Hardened rebel fighters streamed into Tripoli Thursday seeking to deliver a knockout punch to Muammar Gaddafi's diehards and to flush out the elusive strongman, who has a $1.7 million price on his head.
Rebel commanders said they were also readying a new advance against forces defending Gaddafi's hometown Sirte, 360 kilometres east of Tripoli and to break a siege of Zuwarah, a town to the west.
The British defence minister, Liam Fox, said NATO was helping the rebels with intelligence and reconaissance to find Gaddafi, but the Western alliance denied his claim.
However, an AFP reporter discovered that French and British operatives are working with rebels as they press towards Sirte, amid unconfirmed reports British special forces SAS members were sent to Libya several weeks ago.
Leading the army of reinforcements into Tripoli were seasoned combatants from Misrata, whose fellow fighters spearheaded the weekend assault that saw the capital swiftly overrun and Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound captured.
Rebel commanders said that while they control most of Tripoli, hot spots remain where sniper fire, rocket explosions and heavy weaponry make life dangerous.
In an example of that, Tripoli's Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel, where numerous foreign journalists are based, came under attack on Thursday, apparently by Gaddafi snipers, but there were no reports of casualties.
'Heavy shooting is going on in central Tripoli just at the doorstep of our hotel. Street battle. Sniper fire. Hotel under gunfire attack,' an AFP correspondent reported of the firefight, which last about 40 minutes.
The Corinthia is located a few hundred metres from the centre of Tripoli's Old City, near the sea.
The rebels are also hell-bent on finding Gaddafi, so they can proclaim final victory in an uprising that began six months ago and was all but crushed by Gaddafi's forces before NATO warplanes gave crucial air support to the rebels.
Rebel leaders say they want to put Gaddafi on trial even though he also faces charges of crimes against humanity along with his son Seif al-Islam and spymaster Abdullah al-Senussi at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
On Wednesday, the rebel National Transitional Council offered a $1.7 million reward for the capture of Gaddafi, dead or alive, and amnesty to any members of his inner circle who kill or capture him.
The 69-year-old Gaddafi has not been seen in public for weeks. But despite losing control of the oil-rich North African country he ruled with an iron fist for 42 years, he is still managing to broadcast messages urging Libyans to drive out the 'rats' — as he disparagingly calls the rebels.
Britain's defence minister Liam Fox told Sky news that NATO is providing 'intelligence and reconnaissance assets to the NTC to help them track down Colonel Gaddafi and other remnants of the regime.'
NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu denied that.
'No specific individual is a target as an individual, whether it's Gaddafi or anybody else,' she said in Brussels.
The alliance has repeatedly denied targeting Gaddafi since NATO-led warplanes began bombing regime forces in March and has always rejected claims that it was serving as the rebels' proxy air force.
'There is no military coordination with the rebels,' Lungescu said.
Meanwhile, Fox declined to comment on reports that Britain's SAS special forces were working with the rebels to track down Gaddafi.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper, quoting defence sources, said SAS members were sent to Libya several weeks ago and played a key role in coordinating the battle for Tripoli, which fell into rebel hands on Sunday.
In the oil refinery town of Zuwaytina, the new eastern front about 150 kilometres southwest of the opposition bastion Benghazi, an AFP reporter saw French and British operatives working with Libyan rebels .
They are equipped with telecommunications equipment and housed in two shipping containers, within walking distance of the headquarters of Fawzi Bukatif, commander of the eastern front.
In Tripoli's Souk Al-Jumaa, the arrival of at least 60 Misrata rebels on Wednesday sparked joy among residents.
'We are very happy. Misrata's soldiers can win anything,' said Taha Abu Zeid. 'They could even win Afghanistan.'
They were joined by rebels from the western Nafusa mountains and as far east as Benghazi, as field commanders vowed to bring the capital under full rebel control.
Fighting is concentrated along the perimeters of Bab al-Aziziya and the neighbouring Abu Slim district, where Gaddafi reportedly released, armed and paid former prisoners to fight for his regime.
The streets were quiet there Thursday after heavy fighting in the area the previous day.
Rebel commanders said Gaddafi forces were pounding insurgents holding the centre of Zuwarah, west of Tripoli, adding that they needed reinforcements to help them break the siege.
Rebels advancing towards Sirte were also blocked Wednesday in the town of Bin Jawad as loyalists kept up stiff resistance.
'Gaddafi's forces are still fighting, we are surprised. We thought they would surrender with the fall of Tripoli,' rebel commander Fawzi Bukatif said.
Meanwhile, at a press conference with the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, in Milan, NTC number two Mahmud Jibril repeated calls for urgent financial help.
'This is an urgent call upon our friends,' Jibril said, adding that the 'biggest disabling element' for the NTC 'would be the failure to deliver services and salaries' in the post-Gaddafi period.
On Wednesday, the NTC sought $5 billion in emergency aid from frozen assets at a meeting with foreign representatives from the Libya contact group in Qatar, a sum twice that announced by Jibril on Tuesday.
But at the United Nations South Africa refused to lift a block on the United States unfreezing $1.5 billion of Libyan assets to buy humanitarian aid, setting up a diplomatic showdown at the Security Council.
The Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, urged the United Nations to take action to unlock the assets, at the start of a Libya Contact Group meeting of senior diplomats in Istanbul.
Source : New Age
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