Tripoli: NATO launched fresh air raids on Tripoli on Saturday as Muammar Gaddafi`s government said it was ready to withdraw from Misrata and let tribes deal with rebels in the besieged city.
The strikes hit a patch of bare ground opposite Gaddafi`s Bab al-Aziziya residence in central Tripoli and what looked like a bunker. Authorities who took foreign correspondents there said they were "a parking lot" and "sewers”.
They were launched after Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said the Libyan Army had been given an "ultimatum" to stop the rebellion in the western city, 200 kilometres (120 miles) east of the capital Tripoli.
"There was an ultimatum to the Libyan Army: if they cannot solve the problem in Misrata, then the people from (the neighbouring towns of) Zliten, Tarhuna, Bani Walid and Tawargha will move in and they will talk to the rebels," Kaim told journalists in the capital.
"If they don`t surrender, then they will engage them in a fight."
Misrata has for weeks been the scene of deadly urban guerrilla fighting between rebels and forces loyal to longtime Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi.
Kaim accused Washington of "new crimes against humanity" after US President Barack Obama authorised deployment of missile-carrying drone warplanes over Libya for what his administration called "humanitarian" reasons.
He also hit out at a senior US senator`s visit to Benghazi, the opposition bastion in the east, saying the Transitional National Council (TNC) did not represent Libyans and had "no authority on the ground”.
John McCain, a Republican senator who lost the presidential race to Obama in 2008, earlier held talks with TNC leaders, urging the international community to arm and recognise the rebel body as the "legitimate voice" of Libyans.
Rebels bogged down in their bid to oust Gaddafi hailed the US decision to deploy armed drones over Libya.
"We hope that this can bring some relief to the people in Misrata," rebels spokesman Mustafa Gheriani said of the rebel-held western city that Gaddafi`s forces have pounded for more than six weeks, killing hundreds.
In Tripoli on Saturday, anti-aircraft fire rang out as ambulance sirens wailed. Al-Libya television said the capital was "now the target of raids by the barbaric crusader colonialist aggressor”, a term used for Western forces.
The official JANA news agency reported two people died in NATO air raids late Friday on the Zintan region southwest of Tripoli where stepped up fighting has taken place with rebels who hold several towns.
As NATO warplanes overflew Gaddafi`s stronghold throughout the day, an official from the alliance said the unmanned drones and their precision would give the coalition forces more options, especially in urban warfare.
"The use of drones will make it easier to target Gaddafi forces in crowded urban areas. A vehicle like the Predator, that can get down lower and can get IDs, will better help us carrying out the mission with precision and care," the NATO official said.
The US military`s top officer, meanwhile, said allied air strikes had destroyed 30 to 40 percent of Gaddafi`s forces and noted the conflict was progressing into a stalemate.
"I am sure that NATO forces will continue to attrite the military capability of the regime forces," Admiral Michael Mullen said in Baghdad.
Rebels have complained civilians are being killed in places like Misrata, where entire streets have been pulverised by gunfire, shelling and cluster bombs.
Simon Brooks of the International Committee of the Red Cross issued a stark warning the humanitarian situation could "rapidly deteriorate further and the lack of basic services such as water, electricity, food and medical care could turn critical."
The UN refugee agency said some 15,000 people had fled fighting in western Libya into Tunisia in the past two weeks and a much larger exodus was feared.
McCain, who has lobbied for greater US involvement in the UN-mandated NATO air campaign aimed at preventing Gaddafi`s forces from attacking civilians, met the rebel leaders in Benghazi on Friday.
He was greeted at their city centre headquarters by a small crowd who chanted, "Libya free, Gaddafi go away -- thank you America, thank you Obama."
McCain later urged the world to recognise the TNC as the "legitimate voice of the Libyan people”.
"They have earned this right," he told a news conference. "I met with all the key leaders of the Council and applaud their remarkable progress in their struggle for liberation."
McCain said he supported intensified air strikes by high precision planes against Gaddafi`s fighters, but opposed deploying ground troops, saying rebels would be better served by intelligence and military coordination.
Asked about McCain`s appeal, White House spokesman Jay Carney said "it`s for the people of Libya to decide who the head of their country is, not for the United States to do that."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy signalled his agreement "in principle" to follow in McCain`s footsteps and visit Benghazi.
France, Italy and Britain have said they would send military personnel to eastern Libya, but only to advise the rebels on technical, logistical and organisational matters and not to engage in combat.
Massive Libyan protests in February -- inspired by the revolts that toppled longtime autocrats in Egypt and Tunisia -- escalated into war when Gaddafi`s troops fired on demonstrators and protesters seized several eastern towns.
The battle lines have been more or less static in recent weeks, however, as NATO air strikes have helped block Gaddafi`s eastward advance but failed to give the poorly organised and lightly armed rebels a decisive victory.
Gambia, meanwhile, said it was joining France, Italy and Qatar in recognising the TNC as the only legitimate body representing Libyan interests, and expelling Tripoli`s diplomats.
Bureau Report
