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

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

3 hours 47 min ago
Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid has just been reporting live from just outside the western town of Zlitan, where rebel forces are advancing.

I can confirm that the opposition's fighters are on the outskirts of Zlitan ... from the vantage point where we were earlier, we could see the town of Zlitan a few kilometres away. So they really are on the outskirts of the town. It's still a very fluid situation, Gaddafi forces are putting up a battle. Opposition fighters have told us that yesterday actually several tanks of Gaddafi forces have tried to pierce through their defensive lines. So still we can't say that that area is under control, but they have reached it.

They need to enter the town of Zlitan, they say that is the biggest urban area before Tripoli, that's about 150km west of Zlitan. But it is a risky business. For one, they will admit to you that there are residents inside Zlitan who openly say that they support Colonel Gaddafi. There are other residents who say that they do not want to see the rebels, because they actually don't back either side. So that's one big challenge for them.

The second big challenge is that so far, as they were pushing, most of the battles were in open fields, in open areas. Now that they are at the outskirts of Zlitan, they're actually in an area where there are some residential homes. As far as we could tell, most of the people who are living there fled that area, but they know that there are civilians inside Zlitan and if they go inside Zlitan it could turn into street-fighting, and that's where the NATO mandate comes into question, because NATO is supposed to protect civilians regardless [of] where the fire is coming from. So it is a big problem for them.

Libyan rebels treated in Misrata

AlJazeera English on Jul 31, 2011
Opposition forces in Libya continue to fight government troops on several fronts, after a fresh offensive in the country's west.

Intense fighting has been reported from the villages of Bada, al-Josh, Tiji and on the outskirts of Zlitan.

Dead and injured fighters from Zlitan are being taken to a hospital in Misrata, where nurses work around the clock to try and save as many lives as possible.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid reports from Misrata, western Libya.

Al Jazeera 31 July 2011

Fighting has raged in the suburbs of Libya's rebel stronghold of Benghzai involving government forces.

At least four opposition fighters were killed and more than 30 of Gaddafi's troops were captured as a result of the fighting.

Tony Birtley reports from Benghazi.

Thanks, LL - it is very striking that the hospital staff are doing their utmost to maintain standards, despite the difficulties and pressure.

bb1 wrote:Thanks, LL - it is very striking that the hospital staff are doing their utmost to maintain standards, despite the difficulties and pressure.

I just hope, when all this trouble is over, their country will recognise their efforts and also those of the women who cook food for the fighters every day. LL

Al Jazeera English on 31 Jul 2011

Al Jazeera's James Bays reports from Libya's western mountains, where opposition forces have taken the town of al-Jawsh and are now battling for control of the key strategic town of Tiji.

The rebel forces say Tiji is the last government stronghold in the area, and that they are aiming to take it before Ramadan begins.

Good morning (a bit later than usual!!)

Feb 17 Libya News:

LIVE Libyan Unrest: August 2, 2011

8:40am: A visiting Libyan official urged Filipino workers Monday to return to Libya, saying its capital was peaceful and violence was confined to rebel-controlled areas.

Philippine Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said the Philippines is maintaining its policy not to deploy workers there.

NATO airstrikes have hit Tripoli and other targets in the five-month operation to enforce a no-fly zone and protect civilians, but there is a semblance of normalcy in the capital as shops remain open and residents go about normal daily routines.

Abdulhadi Lahweej, Libya’s undersecretary for expatriates, immigrants and refugee affairs, met with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario during which he assured him of the safety of Filipinos in Libya.

About 14,000 Filipinos were evacuated from the country in March, shortly after the rebellion began in mid-February. Those who remain are mostly medical workers.

8:02am: Libyan rebels have entered the town of Zlitan after a weekend of heavy fighting in which Nato escalated its bombing campaign in the runup to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

RAF planes dropped 16 Paveway laser-guided bombs in two days around the town, destroying government tanks, rocket launchers, ammunition dumps and command centres, and clearing a path for the rebels.

The Ministry of Defence said RAF jets also attacked a railway construction site at Bani Walid, south-west of Zlitan, commandeered for use as a military fuel distribution facility.

Opposition fighters said the town, which they have struggled to capture for eight weeks, was quiet on Monday, with no sign of government troops. We are in the town centre and we have the hospital,” said rebel fighter Yunus Al-Haq. “It’s good for the spirit.”

But securing the town for the opposition depends on clearing one final obstacle – agreement from the elders of the town’s Fowater tribe that Misratan fighters can be “invited” to occupy Zlitan.

