Libyan rebels condemn NATO over Gaddafi advance

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Libyan rebels condemn NATO over Gaddafi advance

By Angus MacSwan Angus Macswan – 2 hrs 14 mins ago

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – The head of Libya's rebel army has condemned NATO

for its slow chain of command in ordering air strikes to protect civilians,

saying the alliance was " letting the people of Misrata die every day " .

The besieged city of Misrata, the only big population center in western Libya

where a revolt against Gaddafi has not been crushed and which faces army tanks

and snipers, is now the priority for NATO air strikes, alliance officials said

earlier.

" NATO blesses us every now and then with a bombardment here and there, and is

letting the people of Misrata die every day, " Abdel Fattah Younes, head of the

rebel forces said in the eastern stronghold city of Benghazi. " NATO has

disappointed us. "

NATO said it was carrying out its mandate and the pace of the air campaign had

not abated since it took over from a coalition led by the United States, Britain

and France on March 31. It now leads air strikes targeting Gaddafi's military

infrastructure and policing a no-fly zone and an arms embargo.

Younes said NATO had been moving very slowly, allowing Gaddafi forces to

advance, and that rebels were considering referring the issue to the U.N.

Security Council which authorized its mission. " NATO has become our problem, " he

said.

A rebel spokesman said Gaddafi's forces bombarded Misrata again on Tuesday.

" Misrata was shelled with tank fire, artillery and mortars, " the rebel, called

Abdelsalam, told Reuters, adding: " Unfortunately NATO operations have not been

effective in Misrata. Civilians are dying every day. "

Another rebel in Misrata, called Nasser, said two people had been killed and 26

injured on Tuesday in mortar attacks.

Stalemate on the frontline of fighting in eastern Libya, defections from

Gaddafi's circle and the plight of civilians caught in fighting or facing food

and fuel shortages has prompted a flurry of diplomacy to find a solution to the

civil war in this oil-producing North African desert state.

Protests against the government that began on February 15 swiftly descended into

civil war after Gaddafi forces opened fire on demonstrators. He then crushed

uprisings in Libya's west, leaving the east and Misrata in rebel hands.

SECURITY COUNCIL

NATO-led air power is holding the balance in Libya, preventing Gaddafi forces

from overrunning the rebels but unable for now to hand them outright victory.

" Either NATO does its work properly or I will ask the (rebel) national council

to raise the matter with the Security Council, " Younes, a former interior

minister in Gaddafi's administration who defected, told reporters.

" The reaction of NATO is very slow. One official calls another and then from the

official to the head of NATO and from the head of NATO to the field commander.

This takes eight hours, " Younes said, adding:

" Misrata is being subjected to a full extermination. "

Asked about Younes's remarks, NATO spokesman Oana Lungescu said: " The facts

speak for themselves. The pace of operations since NATO took over has not

abated. We have conducted 851 sorties in the past six days ... we are fulfilling

our mandate. "

Another NATO official said: " The rebels may not see us. We may be 100 or 150 km

away. We are some distance from where the fighting is going on so the rebels are

not aware. "

Earlier in the day, NATO had given details of the campaign.

" The assessment is that we have taken out 30 percent of the military capacity of

Gaddafi, " Brigadier General Mark van Uhm, a senior NATO staff officer, said in

Brussels.

Over the last day, air strikes around Misrata hit Gaddafi's tanks, air defense

systems and other armored vehicles. Near Brega in the east, where intense

fighting raged for a sixth day on Tuesday, NATO aircraft struck a rocket

launcher.

HUMAN SHIELDS

Van Uhm said Gaddafi was using civilians as human shields and hiding his armor

in populated areas, curbing NATO's ability to hit targets. " The operational

tempo remains, but we have seen a change of tactics (from Gaddafi), " he said.

" When human beings are used as shields we don't engage. "

Referring to NATO, Younes said: " They say they don't want to bomb in order not

to kill civilians. The area where Gaddafi troops are does not include

civilians. "

Abdelsalam in Misrata agreed. " NATO says Gaddafi's forces are hiding among

civilians. But we tell them that there are no civilians left in the areas where

the Gaddafi forces are positioned. We urge them to destroy civilian property to

take out the snipers and armed gangs. "

After a series of rapid rebel advances followed by headlong retreats, the

insurgents held their ground for six days in Brega, putting their best trained

forces in to battle for the oil town and keeping the disorganized volunteers

away.

A sustained government bombardment of rockets and mortar bombs, however, pushed

the insurgent pick-up truck cavalcade back toward the rebel stronghold of

Benghazi, their biggest retreat in several days of inconclusive battles.

" Since the day NATO took over the air strikes, we have been falling back, " said

Ziad el Khafiefy, 20, a rebel fighter, echoing Younes's comments.

" Gaddafi's troops are hitting us with Grad missiles, " said Mabrouk el Majbary,

35. " Something is wrong ... When the U.S. gave leadership to NATO, the bombings

stopped. "

GADDAFI FACES ICC

As the row erupted over the military campaign, the International Criminal Court

said on Tuesday it had evidence Gaddafi's government had developed plans to

crush protests by killing civilians even before the uprising in Libya broke out.

" We have evidence that after the Tunisia and Egypt conflicts in January, people

in the regime were planning how to control demonstrations inside Libya, " court

prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo told Reuters in The Hague.

" The planning at the beginning was to use tear gas and (if that failed to work)

...., shooting, " said Moreno-Ocampo who is investigating Gaddafi, his sons and

close aides and who will be requesting arrest warrants in the coming weeks.

The rebels are set for a boost with the arrival of a tanker in one of their

ports which can carry one million barrels of crude, worth more than $100

million, which would be their first shipment since the fighting broke out.

Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have failed to make progress with the

rebels adamant that Libya's leader for the past 41 years leave and the

government side offering concessions, but insisting Gaddafi stay in power.

" All armed militias, if they want a peaceful end to this crisis, they have to

give up their arms, and then they are most welcome to take part in the political

process, " Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim told reporters in Tripoli.

Libyan envoy Abdelati Obeidi ended a shuttle to Greece, Turkey and Malta to set

out the position of the government, which said on Tuesday he had been appointed

foreign minister. His predecessor Moussa Koussa, once a close ally of Gaddafi,

defected to Britain last week.

Turkey is expecting an envoy to visit from the opposition in the coming days and

is listening to both sides.

" Both sides have a rigid stance, " a Turkish Foreign Ministry official said after

Obeidi's visit. " One side, the opposition, is insisting that Gaddafi should go.

The other side is saying Gaddafi should stay. So there is no breakthrough yet. "

(Additional reporting by Dziadosz near Brega, Gray-Block in The

Hague and Ibon Villelabeitia in Cairo, Justyna Pawlak in Brussels; Writing by

ship; editing by Stamp and Philippa Fletcher)