Libyan Rebels in Bid for Brega Town

Tripoli----Libyan rebels say they are fighting street battles with forces loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi in the strategic oil port town of Brega, the biggest raid witnessed in the eastern town in weeks.

Reports from the city have described clashes in residential areas, where rebel fighters have been advancing on the town for several days. The rebels’ offensive attacks had been limited to rocket and mortar attacks from outside, slowing down their push for the city from well armed pro-government forces.

At least 15 of the rebel forces have bee killed and other 274 wounded in the in the four days of fighting. On Sunday three rebel fighters were killed and 95 wounded in the town’s street fighting that involved the use of machine guns during the close range engagements.

Brega town 750km east of the capital, Tripoli is home to country’s biggest oil facilities and has exchanged hands several times since the revolt broke out in February and its fall from the government forces would be a major breakthrough for the rebels.

Rebel officials told AP news agency that rebel forces had liberated the north-eastern half of the city and were to reclaim the south-western part under control of the government forces.

“Some small groups have made it inside, but we do not control the whole [town] yet,” said Mohammed Zawi, a rebel spokesman.

Also on Sunday, NATO jets struck a military storage facility along with three radar sites and an anti-aircraft missile launcher in the eastern outskirts of Tripoli. The state media reported that the military alliance had raided civilian and military sites in suburban districts east of the capital.

The Al Jamahiriya state TV showed Col Gaddafi on Saturday addressing over the phone a crowd in the northwestern town of Az Zawiyah, where he described the opposition as traitors and rejected

claims of his departure from power.

“I will die for my people; I will never leave my people. If you allow me to lead the fight, I will lead the fight and die for my country,” said Gaddafi. “The Libyan people will die for its oil. We will not

leave our oil for these gangs.”

Col Gaddafi has been defiant over calls to relinquish power despite of moves by international communities to recognise the opposition as the legitimate representatives of the Libyan people.

NATO launched its airstrike five months ago to implement a UN resolution to protect civilian under threats from government forces but critics of the campaign have accused it of pushing for a regime change to end Gaddafi’s 41 year-rule.

Nairobi, Kenya

Kenya in Bid to Stop Somali Refugees Flow

Kenyawould like the feeding programme of people fleeing drought in Somalia to be set up on the Somali side of the border in effort to control the influx of refugees into the country.

About 1500 refugees are crossing the border daily into the Dadaab refugee camp which is presently estimated to be housing 440,000 Somali refugees, four times more than the required capacity.

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga upon meeting with British minister for international development on Saturday, called for a greater international aid in dealing with the hunger crisis. He said that his country would like feeding programmes to be established in Somalia to stop the flow of refugees into Kenya.

Mr. Odinga ordered the opening of the Ifo II camp which is near the Dadaab refugee complex in its north-eastern border with Somalia to ease situation in the now crammed Dadaab camp. Kenyan authorities were reluctant to complete construction of the new refugee camp over security fears and the influx of Somali refugees into the country.

The new camp will be the fourth refugee settlement in the Kenyan side of the border alongside the three older camps, Dadaab, Dagahaley and Ifo initially established after the outbreak of the Somali

conflict in 1991.

British minister for foreign development Andrew Mitchell said that Britain is providing $83 million in emergency aid to assist Somali drought victims at camps in Kenya and Ethiopia.

Over 10 million people are being faced with hunger in the horn of Africa, in the region’s worst ever drought experienced in the last 60 years. Thousands of Somali refugees are fleeing the severe drought compounded by conflict their country.

Doctors at the camps have reported severe cases of acute malnutrition and related complications among those arriving at the camp, who are mostly women and very young children.

UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia Mark Bowden has said that aid is being provided to camps in Somalia which are under control of the Islamist Militia Al-Shabab. Bowen described the

situation in as severe and said it was vital to scale up operations in the country.

He said that aid was being delivered to camps run by committees under supervision of Al-Shabab, an exercise he said would continue as long as it had no political interferences.

“The Shabab have, as I understand it, through their drought committees been distributing assistance to vulnerable groups of the population, so they have taken an interest and expressed concern.”

“It is of course important to also recognise that the work that we do in these areas will be conducted

under humanitarian principles and based on need and without any political association attached to the assistance,” said Mr Bowden.

The Islamist group which confesses its allegiance to Al-Qaeda said earlier that it had lifted its ban on

foreign aid agencies as long as there was no “hidden Agenda”. The group had imposed the ban on foreign aid agencies in its territories saying that they were anti-Islamic.

The aid drive comes after the Somali government had said last week that it was facing constrains of funds for dealing with the hunger crisis.