Libyan Rebels Celebrate U.N. Vote

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ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

Nearly a full day after the United Nations Security Council voted to authorize all necessary measures to protect Libyan civilians, the streets of the eastern city of Tobruk were alive with celebration.

(Soundbite of gunfire

(Soundbite of horn honking

(Soundbite of screeching tires)

SIEGEL: There was gunfire, horn honking and screeching tires.

(Soundbite of gunfire

(Soundbite of horn honking

(Soundbite of screeching tires)

SIEGEL: Muhammad Abusalam(ph) is a member of the rebels' provisional council in Tobruk.

Mr. MUHAMMAD ABUSALAM: (Foreign language spoken) Happy, happy people.

SIEGEL: Joining us now from Tobruk is NPR's Eric Westervelt.

Eric, celebrations continue there, but have the rebels really gained anything to celebrate about?

ERIC WESTERVELT: Well, not really, Robert, not yet anyway; certainly, not on the ground, militarily. If by the celebration that's still going on here in Tobruk, you'd think the rebels were declaring victory but SIEGEL: Eric, celebrations continue there, but have the rebels really gained anything to celebrate about?

WESTERVELT: Well, not really, Robert, not yet, anyway, certainly not on the ground militarily. Yet by the celebration that's still going on here in Tobruk, you'd think the rebels were declaring victory. But they really have a long road ahead.

It was interesting, Robert. At a junction on the edge of this town, rebel fighters were meeting up to head south down the road towards Ajdabiya, where we're told sporadic fighting has continued today, and the mood there was certainly not celebratory.

They were heading into potential combat, piling into trucks and cars as they have been for weeks and heading sort of chaotically and in a ragtag manner down toward the frontline, while in the town here, it was really an ongoing party.

SIEGEL: Eric, world leaders have reacted skeptically, to say the least, to the Gadhafi regime's statement that it was halting all military activity. Secretary of State Clinton, British Prime Minister David Cameron, among others, have said that the world will judge Colonel Gadhafi by his actions, not his words.

From what you've been able to figure out, well, first of all, what's the reaction there, and what have the Gadhafi regime's actions been?

WESTERVELT: Well, everyone here dismisses the ceasefire pledge, saying no one trusts Colonel Gadhafi. He's lied to us for 42 years, many told us tonight, so why would we believe him now?

Most people I talked with said, you know, they think he's just trying to buy time while consolidating some of his recent military gains, especially in the western city of Misurata and the eastern city of Ajdabiya.

Fighting continues there, according to witnesses we've spoken to, especially in Misurata, where we're told there were artillery and other strikes there and several civilian casualties.

And in Benghazi, the rebel stronghold just to the west of here, a rebel commander dismissed the government's ceasefire call, saying Colonel Gadhafi is bluffing and really just trying to buy a little more time.

SIEGEL: Eric, I gather support for the rebels is very deep where you are, in Tobruk. You drove in today from the Egyptian border. Did you have the same sense as you were driving to Tobruk that you got inside Tobruk?

WESTERVELT: Well, it was interesting. In a lot of these dusty little border towns on the way to Tobruk, anti-Gadhafi and anti-government graffiti had clearly been recently painted over and scraped over. And in several of the towns, the rebel flag was not flying in these places.

It's not clear if, you know, these towns had long been more pro-regime or if they had changed sides or were simply sort of shifting allegiances depending on who was winning or not, but it was clearly a different mood when you go into some of these smaller towns.

People are more tense, more anxious, and you can tell they were kind of trying to read the tea leaves to see which way this conflict is going. So the mood in these smaller places was certainly different than in the larger city of Tobruk.

SIEGEL: But in Tobruk, has there actually been fighting today? Have government forces been firing on anyone near that city?

WESTERVELT: No, not at all. They've just been wasting a lot of ammunition that they may need if they're going to try to actually make good on their pledge to march on Tripoli someday and topple Gadhafi.

SIEGEL: Okay, that's NPR's Eric Westervelt, speaking to us from Tobruk, Libya. Eric, take care, and thanks.

WESTERVELT: Thanks, Robert.

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