7:38am: Libyan state television broadcasted footage of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, speaking on Sunday to a group of families displaced from Benghazi.

Gaddafi’s son told the crowds that fighting the rebels will not stop even if NATO halted its operations, he said also that they will continue the fight until they liberated all Libya.

“No one should think that after the all sacrifices we have made, and the martyrdom of our sons, brothers and friends, we will stop fighting. Forget it. Regardless of whether NATO leaves or not, the fighting will continue until all of Libya is liberated…”

1:00am: France will place $259 million at the disposal of Libya’s National Transition Council (NTC) after un-freezing Libyan assets in the country, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Monday.

The NTC has committed to use the funds for humanitarian purposes, respecting European guidelines, according to a foreign ministry statement released after a meeting between Juppe and the NTC’s special envoy in Paris, Mansour Seyf al-Nasr.

Congrats, LL - 1,000 views!

bb1 wrote:Congrats, LL - 1,000 views!

Wow, I didn't check when I logged in! Now, if we were elsewhere, there were 8,500+ views so I would be nearing the 10,000 mark, but I reckon 1,000 in the short time we have been back is pretty good, so WELL DONE ME!!!!

Al Jazeera:


Gaddafi forces 'launch Zlitan offensive'
Rebels say government forces stormed their positions on outskirts of strategic western town in pre-dawn assault.
Last Modified: 02 Aug 2011 15:19

Rebel fighters have been engaging with Gaddafi forces in Zlitan, Nafusa and Brega in recent days.

Fighting has broken out in the western Libyan town of Zlitan, after rebel forces say troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi launched an offensive on their positions in the town's suburbs.

Several rebel fighters told Al Jazeera that they were taken off guard during the offensive early on Tuesday morning, and that Gaddafi's forces had used tanks to launch an "all out offensive," outflanking rebel positions on the outskirts of the town.

At least seven rebel fighters were killed and a further 30 wounded in the fighting, opposition forces said.

"At this particular moment I can't tell you how much [the rebels] pulled back," said Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Misrata, where many of those wounded during the fighting were being treated.

"Earlier, several fighters told me they had pulled back - the situation is still extremely fluid."

Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani, a Benghazi-based spokesman for the rebels' military, told the AFP news agency that the opposition forces had launched a counter-offensive in Zlitan, and were involved in a "vicious fight" with pro-Gaddafi forces in the centre of the city.

Bani said that clashes also took place in the eastern oil town of Brega on Tuesday, where the rebels fought with pro-Gaddafi forces for several hours before being forced to retreat.

Abdel Hamid said that Zlitan, as the last major town left in government hands to the east of Tripoli, would be a key strategic gain for the rebels, but that they face several difficulties in taking the town.

For one, she said, Gaddafi's forces are present there "in large numbers", with reports of the Libyan army's 32nd Brigade being deployed there.

Second, the rebels have been "receiving very mixed messages from the residents of Zlitan," she said.

While some residents told rebel fighters that they are openly pro-Gaddafi, others have told them that they will receive support if they attempt to take the town, she said.

Rebel fighters say that they would only enter the town if they receive an "invitation" from the local tribes.

Russia, meanwhile, said on Tuesday that the fighting in Libya has reached a "dead end", and that all parties should seek "political and diplomatic solutions".

"The situation has reached a dead end that confirms that there is no military solution," Sergei Vershinin, the head of the foreign ministry's Middle East and North Africa department, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

"We have to go back to searching for political and diplomatic solutions."

'Fifth column'

The opposition has been rooting out what they say are pro-Gaddafi agents within its own ranks in their eastern bastion, while fighting on the Zlitan, Brega and Nafusa fronts continues.

At least 63 people suspected of having links to Gaddafi, and of murdering the rebels' military chief last week, were rounded up by the rebels on Sunday and Monday, the opposition said, following an hours-long battle in the opposition stronghold of Benghazi.

Security forces patrolled the streets in a bid to track down more members of the pro-Gaddafi group, a rebel spokesman said.

Opposition forces have captured the base of the Gaddafi loyalists, called the al-Nidaa Brigade, an armed group which had been operating under the opposition's banner, spokesman Mahmoud Shamam said.

Medics said at least four opposition members and 11 pro-government troops were killed in the clashes.

Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from Benghazi, said the battle was launched to subdue elements of Gaddafi's forces that had been operating as a "fifth column" within the opposition ranks.

The fighting followed Thursday's killing of Younes, the chief rebel commander, under mysterious circumstances.

