Libyan Rebels Repelled From Qadaffi Stronghold
Libyan opposition fighters were forced to retreat from their charge on the town of Bani Walid, as they massed forces for an attack on Sirte, the hometown of Muammar Qaddafi.
Anti-Qaddafi forces tried several times to take Bani Walid, only to be repelled in chaos by Qaddafi loyalists defending the city, rebel commanders told Al Jazeera television in Libya. Forces of the National Transitional Council did capture the town of Zella near the Qaddafi stronghold city of Jufra, and Sultan, which lies east of Sirte, Al Jazeera said.
Members of the National Transitional Council meeting in the eastern city of Benghazi to form a cabinet, is continuing its negotiations, interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said in a news conference. The council is working to establish its authority in the capital and form diplomatic ties abroad.
In Yemen, government forces fired on activists in the capital city of Sana’a, killing as many as 26 people and injuring more than 300 as protests intensified against the regime of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Tarik al-Duais, a doctor at a field clinic, said by phone.
Yesterday’s rally followed a call by the Organizing Committee of the Popular Youth Revolution for an escalation of protests, with the committee asking Yemenis to remove the “remains of the regime,” according to an e-mailed statement. Protesters managed to push back a mix of government forces and plainclothes supporters of the regime, said Mohammed al Sharabi, a protest activist.