LIBYA : UNREST AND UNCERTAINTY

As militiamen and mercenaries loyal to Moammar Khadafy ferociously strike back at rebels in and around the Libyan capital of Tripoli, much of the rest of the nation is embracing a bracing reality: After 41 years of ruthless and total control by Khadafy, they are suddenly free to rule themselves. In Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city and the cradle of the revolt, chants of jubilation are interspersed with quiet meetings. Neighborhood leaders are working to figure out such tasks as how to direct traffic and ensure utilities are up and running as they craft a plan for the future of the city. For guest workers and other expatriates, the future is no longer Libya. By the tens of thousands, they have been attempting to flee the violence, massing at ports as they await ships, overrunning the main airport,, and crossing by any means possible into Tunisia. Here's a look at one day -- Thursday -- in the life of those parts of Libya under rebel control.

Anti-government demonstrators help each other put on army uniforms that they took from troops loyal to leader Moammar Khadafy in Benghazi.

A man fires his pistol into the air as he celebrates with anti-government protesters Thursday on an army vehicle in the eastern Libyan town of Shahat.

A Libyan closes a box of ammunition at Al-Katiba military base after it fell to protesters battling the splintering government of Moammar Khadafy. The base is near Benghazi, the nation's second-largest city and one also under the control of rebels. Army units and militiamen loyal to Khadafy struck back Thursday against rebels in cities closer to the capital of Tripoli, attacking a mosque where many were holding an anti-government sit-in and battling others who seized control of an airport.

Protesters celebrate and shout slogans following their takeover of Benghazi. Even amid the euphoria, rumors abound that Moammar Khadafy will strike back, either through massive aerial or naval bombardments or through a string of stealth attacks from his plainclothes agents.

Exclamations of joy fill the air as residents of Benghazi find themselves in an unimaginable situation: Freed from Moammar Khadafy's rule for the first time in more than four decades.