Forces loyal to Gaddafi, meanwhile, took control on Monday of the village of al-Jawsh at the foot of the strategic western Nafusa mountains, AFP journalists at the scene said.

The rebels had on Sunday taken the village, but said they were forced to retreat to the east, half way along the road to the town of Shakshuka, after several hours of fighting.

The rebels said al-Jawsh had been emptied of residents and pro-Gaddafi forces were now in the village.

The Nafusa region has seen heavy fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Gaddafi since the rebels launched a major offensive this month in a drive on the capital Tripoli.

Very well done LL.

lily wrote:Very well done LL.

Ah thank you lily LL

Al Jazeera:

3 Aug 2011

Libyans in the opposition-held east of the country are getting used to fewer restrictions on the media, and being able to speak openly in public.

These new freedoms have been embraced by both broadcasters and local residents.

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reports from Benghazi.

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

3 hours 44 min ago

AFP reports: Seif al-Islam Kadhafi said Wednesday his family had forged an alliance with Islamist rebels to drive out the secular opposition to his father's 40-year rule.

Seif who along with his father had long branded the entire opposition as radical extremists, told The New York Times: "The liberals will escape or be killed... We will do it together."

"Libya will look like Saudi Arabia, like Iran. So what?" he added, in what the Times described as an hour-long interview that stretched past midnight in a nearly deserted Tripoli hotel.

9 hours 43 min ago

Suspected Libyan rebels have seized a gasoline tanker off Malta, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Wednesday, and the vessel was sailing for Benghazi, stronghold of forces opposed to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The Cartagena was anchored on Hurd's Bank just outside Maltese territorial waters when it was approached by a Libyan flagged tugboat and boarded at about 2 a.m. on Wednesday, said one of the sources, who asked not to be identified.

The vessel belongs to the Libyan government's shipping arm, the General National Maritime Transport Company, which is believed to be controlled by Gaddafi's son Hannibal, who is on a sanctions list.

10 hours 6 min ago

Libya's government on Wednesday denied rebel claims they had advanced to the centre of Zliten, saying the key western town was still firmly in government hands.

"Zliten is a free city (and) is under our full control," government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told reporters in Tripoli. "I'm not talking about the centre of Zliten, but about Zliten as a metropolitan area."

On Tuesday, the rebels said they had punched into the centre of Zliten, sparking fierce clashes with forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

Rebel sources on Wednesday admitted they had pulled back from the centre, but denied that Gaddafi forces were in control of the town.

14 hours 26 min ago

Libyan rebels said on Wednesday they had fought off an attack on positions around Zlitan, contradicting government claims of victory in a town insurgents hope will pave the way for an advance on the capital.

Tuesday's assault by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi led to fierce street battles that killed at least eight rebels, exposing the fragility of gains by rebels who are fighting on several fronts but are frequently out-gunned and out-manoeuvred.

14 hours 31 min ago

A missile launched from Libya landed harmlessly Wednesday 2km from an Italian warship sailing off the Libyan coast,Italian officials said.

The frigate Bersagliere was around 19km off the coast when radar spotted the missile landing in the sea of the ship's stern.

A Navy spokesman, speaking under navy policy of anonymity, said the navy is trying to determine if it was launched purposely Wednesday against the Italian vessel.

1 day 8 hours ago

Chris Stevens, the US envoy to the Libyan opposition in Benghazi, has voiced confidence that the rebels will prevent human rights abuses.

Stevens says that he has discussed allegations of rights abuses leveled by Human Rights Watch, and that there was "extra political motivation" to prevent any further abuses.

The rebels are "very sensitive to wanting to appear different from the Gaddafi forces and the abuses that those forces make in the field," Stevens told a news conference in Washington, where he was back for consultations.

"They got the message and I'm sure they're looking carefully at it and making sure it doesn't happen."

Stevens currently leads a US government team of eight people based out Benghazi.

1 day 8 hours ago

The tribe of assassinated rebel commander Abdel-Fattah Younes has vowed to find justice for themselves if those responsible for his death are not quickly found.

"The way he was killed looks like a betrayal, so until now we are trying to calm and control the youth of the tribe, but we don't know what could happen," one of Younes's sons told foreign reporters when asked if rifts within the rebel ranks could turn violent.

He was speaking after an emergency meeting of 90 leaders of the Ubaideyat tribe, one of the biggest in Libya.

"They [the tribal committee] will investigate who issued the arrest warrant and who sent whom to arrest him, how was he lost. They said he was dead but they couldn't find the body, so how did they know he was dead if there was no body?" the son said.

