GADDIFI TOPPLED!!!!!TRIPOLI CELEBRATING!!!!!!!!

1 hour 26 min ago - Libya

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has made no secret of his preference for women on his personal security detail. And now he is being accused of sending women to the front line.

Some in Libya say it is contrary to tradition but it may simply be a case of equality.

Al Jazeera's Sue Turton investigates.

Case of desperation, more like....

bb1 wrote:Case of desperation, more like....

As the reporter says, the use of women as soldiers goes against all the mores and traditions of Libya .... LL

Telegraph:

Libya's rebels lose ground along the new front line against Col Muammar Gaddafi

A rebel advance through Libya's western mountains suffered a significant setback yesterday after pro-Gaddafi forces captured a hillside village that had been held by opposition fighters for just a week.
By Adrian Blomfield, and Ruth Sherlock in Zintan 6:49PM BST 13 Jul 2011

Loyalist troops seized Qawalish after a dawn raid, an unexpected battlefield victory that threw rebel plans of advancing on the strategic garrison town of Garyan, 50 miles south of Tripoli, into disarray.

Opposition forces had presented the planned offensive on Garyan, the largest town in the largely rebel-held Nafusa Mountains, as a potentially pivotal moment in the five-month campaign to overthrow Col Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader.

But the comparative ease with which they were routed is likely to raise Nato fears that the rebels have neither the capacity, nor perhaps the will, to advance on the Libyan capital.

Such an assessment would be considered all the more gloomy given that the Nafusa Mountains, with their proximity to Tripoli, was increasingly being viewed as the most promising of the rebels' three main front lines.

Rebel commanders in the mountains sought to make light of the loss of Qawalish, predicting that it would be easily retaken and dismissing the village as a site of little importance.

"It is not a defeat for us," said Col Mohammed Ahmed Khabasha, the chief of the rebel military council in Zintan, the principal opposition stronghold in the Nafusa Mountains.

"We only need a couple of hours to regain Qawalish."

Hundreds of rebel fighters poured out of Zintan in pickup trucks, caked in dry mud as camouflage and mounted with anti-aircraft guns, in the direction of the front line.

But although they managed to halt a rapid loyalist advance towards Zintan and force pro-Gaddafi troops to surrender some of their gains, they had not succeeded in recapturing Qawalish by nightfall.

Col Khabasha dismissed the village as having "no strategic importance", claiming that they had left it virtually empty.

Visiting Qawalish the previous day, the Daily Telegraph found the village lightly defended, with only a few dozen fighters holding the front line against regular rocket attacks by loyalist forces stationed on a ridge just a mile away.

Pro-Gaddafi troops attempted to take the village three days ago, but on that occasion they were repulsed. yet, despite that narrow escape, the rebels chose not to reinforce Qawalish.

The apparent oversight seemed curious, given the ferocity of last week's battle that saw the rebels take Qawalish and the fact that they cannot hope to advance on Garyan unless they hold the village.

But, in a development that will only deepen Nato dismay, some rebels admitted that rifts had opened in the rebel ranks between Berber tribesmen and their fellow Arab fighters.

Competing local loyalties have always been a characteristic of the Nafusa Mountains, and there have been persistent rumours of mutual Berber-Arab suspicion.

Although senior rebel commanders denied the existence of any divisions, one Arab fighter blamed the fall of Qawalish on "sleepy" Berber tribesmen who failed to hold the line.

Pointing to another deficiency that is likely to hamper rebel ambitions of advancing in the direction of Tripoli, fleeing fighters admitted that they had been forced to abandon the village after running out of ammunition.

Rebels have long complained of munitions shortages as well as a dearth of petrol and cash. France says it has airdropped weapons in the Nafusa Mountains, but a number of rebels say they have seen no evidence of them.

Tell me France hasn't airdropped supplies to Gaddafi...

Morning:

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

1 hour 1 min ago

REUTERS - President Barack Obama told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday he supports Moscow's efforts to mediate a political solution in Libya and is ready to support talks toward a democratic transition as long as Muammar Gaddafi steps aside, the White House said.

11 hours 3 min ago

Libya's prosecutor general Mohammed Zikri al-Mahjoubi files charges against the secretary general of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen of war crimes against Libyans before a Libyan court in Tripoli July 13.

