Libyan Rebels Prepare Push to Reclaim Lost Town as NATO Weighs No-Fly Zone
Libyan rebel fighters take cover as a bomb dropped by a fighter jet explodes near a checkpoint on the outskirts of Ras Lanuf on Monday. Photographer: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates, talks about the outlook for crude oil prices. Oil rose to a 29-month high in New York as escalating violence in Libya bolstered concern that supply disruptions may spread through the Middle East. Molchanov also discusses the outlook for shares of oil producers. He speaks with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television's "Surveillance Midday." (Source: Bloomberg)
A Libyan rebel checks his weapon while guarding petroleum facilities in Ras Lanuf on Monday. Photographer: John Moore/Getty Images
Libyan rebel fighters prepared an offensive to regain a town lost to Muammar Qaddafi’s forces as the U.S. and its allies stepped up the debate on imposing a no- fly zone that might help the insurgents win the civil war.
The opposition forces are seeking to recapture Bin Jawad, about 110 miles (160 kilometers) east of Qaddafi’s hometown of Sirte, after pulling out in the face of reinforced government troops, Khaled el-Sayeh, a coordinator between the anti-Qaddafi fighters and their interim ruling council in Benghazi, said in a phone interview in the eastern rebel stronghold today. Government air strikes throughout yesterday around the ports of Ras Lanuf and Brega and the nearby desert area of Al Agaila didn’t inflict any losses on the rebels, and mostly targeted artillery installations, he said.
In Washington, President Barack Obama said NATO is debating a “wide range” of options in Libya, and his press secretary, Jay Carney, said that providing arms to the rebels is among them. Arab Gulf nations advocated a no-fly zone and U.K Foreign Secretary William Hague said the United Nations Security Council is discussing how to set a “clear trigger” for UN action to ground Qaddafi’s air force.
Oil prices have surged about 25 percent in the past three weeks as Libya’s warring parties entrenched their positions, raising concern that the conflict may be prolonged. The rebels have consolidated their hold on the eastern coastal areas as Qaddafi fights to regain towns near the capital, Tripoli, which the leader still controls.
Zawiyah Report
The Associated Press, citing a witness who declined to be indentified on concern over reprisals, said Qaddafi loyalists recaptured Zawiyah, the nearest city to the capital that had fallen to the rebels, after heavy shelling, and Libyan army tanks and vehicles were roaming the streets firing at homes.
Crude pared gains today after Al Jazeera television reported that Qaddafi had sought negotiations on his departure, with oil for April delivery dropped 0.1 percent to $105.29 at 7:25 a.m. in New York. Libya has Africa’s largest reserves. Dubai’s main stock index jumped 2.7 percent and the Bloomberg GCC200 regional benchmark added 2.1 percent.
Al Jazeera said that Qaddafi asked a former prime minister, Jadallah Azzuz Talhi, to negotiate a safe departure for himself and family members. Qaddafi’s son Saadi ruled out any such deal in an interview with Al Arabiya television, and it was also rejected by the rebel council.
‘No Safe Passage’
Addressing a crowd in Benghazi, rebel council spokesman Abdulhafid Ghoga said there will be no talks with Qaddafi and “there is no such thing as safe passage.” He said the rebels’ military position is strengthening and its fighters are receiving better weapons.
Qaddafi’s air force resumed bombing today with at least five strikes around Ras Lanuf, which has a tanker terminal and Libya’s biggest refinery, though there was no immediate evidence of casualties, the AP reported. The past three days of fighting at the port and surrounding areas has left 30 rebels dead and 169 wounded, said Gebril Hewadi, a doctor at Al-Jalaa Hospital in Benghazi, according to the AP.
El-Sayeh said the rebels don’t want foreign military intervention and are ready to pay a “high price” to oust Qaddafi. He said their leaders in Benghazi have set up a military committee, matching the command structure of the Libyan army, that will continue the “liberation mission.”
No-Fly Zone
While opposed to the deployment of foreign troops, the insurgents would welcome the imposition of a no-fly zone, said Mustafa Gheriani, a spokesman for the rebels.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization defense ministers are due to meet March 10 and 11 in Brussels to discuss Libya. The U.S. ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder, said the alliance is stepping up surveillance of Libyan airspace with radar planes, and “will be in a position to know what it would take to do a no-fly zone” toward the end of this week.
The six Persian Gulf states of the Gulf Cooperation Council called on the UN to impose a no-fly zone over Libya to protect civilians, the group’s Secretary-General, Abdul Rahman Al Attiyah, said in Abu Dhabi after a meeting yesterday.
The United Nations and 17 aid organizations appealed yesterday for $160 million to provide food, water, medicine and shelter for 400,000 people escaping the violence and another 600,000 inside the country.
Regional Unrest
The Libyan revolt is the bloodiest in a wave of popular uprisings in the Middle East in the past two months that have toppled Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. There have also been anti-government demonstrations in Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan, Algeria, Iran, Iraq and Oman, calling for moves toward democracy and action to improve living standards.
Protests resumed in Yemen today with tens of thousands calling for the immediate resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Gulf leaders meeting in Abu Dhabi are debating a financial aid package for Bahrain and Oman, which have both seen demonstrators killed in clashes with security forces.
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