Reporters On Lockdown In Libya
KAYE: I want to get some insights now from a man who knows Libya inside and out. For most of the past 30 years, Mansour El-Kikhia has been outside Libya. He's a dissident author, professor and chair of the political science department at the University of Texas-San Antonio. Professor, thank you so much for your time today. Certainly an important day to be talking with you. You were an adviser to the National Transitional Council, the rebel's governing arm. What would you be advising them today?</s>MANSOUR EL-KIKHIA, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO: Two things. First of all, is to embark on a process for national conciliation, insuring that those people who have committed atrocities against Libya's are the ones -- other people are held accountable. And those people who have actually stolen national wealth, again, that those people are held. But most people should not be held accountable for working with Gadhafi, because mostly they've had no choice but to work with Gadhafi. The other thing which is very important is too quickly, quickly establish a new constitutional framework and a new system and hold elections. You see the current council itself as it stands really is not really legitimate, it's just a bunch of people that decided that they wanted to come together and establish a government. And that is really wrong. They should, first of all, establish free elections to elect a new body that will oversee the elections and the writing of the constitution and the forming of the new government. And that has to be done very, very quickly, within the next three months. I'm not really worried so much about what's taking place in Tripoli. It's not a matter if they win, it's when they win. You're going to find some Gadhafi resist -- supporters who will resist that, but ultimately Gadhafi has lost and we have to start planning for the next phase of Libyan development.</s>KAYE: Let me ask you about the rebel's success, because they really have been painted as sort of this rag tag group. They made some progress in some of the towns, then they lost those towns. They needed weapons. They wanted more help from NATO. What do you attribute their success to at this point?</s>EL-KIKHIA: You know, I -- had you told me this six or seven months ago, I would never have believed that they would make it. You must understand, the majority of these insurgents are just kids and they have learned on the job. They're armatures. They're not professional fighters. They're not professional soldiers. And they -- and it's only this pure gut and will that has pushed them forward. They're learning in the process and they will learn even more. I think the major success is their willingness to die for a cause. For removing Gadhafi. Again, if you live under Gadhafi's rule for 42 years, that's the only way out. You cannot take that for too long. And I think you see the majority of them were actually born during the time of Gadhafi and they have rebelled against the injustice that Gadhafi has given them over the last 30 or 40 years.</s>KAYE: So can --</s>EL-KIKHIA: And so I think this is the major process. Yes.</s>KAYE: Can the rebels govern though, that is the question, because there are so many different factions even with the rebel group?</s>EL-KIKHIA: Yes, you know, sometimes things happen that really, really (ph) help. Don't forget, you have approximately between 10 to 15 percent of Libyans actually in Diaspo (ph) that have left Libya. They have gone and lived in Europe and the United States. I've lived in Nasis (ph) for the last 30 years and, you know, I've been impacted by what I've seen. I love the freedom that I see around me. I'd love to see a new government that is really has checks and balances. I'd love to see a bill of rights. And I think -- and I'm thinking part in the formation of this new constitution. And I think so many people like me, you know, lived in Europe and other free countries and we are helping build (ph) back and we're rebuilding the country. And so it's going to take time. But it's going to happen.</s>KAYE: All right, Professor Mansour El-Kikhia, appreciate your time today and your insight as well. Thank you. And now take a look at this. I want to show you how you can keep up with Libya, minute by minute, 24 hours a day, right at home from your computer. Check out the live blog on cnn.com. CNN correspondents and producers are filing updates as they happen. You're always in the loop. You can see every hour, really even every few minutes at times we get an update from somebody who might be in the middle of everything, who might be traveling with the rebels, possibly from someone who might be in an area of the city where there's a ferocious gun battle taking place there in Tripoli. So if you want to stay up to the minute with us, just like we do, you can check that out at cnn.com, a live blog. And now let's take a look at the markets. There you see the Dow. It is up today 128 points at this hour. Alison Kosik is live at the New York Stock Exchange and she'll be with us with the very latest, next.