Libyan rebels receive ‘training’ from foreign forces

Al Jazeera reports that an unnamed rebel source related how he had undergone training in military techniques at a "secret facility" in eastern Libya. He said he was sent to fire Katyusha rockets but was given a simple, unguided version of the rocket instead.

A correspondent said the rebel revealed that on Thursday night a new shipment of Katyusha rockets had been sent into eastern Libya from Egypt. He didn't say they were sourced from Egypt, but that was their route through.

"He said these were state-of-the-art, heat-seeking rockets and they needed to be trained on how to use them, which was one of the things the American and Egyptian special forces were there to do."

Such involvement from Egypt and the US raises questions.

Furthermore, since the rebels appear to be receiving covert support in terms of weaponry and training, it is not surprising that they are not inclined to criticise NATO openly.

On Saturday the chief spokesman for the Libyan rebels said at least 13 people had been killed after coalition air strikes hit a convoy by mistake on Friday as fighters claimed victory in the battle for Brega.

"Thirteen dead, seven injured by friendly fire. It was a regrettable occurrence," Abdulhafiz Ghoga said, calling them "unintentional deaths".

"The leadership is working on preventing a re-occurrence," he said, adding that Brega "is fully under the control of the rebels".

A civilian rebel official said the dead civilians were an ambulance driver and three medical students from Libya's second city of Benghazi.
Friday's air strike came as rebels shot tracer fire into the air to celebrate the entry of an advance column into Brega.

"It was a mistake" by the rebels, the official said. "The aircraft thought they were coming under attack and fired on the convoy."

A spokeswoman for NATO, which leads the international coalition enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya and protecting civilians from attack, said it was checking details of the incident.

"We are looking into these reports. We are always concerned by reports of civilian casualties. NATO's mission is to protect civilians and civilian areas from the threat of attack," said Oana Lungescu, adding that no formal investigation has been launched.

Transitional National Council spokesman Mustafa Gheriani said the loss of lives on Friday was very much regretted.

"However, we understand that collateral damage may also take place and we do accept it, because we look at the big picture which saving more lives.

"So a few people being victims of circumstances or of being at the wrong time or the wrong place it is more or less very bad luck," Gheriani said.

On Saturday, the first three Swedish fighter jets landed in Italy as the Nordic country joins the NATO-led no-fly zone operation over Libya. Five more will leave for the mission on Sunday, Rickard Wissman, an air force spokesman, said.