Libyan rebels hoisted their flag in the centre of this town near the capital on Sunday after the most dramatic advance in months cut off Muammar Gaddafi’s capital from its main link to the outside world.
The swift rebel advance on the town of Zawiyah, about 50 kilometres west of Tripoli, will deal a psychological blow to Gaddafi’s supporters and also cuts the coastal highway to Tunisia which keeps the capital supplied with food and fuel. But there was no sign Tripoli was under immediate threat from a rebel attack: heavily-armed pro-Gaddafi forces still lie between Zawiyah and the capital.
After their initial rapid advances were beaten back by Gaddafi’s heavy armour, the Libyan rebels have largely been unable to break the stalemate, even with the help of NATO air strikes. But rebel forces are now in their strongest position since the uprising against 41 years of Gaddafi’s rule began in February. They now control the coast both east and west of Tripoli, to the north is the Mediterranean and a NATO naval blockade, while to the south is empty desert.
Rebels from the Western Mountains region south of this Mediterranean coastal town dashed forward into Zawiyah late on Saturday, encountering little sustained resistance from Gaddafi’s forces. Near Zawiyah’s central produce market early on Sunday, about 50 rebel fighters were milling around and triumphantly shouting “Allahu Akbar!” or “God is greatest.” The red, black and green rebel flag was flying from a shop.
Rebel fighters told Reuters there were still forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the town, including snipers. Artillery and machine gun fire could still be heard. Rebels said the capital was their next target once Zawiyah was fully under their control. One rebel fighter smiled as he pointed to a road sign marking the highway from Zawiyah to Tripoli. “I’m 1,000 percent sure we’re going to take over Zawiyah today and then move on to Tripoli,” said Bin Jaffin Ali, 34, a shopkeeper turned rebel fighter.
BORDER CLASHES: Further west along the coastal highway, near the main border crossing into Tunisia, local residents said late on Saturday there were heavy clashes between rebels and government troops but that Gaddafi’s forces still controlled the crossing. In Tripoli, government officials on Saturday denied Zawiyah was under rebel control, saying a small force of anti-Gaddafi fighters had launched a “suicide mission” that was quickly repelled.
Zawiyah is “absolutely under our control”, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters. “A very small group of rebels tried to move into the south of Zawiyah but were stopped easily because of our armed forces,” he said. In the Tunisian capital, where many Libyans have fled from the fighting in their home country, Libyans came out on to the streets late on Saturday to celebrate after hearing unconfirmed rumours Gaddafi and his family had fled.
EASTERN FRONT: In the east, rebel forces clashed with Gaddafi’s soldiers in the oil town of Brega but there were no reports of casualties on Sunday, a rebel spokesman and a hospital volunteer said. “There are engagements but we’re going slowly. This is our strategy because we want to avoid casualties,” said Mohammad Zawawi, head of the rebels’ media centre in their stronghold of Benghazi, eastern Libya.
Sixteen rebels were killed and about 50 wounded over three days of clashes in Brega up to Sunday. At least six of Gaddafi’s soldiers were also killed. Brega is strung out along about 15 km (10 miles) of Mediterranean coast. The rebels have captured a residential neighbourhood in the east while Gaddafi’s troops still hold an oil terminal in the town’s industrial sector in the west.
Setbacks for Gaddafi’s forces near Tripoli were unlikely to undermine the morale of his troops in the east because they had no access to the news, Zawawi said. “They don’t let them use radio or television. They don’t know anything about what’s going on,” he said. “Captured Gaddafi troops don’t know anything.”
