It appears that the decades-long brutal riegn of Libya’s mad despot Muammar al-Qaddafi has come to a violent end.

According to the Libyan rebels’ top diplomat in London, only five percent of the capital city was still controlled by forces loyal to the Libyan leader, after a morning of intense fighting near Kadhafi’s compound in Tripoli.

Per Mahmud Nacua, there are “still some pockets” of support for Qaddafi, but rebels are asserting control.

He says they have not yet found Qaddafi but “the fighters will turn over every stone to find him, to arrest him, and to put him in the court.”

Sunday, United States of America President Barack Hussein Obama issued the following statement while on vacation with the First Family at Martha’s Vineyard:

Tonight, the momentum against the Qadhafi regime has reached a tipping point. Tripoli is slipping from the grasp of a tyrant. The Qadhafi regime is showing signs of collapsing. The people of Libya are showing that the universal pursuit of dignity and freedom is far stronger than the iron fist of a dictator.

The surest way for the bloodshed to end is simple: Moammar Qadhafi and his regime need to recognize that their rule has come to an end. Qadhafi needs to acknowledge the reality that he no longer controls Libya. He needs to relinquish power once and for all. Meanwhile, the United States has recognized the Transitional National Council as the legitimate governing authority in Libya. At this pivotal and historic time, the TNC should continue to demonstrate the leadership that is necessary to steer the country through a transition by respecting the rights of the people of Libya, avoiding civilian casualties, protecting the institutions of the Libyan state, and pursuing a transition to democracy that is just and inclusive for all of the people of Libya. A season of conflict must lead to one of peace.

The future of Libya is now in the hands of the Libyan people. Going forward, the United States will continue to stay in close coordination with the TNC. We will continue to insist that the basic rights of the Libyan people are respected. And we will continue to work with our allies and partners in the international community to protect the people of Libya, and to support a peaceful transition to democracy.

Scooter, we’ll be lucky if it doesn’t turn into a Muslim Theocracy.

What effect will the victory of the Libyan Rebels have on the tinderbox known as the Middle East?

Per reuters.com, it make spark a firestorm:

From the Atlantic coast to Gulf shores, live images on Arab satellite channels of rebels pouring into Tripoli, trampling on pictures of Qaddafi and chanting “From alley to alley, door to door,” taunting the leader with his own threats to hunt down his enemies, will rattle Arab leaders facing similar revolts.

Arab capitals have been enthralled as street protests forced Tunisia’s Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country he had ruled for 23 years and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak to step down after 30 years in power and now Qaddafi’s government to decompose.

Arabs who this month have seen Mubarak and his sons appear behind bars and who now see the rule of the longest-serving Arab ruler collapsing must wonder what else is possible.

From Syria to Yemen, Arab autocrats who sought to use force and repression to contain pent-up popular aspirations and fend off uprisings must have pause for thought after events in Libya.

Meanwhile, the Libyan Rebels are receiving back-up from NATO. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has announced that combat air patrols over Libya will continue until all pro-Qaddafi forces surrender.

A NATO official called for Qaddafi to step down immediately in order to save lives and allow for a peaceful transition.

I hope he’s not holding his breath.

The rebels took over the capital city of Tripoli yesterday, facing just token resistance as Qaddafi’s forces disappeared, along with his 42-year-old dictatorship.  Rebels and citizens joined together in spontaneous celebrations in Green Square, known as the symbolic heart of the regime.

Qaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, was captured by rebel forces during the seige of the city. Al-Islam will be tried (supposedly) on charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands, and the court urged rebels to turn him over, rather than seek revenge. Another of the dictator’s sons was under house arrest.

Hundreds of men and women celebrating in Green Square, used a mocking nickname of the curly-haired Qaddafi, chanting:

It’s over, frizz-head.

During their celebrating, the partiers fired shots in the air, clapping and waving the rebels’ tricolor flag. Some of them set fire to the green flag of Qaddafi’s regime and shot holes in a poster of Qaddafi.

By Monday morning in Libya, the rebels, who controlled large parts of the capital, set up checkpoints alongside residents, many who had been secretly armed by rebel smugglers in recent weeks. However, small pockets of pro-Qaddafi forces still remained.

Per businessweek.com:

The U.S. State Department urged rebel leaders “to maintain broad outreach across all segments of Libyan society and to plan for post-Qaddafi Libya,” spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a written statement.

The rebel council will appoint a transitional government after moving its headquarters to the capital from the opposition stronghold of Benghazi, in eastern Libya, [Mahmoud Al-Nakou, Libyan charge d’affaires to the U.K] said. “Today, we start to rebuild Libya. We look forward to building a democratic country. We will have institutions, freedom in every part of the country and in different fields of activities.”

The rebel council was prepared to quickly restore normalcy to Libya, including the country’s oil production for much-needed income, [Mohamad Al Akari, an adviser to the National Transitional Council, the rebel governing body] said. Except for the refinery at Brega, damage was not major, he said.

Is the future of Libya going to be similar to that of Egypt?

The Jerusalem Post reported on 8/6/11:

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood held a public internal election on Saturday for the first time in its history in a display of openness before a parliamentary election in November.

The Brotherhood, Egypt’s most popular and organized political force, was banned and often harassed, but semi-tolerated, during the 30-year rule of former president Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted by an uprising in February.

“The group is doing this now as it wants to set a model in democracy and transparency ahead of the parliamentary vote,” Mustapha al-Sayyid, political science professor at Cairo University, said of the Brotherhood’s public vote.

“Having an internal election in public will certainly increase the credibility of the group among the public,” he said.

The Brotherhood is generally seen as the best prepared group for the November election in which its newly formed “Freedom and Justice” party will contest half the assembly’s seats.

…Saturday’s vote, to which journalists were invited, was to pick replacements for three senior figures who resigned from the Brotherhood’s administrative body in April to join the Freedom and Justice Party, which the group says will be independent.

The three men are party leader Mohamed Mursi, deputy leader Essam Elarian and secretary-general Mohamed Saed Elkatatny.

“The elections taking place in this open manner is one of the gains of the blessed revolution that has allowed freedom of expression and granted freedom to all Egyptian citizens, including the Muslim Brotherhood,” the group’s guide, Mohamed Badie, said in a speech at the event at a Cairo hotel.

The voters were members of the Brotherhood’s 122-strong decision-making Shura Council.

The Brotherhood then hosted a Ramadan Iftar banquet, at a cost put by a local newspaper at about a million Egyptian pounds ($168,000), with guests expected to include military council members, government officials and presidential candidates.

So…does this revolution turn out to be all about the Devil we know versus the Devil we don’t?

Hey…does anybody remember some guy named the Ayatollah Rouhollah Mousavi Khomeini?