NATO strikes Libyan tanks near key cities

NATO strikes Libyan tanks near key cities

Taking position: A rebel fighter on the turret of a destroyed tank near the eastern part of Ajdabiya.

NATO warplanes have destroyed 11 regime tanks on the road to the eastern Libyan town of Ajdabiya and another 14 tanks near Misrata in the west.

Earlier Libyan leader Moamar Gaddafi's artillery had heavily bombarded Ajdabiya, and his forces had forced their way inside, in their most determined assault on the strategic town for at least a week.

Rebels cowered in alleyways from sustained artillery, rocket and small-arms fire and appeared to be losing control of the town.

"The situation in Ajdabiya, and Misrata in particular, is desperate for those Libyans who are being brutally shelled by the regime," said Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, the NATO operation's commander.

"To help protect these civilians we continue to strike these forces hard, with 11 tanks destroyed today as they approached Ajdabiya, and 14 tanks destroyed earlier this morning in the outskirts of Misrata."

Ajdabiya is the gateway to the rebels' stronghold of Benghazi, Libya's second largest city, and has been the launch point for insurgents during a week-long fight for the oil port of Brega further west.

Rebels said Mr Gaddafi's forces had killed at least four rebel fighters in the second day of fighting for Ajdabiya.

"I saw the four this morning," said a rebel, Mohammed Saad, at a checkpoint on the eastern edge of the town.

"Their throats were slit and they were all shot through the chest and dumped on the road. Their car was also riddled with bullets."

Insurgent Hassan Bosayna said eight Gaddafi fighters and four rebels were killed in fighting on Saturday, with one of the rebels shot in the forehead by a sniper.

Another rebel, Muftah, said: "There are Gaddafi forces inside Ajdabiyah in sand-coloured Land Cruisers and we know there are Gaddafi snipers in civilian clothing in the city as well."

A reporter near Ajdabiya's eastern gate heard shooting and artillery fire and saw plumes of black smoke, suggesting pro-Gaddafi forces had pushed towards the centre.

The mostly untrained rebels have tried to reorganise and re-equip but were unable to hold ground last week in the fight for Brega.

Misrata besieged


The NATO official said another 14 regime tanks were destroyed near Misrata, the rebels' last major bastion in the west, besieged by Moamar Gaddafi's forces for more than a month.

The alliance had already taken out 15 tanks near Misrata on Friday and Saturday, bringing to 29 the total number of tanks destroyed around Libya's third largest city in the past three days.

Libyan rebels have criticised NATO in recent days, accusing the alliance of failing to protect the population in Misrata. But NATO says it is picking up the pace.

Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, head of Operation Unified Protector, said on Saturday that warplanes had destroyed ammunition stockpiles and several armoured vehicles in the previous 24 hours.

NATO aircraft struck ammunition stockpiles east of Tripoli that were being used to resupply regime forces that were shelling innocent civilians in Misrata, the alliance said.

"In addition to hitting their supplies, our aircraft successfully destroyed a significant percentage of the Libyan government's armoured forces," Lieutenant General Bouchard said in a statement from his headquarters in Naples, Italy.

"Some of these armoured forces also were involved in the indiscriminate shelling of Misrata," he added.

Mr Gaddafi's forces appear bent on seizing Misrata and crucially its port, which some analysts say is vital if Mr Gaddafi is to survive, because it supplies the capital Tripoli.

Rebel spokesman Mustafa Abdulrahman said by telephone that Saturday's Misrata fighting centred on a road to the port, where a Red Cross vessel brought in badly needed medical supplies earlier in the day.

A government-organised trip to Misrata revealed deserted streets and many heavily shelled buildings in the city's south.

As fighting raged on for the coastal town, where conditions are said to be desperate, a buoyant Moamar Gaddafi made his first television appearance for five days on Saturday.

Wearing his trademark brown robes and dark glasses, he was shown smiling and pumping his fists in the air at a school where he was welcomed ecstatically. Women ululated, one wept with emotion and pupils chanted anti-western slogans.

2,600 to lose jobs in first round of Navy and Army cuts

2,600 to lose jobs in first round of Navy and Army cuts

Sir Stephen Dalton expects operations over Libya to last months, rather than weeks

Some 1,600 Navy personnel and 1,000 soldiers are to be laid off in the first tranche of redundancies from the Armed Forces, the government says.

Personnel, including 150 Gurkhas, will be told in September, but no one currently involved in Afghanistan or Libya will face compulsory redundancy.

Defence Minister Andrew Robathan said the move - part of £5bn defence review cuts - would help reduce the deficit.

The RAF earlier announced plans to lay off an initial 1,000 staff.

In total, 11,000 serving personnel will lose their jobs over four years.

Mr Robathan said UK military operations in Libya and Afghanistan will not be impacted "adversely" by the redundancies from the armed forces.

He told the Commons that voluntary redundancies were being sought, which could include personnel currently on operations.

The announcement comes as Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton has warned that the RAF would need "genuine increases" in its budget to run the range of operations which ministers demand.

He told the Guardian that without more investment, the RAF would struggle to maintain levels of capabilities.