11 hours 7 min ago

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's "days are numbered" after signs of advances on the field by rebels.

Clinton, at a joint news conference with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, pledged to work with Moscow which abstained from a UN resolution that opened the way for military intervention but has since offered mediation.

11 hours 55 min ago

The head of the Libyan executive office for the National Transitional Council, Mahmoud Jibril, has denied that there was any comprehensive political initiative on the table for resolving the conflict in Libya according to an Al Jazeera Arabic report.

Jibril was speaking at a press conference held in Brussels after concluding talks he had held with NATO officials. The meeting reviewed questions related to statements made by French prime minister François Fillon in which he said signs of a political solution in Libya were beginning to emerge.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Reuters:

4:00am: Rebel fighters said they had retaken the village of Al-Qawalish in western Libya from forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi on Wednesday.

The village fell to pro-Gaddafi forces earlier on Wednesday, but the rebels said they had staged a successful counter-attack to seize it back, rebel spokesman Abdurahman Alzintani told Reuters.

The village lies about 100 km (60 miles) south of Tripoli and is key to rebel plans to advance on Gaddafi’s stronghold in the capital.

Snippet from The Telegraph:

Col Muammar Gaddafi's son targets Janine Di Giovanni
Janine di Giovanni, the war reporter and author, beguiles Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Col Muammar Gaddafi.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is a fan of Janine di Giovanni, the war reporter and author.
By Tim Walker 7:28AM BST 14 Jul 2011

Holed up in a bunker somewhere in Libya, Saif al-Islam still looms large in the mind of Janine di Giovanni, the war reporter and author.

The son of Col Muammar Gaddafi, 39, a chum of Lord Mandelson and Nat Rothschild, made overtures towards Di Giovanni, 49. “Saif was asking around all the foreign journalists in Tripoli about Janine,” says one of her friends at the launch of her book Ghosts by Daylight at Blakes Hotel in Kensington.

“It was well known that he admired her. She’s a beautiful woman. He did attempt to contact her, but, obviously, it’s a difficult situation.”

Di Giovanni, who is working on a book about the Arab Spring, says: “It’s a delicate subject. I can’t really talk about it.”

Link to the Telegraph for more news items.:

Al Jazeera:

Key Libyan village back in rebel hands
Opposition forces dig in to defend recaptured Qwalish, south of the Libyan capital, and plan new offensive in the east.
Last Modified: 14 Jul 2011 11:15



Libyan rebel fighters are digging in to defend a village south of Tripoli following a see-saw battle for control with government forces that seen control of the village change hands several times.

Rebel fighters took Qwalish, a staging post on the way to the capital about 100km north, a week ago, then lost it to government troops on Wednesday morning. But by nightfall they were back in control.

Scores of fighters manned defensive positions throughout Qwalish on Thursday, supported by trucks with heavy machine guns mounted on the back.

That was in contrast to the light defences in place on Wednesday morning when forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi quickly overran the village.

"We came yesterday and we stayed here and we said we are not moving until the place is secure," said one rebel fighter who was manning a machine gun and gave his name as Tommy.

"This mistake is not going to happen again. We're not going home."

Rebels said forces loyal to Gaddafi, who were now positioned a short distance to the east, had shelled the village overnight but stopped after dawn. A NATO aircraft could be heard overhead.

Control of Qwalish is strategically important because it allows the rebels to come down from their mountain stronghold and move towards the town of Garyan, which controls access to the main highway leading north to Tripoli.

Mohammed al-Bujdidi, a local rebel commander, said there were now many more fighters in Qwalish to stop pro-Gaddafi forces counter-attacking again.

"We do acknowledge that we made mistakes. Some of the Gaddafi forces were able to sneak past us with the support of collaborators," he said.

There were still signs of Wednesday evening's battle for control. Outside the village's eastern edge, the corpses of two young pro-Gaddafi soldiers lay in the road.

Rebels also said they had taken prisoner two government officers who, they said, were mercenaries from Mali.

Tommy, the rebel fighter, said that when the rebels fought their way back into Qwalish they found the bodies of three of their comrades who, he said, had been executed by government forces.

