Thursday, March 17, 2011

TOBRUK, Libya: 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 Wednesday amid flagging diplomatic efforts to end the bloodshed in the country.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States hoped for a U.N. Security Council vote aimed at ending Libya’s conflict “no later than Thursday.”

Saying Moammar Gadhafi 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.

Meanwhile, the New York Times said Wednesday four journalists covering the fighting in Libya are missing. It said the journalists, who included two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Anthony Shadid, were last in contact with their editors Tuesday morning from the town of Ajdabiya.

A U.N. Security Council draft resolution on a no-fly zone over Libya to protect civilians – circulated Tuesday by France, Lebanon and Britain – would authorize “all necessary measures to enforce” a ban on flights.
French U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud told reporters ahead of a closed-door session to discuss the draft that he hoped for a vote on the resolution by the end of the week, if possible by Thursday evening, a timetable he said was realistic.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote a letter to the council, saying it was “high time for the international community, through the Security Council, to pull together … and respond without delay to the urgent appeal of the League of Arab States” for a no-fly zone.
British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told reporters that London was also emphasizing the urgency of the situation to fellow council members.

Lebanese Ambassador Nawaf Salam told reporters that one concern raised by Germany and others – the apparent clash between the Arab League’s call for a no-fly zone and its opposition to foreign military intervention – was not a contradiction. He said Arab nations would help enforce any no-fly zone authorized by the council. “There will be a significant Arab participation,” he said, without giving details. Salam also called for a swift vote.

Italy, a potential base for a no-fly zone proposed by Britain and France, ruled out military intervention. “We cannot have war, the international community should not, does not want and cannot do it,” Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in Rome.

Clinton told CBS various options were being considered to end the conflict.
“Many different actions are being considered, yes, a no-fly zone, but others as well to enable the protection of Libyan citizens against their own leader, who seems determined to turn the clock back and kill as many of them as possible,” she said.

Gadhafi’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 kilometers east of Tripoli, said they had stalled a ground attack on the city and seized some tanks from pro-Gadhafi units.

Near Ajdabiya, a crucial city serving as a gateway to Benghazi, the seat of opposition to Gadhafi 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 Ahmad Jadallah said he saw a number of tanks deployed along the coastal road as well as tank carriers returning empty from the frontline.

One rebel, Mohammad al-Maghrabi, said there were both rebels and government forces in the town “and the fighting has been fierce. We control the eastern gate, and more rebels are coming through from the east, so God willing we’ll push them out soon.”

In Benghazi, seat of the insurgents’ provisional national council, the mood was a mixture of defiance and nervousness, with some citizens predicting a bloodbath and others confident the rebels would still snatch victory.
Libyan state television said two major tribes in Benghazi, the Tarhuna and Warfalla, said they supported Gadhafi. The report could not immediately be confirmed.

A newspaper in Benghazi reported that a Russian-made MiG-36 aircraft, operated by the rebels, had bombed the airport at Al-Kardabiya near Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte Wednesday.

The Brnieq newspaper said the bombing raid was in retaliation for an attack by warplanes on Benghazi’s airport. Libya’s Jana state news agency quoted the director of Sirte airport as saying the report was “false and unfounded.”
Both the rebel administration and the government in Tripoli have in the past few days put out information about military gains which has later turned out to be untrue.

The Libyan army told Benghazi residents to lay down arms, and Gadhafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, told Euronews TV Libya’s second largest city would fall whether or not there was a no-fly zone. “Everything will be over in 48 hours,” he said.

Saif lashed out at Sarkozy for being the first foreign leader to condemn Gadhafi and back the rebel Libyan National Council, calling him a “clown.” – Reuters