right now? >> right now, the mood has gone back to being pretty quiet. the rebels have come back in but earlier on tonight, we had similar scenes to you were showing from the night before when the people came through in tripoli. this time it was from the other side of tripoli. you had people from the -- about 1,600 come in. and everyone is slowly start -- and in our particular area, to

see the soldiers that, pretty much, have saved the town and have come to have -- and freeing tripoli. so there was a lot of celebration. a lot of heavy gunfire in the air. so the mood was very, very buoyant. >> so you're saying that there's 1600 people from misrada, are these reinforcements for the fighters who are already there in the capitol of tripoli? >> yes. these are initial reinforcements. there were people from tajur. and through the organization, there was actually, probably, quite a bit more that were on the coastal road up to the capital -- for safety reasons we

didn't -- it was just so good. the people could see that the rebels were retreating slowly and they would join up with the rest to make a final push on the very center of tripoli. >> and ehab, let me ask you. these 1600 additional fighters that have arrived in the capital, do we know the next step? the next push and how that will, itself, play out? >> from speaking to the people on the ground that were there and that we've seen, we should be expecting a final push at some point today, actually. no particular time was given but we were told maybe after prayer that the push could start. but this is in coordination with the nato strikes. so whenever they seem to get the

go-ahead that's when they make the push. >> and ehab, the big question is precisely, where is moammar gadhafi . what's the word on the streets? >> it seems that the guy -- he's very unpredictable. but maybe for once he might be right in the fact that as he calls it, he calls the rebels "the rats" it may be that they are in his original compound with his family. >> ehab, earlier on this evening, u.s. time, we saw the scenes of saif al islam gadhafi outside the hotel where the international journalists are holed up. this is the same opposition that the council said was in custody. it's raising questions about the

credibility of the opposition. first of all, have you heard the news yourself? what do you make of it? >> we were very well aware of the news. it filtered through very quickly. as far as we know, from what we've heard on the ground, there's nothing actually officially confirmed. news was filtering through the rebels. we haven't had an official statement to confirm that saif is actually beyond capture. so as far as we're concerned, the only reason we haven't seen anything official and on tv, we never actually believed that saif al islam had been captured. same for his brother mohammed. >> ehab, as the ntc, national

transitional council moves to tripoli and tries to form a government, what are your biggest fears as they try to do that in the days and weeks ahead? >> well, for us, if i'm honest, you certainly go past the stage of fear right now. it's the point of no return. so we just hope that this gets done as quickly as possible and in the shortest period of time. mainly for the safety because we're still hearing stories of some other areas of tripoli that are very close to the compound where there is some fear that there is pro supporters mixed in along with the rebels, normalcy vilians are talking about here, that haven't rose up yet. they're so close and they're in fear of what the retaliation might be. >> okay. ehab, a resident of tripoli, also manning a checkpoint there

in the capital. joining us on the phone and giving us valuable information about the current situation in the capitol. he said 1600 fighters have joined those opposition fighters already in the capital. reinforcements. he said the next stage in this push to take total control of the capital could come later today. essentially, within hours. interestingly, he said all of this being coordinated with nato. >> very interesting. also this issue of saif al islam appearing in tripoli hours ago, interesting his take on it. it was never confirmed as it were, is what he's saying. that he was in the custody of the opposition. so he's taking that approach as maybe this is just the form of battle as it were and rumors flying? unclear. very fluid but many questions being asked. the whereabouts of moammar gadhafi are not known but already, plans being made to help the governments and the country's next government. and while some libyans show their content for their longtime

leader we'll sloo the latest world reaction to these stunning events. stay with us.

the u.n. is urgently looking at ways to help shape libya's

future. ban ki-moon has called a meeting with the african union, the eu and the arab league and he says the u.n. is ready to assist. >> this is a hopeful moment but also, there are risks ahead. now is the time for all libyans to focus on national unity and reconciliation and inclusiveness and determined to ensure that the united nations does everything it can to promote an orderly transition, responding to the aspirations of the libyan people for peace, democracy and opportunity. >> the french president, nicklas sarkozy talked with the prime minister by phone. he along with the french foreign minister praise what they call, the determination and courage of the libyan rebells.

