LIBYA: Rebels go wild as top rebel commander drives to frontline

Record ID: 277426

  • Title: LIBYA: Rebels go wild as top rebel commander drives to frontline
  • Date: 2nd April 2011
  • Summary: NEAR BREGA, LIBYA (APRIL 1, 2011) (REUTERS) REBELS ON THE ROAD KISSING REBEL FLAG REBELS HOLDING BULLETS SHOUTING AND FIRING GUNS REBELS WITH GRENADE PRETENDING TO PULL THE PIN REBELS ON THE ROAD CALLING ON PEOPLE TO ADVANCE MAN WITH FACE PAINTED IN REBEL FLAG COLOURS REBELS MARCHING FORWARD BACK OF REBELS MARCHING FORWARD REBELS FIRING HEAVY WEAPON REBELS CROWDED
  • Embargoed: 17th April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Reuters ID: LVA9A7XEHSKO7MDBW5JBY37X8JD4
  • Story Text: Libyan rebels moved heavier weapons and a top commander towards the disputed town of Brega on Friday (April 1).
    They are seeking to break a military stalemate against better-equipped troops loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.
    Rebels said neither side could claim control of Brega -- one of a string of oil towns along the Mediterranean coast that have been taken and retaken by insurgents and Gaddafi's forces in recent weeks.
    But on Friday there were signs the rebels were seeking to regain momentum. Reuters reporters on the scenes said marshalled their rag-tag ranks into a more disciplined army and moving rockets and other equipment westward towards the front line.
    Television pictures of the rebels showed they were defiant and combative.
    To the cheers of rebels who fired their guns into the air, Abdel Fattah Younes al Abidi, who was appointed head of the rebel forces after defecting as Gaddafi's interior minister, arrived at a checkpoint outside Brega. He later mounted his convoy and headed towards the front line.
    Members of the opposition movement seeking to end Gaddafi's four decade rule have praised the enthusiasm of their fighters, many of whom are volunteers with little training and rely on pick-ups and machine guns. But they often voice frustration at the lack of discipline or strategy of rebels at the front.
    While rebels massed outside Brega, gun emplacements were set up in freshly dug ditches with sand berms that faced toward Ajdabiyah and the frontline, the first sign of organised defensive positions protecting Benhgazi.
    The new approach has yet to be tested after the rout rebels faced this week when a two-day rebel advance forward along about 200 km (125 miles) of coast from Brega was repulsed and turned into a rapid retreat over the following two days.
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