Libya rebels prepare to retake oil refinery town

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AJDABIYA — Libyan rebels were preparing yesterday to try to retake the oil refinery town of Brega after breaching its defences in a late night reconnaissance raid.

Rebel military spokesman Mohammed Zawi said that a light mobile force had breached loyalist positions around Brega late on Friday, before pulling back for an offensive early yesterday.

A group of around 50 reconnaissance troops entered the town from the north, then pulled back four kilometres before midnight, Zawi said.

The probing raid on the front line between the rebel-held east and the mainly government-held west came some 32 hours after the rebel command launched a three-pronged attack against Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi’s forces, who were thought to have numbered around 3 000.

It also followed a morale-boosting recognition by major powers of the rebel administration as the legitimate governing authority in Libya, during a meeting in Turkey on Friday. — AFP