>> translator: it is obviously for us i matter of great satisfaction. we want to help the libyan people rid themselves of a dictatorship. france took risks but these were calculated risks and the cause was just. >> we also heard from u.s. president, barack obama, the president warned of the danger of reprisal as power changed hands and the importance of reconciliation. and he had a message for moammar gadhafi . >> i want to emphasize that this is not over yet. as the regime collapses, there's still fierce fighting in some areas. and we have reports of regime elements threatening to continue fighting. although it's clear that gadhafi's rule is over he still has the opportunity to reduce further bloodshed by explicitly reling kwishing the power and causing throws that are fighting to lay down their arms for the sake of libya. >> we have this report on how

the u.s. could help libya's national transitional council. >> reporter: right up to the last minute before libyan opposition forces launched their assault on tripoli, officials close to moammar gadhafi reached out to the u.s., in a desperate attempt to stop the attack. that's what a senior state department official tells cnn. assistant secretary of state, jeffrey feldman says there was a sense of desperation, an attempt by the regime to buy time. the libyans claim they wanted to negotiate but refused to talk about moammar gadhafi leaving power, he says. now as the rebels try to consolidate their military gains in tripoli, the opposition national transitional council in benghazi is trying to activate plans for a political transition. first priority, security. >> we don't need any more civilian life lost in libya. >> reporter: u.s. officials say they are encouragedbly reports the rebels have set up checkpoints around public

buildings to promote public safety. tripoli does not look like baghdad looked after the fall of saddam hussein with widespread looting, assistant secretary feldman says. next step? an interim tlort. >> the transitional national council would broaden and become an interim government that would represent a broad cross-section of libyans from different u walks of life and different parts of the country and different political backgrounds. >> but tribal loyalties control the oil revenues and over libyan government assets including $30 billion worth frozen by the u.s., could cause rifts in the opposition. a former undersecretary of state warns -- things could turn ugly. >> i think we'll have to expect to see a slow transition, perhaps a chaotic transition. perhaps, unfortunately, a violent transition, that wouldn't be surprising at all.

>> getting the interim government is critical, the state department says. that government would lead the process of writing a constitution and moving towards elections, the building blocks of democracy. something libyans have been deprived of for more than four decades under moammar gadhafi . cnn, the state department. >> now, months of turmoil in libya has put its oil industry on hold. >> what will the rebels' advance on tripoli mean to the market? we'll look at this vital component of libya's economy. the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. i have a dream today! [ male announcer ] chevrolet is honored to celebrate the unveiling of the washington, d.c., martin luther king jr. memorial. take your seat at the table on august 28th.

new developments in the turmoil in libya to tell you about. the rebels say they captured the son of moammar gadhafi but saif al islam shook hands and greeted reporters and spoke with our own, matthew chance. he said they had broken the back of opposition fighters that moved into tripoli over the weekend. >> still no sign of his father, libyan leader moammar gadhafi , but his son says the libyan leader is in tripoli. meanwhile, rebel forces continue their push to rid tripoli of pro-gadhafi supporters. several fierce battles raged all day monday. >> let's get an update on the fighting now. arwa is traveling with the fighters and earlier she described the scene to our own anderson cooper. >> we're about 30 miles out they encountered their first resistance from gadhafi's forces and they said that lasted about

two hours. they pushed up to another location where another battle took place for around half an hour. this second location also was very close to a military compound. they said they were finally able to secure the compound and get their hands on the weapons inside, it was fairly extensive they described, before going to the airport where they say they got into a significant fight but the battle was not as tough as the road had been on the way up. casualties on both sides, they said and ongoing clashes all day in the prif ree and the perimeter of the airport. a few miles just outside, they've been consistently clashing with gadhafi forces. one location not too far away from us we're told is one of the main military compounds and they're expecting quite a significant fight. what they're trying to do now is comb through the area surrounding the airport to try to fully secure them before they continue on their advance, because, anderson, the road out of the airport is a straight shot to gadhafi's compound, the