He said one of the dead men had been shot at short range with a large-calibre machine gun. "You could not even recognise his face," he said.

In the east, meanwhile, Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reported from Ajdabiya that rebels were preparing to launch another major offensive. Fighters will push along the coastal front to take a crucial oil port, the first ambitious offensive in more than two months, our correspondent said.

It's a hard way to learn, LL

bb1 wrote:It's a hard way to learn, LL

All wars and uprisings are hard lessons both to the soldiers and to the civilians, bonny, it's always been so. LL

I know, LL, it's just so wrong that young men always pay the price for stopping evil old men. I know they have to be stopped, that there is no choice, but it never makes the loss easier.

bb1 wrote:I know, LL, it's just so wrong that young men always pay the price for stopping evil old men. I know they have to be stopped, that there is no choice, but it never makes the loss easier.

Well, most times it's the older men who have the power which they have amassed over the years. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And the old men, cowering in their bunkers play on the youngster's pride in their country. Wars will never stop until man/woman learn to be happy with what they have and not covet the next door neighbour's goods/land. LL

Morning!

Al Jazeera:

Gaddafi's 'suicidal plan' for Tripoli
By Neave Barker on Thu, 07/14/2011 - 14:01.
The "suicidal plan" to destroy Tripoli if it falls has been ascribed to Baghdadi al-Mahmudi, the Libyan prime minister.

Hardly reassuring words from the man Russia's put in charge of mediating the conflict in Libya.

Mikhail Margelov, the president's special envoy to Africa, said in an interview with the Russian Izvestia newspaper that the regime of Muammar Gaddafi has "a suicidal plan” in place if rebels move to seize Tripoli.

“The Libyan premier told me, 'If the rebels take over the city, we will cover it with missiles and blow it up,'" he said. "I imagine that the Gaddafi regime does have such a suicidal plan."

Margelov met Baghdadi al-Mahmudi, the Libyan prime minister, in the capital last month but hasn't yet met Gaddafi.

He also questioned some Western reports that Gaddafi is running out of weapons.

“Gaddafi still hasn't used a single surface-to-surface missile,” he claimed.

However, Margelov did confirm that the regime is running out of fuel. Petrol queues several kilometres long have formed on the road from the Tunisian border.

"Tripoli theoretically could lack ammunition for tanks, cartridges for rifles. But the colonel has got plenty of missiles and explosives," he said.

Russia isn't the only country trying to mediate an end to the fighting. France recently confirmed that it has been talking to emissaries from Gaddafi, and other sources have said the French serve as a kind of intermediary between the regime and the opposition National Transitional Council.

Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, recently said Gaddafi is "prepared" to step down, the primary demand of the rebels.

Russia has reluctantly come along with the NATO campaign against the Gaddafi regime, though it joined with China in abstaining from the UN Security Council vote that authorised the attacks.

So he's going to do the same as Hitler? Blow up Tripoli and kill everyone in it like Hitler wanted to do with Berlin, but failed thanks to Albert Speer sabotaging his orders?

Link to live blog as there are quite a lot of items today: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya

Oh Good God!

Al Jazeera: Link as videos not on youtube: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/07/20117151507338126.html

US recognises Libyan opposition group
Decision by 32-nation Contact Group expected to free up money for fighters seeking to end Muammar Gaddafi's rule.
Last Modified: 15 Jul 2011 16:01

The Contact Group on Libya includes members of NATO, the European Union and the Arab League.

The US has joined 30 other nations in formally recognising Libya's main opposition group as the country's legitimate government until a new interim authority is created.

Friday's decision, which declared Muammar Gaddafi's government no longer legitimate, will potentially free up money that the rebels fighting the Libyan leader's forces urgently need.

The final statement by the so-called Contact Group on Libya, meeting in the Turkish city of Istanbul, said the "Gaddafi regime no longer has any legitimate authority in Libya", and Gaddafi and certain members of his family must go.

The group said it would deal with Libya's main opposition group - the National Transitional Council, or NTC - as "the legitimate governing authority in Libya" until an interim authority is in place.

Al Jazeera's Barnaby Phillips, reporting from Istanbul, said: "The main focus is ways to get rid of Gaddafi as quickly as possible, and to look at what will come next.

