Strikes mandate like a crusade, claims Putin
Libya’s rebels scrambled to try to exploit international strikes on Muammar Gaddafi’s forces and go on the offensive, as some of the opposition’s citizen-fighters charged ahead to fight troops besieging the rebel city of Ajdabiya yesterday. But the rebellion’s more organised military units were still not ready.
The air campaign by US and European militaries has rearranged the map in Libya and rescued rebels from the immediate threat they faced only days ago of being crushed under a powerful advance by Gaddafi’s forces.
The first round of air strikes smashed a column of regime tanks that had been moving on the rebel capital of Benghazi in the east.
Last night, Libyan state TV said a new round of strikes had begun in the capital, Tripoli, marking the third night of bombardment. But while the air strikes can stop Gaddafi’s troops from attacking rebel cities — in line with the UN mandate to protect civilians — the US, at least, appeared deeply reluctant to go beyond that towards actively helping the rebels to oust the Libyan leader.
As diplomatic tempers over the campaign flared, officials in Tripoli said a missile intended to kill Gaddafi had destroyed a building in his compound, which was bombed in 1986 by the Reagan administration. “It was a barbaric bombing,” said government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, showing pieces of shrapnel he said came from the missile. “This contradicts American and Western (statements)... that it is not their target to attack this place.”
There was no comment from attacking forces.
In an appearance on Libyan television on Sunday, Gaddafi promised his enemies a “long war” after the UN-authorised intervention in the uprising against his 41-year rule.
“The resolution is defective and flawed,” said Mr Putin, whose country did not use its power to veto the resolution at the United Nations. “It allows everything. It resembles medieval calls for crusades.”
China’s official newspapers stepped up Beijing’s opposition to air attacks on Libya, accusing nations backing the strikes of breaking international rules and courting new turmoil in the Middle East. China also did not veto the UN resolution.
Libyan rebels welcomed the second wave of attacks.
“The committee rejects foreign troops on the ground but we encourage the bombardment of Gaddafi’s army,” Ahmed El-Hasi, a spokesman for the opposition coalition, said in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi where the uprising began.
He said rebels coordinated with international powers on air strikes.
“There is a connection between us. One, to pinpoint the position of Gaddafi’s troops, and two, to pinpoint the position of our fighters so they don’t get hit with bombardments.”
Accounts from the rebel-held western city of Mistrata appeared to show Gaddafi forces, in a change of tactics forced by air attacks, were trying to mingle with the civilian population, making it hard to target them from the air. Rebels said women and children were being used as “human shields”.
In the city, a rebel spokesman said pro-Gaddafi forces killed seven people there on Sunday. Residents said water supplies were cut off and Libyan troops had encircled the city.
The first strikes on Saturday halted the advance of Gaddafi forces on Benghazi and targeted Libya’s air defences in order to let Western warplanes patrol the skies of Libya.
The second wave of air strikes also hit Gaddafi’s troops around Ajdabiyah, a strategic town in the barren scrub of east Libya that rebels aim to retake and where their fighters said they need more help to take the battle to the enemy.
“If we don’t get more help from the West, Gaddafi’s forces will eat us alive,” rebel fighter Nouh Musmari said.
The UN-mandated intervention to protect civilians caught up in a one-month-old revolt against Gaddafi also drew criticism from Arab League chief Amr Moussa, who questioned the need for a heavy bombardment, which he said had killed many civilians.
He said, however, that the league respected the UN resolution but stressed the need to protect civilians.
The US, carrying out the air strikes in a coalition with Britain, France, Italy and Canada among others, said the campaign was working and dismissed a ceasefire announcement by the Libyan military on Sunday night.
Henri Guaino, one of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s closest aides, said strikes were not aimed at ousting Gaddafi but said they were likely to last “a little while”.
Underlining its commitment to avoiding civilian casualties, Britain’s Defence Ministry said one mission was called off because of civilians in the target area.
“As the RAF GR4 Tornados approached the target, further information came to light... As a result the decision was taken not to launch weapons,” a spokesman said.
The intervention in Libya is the biggest in an Arab country since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Withdrawal of Arab support would make it harder to pursue what some analysts say could in any case be an open-ended campaign with an uncertain outcome.
Italy said it had warplanes in the air, after US and British warships and submarines launched 110 Tomahawk missiles on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Late on Sunday night, Libyan officials took reporters to Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli, a sprawling complex that houses his private quarters as well as military barracks, anti-aircraft batteries and other installations, to see what they said was the site of a missile attack two hours earlier.
A short walk from a brightly lit tent where Gaddafi receives his guests, the three-storey building stood in ruins, and a circular hole was visible on its gutted facade. The US says it does not have Gaddafi on its target list.
The wrecked building was close to a house in the compound which was attacked by the Reagan administration and which was never rebuilt. Outside in a symbol of defiance, a giant golden fist crumples a model of a US warplane.
US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said the no-fly zone was now in place.
But defence secretary Robert Gates said the US would not have a “pre-eminent role” in maintaining it, and expected to turn over “primary responsibility” within days, perhaps to Britain or France.
US officials, eager to avoid similarities to the invasion of Iraq, have been playing down Washington’s role and emphasising that overthrowing or killing Gaddafi is not the goal of the attacks.
Adm Mullen said the endgame of the campaign was “very uncertain” and acknowledged it could end in stalemate. Mr Gates said: “I think this is basically going to have to be resolved by the Libyans themselves.”
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