jewel that the opposition wants to take over. the mood among the fighters is fairly upbeat but they're quite tired but they are really, really determined and you see it etched on their faces. they realize that they have come this far. this is their main and final push and they're absolutely determined to take it until the end and we've been hearing some sporadic gunfire, a few explosions in the distance. so there's still some clashes that appear to be happening in our vicinity. >> it's about 4:40 in the morning in tripoli. correct me if i'm wrong. how far is the airport from does town tripoli? >> from what we've been able to gather it seems like the airport is around maybe 13 to 15 miles from gadhafi's main compound. >> are the opposition fighters in full control of the airport? do they control the runways? >> yeah. we haven't been able to get up to the runway because of the late hour but they're telling us

they do control the runways. there are aircrafts on them from various countries. they control the buildings in the airport compound and say they have full control over all the entrances and they've got -- they're telling us, security stationed throughout and hundreds of fighters in this area and they came up from the south, the majority of them, and when they reached here they met up with a number of fighters from tripoli. people that were effectively, opposition sleeper cells, if that's what you want to call them, just waiting for the signal before they rose up and took weapons and began fighting. so all of these different groups from different parts have been advancing, merging and capitalizing on each other's experience and really trying to push forward as hard and as fast as they can. >> so let's take a close look now. libya's national transitional council, it was officially established march 5th in benghazi. the council is recognized by more than 30 countries as

libya's legitimate governing authority. it's made up of 33 members and led by the chairman. the ntc says its i'm aim is to steal libya for an interim period only and ultimate goals are free elections and establishing a constitution. while rebel fighters are united against moammar gadhafi with just one goal in mind a big concern is what happens after his 42-year reign ends. finding unity is never easy but it's even more complicated with libya's make up. their tribal rivalries and ethnic groups. the majority of the population is arab or berber. you see them here in orange in the north and east. that's about 97% of the population. a handful of other groups indicated by the different colors you see on the map. >> world leaders are urging the national transitional council to pursue a peaceful evolution to

democracy but that won't be easy. the council is far from united. the shaky coalition includes former regime officials, nationalists, secularists and islamists. 138 tribes, when moammar gadhafi came into power in 1969 he broke up the power bases of libya's most influential tribes. land and influence were redistributed to more dependable tribes. but tribal loyalties persisted in the absence of organized political groups. eastern libya, where the rebellion began has long been at odds with the west, gadhafi's power base. so western tribes may not support a movement that was actually sparked in the east. if gadhafi is ousted, libya's national transitional council will have the task of bringing democracy to the country which will entail dozens of tribes working together. we explain why that's no easy job. >> libya has a lot of tribes.

more than 140 of them, in fact. we want to talk about the most powerful. jim clancy knows. why don't you kick it off. >> these tribes are important because they played a role in the downfall of gadhafi. they're a challenge in rebuilding the country afterwards. you can see there's a lot of different tribes involved. first in the east, the largest and most influential tribe, the misurata and the stronghold of benghazi. that's where the revolution began in february. in benghazi. the al awakir tribe, its members have held senior positions in gadhafi's regime. >> colonel gadhafi's tribe is here, too, the khadafa. many of its members are in the elite military units. you trust your own tribe. now, libya's largest tribe is the warfalla tribe with more

than a million members, one-sixth of libya's population and always a stronghold of gadhafi supporters but was also among the first members to go across to the other side to join the anti-gadhafi forces. >> also important, the magariha tribe. why? they had key positions in the military. some ask why were the rebels able to get so easily into tripoli and the answer may be there. they had a key defedex. major jalil sent out messages basically saying the gadhafi regime was finished and it's thought that within the magariha tribe, a lot said they won't defend gadhafi. we're looking to the pragmatic side and we're switching sides. >> they run many of the oil refineries that run along the coast and that tribe threatened to stop the flow of ill to western libya unless the authorities stopped their crackdown on opposition forces