"Previous meetings focused more on bolstering NATO's military efforts and aid to civilians."

In addition to the US, the 32-nation Contact Group on Libya includes members of NATO, the European Union and the Arab League.

The front lines in the Libyan civil war have largely stagnated since the popular uprising seeking to oust Gaddafi broke out in February.

Rebels, backed by NATO's aerial bombings, control much of the country's east and pockets in the west. But Gaddafi controls the rest from Gaddafi's stronghold in Tripoli, the capital.

Frozen billions

The recognition of the Libyan opposition as the legitimate government gives the anti-Gaddafi coalition a major financial and credibility boost.

Diplomatic recognition of the council means that the US will be able to fund the opposition with some of the more than $30bn in Gaddafi-government assets that are frozen in American banks.


"The United States views the Gaddafi regime as no longer having any legitimate authority in Libya," Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said.

"And so I am announcing today that, until an interim authority is in place, the United States will recognise the TNC as the legitimate governing authority for Libya, and we will deal with it on that basis."

The Contact Group representatives broke into spontaneous applause when Clinton announced that the US recognises the NTC, according to US officials.

Mahmoud Shammam, an NTC spokesman, welcomed the recognition of the National Transitional Council, calling on other nations to deliver on a promise to release hundreds of millions of dollars in funds to the Libyan opposition.

"Funds, funds, funds," Shammam said in order to stress the opposition's demand.

He said the opposition hopes to hold elections within a year and resume oil exports very soon, saying the damage to oil facilities have been minimal and repaired. However, Shammam ruled out any new oil contracts until a new elected government was in place.

Dying for oil

From Tripoli, Moussa Ibrahim, the spokesman for the Libyan government, said its members were ready to die in defence of the country's oil against attacks by the rebels and NATO forces.

"We will kill, we will die for oil," he said.

"Rebels, NATO, we don't care. We will defend our oil to the last drop of blood and we are going to use everything."

Rosiland Jordan reports from Washington - see link for video

There had been concerns about whether the initial government would represent the full spectrum of Libyan society, and Human Right Watch called on the Contact Group on Libya to press the opposition to ensure that civilians are protected in areas where rebels have assumed control.

The organisation cited abuses in the four towns of Awaniya, Rayayinah, Zawiyat al-Bagul, and Qawalish - recently captured by rebels in the western mountains, including looting, arson and beatings of some civilians who remained when government forces withdrew.

The US official, however, said the NTC won international recognition after it said it would abide by its commitments and find a way forward for a truly democratic Libyan government.

The assurances included upholding the group's international obligations, pursuing a democratic reform process that is both geographically and politically inclusive, and dispersing funds for the benefit of the Libyan people.

The Contact Group statement urged a smooth transition to democracy and ruled out participation of "perpetrators of atrocities against civilians" in a future political settlement.

Telegraph: various items with videos, not on youtube:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/

Good morning!

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

11 hours 40 min ago

Canada cannot unlock frozen assets to help fund the Libyan rebels even after world powers on Friday recognised the National Transitional Council (TNC) as the country's legitimate government.

Foreign minister John Baird said any attempt to free up locked Libyan government money unilaterally could run up against complex legal constraints and conflict with United Nations sanctions, leaving it helpless to act on its own.

"We believe that the overwhelming amount that's been frozen in Canada is under U.N. Security Council sanctions and so our legal ability with Canadian law is that we can't release it to either them (the TNC) or a third party until the security council lifts the freeze or makes another decision in that regard," Baird told reporters via teleconference.

14 hours 5 min ago

The Libyan opposition says the country could be exporting 1 million barrels of oil per day within three to four months after Muammar Gaddafi's fall from power.

Ali Tarhouni, the finance minister of the National Transitional Council, told The Associated Press Friday Libya could be exporting "something like 100,000, 200,000 barrels a day'' within a week after Gaddafi's ouster.

Libya currently exports no oil, and its absence from the world market has contributed to the rise of the price of oil.

Tarhouni said a little under half of Libya's oil fields were in rebel-controlled areas. But a lack of security and some damage to some of the oil fields was preventing the resumption of oil production.

Tarhouni said Gaddafi's forces could attack if less-damaged fields were to resume production.

