Closed captioning of: Gadhafi losing grip on Libya
>>
now to the revolt against
moammar gadhafi
's reign in
libya
. the
state department
is set to evacuate american citizens as the violent unrest there spreads. nbc's chief foreign correspondent
richard engel
is in
libya
. good morning.
>> reporter:
good morning. i am now in a part of eastern
libya
that's completely controlled by demonstrators. opposition groups tell us they have control of about a third of
libya
but gaddafi says he'll never give up power. as soon as we entered
libya
it was clear colonel
moammar gadhafi
is no longer in control of much of the country. our car was immediately surrounded by protesters. they were armed and december separate to speak. [ speaking in a
foreign language
]
>> reporter:
our children are dying, this man said. there are checkpoints on nearly every corner. we just crossed into
libya
from egypt. there is no presence of the
libyan government
here anymore. at the
border crossing
there was no one there to stamp us into the country. now the tribes are in control of the area. we were driven by the protesters for more than a hundred miles through
libya
. we didn't see a single
moammar gadhafi
loyalist. we saw
military barracks
, empty and burned. a protest was under way in torbruk. the protesters shouted "
libya
must be free" and fired in the air. even climbed on our car saying
moammar gadhafi
used these bullets to kill civilians. at the main
army headquarters
army officers were still armed and in uniform, now in open rebellion. they broke into tears. the people and the army
hand in hand
. there are reports of military defections like this nationwide.
>>
we are behind the people.
>> reporter:
this is not an egyptian-style protest movement. this is a war for
libya
. the
military bases
have been emptied. they are taking the weapons including machine guns,
rocket launchers
and they say now the people and military are together. the soldiers and civilians found an old newspaper with
moammar gadhafi
's picture and spit on it in disgust and burned it. there is heavy fighting in tripoli where in a national address
moammar gadhafi
said he would die a martyr. [ speaking in a
foreign language
]
>> reporter:
the libyan leader called on his supporters to attack and kill demonstrators, hunting them down house to house. it is a call for
civil war
as
libya
's leader of 41 years clings to power. the
u.s. state department
says it will start evacuating americans by ferry today and bringing them to malta. ma willie, back to you.
>>
we know he's been erratic at times but i understand there are questions about his
mental health
. what are you hearing there?
>> reporter:
people here think he's lost whatever sanity he had left and that worries them. they think he's desperate, no longer in control of his faculties and this desperate, almost insane man is willing to do almost anything to cling to
“ ”