Opposition repel fierce Gaddafi attack

OPPONENTS of Muammar Gaddafi repelled an attack by the Libyan leader’s forces trying to retake a key coastal oil installation yesterday in which shells splashed in the Mediterranean and a warplane bombed a beach where rebel fighters were charging over the dunes.

At least five people were killed in the fighting.

The assault on the Brega oil port was the first major regime counteroffensive against the opposition-held eastern half of Libya, where the population backed by mutinous army units rose up and drove out Gaddafi’s rule over the past two weeks.