Counter-attack: Battles rage as rebels seize Libyan towns

Libyan leader calls for calm, says "no sane person" would protest and that only he has "moral authority".

BENGHAZI:

Forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi launched a fierce counter-attack on Thursday, fighting gun battles with rebels who have threatened the Libyan leader by seizing important towns close to the capital.

The opposition was already in control of major centres in the east, including the regional capital Benghazi, and reports that the towns of Misrata and Zuara in the west had also fallen brought the tide of rebellion closer to Qaddafi’s power base.

Gun battles in Zawiyah, an oil terminal 50 kilometres from the capital, left 10 people dead, said Libyan newspapers.

France’s top human rights official said up to 2,000 people might have died so far in the uprising.

Qaddafi’s supporters attacked anti-government militias controlling Misrata and several people were killed in fighting near the city’s airport. Soldiers were reported along the roads to Tripoli.

In a rambling appeal for calm, Qaddafi blamed the revolt on al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and said the protesters were fuelled by milk and Nescafe spiked with hallucinogenic drugs. Qaddafi showed none of the fist-thumping rage of an earlier speech. This time, he spoke to state television by telephone without appearing in person, and his tone seemed more conciliatory.

A Tripoli resident said: “It seems like he realised that his speech yesterday with the strong language had no effect on the people.”

US favours expulsion

The United States called for Libya to be expelled from the UN Human Rights Council because the embattled regime of the North African nation was suppressing the rights of its people.

President Barack Obama will call British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to coordinate steps designed to halt the crackdown in Libya, the White House said.

European defence ministers are expected to discuss the unrest shaking Libya at a meeting Thursday night, Hungary’s defence minister said, amid efforts to evacuate thousands of European citizens.

Mercenaries jailed

Residents of Benghazi have jailed those they say are mercenaries and set up defences around this eastern city now out of the control of leader Muammar Qaddafi, who has lost control of swathes of Libya.

A court compound in the centre of Benghazi, on the Mediterranean coast, has become a focal point for those seeking to reimpose law and order after a bloody rebellion against Qaddafi loyalists who relinquished the city to residents.

Defences were being prepared in some parts of the city for the chance of an attack by Qaddafi’s forces, said organisers who have set up committees to run the city. The airport was closed because residents feared more mercenaries could be flow in.

A dozen people are being held in a court building. Residents said they were “mercenaries” backing Qaddafi, some were said to be African and others from southern Libya.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2011.