LIBYA: Rebel leader confirms capture Ajdabiyah and calls for reinforcements

Record ID: 699544

  • Title: LIBYA: Rebel leader confirms capture Ajdabiyah and calls for reinforcements
  • Date: 27th March 2011
  • Summary: BENGHAZI, LIBYA (MARCH 26, 2011) (REUTERS) REBEL LEADER, COLONEL AHMED BENY, AT NEWS CONFERENCE LIBYA'S INDEPENDENCE ERA FLAG (USED BY REBELS) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) REBEL LEADER, COLONEL AHMED BENY, SAYING: "Yes of course, Ajdabiyah is completely free now. It is totally cleared out. The dictator's [Gaddafi's] troops had been driven out and, by the way, we now are very close to the city of Brega." JOURNALISTS LISTEN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) REBEL LEADER, COLONEL, AHMED BENY, SAYING: "We are in a need of immediate reinforcements; we need more forces to continue fighting and to end this problem for our brothers in Sirte, Misrata, and Tripoli and other cities which have not been completely liberated yet." JOURNALIST TAKES NOTES
  • Embargoed: 11th April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4O8VPSLVG3RMRO3BPHE8ZGETP
  • Story Text: A Libyan rebel officer holds a news conference in Benghazi to confirm the capture of the strategically key town of Ajdabiyah by rebel forces and to appeal for reinforcements.
    An officer in Libyan rebel forces held a news conference in Benghazi on Saturday (March 26) to confirm the recapture of Ajdabiyah and to appeal for further help in their campaign against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
    The rebels, backed by allied air strikes, retook the strategic town earlier in the day, after an all-night battle that suggested the tide is turning against Gaddafi's forces in the east of the country.
    The rebel fighters danced on tanks and waved flags in celebration and thanked the Western powers who have mounted an operation to enforce the U.N. no-fly zone over Libya.
    On Saturday evening, rebel officer Ahmed Beny, told a news conference that Ajdabiyah was completely in the hands of anti-Gaddafi forces, who were pushing on towards the oil town of Brega.
    "Yes of course, Ajdabiyah is completely free now. It is totally cleared out. The dictator's troops had been driven out and, by the way, we now are very close to the city of Brega," he said.
    Capturing Ajdabiyah, a gateway from western Libya to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi and the oil town of Tobruk, was a big morale boost for the rebels a week after coalition air strikes began.
    Beny said however, that further substantial progress by rebel forces would depend on additional help.
    "We are in a need of immediate reinforcements; we need more forces to continue fighting and to end this problem for our brothers in Sirte, Misrata, and Tripoli and other cities which have not been completely liberated yet," he added.
    Western governments hope the raids, launched with the aim of protecting civilians, will also shift the balance of power in favour of the Arab world's most violent popular revolt.
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