Squadron Signals Publication

Libya rebels: Brega oil installations boobytrapped

The Libyan leader also delivered yet another defiant speech in which he didn't foresee any talks with rebels between now and the end of time.

"I will not speak to them, there will be no words between us until the Day of Judgement," Gadhafi said in a speech addressing crowds in his hometown of Sirte in the center of the country. "It is the voice of the Libyan people, free and defiant, that will respond to them."

The address is the latest in a series of speeches accompanied by large rallies in different cities across the country over the past week to bolster support for the regime in the face of international backing for the rebels.

Mahmoud Jibril, the rebels' diplomatic chief, said Gadhafi's forces have boobytrapped oil fields. He did not state which fields. Although Brega is a key oil processing and shipment hub, the fields that feed it lie far to the south in the Libyan desert. It does, however, contain massive containers filled with oil and natural gas read to be offloaded onto ships.

"Unfortunately, Brega is a big minefield right now," Jibril told reporters after meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez. "We discovered that they planted mines all over the place. Even some oil establishments, some oil fields, have been full of bombs, explosives."

Rebels and pro-Gadhafi forces have been locked in a stalemate, despite a NATO air campaign against Gadhafi's forces. Rebels hold most of eastern Libya, but their push to seize Brega since last week unraveled Tuesday when 27 rebels were killed in shelling by Gadhafi's troops.

With the NATO-led air campaign entering its fifth month, Britain's military reported its first death related to the campaign after an airman died in a traffic accident in southern Italy. The Ministry of Defense said Thursday that an airman from the Royal Air Force's No. 2 Squadron died in the Abruzzo region when his vehicle went off the road.

Rebel forces have since pulled back from the city amid hopes that Gadhafi's forces will surrender, and Jibril said rebel fighters "are circulating Brega from all fronts right now." Rebel commanders have said mine fields laid by Gadhafi's troops have hampered their advance.

In Libya, local medic Mohammed Idris said a mine killed one rebel and injured four on Thursday.

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