Anti-Gadhafi Forces Prepare To Take Tripoli

[The Straight Story]

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's control is being whittled away as major cities and towns closer to the capital fall to the rebellion. Forces in the east, led by a former Gadhafi general, are preparing to march on Tripoli.

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/24/134017782/Libya-Latest

[pinboy3niner]

1. He's trying to block them with mercs and militia

The NYT reports:

Dozens of checkpoints operated by a combination of foreign mercenaries and plainclothes militiamen lined the road west of Tripoli for the first time, witnesses said, requiring not only the presentation of official papers but also displays of flag-waving, fist-pumping enthusiasm for Colonel Qaddafi, who has long fashioned himself as a pan-African icon.

“You are trying to convince them you are a loyalist,” one resident said, “and the second they realize that you are not, you are done for.”

Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/25/world/africa/25libya.html