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The front line in Jebel Nafusa, the magnificent mountain range in western Libya, is not a good place to fight a war in the height of summer.

The temperature is in the high 40Cs (104F), and there is no shelter from the powerful sun. By 1000, the metal parts of an AK-47 which has been set down in the open are too hot to touch.

The rebel soldiers rarely seem to start before 0700, and by midday fighting has usually become impossible by mutual agreement.

Sometimes, an entire day goes past without a shot being fired.

Yet there are reasons for this which go well beyond the discomforts the soldiers have to endure.