Libyan Loyalists Seize Control of Bani Walid From Western-backed Rebels

Libyan Loyalists Seize Control of Bani Walid From Western-backed Rebels



 Gaddafi supporters seize control of Libyan town

 1:07pm EST
 By Taha Zargoun

 TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Supporters of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi
 seized control of the town of Bani Walid on Monday after clashes with
 a militia loyal to the new government in which four people were
 killed, witnesses told Reuters.

 A resident of Bani Walid, about 200 km (120 miles) south-east of
 Tripoli, said the sides fought using heavy weaponry, including 106 mm
 anti-tank weapons, and that 20 people were wounded.

 Another witness told Reuters the fighting had now stopped but that
 Gaddafi loyalists were in control of the town centre, where they were
 flying green flags, a symbol of allegiance to the ousted
 administration.

 "They control the town now. They are roaming the town," said the
 witness, a fighter with the 28th May militia which was fighting the
 Gaddafi loyalists.

 Bani Walid, base of the powerful Warfallah tribe, was one of the last
 towns in Libya to surrender to the anti-Gaddafi rebellion last year.
 Many people there oppose the country's new leadership.

 The uprising in Bani Walid could not come at a worse time for the
 ruling National Transitional Council (NTC). It is already reeling from
 violent protests in the eastern city of Benghazi and the resignation
 of its second most senior official.

 An air force official told Reuters that jets were being mobilized to
 fly to Bani Walid. In Tripoli, there were signs of security being
 tightened, Reuters reporters in the city said.

 FIGHTERS "MASSACRED"

 The violence in Bani Walid was sparked when members of the May 28
 militia arrested some Gaddafi loyalists.

 That prompted other supporters of the former leader, who was captured
 and killed in October, to attack the militia's garrison in the town,
 said the resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

 "They massacred men at the doors of the militia headquarters," said
 the resident.

 During Libya's nine-month civil war, anti-Gaddafi rebels fought for
 months to take Bani Walid.

 Local tribal elders eventually agreed to let NTC fighters enter the
 town, but relations have been uneasy since and there have been
 occasional flare-ups of violence.

 In November last year, several people were killed in Bani Walid when a
 militia group from Tripoli's Souq al-Juma district arrived in the town
 to try to arrest some local men.

 Taking back control of the town will be challenging because it has
 natural defenses. Anyone approaching from the north has to descend
 into a deep valley and then climb up the other side, giving defenders
 an advantage.

 It was this landscape, in part, that prevented anti-Gaddafi militias
 from taking the town during the civil war, despite the fact they were
 heavily armed and had superior numbers.

 (Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Myra MacDonald)
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