Libyan rebels desperately short of funds

Even as rebel commanders predict victory is near, the rebel leadership is short of cash to fight the rebellion and run civilian affairs.
The lucrative oil industry has been shut down by the fighting.

In early April, Mazin Ramadan left his American wife and two children in Seattle and flew to this Libyan rebel stronghold to help the opposition sort out its shaky finances.

Three months later, things are looking as bleak as ever. "We're broke," said Ramadan, a Libyan American who founded a software tech company in Seattle and advises the rebel Transitional National Council on finances and oil. Even as rebel commanders predict that victory over Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi is near, the rebel leadership is desperately short of cash to fight the rebellion and run civilian affairs.

The lucrative Libyan oil industry, which normally earns billions of dollars in hard currency, has been shut down by the fighting. Salaries for the rebel government's workers haven't been paid in two months. There is precious little cash to buy the imported fuel needed for the war effort and for the economy in eastern Libya, which the rebels control.

The council is beseeching Arab and Western nations to offer cash or credit. "We're getting decimated on the financial front lines," Ramadan said this week. As he spoke, the lights flickered and died in the conference room at a villa dating to the Italian colonial era that serves as a council office in downtown Benghazi. Fuel shortages have forced daily six-hour brownouts.

The council has been buying fuel in Europe on credit. But last week, a European financial company that had provided $500 million in loans told the council that it could no longer shoulder the risk and shut down the credit line. About $100 million donated by Qatar has nearly been spent, Ramadan said, and $200 million promised by Turkey has yet to arrive.

Several tankers loaded with fuel from Europe have left the Benghazi port without unloading after the council couldn't pay cash, he said. The vast petrochemical complexes at Port Brega and Ras Lanuf, seized from the rebels by government forces this spring, have been shut down. Also closed is the natural gas pipeline that normally fuels electricity production in Benghazi and other eastern cities. That means that rebel leaders in the country that is the world's 17th-largest producer of oil must import all their fuel.

Several nations have promised to provide cash, Ramadan said, but only Qatar has delivered. "We hear a lot of promises, but it's a lot easier to promise than to deliver," he said. "We don't count on it unless it's sitting in our account." Ramadan said he is pursuing new credit lines. His two cellphones rang constantly as he spoke. The council has sought loan guarantees backed by billions of dollars in frozen Libyan government assets overseas. But weeks of negotiations have failed to pry loose guarantees,

Ramadan said. In a July 7 letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, four U.S. senators led by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) asked Clinton to help unlock the assets for Libyan humanitarian aid. The letter reminded Clinton of her recent promise to help put the rebel council "on firmer financial footing." Rebel finances "are in a perilous state," the letter said. The United States has authorized $25 million in nonlethal military assistance to the rebels and $53 million in humanitarian aid.

But Ramadan said loan guarantees backed by frozen Libyan assets would have a much bigger effect on the effort to topple Kadafi, a declared U.S. policy goal. The main crisis in the east is financial, not humanitarian. Thanks to unusually heavy winter rains, eastern Libya is flush with grains, fruits and vegetables.

NATO Warplanes Strike Near Besieged Libyan City

The ammunition of a rebel fighter is seen as he arrives at Green Square in the Kish, Benghazi July 6, 2011, from all the freed areas of Libya to demonstrate against Muammar Gaddafi and his regime.

A NATO airstrike has targeted a military position near Libya's western city of Misrata, where pro-government forces have been battling rebels.

NATO said Saturday that its warplanes hit a missile firing position near Tawurgha, a town south of rebel-held Misrata.

A statement released by the alliance says forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi were using the position to launch "indiscriminate attacks" on civilians in areas including Misrata.

Misrata has been under siege for months. On Friday, activists and medical workers said at least five rebels had been killed and dozens wounded as pro-government forces shelled targets near the city.

Meanwhile, rebels have been trying to advance toward the Libyan capital, Tripoli, after gaining control of two small towns south of the capital earlier this week.

NATO feels the pressure from Libya campaign

Libyans pray in the main square in Benghazi, the rebels' de facto capital. Pressure is building for a negotiated settlement to end the fighting soon.

With victory still elusive after 15 weeks of bombing, Western allies arrayed against Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi are racing to crack his regime before their own coalition fractures.