Libyan mission

Sir Stephen said his assumption was that the RAF's warplanes and surveillance aircraft would be needed over Libya for a number of months, rather than weeks.

"In general terms [we] are now planning on the basis of at least six months, and we'll see where we go from there," he said.

A poll for BBC News on Sunday suggested that two-thirds of people believed Britain's military involvement in Libya would go on for some time.

Of 2,000 people asked, 65% said the UK's involvement in Libya "will last for some time", while just 14% chose the option "will be over pretty quickly", and 20% did not know.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Sunday that the military intervention in Libya would not lead to a stalemate between pro-Gaddafi forces and rebels.

He said Col Muammar Gaddafi's regime had no future because it was isolated and could not sell any oil.

Meanwhile, Scottish police and prosecutors are due to meet Foreign Office officials on Monday to try to gain access to former Libyan foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, who arrived in the UK last week.

They want to talk to Mr Koussa about the 1988 Lockerbie bombing in which 270 people died.
 
'National security'

Sir Stephen issued a warning that the RAF would need an increase in spending from the next Comprehensive Spending Review in 2014.

Without "genuine increases", he said the RAF would find it "very difficult" to maintain its current levels of capability - with operations in Afghanistan, the Falklands and Libya.

"The key factor is that if we are to meet the requirements laid upon us, there is no question that more investment will be needed to achieve that," he said.

"What I am seeking to do is maintain core competencies and bricks on which we can then build the future."

Commenting on Sir Stephen's interview, shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said forces' families would want to know that those "serving on crucial operations in Libya will not be sacked on their return".

"On the day the air chief marshal warns about the pressures being placed on the RAF, and when our forces are being asked to do more overseas, the country will want the Tory-led government to explain the impact of their actions," he said.

"Our forces deserve better. The government should pause, think again and reopen their rushed defence review."

Soldiers and sailors in the groups targeted for job losses will be seen by their commanding officers on Tuesday.

Under the plans, the Ministry of Defence will also lose 25,000 civilian staff.

Unveiling the strategic defence and security review in October, Prime Minister David Cameron said defence spending would fall by 8% over four years.

He said the UK would still meet Nato's target of spending 2% of GDP on defence and would continue to have the fourth largest military in the world and "punch above its weight in the world".

But he said the country had to be "more thoughtful, more strategic and more co-ordinated in the way we advance our interests and protect our national security".

In February, the Army apologised to 38 soldiers who learned they were losing their jobs by e-mail.

The men - all long-serving warrant officers and including one working in Afghanistan - were told they were victims of the defence cuts.

Berlusconi: Migrants to leave Lampedusa in 48 hours

Berlusconi: Migrants to leave Lampedusa in 48 hours

Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has promised that the island of Lampedusa will soon be free of migrants.

Mr Berlusconi had earlier described the immigrants as "poor wretches"

Thousands of people have arrived on the island south of Sicily since January, travelling from Tunisia and Libya.

Officials say sanitary conditions have become "desperate" and islanders have staged protests at the town hall.

On a visit to the island, Mr Berlusconi announced to a crowd that in "48 to 60 hours Lampedusa will be inhabited only by Lampedusans".

About 20,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean since the upheavals in North Africa and the Middle East began in January.

Emergency

Some 6,000 migrants - more than the total population of the island - are now living there in makeshift camps.

There were no new arrivals on Tuesday night, Italian media reported, the first night with no new immigrants for some time.

On Wednesday morning, five ships arrived, sent by the Italian government to Lampedusa to take migrants to camps on the mainland. One of the ships was the naval vessel San Marco and the rest were civilian ferries, reports said. Another boat was expected later.

Mr Berlusconi's plane arrived on the island shortly after 1300 local time.

After meeting the regional governor and mayor of Lampedusa, he addressed a crowd of islanders outside the town hall, promising a series of measures including tax breaks and welfare benefits.

He also said there would be a plan to relaunch Lampedusa's tourist industry, which has been badly hit by the influx from North Africa.

The previous evening, he had described the immigrants arriving on Lampedusa as "poor wretches" fleeing a world without freedom and democracy.

Repatriation

Although most of the immigrants on the island are expected to be transferred to Sicily or camps on mainland Italy, negotiations are said to be under way to repatriate a number of people to Tunisia.

Most of the arrivals since January have sailed from Tunisia, but in recent days boats have come from Libya as well.

he BBC's Duncan Kennedy, in Rome, says that Italy, as the former colonial power in Libya, does not want to provoke the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, into sending thousands more migrants fleeing.

Early on in the crisis, Col Gaddafi threatened to do just that, if the EU backed military action.

Migrants who can prove they are refugees from a conflict are eligible for asylum in the EU under human rights conventions.

The European Commission says EU member states must address the surge in migration produced by the unrest in North Africa.

Some 20,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean since the upheavals began

Libyan rebels target Gadhafi's birthplace

Libyan rebels target Gadhafi's birthplace

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Libyan opposition fighters continued their march west Monday with a key target in their sights: Sirte, Moammar Gadhafi's birthplace.

Taking the city would be a symbolic victory for the rebels, who regained control of several significant towns over the weekend as coalition airstrikes continued in the North African nation.

