Libya rebels predict victory as they close in on Tripoli

LIBYA’S rebels have said their war against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime had entered a “decisive phase” and that victory was within reach by the end of August.

Their claim came after Washington said the “days are numbered” for Gaddafi’s regime.

As predictions of Gaddafi’s downfall grew, fighting raged across Libya, with the rebels denying they were in talks with Gaddafi, who himself predicted swift victory against both the rebels and their Nato allies.

Mansur Saif al-Nasr, the rebel National Transitional Council’s envoy to Paris, said “our forces totally control Zawiyah [west of the capital], which will open the way to Tripoli. This will allow the population there to revolt.

“We are entering a decisive phase. Soon we will liberate all of southern Libya. We hope to celebrate the final victory at the same time as the end of Ramadan [the end of August],” he told French radio.

“The population inside Tripoli is preparing for the uprising,” Nasr said. “A few weeks ago, Gaddafi’s forces put down the revolt because they had air power and tanks, and our forces were not at the gates of Tripoli.

“Today, they have no more air power, no tanks and our forces are at the entry of Tripoli.”

Zawiyah is a vital oil port on Libya’s Mediterranean coast, 40km west of Tripoli.

Rebels claimed to control “most” of the town, but Gaddafi forces continued to bombard the area with Grad rockets, prompting a heavy artillery exchange.

The US expressed optimism that the rebels were closing in on Gaddafi, who has ruled for more than 40 years, with White House spokesman Jay Carney saying the increasingly isolated strongman’s “days are numbered”.

Funerals were being held yesterday, a day after 23 people were killed in Zawiyah, according to rebels.

In an update on its operations, Nato said its warplanes hit tanks and an armed vehicle near Zawiyah.

Colonel Roland Lavoie, a Nato spokesman, also condemned the launch of a Scud missile by Gaddafi’s forces as “desperate” and “irresponsible”.

Col Lavoie said the missile was fired some 80km south of Sirte, Gaddafi’s birthplace and a city still loyal to him.

It landed about 5km east of rebel-held territory near Brega, in “an area currently under the control of anti-Gaddafi forces”, but did not cause any casualties.

Col Lavoie labelled the missile “a weapon of terror”, and said its use “against an urban or industrial area is utterly irresponsible”.

However, in contrast to the US assessment, Col Lavoie said that while forces loyal to Gaddafi were retreating “often hurriedly”, Nato’s Libya mission remains “far from over”, said Col Lavoie.

A defiant Gaddafi denied widespread rumours that he had fled the country, and predicted victory.

“The end of the coloniser [Nato] is close and the end of the rats is close. They [the rebels] flee from one house to another before the masses who are chasing them,” Gaddafi declared in an audio message on Libyan television.

He called on his supporters to “prepare for the battle to liberate” the rest of the country.

The regime has denied it is in danger, insisting that its forces can retake the towns and districts captured by the rebels in past days.

The rebels also claimed they had wrested control of the town of Sorman, 60km west of Tripoli, and Garyan, 50km to the south.

Abdulsalam Othman, a rebel spokesman, said both towns were in rebel hands.