>> hello and welcome to "the journal." >> live in rebels say they control most of the capital. there are reports of -- libyan rebels civic control most of the capital. there are reports of fighting. thereabout of -- low whereabouts of muammar gaddafi are unknown.

after four decades, the regime of libyan leader muammar gaddafi appears to be near collapse with rebel forces in control of 95% of the capital of tripoli. heavy fighting continues around gaddafi's compound, bab al-azaziyah. his whereabouts are not known. it is unclear if he is in the country. few of his troops put up significant resistance as the rebels entered tripoli. they. to have simply melted away -- appeared to have simply melted away. reports are that rebels are in control of most of the city. gaddafi's opponents celebrated. the rebels incurred heavy losses. the battle is now raging for

control of gaddafi's compound, which housed the regime's central command. there has been fighting in other parts of the city. gaddafi's supporters are in desperate positions. >> [unintelligible] that is not safe. >> gaddafi's whereabouts are unknown. pretoria has denied the rumor that he has flown to south africa. gaddafi was last heard from in a radio broadcast on sunday, rallying his supporters to defend to tripoli. the national transitional council hopes that he has not managed to flee the country. >> we want to arrest him alive so he can be given a fair trial, which the world would be able to witness. the biggest dictator and the biggest arent in the world --

tyrant in the world. >> the situation on the ground remains chaotic. the rebels can taste victory and seem confident that their momentum cannot be stopped. >> we're joined by our mideast analyst. welcome. situation is still very unclear right now. a lot of moving parts in the formula. the gaddafi regime is apparently on the verge of collapse. and the personalities of the transitional national council hold -- can the personalities of the transitional national council hold the country together? >> unfortunately, this opposition movement has been tenuous from the beginning. i doubt that it will hold the country together without major violence. we should not forget that the country is virtually divided between east and west. for the first time in more than

40 years, the easterners control the country again. it might be that they will take revenge on the citizens, not only of tripoli, but of other cities in the west, especially in places where gaddafi comes from, and his family and in supporters. >> what about the chances that a copy might have military forces at his command -- that gaddafi might have military forces at his command? >> gaddafi is finished, but there are still loyalists in the city fighting the rebels. >they will die down in the comig days. they know that the battle is now lost. >> is there any antiwar muammar gaddafi is? -- are there any reports of where muammar gaddafi is? >> i think he is still in libya, but it might not be tripoli, it might be his birthplace, or an oasis in the south.

it might take a certain time before the libyans find him, but i think he is finished. >> what do the events in libya mean for other eastern powers, syria, for example? >> libya has been quite isolated. that is part of the reason why nato could intervene. i think the major importance of libya lies in the fact that it has been one of these extremely powerful oil states. it is the first ball wild state that has collapsed. it will teach the citizens of other countries, algeria -- the gulf countries -- that it is possible to topple such a country. we might see major uprisings in other countries where we have not seen uprisings until now. >> thank you so much. the un and nato are among those calling for libya's leaders in

the wings to ensure that there are no revenge killings and that security is quickly establish. you are the new authorities who will be responsible for doing that -- who are the new authorities who will be responsible for doing that? >> the tripoli, some celebrate the arrival of rebel forces as fighting continued in other parts of the city. in eastern libya, in the rebel stronghold of benghazi, the national transitional council has been planning for the post- gaddafi parera. >> we will have a transitional council prepare a lot for the election of a transitional congress and form a committee for its elections. in the chaos of the past months, new power structures have been developing. >> the beginning of a new political system is waiting to be put in place. mustafa abdul jalil is the chairman of the council,

formerly gaddafi's justice minister. he wants -- he is seen as the future prime minister. many western countries that were friendly with gaddafi, including france and germany, have recognized the transitional council as the defacto libyan government. doubts remain as to the role of islamist groups among the rebels. there are links between the rebels and outcry data, some alleged -- and alqaeda, some allege. many are skeptical about the form the new country might take, without even parliament -- a parliament. >> it has no structures. everything was dictated by gaddafi. it has to reinvent itself. it is a mammoth task. >> it is a task that they will not have to tackle on their own. the arab league, nato, and the european union have all offered to help.

