Libyan Rebels Attack Pro-Gadhafi Tripoli Hideout
Hardened fighters streamed Thursday into Tripoli as Libya's rebels sought to deliver a knockout punch to Moammar Gadhafi's diehards and, backed by NATO, to flush out the elusive strongman.
Hundreds of rebel fighters on Thursday launched an attack on a Tripoli hideout of forces and snipers loyal to Gadhafi, an AFP TV reporter said.
More than 300 rebels armed with Kalashnikov, rocket launchers and assault rifles streamed into the Abu Salim district where they traded fire with loyalists and launched a house-to-house search.
"Today we are freeing Abu Salim," and "Today we will conquer Abu Salim," rebels yelled as they headed into battle.
Rebels said they arrested two pro-Gadhafi fighters, accusing one of them of being a sniper because he was wearing a flak-jacket and his car was stocked full of bullets.
One rebel tore down one of the many green flags raised in support of the regime in the low-income district renowned for its political prison.
Rebel commanders said they were also readying fresh attempts to advance against Gadhafi's forces defending his hometown Sirte, 360 kilometers east of Tripoli and to break a siege of Zuwarah, a town to the west.
They were being supported in their hunt for the wily Gadhafi by NATO, which according to Britain's Defense Minister Liam Fox is contributing intelligence and reconnaissance equipment.
An Agence France Presse reporter, meanwhile, discovered that French and British operatives are working with Libyan rebels as they press towards Sirte, amid reports British special forces SAS members were sent to Libya several weeks ago.
Leading the army of reinforcements into Tripoli were seasoned combatants from the city of Misrata, whose fellow fighters spearheaded the weekend assault that saw the Libyan capital swiftly overrun and Gadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound captured by Tuesday.
Rebel commanders said that while they control most of Tripoli, hot spots remain where sniper fire, rocket explosions and heavy weaponry make life dangerous.
In an example of that, Tripoli's Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel, where numerous foreign journalists are based, came under attack on Thursday, apparently by Gadhafi snipers, but there were no reports of casualties.
"Heavy shooting is going on in central Tripoli just at the doorstep of our hotel. Street battle. Sniper fire. Hotel under gunfire attack," an AFP correspondent reported of the firefight, which lasted about 40 minutes.
The Corinthia is located a few hundred meters from the center of Tripoli's Old City, near the sea.
The rebels are also hell-bent on finding Gadhafi, so they can proclaim final victory in an uprising that began six months ago and was all but crushed by Gadhafi's forces before NATO warplanes gave crucial air support to the rebels.
Rebel leaders say they want to put Gadhafi on trial in Libya even though he also faces charges of crimes against humanity along with his son Seif al-Islam and spymaster Abdullah al-Senoussi at the International Criminal Court.
The rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) on Wednesday offered a $1.7 million reward for the capture of the elusive strongman, dead or alive.
"The NTC supports the initiative of businessmen who are offering two million dinars for the capture of Moammar Gadhafi, dead or alive," NTC chief Mustafa Abdul Jalil said in the rebel capital Benghazi.
Abdul Jalil also offered amnesty to "members of (Gadhafi's) close circle who kill him or capture him."
The 69-year-old Gadhafi has not been seen in public for weeks and despite losing control of the oil-rich North African country he ruled with an iron first for 42 years is still managing to broadcast messages urging Libyans to drive out the "rats" -- as he disparagingly calls the rebels.
He also claimed on Wednesday to have walked incognito on the streets of Tripoli without being recognized.
In the oil refinery town of Zuwaytina, the new eastern front about 150 kilometers southwest of the opposition's capital Benghazi, an AFP reporter saw French and British operatives working with Libyan rebels .
They are equipped with telecommunications equipment and housed in two shipping containers, within walking distance of the headquarters of Fawzi Bukatif, commander of the eastern front.
Britain's Defense Minister Liam Fox told Sky news on Thursday that NATO is providing "intelligence and reconnaissance assets to the NTC to help them track down Colonel Gadhafi and other remnants of the regime."
Fox however declined to comment on reports that Britain's SAS special forces were working with the Libyan rebels to track down Gadhafi.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper, quoting defense sources, said SAS members were sent to Libya several weeks ago and played a key role in coordinating the battle for Tripoli, which fell into rebel hands on Sunday.
In Tripoli's souk Al-Jumaa, the arrival of at least 60 Misrata rebels on Wednesday sparked joy among residents.
"We are very happy. Misrata's soldiers can win anything," said Taha Abu Zeid. "They could even win Afghanistan."
They were joined by rebels from as far west as the Nafusa mountains and as far east as Benghazi, as field commanders vowed to bring the capital under full rebel control.
Fighting is concentrated along the perimeters of Bab al-Aziziya and the neighboring Abu Slim district, where Gadhafi reportedly released, armed and paid former prisoners to fight for his regime, although the streets were quiet Thursday after heavy fighting in the area the previous day.
Rebel commanders said Gadhafi forces were pounding insurgents holding the center of Zuwarah, west of Tripoli, adding that they needed reinforcements to help them break the siege.
Rebels advancing towards Sirte were also blocked Wednesday in the town of Bin Jawad as loyalists kept up stiff resistance.
"Gadhafi's forces are still fighting, we are surprised. We thought they would surrender with the fall of Tripoli," rebel commander Fawzi Bukatif said.
Four Italian journalists kidnapped in Libya on Wednesday by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi, have been freed, the foreign ministry said in Rome.
The four were liberated around 0930 GMT on Thursday, according to a ministry spokesman, who said the journalists "are now in a hotel with other Italian journalists" and "are well."
The NTC's number two leader, Mahmoud Jibril, meanwhile called for "urgent" financial help at a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Milan on Thursday.
"This is an urgent call upon our friends," Jibril said, adding the "biggest disabling element" for the NTC "would be the failure to deliver services and salaries" in the post-Gadhafi period.
The NTC had in Doha on Wednesday sought five billion dollars in emergency aid from frozen assets at a meeting with foreign representatives from the Libya contact group.
The sum was twice that announced on Tuesday by Jibril.
But at the United Nations South Africa refused to lift a block on the United States unfreezing 1.5 billion dollars of Libyan assets to buy humanitarian aid, setting up a diplomatic showdown at the Security Council.
South Africa insisted the council wait for the African Union to decide whether to recognize the NTC at a summit Thursday before approving the move.
Source: Agence France Presse
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