The part time, rag tag army of al-Qaeda ruffians, citizen soldiers, and ex-Gaddafi men have retaken the strategically important town of Ajdabiya.

They did it largely with the help of allied air power, although there was little or no apparent coordination with ground forces. It is assumed the special forces members lased targets within the walls of the city to assist allied pilots in making pinpoint attacks on Gaddafi's armor.

The Guardian:

Capturing Ajdabiya is a big morale boost for the rebels after two weeks spent on the back foot.

Gaddafi's better-armed forces halted an early rebel advance near the major oil export terminal of Ras Lanuf and pushed them back to their stronghold of Benghazi until western powers struck Gaddafi's positions from the sea and air.

Air strikes on Ajdabiya on Friday afternoon seem to have been decisive. The African Union (AU) said it was planning to facilitate talks to help end the war, but Nato said its operation could last three months, and France said the conflict would not end soon.

In Washington, a US military spokeswoman said the coalition fired 16 Tomahawk cruise missiles and flew 153 air sorties in the past 24 hours, attacking Gaddafi's artillery, mechanised forces and command and control infrastructure.

The rebels don't want to talk and the allies are certainly in no mood to let Gaddafi off the hook - at this point. Let's revisit that statement in a couple of weeks and see if the coalition is 1) still intact, and 2) willing to continue a war that will probably have stalemated on the ground.