Even as Libyan rebel fighters begin to show improvement and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization increases airstrikes in the western part of the country, signs of friction have appeared within NATO. Members have expressed concern about declining munitions inventories and warned that the costs and stresses of the campaign cannot be sustained.

The eight nations shouldering the military burden have been pushing in vain for the other 20 NATO members to take on a larger role. Behind the scenes, meanwhile, major players disagree among themselves on the best strategy. The urgent desire for a breakthrough has caused some members to take riskier steps in the hopes of defeating Kadafi quickly, including airdrops of weapons to rebels, which the French military recently announced it had carried out.

Several signs of discontent have become public. In the Netherlands, Defense Minister Hans Hillen complained last week of "mission creep" and suggested that the campaign's advocates were deluded in believing they could crush Kadafi.

"People who thought that merely by throwing some bombs it would not only help the people, but also convince Kadafi that he could step down or alter his policy were a little bit naive," Hillen told reporters in Brussels.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini scolded the coalition over the accidental killing of civilians and called for a cease-fire — a step that U.S., British and French officials say would allow Kadafi to regroup.

In Washington, the Obama administration faces pressure from Republicans as well as antiwar Democrats. A GOP-sponsored measure to curb U.S. participation failed in a vote on the House floor, partly because some Republicans felt it wasn't restrictive enough.

Norway, whose small air force has carried out a disproportionate 10% of the strikes with six fighter planes, last month became the first country to set an end date to its role. The government has been facing calls for withdrawal from its leftist coalition partners. Norway's Defense Ministry said it planned to reduce its contribution to four fighters and to withdraw entirely by Aug. 1.

Senior European and American officials insist there has always been such dissent over NATO campaigns and that the players who count remain firmly committed. The alliance formally agreed last month to extend the mission, originally planned for 90 days, for another three months.

Officials and outside observers also acknowledge that pressure is growing for the coalition to deliver a knockout blow. If not, the Western powers, under acute economic stress and struggling with other military obligations, might have to negotiate an exit on terms that could leave Kadafi some leverage.
"All the countries are watching an economic and political time clock," said Jorge Benitez, a veteran NATO watcher at the Atlantic Council of the United States. "The question is: Whose coalition will break first, Kadafi's or NATO?"

NATO also faces pressure from outside the alliance. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov said Monday that his nation and NATO "so far don't see eye to eye" on how the alliance is implementing the U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing the campaign in Libya, the Russia 24 TV channel reported.

Lavrov particularly criticized the reported French air drops of weapons, saying they violate a U.N. arms embargo on Libya. "This also applies to sending instructors to pass on military knowledge and skills; all of this is covered by the weapons embargo," Lavrov said at a news conference in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, where he met with NATO officials.

Kadafi may be seeking to heighten the rifts within NATO, issuing a statement Friday threatening to "move the battle to Europe."

The greatest source of internal pressure on NATO is from leftist and anti-interventionist parties, whose complaints are increasing even as polls suggest that the European public isn't particularly upset by the military engagement.

In Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government has been a strong backer of the campaign, but it is under pressure from a coalition partner, the Northern League, which fears the fighting will lead to a further influx of African immigrants.

France and Britain, which have led the way on the campaign, are bearing the brunt of the military burden and costs, and they are eager to bring the conflict to an end. Their officials have been looking for ways to intensify the campaign and bring it to a close, parting company with the Obama administration, which has been urging patience.

The U.S. has reduced its role to logistical and intelligence support after carrying out intense airstrikes in the campaign's opening days and has declined British and French invitations to resume a combat role.

NATO also has had to scramble to provide enough precision bombs to Denmark and Norway, which had been running low during the course of the campaign's 5,000 strike sorties.

Western officials worry that the reluctance of many NATO members to take part, and the complaints of the antiwar parties at home, may be read by Kadafi and his supporters as reason to continue the fight.

Although President Obama last week dismissed Republican pressure as no more than election season politics, a senior administration official said their efforts came at a cost.
"It sent exactly the wrong signal to the other side," the official said.

U.S. and European officials say they believe Kadafi's camp may be on its last legs, but few insiders predict a quick end. Luis Ocampo Moreno, the International Criminal Court prosecutor who announced an arrest warrant for Kadafi, predicted last month that collapse was close — in "two or three months."

