Unrest in Libya
Gaddafi strikes back at rebels
Reuters
Brega, Libya
03/03/2011
Libya's deputy ambassador to the UN, one of the first to denounce Gaddafi and defect, said they may back a resolution for a no-fly zone if the rebel's leadership council requested it officially.
Muammar Gaddafi''s forces struck at rebel control of oil export hubs in Libya''s east for a second day on Thursday as Arab states weighed a plan to end turmoil Washington said could make the nation "a giant Somalia".
Witnesses said a warplane bombed the eastern oil terminal town of Brega, a day after troops loyal to Gaddafi launched a ground and air attack on the town that was repulsed by rebels spearheading a popular revolt against his four-decade-old rule.
The rebels, armed with rocket launchers, anti-aircraft guns and tanks, called on Wednesday for UN-backed air strikes on foreign mercenaries it said were fighting for Gaddafi.
Opposition activists called for a no-fly zone, echoing a demand by Libya''s deputy UN envoy, who now opposes Gaddafi.
"Bring Bush! Make a no fly zone, bomb the planes," shouted soldier-turned-rebel Nasr Ali, referring to a no-fly zone imposed on Iraq in 1991 by then US President George Bush.
A rebel officer said government air strikes targeted the airport of Brega and a rebel position in the nearby town of Ajdabiyah, referring to two rebel-held locations.
Opposition soldiers also said troops loyal to Gaddafi had been pushed back to Ras Lanuf, home to another major oil terminal and 600 km (375 miles) east of Tripoli.
"Gaddafi''s forces are in Ras Lanuf," Mohammed al-Maghrabi, a rebel volunteer, told Reuters, echoing comments by others.
In an angry scene at al-Ugayla, east of Ras Lanuf, a rebel shouted inches from the face of a captured young African and alleged mercenary: "You were carrying guns, yes or no? You were with Gaddafi''s brigades yes or no?"
The silent youth was shoved onto his knees into the dirt. A man held a pistol close to the boy''s face before a reporter protested and told the man that the rebels were not judges.
The uprising, the bloodiest yet against long-serving rulers in the Middle East and North Africa, is causing a humanitarian crisis, especially on the Tunisian border where tens of thousands of foreign workers have fled to safety.