Libya’s rebels asked France for extra arms to help them overrun Tripoli within “days,” as they ramped up a pre-Ramadan offensive that has Muammar Qaddafi’s troops on the run in the east.
The request was made in Paris on Wednesday to French President Nicolas Sarkozy by military leaders from the rebel-held city of Misrata, a member of their delegation said.
Sarkozy held talks at his Elysee presidential palace with rebel General Ramadan Zarmuh, Colonel Ahmed Hashem and Colonel Brahim Betal Mal, as well as Suleiman Fortia, a local representative of the rebel leadership in Misrata.
Photo: AFP
“With a little bit of help, we will be in Tripoli very soon. Very soon means days,” Fortia told reporters after the meeting. “We are here in France to discuss how we can do the job.”
France is taking part in NATO-coordinated strikes against Qaddafi military assets and was the first outside state to formally recognize the rebels’ Transitional National Council.
It has already dropped arms to the rebels in the Nafusa Mountains, southwest of Tripoli, to help them defend themselves against Qaddafi forces. A rebel source said they were looking for similar deliveries of arms and munitions to Misrata.
“Insurgent commanders came to explain to the head of state that the keys to Tripoli are in Misrata,” said a supporter of the rebels, French writer Bernard-Henri Levy, who attended the talks.
“Misrata’s fighters are disciplined, battle hardened and they have a key asset: a military victory already won” against loyalist forces, Levy said after the meeting.
Misrata, about 200km east of Tripoli, has been controlled by rebels since mid-May, after a two-month siege by Qaddafi forces.
French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet said Qaddafi is losing control of crucial energy supplies as the rebels advance in the key eastern oil town of Brega, in Misrata and in the Nafusa mountains.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the Libyan strongman was “cut off from fuel and cash.”
Rebels claim to have chased the bulk of Qaddafi eastern army from Brega while encircling loyalists holed up among oil installations in the northwest of the town.
As part of what now appears to be a countrywide effort to tighten the noose on Qaddafi before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan begins next month, insurgents in the West said they were awaiting orders to start a fresh offensive from the Nafusa Mountains, southwest of the capital.
During Ramadan, the endurance of even the hardiest volunteers will be tested by desert battle without food and water during the daytime fast observed by the faithful.
However, at Brega, rebel gains were stymied by vast quantities of anti-personnel mines planted by retreating loyalists and the difficulties in attacking an estimated 200 Qaddafi troops fighting from positions near vital petrochemical facilities.
That difficulty was laid bare late on Tuesday, when 24 rebel fighters died. It was by far the rebels’ bloodiest day since the battle for Brega began almost a week ago.
A rebel military source said many of the casualties came when troops closing on isolated Qaddafi forces were hit by a line-guided rocket attack.
Outside the town, rebel troops cleared minefields holding up their advance while trying to dislodge Qaddafi artillery to the west.
Libya’s government has denied the rebels retook Brega. The rebels said Qaddafi troops inside the town were largely conscripts and volunteers who were surrounded.
On the front line of the western desert hamlet Gualish, the rebels waited patiently in the shade until the next battle as Ramadan approaches and the searing summer sun grows more intense.
“We are preparing for the battle. We hope [it will take place], God willing, before Ramadan,” or just after, rebel commander Mokhtar Lakhdar said.
“If there is fighting during Ramadan, we will fight as usual. We will not stop until we have liberated Libya,” he said in Gualish, where the mercury hit 45?C on Wednesday.
Lakhdar said the rebels were waiting for the green light from their headquarters in the eastern city of Benghazi.
Around him young rebels debated fighting during the fasting month.
“During Ramadan, it will be harder but, God willing, we will not be weakened, but rather be stronger. Ramadan is a good time to be a martyr,” said Shaban Aabor, 38.
The next rebel target is Asabah, 80km south of Tripoli and the last barrier between rebels and the garrison town of Gharyan.
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