Libya clashes widen,,[ 2145 ]

Libya clashes widen, Interpol issues Gaddafi alert

Rebels on the road in Libya

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A rebel fighter fires a cannon during a battle near Ras Lanuf, March 4, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Goran Tomasevic

Rebels on the road in Libya (01:12)

By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy

TRIPOLI | Fri Mar 4, 2011 1:41pm EST
 

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's forces battled rebels on several fronts in Libya on Friday and unrest erupted in the capital when gunmen fired to break up crowds shouting "Gaddafi is the enemy of God."
Vowing "victory or death," eastern-based rebels pressed home a westwards push with an attack on the oil town of Ras Lanuf, which lies on a strategic coastal road, claiming to have taken its airport.
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In the west, security forces loyal to Gaddafi recaptured parts of Zawiyah, a town near the capital Tripoli that has for days been defying his rule, and residents said at least 30 civilians had been killed, including the town's rebel commander.
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News of the fighting pushed up U.S. crude prices to their highest levels since September 2008, and Brent crude futures for April delivery rose $1.36 to $116.17 a barrel.
The International Energy Agency said one million barrels per day (bpd) of Libya's oil output was shut, the top of the range it estimated on Wednesday.
The rebellion in Zawiyah -- the closest rebel-held territory to the capital and the site of another oil refinery -- has been an embarrassment to the authorities who are trying to show they control at least the west of the country.
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POPULAR REVOLT

Rebels have already seized control of eastern regions of the country, around the city of Benghazi, the center of the popular revolt against his four decades of rule.
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The uprising against Gaddafi is the bloodiest yet against a long-serving ruler in the Arab world, and the cut in Libya's 1.6 million bpd oil output is a major blow to its oil-dependent economy.
The upheaval has caused a humanitarian emergency on the Tunisian border where tens of thousands of foreign workers have fled to safety. An international airlift is under way, reducing the number of refugees trapped in tented camps.
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The rebels earlier told Reuters they were open to talks only about Gaddafi's exile or resignation, following attacks on civilians that have provoked international condemnation, arms and economic sanctions and a war crimes probe.
"Victory or death ... We will not stop until we liberate all this country," Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the rebel National Libyan Council told supporters of the two-week-old uprising.
Abdullah al-Mahdi, a rebel spokesman, told Al Jazeera opposition fighters would attack the capital once a "no-fly" zone was enforced by international powers to try to shatter Gaddafi's grip on the country of six million people.
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Western nations have called on Gaddafi to go and are considering various options including the imposition of a no-fly zone, but are wary about any offensive military involvement.
In the east, rebels were attacking a military base on the outskirts of Ras Lanuf, an oil port on the Mediterranean, which has a refinery, pipelines and a terminal, and the army responded with artillery fire and helicopters firing machine guns.