10:37am

In the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, much of the euphoria and excitement that victory was close at hand had faded, said Al Jazeera‘s Hoda Abdel-Hamid.

Some feared that pro-Gaddafi forces had deliberately retreated to around Gaddafi‘s Sirte, drawing the inexperienced and poorly-equipped rebel fighters forward and leaving rebel-held towns exposed to a possible counter-offensive.

„Some people told me all the young people had gone to the front. There is no one left to protect the city,“ said Abdel-Hamid. „There is an understanding that [Gaddafi‘s ousting] is not going to happen so easily.“