Rebel forces claimed to have gained control of the town of Ras Lanuf on Sunday. The opposition also appeared to have taken control of the key oil town of al-Brega. Victories in those cities marked a comeback for the ragtag group of amateur soldiers who are unified by one mission: toppling Gadhafi's nearly 42-year rule.

On Monday, opposition troops and Gadhafi's security forces battled over the town of Nawfaliyah. Opposition forces told CNN they had gained control of the city.

CNN could hear explosions and see plumes of smoke in the area of Nawfaliyah and Sirte.

Rebels said the fight to take over Sirte could be their toughest and bloodiest battle yet.

They credited coalition airstrikes with helping them regain ground, noting that they had encountered little resistance as they headed west over the weekend.

CNN spoke with a wounded rebel about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Sirte, bandaged on the left side of his head and face. He said he and a group of fellow opposition fighters had reached about 30 kilometers (nearly 20 miles) from Sirte, near the city's main entrance.

They came across a group of Gadhafi forces who raised a white flag -- a suggestion that they would not shoot. But as the opposition approached the group, the Gadhafi forces fired on them indiscriminately, killing some of the opposition members and wounding others, he said. Vehicles were destroyed as well, he said.

The rebel told CNN's Arwa Damon the opposition needs more airstrikes before it can advance further.

Coalition officials say they are enforcing a U.N. Security Council resolution approved on March 17 that creates a no-fly zone above Libya and mandates the protection of civilians.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov countered that claim Monday, telling reporters in Moscow that the coalition's actions seemed to expand beyond the U.N. resolution's scope.

"There are reports -- which go undenied -- that the air forces of the coalition conduct airstrikes on Gadhafi's troops and support the military actions of rebels. There is an obvious controversy there," he said. "We believe that the interference into what is, essentially, an internal civil war is not sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council resolution."

Russia abstained from voting on the U.N. Security Council resolution but did not veto it.


 Libyan government officials have also argued that coalition forces target only troops loyal to Gadhafi.

"The rebels are making their advance and no one is stopping them. And no one is even talking to them or saying, 'Where are you going?' or 'Why are you taking offensive positions and attacking the Libyan army and Libyan cities?'" Moussa Ibrahim, a Libyan government spokesman, told reporters in Tripoli.

He accused NATO of "starving the Libyan population to get Libya on its knees to beg for mercy."

"They are trying to weaken our spirits. They are not trying to protect civilians," he said.

NATO, which has 28 member countries, formally approved plans Sunday to take control of enforcing the U.N. Security Council resolution.

The coalition enforcing the resolution has been led by the United States, the United Kingdom and France.

NATO officials said the handover of enforcing the no-fly zone from the United States and allies should be complete by Monday.

But it could take until Thursday or Friday for the organization to take over the entire mission. NATO officials described the transition as a phased and seamless operation.

"Our mandate is very clear. We're there to protect civilians against attacks. No more, no less," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told CNN.

Rasmussen said military commanders will make decisions on day-to-day operations within the framework NATO members agreed upon over the weekend. He declined to discuss specific rules of engagement, but stressed that NATO also is enforcing an arms embargo in Libya.

"We are not in Libya to arm people, but to protect people," he said.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a speech about the situation in Libya at 7:30 p.m. ET Monday. That follows calls from all quarters for the U.S. leader to clarify why he sent troops to enforce the U.N.-authorized military mission.

On Monday, Libyan state television displayed images of injured people in a hospital and destroyed buildings as it reported that civilians were wounded when bombs struck the central Libyan city of Sabha in the early morning hours. CNN was unable to independently verify that report.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Sunday accused Gadhafi of placing the bodies of people his regime has killed at the sites of some missile strikes by the U.S.-led coalition.

"The truth of the matter is we have trouble coming up with proof of any civilian casualties that we have been responsible for," Gates said on "Face the Nation" on CBS.

"But we do have a lot of intelligence reporting about Gadhafi taking the bodies of the people he's killed and putting them at the sites where we've attacked."

While the opposition rolled westward on Sunday, fighting continued in Misrata. A doctor working at a hospital in the city said eight civilians were killed and 22 injured in violence Sunday. CNN could not independently confirm his report.

French warplanes on Sunday led airstrikes on armored vehicles and on a large munitions depot in the regions of Misrata and Zintan, according to the French Ministry of Defense.

Libyan rebels regain Ajdabiya

Libyan rebels regain Ajdabiya

Libyan rebels celebrate on a captured tank after taking the city of Ajdabiya, south of Benghazi in eastern Libya, on Saturday.

Libyan rebels regained control of the eastern gateway city of Ajdabiya on Saturday after international airstrikes on Moammar Gadhafi's forces, in the first major turnaround for an uprising that once appeared on the verge of defeat.

Ajdabiya's sudden fall to Gadhafi's troops spurred the swift UN resolution authorizing international action in Libya, and its return to rebel hands on Saturday came after a week of airstrikes and missiles against the Libyan leader's military.

On the road into the city on Saturday, at least eight blackened Gadhafi tanks lay on the ground.

