TRIPOLI – NATO air strikes forced Libyan government troops to
withdraw from one of their positions in the besieged city of Misrata overnight
but they resumed bombardment of the port area using Grad missiles, a rebel
spokesman said.
Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi also fired the Russian-made Grad, a
multiple-volley system which rights groups say is highly inaccurate, into the
center of the rebel-held town of Zintan.
"There was intense bombardment this morning. Around 15 Grad rockets landed in
the town center, two of them landed where I'm standing now," the spokesman,
called Abdulrahman, said by telephone from Zintan, in the Western Mountains
region.
"Five houses were destroyed. Nobody was killed, luckily, but some children
were slightly wounded," he said.
A U.N. human rights group arrived in Libya to investigate accusations
pro-Gaddafi forces have violated human rights and attacked civilians. Libya says
security forces were forced to act against armed gangs and al Qaeda sympathizers
trying to seize control of the oil exporting country.
An aid ship used a lull in shelling overnight to dock at the port of Misrata,
a besieged western enclave offering a sealink to the eastern rebel heartland. It
was not immediately clear whether it had had enough time to take on migrant
workers and wounded rebels for evacuation before firing resumed.
Misrata has become the focus of Gaddafi's drive to break a rebellion against
his four-decade rule. But neither the army nor rebels backed by British and
French-led NATO air strikes have achieved a decisive victory in weeks of
fighting that have destroyed large areas of the town.
"Gaddafi's forces retreated from the port area where they were positioned
yesterday after air strikes by the NATO forces," a rebel spokesman called Reda
told Reuters in Algiers by telephone from Misrata. "The strikes completely
destroyed 37 military vehicles."
"Gaddafi's forces this morning started bombarding an area about 10 km (6
miles) north of the city. It is known as the Steel area. The bombardment is
still going on. They are using Grad missiles ... Warplanes are flying over
Misrata's outskirts but I don't hear any sound of strikes," he said by
telephone.
Human Rights Watch says the Grad, which takes its name from the Russian word
for "hail," is one of world's most inaccurate systems and should never be used
in civilian areas.
RIGHTS GROUP IN LIBYA
U.N. investigators arrived in Tripoli and met Libyan officials.
"We have a number of questions dealing with indiscriminate bombing of
civilian areas, civilian casualties, torture and the use of mercenaries and
other questions," said Cherif Bassiouni, an Egyptian legal expert and member of
the U.N. commission.
Hours before the shelling resumed at Misrata, the International Organization
for Migration (IOM) said a vessel had docked in Misrata with the aim of
evacuating Libyans wounded in the fighting, as well as migrant workers, to the
eastern rebel heartland of Benghazi.
"The Red Star One has just docked and is unloading aid supplies, including
ambulances," a spokesman said during a lull in the shelling.
A rebel spokesman in Misrata, Libya's third-biggest city, said eight local
people had been killed in fighting on Tuesday, up from the previous figure of
three killed.
Military deadlock in Libya has exposed growing international rifts, with
critics of NATO bombing calling it another case of the West trying to overthrow
a regime by stretching the terms of a U.N. resolution. The rebels themselves
have sometimes accused NATO of not doing enough to drive back Gaddafi's
forces.
British Defense Secretary Liam Fox said British support given to Libyan
rebels including body amour and military advisers was not the first step toward
arming them.
"We have been very clear that this is mentoring, not training," Fox told the
parliamentary Defense committee. "We believe this is vital to their stated role
and their ability to help protect the civilian population better. So it is not a
first step, nor is it intended to be," he said. Reuters
