picture, i think there s a big sigh of relief. the job is still daunting. but they won t be quite as worried that they have to be constantly looking over their shoulder at him. now, there still may be remnants of gadhafi loyalists and they ll have to contend with them. but i think removing him as an organizing figure as a resistance is a very positive step. nbc s mike viqueira joins us from islamabad, pakistan. this is a very interesting moment because she was in tripoli, the highest ranking official. you said when you were there the other day that the security was enormous. tchs a pretty dangerous point for her to be going there. reporter: well, the security was enormous and the question is who was the security supplied by and that was part of the issue there. of course the secretary of state arrived on a u.s. air force c-17 transport from malta and met by
we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. gunfire, honking horns, celebrations in cities across libya, marking the death of gadhafi. we re following all the breaking news this hour. the man who ruthlessly ruled the country for 42 years was killed today outside his hometown of sirte. he was 69 years old. president obama said his death marks the end of a long and painful chapter for libya. one year ago, the notion of a free libya seemed impossible. but then the libyan people rose up. and demanded their rights. and when gadhafi and his forces started going city to city, town by town to brutalize men, women and children, the world refused to stand idly by. faced with the potential of mass atrocities and a call for help from the libyan people, the united states and our friends and allies stopped gadhafi s forces in their tracks. there will be difficult days ahead. but the united states, togethe