Nato takes flak over Libya

2011-04-06 14:29

Brussels - Less than a week after taking over the Libyan military campaign, Nato was forced onto the defensive on Wednesday as rebels and France urged the alliance to do more to protect the city of Misrata.

Nato insisted that the pace of air strikes against Muammar Gaddafi's forces has not slowed down since the 28-nation alliance took command on March 31 of a Western bombing campaign that had been led by the United States.

But the alliance acknowledged that Gaddafi has made it harder to target his heavy artillery by hiding tanks in populated areas and using human shields to prevent Nato from conducting air strikes.

"Misrata is our number one priority," Nato deputy spokesperson Carmen Romero said on Wednesday, but she only confirmed that alliance warplanes hit regime targets around Libya's third largest city on Monday.

"We have a clear mandate and we will do everything to protect the civilians of Misrata," Romero said, referring to the UN Security Council resolution permitting "all necessary measures" to defend Libya's population.

The top commander of rebel forces, Abdelfatah Yunis, accused Nato-led aircraft of doing nothing while Gaddafi-loyal forces kept up their 40-day long artillery bombardment of civilians in the western city of Misrata.

Meeting scheduled

Nato "is letting the people of Misrata die every day", Yunis told reporters in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi late on Tuesday. "If Nato waits one more week, there will be nothing left in Misrata."

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said the situation in Misrata, 214km east of Tripoli, was not tenable and that he would discuss it with Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

"Misrata is in a situation which cannot continue and I am going to discuss it in a few hours time with the secretary general of Nato," Juppe told France Info radio.

Romero confirmed that Rasmussen and Juppe would speak by telephone later on Wednesday.

The United States, France and Britain launched a barrage of cruise missile and aerial strikes on March 19 after Gaddafi's regime violently repressed protests challenging the Libyan leader's four-decade hold on power.

Nato took command of the operations on March 31 after much debate within the alliance, with France opposed to handing the baton to the Western military organisation and Turkey criticising the scope of the coalition strikes.

Human shields

Romero said the operations have continued "at the same rhythm" since Nato took control last week. "The accuracy of our strikes has not changed," she added.

A Nato diplomat said nine nations have made 72 attack aircraft available for strikes against ground targets, including 18 from France, 10 from Britain, seven from Canada and six from the United Arab Emirates, a non-Nato partner and the only Arab nation to offer to take part in such missions.

The United States pulled its combat jets from the frontline on Monday but 11 remain on-call if Nato requests them, the diplomat said.

Nato aircraft have conducted more than 850 sorties since March 31, including more than 330 missions aimed at spotting or hitting potential targets on the ground, the alliance said.

Brigadier General Mark van Uhm, Nato's chief of allied operations, said on Tuesday that Gaddafi has shifted tactics to protect his heavy artillery from Nato fire by moving such hardware into urban areas.

The general said 30% of Gaddafi's military capacity has been destroyed since the Western strikes began.

"We have confirmation that in Misrata tanks are being dispersed, being hidden, (and) human beings used as shields in order to prevent Nato sorties to identify targets," he said.

- SAPA