Stores and houses were shuttered after the weeklong siege that left residents without electricity or drinking water, but drivers honked horns in celebration and flew the tricolor rebel flag.

Others in the city fired their guns into the air. Saif Sadawi, a 20-year-old rebel fighter with an RPG in his hands, says the city's eastern gate fell late Friday and the western gate fell at dawn Saturday after airstrikes on both locations.

"All of Ajdabiya is free," he said.

The UN Security Council authorized the operation to protect Libyan civilians after Gadhafi launched attacks against anti-government protesters who demanded that he step down after 42 years in power. The airstrikes have sapped the strength of Gadhafi's forces, but rebel advances have also foundered, and the two sides have been at a stalemate in key cities.

Earlier Friday, British and French warplanes hit near Ajdabiya, destroying an artillery battery and armored vehicles. Ajdabiya and the western city of Misrata have especially suffered because the rebels lack the heavy weapons to lift Gadhafi's siege.

On Saturday, rebels in Ajdabiya hauled away a captured rocket launcher, adding to their limited firepower. On Friday, the U.S. commander in charge of the overall international mission, Army Gen. Carter Ham, told The Associated Press, "We could easily destroy all the regime forces that are in Ajdabiya," but the city itself would be destroyed in the process.

"We'd be killing the very people that we're charged with protecting."

Instead, the focus was on disrupting the communications and supply lines that allow Gadhafi's forces to keep fighting in Ajdabiya and other urban areas like Misrata, Ham said in a telephone interview from his U.S. Africa Command headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.

Libyan Rebels Reclaim Oil Town Ajdabiya After Weeklong Siege

Libyan Rebels Reclaim Oil Town Ajdabiya After Weeklong Siege

Libyan rebels have overcome Muammar al-Qaddafi's forces in strategic oil town of Ajdabiya, seizing control of the city Saturday in a major turnaround for an uprising that appeared to be on the verge of defeat.

Libyan government forces pulled out from the city of Ajdabiya following an air assault by Western coalition forces, a senior government official told Reuters.


"Without the planes we couldn't have done this. Qaddafi's weapons are at a different level than ours," said Ahmed Faraj, 38, a rebel fighter from Ajdabiya. "With the help of the planes we are going to push onward to Tripoli, God willing."

Drivers honked in celebration and flew the tricolor rebel flag. Others in the city fired their guns into the air and danced on burned-out tanks that littered the road. Inside a building that had served as makeshift barracks for pro-Qaddafi forces, hastily discarded uniforms were piled on the floor.

Saif Sadawi, a 20-year-old rebel fighter with an RPG in his hands, says the city's eastern gate fell late Friday and the western gate fell at dawn Saturday after airstrikes on both those locations.

"All of Ajdabiya is free," he said.

Ajdabiya had been under siege for more than a week, with the rebels holding the city center and scattered checkpoints but facing relentless shelling from government troops on the outskirts. Residents are without electricity or drinking water, and many have fled.

Coalition warplanes struck Qaddafi's forces outside the strategic city of Ajdabiya Friday, the gateway to the rebel-held east, hitting an artillery battery and armored vehicles. Tiny Qatar also became the first Arab country to fly combat missions over Libya.

Pentagon officials say they considering more firepower and airborne surveillance systems to find and attack enemy troops in Libya.

The proposed attacks would target forces loyal to Qaddafi, who still remain a threat to civilians in the area.

Among the weapons being eyed for use in Libya is the Air Force's AC-130 gunship, an imposing aircraft armed with cannons that shoot from the side doors with precision. Other possibilities are helicopters and drones that fly lower and slower and can spot more than fast-moving jet fighters.

American officials have said they won't drop bombs in cities to avoid killing or wounding civilians -- a central pillar of the operation. Yet they want to hit the enemy in contested urban areas such as Misrata, Ajdabiya and Zintan.

Qaddafi is trying to keep his weakening hold on power by offering promotions to all his military, while arming "volunteers" to fight against a resurgent rebel force.

"(The) brother leader of the revolution has issued a decision to promote all members of the armed people who are currently drafted in his various military units for their heroic and courageous fight against the crusader, colonialist assault," Libyan TV said in a written statement, according to Reuters.

U.S. Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, director of the Joint Staff, said during a briefing Friday that the international coalition is aware of reports that Qaddafi is arming "volunteers." He also said that the Libyan strongman has diminishing ability to command ground forces.

A Libyan government official says his country is ready to talk with opposition rebels and accept political reforms, possibly including elections.

Former Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi said Friday that the violence in Libya is being carried out by "extremists" and foreign intervention. Al-Obeidi is a member of the Libyan delegation at African Union talks in Ethiopia.

This comes as a Canadian general will be taking over NATO's military operations in Libya, Fox News has learned.

A State Department official tells Fox News that Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard will be the joint task force commander.

The official says Bouchard will "work with his naval and air component commands to be implementing this operation" for both the no-fly zone and the civilian protection missions.

Bouchard recently served as the deputy commander at NORAD.

NATO is expected to take command of Libyan military operations early next week, the Italian foreign minister told Reuters Friday, a day after NATO agreed to just enforce the no-fly zone over the country for now.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in a news conference that "NATO will be operational Sunday or Monday," according to Reuters.

