JOIN USGadhafi's forces storm Misrata
A rebel leader speaking after talks with a UN envoy in Benghazi offered a ceasefire on condition Gadhafi left Libya and his forces withdrew from cities now under government control. It was unclear if the offer was part of broader diplomatic moves to end a conflict that appears deadlocked on the military front. Rebels speaking from Misrata said Gadhafi’s forces had brought their superior firepower to bear on the insurgents’ last western enclave with an intense bombardment.
“They used tanks, rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds and other projectiles to hit the city today. It was random and very intense bombardment,” the spokesman, called Sami, told Reuters by telephone. “We no longer recognise the place. The destruction cannot be described.”
“Pro-Gadhafi soldiers who made it inside the city through Tripoli Street are pillaging the place, the shops, even homes, and destroying everything in the process.”
“They are targeting everything, including civilians’ homes. I dont know what to say, may Allah help us,” he said.
The account from Misrata, Libya’s third biggest city 200 km east of Tripoli, could not be verified. Authorities do not allow journalists to report freely from the city.
A doctor in Misrata told Reuters in an e-mail that the 32nd Brigade, one of the best-equipped and trained units, had been sent early on Friday to seize control of the city.
“So the question is where is the international community?” the doctor said.
Checkpoints
Gadhafi, who has ruled Libya since taking power in a coup in 1969, describes the rebels as terrorists and Western agents. He accuses Nato-led air forces, operating under a UN mandate, of killing huge numbers of civilians in bombing raids.
Civilian deaths haunt the calculations of coalition governments. Any sign of mounting casualties could shatter a fragile consensus between Western and Arab capitals who first called for creation of a militarily enforced no-fly zone.
BBC television quoted a Libyan doctor as saying a coalition air strike had killed seven civilians, mostly children, and wounded another 25 near the oil town of Brega on Wednesday.