By Alaa Shahine
March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Libyan rebels moved into the central city of Ajdabiya, near the strategic oil port of Ras Lanuf, and recaptured Brega in the east after U.S. and allied warplanes stepped up their bombardment of Muammar Qaddafi’s tanks, artillery and soldiers.
Opposition fighters, who have struggled to move west from their eastern stronghold of Benghazi in the past week, retook Ajdabiya today after entering the suburbs overnight, Al Jazeera television and the Benghazi-based Breniq newspaper reported. The advance came after the U.S. military yesterday said coalition warplanes nearly doubled the number of strike sorties against Qaddafi’s forces in a seventh day of bombing.
The Libyan rebellion has evolved from the kind of popular uprising seen in Egypt and Tunisia into a civil war, sending oil prices up about 25 percent since it began last month, amid heightened concerns about Middle East crude supplies. Crude oil for May delivery fell 20 cents to settle at $105.40 a barrel yesterday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, Syrian President Bashar Al- Assad’s security forces engaged in deadly clashes with protesters in several cities as promises of new freedoms and pay increases failed to quiet dissent. Assad may reshuffle his Cabinet soon, Al Arabiya television reported today, citing people it didn’t identify.
Prisoners Freed
Syrian authorities have released 260 political prisoners, mostly Islamists, according to Al Arabiya, which cited unnamed human-rights activists. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a local group, said on its website that the authorities have freed more than 200 prisoners.
Homes were burned and heavy gunfire was reported in the coastal Syrian city of Latikia, where two people were killed by snipers, Al Arabiya reported, citing eyewitnesses and a government official. In Daraa, the scene of deadly anti- government rallies earlier this month, security forces used tear gas against demonstrators, it said.
In Yemen, Al Arabiya reported that President Ali Abdullah Saleh said no compromise was reached with Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, who said earlier that he’d hoped to reach an agreement today on Saleh’s departure following months of anti- government demonstrations and the defection of ministers, army generals and diplomats from his regime.
Battle for Misrata
The U.S. and allies such as France and the U.K. are enforcing a United Nations mandate to protect Libyan civilians. Leaders have also called for Qaddafi’s ouster and the coalition has been seeking to push back his forces from cities such as Ajdabiya and Misrata, a rebel-held town in western Libya.
Sadoon al-Misrati, a member of the 17 February Revolution, told Al Jazeera that rebels repelled efforts by fighters loyal to Qaddafi to enter Misrata, Libya’s third-biggest city, from two directions. Rebels also said they had recaptured Brega in eastern Libya, Al Jazeera reported.
Libyan state-run television accused the U.S.-led allied forces of causing a “massacre” among civilians in Ajdabiya as their warplanes sought to provide air cover to the rebels.
Footage on Al Jazeera showed abandoned tanks, some charred, on the eastern entrance of Ajdabiya. A group of rebels was shown celebrating, waving victory signs and one of them brandishing an automatic rifle.
‘Scores of Prisoners’
“There are scores of prisoners,” Yassin El-Bregi, a spokesman for the rebel’s ruling council, told Al Arabiya in a live interview from Cairo.
The White House announced yesterday that President Barack Obama will address the nation on March 28 about the U.S. and allied military action in Libya. The U.S. is shifting many of its flight activities to allies, U.S. Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, said yesterday at a briefing at the Pentagon.
Two Arab countries, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, have both confirmed that they are sending fighter jets to help enforce the no-fly zone.
The 28-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreed on March 24 to take command of no-fly zone operations while continuing to discuss conditions for also commanding the attacks on Qaddafi’s ground forces, the so-called no-drive zone for the loyalist military that is considered part of the civilian defense measures authorized by the UN Security Council.
“Without prejudging the deliberations, we would expect a decision to take over all operations in the next few days,” NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told reporters yesterday in Brussels.
--With assistance from Kaitlin Brower in New York, Zaid Sabah Abd Alhamid and Nadeem Hamid in Washington. Editors: Jennifer M. Freedman, Digby Lidstone
via :http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-03-26/libyan-rebels-retake-key-city-as-coalition-steps-up-attacks.html
March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Libyan rebels moved into the central city of Ajdabiya, near the strategic oil port of Ras Lanuf, and recaptured Brega in the east after U.S. and allied warplanes stepped up their bombardment of Muammar Qaddafi’s tanks, artillery and soldiers.
