Libyan rebel fighters' eyes on Tripoli

Rebels say they ousted Gadhafi's forces from Qawalish several days agoThe small village is 90 miles south of Tripoli The fighters appear spirited, flashing victory signs and posing for photosAided by NATO strikes, they are hoping to unseat the longtime Libyan leader

Qawalish, Libya (CNN) -- Almost all civilians have fled the western Libya area around Qawalish, hoping to avoid the worst of the violence wracking the nation.

Yet there is a buzz around this village, which is in the hands of rebel fighters eager to defeat forces loyal to longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Their optimism and energy are matched, in many ways, by their inexperience.

When spotters on a rooftop spy vehicles they believe belong to the Libyan army, a rebel rocket team wipes off desert grit from their weapon, oils it up and fires -- their aim, at best, approximate.

The group's commander, Fahti, knows the opposition forces are in many ways overmatched.

"They have tanks. You hear that? Rockets," Fahti said. "They have mortars, all the heavy weapons."

Dressed in everything from military fatigues to polo shirts to T-shirts, the rebels are not the stereotypical picture of a modern fighting force. But despite their challenges, the rebels here have had success.

That includes, they say, driving Libyan forces several days ago out of the village 45 kilometers (90 miles) south of Tripoli, a key north-south route in the North African nation.

One fighter said Gadhafi's men are "very afraid" that rebels will soon take another big step forward by taking his home city of Gharyan, which is 45 kilometers to the north and just 100 kilometers south of the Libyan capital.

While strongest in the east near Benghazi, the opposition remains active around much of Libya.

A fighter named Mahmoud told CNN on Saturday that his comrades had conducted night raids and ambushes, for instance, around his native Zamiya, a coastal city still in the government's hands about 50 kilometers from Tripoli.

"But on the coast Gadhafi is strong, he has his people everywhere," Mahmoud said.

The opposition continues to get help in the form of NATO strikes. The alliance announced in a statement Saturday that it had struck a missile-firing position near Tawhurgha, south of Misrata, that it claims was tucked within a set of farm buildings.

Libyan forces used this area to attack civilians in nearby Misrata through missile strikes and as a staging area for attacks, NATO said.

In Qawalish, the rebels had some good fortune after coming upon an abandoned army base, and its boxes stacked almost to the ceiling with mortar and artillery rounds. The find was a welcome one for a force that, until recently, was struggling to muster the weaponry to keep up the fight.

Those rolling through checkpoints around the village are almost exclusively rebel fighters, drawn to the battlefront by their commitment to a common cause. Their enthusiasm appears strong as they drive by, crammed into the back of pickup trucks, smiling broadly and flashing victory signs.

And even with the sounds of war in the distance, some rebels pose for pictures -- victory photos, they hope, in their quest to end Gadhafi's 42 years in power.

CNN

Libyan rebels wounded in firefight

A file photo of armed Libyan rebels standinjg next to coffins in Benghazi on June 10, 2011.NEW: A government spokesman reiterated Gadhafi's call for vengeanceNEW: Moussa Ibrahim claims rebel fighters "have no popular support"11 rebels wounded in exchange of fire at frontlineThe rebel-held city of Misrata and the embattled city of Dafniya were attacked Saturday

Dafniya, Libya (CNN) -- Libyan rebels and troops loyal to Moammar Gadhafi shelled each other for hours on Saturday in clashes at the highly contested frontline of Dafniya, an embattled town just west of the besieged port city of Misrata.

At least 11 rebels were wounded in the exchange of fire and treated at one of the two field hospitals in what has been the most active day in Dafniya this week, according to a CNN team.

Heavy government shelling on Misrata and Dafniya began shortly after Gadhafi rallied his supporters in an audio message on state TV and threatened to take the fighting to Europe in retaliation for NATO's bombing campaign.

"As soon as Gadhafi's speech ended, they started shelling Dafniya and around midnight there was a salvo of about eight rockets inside Misrata itself, and it continues on the front this morning," said CNN's Ben Wedeman, who was in Misrata Saturday.

Gadhafi has vowed vengeance for NATO bombings in Libya. He said the Libyan military could be "like locusts, like bees" in Europe, potentially targeting homes and offices.

"You are mistaken, you are involved in a battle that you don't know what you are going to face, so withdraw and run away," Gadhafi told a pro-government gathering in Tripoli. "Our people is able in one day to move the battle to the Mediterranean, and able to move the battle to Europe."

Gadhafi referred to NATO, which began bombing military targets in Libya after the U.N. Security Council approved a resolution in March authorizing force by whatever means necessary -- with the exception of a ground invasion -- to protect civilians.

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim on Saturday reiterated Gadhafi's call for vengeance.

NATO's "aggression is killing our children (and) Europe will have to face the consequences," he said. "You will have people attacking Europe, joining terrorist organizations against Europe, and building a culture that makes legitimate all violence against Europe."

Ibrahim claimed rebel fighters "have no popular support."

"The rebels have no future," he added. "They know it and they are terrified."

On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the NATO mission in Libya is on track, with pressure on Gadhafi mounting and the rebel forces growing stronger.

"We need to see this through, and we are in complete agreement that we will," she said alongside the Spanish foreign minister in Madrid Saturday.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the United States was taking seriously the Libyan leader's remarks. "Certainly this is an individual who's obviously capable of carrying out these kinds of threats," he told reporters. "It's what makes him so dangerous. But he's also someone who's given to overblown rhetoric."

He said the United States would continue to support NATO's mission of increasing pressure on Gadhafi to step aside.

The French government was in talks with Libyan rebels about supplying them with weapons and ammunition, a Libyan opposition military spokesman in Misrata said Thursday.

The French government has not confirmed the claim, which follows an acknowledgment earlier this week that its military has previously dropped light weaponry to rebels elsewhere.

CNN's Ben Wedeman and David McKenzie contributed to this report.

CNN

Rockets push back rebels south of Libyan capital (Reuters)

BIR-AYYAD, Libya (Reuters) – Libyan rebels who had advanced to within 80 km (50 miles) of Muammar Gaddafi's stronghold in the capital were forced to retreat on Friday after coming under a barrage of rocket fire from government forces.

The rebels advanced five days ago to the outskirts of the small town of Bir al-Ghanam, raising the possibility of a breakthrough in a four-month old conflict that has become the bloodiest of the "Arab Spring" uprisings.

Rebel fighters who had been massing on a ridge near Bir al-Ghanam and preparing for an attack were pulled back under fire from Russian-made Grad rockets, said a Reuters photographer in Bir-Ayyad, 30 km to the south.

The rebels returned to the same positions on the edges of Bir al-Ghanam on Friday afternoon, said Reuters reporters there.

The rocket barrage reached as far back as Bir-Ayyad, a road junction in the foothills of the Western Mountains range south-west of Tripoli from where the rebels had launched their advance last week.

The back-and-forth battle underlined the military stalemate between Gaddafi's forces, who have withstood 15 weeks of bombardment by NATO missiles and warplanes, and rebels attempting to break through their lines on three fronts.

In an audio address carried by Libyan television and broadcast to some 100,000 supporters who gathered on Friday in Tripoli's Green Square, Gaddafi vowed to stay on and warned NATO to stop its air war or face defeat.

"We advise you (NATO) to retreat before you face a catastrophe," Gaddafi told the huge crowd, by far the largest pro-Gaddafi demonstration since a rebellion against his 41-year rule erupted in February.

"I advise you to ground your planes ... and to hold discussions with the Libyan people," Gaddafi said, denouncing arrest warrants for him, his son and his brother-in-law issued on Monday by the International Criminal Court.

Supporters waved green flags and posters of the Libyan leader, who said the huge turnout was voluntary and proved he was popular among Libyans. Guns were fired into the air and fireworks exploded over the capital at the end of the address.

Two hours after the speech, three explosions were heard and columns of black smoke were seen rising from the direction of Gaddafi's central Bab Al Aziziya compound in what appeared to be NATO air strikes.

Frustration at the slow progress is growing inside the military alliance, with some members worried about the cost, civilian casualties and the fact the campaign has now been going on much longer than its backers anticipated.

There are also differences about how proactive NATO members should be in aiding the rebels, who are hampered by a lack of organization and a shortage of equipment.

France this week became the first member of the anti-Gaddafi alliance to acknowledge that it had supplied weapons to the rebels, saying this was justified to protect civilians.

It said it used parachutes to drop assault rifles and rocket launchers, along with humanitarian supplies, to rebels in the Western Mountains.

That admission prompted Russia, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, to accuse France of a "gross violation" of a U.N. arms embargo.

