TRIPOLI, Libya - Libyan forces repelled a coordinated attack by NATO forces and rebels against a strategic oil town in the east of the country, the government spokesman said Thursday.
The announcement came as Libya also barred Italy, one of the country's largest investors, from its oil sector because of Rome's role in the NATO airstrikes.
Moussa Ibrahim told journalists that rebel forces attacked the town of Brega backed by NATO forces in the sea and air in a coordinated attack that he said violated the alliance's U.N. mandate to protect civilians.
"It was a full-scale attack and it was heavy and merciless," he said. "We were successful in combating this attack and we did defeat both NATO and the rebels and we killed many rebel forces and captured a good number of them as well."
Ibrahim's assessment of the fighting could not immediately be verified.
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NATO is enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya and hitting government targets as part of a U.N. mandate to protect civilians. It is not, however, supposed to be the military arm of rebel ground forces, which have been trying to retake Brega for months.
"It proves NATO is not interested in democracy, protecting civilians or peace," added Ibrahim.
The civil war in Libya appears to have hit a stalemate, despite a protracted NATO bombing campaign against Gadhafi-loyal forces. Rebels control eastern Libya and pockets in the west, while Gadhafi is holding on to Tripoli and large stretches of western Libya.
The attack on Brega was apparently an effort to restart the stalled war as well as capture the country's valuable oil infrastructure.
On the western front, rebels reported retaking the western mountain village of Qawalish, 70 miles from Tripoli, from government forces Thursday after losing it the day before.
Spokesman Ibrahim scoffed at various reports of rebel successes, saying their few advances were only when Gadhafi's forces temporarily withdrew to avoid airstrikes.
In Moscow, meanwhile, a Russian newspaper quoted Mikhail Margelov, the Kremlin's special envoy to Libya, as saying Gadhafi has threatened to blow up Tripoli if the Libyan capital falls into rebel hands.
The Libyans, however, denied that the prime minister made such comments and said the Russians themselves had expressed bafflement over the statements attributed to Margelov.
The Canadian general commanding NATO's mission in Libya also said Gadhafi is telling his forces to destroy facilities - including fuel refineries - as they retreat.
But the troops are not necessarily carrying out the order, Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard told reporters Thursday.
