Libya's rebels open a second front in move to take Tripoli

Libyan rebels were today locked in a fierce battle with Colonel Gaddafi's troops after opening up a second front in their surge towards Tripoli.

Opposition leaders claim they are making progress against Gaddafi's army after moving on the strategic town of Bair al-Ghanam, 50 miles south-west of the capital.

The breakthrough follows weeks of intense fighting in the Nafusa mountains, terrain that has suited the rebels' guerilla tactics.

Guma el-Gamaty, a spokesman for the rebels' National Transitional council, said Bair al-Ghanam is significant because it is only 19 miles south of the city of Zawiya, a key western gateway to the capital and home to a crucial oil refinery. Rebels seized control of Zawiya in March but it was retaken.

In Tripoli, Gaddafi remained defiant with government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim saying the embattled leader was in "high spirits" and confirming that he remained in day-to-day control of the country.

"Gaddafi is here, he is staying. He is leading the country. He will not leave. He will not step down," Mr Ibrahim said. "If they want to continue the fight, we are ready. We will fight street to street, house to house.

"Muammar Gaddafi is Libya's historical symbol, and he is above all political actions, above all political and tactical games.

"In this current stage and in the future, Gaddafi is the historical choice which we cannot drop. As for the current and future Libya, it is up to the people and the leadership to decide it, and it is not up to the armed groups, nor up to Nato to decide it."

Judges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague were today debating whether they will order the arrest of Colonel Gaddafi, one of his sons and his intelligence chief on charges of crimes against humanity.

Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo accuses Gaddafi and his regime of opening fire on demonstrators, shelling funeral processions and using snipers to kill people leaving mosques.