Concern for civilians in Gaddafi offensive

GOVERNMENT forces struck at rebels in Libya’s east and were reported attacking a town near Tripoli as concern grew over civilian suffering and a growing refugee exodus.

The United Nations said more than one million people fleeing Libya and inside the country needed humanitarian aid, and conditions in rebel-held Misrata were particularly worrying following attacks on it by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

Offering a potential olive branch to rebels seeking to end Gaddafi’s long rule, one of his associates appealed to opposition chiefs for dialogue, in a sign the aging autocrat may be ready to compromise with the unprecedented revolt.

The offer, rapidly dismissed by rebels, coincided with warnings by Gaddafi that if he fell thousands of refugees from Libya would “invade Europe.”

Swiss-based exile group Libyan Human Rights Solidarity said forces loyal to Gaddafi had launched a new attempt to capture Zawiyah, a rebel-held town 50km west of the capital.

It was impossible to verify the report because residents in the town who had been speaking to journalists by telephone were no longer reachable.

In the rebel-held city of Misrata, the wounded were being treated on hospital floors because of a catastrophic shortage of medical facilities in the besieged city, a resident said.

Misrata is the biggest city in the west not under the control of Gaddafi, and its stand against a militia commanded by his own son has turned it into a symbol of defiance. Units of the 32nd brigade, which is led by Khamis Gaddafi, on Sunday launched the fiercest attack on Misrata so far, with a doctor there saying at least 18 people had been killed. Rebels said they repelled the attack.

In the east, a warplane launched an air strike on the outskirts of the rebel-held oil terminal town of Ras Lanuf 600km east Tripoli, witnesses said.

The attack fitted the pattern of much of the fighting, which has been erratic, with small groups engaging each other, guerrilla-style, in hit and run raids.

But the resilience of Gaddafi’s troops in the face of protests which started in mid-February and their ability to launch a counter-attack has raised the prospect that the country is heading for prolonged bloodshed.