TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Muammar Gaddafi’s forces attacked two west Libyan towns, killing dozens while rebels were pinned down in the east and NATO tried to resolve a heated row over who should lead the Western air campaign.
With anti-Gaddafi rebels struggling to create a command structure that can capitalize on the air strikes against Libyan tanks and air defenses, Western nations have still to decide who will take over command once Washington pulls back in a few days.
In the latest fighting today, Gaddafi’s tanks shelled the rebel-held western town of Misrata and casualties included four children killed when their car was hit, residents said, adding the death toll for yesterday alone had reached 40.
Residents painted a grim picture of the situation in Misrata which has been under siege by Gaddafi loyalists for weeks, with doctors operating on people with bullet and shrapnel wounds in hospital corridors and tanks in the city center.
“The situation here is very bad. Tanks started shelling the town this morning,” a resident, called Mohammed, told Reuters by telephone from outside the city’s hospital, adding: “Snipers are taking part in the operation too. A civilian car was destroyed killing four children on board, the oldest is aged 13 years.”
In the first apparent air force casualty of the campaign, a US F-15E crashed in Libya overnight and its two crew members were rescued, the US military said. The crash was likely caused by mechanical failure and not hostile fire, it said.
Explosions and anti-aircraft rounds rattled Tripoli for a third time overnight, and Libyan state television said several sites in the capital had come under attacks by what it called the “crusader enemy.”
Al Jazeera news network said Gaddafi forces were trying to seize the western rebel-held town of Zintan near the Tunisian border in an attack using heavy weapons. Residents had already fled the town centre to seek shelter in mountain caves.
Security analysts say it is unclear what will happen if the Libyan leader digs in, especially since Western powers have made clear they would be unwilling to see Libya partitioned between a rebel-held east and Gaddafi-controlled west.
Rebels pinned down in east
Rebels in east Libya were positioned just outside Ajdabiyah today, making no further advance on the strategic town despite a third night of Western air strikes on the north African oil-producing state.
At the frontline in the desert scrub about 5 km (3 miles) outside the town located at the gateway to the rebel-held east, fighters said air strikes were helping to cripple Gaddafi’s heavy armor. But there was no sign of a swift drive forward.
When asked why rebel units had not advanced toward their objective, which is the eventual taking of Tripoli, Ahmed al-Aroufi, a rebel fighter at the frontline, told Reuters: “Gaddafi has tanks and trucks with missiles.”
Commenting on the air campaign to protect civilians in this uprising against Gaddafi’s 41-year rule, Aroufi said:
“We don’t depend on anyone but God, not France or America. We started this revolution without them through the sweat of our own brow, and that is how we will finish it.”
Washington, wary of being drawn into another war after long campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, has ruled out specific action to overthrow Gaddafi, though France said yesterday it hoped the Libyan government would collapse from within.
The United States expects to hand over command in “a matter of days” but has not said which nation or organization would take charge. Britain and France took a lead role in pushing for air strikes which have destroyed much of its air defences.
NATO talks ‘emotional’
British Prime Minister David Cameron said the intention was to transfer command to NATO, but France said Arab countries did not want the US-led alliance in charge of the operation.
NATO officials resumed talks in Brussels today after failing to reach agreement at fractious talks yesterday.
Some allies were now questioning whether a no-fly zone was necessary, given the damage already done by air strikes to Gaddafi’s military capabilities, a NATO diplomat said, adding: “Yesterday’s meeting became a little bit emotional.”
Underlining the differences in the anti-Gaddafi coalition, Italy’s Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said if agreement was not reached on a NATO command, Italy would resume control of the seven airbases it has made available to allied air forces.
A NATO role would require political support from all the 28 states. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is a NATO member, said on Tuesday that the United Nations should be the umbrella for a solely humanitarian operation in Libya.
In a speech in parliament, Erdogan said: “Turkey will never ever be a side pointing weapons at the Libyan people.”
US President Barack Obama spoke with Erdogan and they affirmed their full support for the UN resolution “and agreed that this will require a broad-based international effort, including Arab states,” the White House said today.
‘Gaddafi’s lies’
Rifts are also growing internationally over the UN resolution, with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin comparing the mandate to a call or “medieval crusades.” China and Brazil urged a ceasefire amid fears of civilian casualties.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today on a trip to Moscow that some people in Russia seem to believe what he termed Gaddafi’s “lies” about civilian casualties in Libya.
Libyan officials have said air strikes have killed dozens of civilians. They also say the rebels are al Qaeda militants assisted by Western powers who are trying to steal Libya’s oil.
Gates said he told his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov, who wants an immediate ceasefire to protect Libyan civilians, “that I thought the significant military fighting that has been going on should recede in the next few days.”
In Tripoli, Reuters correspondents said that some residents, emboldened by a third night of air strikes, dropped their customary praise of Gaddafi and said they wanted him gone.
“My children are afraid but I know it’s changing,” one man said. “This is the end. The government has no control any more.”
Officials in Libya said a naval facility in east Tripoli was hit in the overnight raids.
Libyan television was showing archive footage of Gaddafi being greeted by cheering crowds waving his portrait. The images were set to stirring patriotic music. Gaddafi himself has not been since in public since the air strikes began at the weekend.
