Rebels look for outside help in battle for Libya

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Libyan rebels are trying to shore up their administration with funds from Kuwait and the hope of restarting oil facilities after being outgunned so far in their fight to oust Muammar Gaddafi.

Government troops bombarded the western rebel bastion of Misrata again on Sunday, a day after announcing their withdrawal following a two month siege. A government spokesman said the army was still carrying out its plan to withdraw from the city, but had fired back when retreating troops were attacked.

"As our army was withdrawing from Misrata it came under attack by the rebels. The army fought back but continued its withdrawal from the city," Mussa Ibrahim told reporters.

The government says its army is withdrawing from the city and sending in armed tribesmen instead. Rebels say the announcement may be part of a ruse to mask troop movements or stir violence between rebels and locals in nearby towns.

The rebels have been seeking international recognition as well as material support from the west and the Arab world.

They have been unable to advance from eastern Libya as they fight back and forth with Gaddafi's troops on the coastal road between the towns of Ajdabiyah and Brega, hampered by their lack of firepower, equipment and training.

Rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil told a news conference in Kuwait that the Gulf state had agreed to contribute 50 million Kuwaiti dinars (107 million pounds) to his rebel council to help pay workers in the east of the country under its control.

"This amount will help us a lot in paying the salaries of employees who did not receive their little salaries for two months," he said. "We are capable of only covering 40 percent of this amount. We are in need of urgent aid."

Abdel Jalil also said the rebels had received weapons from "friends and allies," but did not specify which countries or organisations had donated them.

He said the rebels had asked Egypt to stop Libyans based there from selling assets to fund Gaddafi's government and trying to destabilise rebel territory.

"They send cash to Tripoli and also into the pockets of some Egyptians ... to enter through Libya's eastern border and sow discord and chaos inside Libya," Abdel Jalil told Al Jazeera.

Restarting oil production halted by attacks by Gaddafi loyalists would be a huge boost to the insurgents. A rebel oil official said companies could resume work as soon as the areas where they operate were secured.

"For Sirte Oil and Zueitina, we have people ready to move in as soon as they are safe to move," Wahid Bugaighis, head of the National Oil Company, said in Benghazi.

He said rebels had made about $129 million from their only shipment of crude oil -- exported this month with the help of Gulf Arab state Qatar -- but had had to pay $75 million for a single cargo of gasoline.

"You have to put things in perspective," he said. "You don't go far with $129 million."

MISRATA BOMBARDED

In Misrata, a mood of victory was short-lived and the prospect of a turning point in the conflict dimmed on Sunday.

"The situation is very dangerous," rebel spokesman Abdelsalam said by telephone from the city. "Gaddafi's brigades started random bombardment in the early hours of this morning. The bombardment is still going on."

Captured government troops said on Saturday they had been ordered to retreat after a siege of nearly two months, but rebels now say they believe it was a government ruse.

"I don't think this is a real withdrawal," rebel military spokesman Ahmed Bani told Reuters in Benghazi.

He said government loyalists might be trying to stoke tensions between Misrata and neighbouring towns, and that Gaddafi's troops might return to the city later under the guise of intervening to protect local tribes from the rebels.

"What has been said by Gaddafi's regime about withdrawal or suspension of operations has no basis in truth," national council spokesman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga told reporters in Benghazi.

"They've fallen back to the western area of Misrata," he said, referring to Gaddafi's troops. "They are also surrounding Misrata from its eastern entrance."

Western countries, reluctant to be further dragged into a conflict in a third Muslim country after wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, have been unwilling to arm the rebels. Britain and France have said they will send small teams of military advisers and Italy is considering sending military trainers.

Abdel Jalil said no military advisers had yet arrived.

Two explosions were heard in central Tripoli on Sunday night and NATO jets rumbled overhead. It was not immediately clear what the targets were. State television channels briefly stopped broadcasting, then resumed.

At least three people were killed in the mountain town of Zintan, around 160 km (100 miles) southwest of Tripoli, by fire from Gaddafi's tanks and rockets, residents said.

(Additional reporting by Tim Castle in London and Lin Noueihed in Tripoli; Writing by Alison Williams; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Peter Graff)