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague also said he expected NATO to take command of operations within days.

This comes as France declared Libya's airspace "under control," after NATO agreed to take command of the no-fly zone in a compromise that appeared to set up dual command centers. Muammar al-Qaddafi drew a rare rebuke from the African Union, which called for a transitional government and elections.

"Having our first Arab nation join and start flying with us emphasizes that the world wants the innocent Libyan people protected from the atrocities perpetrated by pro-regime forces," U.S. Air Forces Africa Commander Maj. Gen. Margaret Woodward said.

The U.S. launched 16 more Tomahawk cruise missiles from naval positions in the Mediterranean Sea, a military official said Friday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record. The targets late Thursday and early Friday were Scud missile garrisons near Tripoli, while U.S. bombers struck Qaddafi artillery, command and control and tank positions elsewhere, the official said. French and British warplanes attacked an artillery battery and other targets near the town of Ajdabiya, which has been under siege by Qaddafi forces for more than a week.

The latest Tomahawk missile launchings come after the Pentagon said that the U.S. would not launch these types of missiles into Libya during the military operation.

The strikes were intended to give a measure of relief to the city, whose residents have fled or cowered under more than a week of shelling and fighting between rebels and government troops. Explosions also sounded in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, before daybreak Friday, apparently from airstrikes.

"Libyan airspace is under control, and we proved it yesterday, because a Libyan plane in the hands of pro-Qaddafi forces, which had just taken off from Misrata in order to bomb Misrata, was destroyed by a French Rafale," Adm. Edouard Guillaud said on France-Info radio.

Representatives for the Qaddafi regime met with the African Union on Friday, in Ethiopia, in what the U.N. described as a part of an effort to reach a cease-fire and political solution. Although the U.N. secretary-general said an opposition representative would attend, Mustafa Gheriani, an opposition spokesman, said Friday he knew nothing about it.

"The position of the national council has been clear from the beginning -- no negotiaions," Gheriani said. "All he has to do is stop bombing and leave the country."

African Union commission chairman Jean Ping said the AU favors an inclusive transitional period that would lead to democratic elections.

Ping stressed the inevitability of political reforms in Libya and called the aspirations of the Libyan people "legitimate."

Such a solution seemed a long way off, and NATO's military staff began drawing up detailed plans Friday to assume full control of the no-fly zone over Libya in coming days. The U.S. military said coalition jets flew about 150 sorties on Thursday, about 70 of them with American planes.

"The operation is still focusing on tanks, combat vehicles, air defense targets -- really whatever equipment and personnel are threatening the no-fly zone or civilians on the ground in such locations as Ajdabiya and along some other areas on the coast," Marine Corps Capt. Clint Gebke told reporters from aboard the USS Mount Whitney.

Libyan state television showed blackened and mangled bodies that it said were victims of airstrikes in Tripoli. Rebels have accused Qaddafi's forces of taking bodies from the morgue and pretending they were civilian casualties.

French jet 'destroys Libya plane'

French jet 'destroys Libya plane'

The French military said a Rafale jet attacked the Libyan plane

French warplanes have destroyed a Libyan plane which had been flying in breach of the UN no-fly zone, French officials say.

The plane, a smaller trainer aircraft, had just landed in the besieged city of Misrata when it was attacked, they say.

It is the first incident of its kind since enforcement of the zone began.

Dozens of coalition missiles have already hit military bases, with the aim of ending Col Muammar Gaddafi's ability to launch air attacks.

UK officials said on Wednesday that Libya's air force no longer existed as a fighting force.
Single engine

Coalition forces have pounded Libyan targets for a fifth consecutive night.

Initial reports of the French action said the Libyan plane, a G-2/Galeb with a single engine, was in the air when it was hit.

But French military spokesman Col Thierry Burkhard later said the plane had just landed when the attack took place.

The French jet, a Rafale, fired an air-to-ground missile, other reports said.

Earlier, the French military said their planes had hit an air base about 250km (155 miles) south of the Libyan coastline, but did not give any further information on the location of the target or the damage.

Western military planes were also said to have hit the town of Sebha in southern Libya, according to residents and media reports.

Fresh fighting has meanwhile been reported in Misrata, scene of a bitter battle for control which has lasted for many days.

Misrata resident Muhammad told the BBC many large explosions were heard overnight in the city.

"Even now, we continue to hear the aeroplanes circling the air above Misrata," he said.

"Gaddafi's forces have occupied the main street - there are snipers all along the rooftops of that street. They are firing indiscriminately into the main street and the back streets.

"But the heavy artillery and shelling has stopped since yesterday [Wednesday]. In that sense, we are in a much better position."

Further east in the strategically important city of Ajdabiya, residents described shelling, gunfire and houses on fire.

Nato members have been holding talks about assuming responsibility for the no-fly zone over Libya, so far without agreement.