Even France's NATO allies distanced themselves from the French operation, though Britain and the United States said they believed it was justified under U.N. rules.

NATO STRIKE

Gaddafi has said the NATO campaign is an act of colonial aggression aimed at stealing Libya's plentiful oil.

Gaddafi's daughter, Aisha, said in a television interview broadcast late on Thursday her father's administration was prepared to cut a deal with the rebels if that was what it took to stop the bloodshed.

"There are direct and indirect negotiations and we should stop letting Libyan blood," Gaddafi's daughter said in an interview with France 2 television.

Although her remarks marked a shift in tone, her father again called on his supporters in his audio address to continue fighting the rebels, whom he dismissed as "traitors, a fifth column and mercenaries."

The London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Gaddafi's representatives had been meeting officials from France and Britain on the Tunisian island of Djerba.

Citing unnamed sources from the Gaddafi and opposition camps, the newspaper said Gaddafi was willing to step down if he was spared prosecution and allowed to live in his hometown of Sirte, northern Libya, with guarantees for his security.

African Union leaders offered on Friday to host talks on a ceasefire and transition to democratic government, but left open whether there was any future role for Gaddafi. There was no immediate reaction from either side to the offer.

Anti-Gaddafi rebels rejected talks with the Libyan leader's regime after the ICC issued its arrest warrants, saying there was no point talking to a war criminal.

Some Libya-watchers say Gaddafi has floated the possibility of a peace deal several times to stall for time and weaken the resolve of the Western alliance to push him out.

But others say he may be looking for a negotiated exit as his options narrow. International sanctions are causing a shortage of fuel in Gaddafi-controlled areas, and NATO strikes are eroding his ability to enforce his power.

The Libyan conflict has sent ripples far beyond the North African country of six million people.

The fighting has halted Libyan oil exports, helping push up world crude prices to about $111 a barrel.

It has also created a security vacuum which officials in the region say could be exploited by Islamist militants and al Qaeda's North African wing.

"If this civil war goes on, it would be a new Somalia, which I don't say lightly. In three months we could be dealing with extremists," Marouane Abassi, World Bank country manager for Libya, told Reuters in the Tunisian capital.

(Additional reporting by Tarek Amara and Andrew Hammond in Tunis, David Brunnstrom in Brussels, Lutfi Abu-Aun in Tripoli, Omar Fahmi in Cairo, Joseph Nasr in Berlin, Sami Aboudi in Dubai and John Irish in Paris; Writing by Christian Lowe and Joseph Nasr; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

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Libyan fallout hits Chad (OneWorld.net)

DAKAR, 29 June 2011 (IRIN) - Chadian families are facing worsening food insecurity, becoming more indebted, and selling off personal possessions as they try to cope with the loss of remittances from relatives who have returned home from Libya.

Remittances, which half of the households in Chad's western and southwestern regions of Kanem and Bahr el Ghazal used to receive, are down by 57 percent, according to a survey by NGOs Oxfam and Action Against Hunger (ACF). Households on average were sent US$220 per month.

Most families in the two regions have reduced the number of meals they eat; 70 percent are eating less nutritious foods, while just under a third are resorting to wild foods such as leaves and berries.

One in five households interviewed had sold possessions to raise money; while most said they had taken out loans to get by.

At the same time, families are struggling to feed returning members: Some 43,000 migrants have returned in trucks from Libya to Chad over the past three months, according to Craig Murphy, operations officer at the International Organization for Migration (IOM). In Bahr el Ghazal family size has increased by as many as 13 people, according to the Oxfam/ACF survey.

"These people are going home to zones which already experience food insecurity even when there is no `crisis', said Philippe Conraud, head of humanitarian operations at Oxfam in West Africa. "They need food, water - the basics, to get by."

Chronic hunger

People in the Sahel are chronically food insecure: In 2010 some 10 million people were at risk of hunger due to prolonged drought and poor harvests; almost one in five children were chronically malnourished, and 5 percent severely, according to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

A minority of families are looking to new income sources: begging, sending children out to work, travelling to other towns and cities in search of work, or harvesting their crops early, according to ACF and Oxfam.

Many returnees are determined to find any work they can. Seventeen-year-old Moussa (not his real name), who just returned home to Faya, the largest city in northern Chad, after working on a farm in Libya, told IOM he would try to find work in a salt mine now that he is home

Agencies - including IOM, the World Health Organization (WHO), WFP, UNICEF, and NGOs including Oxfam and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) - have been helping provide returnees with food, medicine and water at transit centres and in major destination towns such as Faya. Nutritional support, which is urgently needed, will soon be put in place, said WHO programme coordinator Thomas Karengera.

Measles

Many migrants arrived with measles, leading IRC, WHO and UNICEF to launch vaccination campaigns for children aged six months to 15 years. A national measles vaccination campaign will soon be launched to contain the spread of the disease. As of 19 June some 5,311 people had contracted the disease across 20 of Chad's 22 regions since the beginning of the year, with 63 deaths thus far, according to Chad's Health Ministry.

"We are vaccinating children as soon as they arrive at transit centres, so the disease should not spread further," Felix Leger, IRC Chad country director, told IRIN. Many migrants are arriving run-down, malnourished and dehydrated, he said, increasing their receptiveness to the disease.

Cash

Oxfam is considering cash distributions to vulnerable families but first needs to ascertain if traders have enough capacity to supply the markets.

Cash in fragile markets will not work. "We don't want to be in a situation where cash distributions cause prices to rise, so those without cash cannot afford the high prices. That could have a harmful impact," Conraud told IRIN. Only 46 percent of traders in Kanem and Bahr el Ghazal had over two months of stocks, according to their research.

Prices of some basic foods have risen: In Kanem's capital, Mao, imported wheat was 43 percent higher in April 2011 compared to April 2010; peanut oil was up by 44 percent, and rice 6 percent; millet prices had dropped.

It is still unclear how many Chadians are likely to return from Libya said IOM's Murphy, who estimates tens of thousands remain. The number of arrivals has declined in recent weeks, "but this could just be a lull," he said.

Persecution

Migrants who had recently arrived told IOM they are being driven out not only by ongoing fighting and instability but also the loss of employment and fear of being persecuted. Fighters from the Sahel were reportedly hired early on to support Col Gaddafi, leading to fears among migrants that they will be targeted.

Some migrants may plan to return to Libya as soon as fighting stops, said Murphy. This may be the reason why migrants were left stranded on the road by trucks in Zourake near the Niger border, he said.

Donors and aid agencies need to step up, warned Conraud. "If more migrants need to leave Libya, and arrive in the vulnerable Sahelian zone, then households' ability to get by will be seriously compromised. Very few actors from the international community are aware of this situation; everyone is looking at the Libyan side of the border, but more need to look at the Mali, Niger and Chad sides," he said.

*More from OneWorld

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France airlifts arms to bolster Libyan rebels (Reuters)

PARIS/MISRATA, Libya (Reuters) - – France said on Wednesday it airlifted weapons to Libya's rebels this month, the first time that a NATO country bombing Libya has openly acknowledged arming rebels seeking to topple Muammar Gaddafi.

A three-month-old bombing campaign has so far failed to dislodge the Libyan leader, straining the Western alliance. The bombing is justified by a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing force to protect civilians, but Britain, France and the United States say they will not stop until Gaddafi falls.

The rebels' advances have been slow, although they say they have made considerable progress in the past week on the front nearest Tripoli. On Sunday rebels advanced from the mountains southwest of the capital to 80 km (50 miles) from the capital.

A French military spokesman confirmed the delivery of weapons after Le Figaro newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying France had parachuted rocket launchers, assault rifles, machine guns and anti-tank missiles into the western mountains.

"There were humanitarian drops because the humanitarian situation was worsening and at one point it seemed the security situation was threatening civilians who could not defend themselves," armed forces spokesman Thierry Burkhard said.

"France therefore also sent equipment allowing them to defend themselves, comprising light weapons and munitions," he said, adding that the drop also included medicine and food.

The legality of the move could be called into question because of a U.N. arms embargo. U.N. diplomats have said any arms transfers without the prior consent of the U.N. Security Council's Libya sanctions committee could violate the embargo.

A U.N. diplomat familiar with the committee said France had not sought its permission to send arms. Countries have suggested the Security Council's permission to "take any action" to protect civilians might allow shipments of weapons for defense.

Le Figaro said France's decision to send arms had been taken without consulting NATO partners. It quoted a high-level source saying "there was no other way to proceed."

A rebel spokesman in the Western Mountains contacted by Reuters said he did not have an information about the French arms. France's allies reacted cautiously.

