@bnnNEWSLIVEWAR IN LIBYA
Libya rebels push forward as 'hit list' found: Libyan rebels said on Tuesday they had punched through to the cen... http://bit.ly/oxVm0T
Libya rebels push forward as 'hit list' found
AFP Global Edition - just now
Libyan rebels said on Tuesday they had punched through to the centre of the western town of Zliten in fierce combat, while claiming to have seized a hit list of their leaders from a sleeper cell in their midst loyal to Moamer Kadhafi.
"The rebels advanced today inside Zliten to control the centre. Now there is a vicious fight with Kadhafi's forces," said Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani, a military spokesman based in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
The fight for Zliten -- which lies just 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of Tripoli -- began shortly after sunrise.
A rebel spokesman said eight fighters had been killed and 30 had been wounded.
The spokesman, who asked not to be named, added that the rebels had killed "many" Kadhafi fighters and had captured more -- including an unspecified number of Chadian mercenaries.
In recent weeks Libya's rebels have been slowly advancing on Zliten from their enclave atMisrata, 70 kilometres to the east.
They have been aided by NATO air strikes, which on Monday hit one of Kadhafi's command and control centres and a military facility in the town.
Zliten has long been held by Kadhafi, and was suspected of being a base for multiple rocket attacks on Misrata that have killed scores of civilians.
In the east, Bani said rebels fought for hours with Kadhafi forces at the oil hub of Brega, with a small unit of 45 troops entering the town's eastern residential district.
"There were clashes with Kadhafi's forces and it went on four hours and then they had to retreat back," Bani said.
On Monday, rebels said they arrested at least 63 loyalist militiamen in Benghazi in an ongoing bid to tighten security in Benghazi, following an hours-long battle with Kadhafi loyalists in the opposition stronghold.
They also uncovered a hit list with the names and addresses of about 60 of their leaders, officials told AFP.
Files with sensitive information about key members of the rebels' political and military leadership were found at the headquarters of a Benghazi-based brigade -- now believed to have been secretly allied to Kadhafi's regime.
"There were around 60 people," deputy interior minister Mustafa al-Sagazly said, including "members of the (National Transitional Council), the military council, the cabinet of the NTC executive."
"There were names and addresses," he said. "Some of the addresses were correct."
The list was found during a operation against the Katiba Nida Libya -- or Libya's Call Brigade -- which is suspected of being a pro-Kadhafi cell that masqueraded as one of the plethora of loosely linked volunteer units that make up the rebel army.
"They were a very serious threat," said NTC spokesman Shamsiddin Abdulmolah. "They had a camp that was very well armed, with ammunition, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, explosives and enough food supplies for weeks."
