By Sherine El Madany

Reuters

BENGHAZI, Libya: European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton pledged support for rebels in east Libya Sunday, making the most senior visit to the area by a foreign official since the revolt against Moammar Gadhafi began.

“We are here for the long term and what we can offer is support to Libyan institutions and the economy. We will be here to support you all the way,” Ashton said in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, where she opened an EU representative office.
“I’m very clear that protecting civilians and the people of Libya is fundamental,” said Ashton. “Too many people have died already. It is important to realize that Gadhafi should leave.”

Ashton’s visit “shows the increased support of the EU in supporting us to have a democratic and free state”, said the head of the Benghazi-based National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil.
“The Libyan people appreciate this visit and appreciate the EU for supporting the revolution,” he said.
Several Libyans surrounded her in the city where the revolt against Gadhafi began in mid-February, flashing “V-for-Victory” signs. One man said, “Every Libyan is very happy.”

NATO airstrikes that began on March 31 have stopped Gadhafi’s tanks in their tracks, preventing them from overrunning rebel-held towns.
But an uneasy stalemate has since settled on the battle space, with a nearly static frontline in the east in the desert between the towns of Ajdabiyah and Brega, and fighting in western Libya around the rebel-controlled city of Misrata.

In Misrata, residents also hailed the West for intervening, their city scarred from weeks of street fighting and bombardment by shells and rockets.
Rebels say they have pushed Gadhafi’s forces 25 kilometers from the center of Misrata after weeks of street fighting and bombardment. Government forces shelled residential areas of Misrata Saturday, according to rebels.

“If God hadn’t brought us NATO, they would have burned us all,” said Amran Zoufrey, 84. “Even in World War II, when I was young, we didn’t have this destruction. Now I wonder when the next rocket will come and kill me,” he said.
In gutted restaurants were heaps of tables, chairs and shattered glass. A clock atop a tower in a central square had stopped at 7:45. The turret of a dismembered tank was leaning upright against the entrance to a watch shop. “It’s a catastrophe but we have hope. We’ve liberated our city,” said Ali al-Houti, a 42-year-old civil servant, as he walked through the street.

The sound of battle rumbled far in the distance. Abdelsalam, a rebel spokesman in Misrata, said there was fighting in the Defniyah area 30 kilometers west of Misrata, and in Kararim, about 35 kilometers to the east. He said Gadhafi’s forces are bombarding Defniyah from the nearby town of Zlitan, with one rebel killed and four others wounded in clashes between troops and rebel forces Saturday.

In the east, Gadhafi’s forces ambushed a rebel group east of the contested oil town of Brega, near Al-Arbaeen, a desert outpost on the coast road from rebel-held Ajdabiyah. “The rebels sent forces to check out the Al-Arbaeen area, then Gadhafi forces surrounded them and started attacking with heavy weaponry,” said Baloun al-Ferjani. “Forces of the national [rebel] army intervened to help.” A rebel fighter and an ambulance driver were killed, he said, and 12 insurgents were wounded.

In the capital, NATO planes hit a site near Gadhafi’s compound late Saturday. Libyan officials said the alliance had attacked close to Gadhafi’s Bab al-Aziziyah complex. A column of smoke rose over Tripoli.