With such uncertainty, pressure will continue to build for a negotiated solution, analysts say.
Retired British Army Brig. Ben Barry, senior fellow for land forces at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, said he sees increasing support, including from the Italians, for a cease-fire that would allow Kadafi's forces to remain in place — a solution the United States and other key NATO members have so far rejected.

Barry, who served as a peacekeeper in Bosnia-Herzegovina, fears such a deal would allow Kadafi to "behave like an intransigent Bosnian warlord," maneuvering to retain power in a western Libya rump state, "controlling energy resources — and then reverting to previous bad behavior."

NATO chief stresses keeping military pressure on Gaddafi

More than three month after Western countries launched military operations in Libya, NATO Secretary General Rasmussen said here Thursday that the main objective of the campaign remains unchanged: force Gaddafi to leave power.

Rasmussen made the remarks at a press conference after talks with Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger. "The message to Gaddafi's regime is very clear. Your time is up, it's time to leave. I do believe that continued, strong military pressure on Gaddafi's regime is the best way to facilitate the political solution to the conflicts in Libya," Rasmussen said.

Admitting that military measures alone could not end the conflicts, Rasmussen stressed that military pressure will reinforce political pressure on Gaddafi, and the combination of both pressures will lead to the collapse of the regime.

He said NATO has all the resources as long as it needs to successfully achieve the goal.

Responding to questions about France's airdropping weapons to Libya's opposition forces, Rasmussen insisted that NATO operations is still within the mandate of the UN resolution to protect civilians.

Opposition forces do the fighting, and NATO will not deploy ground troops in Libya, he said.

Earlier on Thursday, Libya's opposition leader Mahmoud Jebril also appeared at a press conference hosted by Austrian Foreign Ministry, calling for urgent financial and military aids from the outside world for anti-Gaddafi camp.

New Nato raid in Libya kills 15 civilians

Nato admitted conducting an air strike in Sorman on Monday but insisted the target was of a military nature after Libya said 15 people, including three children, were killed in a Nato air strike on Monday.
The military alliance said in a statement that Nato warplanes carried out a precision air strike against a "high-level" command and control node in the Sorman area on Monday.

The fresh civilian deaths came just hours after Nato acknowledged that one of its missiles had gone astray early on Sunday and struck a residential neighbourhood of Tripoli.

A Nato official said the alliance was aware of regime allegations that 15 people, including three children, were killed in the air raid but had no way of verifying them. Another official said earlier that the alliance had not conducted any air strikes in Sorman.

Earlier, the government spokesman accused Nato of a "cowardly terrorist act which cannot be justified" as journalists were shown damaged buildings on the sprawling estate of a veteran comrade of Muammar Gaddafi west of the capital and nine corpses, as well as body parts including one of a child.

Journalists were taken on an escorted tour of the estate of Khuwildi Hemidi, who served on the Revolution Command Council which Kadhafi set up when he seized power in 1969.

Later the journalists were driven to the Sabratha hospital where a news correspondent saw nine corpses, including the bodies of two children. There were also body parts of other victims, including a child's head.

A second Libyan official charged that eight missiles had struck the estate at 4 am. He said most of the dead were members of Hemidi's family, including two of his grandchildren, and that the rest came from two other families living on the estate. Hemidi himself escaped unharmed, the official added.
Meanwhile, Nato admitted that a missile strike had killed nine cilvilians on Sunday. "Nato acknowledges civilian casualties in Tripoli strike," a statement said.

Gaddafi vows to resist NATO strikes

NATO acknowledged on Sunday that an air strike in Tripoli had killed several civilians.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has accused NATO of murder and said his regime has its "back to the wall" , three days after a NATO air strike on a house in Tripoli killed civilians.

"We will resist and the battle will continue to the beyond, until you're wiped out. But we will not be finished," Gaddafi said in an audio tape broadcast on state televisionon on Wednesday night

"You said, 'we hit our targets with precision', you murderers ... One day we will respond to you likewise and your homes will be legitimate targets."

Gaddafi called the NATO campaign a "crusade" against a Muslim country. He referred to the June 19 strike specifically, likely to prove he is still alive and monitoring events.

