Libyan rebel leaders disappointed by NATO's efforts

Almaty. April 6. Kazakhstan Today - A rebel military leader has condemned NATO for being slow in its mission to protect civilians in Libya, Kazakhstan Today reports.

The alliance said ruler Moammar Gadhafi's forces position heavy weapons in populated areas, preventing some airstrikes, The Associated Press reported.

Abdel-Fattah Younis, chief of staff for the rebel military and Gadhafi's former interior minister, said he was asking the opposition's leadership council to take their grievances to the U.N. Security Council, which authorized force in Libya to stop government troops from wiping out the anti-Gadhafi uprising that began Feb. 15.

NATO forces "don't do anything" even though the United Nations gave them the right to act, Younis said. He said bureaucracy means that NATO strikes sometimes come eight hours after rebels' have communicated targets.

CNN reports rebel leaders have criticized NATO's efforts in recent days, saying civilians and rebel forces in Misrata and elsewhere have suffered under hellish attacks from pro-Gadhafi forces, with little evidence of NATO air power overhead.

"I am extremely sorry to say this, but NATO truly disappointed us," said Gen. Abdul Fatah Younis, the opposition's top military official. "If NATO wanted to free Misrata, they could have done that a few days ago."

Five people were killed and 24 wounded in Monday clashes between pro-Gadhafi forces and rebels in Misrata, two sources told CNN.

Residents have said Gadhafi troops had choked off the city from electricity and access to food.

"There are snipers shooting at anything that moves," the resident said. "They are controlling the main road leading to outside the city."

"The region where the Gadhafi forces are is not inhabited by civilians. Anyway, civilians are being killed every day, including children, women and elderly," he said. "If NATO will wait another week, Misrata will be finished. No one will be left alive. Do they want to wait, and watch them die, and let this crime be a shameful disgrace for the international community forever?"

Van Uhm, chief of allied operations at NATO, defended the organization's efforts, saying warplanes under NATO command flew 58 strike missions Monday, firing weapons and striking pro-Gadhafi targets on 14 of them.

He did not immediately have figures for previous days, but NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said the warplanes had conducted 334 strike sorties since taking command of the mission on March 23.

Since the effort to enforce the U.N. resolution began in mid-March, airstrikes have taken out about 30% of Gadhafi's military capacity, van Uhm said.

Monday's airstrikes hit an active rocket launcher in al-Brega, an air defense installation and military vehicles near Misrata as well as ammunition storage facilities, van Uhm said.

But Gadhafi's forces appeared to have the upper hand Tuesday in renewed fighting in al-Brega, where rebel forces were staging a panicked retreat under intense artillery bombardment, according to CNN reporters in the area.

Photo: Daily Mail

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