France Armed Western Army in Libya

The mystery of the rebel army that emerged in western Libya and successfully has made a push to within about 50 miles southwest of Tripoli appears to have been solved: France secretly armed the rebel force with airdrops in the Nafusa Mountains.

"Large amounts" of automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank missiles, along with food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies, were parachuted to the force earlier this month, according to multiple reports that cited the French newspaper Le Figaro.

"There were humanitarian drops because the humanitarian situation was worsening and at one point it seemed the security situation was threatening civilians who could not defend themselves," French armed forces spokesman Thierry Burkhard told Reuters.

"France therefore also sent equipment allowing them to defend themselves, comprising light weapons and munitions," he said, adding that the drop in early June had included medicine and food.

The newly formed rebel army out of western Libya is the only opposition force that is currently on the march. The main rebel army in eastern Libya remains hung up near Ajdabiya, while the rebel brigades that pushed Gadhafi loyalists out of Misurata have not had much success moving east toward Triploli.

Rebel Transitional National Council Chairman Mahmoud Jibril said at a news conference in Vienna today that arming the opposition force would help avoid casualties against the better-equipped forces still loyal to Moammar Gadhafi.

"Giving them weapons we will be able decide the battle more quickly, so that we can shed as little blood as possible. Because the less blood we shed the faster we can think of the future and the more we can protect the Libyan people," Jibril said.

But a rebel military commander claimed to not know anything of the French arms being airdropped.

"Whoever gave us these arms should come here and tell us where he put them," Col. Mokhtar Milad Fernana,  commander of the rebel fighting forces, told The Los Angeles Times.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen indicated today in Vienna that France was acting alone and not as part of the air campaign. The alliance will determine whether France violated any NATO or United Nations rules by arming the rebels.

The French are not apologizing.

Rebels Show Signs of Life in Key Areas

The rebel army in Eastern Libya is executing well-coordinated movements with NATO for the first time as it prepares to launch another offensive, while their isolated comrades in Misurata may be on the verge of breaking the siege long held by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi.

And in the capital of Tripoli a band of rebels hidden away say they are loyal to the rebel government formed in Benghazi and are waiting for an opportunity to strike against Gadhafi forces. They claim to have significant numbers.

The most fierce fighting appeared to be in the besieged port city of Misurata. After NATO warplanes laid down a barrage of fire on the outskirts of the city, rebels pushed west about 10 miles toward Dafniya, The Wall Street Journal reported.

After more than two days of battles, rebels forces from Misurata were joined by fighters from Zlitan, about 35 miles away, and together they pushed Gadhafi forces out of Misurata and triggered a retreat from the city's all-important airport. They hope to keep Gadhafi loyalists far enough away from the city so their Grad missiles will be ineffective.

"The picture is looking good for us," rebel spokesman Col. Ahmed Bani told the Associated Press.

If the rebels can hold the airport it will give them a second, more reliable way to get much-needed arms, food and medicine, NPR reported. Supply shipments by sea in Misurata have been a mixed bag, given the weather and the ability for Gadhafi's snipers to hide in the city and target the port area.

The Main rebel army in Eastern Libya, meanwhile, was working closely with NATO to flush Gadhafi forces out into the open, a spokesman told reporters. The rebels west of Ajdabiya pushed forward and then made a strategic retreat from the battlefield, exposing only the Gadhafi forces to the NATO bombs.

NATO is taking steps to not hit the rebels with friendly fire as has happened on a couple of occasions on the indistinguishable battlefield.

The rebels have been stalled in the east for weeks, though there is some indication they were training, rearming, establishing a chain of command and direct communications with NATO. They hope to take the oil patch town of Brega about 20 miles to the west by the weekend.

In Tripoli yesterday, NATO bombed at least at least four targets, including a command center, a military intelligence headquarters and a building sometimes used to house members of parliament loyal to Gadhafi, according to various reports that quoted eyewitnesses.

"What we do know is it was a very sustained attack. It lasted about three hours. That's the heaviest bombardment we've seen for several weeks. And so that does indicate that they are targeting Tripoli fairly heavily," NPR reported.