"We will stay, we will resist and we will not give in. Strike with your missiles, two, three, 10 or 100 years," he said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said there's no doubt that Gaddafi's men have "their backs against the wall."

Clinton said Libya's opposition is making very clear progress on the ground in Libya.

Civilian deaths have raised serious misgivings about the UN-authorised NATO intervention in Libya among the most ardent supporters of the ongoing air campaign.
Italy's foreign minister and the outgoing head of the Arab League have each called for a halt to hostilities in the war-torn North African country.

Franco Frattini told members of parliament on Wednesday that the suspension of military operations in Libya was "essential" for immediate humanitarian aid, while Amr Moussa, the Arab League chief, called for a political solution to the crisis.

France expressed a different view, saying the military operations against Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, should be "intensified".

"Any pause in operations would risk allowing him to play for time and to reorganise. In the end, it would be the civilian population that would suffer from the smallest sign of weakness on our behalf," Bernard Valero, a French foreign ministry spokesman, said.
'Strikes to continue'

On Wednesday night, NATO warplanes were believed to be bombing a government ammunition depot near the city of Zintan, according to Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from a vantage point dozens of kilometres from the front line.

Explosions could be heard every 30 to 40 seconds, he said.

"Everyone talks about stalemate in Libya, but actually quietly there's been some very steady progress here in the Nafousa Mountains in the western part of Libya," he said. "Here, the opposition has very slowly pressed forward, they've taken villages, they've taken towns ... it appears that NATO realises that."

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO chief, said on Wednesday that the alliance will continue its operations in Libya.

"NATO will continue this mission because if we stop, countless more civilians could lose their lives," Rasmussen said in a video statement on the NATO website.

Rasmussen also addressed charges that NATO caused civilian deaths in recent air raids.

"Since the start of this mission we have conducted over 5,000 strikes sorties, and as our record shows we have taken utmost care to minimise the risk of civilian casualties and we continue to do that every day and every hour," he said.

"I deeply regret any loss of life in this conflict."

NATO on Sunday acknowledged responsibility for an air strike in Tripoli that killed several civilians.

The 28-nation alliance also acknowledged striking a military target a day later in the Sorman area west of the capital. The Libyan government said the attack had killed 19 people.

Moussa's 'missgivings'
In an interview to Britain's Guardian newspaper published on Tuesday, Moussa said the time was ripe for a political solution to the Libyan crisis.
Moussa, who played a central role in securing Arab support for NATO air strikes, also voiced reservations about his support for the NATO bombing campaign after seeing civilian casualties.

"When I see children being killed, I must have misgivings. That's why I warned about the risk of civilian casualties," Moussa told the Guardian.

Moussa said the military campaign would not produce a breakthrough. "You can't have a decisive ending. Now is the time to do whatever we can to reach a political solution," he said.

"That has to start with a genuine ceasefire under international supervision. Until the ceasefire, Gaddafi would remain in office ... Then there would be a move to a transitional period … to reach an understanding about the future of Libya."

Asked whether that meant a halt to the NATO air raids, he said: "A ceasefire is a ceasefire."

Italy breaks ranks

Moussa's sentiment was shared by the Italian foreign minister, who called for urgent humanitarian aid to trapped residents in cities like Tripoli and Misurata. 

He said the people in those areas face a "dramatic" humanitarian situation and added that a suspension of hostilities would also avoid "consolidating a division of Libya" between east and west.
He said he hoped the European Council in Brussels on Thursday would highlight an end to the fighting in Libya as "a practical solution".

Frattini had warned earlier this week that NATO's accidental killing of civilians in an air strike was endangering the alliance's credibility in the eyes of the world.

"With regard to NATO, it is fair to ask for increasingly detailed information on results as well as precise guidelines on the dramatic errors involving civilians," he said.

"This is clearly not part of NATO's mission."

Libya is a former Italian colony and Silvio Berlusconi's government had enjoyed close ties with the government of Gaddafi.

Italy was initially cautious in its reaction to the crackdown by the Libyan leader but has since played a key role in the NATO-led military operation by offering the use of its air bases to conduct air raids.

NATO launched its air campaign in Libya to protect civilians from a brutal crackdown launched by Gaddafi's regime in response to an uprising against his four-decades long rule.