"If the [NTC] doesn't bring us justice, and if the [international] judiciary don't bring us justice, then we will leave it to the tribe to bring us justice," he said.

Mohammed Hamed Younes, one of the general's nephews, opined that there was never any intention to question General Younes over his links to Gaddafi, as the rebel council says was the objective of an arrest warrant.

"If there was an intention to investigate him, they could have called him and he would have followed orders, but there was no intention of that. From the start, there was an intention of betrayal and treason."

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

1 hour 21 sec ago

A top leader in Libya's rebel-held east has denied that rebels have forged an alliance with Muammar Gaddafi family.

Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam told The New York Times that his family had forged an alliance with Islamist rebels among the insurgents to drive out the secular opposition to his father's 40-year rule.

"Seif al-Islam's statement is baseless. It's a lie that seeks to create a crack in the national accord," Ali Sallabi told AFP over the telephone.

Sallabi acknowledged making conversations with Seif.

"Our dialogue with them is always based on three points: Kadhafi and his sons must leave Libya, the capital (Tripoli) must be protected from destruction and the blood of Libyans must be spared. There is no doubt about these constants," he said.

4 hours 51 min ago

A Libyan tanker reported to have been seized by rebels opposing Muammar Gaddafi is about to enter the rebel-held port of Benghazi having been cleared to proceed by NATO ships enforcing an arms embargo, NATO officials said on Thursday.

Sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Wednesday that suspected Libyan rebels seized the tanker Cartagena, which belongs to the Libyan government's shipping arm, off Malta and set course for Benghazi.

NATO officials said NATO forces enforcing an arms embargo on Libya had hailed the ship in the Mediterranean and had cleared it to proceed.

Colonel Roland Lavoie, NATO military spokeswoman, said: "It has been cleared to enter Benghazi and it's about to enter the port".

4 hours 58 min ago

France has said its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle would return home for maintenance next week from the NATO-led mission over Libya, but insisted there would be no respite for Muammar Gaddafi.

The vessel, France's only aircraft carrier and Europe's biggest warship, will leave on August 10 to head for its home port of Toulon for several weeks of work, defence minister Gerard Longuet told Var-Matin newspaper.

The French navy website however said on Thursday it would take "several months" to complete the work on the ship that has been engaged in the operation since March 22.

However, Longuet insisted that France would maintain its commitment to the Libya mission.

9 hours 25 min ago

Libya's embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi is ready to hold elections to resolve the ongoing conflict in the North African country, Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega said late on Wednesday after meeting with a Libyan delegation.

Ortega, a personal friend of Gaddafi, said the leftist Latin American bloc ALBA supported the move to allow Libyans to "exercise their right to vote... and create the conditions needed to end the war”.

The Nicaraguan leader, who called for an end to the allied bombing campaign, said the Libyan delegation had arrived in Managua on Tuesday bringing a letter for him from Gaddafi.

Thanks, LL - sounds like many peculiar things are happening behind the scenes?

It's all seems to be getting weirder by the minute; of course there is less at the moment re Libya as there is now the Somalia and Horn of Africa famine and the trial of Egypt's Mubarak taking centre stage, plus the fun and games with various countries' financial woes. And there is the crackdown in Syria,and still problems in Lebanon. Yemen and other Arab states. Libya is at a stalemate, actually it has been for the last couple of months. Two steps forward, two steps back. LL

Al Jazeera Live Blog:

49 min 17 sec ago

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid reports that it would be "very significant" for the conflict on the western frontlines if Khamis was indeed killed. Khamis is said to be the Gaddafi forces' operational commander for the Misrata area, and Al Jazeera correspondents have seen documents purportedly signed by him detailing military orders in the Misrata area.

Abdel-Hamid is also quick to point out that Khamis is reported to have died several times during this conflict. Al Jazeera is attempting to get confirmation on the veracity of this latest report.

1 hour 9 min ago

"Overnight there was a aircraft attack by NATO on the Gaddafi operations room in Zlitan and there are around 32 Gaddafi troops killed. One of them is Khamis," Mohammed Zawawi, a spokesman for the United Revolutionary Forces, has told AFP.

The would appear to have come just hours after journalists were led on a tour of Zlitan by government minders.

Rebel fighters say they have been engaged in an offensive to take Zlitan since the beginning of August. They have suffered heavy casualties, and several rebel fighters told Al Jazeera that they believed that the Libyan army's 32nd Brigade, which is commanded by Khamis, was leading the government forces' offensive.

