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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (1) Slideshow Video Full Focus Editor's choice A selection of our top photos from the past 24 hours. Full Article Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Venezuela's Chavez says he was treated for cancer | 2:26am EDT Casey Anthony will not testify in murder trial 30 Jun 2011 Nearsightedness linked to serious eye disease 30 Jun 2011 Case against Strauss-Kahn near collapse: sources 2:56am EDT White House snubs McConnell invitation to Obama 30 Jun 2011 Discussed 99 Top Republicans insist no taxes in debt deal 85 White House snubs McConnell invitation to Obama 75 U.S. cost of war at least $3.7 trillion and counting Watched A Tokyo-Paris flight in under three hours on the horizon Fri, Jun 24 2011 Hefner's revenge; Ryan Reynolds stops traffic Fri, Jun 17 2011 Justin Wolfers on America's lost decade Thu, Jun 30 2011 French arms to Libya rebels expose tensions over war Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Analysis: French arms move shows Libya pressures on West Thu, Jun 30 2011 Libya rebels prepare for fight over strategic town Thu, Jun 30 2011 Gaddafi's daughter acknowledges talks with Libya rebels Thu, Jun 30 2011 No "mission creep" in Libya, NATO chief vows Thu, Jun 30 2011 Libya risks extremism if war drags on: World Bank Thu, Jun 30 2011 NATO not involved in French arms aid to Libya rebels Thu, Jun 30 2011 Libya rebel chief says weapon deliveries will shorten war Thu, Jun 30 2011 Analysis & Opinion Sorting through Gaddafi’s knick-knacks… Kabul : The hotel on the hill Related Topics World » Libya » Related Video Rebels on the frontline in Libya Thu, Jun 30 2011 Rebels train near Misrata Mass to pray for Chavez 1 / 16 Rebel fighters demonstrate their skills during their graduation ceremony in Benghazi June 29, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Thaier al-Sudani By Anis Mili NEAR BIR AL-GHANAM, Libya | Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:00pm EDT NEAR BIR AL-GHANAM, Libya (Reuters) - Libyan rebels gathered on a ridge overlooking a strategic town only 80 km (50 miles) from Tripoli on Thursday, preparing for a battle that could allow them to march directly to the seat of Muammar Gaddafi's power. About 50 rebel fighters spent Thursday at an observation post 2 km outside the town of Bir al-Ghanam, using binoculars to try to assess the position of Gaddafi's forces. They reached the area on Sunday after fighting in the Western Mountains southwest of Tripoli, an area where France said this week it had air-dropped arms, provoking a diplomatic storm among world powers. A French military spokesman confirmed on Thursday a report in Le Figaro that rocket launchers and assault rifles were among arms parachuted in, prompting an angry reaction from Russia, one of many countries who have kept doors open to Gaddafi. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said supplying arms was a "crude violation" of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1970, which imposed a comprehensive arms embargo in February. Gaddafi's forces in Bir al-Ghanam know the rebels are watching them from the ridge. At one point on Thursday they fired mortars and artillery, sending people running for cover. The town is just an hour's drive from Aziziyah on Tripoli's southern outskirts, and a similar distance from Zawiyah, which controls the coastal highway that links Tripoli to the Tunisian border and the outside world. A trickle of fighters from around the region joined them throughout the day. Some came from Zintan, in the mountains behind them, while others said they had made their way clandestinely from Zawiyah, where Gaddafi's forces have put down two revolts since February. The rebels encouraged more arms deliveries. "Giving (us) weapons we will be able to decide the battle more quickly, so that we can shed as little blood as possible," senior rebel figure Mahmoud Jibril said in Vienna. FRUSTRATION The rebels advance in the west contrasts with little progress east of Tripoli, increasing frustration among NATO allies over a three-month-old air campaign to back the rebels that has exceeded costs and time-frames originally envisaged. France, Britain and the United States say the air campaign will not end until Gaddafi falls. The war has become the bloodiest of the "Arab Spring" uprisings sweeping North Africa and the Middle East. Paris says it has not violated the U.N. embargo because the weapons it gave the rebels were needed to protect civilians from an imminent attack, which a later resolution seems to endorse. Washington agreed. "We believe that U.N. Security Council resolutions 1970 and 1973, read together, neither specified nor precluded providing defense materiel to the Libyan opposition," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. "We would