Rebels defy Qaddafi's fear offensive in Libya's western mountains

Deep in Libya’s western mountains, the city that first raised the flag of rebellion against Col. Muammar Qaddafi in these parts is facing a new campaign of intimidation.

Fifty Katyusha rockets were fired on Zintan in three days this week. They targeted its center for the first time, sparking an exodus and convincing residents that Colonel Qaddafi was determined to punish a city that has become a symbol of revolt in the western part of the country.

Zintan, a sprawling, dun-colored town embedded on the southern slopes of the Nafusah mountain range, has proved critically important to the civil war raging in Libya. Here, citizens set the example of boldly repelling Qaddafi’s attempts to bring them over to his side, refusing lucrative government bribes, and then defeating concerted military attempts to dislodge them.

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