Libyan rebel fighter inches towards Tripoli

Rebel fighters clashed with Libyan government forces near the Tunisian border and in the western town of Zawiyah. The rebels threaten a vital supply route to the Libyan capital Tripoli.

The two sides also fought on two eastern fronts on Saturday. Neither side reported major changes in positions near Misrata or round the oil town and terminal of Brega.

Reporters heard gunfire and skirmishing in the coastal town of Zawiyah, about 50 km west of Tripoli, on Saturday and the highway from the capital to the Tunisian border. Control of the highway could determine the outcome of the Libyan conflict, was blocked.

Rebels trying to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi hope to capture Zawiyah, an oil refinery town, and cut off his stronghold in the capital from access to the outside world by severing the coastal highway, a lifeline for the embattled government.

They advanced north to within 25 km of Zawiyah early on Saturday, after what they said was a 6-hour battle which pushed the front line closer to Tripoli, and later said they had fought their way into the the centre of Zawiyah.

The government confirmed fighting in the area but said a rebel attempt to capture the city had been beaten back.

Zawiyah is "absolutely under our control," government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters in Tripoli. "A very small group of rebels tried to move into the south of Zawiyah but were stopped easily because of our armed forces," he said.

But a rebel spokesman, Mohammed Ezzawi, speaking from inside Zawiyah, said the rebel force was about 800 metres from Martyrs' Square in the city centre.

"The Gaddafi Brigade occupy the eastern part of the main road while we are on the western side. There has been an intense exchange of fire on this road, which links Tripoli to Tunisia," he told Reuters by telephone.

Tunisians close to the border later told Reuters that rebels were clashing with Gaddafi's forces at Abu Kammash, an industrial town on the Libyan coast 10 kms from the main Ras Jdir border crossing, which also controls the road to Tripoli.

PARTIAL CONTROL

Rebel fighters returning south to Bir al-Ghanam from Zawiyah told Reuters their force was in the city centre but not in complete control. "We took over the centre of Zawiyah about an hour ago ..." said rebel fighter Ahmed.

A second rebel, Abdelsalam, said: "We're in control of the centre. Some Gaddafi troops have fled to Tripoli, some are left over, and there are also mercenaries in the town. So we don't have complete control yet."

Government spokesman Ibrahim said fewer than 100 rebels entered the city from the south and tried to join 50 rebels within the city, but they had been "dealt with".

Government forces were still fighting the rebels inside the city, but the rebel push was "not an advance but a skirmish, a suicide mission", he said.

Judging by impact craters, wrecked buildings and burnt-out tanks, NATO warplanes had bombed government military targets on the route of the western rebel advance to Zawiyah over the past week, providing close air support.

CASUALTIES ON EASTERN FRONT

Neither side claimed major advances in continued fighting on two fronts well to the east of Tripoli, at the oil town and terminal of Brega and near Misrata.

Libya's state news agency said a NATO air strike had killed six "martyrs" in Brega, and the alliance said it had attacked two armoured vehicles there.

At least 15 rebels and six government soldiers had been killed and 50 rebels wounded in fighting for Brega oil terminal in the past two days, hospital workers said on Saturday.

In fighting around Misrata, a port under rebel control for months and much closer to Tripoli, at least 6 rebels were killed in the past 24 hours, rebel sources said. There was no word on government casualties.

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