Monday 28 March 2011

Libyan rebels advance on oil terminal

Rebels in Libya with anti-aircraft gun near oil refinery at Ras Lanuf 27 March 2011. Photo: REUTERS
Rebel advance indicates that western air strikes are shifting battlefield dynamics in their favour
Published: 2011/03/28 06:34:45 AM


LIBYAN rebels pushed westwards yesterday to recapture more territory abandoned by Muammar Gaddafi’s retreating forces, weakened by western air strikes.


Emboldened by their capture of the strategic town of Ajdabiyah with the help of foreign warplanes on Saturday, the rebels advanced unchallenged to Ras Lanuf, a rebel fighter told Reuters on the road towards the oil terminal town.


The speed of the rebel advance suggests a rapid retreat by Mr Gaddafi’s forces after they lost Ajdabiyah, which had been an important gateway for the better- armed government troops to the rebel-held east.


In Brega, an oil town west of Ajdabiyah, rebel fighters were distributing water from trucks to residents or picking over debris of ammunition boxes and tank parts abandoned by the forces of Mr Gaddafi. There were long queues at fuel stations.




The rebels’ advance is a rapid reversal of two weeks of losses and indicates that western air strikes are shifting the battlefield dynamics in their favour.


As the frontline moved to the heartland of Mr Gaddafi’s support, government forces pounded Misrata in the west with tank, mortar and artillery fire on Saturday. Witnesses said the shelling halted after coalition aircraft appeared overhead.


A Misrata resident told Reuters by phone the humanitarian situation in the city was very bad, but that rebels had said they would fight until it was freed.


"It is quiet now, apart from occasional exchanges of fire.... In comparison with yesterday it is calm. Yesterday we had w estern coalition bombing of Gaddafi’s positions, particularly near the air base about 10 km away," a resident called Sami said.


A rebel in Misrata told Reuters Mr Gaddafi was putting all his weight into attacking Misrata so he could control the whole of the west of the country after losing all of the east.


Libyan government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said in the capital Tripoli Mr Gaddafi was directing his forces but appeared to suggest the leader might be moving around so as to keep his whereabouts a mystery.


"He is leading the battle. He is leading the nation forward from anywhere in the country," said Mr Ibrahim.


"He has many offices, many places around Libya. I assure you he is leading the nation at this very moment and he is in continuous communication with everyone around the country."


Asked if Mr Gaddafi was constantly on the move, Mr Ibrahim said: "It’s a time of war. In a time of war you act differently."


Capturing Ajdabiyah was a big morale booster for rebels a week after air strikes began to enforce a United Nations-mandated no-fly zone.










Libyan state TV was yesterday broadcasting pop songs and images of palm trees, wheat fields and vast construction projects completed in Mr Gaddafi’s four decades in power. Mr Gaddafi himself has not been on TV since he made a speech on Wednesday, and his sons Saif al- Islam and Khamis — who earlier in the conflict spoke regularly to foreign media — have been out of sight even longer.


Internet social networks and some Arabic-language media have reported that Khamis, commander of the elite 32nd brigade, was killed by a disaffected air-force pilot who, according to the reports, flew his aircraft into the Gaddafi compound in Tripoli.


There has been no confirmation and Libyan officials say such reports are part of a deliberate campaign of misinformation.


Last week Libyan officials said nearly 100 civilians had been killed in coalition strikes, but US Defence Secretary Robert Gates dismissed this.


North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ambassadors met yesterday to discuss plans for broadening the alliance mandate to take full command of military operations . Reuters


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