Tripoli, February 28: Anti-government forces in Libya backed by rebel army troops are in control of the city closest to the capital Tripoli.
An Associated Press reporter who arrived on Sunday in Zawiya, 50km west of Tripoli, says forces loyal to longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi are surrounding the city of 200,000.
But anti-government rebels and troops allied with them are in control of the city centre.
Police stations and government offices have been torched and anti-Gaddafi graffiti is everywhere.
Many buildings in the city are pockmarked by bullet holes.
“Gaddafi Out,” chanted hundreds in the city centre, where army tanks controlled by rebels are deployed.
Gaddafi loyalists remain in control of Tripoli.
——–Agencies