Media reports Aug. 23 said Ghadafi’s Bab al-Aziziya compound was surrounded and under siege. NATO jets were continuing to fly in support of the rebels. But earlier reports that the rebels had Ghadafi’s son and presumed heir Saif al-Islam in custody were proved false as he appeared early that day to speak with cheering supporters.

Earlier this year, a Franciscan priest who has worked in Libya for seven years told Catholic News Service that Christians were afraid Islamic fundamentalists would take over the country if Gadhafi fell. He said that, under Gadhafi, Christians had been protected.

Libya is a Muslim country, with Christianity restricted mostly to enclaves of foreign workers, many of whom were evacuated earlier this year.

As the gunfire in the streets of Tripoli continued, it seemed only a matter of time before the city ended up in rebel hands (it had not fallen by The Register’s press time).

“It is a disaster,” a local source in the capital told Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

“We do not know how the situation is evolving because leaving the house means risking one’s life,” said the source, who asked to remain unnamed for security reasons.

Sources in Tripoli told Fides that the rebels launched their offensive the night of Aug. 19. Fighting began in the morning Aug. 20 and intensified Aug. 21, especially during the early stages of the ground offensive, the sources said.

“Many fear a bloodbath,” the source said. “While part of the population has left town, many of those who have remained are in the situation ‘wait and see.’ ”