"We as NATO are not engaged in this kind of activity, although it is also well known that there are nations that are doing this so it is not up to me to comment or judge," Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, head of NATO's military committee, told reporters in Brussels.

Britain, alongside France one of the most active members of the coalition behind the bombing, acknowledged the French move raised questions in the light of the U.N. mandate.

"It does raise quite a few issues, not least the United Nations resolution, although in some circumstances clearly that could be justified," British Minister for International Security Gerald Howarth told reporters.

"But it is very much a matter for France and no criticism of France (is) intended therein. But it's not something we shall be doing," added Howarth. Britain has given the rebels items such as body armor while stressing such aid was "non-lethal."

At an Africa Union summit in Equatorial Guinea, AU Commission chief Jean Ping said arms going into Libya could end up in the hands of al Qaeda allies in the region.

"Africa's concern is that weapons that are delivered to one side or another ... are already in the desert and will arm terrorists and fuel trafficking," Ping told reporters.

"A LITTLE BIT NAIVE"

As the NATO operation extends beyond 90 days, fissures have appeared in the coalition against Gaddafi, with Italy calling for a suspension to the bombing and U.S. officials complaining about the lack of European firepower.

U.S. President Barack Obama, who has come under fire for not seeking approval from Congress for the mission, said he had carried it out in "exemplary fashion." His administration has argued that the U.S. role in the operation does not rise to the level of "hostilities" requiring congressional approval.

"We have engaged in a limited operation to help a lot of people against one of the worst tyrants in the world," he told a news conference. "A lot of this fuss is politics."

The Dutch defense minister warned NATO allies on Wednesday against "mission creep" and forecast more arguments about the future of its campaign if it lasted beyond September.

"Libya is a very, very big country indeed. People who thought that merely by throwing some bombs it would not only help the people, but also convince Gaddafi that he could step down or alter his policy, were a little bit naive," he said.

NATO warships off the Libyan coast fired on government forces near the strategic town of Zlitan east of Tripoli, rebels said on Wednesday. Gaddafi's forces have so far successfully blocked the rebels at Zlitan, preventing them from advancing on Tripoli from the east.

"Last night, NATO struck from the sea at Gaddafi's forces positioned in the coastal area," a rebel spokesman inside Zlitan, who identified himself as Mabrouk, told Reuters.

"The (pro-Gaddafi) brigades are preparing for the next days. They have stepped up deployment here. They have brought several rocket-launchers. The number of checkpoints is also growing. The situation is getting more difficult."

CONTRACTS REVIEW?

There was no immediate confirmation from NATO that its warships had been in action off the town. Zlitan is about 140 km (90 miles) east of Tripoli and lies between the capital and the rebel-held city of Misrata.

Libyan state television said 15 people were killed when NATO air strikes hit a vegetable market on Tuesday in the town of Tawergha, south of Misrata, and accused the alliance of hitting civilian targets again on Wednesday.

A NATO spokesman said the alliance had hit "a military facility with military vehicles inside" in the Tawergha area on Wednesday. The alliance was unable to confirm reports of civilian casualties but was looking into them.

Gaddafi's government says NATO bombing has killed more than 700 civilians, although it has not presented evidence of such large numbers of civilian deaths and NATO denies them.

An official with the rebel leadership said if it came to power it would review all contracts signed under Gaddafi. Mahmoud Shammam, a spokesman for the rebel National Transitional Council, told reporters in Paris the council would nullify contracts if it discovered evidence of corruption.

Gaddafi's officials say the NATO campaign is an act of colonial aggression aimed at stealing Libya's oil. They also dismiss International Criminal Court arrest warrants against Gaddafi and his son for crimes against humanity, saying the court is a tool of the West.

(Additional reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers; Lutfi Abu-Aun in Tripoli; John Irish and Elizabeth Pineau in Paris, David Brunnstrom in Brussels; Anis Mili in Arrujban, Libya; Keith Weir in London; Joseph Nasr in Berlin; Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations and David Lewis in Malabo; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Peter Graff)

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Court issues arrest warrant for Libyan leader Gadhafi

(CNN) -- The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants Monday for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and two of his relatives.

ICC Judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageng read aloud the decision to issue warrants for Gadhafi, his son Saif al-Islam Gadhafi and brother-in-law Abdullah al-Sanussi.

Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi is a close adviser to his father. His arrest warrant came two days after his 39th birthday. Al-Sanussi serves as Gadhafi's head of intelligence.

The warrants are "for crimes against humanity," including murder and persecution, "allegedly committed across Libya" from Feb. 15 through "at least" Feb. 28, "through the state apparatus and security forces," the court said in a news release.

In Misrata, a critical city for Libyan rebels in which fighting has raged, a crowd cheered Monday following the news from the court.

The announcement at The Hague came as fighting inside Libya inched closer to the capital. A rebel fighter, Hassan al-Jiwali, told CNN the rebels were 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Tripoli on Monday.

Libya is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the international court's authority, and the court does not have the power to enter Libya and arrest the leaders. Many of those cheering in Misrata saw the news as a sign that the world recognizes the conduct rebels say Gadhafi's regime has been engaged in.

The three-judge Pre-Trial Chamber I at The Hague found "reasonable grounds to believe that the three suspects committed the alleged crimes and that their arrests appear necessary in order to ensure their appearances before the court," the written announcement said. The court also believes the warrants are needed to ensure that the three "do not continue to obstruct and endanger the court's investigations; and to prevent them from using their powers to continue the commission of crimes within the jurisdiction of the court."

The U.N. Security Council referred the matter to the ICC through a resolution Feb. 26, following widespread complaints about Gadhafi's efforts to crush a rebellion. The resolution said that while "states not party to the Rome Statute have no obligations under the statute, the Security Council urged all states and concerned regional and other international organisations to cooperate fully with the court and the prosecutor."

Gadhafi has made clear he would not recognize the court's authority.

Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has said he has evidence linking Gadhafi, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi and Abdullah al-Sanussi to crimes against humanity, including "widespread and systematic" attacks on civilians, in their attempt to put down the months-long revolt.

Libyan government spokesman Musa Ibrahim has previously denied the allegations and criticized what he said were incoherent conclusions of the prosecutor's office.

The United Nations issued a statement Monday about the arrest warrants, noting that "hundreds of people are confirmed to have been killed since opposition forces rose up against the regime of Mr. Gadhafi in February as part of a wider pro-democracy movement across North Africa and the Middle East."

The European Union said it "fully supports" the court and underscores that the court's Libya investigation "is an independent judicial process which must be fully respected."

Not everyone was cheering the news. Michael Rubin, an analyst with the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said the court's move could damage efforts to get Gadhafi to end his 42-year reign, because he would not seek refuge in a country that is a signatory to the Rome Statute.

"The ICC's arrest warrant symbolizes the dirty underside of international law," Rubin said. "While the ICC makes itself feel good and diplomats can chatter about their commitment to international law, the fact of the matter is their action takes off the table any possibility that Gadhafi could flee to a retirement haven outside Libya. In effect, the ICC arrest warrant tells Gadhafi to fight to the death."

This is not the first time that the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for a country's leader in the midst of a conflict. The court issued a warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in 2007, while conflict simmered in that country's western Darfur region.

Moreno-Ocampo told CNN shortly after filing his request with the court that he had evidence that revealed Saif al-Islam Gadhafi organized the recruitment of mercenaries to defend the regime and al-Sanussi participated in attacks on demonstrators.

Authorities believe Moammar Gadhafi ordered attacks on unarmed civilians, he told CNN, and al-Sanussi is "his right-hand man, the executioner."

Moreno-Ocampo began investigating claims against Moammar Gadhafi on February 15, when demonstrations against the leader's regime accelerated. Since then, war has erupted in Libya as Moammar Gadhafi has tried to keep his grip on power.

The probe took investigators to 11 countries and included the review of 1,200 documents and interviews with about 50 witnesses. A report issued in early May found the alleged crimes against humanity include the alleged commission of rape by supporters of Gadhafi's government, as well as the deportation or forcible transfer of citizens during the civil war in the country.

Moreno-Ocampo has scheduled a news conference Tuesday to discuss the court's decision.

The issue of Libyan casualties led the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution in March authorizing force by whatever means necessary, with the exception of a ground invasion, to protect civilians. NATO began bombing military targets a short time later.

A rebel military leader, Hajj Osama al-Jiwali, told CNN Monday that rebels want "more airstrikes and hits of Ghadafi strategic locations for the wake of time and for the the rebuilding of Libya." He called on the United Nations to be "at the forefront" of efforts in Libya.

