BENGHAZI, Libya, (Reu-ters) – The head of Libya’s rebel army has condemned NATO for its slow chain of command in ordering air strikes to protect civilians, saying the alliance was “letting the people of Misrata die every day”.
The besieged city of Misrata, the only big population centre in western Libya where a revolt against Gaddafi has not been crushed and which faces army tanks and snipers, is now the priority for NATO air strikes, alliance officials said earlier.
“NATO blesses us every now and then with a bombardment here and there, and is letting the people of Misrata die every day,” Abdel Fattah Younes, head of the rebel forces said in the eastern stronghold city of Benghazi. “NATO has disappointed us.”
In reaction, NATO said it was carrying out its mandate.
NATO took over from a coalition led by the United States, Britain and France on March 31, putting the alliance in charge of air strikes targeting Gaddafi’s military infrastructure as well as policing a no-fly zone and an arms embargo.
NATO had been moving very slowly, allowing Gaddafi forces to advance, Younes said, adding rebels were considering referring the issues with NATO to the U.N. Security Council which authorised its mission. “NATO has become our problem,” he said.
A rebel spokesman said Misrata was hit again on Tuesday.
“Misrata was shelled with tank fire, artillery and mortars,” the rebel, called Abdelsalam, told Reuters, adding: “Unfortunately NATO operations have not been effective in Misrata. Civilians are dying every day.”
Stalemate on the frontline of fighting in eastern Libya, defections from Gaddafi’s circle and the plight of civilians caught in fighting or facing food and fuel shortages has prompted a flurry of diplomacy to find a solution to the civil war in this oil-producing North African desert state.
Protests against the government that began on Feb. 15 swiftly descended into civil war after Gaddafi forces opened fire on demonstrators. He then crushed uprisings in Libya’s west, leaving the east and Misrata in rebel hands.
SECURITY COUNCIL
NATO-led air power is holding the balance in Libya, preventing Gaddafi forces from overrunning the rebels but unable for now to hand them outright victory.
“Either NATO does its work properly or I will ask the (rebel) national council to raise the matter with the Security Council,” Younes, a former interior minister in Gaddafi’s administration who defected, told reporters.
“The reaction of NATO is very slow. One official calls another and then from the official to the head of NATO and from the head of NATO to the field commander. This takes eight hours,” Younes said, adding:
“Misrata is being subjected to a full extermination.”
Asked about Younes’s remarks, NATO spokesman Oana Lungescu said: “The facts speak for themselves. The pace of operations since NATO took over has not abated. We have conducted 851 sorties in the past six days … we are fulfilling our mandate.”
Another NATO official said: “The rebels may not see us. We may be 100 or 150 km away. We are some distance from where the fighting is going on so the rebels are not aware.” Earlier in the day, NATO had given details of the campaign.
“The assessment is that we have taken out 30 percent of the military capacity of Gaddafi,” Brigadier General Mark van Uhm, a senior NATO staff officer, said in Brussels.
Over the last day, air strikes around Misrata hit Gaddafi’s tanks, air defence systems and other armoured vehicles. Near Brega in the east, where intense fighting raged for a sixth day on Tuesday, NATO aircraft struck a rocket launcher.
HUMAN SHIELDS
Answering earlier criticism by insurgents that air power was less effective with the alliance in control, NATO officials said the presence in Libyan skies was undiminished.
Van Uhm said Gaddafi was using civilians as human shields and hiding his armour in populated areas, curbing NATO’s ability to hit targets. “The operational tempo remains, but we have seen a change of tactics (from Gaddafi),” he said. “When human beings are used as shields we don’t engage.” Addressing NATO, Younes said: “They say they don’t want to bomb in order not to kill civilians. The area where Gaddafi troops are does not include civilians.”
Abdelsalam in Misrata agreed. “NATO says Gaddafi’s forces are hiding among civilians. But we tell them that there are no civilians left in the areas where the Gaddafi forces are positioned. We urge them to destroy civilian property to take out the snipers and armed gangs.”