Turkey is an integral part of the naval blockade, but has expressed concern about the alliance taking over command of the no-fly zone.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged all sides in Libya to cease hostilities. "All those who violate international humanitarian and human rights law will be held fully accountable," his spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

Fifth night of airstrikes unable to stop Gadhafi

Fifth night of airstrikes unable to stop Gadhafi

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Focusing now on Libyan ground forces, coalition jets pounded targets for a fifth consecutive night but so far have been unable to stop Moammar Gadhafi's armor.

A resident in Misrata told CNN that he heard an explosion and that snipers loyal to Gadhafi were operating from rooftops in the besieged western city.

Earlier, Gadhafi's tanks attacked Misrata's main hospital filled with 400 people, half of whom were patients, a witness said. At one point, the shelling went on for 40 long minutes -- without respite.

"Now, fortunately, no more shelling, but the situation is so serious that all the teams here -- the doctors, the patients -- are paralyzed, scared," the witness said, imploring the international community to intervene in the name of civilians under attack.

The situation, he said, was too dangerous for ambulances to leave the hospital. The hospital had no electricity and was relying on a generator.

Witnesses in Misrata are not being identified by CNN because of security reasons. Journalists have no access to the city and cannot independently confirm reports of violence.

The battle for Misrata, Libya's third largest city, has been ongoing for more than a week.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday that many residents remain trapped in their homes without electricity and communications and a dwindling supply of food and water.

Explosions could also be heard just east of the Lybian capital Thursday.

Coalition planes struck the suburb of Tajura, a Libyan government official said and state television showed footage of what it said were the charred bodies of 18 people -- civilians and military -- killed in the attack.

Western leaders have repeatedly denied reports of civilian casualties.

"It is not likely that civilians were a part of any airstrike today," said Joint Task Force Operation Odyssey Dawn Lt. Cmdr. Jim Hoeft.

In the east, Gadhafi's tanks were shelling Ajdabiya, where fierce fighting had occurred the day before. Loyalist forces still controlled the northern and western gates to the city.

"This underlines the appalling danger its inhabitants would be in without coalition action, as do continued threats by Gadhafi forces to 'massacre' residents in areas under bombardment," Hague said.

An opposition member told CNN that an isolated Gadhafi unit had raised a white flag but when the rebels approached, the unit began firing.

The coalition has been able to establish a no-fly zone that spans from east to west along Libya's coastline. A U.S. official said though the rebels are in a better position, Gadhafi's forces still have the upper hand.

They remain capable of carrying out attacks on the opposition, are relatively well-organized and continue to fight effectively, the official said.

 As the Libyan war entered the sixth day, questions persisted over who will take command of the coalition.

"These coalition operations are currently under U.S. command," Hague said. "But we want them to transition to NATO command and control as quickly as possible."

NATO already has ships in the Mediterranean Sea to enforce an arms embargo.

"We need agreement to unified command and control for it to be robust, and we expect to get that soon," Hague said.

Critics are also calling for a clearer explanation of U.S. policy in the North African nation.

U.S. President Barack Obama, who just wrapped up a five-day trip to Latin America, has insisted that the goal of the U.N.-sanctioned military mission is strictly to prevent a humanitarian crisis.

Specifically, the U.N. mandate calls for protecting Libyan rebels and other civilians from attacks by forces loyal to the strongman.

U.S. officials have indicated they hope Gadhafi will be removed quickly by forces currently loyal to him, though they haven't publicly called for a coup

The international airstrikes against Libyan military positions began over the weekend after Gadhafi defied a United Nations-mandated cease-fire to stop attacks against civilians.

The war was sparked in February by protests demanding an end to Gadhafi's nearly 42-year rule. The Libyan strongman responded with force against civilians, prompting the international community to take action.

France launched the air campaign, and Britain and the United States followed. Britain has announced an international meeting for next Tuesday to assess the situation in Libya.

China says Libya fighting risks regional stability

China says Libya fighting risks regional stability

BEIJING (Reuters) - China again pressed on Thursday for an immediate ceasefire in Libya and a resolution through dialogue, warning that the fighting there could undermine regional stability.

"We believe that the objective of enforcing the U.N. Security Council resolution is to protect humanitarian (objectives) and not to create an even bigger humanitarian disaster," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news briefing in Beijing.

"Libya's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity should be respected. We also urge all sides to immediately cease fire and avoid the conflict escalating, which would worsen the situation regional-wide," she added.

Western warplanes began striking Libya over the weekend, but have so far have failed to stop Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's tanks shelling rebel-held towns or dislodge his armour from a strategic junction in the east.

Britain will host an international conference next Tuesday to discuss progress on the U.N.-mandated military intervention.

Asked about the proposed meeting in London next week, Jiang said: "It's my understanding that the Security Council will continue informal consultations about the situation in Libya."

"As for what actions the Security Council should take next, that should be decided by consultation among the Security Council member states. China is willing to work with other sides to promote a resolution of Libya's current crisis through dialogue and other diplomatic means."

China abstained from the U.N. Security Council vote that authorised the intervention, but has since decried the U.S.-led air strikes on Gaddafi as risky and unwarranted overreaching by the West.