Al-Jiwali said rebel fighters on Sunday fought "a very fierce battle against the Gadhafi forces in Beir al-Ghanam, where four rebel fighters died and eight were injured, and more than 30 of the Gadhafi forces have been killed." The battle was still ongoing Monday, but not as fierce, he said.

CNN could not independently confirm the reports.

"The rebel forces are in high sprits and determined to continue to Tripoli to get rid of Gadhafi and his collaborators. They are in high spirits and the victory is closer than ever, " al-Jiwali added.

NATO warplanes struck a rocket launcher system mounted on a government truck near the town of B'ir al Ghanam.

Three explosions could be heard in the Libyan capital late Monday morning.

"They appear closer than those heard in the past few days and week," said CNN producer Raja Razek, who is in Tripoli.

The International Criminal Court action comes a day after the African Union announced Gadhafi will not be part of its next attempt to map out a peace deal in Libya.

It was unclear who would represent the Libyan government in negotiations, or when negotiations would occur. Journalists were not allowed to ask questions at a news conference following Sunday's meeting of the African Union's special committee on Libya in Pretoria, South Africa.

Members of the committee have met with Gadhafi and opposition leaders over the past three months. Another African Union-led attempt to broker peace between Gadhafi and the rebels fell through in April.

The committee repeated calls Sunday for a cease-fire between the Libyan government and rebels.

"Only a political solution will make it possible to sustainably settle the current conflict," the statement said.

It also urged NATO to temporarily suspend its bombing campaign to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid.

CNN's Nkepile Mabuse, Yousuf Basil and Ingrid Formanek contributed to this report.

CNN

Libyan state media says NATO airstrike kills 15 (AP)

TRIPOLI, Libya – Libyan authorities accused NATO of killing 15 people in an airstrike Saturday that they said hit a restaurant and bakery in the east, though the alliance denied the report.

It was the latest outcry from Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's government blaming NATO for killing civilians amid a four-month uprising that has sparked a civil war. NATO insists it does all it can to avoid such casualties.

Meanwhile, rebel representatives said their fighters were coordinating around the country for the "zero hour" when their forces would reach the capital of Tripoli.

The rebels said they have been working to cut fuel supplies from the Tunisian border in an attempt to paralyze Gadhafi's forces. Rebels also are making homemade bombs and trying to ferry other weapons to their comrades in Tripoli, a spokesman for an underground guerrilla group there said.

Libya's state news agency quoted a military official in Gadhafi's forces as saying that NATO warplanes hit a number of civilian sites Saturday in the oil town of Brega, including a restaurant and a bakery.

The official said 15 civilians were killed and 20 wounded in the strike. The JANA news agency also claimed five civilians were killed Friday in Brega as well.

NATO said it did not carry out any strikes in the area on Saturday.

A NATO official said alliance warplanes did hit several targets in the vicinity of Brega on Friday but that there was no evidence civilians had been killed or wounded.

"We have no indications of any civilian casualties in connection with these strikes," said the official, who spoke on condition on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media on the record. "What we know is that the buildings we hit were occupied and used by pro-Gadhafi forces to direct attacks against civilians around Ajdabiya."

Ajdabiya is a city between Brega and the rebel stronghold of Benghazi to the northeast.

NATO said it hit multiple military command sites Friday near Brega, which has been a frequent flashpoint between rebels and Gadhafi's forces.

The alliance said government forces had moved into buildings in an abandoned area of Brega and started using them as military compounds to launch strikes on civilians, putting rebel-held cities such as Ajdabiya and Benghazi at risk.

Reports of civilian casualties in NATO strikes have provoked intense anger among many Libyans in the west of the country under Gadhafi's control.

Images of dead civilians, including young children, described by the government as "martyrs," can be seen frequently at pro-government rallies and on state-controlled television.

NATO is investigating whether one of its airstrikes may have slammed into a civilian neighborhood in Tripoli on June 19, killing several civilians.

A day later, alliance warplanes struck a family compound belonging to a close Gadhafi aide, killing what the Libyan government says was 19 people, including at least three children. NATO called the site was a "command and control" center, and said it regrets any civilian deaths that resulted from the strike.

Rebel spokesman Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga in Benghazi said Gadhafi was to blame for civilian casualties in the fighting because "he keeps his weapons in highly populated civilian areas."

At least two explosions could be heard in the capital of Tripoli on Saturday, though it was not immediately clear what the NATO airstrikes may have hit.

The Libyan rebels began their uprising in February against Gadhafi, who has been in power since 1969. The conflict has turned into a civil war, and Gadhafi's forces are accused of orchestrating deadly attacks on civilians.

The rebels have taken over much of the eastern half of Libya. They also control pockets in the west, including the vital port city of Misrata, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) from the capital.

A coalition including France, Britain and the United States began striking Gadhafi's forces under a United Nations resolution to protect civilians on March 19. NATO assumed control of the air campaign over Libya on March 31 and is joined by a number of Arab allies.

In Benghazi, Ghoga, the spokesman for the rebels' National Transitional Council, said 38 of Gadhafi's military officers — six of them high-ranking — defected to the rebel side and fled to Tunisia Friday.

"This will lead to the further isolation of the Gadhafi regime," he said.

Ghoga said the rebels have been informed that Gadhafi is in contact with leaders in South Africa and France in an attempt to find a possible home in exile. Such claims have been filtering out for weeks, but there is no evidence that the Libyan leader is seeking a way out.

On Saturday, a spokesman for the rebels' western mountain military council confirmed that rebels are coordinating with individual cells and with an underground rebel guerrilla group known as the Tripoli Council. The main goals are to cut the fuel from Gadhafi forces, Gomaa Ibrahim said.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Tripoli Council said that their fighters have been carrying out selective attacks on Gadhafi forces in the capital.

The spokesman, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said that the rebels are coordinating for "the zero hour, when rebels from liberated cities enter Tripoli."

"It will be a tremendous mission. The city is now besieged by 13 different security brigades, well armed and well equipped. Gadhafi has always said that his loyalists will sabotage the city if he falls. So this will be our mission: to mob it and clean it of mercenaries."

In Benghazi, Ghoga said there are constant contacts between rebels in different parts of the country, but he did not elaborate.

The rebels got a boost Saturday from several players from Libya's national soccer team who announced their support for the fight to end Gadhafi's rule.

Seventeen players from the team defected while they were in the West African nation of Mali for a match and later traveled to Tunisia, Ghoga said.

The players crossed into rebel-held territory in Libya's western mountains, and visited with residents in the town of Zintan on Saturday, said Gomaa Ibrahim, a spokesman for rebel fighters in that area.

Four of the players are from Tripoli's most popular team, al-Ahly, where one of Gadhafi's sons, al-Saadi, once played, said Ghoga. Al-Saadi now heads Libya's Football Federation.

In a video posted Saturday on a rebel Facebook page under the title "the national team announces its defection," one man said: "God willing, Tripoli will be liberated by this mountain. This is a message to the agents to abandon their weapons because Libya will be free, sooner or later."

___

Associated Press writers Maggie Michael in Cairo, Rami al-Shaheibi in Benghazi, Libya, and Slobodan Lekic in Brussels contributed to this report.

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Libyan soccer stars join rebels in blow to Gaddafi (Reuters)

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Four members of Libya's national soccer team and 13 other football figures have defected to rebels in a blow to Muammar Gaddafi's government, the rebel authority in eastern Libya said on Saturday.

Gaddafi has faced a string of defections by officers and diplomats but has resisted efforts by rebels backed by a NATO bombing campaign to dislodge him after four decades in power.

Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice chairman of the rebel council, said the footballers had been in touch with the insurgent leadership in Benghazi and were staying in neighbouring Tunisia.

"It's a direct reflection of opinions and feelings of all people across Libya. These 17 members were on their way to Mali when they declared their defection," he said.

"This is not just symbolic but it's also very important. It (shows) that whenever a person is able to set themselves free and announce their defection, they do so. There are many of those who are not able to do that."

National goalkeeper Juma Gtat and Adel bin Issa, the coach of Tripoli's top club al-Ahly, announced the defections in the rebel-held Nafusa Mountains in western Libya, the BBC reported.

"I am telling Colonel Gaddafi to leave us alone and allow us to create a free Libya," it quoted Gtat as saying at a hotel in the town of Jadu. "In fact I wish he would leave this life altogether."

Bin Issa told the BBC he had chosen to come to the Western Mountains "to send a message that Libya should be unified and free," adding: "I hope to wake up one morning to find that Gaddafi is no longer there."

