is true in the last few of our doctors. should close up on our jeanne. breaking news from libya hundreds of rebels are meant to be a libyan leader's compound the opposition claims to be in control of most of the capital however the whereabouts of colonel gadhafi remains unknown. secret assistance british intelligence has reportedly planned the endgame for gadhafi his regime guiding the rebels in their push on tripoli. eager oil giants flock back to libya on the red carpet laid out by the self-proclaimed new government keen to reward those who helped us get.

international news and comment live from moscow it's just past ten pm here in the russian capital and in tripoli eight pm where the breaking news is that libyan rebels inside colonel gadhafi tripoli compound following a fierce fight they now claim to control most of the capital three days after entering the city these are the latest pictures from the compound rebels around the square where colonel gadhafi used to make speeches to the nation exactly where he is no one seems to know smoke has been rising over the libyan capital throughout the day as a result of pockets of fighting between the two sides casualties are said to be mounting electricity in tripoli has now been restored after hours of a blackout for lindsay german a london based activist from the stop the war coalition talked to me a little earlier today and she believes the only thing libyans want now is to take the situation into their own hands. we have to remember we've been here before we knew before with afghanistan we've been there before with iraq and i think the

lesson from both of those and that actually the message is even coming from many of the rebels in tripoli and elsewhere in libya is that they don't want nato there any more they don't want western troops on the ground and they want to run their own country and i think it would be very foolish for david cameron or anybody else to believe this really vindicates their foreign policy in terms of the war on terror well one of the sons made a surprise appearance despite the rebels claim he was captured from his two days they were saying they are in control and that also turned out to be untrue does that ring the alarm bells for you concerning the credibility of this. coalition. well i think what it does raise alarm bells with is the why in which these these issues are used very very much politically to justify western intervention we had the international criminal court saying that they knew they could have the saif al

islam gadhafi was in custody when clearly they didn't know conclusively that that was the case and therefore this is being used in a political way. to employ the regime was weaker than perhaps it was at that particular time that the rebels have made more votes is that they perhaps had at that particular time was full of this information which really should be coming for. an international institution and this town's. bringing to mind some of the worrying ways in which these things have been used i personally think the intervention of the international criminal court. the idea that they control i could have been his family is criminals this is yet another sign of western hypocrisy when we have to suppose tony blair and various other people responsible for the disastrous episode in iraq in particular who wanted to i think in this war so you think they can tap into so when they are captured should face trial in libya

and it should be no foreign intervention whatsoever in their fate. i think it is absolutely up to the libyan people to decide what they do with kathy and with anybody else that they if there is evidence to put them on trial they should they should be dealt with in libya or not in the hague or anywhere else so i feel that the whole western intervention around this has been. too they were caught taken by surprise by the average brain and what they're trying to do is to reassert western control. when let's get more analysis now from freelance journalist chandan he's recently come back from libya and joins us now from brussels and you have been there in the country very recently why do you think that after almost six months of relative stalemate the rebels appear to have taken most of the capital in just three days well it's been reported the daily telegraph that essentially the british

army have alone literally blown up all the rubble was all we have to tripoli and i was saying there's a couple of those anyway and believe. this whole operation and it's interesting what. you call she seems she still has some sympathy with the rebels like they are they are some kind of independent force they are not but have always been in the pockets of western intelligence services and this whole conflict has been engineered for a concerted campaign by western governments since the beginning and it's the same now in tripoli nato apache helicopters and jets massacred and blown apart all these were able to get into tripoli are you saying then then this isn't the wish of the majority of the libyan people for this to happen for a change in regime and indeed if they wanted that wish they needed help from outside from nato. absolutely look out with images very carefully from zawiya and from tripoli and even western mainstream media is admitting that no civilians are coming out in support of the rebels although all the shoppers all the shops all the

houses are shut down in florida and the shut down in tripoli now the rebels think the compound but last night last night round one went to gadhafi because they said they had no holography and cycle islam hey presto cycle is long slow in globing around tripoli so perhaps like last night tonight is another trap for the rebels in the compound that gadhafi supporters are allowing all these dozens and scores of rebels into the compound and let's see what happens there like and we know it may be another big crowd for the rebels in tripoli their human rights organization said that libyan civilians must be protected jur in this time of conflict now you have been there you've just returned very recently is that really possible to do that when the situation is so confused now. some members have been rank hypocrisy on. all those countries some of the countries will fall that was the point when the whys and the so-called you know protecting civilians but since since day one of the