NATO airstrikes hit residential area in Tripoli

The Libyan government said that civilians were killed in a NATO airstrike that struck a residential neighborhood in Tripoli on Sunday, adding to charges that the alliance is hitting nonmilitary targets.

Journalists based in the Libyan capital were taken by government officials to a neighborhood where it says the strike occurred in the early hours of Sunday. They were shown a destroyed building as rescue efforts were underway.

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said the damage was caused by NATO rockets and bombs. He wasn't immediately able to provide the number of casualties, but said there were no military facilities anywhere near the damaged building.

"This is targeting civilian areas of Tripoli," he said. "We know that NATO is accelerating its operations against us."

Journalists taken to a hospital after seeing the damaged building were shown at least four people said to be killed in the strike, including two young children.

It was not possible to independently verify the government's account of what happened.
Officials increasingly have sought to highlight what they say are attacks on civilian targets by NATO warplanes by taking journalists to visit alleged bombing sites. Foreign journalists in Tripoli are not allowed to travel and report freely and are almost always shadowed by government minders.

On Friday, Prime Minister al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi accused NATO of a "new level of aggression" in recent days, and claimed that the military alliance intentionally targeted civilian buildings, including a hotel and a university. He has called on the United Nations to take action to stop NATO's daily bombing runs.

The most recent figures from Libya's health ministry show 856 civilians have been killed in NATO airstrikes since they began in March. The figure could not be independently verified, and previous government-announced tolls from individual strikes have proven to be exaggerated.

NATO, which has a mandate to protect Libyan civilians, has been ramping up the pressure on Gaddafi's regime as a four-month uprising devolved into a civil war. It rejects allegations it targets civilians.

"We are conducting operations with utmost care and precision to avoid civilian casualties. Civilian casualties figures mentioned by the Libyan regime are pure propaganda," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Saturday.

Gaddafi defies Nato with Misrata attack

Rockets hit Misrata as infantry backed by artillery attack eastern approach to city, wrong-footing rebels.

Libyan mechanics weld weaponry onto a pickup truck at an industrial college turned workshop in the besieged city of Misrata.

Muammar Gaddafi's forces have defied Nato warnings , reportedly killing a woman and wounding two children in rocket strikes on Misrata and launching a big attack to the east of the city.

The rocket attack in Habara , between the port and city centre, was the first time artillery has inflicted casualties in Misrata since rebel troops pushed government forces out of the city on 12 May.

Infantry forces backed by artillery launched a surprise attack on Kararimat, the eastern end of the enclave. The Hikma hospital reported 11 dead and 41 wounded from the attack. Radio Misrata said the rebel frontline had held off the assaults, which continued into the late afternoon.

The rebels, who were expecting Gaddafi's forces to attack from the west, were wrong-footed by the assault.

"Gaddafi brought his troops around and attacked from the other side," said Adel Ibrahim of Radio Misrata. "Now they are hitting civilian areas. One woman is killed, her children are hurt."

The attacks represent an act of defiance from the Gaddafi regime, three days after Nato dropped thousands of leaflets over government lines featuring pictures of an Apache helicopter and warning of attacks if civilian areas were shelled.

Nato has been wrestling with the problem of how to respond to continued rocket strikes on the enclave, with British commanders reportedly saying that the Apaches are too vulnerable to risk attacking by day. No Apache strikes have been reported since Friday's attacks, but Nato bombers flew over Misrata earlier in the day, followed by 23 explosions to the west of the city.

Ibrahim echoed a common complaint heard across the city as the death toll mounts. "Where is Nato?' he said. "It seems they are on holiday."

NATO strategy in Libya is working - talks with Gaddafi wont

Nato's strategy in Libya is working– talks with Gaddafi won't Negotiation offers Gaddafi a lifeline at a point when he is isolated, and would hamper the opposition's progress 7 Share 3 Comments (19) Ranj Alaaldin guardian.co.uk, Thursday 2 June 2011 13.16 BST Article history Libyan rebel fighters, 25km west from Misrata, Libya.

Photograph: Missam Saleh/ EPA On Monday, the South African president, Jacob Zuma, once againwent to Tripoli in an attempt to broker a peace deal between Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and the opposition forces.