>> chancellor angela merkel has stressed the immediate need to prevent further bloodshed in libya. what she says berlin will be -- she says berlin will be ready to help rebuild the economy. the chancellor was in zagreb to talk matters of the european union. events in libya were also on the agenda. pledged her support for the country's new leaders -- she pledged her support for the country's new leaders. >> it is important to divert money from the gaddafi regime to this task. i hope that the path to democracy will be peaceful. >> the foreign minister promised to help libya develop its civil

institutions and pledged humanitarian aid, depending germany's decision not to send soldiers into a fight against gaddafi. >> the fact that we decided against sending our own soldiers to take part in the combat operations had never been confused with neutrality. we are among the countries that tarted sanctions and pressed for targeted sanctions and isolation of gaddafi from the beginning. >> the cost is message from the foreign ministry is that it is too early -- cautious message from the foreign ministry is that it is too early to say. >> president barack obama has promised that the u.s. will be a friend to libya as it begin the transition. speaking from martha's vineyard, where he is on vacation, he said the 42-year-old rule of gaddafi is over. he urged the rebels to show restraint and refrain from

engaging in violence. others have called on muammar gaddafi to move aside quickly and to allow a peaceful transition to democracy. >> the u.s. is a pretty general, ban ki-moon, said he is confident that the libyans -- the u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon said hes confident that the libyans will be able to restore law and order. >> this is a hopeful moment, but there are risks ahead. this is the time for all libyans to focus on reconciliation and inclusiveness. >> britain's prime minister, david pearman, also pledged his support. >> we will be taking -- david cameron, also pledged his support. >> will be giving libyan leader's the financial support -- we will be giving libyan leader's the support they require. >> nato is ready to work with the libyan people and with the transitional national council, which holdshe great

responsibility to make sure that the transition is smooth and inclusive, that the country stays united, and that the future is founded on reconciliation and respect for human rights. >> the fall of tripoli is putting some downward pressure on oil prices. but it is all about expectations. the price of brent crude oil futures fell to nearly $105. that was reaction to the dramatic events in libya. the market are betting on a speedy resumption of oil exports from the country. at home, libya produces more than 1.5 million barrels per day -- produced more than 1.5 million barrels per day before the start of the revolution. on monday, shares of an italian company climbed more than 6% on hopes that they will soon restart operations. a subsidiary of a german firm

says it will be able to restart production within a few weeks. they wound down production in libya in february. one spokesman said the resumption of output will depend on the condition of the infrastructure and political stability. along with those companies, the french group and spain's repsol also have operations in libya. they have invested billions. for decades, muammar gaddafi was an important player in international business world. italy was his regime's main partner, then germany, france, spain, and switzerland. some of the profits went back to europe. gaddafi bought machinery and invested in some big italian mpanies, including fiat and

the banking group, unicredit. with major changes in the wind, others are looking at libya as an investment. china has offered its assistance. >> for more on the market auction, let's go over to our correspondent at the new york -- on the market action, let's go over to our correspondent at the new york stock exchange. libya is a major producer. tell us about the reaction to what is unfolding in libya. >> libyan oil goes mostly to the european markets, not directly to the american market. we understand that the market is globally connected. one always directly impacts the other. the story in libya is quite interesting. the regime change would lead to oil production that has been halted for couple of months to

come back rather quickly. oil supply will go up. oil demand has been under pressure for quite awhile. that is due to the slowing economy and to fear of further slowing worldwide. that will put some downward pressure on oil prices. that is what are expecting in the near term. that is good news for large parts of the industry and also for the consumer. >> after the incredible turbulence we have seen in weeks come by, tell us how things are shaping up in the new trading week. >> what an interesting day we have seen so far. we started the day with a huge uptick, the dow jones up 175 points, more than 1.5%. in the next couple of hours of trading, it all fizzled away. we had some initial optimism. people are hong for the federal reserve to jump in to help the markets again. we were hoping for new ideas from germany to stop the crisis

in europe. we see what the rally -- with the rally fizzled in the way that people do not have real optimism. they do fear, even after the losses of the last couple weeks, that we have not seen the bottom yet. >> thank you very much. for a closer look at how markets here in europe performed on monday, our correspondent sent us this summary from frankfurt. >> the prospect of an imminent end to the gaddafi regime have send -- has sent prices lower, not sharply lower. the brent crude is down by 1.5%. oil production in libya might resume. experts are warning that it will take a long time to get back to pre-four levels -- pre-war levels, as long as one year, some experts are saying. the ecb publish details on a

program that proved to be disappointing. on a daily basis, the dax has lost 4.1%. >> will stay in frankfurt for closer look at monday's numbers -- we will stay in frankfurt for closer looks at monday's numbers. across the land to come in new york, the dow shut down at the top of -- the atlantic, in new york, the dow shut down at the top of the hour. trading is down on the euro to $1.4362. >> we return to our top story right now -- libya, of course. the regime of dictator muammar gaddafi appears to be at the point of collapse. the rebels are in control of most of tripoli and have reportedly seized the state tv building.

there are reports that the rebels are encountering some pockets of fierce resistance. some of the heaviest fighting has been reported around a copy -- gaddafi's compound in tripoli. international leaders have repeated calls for gaddafi to step down. his current whereabouts are still unknown. stay with us. we will be right back with more news here on dw-tv.

