Libyan rebels step up military campaign

Opposition fighters say they have forced Gaddafi forces back from Brega, while southern fighters prepare for battle.

Libyan rebel fighters and medics carry the body of a member of forces loyal to the Libyan leader [Reuters]

Libyan rebel fighters and medics carry the body of a member of forces loyal to the Libyan leader [Reuters]

Libya's anti-government fighters are escalating an offensive against Muammar Gaddafi's forces, pushing forward in the east of the country and preparing a fresh attack from the south of the capital, Tripoli.
Opposition forces said they had chased the bulk of the Libyan leader's eastern army from the oil town of Brega and surrounded Gaddafi loyalists holed up among oil installations in the northwest of the town.
In the west, rebels said they were awaiting orders from Benghazi, the rebel stronghold in the east, to start a fresh offensive from the Nafusa Mountains southwest of the capital just days before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, when the hardships of desert fighting are likely to be intensified for those going without food and drink during the daytime.
Around Brega, the rebels' advance towards the town has been slowed by vast quantities of anti-personnel mines planted by retreating loyalists and the difficulties in attacking an estimated 200 Gaddafi troops fighting from positions near vital oil facilities.
On Tuesday, 24 rebel fighters died in one of their bloodiest day since the battle for Brega began almost a week ago, a rebel military source told the AFP news agency.
Many of the casualties came when troops closing on isolated Gaddafi forces were hit by a rocket attack.
Rebel military sources said some Gaddafi forces were launching rockets over Brega onto rebel positions from the town of Bishr, while most Gaddafi troops had retreated to Ras Lanuf, another oil town further west.
Libya's government has denied rebel claims that they had retaken Brega. The rebels said Gaddafi troops inside the town were largely conscripts and volunteers who were surrounded.
'Preparing for battle'
But across the Gulf of Sirte, near the rebel-held enclave of Misurata, the picture was reversed.
Rebels said seven of their fighters were killed and 13 wounded when they repulsed a fresh Gaddafi attack.
On the frontline of the western desert village Gwalish, rebels said they were ready to fight during Ramadan if necessary, even as summer temperatures reached 45 Celsius.
"We are preparing for the battle. We hope [it occurs], God willing, before Ramadan, or just after," Mokhtar Lakhdar, a rebel commander, said.
"If there is fighting during Ramadan, we will fight as usual," he said. "We will not stop until we have liberated Libya."
"During Ramadan, it will be harder but, God willing, we will not be weakened but rather be stronger," added another fighter, Shaban Aabor. "Ramadan is a good time to be a martyr."
The next rebel target is Asabah, 80km south of Tripoli and the last barrier between rebels and the garrison town of Gharyan.
Libyan opposition leaders met French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday to press for more support.
"France can help us get this help from friendly Arab countries," Souleiman Fortia, a representative of the National Transitional Council, told reporters after the meeting. "With a bit of help we can be in Tripoli soon."
French foreign minister Alain Juppe said earlier on Wednesday that Gaddafi could stay in Libya if he quits politics under a ceasefire deal.
But Abdelati al-Obeidi, Gaddafi's foreign minister, said after talks in Russia that the Libyan leader's "departure is not up for negotiation".