Libyan rebels recapture two oil ports

Libyan rebels have seized back a second key oil complex and are pushing west toward Tripoli.

The rebels recaptured the oil refinery of Ras Lanouf today after taking control of Brega, another oil complex on eastern Libya’s coast.

Ras Lanouf and Brega were responsible for a large chunk of Libya’s 1.5 million barrels of daily exports, which have all but stopped since the uprising that began on February 15 and was inspired by the toppling of governments in Tunisia and Egypt.

On the eastern approach of Ras Lanouf, international airstrikes aimed at tipping the balance away from Muammar Gaddafi’s military, apparently hit three empty tank transporters and left two buildings that appeared to be sleeping quarters pockmarked with shrapnel.

``There was no resistance. Gaddafi's forces just melted away,'' said Suleiman Ibrahim, a 31-year-old volunteer. ``This couldn't have happened without Nato. They gave us big support.''

The UN Security Council authorised the operation to protect Libyan civilians after Gaddafi launched attacks against anti-government protesters who demanded that he step down after 42 years in power. The airstrikes have crippled Gaddafi’s forces, allowing rebels to advance less than two weeks after they had seemed at the brink of defeat.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the international action appeared to be a success.

“The key here was establishing a military mission that was achievable, was achievable in a limited period of time and could be sustained,” he told CBS’ “Face the Nation” today.

The Gaddafi regime yesterday acknowledged the airstrikes had forced its troops to retreat and accused international forces of choosing sides.

“This is the objective of the coalition now, it is not to protect civilians because now they are directly fighting against the armed forces,” Khaled Kaim, the deputy foreign minister, said in the capital, Tripoli. “They are trying to push the country to the brink of a civil war.”

Nato’s top decision-making body is meeting today to expand its enforcement of the no-fly zone to include airstrikes against Libyan ground targets.

Pope Benedict XVI urged a suspension of fighting as soon as possible, telling pilgrims in St Peter’s Square in Rome he was praying for harmony in Libya and North Africa, but was making “a heartfelt appeal . . . to immediately start a dialogue to suspend the use of arms.”