1 hour 10 min ago

Rebel forces say Khamis Gaddafi, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, was killed in a NATO airstrike on an operations centre in the western town of Zlitan, AFP reports.

Mohammed Zawawi, a spokesman for opposition militia groups, said that Khamis was among 33 people killed, citing spies operating within the Gaddafi forces' ranks.

1 hour 14 min ago
Libya's rebels claim that a NATO airstrike has killed one of Muammar Gaddafi's sons, AFP reports. More details to follow.

2 hours 23 min ago

Khaled Kaim, the Libyan deputy foreign minister, says that rebel forces had sabotaged an oil pipeline in the Jebel Nefussa region of southeast of Tripoli.

Kaim said that the rebels had "turned off a valve and poured cement over it" in a bid to cut off oil and gas to the Zawiyah refinery. He said the intent was to create an electricity shortage in Tripoli.

2 hours 28 min ago

Libyan state television reports that NATO warplanes have been bombing the capital, Tripoli, early this morning.

An AFP journalist reported that 10 loud explosions were heard this morning at around 1:30am (2330GMT).

Libyan television said that "civilian and military sites" in the Tripoli suburb of Khellat al-Ferjan had been targetted by NATO.

Al Jazeera:

Libyan town of Derna battles suspicions

Conservative town's residents dismiss claims they killed oppositon comander as a Gaddafi regime ploy.
Last Modified: 04 Aug 2011 20:04

Suspicion over the recent murder of the Libyan opposition forces' commander, Abdel Fattah Younes, has fallen on a group of men from the socially conservative Muslim town of Derna, in the country's east.

Muammar Gaddafi's government has described the town as a "hotbed of religious fundamentalism" with widespread ties to al-Qaeda, a claim that that the town's residents adamantly refute.

Sounds like Gaddafi is determined to stir that particular pot, LL.

bb1 wrote:Sounds like Gaddafi is determined to stir that particular pot, LL.

He is so desperate he will try anything. Both he and his son Seif know what will happen to them if they lose - they only have to watch Mubarak on trial for his life in Cairo. And, if his other son has been killed he is really in the sh!t!!

Telegraph:

Royal Navy warship HMS Liverpool comes under heavy fire
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent11:10PM BST 04 Aug 2011

HMS Liverpool, a Royal Navy warship, came under heavy rocket fire from a shore battery as it patrolled off the Libyan coast, the Ministry of Defence said.

A missile launcher is said to have sent a number of rockets towards Liverpool that has been stationed off Libya for several weeks.

The Type 42 destroyer returned heavy naval gunfire answering Col Gaddafi's forces with its 4.5in main gun sending several shells arching into the night during the early hours of Wednesday.

The attack came after Liverpool fired a barrage of illumination rounds in support of an air attack on the regime stronghold of Zlitan.

No casualties were suffered by the ship's crew during the exchange and the MoD were unable to confirm if the battery was destroyed during the duel.

The attack came after the helicopter carrier Ocean launched her Apache attack helicopters against a hotel in Zlitan that was being used as a military base.

The Apaches fired Hellfire missiles then coordinated with RAF Tornados which guided several Paveway bombs onto the targets.

Feb 17 Libya News

5:55am: A rebel commander says his forces have unconfirmed reports that NATO struck and destroyed a caravan of camels carrying weapons from neighbouring Chad, according to the AP news agency.

Abdullah Aitha said the camels were headed for the southern city of Sebha, 650km south of Tripoli, where much of Gaddafi’s military force comes from.

Aitha said Saturday the camels were carrying heavy caliber machine guns, mortars and ammunition when they were bombed in a desert 100km from the Chad border on Friday evening. NATO had not yet commented on the strike.

5:50am: A navy drone that disappeared along the coast in central Libya in June was probably shot down by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, a US military investigation has concluded.

According to Lt Cmdr Mark Walton, a spokesman for the US Navy’s 6th Fleet, the investigation found that the unmanned Fire Scout that disappeared June 21 was not brought down by mechanical failure or operator error.

The location of the crash along with the fighting going on there made it impossible for investigators to examine the wreckage or the crash site, so they cannot be completely sure what happened, Walton said.

As a result, he said they came to the “logical conclusion” that it was probably shot down.

The Fire Scout was unarmed and conducting a surveillance mission for NATO when officials suddenly lost radar contact with it.

Feb 17 Libya News:

Libya Rebuffs Qaddafi Son on Alliance With Radical Islamists
Posted on August 6, 2011

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

TRIPOLI, Libya — The government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi distanced itself on Friday from comments that his son Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi made the previous day, when he vowed in an interview to strike an alliance with a faction of radical Islamists among the rebels challenging his father’s rule.

