NATO Intensifies Anti-Qaddafi Strikes amidst Criticism by Libyan Rebels

Libyan rebels drive their vehicle to the font line near Ajdabiya, in Benghazi, eastern Libya, 06 April 2011. EPA/BGNES

NATO has rejected Libyan rebels' criticism of the pace of its strikes against the forces of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

NATO is slow "in responding to our instructions" on targets and is failing to "give us what we need," Abdel Fattah Younes, head of the rebel army and Qaddafi's former interior minister, said at a press conference in Benghazi broadcast on Al Jazeera television, as cited by Bloomberg.

The rebels retreated under heavy fire from the oil port of Brega, about 240 km south of Benghazi just as Gaddafi's forces beat them back in the western Libyan city of Misrata.

The head of Libya's rebel fighters has contended a delay in carrying out air strikes around Misrata quickly enough has caused civilian deaths.

NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said Wednesday that the frequency and precision of NATO air strikes in Libya has not changed since NATO took control Operation Odyssey Dawn from the USA last week.

She added that protecting civilians in rebel-held Misrata is NATO's "number-one priority."

According to her statement, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization jets plan to fly 198 missions over Libya Wednesday, an increase over 155 flown on Tuesday. The "operational tempo has increased" under NATO, she said.

Rebel leader Abdel Fattah Younes said he may urge rebel leaders to take their grievances to the United Nations Security Council, which authorized the use of force in Libya to stop government troops from harming civilians.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Wednesday the situation in Misrata "cannot continue," and promised talks with the head of NATO.  

The French official said pro-Gadhafi forces are hampering NATO's airstrikes by positioning themselves in heavily populated civilian areas, where the alliance finds it difficult to target them precisely.

Brigadier General Mark van Uhm, chief of allied operations, said that in Misrata, the alliance has "absolute confirmation" that tanks are being dispersed and humans used as shields "in order to prevent NATO sorties to identify and target those assets," as cited by VOA.

Rebel officials disputed Van Uhm's claim that civilians are present in all areas where pro-Gadhafi forces are positioned.

Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to end the conflict continue. Libyan envoy Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi ended a shuttle mission to Greece, Malta and Turkey after setting out Libya's official position. The government said Tuesday that Obeidi has been appointed to replace Moussa Koussa as foreign minister after the close Gadhafi ally defected to Britain.

Both rebel and Western leaders say they will not accept any deal that allows Gaddafi or his sons to stay in power.

Britain said it has committed four additional Typhoon combat jets to the NATO mission after its fighters yesterday hit six armored vehicles and six battle tanks. Filling the gap "meets NATO's current requirements," the UK Ministry of Defense said in an e-mailed statement from London.

NATO's Lungescu said today in a BBC television interview that a third of Qaddafi's military assets "have been destroyed" and that loyalists are now hiding their armor in cities from NATO jets. "They are using human shields in effect," she said.

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