Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi bombarded the rebel-held city of Misrata with mortars on Thursday, and a new cease-fire offer from Qadhafi's government was met with scepticism. The bombardment of Misrata was the heaviest for days and came as Western leaders, gathering for a Group of Eight summit in the French seaside resort of Deauville, were expected to reiterate their determination to force Qadhafi out.
A Reuters reporter in Misrata, scene of some of the fiercest fighting in Libya's three-month-old conflict, said the mortar attack killed one rebel and wounded five. Earlier, the sound of exploding mortar shells could be heard every few minutes in the western outskirts of Misrata and there was a steady stream of ambulances. At Misrata's hospital, rebel fighters mourned their dead colleague.
Suleim Al-Faqih, one of the rebels, said the clashes started when rebels attacked pro-Qadhafi forces who were using an excavator to dig a trench to block a road. "We fired on them and advanced. They fell back and started firing mortars," he said. Spain said it was one of several foreign states contacted by Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi with an offer of an immediate cease-fire.
"Everyone is anxious for there to be an agreement," said a spokesman for the Spanish prime minister's office. "But certain steps have to be taken first and so far they haven't been taken." White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes, speaking in Deauville at the G8 summit, said the United States did not see the new Libyan cease-fire offer as credible because it was not accompanied by action. Libya was not complying with UN demands and its forces were still atacking population centres, so the United States would continue with the military campaign, he told reporters.
At a news conference in Tripoli, Al-Mahmoudi said the offer was based on an existing African Union "roadmap" to resolve the conflict, which does not include any mention of Qadhafi's own future - a crucial sticking point. "We are ready for a cease-fire. The solution canot be a military one. There must be debate among Libyans far away from bombs," he said. But he added: "Muammar Qadhafi is the leader of the Libyan people, if Muammar Qadhafi goes all the Libyan people go."
The rebels said they wanted any government initiative to include the Libyan leader's departure as a first step. Qadhafi's security forces cracked down ferociously when thousands of Libyans rebelled against his rule. Nato missiles and warplanes have been bombing targets in Libya for two months under a UN mandate to protect civilians from attack.