Libyan rebels tighten grip around Tripoli

[pampango]

Source: Aljazeera

Libyan opposition forces have pushed further to isolate Tripoli, moving toward a western town that links the capital and Sirte -- Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's hometown and a stronghold for his military.

"The scouting teams of the revolutionaries reached the outskirts of Al-Heisha after expelling Gaddafi forces," the rebel military command said in a statement early on Wednesday.

Nuri el-Bouaisi, an oil production engineer in the city, said rebels had cut off pipelines that transport gasoline and diesel fuel to Tripoli. "We shut down all four pipelines to Tripoli," El-Bouaisi said, whose claim could not be verified.

Meanwhile, a UN envoy has arrived in neighbouring Tunisia, where sources say rebels and representatives of the government are in talks on the island resort of Djerba. Talks could signal the endgame of a battle that has drawn in the NATO alliance and emerged as one of the deadliest confrontations in the wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world.
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Juan Cole: Tripoli Surrounded, Cut Off

http://www.juancole.com/2011/08/tripoli-surrounded-cut-off.html

Aljazeera Arabic is reporting directly from Zawiya (to the west of Tripoli along the Mediterranean), where Free Libya forces have liberated some 80 percent of the city, all but the eastern areas and the refinery. People in most of Zawiya look pretty happy about the end of their ordeal. Stories are coming out about arbitrary arrests, torture, and disappearances during the period since March that Qaddafi’s forces ruled the city with tank shells and secret police. Qaddafi brigades have invaded a hospital in the east and taken medical personel hostage, placing snipers on the roof.

The Voice of Free Libya broadcasting from Misrata alleged Tuesday that Qaddafi brigades in Surman have defected to the Free Libya forces who have taken most of the city, according to the Open Source Center.

It also reports that 5 officers in Tripoli who attempted to defect were arrested by Qaddafi security men and have been executed. It is also claimed that Qaddafi’s forces are refusing to let people freely leave the capital.

Chris Stephens gives us a searching and meditative piece on what the war has meant to people in Misrata, among the worst-hit by the indiscriminate fire and vicious repression of the Qaddafi regime. The piece explains why the Misrata fighters were so much better than those in the East– they fought in knowledge that there was no escape for them, and only the sea was to their backs. As Stephens notes, the Free Libya capture of Tawarga has silenced Qaddafi’s long-distance shelling of the city, so that people can even think about going to the beach for the first time in months.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2011/08/201181715442761275.html