Residents Reportedly Fleeing Libya’s Capital

Residents of Tripoli jammed filling stations to gas up their cars in a flight from the Libyan capital hours after hearing that U.S. warplanes shot down two Libyan jets over the Mediterranean, the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug reported Wednesday.

It said Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi’s home has been turned into a fortress, with anti-aircraft missiles mounted on its roof.

Tanjug has its own correspondent in Tripoli, and his reports have often proved reliable in the past.

In its report, Tanjug said that “only a few hours after” the United States shot down the Libyan planes, “migration of citizens from Tripoli was noticeable.”

Filling stations in Tripoli “were jammed with cars, the same way as before the American attack” on the North African nation in April, 1986, the agency said.

Moments after the news of the latest incident, “an avalanche of protests against ‘American aggression’ struck Libya,” with political activists calling for “armed struggle” against the United States, Tanjug said.

Tanjug reported that Libya had taken heavy military precautions following word that U.S. fleet movements were under way in the Mediterranean.

The agency said that mobilization of Libya’s reserve troops reportedly has been ordered, and military aircraft based at airfields on the Mediterranean coast have been moved inland to points in the Sahara desert.

In Tripoli, guns were mounted at key street intersections, and Kadafi’s personal guard took over traffic duties from police, Tanjug said.