arabic networks saying he is walking around in tripoli and calls rebel forces criminals and traitors and rats. more and more the rebels do believe he is still in or near tripoli. in fact, they think two days of fierce fighting near the airport could be pretty significant. we are covering every angle of this story with multiple correspondents on the ground. sara sidner is in tripoli central square and we have arwa damon and frederik pleitgen and zain verjee. let s get to arwa damon right near the airport on the latest on the clashes. there were grad rockets fired at the airport complex earlier today. the fighting around here has been quite intense. and the rebel commander who led the assault on the airport believes that that fighting is directly linked to the whereabouts of colonel gadhafi himself. translator: the clashes are fierce because i think a route for gaffy to escape to other places. traffic all day and breaking people in the sunset and we spotted a convoy. possib
else from the cnn team and other networks from around the world who gathered over the last few weeks to report on the libya story from the rixos hotel, that last bash of pro-gadhafi control in the libyan capital, they are now free. they are driving through the streets of tripoli headed to a safer location. they were running out of food, they were running out of water. hopefully well, hopefully they ll be able to have a regular meal, call their loved ones, have a glass of water, take a shower, and just relax, but it was an absolutely traumatic experience. so along with suzanne malveaux as we broadcast to our viewers around the world. obviously, this is a very significant development. i mean, a great sigh of relief. you and i have been talking to matthew chance for days now. you could really tell how very tense the situation was, how difficult that was for him and the other journalists, just the fact we were not really able to share the full story and matthew was not able t
what they was a taped message from the dictator. in it he vowed martyrdom or victory. he said the repeat from his compound was in his words a tactical move. his spokesman promising to turn libya into volcanics and fire. he claims that tribes loyal gadhafi are making their way to tripoli to liberate the city. at the gadhafi compound loyalist gunmen trying to take it back from the opposition who captured it today. our sara sidner was there when it all happen. reporter: we re having to run out of the compound now. we see gunfire coming from outside the compound. in and it s getting it s getting too close. so we re leaving. we re not going to go all the way into the compound. it s definitely now from the outside of the compound firing towards us. let s go! go ahead. we just got a gunfire incoming overhead. just saw gunfire. we re seeing all these tracers hitting the water tink, hitting the an iryeah. so we ve got to go. sara sidner outside gadhafi s compound this evening. c
he said the retreat from his compound was a tactical move. just breaking right now over the computer wires, we re seeing from reuters, mousi ibrahim, the government spokesperson, who was in the hotel with other journalists, but fled yesterday. he is saying to reuters, now the mission is to just liberate tripoli gradually, our men are assuring me, it will only get easier them are trying to turn libya into the next iraq. central tripoli under the influence of gangs. they have been using them to describe the opposition fighters. clashes this morning in tripoli. some of our men died, but for the rebel side, tens died. 65 just from this morning. our armed forces will regain control of the area. he claims nato is trying to terrorize and occupy the country. he has been backing up gadhafi s statements, basically many of them outright lies for a long time, saying all of these opposition fighters were influenced by drugs, all high, young people, that they were on some sort of pharmaceu
or victory. the words he said were it was a tactical move. he also claims that tribes, loyal to gadhafi are making their way toward tripoli to liberate the city. that claim has been made before. at the gadhafi compound as the sun went down, there was new fighting. loyalists, gunmen trying to take it back from the opposition who captured it today. sara sidner was there when it all happened. let s go. come on, sara. come on, sara. having to run out of the compound now. we see gunfire coming from outside o the compound. it s getting too close. so we re leaving. we re not going to go into the compound. there s definitely from the outside of the compound firing towards us. [ gunfire ] just got a gunfire incoming over our head. it s behind you. we re seeing the tracers and hitting the water tank and the area. we got to go. sara sidner outside gadhafi s compound this evening. contrast that with scenes from earlier today as fighters poured in firing shots in celebration c