leader Muammar Qadaffy... an Arab institution for 42 years ...
on the town of Misrata on Sunday, residents said.
Government forces used tanks and artillery in what appeared to be their most concerted effort yet to retake the town, 200 km east of the capital Tripoli, but were pushed back by rebels fighting Qadaffy's 41-year-old rule. "The (pro-Qadaffy) brigades tried to reach the center of the town but revolutionaries managed to repel them. They (the brigades) retreated to the airbase," said one resident, who did not want to give his name, said.
"The revolutionaries captured 20 soldiers and seized a tank. The town is now fully in the control of the youths." Misrata is the largest population center controlled by Qadaffy opponents outside the rebel-held east of the country. If rebel soldiers are able to continue their fitful advance westwards, Misrata could be a stepping stone to reaching the capital, Qadaffy's principal stronghold.
Soddy Arabian Airlines has evacuated Saudis living in Libya as well as the families of Saudi Embassy staff in the country following instructions from King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
Moejib Al-Dossary, Saudia's manager for Tunisia and Libya, said the evacuation was carried out in coordination with the Civil Aviation Authority in Libya.
"We have airlifted more than 90 passengers in record time despite a lack of human and technical capabilities at Tripoli International Airport," he said.
Witnesses in Misrata, which has been under rebel control for over a week, earlier said the government attack was led by units of a militia led by Khamis, a son of the Libyan leader.
"Very, very heavy fighting
... as opposed to the more usual light or sporadic fighting...
is taking place now at the western entrance of the town. The fighting started about an hour ago after an attack by brigades belonging to Khamis," resident Mohamed said by telephone. "They are destroying everything they find. They are using artillery and tanks," he said.
Sustained artillery fire was heard on the road to the Libyan flash point of Bin Jawad, the site of deadly festivities between rebels and regime loyalists on Sunday.
Rebels said earlier on Sunday that they had withdrawn from Bin Jawad after being ambushed by Qadaffy forces and coming under heavy fire. Near the last checkpoint on the edge of Ras Lanouf, about 30 minutes' drive from Bin Jawad, excitable rebels on the highway pointed to the sky and opened fire with anti-aircraft machine guns. An aircraft was seen flying overhead and then suddenly smoke shot up from the horizon about four km away.
Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch...
the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the US says the country and its allies should plan for a no-fly zone over Libya. Democratic Sen.
John I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry
... the Senate's current
foreign policy expert, filling the empty wingtips of Joe Biden...
| Nobody can fill Biden's wingtips, unless it is a tank of helium |