(Reporting by Maria Golovnina in Benghazi and Alistair Lyon in London)

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NATO airstrikes kill 15 civilians, say Libyan officials

A file picture of NATO F18 fighters returning from a mission -- Libyan officials Saturday said a NATO airstrike killed 15 civilians.Libyan footballers defect and some arrive in Zintan to cheering crowdsThe NATO airstrikes were conducted in al-BregaNATO says the buildings were clear military targets and no civilians were killedThe African Union will discuss avenues for peace Sunday

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- NATO airstrikes hit a bakery and a restaurant in the Libyan city of al-Brega Saturday, killing 15 civilians, a Libyan government official told CNN.

NATO denied the claim and said it had struck key command-and-control centers. The alliance said there was "no indication of civilian casualties in connection with these strikes."

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces have occupied buildings in an abandoned area of al-Brega from where they are launching attacks on civilians, a NATO statement said. The alliance monitored the buildings and said it determined them to be clear military targets.

"This continues to show Gadhafi's reprehensible tactics of placing military assets and operations at the heart of civilian neighborhoods," said Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard, NATO commander for the Libya campaign.

"We have meticulously monitored these developments for a significant period and it was time to remove this threat," he said.

Al-Brega is a key oil refinery town about 500 miles east of Tripoli that has been the scene of heavy fighting between pro-Gadhafi forces and rebel fighters.

Also Saturday, 17 prominent Libyan football players defected to the rebels, said Jalal el-Gallal, a spokesman for the opposition's Transitional National Council.

Some were former members of the national team and they 29arrived in the rebel stronghold of Zintan in western Libya Saturday afternoon to cheering crowds who greeted them with celebratory gunfire.

"I am telling Colonel Gadhafi to leave us alone and allow us to create a free Libya," goalkeeper Juma Gtat told BBC news earlier in the town of Jadu.

"In fact I wish he would leave this life altogether," Gtat said.

The footballers' defections comes after a series of Libyan officials have done the same.

Despite the airstrikes and an armed rebel movement, Gadhafi has held onto power. Hopes for a political solution are at a stalemate over opposition conditions that Gadhafi must leave the country before any negotiated settlement can take hold.

Libyan government officials have said repeatedly that Gadhafi's departure cannot be a prerequisite to talks.

The African Union will try again Sunday to discuss a road map to quell the Libyan crisis. The African Union's special committee on Libya, established in March, will convene in Pretoria, South Africa, to discuss avenues for peace.

Over the last three months, panel members have met with both Gadhafi and opposition leaders.

Ahead of the meeting, human rights activists urged the African Union to prioritize the issue the plight of civilians caught in armed conflicts, including Libya.

Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have blamed the Gadhafi regime for violations of human rights, including indiscriminate fire on civilians, the use of internationally banned cluster bombs and the torture and executions of captured fighters.

CNN's Raja Razek, Yousuf Basil and Ingrid Formanek and journalist David Adams contributed to this report.

CNN

Libyan officers flee by boat to Tunisia: report (Reuters)

TUNIS (Reuters) – Nineteen police and army officers were among a new group of Libyan refugees who arrived in Tunisia by boat this week, the Tunisian news agency TAP reported on Friday.

The boat carrying a total of 49 refugees arrived on Thursday in the port of El Ketef by the Libyan border, the latest in a string of boat arrivals there since the start of an uprising against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi four months ago.

Dozens of Libyan officials, including the foreign minister and the top energy official, have fled since February when a revolt began against the 41-year rule of Gaddafi.

Earlier this week TAP quoted three senior army officers who arrived at the same port on Wednesday as saying the death toll from the conflict exceeded 15,000. It did not say how the officers obtained that toll.

Gaddafi has repeatedly vowed on state television broadcasts to fight until the end. His government says its military capability has not been seriously undermined by defections.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara in Tunisia; Editing by Mark John and Peter Graff)

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Libyan officials says NATO hits civilian house (Reuters)

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libyan officials said on Sunday a NATO strike had hit a civilian house in the capital and killed several residents, an allegation which, if confirmed, could sow fresh doubts inside the alliance about its mission in Libya.

Reporters were taken to a residential area and saw a body pulled out of the rubble of a destroyed building.

Later, in a hospital, they were shown the bodies of a child and two others who, officials said, were among a total of seven people killed in the strike.

"There was intentional and deliberate targeting of the civilian houses," deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim told reporters at the site. "This is another sign of the brutality of the West."

NATO made no immediate comment about the air strike, but has said in the past it only targets military or command-and-control sites. There was no way for reporters to verify that all the bodies they were shown came from the building.

Libyan claims of civilian casualties from NATO attacks have sometimes been received skeptically by international observers. On one occasion, Libyan officials presented a wounded child as the victim of an air strike but medical staff passed a note to a foreign journalist saying she was hurt in a road accident.

Libyan authorities have to date been unable to prove that substantial numbers of civilians have been killed by the NATO strikes, but if that changes it could weaken the already wavering commitment of some alliance members.

NATO has been pounding targets in Libya for months in what the alliance says is an operation to protect civilians who rebelled against the 41-year rule of Muammar Gaddafi.

Strains are appearing within NATO member states as the campaign drags on for longer than most of its backers anticipated and Gaddafi remains in power -- even making a show of defiance last week by playing chess with a visiting official.

REBELS KILLED

Rebels from the city of Misrata, about 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli, have been trying to push west toward the capital but on Sunday they took heavy casualties when they came under fire from pro-Gaddafi forces.

Four fighters were killed and 18 wounded, according to a doctor at a field hospital near the front line in Dafniyah, an area just west of Misrata.

A Reuters reporter at the field hospital said he saw a procession of pick-up trucks arriving from the front carrying the wounded and the dead, some of them covered up with blankets.

"Gaddafi's forces were underground (in trenches). We were patrolling and they ambushed us," said rebel fighter Mohammed Swelhi, whose friend, Mustafa, was one of two bodies brought from the front in the back of a truck.

"My cousin was injured yesterday. And today my friend was killed. My group, we're all close friends," he said.

Last week, NATO aircraft dropped leaflets around the front line warning pro-Gaddafi fighters they would be targeted by attack helicopters if they did not lay down their arms. But rebels say there has been little sign of the alliance.

"We don't know what NATO is doing," said the doctor, called Nury, who was tending the wounded at the field hospital.

CASH CRUNCH

After four months of civil war, rebels control the eastern third of Libya, the Mediterranean port city of Misrata and much of the Western Mountains region stretching to the border with Tunisia.

But they remain far from seizing their ultimate prize -- Gaddafi's powerbase of Tripoli and its hinterland -- despite air support from the world's most powerful military alliance.

Speaking in the eastern city of Benghazi, the chief rebel oil official castigated Western powers for failing to make good on their promises to help the rebel cause.

"We are running out of everything. It's a complete failure. Either they (Western nations) don't understand or they don't care. Nothing has materialized yet. And I really mean nothing," Ali Tarhouni said in an interview with Reuters.

"All of these people we talk to, all of these countries, at all these conferences, with their great grand speeches -- we appreciate (them) ... but in terms of finances they are a complete failure. Our people are dying," he said.

(Additional reporting by Matt Robinson in Misrata, Saif al-Jubouri in Tripoli and Maria Golovnina in Benghazi; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Jan Harvey.)

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NATO says its aircraft hit Libyan rebel column (Reuters)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO said on Saturday its aircraft carried out an attack on a column of military vehicles this week that Libyan opposition forces said injured 16 of its fighters.

Rebel spokesman Farag al-Moghraby said on Thursday the air strike took place near Ajdabiyah, eastern Libya, and that six rebel pickup trucks fitted with anti-aircraft guns had been destroyed.

"NATO can now confirm that the vehicles hit were part of an opposition patrol," it said in a statement after investigating the rebel report of the incident.

"This incident occurred in an area of conflict between Gaddafi forces and opposition forces," it said.

"A column of military vehicles including tanks was observed in an area where Gaddafi forces had recently been operating. In a particularly complex and fluid battle scenario, it was assessed these vehicles were a threat to civilians and they were subsequently engaged by NATO aircraft."

NATO has been concentrating the air campaign it took over in Libya on March 31 on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces but says it will target any forces it judges a threat to civilians it is mandated to protect under a United Nations resolution.

The statement said NATO regretted injury or loss or life.

NATO accidentally struck rebel positions on several occasions early in the air campaign. It said at the time that the similar appearance and equipment of rebel and Gaddafi forces in the desert terrain made targeting difficult.

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Libyan rebels battle to close in Gaddafi (Reuters)

DAFNIYAH, Libya (Reuters) – Libya's rebels have traded heavy artillery fire with Muammar Gaddafi's forces near the western city of Zlitan as they tried to take government-held territory east of the capital Tripoli.

