Pro-Kadhafi forces secure Tunisia border, rebels advance in east

Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi pushed against rebels throughout the country on Friday, securing the Tunisia border area in the west and targeting rebel positions in the east. Rebels themselves pushed forward their frontline from their eastern strongholds in the direction of the capital.

AFP/Gianluigi Guercia

Heavily-armed pro-regime forces are patrolling the Libyan side of the border with Tunisia, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

"On previous days, between 10,000 and 15,000 fled every day into Tunisia," spokesperson Melissa Fleming said. "Yesterday, less than 2,000 made it across the border."

Fleming said those who did cross reported having their mobile phones and cameras confiscated and were reluctant to discuss why their numbers had dropped so sharply.

"Many of those who have crossed the border appear to be frightened and are unwilling to speak," she said.

In the east, Libyan forces launched a fresh air strike on rebel-held areas around key costal and oil cities.

No casualties or damage were reported as a jet bombed an opposition-controlled military base near the town of Ajdabiya for the third day in a row.

Rebels vowing "victory or death" advanced out of the village of Uqayla, about 280 kilometres from opposition-controlled Benghazi.

The rebels pushed west in order to protect the towns of Brega and Ajdabiya.

Captain Shoaib al-Akaki, who defected from the military, expressed concern about the fighting.

"We're trying to minimise losses on both sides," he said. "In Libya, we're all relatives. We're a country of tribes. We all have relatives in Sirte [Kadhafi's birthplace]."

But other rebels did not mince words.

"Victory or death", vowed Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the rebel National Libyan Council. "We will not stop until we liberate all this country,"

A coalition of rebels controls eastern Libya and some towns in the west, but Kadhafi retains his grip on the capital, Tripoli.

Nonetheless, there were reports of opponents demonstrating following Friday prayers.

There was no sign of security presence at the protest, but armed pro-Kadhafi militias had set up checkpoints around the neighbourhood, Reuters news agency reported.

The Libyan uprising continued sending shockwaves around the world on Friday:

• French medical aid arrived in Benghazi via Cairo after three days in transit, officials report  - the 22 medical personnel with aid supplies were installed in a hospital in the opposition-controlled city;
• The European Union announced it might deploy warships to enforce an arms embargo as one of several possible measures that EU leaders will discuss during an emergency summit next week;
• Britain seized 117 million euros' worth of Libyan currency found on a Libya-bound ship and escorted the vessel back to an English port, the Home Office said;
• A Dutch helicopter that landed in the town of Sirte last Sunday had weapons on board, according to Libyan official news agency Jana - three Dutch soldiers were taken prisoner during an evacuation mission;
• India announced its opposition to a no-fly zone or the use of force in Libya - Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said "questions have been raised and reservations expressed" among the Bric group of countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China);
• Former Cuban President Fidel Castro said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's proposal of international mediation in Libya constituted a "noble effort to find a solution without Nato intervention";
• Oil prices reached their highest levels since September 2008.