ZAWIYA, Libya – The United Nations' special envoy for Libya said Tuesday that he was meeting with representatives of both sides of the conflict, days after rebels made a dramatic advance that brought them within 30 miles of Moammar Gadhafi's stronghold in the capital Tripoli.
A Tunisian security official said the discussions late Monday centered on a "peaceful transition" in Libya. The official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity matter, said the rebels reacted angrily to the proposal with one member of their delegation throwing a shoe during the meeting to show his deep disdain.
Abdel-Elah al-Khatib, Jordan's former foreign minister, arrived in the Tunisian capital Tunis Monday for the meetings with representatives of both Gadhafi and the rebels. He said there were no direct negotiations as he met the two sides separately in the neighboring country. He did not identify those he met or say what they discussed, speaking to reporters after a meeting Tuesday with Tunisian Foreign Minister Mouldi Kefi al-Khatib.
The Tunisian security official said the U.N. envoy might also meet with a representative of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Chavez's envoy has been on the Tunisian isle of Djerba for the past few days.
The U.N. denied its special envoy was taking part in the meetings. In a statement sent to The Associated Press in Tunis, saying it had "no concrete information about talks supposedly taking place in Tunisia."
Back in Libya, a rebel advance over the weekend into the strategic city of Zawiya on the Mediterranean coast, just 30 miles from Tripoli, put the opposition force in the strongest position since the 6-month-old civil war began to attack the capital. Residents were fleeing Tripoli and other cities on the coast in long lines of cars, fearing the fighting would soon reach them.
The Obama administration said Monday that the U.S. was encouraged by the rebel advances and hoped they had broken a monthslong stalemate with Gadhafi's forces.
In a sign of the regime's growing distress, U.S. defense officials said Libyan government forces tapped into their stores of Scud missiles this weekend, firing one for the first time in the half-year conflict with rebels. No one was hurt. The missile was fired toward a second front line in the east of the country around the town of Brega.
The missile launch was detected by U.S. forces shortly after midnight Sunday and the Scud landed in the desert about 50 miles (80 kilometers) outside Brega, said one U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations. It was launched about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Sirte, a city on the Mediterranean coast about 230 miles (370 kilometers) east of Tripoli. Sirte is Gadhafi's hometown and a bastion of support for him.
Noting that Scuds are not precision guided missiles, officials said they couldn't tell if Brega was the target.
NATO spokesman Col. Roland Lavoie cited the firing of a "Scud-like" short-range ballistic missile over the weekend. Although the missile landed far from any rebels, Lavoie said it still represented a direct threat to innocent people.
"The missiles are highly inaccurate (and) their use against an urban area is utterly irresponsible," he said.
On Tuesday, rebels and Gadhafi forces fought for control of Zawiya on a main road leading from Tunisia in the west to Tripoli. Rebels are trying to cut off two major supply routes into the capital from Tunisia in the west and another in the south. The routes are critical with NATO imposing a no-fly zone over Libya. Rebels said Monday they also cut oil pipelines from Zawiya to Tripoli. Oil-rich Libya's only functioning refineries are in Zawiya.
Medics at a field hospital on the outskirts of Zawiya said that 15 people were killed the day before in an artillery strike, including a woman and a child, and that one person was killed Tuesday.
On the second front in the east, NATO planes could be heard overhead in Brega as rebels patrolled a ghost town. Furniture and clothing were strewn all over the residential compound, and many houses were broken into, their windows shattered and walls pocked with bullet holes.
Smoke was seen rising from the industrial town as fighting raged.
Rebel and regime forces have battled over the strategic port city of Brega throughout the conflict, and control has swung back and forth between the two sides.
In Tripoli, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim confirmed that former interior minister Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah had defected from the Gadhafi regime and left to Egypt.
"He was under psychological and social pressure and he could not resist it, but the battle continues," said Ibrahim.
On the diplomatic front, Moscow said it was "deeply disturbed" that NATO had "overstepped" its aerial campaign in Libya.
A Russian official said that his country as well as some other members of the U.N. Security Council were unhappy with the destruction of infrastructure and attacks on power supplies in government-controlled areas.
The NATO spokesman Lavoie denied that the alliance was overstepping its mandate.
"We take the side of the people of Libya," said Lavoie. "When we strike a tank, it is because we understand it does represent a threat to the local population."
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Bouazza reported from Tunis, Tunisia. Rami al-Shaheibi contributed to this report from Brega, Libya.
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