New Development

• Rebels in Tripoli say they have made it into Gadhafi’s compound as fighting continues. Fighters coming out of the compound shouted “God is great, God is great” in celebration, and people in Tripoli displayed files they say are from the compound, CNN’s Sara Sidner reported. Earlier, urban warfare was in full force with sounds of artillery, blasts and gunfire.

 

Previously Reported

• Moammar Gadhafi says he’s “alive and well in Tripoli and not going to leave Libya,” according to an Interfax report quoting Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the head of the World Chess Federation. Ilyumzhinov told the Russian news agency Tuesday he had a telephone conversation with Gadhafi and his son Mohammed. The information could not be independently confirmed.

• Iraq has recognized Libya’s National Transitional Council “as the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people,” the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

• Libyan rebels control 85 percent of Tripoli, said Mahmoud Shammam, minister of information for the National Transitional Council. “Tripoli is not under Gadhafi control anymore,” a NATO military spokesman said Tuesday.

• Gadhafi’s Bab al-Aziziya compound came under attack Tuesday, said a rebel spokesman and opposition fighters in Tripoli. Rebel fighters managed to enter one of the gates at the compound, a rebel official told CNN. CNN’s Matthew Chance, huddled in the basement of a Tripoli hotel, said in a tweet Tuesday that “artillery fire” is occurring in the area around the compound. Mahmoud Shammam, minister of information for the National Transitional Council, said NATO has “hit some targets” in the compound. TV network Al Arabiya reported that NATO jets were flying low over the compound, and that a loud explosion was heard from inside the facility.

• Tripoli is still the site of “numerous clashes,” a NATO spokesman said on Tuesday.

• NATO air operations were continuing over Libya and, more specifically, Tripoli on Tuesday to protect civilians in areas where pro-Gadhafi forces may be active, a senior NATO official said. Vast numbers of areas are contested in Libya and the tensions are far from over, a NATO spokesman said Tuesday. “Our mission is not over yet,” a NATO spokesman said.

• Rebels battled forces loyal to Gadhafi Tuesday north of Tripoli International Airport, along the main road into the capital. Very heavy fighting could be heard, beginning shortly after noon, with heavy shelling and black smoke in the area. There are two military installations along the road. Rebels took control of the airport Monday.

• Gadhafi regime forces are posing as rebels in Tripoli, rebel contacts told CNN on Tuesday.

• Carloads of people are streaming out of Tripoli toward Zawiya, a CNN crew said.

• A NATO military spokesman told reporters Tuesday he doesn’t “have a clue” where Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is. But Gadhafi is “not a key player anymore,” the spokesman said. The appearance of a wanted Gadhafi son — Saif al-Islam Gadhafi — at a hotel “in the dead of night” doesn’t reflect the government’s power, but shows the “remnants of the regime are on the run,” a NATO spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

• Libya’s opposition has assured NATO that it is respecting international law in its fight, and what the alliance is seeing on the ground reflects that, a NATO spokesman said on Tuesday.

• Libya’s National Transitional Council has now established a small office on the outskirts of Tripoli, according to rebel sources. The location of the opposition office is not being disclosed but is in place to help facilitate a transition once Gadhafi is ousted.

• International Criminal Court representatives have been conferring with Libyan opposition members about their efforts to apprehend three wanted suspects from the Gadhafi regime, an ICC spokesman said on Tuesday.

• The Kingdom of Bahrain has recognized Libya’s National Transitional Council as the country’s “sole legitimate representative,” Bahrain’s state-run news agency reported Tuesday.

• Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, acknowledged “increased gains” by Libya’s opposition on Tuesday and “urged the new leaders” to build a democracy. “Nigeria stands ready to work with the democratic forces in Libya in this transition process,” the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Abuja said. Libya’s Gadhafi regime long had been an influential power broker on the African continent.

• Al Jazeera reported Tuesday that truckloads of armed rebel fighters have surrounded Moammar Gadhafi’s Bab al-Aziziya compound.

• A boat that was scheduled to arrive in Tripoli Tuesday to evacuate stranded migrants in the Libyan capital will be delayed, the International Organization for Migration said. The boat, which can carry 300 people, left the Libyan city of Benghazi Monday morning but the deteriorating security situation at Tripoli’s port is causing delays, the organization said.

• When told that Saif al-Islam Gadhafi appeared at the Rixos Hotel, British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said, “As for the appearance of Saif Gadhafi overnight in Tripoli let me be clear, this is not the sign of some great comeback by the Gadhafi regime, he is not roaming freely through Tripoli. He, and indeed the remaining pro-Gadhafi forces, are now cornered. They are making their last stand and it is only a matter of time before they are finally defeated – about that we are very confident indeed.”

• NATO has been dropping leaflets in the area of Zawiya. One set warns residents to stay away from military activities. The other encourages pro-Gadhafi mercenaries to “give up the fight and to leave Libya,” NATO said. The leaflets are in Arabic and French.

• Doctors in Tripoli are overwhelmed, and there are not enough medical supplies, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday.

• One surface-to-surface missile was fired within Libya and landed in the sea near the rebel-held city of Misrata, a NATO spokeswoman said Tuesday. Earlier, NATO said three missiles had been fired.

• Two of Gadhafi’s sons, who had been reported captured over the weekend, were free early Tuesday. Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges, spoke briefly to CNN at the Rixos Hotel, one of the remaining pro-Gadhafi bastions in Tripoli. Mohammed Gadhafi escaped from rebel custody Monday, Libyan Ambassador Ali Suleiman Aujali told CNN.

• There was no explanation from the National Transitional Council, the rebel leadership, which had announced the capture of both Gadhafi sons.

• The situation in Libya “is still very fluid,” U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday. “There remains a degree of uncertainty and there are still regime elements who pose a threat.”

• The U.S. State Department is “focused like a laser” on the issue of getting funding to the rebels’ National Transitional Council, department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Monday. Nuland did not specify how much money could be provided, but said it would go toward “humanitarian needs” and “maintenance of essential services.”

• Several U.S. politicians called on Libyan officials to take action against Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi , the convicted bomber of Pan Am Flight 103. Al-Megrahi was the only person convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 270 people. He was released from a Scottish prison in 2009.

• United Nations officials have not been able to contact Moammar Gadhafi, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters Monday. “We’ve been trying to get in touch with him,” Ban said, adding that he did not know Gadhafi’s whereabouts.

• Libyan rebels have taken control of the country’s state television network, Rebel TV reported. The Libyan state network was broadcasting a black screen.

Background

• Fighting in Libya started with anti-government demonstrations in mid-February and escalated into a nationwide civil war.

• French, British and American military forces began enforcement of a U.N.-approved no-fly on March 19, which was later turned over to NATO. That operation has included strikes against Libyan government forces and supporters.