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Misrata: "Medieval siege"
[Asharq al-Aswat] Rebels said a hail of rockets fired by besieging forces into a residential district of Misrata, Libya's third largest city, had killed 23 civilians, mostly women and children."Over 200 Grad missiles fell on the port area, including residential neighbourhoods near the port. They shelled this area because the port is Misrata's only window to the outside world," a rebel spokesman using the name Ghassan said by telephone. "The destruction there was huge. I was there and saw for myself," he said, adding that the port had been shut. In their article, the U.S., British and French leaders said Misrata was "enduring a medieval siege as Gaddafi tries to strangle its population into submission." Aid organizations warn of a humanitarian disaster in the city, the lone major rebel bastion in western Libya, where hundreds of civilians are said to have died in a six-week siege. NATO foreign ministers in Berlin promised on Thursday in a joint declaration to provide "all necessary resources and maximum operational flexibility" for the air campaign to maintain a "high operational tempo against legitimate targets." But several allies rebuffed calls from France and Britain to contribute more to the air attacks, conducted under a United Nations mandate to protect civilians. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said after the Berlin meeting he was hopeful more countries would contribute to the strike force. "It's not unreasonable to ask other nations...to make additional contributions," he said. Spain said it had no plan to join the seven NATO states that have conducted ground strikes. Italy, Libya's former colonial power, expressed reluctance to launch attacks. Posted by: Fred 2011-04-16 |
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