PRO-GADDAFI FORCES have reversed the rebel advance, pushing their opponents out of Bin Jawad.
Rebels had made good ground in the past few days, taking strategic oil ports and edging towards Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte, but have now pulled back eastwards to Ras Lanouf, about 40km from Bin Jawad.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent Hoda-Abdel Hamid says that the latest movements are “an exact repeat of what happened three weeks ago”, when pro-Gaddafi forces pushed the rebels back.
Rebels called on coalition forces to provide stronger military support and provide them with weapons. The coalition continued its barrage on Libya yesterday, firing missiles and mounting airstrikes.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with a representative of the Libyan opposition’s Transitional National Council, Mahmoud Jibril, ahead of an international leaders conference on Libya in London yesterday.
World leaders agreed that Gaddafi should step down, but did not agree on what additional pressure should be put on the Libyan leader to resign.
After that conference, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that Qatar had offered to sell Libyan oil and return the proceeds for the support of the Libyan people, but did not provide further details on the offer.
- Additional reporting from the AP
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