3/6/2011

Battle for Libya intensifies
Anti-government forces repulse ferocious assault by Gaddafi loyalists as fighting spreads across the coastline.


Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, the long time Libyan leader, have attacked several rebel-held cities along the country's coastline, in a bid to halt the anti-government forces' rapid advance to the capital Tripoli.
But on Sunday, the rebels have repulsed the ferocious assaults, which left dozens dead, as the conflict escalates dramatically.
Since February 17, Gaddafi's nearly 42-year-long rule is facing a popular uprising demanding democracy for the oil-rich north African nation.

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With helicopter gunships, fighter planes and tanks, Gaddafi loyalists have pounded opposition fighters with artillery, rockets and gunfire in several cities, including Bin Jawad, Tobruk, Ras Lanuf and Misurata.
Bin Jawad, previously held by rebels, was reclaimed by government forces on Sunday, but opposition fighters continued to advance on the area amid conflicting claims about the capture and recapture of several strategic Libyan cities and towns.
Sources report deadly clashes took place in the area, that lies in the middle of the coastline between the opposition stronghold of Benghazi and the capital, Tripoli, over which Gaddafi retains a tight grip.
Injured opposition fighters had been taken to the local hospital in nearby Ras Lanuf, a rebel-held town.
Rebels in Misurata also beat back Gaddafi's forces in heavy fighting that left 18 people killed, a local doctor told the Reuters news agency.
Mohammed Ali, a rebel leader and a member of the civil committee for Misurata affairs, has told Al Jazeera that opposition forces are in "firm control" of Misurata.
"We have also captured Gaddafi soldiers, and we will interrogate them. They will be shown on TV," he said.
But Ali said that his fighters are outgunned and appealed for aerial support.
"We ask the international community for specific surgical attacks on Gaddafi's air force capabilities," he said, adding that a no-fly zone "is long overdue."
Gaddafi TV appearance
Gaddafi, meanwhile, made a fleeting appearance on Libyan state television on Sunday night, but disappeared almost immediately.
Crowds were seen celebrating and shouting the leader's name as he appeared in Tripoli's Green Square, but no explanation was given as to why state TV did not stay with footage of the president. They instead cut back to the studio, going on to a separate interview.
This comes after heavy shooting was heard in Tripoli early on Sunday. The government said there was no violence in the capital, and called the shots "celebratory fireworks".
Mussa Ibrahim, the Libyan government spokesman told the Reuters news agency: "Everything is safe. Tripoli is 100 per cent under control. What you are hearing is celebratory fireworks. People are in the streets, dancing in the square."
It was unclear who was carrying out the shooting, or what caused it, Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reported from the city.
Automatic weapon rounds, some of it heavy calibre, echoed around central Tripoli along with pro-government chants, whistling and a cacophony of car horns as vehicles sped through the vicinity, witnesses said.
"I assure you, I assure you, I assure you, I assure you, there is no fighting going on in Tripoli," Ibrahim said
Our correspondent, reporting from Green Square, said that thousands of people had turned out to show their support for Gaddafi.
“The square is absolutely packed with supporters of Gaddafi," she said, adding that some of these "supporters" had admitted to a British journalist on Sunday that they were army and police personnel in civilian clothes.
Evacuation efforts
Against this backdrop of continued fighting, the UN Security Council will name Portugal to head its Libya sanctions committee, Al Jazeera has learnt.
Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, became the latest political figure on Sunday to call for fresh sanctions against Gaddafi.
Meanwhile, the European Union has sent experts into Libya to get "real time" information on humanitarian and evacuation efforts there
"I have decided to dispatch this high level mission to provide me with first-hand, real-time information to feed into the discussions leading up to Friday's extraordinary European Council when I will update heads of state and government on the situation," Catherine Ashton, EU foreign minister, said on Sunday.

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On the other side of the Atlantic, John Kerry, the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said once again that the US and its allies should plan for a no-fly zone over Libya.
His remarks come just days after Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said that a no-fly zone was tantamount to going to war because it would call for attacking Libya's air defences.
In Sunday's other developments, it was reported that three Bangladeshi nationals were found dead and 11 went missing after they jumped from an evacuation vessel off the coast of Greece.
This was in a bid to prevent being sent back to Bangladesh.
Firas Kayal, of the United Nation's refugee agency, UNHCR, told Al Jazeera between 12,000 and 15, 000 people - most of them from Bangladesh - have crossed the border from Libya into Tunisia over the last couple of days.
There are plans to try and arrange a chartered flight to transport them home, he said. Kayal said that a total of around 100, 000 people have already crossed the border between Libya and Tunisia.
Thousands are fleeing the unrest in Libya, many being flown out of neighbouring Tunisia. Four US military aircraft carrying more than 300 Egyptian refugees left for Cairo on Sunday, but many nationals from other countries are still stranded with nowhere to go.