20110319
reuters

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Rebels said they repulsed forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi that had stormed Benghazi on Saturday and appealed to the West to launch military strikes to check the advance of the Libyan leader's troops.

Gaddafi's tanks, artillery and warplanes, one of which was shot down, had earlier bombarded the city, rebels said, a day after Libya's foreign minister announced a ceasefire following a U.N. resolution that authorised Western military intervention.

The Libyan government denied it was attacking Benghazi, said it was respecting the ceasefire and accused rebels of raiding villages and towns to draw in the West.

"Rebel forces have pushed Gaddafi's forces out of Benghazi and are combing the western gate area for Gaddafi's troops," said Nasr al-Kikili, a rebel media officer in Benghazi.

"We revolutionaries have taken control of four tanks inside Benghazi," he said.

Celebrating this success, hundreds of residents fired guns in the air and women ululated. Rebels said four tanks were captured and paraded one through the streets.

Benghazi residents, who had watched their city bombarded earlier in the day, voiced frustration that Western promises of action within hours of the U.N. resolution had not materialised. Later, French president Nicolas Sarkozy said allied war planes were already preventing air strikes on the city.

Saturday's bombardment by Libyan forces began early in the morning. Thuds resounded and warplanes roared overhead. A Reuters correspondent saw one shot down, falling out of the sky in a ball of flames and crashing in a plume of smoke.