BENGHAZI – The United Nations appealed yesterday for a ceasefire in the Libyan city of Misurata, saying at least 20 children had been killed in attacks by besieging government forces on rebel-held parts of the city.
Libya’s third city, where hundreds are believed to have been killed by shelling and sniper fire from Muammar Gadafy’s forces, is the main focus of efforts to protect civilians caught up in the Libyan leader’s bid to put down an armed rebellion. But at the same time western powers are looking for ways to support the rebels in their efforts to topple Col Gadafy.
Britain said it would send military officers to advise the rebels on organisation and communications, but not to train or arm fighters.
And Italy said the international Libya Contact Group was seeking ways to allow the rebels to sell oil produced in the rebel-held east despite a UN embargo on oil sales.
Nine weeks after the rebellion broke out, inspired by uprisings against autocratic rulers elsewhere in the Arab world, a Nato-led air campaign designed to keep Col Gadafy’s forces out of the air and prevent attacks on civilians has failed to halt the bombardment of Misurata, a city of 300,000 people.
“Fifty days into the fighting in Misurata, the full picture of the toll on children is emerging – far worse than we had feared and certain to get worse unless there is a ceasefire,” said Marixie Mercado of the UN children’s fund Unicef.
“We have at least 20 verified child deaths and many more injuries due to shrapnel from mortars and tanks and bullet wounds,” she told a news briefing in Geneva.
Aid groups say food, medicines and other basic items are in short supply in the city, and tens of thousands of casualties and foreign workers are waiting at the port to be evacuated. Many Nato members refuse to go beyond enforcing a no-fly zone to attack Col Gadafy’s forces, despite the urging of the US, France and Britain.
And some of those who allowed a UN Security Council resolution on Libya to pass say that it is being misused to provide military cover for the rebels – even though fighting now appears to be at a stalemate on a frontline just west of Ajdabiya in eastern Libya.
Nato said multiple air strikes on Monday night had targeted Col Gadafy’s communications infrastructure and the headquarters of his 32nd brigade, 10km (six miles) south of Tripoli. Libyan television said Tripoli and the towns of Sirte and al-Aziziyah had been bombed.
At Ajdabiya’s western gate, rebels peered into the desert through binoculars yesterday morning at what they said were Col Gadafy’s forces 30km away. Some said Nato had advised them not to attack so they would not be hit accidentally by air strikes.
But Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said western air support was allowing the Libyan opposition to refuse to sit down to negotiate. “The UN Security Council never aimed to topple the Libyan regime,” he said in Belgrade. “All those who are currently using the UN resolution for that aim are violating the UN mandate. It is crucial to establish a ceasefire.”
France said President Nicolas Sarkozy would meet the head of Libya’s rebel opposition, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, in Paris today, but its foreign minister, Alain Juppé, said that France, like Britain, remained opposed to sending ground troops.
However, the EU outlined a tentative plan on Monday to do just that, albeit with a non-combat mandate, to protect aid deliveries to Misurata and elsewhere if requested by the UN. Any EU mission could involve military personnel securing the transport of supplies to Libya, in particular Misurata. To ensure it is in a position to respond quickly to any such request from the UN, the European Council is planning to set up an operational headquarters in Rome. Ireland has been asked to deploy two Defence Forces personnel to Rome and the matter is being considered by the Department of Defence.