5 Dead, 30 Hurt as Gadhafi Loyalists Recapture Bani Walid

Diehard supporters of slain Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi seized control Monday of Bani Walid in a brazen attack on his one-time bastion that killed five people, officials told Agence France Presse.

The assault on a base of former rebels who helped oust Gadhafi was the first major offensive launched by his loyalists since the "liberation" of Libya on October 23, shortly after the fall of Bani Walid.

"The loyalists of Gadhafi took control of the entire city of Bani Walid," said M'barek al-Fotmani, a former member of the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) in the desert oasis, 170 kilometers south of Tripoli.

Fotmani said the daylight attack on the base of former rebels killed "five thuwar (anti-Gadhafi revolutionaries) including a commander." Around 30 former rebels were also injured, he said from inside the base.

Monday's attack follows an outburst of opposition to the NTC in the eastern city of Benghazi last week that prompted its chairman, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, to warn of possible "civil war" in post-conflict Libya.

Mahmoud Warfelli, spokesman of Bani Walid local council, said the attack was launched by "a group of remnants of the old regime," and called for outside help against a feared "massacre."

"There are around 100 and 150 men armed with heavy weapons who are attacking. We have asked for the army to intervene, but the defense ministry and NTC have let us down," he said.

"(The gunmen) took control and hoisted the green flag on some districts, some important districts in the center of the city," Warfelli added.

"We're out of the frying pan into the fire. We've been warning about this for the past two months."

A senior NTC member, Fathi Baja, said reinforcements had been sent to protect the town.

"Two hours ago orders were given for the army to go and they are on the way. The fighting is between some Gadhafi supporters and thuwar," he told AFP.

Fotmani said the assailants had surrounded the base.

"The compound of thuwar is surrounded on all sides by loyalists of Gadhafi who are attacking it with all kinds of weapons," he said.

"The attackers are carrying green flags," symbol of the Gadhafi regime, he added.

Fotmani said the base belonged to the May 28 Brigade, a unit attached to the defense ministry.

"The attackers shouted 'Allah, Moammar, Libya and that's it!," he said, referring to a slogan popularized by Gadhafi loyalists during his rule.

"Yesterday they had distributed leaflets saying 'We will be back soon. We will take the rats out,'" Fotmani added.

"I call upon Libya to save Bani Walid thuwar urgently. Their ammunition is almost over."

He also said ambulances were unable to evacuate those wounded because there were "snipers positioned on a school and a mosque in the vicinity" of the attack.

Fotmani said later he had "fled the base and Gadhafi fighters are now occupying it and have taken control of all heavy weapons that were inside," adding the assailants set alight the local council's main building.

Later on Monday, Interior Minister Fawzi Abdelali denied that the attack on Bani Walid was carried out by Gadhafi loyalists.

"The information we have says that there are internal problems between the people of this city and this is the reason for what happened," he said on Libyan television.

"The information we have from inside the city does not say that there are green flags (hoisted on town buildings) and there is nothing in relation to the former regime."

Abdelali confirmed that five people were killed in the fighting, but said the problem was related to the issue of compensation for those affected by last year's war, "and the problem is between two parties in the city on this issue."

"I hope thuwar will not rush behind the information broadcast by some stations," and will wait for "the publication of an official statement," he added.

Bani Walid was one of the last pro-Gadhafi bastions to fall in the bloody uprising against the former autocrat's rule.

Its capture was followed days later by the fall of the longtime strongman's hometown Sirte in a battle which also led to his killing and marked the "liberation" of Libya.

Speaking on Libya al-Hurra television on Sunday, Abdul Jalil warned the new Libya would fall into a "civil war" if protests against the ruling NTC continued.

Crowds of protesters in Benghazi -- the city which first rebelled against Gadhafi last year -- had earlier thrown home-made grenades at and stormed the NTC offices with iron rods and stones before setting the building's front ablaze, witnesses said.

The demonstrators denounced the interim government for its lack of transparency and accused the NTC of marginalizing some wounded veterans of the uprising that toppled Gadhafi, in favor of people previously loyal to the slain dictator.

There have also been repeated clashes between rival militias, comprised of the former rebels, in the streets of Tripoli and other towns, significantly adding to the country's security concerns.