Rebel in Libya’s Zawiyah appeals for no-fly zone

By MARIAM KAROUNY | REUTERS

Published: Mar 11, 2011 15:17 Updated: Mar 11, 2011 15:17

RAS JDIR, Tunisia: A Libyan rebel who for days has been fighting off government attacks in the besieged town of Zawiyah appealed to the world on Friday to implement a no-fly zone.

Witness accounts suggest forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi now control almost all of Zawiyah, a city on the Mediterranean Sea about 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, but rebels are still fighting there.

“We do not know what is going on in the outside world. We do not have television channels or radios, we are kind of cut off from the outside world,” the rebel fighter, called Ibrahim, told Reuters by telephone.

“But all we want is a no-fly zone. To ban him (Qaddafi) from flying his planes. I swear to God, if this happens we will be talking to you from Bab Al-Aziziyah in a week,” he said, referring to Qaddafi’s compound in the Libyan capital.

Rebels in the east of Libya have also called for a no-fly zone, but there is little sign that one will be imposed soon.

Zawiyah is one of only two big towns in Qaddafi’s stronghold of western Libya where rebels openly defied his rule, and it has been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in three weeks of violence across the country.

There have been reports of Qaddafi’s forces using heavy weaponry, houses and mosques being demolished and dozens of casualties including women and children.

Libyan officials say the rebels are gangsters and Al-Qaeda operatives and they have used the minimum force necessary to dislodge them from the town.

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