Rebels said more trained officers were at the front, heavier rockets were seen moving toward Ajdabiyah late on Thursday and the checkpoint was screening those going through.
"Only those who have large weapons are being allowed through. Civilians without weapons are prohibited," said Ahmed Zaitoun, one of the rebel fighters and part of a brigade of civilian volunteers who have received more training than most.
"Today we have officers coming with us. Before we went alone," he said, and he pointed to a man complaining at being stopped at the checkpoint, adding: "He is a young boy and he doesn't have a gun. What will he do up there?"
On the road between Ajdabiyah and the rebel "capital," Benghazi, gun emplacements were set up in freshly dug ditches with sand berms facing toward Ajdabiyah and the front line, the first sign of organized defensive positions protecting Benghazi.
Good. It's a start, anyway. It will be interesting to find out what role Western and Arab special forces and civilian agents had in starting to organize the rebels or whether this was a home-grown effort led by Libyan rebels with military experience.