so -- >> that he have a name from that, the zawiya tribe. all of the refineries and all important, as we heard from the u.n. secretary general, they have to learn to work together and change the past. when tribalism was used to divide them, they have to become united if they want to see a new libya. >> if they don't hold it together it all falls apart. >> important perspective there. the rebel advance into tripoli has sparked hope oil production in libya will resume. that dropped the price of oil on the european benchmark. when the libyan conflict began, saudi arabia increased production to fill the gap. at the close, oil was $107 a barrel, a 1% drop. it could be months before libya can once again become an ill exporter. jim boulden explains why it will take so long. >> first, the fighting has to

stop. before there can be a complete assessment of how bad libya's oil infrastructure has been damaged. >> there are pictures of damage being inflicted those cities and those terminals. we don't know what the extent of the damage is. and how quickly they can be repaired. we don't know what damage has been inflicted on the oil fields themselves or on the pipelines. >> reporter: at one time, libya was responsible for 2% of world oil production. and was a key exporter to europe through links with italian oil giant. 85% of libyan exports once flowed to europe. >> libya will take some time to come back to even one million barrels per day let alone to they're previous peaks of 1.6 or 1.7. we see about 250,000 barrels a day, maybe half a million barrels a day by the end of the year. >> reporter: oil shares jumped in europe on monday and any

shears closed 6% higher on the assumption it wouldn't lose any of its oil contracts. spain said in july, hepsol will take four months to restart production in libya. it believed there was no damage to its facilities. and total says it's monitoring carefully to assess when it can start operations but analysts say oil-field workers would have been fighting themselves. >> there will be great disruption to the human capital of the libyan oil industry, which will have to be reassembled. people will have to be demobilized, disarmed and willing to go back to the oil industry -- >> reporter: at least the national transition council said early on they would honor the oil service contract signed before the civil war began. bottom line, only after hostilities fuelly cease,

employees and experts are allowed back into oil fields to assess damage, could libya once again become a player on the international oil markets. cnn, london. coming up, we'll take a closer look at the man who's been in charge of libya for 42 years. >> perhaps we'll hear from libya's former prime minister about moammar gadhafi and the rebellion against him. but hurry before this opportunity...disappears. the mercedes-benz summer event ends august 31st. i don't always have time to eat like i should. that's why i like glucerna shakes. they have slowly digestible carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes, which can help lower a1c. [ male announcer ] glucerna. helping people with diabetes find balance. those are your lips with covergirl lip perfection. get beautiful color now... let the silk moisturizing complex give you more beautiful lips in 7 days. [ male announcer ] lip perfection.

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i'm not a fighter. i'm a student. we had to fight to liberate our -- we didn't wish to have war. we want a blissful, like in tunisia or egypt. we have a demonstration to change that dictatorship. it's been like for 42 years. and we have nothing -- we don't have any rights, basically, no human rights. >> the frustration and anger is directed at libyan leader moammar gadhafi , in power since a coupe 40 years ago. >> during that time his actions have drawn controversy and a lot of confusion. we have a look at that. >> as a 27-year-old army officer, moammar gadhafi overthrew libya's king in 1969. and then set about wiping all foreign influence from the country. including all vestiges of communism or capitalism. publishing his personal

philosophy in a three-volume green book. gadhafi always said his goal was to change the world, but it was the way he set out to do it that amused, confused and often, infuriated. gadhafi said he wanted to unite the arab world and even proclaimed a merger with libya, egypt and syria in 1972. that merger plan fell apart. a later merger attempt with tunisia desent greated into animosity. maintaining a colorful profile wherever he went he made a point of emphasizing his roots, sleeping in tents, protected by an eye-catching female security detail. his speeches were legendary, for both length and bombbast. >> this was typical. >> translator: we're not taught to obey the rules because it is

the undemocratic and -- >> reporter: what was supposed to be a 15-minute talk -- rambled on more than 90 minutes. >> given by the security council. >> reporter: but while he sometimes appeared a clown on the world stage his actions were often deadly. in the mid '80s he support palestine liberation against israel. the irish republic's mission. and he viciously targeted americans. in 1986, libyan agents were accused of bombing a berlin nightclub, killing two americans and a turk. u.s. president ronald regan responded by bombing tripoli, targeting gadhafi's house. the raid killed more than 100 people, including gadhafi's own daughter. two years later, pan am flight 103 blew up over the tiny village of lockerbie, scotland,

