With Libya's Rebels in Tripoli

„There are also outlying towns and cities where the rebels have not yet tackled the ancien régime, and battles, presumably, yet to be fought. Across Libya, countless Qaddafi loyalists have gone to ground; some may be hoping to disappear, while others may be planning some retaliatory actions. The coming days will tell whether this is merely the mopping-up phase of a victorious revolution or the beginning of a new conflict in which, as in post-Saddam Iraq, the remnants of the old military and intelligence establishment become insurgent.

Yesterday, the last day of Ramadan, shops and a few cafes reopened in the streets around the city; volunteers were busy sweeping up the accumulated heaps of trash that had made Tripoli a rank, foul place just a few days earlier. Gone were the bodies of men who had been executed by both sides during the chaotic days last week when Tripoli was overrun; their remains had been lifted from the streets and they had been carted away and buried. Here and there the stench of death lingered, however, and civilians—war tourists—posed for pictures next to charred vehicles or tanks on scarred roundabouts where battles had been fought. But overall the atmosphere is that of a city returning to something like normality: white-uniformed traffic policemen were back out on the streets in the city center. In a tense neighborhood near the airport, where a few days ago Qaddafi loyalists had remained at large, there were now roadblocks manned by rebel fighters. Qaddafi effigies, like comical scarecrows, had sprouted up in trash bins all over the city, or were hanging from electric lines and traffic lights.”