Libya's army pounded an opposition-held city in the country's west and battled fighters trying to block its advance on a rebel bastion in the east on Wednesday amid flagging diplomatic efforts to end the bloodshed. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate cease-fire by all parties and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States hoped for a UN Security Council vote aimed at ending Libya's conflict "no later than Thursday".
-- Government forces attack Misrata, 5 reported killed
-- Gaddafi son says Benghazi will fall in next 48 hours
Saying Muammar Gaddafi seemed determined to kill as many as Libyans as possible in his violent effort to quell a month-long uprising, she said "many different actions" were being considered not just a no-fly zone. The United States, Russia, China, Germany, India and other council members are either undecided or voiced doubts about the proposal for a no-fly zone being proposed by Britain and France.
In Geneva, former French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner lambasted the international community for its delay in imposing a no-fly zone, saying it was too late to save lives. "A no-fly zone is a minimum. It's certainly already too late," Kouchner said of the crackdown on an increasingly vulnerable-looking uprising inspired by pro-democracy revolts in Egypt and Tunisia. "We've known since three weeks that the poor civil society, the poor people, are dying. And we are doing nothing," he told World Radio Switzerland.
Italy, a potential base for a no-fly zone proposed by Britain and France, ruled out military intervention in the oil-exporting north African country. "We cannot have war, the international community should not, does not want and cannot do it," Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in Rome.
Gaddafi's forces used tanks and artillery to try to retake the city of Misrata, the last big rebel stronghold in western Libya, residents said. But rebel fighters in Misrata, on the Mediterranean coast about 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli, said they had stalled a ground attack on the city and seized some tanks from pro-Gaddafi units. Near Ajdabiyah, a crucial city serving as a gateway to Benghazi, the seat of opposition to Gaddafi and a prime target for government forces, Libyan soldiers said they had met resistance from rebels when they fought for control of the town.
Reuters photographer Ahmed Jadallah said he saw a number of tanks deployed along the coastal road as well as tank carriers returning empty from the frontline. A UN Security Council draft resolution on a no-fly zone over Libya to protect civilians was circulated on Tuesday, which would authorize "all necessary measures to enforce" a ban on flights.
Aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres said the violence had forced it to withdraw its staff from Benghazi and begin moving teams to Alexandria in Egypt. The international Red Cross left Benghazi for Tobruk. A meeting of Group of Eight foreign ministers in Paris this week failed to get the agreement France was hoping for to support a no-fly zone being imposed over Libya, an issue that has also divided the UN Security Council.
Comments
Comments are closed.