Libya | featured news

Key dates in the history of Libya, from riches to rebellion.

The imminent end of a seven-month civil war in Libya holds the promise of restoring oil production and pushing prices lower. But rebel forces face a number of obstacles.

The downfall of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is likely to pave the way for increased Western attention to Syria and embolden protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

President Barack Obama said on Monday the United States would be a friend and partner to Libya, but urged rebels poised to depose Muammar Gaddafi to not seek justice through violent reprisals.

With Libyan rebels on the brink of toppling Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year rule, leaders around the world -- with the exception of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez -- called on the longtime leader to step down.

Explosions and gunfire rocked Tripoli overnight, after days of battlefield defeats left Muammar Gaddafi's government and troops penned ever more tightly in the besieged capital by a rebel advance.

As street battles raged on Friday just a half-hour’s drive from the Libyan capital, there were new signs in Tripoli that worried foreigners were urgently trying to leave.

Libyan rebels said on Monday they had seized a second strategic town near Tripoli within 24 hours, completing the encirclement of the capital in the boldest advances of their six-month-old uprising against Muammar Gaddafi.

Muammar Gaddafi urged Libyans on Monday to free the country from "NATO and traitors," as rebels in the west began to strangle a major lifeline to his capital.

BENGHAZI, Libya — The rebel government here has dismissed its entire cabinet in the wake of the unsolved killing of a powerful military leader, who was slain almost two weeks ago after he was ordered to appear before a board of inquiry about his handling of the war effort.