Opposition fighters, who have struggled to move west from their eastern stronghold of Benghazi in the past week, retook Ajdabiya today after entering the suburbs overnight, Al Jazeera television and the Benghazi-based Breniq newspaper reported. The advance came after the U.S. military yesterday said coalition warplanes nearly doubled the number of strike sorties against Qaddafi’s forces in a seventh day of bombing.
The Libyan rebellion has evolved from the kind of popular uprising seen in Egypt and Tunisia into a civil war, sending oil prices up about 25 percent since it began last month, amid heightened concerns about Middle East crude supplies. Crude oil for May delivery fell 20 cents to settle at $105.40 a barrel yesterday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, Syrian President Bashar Al- Assad’s security forces engaged in deadly clashes with protesters in several cities as promises of new freedoms and pay increases failed to quiet dissent. Assad may reshuffle his Cabinet soon, Al Arabiya television reported today, citing people it didn’t identify.
Prisoners Freed
Syrian authorities have released 260 political prisoners, mostly Islamists, according to Al Arabiya, which cited unnamed human-rights activists. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a local group, said on its website that the authorities have freed more than 200 prisoners.
Homes were burned and heavy gunfire was reported in the coastal Syrian city of Latikia, where two people were killed by snipers, Al Arabiya reported, citing eyewitnesses and a government official. In Daraa, the scene of deadly anti- government rallies earlier this month, security forces used tear gas against demonstrators, it said.
In Yemen, Al Arabiya reported that President Ali Abdullah Saleh said no compromise was reached with Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, who said earlier that he’d hoped to reach an agreement today on Saleh’s departure following months of anti- government demonstrations and the defection of ministers, army generals and diplomats from his regime.
Battle for Misrata
The U.S. and allies such as France and the U.K. are enforcing a United Nations mandate to protect Libyan civilians. Leaders have also called for Qaddafi’s ouster and the coalition has been seeking to push back his forces from cities such as Ajdabiya and Misrata, a rebel-held town in western Libya.
Sadoon al-Misrati, a member of the 17 February Revolution, told Al Jazeera that rebels repelled efforts by fighters loyal to Qaddafi to enter Misrata, Libya’s third-biggest city, from two directions. Rebels also said they had recaptured Brega in eastern Libya, Al Jazeera reported.
Libyan state-run television accused the U.S.-led allied forces of causing a “massacre” among civilians in Ajdabiya as their warplanes sought to provide air cover to the rebels.
Footage on Al Jazeera showed abandoned tanks, some charred, on the eastern entrance of Ajdabiya. A group of rebels was shown celebrating, waving victory signs and one of them brandishing an automatic rifle.
‘Scores of Prisoners’
“There are scores of prisoners,” Yassin El-Bregi, a spokesman for the rebel’s ruling council, told Al Arabiya in a live interview from Cairo.
The White House announced yesterday that President Barack Obama will address the nation on March 28 about the U.S. and allied military action in Libya. The U.S. is shifting many of its flight activities to allies, U.S. Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, said yesterday at a briefing at the Pentagon.
Two Arab countries, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, have both confirmed that they are sending fighter jets to help enforce the no-fly zone.
The 28-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreed on March 24 to take command of no-fly zone operations while continuing to discuss conditions for also commanding the attacks on Qaddafi’s ground forces, the so-called no-drive zone for the loyalist military that is considered part of the civilian defense measures authorized by the UN Security Council.
“Without prejudging the deliberations, we would expect a decision to take over all operations in the next few days,” NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told reporters yesterday in Brussels.
--With assistance from Kaitlin Brower in New York, Zaid Sabah Abd Alhamid and Nadeem Hamid in Washington. Editors: Jennifer M. Freedman, Digby Lidstone
via :http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-03-26/libyan-rebels-retake-key-city-as-coalition-steps-up-attacks.html
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