14 hours 52 min ago

Libyan leader Gaddafi tells NATO alliance that he rejects the West’s recognition of rebels. Earlier on Wednesday, the US joined 30 other nations in formally recognising Libya's main opposition group as the country's legitimate government until a new interim authority is created.

Gaddafi said Libyan peopel rejected the recognition by the US and other world powers of rebel leaders as the legitimate representatives of the country's government.

In an audio speech carried on Libyan television, Gaddafi addressed tens of thousands of supporters in the town of Zlitan who gathered in a rally broadcast on Libyan television.

"Trample on those recognitions, trample on them under your feet ... They are worthless," he said. The Contact Group on Libya met at Turkey's Ciragan Palace in Istanbul.

Telegraph:

Libya: world leaders kick start peace negotiations as US recognises rebels.

World leaders on Friday told a UN special envoy to negotiate a peace deal with Col Gaddafi that could see Libyan leader stay in the country after stepping down.

By Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent, 7:57PM BST 15 Jul 2011

Abdul Elah al-Khatib, the special envoy, was asked by the Turkish foreign minister, host of a one-day summit attended by Nato and other leaders, to present a peace deal in the next two weeks.

It would have to be negotiated first not only with Col Gaddafi but with the rebel leadership in Benghazi.

Nato also increased the military and diplomatic pressure on the Gaddafi regime in careful mix of carrot and stick.

William Hague, the foreign secretary, said Britain was committing four more Tornado reconnaissance aircraft to the bombing campaign against Libya.

The United States said it was formally recognising the rebel Transitional National Council as the “legitimate governing authority” for Libya, a decision that could free up funds seized from the regime under United Nations resolutions.

Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, said that she would authorise the legal work necessary before Washington and the UN can release the frozen funds, estimated at up to USD34 billion, more than £20 billion.

The Libya “contact group” meeting in Istanbul was an attempt to present a common international front on the country’s civil war.

China and Russia, critics of the Nato bombing campaign, refused to attend.

NATO, while keen to paper over cracks that have appeared in the coalition’s stance in recent weeks, softened its insistence there could be no negotiations until Col Gaddafi stood down.

Turkey, which is not part of the coalition, went further than any other Nato member on the eve of the talks, calling for a ceasefire to be implemented throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which this year starts on August 1.

It also proposed talks to enable Col Gaddafi to step down while remaining in Libya, the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said. That might require revisions to United Nations resolutions.

“An exit strategy for Gadhafi to leave power, but not necessarily the country, should be sought by revising the UN Resolution 1973 if necessary,” he said in a briefing. He later added that he hoped Mr Khatib would find a political solution by the beginning of Ramadan.

Britain and the United States remain sceptical. Britain’s official position, is that it has a “strong preference” that Col Gaddafi be handed over for trial at the International Criminal Court, which has indicted him, his son Saif al-Islam and his security chief Abdullah al-Senussi for war crimes.

But it does not regard this as a “red line” and would accept him staying in the country if the rebels did, according to officials.

Mr al-Khatib will be given freedom to negotiate within four “red lines”.

These are broadly that Col Gaddafi must stand down, Libya must remain united, “justice” must be assured for the victims of repression, and there must be an “inclusive” transition process.

British planning for a post-Gaddafi period includes leaving some of the regime’s security forces in place to guarantee law and order.

Col Gaddafi is said to have offered “peace feelers” in recent days, although in a television broadcast on Thursday night he said he would “fight to the end”.

In a direct response last night, he said the recognition by the USA and others of the rebels was “insignificant”.

“Trample on those recognitions, trample on them under your feet,” he said.

“They are worthless.”

He is said to want Saif al-Islam to have a role in government even if he himself stands aside, but that would be unacceptable both to the rebels and to the international community.

It is not clear whether it would be practical for him to stay in Libya if he did step down. It has been suggested he could live under UN supervision in his tribal home of Sabha, in the southern desert, but that would mean giving him guarantees that he would not be handed over to the ICC in future, which western countries would find hard to do.

The added firepower Britain is promising, along with the extra money that might be on its way, will be welcomed by the TNC, which claims rebel-held areas are suffering severe shortages. It is also demanding more help from Nato to push its military campaign forward.

