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Pro-Qaddafi Forces Begin to Corner Rebels

March 12, 2011: A pro-Gadhafi fighter holds a poster of Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi as black plume of smoke rises from the burning oil refinery as they are pictured during a government-organized visit for foreign media in Ras Lanouf, Libya

AP

March 12, 2011: A pro-Gadhafi fighter holds a poster of Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi as black plume of smoke rises from the burning oil refinery as they are pictured during a government-organized visit for foreign media in Ras Lanouf, Libya

BENGHAZI, Libya –  Moammar Qaddafi’s forces swept rebels from a key oil town Sunday with waves of strikes from warships, tanks and warplanes, closing on the opposition-held eastern half of Libya as insurgents pleaded for a U.N.-imposed no-fly zone.

Qaddafi’s troops have been emboldened by a string of victories in the struggle for Libya’s main coastal highway but their supply lines are stretched and their dependence on artillery, airstrikes and naval attacks makes it hard for them to swiftly consolidate control of territory, particularly at night.

The insurgents claimed they moved back into the strategic town of Brega after dusk in a fast-moving battle with a constantly shifting front line, destroying armored vehicles and capturing dozens of fighters from Qaddafi’s elite Khamis Brigade.

The United States sent U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton to meet with rebel leaders in Paris on Monday as world powers consider trying to ground Qaddafi’s air force.

The Obama administration and other governments have expressed deep reservations about a tactic that would require them to destroy Qaddafi’s air defenses and possibly shoot down his planes. The Arab League raised the pressure on the U.S. and its NATO allies on Saturday by asking the U.N. Security Council to impose a no-fly zone, but a day later they appeared no closer to taking action.

“This was a rare decision of the Arab League,” rebel spokesman Abdul Basit al-Muzayrik told Al-Jazeera. “We call on the international community to quickly make a firm decision against these crimes.”

The poorly equipped and loosely organized rebel fighters said throughout the day they were fleeing the oil town of Brega under heavy attack, losing a vital source of fuel for their vehicles and leaving Qaddafi’s military less than 150 miles from the main opposition city of Benghazi.

A spokesman for Qaddafi’s military declared it had seized control of the town and was “dealing with the situation.”

It was impossible to independently confirm either side’s account because it has become too dangerous for reporters to operate in the contested area.

Ajdabiya is the only other major population center between Qaddafi’s forces and the rebel headquarters. If his successes continue, the Libyan strongman will soon face the choice of consolidating his control of the Mediterranean coast or moving swiftly toward Benghazi and the prospect of a devastating battle.

“Benghazi doesn’t deserve a full-scale military action,” army spokesman Milad Hussein told reporters in the capital, Tripoli. “They are a group of rats and vermin and as soon as we go in, they will raise their hands and surrender.”

Qaddafi’s navy, army and air force began pounding Brega with artillery, rockets and bombs Sunday morning and didn’t let up all day, forcing doctors and wounded people from the town’s hospital with a missile strike, several rebels told The Associated Press after fleeing.

“There wasn’t any time to breathe, to do anything,” one fighter with responsibility for logistics said by telephone as he fled Brega for Ajdabiya, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) by road to the east. Explosions went off in the background.

Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, he said the opposition was bracing for conflict in Ajdabiya by evacuating doctors and the wounded from there, too.

He said some rebels had gathered in a seaside village a few miles east of Brega, hoping to halt Qaddafi’s forces. He said more fighters from rebel strongholds in the east were heading to Ajdabiya to prepare for a battle there.

The rebels were trying to secure the southern and eastern roads to Ajdabiya and storing provisions and weapons there after the loss of free access to gasoline in Brega.

“I think they are bombing heavily because they want to win time before a no-fly zone is imposed,” the rebel shouted over the phone.

An opposition leader in Ajdabiya said the rebels planned to retake Brega and were attacking Qaddafi’s forces with guns and roadside bombs as they moved in reinforcements from government-held cities in the west.

Another rebel said that after their initial defeat, opposition forces destroyed armored vehicles and captured dozens of fighters from Qaddafi’s elite Khamis Brigade, driving others back into Brega’s airport.

A fourth opposition fighter told The Associated Press by telephone that celebrations had broken out in the nearby city of Ajdabiya, and celebratory gunfire, honking and shouting could be heard in the background.

“We are on our way to Brega to celebrate with our brothers there,” he said.

However, about an hour later he said Qaddafi’s forces had pushed the rebels back to a town called al-Ojela, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) east of Brega.

The rebels fighting to oust Qaddafi from power after more than 41 years were inspired by protesters who toppled authoritarian rulers in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt. A week ago they held the entire eastern half of the country and were charging toward the capital, Tripoli.

Then Qaddafi’s troops began reversing those early gains with superior weaponry and firepower from the air.

With much of the fighting in the east taking place along the coastal highway bounded by strips of desert, there are few places for the rebels to take cover, forcing them to withdraw under fire before attempting to surge back.

