Libya, Uprising | featured news

...The truth is that there is no single explanation. One answer is that last year's wave of political uprisings, the so-called Arab Spring, is responsible. After all, protests began in Egypt, which last year became the most populous Arab democracy, and spread to Libya, which became the largest by area.

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.

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.

Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has encouraged democracy movements in the Arab world but resisted giving his full support to the Libyan uprising, now says it's time for Moammar Kadafi to go.