Eight British soldiers have been captured in eastern Libya as they escorted a senior diplomat through territory under the control of revolutionary forces.
According to a report published by The Sunday Times, the unexpected presence of a British special forces unit along with the diplomat “angered Libyan opposition figures, who ordered the soldiers to be locked up on a military base.”The Britons have reportedly been taken to Benghazi in eastern Libya. The diplomat they were protecting had wanted to contact the anti-government forces.
The British newspaper added that anti-government forces “fear Muammar Gaddafi could use any evidence of Western military interference to rally patriotic support for his regime.”
On Saturday, Gaddafi said he wanted the United Nations or the African Union to investigate the anti-government protests in the country.
On the same day, pro-Gaddafi forces backed by tanks launched an assault on Zawiyah, 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of the capital Tripoli, firing heavy mortar rounds at houses and attacking a hospital.
The clashes began hours after revolutionary forces repelled an effort by government forces to retake the city.
Reports by human rights groups say over 6,000 people have been killed so far in the government’s harsh crackdown on anti-government protesters.
The Libyan revolution came in the wake of the monumental events in Tunisia and Egypt, where dictators who led undemocratic and repressive regimes were driven out of power.
However, Gaddafi does not want to see the writing on the wall, and the bloody conflict in Libya drags on.
Waves of demonstrations have rocked several other Middle Eastern and North African countries in recent weeks.
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Fox silent on report Libyan rebels seize troops
(Reuters) - A small diplomatic team is in the Libyan city of Benghazi, Defence Secretary Liam Fox said on Sunday, but he declined comment on a report that Libyan rebels had captured a special forces unit.Despite repeated questions, Fox refused to say whether the group was in danger or was being held captive.
Libya is in turmoil as rebels fight to end Muammar Gaddafi's 41-year rule.
"It is a very difficult situation. There are a number of different opposition groups to Colonel Gaddafi in Libya. They do seem relatively disparate," Fox said.
"We want to clearly understand what the dynamic is there because we want to be able to work with them to ensure the demise of the Gaddafi regime, to see a transition to greater stability in Libya and ultimately to more representative government," he said.
Fox ruled out the use of military ground forces in Libya but said a no-fly zone remained a possibility.
The Sunday Times reported that Libyan rebels had captured a British special forces unit in the east of the country after a secret diplomatic mission to make contact with opposition leaders backfired.
INTERCEPTED
The team, understood to number up to eight SAS soldiers, were intercepted as they escorted a junior diplomat through rebel-held territory, the newspaper said.
The junior diplomat was preparing the way for a visit by a more senior colleague in an attempt to establish diplomatic contact with the rebels, the newspaper said.
The Foreign Office said it could neither "confirm or deny" the report.
Prime Minister David Cameron said last Tuesday that the government was trying to step up contact with opposition forces in Benghazi "so we can get to know them better, what their intentions are."
On Saturday the Geneva-based Human Rights Solidarity group, which employs a number of Libyan exiles, told Reuters by telephone that a team of "eight special forces personnel" had been seized by rebels. Both the Ministry of Defence and Foreign Office repeatedly declined to comment on the group's report.
The SAS intervention apparently angered Libyan opposition figures, who ordered the soldiers locked up on a military base, according to the Sunday Times.
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