As expected, he failed. But mediation or ceasefire initiatives such as South Africa's, and others encouraged elsewhere, have something wrong with them: they offer Gaddafi a lifeline at a point when he is facing an increase in defections and significant opposition progress on the battlefield, and when he is becoming increasingly isolated internationally– as shown last week when Russia shifted its position by calling on him to stand down.

It is clear that the west, in the form of the Nato-led coalition, has a strategy in Libya and it is working. It should be left alone. Three key components have comprised this strategy, the explicit objective of which has been to end Gaddafi's reign of terror and the heart of which has been to ensure the Libyan uprising remains a Libyan-dominated enterprise, and not a western one.

First, western military strategy has, at the outset, been to hit Gaddafi, give the opposition a chance to progress and then hit the regime harder where progress was insufficient. As part of this effort, rather than utilise its military capacity to full effect, Nato has limited its engagement to a gradual process of intensification, an approach that ensures progress– and, indeed, western involvement – depends on the efforts of Libyans on the ground.

For example, since the start of its operations in Libya three months ago, the west has resisted repeated opposition demands for attack helicopters. I was witness to these desperate calls in Benghazi when, in a meeting, one senior opposition official called on the British envoy to Benghazi, Christopher Prentice, to deploy attack helicopters that could accurately and effectively attack regime targets.

Three months later, and after massive civilian casualties in besieged Misrata and other towns and cities in western Libya, the west has only just decided to deploy these helicopters, but at a point when a more organised and effective opposition army has made good progress and is now capable of making further progress on the battlefield.

Alongside training and advising opposition forces, the third key and under-appreciated part of this strategy of gradual military intensification has been the encouragement of political and military defections and, therefore, the crumbling of the regime from within. It is working. The latest high-profile defection to further demoralise the regime was that of Shukri Ghanem, the regime's oil minister and former prime minister.

He was followed by thedefection of eight Libyan army officers, including five generals, who were part of a wider group of 120 military personnel that defected in recent days. Nato must as a result continue its job and work in tandem with and at the behest of the Libyan revolutionaries. In fact, it will do well to consider formulating its current strategy into a benchmark for future military engagements– a strategy based not just on working in partnership with indigenous populations in the fight against dictatorship but also, first, their own capacity to fight and, second, efforts to train and possibly arm them when necessary.

Conversely, calls for a peaceful settlement with Gaddafi and his inner circle, made simplistically without any serious effort to define its terms, make no helpful contribution. The most a ceasefire proposal can call for is a transitional, face-saving process that brings Gaddafi and/or one of his sons, along with the opposition, into a power-sharing arrangement that, at best and at some point, leads to elections.

 As well as the array of problems likely to follow– including Gaddafi using the opportunity to reorganise himself and consolidate his position, as well as the bloodbath that will ensue in prison cells and far-flung compounds that the west will never know about– any such proposal would require mediation and monitoring by outsiders in the form of the UN and potentially the African Union.

It would also require a sizeable ground force to ensure both sides commit to the ceasefire and that there is an effective keeping of the peace. That, however, would diverge from the lessons learned from post-conflict management in Iraq: any peace proposal that operates around conditions laid down by outsiders, and not Libyans, will be tantamount to an international trusteeship that will open up a Pandora's box of problems.

For example, proponents of a negotiated ceasefire do not explain how regime loyalists should be dealt with as part of their grand plans or, more problematic still, what "monitors" would do if loyalists or anti- regime opposition forces are hunted down and killed systematically in a manner similar to post-2003 Iraq. It is these realities that have to be considered when making calls for a ceasefire, which is right in principle but reckless in practice.

Nato should stick to its strategy, one that will eventually encourage other hardline regime elements to force Gaddafi and his sons out or, alternatively, force Gaddafi to accept that he is fighting a losing battle and flee the country– but only once the opposition comes knocking on the doors of Tripoli.

It is toward this objective that Nato and the international community should aim, since it is only once the opposition is on the brink of embarking upon and liberating Tripoli that the Gaddafis and their inner circle will accept their fate could be determined by their enemies. Either way, it is Libyans who must choose how this conflict will end.

