20110409
reuters

AJDABIYAH, Libya (Reuters) - A buoyant Muammar Gaddafi made his first television appearance for five days on Saturday and his troops engaged rebels in new fighting on the eastern front in Libya's civil war.

While fighting flared up again on the war's only active frontline, a Red Cross ship brought medical supplies to the besieged western city of Misrata, scene of bitter street battles, where conditions are said to be desperate.

Gaddafi's forces shelled the western outskirts of Ajdabiyah, launch point for rebel attacks towards the Mediterranean oil port of Brega.

A Reuters correspondent heard artillery impacts and machinegun fire for around 30 minutes, coming from the western boundary of the town, the gateway to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi 150 km (90 miles) to the northeast.

Al Jazeera television said Gaddafi forces had entered Ajdabiyah.

Gaddafi smiled and pumped his fists in the air as he received an ecstatic welcome at a school in Tripoli, where women ululated and pupils chanted anti-western slogans. One woman cried with emotion as he passed.

Gaddafi, wearing his trademark brown robes and dark glasses, was last seen on television on April 4.

He looked confident and relaxed, confirming the impression among analysts that his administration has emerged from a period of paralysis and is hunkering down for a long campaign.