In one of the most interesting developments, CNN's Frederik Pleitgen slipped away from Gadhafi escorts at the five star Rixos Hotel in Tripoli, where international journalists are corralled to take a look around on his own.

"We regularly managed to sneak out of the Rixos in recent weeks and discovered that the notion of Tripoli as a bastion of Gadhafi support is little more then a charade," Pleitgen reported.

"In one neighborhood we managed to contact the rebels. They brought us to a secret location where the refrain is: 'We are the youth of 17th of February in Tripoli. We declare our total support to the free Libyan people. We also declare our full and total support to the (rebel) Transitional National Council and believe only it and no one else is the legitimate representative of the Libyan people,'" detailed Pleitgen, now safely in Germany.

"The rebels say they believe that about 75 percent of Tripoli residents are against Gadhafi. They also say that most are afraid to take to the streets and speak their minds because Gadhafi has put armed gangs into the neighborhoods and established checkpoints to suppress dissent," the CNN correspondent added.

It is one of the most optimistic sets of developments in the three geographic areas since the revolution began more than two months ago. There is one caveat: Every time the rebels have shown signs of breaking out before, they have been pushed back or stalled. Perhaps now more than ever in the still-young uprising the insurgents need to show their supporters in Europe, the Gulf States and Washington that they are on the move.

Rebels: No Deal Without Gadhafi Departure

Updated 7:45 p.m. edt

The U.S. weighed in today on the African Union's proposal that apparently would keep Moammar Gadhafi in power, saying Washington remains in favor of the Libyan dictator stepping down.

"Look, we want to see the departure of Col. Gadhafi... that’s clearly still our demand. And in fact, we saw that the (Transitional National Council) opposition also called for his departure," said State Department spokesman Mark Toner.

"We’ve said it’s our bottom line. It’s a nonnegotiable demand," Toner reiterated. "We believe he needs to depart power. He needs to step down. He’s delegitimized as a leader."

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Update 4:15 p.m. edt

NATO is prepared to recognize a legitimate ceasefire agreement in Libya, but not as long as Moammar Gadhafi's forces are killing civilians, the alliance's top civilian official said today in Brussels.

All indications are Gadhafi's forces are still killing innocent bystanders with their artillery, snipers and security forces, recent eyewitness reports and human rights monitors have shown.

"Our operational tempo will be determined by this clear goal to protect civilians against any attack," said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

NATO welcomed the African Union's effort to seek a ceasefire, but appeared to leave it to the rebels to say whether it was acceptable or not. The rebels rejected the offer, despite an unmovable stalemate in the fighting, citing its failure to call for Gadhafi's departure.

"Since the start of the crisis, NATO has been in constant touch with the African Union as well as other regional and international organizations," Rasmussen said. "I want to be clear: There can be no solely military solution to the crisis in Libya. NATO welcomes all contributions to the broad international effort to stop the violence against the civilian population. Any ceasefire must be credible and verifiable."

NATO aircraft destroyed 49 tanks, nine armored personnel carriers, three anti-aircraft guns and four ammunition bunkers during its much-ballyhooed renewed air campaign, AFP reported.

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A day after winning a fierce battle for Ajdabiya, Libyan rebels swiftly rejected today a ceasefire agreement proposed by the African Union that would leave Moammar Gadhafi in power.

"The African Union initiative does not include the departure of Gaddafi and his sons from the Libyan political scene, therefore it is outdated," rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said at a news conference in Benghazi.

"We cannot negotiate the blood of our martyrs," Jabril said. "We will die with them or be rewarded with victory."

“Gadhafi must leave immediately if he wants to survive," Jalil added.

African Union delegates took the ceasefire deal to the rebels a day after first meeting with Gadhafi, who has so far failed to agree to pull his troops ouit of the cities. The deal would have a peacekeeping force put in the country until both sides work out a permanent agreement, Reuters reported.

The African Union said only that agreed to hold talks “with the view to adopting and implementing the political reforms necessary for the elimination of the causes of the current crisis,” Bloomberg reported.

NATO warplanes over the weekend propelled the rebels to victory in Ajdabiya and helped repel Gadhafi forces in fighting in Misurata, as well. Gadhafi forces lost at least 25 tanks to NATO strikes, the rebels said.