TRIPOLI, - Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi bombarded the besieged rebel city of Misrata andbattled their way into its centre, and U.S., British and Frenchleaders redefined the aim of their air war to regime change.
U.S. President Barack Obama acknowledged the militarysituation on the ground in Libya had reached stalemate threeweeks into the war, but said he still expects NATO allies toforce Gaddafi from power eventually.
Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and FrenchPresident Nicolas Sarkozy published a joint newspaper article onFriday vowing to continue their military campaign until Gaddafileaves power. They acknowledged their new aim of regime change went beyondprotecting civilians, as allowed by a U.N. Security Councilresolution, but said Libyans would never be safe under Gaddafi. More than a hundred government rockets crashed into Misrataon Friday, a second day of heavy bombardment of the city, thelone major bastion of the rebels in the western part of Libya.Rebels said government forces had reached the city's centre. Human Rights Watch said it had evidence that Gaddafi'sforces were firing cluster munitions into residential areas ofMisrata. It published photographs of what it said wereSpanish-produced cluster bombs, which release grenades designedto explode into fragments and kill the maximum number of people. Mussa Ibrahim, a Libyan government spokesman, dismissed theallegations: "I challenge them to prove it." By pledging not to end the air war until Gaddafi leavespower, the U.S., French and British leaders have raised thestakes. They have ruled out sending ground troops, but itremains to be seen whether air power alone will be enough todislodge a leader who has held power firmly for 41 years. "I didn't expect that in three weeks, suddenly as aconsequence of an air campaign, that Gaddafi would necessarilybe gone," Obama said in an interview with the Associated Press. "You now have a stalemate on the ground militarily, butGaddafi is still getting squeezed in all kinds of other ways. Heis running out of money, he is running out of supplies. Thenoose is tightening and he is becoming more and more isolated. "My expectation is that if we continue to apply thatpressure and continue to protect civilians, which NATO is doingvery capably, then I think over the long term Gaddafi will goand we will be successful." A rebel spokesman in Misrata said pro-Gaddafi forces hadshelled both the centre and the road leading to the port, alifeline for trapped civilians and the main entry point forinternational aid agencies, killing eight people on Friday. "Today was very tough ... Gaddafi's forces entered TripoliStreet and Nakl al Theqeel road," he said by phone, referring toa main Misrata thoroughfare, scene of heavy clashes in recentweeks, and the road to the port. "Witnesses said they saw pro-Gaddafi soldiers on foot in thecity centre today. Except for snipers, they usually stay intheir tanks and armoured vehicles," the spokesman added. A government reconnaissance helicopter had flown over thecity, he said, despite a no-fly zone mandated by the U.N.Security Council and enforced by NATO warplanes. Hundreds are believed to have died in Misrata, under whatObama, Cameron and Sarkozy described in their article as a"medieval siege". "Our duty and our mandate under U.N. Security CouncilResolution 1973 is to protect civilians, and we are doing that.It is not to remove Gaddafi by force. But it is impossible toimagine a future for Libya with Gaddafi in power," they wrote. "So long as Gaddafi is in power, NATO and its coalitionpartners must maintain their operations so that civilians remainprotected and the pressure on the regime builds." PRESSURE The United States led the bombing campaign in its firstweek, but has since taken a back seat, putting NATO in commandwith the British and French responsible for most strikes onGaddafi's forces. Obama made clear Washington was not planningto resume to a more active military role. "What we're doing is still providing jamming capacity,intelligence, refuelling, so we still have a lot of planes upthere. We're just not the ones who are providing strikes on theground for the most part," he said. But if the campaign runs on for long without topplingGaddafi, Obama may come under pressure to commit more weaponry. Britain and France spent this week trying to persuade otherNATO allies to contribute more fire power. NATO ministers metfor a second day on Friday in Berlin, and divisions were clear. British Foreign Secretary William Hague and NATOSecretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen voiced optimism thatallies would supply more combat planes, but Italy immediatelyruled out ordering its aircraft to open fire. Late on Friday, an aid ship brought nearly 1,200 Misrataevacuees to the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, just a fractionof those stranded in the besieged city and desperate to escape,an official of the International Organisation for Migration, whowas on board the Greek ship, said. There were likely to be at least 8,000 to 10,000 migrantswho still needed to be evacuated from the city, Jeremy Haslam,an aid coordinator with the International Organisation forMigration (IOM) who was on board the ship, said. Bombardment made it impossible to get into many areas ofMisrata and pressed the aid ship to leave as swiftly as itcould, he said. That meant making hard choices when deciding whoto bring on board. "We threw out the textbook, basically. We couldn't get tothe most vulnerable, those who need to get out fastest, becauseit was too dangerous," Haslam said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the NATO allieswere searching for ways to provide funds to the rebels,including helping them to sell oil from areas they control. "The opposition needs a lot of assistance, on theorganisational side, on the humanitarian side, and on themilitary side," she said.
