The besieged Libyan rebel city of Misrata braced for a new bombardment by Moamer Gaddafi’s forces on Tuesday as an ultimatum for its surrender expired a day after shelling killed 14 people.
In their eastern stronghold of Benghazi, the rebels warned that their provisional government would soon run out of funds unless Western governments extended a three-billion-dollar secured on frozen assets of the Gaddafi regime. NATO said that aircraft under its command carried out 158 sorties on Monday, 56 of them strikes against ground targets which had included 12 ammunition caches and three self-propelled artillery pieces around Misrata.
Loyalist tanks had thrust into the western suburbs of the oil-rich North African nation’s third city from their airport base, triggering clashes that wounded more than 30 people. Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim announced the ultimatum for rebel fighters in Misrata to cease fire late on Friday, offering amnesty if they laid down their weapons. The rebels, who have been under siege by loyalists for some two months, promptly rejected it. “We will not surrender.
We win or we die,” said the rebels’ top commander, Ibrahim Bet-Almal, whose son was killed in fighting on April 9. With the airport in government hands, the rebels are entirely dependent on supply by sea, and with the port coming under repeated bombardment by Gaddafi’s troops, few vessels are docking, resulting in a worsening food shortage. Customers queueing outside a Misrata bakery on Tuesday put on a brave face about the looming expiry of the regime’s ultimatum. “I’m not worried.
Gaddafi won’t do anything,” said Abd al-Bari, a 20-year-old student. “He’s lying as usual. God willing, he will do nothing.” But Bari expressed serious concern about the port. “If it’s blocked off, the boats that have been providing us with aid won’t come any more and then we will have really big problems,” he said. The threat to Misrata’s maritime lifeline comes not only from Gaddafi’s rockets.
NATO forces were searching for a stray anti-ship mine laid last week, the alliance said. Four small boats were caught dropping three mines off the port, but only two were found and disarmed. In Benghazi, the rebels said they were in no position to resume significant oil exports as their current priority was limited to securing the production facilities in the territory under their control. Their plea for an emergency credit line from the United States and the two European governments to recognise their administration — France and Italy — came ahead of a meeting of the International Contact Group on Libya.
“The liquidity that we have domestically most likely will carry us through three weeks, at the most four weeks,” said Ali Tarhoni, who holds the economy and oil portfolio in the rebel administration.
“I think if we get lines of credit from our friends in France, Italy and the United States we will be fine,” he told reporters, adding that “we need two to three billion dollars.” That would enable his administration to get through the next three to four months, he said.
