BREGA, Libya, (Reuters) – Libyan rebels repulsed a land and air offensive by Muammar Gaddafi’s forces yesterday as the defiant leader warned foreign powers of “another Vietnam” if they intervened.
The U.S. government is already cautious about the prospect of imposing a “no-fly zone” over Libya, stressing the diplomatic and military risks involved, but has nevertheless moved two amphibious assault ships into the Mediterranean.
Rebels in their eastern bastion of Benghazi have called for U.N.-backed air strikes to halt attacks by African mercenaries they say Gaddafi is using against his own people.
Government troops, backed by air power, launched a dawn attack yesterday and briefly captured Brega, an oil export terminal 800 km (500 miles) east of Tripoli.
But opposition forces counter-attacked and took back the town they held for about a week, rebel officers said. They were ready to move west towards the capital, they said, if Gaddafi refuses to quit.
Basking in the adulation of loyalists in Tripoli, Libya’s leader for the last 41 years, launched into a tirade against the “armed gangsters” he said were behind the unrest, part of a conspiracy to colonise Libya and seize its oil.
“We will enter a bloody war and thousands and thousands of Libyans will die if the United States enters or NATO enters,” Gaddafi told Tripoli supporters at a gathering televised live.
“We are ready to hand out weapons to a million, or 2 million or 3 million, and another Vietnam will begin. It doesn’t matter to us. We no longer care about anything.”
Further bombing raids struck near the oil terminal in the afternoon. Estimates of the death toll during the day ranged between five and 14.
Oil prices <LCOc1> surged to near recent 2-1/2 year highs due to fears the unrest could spread to other OPEC producers.
Gaddafi, who once said ballot box democracy was for donkeys, told the gathering in Tripoli the world did not understand he had given power to the people long ago.
“We put our fingers in the eyes of those who doubt that Libya is ruled by anyone other than its people,” he said, referring to his system of “direct democracy” launched at a meeting attended by visiting Cuban leader Fidel Castro in 1977.
A Tripoli resident and Gaddafi opponent, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters afterwards: “Gaddafi will hang on for a while. It’s not going to be easy for an unarmed crowd to face highly armed forces eager to shoot their own people.”
The assault on Brega appeared to be the most significant military operation by Gaddafi since the uprising erupted in mid-February and set off a confrontation that Washington says could descend into a long civil war unless Gaddafi steps down.
Witnesses said the attack was backed by heavy weapons and air strikes. One of the witnesses said Gaddafi’s forces were 2-3 km from the city centre and had 300-350 rebels pinned down at an oil industry airport on the city outskirts.
Hisham Mohammed, a 33-year-old mechanic on the side of the rebels, was defiant.
“I’m going to Brega to help our brothers there. I’m washed, I’ve prayed, and I’m ready to go to God,” he told Reuters.
Analysts cautioned against drawing firm conclusions from fast moving events in a situation of erratic communications.
“The attack reinforces the idea that the government is capable of projecting power far into the east,” said Shashank Joshi, an analyst at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute.
“But we should keep in mind that both the government and the rebels are trying to spin an image of momentum.”
In Benghazi, the rebel National Libyan Council called for air strikes.
“We call for specific attacks on strongholds of these mercenaries,” said council spokesman Hafiz Ghoga. “The presence of any foreign forces on Libyan soil is strongly opposed. There is a big difference between this and strategic air strikes.”
In a possible response to Western hints that the opposition needs to unify to facilitate rebel links with outside powers, Ghoga added that a former justice minister, Mustafa Abdel, Jalil, would be chairman of the Council which will have 30 members and be based in Benghazi before moving later to Tripoli.