Gadhafi forces try to block advance of Libya's western rebels, now within 30 miles of capital: ZAWIYA, Libya - ...yhoo.it/nCfrAm
ZAWIYA, Libya - Moammar Gadhafi's forces pushed rebels back from the centre of the strategic city of Zawiya on Monday in fierce fighting to try to prevent the opposition from consolidating a major advance to within 30 miles of the capital Tripoli.
In neighbouring Egypt, Libyan Interior Minister Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah flew into the capital Cairo on his private plane with nine family members, Egyptian airport officials said. A Tunisian security official said Abdullah had defected after entering Tunisia by land on Saturday and then flying to Cairo from the resort town of Djerba. He entered Egypt on a tourist visa and was not greeted by any Libyan embassy officials at the airport.
"We had no idea of his arrival, but he was in Tunisia on Sunday," a Libyan embassy official in Cairo told The Associated Press. He confirmed that Abdullah is the interior minister. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the media.
The minister arrived after a weekend of significant advances by rebels from Libya's western mountains toward Gadhafi's stronghold of Tripoli. The rebels on Saturday pushed through to Zawiya, just 30 miles (48 kilometres) west of the capital on the Mediterranean coast, for the first time since the uprising against Gadhafi began in February.
The rebel advance was raising fears among Tripoli residents over the prospect that fighting might soon reach the capital. Cars carrying civilians fleeing Tripoli crossed checkpoints on a desert road around Zawiya, headed for the rebel-held western mountains.
"We are afraid of whatever is coming," said Mohammed Bilkheir, an accountant escaping Tripoli with his family. He said he was leaving to stay with relatives in the western mountains, fearing battles would break out in Tripoli.
On Monday, regime forces pushed the rebels back from the centre of Zawiya in fighting concentrated on the main coastal road connecting Tripoli and the border crossing with Tunisia. Armed pickup trucks dashed to and from Zawiya's city centre on Ghanam Street, where the battles have raged over the past four days.
An oil production engineer from Zawiya said rebels had cut off the four main pipelines that transport gasoline and diesel to Tripoli. Zawiya has the government's only functioning oil refinery.
"We shut down all four pipelines to Tripoli," said Nurial-Bouaisi, one of the rebels. He also said all coastal roads leading from Tripoli to the Tunisian border at Ras Ajdir were now under rebel control. The claims could not immediately be verified.
Rebels in Zawiya were running low on ammunition. Some sat huddled on the sides of streets, taking cover by the walls of buildings as they waited for more supplies to arrive.
On Sunday, the rebels said they were trying to cut off two of Gadhafi's crucial overland supply routes, critical with NATO imposing a no-fly zone over the country.
They claimed to have captured at least two other towns near Tripoli that sit on key supply routes for the capital. They said they now held the town of Gharyan, 50 miles (80 kilometres) south of Tripoli.
On Monday, rebel commander Jumma Dardira said rebels were still clashing in the Sabratha area, 20 miles (32 kilometres) west of Zawiya on the coast. He also said rebels were in control of Surman, near Sabratha to the southeast.
"We are closing the roads for Gadhafi so there is no way for him to bring anything to Tripoli," Dardira told The Associated Press.
But the rebels' gains could easily be reversed by Gadhafi's better trained and equipped troops.
