Gadadfi could ‘stop support for anti-terror war’

Strongman Muammer Gaddafi threatened Europe on Friday with the withdrawal of Libyan support for the international war on terror and to prevent illegal migration, the official Jana news agency reported.

Meanwile, hard-pressed Libyan fighters rushed reinforcements to the oil town of Ras Lanuf on Friday to counter a major offensive by Muammer Gadadfi’s troops that had driven them back.

Fighting continued after a fierce battle the day before, and revolutionary fighters delayed journalists from heading towards the area from the town of Ajdabiya, so it was unclear how far Gaddafi’s men had pushed east along the coast.

"We don't know exactly what is happening in Ras Lanuf, but we've heard there is still fighting," said Salem Abdulrahman, a bearded young fighter in fatigues and a keffiya scarf, driving a pick-up carrying an anti-aircraft gun.

Gaddafi forces fight back

Troops loyal to Gaddafi were fighting to retake the oil port of Ras Lanuf on Friday, intensifying their counter-offensive against the out-gunned insurgents.

Meanwhile Libya’s Zawiya refinery is operational again after violence nearby caused shutdown, one of the refinery officials said on Friday.

Government forces, with total air superiority and a big advantage in tanks, appear to have regained the momentum in the three-week old conflict and if their push proceeds apace it could overtake sluggish international efforts to halt Gaddafi.

The sound of explosions and small arms fire came from Ras Lanuf on Friday as smoke rose from the town. Revolutionary forces said they were still inside the residential area of the oil port and fighting government tanks as well as troops who landed by boat.

"Four boats carrying 40 to 50 men each landed there. We are fighting them right now," revolutionary spokesman, Mohammed al-Mughrabi said, but he declined to say exactly where he was.

A fighter named Ibrahim al-Alwani said he and his comrades were still in Ras Lanuf and had seen government troops in the town centre. "I saw maybe 150 men and three tanks," he said. "I can hear clashes."

Insurgents withdrew their last main checkpoint in Ras Lanuf on Friday, setting it up 15-20 km (10-13 miles) to the east.

"This is our last checkpoint, ahead are clashes. The clashes are in the residential area (of Ras Lanuf)," another fighter Youssef Mohannad told Reuters at the checkpoint.

Libyan mobile phone subscribers received SMS messages on Friday saying that the cities of Ajdabiyah and Benghazi in the fighters-held east of the country will be recaptured soon.

"City of Ajdabiyah: be happy because the day of liberation is near," said one message. Another said: "Unhappy masses of Benghazi: be prepared for happiness because the day of liberation is coming soon."

Calls for intl action

The insurgents were angry at the international inaction.

"Where is the West? How are they helping? What are they doing," shouted one angry fighter.

West of Tripoli, the revolt in Zawiyah appeared all but crushed, with insurgents clinging to only parts of the shattered city. Residents described scenes of carnage, with women and children among the dead.

One fighter said that the opposition had retaken the heart of Zawiyah from the army overnight, but authorities have kept journalists away from the town, about 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli.

Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam told the fighters they faced a full-scale assault to crush their uprising which began after Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in neighbouring Egypt a month ago.

"It's time for action. We are moving now," he told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. He said the government had given the fighters two weeks for negotiations. "Time is out now."

He also said that the government will never surrender to the rebels and Western countries will lose if they support the uprising.

As the military tide turned against the revolutionaries, foreign powers held a flurry of meetings but remained at odds over whether, or how to intervene to end the turmoil.

The insurgent leader warned the delay could let Gaddafi regain control of Libya.

"We ask the international community to shoulder their responsibilities," Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, head of the National Libyan Council, told the BBC.

"The Libyans are being cleansed by Gaddafi's air force. We asked for a no-fly zone to be imposed from day one, we also want a sea embargo," he said. "We urgently need some arms and we also need humanitarian assistance and medicines to be sent to the cities besieged by Gaddafi troops."