Libyan Rebels Regain Key City After Airstrikes

Va-t-on armer les opposants de Kadhafi?

Libyan rebels regained control of the eastern gateway city of Ajdabiya on Saturday after international airstrikes crippled Moammar Gadhafi's forces, in the first major turnaround for an uprising that once appeared on the verge of defeat. In a western city the opposition lost to Gadhafi, a resident said security agents had lists of rebel sympathizers and were dragging them from their homes.

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Drivers honked in celebration and flew the tricolor rebel flag. Others in the city fired their guns into the air and danced on burned-out tanks that littered the road. Inside a building that had served as makeshift barracks for pro-Gadhafi forces, hastily discarded uniforms were piled on the floor.

"Without the planes we couldn't have done this. Gadhafi's weapons are at a different level than ours," said Ahmed Faraj, 38, a rebel fighter from Ajdabiya. "With the help of the planes we are going to push onward to Tripoli, God willing."

Ajdabiya's sudden fall to Gadhafi's troops spurred the swift U.N. resolution authorizing international action in Libya, and its return to rebel hands on Saturday came after a week of airstrikes and missiles against the Libyan leader's military.

Saif Sadawi, a 20-year-old rebel fighter with an RPG in his hands, said the city's eastern gate fell late Friday and the western gate fell at dawn Saturday after airstrikes on both locations.

"All of Ajdabiya is free," he said.

Pas une mauvaise nouvelle pour Obama:

The turnaround in Ajdabiya is a boost for President Barack Obama, who has faced complaints from lawmakers from both parties that he has not sought their input about the U.S. role in the war or explained with enough clarity about the U.S. goals and exit strategy. Obama was expected to give a speech to the nation Monday.

"The United States should not and cannot intervene every time there's a crisis somewhere in the world," Obama said in a radio and Internet address Saturday. But with Gadhafi threatening "a bloodbath that could destabilize an entire region ... it's in our national interest to act. And it's our responsibility. This is one of those times."

La totalité de l'article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/26/west-targets-gaddafi-forces_n_840937.html