reigning debris and taking 270 lives. investigators traced the attack to libya. when libya refused to turn over the suspects the u.n. imposed tough sanctions, leaving the country isolated and increasingly destitute. after 11 years as an international outcast, gadhafi cut a deal. he gave up the lockerbie bombing suspects for trial and after the u.s. invaded iraq, he surprised the world by agreeing to destroy all of his chemical nuclear and biological weapons. gadhafi soon welcomed western oil companies like bp and total into libya. but questions linkered about whether some western oil contracts were traded for scotland's release of one of the convicted lockerbie bombers. and he didn't give up the bizarre behavior. on a 2009 visit to italy he invited 200 models to his ambassador' house, paying each

$75 to listen to lectures on islam and giving each a copy of the koran. back home, patience was running thin. after more than 40 years, rebellion bubbled up in the eastern part of the country, quickly spreading across libya. as his government disintegrated he stayed in the same house bombed in 1986. >> translator: this is my country, the country of my grandfather. >> reporter: he vowed to die a martyr in libya. >> now, earlier on cnn, becky anderson sat down with the man to helped to guide and govern libya before gadhafi. he shares his thoughts about what has unfolded and this the former 40 years. the first question, whether gadhafi ever cared about the

country. >> there is only one way gadhafi wants to achieve. to have libya belonging to him. not only he got everything, but there is no controlling him. no responsibility, nothing. he does what he likes. >> do you think he'll ever give himself up to the rebels or will he try to escape libya, do you think? >> he will not admit defeat. he, i think, he might go outside libya and sort of say that he's going to continue this fight, but i doubt this guy will get the reason -- get the real thinking in that the circus is finished. >> what do you see as the future for libya? >> i think we'll have good

future provided we realize that our problems begin the day he came. we have a lot of fighters. we have the new generation. we have many things to take into consideration which were not available -- see, one -- the first independence was declared, i was part of it but i was -- but at that time, we had the money. we had no manpower. but we had good leadership. >> who do you any is fit to run the country going forward? >> if the new people and i know some of them and there are excellent people, but they have to try to start making a real government. a government which guarantees

freedom. >> have to wonder if the former prime minister would ever have thought he would see a day like this. other top stories ahead. and i'll bring you the story of new hope to a little girl maimed in the libyan war. superpages.com®. for local maps, reviews and videos & it's the only local search site with the superguarantee®. so next time, let the good guys save the day. get the superguarantee®, only at superpages®. in the book, on your phone or at superpages.com®.

new developments in the turmoil in libya to tell you about. cnn learned three scud missiles were fired from gadhafi's hometown. initial reports say they landed in the sea and no report of casualties or damage. meantime, the rebels claim they had captured the son of moammar gadhafi but saif al islam emerged and spoke with reporters. he shook hands. he greeted supporters and spoke to matthew chance. he said troops loyal to the family had broken the back of opposition fighters that moved into tripoli over the weekend. >> still no sign of his father,

moammar gadhafi , but his son says the libyan leader remains there in tripoli. >> and meanwhile, the rebel forces continue their push to rid tripoli of pro-democracy forces. they say a number of fierce battles raged all day on monday. >> we're following this very closely. let's get a quick check of other news and stories we're keeping an eye on you for now. the u.n. high commissioner for human rights says more than 2200 people have been killed since the start of protests in syria five months ago. demonstrations by syria's demanding more freedom have been met with brut force. the united states sent a humanitarian mission to syria to investigate the crackdown. new york prosecutors say the former head of the national monetary fund, dominique strauss-kahn will not face sexual assault charges. they say the woman accused him could not be relied upon or believed beyond a reasonable doubt. his accuser filed a civil lawsuit but he's filed a