The city, 160 km (100 miles) from Tripoli, is the next major town on the Mediterranean coastal road to the capital from the rebel stronghold of Misrata. Capturing it would greatly advance the rebels' strategy of cutting off the capital from all sides.

A Reuters team in Dafniya, on the outskirts of Misrata, said rebels fired artillery and rocket launchers. Rebels said they aimed to hit Libyan tanks and munitions in Naimah, near Zlitan, but inexperience and indiscipline has plagued their campaign.

"We had a strategy to finish everything today, but some of the fighters think it's a game. They shot when they weren't supposed to shoot," a rebel unit commander called Mohammed Ali told Reuters, after taking cover from a mortar barrage.

NATO planes resumed bombardments of Tripoli on Friday with six explosions sending columns of black smoke into the sky.

Rebel advances toward Tripoli have been slow, and weeks of NATO strikes pounding Gaddafi's compound and other targets have failed to bring an end to his 41-year-old rule.

Rebels are fighting on two other fronts: in the east around the oil town of Brega and in the Western Mountains southwest of Tripoli. They have made important gains in the past few weeks, but remain far from seizing their ultimate prize.

NATO SEES "POSITIVE SIGNS"

Gaddafi vowed to defeat NATO.

"This is the first time they are facing an armed nation of millions. The alliance will be defeated," he said in an audio speech on Libyan TV on Friday. "We are in our country and we are determined to stay and defend it."

In Misrata, rebel spokesman Ahmed Hassan said 10 civilians had been killed and another 40 wounded when Gaddafi's forces shelled the city on Friday, a claim which could not be verified.

The rebels have said they will not attack Zlitan because of tribal sensitivities, but are recruiting fighters from the town and waiting for the residents to rise up against Gaddafi.

NATO military spokesman Wing Commander Mike Bracken said in a briefing that west of Misrata there were "some positive signs that civilians are unifying against the Gaddafi regime" and that "for the time being pro-Gaddafi forces appear unable to strongly counter the anti-Gaddafi forces' incremental advances."

Another NATO bombardment struck in the region of Gzayha, on the Tunisian border, resident Mohamed Nagez said.

APPEAL TO U.N.

Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi told a late night news conference Libya would appeal to the U.N. security council to stop the NATO bombing.

He said one airstrike had hit the Al Fateh University.

"It has become clear to us that NATO has moved on to deliberately target civilian buildings. Who is killing civilians now? It is indeed NATO," he said.

He planned to call U.N. secretary general Ban ki-Moon early on Saturday to call for an extraordinary session to investigate.

The rebellion erupted four months ago in the eastern city of Benghazi. NATO intervention has been going on for nearly 13 weeks, and strains are beginning to show within the alliance.

Juma Ibrahim, a rebel spokesman in the Western Mountains town of Zintan, said Gaddafi loyalists were massing in Gharyan, about 120 km (90 miles) southwest of Tripoli -- and besieging the world heritage-listed old city of Ghadames, some 600 km southwest of the capital on the Tunisia and Algerian borders.

"(They) ... have destroyed some Islamic historic ruins ... palaces and forts located in the city's old quarter," he said.

Accounts from Ghadames could not be independently verified.

(Additional Reporting by Nick Carey in Tripoli, Nick Vincour in Paris, David Brunnstrom in Brussels, Maria Golovnina in Benghazi, Joseph Nasr in Berlin; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Jon Hemming)

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Libyan leader Gadhafi says NATO will not win (AP)

By ADAM SCHRECK and HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, Associated Press Adam Schreck And Hadeel Al-shalchi, Associated Press – 15 mins ago

TRIPOLI, Libya – Provoked by renewed daylight NATO bombing of his capital, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi raged against the alliance Friday, screaming his message and daring Western forces to keep it up.

Gadhafi spoke in a telephone call that was piped through loudspeakers to a few thousand people demonstrating in Tripoli's Green Square, at the end of a day when NATO intensified bombing runs across the capital. State television carried the Gadhafi message live, then repeated it a few minutes later.

"NATO will be defeated," he yelled in a hoarse, agitated voice. "They will pull out in defeat."

The sound of automatic weapons being fired defiantly into the air echoed through the square for hours as carloads of pro-Gadhafi supporters — many with children in tow — crammed the streets leading to the plaza. Although there was a large presence of police and soldiers in the square, many of those popping off rounds wore civilian clothes.

Protesters and foreign journalists in the capital said it was one of the biggest such demonstrations since airstrikes began.

"Everyone in Libya wants Col. Gadhafi, not some traitors," Rajab Hamman, a 51-year-old engineer from Tripoli, said in the square as another demonstrator shot a magazine load of automatic rifle fire into the air a few steps away. "These are the real, true Libyans," he said of the crowd.

East of Tripoli, meanwhile, Gadhafi's forces exchanged intense shelling with rebels who are slowly breaking the government siege on their western stronghold, the port city of Misrata.

Doctors at the Hikma hospital in Misrata said nine rebel fighters and a woman living near the battle were killed and 30 others were wounded. Government casualties were not known.

Barrages of artillery and Grad missiles were landing on rebel lines as they continued trying to advance out of Misrata, 125 miles (200 kilometers), east of the capital. The heaviest shelling rained down between the towns of Dafniya and Zlitan, west of the Mediterranean port. Rebels were holding their own with return fire from their front about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of the port.

For weeks rebels had been bottled up in Misrata, one of a handful of toeholds they hold in western Libya. The eastern third of the country is under rebel control from their de facto capital, Benghazi. As NATO warplanes began stepping up attacks on Libyan government forces, bases and ammunition depots in recent days, the rebels in Misrata used the distraction to start their push out of the city toward Tripoli. Fighting has been intense along that front, with the rebels only able to advance about 20 miles (32 kilometers).

NATO attacked the Libyan capital at midday Friday, pounding a target in the south of the city and sending a thick cloud of black smoke rising high into the air.

A series of explosions rumbled across other parts of the city as fighter jets could by heard flying overhead. Fire engines raced through the streets, sirens blaring.

It wasn't clear what was hit or whether there were casualties. Friday is the main day of rest in Libya, with many people off work.

NATO has been ramping up the pressure on Gadhafi's regime. Though most airstrikes happen under cover of darkness, daytime raids have grown more frequent.

Friday's raids followed a barrage that struck multiple targets late Thursday night.

In his outburst, Gadhafi made a spitting sound and labeled as cowards the rebels fighting to oust him and those politicians and soldiers who had defected from Gadhafi's cause. He called the rebels "sons of dogs," a particularly cutting epithet in the Arab world.

And he said the people of Benghazi, the rebel capital, were existing on money from the "donkeys of Qatar, and the donkeys of the Gulf." The rebels are receiving support from Arab nations in the Persian Gulf.

As the new NATO airstrikes Friday blasted the capital, alliance Wing Commander Mike Bracken said Gadhafi's future at the helm of Libya was what he called a "political decision." Bracken spoke by video conference to reporters in Brussels, NATO headquarters.

A coalition including France, Britain and the United States launched the first strikes against Gadhafi's forces under a United Nations resolution to protect civilians on March 19. NATO assumed control of the air campaign over Libya on March 31. It's joined by a number of Arab allies.

In Brussels, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said there were no indications Gadhafi would stop attacking the opposition.

"It is hard to imagine the end to attacks on civilians while the pro-Gadhafi regime is still in power," Lungescu said in Brussels. "It is unfortunately still the case that pro-Gadhafi forces continue to show shocking determination to harm the Libyan people."

What started as a peaceful uprising inside Libya against Gadhafi has grown into a civil war, with rebels now holding a third of the country in the east and pockets in the west.

Libya's rebels mark Feb. 17 — four months ago Friday — as the start of their revolution against Gadhafi's more than four-decade rule

It was on that date that protesters emboldened by Arab uprisings in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt took to the streets in a number of Libyan cities. At least 20 people were reported killed in a crackdown by state security forces.

Fighting between government forces and the rebels had reached a stalemate until last week when NATO launched the heaviest bombardment of Gadhafi forces since the alliance took control of the skies over Libya.

___

Al-Shalchi reported from Dafniya, Libya. Associated Press writer Don Melvin contributed to this report from Brussels.

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Spain to expel Libyan diplomats

A boy holds up the former Libyan monarchy flag-- the sign of the Libyan revolution-- in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, Libya.Spain is telling the Libyan ambassador to leaveThree other diplomats are also being expelledSpain is not breaking off diplomatic relations with Libya

Madrid (CNN) -- Spain is expelling the Libyan ambassador to Madrid and three other Libyan diplomats here, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday.