bombing of the nato operation they have been massacring civilians and most infamously just two weeks ago it's been confirmed it was the british are you concerned back and got to that massacre eighty five civilians including thirty five children nothing to do with protecting civilians everything to do with dominating libya or even civilians do die in war don't they and it's a sad tragic fact and you're not saying that was a deliberate targeting those civilians i there is a there is a clear program of state terror this is the business which nato is involved in in libya in afghanistan and anywhere else that operates its state terrorism pure and simple so what then the future you mention afghanistan and indeed the future of libya could you compare the two and with iraq for example are the same mistakes going to be made. these are not mistakes people are deliberately fall asleep is a deliberate strategy going past the western governments and the rest of the world especially the arab world with the world to recognize nato for what it is possibly

be a serious annex hizbollah of an annex and palestine is coming up that is why the americans brokered peace between the palestinians and israel through egypt because the last thing the west wants is this whole conflict to be focused on the real common enemies of the arabs which is the state of israel and the west and governments backing it so you saying the west really wants to see the the political turmoil the violence we've seen in afghanistan and iraq happening in libya and indeed will that happen do you think well what's been clear in the last few days and it's been admitted by the daily telegraph but yesterday was planned all along reeks by the nato forces so yes they want to wrap up libya wrap it up nicely as a successful test case then war on syria so it's all dependent on worker got the newspeople and with this nato here if they can with this nato in libya they won't be come across syria and we've got to you can also do this be just under a month ago about his resistance against nuclear is the plan in syria and iran as well you talk of what

a fate awaits him and indeed who should determine that fate this is this is this has been such i mean the illegality of what's going on in relation to libya by nato is unbelievable the libyan guy at the united nations missed the shell game has a has basically admitted in arab press but he pulled people and papers this whole thing has been an illegal. operation were taken civilians rubbish. just very briefly i just want to ask you that you're back in brussels now and you've just recently left tripoli and i know that you've got some are a colleague some journalists do know they're trapped in the hotel the rixos hotel which has been mentioned many times that's where the international media are at the moment are you concerned for their safety. also and anyone would be concerned for their safety especially those close friends and family but these are international journalists these are professional journalists and we have to be respected as such and some of them want to be evacuated remote country or in should. that be the

recent journalists who are nato countries have made a lot of their own civilians but only nationals in tripoli were well here's your chance where's the threat coming from from the rebels or from the gadhafi loyalists just briefly i think the threat more is coming from the rebels really because these are western germans had been based at the rixos hotel for many many months under the regime we'll leave it there so we've got time for freelance journalists to come chandan joining us live there in brussels thanks for your time. well the question again at his whereabouts is yet to be answered and i spoke to dr director of the german institute based in berlin who thinks the embattled leader is not likely to run away. if you're in the rebels were in a situation to advance from as here to the compound in which gadhafi might still be i mean he would be there in the bunkers in the underground bunkers

and not not on the surface. during the last hours sleep in the rebels have advanced somewhat part of the city that a self western part of tripoli's and i think we said that up to twenty percent of the city were still are still in the hands of the militia who are defending a good outfit so are you convinced that gadhafi could well be in a bunker in that compound being stormed at the moment by those rebels if that's the case we could be witnessing the last moments of their fees regime. well yes i know gaddafi is very erratic in his behavior and it's very difficult to say what will you do i mean his son and the television yesterday said no no by far the still here and we are fighting and he's not the man to run away like the other dictators but on the other hand side i'm quite sure that he must have an emergency exit from

his bunker system and can escape if he still should be there it might also be you know unfortunately as we see the truth is the first victim of any war so nobody knows what is true in all the different than out nevertheless he did escape from that bunker how long could it be actually on the run bearing in mind he wouldn't be able to take a plane because there's a no fly zone imposed over the country there what are his chances of perhaps setting up camp somewhere else. well it's very difficult i don't know i don't think that would take him to tunisia definitely not or maybe he might go to the south to tunisia and the other countries that are bordering and take a plane from there to zimbabwe or to very few countries north korea where he would be still accepted as a host so it's very difficult to see and it might take some time to discover it even if he stays in his own countries if we remember said it was seen how long it

took to discover him in iraq. a mall the whole world guess is where colonel gadhafi might be hiding well the chess federation chief. says he knows he claims to have spoken to him by telephone. in this afternoon on three hours ago when i was in my. son he called me by phone and i was very surprised. yes yes i am and i asked the world because yesterday i saw. him in prison. ok and now i am an entry bully now he's my father. duffy and my father wants to say some words to you and after that in arabic language. here. now he's he's three he

doesn't want to leave his homeland he wants to a different country and he wants to thank all people and have all the support he's a small crown three and small nation will fight against countries from me and up a bit it's in english thank you very much. mohammed translate these sentences from the english and out of the sun because of security and i will call you later. you can is reportedly authorized xander stan operation to aid the assault from tripoli covert intelligence agents were allegedly inserted into libya to coordinate rebels actions during the push and more you can military personnel are said to be on standby in the mediterranean algy's i would bet it has more than this. it seems the british did have a bigger hand in all of this than it originally let on the press here today