It said it did not expect a ceasefire until after Col Gaddafi had been defeated.

World leaders on Friday told a UN special envoy to negotiate a peace deal with Col Gaddafi that could see Libyan leader stay in the country after stepping down.

Don't fancy that job much..

bb1 wrote:World leaders on Friday told a UN special envoy to negotiate a peace deal with Col Gaddafi that could see Libyan leader stay in the country after stepping down.

Don't fancy that job much..

He'll never agree, he'll lose too much face with his supporters if he does. I think he will hang on and if necessaary destroy Tripoli, going down with it - remember this (paraphased) "This is my country, my parents, my grandparents, my children, are all buried here, I will die here." LL

Al Jazeera:

Libya rebels killed trying to retake Brega

Opposition forces are poised to regain control of eastern oil town that has switched hands multiple times since March.
Last Modified: 16 Jul 2011 11:28

Recent opposition losses have led some Western backers to push for a political solution to the conflict.

A Libyan medical official says 10 rebel fighters have been killed and 172 wounded in an attack on a strategic eastern oil town controlled by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader.

Mohammed Idris said on Saturday that rebel forces entered the front-line town of Brega the night before and that government shelling and land mines killed the rebels.

He also said rebel forces had captured four government soldiers.

It was unclear whether any other government troops were killed and whether the fighting had advanced the rebel front line.

"We are told that the bulk of the opposition fighters are some 20km outside of Brega, kept at bay with Grad rockets fired by Gaddafi's fighters," Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from rebel-held Benghazi, said.

Heavy clashes also broke out on Saturday at the front line in the Western Mountains town of Bir Ghanam.

Rebels hold the high ground on the outskirts of the town, their closest position to Tripoli, just 80km away.

Libya's opposition received a boost on Friday from Istanbul when more than 30 nations - including the US - recognised their National Transitional Council.

But the civil war has fallen into a stalemate, with rebel forces unable to make significant advances, even while NATO bombs Gaddafi's troops under a UN mandate to protect civilians.

Returning to key town

Libyan rebels were poised for an attempt on Saturday to retake Brega after breaching the key oil refinery town's defences in a probing raid.

Mohammed Zawi, a rebel military spokesman, told the AFP news agency that a light mobile force had breached loyalist positions around Brega late on Friday, before pulling back for a renewed offensive early on Saturday.

A group of about 50 reconnaissance troops entered the town from the north, then pulled back four kilometres before midnight, Zawi said.

The probing raid on the front line between the rebel-held east and the mainly government-held west came about 32 hours after the rebel command launched a three-pronged attack against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's forces, who were thought to have numbered about 3,000.

While the rebels' forward position to the north was four kilometres from the town centre, a second unit attacking from due east of Brega faced stiffer resistance.

"Most of Gaddafi's troops seem to be at the centre," Zawi said.

Rebels were trying to dispose of more than 150 landmines already found outside the town, to make way for heavy artillery.

'Very close to Brega'

At a hospital in nearby Ajdabiya, Ahmed Dinari, a doctor, said most of the casualties were now caused by landmines rather than Gaddafi's heavy artillery, as earlier on in the offensive.

"We have had five more injuries this morning, all of them from mine explosions," he said.

Lying prone in a hospital bed, 19-year-old Ali Saleh said he had been in the central rebel column in the early hours of the morning when his armoured personnel carrier hit a mine.

"We were very close to Brega at around three in the morning, then we got instructions from NATO to fall back and as we were falling back the vehicle hit a mine, destroying the chain track."

To the south of the town, where the rebels had made initial gains but suffered large numbers of casualties, Gaddafi forces had pushed back harder, wounding many rebels with rocket fire.
Click here for more of Al Jazeera's special coverage

Brega, nestled at the southeastern tip of the Gulf of Sirte, has changed hands multiple times during Libya's civil war, which soon will enter its fifth month.

Detailing sorties carried out on Friday, NATO said key hits by its aircraft around Brega included one tank, a multiple rocket launcher, five armoured vehicles and seven armed vehicles.

In raids near the Libyan capital, aircraft took out a radar facility and a surface-to-air missile launcher, it said.