"The government of Spain has decided to put an end to the mission of the ambassador accredited in Madrid by the authorities in Tripoli (Libya), because the Gadhafi regime has lost all legitimacy due to its continual repression of the Libyan population," the statement said.

The Libyan ambassador to Madrid, Ajeli Abdussalam Ali Breni, "has 10 days to leave" Spain, the ministry said.

The government also is expelling three other diplomats at the Libyan embassy "who undertook activities incompatible with their diplomatic status," the statement said.

But Spain has not broken diplomatic relations with Libya, said a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, who by custom is not identified.

Spain still has an embassy in Tripoli, although it evacuated its personnel from the city, like many other nations, as fighting between the regime of Moammar Gadhafi and rebels intensified in late March.

The Spanish Embassy in Tripoli, staffed only by local Libyan personnel, "is not closed in a diplomatic sense," the spokeswoman said.

It was not immediately clear, she added, how many Libyan diplomats or local Spanish personnel might remain at the Libyan Embassy in Madrid, after the expulsion of the ambassador and the three other Libyan diplomats.

Spanish Foreign Ministry Trinidad Jimenez on June 8 visited the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi , where she declared that Libya's rebel National Transitional Council was a "valid interlocutor" and a "legitimate representative of the aspirations of the Libyan people," the spokeswoman said.

Spain has been participating in United Nations-mandated, NATO-led military operations in Libya. Spain has deployed four F-18 fighter jets and a refueling plane to help enforce a no-fly zone, and a frigate, a submarine and a surveillance plane to help impose an arms embargo against the Gadhafi regime.

CNN

Several explosions rock Libyan capital

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Several explosions rattled Tripoli Thursday morning as Libyan state television reported bombardments in Sirte, east of Tripoli, and other areas.

A Russian envoy due to arrive in Libya Thursday raised the possibility of leader Moammar Gadhafi giving up power but remaining in the country.

"There is a possible option where Gadhafi continues living in Libya as a private individualwith his people and his tribe but relinquishes power and his family stays away from taking economic decisions," Mikhail Margelov said, according to the country's Itar-Tass news agency.

Margelov said last week that the rebel Transitional National Council did not need "Gadhafi's head, and no one is going to scalp him and nail it to the wall in his office," the agency reported.

Margelov is due to meet top Libyan officials, he said before leaving Moscow, but it is not clear that Gadhafi will be among them.

He has already talked to the opposition in Benghazi, the de facto rebel capital, and consulted with Ahmed Gaddafi al-Dam, a cousin of Gadhafi's, in Cairo, he said.

His mission to Tripoli comes as critics have questioned NATO's involvement in the civil war.

U.S. lawmakers filed a suit Wednesday that challenges the nation's participation in the Libya mission.

The lawmakers have accused President Barack Obama of failing to consult with Congress over the military effort in the North African country.

The White House denied that accusation, saying Obama has not violated the War Powers Resolution by intervening militarily for more than 60 days without seeking approval from Congress.

South African President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday slammed the international coalition's operation in the battle.

NATO started airstrikes in Libya in March to enforce a U.N. resolution to protect civilians from forces loyal to ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

But Zuma said actions by the international coalition have exceeded the authority that the resolution granted.

"We strongly believe that the resolution is being abused for regime change, political assassinations and foreign military occupation," Zuma said at a budget vote debate before the National Assembly in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, rebel forces said they have made progress in recent days in the fight against Ghadafi forces.

Rebels have taken control of the mountainous Jebel Nafusa region, which is southwest of Tripoli, said Ahmed Bani, an officer with the rebel forces.

Rebels have also made gains in the western city of Zlitan, Bani said.

CNN's David McKenzie and Ben Wedeman contributed to this report.

CNN

Libyan troops shell western rebel positions (Reuters)

MISRATA/KIKLA, Libya (Reuters) – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces shelled rebel positions in the Western Mountains on Wednesday, insurgents said, after rebels edged closer to the capital on three fronts.

A rebel spokesman, called Kalefa, in the town of Nalut said there were no casualties from the shelling.

"Gaddafi's forces bombarded Nalut ... Over 20 Grad rockets landed in the town. They bombarded from their positions ... around 20 km (12 miles) east of Nalut," he said, adding that they had also shelled the Wazin-Dehiba Tunisia border crossing.

The rebels have made advances in key areas in recent days but they have a way to go if they are to successfully march on Gaddafi's well-defended territory.

Fighting was subdued on Wednesday as rebels held positions toward Zlitan, east of Tripoli, and on other fronts.

NATO war planes bombed Tripoli on Tuesday night, causing loud explosions that filled the sky with plumes of smoke, but there were no further reports of bombing on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the rebels tried to advance in the east, setting their sights on the oil town of Brega to extend their control over the region, epicenter of the four-month rebellion against Gaddafi's four-decade rule.

In a sign that Gaddafi's forces may be getting stretched, the rebels seized the town of Kikla, 150 km (90 miles) southwest of Tripoli. They also pushed several kilometers west of their Misrata stronghold to the outskirts of government-held Zlitan.

A Reuters correspondent with the rebels said there were no further advances in the region on Wednesday.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen will meet British Prime Minister David Cameron in London to discuss the nearly three-month-old operation, which has so far failed to oust Gaddafi or enable the rebels to capture Tripoli.

NATO defense chiefs met in Belgrade to discuss the mission on Tuesday. Ties are straining in the alliance, with some reluctant to commit additional resources needed to sustain the bombing mission in the coming months.

A senior NATO commander appeared to raise questions about the alliance's ability to handle a long-term intervention.

"We are conducting this operation with all the means we have ... If the operation were to last long, of course, the resource issue will become critical," General Stephane Abrial said.

Saad Djebbar, a former legal adviser to the Libyan government, told Reuters Gaddafi would continue to play for time and seek to demoralize and splinter the coalition.

"Gaddafi's mentality is that as long as my enemies haven't triumphed, I haven't lost," he said.

"The U.S. stance, that the major outside role should be played by the Europeans and Arabs, sends the wrong signal. Gaddafi will be very encouraged by it. His line is 'We are steadfast'. We can wait it out.'"

He said Gaddafi would be active in supplying Tripoli with food and fuel during Ramadan in August, to ward off revolution.

"The concerns being raised in the British parliament and the U.S. Congress, including questions like 'why are we spending so much?', will be of comfort to him."

NATO spokesman Major General Nick Pope said air strikes had destroyed three ammunition bunkers in Waddan and that NATO ships were patrolling the Libyan cost to enforce the arms embargo.

AUSTRIA OVERTURE TO REBELS

Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger will on Sunday visit the rebels in Benghazi to offer "concrete support," his office said, the latest in a string of such visitors.

Austria's oil and gas firm OMV used to get 10 percent of its oil, about 33,000 barrels per day, from Libya but says it has not had contact from either side since the conflict.

The rebel push to Kikla followed weeks of deadlock between the rag-tag rebel army and government forces, though air strikes by NATO have taken their toll on Gaddafi's better-equipped troops.

The rebels said a NATO leaflet warning of helicopter strikes had prevented them from pushing toward the town of Zlitan on Tuesday, and had prompted some rebels to retreat from their newly-captured positions about 10 km (6 miles) outside the city toward their base in Misrata, east of Tripoli.

A NATO official said the alliance dropped the leaflets west of Misrata, and closer to Zlitan.

A Reuters correspondent in Misrata said there were no further advances toward Zlitan on Wednesday.

A rebel leader in the Mediterranean port city said the oil refinery there was still out of action after Gaddafi's forces shelled it on Monday, but petrol stations were working.

"The oil refinery ... will resume again soon," said Khalifa Zuwawi, chairman of the transitional council in Misrata.

Even without the threat of NATO attack, the rebels said they would not attack Zlitan, citing tribal sensitivities. Instead they would wait for the local inhabitants to rise up.

A NATO official said warplanes had hit an ammunition store at Waddan, not far from Al Jufrah, after Libyan television said Al Jufrah, in central Libya, had been bombed for a second day.

(Additional reporting by Nick Carey in Tripoli, William Mcclean in London, Sylvia Westall in Vienna, Maria Golovnina in Benghazi, Sami Aboudi in Cairo, Souhail Karam in Rabat and Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algers; writing by Tim Cocks and John Irish; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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Libyan rebels say still fighting near capital (Reuters)

ZAWIYAH, Libya (Reuters) – Libyan rebels said they were fighting forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for a second day in the town of Zawiyah on Sunday, bringing the revolt against Gaddafi's rule close to the capital.

A spokesman for the government in Tripoli said rebels had tried to enter Zawiyah, about 50 km (30 miles) from Tripoli, but had been stopped by government troops and defeated on Saturday.

