Forces loyal to Muammar Qadhafi bombarded Misrata on Sunday, a day after rebels celebrated the pullback of government troops from the western Libyan city, a rebel spokesman said. "The situation is very dangerous," rebel spokesman Abdelsalam said by telephone from Misrata. "Qadhafi's brigades started random bombardment in the early hours of this morning. The bombardment is still going on."
Captured government troops said on Saturday they had been ordered to retreat from Misrata - the only major rebel-held city in western Libya - after a siege of nearly two months, and rebels fighting to overthrow Qadhafi had claimed victory.
But the mood of victory was short-lived and the prospect of a turning point in the two-month conflict dimmed on Sunday. Government forces bombarded three residential areas and the city centre, including Tripoli Street, the thoroughfare that has been the scene of intense fighting in recent weeks, Abdelsalam said.
Rebel spokesman Safieddin said a large part of Tripoli Street was under the control of rebels, and that insurgents had launched an attack on the remaining Qadhafi forces after Nato air strikes on the city in the early hours. Rebels have so far been unable to advance from eastern Libya as they fight with Qadhafi's troops on the coastal road between the towns of Ajdabiyah and Brega, outgunned and lacking cash for equipment and state-building.
Rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil told a news conference in Kuwait on Sunday that the oil state would contribute 50 million Kuwaiti dinar ($177 million) to Libya's rebel council.
Fellow Gulf Arab state Qatar, which has joined the Western military operations in Libya, has been marketing Libyan oil on behalf of the rebels to help them generate income. Hundreds have been killed in the fighting for Misrata, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis in the besieged city.
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