TRIPOLI, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Muammar Gaddafi’s body, bloodied
and half-naked on a filthy mattress in a meat locker, is the
latest spoil of war hauled back to Misrata by its exuberant
fighters, confident they are Libya’s fiercest revolutionaries.

The city of Misrata became something of a symbol for the
revolt against Gaddafi after it fell to rebels early in the war
and then stayed in their hands throughout, despite a merciless
bombardment and lengthy siege by the Libyan army.

TRIPOLI, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Mohammed was pretty sure he had
the best joke of the night in Martyr’s Square as Tripolitanians
partied in a carnival-like atmosphere into the small hours of
Friday morning.

“I have a new ambition, maybe,” the 20-year-old said. “I
want to run for president.”

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – The liberation of Libya will be declared Saturday in the city of Benghazi, often referred to as the cradle of the revolution that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi, and not in the capital Tripoli, interim government officials told Reuters.

The chairman of the ruling National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, will make the announcement, the officials said. “The decision has been taken,” an NTC official said. “The declaration of liberation will be in Benghazi, not Tripoli.”

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – For the world’s less-scrupulous dignitaries, officials and “high-ups” of various stripes, a trip to Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte was a treat.

They were fed like royalty, slept on fluffy pillows and some of the luckier ones even left with pockets bulging with 100 dollar bills.

Tripoli (Reuters) – The chairman of Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) will declare the country liberated from Muammar Gaddafi’s rule later on Thursday or, at the latest, Friday, NTC prime minister Mahmoud Jibril said.

“Mr Mustafa Abdel Jalil will come out today or by maximum tomorrow, to declare the liberation of the country and to give out specific details regarding the killing (earlier on Thursday) of Gaddafi,” Jibril told a news conference.

BANI WALID (Reuters) – “I used to drive a 1990 Mazda,” the young Libyan revolutionary says through child-like giggles, hurtling into the heart of battle at the wheel of a new 4-by-4 looted from slain soldiers of Muammar Gaddafi. “Look at me now.”

But there was to be no more fighting for Ali that day. Bani Walid, one of only two towns in Libya that had still been resisting the men who toppled one of the world’s most recognizable leaders, had fallen.

BANI WALID, Libya, Oct 17 (Reuters) – Fighters with Libya’s
interim government fired their guns into the air and hoisted the
country’s new flag over the centre of Bani Walid on Monday to
celebrate their capture of one of the final bastions of Muammar
Gaddafi’s loyalists.

A Reuters team that drove into Bani Walid, in desert hills
150 km (90 miles) south of Tripoli, saw no signs of resistance
from supporters of the deposed leader who have been holed up
inside the town for more than six weeks.

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libyan interim government forces said on Monday they had raised the country’s new flag over Bani Walid after securing control over most parts of the desert town — one of the last bastions held by loyalists of Muammar Gaddafi.

Ahmed Bani, the interim government’s military spokesman, told reporters in the capital Tripoli: “Ninety percent of Bani Walid has been liberated.”

TRIPOLI, Oct 17 (Reuters) – Libyan interim government forces
said on Monday they had raised the country’s new flag over Bani
Walid after securing control over most parts of the desert town
– one of the last bastions held by loyalists of Muammar
Gaddafi.

Ahmed Bani, the interim government’s military spokesman,
told reporters in the capital Tripoli: “Ninety percent of Bani
Walid has been liberated.”

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libyan interim government forces said Monday they had raised the country’s new flag over Bani Walid, one of the last bastions of pro-Muammar Gaddafi loyalists, but it was not yet clear if the town had been completely captured.

Along with Gaddafi’s hometown Sirte, Bani Walid has been one of only two towns in Libya where there is still armed resistance to the rule of the National Transitional Council (NTC).