Expert: Rebels would need to move carefully

Libyan opposition fighters have seen a series of success against Muammar Gaddafi's troops in the country's west.

Shashank Joshi from the Royal United Service Institute in London spoke to Al Jazeera on the latest rebel offensive.

Joshi said what the rebels have learnt from past mistakes is that they need to move forward methodically. They can't just rush ahead and take ground and then forced to move back.

"The significance of Az Zawiyah cannot be seen in isolation, we have to see it in combination of what's going on in Gharyan, south of Tripoli and Zlitan to the east," he said.

"And all of these locations can be consolidated and their grip solidified, we are going to see Tripoli being put in a state of siege."

He, however, said the rebels would need to move carefully. "I won't expect any kind of rush in next several days and hope they would take all the strategic patience required."