Living conditions deteriorate as pressure mounts on Gaddafi

ZINTAN (AP):

Families fleeing their homes to avoid a possible rebel assault on the Libyan capital described deteriorating living conditions in Tripoli: Power outages lasting days, gun battles at night and a climate of fear in which no one dares to criticise the regime, even among friends.

With opposition fighters steadily gaining ground in the six-month-old civil war, there are signs that Moammar Gaddafi's 42-year-old rule may be unravelling.

A rebel victory in Zawiya could leave Gaddafi nearly cornered in his increasingly isolated stronghold of Tripoli. Rebel fighters are now closing in on the capital from the west and the south, while NATO controls the seas to the north. The opposition is in charge of most of the eastern half of the country.

The Libyan leader has given no indication he is willing to relinquish power, however, and rebels could easily get bogged down on the way to the capital or face a protracted battle there.

"We know he (Gaddafi) is finished," said Mohammed Said, a 50-year-old school teacher who fled Tripoli on Tuesday. "We just don't know when."

Tripoli residents are aware of the rebel advances, but won't speak out against the regime, even among friends, for fear of arrest.