Libyan rebels try to cut routes to Tripoli

After capturing more towns in the west of the country the rebels also battled government forces for control of the strategic city of Zawiya, just 30 miles (48 kilometres) from the capital, Tripoli.The rebel advances over the past few days out of the western mountains near Tunisia into Zawiya on the Mediterranean coast and other nearby towns marked the most significant gains after months of stalemate in the civil war. Rebel leaders said they hope to take Tripoli before the end of this month, an ambitious goal.Col. Jumma Ibrahim, a rebel spokesman in the western mountains, said his fighters are moving closer to blocking major supply routes to Tripoli from the south and west. The routes are critical for moving food, fuel and weapons over land to the capital.This means we are choking Gaddafi, he said. He only has the sea.He said rebel forces captured the town of Gharyan, 50 miles (80 kilometres) south of Tripoli, which he said controls the supply road from southern Libya to the capital.Omar Obeid, field commander for the Sabratha area, 20 miles (32 kilometres) west of Zawiya on the coast, said rebels have taken up positions in houses along a major supply route there that connects the Ras Ajdir border crossing with Tunisia to Tripoli. The same road runs through Zawiya, where rebels could also block it if they manage to take control of the city.With NATO imposing a no-fly zone over Libya for months and bombarding regime targets, the coastal road has become a lifeline between the capital and the outside world.Rebels said they also captured the town of Surman, near Sabratha to the southeast.The eastern half of the country is now firmly in rebel control, with a transitional leadership based in the de facto capital of Benghazi.The easts main front line is at the strategic oil terminal of Brega, which has passed back and forth many times between rebel and regime control. Brega is nearly 500 miles (800 kilometres) west of Zawiya.According to a rebel spokesman in the east, Gaddafi troops blew up a storage tank filled with crude oil as rebels continued to make progress in capturing Brega, about 125 miles (200 kilometres) southwest of Benghazi.We have control of all the residential compounds of Brega and were clashing with Gaddafi troops in the industrial town, said rebel spokesman Mohammed al-Zwawi.