Libya rebels struggle to regroup; US jet crashes

Libya rebels struggle to regroup; US jet crashes

A rebel fighter in the northeastern Libyan town of Ajdabiyah

regrouping in the desert dunes outside a strategic eastern city on Tuesday, and his snipers and tanks roamed the streets of the last major opposition-held city in the west, signaling a prolonged battle ahead. An American fighter jet crashed, both crew ejecting safely.

The U.S. Africa Command said both crewmembers were safe in American hands after what was believed to be a mechanical failure of the Air Force F-15 on Monday night. One was picked up by a rebel force and the other by a Marine Corps Osprey search and rescue aircraft.

Disorganization among the rebels could hamper their attempts to exploit the air campaign by U.S. and European militaries, who themselves have struggled to articulate an endgame. Since the uprising began on Feb. 15, the opposition has been made up of disparate groups even as it took control of the entire east of the country.

Regular citizens — residents of the "liberated" areas — formed an enthusiastic but undisciplined force that in the past weeks has charged ahead to fight Gadhafi forces, only to be beaten back by superior firepower. Regular army units that joined the rebellion have proven stronger and more organized, but only a few units have joined the battles while many have stayed behind as officers struggle to get together often antiquated, limited equipment and form a coordinated force.

The ragtag band of hundreds of fighters who made their way to the outskirts of Ajdabiya on Tuesday milled about, clutching mortars, grenades and assault rifles. Some wore khaki fatigues. One man sported a bright white studded belt.

Some men clambered up power lines in the rolling sand dunes of the desert, squinting and hoping to see Gadhafi's forces inside the besieged city of 140,000 that is the gateway to the east.

"Gadhafi is killing civilians inside Ajdabiya," said Khaled Hamid, a rebel who said he been in Gadhafi's forces but defected to the rebels' side. "Today we will enter Ajdabiya, God willing."

Misrata, the last western city held by rebels, was being bombarded by Gadhafi's forces on Tuesday, his tanks and snipers controlling the streets, according to a doctor there who said civilians were surviving oon dwindling supplies of food and water, desperately in search of shelter.

AP/Anja Niedringhaus

Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals if the city falls to Gadhafi's troops, he accused international forces of failing to protect civilians as promised under the United Nations resolution authorizing military action in Libya.

"Snipers are everywhere in Misrata, shooting any one who walks by while the world is still watching," he said. "The situation is going from bad to worse. We can do nothing but wait. Sometimes we depend on one meal per day."

Mokhtar Ali, a Libyan dissident in exile elsewhere in the Mideast, said he was in touch with his father in Misrata and described increasingly dire conditions.

"Residents live on canned food and rainwater tanks," Ali said. He said Gadhafi's brigades storm residential areas knowing that they won't be bombed there. "People live in total darkness in terms of communications and electricity."

The air campaign by U.S. and European militaries that began Saturday has unquestionably rearranged the map in Libya and rescued rebels from what had appeared to be imminent defeat.

Monday night, Libyan state TV said a new round of strikes had begun in the capital, Tripoli, marking the third night of bombardment. But while the airstrikes can stop Gadhafi's troops from attacking rebel cities — in line with the U.N. mandate to protect civilians — the United States, at least, appeared deeply reluctant to go beyond that toward actively helping the rebel cause to oust the Libyan leader.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and others said the U.S. military's role will lessen in coming days as other countries take on more missions and the need declines for large-scale offensive action like the barrage of Tomahawk cruise missiles fired Saturday and Sunday mainly by U.S. ships and submarines off Libya's coast.

A senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss classified data, said Monday that the attacks thus far had reduced Libya's air defense capabilities by more than 50 percent. That has enabled the coalition to focus more on extending the no-fly zone, which is now mainly over the coastal waters off Libya and around the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in the east, across the country to the Tripoli area this week.

In his first public comments on the crisis, Army Gen. Carter Ham, the lead U.S. commander, said it was possible that Gadhafi might manage to retain power.

"I don't think anyone would say that is ideal," the general said Monday, foreseeing a possible outcome that stands in contrast to President Barack Obama's declaration that Gadhafi must go.

The Libyan leader has ruled the North African nation for more than four decades and was a target of American air attacks in 1986.

French jets resume Libya sorties

French jets resume Libya sorties

French jets have begun a second day of operations over Libya to enforce a no-fly zone against Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

Countries including Spain, Italy, Denmark and Norway are joining the operation

The 15 planes patrolled Libyan airspace but did not open fire because they met no resistance, a spokesman said.

France also says Qatar is to about to deploy four planes to the operation.

The move would make Qatar the first Arab country to play an active part in the campaign against Col Gaddafi, who has been battling a month-long revolt.

Spain, Italy, Denmark and Norway have also committed more military assets, after more than 120 missiles were fired overnight against Libyan targets.

The head of the Arab League appears to have criticised the severity of the bombardment.

His comments are significant because the Arab League's support for the no-fly zone was a key factor in getting UN Security Council backing for the resolution authorising the move.

"What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians," said Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.



 Moving into position

US military chief Adm Mike Mullen said the initial raids had been "successful".

US fighter planes and B-2 stealth bombers were involved, Pentagon officials said.

Cruise missiles hit at least 20 air-defence sites in the capital, Tripoli, and the western city of Misrata, they said.