respectfully disagree with the Russian assessment," he added. Nevertheless, the United States had not taken steps to arm the rebels, he said. Rebels acknowledged French support, saying it had helped sustain them in the region. "There should be no doubt that Libyans in the Nafusa Mountain (Western Mountains) area are alive and safe today thanks to a combination of heroic Libyan bravery and French wisdom and support," Vice Chairman Abdul Hafeedh Ghoga of the Transitional National Council said in a statement. Libyan television broadcast a statement from tribal leaders condemning French President Nicolas Sarkozy over the arms, calling the rebels in the Berber area "a product of France." But the rebel advance toward Tripoli's southwest outskirts from the Western Mountains has not been matched by progress toward the capital from the east, where they hold Misrata on the coast about 200 km (130 miles) from the capital. The city has been bombarded for months by Gaddafi's forces. Six rockets landed early on Thursday near the oil refinery and port. A Reuters journalist there reported no casualties. Insurgents say Gaddafi's forces are massing and bringing weapons to quell an uprising in Zlitan, the next big town along the road from Misrata to the capital. Rebels inside Zlitan said they mounted a raid on pro-Gaddafi positions on Wednesday night and killed three men in an army patrol on Thursday morning. NATO DILEMMA France's weapons airlift, while possibly increasing the insurgent threat to Gaddafi, highlights a dilemma for NATO. More than 90 days into its bombing campaign, Gaddafi is still in power and no breakthrough is in sight, making some NATO members feel they should help the rebels more actively, something the poorly-armed insurgents have encouraged. But if they do that, they risk fracturing the international coalition over how far to go. Russia is not involved in the air campaign, but its stance could add to reservations among some NATO countries over the air war. Moscow could also challenge Paris at the U.N. Security Council, where both are veto-wielding permanent members. U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said it was up to the Security Council to determine what is permitted by its resolutions. Even before news of the French arms supply emerged, fissures were emerging in the coalition over the high cost, civilian casualties and the elusiveness of a military victory. Gaddafi says the NATO campaign is an act of colonial aggression aimed at stealing the North African state's oil. He says NATO's U.N.-mandated justification for its campaign -- to protect Libyan civilians from attack -- is spurious. The World Bank's Libya representative said on Thursday Islamist militants could gain ground if the conflict wears on. "If this civil war goes on, it would be a new Somalia, which I don't say lightly. In three months we could be dealing with extremists. " said Marouane Abassi, World Bank country manager for Libya who has been in Tunisia since February. Gaddafi's daughter Aisha told French 2 television the government was involved in talks with the rebels. "There are direct and indirect negotiations and we should stop letting Libyan blood," she said in an interview aired on Thursday. "And for that we are ready to ally with the devil and that is the armed rebels." (Additional reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers, Andrew Hammond in Tunis, Maria Tsvetkova in Moscow, Fredrik Dahl and Michael Shields in Vienna, Chris Buckley in Beijing, Andrew Quinn in Washington and London bureau; Writing by Andrew Hammond; editing by Angus MacSwan) World Libya Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (1) ghostcommander wrote: France made the right decision by supplying arms to the citizen rebels of Libya. The same should be done for the Libyan citizen rebels east of Brega and west of Misrata. What they really need is long range artillery, rockets, and mortars so they can finish Gadaffi and his thugs quickly. Jun 30, 2011 8:14pm EDT -- Report as abuse See All Comments » Add Your Comment Social Stream (What's this?) © Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters Editorial Editions: Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom United States Reuters Contact Us Advertise With Us Help Journalism Handbook Archive Site Index Video Index Reader Feedback Mobile Newsletters RSS Podcasts Widgets Your View Analyst Research Thomson Reuters Copyright Disclaimer Privacy Professional Products Professional Products Support Financial Products About Thomson Reuters Careers Online Products Acquisitions Monthly Buyouts Venture Capital Journal International Financing Review Project Finance International PEhub.com PE Week FindLaw Super Lawyers Attorney Rating Service Reuters on Facebook Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

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