Libya Calls For Ceasefire As Rebels Advance

2:36pm UK, Sunday August 21, 2011
SKY NEWS

The Libyan government has appealed for an immediate ceasefire and an end to Nato's "aggression" as the rebel force approaches the capital Tripoli.

Spokesman for Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime, Moussa Ibrahim, told reporters the rebels were nothing without Nato and they would never be able to take Libya.

He claimed the people of Tripoli would never rise up and join the rebels and warned of a bloodbath on the streets as they moved closer to the capital.

"Tripoli is well protected and we have thousands upon thousands of professional soldiers ready to defend this city against any possible invasion by rebels under the cover of Nato."

He added: "What is happening now and what is going to happen is not the power of the rebels.

"It's the power of Nato - a major force for evil that has no heart, using armed gangs to occupy a whole nation."

Libyan TV presenter on Al-Libiyah brandishes a gun

Gun-wielding Libyan TV presenter says she is ready to die fighting against rebels

Mr Ibrahim's made the comments as the rebels came under sniper fire at the western gate of Tripoli following quick progress along the coast to the capital.

Fighters from the western city of Zawiyah had pushed forward and taken Jaddaim, less than 20 miles (30km) from Tripoli.

Sky News' special correspondent Alex Crawford, reporting from nearby village Mayah, said the rebel force consisted of several dozen foot soldiers and an armed convoy.

She said they had encountered "very little resistance" as they passed from Jaddaim into Mayah and advanced towards Tripoli.

"This is a march on the capital, they are heading for the presidential palace," she said.

Alex Crawford with rebels as they come under fire

"They will try to indicate to the Tripoli-based population that they are in charge and, as quick as they can, they need to switch sides.

"They want to raise the rebel flag above Gaddafi's presidential palace.

"They are very much speaking of today being the end day for Colonel Gaddafi."

However, the rebels retreated from the outskirts of Tripoli when they encountered heavy resistance from government troops.

Crawford said the fighters had gotten within 1,500 metres of the city's western gate before they came under fire, and were now positioned about 2km away.


A Libyan rebel commander told Sky News Colonel Gaddafi would not last another night in power and his forces were waiting for the "green light" to move into Tripoli.

Overnight, explosions and sustained gunfire rocked parts of Tripoli as the leader of Libya's rebel force insisted "the end is very near" for Colonel Gaddafi.

Four loud explosions were heard in Tripoli at 4am local time (3am BST), as Nato warplanes flew overhead. The targets have not yet been identified.

The fighting inside Tripoli, combined with the rebel advance toward the city's outskirts, appeared to signal a decisive moment in Libya's six-month conflict.

Within Tripoli, a senior opposition figure claimed rebels had taken the eastern suburb of Tajoura and were fighting for control of the Mitiga airbase in the north.

There had also been particularly fierce clashes near the Souq al Juma area and the Fashloum district of the city.

Reports also said there have been clashes near Col Gaddafi's compound in the centre of Tripoli.

There were claims that a number of opposition activist died fighting in the suburb of Qadah, while three pro-Gaddafi soldiers were killed in Zawiyat al Dahmani, close to the main port.

However, later reports said up to 31 Gaddafi troops had died in Tripoli, while a further 42 had been captured.

Col Gaddafi himself reacted defiantly by denouncing the rebels as "rats" and insisting the unrest in the capital had been crushed.

"We congratulate you on eliminating the remnants of the rats who spread around (Tripoli) tonight, and who were confronted by the people," he said on state TV.

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