Harare - Zimbabwe's first lady stepped up her entry into politics by speaking at a rally where she criticised members of the ruling party who want President Robert Mugabe to step down from power but are "cowards" too afraid to openly declare their views. "There are senior people who pretend to support President Mugabe and during daylight they even dance to songs praising him but during darkness they say he is too old and should go," said Grace Mugabe, criticizsng what she called factionalism in the ruling Zanu-PF. The first lady was speaking at her first rally since entering politics as leader of the party's women's wing in August. Zimbabwe will never again have a president like the 90-year-old Mugabe, who has been in power since the country's independence in 1980, she told hundreds of supporters gathered in the farming town of Chinhoyi, west of the capital Harare. In her first rally to establish an independent political career, Grace Mugabe's speech mimicked her husband's well-used tactic of criticising the western powers. "Whites have never liked us. They will not even offer you tea with sugar if you visit their homes so let's not be fooled when they come here with aid. It's meant to hoodwink us. Personally I think Western aid stinks," she said. Grace Mugabe, 49, is set to officially assume the presidency of the women's wing at a congress in December. Critics have argued that the first lady's move to politics was to ensure the ailing Mugabe maintained political and economic power. Since marrying Mugabe in 1996, Grace Mugabe has not been active in politics but has acquired vast tracts of land under Zimbabwe's land reform policy. The couple has three children. Grace Mugabe also used the rally to defend her PhD from the University of Zimbabwe, saying she was focused on delivery rather than academic titles. The first lady has been criticized for receiving her degree only months after she enrolled.

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Benghazi - At least 12 Libyan soldiers were killed and 45 wounded on Friday in fresh clashes with Islamist militants near the airport of the eastern city of Benghazi, a medic said.

Special army forces allied to brigades of former general Khalifa Haftar have been fighting Islamist brigades there, including Ansar al-Sharia, accused by Washington of killing the US ambassador to Libya in 2012.

On Thursday, Islamist groups launched a new offensive to seize the city's military and civilian airport, the last government bases in the port city, amid the chaos gripping the oil producer three years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi.

The Islamists have already overrun several army bases in Benghazi.

A hospital medic said 12 soldiers were killed and 45 wounded. On Thursday 29 soldiers had already died, according to medics.

Mohamed El Hejazi, a spokesperson for Haftar, said the Islamist offensive on the Benina airport located outside the city had been stopped with the help of war planes and helicopters.

"They tried taking the airport, but we won't allow this," he said.

The city was quiet by Friday evening, residents said.

Western powers are concerned that Libya will become a failed state as a weak central government cannot control competing militia who helped oust Gaddafi but now use their weapons to dominate politics or a share of the country's vast energy resources.

The elected parliament has relocated to the remote eastern city of Tobruk after effectively losing control of the capital Tripoli, where an alliance of armed groups hold sway.

The new forces controlling Tripoli, led by brigades from the western city of Misrata, have helped install an alternative parliament and prime minister.