'No option is off the table,' Clinton says as U.S. moves military forces closer to Libya
Government opponents in rebel-held Zawiya repelled an attempt by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi to retake the city closest to the capital in six hours of fighting overnight, witnesses said Tuesday.
The rebels, who include mutinous army forces, are armed with tanks, machine guns and anti-aircraft guns.
They fought back pro-Gadhafi troops, armed with the same weapons, who attacked from six directions.
Residents said they killed 10 pro-Gadhafi soldiers and captured about a dozen others without suffering any casualties of their own, The New York Times reported.A government spokesman confirmed the death toll, the Times said.
A similar attempt was made by pro-Gadhafi forces Monday night to retake the city of Misrata, Libya's third-largest city 125 miles east of Tripoli. Rebel forces there also repelled the attackers.
"We will not give up Zawiya at any price," said one witness. "We know it is significant strategically. They will fight to get it, but we will not give up. We managed to defeat them because our spirits are high and their spirits are zero."
Meanwhile, the U.N. refugee agency warned the situation on Libya's western border was "reaching crisis point," saying up to 75,000 people had fled to Tunisia since the violence began, BBC News reported. About 2,000 people were crossing the border every hour, but many had nowhere to go.
Tunisian border guards fired into the air Tuesday to try to control a crowd of people clamoring to get through a border crossing to escape the violence in neighboring Libya.
The crowd was pressed up against a concrete wall dividing the no-man's land between the Libyan and Tunisian border posts. At intervals, Tunisian border guards would open a blue metal gate to let a small group through.
But some people were throwing their bags over the wall and trying to climb over, prompting border guards first to hit them with sticks and then fire repeatedly into the air.
A Reuters reporter saw at least three people being taken out of the crowd by medical teams from the Red Crescent after fainting in the crush of bodies, and volunteers threw bottles of water over the wall into the crowd.
Gadhafi, Libya's ruler of 41 years, has already lost control of the eastern half of the country since protests demanding his ouster began two weeks ago. He still holds the capital Tripoli and nearby cities.
The witnesses in Zawiya said youths from the city were stationed on the rooftops of high-rise buildings in the city to monitor the movements of the pro-Gadhafi forces and sound the warning if they though an attack was imminent.
They also spoke about generous offers of cash by the regime for the rebels to hand control of the city back to authorities.
On Tuesday, Gadhafi's regime sought to show that it was the country's only legitimate authority and that it continued to feel compassion for areas in the east that fell under the control of its opponents.
A total of 18 trucks loaded with rice, wheat-flour, sugar and eggs left Tripoli for Benghazi, the country's second largest city 620 miles east of the capital. Also in the convoy were two refrigerated cars carrying medical supplies.
The convoy was met with a small pro-Gadhafi demonstration as it made its way out of Tripoli. "God, Gadhafi, Libya and that's it," chanted the demonstrators.
"The state is very generous with the people," said 22-year-old Ahmed Mahmoud as he watched the convoy.
Gadhafi has launched the most brutal crackdown of any Arab regime facing a wave of anti-government uprisings spreading quickly around the Middle East.
But international pressure to end the crackdown has escalated dramatically in the past few days.
The U.S. moved naval and air forces closer to Libya on Monday and said all options were open, including patrols of the North African nation's skies to protect its citizens from their ruler.
France said it would fly aid to the opposition-controlled eastern half of the country.
The European Union imposed an arms embargo and other sanctions, following the lead of the U.S. and the U.N.
'Military assets'
The EU was also considering the creation of a no-fly zone over Libya. And the U.S. and Europe were freezing billions in Libya's foreign assets.
"Gadhafi has lost the legitimacy to govern, and it is time for him to go without further violence or delay," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said.
"No option is off the table. That of course includes a no-fly zone," she added.
British Prime Minister David Cameron told lawmakers: "We do not in any way rule out the use of military assets" to deal with Gadhafi's regime.
Video: Foreign workers in Libya mass at border (on this page) Gadhafi, in an interview with ABC News at a seafront restaurant in Tripoli, laughed off a question about whether he would step down.
"They love me. All my people with me, they love me," he said. "They will die to protect me, my people." Gadhafi invited the U.N. or any other organization to Libya on a fact-finding mission, ABC reported.
He denied using his air force to attack protesters but said planes had bombed military sites and ammunition depots.
He also denied there had been demonstrations and said young people were given drugs by al-Qaida and therefore took to the streets.
'Gadhafi sounds 'delusional'
Gadhafi's remarks were met with derision in Washington.
"It sounds, just frankly, delusional," said U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice. She added that Gadhafi's behavior, including laughing on camera in TV interviews amid the chaos, "underscores how unfit he is to lead and how disconnected he is from reality."
On Monday night, an Associated Press reporter saw a large, pro-Gadhafi force massed on the western edge of Zawiya, with about a dozen armored vehicles along with tanks and jeeps mounted with anti-aircraft guns.
An officer said they were from the elite Khamis Brigade, named after one of Gadhafi's sons who commands it. U.S. diplomats have said the brigade is the best-equipped force in Libya.
"We were able to repulse the attack. We damaged a tank with an RPG. The mercenaries fled after that," said a resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.
Airstrike warning
He said Gadhafi called Zawiya's influential tribal leader Mohammed al-Maktouf and warned him that if the rebels don't leave the city's main square by early Tuesday, they will be hit by warplanes.
"We are expecting a major battle," the resident said. He said the rebels killed eight soldiers and mercenaries Monday.
Another resident of Zawiya said he heard gunfire well into the night on the outskirts of town.
In Misrata, pro-Gadhafi troops who control part of an air base on the city's outskirts tried to advance Monday.
But they were repulsed by opposition forces, who included residents with automatic weapons and defected army units allied with them, one of the opposition fighters said.
No casualties were reported and the fighter claimed that his side had captured eight soldiers, including a senior officer.
The opposition controls most of the air base, and the fighter said dozens of anti-Gadhafi gunmen have arrived from farther east in recent days as reinforcements.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Source: MSNBC
No comments:
Post a Comment