NATO bombs Tripoli, U.S. says time against Gaddafi

NATO warplanes hammered Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's compound with their heaviest air strikes yet on Tuesday after the United States said Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi would "inevitably" be forced from power.

The shockwave from the strikes was so powerful that plaster fell from the ceilings in a hotel where foreign reporters were staying, about 2 km (1.2 miles) from Gaddafi's compound.

A NATO official said the strikes hit a military facility that had been used to attack civilians. A Libyan government spokesman said three people had been killed and 150 wounded, and that the casualties were local residents.

"It is definitely, in terms of one target, the largest and most concentrated attack we have done to date," said the NATO official in Brussels."

"This complex is where members of the Gaddafi regime, not only military, but hit squads, were based out of in the early days of the violent suppression of the popular uprising, and it has been active ever since," the official said.

Libyan government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said the strikes had targeted a compound of the Popular Guards, a tribally based military detachment.

But he said the compound had been emptied of people and "useful material" in anticipation of an attack. "This is another night of bombing and killing by NATO," Ibrahim told reporters.

Led by France, Britain and the United States, NATO warplanes have been bombing Libya since the United Nations authorized "all necessary measures" to protect civilians from Gaddafi's forces in the country's civil war.

Critics argue that NATO has overstepped its mandate and is trying directly to engineer Gaddafi's fall. Rebels, however, have complained Western forces are not doing enough to break Gaddafi's army.

"We have degraded his war machine and prevented a humanitarian catastrophe," President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron wrote in Britain's Times newspaper. "And we will continue to enforce the U.N. resolutions with our allies until they are completely complied with."

U.N. Security Council 1973, passed on March 17, established a no-fly zone and called for a ceasefire, an end to attacks on civilians, respect for human rights and efforts to meet Libyans' aspirations. Gaddafi denies his forces target civilians and describes the rebels as criminals and religious extremists.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a London news conference on Monday: "We do believe that time is working against Gaddafi, that he cannot re-establish control over the country."

She said the opposition had organized a legitimate and credible interim council that was committed to democracy.

"Their military forces are improving and when Gaddafi inevitably leaves, a new Libya stands ready to move forward," she said. "We have a lot of confidence in what our joint efforts are producing."

The United States bolstered the credentials of the rebel National Transitional Council as a potential government-in-waiting on Tuesday when a senior U.S. envoy invited it to set up a representative office in Washington.

"A formal invitation for the council to establish a representative in Washington D.C. is a milestone in our relationship and I am pleased that they accepted our offer," said Assistant Secretary for the Near East Jeffrey Feltman, who was meeting rebel leaders in rebel-held Benghazi.

Unlike France, Italy and Qatar, the United States has not established formal diplomatic ties with the rebels.

CONFLICT DEADLOCKED

Rebels trying to end Gaddafi's 41-year rule control the east of the oil-producing country, but the conflict has been deadlocked for weeks.

French officials said on Monday that France and Britain would deploy attack helicopters, a step aimed at targeting Gaddafi's forces more precisely. However, Britain's Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey said on Tuesday Britain had taken no decision on whether to use them.

"What we want is to better tailor our ability to strike on the ground with ways that allow more accurate hits," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said.

But the use of helicopters carries risks for NATO, as they would fly lower than warplanes and be more exposed to ground fire. The downing of helicopters could draw ground forces into rescue efforts.

Reporters, whose movements are tightly controlled by the Libyan authorities, were taken to visit Tripoli's central hospital after the heavy night raids.

They were shown the corpses of three men with head injuries, their bodies laid out on gurneys.

A man who identified himself only as Hatim, who had deep gashes and abrasions on his arms and legs, said the blasts had caved in part of his residence near the military compound.

"We were in the house and then, wham, the ceiling came down, right on me," he said.

A Reuters reporter in the city of Misrata, 200 km (130 miles) east of the Libyan capital, said the western district of Defniyah had come under light shelling from pro-Gaddafi forces.

Rebel fighters in the city, the biggest rebel stronghold in western Libya, have pushed back government forces to the outskirts after weeks of street-by-street fighting.

NATO sinks eight Libyan warships

NATO aircraft sank eight warships belonging to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces in overnight attacks, the alliance said on Friday. 

