His remarks came after American and European bombs battered the coastal city of Surt — the rebels’ next objective — in Colonel Qaddafi’s tribal homeland on Sunday night, permitting the insurgents to advance to within 45 miles of the city.

The rebels had pushed west on Sunday from Ajdabiya past the oil towns of Brega and Ras Lanuf, recapturing the two important refineries, and then set their sights on Surt. But on Monday there was no sign of a rebel takeover of Surt and the city seemed quiet, although a stream of civilian cars and some military vehicles was seen heading west from Surt toward Tripoli, 225 miles away.

By late afternoon, however, hundreds of rebel cars and trucks came speeding down the road to a checkpoint near Bin Jawwad, a town directly east of Surt that has switched hands three times in the last month and seems to have split loyalties, rebel fighters said.

The rebel advance had been too easy, and there had been no resistance, said Sherif Layas, a marketing manager from Tripoli who fought with the rebels. “This made us go forward,” he said. “And then we met the tanks.” With that, he said, they panicked and retreated en masse.