reporting that a whole team of intelligence officials have been operating in the country for some time now. ever since it became clear the rebels would need some help if they really were going to topple get happy so people like spies m i six officials form s.a.'s offices to giving military advice and also non-lethal aid now it's important to note here that the u.n. mandate that nato is operating under in the country does not include a provision for ground troops and so the u.k. foreign secretary william hague has been quick to stress that. they've been supplying rebels with non-lethal and therefore not in breach of this u.n. resolution however these missions have been very covert clandestine off the grid so as not to cause any diplomatic issues. and also in these reports that. intelligence officials have been planning for some time now this assault on tripoli

so as to catch exactly on the back they've been smuggling weapons fighters even fighting and also telecommunications equipment secret weapons dance around the capital and then on the weekend following the bombing campaign from the air of strategic communications posts they got the go ahead for the final march on tripoli itself so the british government actually knew this was all on the cards for some time now however it did concede that it does already have two hundred troops ready to be deployed from cyprus as peacekeepers should the situation the post transition they want to send into anarchy to be prepared for that and also six hundred more marines actually also stationed in the mediterranean ready to be deployed in what the government terms of the role of support for the humanitarian cause so clearly downing street at the moment refusing to rule. now the use of what could be almost one thousand ground troops should the situation call for it clearly there is some

contradiction there to this idea of handing over control to the libyan people so they're in charge of their own future and clearly the british and also other european states are not that confident just see it that this transition will be as peaceful as they all want it to be. or there may still be fighting in tripoli but the new self-proclaimed government is waiting a little time and setting up its future cash flow european oil giants given the go ahead by rebel officials have already begun moving in with italian company any which have close ties to get out spearheading their return and result reports this time it services won't be quite as cheap. delivered as a promise but seen by many as more of a threat david cameron says nato will stay while libya makes the transition to democracy as allied forces lend support to the rebels to take tripoli to stop the cool coalition it's libyans not to expect they're getting something for nothing the

western powers but do this without asking for a paper why is it that the head of the is running off to paris to meet with the french president well of course that he's one very very important issue that's why the western powers tony blair and others struck a deal with gadhafi in the first place it will be exactly what they're seeking to continue with the with the p. and c. to further explore those oil riches the british government makes no secret of the fact that it's motives that is supporting the rebels aren't entirely altruistic last year alone the u.k. exported around forty billion dollars of goods and services to north africa and the middle east but it's black gold that's the key libya has the largest oil reserves in africa when western powers look at the region they talk about humanitarianism ultimate sink of oil break martin says it's impossible not to draw a comparison with iraq he's written a book about the aftermath of the iraq invasion in which he maintains western

powers imposed a democracy which played on sectarian divisions that ensured years of tribal struggle but also meant the allies retains control of the oil supply while the u.k. government insists lessons have learned from iraq where the oil firms move into libya even before the fate of tripoli is sealed the great oil grab is already beginning b.p. has a contentious oil and gas exploration contract in libya which the u.k. government will be anxious for it to resume italian all giant easy and i. first then start back to libya and he throws on the knees french tea towel and all three is a when we all three did well as investors soon be able to resume production in libya but at what price to the libyan people the great fear is that just as they did in iraq the creation democracy which serves british interests the west's interests for

oil interests i'm just nothing for the people of libya nor emmett's party loved the . rebels or reportedly put their flags on top of buildings inside the gadhafi compound raided weapons stores this is the latest we're hearing from them at the moment however the part of the city housing the rixos hotel where journalists are staying remains under the control of gadhafi forces those trapped inside the hotel report heavy fighting outside and nato forces say they've hit as many as forty targets in tripoli during three days of fighting the biggest number in a single location since the operation started in march. which is to remind you we got extensive coverage of that situation developing there in tripoli on our web site head to r.t. dot com for the latest video analysis and opinion and you can also get up to the minute news from the region on our twitter page and you can follow said t underscore com. one let's turn to other news at twenty minutes past the hour

here in moscow dominique strauss kahn the former head of the i.m.f. has been cleared of criminal sexual assault charges but a new york court correspondent has the latest details for us. dominic strauss kahn has been cleared of all sexual assault charges that were filed more than two months ago and in a nutshell the prosecutors say that the accuser in this case thirty three year old nafissatou diallo is not a credible witness according to prosecutors they say that the accuser. a cleaning lady at the sofitel hotel here in new york was punched truthful with investigators in virtually every interview prosecutors say she lied in matters great and small and that the problem in this circumstance is her credibility all these charges against him have been dropped however this order is on hold because the defendant misty alo is has appealed for a special special product prosecutor in this case now the judge already denied that