On Sunday, Qaddafi’s forces also appeared to edge closer to Misrata, battling rebel fighters on the outskirts of Libya’s third-largest city, 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli, residents reported.

One resident, who did not want his name used because he fears for his safety, said streets inside the city were empty as people took cover in their homes and the noise of tanks, anti-aircraft fire and machine guns grew ever nearer.

He said several tank shells had struck inside the city, hitting a mosque and an apartment building.

Pro-Qaddafi Forces Gaining Upper Hand on Rebels

March 11: Anti-Libyan Leader Muammar Qaddafi protesters pray during the Friday prayer at the court square, in Benghazi, eastern Libya. (AP)

RAS LANOUF, Libya — The world moved a step closer to a decision on imposing a no-fly zone over Libya but Muammar al-Qaddafi was swiftly advancing Saturday on the poorly equipped and loosely organized rebels who have seized much of the country.

Qaddafi’s forces pushed the frontline miles deeper into rebel territory and violence erupted at the front door of the opposition stronghold in eastern Libya, where an Al-Jazeera cameraman slain in an ambush became the first journalist killed in the nearly month-long conflict.

In Cairo, the Arab League asked the U.N. Security Council to impose a no-fly zone to protect the rebels, increasing pressure on the U.S. and other Western powers to take action that most have expressed deep reservations about.

In surprisingly swift action and aggressive language, the 22-member Arab bloc said after an emergency meeting that the Libyan government had “lost its sovereignty.” It asked the United Nations to “shoulder its responsibility … to impose a no-fly zone over the movement of Libyan military planes and to create safe zones in the places vulnerable to airstrikes.”

Western diplomats have said Arab and African approval was necessary before the Security Council voted on imposing a no-fly zone, which would be imposed by NATO nations to protect civilians from air attack by Qaddafi’s forces.

The U.S. and many allies have expressed deep reservations about the effectiveness of a no-fly zone, and the possibility it could drag them into another messy conflict in the Muslim world.

Gen. Abdel-Fattah Younis, the country’s interior minister before defecting, told The Associated Press that Qaddafi’s forces had driven further into rebel territory than at any time since the opposition seized control of the east.

He said they were about 50 miles past the fiercely contested oil port of Ras Lanouf and about 25 miles outside Brega, the site of a major oil terminal.

Fewer rebel supporters were seen by an Associated Press reporter further east, suggesting morale had taken a hit as the momentum shifted in favor of the regime.

Outside the rebel stronghold of Benghazi deep in opposition territory, Al-Jazeera cameraman Ali Hassan al-Jaber was killed in what the pan-Arab satellite station described as an ambush.

Correspondent Baybah Wald Amhadi said the crew’s car came under fire from the rear as it returned from an assignment south of Benghazi. Al-Jaber was shot three times in the back and a fourth bullet hit another correspondent near the ear and wounded him, Amhadi said.

“Even areas under rebel control are not totally safe,” he said. “There are followers, eyes or fifth columns, for Col. Qaddafi.”

The Libyan government took reporters from the capital, Tripoli, 375 miles east by plane and bus to show off its control of the former frontline town of Bin Jawwad, the scene of brutal battles six days earlier between insurgents and Qaddafi loyalists using artillery, rockets and helicopter gunships.

A police station was completely destroyed, its windows shattered, walls blackened and burned and broken furniture inside. A nearby school had gaping holes in the roof and a wall. Homes nearby were empty and cars were overturned or left as charred hulks in the road.

Rubble filled the streets and a sulphurous smell hung in the air.

The tour continued 40 miles to the east in Ras Lanouf, an oil port of boxy, sand-colored buildings with satellite dishes on top.

The area was silent and devoid of any sign of life, with laundry still fluttering on lines strung across balconies. About 50 soldiers or militia members in 10 white Toyota pickups, holding up portraits of Qaddafi, smeared with mud as camouflage guarded it. A playground was strewn with bullet casings and medical supplies looted from a nearby pharmacy whose doors had been shot open.

The defeat at Ras Lanouf, which had been captured by rebels a week ago and only fell after days of fierce fighting and shelling, was a major setback for opposition forces who just a week ago held the entire eastern half of the country and were charging toward the capital.

A massive column of black smoke billowed from Ras Lanouf’s blazing oil refinery. A Libyan colonel asserted the rebels had detonated it as they retreated.

A resident also reported fighting between government forces and rebels inside Qaddafi’s territory in Misrata, Libya’s third-largest city, 125 miles southeast of Tripoli.

“There’s the sound of firing, tanks and rockets,” he told The Associated Press by telephone. “We can hear the sound of tanks, but it’s hard to go near. It feels like there is a battle at the edge of the city.”

Government forces also have recaptured the strategic town of Zawiya, near Tripoli, sealing off a corridor around the capital, which has been Qaddafi’s main stronghold.