Musa Ibrahim, a government spokesman who had arranged the interview with the younger Mr. Qaddafi, said Friday that Mr. Qaddafi had spoken only for himself, not for the government. The deputy foreign minister, Khalid Kaim, delivered the same message at an early morning news conference.

The Libyan regime has distanced itself on Friday from Saif al-Islam's comments when he vowed to strike an alliance with a faction of radical Islamists among the rebels challenging his father’s rule.

The repudiation of Mr. Qaddafi’s comments was a rare sign of discord within Colonel Qaddafi’s government, and it raised questions about whether the six-month rebellion had taken a psychological toll on Mr. Qaddafi or whether he had envisioned some propagandistic purpose in announcing the tactic.

Mr. Qaddafi has been considered his father’s heir apparent and, as his younger brother Saadi put it in a recent television interview, the man who in effect is running much of the Libyan government. Power in Libya depends almost entirely on proximity to Colonel Qaddafi, and Seif has been considered pre-eminent among the dictator’s children.

Although he has sometimes positioned himself as an outsider lobbying the government for liberal reforms, it was Seif who delivered the government’s first public response to the Libyan uprising in February, vowing to crush it.

Mr. Qaddafi insisted in the interview on Thursday that he was speaking for himself and his father, and he promised he would announce a peace agreement with the Islamist rebels within days. Mr. Ibrahim, the government spokesman, had invited this reporter to Tripoli, saying that Mr. Qaddafi wanted to make an important statement. The government arranged to leave a special visa at the border to facilitate the interview.

Mr. Qaddafi’s comments, however, evidently surprised Mr. Ibrahim and others in the government. Mr. Qaddafi appeared to have reversed months of insistence by the government that the rebellion was dangerous precisely because it was a front for radical Islamists, whom the Qaddafi regime has attempted for decades to suppress. And the Islamist rebel Mr. Qaddafi identified as his principal counterpart in talks on an alliance immediately denied there was any agreement, insisting that he supported the rebels’ liberal leadership and reiterating the demand that the Qaddafi family relinquish power.

Mr. Qaddafi’s comments followed the assassination last week, at rebel hands, of the rebels’ top military commander, Gen. Abdul Fattah Younes, and Mr. Qaddafi may have been trying to exploit signs of division within the rebel ranks.

General Younes had previously been Colonel Qaddafi’s interior minister, charged with the detention and torture of Islamists, among others.

Source: New York Times

Al Jazeera:

Libyan rebels push towards Az Zawiyah
Fighting intensifies in western Libya as hundreds of opposition fighters capture the strategic town of Bir Ghanem.
Last Modified: 06 Aug 2011 13:02

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr reports from Bir Ghanem

Libyan opposition fighters have captured a strategic town in western Libya, as they intensify a push towards the coastal city of Az Zawiyah.

Hundreds of rebels fought Muammar Gaddafi's forces in the battle for Bir Ghanem, 85km from the capital, Tripoli, on Saturday morning.

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr said at least six opposition fighters were killed in the battle which lasted only a few hours.

"It was really fierce fighting," she said. "Since early morning we heard heavy exchange of rocket fire from both sides."

The offensive was part of the rebels' attempt to get closer to Tripoli. The rebels said earlier this week they hope to reach the capital before the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"The most important thing for them now is to reach Az Zawiyah," our correspondent said.

"They know that they can get support from inside that city, that rebels there are ready to rise up against the Gaddafi regime but they need help from outside."

Az Zawiyah was the scene of a major uprising by protesters early on in the conflict, which began in February. The protesters took over the city and drove out Gaddafi's supporters, but were then brutally crushed in a long, bloody siege.

Town under siege

Elsewhere in the west, residents of al-Qusbat, a small town 100km from Tripoli, were said to be under siege.

A representative from al-Qusbat's rebel military committee told the AFP news agency that the town was surrounded by Gaddafi's forces and fears were growing of an imminent bloodbath.

"All roads going to al-Qusbat are blocked by Gaddafi's forces. They cut electricity and communications since yesterday," Khamis Nuri el-Kasseh said from Benghazi after contacting the town by satellite phone.

"Gaddafi's forces are not yet in control of the town, but we expect it will be bloody today," he said, adding there had already been a series of arrests in suburbs.

Al-Qusbat is cut off from other rebel positions in the west of Libya, with 70km separating it from the nearest positions at Zlitan to the east.