REUTERS: WRAPUP 7-Gaddafi defiant, rebels poised to strangle capital

ZAWIYA, Libya (AP) – Moammar Gadhafi’s forces pushed rebels back from the center of the strategic city of Zawiya on Monday in fierce fighting to try to prevent the opposition from consolidating a major advance to within 30 miles of the capital Tripoli. In neighboring Egypt, Libyan Interior Minister Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah flew into the capital Cairo on his private plane with nine family members, Egyptian airport officials said. A Tunisian security official said Abdullah had defected after entering Tunisia by land on Saturday and then flying to Cairo from the resort town of Djerba. He entered Egypt on a tourist visa and was not greeted by any Libyan embassy officials at the airport.

Medics outside Zawiyah on Monday said sniper and mortar fire by Gaddafi forces killed three civilians. One man was shot in the head and a 15-year-old girl died of shrapnel wounds.

Waleed, brother of a wounded woman, said Gaddafi forces were “shooting at us indiscriminately”.

A doctor said Zawiyah teaching hospital, with 600 beds, had been taken over by the military and turned into huge weapons storage area, particularly the floor under the maternity ward.

Libyans fleeing south in their cars reported gunfire in a place called Harsha, between Tripoli and Zawiyah.

“I heard fighting there today on our way here,” said one man who declined to give his name. He also said rebels clashed with Gaddafi’s security forces inside Tripoli on Sunday night.

“There is no gasoline, no electricity, food prices are up 300 percent. We just cannot live like this anymore,” he said.   Continued…