Libyan rebels claim control of Brega (AFP)

AJDABIYA, Libya (AFP) – Libya's rebels claimed control of Brega on Monday as pro-Kadhafi troops retreated westward leaving just 150-200 loyalist fighters pinned down inside the oil town, a spokesman said.

"The bulk of (Moamer) Kadhafi's forces have retreated to Ras Lanuf," rebel spokesman Shamsiddin Abdulmolah told AFP, referring to another oil hub some 50 kilometres (32 miles) to the west.

The loyalist forces were said to have been led in retreat by their commander, Kadhafi's son Mutassim, according to another rebel military source citing intercepted radio chatter.

But deep in the town's industrial zone some remnants of Kadhafi's forces were still holed up, left with dwindling supplies and what must be a growing sense of foreboding.

"Their food and water supplies are cut and they now will not be able to sleep," said Abdulmolah. "It's a matter of time before they come to their senses, we hope to prevent some bloodshed."

Holding the town would be a major rebel victory, boosting morale and recapturing infrastructure vital to Libya's economic future.

Brega is a major centre for channelling oil through the pipelines of the resource-rich Sirte Basin to the rest of the world.

Fighters on the ground said there were no signs yet of those oil installations being set on fire or sabotaged, but the area had been heavily mined.

On the approach to the front there were already signs of relief and celebration.

"Tonight we sleep in Brega!" cried 25-year-old Mufta Idris from a sand-smeared Toyota pick-up that was carrying him and four other members of the Hasan Jaber Brigade to the front.

In nearby Ajdabiya, where many of the 300 rebels wounded in the five days of fighting had been brought, there was a marked lull in activity at the local hospital.

Doctors stood chatting amicably in the hallway for the first time in days. The white marble floor that had been streaked with the blood of some 21 dead fighters had been washed clean.

There were no cries of pain from the operating theatre where doctors had tended severe shrapnel wounds without morphine.

Across the front, the toll on Kadhafi's forces may never be fully known.

The battle had begun around four hours before sunset on Thursday, when the largely volunteer rebel army launched a bold three-pronged attack that belied their inexperience of military tactics.

They had hoped months of waiting and training would arrest a bloody to-and-fro that had seen Brega change hands several times since the revolution began five months ago.

The rebels appeared to have learned the lessons from a series of hard-fought military gains that were washed away by hasty and badly coordinated advances.

This time rebel columns approached slowly from the northeast, east and southeast, surrounding Kadhafi's forces and reaching the outskirts of the city's eastern-most tip late on Friday.

Since then there has been a steady pattern of rebel advance followed by tactical retreat to allow NATO warplanes to do their work.

Such is the new-found caution that even now the complete occupation of Brega may have to wait.

"Most of the troops going in right now are anti-mine teams," said Abdulmolah. "We have found an extraordinary number of anti-personnel mines."

He added that the effort to clear the ordnance is being hampered by missile attacks from the village of Bishr around 20 kilometres (13 miles) away.

The rebels hope that a phalanx of their fighters which swept past Brega from the south will soon take out those positions.

"We hope to take Bishr today," said Abdulmolah.

But the rebel victory is unlikely to bring a quick end to the war.

Southwest of Tripoli, Kadhafi's forces continued to fire rockets at rebel positions in Gualish in the Nafusa Mountains and around Bir Ayad, a key junction on the road to Tripoli in the plains below, rebel commanders said.

The rebels responded with rocket fire against the loyalist-held hill town of Asabah, an AFP correspondent reported.

Meanwhile British Prime Minister David Cameron sought to bridge the gap with South African President Jacob Zuma over bringing a political end to the conflict.

Zuma has accused NATO of overstepping its UN mandate to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, although South Africa voted for the UN resolution that the alliance uses to justify its bombing campaign.

"It is no secret that we have disagreed on some aspects of how to respond to the violence in Libya," Cameron said.

"... We agree on the ultimate destination that Kadhafi must step aside to allow the people of Libya to decide their own future.

