(9.April) On the northern fringe of the city, hundreds of cars and lorries streamed past driving north to Benghazi, many packed with people and possessions; like the mechanic they had thought Ajdabiya was safe again and Gaddafi was some way off. One lorry, its tyres gone on the left-hand side, drove on its wheel rims, swerving crazily all over the road surface.

The city of 100,000 people, 90 minutes drive south of Benghazi, is a substantial one which the rebels simply must hold. It is a key road junction located near oilfields and oil infrastructure that the rebels need if their uprising is to survive.