2 Libyan-American rebels dead as rebels claim Bir al-Ghanam

Libyan rebels camped in Bir al-Ghanam Tripoli – Essam Massoud It seems the end is near for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as Libyan rebel forces arrived in the town of Al Zawiya, which is located 80 Km from the capital Tripoli, where the military headquarters for Gaddafi are based; they have now one more city to overtake to see the end of the leader. Rebels camped out in the desert part of the strategic town of Bir al-Ghanam, as they were unable to continue any further on that day.

Last February, Bir al-Ghanam witnessed two failed uprisings; the majority of fighters there are refugee murderess and inmates from Al Zawiya. Murad Bada, one of the fighters said that their main aim is to get to Al Zawiya which will guarantee them the end of Gaddafi. Rebels, along with the NATO hope that Gaddafi will be forced to step down if pressurizing him was to continue by prohibit food supplies, weapons and fuel from reaching him, in addition to carrying on with attacking his forces. However the attacks launched by the NATO may be used as an excuse by Gaddafi to stay I power.

Although the rebels’ taking over Bir al-Ghanam is a very noticeable development in the fights between the three parties, especially after the past 3 quiet fairly quiet weeks that went past; it is still not enough to take Gaddafi down, as the small rebel groups attempting to move closer to the West are expected to face heavy fighting, which is likely to increase as they get closer to Tripoli because of the popularity Gaddafi enjoys there.

The reason behind the delay in rebel forces moving forward quickly is due to their inexperience in war and internal divisions. Although Libyan government officials said on Sunday that they still have control of Bir al-Ghanam, reports show that their presence is only represented by few weapons left behind by runaway government fighters, which are one artillery and three burning tanks. Additionally, there was also a deep hole by one of the tanks, indicating an air strike carried out by NATO forces on the trailer to transporting tanks.
Salem Shawoosh, a 32-year-old fighter said that: “the battle that took place Saturday lasted for 5 continuous hours in order to take over Bir al-Ghanam, during which fighters attacked from behind the hills that border the town on foot, with the air cover of NATO forces. 5 men of the opposition were killed, including a Libyan man and his son who were both American passport holders, and they represent a large part of many of the Libyans who came to Libya to fight against the Gaddafi regime, which was the reason for fleeing their country in the past.” He added: “the father was hugging his son when they were both found dead.”
Libyan rebels in the western town of Zliten were said to be low on ammunition but their peers were in control early Monday of the key southwest town of Bir Ghanam which the regime claimed to have retaken.
Abdul Wahab Melitan, a rebel spokesman in the port city of Misrata near Zliten, said forces loyal to strongman Gaddafi had launched an assault on rebel positions in Zliten's Souk Telat area, killing three and wounding 15.

"The rebels lack ammunition to advance and we do not want to risk losing any ground," Melitan said.
Meanwhile, a rebel source at Al-Qusbat, around 90 kilometres (55 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, said that town was living through its fourth day under siege. A group of rebels on Thursday overran Gaddafi forces based in one of the town's schools, but since then the rebels have been battling to hold on to their gains. In Tripoli, Prime Minister Baghdadi Mahmudi told reporters that government troops had recaptured the strategic town of Bir Ghanam, southwest of the capital, from insurgents.
"Life is back to normal in Bir Ghanam, and today it is under the full control of the regime," Mahmudi said. But rebels were in control of the town early Monday, an AFP journalist said.
"The rebels are controlling the checkpoints. There are no shots," the journalist said, adding that NATO warplanes were flying overhead.
Rebels from the Berber-dominated Nafusa mountain range south of Tripoli claimed the capture of Bir Ghanam just 80 kilometres from the capital on Saturday, as they pushed further east. The rebels have been using the Nafusa as a springboard to advance on Tripoli but have encountered strong resistance from fighters loyal to Gaddafi.
 
Mahmudi also condemned the intensification of NATO raids on Tripoli and other cities, claiming that the alliance no longer "differentiates between civilian and military sites."
NATO said its warplanes attacked 45 targets across Libya on Saturday, including an ammunition storage facility and a multiple rocket launcher system in the Bir Ghanam area. Mahmudi criticised the National Transitional Council (NTC), the rebels' de facto government, and the security situation in the rebel-controlled east, especially after last month's assassination of General Abdel Fatah Yunis, a long-time Gaddafi ally before he defected. The premier claimed that the "decision-making and the real forces in the field are in the hands of Islamist extremist groups." Since the beginning of the revolt, the Gaddafi regime has portrayed the five-month-old uprising as an Al-Qaeda plot. Mahmudi also claimed that most NTC members had left the country, saying: "I defy the NTC to meet even once during Ramadan," the Muslim month of fasting.

On Saturday, hundreds of rebel fighters also forked off towards the sea, advancing within 20 kilometres of Surman on the coast road west of Tripoli before meeting any resistance, an AFP correspondent said.
But forces loyal to the veteran Libyan strongman fought back, laying down fire in a bid to halt the rebels' advance. Many of the rebels were from the "Tripoli Battalion," a group of volunteers from the capital and other coastal towns eager to "liberate" their homes in the five-month-old revolt. The battalion is said to have received military training in the Nafusa mountains.