By Mariam Karouny
DJERBA, Tunisia (Reuters) - An assault on Libya's rebel-held city of Misrata was stalled on Sunday by new fighting between members of Muammar Gaddafi's security forces, rebels said, but the government denied reports of a mutiny.
Residents said fighting broke out on Saturday after some units of the Libyan leader's force refused to attack Misrata, Libya's third-biggest city and the only place in the west of the country still openly defying Gaddafi's rule.
The reports of a mutiny could not be verified because Libyan authorities have not allowed reporters access to the city, which is 200 km (130 miles) east of the capital.
"From the early morning they (the security forces) are fighting among each other. We hear the fighting," Mohammed, one of the rebel fighters, told Reuters by telephone on Sunday.
"This division between them came to us from God. Just when we thought the end was coming, this happened. Now we are waiting to see what will happen."
MUTINY REPORTS "RUBBISH"
Asked about reports of a mutiny in Misrata, government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said: "This is rubbish. It is not true."
"The army has surrounded the centre of Misrata. They are in the city. Tribal elders are talking to them (the rebels) to surrender," he said in Tripoli.
Misrata residents said they could hear the sound of heavy fighting from a military airfield to the south of the town, where pro-Gaddafi forces have been based. They said there were no clashes between rebels and security forces on Sunday.
"The situation in the town centre is very calm. There is no fighting now. People are in the streets to buy what they need," said a spokesman for the rebels who was in the city.
"But the problem is on the outskirts of the town. There is shooting among the brigades," he said.
Reports of a mutiny in Misrata, though unconfirmed, will raise questions about the ability of Gaddafi's security forces to press an offensive in the country's east, where the rebels have their biggest stronghold.
Residents had said the main force preparing to attack Misrata was the 32nd Brigade. This is commanded by Gaddafi's son Khamis and, according to military analysts, is the best trained and equipped force available to the Libyan leader.
Gaddafi, in power for four decades, lost control over large swathes of the oil exporting country last month in a revolt against his rule that took some of its inspiration from uprisings in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt.
But in the past week, the momentum has shifted back towards Gaddafi. His forces stamped out a rebellion in Zawiyah, 50 km west of Tripoli and pushed rebels in the east back from an oil terminal they briefly held at Ras Lanuf.
(Additional reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers and Maria Golovnina in Tripoli; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)