After an attack by French planes near the rebel-held city of Benghazi, some 14 bodies were lying near destroyed military vehicles outside the city, Reuters reported.

Denmark and Norway are each sending six planes, though Norway has said it will take at least five days before its aircraft can join operations. Spain has sent at least three planes, plus a refuelling aircraft, while Italy also has jets ready to deploy.

Col Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam called the attack a "big mistake".

"Believe me, one day you will wake up and you will find out that you were supporting the wrong people and you had made a big mistake in supporting those people," he told Christiane Amanpour for ABC This Week. "It's like the WMD [weapons of mass destruction] in Iraq. It's another story."

Libyan TV has broadcast footage it says showed some of the 150 people wounded in the attacks. It said 48 people had been killed.

There was no independent confirmation of the deaths and UK Finance Minister George Osborne told the BBC that such claims should be treated with caution as the military was striving to avoid civilian casualties.

Adm Mullen also said he had not received any reports of civilian deaths or injuries.

A rebel spokesman in Misrata told the BBC that pro-Gaddafi forces had launched fresh attacks on Sunday with heavy shelling in the city.


Inch by inch

"We promise you a long, drawn-out war with no limits," Col Gaddafi said in a phone call to Libyan state TV on Sunday morning.

He said Western forces had no right to attack Libya, which had done nothing to them.


"We will fight inch by inch," he said while a sculpture of a golden fist crushing a US jet was being shown.

He earlier said he would open arms depots to the people to defend Libya and described the attacks as "crusader aggression".

Western forces began their actions on Saturday after pro-Gaddafi troops attacked the main rebel-held city of Benghazi.

The BBC's Kevin Connolly, in the rebel-held eastern city of Tobruk, says that once the air-defence systems are taken out, combat aircraft can patrol Libyan airspace more widely. It will then become clear to what extent they will attack Col Gaddafi's ground forces.

This will determine the outcome of the campaign, he adds.

Russia and China, which abstained from the UN Security Council resolution approving the use of force in Libya, have urged all parties to stop fighting, as has the African Union.

Col Gaddafi has ruled Libya for more than 40 years. An uprising against him began last month after the long-time leaders of neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt were toppled.

Libya's Gadhafi vows 'long war'

Libya's Gadhafi vows 'long war'

Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi predicts a "long war" against Libyan rebels and the coalition of countries helping them after overnight missile attacks by U.S. and European forces. 

Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi on Sunday predicted a "long war" against Libyan rebels and the coalition of countries helping them after overnight missile attacks by U.S. and European forces.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chair of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the assault by coalition forces — dubbed Odyssey Dawn — "went very well," and a no-fly-zone over Libya was now in place.

Gadhafi appeared as defiant as ever after a night of explosions, which rocked Tripoli and other coastal areas and left the road to the rebel city of Benghazi strewn with charred government military vehicles.

Libyan state television said 48 people were killed and 150 others injured, but the numbers have not been confirmed.

At least 110 missiles were fired during the attacks launched late Saturday to enforce the no-fly zone mandated by the UN Security Council and weaken Gadhafi's air defences.

Rebels had been losing ground to Gadhafi's forces in recent days and begged the international community to intervene. Government tanks were on the outskirts of Benghazi on Saturday, but Mullen said the allied attacks stopped the approach.

Gadhafi told state TV that arms depots around the country were being opened up to citizens so they could defend themselves against what he called terrorism and a "crusading aggression."

The CBC's Nahlah Ayed, reporting from neighbouring Egypt, said Gadhafi tried to portray the conflict as a religious one, accusing Western, "Christian" powers of waging war on Islam. Ayed said this interpretation was bound to fail, however, since Gadhafi has never been a strong defender of Islam.

Rebels said the international strikes also hit an air force complex outside Misrata. After daylight arrived Sunday, Gadhafi forces started bombing Misrata, the only rebel-held city in western Libya, opposition forces said.

During the international operation, Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from American and British ships and submarines at more than 20 coastal targets, the U.S. military said. French fighter jets fired the first shots.

Canada's planes not flying yet

Warplanes from the United States, Canada, Denmark arrived at Italian air bases Saturday. Germany backed the operation but isn't offering its own forces.

Six Canadian jet fighters are part of the allied force but did not take part in the first wave. The fighter jets are at Trapani, Italy, but there has been talk of moving them from Sicily to a French base near Marseille, the CBC's James Cudmore reported Sunday.

Prime Minister Harper's office said Saturday that it would be at least 48 hours before Canada could take part in any bombing.

Harper defended Canada's involvement in the coalition force, saying the Gadhafi regime will massacre anyone suspected of being disloyal.

Gadhafi's regime acted quickly in the run-up to the strikes, sending warplanes, tanks and troops into Benghazi, the first city to fall to the rebellion that began Feb. 15. Then the government attacks appeared to go silent.

A Benghazi resident who works for the Red Cross, told CBC News that a quiet had fallen over the city after the allied intervention, like the "calm before the storm," but people were feeling optimistic.

Rebels had been upset at how long it was taking to get the military action under way, said the woman, who did not want her name used after just losing her neighbours to Gadhaffi gunmen.