Brega's vast oil refinery and storage facilities could provide fuel and a much-needed income stream for the rebels. A victory would also provide a major boost for rebel morale, which has been sagging amid months of stalemate.

'Legitimate governing authority'

The fighters were buoyed on Friday by the news that in Istanbul the Contact Group recognised the rebels' National Transitional Council as "the legitimate governing authority in Libya" until an interim government is formed.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said the NTC had offered "important assurances" that it would pursue democratic reforms, uphold Libya's international obligations and disburse funds transparently.

The Contact Group, which includes regional players as well as countries participating in the NATO-led air war, "encouraged" its members, in a final statement issued after the meeting, to release funds to the cash-strapped rebel administration.

It urged countries which have frozen Libyan assets under UN sanctions "to open credit lines to the NTC corresponding to 10 to 20 per cent of the frozen assets by accepting them as collateral".

The rebels said what they really needed was cash. "We need three billion dollars," Mahmoud Shammam, a NTC official, said.

Gaddafi called the Contact Group's recognition of the rebels "insignificant" and said he could not imagine the day "the heroic Libyan people would be represented by a fistful of traitors who opened the doors of Benghazi to crusaders".

Al Jazeera Live Blog

29 min 43 sec ago

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, on Libyan TV addressing a crowd in Zawiya.

"Look at the wave of million supporters in Zawiya, we are the real Libyan's, not the traitors who have handed the country over to the French soldiers."

"I will die for my people, I will never leave my people. If you allow me to lead the fight I will lead the fight and die for my country."

"The rest of the Arab world is looking at Libya as inspiration for the rest of the region as we fight against the traitors and crusaders."

"How could we liberate Misurata when the 'rats' are hiding within the families using them as human shields? How can we bomb them when these 'rats' are hiding within these families?"

"We need to go to Benghazi and Misurata to liberate it, the people are calling me saying come and help us. Familes are telling us we are used as human shields in Misurata. Women are killed."

"This is the western democracy, if you are not with us then you are against us."

"The Libyan people will die for its oil, we will not leave our oil for these 'gangs'."

He went on to say that he wanted the people of Tripoli to "march to Benghazi" and "liberate the whole of Libya."

Sick man...he will never give in.

Good morning!

Al Jezeera:

New blasts rock the Libyan capital

New blasts come as opposition forces try to regain control of Brega that has switched hands multiple times since March.
Last Modified: 16 Jul 2011 11:28

Recent opposition losses have led some Western backers to push for a political solution to the conflict.

New blasts have rocked the Libyan capital as leader Muammar Gaddafi vowed to remain in the land of his ancestors in the face of new calls for him to go and with rebels pressing their campaign to oust him.

At least 13 blasts were heard before and just after 2300 GMT on Saturday. An AFP journalist was unable to say immediately what the targets had been.

State television channel Al Jamahiriya reported that "the colonialist crusader aggressor," a reference to NATO, had raided civilian and military sites in the Ain Zara district and Tajoura in the eastern suburbs of Tripoli.

The television, quoting a military source, said there had been victims but did not give any figure.

Earlier on Saturday a Libyan medical official said 10 opposition fighters had been killed and 172 more wounded in an attack on a strategic eastern oil town controlled by forces loyal to Gaddafi, the Libyan leader.

Mohammed Idris said that fighters entered the frontline town of Brega the night before and that government shelling and land mines killed the men.

He also said opposition forces had captured four government soldiers.

Brega, nestled at the southeastern tip of the Gulf of Sirte, has changed hands multiple times during Libya's civil war, which soon will enter its fifth month.

It was unclear whether any other government troops were killed and whether the fighting had advanced the opposition frontline.

"We are told that the bulk of the opposition fighters are some 20km outside of Brega, kept at bay with Grad rockets fired by Gaddafi's fighters," Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from rebel-held Benghazi, said.

Brega's vast oil refinery and storage facilities could provide fuel and a much-needed income stream for the rebels.

A victory would also provide a major boost for rebel morale, which has been sagging amid months of stalemate.

Heavy clashes also broke out on Saturday at the frontline in the Western Mountains town of Bir Ghanam.

Anti-Gaddafi fighters hold the high ground on the outskirts of the town, their closest position to Tripoli, just 80km away.

