Libyan rebels said Wednesday they had fought off a counter-attack on their positions around Zlitan, a town they hope will pave the way for an advance on the capital, Tripoli. Tuesday's assault by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi led to fierce street battles that killed at least seven rebels, exposing the fragility of gains by rebels who are fighting on several fronts but are frequently out-gunned and out-maneuvered. Five months into their uprising, despite winning increasing international support and enjoying the backing of NATO bombing raids on pro-Gaddafi forces, the eastern-based rebels have failed to make a breakthrough in ending Gaddafi's 41-year rule. As diplomacy appears to have ground to a halt, rebel pushes around Zlitan and the oil town of Brega have been overshadowed by reports of divisions and the slaying of their top military chief in shadowy circumstances. General Abdel Fattah Younes's death, apparently while in the custody of fellow rebels bringing him back from the front line for unspecified questioning, raises the question of stability in the oil-rich country, even if Gaddafi, who has vowed to fight to the death, is defeated. Rebels have inched towards Zlitan, 160 km east of Tripoli and near rebel-held Misrata, Libya's third-largest city, pushing the frontline to the eastern outskirts. Video footage of Tuesday's fighting, seen by Reuters, showed rebels firing rocket-propelled grenades and heavy anti-aircraft guns at Gaddafi loyalists in eastern Zlitan. “We allowed them to get closer to our positions before we fired heavily at them to repel their advances. Our forces have not moved back and we have kept our ground,” one local commander told Reuters, asking not to be named. Another commander said he had lost two men in the fighting but also said the pro-Gaddafi forces had been driven back. Libyan state television late Monday aired interviews with people it said were recorded on Monday with people in Zlitan, in which residents denied rebels had taken control of the town
