After 42 Years, Libya Declares Itself Liberated

The rebels have become rulers, as Libya today declared itself free after 42 years under the iron grip of Moammar Gadhafi. "We declare to the whole world that we have liberated our beloved country, with its cities, villages, hill-tops, mountains, deserts, and skies," said an official at the ceremony in Benghazi, the birthplace of the uprising.

Libyans cheered NTC head Mustafa Abdel Jalil as the "man of the hour," reports Reuters, and jeered the deposed Gadhafi. "This is the humiliating end that God wanted to set as an example for anyone who practices the worst forms of injustice against their people," said an NTC official. Libyan music blared and flags waved throughout the jubilant event. Click here for more on Gadhafi's death. (More Libya stories.)