on the internet. >> returning to our top story, most parts of tripoli are under rebel control. the country's embattled leader bull market off the appears to have reached leader muammar gaddafi -- the country's embattled leader muammar gaddafi appears to have reached the end of his rule.

here is a look back at the last year of the revolt. >> in march, the rebels were being steadily pushed back from their territory. there were no match for the government's artillery and air power -- they were no match for the government's artillery and air power. gaddafi bowed to crush the rebellion, showing those involved no mercy -- vowed to crush the rebellion, shong those involved no mercy. the u.s. and establish a no-fly zone over libya to protect the civilian populace -- the u.n. established a no-fly zone over libya to protect the civilian population. they sent equipment to help the rebels gain more territory. the conference was held in london to discuss libya after

gaddafi. they also talked to rebel representatives. >> we ask for the political support, more than we are asking for the arms. if we get both, that will be great. >> despite nato's support, the rebels failed to make major advances on the ground. nato concentrated air strikes on gaddafi's compound and bases in tripoli. they came up with a wide-ranging package of financial assistance. on june 1, the military coalition extended its mandate by three months, until the end of september. on june 7, more than 25 explosions rocked the capital in nato's heaviest bombardment to date. on the 13th, germany recognized the rebel council as the de facto leadership of libya. two week's letter, the international criminal court in the hague issued an arrest warrant for gaddafi and his

sons saif and nafissatsaadi. he said hundreds of his fighters would sacrifice themselves in the attacks across europe unless nato held off. the rebels continued to fight and make their way toward tripoli. >> back to business. very good news for the german economy. >> germany is lowering its estimate for this year's budget deficit to a modest 1.5% of gdp. they say they could balance the books by 2014. it remains unclear whether tax revenues will remain at current levels. economic growth slowed sharply in the second quarter, attributed to an unusually strong start to the year. they say recession is unlikely.

markets are worried about greece. officials from the imf, the eu commission, and european central banks are back in athens. they're going through the books to see if the country is sticking to its commitments to slash spending. the greek finance minister says he is confident that his country will qualify for the next tranche of funds. greece desperately need the money. tax revenue has fallen dramatically, by about 200 billion euros -- a million euros compared to last year. chancellor angela merkel is facing criticism for her policies to help debt-stricken european nations. there are signs of growing unease within her own conservative party over the unilateral course she has taken. from, -- some party members have indicated they will vote against

the measures in the parliament. >> angela merkel needs to allay concerns about the policies she has agreed to in brussels regarding financial aid for debt-stricken euro zone states. many of her party say that they should have been consulted about expanding the euro rescue fund. >> to set on a historic course of such portions -- no decision should be made without consultation. >> we need agreement in the euro zone, but that does not relieve us of our responsibility as your lemon parliamentarians to make decisions to the best of our knowledge -- as german parliamentarians to make decisions to the best of our knowledge. we would be shirking our responsibility if we just waved the package through. >> they have requested a meeting with the chancellor to discuss euro zone policy. it would be a major setback for her if she did not get enough votes for the package in september. >> that is your business update.

now back over to you. >> we have other international news. with the regime crumbling, s yria's opposition are trying to refocus the international attention on their country. there are demands for president bashar al-assad to step down immediately. the un high commissioner for human rights says that more than two dozen people have been killed since the protests -- 2000 people have been killed since the protests began. this news comes after palestinian militants in the gaza strip fired more than 100 rockets into israel. hamas says it will enforce the cease-fire on smaller radical groups. one such group said it would abide by the agreement to temporarily hold.

israel responded with air strikes on gossip that claimed at least 15 lives -- gaza that claimed at least 15 lives. prosecutors in new york had asked the judge to drop sexual assault charges against the former head of the international monetary fund, dominique strauss-kahn. if the charges are dropped, it will mark a dramatic turn in a case that forced strauss-kahn to resign as head of the imf and derailed a likely run for the french presidency. prosecutors made the decision after meeting with the woman who accused him of raping her in a hotel room in new york in may. the japanese government says some areas around the damaged fukushima nuclear power plant could remain no-go zones for humans for decades to come. one newspaper, citing an unnamed official, says areas up to 3

kilometers from the plant are likely to be capped as of its -- be kept off-limits. levels were detected in the ruins of buildings does " -- destroyed by the grquake. let's recap the latest from libya. the regime of muammar gaddafi appears to be at the point of collapse. the rebels are in control of large parts of the capital. theysay 95%. they have reportedly seized the state television building. they are, however, still encountering pockets of fierce resistance from loyalist fighters. the heaviest fighting has been reported around gaddafi's compound in trioplit -- tripoli. many international leaders have repeated calls for gaddafi to step down to avoid further bloodshed. gaddafi's whereabouts are

currently unknown. there are some images from where rebels have moved into tripoli, now fighting for complete control of the city. stay with us. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--