Libyan rebels retreated on Sunday from Bin Jawad which is located on the road leading to Sirte, Muammar Gaddafi's hometown, after coming under heavy fire from the Libyan leader's forces. According to Reuters, hundreds of rebels in pickups and vehicles moved back to Ras Lanuf, with many saying they feared an army advance.
Rebels captured Bin Jawad, 160 km from Sirte, on Saturday but then pulled back, which let Gaddafi's loyalists occupy houses and mount an ambush earlier on Sunday. Rebels were forced into a full retreat to Ras Lanuf port to regroup.
Doctors at Ras Lanuf hospital said two dead and 31 wounded had arrived from fighting in Bin Jawad.
According to Reuters, one rebel commander said earlier his forces had pushed west from Bin Jawad and controlled the town of al-Nawfaliyah, 120 km from Sirte.
In the eastern city of Benghazi, where the uprising began, Colonel Lamine Abdelwahab, a member of the rebel military council for the Benghazi area, said: "We have received contact from members of the Gaddafda tribe (Gaddafi's tribe) in Sirte who want to negotiate ... There will be no negotiations. They are asking us what we want. We say we don't want Gaddafi (in power)."
Abdelwahab said soldiers belonging to the Ferjan tribes were executed for refusing to fight rebels. "They (the Ferjan tribe in Sirte) are joining the rebellion because of this atrocity. The problem is that they are unarmed. Only the Gaddafda were armed by the regime."
