Libya troops push rebels LONDON/TRIPOLI: Muammar Gaddafi's better armed and organized troops reversed the westward charge of rebels Tuesday as world powers meeting in London piled up pressure on the Libyan leader to step down. A conference of 40 governments and international bodies agreed to press on with a NATO-led aerial bombardment of Libyan forces until Gaddafi complied with a UN resolution to end violence against civilians. It also set up a contact group comprising 20 countries and organizations, including, the African Union and the Arab League, to coordinate international support for an orderly transition to democracy in Libya. “All of us must continue to increase the pressure on and deepen the isolation of the Gaddafi regime through other means as well,” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said after the London talks finished. “This includes a unified front of political and diplomatic pressure that makes clear to Gaddafi that he must go.” The United States, Britain and Qatar suggested that Gaddafi and his family could be allowed to go into exile if they took up the offer quickly to end six weeks of bloodshed. Washington and Paris also raised the possibility of arming the rebels, although both stressed no decision had been taken. Without the help of airstrikes, the rebels seem unable to make advances or even hold positions, and on the ground the pendulum of fighting swung back Gaddafi's way. It took five days of foreign airstrikes to pulverize Libyan government tanks around the town of Ajdabiyah before Gaddafi's troops fled and the rebels rushed in and began a 300-km, two-day dash across the desert to within 80 km of the Gaddafi loyalist stronghold of Sirte. But the rebel pick-up truck cavalcade was first ambushed, then outflanked by Gaddafi troops. Government forces retook the small town of Nawfaliyah, 120 km east of Sirte, and rebels said they had been pushed back a further 25 km to the outskirts of the larger Bin Jawad.“The Gaddafi guys hit us with Grads (rockets) and they came round our flanks,” Ashraf Mohammed, a 28-year-old rebel wearing a bandolier of bullets, said at the front. The sporadic thud of heavy weapons could be heard as dozens of civilian cars sped eastwards away from the fight. Later, a hail of machinegun and rocket fire hit rebel positions. As the onslaught began, rebels leapt behind sand dunes to fire back. After a few minutes they gave up, jumped into their pick-up trucks and sped off back towards Bin Jawad. Reports that some Nawfaliyah residents fought alongside government troops were an ominous sign for world powers hoping to end Gaddafi's rule without a descent into all-out civil war. In western Libya, rebels and forces loyal to Gaddafi both claimed control over parts of Misrata, Libya's third city, which has been besieged by government forces for more than a month. Libyan state television said thousands of people were taking part in a march in support of Gaddafi in Misrata, which it said had been “cleansed of armed terrorist gangs.” It was the third time the channel said Misrata had been recaptured from rebels. A rebel spokesman called Sami said Gaddafi's forces had tried to enter the town from the east. “Fighting is still taking place now. Random bombardment is continuing,” he told Reuters by telephone from the city. “The humanitarian situation is catastrophic. There is a shortage of food and medicine. The hospital is no longer able to deal with the situation.” The UN refugee agency UNHCR said it had reports of thousands of families living in makeshift shelters cut off from any kind of assistance. Protection of civilians remains the most urgent goal of the airstrikes, and British Prime Minister David Cameron accused Gaddafi's supporters of “murderous attacks” on Misrata. A series of powerful explosions rocked Tripoli Tuesday and state television said several targets in the Libyan capital had come under attack in rare daytime strikes. Gaddafi accused Western powers of massacres of Libyan civilians in alliance with rebels he said were Al-Qaeda members. “Stop your brutal and unjust attack on our country ... Hundreds of Libyans are being killed because of this bombardment. Massacres are being mercilessly committed against the Libyan people,” he said in a letter to world leaders. The rebels deny any Al-Qaeda links and Tuesday promised free and fair elections if Gaddafi is forced from power.
