Libyan rebels raised their flag over a strategic town near Tripoli on Sunday after their most dramatic advance in months cut off Muammar Qadhafi's capital from its main link to the outside world.
The swift rebel advance on the town of Zawiyah, about 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, will deal a psychological blow to Qadhafi's supporters and severs the coastal highway to Tunisia which keeps the capital supplied with food and fuel.
There was no sign Tripoli was under immediate threat from a rebel attack: heavily armed pro-Qadhafi forces still lie between Zawiyah and the capital. Previous rebel advances have often been reversed, despite help from Nato warplanes.
But rebel forces are in their strongest position since the uprising against 41 years of Qadhafi's rule began in February. They now control the coast both east and west of Tripoli, while to the north is the Mediterranean and a Nato naval blockade and there is fighting to the south.
"I hope we can go and attack Tripoli in a few days," said Legun, a taxi driver turned anti-Qadhafi fighter. "Now that we have Zawiyah, we can free Libya," he said.
In a day of action across a swathe of north-west Libya, rebels said they had seized the town of Surman, next door to Zawiyah, there was fighting in the town of Garyan that controls the southern access to Tripoli, and shooting could be heard near the main Libyan-Tunisian border crossing.
Moussa Ibrahim, a spokesman for Qadhafi's government, said Zawiyah and Garyan were "under our full control". He said however there were small pockets of fighting in two other locations in the area around Tripoli.
The coastal highway between Tripoli and Tunisia had not been blocked by the fighting, Ibrahim said in a telephone interview, but foreigners were not being allowed to use the route for now "to save them from any bullets here or there".
Rebels from the Western Mountains region to the south dashed forward into Zawiyah late on Saturday, encountering little sustained resistance from Qadhafi's forces.
Near Zawiyah's central market early on Sunday, about 50 rebel fighters were milling around and triumphantly shouting "Allahu Akbar!" or "God is greatest".
The red, black and green rebel flag was flying from a shop. At the point where it passes through Zawiyah, the main highway linking Tripoli to Tunisia was empty of traffic.
Rebel fighters told Reuters there were still forces loyal to Qadhafi in the town, including snipers who they said had positioned themselves on tall buildings. Bursts of artillery and machinegun fire could be heard.
One rebel fighter said Qadhafi's forces controlled the oil refinery on the northern edge of Zawiyah - a strategic target because it is the only one still functioning in western Libya and Qadhafi's forces depend on it for fuel.
There were signs the fighting was spreading west from Zawiyah along the coastal highway towards the main Ras Jdir border crossing with Tunisia.
A rebel spokesman called Abdulrahman said a rebel force had attacked Surman, the next town west along the coast from Zawiyah. "They are now in full control of the town. There is no fighting now," said the spokesman.
Two men crossing from Libya into Tunisia spoke of clashes in Sabratha, which neighbours Surman and is the site of an ancient Roman town.
"There are problems in Sabratha. The situation is bad there," said one man, who did not want to give his name, as he crossed over into Tunisia.
At the border crossing itself, Libyan customs and immigration officers were operating as usual, despite reports from local people of clashes between rebels and pro-Qadhafi forces in the area late on Saturday.
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