Libyan rebels cornered in Ajdabiyah, 6 killed

outpost and denting their hopes of pushing west to try to end a stalemate in the Libyan war.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi received a telephone call from South African President Jacob Zuma, Libyan state television reported yesterday.
Al Libiya gave no details of when the call took place nor what was said.
Zuma headed an African Union mission to Tripoli last week, but an AU bid to halt Libya’s civil war collapsed within hours on April 11 after Gaddafi’s forces shelled a besieged city and rebels said there could be no deal unless he was toppled.
At Ajdabiyah one witness said he saw around a dozen rockets land around the western entrance to town, which rebels wanted to use as a staging post to retake the oil port of Brega. Many fled as loud explosions boomed across the town.
Some rebels on Saturday made it into the outskirts of Brega, 80km to the west, but many others retreated to Adjabiyah after six were killed by rockets fired by Gaddafi loyalists on the exposed coastal road joining the two towns. By yesterday, scores of volunteer fighters and civilian cars carrying men, women and children streamed east from Ajdabiyah down the coast road towards Benghazi, where the popular revolt against Gaddafi’s 41-year rule began on Feb 17.
In western Libya, the rebel-held city of Misrata has been besieged for seven weeks, raising international concern about a growing humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of civilians are believed to have died in fighting and bombing in the city.
A rebel spokesman said that Gaddafi’s forces shelled Misrata again yesterday, killing at least six gunmen. Abdel Basset Mezerik said at least 47 people were also wounded. The United States, France and Britain said last week they would not stop bombing Gaddafi’s forces until he left power. – Reuters-HR.