The ships were sunk in coordinated attacks on the ports of Tripoli, Al Khums and Sirte, an alliance statement said. "Given the escalating use of naval assets, NATO had no choice but to take decisive action to protect the civilian population of Libya and NATO forces at sea," Rear-Admiral Russell Harding, deputy commander of the NATO mission in Libya, said in the statement.

Libya buries Imam killed by NATO

Tears, chants and volleys of gunfire fired into the air punctuated the funeral for nine imams Libya said NATO killed in an air strike, but the alliance said the building it struck was a command-and- control center. 

NATO is bombing Libya as part of a U.N. mandate to protect civilians. Some NATO members say they will continue until Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who taunted the alliance as cowards whose bombs could not kill him, is forced out. 

The nine imams were among 11 people killed in a strike on a guest house in the eastern city of Brega on Friday, the government said. The other two were buried elsewhere. "May God defeat their (NATO) forces on land, sea and air," shouted a crowd of about 500 at the funeral held at a cemetery near Tripoli's port. 

Mourners hoisted the plain wooden coffins above their heads to carry them into the cemetery and they were open to show what looked like bodies wrapped in green shrouds and garlanded with flowers, a Reuters witness said. "It (NATO's campaign) is one insult after another to the living and the dead," said onlooker Abdulrahman. 

In a statement, NATO defended its action: "We are aware of allegations of civilian casualties in connection to this strike and although we cannot independently confirm the validity of the claim, we regret any loss of life by innocent civilians when they occur." Libyan state television broadcast audio remarks by Gaddafi on Friday apparently aimed at quashing speculation about his health sparked by Italy's foreign minister who said he had likely been wounded in a NATO strike and left Tripoli. 

"I tell the cowardly crusader (NATO) that I live in a place they cannot reach and where you cannot kill me," said the man on the audio tape, whose voice sounded like Gaddafi's. "Even if you kill the body you will not be able to kill the soul that lives in the hearts of millions," he said. NATO struck his Bab al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli on Thursday but government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said he was unharmed, in good spirits and in Tripoli. 

INFILTRATION ATTEMPT:

Rebels have mounted a three-month-old uprising against Gaddafi's rule and control Benghazi and the oil-producing east of Libya. Thousands of people have been killed in the fighting. Rebels have failed to achieve their main military target of toppling Gaddafi and taking Tripoli and the war has reached a virtual stalemate, with recent fighting centered on the port city of Misrata in the west and in the Western Mountains region. 

Rebels seized Misrata airport this week in a significant breakthrough. They now also control al Dafiniya, the western entrance to Misrata, and Tammina, about 25 km (16 miles) east, said a witness called Ghassan by telephone on Saturday, quoting rebels. A doctor at Misrata hospital, Khalid Abufalgha, said by telephone: "The city is coming back to life. 

People are going out. Not everything is available but to some extent people are finding what they need in terms of food essentials." One rebel was killed on Saturday in fighting and 20 others lightly wounded, he said. There was no independent confirmation. Another Misrata source said rebels were fighting through the day on the outskirts of the town of Zlitan, some 60 Km (35 miles) to the west. 

Libya's border with Tunisia near Dehiba is another focus of fighting since it provides a conduit for rebel supplies to the Western Mountains. On Saturday, Tunisia turned back a column of around 200 pro-Gaddafi soldiers in 50 vehicles at the Gare Ayoub crossing, said the Tunisian news agency, TAP, adding there was no violence. The Libyans were apparently trying to attack a rebel-held frontier post near the Tunisian town of Dehiba. 

DIPLOMATIC FRONT

Rebel leaders met senior officials at the White House on Friday in a boost to their bid for international legitimacy. At a news conference in Benghazi on Saturday, rebels said they were pleased with the international support they had received and rejected partition as a solution for the country. "There is no stalemate. We are making progress on all fronts .... 

 We don't see progress as only military progress because this revolution was a peaceful humanitarian revolution that was simply calling for simple human rights," said Aref Nayed, support coordinator for the council. In a fresh sign of diplomatic activity, Greece will send officials to Benghazi to work as a contact group with rebels, Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas said on Saturday after talks in Athens with the U.N. envoy for Libya Abdelilah al-Khatib. A small team will travel to Libya next week with a humanitarian aid ship, a foreign ministry official said.