request for a special special prosecutor but we have we do have to wait and see what their an appeals court says but as we know now the judge has dropped all this case of sexual assault against. the one that has caused a scandal here in the u.s. and around the world the u.s. media jumped on dominique strauss as if public enemy number one had been finally captured this was through the wringer basically all the headlines of all the major newspapers essentially hide him guilty and mocking him skits were made about him on the shows here in the u.s. we did see that in just a matter of a week. lost his job as head of the i.m.f. he was his reputation was was completely dissolved. and then you know he was just basically a running joke but at this point we should also mention there is a civil suit that has been filed by ms diallo against dominique strauss kahn and

many are imagining he will settle out of order he wants this problem to just go away and that would require probably a good sum of money but at this point he's been out. pretty much vindicated now on all the sexual assault charges. well for more on the case and its outcome i'm now joined by robert gates he's a history professor at the university of houston joining us on the video link thanks so much for being with us well now the the charges against dominique strauss have been dropped kelly be assumed that he was the victim of an opportunist targeting a high profile figure. one can assume that. a number of other scenario it's that's really that's one of many scenarios that. could consume what are the other scenarios do you think a political motivation perhaps behind all of this is that in the past. i think we had this discussion once before of i really don't see this as a consequence of

a conspiracy i do the united states and france instead i see this as just the latest the latest chapter on the crime of life at the new extra scan are there is nothing surprising about what happened or. what may have happened in the hotel room more than two months ago. yes go ahead sir you say not surprising well this isn't the first sex scandal actually that he's been involved in so you're saying that in some ways history does play a major part in the way his case is being assessed or the way people perceive him. yes i'm always i've always been a big fan of the simplest explanation for any particular problem and in the case of german extras can one doesn't need a conspiracy theory one doesn't need to. look to the political machinations on our side of the atlantic to explain what is happening and what

happened is what's happening in is asked. and she has always admitted that it was a sexual encounter or his lawyers had been minute that there was a sexual encounter what remains up in the air is the nature of this encounter it was a consensual it was a tourist. was a consensual was it rape and this is where i differ with the reporter. at the end of her at the end of her report she concluded that vindicate so many extra asked time in my mind it does nothing of the storage. it's simply if it had been a case anybody in this affair a very sad affair it's the new york prosecutor's office cyrus vance his office they had the courage to do one hundred eighty day one hundred eighty degrees on their original findings more than two months ago they thought they had a credible case and that's why he was arrested and charged with his own in the wake

of more than two months of intensive investigation they realized that their plane given the only witness to this a legit crime was not credible. as there's really no very reflection also on the nature of the wall there in the us we love that tell us about the way that the law has been used here. well. i suppose different people will see different reflections of the american justice system in this particular case what i see is a justice system that when presented with a credible case at the time of great. did everything in its power to to to prevent the suspect from leaving the united states. the bills of the whistles the perp walk that distressed so many viewers more than

two months ago or. hans treatment at the hands of our child wouldn't press these have nothing to do with the american justice system and these have everything to do with a popular culture that's not specific to the united states you find in great britain you find in france i suspect you find it in russia armed but i don't think this reflects poorly on either the american media i don't think we should confound the headlines of the daily news or the new york post with the american media right robert just briefly we're running out of time i just want your final thoughts and you and i have talked about this in the past you said that this doesn't vindicate him. what then does it do for his future does it jeopardize any chance of any political career obviously he is a glittering character and well respected within french politics and indeed of the i.m.f. but what about his presidential ambitions i mean is everything now completely jeopardized for the future well of course it's impossible to say just one historian not

a fortune teller a but i do think that computer thousand and twelve it will be traumatic stress can running as a socialist candidate but who's to say what's going to happen after two thousand and twelve he's relatively young he's only sixty two years old and the french take on this affair is very different from the take of say many americans so he does have a future well thanks to a history professor looking into the future a little bit of speculation for us it's very interesting what you have to say and we really appreciate your time robert professor robert threats from the university of houston thank you time thank you bill. a man suspected of organizing the killing of russian journalist anna politkovskaya has reportedly been arrested here in moscow russia is not the newspaper where politkovskaya used to work says the suspect is a former police left tenant colonel his arrest comes less than three months out of the rest of the man actually thought of shorter anna politkovskaya who investigated human rights violations in chechnya was shot four years ago on the stairs of the

building where she lived that's to could say her professional activity was the likely motive for the mother. well the term brings you up to date i'll be back with a summary of the main developments in libya for you in about a minutes from now so a minute from now so stay with us live here in moscow. is.