Gaddafi’s camp vows to push war to crush uprising

Gaddafi’s camp vows to push war to crush uprising

Forces loyal to Libya’s leader, Muammar Gaddafi, has vowed to push on with a war to crush a five-month uprising.

Gaddafi's son said the conflict would continue until the rebellion was wiped-out, whether or not NATO stops its bombing campaign, leaving little room for diplomacy to seek an end to a war that has killed thousands and divided Libya.

In a key town attack on Tuesday, seven rebels were killed and another 65 fighters were wounded in Zlitan by forces loyal to Gaddafi.

The rebels and their Western backers kept up the pressure on the veteran leader as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began, with NATO bombing military targets and dropping leaflets over the capital calling on loyalists to give up.

The rebels, who have seized about half the country but frequently lose ground to counter-attacks by better armed and trained Gaddafi forces and remain dogged by their own internal divisions, had been seeking to consolidate gains around Zlitan, a town 160 km (100 miles) east of Tripoli.

Unexpected prolonged war

A war that some thought might be over in weeks once NATO forces, backed by a United Nations mandate to protect civilians, started to bomb Gaddafi's military installations in March is instead dragging on into the hot summer and a month of fasting.

The rebels have launched an offensive in the Western Mountains, near Tunisia and from Misrata - Libya's third largest city some 210 km (130 miles) east of the capital which the rebels clung onto after weeks of street-to-street fighting.

They hope to march west through Zlitan and on to Tripoli.

Reports also say that in an area between the two towns plumes of smoke were seen and intermittent gunfire was heard coming from Zlitan.

RETURES/Susan/Williams