News

The battle for eastern Libya is approaching some crucial hours, as government and rebel forces compete to control the motorway that leads to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

For a time at the weekend, it seemed as if the government advance was unstoppable.

But at dusk on Sunday evening, rebel forces moved back into the oil town of Brega. It is an illustration of the problems that still face Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces as he attempts to regain control of Libya.

The rebel commander, Gen Abdul Fattah Younis, reminded a news conference on Sunday of the special nature of desert warfare.

With so few settlements, large swathes of territory can be captured very quickly, and lost just as fast.

That is even more true in the Libyan case, where relatively small forces are battling over a very large area.