Zuma's comments pointed to only partial agreement: "What happens to Kadhafi must be decided by the Libyan people. You need to negotiate how, why and where he must go," Zuma said.

View the original article here

Pakistani troops in control after Karachi violence (AP)

By ASHRAF KHAN and NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Ashraf Khan And Nahal Toosi, Associated Press – 2?hrs?8?mins?ago

KARACHI, Pakistan – Pakistani forces regained control Saturday over trouble spots in the nation's largest city, where five days of political and ethnic violence killed at least 93 people and forced many to stay at home in fear, an official said.

The fighting in Karachi, a sprawling southern port city of 18 million people, has added to the political instability in this nuclear-armed, U.S.-allied nation and provided another distraction for the government as it fights a Taliban-led insurgent movement. It also undercuts the country's struggling economy, because Karachi is its main commercial hub.

The latest spell of violence is extraordinary even by the standards of Karachi, a city that routinely witnesses more than 1,000 violent deaths a year, many of them targeted killings linked to political, ethnic and sectarian rivalries.

It follows the decision by the city's most powerful political party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, to leave the federal ruling coalition and join the opposition. Such moves by the MQM have traditionally been accompanied by outbursts of fighting.

The fighting in some areas got so bad that security forces were ordered to shoot gunmen on sight Friday.

"Four or five homes were burned in our own street, and so badly that no one could put the fire out. And whenever someone tried to do so, there was a shootout," said Mohammad Kashif, who spent much of the week holed up in his house.

By Saturday evening, authorities said more than 150 suspects were detained and that paramilitary Rangers and other security units had brought the violence under "complete control."

"The Rangers have completely taken over the affected areas and the miscreants have been swept out," said Maj. Farooq Bilal, a Rangers spokesman.

Many of the killings, which began Tuesday, appeared linked to political and ethnic turf battles, officials said. Some of Karachi's leading political parties have been formed along ethnic lines, though all deny targeting one another's activists.

The MQM dominates Karachi politics, but over time it has seen challenges to its power as an influx of ethnic Pashtun residents has moved to the city and given a boost to the rival Awami National Party, a Pashtun nationalist party.

Also in the mix is the ruling Pakistan People's Party. All three parties were partners in the federal ruling coalition until late June, when the MQM said it would join the opposition.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said those behind the attacks were ultimately helping the Taliban, who want "mass killings" and "destabilization."

The U.S. has a keen interest in keeping Pakistan stable — it needs the country to stay focused on fighting Taliban and other Islamist militants, some of who threaten Western troops across the border in Afghanistan. But Pakistan has for the most part taken action only against militants who stage attacks on its soil.

Late Friday, a Pakistani warlord who has focused on fighting U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan condemned militants who carry out attacks on Pakistani soil. Hafiz Gul Bahadur's statement illustrates the splintered nature of the Islamist militant movement in Pakistan.

Because Bahadur's fighters don't go after Pakistani targets, the Pakistani military has largely left him alone. However, his territory in the North Waziristan tribal region has come under attack by drone-fired U.S. missiles.

Earlier this week, an army convoy was struck by a roadside bomb in North Waziristan.

That prompted the army to retaliate, including destroying a hospital where the suspected militants behind the bombing were believed to be hiding, said intelligence officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record to media.

Bahadur warned that his fighters would pursue militants behind such acts, saying they must be American agents.

"We give a go-ahead to all commanders in Waziristan, mujahedeen and people to kill such criminals who come to do such acts again in populated areas, houses or hotels, and we will take responsibility for that," said his statement, issued after he met a group of like-minded militant leaders.

Meanwhile, gunmen attacked a NATO oil supply tanker in Mastung district, some 50 kilometers south of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, killing a driver and one of his helpers, said a government official, Mohammad Ismail.

The supplies for NATO and its allied U.S. troops in Afghanistan pass through the province which has long been the scene of a low-level insurgency by nationalist groups vying for a bigger share in regional natural resources.

___

Toosi reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Muhammad Farooq in Karachi, Abdul Sattar in Quetta and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar contributed to this report.

View the original article here