Gaddafi loyalists rally in Libyan capital

TRIPOLI, May 19 (AP): Hundreds of Moammar Gaddafi's loyalists staged a show of support in the capital early Thursday, claiming the rebel insurgency is nearing its end, even as the Libyan leader's forces have intensified their campaign to take strategic heights in a western mountain range and targeted a road that many people have used to flee the fighting. In the main square in Tripoli, several hundred came out for a government-sponsored rally, spraying the sky with gunfire and banging fireworks and waving green flags - the iconic Gadhafi regime color. They claimed that residents of the rebel-held Benghazi to the east were holding pro-Gadhafi demonstrations, though there was no proof of any such rallies. The Tripoli gathering may have been organized in an attempt to reassure Libyan residents that the regime was still standing strong.