But a rebel in the town contradicted that, saying heavy fighting was still taking place on Sunday, and a Reuters reporter taken on a Libyan government-organised visit to parts of Zawiyah heard shots being fired near the central square.

Zawiyah was the scene of fierce battles soon after a nationwide rebellion against Gaddafi's 41-year rule in February. His security forces snuffed out the rebels in Zawiyah, a prelude to the revolt elsewhere in Libya losing its initial momentum.

Three months later, the war has shifted against Gaddafi, with his grip on power weakened by defections in his entourage, the impact of sanctions on supplies and NATO air strikes that have struck his compound in Tripoli.

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, in an interview with Reuters, said there was a growing confidence that Gaddafi's "days are numbered."

Libyan state television broadcast images of Gaddafi -- who has been keeping a low public profile since NATO began its air strikes -- meeting Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the president of the international chess federation.

Ilyumzhinov, quoted by Russian news agencies, said he played a game of chess in Tripoli with the Libyan leader, who told him he had no intention of leaving his country.

The fresh outbreak of fighting in Zawiyah, which is the site of a big oil refinery, marks the closest the armed rebellion has come to Gaddafi's stronghold in the capital for months.

Asked about the government assertion the revolt there had been defeated, a rebel spokesman in Zawiyah told Reuters by telephone: "It is not true."

"The revolutionaries (rebels) control several parts of the coastal road linking Tripoli to Tunisia and skirmishes are still going on in the center of the city," said the spokesman, who gave his name as M'hamed Ezzawi.

Speaking earlier, Ezzawi said 13 rebel fighters and civilians, including a 7-year-old boy, had been killed in the clashes on Saturday.

REBELS "WEAK AND UNPOPULAR"

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters at a news conference in Tripoli that a rebel force numbering no more than 100 attacked a checkpoint outside Zawiyah on Saturday.

He said government forces killed and captured some rebels, with the rest now surrounded in an area west of Zawiyah and negotiating their surrender.

"This is just another proof of how weak and unpopular they (the rebels) are," Ibrahim said. The rebels "cannot achieve any advance against the Libyan government," he said.

Foreign journalists were taken to Zawiyah on Sunday under the supervision of government officials. They were allowed into the eastern part of the town and the central square, but not the western side where rebels say they are fighting.

The square was almost deserted except for a few police officers and soldiers. A Reuters reporter heard three gunshots to the west of the city center. The eastern side seemed normal, with people going about their business and vehicles on the streets.

DEADLY ATTACKS

Though weakened after months of fighting and NATO attacks, Gaddafi's forces have not buckled.

An ambulance worker in rebel-held Misrata, Libya's third-biggest city, said six rebel fighters were killed by pro-Gaddafi forces when they clashed in farmland between Misrata and the neighbouring town of Zlitan.

Workers at a field hospital near the front line used buckets of water to wash away blood that gathered on the floor after ambulances and pick-up trucks brought in dozens of wounded fighters, a Reuters reporter in Misrata said.

Later, NATO warplanes were in the sky over the city and then the sound of an air strike could be heard hitting the area to the west of the city where the fighting had taken place.

Pro-Gaddafi forces also killed five people when they fired mortars and Russian-made Grad rockets at Zintan, part of the rebel-held Western Mountains region, according to a rebel spokesman.

"The shelling is still going on ... The revolutionaries are trying to defend the town," he said.

REBEL RECOGNITION

The United Arab Emirates said it recognised the rebel Transitional National Council, based in the eastern city of Benghazi, joining a small but growing list of states which view the council as Libya's legitimate representatives.

Gaddafi says he has no intention of bowing to international pressure to step down. He has called the NATO intervention with warplanes and attack helicopters an act of colonial aggression aimed at grabbing Libya's plentiful oil.

But the rebellion is inching closer to the capital as rebels gradually expand the territory they hold and reports emerge of new unrest flaring up in towns elsewhere in Libya.

Rudd, the Australian foreign minister, spoke of messages coming from various levels of Gadaffi's administration "seeking contact with the outside world about possible accommodations."

"There's a growing confidence across the international community that this guy's days are numbered," Rudd said during a visit to London.

"And when you start to have feelers from the core of the Gadaffi regime about how this guy can be accommodated, then I think the writing starts to be on the wall."

In Tripoli -- Gaddafi's main stronghold -- residents have told Reuters of anti-Gaddafi protests, though these have been quickly dispersed by his security forces.

"The districts of Tripoli are waiting for a signal so they can all rise up together," said a resident of the city who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals.

NATO member states are keen for a quick resolution in Libya because voters do not want another long, costly conflict along the lines of those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

(Additional reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers, Mussab Al-Khairall in Tripoli, Matt Robinson in Misrata, Kate Kelland in London, Andrew Hammond in Dubai and Jan Strupczewski in Brussels; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Matthew Jones)

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At least 21 dead in Libyan fighting

A man at a shop in Misrata, Libya, looks at photos of those killed in fighting.NEW: The deaths occurred in Dafniya and Zawiya, officials sayRebels claim a confiscated document details Gadhafi's plans for MisrataThe document was confiscated a month ago from Gadhafi forces, rebels sayThe authenticity of the "battle plan" can't be confirmed

Misrata, Libya (CNN) -- Six people died Sunday in fighting in the town of Dafniya, Libya, near the beseiged city of Misrata, according to a hospital spokesman.

The deaths include a woman who died when a Grad rocket landed in her home, said Khaled Abu Falgha of Misrata's Hekma hospital.

Elsewhere, 15 rebels and about 100 Gadhafi forces were killed Sunday in fighting in Zawiya, according to Ahmed al-Hawary, rebel spokesman in Zawiya.

Dafniya was quiet Sunday evening, said Ibrahim Beit-elmal, a spokesman for the Misrata military committee. On the southern front of Abdul Rauf, the rebels were able to capture 10 Gadhafi forces and a few vehicles after an ambush was set for them, he said.

Also Sunday, rebels in Misrata released a document they claim is a battle plan confiscated last month from forces loyal to longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

CNN obtained the 15-page document -- titled, in part: "Battle plan to cleanse the city of Misrata from militant gangs" from rebels in the city Sunday. The words "top secret" is written at the top of every page. The name of Gadhafi's son, Khamis Moammar Gadhafi, appears on page 10 as commander of the theater.

CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the document. The rebels said it was confiscated from a high-ranking official near Misrata between May 18 and May 20.

"This document was very useful but only for a short period of time because as soon as Gadhafi brigades found out that we confiscated them, they tried to change their plans," said Abdallah al-Kabeir, a rebel spokesman.

The documents says Misrata is to be "attacked from six different directions with 11,350 fighters, 4,000 of whom are organized troops, (the rest volunteers). The six directions cover the east and the south."

The "mission" is stated as: "To destroy mercenary elements and deceive youth in Misrata using nine brigades. ..."

Al-Kabeir called portions of the document "exaggerated."

"I think the number of troops and equipment mentioned in the document are definitely exaggerated because they wanted to lift their soldiers' low morale. Also, our intelligence on the ground indicated that Gadhafi forces have a lot less people than what this document says."

The Libyan government has not acknowledged the document.

About 130 miles (209 kilometers) east of Tripoli, Misrata has been the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting in Libya's civil war.

Since the conflict began in early February, the death toll is believed to be more than 1,000 people in Misrata, including hundreds of civilians, Dr. Khaled Abu Falgha, a spokesman at Misrata's Hekma hospital, said earlier this month. In April, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Tim Hetherington and photojournalist Chris Hondros were killed in Misrata.

The town has been under seige for months from Gadhafi's forces, who have cut off all land acesss, leaving the sea as the only escape route. On May 11, rebels said they seized the Misrata airport. Heavy shelling has been reported in Misrata in recent days as Gadhafi's forces wage a campaign to seize the town back.

CNN's Amir Ahmed and Sara Sidner contributed to this report.

CNN

UN: give space to Libyan woman who claimed rape (AP)

BUCHAREST, Romania – The U.N. refugee agency has appealed for privacy for a Libyan woman who claims she was raped by Moammar Gadhafi's troops.

Iman al-Obeidi, 29, made headlines around the world in March when she rushed into Libya's Rixos Hotel and told foreign reporters covering the country's pro-democracy insurgency that she had been gang-raped by Libyan troops who detained her at a checkpoint in Tripoli.

Machiel Salomons, representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Romania, said Wednesday that al-Obeidi arrived at a U.N. refugee transit center in the country on Monday afternoon. He declined to say how long she would stay, or where she would be resettled, urging respect for her "space and privacy."

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