Gadhafi's Propaganda Has Tripoli Celebrating

It was a bad day for rebel forces in Libya, but in the streets of Tripoli people were celebrating—in part because they believed the news state-run television was broadcasting. David Green of NPR talked to people in a crowd of a few hundred Moammar Gadhafi supporters, who said they believed that al-Qaeda was responsible for the uprising, a message the state-run media has been heavily propagating.

The regime also used state television to attempt to undermine rebel morale today, as ministers announced that they’d give amnesty to anyone who gave up their weapons, the New York Times reports. At the same time, loyalist forces gained ground militarily, pushing rebels out of the coastal oil town of Brega, according to the Wall Street Journal. There were also a series of mysterious explosions in Benghazi, along with some robberies and the murder of an al-Jazeera journalist, prompting rebel authorities to round up Gadhafi supporters. (More Libya stories.)