TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyan officials say areas around the Nafusa mountains southwest of Tripoli remain under government control, denying reports of advances by rebels there toward the capital.
Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi told reporters Wednesday that the situation in the mountains is "good" and "under control."
The municipal governor of Gharyan, a city at the gateway to the mountains and on a major road to Tripoli, says the "situation is much better than the news tries to report." Abdul-Nabi Mohammed Bakir also says reports of rebel advances are incorrect.
Rebels who control several villages in the mountains this week claimed to have advanced to the town of Bir al-Ghanam, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Tripoli.
