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Battles Continue In Key Libyan Cities

Libyan opposition fighters took cover today (March 7, 2011) as a bomb dropped by an Air Force fighter jet exploded near a checkpoint on the outskirts of the oil town of Ras Lanuf.
Marco Longari
/
AFP/Getty Images
Libyan opposition fighters took cover today (March 7, 2011) as a bomb dropped by an Air Force fighter jet exploded near a checkpoint on the outskirts of the oil town of Ras Lanuf.

Some of the latest reporting on the fighting between forces loyal to Libyan Col. Moammar Gadhafi and those who are trying to topple his regime:

-- CNN's Nic Robertson (): "Battle for #Ziwiya appears to continue despite govt claims it now under their control. We got within mile of city center today."

-- BBC News: "Pro-Gaddafi forces have launched several air strikes on Libya's rebel-held oil port of Ras Lanuf. ... Bin Jawad, 50km (30 miles) to the west, has fallen to forces loyal to Libyan leader Col Gaddafi, correspondents say, checking the rebels' westward progress." [NPR follows Associated Press style on the spelling of Gadhafi's name; other organizations, such as the BBC, spell it differently.]

-- NPR's Peter Kenyon, who is in eastern Libya: "We've been speaking with [opposition] fighters all day long. Their morale is very high. Their experience is quite low. They're enthusiastic [but] they're not really quite sure what they should be doing. You come to some of these towns and there are knots of young men just standing, waiting, wanting to help. Not knowing what to do and waiting for someone with some experience to come tell them where they can be of most use."

-- Al-Jazeera: "Witnesses have also told Al-Jazeera that Az Zawiyah, in the west of the country near the capital Tripoli, was under heavy attack by government forces. There has been fierce fighting in Misurata, located between Tripoli and Gaddafi's hometown Sirte, with reports of at least 18 people killed."

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Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.