The rebel push comes as Abdul Ilah al-Khatib, the United Nations'
...boodling on the grand scale...
envoy on the Libyan conflict, arrived in Tunis, the Tunisian capital, where the country's foreign ministry said that he was due to meet with representives from Libya.
Both the United Nations and the Libyan rebel National Transitional Council in Benghazi denied that direct talks between the rebels and the Qadaffy
...whose instability has been an inspiration to dictators everywhere...
government were taking place in Tunisia.
Western front fighting
In Az-Zawiyah, rebel commanders said they controlled most of the town, but that they were still taking sniper fire from forces loyal to Muammar
Qadaffy, the Libyan leader.The rebel assault on Az-Zawiyah and its neighbouring towns began on Saturday, as they sought to cut off the southern coastal route from Tunisia which Qadaffy has been using to resupply.
Zeina Khodr, Al Jizz's correspondent in Az-Zawiyah, reported that the rebels had taken control of a bridge along which the highway from Tripoli to Tunisia runs, but that central areas of the city remained contested, with Qadaffy forces employing snipers and mortar fire, as well Grad rockets
...Soviet-developed 122-mm rockets, usually launched from trucks. Newer versions are reported to have a range of up to 30 km.....
On Sunday, Bashir Ahmed Ali, the rebels' battalion commander in Az-Zawiyah, said that his forces had suffered "many casualties" due to sniper fire.
He also told the AFP news agency that a tank and four fighters had been lost in a "friendly fire" air strike during the operation to take Az-Zawiyah.
On Monday, rebels said they were focusing on capturing or killing the snipers and clearing out any other pro-government forces left in the town.
The rebels have taken Az-Zawiyah twice before, only to lose it to government counter-offensives.
The opposition says it is being more cautious on this occasion. It placed in long-term storage at least 15 people it alleged were mercenaries on Monday.
Almost all the shops in the town remained shuttered on Monday.
'Hundreds of volunteers'
The rebels say that they have also taken the towns of Surman, 60km west of Tripoli and Garyan, 50km to the south.
Moussa Ibrahim, the Libyan government's front man, acknowledged that there were "problems" in Surman, but said that "hundreds of volunteers" backed by the army were "handling the case".
He also acknowledged that the rebels had entered Garyan.
Clashes were also reported on Monday in the eastern oil town of Brega, where the rebels say they now control two-thirds of the town.
Al Jizz's Tony Birtley, reporting from Brega, said that the town showed signs of intensive fighting having taken place, and that the rebels were continuing a push to take the oil terminal and industrial area.
The government denied on Sunday that rebel forces controlled any part of Brega.
Opposition forces hope that if they can take complete control of the city, its oil terminal and sea port will allow them to resume oil exports, and will give them a key staging area on the road to Sirte, a Qadaffy stronghold.
Qadaffy broadcast
Qadaffy had earlier urged his supporters to fight for the country "inch by inch" in an audio message broadcast on state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
with no images.
Facing the sternest challenge of his decades-long rule, Qadaffy called on Monday for Libyans to arm themselves to liberate the country from "traitors and from NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all...."
The speech was the first time he had spoken in public since rebel fighters launched their biggest offensive in months.
"The Libyan people will remain and the Fateh revolution [which brought Qadaffy to power in 1969] will remain," Qadaffy said.
"Move forward, challenge, pick up your weapons, go to the fight for liberating Libya inch by inch from the traitors and from NATO.
"Get ready for the fight ... The blood of deaders is fuel for the battlefield."