The Guardian ~ Libya in turmoil

The Guardian ~ Libya in turmoil

Pro-Gaddafi soldiers and supporters gather in Green Square, Tripoli. Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP

Reuters has this on the fighting at Bin Jawad, about 100 miles from Sirte, a Gaddafi stronghold, which blocks the road to Tripoli.

One fighter, returning wounded from Bin Jawad to rebel-held Ras Lanuf further east, said Gaddafi loyalists had attacked advancing rebels with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades. Asked what he had seen, he replied: "Death." Distraught and bandaged, he would not say any more.

Rebels had taken Bin Jawad on Saturday but later withdrew, which let army units occupy local homes and set up sniper and rocket propelled grenade positions for an ambush that forced rebels back to Ras Lanuf.

"It's real fierce fighting, like Vietnam," rebel fighter Ali Othman told Reuters. "Every kind of weapon is being used. We've retreated from an ambush and we are going to regroup."

12.39pm: While Zawyiah, 30 miles west of Tripoli, and Ras Lanuf, further east, remain in the hands of the opposition despite government claims, reports indicate that loyalist forces supported by aircraft have pushed rebels away from the coastal town of Bin Jawad to stop their advance on Gaddafi's home town Sirte. Amid conflicting claims one thing is clear, writes Peter Beaumont.

What is clear, however, is that a large military deployment appears to be under way in Tripoli and the surrounding areas, with ever more tanks visible both inside the city and in the countryside and more missile launchers seen on the roads. One column of BM-21 Grad launchers seen by the Guardian on Saturday included 11 vehicles.

12.22pm: Here is the Guardian story on the SAS subplot, with its Keystone Kops element. Fox says there is a British diplomatic mission in the eastern part of the country trying to establish contact with rebel groups.

The defence secretary, Liam Fox, has confirmed that a "small diplomatic team" is in Benghazi to talk to Libyan rebels but refused to confirm reports that any British nationals had been detained. According to Guardian sources, a suspected British intelligence and special forces unit, which parachuted in about four days ago, was caught near the town of Khandra, about 30km west of Benghazi...

"We want to clearly understand what the dynamic is here because we want to be able to work with them to ensure the demise of the Gaddafi regime, to see a transition to greater stability in Libya and ultimately to more representative government."

12.14pm: I've just been talking with Peter Beaumont about the gunfire that broke out this morning in Tripoli that initially sounded like gun battles, but then turned into celebratory gunfire. Peter makes a couple of points. First despite government reports that rebel-held towns such as Zawiyah have been retaken by loyalist forces, this is not the case. The towns are calm. He emphasises how hard it is to pin down what is going on unless you can see things for your own eyes. Second, the gunfire of this morning amounts to an attempt by the regime to prepare its troops for the coming battles in the next few weeks.

The whole point of this is to say to the soldiers who are going to be deployed in the battles that we are anticipating coming in the next few weeks is 'this is the reception you're going to get. We're asking you to kill your fellow Libyans and this is the reception you'll get when you're engaged in this fighting.

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11.37am: Martin Chulov has been talking to me about the story, broken in the Sunday Times (paywall), about that SAS group being held by the rebels in Benghazi.

Martin says the SAS team were caught about 19 miles west of Benghazi and appear to be part of a British diplomatic mission to make contact with the opposition. A senior member of Benghazi's revolutionary council told Martin: "they were carrying espionage equipment, reconnaissance equipment, multiple passports and weapons. This is no way to conduct yourself during an uprising. Gaddafi is bringing in thousands of mercenaries to kill us, most are using foreign passports and how do we know who these people are? They say they're British nationals and some of the passports they have are British. But the Israelis used British passports to kill that man in Dubai last year."

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Source: The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/06/arab-and-middle-east-protests-libya