countersuit for slander. a fire sparked by lightning dezrstroyed the home of the virn group chairman. he says about 20 people were in the house at the time and all escaped unharmed. guests included kate winslet. the house is in the british virgin islands. tropical storm irene moved over the island before it strengthened to a hurricane. and that hurricane is passing the dominican republic right now. >> jennifer is there. >> i89's about 120 miles off the coast of puerto rico. it will continue to move in a west-northwesterly direction. you can see on the satellite imagery since yesterday, the storm has gotten bigger and you can see the heavier rain coming down and still in parts of puerto rico, you can see the northern parts of the dominican

republic. and as we go through the overnight hours, it will take a northwesterly turn. the winds are 157 kilometers. by 24 hours out, we're talking tuesday, this is going to become a major hurricane and notice it's getting close to central bahamas as a major hurricane as we go through wednesday and it looks like getting close to moving parallel do the coast. anywhere in red, warnings. that's parts of the dominican republic. southeastern parts of the bahamas as well as turks and caicos. this is the area we're concerned about. we'll see strengthening with this and with this we're talking about category 3 strength winds and certainly, that is going to potentially cause a good amount of damage, across areas including turks and caicos as well as the bahamas. this model gives you an idea of the track of hurricane irene. see where the center of the

storm system moves over toward the west but still some uncertainty with the track of the system. we're show you can a couple of the different models to give you an idea of where potentially, irene would be headed. but they're going to deal with heavy rainfall and the threat will continue for mudslides and landslides flu parts of haiti and northern parts of the dominican republic. isha, back to you. >> jennifer, thank you. following the path of hurricane irene. now back to the the unrest in libya. but this is some good news for a change. a 5-year-old girl who lost her leg when a rocket slammed into her home has the chance to walk again. thanks to an american volunteer. i met the little girl and the woman who helps children maimed in disaster zones around the world. this 5-year-old is precocious. born in libya, she wants to run and play like any other child. and now, thanks to treatment arranged for her here in the united states, her wish could

come true. you see, she lost her right leg as a result of libya's brutal civil war. she was napping when her parents say proforces started shelling her rebel-controlled neighborhood. in an instant, this young child's life changed when a rocket slammed into her bedroom, maiming her for life. despite the horror of the attack, she was luckier than others in her family. her 3-year-old brother and 1-year-old sister both died in the explosion. >> how has this affected her personality? >> translator: it's as if she's grown up and begun to understand that there's war, that there are big missiles that fall on us. she isn't supposed to know about that stuff but she does and it's really unfortunate. >> reporter: her leg was amputated but doctors in libya said she needed advanced prosthetics not available in the country. that's where alisa steps into the picture. she heads a u.s. nonprofit that

helps children maimed in conflict and disaster zones around the world. she arranges the victims to travel to the u.s. for medical treatment and pays for all of it through donations. >> she was actually, that was the first child that came to me from libya. and there was absolutely -- there was no way i could say no because she needed help. and i know that they would approve her so it was a matter of getting the paperwork and getting her here asap. >> reporter: that shriner's hospital where they arranged her to get fitted with a prosthetic leg that fits comfortably under the child's knee. >> she'll do very well because she's below the knee. she'll be able to run and ride a bike. so, you know, it's a wonderful feeling. you know? she was carried on to the plane and she's going to go home

walking. >> reporter: home, meaning libya, where the civil war that took her leg and the lives of her siblings rages on. and it's good to see some bit of good news from libya. it was quite amazing to meet her and her family and they're just so very grateful to alisa for giving her the chance to live a somewhat normal life. >> and the great thing is you can see there's hope there. but when you see that it reminds you of all the other kids that are maimed and being killed and there's still no real death toll of the number of people who have been killed or hurt in this conflict that has been going on for so long. >> indeed. one thing her father said that touched me was that he was, of course, happy that she was here and getting this opportunity and getting this prosthetic but he was also, of course, sad because he was very aware of the fact that his two other children died in that same attack. >> we'll have the latest on the situation coming up in about two

minutes from now. >> stay with cnn, the world's news leader.