Zawiyah: 30 miles from Tripoli, the city on the frontline of Libya's revolt

The city of Zawiyah, controlled by rebels but surrounded by Gaddafi loyalists, is a metaphor for the current stalemate

Peter Beaumont in Zawiyah
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 27 February 2011

""If you go down there you will meet young men with guns," said one of the Libyan government minders. "Please be careful," he warned.

The crossing from the territory controlled by the regime of Colonel Gaddafi to rebel-held land was a short walk, as unexpected as it was bizarre.

Bizarre, because we had been delivered to the edge of the city of Zawiyah by Gaddafi's men, who were supposed to be showing us how far their leader's writ still extended. Instead they let us out of our cars and made no effort to prevent us crossing to the other side.

The "down there" mentioned by the minder was a broad boulevard with barricades across the street. A man with a machine gun came out of a door, ammunition belt across his shoulder. A half hour's drive from the centre of Tripoli and Gaddafi's control had run out. On the walls was anti-regime graffiti. Underfoot lay broken glass and bullet casings. Armed men appeared on balconies, flashing V-signs.

In the distance a crowd and flags were visible. Men waved us forward. A short walk brought into view a tank flying the rebels' tricolour and an anti-aircraft gun mounted on a pick-up.

Some of the crowd had shotguns and hunting rifles. Others had AK-47s. In a little square overlooked by the burned-out building that once housed the local government and a library for studying Gaddafi's infamous Green Book, armoured vehicles blocked the entrances. Look-outs manned the roofs and the corners of Martyrs' Square.

We had crossed the line of Libya's rebellion. The minders stayed with the cars on the city's edge until it was time for us to leave.....

Zawiyah – 30 miles from the capital – is a metaphor for Libya's current stalemate, which could itself end at any moment. For Zawiyah is surrounded by the Libyan army, which holds all the roads but yesterday did not appear to be deployed in sufficient forces to retake the city.

But, taking a broader view, it is Tripoli that is increasingly encircled by the opposition as towns across the country abandon the regime. For the moment, the opposition seems to lack the momentum to take the capital from Gaddafi's forces. But the situation remains remarkably fluid....

But what is clear is that the way it is being described – as a rebel advance towards the capital – is not quite accurate for now. Instead, the rebellions are happening town by town, coming ever closer to the centre of a country balanced on the brink."