But the civil war has fallen into a stalemate, with the opposition forces unable to make significant advances, even while NATO bombs Gaddafi's troops under a UN mandate to protect civilians.

Gaddafi's speech

The battles in Brega and in Bir Ghanam took place on a day Libyan state television showed Gaddafi addressing over phone a crowd in Az Zawiyah, in the country's northwest.

"I will die for my people, I will never leave my people. If you allow me to lead the fight, I will lead the fight and die for my country," he was heard saying.

"We need to go to Benghazi and Misurata to liberate it. The people are calling me, saying 'come and help us'. Families are telling us 'we are being used as human shields in Misurata, women are getting killed'.

"The Libyan people will die for its oil. We will not leave our oil for these gangs."

Gaddafi described the opposition as worthless traitors and rejected suggestions that he was about to leave the country.

"They said Gaddafi will go to Honolulu," he said. "This is funny: to leave the graves of my forefathers and my people? Are you serious?"

Loyalist positions

Earlier, Mohammed Zawi, an opposition military spokesman, told the AFP news agency that a light mobile force had breached loyalist positions around Brega late on Friday, before pulling back.

A group of about 50 reconnaissance troops entered the town from the north, then pulled back four kilometres before midnight, Zawi said.
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The probing raid on the frontline between the east and the mainly government-held west came about 32 hours after the opposition command launched a three-pronged attack against Gaddafi's forces, who were thought to have numbered about 3,000.

While the rebels' forward position to the north was four kilometres from the town centre, a second unit attacking from due east of Brega faced stiffer resistance.

"Most of Gaddafi's troops seem to be at the centre," Zawi said.

Rebels were trying to dispose of more than 150 landmines already found outside the town, to make way for heavy artillery.

Detailing sorties carried out on Friday, NATO said key hits by its aircraft around Brega included one tank, a multiple rocket launcher, five armoured vehicles and seven armed vehicles.

In raids near the Libyan capital, Tripoli, aircraft took out a radar facility and a surface-to-air missile launcher, it said.

Contact Group boost

Libya's opposition received a boost on Friday from Istanbul, Turkey, where more than 30 nations - including the US - recognised their National Transitional Council (NTC).

The Contact Group on Libya recognised the NTC as "the legitimate governing authority in Libya" until an interim government is formed.

The Contact Group, which includes regional players as well as countries participating in the NATO-led air war, "encouraged" its members, in a final statement issued after the meeting in Istanbul, to release funds to the cash-strapped rebel administration.

It urged countries which have frozen Libyan assets under UN sanctions "to open credit lines to the NTC corresponding to 10 to 20 per cent of the frozen assets by accepting them as collateral".

Farhat Bengdara, Libya's former central bank governor, said on Saturday in Istanbul that a newly formed association of Libyan bankers was preparing recommendations to support the NTC in raising finance.

Bengdara, who defected in March, said the unofficial International Association of Libyan Bankers would offer support to the NTC in restructuring the Libyan banking sector.

Al Jazeera Live blog: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya (phoyos)

1 hour 12 min ago

Libya's opposition fighters have discovered hundreds of anti-tank mines dispersed around the Misurata area. Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid reports:



5 hours 19 min ago

Malta is considering offering financial support to Libyan rebel leaders, but does not want to contribute militarily.

Maltese foreign minister Tonio Borg met members of Libya's opposition National Transitional Council in their de facto capital Benghazi on Sunday.

Following a meeting with NTC chairman Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, Borg told a news conference that Malta may be prepared to provide loans "to help the Libyan people to achieve their goals."

17 hours 57 min ago

The AP news agency is reporting that overnight NATO strikes hit a military depot in eastern Tripoli, along with sorties that struck radar and missile sites around the capital.

19 hours 15 min ago

Maltese Foreign Minister Tonio Borg visited the de facto rebel capital of Benghazi on Sunday, where he met with Ali al-Essawi, the opposition National Transitional Council's foreign affairs chief.

19 hours 26 min ago

Mahamadou Issoufou, the president of Niger, said he fears the conflict in Libya could lead to an extended civil war or possible takeover by fundamentalist Muslim fighters. Speaking on state television, he said his country wanted the conflict to "not drag on and ... go the same way as Somalia".